GuidoxCiccio Fanficton Chapter 11

A fanfiction request. ( GuidoxCiccio )

This fanfic was requested to me and I did my best. I have to warn you though, it has heavy mentioning of bullying, a slight eating disorder, and a few slurs and curses. I have never had an eating disorder, but it's a very serious subject and if you or anyone is dealing with it, seek professional help because they deserve to be healthy and happy. I also want to say that this fic is not connected to my previous fic, though a few details may be similar.

After the movie, after that summer.

Ciccio quieted down, letting the conversation around the dinner table slowly die out with his silence. His mother glanced at him, her eyes gentle as she tried to figure out what was wrong. Ciccio didn't meet her eyes. Instead, he stared at the almost full dinner plate and scrunched up his nose. "Is there something wrong with the food, dear?" his mother asked, carefully. His dad also looked up, the last one to pick up on things as usual. Ciccio school his head and switched from looking at the plate to looking at his knees. "No. Everything's fine," Ciccio answered quietly and flashed a quick smile at his parents as he stood up. "Thank you for the food." He walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs, not wanting to stay any longer than necessary.

He sat down on the chair next to his desk in his room and sighed. A creeping feeling of disappointing his parents made him regret leaving so suddenly. He could definitely have tried to be nicer. Now they knew he wasn't feeling well and would ask him about it. But he could lie. He would lie. Downstairs, he heard the front door open after a few quick knocks. The person from outside talked with his mother, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. A wave of nausea struck him and he leaned his forehead against his desk. A slow groan escaped his mouth as he tried to breathe as slowly as possible. It would pass eventually, he hoped. His mother and the other person had gone quiet downstairs but he could hear his father cleaning up the dinner table. Shakily, he grabbed the edge of his pants and forced another deep breath down his throat. he shut his eyes tight as the memories pushed themself back to the front of his mind. "Ugly fatty," "Obiese asshole," "Have you tried losing a whale's worth of weight?" and so on.

Being pressed against a wall was bad enough, but being called those things straight to his face and knowing that if he showed even the slightest bit of sadness, they would bully him even more was unbearable. Almost every time during recess in school, they would find him. No matter what he tried, they always found him. It was all he could think about, those mean words. He already regretted what he'd done when he was "friends" with Ercole and this made him regret it even more. As if the bullies in school knew and wanted to give some personal payback. At least, Ciccio had never said such terrible things. But they had. They did. To him. And it was eating away at his mind. Another shaky breath. Everything was quiet downstairs. At least as far as he could tell. He thought about going downstairs and eating a little more. He'd apologise to his parents and smile at them. They wouldn't worry anymore and he didn't have to feel hungry. But he knew how that would end too. He'd just feel worse and wouldn't allow himself to eat anything for breakfast, and barely anything for lunch at school either. It was a vicious circle. He swallowed dryly and opened his eyes, staring straight at the wooden board of the desk.

He jolted up in his seat as he heard a sudden loud knock on his door. The knocks were followed by his mother's voice. "Ciccio, dear! Are you in there?" "Sí, mama…" he answered, blinking a few times to force the burning tears back. "Good," she said with a released sigh. "Your Guido is here," a small chuckle followed the sentence and Ciccio sighed. That's how his mother would announce Guido ever since they started dating. "Ok." Soon, she opened the door and let Guido in. With a warm smile, she closed the door again.

"Hey, amorino," Guido said gently and kissed the top of Ciccio's head. Ciccio quickly stood up and followed Guido to sit on the bed. That was Guido's favourite place to sit, Ciccio on the bed and Guido on the floor. Ciccio tried to say something lighthearted, getting a light conversation started, but he couldn't. Quickly, Guido watched on. He'd always been very smart. "Ciccio. There's something wrong, isn't there?" he asked, immediately standing up and sitting next to his boyfriend. Ciccio shook his head but couldn't meet Guido's eyes. "Ciccio…" Guido took a breath and started over. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. But it might make you feel better." Ciccio nodded slowly and breathed heavily. Guido would understand. Suddenly, he felt an overwhelming urge to tell Guido. But he didn't open his mouth, and he didn't look at Guido. "I've noticed that you've been… feeling worse lately." Guido continued, wanting to fill the silence and make Ciccio feel a little more comfortable with him around.

"That's… true," Ciccio admitted and immediately shut his mouth again. His voice was way too shaky for his liking and he didn't want to start crying. "Is physical touch ok right now?" Guido asked and as soon as Ciccio nodded, he placed his hand on Ciccio's back. Ciccio blinked and tried again to look at Guido, but he couldn't. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently, bending down and trying to look Ciccio in the eyes. Ciccio hummed quickly as a response and Guido smiled. "Great. Then take your time. I'll be here as soon as you feel ready." Guido smiled and straightened up. Ciccio swallowed again, thinking over the words. "I'm sorry," he started and winched. He hated when Guido apologised for things he didn't need to apologise for, and now he was doing exactly that. "… for being so distant with you. There are some things… going on in school." Guido thought back to school. In two days, they would both be going back to school. Sorting thoughts out as soon as possible would be quite important, no matter what happened to Ciccio. He just wished he could spend more time with Ciccio, but they were in parallel classes.

Guido stayed quiet, wanting Ciccio to talk. He knew he didn't like it when people asked him questions when he was feeling down. "There are a few people in my class that's been picking on me… for a while." He felt tears burn in the corners of his eyes and he tried to blink them away. Guido hummed, showing Ciccio that he was listening and wanting him to continue. "They keep calling me some… nasty stuff. Primarily "ugly fatty" and things like that." He could hear Guido draw a sharp breath. In the new silence, a few tears dropped down on his knees. The silence continued. Guido wanted to hear the whole story. "And I've-" The tears clogged up his throat. He couldn't continue and admit to not eating nearly enough. Instead of continuing the sentence, he finally let the tears roll down. After so many days, it felt nice to finally allow himself to cry. Guido removed his hand from Ciccio's back at the speed of light as he saw Ciccio move slightly closer to him. Ciccio wrapped his arms around Guido's torso and rested his forehead against Guido's shoulder. "It's ok to cry. I'm here for you," Guido said gently in Ciccio's ear as he hugged him back. It didn't need to be long to be comforting. "I've been-" Ciccio tried again, taking a shaky breath. His voice broke as soon as he started talking, and he hated that. Clearing his voice, he tried for the final time.

"I've been eating… less. Because of that." He forced out and he could feel Guido hold him tighter. "Oh, Ciccio," he ispered. He knew it took a lot of courage for Ciccio to be so honest with him. "They are wrong. They are so wrong and I think you know it deep down." Ciccio, now done explaining the situation, let himself quietly cry into Guido's shoulder. "They don't know what they're talking about. Their words are only out to hurt you. There's no truth behind them." Guido squeezed a little tighter and Ciccio winced. "What?" Guido asked, quickly letting go. Ciccio hesitantly let go of Guido as well to slightly pull his shirt up, revealing a green bruise the size of a fist on his side above his hip. Guido gasped and covered his mouth as his eyes fell on it. "Did… did they do that?" he asked behind his hand. Hesitantly and still with tears falling down his face, Ciccio nodded again. Guido's eyebrows furrowed and he closed his eyes. He took a few deep breaths before opening his eyes again "First thing's first," he said decisively and placed his hands on Ciccio's shoulders. Dragging him closer, he embraced his boyfriend once more. "Do you want to cry some more or do you want to do something else about it?" Ciccio cleared his throat again and answered. "Let's- let's do something else," he said, but the tears didn't stop. Guido hummed. "Right. If that's what you want." Guido took another deep breath.

