Chapter Text
God you hate people, you hate being outside and being surrounded by other people that inhabit Napoli. It sounded edgy, sure, it wasn't wrong. You never often found yourself with other people if you could help it, you had been treated badly too many times in your life for you to give anyone a chance. Everyone showed their true face under the mask at some point or another, usually a result of gaining power or money.
Until you were a teenager you didn't have these opinions; you had many friends and family, always open and friendly to anyone you met. At some point you'd snapped, fed up of being pushed around by everyone in your life and taking a stand for yourself. A result of this was becoming isolated, worrying about no one but yourself and ignoring everyone else in the world where possible.
There are some things that cannot be done whilst avoiding people, shopping is one of those things. You had to eat after all, you didn't have many choices. You did try to do your shopping when it was quiet in the area, shopping either first thing in the morning or late in the evening when the streets weren't as busy.
You'd made a grave mistake that you're paying for this time. In a daze you hadn't noticed the time, only that the sun had set and thought it was later than it was. You hadn't realised until you were already halfway to the shop and you desperately needed to go.
As if the store itself wasn't too busy for your liking, the streets were much worse. People rushing to commute home for the day, taking their leisurely time as they walked and talked with friends.
You were quickly becoming overwhelmed and desperate to get home, to your safe space and away from everyone. Your brain had gone into autopilot in order to manoeuvre around everyone, speed walking past as many people as possible. You didn't trust yourself enough, not enough to not cause any trouble for yourself at passerby who walk a little too slow and you can't stop yourself from spouting nasty abuse towards them.
You liked to be alone to protect other people from your temper as much as you wanted to protect yourself.
Because you were on autopilot and weaving through crowds of people walking slower than you were, you didn't take into consideration any of your surroundings. You especially didn't take care to notice as a white, long sleeve covered arm launched itself into your face with enough power combined with your walking speed to do some damage to your nose.
~
"Isn't there anyone else who can do the job?"
"No, everyone else has their own work," Bruno sighed, "it will be a quick and simple job Abbacchio."
The taller male sighed - quite over-dramatically if you asked Bruno.
Bruno knew why Abbacchio was acting like a child, bordering on throwing a tantrum to get his own way. The job wasn't the problem, it was an information pick up that would be passed on to those higher than Bucciarati but his team were low enough in the ranking to not cause any risk or harm. The problem was who Abbacchio would be partnered with in this task, Giorno Giovanna.
Giorno had only been part of the famiglia for a few weeks but from day one Abbacchio decided he didn't like him nor would he ever, no matter how much Bruno tried to reason with him. Initially this hatred towards the new member was manageable, Abbacchio doing his best to avoid Giorno whenever they were in the same room, though times like this were proving a challenge for Bucciarati as he was growing impatient and closer to using his trump card against the other man.
His trump card being his ranking.
Bruno didn't like to often play this card, using his rank as Capo against the other members of his team. He much preferred to keep a casual and friendly relationship with the other gang members, though he was reminded every so often that at the end of the day he was their leader and he had orders to dish out.
"I don't want to be stuck babysitting a fucking kid," Abbacchio grumbled, desperate to get out of having to work with someone he couldn't stand. He couldn't even look at that kid, nevermind work with him.
"You was that 'fucking kid' I babysat, Leone."
The use of Abbacchios' first name was intended as a hint that Bruno was losing his patience, one that didn't go entirely unnoticed. Abbacchio didn't respond for a moment, trying to decide if he wanted to push Bucciarati over the edge and receive a new partner or be ordered to complete the job alone.
Abbacchio really didn't like Giorno.
"That's different, I wasn't a teenager," Abbacchio wouldn't give in. "You recruited me, I didn't want Giorno to join us."
Whilst Abbacchio wasn't wrong, it still wasn't enough of an excuse for Bruno to accept.
"Giorno is a part of this team Abbacchio," Bruno's voice was getting louder as he spoke. "If you don't like that you can-"
Bruno cut himself off in the middle of his scolding towards Abbacchio, his right arm that he extended outward in a dramatic display connected with something solid. A brief thought entered his head that hoped it was an inanimate object he had hit, though the fact he was walking told him that was likely not the case.
