A/N: Here's the next chapter! It was gonna be a lot longer and include the whole 'I love you part' but I decided to split it into two chapters instead. I hope everyone had a happy Halloween (if you celebrate it, that is)! On a side note I finally joined tumblr! If anyone here has one I'd love to follow you. And, for my next story, should I do a soul mate spamano one or a ghost dennor one?

Disclaimer: I don't own hetalia

Antonio tapped his fingers nervously against the café table, his emerald eyes focused intently on the door.

They, and by they meaning anyone who knew Lovino, had decided that meeting in a public, but not too public, place would be best. "Less chance of him making a scene," Francis had mused, while Arthur nodded solemnly in the background.

So Francis picked out a café, one that Lovino liked apparently, that was small, homey, and, surprisingly, French. Antonio hadn't thought Lovino would ever like anything French. Of course, that was just another thing he didn't know about the Italian.

He sighed as he finally moved his gaze down to look at the table, tan fingers ceasing their tapping in favor of smoothing out the napkin he had in front of him. He had been waiting for half an hour- or more, he hadn't looked at the clock in a while- for Lovino. Antonio hoped he would show up. He hoped with all his heart and soul and mind and being. He wanted to fix this, he wanted to put it behind them, and he wanted to take Lovino into his arms and hug him tight and never let go.

But how could he do that if Lovino hated him?

The mere thought of the Italian feeling that way made Antonio's stomach clench uncomfortably. He loved Lovino. Dios, he loved him so much. He needed him. He couldn't keep going if the other didn't want anything to do with him.

A frowned tugged at the Spaniard's lips as he twisted the napkin in front of him, causing wrinkles to appear in it once again. But Lovino did want something to do with him. That's why he had been so upset. Lovino thought Antonio wanted nothing to do with him. Which was ridiculous, of course. Antonio absolutely adored Lovino, he would never ever want nothing to do with him.

Of course, Lovino would have to show up for him to know that. Gilbert and Matthew had said he would show up. But what if he didn't? What if he decided it wasn't worth it? What if he was still too mad? What if-?

"You're going to rip your fucking napkin I'm half if you keep twisting it like that."

Antonio jumped and looked up with wide eyes, his eyes growing even wider when he saw who was standing at the other side of the table.

"L-lovino!" Antonio quickly dropped the napkin, a red blush spreading across his cheeks as he watched the Italian warily pull the chair out and sit down. He looked so sad. And tired. It made Antonio's heart clench knowing he was the cause of that. "I-I'm so happy y-you showed up! N-not that I t-thought you w-wouldn't, I just- um, n-never mind, d-do you want a c-coffee? Or h-hot chocolate? O-or a-"

"You'll still talk to much. Idiot." Lovino let out a sigh as he sat back in his seat. "I already ordered something," he added after in a flat tone.

"Oh," Antonio murmured, his cheeks burning even more. He had hoped his stutter would have gone down so he could show Lovino how much he had improved, but his nerves were getting the best of him. He started tapping his fingers against the table again, feeling the urge to keep moving. He suddenly couldn't look at the Italian across from him. His mouth felt dry and his heart was pounding and his palms were sweaty. He loved Lovino so much and he couldn't even look at him. He was a terrible person!

"So... Why did you want to meet with me?" Lovino interrupted his thoughts, his voice sounded defensive, hurt, but hopeful at the same time.

Antonio finally tore his eyes up from the table only to see that Lovino wasn't even looking at him. He was looking at his lap, a frown on his lips and a worried crease between his brows.

Of course he would be worried. Antonio felt so stupid. He hadn't explained anything to him yet! He probably thought Antonio didn't care about him still! He had to fix that right away!

"L-Lovino, I..." Antonio took a deep breath as he tried to think about what to say next when two cups were suddenly placed down in front of them, causing him to jump slightly in his seat. The waiter shot him a strange look and walked away without a word, obviously in a rush to serve other customers. The Spaniard stared down at the drink in front of him, or rather at the huge pile of whip cream sitting on top of the drink in front of him. "You got m-me hot chocolate?" He asked hesitantly, looking up at Lovino.

