Here's a new chapter for you all. I hope you'll enjoy it! Thanks for reading, and happy new year! ^^

oOo

When Lovino asked him if they could go to the beach that day, he never expected things to turn out like that. Not that he was complaining, oh hell no. Sure, he'd heard of how kissing someone could erase all time and space, but he'd never really believed it. Now, however, if he heard someone say that, he'd whole-heartedly agree.

They never went any further than kissing, however, still taking things at a relatively slow pace, but that kiss... it had given him new trust in their relationship. It was a reminder that things were progressing between them, and it wasn't just a one-sided thing on his behalf. At least that kiss had definitely not been one-sided, he thought with a dazed smile.

When they had finished kissing, they just sat there on the beach for a while, talking about things. Really talking, not only about light topics, but also more serious things that Antonio had started to believe he'd never hear Lovino talk about. It was a small step, of course, but it was a beginning.

Feliciano had apparently left the house for a while, because he was upset with Lovino. Antonio had a feeling there was a deeper reason than just the incident on the beach earlier, but he didn't question it because it was clearly a sore subject. Lovino had also mentioned as they came upon the subject "family" that his parents were dead, and that the house had belonged to their grandfather before he too passed away, leaving the house to them. This subject seemed even more fragile, and it was obvious that Lovino was only touching the surface of it, but it was start. Antonio in turn told the other that he was an orphan, and spoke of some of the hardships he'd met throughout the years.

Lovino had eyed him with compassion and sadness at the time, but it wasn't like the pity a lot of people gave him upon finding out about it. And then he'd simply taken his hand, holding it in his own. Antonio found that he really enjoyed the rare moments where Lovino would throw away his masks for a while and just be there in the moment with him. It seemed to happen more and more often, however, and for this Antonio was extremely happy.

They parted only when the weather turned steadily colder as the afternoon moved into evening, which in turn moved into early night. That night was the first time Antonio really hadn't wanted to part from the other. He couldn't quite explain it, but it might because of the look in Lovino's eyes when he dropped him off at his house. It was like he was nervous to enter his own home, and that unnerved the Spaniard.

But they had parted, and time and space had been restored yet again as Antonio was forced to head back to reality. Of course, reality wasn't so bad now that he felt that something deeper was starting to form between them. And as they say; absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Reality included going back to work, but he found that focusing wasn't exactly easy, as thoughts of the kiss and the talk they had on the beach kept resurfacing whenever he should be doing something else. Like paying attention to the customers, for example...

"You look happy, young man," he blinked out of his thoughts, looking at the elderly woman who was currently looking at some potted plants. She smiled, shaking her head as if berating herself. "Pardon me. I just find that a lot of youngsters these days look far too solemn and bored." She chuckled a bit at herself, and Antonio smiled back at her. She was a rather cute old lady, with lots of wrinkles, particularly around her eyes. It gave her a kind appearance, and he found himself relaxing after the initial surprise.

"I am happy," he replied, "and if other people my age are unable to be happy, then I can't help but feel sorry for them." The old lady chuckled again at this, nodding in agreement. Things fell quiet for a bit, as she moved over to another shelf. Then she glanced back at him with a knowing expression.

"It is love, isn't it?" she said with a wink, and he blushed slightly at this, slightly startled at her direct statement and wondering if it really was that obvious. She seemed to notice his surprise. "Oh, I have lived a long time, young man. And have seen that look in people's eyes more times than I care to remember."

Antonio gave a small smile, feeling a bit shy. "Well..." he said, clearing his throat when his voice came out as a bit unsteady, "I'm not sure yet if it's love, but..."

"You hope it will grow into love with time?"

He blushed a bit harder, but smiled. Yes, he definitely hoped it could grow into something as wonderful as love. The woman seemed to decide on one of the plants, a thin and forlorn little thing, bringing it over to the counter.

"My mother always used to say that love is like a plant. It starts out as a seed, and it may take a long time, but if given enough time and care, it might grow into a large, wonderful tree. Its base might be thin to begin with, but it will still take a lot to rip it up or break it down completely."

