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It seems as though this night will be the same as countless others. Giorno lies awake, staring at the ceiling. Sleep will not come easy, if at all. Alone in his bedroom, he knows he couldn’t be the only one still awake, as if anyone could sleep after what had transpired earlier that day.
The scene is still so fresh and vivid in his mind- Abbacchio’s pale, lifeless body sprawled across the rock. All the blood- so much blood- seeping through his clothes and dripping onto the sand below. Narancia’s desperate screams still ring painfully in his ears.
Giorno clenches his fists in the sheets, forcefully willing the image away. He knows he shouldn’t blame himself, but he can’t stop himself. If only he hadn’t been inside that damn turtle. If only they had gotten there sooner. He could’ve healed his wounds. He could’ve saved Leone’s life.
The sound of sniffling pulls Giorno from his thoughts. The walls of the abandoned home they’d luckily stumbled upon on the outskirts of Rome were quite thin. He knew he wasn’t alone in his sleeplessness. Giorno quietly slips from the bed, pursuing the source.
The noises become slightly louder as he pads softly down the narrow hallway. He peers into Narancia’s room, finding the source of the noises.
Narancia’s trembling form is curled in a ball, wrapped in blankets. His attempts to muffle his crying are futile, even as he buries his face further into the pillow.
Giorno feels like heart is being squeezed to the point of busting as he tentatively steps into the room. “… Narancia…?”
Narancia bolts upright with a choked noise and furiously wipes tears from his face with his arm. He blinks a few times, registering Giorno’s form in the darkness of the room. “Oh… it’s just you.” He pulls his knees to his chest, averting his gaze.
“I just came to see if you were alright. I could hear you from my bedroom.” Giorno explains.
“Yeah, well, ’m fine,” Narancia says, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.
“I see.” Giorno glances at the floor. Neither boy says anything for a minute, the silence heavy between the two of them.
“You… were thinking about him, weren’t you?” Giorno asks finally, lifting his head to look Narancia in the eyes.
Narancia stiffens. “Th-that’s none of your business,” He hugs his knees closer to his chest. “I didn’t ask you to come bargin' in here, you know. Like I said, I’m fine.” He says, his traitorous voice cracking.
“Ah…” Giorno looks at his feet again, at a loss for words. “I’m sorry to bother you. I’ll go back to my own room, then.” He turns to leave, deciding to just let the other have his space.
“W-wait,” Narancia’s voice stops him just before he steps out of the room. “Don’t… don’t go. I’m sorry. Please.”
Giorno turns, finding him knelt on the side of the bed, reaching for him almost comically.
“I thought you said you were-“
“Shut up and get over here,” Narancia huffs, scooting back on the bed to make room for him.
Giorno fights back a smile as he crawls into the bed and pulls the covers over them both. Narancia is in his arms almost immediately, burying his face into the warm crook of Giorno’s neck. Their soft breathing is the only sound in the room.
This time, Narancia is the first to say something.
“I just… really miss him, you know?” Narancia’s voice sounds so small, shaking with emotion.
“I know, amore,” Giorno replies, pulling the smaller boy closer to him. He rubs small circles into Narancia’s back and presses soft, loving kisses to the top of his head. “Me too.”
“I couldn’t do anything, Gio,” Narancia begins to tremble again. “He was all alone… he died alone… and we couldn’t do anything. We couldn’t even find the bastard that did it to him.”
Giorno feels Narancia’s tears soak into his shirt collar, and his heart breaks for him. “I know… but it’s no use dwelling on it. You’ll only make yourself feel worse.” He says. “It’s no one’s fault.”
Narancia doesn’t respond, only pressing himself closer to Giorno.
“I mean it, Narancia,” Giorno leans back enough to gently take Narancia’s face in his hands, wiping away the tears on his cheeks with his thumbs. “None of us saw it coming. It’s not your fault.”
Narancia only nods with a small sniffle, leaning into Giorno’s hand.
