Antonio walked into the small bakery/coffee shop on a late autumn afternoon, the bell on the door jingling as he opened it, signaling his arrival. It was a tiny joint, inside the University's union building, nestled between a bank and a Subway. Since it was so small, there were just a few tables, shoved to the edges, and a small counter at the front where just one server worked.

The single person at the counter looked up at the sound of the bell ringing, and Antonio caught a glimpse of their face- bored, irritated, depressed, and radiantly, undeniably, beautiful. His name tag read, "Lovino Vargas," and Antonio made a mental note of that name.

A little nervous, he approached the counter. "

I'll have something sweet, please." He asked, not knowing what to get. This was not his first time at the bakery, but it was his first time seeing this new, fresh person.

"How about a mocha?" the words were mechanical, rehearsed, and yet as they spilled from the person- Lovino, his name was Lovino, wasn't it- Lovino's lips, Antonio found himself intoxicated by that voice, that little accent that hinted at something exotic.

"Sure."

"Would you like to add a bakery treat for just 99 cents, on our special offer?"

"I- Yeah, a treat- I'd like a treat," Antonio mumbled, suddenly incredibly self-aware that he hadn't showered that morning and that his shirt was on backwards.

Lovino nodded his head, as if to say, 'continue,' but Antonio didn't know what that meant. He stared at Lovino, tongue-tied. Lovino sighed.

"What treat would you like?"

"You." Antonio blurted before he could stop himself. He covered his mouth with his hands quickly, embarrassed. Lovino grew slightly pink but said nothing. "I- I'm sorry," he apologized quickly. "I didn't mean-"

"How about a tomato and mozzarella pastry?" Lovino's words cut through Antonio's frantic apologies. Antonio nodded, glad Lovino had handled the situation.

"You- Your name is Lovino." Antonio pointed out, desperate to save himself in the eyes of Lovino.

Lovino looked up from taking the pastry out of the glass case where it was contained.

"Yeah. I know."

"I'm Antonio!"

"That'll be $3.99."

"My full name is Antonio Fernandez Carriedo- do you live around here? I'm a student at the university- are you?"

"I just moved here from Italy almost a year ago. I work here and take classes on the weekends. I'm in the university studying abroad program, sort of. It's where they give top students from other countries scholarships. Cash or credit?" Antonio could detect the impatience in his voice but he couldn't say goodbye, not yet.

"Cash, please. I'm majoring in psychology. I'm hoping to become a therapist- what about you? What classes are you taking?" Antonio pulled out his wallet, deliberately taking longer than he needed to.

"I'm just learning how to not be a total fuck-up, basically."

Antonio was stunned. "Oh." He pulled out four dollars from his wallet, noticing with annoyance that that was the last of his money. He passed it to Lovino's outstretched hand, their hands touching for just a fraction of a second. Lovino quickly pulled away, looking down so Antonio couldn't see his face, but Antonio saw that the tips of his ears were red.

"I didn't know the university offered classes like that.." he attempted to keep up the conversation.

"They don't," Lovino replied briskly. "I'm not taking classes from the university. My younger brother got the scholarship- he's the genius. He's doing painting. I went with him after.." Lovino abruptly stopped talking and changed the subject. "I'm taking weekend classes at the community college twenty minutes away."

"Oh… I'm sorry.." Antonio felt like a complete dick for prying. Lovino held out his hand. "I already paid," Antonio said, confused.

"There's tax," Lovino said, still looking down.

"Shit," Antonio cursed, fumbling around in his pockets for spare change, for anything. "I don't have any money left."

Lovino looked up and around, as if someone could be watching them. Then he dug a crumpled dollar from his pocket and dropped it in Antonio's hand surreptitiously.

"Just this once," he warned, but Antonio hardly heard him, he was smiling so much.

"Thank you so much- I'm sorry, I'll pay you back later. When do you get off?"

"Nine PM, every night. Would you like it to go or for here?" Lovino printed out the receipt and handed it to Antonio.

"Here, please."

"When it's ready would you like me to bring you your drink and treat?" Lovino was back to business, grinding coffee beans with loud crunches that reminded Antonio of the sound of leaves crunching under his shoes.

"Sure. Thank you very much." Antonio sat down and unpacked his backpack. He had originally come with the intent of working on his homework, but he wasn't sure how much he would be able to get done. After a couple minutes Lovino appeared with a small plate and a pastry and a steaming mug. He was wearing an apron over a tight-fitting longsleeved black shirt and slightly ratty jeans, the bottoms frayed. When he bent over to place the mocha and pastry on Antonio's table, his shirt rode up and Antonio could see his slim waist.