"What we are going to do is as follows. We will go downstairs and talk to your parents." Ciccio flinched back and tried to shake his head. "I'm sorry, but it's important. I know it feels really scary to talk to them. Though, I'm confident in that they can help." Hesitantly, Ciccio nodded for Guido to continue. "After we've done that, you and I will eat a proper dinner, and since it's Friday, we'll watch a movie with some chips as well." Ciccio looked hesitant once more. Eating was the last thing he wanted to do right now, but he knew Guido was right. "And as soon as we come back to school, we will talk to the principal and we'll give those bullies a piece of our mind." Ciccio chuckled quietly. "Preferably without violence," Guido finished and smiled at Ciccio. Ciccio wiped away tears with the back of his hand and cleared his throat one final time, hoping that his voice would hold but not caring too much if it didn't. "Right. Let's go downstairs." he said, and added much more quietly: "I'm starving…" Guido stood up as well, taking Ciccio's outstretched hand. "Me too."

Talking to Ciccio's parents was hard, but they managed in the end. It took a little encouragement, but Ciccio had a whole meal. Guido wanted to stay with Ciccio for as long as possible, so he got to sleep over until Monday morning when they got ready for school together.

"What bunch of bologna. The principal isn't in until after lunch today." Guido announced to Ciccio as he stepped out of the teachers's office. Ciccio swallowed and glanced down the hall. Recess wasn't over yet and class hadn't started. "Guido…" he whispered. Guido stepped closer and placed a hand around Ciccio's shoulders. "I won't leave you. We should be happy it's only Monday." Ciccio smiled uncertainly and raised his eyebrows. "Why?" "Because our recesses align on Mondays," Guido said, smiling wider. The class would start soon and Guido promised to come find him as soon as possible. The school had a strict policy about being inside turning recess, so they were going to have to go outside at some point.

They sat behind a large stone. Ciccio had never avoided the bullies with someone before. It was a nice change of pace. But it didn't take long for the bullies to find him again. Guido stood up as soon as he saw their scowling faces. "Hey, fat ass. Who's your friend?" the leader said snarkily, looking straight through Guido at Ciccio. Ciccio looked away, his face a stone mast as to not show what he was actually feeling. Guido had no problem showing the bullies what he felt, however. "I'm surprised you don't recognise me. Though, I can't say I know who you are. Of course, I don't pay attention to slimy cowards." he growled and clenched his fists. The bully continued to ignore him, though his eyes showed a smidge of hurt for a split second. Instead, he continued to stare at Ciccio. "Wow. You're a fatso and a fagot. Who'd have thought?" he continued. With a snap of his fingers, the other bullies pushed Ciccio into the wall and held him stuck. Guido spun around and felt a stabbing regret. He saw the bullies, falling into the same trap as he and Ciccio did with Ercole. And he remembered what he and Ciccio had done to Luca and Alberto. This time, the roles had switched. But not much else. What Luca and Alberto didn't have that time was someone who could stand up for them. But Ciccio had someone. The leader of the bullies turned his hand into a fist and prepared to swing. But before he could, Guido took his wrist and stopped him from following through. "Don't."

"Or what?" the leader asked, finally acknowledging Guido's presence. "Or, I'm not so sorry to say, someone's gonna end up with a broken nose. And it isn't him," he said with a quick head gesture to Ciccio. The bully raised his head slightly, sticking his nose in the air. "You know what, I do recognise you," he said to Guido, keeping his fist in the air, still in the middle of a punch. "You're that scrawny dude that had a panic attack a few weeks ago." Guido's stance didn't waves as he stared the bully in the eyes. "And you are the cunt who's been messin' with my friend. So step. Back." Guido demanded. If he punished the bully now, it would start a fistfight. A fistfight he would lose. If he let go, the bully would continue hurting Ciccio. There was no winning in this situation. His eyes flicked to Ciccio. He met Ciccio's wide-open eyes and thin mouth. That mask rarely let any emotion through at all. But it did this time. He looked around, not changing his position. Ciccio didn't fight against being held back any more and the bully's stance was quite relaxed. He knew Guido didn't plan to let go. So Guido simply changed the plan.

He put on a face of defeat, letting the bully think that he'd won. But just as he was about to let go of the bully's wrist, he turned and swiped his leg instead. A wave of surprise hit his face as he fell to the ground. His head knocked against the hard ground and stared at the sky while Guido continued. It only took a few seconds for him to pry Ciccio loose from the other bullies and step backwards, Ciccio behind him with a frowning face and clenched fists. The other bullies rushed to help their leader up again and soon they were standing face to face once more. "Want to go again, you ugly bottom feeder?" he asked lowly, stretching a protective arm over Ciccio where he stood beside him. The bully scrunched up his nose as he looked at them. "What a sight. The scrawny fag and the fat coward." "Do you want to go again?" Guido asked again, hearing Ciccio square up beside him. A few seconds of silence spread out between them and the bell rang, startling the bullies. Guido turned to Ciccio with a smile. "Come on. These stinking slugs don't deserve a second more of our time."

As he walked back next to Ciccio, he reflected on their encounter. He barely knew Ercole, even after 6 years. And, self-centred as he was, he rarely talked about how he had it at home. Most likely, these bullies were just like Ercole. Afraid of new things and being brought up to despise anything different. At least that was one possibility. There were many more, but that didn't make what the bullies had done alright. He would not leave Ciccio, and they would have a big talk with the principal once he got there, but that will be later. This was now. And now, he and Ciccio had won. It might take time for Ciccio to start eating as normal, and Guido would make sure he talked to someone who would help, make it easier for Ciccio. But that would be later. This was now.

I will now continue my spree of Guiccio stuff. However, I can't guarantee quality.

Guido and Ciccio on a picnic ( Luca Disney Pixar 2021 )

Here's a pencil drawing made by my sister. It's a bit blurry and zoomed in but it's good enough to post. Sadly, I can't tag her anywhere, but I have gotten her permission to upload this.

GuidoxCiccio fanfiction Chapter 5

I haven't gotten much to say about this chapter. Machiavelli is here though. I didn't want to leave an important character like that out for too long.

The next day.

Since the incident at the beach, Guido had been keeping to the outer skirts of the town. Even with the risk of running into Ercole alone. He would excuse himself to go out for runs to his parents, which would look normal to them. Maybe he was running a bit more often than usual, but what were they going to do about it? He would hear from his dad that Ciccio had stopped by while he was gone, and Guido would promise to get back to him later. Admittedly, he procrastinated on it for as long as possible. 

"Machiavelli, don’t you-" Giulia said to the kitchen behind her as she opened the front door and faced a nervous Guido. 

"Guido?"

"Sí..." he answered, feeling ashamed. The sun burned at the back of his head, he wanted to leave just as much as she wanted to kick him out. 

"What do you want?" she huffed and glanced behind her to see if anyone else wanted to help her with this situation. No one was there, so she was forced to talk to him all alone. 

"I just want some help…" 

"What?!"

"Shh! Yes. I just need some help to stay hidden for a while," he tried to explain but Giulia cut him off again. 

"From what?"

"From Ciccio!" he almost screamed and Giulia went quiet. She had the power to refuse, and it would feel so good, such great revenge for the past six years plus the last time they saw each other. 

"Giulia, what's going on?" Massimo asked as he appeared behind her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and looked at the embarrassed boy on their front porch. Massimo recognized him, of course. Everyone knew who he was. Giulia quickly filled Massimo in on what Guido had said and he raised his eyebrows at him. Guido had to fiddle with the edge of his shirt to not be too nervous, trying to not make eye contact. 