His concerns were quickly confirmed as he heard a yell come from behind him, followed by a string of curses as he turned his head to look at the random civilian he had just accidentally hit with his arm.
Bruno immediately panicked, retracting his arm and attempting to assess the damage he potentially caused as the citizen covered their face, where he most likely hit them. So much so that he didn't hear Abbacchio's sarcastic comment of 'good job' or other civilians yelling abuse after the three of them stopped and stood in the middle of the street.
"You fucking hit me!" They yelled through their hands, looking up at Bruno and then down at their hands they barely pulled away from their face.
"Yes, I'm sorry it was an accident," Bruno was almost breathless. "Are you okay? I didn't break anything did I?"
They grumbled into their hands for a moment before pulling them away enough for Bruno to look at them, watching blood drip from their nose. Merda he's probably broken their nose.
~
You were stunned for a moment, trying to grasp what had just happened and process the sudden pain on your face. Your brain was trying to come back from being on autopilot and thinking of other things, coming back to the real world whilst trying to distinguish the situation you found yourself in.
Immediately you brought your hands up to your face, protecting your nose from further damage and spewed a string of curses. The pain was sharp, rushing throughout your face unlike anything you've experienced before. In a haze of anger you looked at the person in front of you, not acknowledging who they were or any distinguishable features, your vision clouded by anger and tears that welled uncontrollably in your eyes.
"You fucking hit me!" You spat, ensuring you were loud enough that your attacker could hear you through your hands and hoping they could see and hear just how angry you were. All of your senses were dulled as your head was rushing and attempting to control yourself from hitting the attacker back, giving them a taste of what you are experiencing, so much so that you only caught the back end of him speaking to you.
"Are you okay? I didn't break anything did I?"
You pulled your hands away from your face after rubbing under your nose, feeling warm liquid on top of your lip and seeing that your nose was bleeding, the blood on your hand thin and running down your fingers. "You bust my fucking nose, asshole!"
You were really doing your best now to not sucker punch him. This fucker could have broken your nose, yet another reason why you hate people and never like to be around anyone. It only ever ends in pain.
"Come with me, I will help stop the bleeding," your attacker said, grabbing your wrist that was still hovering close to your face and not giving you much of a choice in following him or not.
The man lead you into a restaurant down the road, another man you assumed was an accomplice following the pair of you with the bags you had dropped after being hit. You were dragged deep into the restaurant and into a back room, practically forced into a seat at the table as you cupped your hand underneath your chin to catch the blood that was freely dripping from your nose. The attacker hurried back into the main area of the restaurant as the accomplice silently sat at the table, seemingly uninterested in you.
The adrenaline began to wear off the longer you sat at the table, your vision and senses clearing as you began to calm down and the pain becoming a dull ache in the centre of your face. You were still upset, you just wanted to go home and be alone. That wouldn't change.
The attacker came back holding a bunch of tissues, immediately attending to your face and hand that held a generous amount of blood. Since you had come down and your senses cleared you were able to actually look and distinguish your attacker, though you really wish you couldn't still.
He was fucking beautiful.
Fuck.
Now your heart felt like it was doing backflips in your chest, losing your senses again as you lost yourself in his deep blue eyes and not hearing a single word he was saying to you. You didn't care anymore, you could look at his face forever. He could break your nose as many times as he wants if it meant you could continue looking at him, continue holding your chin in his warm hand.
Why couldn't he be ugly, why did he have to look like he just walked off the runway. It would have made this a much easier experience and validated your anger towards him more.
"Do you need to go to the hospital?"
Your trance was broken by his question as he pulled away from you and stood at his full height, your skin tingling and begging for his touch to return to your face.
"Uh, no, I don't think it's that bad," You grumbled as you looked into your lap, you daren't look at him again for fear of getting lost once again. "Thanks."
You missed the accomplice quietly snorting and pulling a face behind the attacker at the dramatic change of your demeanour.
"I'm Bruno, this is Abbacchio," Bruno motioned towards the other man sitting at the table. You introduced yourself to them. "Are you hungry? You can eat with us, think of it as an apology."
Bruno smiled and you could have died then and there, mimicking Bruno's smile with your own as you nodded and quietly thanked him, your nose pain long forgotten as long as you kept looking at Bruno's warm smile.