The apartment was even smaller than the previous one, with a single outlet and intermittently functioning water heater, but at least it was a place to stay.
Antonio had been sleeping at the diner for a week, before his paycheck came and he was able to scrounge together the down payment.
It was in a run down neighborhood, and so close to the tracks that he wondered if the drywall wouldn't crumble each time the rumbling locomotive left the building quaking in it's boots. That was the only reason he had been able to afford it.
Upon going to the post office to register the change of address, he was handed a postcard that had gotten lost in more places than he had been himself, before reaching him. Francis wished him a Merry Christmas from his family's home in Bordeaux, and Antonio smiled at the sight of his old friend's looped cursive hinting at reunions, and romance in the New Year.
The snow that veiled the city like a virgin bride has melted into dirty water, making muddy puddles in the sidewalks.
Antonio squats behind the grocery building, tossing pebbles into the miniature pond that had formed in one of the pavement's gaping potholes. He shivers slightly in the winter air, but nothing would keep him from spending his remaining seven minutes of break time outside. The sun is out, his clothes are fresh, and for the first time in a long time he feels like he can breathe again. When he closes his eyes to inhale, the exhaust fumes from the delivery truck mingling with the lingering crispness of snow fills his chest, the burning reminding him that he is alive.
Regardless of how close the rent is to being due, Antonio cannot help but revel in the time he gets when his shift ends early. He has never been one to worry about things he cannot control.
It feels like walking home with a handful of stolen change, a penny per moment of sunlight he's outside for. Antonio has always loved the sun.
He pauses by a window, a store that's usually closed by the time he passes, and sees familiar lips pursed in irritation. It's not exactly surprise that he feels, just a jolt at something out of place, though who is he to judge that. The green eyed man finds himself laughing at the expression on the other's face, and wonders lightheartedly if he scowled so much his face got stuck like that. A flash to those lips, open after the first drag of a cigarette, and he realizes no; that's not true.
The store is a gallery, he sees when he steps back, an expensive looking wooden sign swinging in the breeze of traffic. Its presence is unobtrusive, not spilling it's paints over the sidewalk like vainglorious vomit. The windows are relatively bare, only some subdued posters for art shows left plastered to the glass.
When Antonio lets his eyes wander about the room, though, he sees it is spacious and clean. Colorful canvases are displayed in order, soft lighting casting halos in all the right places.
Antonio knows nothing about art.
It seems the tan stranger does though, as he gestures towards this piece, and another. Antonio has realized he is staring, through a window at a man he hardly knows, but he can't bring himself to care. Maybe the other pedestrians will assume he is absorbed by the paintings. Maybe it is conceited of him to assume they would notice at all.
It seems only a moment before the man inside is nodding stiffly at the pale blond behind the desk. Antonio had hardly noticed him until they were shaking hands. The fleeting second before he pulls open the door with a rattle is when waiting for him becomes a conscious decision.
He doesn't see Antonio at first. His gaze is elsewhere, focused firmly on objects he can grasp in shaking fingers. He pulls out a package of something, and Antonio has a vague flash of hope that he will need another light. What kind of smoker doesn't carry a lighter.
It's a pack of gum.
When their eyes meet, it is because Antonio is blocking the shorter man's path, and half formed profanities are already spilling from between those lovely lips.
"Watch where the fuck you're going, asshole, what're you bli-?" His eyes are definitely hazel. Suddenly the memory of the day in the park comes to Antonio so much more vividly, like the page of a coloring book brought to life in shades of green and pink.
"My apologies. I must have been distracted." Antonio laughs for no reason, half expecting to be struck by a smaller hand and pushed past. When the sound dies out, though, he is being stared at through narrowed eyes.
"Do I know you?" Suspicion pushes at the edges of the question, but Antonio feels inexplicably overjoyed regardless. The smile he gives is not as wide as the ones he is paid for, but every inch of it is sincere.
"I gave you a match in the park." Is that too vague? Will he think I'm creepy? Will he remem-
"Oh yeah…." Yes! Something about the way he scowls and purses his lips makes Antonio fixate on them. They plump up like ripe apricots, ready to be nibbled and bitten.
"What do you want." It is distinctly not a question. More a verbal shove out of the way than anything else. Antonio has always been good at bouncing back though.
"Oh, I just saw you through the window here, and thought I'd introduce myself! I must have forgotten at the park the other day." Another laugh, to set the tone, though it seems to slip through the crack in the sidewalk between them. "I'm Antonio! Carriedo. Antonio Carriedo." He remembers part way through that people don't like when he leaves off his last name, as though he is hiding an identity. Though really, he just can't seem to make it a habit.
Those lips are becoming apricots again.
"Lovino."
The name is spit out like an offending pit at the taller man's feet. Antonio's beam makes it seem like a prized possession just won.
I am sorry to keep anyone who might have been waiting! For a while I honestly had no idea where I was going with it (plot wise, I still don't), BUT it's a little easier to keep it running now they've made real contact. Only took 8 chapters aha...
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! All of them made me really happy to read!
And especially thanks to The Forgotten Traveller, I tried to work on the format in this chapter, I hope it helps! And I am always open to any feedback!
I hope you all were well over the holidays, and thanks again for reading!