"Of course we will help him," Massimo said, a little unnecessarily loud and Guido shined up. 

"Really?" Guido asked

"Really!? Papá!" Giulia complained and looked at her father. 

"Giulietta," he mumbled back and sighed as she gestured for him to come inside. He quietly obeyed and offered to take his shoes off before entering the house. She shook her head at him. 

"Giulia... why is he here?" Alberto asked as they walked into Giulia's room. 

"He needs to 'hide' for a while," she explained to him and Luca and opened the window to let Guido out, onto the branch that lead to the platform in the tree. He looked around his new platform, it was quite empty and he noticed why he couldn't just climb up from the ground. Most of the wooden pieces that would usually stick on the trunk had fallen off and the tree trunk itself was way too steep with too few places to grip. The underdogs left the window slightly open, making Guido able to hear Giulia explain why he was there to the other two. The wooden platform was hard against his back as he laid down.

"At least I get a bit of shade," he said to himself and looked up at the leaf-covered sky. 

"I shouldn't keep away from him like this," he groaned into his hands and hoped that the underdogs wouldn't hear him. But at this point, he was too tired to care if they did. 

"But what if..."

There was a knock on Giulia's front door and Guido jolted up. Peeking over the edge of the platform, he saw the top of Ciccio's head. 

"Cazzo," he muttered under his breath as he shot a pleading glance at Giulia through the window. She meet his eyes and smiled too quickly for him to see what kind of smile it was. He peeked over the edge again to see Giulia open the door and look flatly at Ciccio. 

"What do you want?" she asked and Ciccio laughed slightly. 

"This might sound weird, but I'm looking for Guido," he explained kicking a pebble to the side. 

"You mean he's not around?" 

"Uh... sí. You don't happen to know where he is?" A smile spread over Giulia's face.

"You know what, I-" 

"Giulia, let me talk to you for a second," Luca demanded from behind her. With a sigh, she gestured for Ciccio to wait and closed the door.

"What?"

"You aren't thinking about rating him out, are you?" Giulia didn’t say anything. Luca huffed and shook his head at her. 

"Hasn't he gone through enough payback?" Luca mumbled and Giulia considered it for a moment.

"And you know, I would feel really betrayed if I was Guido," he continued, trying to stop Giulia from following through with her plan. "And I'm pretty sure you would too." 

"... True," she whispered before spinning around and opening the door. Ciccio was still there, waiting patiently with his hands in his pockets. 

Guido could hint at Luca, bouncing lightly behind the red-headed girl. His mind immediately thought she was going to expose him. Giulia opened her mouth to talk and he breathed sharply.

"As I was saying," she started, mouth twitching at the corners. "I have seen Guido today." Guido shrunk back on the platform and sighed. So this is how I die? If Ciccio finds out I've been avoiding him, he might feel really sad. But if I go and talk to him, there's no telling what might happen. 

"Really? Where is he?" Ciccio asked a bit too quickly. Guido didn't pay much attention to that though as he waited for Giulia to continue with suspense. 

"He was in the town square not too long ago. I haven’t seen him since." Guido fought back a smile.

"Oh..." Ciccio said without hiding the disappointment in his voice. 

"M-hm," she insisted, struggling to keep her mouth upward. 

"I guess I'll leave then." 

"Good." her voice cracked as she slammed the door in his face. 

Ciccio stood, staring at the door for a few additional seconds before making his way to the fountain again. 

Guido listened to the creek of Giulia and Luca making their way up the stairs and he sat up to watch Ciccio walk across the town square and disappear out of view.  

"You owe me one, ragazzo," she groaned, her face appearing in the window looking almost as red as her hair. 

"Sicura," Guido answered and laid back on the wooden boards. Giulia dragged her head back through the window, closing it fully this time. 

He covered his face with his hands and sighed, trying extremely hard not to acknowledge the cat that was sitting about a meter away from him. Impossible task. 

“Hello there… cat,” he tried, staying as still as possible. When he removed his hands and looked at the cat, it stared back at him, judging his life decisions. It squinted at him, and he squinted back. It felt like the cat knew. A few minutes passed before the cat finally blinked and Guido allowed himself to take a slow breath. Being stared down by a cat was not what he expected would happen today. When the cat slowly lay down, Guido broke eye contact. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and closed his eyes again. He knew the cat was still there, still distrustfully squinting at him, but it didn’t matter as much now. As long as the cat didn’t scratch him, it would be fine. The leaves rustled above him and the wind blew so gently it almost didn’t exist. He could feel spots of sun that had managed to get through the leaves. Staying here wouldn’t be so bad, but he had to be home for dinner. He’d hate it if Elena started to worry and he’d have to answer a bunch of questions about where he’d been.

GuidoxCiccio fanfiction Chapter 7

It took me a while to figure out exactly how to word everything in this chapter, but in the end, I'm pretty proud of this one.

That Tuesday.

It was so quiet. The whole house felt gapingly empty while Guido made his breakfast. The other chairs around the dinner table stood alone. He already missed the usual routine with his family. Frederico had kept the spirits up to the best of his abilities before the trip. Making food wasn't hard either, Guido knew how to do it. But nobody was walking up or down the stairs, nobody listened to music and nobody walked in or out of the house. All this except for Guido. Frederico made a point to call at least once a day. He liked to make sure that Guido had eaten breakfast, and then call again after dinner. 

The boy had walked around the house in solitude during the first day, distracting himself with books or chores whenever his brain would allow him to. That is when he could break his thoughts from Ciccio long enough to figure out something else to do. After dinner on the first day, he'd already sat on every surface besides a chair in the entire house and contemplated why his brain was being so irritating for at least an hour collectively. The sun lowered itself over the town as Guido paced the floor of the living room. His fingers kept tapping on his legs as he walked, desperately trying to focus enough to remember where he left the paper with the phone number Frederico would be using during the trip. 

The ringtone rang out from the kitchen and Guido sprinted over to answer it. 

"Ciao, Ragazzo!" Frederico's voice rang metallically in Guido's ear. 

"Papá? Did something happen?" Guido asked and sat down on the counter next to the phone. 

"Not even a hello?" 

"Scusi papá. Didn't think of it," Guido replied, starting to play with the little plastic circles on the phone holder. Frederico laughed on the other end and answered Guido's question. Guido sighed into the phone while looking out at the sunset. 

“So what have you been doing today?” Frederico asked metallically through the phone. 

"I'm not sure what you want me to say. I stayed at home for the whole day," 

"Really? Not leaving at all?"

"I didn't have time." 

"What did you do the whole day then?" Frederico sounded honestly baffled. To be fair though, they didn't have time to talk that much during the other time Frederico called that day, so Guido could forgive him. 

"You know... stuff," 

"You know... nothing," Frederico corrected and Guido couldn't help but laugh. He groaned theatrically into the phone, shoving another laugh down his throat. They talked a little more, and Frederico said that Elena was “doing better”. Guido didn’t really know what that meant but he decided that it wasn’t worth it to ask. 

Frederico hung up the phone and Guido dragged himself up the stairs and into his room. He debated on going out the window, but it didn't feel right. Not when he could just walk out the door. He also didn't want to leave the house without anyone inside. Staring at the roof, he realized how empty it was without all the papers. 

