Eliza froze as the young man, Antonio, uttered the question "You know my name?", and felt her heart drop through her stomach. A faint sickness burned through her throat, of embarrassment, or panic, or something that felt remarkably like guilt.
Whilst she was trying to drag her thoughts back down from the panicked storm clouds they had swirled into, Bella already had her game plan and had pasted on her game face. She smiled widely, tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and stuck out a hand for Antonio to shake. He did so warily.
"I'm Bella, and I really sorry if I interrupted anything important, but I need to speak to Lovino and his brother said I'd be able to find him here...? I'm his cousin." said Bella. Antonio opened the door fully, and called out to someone, whom Eliza assumed was Lovino, inside the apartment.
"Lovino, there's a Bella out here, your cousin?" Eliza couldn't make out the reply, but it sounded short and most likely rude from the apologetic expression on Antonio's face when he turned back to face them.
"Ah, I'm sorry, he... well I won't say what he did but I'm sure you can guess... Did you want me to ask him anything?" Antonio leant back against the door frame and the look of mingled terror and confusion had faded from his face. It had been replaced by a sunshine smile that Eliza couldn't quite look at without feeling her face heat up. In the back of her mind, she wondered if he even knew if he was doing it.
Bella nodded. "I'm holding a surprise party for Abel tomorrow, my brother, and I've been planning this for months and I really need to check in with people for last minute details. If you could, can you ask him to email me about the explosive balloons-" she laughed at the shock on Antonio's face. "Not literal explosives, chill! They just pop and cause a load of confetti to fly everywhere, Lovino was organising them. I really need to know if Lovino has got 'em sorted so that I can set up the room for tomorrow. And, do you mind if I be cheeky and ask if you intend to come with Lovino?"
Antonio blushed up to his ears and ducked his head. Eliza couldn't help but feel her heart squish a little at the cuteness this young man was displaying. It made her want to see her own boyfriend again.
Bella thanked Antonio and they said goodbyes. He whipped behind the door, still blushing, and Eliza caught the smile breaking out across his face behind the hand covering his mouth. The two girls high-fived and walked back down the corridor.
"See, it wasn't that hard. Are you happy now?" asked Bella.
"Excellent." said Eliza briskly.
Antonio's back slid down the door, his hand still covering his grin until he hit the floor, when he tipped his head back and laughed and laughed in an irrational burst of happiness.
Lovino's cousin must have known they were together to ask, in different words, if he was going to be Lovino's date at this party, and that meant that Lovino had to have told someone who in turn told for the girls, for them to know – and there was the little bubble of joy sitting light in Antonio's heart. Lovino had spoken about him, told his brother that he would be with Antonio. That he was with Antonio, and he hadn't been ashamed or scared or worried about being with him. That small, insignificant fact had made Antonio's day and he couldn't stop smiling.
His smile only grew as Lovino wandered over to him from the sofa and eased himself down beside him, not saying a word, instead laying his head on Antonio's shoulder and pressing their sides together. The heat from earlier was lost, but it had been replaced by a warm comfort that he could feel radiating through him, starting at the point where warmth from Lovino's bare skin seeped through his t-shirt. The sun continued to rise higher in the sky as they sat in silence together on the floor, brightening the whole flat with a yellow glow.
Sunlight shone around the two plain mugs sitting haphazard in the sink and through the glass cups resting on the window sill, throwing white patterns up the walls and across the table. It touched upon the stack of papers scattered in the way distinctive to a hard night of studying along the entire width of the coffee table and brushed the highlights of Lovino's hair, scorching them a hypnotic auburn that Antonio couldn't tear his gaze from, entranced by the streaks of colour.
Antonio cleared his throat.
"So." he began, but he couldn't find the words to continue. Lovino's head twitched on his shoulder in recognition of his word, but didn't move, waiting for Antonio to carry on.
"About what the girl, Bella, said... You heard, right?" Antonio tried not to stammer, licking his lips as nerves parched his mouth. His tongue felt too big and his cheeks dry. He felt Lovino's smile on his shoulder from the subtle movement in his jaw and was struck by the simple intimacy of the notion.
"Yeah." Lovino coaxed. "I did. What about it?"
Antonio licked his lips again. He needed a drink. The glass of water he never finished was still sitting on his window sill.
"Am I... What are we, now? Am I your, your plus one?"
The silence was thick now, and not nearly as comforting for Antonio as it had been before. But Lovino was still curved into his body, still relaxed and limp, so it couldn't be as bad as he thought.
Lovino laughed, and it was short and barely there at all. It sent Antonio's head spinning and his heart began to melt to mush in his chest.
"Of course, idiot, what else would you be?"
"I was... Well I was thinking of a different word really..." Antonio flushed. Why couldn't he just say it, the word wasn't hard, it was 2 syllables, why couldn't he say it?
"What do you mean? Are you asking me-" Lovino frowned and Antonio didn't want that, couldn't stand it if Lovino was confused or worried, and so he pulled away slowly to dislodge Lovino from his shoulder, spinning to face him directly.
"I think I'm asking you if you're my.. . My boyfriend." There. He'd said it, no matter how much work it had taken for him to spit it out. Antonio watched as the frown slid off Lovino's expression, to be replaced by a wheel of emotions. His eyes grew wide in astonishment, then he ducked his head and bit his lip in a subtle embarrassment, before smiling a smile that finished off Antonio's heart completely in pure joy.
"Yes, alright, fuck yes, now you better get down here and kiss me or so help me I will- mmmmfph!" Antonio crushed their lips together in a remarkably chaste way, despite what they had done earlier, winding his hand around the back of Lovino's neck and scratching his fingers into the short, soft hair curling up slightly at the nape. Both their eyes slid closed and when Antonio started to chuckle, Lovino was caught up in his infectious glee. They fell into each other and their bodies were pushed together like the two perfect puzzle pieces, moving and swaying in one rhythm.
At least, until the fire alarm went off and the sprinklers drenched them both in a spray of freezing water.