Chapter 36

They drove in silence as Antonio tried to figure out where they should eat, but it wasn't uncomfortable like it had been on the way to the movies. This time however, Lovino found every reason not to look out the window at the wooded park as they passed since most of the movie took place in the woods.

"Um… I really don't know what sounds good… Where do you want to eat Lovi?" Antonio asked, turning his head slightly to look at him with his usual bright smile. Lovino glared at him for a moment before turning his attention down to his lap where he was twiddling his thumbs together.

When he didn't get a response he sighed and went back to looking at the road, maybe the movie hadn't been good. If this was how Lovino was going to act then just getting to hold him for two hours wasn't worth it.

"Turn right on Second Street then again onto Park." Lovino muttered, pointing through the windshield at the corner Antonio was supposed to turn at. At first the older boy was surprised but then he smiled and quickly obeyed the instructions given to him.

It took about 20 minutes of Lovino's brief directions until they were in a lower part of town. The sophomore pointed toward the curb a mumbled a 'pull over'. Antonio listened like he had with all of the other commands but frowned slightly; this didn't seem like a place that Lovino Vargas would ever visit.

Without saying another word the younger hopped out of the car, not even checking behind him to see if the other was following. Antonio practically jumped out of the car, locking it as fast as he could then hurried after him since this didn't seem like the kind of place either of them should walk around by themselves.

"So… Where are we going?" Antonio asked after he managed to catch up, hunching his shoulders slightly against the chilly air as they walked down the cracked pavement. Lovino ignored him for a moment until he pointed up at a glowing sign above a door reading "Papa Giorgio's".

"It's good, better than all those shitty Italian places in town. It tastes like how my grandma's cooking used to." Lovino explained, shrinking closer to Antonio now that the shady alleyways they had to pass were starting to unsettle him.

They walked rather quickly towards the door and Antonio held it open like a proper gentleman, noticing the quite ding of a bell attacked to door. It wasn't anything like how he'd been expecting; it was dimly lit inside, not much brighter than the evening sky and everywhere he looked things looked old. The floor tiles were cracked and chipped, the tables were covered in old fashioned laminate that was peeling on the corners, and the walls that were decorated with grape vines looked like they hadn't been repainted in the last 20 years.

Before Antonio could voice his opinion on the place, a rather fat man came out from the doors labeled kitchen. "Ciao! Oh, is that you il mi piccolo Lovino? It's been a while." His loud voice boomed through the empty room, putting even Alfred's loud voice to shame.

Lovino scratched the back of his head and shot an embarrassed look at Antonio before smiling awkwardly at the man. "Hi… Yeah I know it's been a while. But I've been doing better now that I'm older."

The man, who by now Antonio guessed was 'Papa' Giorgio, nodded and waved his hand towards the room of empty chairs and tables. "That's good! You can sit anywhere, Cristiana will come out and take your orders. I see you're a little busy tonight, but you should come by to say hello again." He chuckled, his smile stretching from ear to ear as he turned to return to the kitchen.

The two highschoolers awkwardly shuffled through the clutter of chairs and tables until they settled on one and sat down, both looking away uncomfortably as they didn't know where to start.

"So, ah- This is nice." Antonio tried, smiling up at the other who was trying to pick at the plastic of the table. Lovino looked up and shrugged, his face covered in a bright red blush as he was spoken to. Now that they were here it seemed like a bad idea.

Without getting a reply, the two sat in silence for a few minutes until finally a young woman came out of the kitchen area. She was in her thirties at least and was wearing a uniform with some different restaurant's logo on it. "Do you know what you two want?" She asked, not bothering to smile as she yawned and rubbed her face tiredly.

"Um, I didn't have a menu…" "Yes, we'll have one of the house special pizzas." Lovino cut in, not asking Antonio if that sounded good or not. The woman nodded and shuffled back into the back where muffled voices could be heard of her talking with the man who'd greeted them.

Antonio shifted around in his chair for what seemed like forever until he broke the silence again. "So what made you want to come here? Have you had their food before? It must be good if you wanted to come back…"

"Um, yeah… I like coming here a lot. I started when I was a little kid." Lovino said with a shrug, trying not to meet Antonio's eyes as he tore up little pieces from a paper napkin he'd grabbed from off the table. "I ran away when I was ten and ended up here… I was a fucking mess and lost and crying. Gio called my grandpa and he came to pick me up. I've come to eat here a lot since then…"

"Oh I see! Well that makes this place a lot more special doesn't it?" Antonio cooed, his face lighting up in a smile as he looked over at him. "It's nice, and I'm sure they have excellent food if you keep coming back. After all not even my homemade stuff gets called 'good' by you."

Lovino blushed darkened and he hunched his shoulders to try and hide his embarrassment. "Y-yeah… it's pretty good…" He mumbled, listening to Antonio as he started to chatter away until the food came out.

They stayed there for almost two hours, talking and eating their pizza. Once the food ad come out the two were much more relaxed, both agreeing it was some of the best pizza they'd ever had. The owner came back out for a little while and they all talked and shared stories until finally one of them spotted the time and the couple decided they should be getting back home.

The car ride back was much more fun, the two chattering away easily and happily now that they had bellies full of good food and the scary movie was far from Lovino's mind. Time seemed to fly as the suddenly drove up to the Vargas' house, the car rolling to a stop slowly as they realized it was time to say good bye.

Walking up to the door as slowly as they could, without really meaning to, they stopped in front of the doors where both stood blushing and shifting around shyly. "So… Ah… Thanks?" Lovino mumbled, trying to cover his blushing cheeks by pretending to fix his hair.

"Er… yeah. It was lots of fun, no problem…" The junior shrugged, taking a shuffled step closer to him. "Did you have fun?"

"Y-yeah. It… it was nice."

Closer.

"Well I'm glad you liked it."

Closer.

"Mhm. I mean, you're still a bastard! It's just- you know…"

Closer.

"I know Lovi…"

Antonio whispered to him, their faces so close that they could feel each other's breath. Finally the temptation overcame him and the taller boy pressed their lips together in a sweet kiss, both of their arms winding around the other to hold them close.

The two stood there for a moment, letting their kiss become harder and slightly needier before they pulled away to catch their breath, both blushing, one much darker than the other.

"Um… Hey Lovi?" "What b-bastard?" "Can we be boyfriends?" The question was quiet and sweet, since Antonio really didn't know if Lovino would be comfortable calling themselves that. But to his surprise the Italian managed to blush darker and nodded.

"I-I guess… But that doesn't mean you get to run around school s-singing about it! Or holding my hand! Or any other dumb shit like that!" He instructed, quickly putting some distance between their bodies and making his way to the door to force himself inside.

Antonio stood there speechless for a moment, a smile starting to stretch across his face as the words sank in. "Good night Lovi!" He called, grinning from ear to ear. It was unbelievable, he was dating Lovino… Him!

Lovino just rolled his eyes and hurried inside. "Night idiot." He mumbled back just as the door was about to close, much too embarrassed to face him any longer that day.

xXx

Wow… Another REALLY long time since I updated… Sorry guys! But, part of my excuse (other than I'm just lazy and didn't have time) was that throughout their whole dinner part of the date I couldn't help but keep thinking, "This is so cliché! A little family place that's connected to one of the pair's backstory… I should just have them go to a fancy place like a normal date." But then I decided: This is a fanfic, I can make it as cliché as I want and if people don't like it then they won't read it. So yeah, that was my inner turmoil for this chapter. I hope you all did like it, please tell me what you thought at least good or bad. I guess that's all for now, hopefully my writing streak comes back so I'll be able to update again soon! Thanks for reading, love you all!