"Alright, Lovino, you can work with Antonio today."

Well, this is just wonderful. My second day on the job, and I'm already meeting people I would never go near otherwise. Why does this Antonio guy never shut up? Why is he changing the words to popular songs to make them about tomatoes?

"Got tomatoes in the closet! Let them out so they can breathe!" I mean, really? What did Shakira ever do to you? Really, he was just so obnoxious. I supposed I had to keep my eyes on him, so he wouldn't bother everyone else, most of whom were decent enough people who just wanted to get their shit done.

Later, some of my new coworkers teased me, saying I was checking him out, especially when he had his back turned. I would never do such a thing, even if the older man was sex on legs, complete with a perfect ass. Wait, what? Where did that come from?

I had been sent on my break when that worthless annoyance decided it was appropriate to sit next to me, completely disregarding my "go fall off a cliff and die" vibes I had been sending him all day.

He then started in on what can only be described as "flirting." I had witnessed enough at home, courtesy of my little brother and the Potato Bastard, to know what it looked like. He suddenly wanted to know every single thing about me, even if the curl protruding from the left side of my head was real, and if my hair was actually that color.

Then he wanted to know why I never smiled. Who did he think he was? If Feliciano didn't even know that, what makes him think I'd tell some stranger who probably escaped from the mental home?

"Geez, you're really making it hard for me to ask you on a date."

If I hadn't stopped myself, it would have been so easy for me to spit my chewed pasta all over myself. Of all the things I had been expecting to hear, that was definitely not one of them. How did he know I had secretly been curious about men lately?

"What makes you think I'd ever go on a date with you? You'd probably serenade any unsuspecting tomatoes that just so happened to be in our food."

"No, trust me. I only sing about the thing I love the most. It's only tomatoes right now because my last lover cheated on me with his stepbrother. If we went on a date, I'd definitely sing about you."

Even I had to feel bad for him. His stepbrother? That's disgusting! Who could ever do something like that?

That summer, the time passed quicker than I had expected. Antonio and I had begun spending time together outside of work. Usually, it was just us two, but sometimes he would invite his two friends along.

Francis was tall and thin, with long blond hair and some chin scruff. He was also one of the most perverted men I had ever met, but his dirty jokes were hilarious. He'd hit on anything, male or female, but he'd always reject anyone interested in him, in favor of his girlfriend, Vic. She was from some place called Seychelles, which was apparently off the coast of Africa. The more you know, I guess.

Gilbert was slightly shorter, with white hair and red eyes. It was a bit alarming at first, but I guess that's life. It turns out that he is Potato Bastard's older brother, so does that make him my brother in law? I know PB is, and Wikipedia says Bird Boy is too, so I'm not sure. Did you know Gilbert is the older brother? I always assumed PB was, probably due to all of the spiky sticks up his ass. Apparently he's dating someone called Matthew, whose brother is that obnoxious Alfred F. Jones. It turns out Matthew was one of our coworkers, but I had never noticed him before.

It was also around this time that one of our managers, Elizabeta, started giggling when she saw Antonio and me within 10 feet of each other. For example, if Antonio was in the back room singing, and I was up front, she'd say to me, "Go to the back and tell your boyfriend to shut the hell up." We weren't dating! We could never be dating! I hated him and his sexy green eyes, which I had seen up close multiple times, but that was only because he had no sense of personal space, and had nothing to do with me just wanting to cuddle whatsoever.

Even our boss, Yao, was starting to get in on the game. As Gilbert told me later, in between laughs that sometimes erupted into coughing fits, he'd said to Antonio, "You and Vargas are starting to get rather cozy. Is there something going on there?" I know for a fact that those two are both married, Elizabeta to a prissy piano player and Yao to a scary Russian. Why are they so focused on my love life when they have their own to deal with?

I suppose fall was more of the same, but with one major difference. Antonio and I went out alone a lot more, and he liked to pay for my food. He had also gotten into the habit of kissing my cheek at the end of the night. I only let him because it was too much work to get his stupid self away from me.

Okay, who am I kidding here? Obviously, there must be something I… like about that man; otherwise I would never go near him unless I absolutely had to. Maybe it's just the fact that he's been the first person, male or female, to ever try to win me over like this. He's the first to have ever seen anything good in me. (Do not take that in a perverted way, or so help me, I will-) And on top of that, only a blind person would say he's unattractive, and I'm not even sure that's true. They can probably sense the hotness by smell or something. Overall, he may be a pain in my ass (again, not meant to be pervy) but he makes me laugh and cheers me up, and that makes it worth it.

So… now that I'm aware of this, how do I let him know? I definitely think he'd be interested in this information.

I'd be lying if I said I took the first opportunity. The second through fifth were also left untouched. Opportunity #6 was the one for me.

He'd come home from work to find that his beloved cat, Rosita, had disappeared. He'd looked around his neighborhood for six hours, but she never turned up. I'd found him sitting on a park bench, crying and scaring children, and I invited him over to my place.

It was a miracle that PB and my brother weren't in my living room, because I was starting to think that they had moved in. They had probably gone on out on a double with that Asian kid and the sleepy guy, not that I really cared about them. Not when the person I cared about was holding onto me like I was the only one that mattered to him. Those other people around me can wait their turns while that's going on.

"Would it be okay if I kissed you right now?"

I didn't see that coming. I'd been looking for an opportunity, and that's the best one I can hope for. "I guess so."

His lips met mine, and I could tell that his cat search party had been at least a little alcohol-fueled. I didn't mind. It only made it hotter.

His phone rang, and I wanted to smash it. How dare it interrupt kiss time? He answered it before I could.

"¿Hola? Seriously? You found her? Where was she? I never thought to look in the woods. Can I come pick her up tomorrow? 11 AM works for me, too. Thank you so much. Good bye." He turned to me, the stars in his eyes completely restored. "That nice couple found Rosita during their nightly walk in the woods. I can go pick her up tomorrow! I'm so excited!"

"Dumbass. Why don't you just go pick her up now? They just live on the other side of town. I could drive you."

"I wanted some more alone time with you! My little Lovino has finally agreed to kiss me! I must relish this moment as long as possible!"

I started by going for another kiss. It was easy to push him down and get on top of him. I didn't think I needed to say the exact words ("I love you. You're mine.") right now. Antonio's a moron, but he definitely got the message.

Please let me know if there's not enough tsundere Lovino or clueless Antonio. The same basic elements were present when I met my current boyfriend, but they were edited in this story to fit the characters and to keep the light mood that I wanted. For instance, if it were more realistic, Antonio would have moved twice, first from his apartment to Francis', then Vic would have kicked him out, and then he would have gone to Gilbert's. Also, the past lover would have been there, and he would have tried to get close to Lovino, and ultimately tried to turn him against Antonio. However, I suck at anything even remotely resembling angst, and I couldn't think of a character who could be capable of such a thing. Also let me know if you think of a suitable psycho ex for Antonio.

See, if I were this interested in my school work, I would be doing a lot better.

Note: Antonio usually works the morning shift, which makes it completely plausible to be off work by 11 AM.

Thanks for reading!

~Aurora

PS. I am also working on a few other fics: a RoChu (they are both terrible drivers), an IchiIshi (as in Bleach, also with RenRuki and ChadHime) and a ZoNa (from One Piece, my first foray into het!) Please let me know if any of these would interest you, because the first is on life support, the second needs a good ending, and the third is still pretty new.