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"I can't do this. It was a bad idea to come here..." Mario muttered under his breath.
He and Angus were still sitting in his new car - the old impala that had belonged to Mario's father - ten minutes after they had arrived at the church where the service would take place. And afterwards the funeral.
It had only been a week since Mario's father had died right in front of him, and the pain of it was still fresh on Mario's face, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.
But Angus could see right through him.
Angus knew him well enough to know that he was hurting.
But also that he didn't want to talk about it - not even with him. And Angus knew better than to push him.
He hated to see him like that, though, unknowingly hated the guy that had inflicted so much pain on Mario's face.
Vincent Savetti hadn't been a good guy, and even though Angus didn't know much, he knew that he had made Mario's life a living hell. That he had taken away a part of Mario's childhood he would never get back.
It was no surprise that Mario had been such a cold and distant bastard in the beginning. That he had tried to push everyone away that had tried to be his friend.
In retrospect, Angus was glad he was just as stubborn as Mario was. That he hadn't let him push him out of his life and fought to be his friend, because otherwise neither of them would be here right now.
"Can we please just go home?" Mario's voice cracked and when he turned to look at Angus there were tears shimmering in his eyes.
"Whatever you want to do, Mario. It's your decision. But I think you're gonna need this to find some closure."
Angus hesitated for a moment, but then he leaned forward, gently brushing away the tears with his thumbs. "You're strong enough to make it through this, and I'm not gonna leave you. Not now, not ever."
"Do you promise?"
Angus nodded. "Hey, I’m with you, okay? Always." He brought their foreheads together, closing his eyes for a moment.
Mario's hands were on top of his and all he wanted to do was pull him close and kiss him, show him how much Mario meant to him. But he knew this wasn't the time, nor the place for anything like this, and so after a long moment he pulled back, just looking at him.
"If you rather wanna go home, I have your back."
"No," Mario decided. "Let's do this. I think I'm ready now."
They both got out of the car and walked towards the church. When they reached the stairs Angus felt Mario grab his arm.
"Thanks, Angus. For everything. I couldn't do this without you."
"You don't have to. You never will."
He smiled at him, and the first time since they left the hospital Mario smiled back at him, and Angus knew he would be okay. They would be okay.