Searching Narancia’s face one last time, Giorno leans down and tenderly presses his lips to Narancia’s. Narancia practically melts into him, wrapping his arms around Giorno’s neck and gladly deepening their kiss.
Giorno makes an appreciative noise in the back of his throat, brimming with emotion as he tilts his head for a better angle to kiss Narancia with as much passion as he can muster.
“Am I, uh… interrupting something?”
Startled, Giorno pulls away, face hot, and untangles himself from Narancia enough to turn and find Mista leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest.
“ ’s not interrupting ‘f you’re also invited.” Comes Narancia’s sleepy voice from beside Giorno.
Giorno clears his throat before asking, “What are you doing out of bed?” He brings a hand down to run through Narancia’s wild hair.
“Couldn’t sleep,” Mista says, pushing off of the doorframe. “So I was gonna go get some water, but I don’t even know if the plumbing here still works. Then I heard, er, saw you two.”
“Hm.”
Mista shuffles his feet. “So, uh, you think there’s enough room for me in there?”
“Plenty.” Giorno pats the bed next to him with a smile.
“Yeah, more than enough for your skinny ass.” Narancia mutters.
Mista grins, opting to ignore the comment, and quickly slips into the bed without a moment's hesitation. He settles comfortably behind Giorno, wrapping his arms around his waist.
Giorno hums contentedly, gathering Narancia back into his arms and pressing back against Mista’s warm body. Mista, in turn, presses a kiss to the star-shaped birthmark on Giorno’s shoulder and laces his fingers through Narancia’s over Giorno’s hip. Their legs tangle together under the covers.
It’s quite cozy, although a bit warm, but none of them seem to mind. A comfortable silence falls over the three of them as they savor being in the arms of the ones they love.
“Did I miss a memo?”
The voice of their capo brings them back to the present. The three of them look up to find Bucciarati standing at the side of the bed. They hadn’t even heard him enter.
“Nah, I didn’t get one either. It’s open invitation though.” Mista tells him with a yawn. Narancia and Giorno hum in agreement.
“And you’re all in Narancia’s bed because…?”
“Because none of us could sleep… or wanted to be alone.” Giorno offers.
“Mm-hmm… ’n there’s still room if you wanna join us, Bucciarati.” Says Narancia, pressing closer to Giorno to make room enough behind him.
“I suppose I can’t say no to that.” Bucciarati chuckles softly, before climbing into the bed and situating himself behind Narancia. Narancia presses back against him with a satisfied sigh.
“Where’s Trish?” Mista asks.
“She fell asleep inside the turtle on the way here. I didn’t want to wake her.” Bucciarati says, idly stroking Narancia’s hip with his thumb. He hesitates for a moment, before addressing the elephant in the room- “I assume you’re all in here because of Leone’s death, no?”
Bucciarati hears Narancia’s breath hitch in his throat as he goes rigid in his arms. Giorno and Mista both go quiet as well, which Bucciarati takes as a ‘yes’. He should have known that such a traumatic event wouldn’t be so easily handled. He subconsciously runs his tongue over the spot he had bitten through on his lower lip earlier, reminding himself of his own guilt.
“His death wasn’t in vain,” Bucciarati starts softly. “It’s all because of him that we’re one step closer to taking down the boss.”
“I just can’t believe he’s really gone.” Says Mista, sounding distant.
Narancia hiccups in his arms, and Giorno begins to soothe him by kissing his forehead and muttering sweet nothings.
“But at least we still have each other.” Bucciarati says. “We may have lost Abbacchio today, but I know he’d want us to continue onward. He’d want us to move forward and take down the boss.”
“We’ll take him down. We’ll kill him.” Narancia’s voice shakes. “For Abbacchio.”
Bucciarati nods, pressing a kiss into Narancia’s hair. “We will. But for now, let’s try and get some rest.” Bucciarati adjusts the sheets to make sure they were all covered before settling down against Narancia’s back.
"... vi voglio bene, ragazzi."
There was sure to be more hardships to come on the path they’d chosen, but as long as they had each other, there wasn’t anything they couldn’t overcome.