What was it with old people always having something wise and deep to say...? Antonio wondered silently if he'd be like that when he grew old – giving love advice to younger people. It was an amusing thought.

"Then I hope this... whatever we have, can grow into a large oak tree or something," he smiled sincerely, wrapping the plant in with care.

"Oh, it will, if you both wishes it strongly enough. You'll see." She winked again, and fetched her wallet to pay.

"You know what? I'll give you a discount, as a thank you," now it was Antonio's time to wink, and she chuckled.

"It was no trouble at all, dear. You are too kind..."

"I insist." He looked around for a moment, whispering secretively, "but don't tell anyone, or I'll be having loads of elderly señoras coming to give me advice," She laughed heartily at this, as she paid for the plant.

"My lips are sealed," she smiled.

"Thank you for coming, and have a good day, señora," Antonio greeted, and she gave a warm wave in return, leaving with a smile on her lips. He always liked when customers left with a smile, it made his day somewhat brighter in a strange way. Due to his contagious mood, it seemed as if people found it hard not to smile upon leaving this particular day, and by the end of his work day he couldn't help but think that there was something in that saying; Smile to the world, and the world smiles with you. The saying had quite an optimistic view on things, which suited him well.

The bell, which seemed to be quite busy today, with all the customers, sounded again and made Antonio look up from where he was rearranging some of the plants further back in the store. Dusting his hands off on the apron, he quickly made his way over to the front to greet whoever it was. When he noticed who the customer was, he felt a wave of uncertainty and surprise.

"So we meet again, Feliciano wasn't it?" he smiled, as the Italian looked up in surprise, a strange expression flickering across his honey-coloured eyes before he smiled brightly.

"Ciao!" he greeted, and while he looked happy enough, the voice had a slightly more hollow sound to it than it had that day at the beach. "Nice to meet you again, Antonio." Something looked a bit off about him, and Antonio came to the conclusion that it was because of whatever argument he and Lovino had that caused him to leave the house.

"Are you looking for something in particular?" Antonio asked, hoping to break the slightly uncertain pause that lingered in the air. Feliciano, who had looked lost in thoughts for a moment, blinked and gave a thoughtful "hm".

"Well, I..." he broke off with a slight blush, shuffling his feet ever so slightly. "I wanted to buy something for Lovino... I feel horrible for doing this." He bit his lip, and really did look like he felt horrible. Antonio felt a wave of sympathy for the siblings wash over him. Here they were; both of them sad and both wanted to apologize to the other. Somehow, he wished they could have known that their thoughts and intentions were similar and become friends again.

"I see. So, are you interested in the language of flowers, or did you just wish for something simple but pretty?"

"I'm not sure," Feliciano said quietly, looking thoughtful for a moment, "fratello doesn't really like the meaning of flowers, but... Well, I want to show him flowers can mean good things too." That sentence easily brought out Antonio's curiosity and filled him with questions.

"Good things... too?" he couldn't help but voice his thoughts, but regretted it when Feliciano got a look of regret signalling that he probably hadn't meant to let that bit of information slip.

"Um... so do you have any suggestions?" Changing the subject now, was he? Despite the curiosity, Antonio allowed the subject to be changed, wondering briefly if Lovino had had some bad experience with the flower symbolism. It could make sense, he though, thinking back to their conversation at Elizaveta's café. Antonio shoved these thoughts away for a moment, focusing on his task of helping Feliciano.

"Well, what about Chrysanthemums?" he suggested mildly. "They're pretty, and would symbolize optimism, as well as tell him that he's a wonderful friend to you." Antonio smiled, and Feliciano looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling more sincerely and nodding.

"I think that would be good," he murmured, and Antonio helped him pick out an assortment of red, white and yellow flowers, wrapping them in gently and naming the prize, which Feliciano quickly paid. He looked more happy now, yet nervous at the same time. Antonio didn't blame him. Apologizing and facing something painful was always difficult.

