Only a single light shone from the window of the small, back street cafe now, a burning ceiling lamp, bright white in the cool, darkness of the descending night. The windows around it lay silent and black, closed and isolated until the sun rose again the next morning. Distant sounds of rushing cars could be heard, far away, over the buildings and onto the road the other side. The burning sun had vanished beyond the horizon. The tempting smell of cooking foods had dispersed as the kitchen shut down. Nobody walked down the deserted streets; the back streets of Barcelona at night were not a safe place.

Alone, Antonio sat at a table in his cafe. He had meant to lock up, his final job for the night before he went home to his bed, but the bottle of red wine sitting in the fridge had simply been too tempting not to open. It made good company, sanding off his hurt from this afternoon neatly around the edges. Being drunk gave up responsibility for his feelings. It allowed him take them however he wanted. He was no longer in charge. His feelings controlled him, and right now, his feelings wanted more wine.

With a feeble smile, Antonio poured himself another glass. It spilled a little, but so had most of his top ups lately. There was only half the bottle left now. When had it gotten so empty? He was sure it was full when he opened it. He couldn't have drunk it all, could he? He swirled the wine in glass thoughtfully before shrugging and taking a large sip.

Somewhere behind him, the bell for the door rang.

"Sorry, we're closed." Antonio called over his shoulder, not bothering to look up. He expected the person to turn and leave immediately, apologising for their mistake, but there was only silence. No, there were footsteps, coming over towards him. What was this person's problem?

Spinning around on his chair, Antonio opened his mouth to repeat his earlier statement with more force, hoping the person would get it this time, but he stopped in his tracks his eyes landed on his visitor, his shining, light brown hair, his amber-green eyes, that cute, bobbing curl, his gentle frown, the kind he only wore when he was trying to hide his smile.

"Lovino." A huge grin broke across Antonio's face. He stood up, steadying himself carefully with his chair, trying to force aside his rising embarrassment in favour of his bubbling joy upon seeing the Italian.

"Hola, Lovino," he repeated, his disbelief fogging his mind, stopping him from saying anything else, his smile this time leaking into his voice in place of the previous shock. He wondered briefly if it would be appropriate to hug him.

"Shut up bastard. You're already sounding like an idiot."

Lovino was back to being his usual self, always swearing, never quite revealing how he really felt. Antonio couldn't help but feel his heart flutter in his chest.

"Ahaha~ Sorry Lovi, I'm just happy you came back... I thought..."

The Spaniard trailed off, quickly lowering his eyes as the reminders of this afternoon came flooding back to him, trying to force back the twinge of pain and rejection that still stung through him. The silence that fell upon them was uncomfortable. Antonio could hear Lovino shuffling in front of him, awkward, unsure. It was clear he wanted to say something, but his pride and insecurity were catching it in his throat. Usually, Antonio was patient with him, waiting for him to gain enough confidence to find his voice again, but the tiring, draining events of the day had drawn his patience out into a thin line. Or maybe it was just the wine.

With a deep sigh, Antonio forced himself to look up to Lovino's face, not sure if the twang of guilt he saw pass through the Italian's features was real or not, to force himself to break the silence.

"What's wrong then, Lovi?"

For a moment, Lovino only stared at Antonio, unsure how to answer, before his face suddenly turned bright red, spreading from his cheeks down to his neck in a cute blush. He lowered his eyes, shoving his hands into his pockets, muttering and scowling to himself in his own shy way. Antonio had to smile. It was all he could do to keep himself from laughing. Only Lovi would suddenly turn into a cute, blushing mess over absolutely nothing.

"Lovino...?"

At the sound of his name, Lovino suddenly drew out one of his hands from pockets, shoving into Antonio's face before the Spaniard could comprehend what he was doing. For a second he was lost, confused as to why Lovino suddenly had his hand in his face – Is he telling me to back away? Have I gone too far again? – but then he saw it, the small, crumpled piece of paper that Lovino held in his hand. It had writing on it, but it was too obscured for Antonio to read it.

"Just take it, dammit, before I change my mind."

"Ah, sorry." Antonio smiled gently, prising the paper from his hands and opening it. It was a number, scribbled crudely onto the paper, a telephone number. Antonio found himself staring at it in pleasant surprise, confused as to why Lovino was giving him a number. It couldn't be his number, could it?

"I wanted... to give it to y-you earlier but that French bastard..." Lovino's voice trailed off, his blush only burning darker as he spoke the words. He was staring at his feet again, shuffling nervously.