"I should try and get some posters or something," he mumbled to himself and wormed into bed. Since his parents weren't home, he didn't bother to change into pyjamas, but he did brush his teeth with the toothbrush he kept by his bedside table. And while drifting off to sleep soon after, he convinced himself to invite Ciccio over tomorrow to avoid staying alone. Even if it meant dealing with those strange, not-so-new feelings. 

-------------

"You ok being alone like this?" Ciccio asked as he stepped inside. Guido smiled and nodded. 

"Oh, have you eaten?" Guido asked, gesturing toward the kitchen and offering some leftovers in case he wanted them. 

"Yes, I've eaten. You don't have to do anything."

"Good," Guido hummed and jolted as the phone rang in the kitchen. Must be Frederico, he thought. Smiling uncertainly, he wondered why Frederico hadn't called earlier as he promised. 

"Would you mind if I answered that?" He asked, again vaguely gesturing to the phone on the kitchen counter. 

"No. Go ahead." 

"Thank you."

Guido picked up the red handle, recognizing the voice immediately as his dad.

"Ragazzo! How're you doing today," Frederico asked after whispering something to someone next to him. 

"I'm good, but I kind of have a guest over right now..." Guido mumbled and decided against sitting on the table. Frederico snickered on the other side. In the corner of his eye, he saw Ciccio enter the kitchen as well.

"Are you with your Ciccio?" he asked, hesitating at the end. The 'your' was a mistake, and Guido sighed heavily.

"Yes, papá. I'm with my boyfr-" Guido froze. Stuttering escaped his mouth as tried to think of something to say, before mumbling into the phone. 

"S-Scusi, I have to hang up." He slowly placed the handle back on the holder and stared at the wall. 

"Cazzo," he breathed quietly and tried to mentally prepare himself. Ciccio had no doubt heard him... maybe he could play it off as a mistake. 

"What?" Ciccio's voice cracked. Guido hesitated. There was still time to pretend like it was a mistake. And Guido didn’t want to. Wanting to tell him, but not wanting him to know was eating away at Guido's heart. 

"Boyfriend?" Ciccio asked, a small smile creeping onto his face as Guido looked away, not wanting to show how red he thought he was.  

"Lo errore," Guido mumbled, folded his arms, and kept his eyes as far from Ciccio's face as possible. Ciccio didn’t say anything, and so Guido started to feel the nervousness creeping up on him like flooding water. He made a split decision. This was it. Now was one of the best possible times since no one else was around and he could feel secure now that he was at his own home. 

"Though… I wouldn’t mind it," he stuttered, gripping harder at his arms as he forced himself to look over at Ciccio. The other boy's eyes were wide and his ears had turned red.

"Really?" Ciccio asked, hesitating way more than normal. 

"Sí," Guido hummed. "Ti amo, Ciccio."

Ciccio stood stale and quiet for a bit too long. Guido went from feeling brave to feeling nervous. This was the part where Ciccio would reject him in at least half of the daydreams he had about this moment. All color had disappeared from Ciccio's face as he stared back at Guido. 

"S-stai bene?" Guido asked, feeling his confidence slip away like water in a sink as he unfolded his arms. Ciccio started to snicker to himself.

"Perché sei tu...?" Guido tried when he felt a sudden pressure around his ribcage. Ciccio wrapped his arms around Guido in a tight hug that knocked the air out of Guido's lungs. 

"Ciccio..."

"You're speaking Italian, Guido," Ciccio reminded him. "It's no problem though," he continued, squeezing tighter around Guido.

"Does this mean-?" Guido started while hoping for Ciccio to finish his sentence or answer before he had to continue. When he realized that Ciccio wanted to give Guido a chance to finish the sentence by himself, he took a deep breath.

"We’re... boyfriends now?" Ciccio didn't answer straight away, and Guido took the opportunity to relax in the hug. It felt just like he'd imagined it. Ciccio's strength put a lot of pressure on Guido's body. Guido rested his chin on Ciccio's head, feeling Ciccio’s soft hair brush against his cheek and figuring to enjoy every moment while the embrace lasted.

"Sí, tesorino mio," Ciccio finally answered, his voice a bit muffled. "Is that ok?" he asked slowly. Guido nodded smiling even though Ciccio couldn't see it. 

"Sí," he said, not managing to hide the relief and tears in his voice. 

Ciccio let go immediately to cup Guido's face in his hands and look him in the eyes. Guido followed the movement and bent down slightly.

"Do you need to cry?" Ciccio asked softly. Guido shook his head but tears sprung to his eyes anyway. 

"It's ok. You can cry," Ciccio reminded him. Guido reached up and pressed his hand against the back of Ciccio's.

"I know," he whispered, blood rushing to his face as he looked over the boy in front of him. 

"I got to call my dad," Guido remembered, nodding towards the phone standing on the counter. 

"Yeah. Right." Ciccio said as he let go of his new boyfriend and stepped back towards the kitchen stove. Guido shuffled to the phone, found the paper with the temporary phone number on it, and spun the plastic circles to dial the phone number. It didn't ring for long before Frederico picked up. 

"Hey, ragazzo! Are you ok?" 

"Yeah, papá. I'm sorry for hanging up on you," Guido said, slightly muffling his voice with his hand. 

"I feel a bit ashamed," he admitted, turned around to gesture to Ciccio that he didn't have to stay there and wait for him, and threw in a quick smile as Ciccio started to walk up the stairs. 

"It's no problem," Frederico assured. 

"I... have to admit something though," Guido took a deep breath, preparing himself. "Ciccio is... my boyfriend now."

Silence echoed over the line. 

"I-" Guido's dad hesitated, keeping his voice as straight as possible. "I knew it!" he shouted into the phone, making Guido yank the phone handle away from his ear. 

"Elena! Your son has gotten himself a boyfriend!" he continued, but not as close to the phone. Guido slowly put it back close to his ear. On the other end, he could hear a hushed down squeak before Frederico came back.

"Oh, we're so proud of you, ragazzo. We know how hard it can be to say what you mean sometimes." Guido stared at the wall. 

"Thank you."

GuidoxCiccio fanfiction Chapter 1

So, I realised that I've never posted fanfiction on Tumblr before, so this might be a mess. Either way, here's the first chapter: ( I know it's a short one, but I think it'll be fine anyway )

Guido's dad knocked on Guido's door before he opened it. Guido sat on the floor with his head in his hands. 

"Son, are you ok?" Frederico asked with one hand on the door handle. Ready to close the door if necessary.

"Yes, Frederico. I'm fine. I'm just preparing. Ciccio is coming to pick me up today," Guido explained, but keep his head in his hands. Frederico glanced around Guido's room, leaving some space before speaking again. Guido's bed with the dark overcast was neatly made, his clean clothes were all folded and ready to be put away and his desk was the messiest it's been in a while. All over the desk were pens, sketches, and ripped-out pieces of newspapers. 

"Have you gotten one?" 

"I haven’t had an attack in a couple of weeks, papá," Guido reassured his dad, still not changing his position on the floor. 

"Well, good. Because Ciccio is here now," Frederico said gently and Guido shot up from the floor. He stumbled slightly as his body adjusted to the sudden change. Quickly, he turned to face his dad and asked if he looked ok before Frederico put his hands on Guido's shoulders. 

"Ragazzo. You look fine," he said, forcing Guido to take a few breaths and relax. He then ruffled his boy's hair and smiled. 

"Everything's ok," he assured and opened the bedroom door a bit more behind him to let Guido out. Before Guido went down the stairs leading to the hallway, he fixed his hair one last time and grinned nervously.