"Can I ask you something?" the young man asked after a while, holding the flowers carefully. His expression had turned strangely serious. Antonio couldn't help but think that this was a man who was born to smile, because despite the fact that they had only met briefly once before, he thought that the serious expression was somewhat unfitting. It made him look older and sadder than he should be, which was a bit worrying.

"Um... Sure." He waited attentively as the other turned his gaze to meet his own. There was something in the Italian's eyes that made it seem like the rest of the world slowed down. The shop seemed unimportant, as if time itself had frozen. When he spoke, the tone of his voice was a far cry from the cheerful, bubbly tone it was before.

"What exactly is it you want from my brother?" The question was surprising, although, thinking back on it, Antonio should have expected something like this. Brothers did tend to worry about each other, after all, it was only natural. Even so, the way the question was formulated seemed kind of peculiar.

"I..." His voice trailed off uncertainly. It was hard to come up with a definite answer to a question like that, particularly on the spot like this. Thoughts immediately began whirling around at a confusing speed, and he began chewing on his lower lip in thought. What did he want from Lovino...?

He thought back to the first time he'd seen him – and heard him sing –, and the way he had felt this unreasonable connection with the man, as if they were tied together somehow. Then they met again, and began meeting regularly. At first, he had been intrigued and fascinated by the other, but as time passed, he had grown to despise the times when they were apart, and had began cherishing every single second they spent together, whether it was just being together in the flower store, surfing or... His thoughts flew to the kiss the other day, and the heat rose in his cheeks.

"Would you hurt him?" Feliciano apparently decided to rephrase his question, possibly seeing how Antonio found it difficult to answer the first one.

"No!" Now, that was a question he didn't even have to think about before answering. The answer came as a pure reflex. "Well, of course I can't promise I won't hurt him in some way, at some point – I'm only human, and humans tend to hurt each other, whether they mean it or not, but..." he looked up at Feliciano, meeting his eyes and hoping the honesty shone through, "but I would never hurt him intentionally!" The Italian eyed him for a moment, head cocked ever so slightly to the side.

"Would you leave him?" he asked, that intense look still adorning his face. It felt to Antonio as if he was being interrogated by some intimidating authority figure; quite ironic in fact, when Feliciano was as far from such a figure as one could get, both in looks and personality.

This was yet another question Antonio didn't have an immediate reply to. The thought of leaving the other simply hadn't crossed his mind before – their relationship, however short it had been, had grown to become something safe and stable in his life, something he had come to accept as a fact. Considering the question, he was almost startled to notice the way his heart ached at the thought of leaving his little, grumpy Italian.

"No. Not unless he wanted me to..." he concluded eventually, praying that such a horrible time would never come. If Lovino asked him to leave, meaning it with all his heart, he knew he would have no choice but to comply, as the last thing he wanted was to make the other unhappy.

"Do you love him?" This question was quieter than the others, almost hesitant, and Antonio felt his heart leap at yet another mention of that word. Love was a strong word. A word he had close to no experience with – at least when it came to the kind of love Feliciano was referring to.

Had they been together for long enough to make such a claim reasonable? No... Did he even know what such a word meant? No... Yet, despite all logic, the realization hit him like an explosion, straight in the chest in a way that knocked his breath out of his lungs for a moment.

"Yes..." he breathed, and knew that his tone of voice was enough evidence for the fact that this was new information even for him. "I... I do love him!" And Feliciano smiled suddenly, this smile reaching his eyes and lighting up his entire face. Yes, he was definitely one of the people who were born to smile.

"Then I'll trust you on that, Antonio," he simply said. The moment was broken, and it seemed as if the world picked up speed yet again, as the young Italian gave a last good bye, and skipped out of the store. Antonio was left alone in the store, as the bell rung and the door closed, clutching numbly at the counter top, as this was the only thing that wasn't spinning at the moment. His mind had suddenly gone completely blank and his eyes were wide and unseeing as he gazed into thin air.