Antonio could only blink in surprise, not quite sure if what he was hearing was real or simply his imagination. Was Lovino trying to apologise for what happened this afternoon, in his own cute, flustered, Lovino way? He was. He was giving Antonio his number. This couldn't be happening. It was too good to be true.

Antonio felt his heart flutter wildly in his chest as the realisation of what Lovino's words truly meant began to dawn on him. He grinned, too ecstatic, too lost in his own happiness suddenly to care about anything else. He simply gripped onto the piece of paper, not wanting this dream to end, and smiled gratefully at Lovino. The Italian continued to shuffle awkwardly under Antonio's gaze, only glancing up a few time to meet his eyes, before quickly darting his eyes back downwards, his cheeks flushing red all over again.

Antonio didn't even take note of Lovino's discomfort until the silence was finally broken.

"Ah... well... I-I should go," Lovino muttered shyly, ruining Antonio's moment in an instant. The Spaniard could only blink in confusion at Lovino's words, his bubbling joy quickly morphing into disappointment as he watched the Italian turn away. Why was he leaving? He couldn't leave yet. He had only been here a few minutes. To watch him go now, after Lovino had so amazingly just gotten up the courage to give him his number, practically agreeing to being Antonio's boyfriend – Boyfriend. It sounded so perfect – it simply didn't feel right.

"Wait!" The word was out of Antonio's mouth before he even knew what he wanted to say next. He stood frozen for a moment, mouth hanging open as his brain desperately tried to think of something, anything he could say, feeling ever more flustered and embarrassed under Lovino's expectant gaze.

Then it came to him.

"Can... may I walk you home?" Antonio tried to smile sweetly at Lovino, but as the Italian continued to stare at him, shocked and flustered, Antonio found he didn't even have to try any more. Lovino just looked too cute. The way he was suddenly unable to speak or even look at the Spaniard, averting his eyes as another blush crept across his cheeks, Antonio could only hope the answer would be yes.

"I-I... but... dammit..." Lovino's cheeks burnt redder as the words he said failed to make any coherent sense. He insistently stared at the ground, his hands stuffed in his pockets, but Antonio could see the small smile that was trying slip through his scowl.

"...Fine."

Antonio's heart was suddenly fluttering uncontrollably, his grin wide and ecstatic on his face. He had to hug Lovino now, he didn't care whether it was inappropriate or not.

"Thank you, Lovi~"

"Yeah... Whatever, bastard." Antonio ignored the lack of enthusiasm in Lovino's voice, letting go of him, the grin never leaving his lips for an instant.

"Right. Wait a moment. I just need to do this..."

Motioning for Lovino to stay where he was, Antonio rushed off in preparation for locking up the cafe, grabbing his wine and pouring the rest of the glass down the sink before shoving it, cork back in the top, sealed up, into the wine rack, snatching his coat and almost forgetting his keys as he headed for the door.

"Ready," he said, smiling widely at Lovi, too excited over such a small, insignificant gesture as this one. But it meant everything to him. That Lovino actually wanted to walk home with him, him of all people, that he wanted to keep talking to him and spend time with him, enough to give him his number. That is was actually possible Lovino could feel about him the same way he felt about the Italian, it seamed almost like a dream to Antonio. He wondered briefly if it was too early to start calling him his boyfriend, after all, Lovino hadn't even said he wanted to go on a date yet...

It was only Lovino's insistence on staying perfectly still that drew Antonio from his distant thoughts. They were supposed to be going, weren't they? But Lovino was just standing there, smirking at Antonio, eyebrows raised, glancing up and down his body questioningly. It only took Antonio a quick look down at himself to see the apron he was still wearing.

"Ah, right." With a flash of a sheepish smile, Antonio was quick to remove his apron and throw it onto the nearest chair. When he turned back, Lovino was already turning to the door, shaking his head and laughing quietly to himself. A small smile had slipped onto his lips, probably still under the impression that Antonio couldn't see him. No matter how confused he was as to why Lovino was laughing, Antonio couldn't help but grin at the beautiful sound.

"What's so funny?" Antonio asked, quickly stepping around Lovino and gently opening the door for him. He could tell from the flush that crept into Lovi's face that the sweet gesture was appreciated.

"Nothing."

They stepped out into the warm air of the evening one after the other, Antonio only pausing to switch off the lights and lock the cafe up safely before returning to Lovi's side.

