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There were countless nights that Lovina found herself pitching herself upwards in the night, shaking in fear. Her hand flew to her mouth, and she breathed shakily, taking glances over to the sleeping male next to her. He was never phased. He never woke up. Lovina took her hand away and ran the other hand through her hair. The chain shuffled a little, and Antonio stirred. She froze. 'Oh hell no, I'm already a sappy, emotional bitch to this guy. He's not gonna wake up and see me like this.'She thought, making herself face her fears, and lay down again. She almost felt haunted. Like the little locket that she got was going to haunt her. Like her sister was blaming her for her death. She lay down, her eyes blinking mindlessly trying to adjust to the darkness. Lovina turned on her side, away from the Spaniard. She didn't need anything more than just a nap.

Much to her hatred, an arm slithered sluggishly around her waist, and a body moved closer to hers. She cursed. 'God dammit, Antonio, must you be a cuddler?' Lovina tensed up, biting her lip to calm herself from the strange contact. She was wearing clothes, of course. And he was wearing clothes as well. But he was so... strangely... warm.And Lovina hated and loved it at the same time. She breathed deeply and relaxed herself. The Italian knew that the nightmare wasn't going to be true anyways. It would never be true. She blinked her eyes rapidly, and calmed her heart rate, which was beating at probably a million miles per hour. The chain pulled on her a little bit, so she adjusted the way the sheathed sword lay next to her.

"You're awake." came a strangely mellow voice. Lovina's blood turned to ice. She mentally cursed herself for moving too much. There was a small silence. Lovina blinked, confused. Why was he still hugging her, if he was awake?

"Yeah." She said quietly, hiding herself in blankets. Antonio's breath was warm on her skin; she didn't dare move another inch. "Go back to sleep."

Antonio blinked slowly, and closed his eyes again. "Not until you do." He replied stubbornly. They were going to hit the coast in a few days. A few more days of them being able to be together in the nighttime. He didn't seem to mind the hold he had on her. He didn't even seem to notice it at all. Lovina thought it was just because he was groggy and one minute away from being dead asleep yet again. She breathed deeply and closed her eyes.

"You're hugging me." Lovina said. It was her turn to state the obvious.

"Yeah." Antonio mumbled, trying his best not to fall asleep. "You're really warm."

"Get off of me."

"...Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"That was a bad question. How about this one: Do you want me to?"

Lovina felt her face warm up. In the smallest voice she could muster up, she said "...no."

With a small cheer, Antonio fixed himself closer to her. His face was near her neck, making Lovina bite her lip. Why couldn't she just tell him no? Lovina sighed and (even though she'd never admit to doing it) moved back comfortably to fit his form. She moved a bit so that her neck wasn't aching, and was peacefully asleep again within minutes. No more nightmares to distract her.

The next night was the same. Sleepily, the two crawled into bed, and started off on separate sides. Somewhere during the night, Antonio had rolled over, and held her again. Not that Lovina really minded anymore. He knew why she woke up in the middle of the night. He knew why she would sit up. And he would always pretend that he was asleep. At least until she calmed down. Antonio was very open to her, and in turn, she was as equally open to him. He could see how hard it was for her to pour herself onto him, to show him who she really was, emotionally. He saw how it made her conflicted, and break down. No one had ever bothered to listen to her the way that Antonio did. It made her feel so vulnerable... yet important at the same time.

Lovina was used to sleeping alone. All of her nights in Italy were spent alone. Her friends had to leave to get to their own places nearby, but really there was no one that Lovina could talk to. She would stay outside her house, dressed down and staring up at the sky. Maybe if she talked long enough to those distant stars, then she could wish for them to come back. It never worked anyways. Lovina had never been in a real relationship. There were little crushes here and there when she was a teeny tiny kid. She had been begged to marry some men, and she always refused. Why? She knew she had to find someone first before being able to decide just who was for her. Even if she didfind someone, she'd still be alone in the world. It made Lovina sad that she had to get used to being so...alone. Now that someone was nearby her, it wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but it was enjoyable.

Antonio always felt like he the fault for bad things. That he was overall, just extremely bad. And for that reason, he never reached out to anyone. At least, he never did ever since he let something bad happen to people he cared deeply about. Antonio had a horrible past. Anyone that was on the ship had a past terrible as well. It was just that his was tragic. It tore him into many pieces. Antonio held onto her a little tighter, feeling like almost with this apparent innocence, with that false security and truth... things could be right again.

"Antonio, get your sorry butt over here!" a feminine voice sounded from the other side of the house. Antonio laughed, wondering what he did this time to agitate her. "Where did all of the tomatoes go? I thought we were going to use them to make lunch?" She asked, wiping her hands off on the white apron. Antonio guiltily put his hands up.

"I took them, yes. BUT. It was for a really good reason this time." Antonio said, wrapping an arm around her waist. He then started to conjure up the worst lie in history, moving his hands around to explain it. "-and then there was a huge explosion at the docks- don't ask me what it was- and then I dropped them all. Thank god I came back alive." He said, watching her start to laugh until her sides hurt. He laughed right along, snaking his other hand around her waist as well to hug her.