Guido hurried down the stairs, taking two steps at a time until he reached the hallway. Ciccio stood calmly by the opened entrance door. He smiled and waved as soon as he saw his friend. Around his wrist was a shell bracelet. Ercole had said it looked stupid and was for women anyway, which is why Ciccio hadn't worn it often. Guido relaxed almost instantly where he stood on the stairs. Ciccio smiled back, waiting for Guido to say goodbye to his family before talking to him. Rushing down the last few steps of stairs, Guido put on his light blue running shoes. 

"Bye, mamá!" Guido shouted into the kitchen where his mother was washing the dishes by the sink.

"Have fun, figlio mio!" she shouted back, putting another plate down on a stack.

Once they exited the house they didn’t have to walk far before getting to the town square. As usual, there were lots of children playing football despite the sign that forbid it. It was noisy and hard to concentrate on what he and Ciccio were saying to each other, so they decided to walk by the stone-covered shore. A house cast a large shadow over them and thus they sat down in the shade, in peace. The waves rolled in front of them, and they fell into a peaceful silence. However, a question had been nagging on the back of Guido’s mind for a while now.

"Do you ever... think about Ercole?" Guido asked and started biting on the inside of his cheek. Ciccio looked over the slowly flowing water as he thought about his answer.

Ciccio nodded. "Yeah."

"Can I ask why you joined him?" 

"I mean, why not. I'll tell you," Ciccio leaned his head back as he thought back to 6 years ago. 

"I was pretty lonely, you know. Mostly, I would help my dad with the fishing and didn’t have a lot of time outside of school," he started. Guido had utterly forgotten about his teeth crunching the inside of his cheek as he listened to his friend's story. 

"And I think Ercole realized since I was a pretty big kid, he could use me as a bodyguard." Guido made a low agreeing sound and wiggled his legs over the water.

"Do you ever... regret what you did?" 

"Yeah. That too," he whispered, looking at Guido from the corner of his eyes, and grinning. Guido swallowed and turned his head towards the water. 

"How about you?" Ciccio asked and Guido frose. 

"What?" he squeaked and suddenly became very interested in the foamy waves. 

"Why did you join Ercole?" Ciccio clarified. 

"Right," Guido whispered, planning what he would say.

"I guess I didn't want to get picked on. I mean, you know why we started picking on Luca and Alberto." Guido looked back at Ciccio.

"Why would Ercole ever pick on you?" 

"You know..." Guido hesitated for a moment. He gesticulated in front of him with his hands as he tried to find the words. When he decided it was not the right time to explain, he stopped trying to. 

"Eh... don't worry about it," he breathed and wiggled his feet over the slow ocean.

"Right," Ciccio said, figuring it wouldn't help to stay on the topic. 

"So... what else have you planned for today?" Guido asked, changing the subject. 

"I thought we could try going for a run," he suggested with a jokingly pained voice. 

"Going for a run? You never enjoyed running before,"

"True, but I think doing things you like is just as good," Ciccio added, letting Guido form his own opinions.

"Now?"

"Why not?"

Guido stood up, shaking his legs in preparation, and turned to Ciccio. He continued to grin at Guido until they set off for a jog around town.

GuidoxCiccio fanfiction Chapter 9

Time for the race! Honestly, I spun a wheel to decide who was going to win, but I'm not going to spoil it now. You'll just have to read and find out.

The same day.

The ocean was empty of boats as people gathered around the start line. Guido lined up alongside the rest of them. He looked around nervously at the other contestants. Around them were the contestant's families and the other people in the teams, cheering them on and waiting for their turn. He did feel a bit lonely. At least before, he was the one who waited and cheered Ciccio on. That was easier. Frederico couldn't make it to the start, but he'd promised to be there to receive him at the end. 

However, he wasn't all alone. Of course, he wasn’t. Ciccio stood a little off to the side, grinning at him when Guido looked his way. 

"You got this," he mouthed at Guido as siñora Marsigliese counted down and rang her bell. Pebbles scattered from beneath their feet as they sprinted into the ocean. Water washed over their ankles, their arms and their faces as they dived. Guido took a deep breath before dunking his head into the calm blue waves. The remaining lengths to swim felt like a blur. The bottom of the ocean sunk further away as he kept himself close to the surface. He knew he wasn't the world's most experienced swimmer, but at least he was fast enough. 

Giulia rose from the water and threw her swimming goggles off to the side as she ran up to Alberto and sent him off to start eating. Guido stumbled up a few seconds after, nodded to Ciccio to start, and hurried off to change into dry clothes. The pasta had been changed to lasagne, and Ciccio grabbed the fork. It was a bit boring when it was just plain pasta, no sauce or vegetables, but this wasn't an average lunch. This was the race. Guido slipped up behind him to patiently wait until he was finished. To their side, Alberto was having a bit of trouble, not getting as much pasta on his fork as he would have wanted. 

"Done," Ciccio breathed and swallowed, giving Guido a high five and letting him get on the bicycle. Guido jumped upon the bicycle and started the ride. He heard Luca starting a few meters behind him. Luca was statistically faster than him, but he believed he had a slight advantage. He was older, for one, and he had stronger legs. Maybe that would be enough. His bicycle whined uncomfortably as he trampled on, not taking the small cup of water offered to him. As he made his way further up the hill, he realized he had a disadvantage as well. He had been swimming. Luca hadn't. But Luca was still behind him, not taking the race as seriously as last time. 

He breathed heavily as he looked down from the tip of Mount Portorosso. Guido's legs felt weak and tired. He had to continue though, down at the bottom Frederico and Ciccio were waiting for him. And Luca grew closer. The wind slapped him across the face as he began his descent. The wheels of the bike squeaked as they tumbled down the stone path. Turning his head, he quickly peeked behind him and saw Luca's determined face.

"Ah," he breathed as he sped up.

Calculating advantages and disadvantages made him feel a little bit dizzy. That, accompanied by a lack of proper breathing. He should just focus on going down, but it was hard. His breath was heavy as he did his best to speed up. Around him, people stood in doors and alleyways, cheering Luca on as they speed down the hill. Honestly, he wasn't surprised. It did motivate him though, as he channelled whatever energy he had left to keep going. He heard a huff and as he glanced over, he saw Luca coming up next to him. 

Their eyes meet and Guido was filled with a bubbling sense of competitiveness. He grinned at Luca and Luca smirked back. Their legs were already moving as fast as they could, so all they could do was try not to slow down as they neared to finish line. In a split second, the finish line came into view. He could hint at Frederico standing around, waiting in suspense. Luca's bike slid as he hit the brakes. Guido did the same and they jumped off their bikes, laughing. 

They had passed the line. The question was just who came first. The crowd was silent. Giulia was the first to speak apart from the two boys laughing. 

"Um... who won?" she asked, looking at Alberto. Alberto shrugged and nodded towards siñora Marsigliese who was speaking with one of the onlookers who stood closest to the finish line. 

"So... as far as I and the rules are concerned, the winner is..." she hesitated, glanced at the two boys standing next to their bikes, still laughing but a bit quieter.

"The- the underdogs!" she announced and the crowd cheered. Giulia and Alberto ran over to Luca and hugged him. 

Guido stood next to them, looking a bit sheepish as the the underdogs received the golden cup. He slowly moved out of the way, not wanting to drag the attention away from Luca and the rest. 

"Guido!" Frederico shouted as he came up to his son. 

"Papá," Guido smiled and accepted Frederico's hand ruffling his hair. Suddenly, Guido let out an ompf as strong arms tightly hugged him from his side. 

"You did amazing," Ciccio mumbled into Guido's neck. He could feel his face getting flushed with color. Luckily, he could blame it on the biking part. 

