(Note: I didnt want to fit this in the summary description bc that would look ugly BUT i wanted this fic to have some spice in it ifyaknowwhatimean cause honestly isnt that what we read fics for lmao)

He inhaled.

Ah.

The smell of motor oil and metal filled his lungs. It felt strangely purifying, smelled weirdly pungent but right. It smelled good to Lovino. It smelled like opportunities, it smelled like freedom, it smelled like a place with a history unknown to him, it smelled like mysteries. And that, for Lovino, was very liberating, very calming, comforting. It smelled like a place where he could speak his mind, insult people, damn the consequences. It smelled like motor oil and metal. Although he had no idea and had no intention of going so deep into his mind while dropping off his car at the mechanic's, he found himself digging in there, admiring the place and it's odors as he waited for the man who gave him a curt nod when he came in to come back. The garage was small, about the size of three typical home garages connected with a larger ceiling, the said garage doors open so simply anyone who could drive up and park their car in the lot next to it could see themselves what type of work was going on. The place was on a corner next to tiny gas station with only two pumps and a store that was also connected to the garage.

The street was a three-way intersection of sorts. Once you came off the bridge that went out of town, you'd see the garage to your left, a pizza place to your right across the street, and ahead of you were the neighborhoods, dotted with old houses and tall trees that got mixed up in the sparse powerlines that were only just still getting installed.

The town across the bridge was broken down, small, dirty, but to Lovino, full of excitement. There were movies that played every night, whether you went to a theater or to the drive-in one on the outskirts. Shops full of clothes, candy, nick nacks and other random shit lay, adorning the many potholed streets of the downtown area. The district's high school and middle school were there also, the town festering with annoying teenagers after 2:30 on every weekday without fail. And Lovino should know, because he was one of them. It wasn't too uncommon for him to grab his younger brother, Feliciano, and take him to get shakes after school before they begrudgingly dragged their feet home for dinner and hours of studying and homework. Those few hours after school were the only times Lovino was allowed out into the world, but today, he couldn't have been more happy to see that his car was having some sort of issue. It was the perfect excuse to leave his god-awful house he felt exaggeratingly trapped in.

"This your car?"

Lovino scoffed, standing up from the wall he was leaning on before while he waited. "No, I just like to loiter in random places of business."

But to his surprise, the voice laughed at Lovino's sarcasm, which was a first unless he was family. His head snapped up from the dirt under his nails that he was examining to see the owner of the voice and footsteps. He had expected to see the man he saw before, the one who gave him that nod, but instead he saw a different man.

He was different in stature, his shoulders and chest broader than the other man before. His skin was tanner, sun-kissed and visible under his white tank top. He wore an old jumpsuit, faded by time and was what Lovino could only guess was the type of uniform around here. He had it zipped up only half way, the rest of it tied around his waist, but he wore dark gloves, them and his shirt stained with black oil. His brown hair was tied back with a red bandana, the leftover parts from the knot sticking up into the air, making him look perky or like he had some kind of antenna. When he laughed, it was low and grounding, and it sounded very genuine. His smile threw Lovino off for a moment as he got comfortable looking at his strangely handsome face. He wore a soft expression, but had a hard jawline in contrast. He looked most definitely like a perfect, odd disney prince. Classically good-looking, and Lovino would be lying if he said he wasn't a little jealous of his cute dimples or striking green eyes.

"What's up with it?"

"Hmm?" Lovino felt dazed.

"With the car." His voice sounded slightly accented, his english off slightly.

But Lovino blinked, shaking his head and came back to his senses, now down on earth once more. He cleared his throat. "Oh," he took a few steps forward towards him and the car. "It makes a funny noise when I try to start it up, sometimes it'll run, but sometimes it won't and… I'm not really sure what that means."

The man was deep in thought when Lovino dared to glance at him again, simply nervous to be as close as he was to him, the feeling strange in his chest, but he merely passed it off as one of those weird crushes you get for a day when you see a hot stranger. He tried to ignore it, more concerned with getting his car fixed so he could go into town for a little bit before he knew he'd have to be home. The man had his hand pressed to his chin before he sighed, then shrugged.

"Let me take a look, poke around a little," he said, making his way to the front of the car and popping the hood. "It shouldn't take me too long to figure out the problem," he continued. "If you wanna stick around you can, there's candy in the shop next door."

"Oh- I don't have any change on me right now.." only grandpa's check for the car.

"That's alright. I'd let you take one for free since you've got a good sense of style."

