Dressed in a simple pair of jeans and bare feet Leonardo leaned against a doorframe while Seth was busy unpacking inside his new room for the next upcoming two weeks. 

Lunch had been a serene and humorous experience. Seth effortlessly charmed Isabella together with her husband, Marcelo Bravucci. The couple had no choice but to like the boy's savvy personality.

"If you need anything else, just let me know." Leonardo wanted Seth's stay in Milan to be an enjoyable and memorable adventure. "And I mean anything at all." 

"I think I'm good for now," Seth gifted him a brief smile. "Thank you."

Leonardo kept his gaze on Seth. He was feigning blithe and that was extremely dangerous. Typical survival skill for a curbed up person. The Italian closed the door behind him before ambling inside the room, precisely in Seth's direction.

Leonardo now had his arms wrapped around Seth from behind making him breathe deeply into his scent. The young resident exhaled slowly, his body instantly relaxing to the unexpected contact.

"You know I care for you, right?" Leonardo maintained a gentle tone. Seth decided not to say anything hence the older man continued. "It hurts me seeing you like this. I can tell something is weighing you down. Is it something to do with your mother?"

Why can't he let it go!

"I will have absolutely no one if she—" Seth swallowed a distending lump in his throat. "I know I should stay positive and all but, it's hard."

At the first sniffle, Leonardo knew Seth was about to cry. "Let it out, I'm here."

A solemn tear rolled down Seth's left cheek, his body was calm compared to his tangled and conflicted brain.

"I'm sorry, I just need some bit of space. If you don't mind." Seth managed to say without stumbling on his words.

"I understand," Leonardo murmured, kissing his temple. "Promise me you'll talk to me."

"I promise," Seth tried forcing a smile on his face which he dismally failed. "And stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like a broken little bitch needing sympathy. I don't need that."

Leonardo mindlessly ran fingers inside Seth's soft hair, this was frustrating as hell. Seth was the most stubborn son of a prick he'd ever encountered.

"It only makes sense because I'm worried sick about you, Seth. Maybe you need to let go of that sense of wanting to control everything that happens in your life. Providing you with support is my job not yours to push me away when I want to do my part of the equation."

"I told you before, it's nothing I can't handle and there's no equation. We both know between the two of us you're the one on a power trip, not me. You're the one who wants to make sure you control my mood so that it precisely suits yours." Seth shot back through gritted teeth.

"Well, there's something called caring for someone you like, Seth. You do everything in your power to see them happy. But I can't do that when all you do is fight me!"

"You're the one fighting me right now. I told you I needed some bit of space but I guess that's not gonna happen."

"I can't do this right now," Leonardo muttered. "Find me when you feel like talking." With that being said, the man left.

. . .

It was in this moment that Seth relished the saying, 'God made the country and man made the town.'  He'd been enjoying the view of expanse green hues rolling through the edges of the horizon from the balcony of his room.

It was pure simplicity and purity of the country, more congenial than the humdrum of lives in the cities and towns that made it seem special. He loved the quietness and peacefulness of the environment. The dense groves of olive trees and sounds of chirping sparrows rendered some form of soothing melodious music. It made total sense to him, nature was the teacher, healer and mother of mankind.

He needed this solo time, he let his thoughts and eyes wander around.

The Bravucci mansion was deep in the Piemonte region, South of Milan where they had claimed all the fertile acres of land to themselves, legally of course for their lush vineyards. Seth knew hard work whenever he saw it, the whole vine deal was the most unique appellation he'd ever seen in his whole life, he could also sense the passion as he continued to watch the workers who were working at a far distance.

"Boo!" Seth almost jumped out of his own skin eliciting loud giggles from an excited Mia. "Did I scare you?" She asked sheepishly, faking concern. The naughty grin on her face said otherwise.

"You really gave me a fright you know?"

The kid was still giggling away. "I always wanted to scare someone."

"Well, you should tick that on your bucket list."

"What's a bucket list?" Mia's face contorted into a serious thinking expression. Seth chuckled at her scrunched little nose and cute pout. "Those are the things you want to do before you kick the bucket."

Mia's eyes instantly lit up. "I haven't kicked the bucket before!"

Now, Seth couldn't handle his laughter. "Why are you laughing Sethy? What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything wrong Sweat pea. A bucket list means things you want to do before you die. So kicking the bucket means—dying."

Do you talk about dying with a four year old? Probably not.

"Oh."

Seth softly challenged back a bit to see where the conversation would head. "Now that you know, what's on your bucket list?"

Mia squeezed her nose like a piglet looking up at Seth. "Can I be a vineyard?"