"I... love him..." It was a scary thought, but at the same time he silently wondered how he could have doubted the fact before. Just a short while earlier, he'd been chatting with that old lady, saying that it wasn't love yet. Perhaps it was one of those plants that were super fast at growing, suddenly springing up during the night? Perhaps their "love tree" had grown a lot bigger than he had first seen, or maybe his fear and hesitation had simply blinded him?

There was no hesitation now, though. As a matter of fact, he'd never been more sure about anything in a long time. And, thinking back to that kiss, and the incredible expression lingering in those golden eyes, when they sat there on the beach, a hope was growing in his chest. A hope that Lovino returned his feelings, and wished for the tree to grow big, just as much as he did.

oOo

The love-epiphany had him living in what almost seemed like a dream world, but as the days passed, so did the loveliness of this dream-like existence. It had been days since he and Lovino last talked, and while this wasn't exactly anything to panic over in and of itself, Antonio was starting to grow anxious. He had tried calling his boyfriend several times, but hadn't reached him, whether he called during the day or in the evenings. At first he thought there might be something wrong with his phone - or that he was just insanely busy –, but after a while, his concern began increasing.

At times, when the worry had him chewing his bottom lip to pieces, he had considered paying him a visit. Instead, he always forced himself to calm down, and told himself that there was probably a perfectly logical explanation for all of this. He knew using too much force to contact the other would only serve to drive him away. In that way, their relationship was a bit like horse whispering... He had to tread carefully, and not move forward too quickly, or the other would only get scared again and run away, setting them back in progress. Had to wait for the other to come to him.

By the end of the week since they were on the beach, this approach seemed more and more pointless, however, and his determination and caution was rapidly going down the drain. One day, he therefore decided that when he finished his work day, he'd go for a visit, whether Lovino wanted it or not. If only to just see that he was all right.

That day, people seemed to notice his anxious mood, and the atmosphere in the normally cosy store was tense. Far too lost in his worries, he hardly noticed, and couldn't really find the will to care about it either.

When one of his co-workers finally came to take over the work, he practically tore of his apron in his relief, fetching his things and striding towards the door, steps fuelled by his emotions. After pulling on his rain jacket, he called out a quick good bye, before he ran outside... and promptly collided with something quite solid. Stumbling at the impact, due to his speed, he felt someone grab his wrist to steady him, and looked up. Time suddenly seemed to come to a stop, and his breath caught in his throat when he looked up into a pair of dark eyes gazing coldly down at him. He recognized those eyes, and that little smirk, even if the man's face wasn't shadowed by a hood this time.

"Oh. Excuse me." His voice sounded little like an apology and more like a command to kill, judging by the icy tone.

"Y-you..." was the only word Antonio could get out, wincing as the hold on his wrist suddenly felt a lot harder than it had before.

"Yes, I am me, as strange as that sounds." The stranger's deep voice could possibly have been rather handsome in alluring way, had it not been laced with such obvious venom. It made Antonio's pulse quicken, though he hoped this wasn't terribly obvious to the other man. Narrowing his eyes, he attempted to pull his wrist away as the door shut behind him. The vague sound of the bell inside seemed to snap the other out of it, and he let go of Antonio's wrist. Quickly stepping a few steps away, Antonio tried his best to look brave. He had a sneaking suspicion that he didn't pull that off as well as he'd hoped.

"Why did you leave that flower before?" he asked, having wanted an answer to that question for quite some time. Admittedly, he had long since marked the possibility of it being an innocent coincidence as impossible.

"Hm, and here I thought you were well versed in the language of flowers, Señor Carriedo." Despite the fact that he had a thick accent of some foreign kind Antonio couldn't quite place, the pronunciation of his name and the title, was surprisingly good. Of course, that didn't make the words any less shocking.

"How... how do you know who I am? What the hell do you want from me?" Hands balling into tight fists, he stared at the tall, dark-tanned man. All the while, his thoughts spun. He was positive he'd never seen this man before in his life, and as far as he was aware, he hadn't done any harm to anyone.

"I simply want you to stay away from what is mine." The smirk was gone, replaced by a dark expression that made Antonio take another step back on pure reflex.