"You look- I mean- it- the food- looks delicious," he stammered.

"Uh-huh."

"Wait- can you stay? Can we talk?" Antonio pleaded as Lovino turned and began to walk away.

"I have customers," Lovino said irritably.

"Please?"

Lovino sighed and walked back to Antonio's table. "After work," he promised begrudgingly. "I get off at 9."

"Thank you!" Antonio beamed up at Lovino, and he swore he saw Lovino blush before he turned quickly on his heel and hurried away, busying himself behind the counter.

Antonio checked his watch for the millionth time, inwardly groaning when he saw that it was still just 8:30. The stream of customers had slowed down considerably, and now the only people left in the coffee shop was him, Lovino, and an old lady determinably sipping her tea and solving the newspaper's crossword puzzle. Lovino started to clean up, wiping down the coffee machines and the counter and locking away the flavored syrups and coffee beans and so forth.

Finally the old woman raised the teacup with shaking hands to her chapped lips and downed the last few drops. Taking her crossword puzzle with her, she tottered off and out of the shop. Lovino took her teacup and sniffed it. He grimaced.

"She keeps putting whisky in her tea," he complained. Antonio laughed.

"I guess you could say she's got… high spirits," he joked. Lovino glared at him and started washing up the cup in the sink. Finally he finished and put it on the drying rack. He wiped his hands and pulled out a chair across from Antonio.

"So. Why do you want to talk." It wasn't really a question, more like an accusation of some sort.

Antonio shrugged. "I dunno," he said. "Just thought it'd be nice to get to know you or something."

Lovino groaned and sat back in his chair. "Do you normally do this with all coffee shop baristas?"

"No, just you." Lovino rolled his eyes.

"I have to be out of here by 9:30. If you're still set on talking to me after then, we can go outside. There's a park by where I live if you

want," Antonio stared at him, dumbstruck. "What?" Lovino snapped. "You said you wanted to talk. So we're talking. That's it."

"Right, right." Antonio shook his head and stared into his empty mug, watching the milk foam coagulate at the bottom.

They sat in silence for a moment, Antonio staring awkwardly at the dregs of his mocha, when finally Lovino got the nerve to speak up.

"So are we gonna talk, or are we just gonna sit here wasting time?"

"Right. Sorry." Antonio rubbed the back of his neck. He had so many things he wanted to ask Lovino, but when the moment arose they

all abandoned him. "Um."

Lovino sighed. "I'll start then. Where are you from?"

"Spain, originally, but when I was fifteen we moved to America. You just came here, right? How are you liking it? This town, specifically?"

"It's all right. There's so many tall buildings, it's all urban. I can't see the stars. I don't really know much about this town, I don't know where anything is. I could look around, but I just get nervous in new places a lot and I don't know any people, and I get lost, and then I get really freaked out and anxious, so I go and kick dustbins and plastic flamingoes over. If there was someone who knew the city and was willing to show me around, that would be nice, but I don't have any friends." Lovino played with the wrapper of a sugar packet as he spoke, twisting it around and around until it tore. He sighed in annoyance and grabbed another sugar packet, twisting and twisting nervously.

"I could show you around, if you want," Antonio offered. "I've been here for a long time, so I think I know it pretty well. And I'm sure you have friends- even I have some!"

"There's my brother. And that's it."

"You should leave the house more! Go out, party! Woo!" Antonio raised his arms enthusiastically, as if he was dancing.

Lovino surveyed him with a look of half interest, half disdain. "I don't go to parties," he finally said, delicately, as though it were a painful subject. His hands, folded in his lap were suddenly a great interest. He stared at them, picking at his fingernails.

Antonio wisely decided not to pry further. He checked his watch. "It's 9:30," he said. "Should we go?"

Lovino looked up, startled. He looked at the clock on the wall and nodded. He stood up, stretched, untied his apron and folded it neatly and stored it under the counter, and then pulled on an old hoodie. He turned off the lights, adjusted the 'closed' sign, and then held the door open for Antonio.

They walked, silently, Lovino leading the way. Antonio noticed he was shivering and rubbing his arms.

"Don't you have a coat?" he asked. Lovino shook his head.

"Here." Antonio unzipped his coat and held it open. "Get in."

"You want me to get in your coat?" Lovino asked disbelievingly. Antonio nodded and made a 'come here' gesture. Lovino rolled his

eyes and stepped in. Antonio zipped the coat back up around them both, feeling Lovino's body pressed up against his. It was a nice feeling, sharing the body heat between the two of them.

