Chapter Six: Just a Chance

There are points in your life when things just happen. There really isn't any explanation or warning, they just happen. Lovino was pretty sure that he was at one of those points now. He wasn't sure how he ended up sitting at a table at lunch the next day, squashed between Antonio and Antonio's friend, Francis. The third member of the group, Ludwig's older brother Gilbert, sat across from them. All of them were obnoxious. Antonio he could handle… barely, but two more of these flirtatious cocky assholes? It was too much.

Still, Lovino didn't make any move to escape and even he wasn't sure why. Something had changed in the last several hours and Lovino had found himself giving Antonio a chance. Somehow that had ended up next to Antonio at the cramped lunch table.

What scared him the most was the fact that it was actually kind of nice.

Lovino poked at his food as Antonio laughed at something Gilbert had said. Lovino, of course, wasn't really listening and had completely missed the comment. But a small nudge had him looking up.

"You alright?" Antonio asked.

"I'm fine," Lovino answered, a little sharper than he intended.

Antonio frowned but didn't press and returned to his conversation with his friends.

"So does this mean it's finally happened?" Francis asked with a small smirk.

"What's happened?" Lovino asked, looking back up and following Francis' gaze to Antonio.

"You guys are finally dating right?" Gilbert said, leaning forward onto the table.

Lovino sputtered slightly. "Hell no," he snapped. "He asked me to come hang out and that's all, there's nothing more to it than that."

"But you two have been totally lusting after each other since day one," said Francis.

"I believe lusting is the wrong term Francis," Antonio stated.

"We weren't lusting," Lovino said bitterly. "And I assure you, that it was and still is, completely one sided. " He grabbed his tray to stand, but Antonio grabbed his arm pulling him back down.

"Calm down Lovino, it's not that big of a deal."

Lovino opened his mouth for some sort of bitchy comeback, but shut it again, deciding silence was the best answer in this case.

Antonio sighed. "Lay off guys, we're not dating."

Both Francis and Gilbert shrugged after eyeing Lovino a moment.

"Hey, Lovino, why don't you come over to my house after school today?" Antonio suggested.

Lovino shot him a dark look, shoving a bite of food forcefully into his mouth. "Why the hell would I want to go to your house bastard?"

Antonio smiled, though he couldn't imagine why. "I just thought it would be nice."

The Italian took a few more bites, debating over his answer for as long as he could before Antonio's expecting stare got to be too much.

"Fine," he grumbled.

"Wonderful!" Antonio said, leaning in and pecking Lovino on the cheek, causing a light blush to come to his cheeks and snickers to come from both Gilbert and Francis.

"Get off me bastard! What the hell!" Lovino cried, shoving the older man away.

Once again, Antonio smiled at him, not saying a word and Lovino found himself just a little less angry.

As Lovino knocked on Antonio's door, he found himself far more nervous than he wanted to be. Every second that passed was making him regret his decision more and more. He wasn't sure how long he waited there, fidgeting restlessly on his feet, before the door finally opened and Antonio stood there before him, with his usual smile.

"Lovino, you came!" he said, as if he hadn't expected the younger man to show. Perhaps he didn't.

"Of course, I said I would, didn't I?" he said stepping past him and dropping his backpack by the door and slipping off his shoes. Already he acted like he belonged there. While he chalked it up to a defense mechanism, it still bothered him how comfortable he felt now that Antonio was there and he was finally inside.

"We can just go to the living room," Antonio said, leading the way down the hall.

Lovino followed, not quite sure what to expect from this little get together.

"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Antonio asked as his guest sat down on the couch.

Lovino shook his head and the Spaniard sat down next to him on the other end of the sofa.

It was silent for a moment as the younger boy took in the room for a moment before turning back to face Antonio.

"Why did you invite me here?" the Italian demanded.

Antonio blinked, clearly not expecting the question. "Why, because I wanted to hang out," he answered as honestly as he could.

"Really."

"That's the truth Lovino! I finally got you to at least come eat lunch with me, that was an accomplishment and a half. But you seemed so uncomfortable that I invited you over here so you didn't have to bother with my friends. You know you don't have to worry when it comes to me so I was hoping you would be a little more comfortable here. I wasn't sure you would actually accept, much less come, but I really hoped and I'm really glad you did."

Antonio had somehow scooted a little closer as he spoke and Lovino only noticed once he had stopped speaking.

He had realized how nice it was that Antonio had taken notice of him and consideration for him like that. The truth was, he was more comfortable here, where it was just the two of them. Against what Lovino thought was his better judgment, he had unwittingly and unwillingly started to trust the Spaniard. So when Antonio reached out and gently, cautiously took his hand, he didn't pull away.

So, just a note that from this point on, I am no longer following the prompt challenge (this chapter included). I'm pretty much going with each chapter as it comes, so they're going to be rather sporadic and such. My apologies for the wait, thank you so much for sticking with me! Please favorite and review if you get the chance! Thank you for reading!