Ding Dong...Ding Dong...Ding Dong…

Lovino rolled over and opened a bleary eye to see his digital clock read 5:30. AM.

Somebody was at the door. And they were about to get their bell rung. Lovino grumbled audibly and practically threw his covers across the room. He slipped on some slippers and trudged down the stairs, eyes barely open. The only good thing, he supposed, was that the sun was beginning to rear it's head over the horizon. He threw the door open, shirt almost draped off of his shoulder and hair covering his sleepy, angered face.

A tall, blonde, ray of sunshine was standing at his door wearing a hoodie, a black t-shirt, a pair of sweats, and a slightly ragged pair of converse. At 5:30 in the morning. And he was smiling.

"Hey, neighbor! I live in the house next door! Name's Jones; Alfred Jones!" He extended a hand toward Lovino and the young Italian man was so tired that he didn't have the energy to glare at him.

"Yeah, that's great. Do you understand what time it is?" Lovino asked monotonically, the bags beneath his eyes seemed to grow darker the longer he stood there.

"Well, I was about to go on my jog so I thought I'd pop in and say hiya!" The blue-eyed early bird said happily. Lovino felt a vein pop inside his head. "I didn't mean to wake you up, kiddo! How old are you anyway? You're so small!" He began to enter the house but Lovino cut him short.

"Get away from my house, dickbag." He sneered. Alfred laughed heartily.

"I can take a hint." He said. Lovino furrowed his brow. "I need to get going anyway! See ya later, neighbor!" He laughed as he jogged away. Lovino closed the door. His mother would be so proud of him for not pitching fit. He glanced toward the clock on his living room wall and decided there wasn't much of a point going back to bed. The farmers' market started in a few hours and he needed to get ready for the day anyway.

Soon enough, he was showered, suited, and swallowed two espresso shots. Forget a mug of brew, he needed a jump straight to the blood. He had pushed his hair back, that irritating curl making a headline debut in front of his forehead. He had written a shopping list for himself, seeing as he needed food. Sure, he'd been in this house for about a week now, but he had been getting take out.

I. Milk

II. Cheese

III. Bread

IV. Oranges

V. Tomatoes

Call Nonna so she can send me some olive oil and a few bottles of Marsala.

That last one wasn't something he planned on buying, but it's been awhile since he's been back to Sicily and his pride won't let him go back to his parents house in order to get that stuff from there. He grabbed his house key and his I.D. and decided he wanted to ride his bike down to the market.

The market was full of booths that had a variety of produce. Lovino was able to check things off of his list fairly easy; he had stopped at the store by his house to pick up the milk and bread. It was a good thing that his bike had a basket or else he would be screwed. Now, he needed to get oranges and tomatoes; there was a booth of cheeses as soon as he walked in. He preferred blood oranges but really, any oranges would do so when he got up to a stand ran by a older lady, he picked a few or her oranges and tangerines and thanked her kindly.

"Oh! Lovinito! If you're trying to buy tomatoes then mine are the best and you should buy them!" Lovino heard a very familiar voice ring from a booth across the way. Times like these are when he wishes he had moved away to a new town. However, the Spaniard was right, his tomatoes were the best. With a groan, Lovino made his way to Antonio's tomato stand and started to inspect.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that? We aren't dating anymore, remember?" Lovino growled lowly through clenched teeth. Antonio puffed out his cheeks.

"Well, I know, but I can't help it. It's what I've always called you." He said.

It wasn't like they had a harsh break-up. They had dated through high school and decided that it would be best to split up for college; it was a mutual agreement.

"How's your dad? Still got that arthritis?" Lovino asked as he picked and scanned tomatoes freely. Antonio laughed lightly.

"Yeah, still got it. Francis has been trying to help him, since he got that degree in physical therapy. I can't tell if it really helps though."

"And you guys are good? You and Frenchie, I mean." Lovino tied off his baggy of tomatoes and reached into his pocket for his wallet.

"Yeah, we're doing good. Our anniversary was yesterday." He said and Lovino handed him money. "Oh, don't worry about it. They're on the house." He smiled. Lovino rolled his eyes at the cheery Spaniard.

"Don't be stupid." He said as he shoved the money into the Spaniard's palm.

"I hope I see you around. Maybe we can get lunch sometime!" Antonio called after Lovino as Lovino began to make the trek back toward his bike.

"Mhm." He replied.

He enjoyed the way the wind felt as it ran through the strands of his hair. It made the ride back to his house feel refreshing. And it was, until he got home and saw a car in the street between his and Feliciano's house. It was a rickety old thing. It needed to be repainted and waxed and from the looks of the man working inside the hood, it needed some work done. Lovino parked in bike on his lawn and Feliciano greeted him with a wave and a smile.

"Did you get me anything from the market?" He asked. Lovino furrowed his brow.

"No. What's all this?"

"Oh! Well, my grandpa got a new car so he gave me his old one! How cool is that!"

"Super." Lovino rolled his eyes. Looks more like a pawn to get rid of an old rust-bucket but why pop the kid's bubble. "How much money will it take to fix it up?"

"Hm? I dunno, but Luddy here said that he'd fix it for really cheap!" Feliciano grasped hold of the tall, blonde man's arm and the man tried to shake him off so he could continue assessing the car. He stood straight and closed the car's hood.

"It looks like you'll need some new parts. If you want, I can contact my brother's shop and see if he can get them at a discount for you."