"Grazie," Guido answered as he placed a hand on Ciccio's back, keeping the bike standing with the other. He bent over slightly.

"Ciccio… non in pubblico," he whispered and Ciccio slowly let go. He looked back up at Frederico with an embarrassed grin. His dad just nodded approvingly. Guido appreciated how Ciccio accepted to keep their relationship at the very least silent. They didn’t need to be stared at any more than they already were, and he wasn’t sure he was quite comfortable around other people yet anyway.

"Ragazzi," Giulia called out to Guido and Ciccio. 

"Uh... yes?" Guido answered. Most of the people had packed up their stuff and gone home. Frederico had also left to tell Elena about her son's close victory. Guido learned whit his arm against Ciccio's shoulder. His legs felt like jelly, making it hard to stand. 

"Do you guys have time? There's something I'd like to discuss with you." The boys glanced at each other. Giulia was being unusually friendly. 

"Sure..."

"Great. Come with us," she demanded, guiding them to her home. 

Luca and Alberto joined them, skipping along the stones while holding the Portorosso cup. They walked through Giulia's front door, up the stairs, and into her room. When everyone was inside, she closed the door behind her. 

"So," she started. "You didn't answer Alberto's question earlier." Guido's brain had just calmed down from the rush of coming close second, and now he couldn't even remember what Alberto had asked. Ciccio did though. His face went pale, but he kept quiet. When the gears finished turning in Guido's head, he shut his mouth and straightened his back like he did when he was caught off guard.

As neither of them said a word apart from some confused stutters, Giulia gasped theatrically. 

"Santa pecorino! You are!" she shouted. Guido bit the inside of his cheek as he forced himself to not look at Ciccio. Her finger pointed straight at Guido's face. He forced himself to sound unbothered as he let out a psh sound and smacked her finger away from his face. Ciccio and Guido stood silent for a few more seconds while Giulia and Luca shared some "I knew it"'s and gave each other a high five. Guido sighed in defeat, relaxed his back, and nodded slightly. 

"We are..."

It took some time for everyone to clear their minds before Guido and Ciccio stood next to each other and observed the group. Giulia had her arms crossed in front of them. 

"I knew it," she repeated, grinning widely.

"Yeah?" Ciccio asked and swallowed. “So?”

“So. Kiss.” 

"What?" His voice cracked. Guido froze with his arms by his side. Luca tugged at Giulia's arm uncertainly. 

"Are you sure about this?" he asked her. She nodded at him, keeping her smile on her face. 

"Just… trust me. Ok?" she mumbled to him and turned her attention back to the boys in front of her. 

Guido turned towards Ciccio. He took a few breaths, balling his hands into fists and blinking quickly. 

"Would it be ok…?" he tried, trailing off and his face becoming redder. He was so aware of everything right now it seemed impossible just to focus.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Ciccio's ears turned red. 

"If it’s what you want," Ciccio mumbled, keeping his voice as steady as he managed. "Then, sí."

Guido's heartbeat sped up. He hadn't thought further that this point. The sun shined in through the window, lighting up Ciccio's face. 

"But is it ok with you?" he insisted, not wanting to intrude on Ciccio's space. A nod. A second. A heartbeat. Guido bent down slightly while Ciccio stood on his toes. 

"I'll be honest. I didn't expect an audience," Guido mumbled with a smile. 

"Same. But it doesn't matter." Ciccio took Guido's shoulders and dragged him slightly more downwards and their lips met. The kiss itself must've lasted just a second before it broke, but Guido's head kept spinning. He'd never imagined something like this would ever happen before. 

"Are you feeling well?" Ciccio wondered, keeping Guido at his level. His voice... so soft and warm. Guido's heart melted like it'd done so many times before as he forced himself to smile. The smile was weak, and uncertain as he meet his boyfriend's eyes. 

"Eh... sí," Guido stuttered, still hyper-aware of the other people standing and watching them. 

"Yep. You guys are part of the group now," Giulia said to them as she shoved them out her front door. 

"Scusi?"

"You're practically more socially outcasted than we are at this point," she explained with a smirk as she closed the door. They glanced at each other, not quite able to comprehend what just happened. Were they... in the underdogs' group? It kind of felt like acceptance. At least for Guido. Though, he didn’t feel like he needed it.  

"I wonder what made her change her mind?" Ciccio said as they started walking. Their families had decided to eat dinner together, so they made their way toward Ciccio's house. 

"It was probably Luca," Guido offered. As they walked next to each other, the back of Ciccio's hand brushed lightly against Guido's. 

Guido went quiet. His hand took a steady hold on the edge of his shorts and he bit the inside of his cheek. 

"Guido. I can tell there's something you want to ask for," Ciccio whispered and Guido looked at his feet. 

"Would you mind..." Guido breathed and tightly shut his eyes. As he opened them again, he continued. "...holding my hand?" he asked. A chuckle came from Ciccio and Guido straightened up. 

"Sure," Ciccio said and reached out to grab Guido's hand and gently yank it away from Guido's tight grip on the edge of his pants. 

Guido sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth as he folded his fingers around Ciccio's. 

"Is this ok?" he asked Ciccio, who nodded and chuckled again. 

"That's what I'm supposed to say," Ciccio laughed, pretending to be offended. They continued walking normally, nobody else was outside at this time and so Guido could feel a little bit safer. Ciccio squeezed his boyfriend's hand as they hinted at Ciccio's front door. Guido swallowed, thinking about how Elena would react if they walked in like this. 

"It will be fine, amorino," Ciccio's voice sounded... so calm.

"I appreciate it," Guido responded and squeezed his hand back. 

"Are you ready to go in?" Ciccio asked after letting Guido breathe for a little while. Guido grinned, nodded, took a deep breath, let go of Guido's hand, and opened the door.

Tincrow pencil drawing

I may not be the best and this may not be tincrow exactly, but here it is anyway.

This is from the third Oz book when they first talk to the princes with the many heads ( I forgot her name for right now ).

GuidoxCiccio fanfiction Chapter 4

This chapter has some descriptions of a panic attack. Though, since it's my description, it might not be the best. Still, I made sure to do a lot of research beforehand so that I wouldn't get anything wrong. If I did, however, I'm sorry and I will fix it as soon as possible.

A few days later.

Luca swam up to the beach. Standing up, he shakes off the water and his scales shrunk back into his skin with a soft clatter. In his hand was a basket of homemade food to share with Alberto, of course in sea monster form. The human form wouldn't be able to digest most of it. The beach was mostly empty apart from Alberto and Giulia standing in the middle of the pebble-covered ground. Alberto smiled and tried to grab the basket from Luca's hands, but Luca yanked it away and kicked some water at Alberto with his feet still in the ocean. Giulia shushed them down with her hand and turned around to look over the later rocks by the corner of the beach. 

"I think I heard something," she whispered, and Luca and Alberto quieted down almost immediately. A few quiet breaths were coming from a corner behind a particularly huge rock. They sounded distressed and quick. After a few glances around the group, the underdogs decided to slowly make their way over to the large rock. 

They collectively peeked over the rock and saw a child, a few years older than them in an orange-striped t-shirt and shorts. He was hugging his knees close to his chest, trying to hide his face from his onlookers. However, he didn't succeed in quieting down.

"Guido?!" Giulia burst out and Guido flinched, pushing his face further into the gap between his knees and chest. 

"He's... he's breathing so fast," Luca whispered, gently touching Giulia's arm. Alberto looked back and forth between his friends and the quivering boy, trying to decide what to do.

