Romano Vargas was easily the most stuck up, annoying, needy, critical, violent, sarcastic, and not to mention ill-tempered person Antonio had ever met.

But sometime over the years of knowing him, he'd fallen for the Italian. It had taken a while for him to realize it, but when he did it was quite the epiphany. And he was ecstatic when Romano had agreed to meet him for coffee. Antonio walked down the street, happily dodging people and tightening his scarf around his neck. The beginnings of Fall had hit the city hard. Wayward leaves from nearby parks fluttered with the blasts of wind from passing cars. The sky was a clear cyan, and the sun stood high in the midst of it. The air whipped harshly and left a cold sting on Antonio's cheeks.

Antonio quickly crossed the road and reveled in the familiarity of that particular street. The old Art Museum stood tall and proud at almost fifty years old, it's faded red bricks cracking with age. The bakery farther down the street emitted the smell of vanilla and chocolate cakes. The Spanish man was reminded that Romano loved the amaretto cakes from that specific bakery. And it only made his heart race faster for his soon approaching meeting. This was finally it...

No more than a minute later, Antonio was standing in front of the coffee shop. The building was fairly new, and the large glass windows reflected the light and the people walking on the street. Hard plastic hanging baskets bore heartier orange and yellow Fall blooms than the fragile pink flowers from the summer. Above the shop was a small apartment where one of Antonio's friends lived. He took a long, deep breath; opening the door. Inside was warm and smelled strongly of black coffee and brandy. The Spaniard unwound his scarf from his neck and walked up to the long, marble bar-style counter smiling. The blonde standing behind the counter noticed him and smiled back enthusiastically.

"How are you? Want me to get the usual?" He asked with a slight British accent.

" Great! Yeah. And by the way Arthur, have you seen Romano? We're supposed to meet up here." Antonio replied gratefully.

Arthur turned around gracefully and grabbed a large mug from a rack, filling it with coffee. He set it down in front of Antonio and then reached underneath the bar. His arm came back up with a silver Jigger, which he also set down. Turning around once again he grabbed a opaque bottle filled with a light brown liquid. Arthur picked the Jigger up and filled it with the liquid, then dumped it into Antonio's cup.

"No. But I'm sure he'll be here. He's probably going to be late just to spite you." The Brit quipped nonchalantly.

Antonio laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right."

As he took a sip of his coffee (black with vanilla spice creamer) Arthur rolled his eyes.

"I don't know how you can just roll over for him like that. You're spineless, really. He treats you like his personal chew toy." The blonde said and commenced to wipe the counter down.

"Aww c'mon. That's a bit harsh isn't it?" The brunette smirked and leaned his head on his palm. "Besides, you're not one to talk."

Arthur visibly stiffened, and scrubbed the counter a bit harder.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He snipped.

Antonio leaned farther over the counter and grinned devilishly at his friend. Oh, this was going to be fun! "Don't try and pretend that week of freaking out over whether you should have sex with Alfred-"

An elderly man farther down the bar coughed.

Arthur glared at Antonio maliciously, but the Spanish man couldn't resist the urge to tease the other. "Or not because you were a virgin and you didn't want to disappoint him with your inexperience, didn't happen." He finished quietly.

"Be quiet! It's not the same! At least I'm not treated like a doormat! Romano walks all over you and I swear you like it." Arthur said agitatedly.

"Oh shut the hell up Bushy Brows." An annoyed voice called.

Antonio turned around and was elated to see Romano approaching the bar. He wore a tan pea-coat and a red scarf. And not to mention his Holier-than-thou stride. The British man bristled at the comment but held himself back. He loved this job and didn't want to lose it. Fighting with Romano wasn't worth it.

"Amaretto Crème Latte." Romano demanded, not even looking at Arthur.

"You're paying idiot." Was directed at Antonio.

Arthur begrudgingly grabbed another coffee cup and started making the order. A loud and sporadic jingle sounded from the door, noting that a very enthusiastic customer had entered.

"Yo Artie! Can I have another piece of that pie?" Alfred questioned loudly.

"Quiet down! And no! You ate some for breakfast fatty!" The Brit scolded halfheartedly.

Alfred leaped over the counter and latched onto the other blonde.

"Awww! Not even for a kiss? C'mon Artie, you know you love me!" Alfred laughed and tried to kiss the others' cheek despite his struggling.

Arthur tried to push Alfred away. "Fine! If you let me the hell go and shut up for a couple minutes I'll give you pie!" He relented.

Alfred cheered and made his way back over the counter and seated himself. Romano snorted at them. They acted so lovey dovey! It was so weird. He'd never understood how people could act that way, love be damned!

"So what the hell do you want?" The Italian asked Antonio.

And suddenly, it finally hit him. He was going to ask Romano on a date. And there was a small chance... Ok, a 90% chance Antonio would be turned down. And it scared the shit out of him. Romano had been his good friend since they were little. It'd be crazy to chance that. But he felt like it was something he had to do.

"Romano, do you know how long we've known each other?" The Spaniard questioned.

Romano's coffee was finally set in front of him. "I don't know. Since I was nine? Why the fuck does it matter?" He quipped before taking a drink.

Antonio was silent for a minute, and Romano looked at him expectantly.

"Romano, will you go out with me?" The Spaniard asked calmly. (As if calm was how he really felt.)

He really expected more. A punch, a dirty name, a disgusted look. But he didn't get anything more than a;

"Whatever."

Romano couldn't believe what he just said. Why the hell did he say yes? He wanted to die right there. There was no way this was going to work. Them, dating? But fuck, he'd already said it! And there was no chance in Heaven nor Hell Antonio was going to let him off the hook.

Antonio looked at him questioningly.

"What does that mean?" He asked.

Romano took another sip from his coffee.

"Whatever means whatever, dipshit."

Antonio smiled slightly. Well, it wasn't a no.

"Tomorrow at three?" Antonio questioned.

"I don't care."

It was harsh and uninterested, but it was the best thing Antonio had heard all day. He turned back to his coffee and sat happily in the silence Romano found to be insanely awkward. The clamor from other people in the cafe surrounded them as they sat in their somewhat normal silence. Antonio drank his coffee with a renewed energy. Romano on the other hand barely touched his cup. He merely watched as the lazy tendrils of smoke curled from the rim. Conversations of other people muddled into one barely recognizable entity. Not that he'd been paying much attention to it anyway. Romano had no idea how he was going to do this.

Author's Note:

When Antonio says "You're not one to talk", he's referring to the fact when all that was happening, Arthur was acting very much like Romano. He'd do anything to avoid the situation, and poor Alfred had to endure.