"A wild Lovino appeared! Antonio used Pokeball! It's super effective!" Antonio joked. Lovino gave a sort of heavy exhalation and Antonio was confused for a moment, until he realized that Lovino had laughed faintly, as if he had forgotten how to laugh.

"You laughed!" Antonio exclaimed, astonished. "That's the first time I've heard you laugh!"

"You've only known me for a couple of hours. Stop acting as if we've known each other for years," Lovino huffed, although Antonio could see a weak smile entertaining his face.

Lovino took a step. Unfortunately, Antonio hadn't been expecting to walk just yet, and he toppled over on top of Lovino. Lovino attempted to shove him off, but forgot that they were sharing the coat and instead just fell on top of Antonio. Irritated, he tried to get off of him, but the coat was tight around both of them, and he was pressed back down, his face sticking out just above Antonio's shoulder. Antonio reached his arms out to unzip the coat, and for a moment he was tempted to instead pull Lovino closer, to never let him go. Instead, he unzipped the coat and Lovino climbed off of him, his face red.

Antonio got up and brushed himself off. He held the coat open again, but Lovino refused.

"I think I'll just go with being cold," he said. "The park isn't too far."

Antonio shrugged. "Suit yourself." They walked in silence for a bit.

"Keep to the right," Lovino warned him, as they took a shortcut through a dingy alleyway. There were no streetlights, and Antonio couldn't see anything, it was pitch black.

"Where are you?" his voice sounded like a child's, and it was only in the dark, without Lovino that he realized how afraid he was of losing Lovino.

"Over here." Lovino's voice sounded far off, and Antonio tried to quicken his pace, his arms out in front of him, feeling around in the darkness. Antonio's shoe slipped on something wet, glazed over with ice and he fell forwards, yelling and trying to regain his balance. Suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed him and hauled him upright and he almost screamed, not knowing who the hand belonged to, until there was a small click and a lighter flicked open, creating a flame that cast a magical orange-yellow glow around them both.

"You okay?" Lovino asked. Antonio nodded. Lovino sighed. "God, you can't even walk correctly. Here," Lovino offered out his hand. "I'll lead you through."

A little embarrassed, Antonio took it. Lovino deftly wove in and out of the maze of dustbins and old rubbish, Antonio stumbling along behind him, until eventually they rushed out of the alleyway and back into a small, narrow street. Antonio looked around. It was the grotty part of town, a broken neon 'OPEN' sign in the window of a small Chinese chippy, flickering between red and blue. One of the windows had been broken and covered up with canvas.

"This way," Lovino said, unfazed. They did not break hands, and Antonio thought Lovino might have squeezed his hand reassuringly for a second there, but then again, it could have just been his imagination. They walked down the street, still holding hands. Worn-out people sat on the front porches of their worn-out homes, smoking, their eyes following the two of them, but saying nothing. Lovino kicked an empty beer can aside and it rose up, carried by the wind for a moment, before clattering back down to the street.

"I live just up there, behind the Adult Video Store," Lovino said, pointing to the left. "The park's not much further."

"Right." Antonio nodded solemnly. The area made him feel melancholy and lonely, and he wondered how Lovino could stand it alone with no friends or companions. He shivered. It was very cold, even in his coat, and he glanced at Lovino and saw that a thin layer of frost had accumulated on the tip of his nose from the wet, his teeth chattering.

"Why don't we just go to your place?" he suggested. "It's really cold- I'm cold, and I'm wearing a coat, and you- you're wearing nothing! It's dangerous if you stay out here too long without a coat, you could get hypothermia!"

"I'm fine. Let's just go to the park."

"But you must be so cold, it's more logical to just go to where you live and warm up-"

"No." Lovino interjected him. "We either go to the park, or not at all."

"But you look so cold, and it would be silly for me to just come all this way and then go back- I really think we should just go to your place, maybe I could stay the night..?'

"I said no." Lovino was obstinate. He stopped walking and pulled his hand out of Antonio's. (Antonio realized later as he was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling but not seeing it and seeing instead Lovino's face, that that meant that Lovino must have been aware that he was still holding hands with Antonio, and that it had been a conscious decision on Lovino's part to remain holding Antonio's hand, even after they had exited the alley.

Lovino squared his shoulders and drew himself up, trying to make himself look taller. It didn't work, partly because he was noticeably shorter than Antonio, and partly because he was also trying to conserve body heat by hunching over, his arms drawn close to his chest. However, Antonio got the message.

"Fine," he sighed, turning away and starting to walk back. "See you." He gave a little backhand goodbye wave to Lovino as he left, but did not turn around. Lovino watched him leave until he was completely out of sight, and then turned and started to walk.