Lovino almost shook at the compliment, startled and embarrassed at how quickly it took for the heat to rise from his stomach to his cheeks. He silently looked down at his ensemble, it rather gross with dirt as well from walking through a baseball field that morning to school when his car- surprise, surprise- wouldn't start. He supposed the man liked his shirt the most which was tucked into his belt and jeans and was mostly covered up by his jacket, but had a popular band logo on the front. If he was honest, he didn't actually listen to the band, but he wore it because it looked cool and his grandpa had gotten it for him for his birthday last year without thinking to ask if he even liked the genre. Regardless, it was a nice shirt.

Lovino urged himself to say something, anything, anything at all. Even if he didn't know this dude, he was smokin' and nobody wants to look like a dork in front of someone so gorgeous. He thought, thought of cute things to say, something to retaliate with or tease him about, some way to kind of flirt like how strangers do on those television shows Feliciano and him liked to watch on the weekends. But all that came to mind were cuss words, and cussing out someone for complimenting you wasn't exactly what Lovino tried to do. So he pressured himself to say the first thing that came to mind after cursing, the time between the man's comment and his answer growing rapidly and awkwardly.

"Creepy compliment, stranger." God fucking damn it.

But he laughed again, his head buried inside the car somehow, and when he emerged he had something stained across his cheek. "Fair," he chuckled and Lovino found relief.

"What's your name then?"

"What?" Lovino felt dumb.

"You 'ought to have a name, or were your parents just really lazy?"

He snorted. "Lovino," he grinned a little. "Your turn."

The man sighed as he leaned down into the car again while Lovino made his way around, leaning against the wall again from the side so he could watch him poke around in his car, his expensive, really nice, blue car that he had already forgotten the name of. He took a moment to answer, engulfed in his work for a moment before his back straightened up again.

"Antonio," he said, taking a look at Lovino from the corner of his eye before he tangled his hands in the mess of stuff under the hood of the car. "Lovino…" he mumbled, causing Lovino's head to perk up. "Sounds foreign."

"Well it is.. Uh.. technically."

"Oh really?" Antonio looked at him. "Where you from?"

"Here, actually." He looked confused, and Lovino stopped himself from smiling at his expression. "But my grandpa immigrated over from Italy before I was born."

"Really?"

"You'll find that I'm no liar."

"Hmm," Antonio hummed. "I don't know, you sure look it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing…" Antonio grinned again, the white of his teeth contrasting brightly against the dark surroundings around him. He spoke his last word almost like a song, dragged out as he leaned back into the car in front of him, tinkering away, trying to find a problem to fix and silence sat around them for a few minutes.

"Where.. Where are you from?"

"What makes you think I wasn't born here?"

Ah, shit. Lovino felt his cheeks heat up again, flustered and a little ashamed of himself if he was being honest. He stuttered, trying to say something but then cutting himself off again to say something else. How could he have been so insensitive? Just because someone has an accent…

"Oh, now don't get to worked up, Lovi," he snorted and Lovino probably would have said something mildly aggressive for the new nickname if he wasn't in such a situation. "I'm only teasing you. I'm kidding."

"You-" Lovino swallowed then groaned in realization. "Aw, fuck you."

He laughed again, this time it echoing around the walls slightly. The sound felt bright and if yellow could be felt, that's what it was like to hear him laugh.

"I take it…" he tried to talk again after the laughter bubbled away. "You're from some spanish-speaking place right? Mexico? Chile? Spain, maybe?"

Antonio nodded. "Last one, there." His dimples showed when he beamed. "What gave it away?" he joked.

"Hmm probably the everything about you," Lovino crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, and the lisp."

He gasped. "I don't have a lisp!"

"Doubtful."

Antonio dramatically rolled his eyes, shaking his head slightly as he did so before he went quiet, focusing on the task at hand once more, like he was supposed to, seemingly out of questions and conversation pieces like Lovino was. For a few moments, he simply watched Antonio work, watched as every so often his brow furrowed when it looked like he came across something strange. He watched as Antonio sometimes unscrewed something with his hand or with a tool he grabbed off a back table. He poked, he searched, he scrapped and he scoured all the unfamiliar parts to Lovino before he eventually got bored. Turning away, not feeling it was necessary to tell Antonio where he was going. He looked around for a door he suspected lead into the gas station shop, and pushed through it.

The air was immediately different in there. It smelled stale and of cleaning products and bleach, fake and suffocating. Lovino wrinkled his nose at the smell of supposed lemon air freshener. It was cleaner in there and significantly smaller, little racks of paper books and magazines decorating one wall and other small things like brands of oil and cigarettes on another wall. He looked around, pocketing a small candy bar from the counter in the front, taking advantage of Antonio's offer before some other worker could accuse him of stealing. Lovino stepped in circles for a moment before walking over to the small shelf of cigarettes and picking out a box, slamming them down on the counter again, waiting for someone to come from the back so he could pay with the dollar he found on the ground. It took only a little while for the same man, the curt nodding man, to step out into the front. At first it looked like he didn't notice Lovino, and when he looked up, he jumped a little, startled, which confirmed his suspicion. The man sighed and raked his hand through his hair, pushing it away before walking up all the way to the register and ringing up his cigarettes.