"I think we should do something," Luca suggested silently while Giulia crossed her arms.

"Sanat gorgonzola… He has never been nice before, why help him now?" she replied with a huff. 

"Giulia..." Luca tried, squeezing her arm slightly harder. "I don't think leaving him here is a good idea." 

"What do you want me to do then?"

"Maybe try to figure out what's wrong." They looked back at the shaking figure. He was hyperventilating and hitting his legs with the side of his hands, slowly creating little bruises.

"Fine," she sighed awkwardly and made her way around the rock to crouch down in front of Guido. 

"What's up with you?" she snarled, keeping her arms crossed. Guido was visibly sweating and self causality rocking back and forth. 

"Hey, wanna tell us what's wrong?" offered Luca, placing a hand on Guido's shoulder to Giulia's visible dislike. Guido's heart was beating so fast it was threatening to jump out of his chest. 

"He doesn't want to answer," Alberto chimed in, feeling pretty useless. 

"Um... Who would know how to handle this?" 

"His parents," Alberto offered.

"Ercole," Giulia laughed. Guido's face finally shot up as he desperately shook his head. Luca noticed the blurry vision and the steady stream of tears welling out of his eyes. Guido's mouth was formed in a slim line and his wide eyes stared horrified at Giulia. Giulia stood her ground with a crooked smile on her face. Luca and Alberto stared at Giulia as well, not believing that she would do something like that. 

"You heard me," she whispered, leaning closer to his face.

"No, no no. Nonononono..." he shook into his knees which he hugged closer, fresh tears streaming down his face faster than before. 

"I got it!" Luca exclaimed, unintentionally loud. Guido rocked back and forth even quicker as he moved shaky hands to loosely cover his ears. Everything was so loud, and he was feeling so much and everything was just so warm and way too close! 

"We'll go fetch Ciccio!" Luca said, a bit quieter and snapped his fingers. Alberto shined up and started jumping away from them, pebbles rumbling underneath him as he offered to go get him for them. Luca nodded hurriedly as he dashed to place the food basket back into the water so it wouldn’t dry out before joining Alberto in their quest to find Ciccio. Giulia stepped out from behind the rock and looked around, moving her crossed arms to her waist instead. She made a big deal of disliking being left alone looking after one of the people she liked the least.

Sloppy, messy footsteps approached from behind a corner. The footsteps were followed by a harsh laugh and a familiar smirking face. 

"Haven't seen you in a while, Spewlia," Ercole taunted as he walked up to her. She huffed and looked over the water, hoping that Luca and Alberto would be back soon. 

"Where are your sea monster friends?" he asked, looking around with pretending excitement before cutting the act and turning his attention back to Giulia. Ercole prepared to taunt her some more since there was no one else around and Giulia wasn't one for running away when he heard some forcefully hushed down whimpers and rumbling pebbles. 

"What's that?" he asked himself, hastily flipping around to find the source of the sounds. Ercoles and Giulia's eyes locked onto Guido. Guido's eyes were wide, staring at his blue shoes and rocking back and forth. His knees were stained with tears as he desperately tried to block the whimpers by shoving a hand against his mouth as hard as possible.

Ercole laughed and walked over, leaving Giulia to observe. 

"Oh. Is little crybaby feeling bad today?" Ercole insulted Guido, stepped in front of the shaking boy and placed his hands on his hips. 

"Too scared to speak?" Giulia listened to their one-sided conversation with a strange smirk. She wanted very badly for Guido to suffer slightly more, even though it was horrendous. She could stop this, Guido had it bad enough as it was, but maybe just a little bit longer. At least so that she's not alone on the beach. How did it take so long to find Ciccio?

"Keep crying, little cry boy, at least your parents can't see your ugly face," Ercloe said, not very creative, but it did the trick anyway. Guido shut his eyes as if they would pop out of his head as he was forced to listen to the jabbing of Ercloe's jaws. Alberto sprinted across the beach with Ciccio and Luca close behind. Ciccio was breathing heavily as he rushed further down the seashore, stopping abruptly when he saw Ercole standing over Guido. 

"You never said anything about Ercole," he murmured to the other two who shrugged and glanced at Giulia. 

"I didn't know he was here," Alberto explained, dashing over to their Giulia. She decided to stay quiet and see what would happen before interfering. Ciccio stood stunned for a moment before springing up to Guido's aid. 

"Ercole!" He snarled, keeping his eyes on the bully as he moved between him and Guido. 

"Hey, look. It's the small one. Excuse me, what was your name again?" 

"You and your catfish face can walk back to the dumpster you crawled out of," Ciccio snarled and Ercole laughed again. 

"It's commendable how you keep trying, Ercole," Ciccio offered sarcastically and looked back at Guido. Guido had pushed himself further away, gasping for air with his back folding over his knees as he kept shoving his hand over his mouth which didn’t help with the trouble breathing. 

"You ok?" Ciccio asked and felt like an absolute idiot. Of course he wasn't ok! Guido tried to shake his head. 

Ciccio moved closer to Guido and placed a hand on his shoulder. Guido tried to back away even more, but he had no space to move to. 

"You small, sad creatures," Ercolle scoffed haughtily and grinned at Ciccio. "Go home, shorty." Ciccio could feel Ercole's breath on his face and he scrunched up his nose. 

"You smell like rotten eggs," Ciccio muttered behind his teeth and Ercole pretended to be offended. 

"Oh, come on Ciccio. Why even bother defending this asshole?" Ercole asked, gesturing at Guido. "It's not like you can understand what's going on anyway." 

"No, but I try." 

"Really?" Ercole exaggerated with his arms. Ciccio hummed in response.

"You dumb, small rodent. I can't believe I dealt with you for 6 years," 

Gravel shuffled away from beneath Ciccio’s feet as he flinched. His nails dug into the palm of his hand and he bit his tongue. He could see the others look surprised at him before he raised his fist and swung. Ercole flinched back as Ciccio’s fist hit the edge of his jaw, sending him stumbling a few more steps back. Everything was quiet except for Ercole's stunned whines. Ercole's fingers brushed over his jaw and he flinched again, whining a bit more before looking back at Guido and Ciccio. Guido was still shaking, unable to keep his eyes on one thing for longer than a couple of seconds. His knuckles began to turn white. Giulia, Luca, and Alberto stood stunned, letting the water rush over their feet. Ciccio glanced at them and Alberto hesitantly made his way up to the three boys. He stood a few steps away, silently asking for permission from Ciccio before interfering. Ciccio nodded with a slight smile of appreciation before Alberto dashed forward and punched Ercole square in the ribs. The bully flung backwards again, surprised before hearing more footsteps hastily making their way toward him. He groaned and to the best of his abilities, dashed away while clutching his stomach. 

Giulia celebrated with Luca as Ercole ran away, whimpering. Alberto joined in and watched as Luca and Giulia jumped around in circles. Ciccio placed his arm around Guido's and sat down next to him. It felt like his skin was burning, and he had completely lost the feeling in his legs. As soon as Ciccio sat down on the gravel, Guido began slapping his legs with the side of his hands again, trying to focus on something else than his raising head. 

"Please, try to take a deep breath," Ciccio said quietly. Guido didn't want to disappoint. He shrugged Ciccio's hand off of him and hugged his chest with his arms. His breathing was shaky as he closed his eyes again, wishing everyone away and imagining himself on his bedroom floor, clinging to his blanket like it was his lifeline. 

