Chapter Text
Giorno walked out of the school gates finally free for the day. He tucked his hands into his pockets and felt the leather of his wallet in his right hand. He had his instructions from his step dad, Giovanni, they'd been the same since he was in middle school: “If you don't come back with my shit I'm gonna smack the stupid outta ya!” The threat had lost some of its intensity over the years, but still he dared not to disobey. The first and last time he had disobeyed him it ended with Giorno losing some of his hearing in his left ear. Although, now he could do a rather impressive trick and stuff his ear inside his head.
Since the very beginning of his and Giorno's mother's relationship his step dad had always insisted he show him unquestionable respect. Even to the point where Giorno was only allowed to call him by his last name. It was fine with Giorno. He had no desire to act friendly and call him by his first name or least of all to call him dad. Anyway, his task was simple enough: bring home some coke. It wasn't worth the beating if he disobeyed. He tried to avoid as many as he could.
Personally, he had no interest in using drugs, but as a teenager, who was a delinquent in many other ways, knew where to find them. Over the years he had become extremely knowledgeable in that regard. He walked his normal route to the stop sign a few blocks from his home, near a gas station, where any one of Passione's members would be. Passione was a popular gang in his town mostly known for selling drugs and owning all the casinos. Anyone and everyone wanted to be a part of the ruthless gang. Including Giorno.
Stopping in his tracks, Giorno's eyes went wide. Who he saw waiting under the sign shocked him. Guido Mista is back? His heart began to pound in his chest. It'd been months since he had last seen him. The consensus among the few other members he had bought from since Mista had been that he had gone to jail; however, he never got a solid answer as to why he went. A guy by the name Narancia said he had been caught in a robbery. Another guy called Fugo said Mista was caught with his stash. The third gray haired man refused to even give him an idea and threatened him for the question.
He stood still for a moment watching Mista typing something on his phone before he shoved it back into his pocket. He was wearing his usual beanie with the orange diamonds and a blue arrow hanging over his eyes. He wore a crop top with cartoon bullets all over and black pants that were baggy in his waist but tight on the rest of his body.
Mista seemed to scan his surroundings before finally looking in Giorno's direction. He grinned and waved him over. Giorno swallowed hard. He had always been good at hiding his emotions, but Mista was a different story. Giorno had a crush on the gangster. He walked towards the man as a flutter ran through his body almost making him quiver.
He replayed the memory of when he had first felt this. He had been buying from Mista for quite awhile when he had said “Y'know, you don't really seem like the type to be doing this kinda stuff.” to which Giorno had arched an eyebrow at him. “So, tell me the truth. Where's this really going?”
Giorno tilted his head slightly to peer directly into his eyes “My step dad makes me buy it for him. He's afraid if he were to get caught he would go to jail.” he felt no reason to lie and didn't really care if he believed him or not.
Mista's eyes widened and his eyebrows furrowed. “What a fuckin' bastard!” Giorno had been taken aback by his reaction to the truth. His eyes went slightly wide as Mista continued “Ay, listen kid, if a cop was ever to roll up on us like this I won't let them arrest you.” he rubbed his stubbly chin “I'll tell them I was bugging you to buy this and you wouldn't.” Giorno was left speechless. He never expected something like this from Mista or anyone. His heart began to beat quickly and he felt his face beginning to break out in a heat. “Cowards like that bug the shit out of me.” he grumbled.
That was the first time anyone other than Trish had seemed to care about what would happen to him. And the sentiment had come from a gangster he barely knew. Giorno was barely able to say a “Thanks.” in response.
After that it was common for him to repeat the promise to the boy. This piqued Giorno's interest in him and always left his heart pounding. He began to pay more and more attention to him and after awhile he realized he actually liked the guy. Mista was funny and interesting. He seemed to have a million stories for everything. He also asked Giorno about how his day was more often then not which was a hard thing for him to admit he actually liked. He hid it by often replying with a simple “Fine.” to the question. Mista would then ask several more follow up questions and was usually left with a solid response from the otherwise silent boy.
“Yo, Giogio!” he exclaimed as Giorno got within a few feet of him.
“Hey,” he started simply with a slight pause. “When did you get out of jail?”
“A few weeks ago.”
Giorno nodded “I see.” They stood in silence for a few moments. “Why did you go to jail?” he asked with little inquiry in his voice although he was actually eager to finally know the truth.
“Because of a gun.” was his simple answer. Giorno raised an eyebrow at him. That could mean anything, really. But, he decided not to press for more answers. He looked over the older man once again noticing he was in fact missing his usual gun that was often placed in the front of his waistband.
