Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia: Axis Powers. All rights go to its creator.

Chapter 14: New Light

Arthur had walked with Lovino back to his block of flats, before he made his way back to his own. Lovino told him to text him when he made it in. When he climbed the stairs and retired to his bed, he was exhausted. His present to Lili had already been wrapped by himself, and he was excited to gift her a glass tea set. He had cards for the rest, except for a box of cigars he got for Alondra.

Lili squealed upon being presented with the rather large and heavy wrapped gift. When the students returned to campus after winter break, they exchanged gifts. Berwald allowed her to keep it in his office until her shift ended.

"Thank you!" She then asked if she could hug him. Arthur had never been asked before, people usually just invaded his personal space and hugged him anyway. Arthur didn't even know you could ask.

After a moment of hesitation he said that it was fine. It was brief, and Arthur actually didn't feel the need to be irritated about it. Possibly because they were in Berwald's office alone, Berwald was out at the register.

Arthur followed her out and Arthur went back to his locker. Alondra was shrugging on her coat when he presented her with a wrapped gift box.

Alondra raised an eyebrow, "¿Para me?"

"Who else?"

"I wasn't expecting something from you. I got you a card." Alondra held up the red envelope that had his name scribbled on it in hurried cursive scrawl.

'Well you owe me a gift next year." Arthur said, plucking it from her grasp.

Alondra grinned and took the box from him, shaking it lightly to guess what was inside.

"Hmm, it's either cigars or a mixer..." Alondra looked back at him, "Either way, gracias Arturo."

Alondra asked him about his holiday, and he told her about Lili's get-together. Arthur asked the same of her and she said her family thinks her cooking is getting better. She had brought a homemade cake. She was also happy to help her mom make dinner for the rest of the family.

He held the door open for her on the way out. He was halfway in the doorway. And just then someone else was coming in, wearing sunglasses, trying to slink past them unnoticed.

"I'm surprised Lina is dating that guy now. Apparently she asked him out first sometime after–"

Arthur held out an arm to halt the incoming person who knocked into it anyway, retching slightly at being hit in the chest.

"Lovino, what are you doing?"

"Do you have to be so loud?" Lovino said hiking the collar of his coat even higher.

"Are you trying to avoid us?" Alondra asked.

Lovino's entrances to the cafe were rather quiet recently. He often came in and started working without much of a word to either of them, or sometimes they just missed him coming in.

"No, I'm just trying to keep a low profile, sheesh." Lovino rolled his eyes. "Trying to lay low until this shit blows over."

"Or until you can look Antonio in the eyes again."

"Did you two have a falling out? Did you finally tell him?" Alondra gasped.

"He did a little more than tell him."

"Shush! Shush! Stop mentioning it!"

"Nooo! You didn't!" Alondra bumped Arthur's shoulder, "You told Arthur before you told me?"

"It was a whole thing! I don't want to get into it right now!" Lovino's cheeks were crimson red, before he ducked under Arthur's arm and darted into the cafe.

"Did it go well?" Alondra grinned, hopeful.

"No." Arthur shook his head, holding back a chuckle.

Alondra shot him a knowing look, "These are cigars right? We'll have to try them out…soon." And with that she went in the direction toward the station.

Arthur let go of the door, heading toward his block of flats, rolling his eyes. Apparently they'd become close enough to gossip.

00000

Maher was a student worker who was Michelle's replacement, and he usually didn't say much, he had his earbuds in when they weren't busy. He gave as much enthusiasm as you would expect from someone who didn't want to work here. But Arthur couldn't complain, he showed up on time.

Arthur was doing overtime on Lili's shift, the first in a while, one day. And Arthur picked up on something strange, Lovino was definitely closer to him. They usually worked on opposite ends as far away as physically possible, which was fine with Arthur even with his crush on the brunet. But Lovino was definitely standing past the display case, in Arthur's designated space. There weren't any customers at the register so technically it was fine, it was a particularly slow day so far.

"I'm right underneath the air vent," He was, but it was winter, so it was warm."I don't like to be too hot." He added.

"Alright." Arthur drummed his fingers against the counter top, "As long as you move back over when a customer comes."

"I will, don't worry," Loving waved him off. A beat and then, "I-I didn't ruin your night, did I?"

Arthur glanced back at Lovino who matched his motion. The other man stared at his own moving fingers against the display case.

Arthur clicked his teeth, "I got to see you embarrass yourself, I think that's it's own reward."