"Guido?" Ciccio asked when he noticed that his friend's breath had steadied. "Want to talk about it?" he offered, knowing that keeping Guido distracted from the panic might be his best shot at calming the boy down. 

"I was just walking and... I got triggered and-" he breathes in sharply and looks up. "I didn't know what to do. Mamá and papá left the house locked… I wasn’t prepared." he cut himself off. Ciccio nodded understandingly. Luca slowly crept closer.

"Is this... usual?" he asked and Ciccio looked up at him. 

"It happens sometimes, usually not in public though," he started and realized their presents alone were stressing Guido out even more. "Actually, maybe you guys could leave?"

"Why?" Giuilia asked as she joined them over by the corner. Her tone was harsh, unusual for her. 

"Because... it might help. Guido needs to calm down a bit, it shouldn't take too long." Before Giulia said anything else, Luca tugged at Giulia's arm, wishing for them to just get out of there. Giulia was hesitant, for some reason not wanting to leave the boys alone.

“Oh, and Giulia?” Ciccio caught her attention.

“What?” she asked, feeling more intrigued that irritated. 

“We’re sorry… for everything.”

The underdog’s footsteps became quieter as they talked to each other after leaving the shore. Luca quickly picked up the basket he had before, not wanting to leave it in the water. 

"You ok?" Ciccio asked again, a little more sure of himself this time. Guido shrunk closer to himself and looked up, keeping his eyes away from the boy next to him. 

"Just a little... stressed," he explained shortly. Ciccio hummed in response and looked out over the ocean. Guido's heart hurt. Partly from the panic attack, or at least that is what he told himself. But he had hurt all day, and the day before that as well. What if he just asked for a hug? That would be fine, right? It didn't have to mean anything. And he knew that Ciccio was stronger than him, maybe it would be nice... No. The best thing to do was to stay as far away as possible and wait for these feelings to die out.

But how long would that take?

"Should I get you something? Water? A snack?" Guido shook his head. It would be worse without you. He thought about asking to be carried home. His legs sure as hell weren't going to stay stable enough, but as he remembered that the door was locked, he denied himself that too. The beach would have to do. I wish I dared to tell you how much I appreciate what you do for me, Ciccio.

GuidoxCiccio fanfiction chapter 8

I apologize if the following chapters don't have the same quality or upload speed that the previous ones had. My computer is a little iffy, so I can't always use it. This basically just means that the chapters might come out a little slower. Anyway, here's chapter 8!

A few days later.

Children gathered in the town square, handing money to siñora Marsigliese sitting behind the table, like always. Giulia, Alberto, and Luca stood hyped in the line, not being able to talk enough about how easy it will be to win now that Ercole isn't going to race. Guido and Ciccio meet up at the end of the wide line of children.

"Ciccio," Guido greeted his boyfriend with a smile. The urge to finally hold his hand was stronger than ever, but he suppressed it.

"Are you ready for the race?" he asked instead, gesturing to the slowly but steadily shrinking line.

"Sí. Are you?" Ciccio replied.

"Sure. I swim, you eat and I bike, right?" Guido asked, not wanting to mess anything up. 

"Unless you want to change, yeah, that's the plan," stepping further to keep up with the line, Ciccio gestured for Guido to follow him.

"No. I'm good with that," Guido mumbled. It would feel nice to not have to do the things Ercole forced them to do. Too many uncomfortable memories. They drew close to the desk, with Giulia signing her and her friends up in front of them. 

"I guess I'm a bit nervous," Guido continued, keeping his eyes on the table where siñora Marsigliese had written the underdogs' names down in her little book. 

"Sure, we won't get a guaranteed win like we did the other five times, but it will feel a lot more honest," Ciccio offered as a try to cheer Guido up. “Besides, it was never we who won, it was him.” 

"You're right."

"Good, because it's our turn in a second," Ciccio said as he gestured to the line. There was one group left before their turn.

Siñora Marsigliese looked disapprovingly at them as they walked up to the table.

"Boys," she muttered, getting ready to scribble down their names in her book. "Team of three?" her eyes looked around them, searching for Ercole before realizing that he wasn't there. 

"No," Guido almost whispered, placing the small amount of money on her desk. "Just two."

"Oh." She hesitantly wrote down their names and took the money. "No Ercole this time?" she looked at Guido for an answer. When he shrugged, she looked to Ciccio. He raised his eyebrows at her. 

"We haven't talked much since last year," he said, silently asking if it really was that important.

Time went by so quickly, Guido felt like it barely happened at all. Sure, he and Ciccio tried to practice for the race, but not often. They practised if they felt like it, most times alone too. For Guido, practising was easier in solitude. The day sneaked up on him, just like he knew it would and as he made his way to the town square, he could see the grown-ups set up all the different stages involved in today's activity. 

Giulia sat in her room, having a wild conversation with Luca and Alberto. 

"And," she continued her conversation, "I've seen them training together. They never acted like that before." 

"Acted like what?" Luca asked, fixing his posture on the chair he was sitting on. 

"Like normal people! Not bothering anyone and… talking with other people," Giulia pressed on, gesturing with her arms. 

"What's wrong with that?" Alberto asked.

"It's not usual for them." Luca wiggled uncomfortably in his seat. Understanding where Giulia wanted to get with this conversation, he waited for her to continue. 

"I don't know. I just think something's up with them," she insisted.

"What do you want us to do then?" Alberto asked, his tone slightly bored as usual.

"I think we should ask them about it," she mumbled. "Subtly."

"I-" Luca cleared his throat. "I think Alberto should do it."

"What?" Alberto asked as if he didn’t hear him.

"Well... they are more likely to dislike us than they are to dislike you," Luca answered, pointing at Alberto as he spoke. Giulia listened from her bed, nodding along with Luca's argument. It was true though. They have had more time to warm up with Alberto around town.

"I could do that..." 

"Good," Giulia said, satisfied that she wasn't the one who had to ask them. 

Guido licked his gelato as he walked next to Ciccio, looking at the setup for the race. There wasn't any giveaway of what kind of pasta the race would include this year either. Alberto drew closer, trying to find the right moment to ask. Ciccio bumped the back of his hand against Guido's arm as he told a joke Alberto couldn't hear. Guido suppressed a laugh, glancing down at Ciccio. Alberto decided that this was the perfect time to ask… subtly. He strode up to the pair with a toothy grin. They quieted down as they acknowledged his presents, waiting to see what he was going to do. 

"Hey. Are you a couple?" Alberto asked, the most confident smile covering his entire face. Ciccio's eyes widened as he froze, glancing at Guido. Guido glared at Alberto, trying to get rid of the blush that covered his cheeks. Alberto didn't budge. Guido wanted to punch him. 

"Well?" Alberto pressed on. Guido glanced back at Ciccio. He could see the silent scream in his eyes. Guido wondered if he could make up a quick lie that was believable enough. Knowing what he knows about Alberto, creating a believable lie wouldn't be too hard. But he wasn't sure if his voice would hold. 

"Swimmers, get ready. The race will start in ten minutes!" siñora Marsigliese exclaimed and Guido sighed in relief. He was going to swim this time. Saved by siñora Marsigliese, never thought that would happen. As he scurried away, he nodded at Ciccio to follow him, saving him from Alberto's question in the process.

Were they really that obvious? They hadn't even held hands yet. 

“What did they say?” Luca asked, practically clinging to Alberto’s arm. Giulia waited for his answer, ready to rush off and change as soon as he said it.

“They didn’t say anything,” Alberto answered, leaning on Luca as well while smiling proudly. Giulia quieted down in thought as she went to put on her bathing suit.