"You 18 yet?"

"Yeah," Lovino huffed.

"Can I see your ID, then?"

Lovino looked up at the man, who was obviously tired out of his mind and was probably not above insulting a kid. He looked older than Antonio and if he had an accent, he might've passed him off as his dad, but their facial features looked too different. All that was the same was their brown hair. He ruffled through his pockets and pulled out his wallet, grabbing his driver's license from it and handing it over. "What do you care…" he mumbled, to which he didn't respond.

The man looked over his license for way too long, constantly looking back and forth between the card and Lovino's now scowling face. He finally sighed, handing back the license to which Lovino put back into his wallet that he kept out and before he put it away he checked to see that the check his grandpa had given him was still safe and there, then he put it away.

"Sure are short for an 18 year old.." the man muttered under his breath, grabbing a bag.

"The hell you say?" Lovino snapped.

"Nothing," he looked up, grinning bitterly. "Enjoy the coffin pins."

Lovino didn't really smoke, only occasionally when his brother or his grandpa really pissed him off or something, but mostly he kept them as a bargaining chip at school. He honestly just wanted to do something other than homework, so he'd often use cigarettes to bribe smarter and gullible underclassmen to do it for him since he didn't get cash from his grandpa unless he gave him a respectable reason as to why he needed it. And he figured cheating school and skipping out on the "premium learning experience" wasn't a satisfactory answer.

"Forget the bag," Lovino almost growled. He swiped the box off the counter and shoved it into his jacket pocket along with the candy bar he took earlier. He turned away as he went, pushing himself back into the room that smelled like motor oil and metal. He had to stop himself from audibly sighing in the pleasant change of atmosphere. The two rooms were like two different planets, and Lovino much preferred this one.

When he stepped back inside to the familiar room, he noticed there was another guy under his car, his feet sticking out funnily and Antonio looked to have his arm lodged way down into the engine. They seemed focused, so he didn't disrupt them as he tore open the wrapper of his candy bar.

"How about now?" Antonio asked.

"No," said the man on the floor. His voice was slightly muffled.

Antonio shifted his weight on his hip then twisted something inside the car. "Now?"

"Nope."

"Now?"

"Antonio, you still haven't told me what I'm looking for."

"The thing."

"What thing?"

"The one with the tag sticker on it."

"Lots of part have old stickers on them!" The man groaned and shifted around before sliding out from under the car, his characteristics striking. "That's why we name the parts, Antonio, so we can avoid situations like this."

Antonio unlodged his arm from the car as well, standing up straight and scratching his head a little, looking almost as frustrated and confused as the man on the floor. Eventually he just sighed, ignoring the oil he just got into his hair.

"Move over, I'll just do it myself."

"Alright man, whatever," he said, standing. "Oh shit!"

"What?!"

The skinner man jumped at the sight of Lovino leaning again on the wall, not having heard him come in as was Antonio. He turned, yelping slightly with profanity, it scaring Antonio as well as it made him think he saw a dead rat or something. But no, it was only Lovino.

"Oh!" A grin immediately plastered over his features. "Gilbert, this is Lovino, the owner of the car.. Lovino, this is Gilbert. His grandpa started the shop now he owns it and works with me sometimes."

Gilbert put a hand on his heart, bending over and taking a breath, sighing dramatically as if he had just caught his breath after a run. "Pleasure Lovino," he said, addressing him with a smile and a nod. "Gotta be honest, you scared the shit out of me."

"That isn't the first time I've heard that." Lovino wrapped the leftover candybar back into its wrapper and shoved it into his pocket again. "Sorry 'bout it."

"Eh, it's fine," Gilbert shrugged it off.

Gilbert had very pale skin, almost looking white in comparison to Antonio's darker skin. He was skinnier in stature, but he didn't look any less strong than Antonio, to whom he was about an inch taller. He looked older too, but perhaps it was only the white hair that stood out prominently against his red eyes, them being for sure the first thing you notice about him. And while Antonio and Gilbert talked to themselves about the car a little, Lovino finally remembered the name. He must be albino.

"Anyways," Antonio turned to Lovino. "We've got a pretty good idea of what's going down. We still want to make sure though.. Regardless, repairs will probably take up to a few days."

"Oh- alright. Sounds good to me. Uhm… I have a check here.."

Antonio blinked. "Already? But you don't know the cost.."

"My grandpa signed it," Lovino said, digging it out of his wallet, holding it out to Antonio.