Loving pursed his lips, "Why'd I even fucking ask?"

Later the bell jingled and in walked a rather cheery Spaniard, Antonio. Lovino ran smack into him, to avoid the other man. Arthur stood firm and Lovino side stepped him, but Arthur grabbed Lovino's shirt just as Antonio reached the register.

"Lovi! I've been looking for you! You won't answer my calls, and Feli says you're not home when I drop by. When do you get off work? Can we talk then?" Antonio's eyes searched Lovino's, pleading and hopeful.

Lovino looked everywhere except Antonio's face, "U-uh I'll be busy when I get off."

"Could we just set aside time to talk?"

"I'll get back to you when I'm not busy. I'll call!"

"Are you sure Lovi? You're not avoiding me right?"

"Yeah, yeah! I'll call you, don't worry."

Antonio reluctantly agreed to wait for his call, then he ordered a coffee. While Lovino made it for him, Antonio hummed, oblivious to Lovino's visible discomfort.

He briefly gave Arthur a condescending look with a cut of his eyes, before turning his attention back to Lovino.

Then the Spaniard grinned a sunny grin as he got his coffee, saying he couldn't stay for long; he was on his break and had to return to the factory, before he left.

Once Antonio left, Lovino punched his shoulder, "Fuck you asshole. I wasn't ready to face him yet!"

Arthur shrugged, "He didn't seem upset. If you looked at his face for more than second you would've seen how fucking pitiful he looked."

"Oh great now I feel even worse! I'm not prepared to throw word vomit all over Antonio or even to explain anything!"

"It's better to rip the bandage off now than wait later." Arthur obviously didn't follow his own advice.

Lovino bit his lip, grumbling something about how this doesn't happen in his soaps, before he returned to his designated space to wipe off the coffee machine.

00000

Arthur had bagged up his clothes that he was planning to donate to the second hand store. He was going to go in and swap his clothes for new ones there. They gave him credits when he brought in and bought second hand clothes. So it was technically like he never paid for anything.

Arthur's phone buzzed and Lovino texted him that his brother had Ludwig over, so he was coming over.

A: I have some errands to run. Don't bother.

L: You don't. See you in ten, Azzurro.

A: What? No! Fuck off somewhere else!

Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a disgruntled breath. Arthur gathered up his bag of clothes and made his way downstairs.

Arthur also had to pick up a wedding gift for Connor, he didn't really know what to get him.

Probably matching mugs.

Arthur made his way outside, and toward Times Square. There were a myriad of shops, in Times Square, but Arthur had to go just beyond it to get to a thrift store, he would come back for the wedding gift though…possibly.

Arthur had to maneuver around his fellow busting New Yorkers. And after apologizing a handful of times for his bag hitting people he stopped doing so all together, feeling it became rather redundant. People started running right into it, and Arthur hardly felt that was his fault. And he got various curses thrown his way, to which he rolled his eyes, uninterested in picking a fight with someone today.

Arthur suddenly felt a tug on his coat and whirled around, almost smacking whoever had touched him, with his bag.

"What the hell are you doing here bastard?"

Arthur narrowed his eyes at Lovino. "I told you that I have errands to run."

"How was I supposed to know you weren't just saying that to get out of doing this for me?"

"I think you should just believe me when I tell you that I have fucking errands to run." Arthur's spat through grit teeth

"Well I'm here now, so I'm fucking stuck with you until they stop fucking each other."

"Can't you bother someone else?"

"Do we have to go over this again? You know if I have to ask you, I've asked everyone else first." Lovino grumbled, gazing down at his shoes.

"Fine, I'm heading to a thrift store to do some clothes shopping. You can come along." Arthur resumed his walk, not bothering to maneuver around anyone coming toward him.

Lovino scrunched up his face, "You buy second hand clothes?"

"It's better for the environment by helping to eliminate clothes waste."

"You're just too cheap to buy new clothes."

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Be an ignorant asshole. You're the one forced to tag along with me." He sped up his pace, before he felt a grip on his arm.

Arthur smirked as he met Lovino's gaze. Lovino's cheeks were pink as he scowled at him.

Arthur perused through the worn clothes of the thrift store to find something vintage. Faded jeans, chain link leather belts, scuffed boots. They had it all, and Arthur had earned credits for donating his things. So he wouldn't have to pay at all if he stayed within budget.

Lovino followed him around, updating him on their new dynamics. Lovino's friend group had apparently expanded to accommodate Kiku, and Francis was allowed back in, but he was on thin ice.