"What's... yours?" he repeated hesitatingly, cursing the slight tremor that snuck into his speech despite his best attempts at keeping it neutral. What the hell had he come close to that this man considered to be his? He was no thief, and didn't make it a habit to go off taking other people's things.

"You aren't all that clever, are you..." the man shook his head, and although Antonio wasn't known as an easily angered person, the expression in his eyes really pissed him off. The way the stranger seemed to loom over him in both height and presence did nothing to help matters. Opening his mouth to utter some offensive statement, Antonio gasped instead, as he was suddenly slammed back against the wall of the flower store, a hand to his throat, even if it didn't clutch very tightly. Damn, the guy was fast...

Now that he was this close, Antonio could see that his eyes were really a very dark brown shade, but shadowed by obvious hatred and something bordering on madness. He could also smell a peculiar mix of after-shave, rain and dirt, as the man leaned in closer, putting a bit more pressure on his neck.

"Stay the fuck away," he all but growled. "That's just a piece of friendly advice."

And then, as suddenly as he had appeared, the man let go of his collar, and turned abruptly, striding down the street until he disappeared around a corner. It was almost as if he had never been there to begin with. Antonio gulped for air, feeling rather shaky and as confused as ever. Who on earth was that guy? And what the hell had Antonio done to earn that dangerous, hating expression directed at him?

He wasn't sure how long he'd stood there, but the rain had made his hair stick to his face, and had began slipping through his shoes, which weren't really water proof, making his socks uncomfortably wet. It was this chilling sensation that woke him from the daze, and he suddenly remembered his original intention, and shakily stopped a cab to take him to Lovino's neighbourhood. Somehow, the encounter made him even more anxious to see his boyfriend.

The cab driver seemed to take notice of his shaky posture, but thankfully didn't ask any questions as he efficiently brought Antonio to the right location. By the time they got there, he'd calmed down somewhat. Handing the driver an amount of money that was probably a bit too much, he got out of the cab, watching it drive off.

Turning to the house, which seemed quiet and empty, he swallowed, walking up to the gate, which was partially open, strangely enough. He didn't get further than that, however, freezing in his tracks when he caught sight of the garden. Or rather, what was left of it. Plants were torn up, kicked out across the lawn, particularly the vegetable plants. His eyes, moving across the damage, eventually came to rest on the slumped figure on the grass, kneeling before the massacred remains of a tomato plant, head bowed.

"L-Lovi!" He cried, drawing a sharp intake of breath at the sight. Darting into the garden, he slowed his pace as he neared the other. "Lovino... Honey, what's happened...?"

Lovino had tensed upon hearing his voice, but didn't move from his position at first. Antonio suddenly took notice of the trembling shoulders, and the dirty clothes – his formal work wear weren't nearly as impeccable and elegant-looking as they had been before. But none of that mattered, because when he turned, and Antonio saw the pure fear on his expression, his heart practically skipped several beats.

Lovino looked downright horrible, rain having soaked his hair and clothes by now, and mixing with the tears that were pooling from his eyes. His left cheek was flushed red and swollen. Walking over carefully, he tried to ask the questions on his lips, but found that his voice had left him.

"Antonio...?" Lovino sounded as if he hardly believed he was there, voice trembling violently. His golden eyes were wild and glazed over. Just like the eyes of a person who just woke up from a horrible nightmare, and were unable to tell dream from reality.

Antonio fell to his knees on the wet grass, reaching out, only to have Lovino gasp, shying away.

"Don't hurt me...! I'm sorry... I'm really, r-really sorry!" and he started sobbing, crying words of apology over and over, and hugging himself tightly, while Antonio could only stare in numb shock. Many thoughts raced through his mind at that time, but one shone brighter than the others.

Whoever had hurt his precious boyfriend was going to pay dearly for it.

oOo

Hope you liked it~ If you could give me some feedback, telling me what you thought of it, that would really warm my heart! ^^

señora(s) – Madam(s)

Señor – Mr.