He finally nodded at Mista's answer. “So,” Giorno began “while you were in jail did you think of me?” He felt immediately felt the regret of his question. He bit his lip hard, locking his vision on his feet in disbelief of himself. Damn it! Why did I ask that?
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mista smirk. “Yeah,” he said after a few seconds of pause. “I thought of you from time to time.”
Giorno took a deep breath and suppressed a smile. He looked back at Mista with his normal expressionless face. “What's this from?” he quickly changed subjects as he pointed at a new scar on his stomach.
“Oh?” Mista looked to where he pointed “That's from when I got shot this last time before I got taken in. My friend grabbed a stapler and closed it up for me.” he grinned and raised his eyebrows at Giorno. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“Yeah.” he answered plainly, hiding his awe. “So, uh,” Giorno began “would you mind giving me the usual?” Mista nodded and reached deep into the front of his pants. Giorno repressed the dirty thoughts arising in him by looking off to the side as though to keep watch. He produced a small bag of white powder and Giorno in turn produced a small roll of bills. They exchanged items quickly. Giorno tucked the baggy deep into his school bag.
He looked back to Mista who was watching him intently. “How old are you now? Your birthday passed not long ago, yeah?” he asked suddenly, scratching the back of his head.
Nodding, Giorno replied “I just turned eighteen.” surprised he would even remember something about him at all.
“Ah, good.” Mista closed his eyes and folded his arms. “Then I can finally give you my number.” Giorno furrowed his brows in confusion at the comment. “I thought it'd be weird since you were under age, but most of my...” he paused searching for the right word. “customers have my number. Figured it'd be useful to someone in your situation.” He raised his hands defensively. “Only if you want to, though.”
“Wouldn't that be annoying?” he asked simply. “Don't people just call you all the time?”
Mista chuckled. “Nah, I have two. I only pay attention to the work phone during work hours.”
They stood silently for a few moments before Giorno finally answered “Yes.”
He smirked again “I'll give you my number than text me something so I have yours too.” he nodded. After a few minutes of typing they both had exchanged numbers. “Cool.” he said.
“I guess I'll be seeing you around.” Giorno looked down at his school bag, keeping his face somber.
Mista was still messing around on his phone “Yeah, I guess so.”
Giorno thought about saying a proper “Goodbye.” to him but decided against it. Instead he walked away towards his home.
It was a short walk before he was back home once again. He burst through his front door and quickly noticed he was home alone. It wasn't necessarily an unusual thing since his step father worked all day while his mother liked to shop all day. He walked up the stairs and down the hall to his step dad's home office. He cracked the door open slowly before shoving it all the way open. Giorno walked to the desk to open the top drawer and placed the baggy for his step father inside. Gently closing the drawer, he exited quickly but carefully closed the door a low tap.
Facing the stairs, he quickly pulled his phone out and went through his contact list to Trish. He typed a simple message for her.
Come over right now.
And quickly sent it. Giorno walked back down the stairs and went towards the back of the house where his room was. He placed his school bag down on the chair by his desk. He moved to the sliding glass door in his room and undid the latch to unlock it for Trish. Trish was his neighbor in the house directly behind his. They had been friends with each other since they were kids. She always climbed through the bushes that separated their houses to come sneak in through Giorno's room.
He laid down on his bed while waiting for her. I can't believe I said something so stupid to him! Giorno dragged his hand over his face. What does he think of me now? How could I ask “While you were in jail did you think of me?” Giorno sulked for several more minutes before a thought finally flashed in his head. But he said that he did. He smiled to himself at his thought. Mista also gave me his number.
“You're looking rather proud of yourself.” Trish brushed back her pink bangs with her fingers. She was still dressed in their school uniform only lacking her tie.
Giorno sat up from his bed “I didn't hear you come in.” he replied, feeling the smile fading from his lips.
“So, what happened that I needed to come over right away?” she questioned.
“Mista.” was his simple reply.
The girl moved so quickly he barely saw her movements before she was sitting next to him. “What?” she exclaimed grabbing onto his shoulder. “Since when is he back? What happened? Oh my god tell me everything!” she began to shake him.
Once Trish calmed herself down enough Giorno began his recount of what had happened between the two of them. She listened calmly, carefully take in every detail the boy described. “That's it.” he sighed once he was finally done.
She was silent for a moment before “Did you really ask him if he thought about you in jail?”
He nodded, obviously embarrassed. “I couldn't believe myself when I did. It came out without me thinking.”
“But, he said that he had, right?” she tightly grasped his hand. “And he gave you his number!”
He tilted his head “It's just his work number. Nothing special.”
The girl closed her eyes in thought “Well, it sounds to me like he does like you at least a little.”
“That's just the kind of guy he is, though.” Giorno sighed. “He's friendly to everyone.”
She shook her head. “That's not what I've heard.”
