Lovino smiled as he entered Francis's car, happy to be finished with his work for the day. The other man grinned broadly as Lovino stepped inside, his eyes lighting up at he saw the bright grin on Lovino's face. Francis waited for the other man to be seated and finish accommodating his things before trying to start up a conversation.
"How was work, Lovino?" Francis asked pleasantly. Lovino stared out the front window, a faint smile still on his face.
"It was good. I actually got to spend some time talking with Antonio today," he added. Francis smiled.
"Oh, really? And how is he?"
Lovino shrugged, folding his hands in his lap and looking to Francis. "Oh, he's fine. He's always fine, you know how he is. Work's going well for him, and he said that he wants to come visit you soon." Lovino shrugged. "I guess he knew that you were giving me a ride home today, so he wanted me to tell you that..." The Italian trailed off, his eyes still focused on Francis's profile. The man's blue eyes were focused on the road (as they were supposed to be) and his hands were on the steering wheel, fingers curled laxly around it as he drove forward. He wasn't wearing anything fancy that day, either - just a plain white sweater with some obscure French logo on it, some jeans, and sneakers. His hair was tied back into a ponytail, but a few loose strands still worked their way free of the hair tie, dangling just around Francis's ears. Lovino liked him this way - so relaxed and carefree, unperturbed by any of the small, insignificant occurrences happening around them - focused only on what he wanted to focus on, and nothing more...
"You're staring," Francis commented. "Is my beauty that stunning to you?" he teased. Lovino could feel the blush spreading across his face even as he stammered and stuttered, trying and failing to find words.
"I- no! No, I just, I just, uh...um...I-" He was cut off by Francis's laughter, a smile playing across the Frenchman's features as he refocused himself on the road in front of him.
"It's cute," he said. "...oh, take it as a compliment," he added at Lovino's surprised (and mildly offended) expression. When Lovino's anger subsided, Francis spoke again. "So, what are your weekend plans?"
"I don't know," Lovino mumbled, looking away nervously. His stomach felt odd, especially after Francis's comment. Cute? No, not him...right? Not him. He wasn't cute - nobody thought that...
Francis smiled once more. "Well then, why not come to my place for dinner? Or better yet, we can go sightseeing first - I'll take you to see the Eiffel Tower, then we can have dinner at a nice restaurant, and you can spend the evening at my place. Sound alright?"
At this, Lovino had to look out the passenger's side window, too overcome with shyness to speak. Sure, he and Francis had done things together before, but never in such a formal way. Everything was usually spontaneous with them - Francis showing up on his doorstep with a bouquet of flowers and then inviting himself inside to watch TV with Lovino, or Lovino storming into Francis's house demanding to be fed...never anything as serious as sight-seeing and going out to dinner...and staying over at Francis's house?
Lovino sighed, watching the trees and sidewalk go past, thinking about it. He hadn't really...dated anyone in a long time. It had been a long time though, hadn't it? Thinking about it now, Lovino couldn't quite recall the last time he'd been anywhere formally...
But did Francis want to be like that? Lovino couldn't imagine the flighty Frenchman wanting anything more than a bit of fun once in a while, nothing as serious as a real relationship...
He looked back to Francis, who was still smiling (albeit a bit less enthusiastically than before) and sighed. Francis was...truly beautiful. And yet...somehow he'd called Lovino cute. But he wasn't, he wasn't at all...why had Francis said that, when Lovino knew for certain that he wasn't at all cute or attractive or had any sort of appeal?
Francis...didn't have feelings for him. Unless he did. If he did that was a shock. But if he did...maybe, just maybe, just a little, Lovino could have had some feelings for him, too. Maybe...the car came to a stop at a red light. The intersection was empty, and yet the light refused to change. Francis finally tore his gaze from the road to smile at Lovino.
"You're staring again," he said. "Is there something on my face?"
Lovino shook his head, blushing again as he looked down. He had to ask. He had to know. This was stupid. Avoiding his feelings was stupid. If he wanted to know how Francis felt, he should just ask. He wanted to know, right? Especially if he maybe sort of had some feelings for Francis as well...
"I just..." he mumbled softly, blushing and hunching his shoulders. Francis grinned.
"You can tell me, Lovino. I won't judge you."
Lovino blushed even more at this, looking away shyly. "...I...I just wanted...I wanted to ask you...how...how do you feel about me?" He finally blurted out, meeting Francis's eyes nervously. The other man was silent for a long moment, and Lovino wondered if maybe this had been the stupidest idea of all...
Then Francis smiled and chuckled. "You really don't know?"
In one quick movement, Francis had taken Lovino by the tie and pulled him forward into a gentle, loving kiss, his eyes shut as he reached up a hand to caress Lovino's cheek gently. When Francis finally pulled back, the light was green. He didn't move, however. "I love you," he stated simply.
Lovino smiled, meeting Francis's eyes once more. "...yeah," he finally managed. Francis chuckled.
"Just 'yeah'? How enthusiastic-"
Lovino pulled Francis back into another kiss, not even minding as the light (and his own face) turned red once more. He broke the kiss and moved back slightly, just enough to speak:
"Yeah. I love you, too."
He smiled, shutting his eyes as Francis kissed him again. And for the first time in a long time, Lovino felt happy.