Francis was on the side of hating Arthur, Lovino knows he's just trying to get into Antonio's good graces again. Antonio unsurprisingly (to Arthur anyway) had turned Lovino down, but surprisingly had turned Francis down as well. Lovino said it actually didn't bother him as much as he thought it would.

"You're just in denial." Arthur said. You don't just give up on someone like Antonio. He knew from experience, of course.

"What, should I be bitter and resentful about it my whole life? He isn't back with baguette breath and that's really all that matters."

"Well no…" Arthur checked the size of a pair of distressed black jeans, it wasn't in his size. "But it should bother you quite a bit right? Ten years of pining is a long time."

"Berwald gave me two weeks. I took a few days, and then I picked myself back up. Feli was coming back soon for school, and I didn't want to have to explain anything to him."

"And then you started avoiding Antonio." Arthur put the pants back into the rack.

"I thought it was gonna be hella awkward. But it wasn't…that bad."

Arthur pursed his lips, "I guess things are going right for you then."

"Slow your roll, if things were going right for me I wouldn't be here with you right now." Lovino grumbled, avoiding his gaze to check the price tag of a t-shirt of a vintage rock band logo on the front. It was on the rack adjacent to them.

Arthur scowled, it was the usual amount of ribbing they'd throw at each other, but for some reason it struck a chord with him. Maybe he'd hoped things would in some way be different between them, which was ludicrous to think obviously. Or maybe he wanted Lovino to say he enjoyed his company, an outlandish thing to want, but when were Arthur's feelings ever rational?

"You're right, of course." Arthur said through grit teeth. He pushed back the hangers on the rack with a bit more force than necessary, causing them to screech.

Lovino clicked his teeth, "Feli would have dumped that German bastard by now. But no, instead the world likes to watch me suffer." Lovino raised an eyebrow at him, "Alondra said you're off the week of Valentine's Day, what gives? Your girlfriend flying in from out of town or some shit?"

"It's none of your business, but I'm going to my brother's wedding." Arthur walked toward the register and they stood in line with Arthur's bundle of clothes items he was going to purchase.

"That's fucking cheesy. That'll make you the last one, huh?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Of course not. Besides, I don't care about arbitrary things like that. I'm happy he's getting hitched. He'll be someone else's problem now."

"So you've got a date right? You don't want to show up without one."

"I'm in the wedding party. I don't need one, I'm probably paired up with a sister-in-law or something." Arthur sneered, as he walked up to the register, it was finally his turn to purchase his items. "One less thing to worry about."

Lovino bit his lip but didn't say anything else.

When Arthur got his items bagged, he led the way out. Lovino held the door for him.

They were back in Times walk there was mostly quiet besides Lovino grumbling about having to walk so much and how cold it was. Arthur went into a major department store with Lovino in tow, a brief respite from the cold.

"What are you getting now?"

"Wedding gift." Arthur took them to the assortment of mugs they had on display. Arthur shifted his bags onto his other arm. Arthur flinched slightly, and looked to meet Lovino's gaze. He had his arm slotted into the strap of a couple of his shopping bags.

"Come on. Sbrigarti!" Lovino took the bags.

Arthur raised an eyebrow, "Why did you–"

"Get your goddamn cups already bastardo!"

Arthur furrowed his eyebrows and looked for "Mr. & Mrs." mugs. When he found a pair he grabbed them off of the shelf.

He went to the checkout counter to purchase them, and as the woman bagged them up something bothered him. Lovino definitely grabbed a few of his bags to lighten the load for him, which was a nice gesture, but uncharacteristically so.

Once his mugs were bagged up, Lovino suggested they pick up a pizza.

"How long do you expect them? It's mid afternoon…overnight I understand but–"

"You don't know Feli, he's got a lotta stamina."

Arthur blinked but didn't question him further.

00000

Lovino complained about all of the overtime he'd have to do now that Arthur would be gone the entire week, through bites of cheese pizza.

Arthur got mushrooms on top of his slices, and remarked it sounded like Lovino would miss him, to which Lovino denied that being true.

"I just don't like overtime, that's all."

"My mistake, you've made it very clear you don't enjoy my company, " Arthur gave Lovino a look with a tilt of his head.

As we eat pizza together on my couch.

Lovino frowned, "You're not as annoying as…some people I know. But you're still an asshole."

He made tea for them as well, it stopped Lovino from complaining about how cold he was, and had just set down the mugs. Lovino grumbled something under his breath, and Arthur shrugged ignoring him.