His eyebrows went up in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“It's something I heard awhile ago, but I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to stress out over it.” Giorno leaned in slightly. “Apparently he gets into fights all the time. I heard he punched a waiter when he got food cut into four.” Giorno shrugged. He had actually heard that before. In fact Mista had told him several stories involving the number four and why he felt it was cursed. “He gets into fights over the smallest offense. I also heard he went to jail because he got into a huge fight with his guy... I want to say his name was Luca?” she said it more like it was a question rather than a statement. “Anyway, I don't know what he did to piss him off, but I heard he beat the shit out of him.”
“He told me that it had something to do with a gun.”
Her eyes went wide as she nodded. “Yeah, I heard he beat him with the handle part of his gun.” Trish paused before continuing. “Do you really think this guy is safe to be crushing on?”
He looked down to his hands in his lap. “I don't know. I just get this good feeling from him. Besides, I've had more fucked up things happen to me than any rumor I've heard about him.” Giorno's eyes narrowed. “He's the only person besides you to even seem like he cared.”
Trish sighed. She didn't have it in her to argue with his logic. After all, his parents made their feelings about their son rather clear. “I just want you to be careful.” just as she finished her sentence Giorno's phone rang signaling he had a text message. His hands dug into his pockets for it.
“Oh!” he read the name several times to make sure he wasn't misreading it, but it was in fact Mista's name on the screen. He opened the message quickly barely able to keep calm at his texting him first.
Ay giogio do me a favor and send me a pic of your ear trick my friend don't believe me
“What is it?” Trish leaned over his shoulder to read the message. “A picture of your ear trick, huh?” she clicked her tongue. “Perhaps a clever lie to get a picture of a cute 'Giogio.'” she teased.
A strong heat broke out on his cheeks at the comment. “I doubt it.”
“I'll take the picture so do it.” she encouraged. Trish grabbed his phone and held it up “C'mon! Do it! Do it!” His fingers gently caressed the shell of his ear before roughly sticking it inside of his ear canal. He heard the click of the camera, although barely, and she turned the screen to show him. “Pretty cute.” she sang as his ear popped out on its own.
He shrugged in response and took the phone from her. “Um,” he began unsure of himself. “should I say something to him or just send the picture?”
Her pink lips widened into a grin. “Damn Gio, I didn't know you were so cute!” He averted his eyes from her, feeling his face flush again. “Just act naturally. Would you normally send a message along with a request like that?”
He thought for a moment “I wouldn't normally fulfill a request like that in the first place, honestly.”
“That's true.” she nodded. “What would you say?”
Giorno looked over the phone in his hand again. He decided to quickly send the picture before he could think too much about it.
“Good choice. Don't want to come off like you're in to him.”
“Having a crush is irritating in the first place without having the pressure of having to message them.” he mumbled. His phone rang again and he immediately felt the anxiety fill his chest.
Thanks
He felt a sink in his stomach at the simple response.
“What's the matter? I thought you'd be happy about that.”
Once again he shrugged “I guess I-” he was interrupted by yet another ring of his phone. He picked it back up to see yet another text from Mista this time the message announced he had sent a picture.
Here's something of me doing something weird so were even
He tapped the image to enlarge it. It was a picture of him with his tongue out and it was folded into the shape of a clover. A small laugh escaped Giorno before he could catch it. Trish peered over his shoulder “Oh, I've never seen him up close before.” he let her take the phone from his hand. Her eyes scanned the screen for several seconds. “Y'know he is pretty cute. Kinda hairy though.”
“Actually, I found that attractive about him.”
She laughed loudly. “Well, hurry and say something back!”
“Like what?”
“God you're clueless. I feel like a coach or something.” she looked at the text for several minutes as though studying it. “Oh, I know! You should say something like 'I'm impressed with your tongue and I wanna know what else it can do.'”
Giorno rolled his eyes. “I am not saying that.”
“Its clever damn it!” she bellowed. “Well, what than?”
He sat thinking “Maybe,” he began then paused. “Just that I think it's cool?” he asked.
She shrugged her slim shoulders at him “That works, I guess.”
Giorno began typing a message out before erasing it completely. He did this two more times before finally deciding on: That's pretty cool. I didn't know you could do that.
Trish hummed in approval. “That's good. That can leave it open for him to keep messaging you, but also gives the vibe you don't need a reply. I am a damn fine coach, Gio.” she brushed her shoulders.
He sat his phone down on the bed “I need a break from this. My nerves are fried.” he said calmly.