Lovino scoffed and rolled his eyes, looking back at the other for the first time since he arrived. "No shit. I see you haven't gotten any smarter over in Spain," he remarked dryly as he picked his own hot chocolate up and took a small sip before wincing in placing it back down. "Too hot," he muttered.

Antonio smiled slightly at that. "Well, i-it's called hot chocolate for a r-reason, Lovi," he chuckled, earning a death glare from the Italian, which caused his smile to widen. This felt comfortable. The teasing, the sarcastic remarks. This Lovino was the same Lovino he had fallen in love with at the hospital, feisty and passionate and sassy and sweet. He was perfect.

"Anyways," Antonio murmured as he dipped a finger into the whip cream before licking it off, "I j-just... I wanted to a-apologize," he sighed. "I wasn't e-expecting to see you at the a-airport and I know I reacted the w-wrong away and y-you got the wrong i-idea but..." He smiled affectionately at the other, causing a familiar tomato red blush to spread across his face. "I do c-care about you, Lovino. And the f-fact that I hurt you m-makes me sad. I just want you to b-be happy, so I c-can be happy, and then we c-can be happy together."

The blush on Lovino's cheeks turned even darker at that and he blinked at Antonio with wide eyes. "But why... Why the hell didn't you tell me you were coming back?" Antonio swallowed thickly, hating how hurt Lovino sounded. "You told other people," he whispered. "But not me."

Antonio slowly reached across the table, taking one of Lovino's hands gently, scared he would pull away. To his surprise the Italian didn't, although the blush on his cheeks turned even more red. "I-I... Well, it was s-stupid, really," he murmured, his thumb absently rubbing poorly coordinated circles over the other's smooth skin. "I had some d-dumb plan that G-gil and Francis helped m-me with and we were gonna s-surprise you."

Lovino looked surprised, then embarrassed. "Oh," he mumbled.

Antonio chuckled at that, his gaze softening. "It's okay, m-mi tomate. I-I should h-have called. I'm sorry."

Lovino shook his head, glaring at the table. "No, fuck, I'm sorry, I-I just... I didn't realize, I thought you just didn't-" He cut himself off and sighed, using his free hand to sip his now warm hot chocolate.

"Didn't c-care?" Antonio offered, humming knowingly when he saw Lovino's face scrunch up in embarrassment. "L-Lovino... I care. I've a-always cared. I could never n-not care," he said warmly but firmly, his words emphasized by him squeezing Lovino's hand.

Lovino hesitated before shyly looking up from his hot chocolate to meet Antonio's gaze. "And this isn't just the French bastard talking through you?" He asked hesitantly, although there was a hint of teasing in his voice.

Antonio laughed at that, squeezing Lovino's hand tighter as he did so. "Of c-course not, Toma."

Lovino rolled his eyes at that. "Hey, just because you're back doesn't me you can fucking call me that," he grumbled, but his mood seemed to have lifted significantly and a hint of a smile played at his lips. "And who the hell ever gave you permission to hold my hand?" He added, making no move to take his hand away though.

Antonio grinned widely at that and shifted their hands to messily lace their fingers together. He was so in completely and totally, head over heels in love with Lovino. "I m-missed you too."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:- Time Skip -:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

After they had talked for a while and finished their hot chocolates, they decided to go back to Lovino's place since, as Antonio sheepishly explained, he didn't really have a 'place'.

"F-Francis and Gil are h-helping me out for n-now," had been his only explanation, and Lovino could only sigh in annoyance as retaliation.

Antonio was sitting comfortably on the couch, looking around Lovino's apartment curiously as the Italian busied himself in the kitchen, claiming that the hot chocolate didn't fill him up so he might as well make them something to eat. Antonio was thrilled at the idea of having some of Lovino's cooking- he could remember it from his days in the hospital here and it had always been wonderful.