Slowly, he grabbed it, wary with his dirty gloves, so he took one off, tucking it under his armpit. When he looked over the figures, Lovino could have sworn he was going to faint.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed.

"If it's not enough…"

"My god.." Antonio laughed, gleefully, in a manner of disbelief. "This is way too much. I can't accept this."

"Why not?"

"Do you know how much this is?" Antonio held the check in front of his face.

"...Yes, I can read."

He sighed. "And… and you're okay with giving us this much money?"

"It's not a crazy amount. It's no more than the car costs.."

"Still," he cleared his throat. "You're strangely okay with spending so much.. Most people really care about getting their change here."

Fuck.

How do you tell the hot, middle-class, working, probably having money problems guy at the mechanic's shop that your family is loaded and tends to spend a little too much money on everything. Feliciano says it's because they're so generous, but Lovino feels its a waste most of the time. Most times, apart from this one. It was extra cash Antonio and Gilbert could use, maybe to spruce things up, buy a new wrench or something. But despite that, Lovino still didn't think it was all that much compared to how much his grandpa spends on other things like booze and good chefs that he'll just end up criticizing anyways. He looked again at the check Antonio was holding onto, and then the look of disbelief on his face.

"Just take it," Lovino finally said. "Don't worry about it… You can use the extra to buy yourself a new tank top."

"Hey!" Antonio grinned. "This happens to be my favorite tank top."

"Ooh if that's the best then I honestly feel bad for the rest of them, then."

Antonio gasped in offense and Lovino let himself smile a little again, awkwardly pushing his hands into his pockets again. "Well, I should get home then… I stayed a little later than I expected."

"Will you be fine without your car?"

"Yeah." Lovino nodded. "I'll see you later then."

"See you."

Antonio waved him off as he left the shop, leaving behind his car to which Gilbert had climbed under again. Glancing over his shoulder, Lovino smiled a little as his goodbye as he walked off, the shop getting smaller and smaller as he did so. Because that's how distance works.

The weather was getting warmer as summer started coming closer and closer and Lovino couldn't stop counting the days until then. The sun shone hotly on his back, beckoning him to take off his jacket, but Lovino didn't listen, already too lost in a daydream to really pay attention. It was a miracle sent from the heavens that Lovino didn't trip over uneven sidewalk or walk right into a telephone pole and hurt himself.

Lovino dragged his feet as he made his way home, taking his grand old time. He took exaggeratedly long moments to examine the flowers on peoples' porches, or paint choice. He watched as he walked the subtle shift of the working class houses, run down places to nicer homes, one's made with brick, the paint left unchipped and the lawn pristine, able to tell just by looking at it that it was a nice place. Lovino found those houses suffocating, a little too small no matter how many rooms it had. There were eyes everywhere in those houses.

"You're home late."

"Not really."

"You almost missed dinner."

"I'm here now, grandpa."

Lovino was used to his grandpa pestering him at the front door while he took his shoes off, but today he felt a little more testy than normal. He swallowed an insult. He knew he'd be smacked upside the head if he spoke his mind there. He slipped off his boots and jacket, setting them aside and hanging it up before he followed his grandpa into the kitchen where the aforementioned dinner was set all nice and pretty. Feliciano was already sitting there, waiting patiently for Lovino to sit so he could start eating, so he did.

"Would have been a shame if you missed, I made your favorite," grandpa continued.

"But I didn't."

"I know," he said as he served Lovino, dumping food on his plate. "Just saying."

Lovino internally groaned, his good mood sullied easier that afternoon for a reason he was unsure of. Maybe it was because he'd have to go without his car for a few days, or that he couldn't go downtown because he got distracted at the shop. Distracted by a gorgeous, accented, funny, spanish man who gave him free candy and complimented his shirt while simultaneously not minding Lovino's insults and excessive cursing. Maybe the poor baby already missed his company.

"Did you get your car fixed?" Feliciano looked up from his dinner at his brother.

"It's still getting fixed."

"Did you give them my check?" Grandpa Roma spoke up.

"Yes."

"And they accepted all of it?"

"Yes."

"Good… I'm glad."

Silently, the three boys slowly chewed away at their dinner, sometimes pausing the quiet to talk about mundane things like what they did at school, when SATs were coming up for Feliciano, Randy downtown and his failing sunglasses business and the pollution of the river on the other side of town. But soon the sun started to set, and Lovino saw that as a good time to excuse himself from the dinner table.

"Now, hold on," Roma stood up with his grandson. "Make sure you help Feliciano with the dishes before you say goodnight."

Lovino wanted so badly to bail, tired and gross, wanting too desperately to change, shower and fall into his bed face first so he could sleep. But he couldn't say no. "Yes, grandpa."

He smiled. "Good."