Lovino had always enjoyed art, what with his mother being a fantastic traditional style painter and his father being a designer with a love for art history that snuck its way into his pieces. Hell, even his brother had a foot in the art world as a renowned paintist, so it was only natural that he would attend the local art fair every year. It just so happened that an up and coming artist named Antonio Fernandéz Carriedo happened to be showing up, and that Feliciano had arranged for them to meet.
Feliciano was always pulling stupid stunts to get Lovino a boyfriend.
"Lovi! Over here!" Feliciano called, waving his brother down desperately. Lovino sighed and slowly made his way over, praying that this Antonio was nothing like the last guy Feliciano had tried to set him up with (a very loud, obnoxious man who liked Lovino's least favourite food to the point where Lovino wondered if he fucked them). Lovino's eyes told him that Antonio was probably more tolerable, considering he didn't have a cocky stance, but that didn't always mean anything.
"You don't have to shout, I can hear just fine," Lovino grumbled as soon as he was standing with them. Closer inspection of the (currently spacing out) Antonio proved that he looked exactly like the guy he kept having dreams about, if you could call flashes of a face laughing dreaming. Feliciano nudged Antonio, startling him back into reality, and his focus fell on Lovino.
There was recognition and shock in those eyes, "Lovino?"
"Yeah, I guess Feli told you my name already. You're uhm... Antonio, right?"
"Yeah... Nice to meet you," Antonio whispered, air crushed out of his lungs. It was definitely that same Lovino from all that time ago, but he didn't seem to remember at all. But he was alive, he hadn't died, he was really, truly standing there.
His eyes watered and his heart stopped beating, but it was out of pure honey gold joy. After so many years of his angel being gone, of his world being full of the black shadows of bitter loneliness, his light had returned. He wanted to hug him, to hold him tight, to whisper I love yous into Lovino's ear, but he couldn't. And that was more suffocating than anything else had ever been.