As Antonio looked around, he was surprised to see how small the apartment was. And bare. Lovino hardly had any decorations! It made Antonio feel guilty. He had assumed the other had lived in a nice home, since he was a nurse. Weren't they supposed to be paid a lot? Although admittedly, the Spaniard knew little about the paychecks of anyone at the hospital. Or anyone at all, really.

Another thing that struck Antonio as he sat down on the cold, hard couch was how incredibly lonely the apartment felt. He realized for the first time that Feli wasn't here, which struck him as odd. He recalled Lovino saying he lived with his brother (which, Antonio now realized, may have had something to do with the money problem), but the bubbly Italian was no where to be seen or heard. "L-Lovi?" Antonio called curiously.

"What bastard? I'm almost done."

"Where's Feli?"

There was a pause, then a muttered, "Why the hell do you want to know?"

Antonio held back a laugh at that. Ah, he remembered Lovino's jealousy towards his brother. He smiled affectionately at the thought of his tomato feeling jealous of anyone because of Antonio. Antonio couldn't imagine liking anyone more than he liked Lovino.

"I-I thought he lived w-with you, that's all," he sang back calmly, hoping to calm Lovino's annoyance before it turned into anger.

There was another pause, then suddenly Lovino showed up, balancing two plates piled high with steaming pasta and tomatoes. A scowl was on his face as he handed one to Antonio before sitting down next to him. "The little bastard abandoned me and moved in with his potato boyfriend," he said, although there really was no bitterness in his tone. He sounded fine with it, actually. Antonio wondered how Ludwig had managed to get Lovino to warm up to him. Speaking of Ludwig...

Antonio tilted his head in confusion before realization lit up his face. "O-oh? He's dating Ludwig? I-I'm so happy! I k-knew they would g-go well together," he chirped as he started to dig into the pasta. Oh, it was so good! After having nothing but hospital food for so long, Lovino's cooking tasted like heaven. Not that it didn't normally, but now it almost made Antonio want to cry because of how amazing it was right now.

"Don't eat so fast, idiot, you're going to choke," Lovino muttered as he watched the other, causing Antonio to shoot him a tomato filled grin. Lovino wrinkled his nose. "And swallow anything in your fucking mouth before you show it off to me. But yeah, they're dating. There on a trip now, actually, some anniversary or some crap. They're coming back in about two weeks."

Antonio hummed in acknowledgement at that but didn't slow down his much, despite Lovino's scolding, although he did pause in his pasta shoveling to talk. "How w-were things at t-the hospital without me?" He asked curiously. Antonio had explained in depth what his hospital experience had been like in Spain at the café, but Lovino had remained relatively quiet the whole time, his eyes trained on Antonio's face almost as if he couldn't believe he was sitting right in front of him. It made Antonio's heart flutter and he had felt Lovino squeeze his hand several times while he talked about the most difficult times he had gone through in Spain

Lovino frowned, chewing thoughtfully on a tomato before swallowing and speaking. "It was... Boring," he mumbled after a moment, seeming to pick his words carefully. He hesitated, shifting, and he looked down at his pasta. "And lonely," he added in an even quieter voice, his cheeks red and his voice tight, the way Antonio's would sound right before he was about to cry, something he was more than used to due to his days at the hospital.

Antonio smiled sadly and reached out after placing his and Lovino's nearly empty plates on the coffee table, shakily wrapping his arms around him, pulling him close. Lovino smelled good, like spices the earth. The Spaniard buried his face in the other's hair and rocked him back and forth, feeling the other's initially tense body slowly relax against him.

"I-I'm sorry. I promise n-never to leave you again," Antonio whispered, holding the other tighter when he felt warm tears leak onto the crook of his neck, where Lovino had hid his face.

"I-idiot. You better not." Lovino hesitated before shifting closer, melting against the other. Antonio couldn't help but think it felt as though Lovino was made to fit into his arms. He never wanted to let go. "Antonio?" Lovino murmured timidly after a few moments.

"Sí?"

