Disclaimer: Hetalia does not belong to me!
Pairings: Spain/America
Human AU! Sorry for the crappy title xD
Flashback: 7 months ago
The strumming of a guitar drew him into a small room where students were meant to study. He walked into the room quietly and saw a young, olive-skinned man with tousled brown hair who looked about his age, playing a quiet tune on a guitar, his eyes closed. When he finished the tune a few minutes later, he opened his eyes, revealing them to be a dark green but warm and friendly nonetheless.
"Hola," he said, smiling at the blond in front of him.
"Hey…um, sorry about ya know…just coming in here like that. I heard the music and wanted to check it out. Hope you don't mind. You're really good…" He could hear himself rambling on and he stopped, reddening slightly. "…I'm Alfred."
"Thank you, Alfred," the tanned man spoke with an accent Alfred couldn't quite place. It sounded cute though. He kept smiling as he appraised the man in front of him before speaking again. "I've been playing the guitar for years now so it is nice to hear that I'm not too bad."
"Oh no, you're not bad at all," Alfred said quickly. "You were great!"
The man laughed, a loud cheerful laugh and Alfred found himself wishing he knew his name. "Thank you," he said again. "You're too kind."
"Nah, not being kind, I'm just tellin' the truth," Alfred smiled, hoping he wasn't turning as red as he felt he was. "Anyway, sorry for bothering you. I just wanted to see what was up here and well, I uh.. saw what was up here so I'll go." He gave the other man a small wave and turned to leave, feeling oddly like he'd made a fool of himself.
"Oh, wait," the other man spoke just as Alfred reached the door. Alfred turned back around and looked at him curiously. "Lo siento, I was being rude. My name is Antonio. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," Alfred smiled and then looked on as Antonio started putting his guitar away. "You're leaving too?" He couldn't help asking.
"Yeah. She never showed up," Antonio sighed.
"She?" Alfred deflated visibly. Of course a guy as handsome as Antonio wouldn't be single. It would be weird if he were.
"My student," Antonio clarified, not noticing Alfred's expression, which quickly turned into a relieved one. "I give guitar lessons. This is the third time she's skipped out so I think I'm going to end them."
"Oh dude, that sucks," Alfred said sympathetically. "How long did she keep you waiting?"
"About an hour," Antonio replied, standing up now that he had put everything away.
"That's a long time," Alfred murmured.
"Sí, what a waste," Antonio sighed. "But what can I do. It's my fault for waiting so long in the first place. And I'm not even getting paid."
"How much do you charge for lessons?" Alfred questioned, coming up with what he believed was an awesome idea.
"Fifteen dollars for an hour," Antonio replied, perking up slightly. "Why? Are you interested?"
Alfred blushed. "No! No…" he paused as he realized what Antonio meant. "I mean yeah, I'm interested! Fifteen bucks isn't too bad…I think…how often would we have to meet up?"
"I usually meet up with students once or twice a month at a time of their choosing," Antonio said cheerfully, bounding up to Alfred and smiling broadly. "So, would you be interested?!"
"Y-yeah!" Alfred nodded. "I've always wanted to learn how to play the guitar! This'll be great!"
"Fantástico!" Antonio beamed and reached into his jeans pocket, pulling out a small crumpled up piece of paper and handing it to Alfred. "Here's my card. Call me up when you're ready to start the lessons!"
"Does Friday of next week sound okay?" Alfred asked hopefully, wanting to start the lessons as soon as possible. "We could meet up here, in this room."
"Yes," Antonio responded happily. "I'll see you then." He touched Alfred's shoulder lightly as he walked past him out the door. Alfred stood there dumbly for the next minute until a group of students came in to work on a project and kicked him out. Afterwards, he rushed out to the nearest music store and bought himself the nicest guitar he could find. Honestly, he'd never really been interested in playing the guitar-he preferred the saxophone-but with a guy as cute as Antonio teaching him, he was more than willing to learn now.
The lessons started out as planned; a Friday evening once a month from 6 to 7 but after the second month of working together, Alfred had decided he needed more and not just because he was appallingly bad at playing the guitar and actually needed more lessons but because he wanted to see Antonio more often. The lessons were causing quite a heavy dent in his wallet but he felt it was worth it the more he got to see and work with Antonio. At first, Alfred felt a little stupid for agreeing to this. He wasn't even sure if Antonio was into guys though luckily for him, he was, as he'd found out during one of their meetings. Still, even if he hadn't been, he probably would have continued the lessons. The Spaniard-he'd found out he was Spanish during their first meeting-was kind and patient despite Alfred's horrible attempts at playing the instrument. The small attraction he'd felt towards Antonio had blossomed into a full-blown crush and as the months passed by, Alfred just kept falling in deeper. He didn't know how much longer he could last without saying anything. If everything worked out all right, he'd be planning to confess tonight. 'I'm a brave guy. I can do this!' Alfred thought and then let out a high-pitched squeak as the doorbell rang. He jumped to his feet and brushed non-existent dust off his clothes and taking a precursory glance around the darkened living room to make sure everything was nice and clean. It was-he'd spent all afternoon cleaning and readying up his home for this lesson. It was the first time that he and Antonio were practicing here; they usually practiced in the little study room they had met in but because Alfred was planning on revealing his feelings tonight, he'd felt it'd be better to meet up somewhere more private. The doorbell rang again and Alfred realized he'd been standing there uselessly for a few seconds. He rushed to the door and opened it, tensing up the moment he saw the Spaniard standing out there holding his guitar case.