He didn't want to ruin her wild imagination. "It's hard to be a vineyard because a vineyard is a place." Seth paused a bit. "But, you can find something to do on a vineyard, like planting grapes, harvesting and maybe sorting them too. Let's just say you can't be a vineyard, what else would you want to be?"

Mia's eyeballs popped wide, then she started breathing very fast. Seth wasn't quite sure if he should be worried or not. She looked up at Seth with so much energy before jumping up and down.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!"

"Yes?"

"I want to be a pumpkin, a big Halloween pumpkin!"

Goddamn!

"You know what?" Seth was trying his hardest not to burst a vein. "You and I are now besties."

"Like real best friends?"

"Yes, real best friends, forever."

"You promise?"

"It's a promise."

Time moved fast as the conversations switched from Disney princesses to pirates. Seth already had a soft spot for the kid making it even frictionless. Speaking of which, he needed to find her father, soon.

. . .

Seth's eyes were completely pinched shut, the sensational feeling of aromatherapy products against his skin was just pure bliss. His whole body felt invigorated. All the fatigue within tense muscles oozed away whilst his body folded into unrestricted relaxation as his mind slowly emptied the unneeded hassles. The hot tub was Leonardo's idea, he thought Seth might need this.

"Feels good huh?"

"You have no idea."

Seth had claimed the free space between Leonardo's parted legs and his back was glued to the older man's chest whilst Leonardo enveloped him like he never wanted to let go. 

"Hey, you still awake?"

"Hmm," the resident managed to respond. "I'm trying to."

"Don't pass out on me. It's time for you to tell me your story." Leonardo reminded him, "Remember, you don't have to."

"You really know how to ruin a mood."

"Aw come on, we came here with a motive. It's not my fault that you easily get distracted."

"It's because your body feels so good on mine," Seth murmured. "Can we just live like this for the rest of our lives?"

Leonardo could've sworn Seth was under the influence but he was clearly sober. He would've tasted the alcohol on his tongue if he was intoxicated by any chance. The resident had unconsciously insinuated a long term relationship.

"Seth..."

"I know, I know. It's totally crazy." Seth was quick to say. "Now let's get into it, shall we?"

"I wouldn't mind."

"Wouldn't mind what?" Seth was genuinely confused.

Leonardo leaned in, his soft lips brushing on Seth's earlobe. "I wouldn't mind spending the rest of our lives like this."

Now it was Seth's turn to deal with a pulse shooting for abnormality. "We don't always get what we desire though." 

"What makes you say that?"

"The lesser interludes we have, the faster I'll delve right into story time."

It wasn't over, but for progress' sake Leonardo silently agreed not to disagree. "Okay then."

"My dad believed in male supremacy. He was a patriot of patriarchal violence. Growing up in such a household was like constantly walking in a hailstorm."

For a moment Seth thought he was boring Leonardo out of his senses then turned his head to check up on him. "You still up?" He whispered.

"Yes, I'm listening. Please go on." Leonardo's tone was reassuring so Seth continued.

"For some reason, I used to be a bullying target in high school." Seth's eyes fluttered shut when he felt Leonardo's hold tightening around him. The guy wanted to show him he was there.

"I used to come home with bruises and that would tick my dad off. A bruised face from being roughed up by other kids was nothing compared to what I'd get from him. A real man was supposed to fight back. Whenever I came home with a busted lip, he'd beat the living hell out of me for being a pussy."

"And where on earth was your mom when he did all that to you?"

"She was also scared of him. He used to hit her too, but she was covering it up."

"Merda."

"Well, the bullying didn't stop and that means the beating at home also increased. Mom tried to stop him sometimes but she could barely do much."

"A mother would've tried her hardest to stop him," Leonardo was letting his anger get the best out of him. He couldn't imagine what Seth must've gone through all alone. "She should've tried harder to fight for her child."

Seth laughed bitterly. "You weren't there Leonardo! You don't know anything so stop judging her, will you?"

"Sorry, okay? I obviously don't know what was going on but I'd never let anything like that happen to my daughter! Whatever it takes, I'd die protecting her. What more of a mother, Seth?"

"I thought I was the one doing the damn talking here."

"Doesn't mean I can't raise my opinions too. Believe whatever you want, she could've fought harder for you. Hell, they're organizations that deal with domestic violence and all that, if she was scared she could've called in anonymously."

"I'm not doing this with you right now." Seth was ready to pull out. Clearly this was a bad idea.

"Seth please, I'm sorry, don't leave."

"Will you promise to shut up while I speak?"

"I can't really promise you that." Typical.

"Fine, I will skip to the juicy parts, otherwise this will take us the whole night." Seth said in a voice simulating mirth, an epic fail since Leonardo remained tense behind him.