"W-will you stay with me for a little? I know Francis and Gilbert can be annoying as hell and I-I just want to see you more and if not I understand I just... I want you to stay." Lovino spoke in a rush, nervousness clear in his voice. Antonio ran his fingers through Lovino's hair as he spoke, savoring the feeling of the soft locks. He couldn't even count the number of times he had dreamed of doing this. Granted, Lovino hadn't been crying on his shoulder when he had hoped he could do this, but still. Lovino was close to him, and he was happy for that.

"Of c-course I'll stay," Antonio said softly as he kissed the Italian's head and pulled him closer. "There's no one I would rather stay with." Lovino seemed happy at those words and snuggled up against Antonio without saying anything else, his body relaxing completely.

And Antonio continued to stay like that, rocking the other back and forth slightly and stroking his hair, even long after Lovino had finally fallen asleep.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:- Time Skip -:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

"Dude, y-you've been staying with him for like, what, a week? And you haven't t-told him you love him?" Gilbert let out a disappointed snort and shook his head.

Francis nodded and tutted softly in agreement. "Honestly, mon ami, what's taking so long?"

Squirming uncomfortably under his friends' gazes, Antonio opted for sipping his hot chocolate instead of answering. He didn't have an answer, that was the problem. It was true, he had been staying with Lovino for nearly a week. It turned out Lovino had vacation time to spare, so the Italian spent more time with Antonio than the Spaniard had even dared to dream of.

And of course, during all of this, he felt himself falling in love all over again. With the way Lovino would mutter swear words when he was embarrassed, with the way Lovino seemed to dance around the kitchen when he cooked, with the way Lovino checked up on Antonio every night before going to bed himself, everything about the Italian was so passionate yet sweet and so wonderful and amazing and marvelous and he loved him so so so so much but he was just-

"Scared! That's what y-you are!" Gilbert slammed his now empty coffee cup down on the café's table, the same café Antonio and Lovino had met at the other day, and pointed an accusing finger and the pouting Spaniard. "You need to grow some balls! Sweep him off his feet! Have sex on the k-kitchen table!"

A woman at the next table over shot Gilbert a dirty look, and Francis immediately kicked him hard from under the table. "Do you want to get us kicked out?" He hissed. "Imbecile."

Gilbert retaliated by sticking his tongue out and Francis. "C'mon, you know it's true. He's s-scared!"

It was true, Antonio thought mournfully. He was scared. He was scared he would ruin their perfect friendship, or break Lovino's fragile trust in him again, or screw something up, or give Lovino the wrong idea, or maybe even get rejected by the Italian.

"Leave him alone," Francis scolded as he sipped his own drink, something that Antonio was pretty sure contained coffee somewhere in it but since it had been ordered in rapid French he couldn't really tell. "But mon cher, it's true. You are scared, aren't you? Why? Tell big brother Francis," Francis urged while patting Antonio's back.

Antonio was beginning to regret this meeting. He loved Francis and Gilbert, he really did, but he wasn't sure if he wanted their advice with Lovino. It had already blown up in his face before. Of course, he knew they had good intentions. Even if those intentions involved kidnapping him from Lovino's apartment while he was at work and coming to this café for an impromptu emergency meeting about Antonio's love life, or rather, lack of love life.

And it was true. He had no love life. Not really. Even though he wanted one. He really wished he had enough confidence to tell Lovi that, though.

"Great, n-now he's giving us the silent treatment," Gilbert muttered as he looked around for a waiter to get a refill.

"N-no! Lo siento, I-I was just lost in thought," Antonio explained with a sigh. "I g-guess you guys are r-right. I am scared," he muttered, looking like a kicked puppy as he stared at the table.

Francis sighed sympathetically and patted Antonio's back while Gilbert went up to the counter to both complain about the lack of waiters around and to get a refill. "Oh mon ami, I know the feeling. I was a wreck when I confessed my love to my darling Arthur." Ew. Eyebrow monster. Antonio wrinkled his nose at the thought of the other's crabby boyfriend and drained the last of his hot chocolate "But my situation was different." Well obviously, Antonio mused, since I'm not in love with someone with two caterpillars glued to his face.