"You're such a huge dork, okay?" She said, poking his shoulder. He tilted his head onto her almost curly, wavy hair. She mumbled something into his chest and hugged him back. Her skirt hit against him uncomfortably, but that didn't matter at the moment. She said something a bit louder and looked up to him. Antonio tilted his head. "I didn't quite catch that."

"I said." She began in exasperation. "I said, do you really have to leave so soon?" She frowned at him and looked at him in a pained way. "Why aren't you taking me, this time? Remember that promise." she said, taking her hand up to wiggle her fingers. Antonio took her hand and kissed it on the ring that she had on her fourth finger. He nodded and smiled down at her solemnly.

"I remember, amor." He said, running his hand over the ring. "You haven't been off of the sea for a while. And didn't you want to see your brother again? I feel like the ocean is stressing you out. I want you to relax, without me there to bug you."

"Without you there? That's a little worse..." he said, looking up at him with a stubborn face. Her almost hazel like eyes didn't leave his for a moment. They stayed locked together. She sighed, and held onto him again, hiding her face in his chest. "Promise me to hurry back soon, alright? And if anyone messed you up, be sure that I'll mess them up instead!" She answered with the spunk that she usually hand. Antonio chuckled and nodded, running a hand through her hair, and holding her closely. "Promise me that you won't love anyone else while I'm not there."

"I promise."

"Don't break that promise, Antonio..."

"I'd never break that promise. I'll die with that promise. I promise to protect you so that you don't have to have a promise like that."

"Then It's perfect." She said with a small smile. "So we don't have to really leave." She tiptoed to press her lips to his. "Be safe."

"You too, my love. I'll be back soon

Goodbye."

Antonio never really slept much. There was a lot to be done, and even more to come in the future, now that he had the 'most powerful person to sail the seas' on his ship. The worry of others trying to invade his ship and take her away frightened him most... but he didn't exactly know why. He blinked slowly, making sure not to move much. He snuck out of the bed, replacing himself with warm blankets, hoping that she would not notice his absence. Antonio ran a hand through his hair and took glances at her. Lovina was still fast asleep.

He dressed himself correctly and left the room as quietly as he could. He looked over and saw that Gilbert was -again- sitting down in front of the wheel with his feet on top of it. Antonio sighed. He always ignored Antonio whenever he asked him not to do it. It was no use trying anymore. He walked over to join his friend, and sat down rather reluctantly. "Good morning."

"And a good morning it is, Toni. A good morning indeed." Gilbert replied jokingly, moving his ankles a little bit to steer the boat. "We'll be there by tomorrow afternoon. Just on time too. We're getting low on food and stuff. You know how well Francis is able to estimate how much we'll need."

"Yeah." Antonio agreed, yawning. Gilbert raised an eyebrow at him. Antonio caught his look. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking then no, nothing happened and no, that's not why I'm tired." Antonio sighed.

"No, that's not it." Gilbert said, looking forward. "Look, I'm one of your best friends. Tell me the real reason why you're stressed."

"What?" Antonio said, trying to give him an innocent look. "I never said I was stressed."

"Sometimes a person doesn't got to say it for another to know." Gilbert said, taking his feet off the wheel.

"I promise, she's not- er, I'm not-"

Gilbert inhaled and exhaled slowly, turning his head to seriously face Antonio. Antonio looked back at him, mentally cursing himself for mixing up his words. Just like every time. "She's very pretty, isn't she." Gilbert asked. Antonio closed his mouth and stayed quiet. "You know, she wears that ribbon or headband in a nice way. It's a lovely touch." He said, a little more stern. If anyone else were to talk to the Captain that way, they'd be demoted. But Gilbert and Antonio had been friends for an extremely long time. "How she ties the bow in the back. Yeah. That's nice. She's kinda feisty too. Not really afraid to tell you off, is she." Antonio looked in a different direction.

"It's not about her-"

"Yes it is." Gilbert interrupted, clenching his fists. "You noticed it. It may be a little different from before, but you notice it." He hissed at his friend. "And I'm not going to let you do it again!"

"Gilbert!" Antonio said in exasperation, turning to look at him with a pained expression. "It's not about her, It's not about Lovina either."

"You know pretty damn well it is." Gilbert replied through a clenched jaw. "Tell me. Do you love this girl? Do you actually, and I mean you swear on your goddamn life that you love this girl. Because if you don't, I might as well spare you the fucking pain and tell you right now that Lovina. Is. Not. Bel-"

"I understand that!" Antonio said, his turn to interrupt. His eyes were a deadly dark green, his features were pulled down into a sneer. "She's dead." A dull pain, almost like a stab to the chest, radiated around Antonio. It was as if all eyes were on him, and he was to be beheaded. "She's dead." He repeated, as if it would make any kind of difference at all. "Dead because I couldn't save her. Alright? Now you got it out of me! You've made me say it for the hundredth time since she died! I hope you're fucking happy, Gilbert, because I know you'd feel the same way if Maddie died, but no- she's alive and well! Alive and happy! Withoutyou." Antonio said, almost instantly regretting his words. Gilbert stood up fiercely, glaring down at Antonio.

"At least I'm not trying to replace her." He said quietly, more hurt, and walking away.

Thank you for reading. Tell me what you think will happen and what just happened! Another chapter will be uploaded soon. Stay tuned!