"Really? That's so nice! I'd really appreciate it!" Feliciano laughed then gasped in surprise. "Oh! Ludwig, this is Lovino, my new neighbor." He turned toward Lovino. "Lovino, this is Ludwig, my best friend." The two men shook hands.

"I can come back tomorrow morning and change the oil in your car, if you want."

"That'd be great! So, I planned on going to the park for a picnic, would you like to join me?"

"I can't. I have another job in the next town over, it's an hour drive." Ludwig said, rubbing at the back of his neck. Feliciano deflated slightly.

"Lovino, would you go with me?" He asked, voice full of hope. Lovino didn't really feel like going but bless the poor boy's heart.

"Sure, I'll go with you." He smiled slightly. Feliciano cheered.

"Great! Well, you'd better get going; wouldn't want to hit traffic." He stepped onto his tip toes and Ludwig bent slightly in order for the small Italian man to kiss his cheeks. "Don't go anywhere! I'll get the basket!" He ran into his house. Lovino awkwardly watched the German man climb into his car and drive off. He's never been one to like Germans, but he's never been one to embrace people completely the first time around. He always took his time; patience is a virtue it's said. Feliciano came back out with cute wicker basket in hand. "The park isn't that far, we can walk there."

And so they did. And it was peaceful. The sky had been clear all day, the whitest of clouds drifting lightly overhead. It was spring and nature was in full bloom, flora and fauna alike. The animals were glad to be free from the constraints of winter and the flowers could stretch their stems as high as they could go.

When they arrived at the park, they were greeted by children and families and older couples taking their daily walks. Feliciano pulled them to a spot beneath a tree where a patch of flowers were clustered together. He opened the basket and pulled out two bowls of minestrone and some slices of bread. He handed a spoon to Lovino and they ate; they enjoyed the serene tranquility of it all. Lovino couldn't help but feel giddy when he saw a few pieces of olive oil cake inside the basket for dessert. Cake was his favorite dessert by far. He finished his bowl and leaned back against the tree, feeling the breeze sweep through his hair again and he closed his eyes. He wasn't tired but such a moment called for feeling and not seeing.

"Can you believe that they're removing Hamilton from the $10 and keeping Jackson on the $20? Why can't they just put a female on the $20 and make everybody happy?"

"Because even on paper, a woman is worth half as much as a man."

Uh oh. His stomach turned into itself when he overheard those two women talking. Conversations like that gave him anxiety, made him feel sick. He was well aware of the trials and tribulations of the world and of people but some people were brash and rough to deal with. Their passion was misplaced with aggression. And every once in a while, you met those rock hard people who were just tiring and Lovino had a hard time finding the energy to deal with them. But, that doesn't mean he doesn't have his opinions and his thoughts and he liked to voice his just like everybody else. He gulped down some spit from his drying throat.

"What do you think about the currency change?" He asked Feliciano but kept his eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm happy that they are putting a woman onto the currency."

"They're keeping Jackson on the $20 even after what he has done."

"I know."

"And they're giving Hamilton minuscule recognition."

"I know."

"And you're happy?" Lovino asked, with much more an air of curiosity than anger. Luckily, nobody was around to hear them talk, God forbid they be put down and shamed for being a pair of 'privileged white males' who haven't got the right to talk about something like this. He felt something soft placed onto his head and Feliciano's comforting scent of cherries and watermelon drift into his nose. A blush painted his cheeks and he kept from opening his eyes.

"I find peace in progress. Impatience only leads to anger and stress and it's nice to find joy in the little things. We're all frustrated about something; we'd all like to have our dream job and more money in our pockets but it's a beautiful thing to have patience." Lovino felt Feliciano fixing the small wisps and strands of his hair and he couldn't help but to open his eyes. "It's always good to push for something but those that push too hard fall first. Look at the Roman empire and how hard it pushed. It doesn't feel like the same thing, but it is." He sat back and looked at his handy work. "Sometimes, taking a breath and finding comfort in the small changes can motivate you to make bigger ones." He smiled. Lovino felt his chest tighten and his breathing became short and the moment was clearer than before. Have you ever felt it when a person became so much more beautiful in such a short amount of time that you needed to replay the moment again in your mind to see if it really happened? Lovino felt himself smiling. He felt himself smiling at his words and his voice and the flower crown on top of his head and he knew that he was wearing one too.

"You're pretty positive, huh?" He said. Feliciano smiled and pulled the cake from the basket.

"I'm positive that it won't be long before we've changed from a woman on the $10 to a woman on the $20, and I'm positive that the amount of joy we'll feel when it happens will completely overshadow the amount of time it took to get there." He smiled brightly, handing a piece of cake to Lovino. Lovino took no time in taking a bite of it and he sighed happily.

"I'm positive that I'm gonna marry this cake one day." He said between bites. Feliciano laughed happily and as far as Lovino was concerned, that was beautiful too.

A/N: So, lemme just say a few things. First, the ship is starting to sail obviously ^-^ I didn't want it to take too long for them to develop feelings but it doesn't happen overnight so this is just the beginning! And yeah, they're in America but it doesn't really matter.

Secondly, an olive oil cake is similar to a pound cake but it is incredibly moist and delicious and made with basic cake ingredients, orange zest, and olive oil. Sometimes, you can add orange juice and/or orange lacquer and it'll still be amazing *-*

Lastly, I wanted to update way earlier but I didn't have WiFi so I'm sorry but the internet is up and running and I'll be updating way more! Stay tuned and review pretty please 3