Almost as if Francis knew Antonio was thinking bad thoughts about his lover he shot him a half hearted glare. "Pay attention! You're currently getting advice from the best Love Doctor in the world!" Antonio held back a laugh at that statement and tried to school his features to look as serious as possible. After a moment of observing his face, Francis seemed satisfied and continued on.

"Anyways, my situation was different, because I didn't know if Arthur loved me or not. And no one else knew. It was very scary."

Gilbert came back at that moment, plunking down a cup of coffee with a scowl. "I'm p-pretty sure the lady at he counter spit in thi-"

"Silence! I'm giving love advice!" Francis cried out dramatically and Antonio giggled. He really had missed these guys. No one in Spain had been friendly with him like they had. Even Elizabeta, his nurse, had been friendly in a different way. A more motherly way, not like a best friend way.

"Anyways!" Francis said, annoyance clear in his tone before he seemed to compose himself and go on. "I, mon cher, know for a fact that Lovino loves you."

"Y-you do?"

"Well, not for a fact..." Antonio visibly deflated at that and Francis quickly went on. "But! It's so painfully obvious it might as well be a fact. The way he looks at you, the way he acts around you, the way he acted when you were gone..."

Antonio tilted his head at that. No one had really bothered to tell him how, exactly, his cute little tomato had acted while he was gone. Not in detail, at least. "What d-do you mean?"

Francis and Gilbert exchanged hesitant looks, as if they weren't sure if they should tell him. That made Antonio's insides twist uncomfortably and he squirmed in his seat. Had Lovino really been that bad? Had Antonio caused him that much suffering? Was that one of the reasons why he had been so upset at the airport?

"Well..." Gilbert started off, looking at Francis for any disapproval. When he received none he continued on. "H-he was a bit of a mess when you f-first left. I mean we told you that a-already, but I'm serious. He was a-a wreck."

Francis nodded and looked down at his drink thoughtfully. "Oui... He was very quiet, he didn't eat tomatoes for a while, never smiled..." The blonde frowned, biting his lip. It obviously had upset him, seeing his coworker and friend act like that. He didn't seem to want to go into detail though because he quickly changed the direction of the conversation. "But now you're back!" He said looking up again. "And he's been acting more like himself. But he's obviously waiting for you to profess your undying love for him."

Antonio stared at the table with a frown. He hadn't realized he had caused Lovino so much harm. A part of him almost wished he had never met the Italian, just so he couldn't have hurt him, but another, much stronger part of him was selfishly happy he had met him, and almost happy that Lovino had, in fact, been sad that Antonio had left. It did show that the Italian must feel something for him.

Antonio found himself silently agreeing with his friends, though. He needed to tell Lovino he loved him! He had to get over his silly fears. Lovino loved him back. He had to. And if he didn't, then Antonio would find a way to make him! He would be the happiest man in the world if one day Lovino finally said the words "I love you" to him.

"A-alright!" Antonio said, mood brightening. He could do this. He just had to stay positive. He didn't spend all that time in Spain working for a recovery just to chicken out! "So how should I-I do it?" Because honestly, Antonio, despite his passionate and intense and wonderful and painfully real love for Lovino, was hopeless when it came to expressing said love.

"Mmm... Well, cher, we can't tell you how to do it, but we can help set the scene," Francis hummed as he finished his drink. "Let's see... A romantic dinner, with wine and fine French food, the full moon in the background, a serenade playing softly-"

"Oh please!" Gilbert let out a laugh at that, causing the blonde to glare at him.

"Well how would you do it then!" Francis huffed while flipping his hair.

"I wouldn't p-plan it!" Gilbert huffed out. "It would have to be natural. L-like you just know when to s-say it. You could just be chilling o-on the couch and bam!" He slammed his hand enthusiastically on the table. "You decide to s-say it! That's the best way to do it. B-be spontaneous!"

Antonio looked helplessly between his two friends, not sure what to think. They were giving him two pieces of completely opposite advice! Plan it out or be spontaneous? How could he pick? What was the right choice? The Spaniard let out a groan and held his head in his hands.