"Hola, Al!" Antonio greeted, smiling brightly as usual, completely unaware of the American's nervousness.
"H-hey, Toni! Come on in!" Alfred said, stepping aside to let the Spaniard inside
"It's…really dark in here," Antonio noted as he looked around the living room. There were a few scented candles positioned around the room lighting up the room only slightly.
"…Yeah…the lights went out…the power circuits musta gone out or something. I just barely had time to light up all these candles…" Alfred lied in what he thought was a very convincing tone. "It doesn't bother you or anything, does it?"
"No. It's fine like this. I like the ambience," Antonio said, sitting down on the couch where Alfred promptly joined him.
"Sorry about that," Alfred said sheepishly.
"It's okay," Antonio smiled, waving his apology off. "Working here like this is fine. Plus, it's nice to see where you live. I was wondering when you'd invite me over. I should have you come over to my place sometime."
"Uh, yeah, that'd be cool," Alfred nodded. "Oh hey, do you want anything? Something to drink? Eat?"
"Not now, thanks," Antonio said as he took out his guitar. "So, you ready for your lesson?"
Alfred nodded and grabbed his guitar from where he had left it next to the couch. "I've been practicing more so I hope I've improved!"
"You've been doing really well," Antonio stated. "You've learned a lot!"
"Thanks, Toni." Alfred said, looking at him for a bit longer than was necessary. Antonio didn't seem to mind though, simply smiling warmly at the American. "…Uh, should we pick up from where we left off last time?" He asked, when he forced himself to look away.
"…N-no, let's warm up first," Antonio answered, looking away a moment after. "Let's just play a few simple chords first."
Alfred nodded, a concentrated look taking place on his face as he stared down at his hand and guitar strings. He had managed to get most of them down but he still messed up a couple of times as they warmed up.
"I think that's enough. We can start playing some actual stuff now," Antonio said after a few minutes of practicing.
"Okay," Alfred said, nodding in agreement. Playing music was always more fun than just playing boring old chords. The song Antonio was teaching Alfred to play was an old, Spanish tune that the American had never heard before their lessons. It was simple and relatively easy to play and when Alfred had looked it up online, he'd learned it was a sweet, love ballad.
Antonio played the tune by himself at first, mumbling the names of the chords so that Alfred could hear them. He watched him play, entranced by the way Antonio's fingers strummed the strings. He doubted he could ever look so natural playing like that.
"Your turn, Alfie," Antonio said, once he'd finished playing. "Don't worry, you'll do fine. I'll help you out if you need me to." He added as he took in Alfred's anxious expression. "It's what I'm here for."
Alfred gulped and nodded. Even after working together for months, he still got nervous playing around Antonio. He took a deep breath to calm himself and then positioned his hands in the proper place on the guitar before playing the first few notes of the song. Antonio hummed the tune under his breath as he watched Alfred play, smiling lightly. Alfred was doing well, and he was starting to gain confidence until he hit the wrong note. Embarrassed, he was about to stop but Antonio motioned for him to continue, though now that he had messed up, the mistakes just kept coming.
"Ah, I can't do this," Alfred groaned quietly as he stopped. "I think I'm having an off day."
"You're doing fine, Alfred. You just got a little nervous is all," Antonio said soothingly. "Let's just put your hand back in the proper position and you'll be good to go again." He scooted over closer to Alfred and grabbed the American's hand, squeezing it gently as he placed it back on the guitar. Alfred's heart skipped a beat and his breath hitched as he felt himself warm considerably especially when he noticed the lack of distance between him and Antonio. He could actually feel Antonio's warm breath flitting across his cheek and he knew then that this was the perfect opportunity to make his move. Alfred turned his head and closed his eyes and suddenly, Antonio's lips were on his, soft and smooth against his own chapped lips. He put his guitar down and cupped Antonio's cheeks as they kissed and Antonio did the same to him before pulling away, looking extremely embarrassed.
"You…you kissed me first," Alfred mumbled, blushing darkly at this realization.
"I'm so sorry, Alfred," he said, scooting away from him quickly. "That was very unprofessional and inappropriate. I shouldn't let my feelings get in the way of my job. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable….wait, first?"
"…Toni. You didn't make me feel uncomfortable at all," Alfred said softly, a small smile appearing on his lips now that he knew his feelings were mutual. "I was about to do the same thing. You just beat me to the punch-or kiss."
"Seriously?" Antonio mumbled as he looked at Alfred who was now scooting closer to him.
"Mhm," Alfred hummed, reaching for his hand. "I've been crushing on you for months now." And then, a little more nervously he added: "…So, would you like to go out with me?
"I've liked you for months too, since we first met, actually," Antonio admitted, smiling now as he intertwined their fingers. Feeling Alfred's hand shake slightly in his as he asked the question caused his smile to widen as he nodded. "Sí, I would love to go out with you."
Alfred laughed, still unable to believe his feelings were reciprocated. He pulled Antonio in again for another kiss and the Spaniard happily kissed back, breaking away only when both needed to catch their breath. The new couple just held each other and as they hugged, Alfred's eyes wandered over to his guitar, which lay forgotten on the coffee table, and he thought of something. He couldn't help thinking about it; he was a broke college student after all."…So…" he started, resting his chin on Antonio's shoulder. "Do I still have to pay for this lesson?"