He sighed before continuing anyway. "I had my first boyfriend when I was fifteen. He was a junior, outgoing, fun company and the affectionate type. Vivek, was his name, he came at the right time in my life where I was desperately craving affection and he gave that to me. It felt like love and I couldn't contain the infatuation that had burst in my face. Vivek made me happy." Seth looked like he was reminiscing some good memories.

Leonardo's jaw clenched.

"My cousin was spending summer holidays at my place as usual then I ended up coming out to him. I basically told him about Vivek and he said he didn't care where my dick goes." Seth laughed a bit. "Our relationship strengthened that day. However, that same night, I blurted out I was gay on the dinner table and that's when the real shit hit the fan."

"I'm getting a cramp on my thigh. We need to change our position." Leonardo said.

Seth moved around so that he was now directly facing him in the hot tub. "Feel better now?"

"You're now too far away from me." Leonardo whined, drawing a full laugh out of Seth.

"Oh don't be a giant baby." he reprimanded him.

"But I need you close to me."

Seth rolled his eyes though he found himself smiling. "I want to see your face." he said quietly.

"Fine, you win." Leonardo stated with a huff. "After coming out in that sort of dramatic way, what happened next?"

"Then my dad saw red. Never in my life have I ever seen him so out of it. I ran, for my safety. I went to Vivek's place to crash there for a while. I thought if I came back later, my father would've cooled down but that was actually a huge mistake. He waited for my return and believe me, it was bad.

Then the punches and the gut kicks flew in all directions. He called me all the hurtful names you can think off. Then he started thrashing me. I couldn't move, not to mention cry. The last thing I saw before passing out was my mom mourning as if I was already dead. He beat me up to the point of feeling numb to pain. He said he was doing me a favor by beating the gay out of me."

"Christ," Leonardo took in a sharp breath. This was just too much for him. His own coming out story was peachy, despite having a Roman Catholic driven family, the Bravucci's had accepted Leonardo's sexual orientation with an open mind. Tears were threatening to spill out of his eyes when he imagined a helpless and utterly defenseless Seth. "People actually do that?" It was a rhetorical question and Seth only nodded.

"That is so messed up." Leonardo couldn't remember the last time he cried. "Why?"

"Wish I knew." Seth whispered. "You still want to hear the rest of it? You look pale."

"I won't back out now."

"Okay, so I was passed out and I'm not exactly sure of what happened next but all I know Charlie saved my life. Me passing out did not stop my father from hitting me. Charlie told my dad he also gay meaning he was supposed to hit him too. Well, it was the most dumbest thing to do on his part because he got his equal share of the rod. My mom couldn't take it anymore. She called my uncle, Charlie's dad for help. He was overprotective of his son so when he saw my psychotic dad pummeling him like that, he snapped."

There was a dramatic pause.

"My uncle took his shot on my dad with a crowbar at the back of the head then he...took him out."

"Jesus, Seth."

"My dad, he bled to death and the whole incident shook my mom to her core. I guess that's when her dissociative amnesia developed. She blamed herself for everything. The condition started worsening when I was about to go to Oxford."

Leonardo stared at Seth. For once in his life he was out of words. A lot of things now made sense. It explained why Seth had a panic attack when he pounded the wall right next to him. He understood where Seth was coming from.

"You have been quiet for too long." Seth pointed out.

"I need to hold you, please?" It was a desperate plea. Leonardo was shaking so bad and Seth regretted telling him all of this in the first place. He moved closer to him then Leonardo held him in a tight embrace. "How the hell did you survive all of this?"

"You learn how to be a survivor."

"Sleep with me tonight." Leonardo's voice was barely above a whisper. "No sex, just normal people sleeping."

"And Mia?"

"She will be fine. I'm sure my bed can host the three of us."

"Leo..."

"Don't make me beg."

A sigh. "Okay."

"Where is your uncle now?" Leonardo questioned after a long time. He was still trying to process everything.

"They locked him up." Seth told him "He's going to be in prison for a long time."

"Seth," Leonardo said. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this brutality. I swear you're the strongest person I've ever known."

"The lion on my back, it conceals the ugly scars that were left by my own father. Evidence of his hatred." Seth explained quietly. "It became my symbol for courage. Reminding me to continue looking at the brighter things in life despite—everything."

"And I love your ink," I think I'm in love with you, Seth. "It suits you perfectly well." 

Seth closed his eyes. "You sure you're okay?" he asked, resting his head on Leonardo's shoulder. It felt good telling him everything, something had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Yeah." It was a soft murmur. "How were you able to sustain, financially?" Another question.

Seth froze.

"Story for another day." He said brushing off the topic.