Francis gave him a sympathetic pat on the back (he seemed to be getting a lot of those today) and let out a thoughtful noise. "Well... Perhaps he is right. You can't plan the exact moment. But having a romantic atmosphere would help, non? I still vote for a dinner."

Francis and Antonio both looked to Gilbert for approval, getting a careless shrug of his shoulder and a muttered fine, which was more than enough for Antonio.

"And after that, if the time seems right..."

"S-say you love him!" Gilbert cheered.

Antonio seemed to be happy with that and he smiled widely at his friends. That sounded simple enough. A nice dinner with Lovino alone and then he could tell him he loved him. He couldn't wait!

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:- Time Skip -:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

"He's been staying with you for a week and you haven't told him you loved him yet?" Arthur let out a tut of disapproval and sipped at his tea carefully, a look of disgust covering his face shortly after. "Good heavens, this is awful. What is this?"

Matthew smiled apologetically and shrugged his shoulders. "Honesty? I'm not sure. I found it in a cupboard. I'm more of a coffee drinker myself."

Arthur shook his head and placed the cup down, looking like he was holding back the urge to throw up. "Lovely. Anyways, back to Lovino..."

Lovino rolled his eyes and sipped at his own drink cautiously, happy to find the coffee drinkable, if not a little weaker than he would've liked. "It's not my fucking fault. It's hard, okay?" He muttered.

Yup. He was pathetic. Antonio had been living with him for a week and he hadn't grown the balls to tell him he loved him yet. How could he though? Antonio just got back from over a year in a different country surrounded by strangers in a hospital he hadn't even wanted to be in. He was probably stressed and wanted something normal and routine like to slip back into- he didn't want some crazy love sick Italian throwing himself at him.

Matthew smiled gently at him and nodded. "It's alright, Lovino. It must be so sudden having him come back with no warning. You should take your time to gather your emotions and-"

"He's had time! He'd had one whole bloody week!" Arthur sighed as he sat back. "Honestly, lad, if you don't do it now, then when will you?"

"Shut the fuck up! Antonio doesn't need that in his life right now," Lovino snapped, his temper flaring. He knew Arthur was only trying to help, but sometimes he got on his nerves.

Placing a calming hand on Lovino's shoulders, Matthew shot Arthur a warming glare, causing the Brit to scowl in annoyance. "What do you mean by that?" Matthew asked Lovino once he was sure Arthur wouldn't snap back.

"It's just..." Lovino ran a hand through his hair and sighed in annoyance. "He's been through a lot, right? He probably wants something normal here. He hasn't had a real fucking home in a long time and I just don't think he wants me to add anymore stress to his life by telling him that I love him," he grumbled.

"How would you telling him that you love him stress him out?" Arthur asked, his voice significantly more gentle now. The Brit had a weird alter ego hidden in him that made him act like a father giving advice. It was strange and Lovino had seen it a few times, but honestly he didn't mind it. And right now, he most definitely welcomed it.

"Because! What if he doesn't feel the same fucking way? He's too stupidly nice to turn me down right away! And then he would start feeling guilty about that, and about living with me, and about a shit ton of other things that could all be avoided if I just keep my fucking mouth shut!" Lovino burst out, looking frustrated to the point of tears.

What if Antonio didn't feel the same way? Lovino wasn't stupid, he knew Antonio liked him, but Antonio liked everyone! He liked Francis and Gilbert and Matthew and Feli and Ludwig. What if he liked Lovino the same way he liked them? The mere thought of that made Lovino's throat tight with the threat of tears but he quickly held them back. He had already cried way too fucking much the last couple of days in front of people. He didn't need to add to that list.

"Oh Lovino..." Matthew shook his head. "Don't think like that. Antonio does love you back, everyone can see that."

"But do you know for sure?" Lovino asked, looking at him with watery eyes.

"Well of course not, lad, but that doesn't mean we're wrong. Come on. There's no way to find out unless you tell him you love him. You can do it."