"Then why are you smiling?" Even under the dim glow of the streets lamps, Antonio saw how Lovino's smile immediately vanished. Antonio just frowned, the reaction not exactly being the one he had intended to get. "It's not that I don't want you to smile, Lovi~ I love it when you smile. You look so hansom~ I just wanted to know what was so funny."

"Just drop it Antonio," Lovino murmured, staring down at the ground, once again trying to hide the cute blush that spread across his cheeks.

Antonio decided to take Lovino's advice though, lapsing into silence as they strolled down the almost empty street towards Lovino's flat. Antonio couldn't stop his eyes from drifting upwards, past the street lamps and dim buildings that held little interest to him and to the dark sky above. There was no cloud on that cool evening, nothing to block the beautiful shimmering of the stars as they fought to be seen against the glare of the street lamps, nothing to obscure the shining moon, so white and perfect as it hung romantically in the night sky. The air was pleasant, not too hot for the early summer evening. The silence was peaceful, only the distant noises of cars and Barcelona at night echoing in the distance. The moment, everything as it was right now, was almost perfect. Almost...

Antonio eyes automatically drifted to his left, to Lovino, the beautiful brown haired, frowning Italian, his frowning Italian, and he couldn't stop the smile from spreading wider across his face. It was almost automatic as his hand slipped into Lovino's. The fluttering in Antonio's chest almost doubled as he felt that Lovino didn't pull away, as he didn't swear or insult him, he simply stared at his feet, blushing feverously and smiling gently behind his beautiful scowl. Antonio gave Lovi's hand a small squeeze and he knew then that everything was perfect.

"Umm... Lovi?"

"What?"

"Can I ask you a question?" Antonio prodded cautiously. Lovino glanced up at him, a cross between amusement and irritation flitting across his face.

"You don't have to ask permission every time you want to ask a dam question. Just ask it already."

"Ah, okay." Antonio paused, thinking for a moment, unsure how to phrase what he wanted to say, trying not to quell on the nervous butterflies that danced in his stomach. "I was just wondering... when you gave me your number, did... does that mean y-you want to go on a d-date or... or not?"

To Antonio's surprise, and disappointment, Lovino stopped in his tracks immediately, his hand slipping from the Spaniard's, leaving only empty space behind. Antonio stopped too and turned to give Lovino a confused look, only to be returned by the Italian's stare, looking at Antonio as though he had just said the stupidest thing in the world – not that he didn't look at him like that on regular basis.

But he didn't understand why. He had simply asked him a question, hadn't he? It was only fair that he knew. After all, Lovino had never really given him a straight answer.

Suddenly, Lovino's eyes darted down to the ground, as always purposefully avoiding Antonio's confused ones. His face suddenly burned bright red, obvious even as only a street lamp shone above them.

"Y-you're not really going to make me fucking say it... are you?" he mumbled, almost too quiet for Antonio to hear. The Spaniard frowned in reply, Lovi's answer only adding to his confusion.

"I just want to know..."

Antonio took a nervous step closer. The Italian was grumbling to himself now, scowling in irritation, and suddenly Antonio was worried he had said the wrong thing. Had he managed to ruin their perfect night with such a silly question?

"Lovi...?"

"You're such a bastard."

"But... but Lovi..."

"Fine!" Lovino shouted, the irritation clear in his voice. "I-I... y-yes, I do- I mean... fuck... I-I want to g-go on a d-date... w-with you." By the end of the sentence, the words were almost too quiet to hear, muffled as he stared intently at his feet, his blush darkening further in the dim light. Antonio blinked, then suddenly he was grinning widely, his heart thumping in his chest at having finally gotten the answer he'd been dying to hear ever since he'd asked the question that afternoon, ever since he'd first laid eyes on the cute, wonderful Italian.

Antonio didn't even think about it as he took a final step closer to Lovino, closing the annoying gap between them and taking hold of both his hands. He smiled at him softly, kindly, lovingly.

"Can I kiss you?"

Lovino looked so shocked by Antonio's question that the Spaniard chuckled quietly, enjoying his flustered spluttering and his tomato red face. He really was too cute.

"Well- I-I... I already told you, d-dammit! You- you don't n-need to ask permission-"

Antonio didn't wait for Lovino to finish. He had already leaned down, and in a moment of sweet bliss, they were kissing, their first, magical kiss. A perfect end to the perfect night.

I hope you enjoyed the fluff overload ^_^ This AU has been in my head for a while now and I thought it was perfect for this! Thank you everyone for the lovely reviews! Remember to leave one telling me what you thought of it!