It was the usual rhythm they had, light and teasing. And Arthur wondered briefly if this was all it would be. If he was truly content with how things were.

It was foolish to believe that Lovino would have ever been interested in him, considering Antonio was right there being perfect in every conceivable way. And although it didn't work out between Antonio and Lovino, who knows if Lovino was even ready to jump into anything with anyone else. The long arduous process of getting over unrequited love isn't something to take lightly, no matter what Lovino wanted to outwardly present. It was all just denial until it became too overwhelming to ignore. Arthur just wasn't going to get his hopes up, because it was highly unlikely that Lovno would have feelings for him.

Maybe he should just weasel his way out before Lovino actually considered them friends.

They watched Lovino's favorite Spanish soap opera from Arthur's couch. The space between them on the couch was noticeably closer, Lovino, even so far as to have his elbow resting on the back of the couch.

Arthur had missed a few episodes so he was confused when it was revealed that Isabel was dating someone else named Rafael.

"Wait what?"

"Oh, well after Isabel took Julio back again even though he cheated on her with Elena, Rafael was introduced as Elena's boyfriend. It created a bit more tension between them." Lovino turned toward him, as Arthur had his right ankle resting over his left knee.

"But I thought Mario was in love with Isabel."

"He is! He fought Julio over Isabel a few months back but Isabel still chose Julio. But Mario didn't give up, he sang a song for Isabel outside of her bedroom window." Lovino shook his fist to emphasize Mario's determination.

Arthur rolled his eyes, "She swooned over that obviously and so she left Julio, but why isn't she with Mario now?"

Lovino threw up his hands. "Because of Maria! You didn't forget that she just moved to the neighborhood, right?"

"Who?" Arthur asked through a bite of his slice of pizza.

"She was the one to teach Mario how to play the guitar to perform for Isabel, Mario was doubtful she could teach him, but she proved him wrong. And now Mario's even more conflicted about his feelings for her."

Arthur furrowed his eyebrows, "I just don't think I'll ever understand." Arthur shifted and folded his knees up under himself, one of them resting on something that wasn't the couch.

"All you need to know is that after Mario kissed Maria, secretly Isabel saw it right when she was going to confess to him. Mario said he shouldn't have kissed Maria. Then Rafael was introduced and Isabel started returning his affections." Lovino shrugged, lifting his mug to his lips to sip his tea. "It's complicated on purpose. But it makes for good tv."

They watched it until the credits rolled. Lovino checked his phone and said that Feli said they were finished, so he was heading home.

"It's quite dark out, you might as well stay the night."

"You're worried about me?" Lovino clicked his teeth, "I'll be fine." Lovino waved him off, "Che. You're cute when you're worried though."

Arthur blinked.

Lovino flailed his arms a bit, "L-like in a pathetic way! L-like you're a worried little girl!" His cheeks were crimson and he hastily rose to stand. That was of course when Arthur realized he was resting his knees on him, and had to roll away before he was thrown onto the floor.

Lovino dashed to the closet to get his coat. He swiped through them as Arthur watched him panic. And Arthur couldn't help the smile that twitched onto his face, he coughed to cover it.

"Well spare me the worry anyway and let me know when you've made it back, idiot."

At that Lovino seemed to calm down as he shrugged on his coat. Arthur swiped a fag and his lighter from the coffee table as he made a hasty rise to follow him.

"Sure, whatever." Lovino said, grabbing the door to exit.

Arthur walked him downstairs, lighting the fag between his lips. Lovino stopped just as Arthur opened the door for him to leave.

Lovino looked up at him with wide hazel eyes, "Maybe next time you can come grocery shopping with me to stock your fucking fridge. You can't eat cigarettes for all of your goddamn meals."

"Oh fuck off. I have canned goods!" Arthur waved Lovino off as he stepped outside. "When did you look in my bloody fridge?"

Lovino didn't answer before he was on his way down the sidewalk, where he called back, "Bye bastardo."

Arthur noticed, from his place in the doorway, a little bounce in the other man's step.

Arthur took a long drag, and realized that maybe there was something different between them. A slight shift in the atmosphere.

Lovino found him cute? In a way?

Arthur tried to stifle the fluttering of his heart, it liked to stir at the smallest of things. It was best to try and ignore it for now.

That worked so well for him before.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Constructive Criticism Welcome.

Translations Courtesy of Google Translate:

Sbrigarti!-Hurry up!

Para me? -¿For me?