"Oui!" Matthew said. "You can. You just need to have confidence!"

"I-I have confidence!" Arthur and Matthew exchanged knowing looks that said they clearly thought otherwise.

"How about this," Matthew said, ignoring Lovino's comment. "You wear something nice- that always gets my confidence up! Something stylish and comfortable!"

"Yeah! And then go somewhere nice for a date, like a museum or a library!"

Lovino and Matthew both made a face at Arthur and he glared defensively at them. "What? Museums and libraries are both very nice places!"

"Yeah, if I want to bore him to death," Lovino muttered.

"Alright fine! I suppose for you peasants a restaurant or a park would do," the Brit muttered dismissively.

"A restaurant sounds good!" Matthew said. "Then you wouldn't have to worry about the weather. So you wear something nice, go to the restaurant, and then when the mood is right, tell him you love him!"

Lovino frowned thoughtfully into his now cold cup of coffee as he thought about the plan. Well, kind of plan. It wasn't... Terrible, he supposed. It was simple. But that was what he wanted. Nothing overly fucking complicated that would only serve to make him nervous and mess him up. Just... Go to dinner, tell him you love him. Oh, and look nice at the same time.

Speaking of which...

"I don't..." Lovino hesitated, blushing. "I don't really have any nice clothes that I could wear." He did have some old clothes that used to be nice, mainly hand me downs from his Nonno, but most clothes he had right now were comfortable clothes. They were less expensive and he wore them more often. He never really had a need for anything nice. Even when he dated Sadiq he hadn't really dressed up.

"That's alright!" Matthew said cheerfully. "That means we can go shopping!"

Lovino blinked at him a few times, tilting his head. "What?"

"Shopping? You know, that thing where you go to a store and buy something you want?" Arthur drawled out as he watched Lovino's face in amusement.

"I know what shopping is!" Lovino huffed, his cheeks red. "I just-"

"Oh! And we'll pay for it! Just think of it as an early wedding gift."

"I can pay for it myself, bastard!" Lovino said, although the tenseness that had appeared in his body at the mention of shopping seemed to go down slightly. "But I'm busy. I'm going back to work full time soon and I don't have time to-"

"You're going back? When?" Arthur demanded.

Lovino blinked a few times before responding. "Monday?"

"That means we only have three days!" Matthew cried out. "Why didn't you tell us!"

"Because! There wasn't a fucking plan to do anything before a few minutes ago!" Lovino cried. "Besides, are you saying you want me to confess within three days?"

"Don't you want to tell him before you're faced with work again? Long hours, needy patients, Francis with you all the time..." Arthur hummed. "You'll be too exhausted to find a better time to do it."

Lovino bit his lip before sighing and looking down. "Alright. I see your point. So three days it is, then."

"Well, we have no time to waste then!" Matthew stood up and clapped his hands together happily. "And good news! I'm pretty sure the mall is still open!"

Lovino let out a groan as he slowly got up out of his chair, following after two overly excited blondes to the car.

Three days. He would tell Antonio he loved him within three fucking days.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:- Time Skip -:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

"What about Italian?"

"N-no! Lovi only likes w-when he or his hermano cooks Italian."

Francis let out a sigh as he threw up his hands, dropping the last pamphlet he had been holding onto the large pile on the table. "No Italian, no French, no German, no American, no British, no Spanish, no Russian, no Turkish, no nothing!" He groaned out. "Is there anything Lovino will actually want to eat?"

Antonio sighed to himself as he looked at the large pile of rejected restaurant pamphlets. He knew Lovino was picky and he just wanted their moment to be perfect! It had been a day since he decided he was going to tell Lovino his feelings for him, and he had decided to do it by Monday. Lovi had told him he had to go back to work full time on Monday! Antonio was going to miss him so much! No more breakfasts together, no more cuddling during movies, no more lazy make out sessions on the couch before siestas...

Ah, of course, he was letting his imagination run from him again. Although that while be amazing if all of that was true...