“Well, if I didn't know you, I would never have guessed.” he looked at her with, to the untrained eye, would appear to be his normal calm expression. His lips locked in place, unsmiling and eyes wide and sullen; however, Trish noticed the small beads of sweat at his forehead and the way he held his hands together tightly. “C'mon lets drink some tea and talk about something else.” she stood up and held her hand to him. He grasped it lightly as she pulled him to follow her to his kitchen.
Having done this a million times before, Trish had the tea ready for them in record timing. They sat at the counter and talked about school, and the latest drama in their respective families and finally to end on a lighter note Trish told Giorno about how their least favorite teacher had fallen during class the other day.
“I hadn't heard that before!” Giorno lightly laughed. “Is that why he was missing today?”
“Yes!” she roared. Trish composed herself to say “You would know if you didn't ditch to scam tourist at the airport!”
He smiled slightly “I can't help that. It's too easy.” they continued their laughing until they heard Giorno's phone ringing. He sighed “It must be Giovanna.” He walked quickly to his room where his phone had been left. Picking the phone up, he answered with a simple “Hello.”
“Oh, uh, hey.” Giorno looked at his phone in confusion looking at the screen to verify it was Giovanna calling.
He looked for what seemed like hours to make sure he was reading the name right. Mista!
He felt his eyes go wide as his heart began to pound. He bit his lip to prevent the stutter he knew was coming. “Mista?” he finally questioned.
In the other room he heard a dish clatter and foot steps scurry to him. He turned around to see Trish in the doorway. “What the hell?” she mouthed.
“Giorno, I have something I want to ask you.” he paused. “This is probably gonna be weird, but I've been hearing rumors about you.” Giorno looked to Trish for help, but she only waved her hands at him in an attempt to tell him to be calm.
“What would that be?” his voice came out smooth despite his current state of panic.
“Feel free to say no.” he began “But, I did hear you're pretty good at scamming people.”
Giorno raised an eyebrow at the phone. “What about it?”
“Well, I need to steal this car, but I need someone that this guy ain't gonna know.” he sighed. “Would ya' consider being my decoy?” If that's all I can definitely do it. Giorno hummed in pretend thought. “Not for free of course. Ya'd get some of the cut.”
He wanted to instantly agree, but thought better. “How much would that be?”
“Well, it's up to my boss, but something like” he paused in thought “I think maybe a thousand or something.”
The number really didn't matter to him. “Sure.”
“Really?” he sounded shocked. “I didn't think ya'd wanna get caught up in something like this.”
“I don't have anything to loose.” he shrugged to himself. This will help my reputation when I join.
“Can you come by my place tomorrow around 2? Wait,” he interrupted himself. “You're still in school ain't ya? Fuck.” Mista groaned.
“I wasn't really planning on going tomorrow.”
Mista laughed. “Oh, so you skip a lot?”
“Not really.” Giorno bit his lip before saying “I wasn't planning on going because it's Saturday tomorrow.”
Mista burst into a roar of laughter. “Holy shit you're right! Fuck I'm all backwards since I got out, ya'know? Anyway, so, you ok with this? For sure you're not gonna bail out?”
“Yeah, I will. I've done it before.”
“All right then. I'll text you my address. Ciao.” he hung up before Giorno could respond.
“What was that about?” Trish demanded, coming up close to his face.
He blinked a few times. “He asked me to come to his place tomorrow.”
She squinted her eyes in suspicion. “For what?”
Giorno quickly elaborated a lie in his head. He knew if he told her the truth she would try to talk him out of it. “He says he has some new stuff Giovanna might be interested in.”
“Hmm, and he invited you over to get it? I think he really does like you. I mean, I'm sure he doesn't do that for everyone.” She clapped her hands “Let me pick your outfit!”
“Don't pick anything too flashy.” his phone buzzed against his hand. He peeked quickly to see Mista had texted him as promised. Swallowing, his eyes locked back on to his pink haired friend.
Trish ran to his closet and threw the door open. She bounced on her heels as she looked through the packed space. His parents made their disdain for him obvious, but his mother insisted he dress his “status.” She didn't want anyone to think they were poor; however, he doubted anyone had reason to think that. For several minutes she dug through his wardrobe. Finally, with a satisfied “Aha!” She pulled something out. “Wear this one! It's my favorite.”
In fact it was Giorno's favorite shirt too. It was a black button up with short sleeves and a ladybug embroidered on the left side of the collar. He nodded approvingly as she laid it on his bed. In the end they both agreed on a pair of pants that were a dark navy to go along. “Thanks for your help.”
She giggled as she pinched his cheek “You just make sure you get me over here as soon as you come home so I can know every little tiny detail.” she finished with a light tap to his cheek.
“Sure.” he agreed. “I doubt anything worth mentioning will happen.”
Her grin was from ear to ear. “Still. Good luck, Giorno.”
“Thanks.” she exited through the sliding door in his room.