AN: Hey guys. Been a bit.

To those who reviewed:

CoconutBunni: :)

sonicxanimefan1: Will do!

rubydiaz98: You will see, I promise.

Enjoy.

The following morning at school, Raivis seemed hesitant to let go of Toris, who walked him to his class that day.

Toris sighed and ran a hand through his younger brother's hair. He spoke softly once they reached the door of his classroom. "Raiv, you have to go. I know you don't like being near people once they've hurt you in some way, but you have to be strong for me okay? I mean it. No tears. If you cry, so do I, and you don't want that, do you?"he asked softly when he had knelt down in front of the small Latvian.

Raivis shook his head. "No."he said quietly.

Toris smiled faintly. "Then keep your chin up and go in there and just have fun, okay? Lili's already there."he said softly.

Raivis nodded in understanding, giving his big brother a tight hug.

Toris grinned, pressing a soft kiss to the top of his brother's head before he got up. "Go on."he said, opening the door to the classroom.
Raivis waved at him before he entered.
Once Toris saw he'd had a seat, he turned around and headed back out to the car.

The second that Lili saw Raivis, she perked up. "Raiv!"she greeted brightly.

Raivis blinked at her before smiling. "Hello, Lili."he greeted.

Lili smiled as the Latvian took his seat. "You feeling better today?"

Raivis nodded in answer.

"Good!"Lili said softly. "Vash said I could invite you over today if you want to come! He's going to talk to your brothers about it at school."

Raivis smiled at her and nodded. "Sure. If my brothers let me, I'd love that."he replied.

The day flew by. Raivis was a bit better about his stuttering and he was careful not to put himself into any situations to cause him to become that frightened.

Lunch was when the first issue came about. As soon as Lili and him sat down to eat, one of the other kids close by started in.

"Well would you look who decided to show his face again."

The teasing was something that Raivis knew he shouldn't be upset by, but he couldn't bring himself to not take it to heart.

When his smile fell, Lili frowned and spoke up. "Leave him alone!"she snapped. "He's done nothing to you."

The boy gave a grin then. "Oh. Raivis...this is sad. Your girlfriend has to stick up for you?"he asked, tone switching from teasing to downright cold.

Raivis scoffed at him. "J-jerk."he commented. "Don't bring her into this."

That evening, when the two's brothers got there, it was for them to see Raivis sporting quite a few injuries.
Eduard's eyes widened and he shot over to examine his brother. "What happened to you?!"he asked in shock.

Raivis shook his head. "It's nothing."he said, pulling out of his brother's grip.

"It is not nothing. You're hurt, Raiv."Eduard commented. "What happened?"

Lili spoke up. "He was defending me."she said softly. "It's a long story."

Eduard looked to Lili before looking back at his brother. Vash, who had heard this exchange, half smiled. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me."he commented. "I figured he'd be the kind to get hurt for others."

Toris nodded. "He is, he just has to bring himself to get the courage to do it."he grumbled.

Eduard sighed and kissed the top of his brother's head. "God...don't shrug it off if you're hurt, alright? I thought that someone had done this for fun."

Raivis gave a weak smile. "They aren't that mean."he responded. "Just mean enough to make fun of others."

That day turned out pretty okay, Toris thought later on that night once he had carried Raivis to his bed. In fact, it was one of the calmer days that they'd had recently.

Here ya go.