"Antonio! Snap out of it! We're trying to find a perfect place for your pissy l-little Italian!" Gilbert said loudly, effectively bringing Lovino out of his thoughts. "So h-he rejected half the food in the world. Now what?"

"No sé..." Antonio sighed and flopped back in the fluffy arm chair he was sitting in, practically melting into it. They were currently at Francis' house since Arthur was out (on 'secret business' apparently) and therefore not there to bitch at them. Antonio was glad. He didn't like that little man very much.

"Well... You can try making it?" Francis asked, causing Antonio to frown. Although he had pretty good control over his body, Antonio got twitchy at times, and he wouldn't want one of those times to be while he had something boiling hot in his hands.

"No," he murmured as he started playing with his bracelet. It was getting frayed now, much to his dismay. He wished it could stay in perfect condition forever and ever. He loved it so much.

"Ugh. What else is t-there to do!" Gilbert flopped down on Antonio's stomach, sprawling across him while ignoring his squirms and whines for help. "I say do take out Chinese. Everyone loves that stuff!"

"Take out? How unromantic," Francis scoffed dismissively, ignoring Antonio. "Hm... What about Greek?" He asked, causing Antonio to pause.

"Well... Lovi's n-never complained about Greek b-before," Antonio hummed. "A-and Greek as olives. And p-pasta. And tomatoes. And L-Lovi likes all of those!"

"Ah! Greek then!" Francis smiled at this and clapped his hands together. "Finally, some progress! I'll go find a perfect restaurant for you two!" Francis rushed out of the room, leaving a squished Antobio and stunned Gilbert.

"Wait!" Antonio cried weakly after him. "G-get Gilbert off of m-me first! I want t-to help pick!" After receiving nothing but silence Antonio let out a dramatic whine and flopped his head back on the chair. He hoped he would survive his friends long enough to actually tell Lovino he loved him.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:- Time Skip -:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Arthur pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. "Hmmm..."

Matthew blinked a few times and tilted his head. "Hmmm..."

The two blondes looked at one another then at Lovino. "No," the said at the same time, causing Lovino to let out a groan of frustration.

He had to have tried on a million fucking outfits by now and Arthur and Matthew haven't approved a single one. They were either too casual, or too fancy, or too dark or too cheerful or too flirty or too prude or too whatever! The point is, none of them were perfect. At least to them. Lovino, at his point, was just about ready to show up to the dinner wearing a fucking paper bag.

"Go change!" Matthew commanded, waving his hand dismissively. Lovino scowled and slunk back to the changing room, wishing he could sneak away (he couldn't, he had already tried and they had caught him).

They had spent all of yesterday trying on fucking outfits but none were the right one. Now today they were doing the same and Lovino, who was usually pretty good when it came to shopping for clothes, was ready to call it quits. Unfortunately, Arthur and Matthew didn't seem ready to call it quits.

The Italian emerged from the dressing room a few minutes later, holding the large pile of rejected outfits and plopping them on the counter, much to the worker's annoyance, before going to his friends. "I thought the outfit with the blue shirt had been okay," he grumbled, but Matthew shook his head.

"Okay isn't good enough. It had to be perfect," he said in a determined voice. Arthur nodded in agreement from beside him.

Lovino wanted to cry. "For fuck's sake, it's obvious I'm never going to find a 'perfect' outfit! Can't we just find a stupid fucking shirt that goes together with some stupid fucking pants and call it a day?"

"Nope! Now come on, we haven't checked this store out yet," Matthew chirped while marching out of the store.

Lovino let out a groan, ignored by the other two, and let himself be dragged into the new store, nearly gagging at the overwhelming smell of cologne.

"You know," he said loudly, knowing he would be ignored anyways. "It would be really fan-fucking-tastic if I could just pick out my own outfit."

"What do you think of this shirt?" Arthur asked Matthew as he held up a red button down, not even acknowledging that Lovino had spoke.

Lovino sighed as he glared at the floor, listening to Matthew give his opinion. He wondered if he would survive these two idiots long enough to even tell Antonio he loved him.