Chapter Text
He had said "Lovi, look! they have cotton candy! Oh, but the line is long, you don't mind waiting right?" and without waiting for an answer, he grabbed Lovino's hand and pulled him to it.
Which, yeah, admittedly happened a bunch, like when Antonio was bored or when they walked home or during lunch or in the halls or-
Look, Lovino knew they held hands a lot for two guys who were Not Dating, he didn't ask you to judge him.
But this was different because, well, normally when it happened, Lovino was distracted or there was someone else around to keep attention away from their conjoined hands, but right now...
Right now they were alone.
Or, Lovino supposed, as alone as someone can get in an amusement park.
They were with a group, but their friends had accidentally lost them (Accidentally, Lovino's ass; he was going to kill those annoying, matchmaking bastards. Just because he sort of kind of might have a crush didn't mean that they -- or he -- had to do anything about it), and when no one answered any texts or phone calls, Antonio said "Hm, oh well. We might as well keep hanging out right? We can enjoy the park without them," and Lovino rolled his eyes at the beaming, blinding grin and said "Whatever, fine."
(What Lovino didn't say was Yeah, well, I hate amusement parks and I only agreed to come because you were, and so as long we're still together I'll enjoy it, because they were Just Friends and that kind of stuff was way too mushy)
And then Antonio had grabbed his hand, and with no one to draw his mind away, Lovino had nothing to do but notice, even once they had their cotton candy.
Antonio's hand was rough with callouses from working on his grandfather's farm and playing the guitar; it was warm, because Antonio was always un-fucking-naturally warm, like he literally radiated sunshine (And, honestly, Lovino wouldn't be too surprised if he did); He swung their hands idly, as though they weren't out in public, as though he couldn't feel the stares, hear the murmurs, see the raised eyebrows of the other patrons out of the corner of his eye.
Honestly, it wasn't bad; just different.
Good different.
"Lovi, you're really red," Antonio's concerned voice cut through Lovino's thoughts, "¿Está el calor? ¿Estás bien?"
"I don't fucking speak Spanish, bastard. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Lovino glared up at the Spaniard, before sighing and rolling his shoulders slightly. If Antonio could act like nothing was weird, then Lovino could too. "Yeah, it's too damn hot out, but I'm fine."
Antonio nodded and the two went back to a companionable silence until a voice rang out behind them and Lovino turned (Which was actually really hard to do when someone was holding your hand) and saw a pretty girl with a flower hair clip.
"Excuse me, this is sort of weird, but I just wanted to compliment you two on your openness." Lovino squinted at her, because she couldn't possibly mean... "It's just so nice to see super cute couples like you two not hiding your love and all."
Lovino embarrassedly squeaked "We're not dating!" at the same time that Antonio said "Gracias senorita!"
Lovino stared at Antonio like he had grown a second head.
Antonio stared at Lovino like he had just told him the most surprising news ever.
The girl stared at both of them like they were a particularly interesting calcio game.
"What the fuck do you mean Gracias?"
"Um, we're on a date and she said we looked cute, so I was thanking her?"
"We're on a date!?" Lovino flustered more, "When the hell did we start dating, and why wasn't I informed?"
Antonio cocked his head in confusion, "I thought it was obvious? You always let me hold your hand, and we went out to dinner last week, and you kissed me on the cheek like three days ago. I didn't think that I needed to ask."
"B-But you didn't even invite me here, the dumb wino did! How was I supposed to know it was a date?" If he had known it was a date then he would've worn something better then a dumb t-shirt and jeans.
"Well, it wasn't a date at first," Antonio scratched sheepishly at the back of his neck, "But if we don't know where everyone else went, then I thought that we might as well make the best of it."
Lovino scowled, more embarrassment then anger, "You dummy! You can't just decide you're dating me, you have to ask me out first."
"Oh," Antonio's face scrunched up in thought, and then he nodded and dropped Lovino's hand (And no, Lovino didn't miss the warmth, fuck you), "Okay Lovi. Wanna go out with me?"
The girl -- who was still here for some ungodly reason -- actually screeched, and Lovino's blush intensified tenfold.
"Bastard, you should've asked that before," He mumbled without venom, "But, um, yeah. I'd like that."
"¡Magnífico! Now we're officially dating and this is officially a date." Antonio retook Lovino's hand and bent slightly to kiss his cheek. "And I can actually say 'Gracias' now, so thank you!"
The girl nodded excitedly, said "No problem!" and walked away.
Lovino moved his hand around a bit so that Antonio and his fingers were intertwined, and almost smiled at the squeeze he got in response.
Yeah, weirdo flower chick... Thanks.