#belmano

Arthur opened his eyes to be met with the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen. 

“Uh, sorry about that, ma’am, just trying to escape the rain.” Arthur shivered a little. 

“Oh! I’m afraid our little bakery-coffee place doesn’t offer blankets but I’ll go get you one from upstairs. There’s no clients anyway, just sit down and I’ll be right there with you!”

While he had thought his day couldn’t be getting worse things seemed to be looking up. Being taken care of by a beautiful lady, what more could he want?

“Here you go, darling,” the woman cooed as she gave him a warm towel to dry his hair and a warm blanket. 

Arthur slowly warmed up and started looking around the shop; many baked goods greeted him and he felt his stomach rumble.

“Do you want to order something, sweetheart?”

“Yes please!” 

-

That’s how Arthur found a new favourite bakery and coffee bar. 

Despite preferring tea, he didn’t mind a cup of coffee from time to time. What he liked most about the place though was Emma, the lovely and kind Belgian lady with the smile that could outshine the sun. 

Arthur wasn’t usually this awkward around women but she had a way of making him lose any mental ability over his words. She made him incredibly nervous and yet, she made him feel so very alive. It was indescribable. 

It took a couple of weeks but Arthur finally decided he was going to ask her out. Unfortunately the day he decided to do so was also the day Arthur met the brash and mouthy Italian man that was apparently her husband who returned from a trip to Italy.

When Arthur saw how Emma smiled as he dipped her, greeting her with a kiss in the neck, he couldn’t bring himself to be jealous, or to hate him. The Italian made her happy. 

The Brit still kept coming to the coffee bar though, suddenly stopping after having met her husband would give Emma the idea he didn’t value their friendship, which he did not want at all. 

Slowly, Arthur got to know Lovino Vargas as well. 

The man liked to greet him with a kiss on the cheek, which he had found incredibly strange, but Emma had assured him it was an Italian custom. 

Sometimes the three of them watched football which ended with both almost threatening bodily harm. Emma always disapproves but that’s only when her team’s not playing. Arthur still remembers the way she had grinned and slapped him playfully on the cheek when her team had defeated the English. 

The three of them also went to the pub sometimes, but usually it was just Lovino and him as Emma said they could use some “guy time,” whatever that meant. Arthur didn’t mind much though except that Lovino was a very emotional and handsy drunk, practically always ending up hanging all over Arthur. 

That was just when he was the only one drinking, when it was the both of them, that’s when the problems began. The amount of times Arthur and him had both ended up drunk on their couch, could not be counted on one hand anymore. Emma always made sure to wake them up with a loud noise to punish them. Although she did leave painkillers and a glass of water. 

What he liked most about the Italian was his ability to pull him into heated debates about all kinds of topics that really shouldn’t be debated over. Lovino could get so riled up. Arthur found it very amusing. Emma always rolled her eyes, when her husband threatened to ban their most loyal customer. Today was no different. 

“Emma, that bastard comes here religiously and then has the audacity to maintain he prefers tea?!” 

Arthur felt himself blush, when Emma looked at him with a twinkle in her eye before saying, “well perhaps he’s not here for the coffee.”

Of course I’m not.

He just smiles at her and winks and he’s amused to find that she gets a little flustered. Her husband doesn’t even seem to mind, rolling his eyes. Oh that’s interesting, Arthur notes, trying to see if he can up the ante. He finishes the bite of whatever he was eating and opening his mouth just to say, 

“Obviously I’m here for the attractive personnel, where else would I find such a beautiful Belgian and such a handsome Italian to feed me the best chocolates and treats. Absolutely delicious!” and he made a show of licking his lips, unclear to the owners of the bar if he was referring to their hosts or the baked goods.

Both of them seemed to go red in the face.

Arthur grinned and returned to the pastry in front of him. It felt good to know he could still have that effect on people despite not being the young man he used to be. You’d think he would have lost his touch after years of working his arse off as an editor and not getting out of the house much. The pastry somehow tasted better as well.

From the corner of his eye he saw the couple discussing something, he was wondering what it was about as it seemed to get surprisingly animated. The Italian nodded and they seemed to come to an agreement. Arthur was surprised to find the man walk towards him, his wife in tow.

Lovino moved the chair to sit in front of him.

“My wife and I have discussed something and have a proposal for you.” The Italian was leaning forward and had a tiny smirk on his face.

Suddenly there were two arms moving around his shoulders, “it did not take much convincing, I assure you.” Emma almost purred into his ear.

Arthur was frozen in his seat. He thought he could be charming, which was nothing compared to the combined charm of the other two apparently.

The Brit swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous, “I’m listening.” 

“We like you, and we want you to join us for dinner sometimes, and maybe our bed, and we can see where things go from there.” 

Holy shit. Arthur’s eyes went wide. 

“Please say yes, Arthur,” Emma breathed against his ear and how could he say no when she asked so nicely. 

“Yes,” he whispered, still staring into the Italian’s chocolate eyes. 

The man’s smirk widened and he felt soft lips on his neck. “You won’t regret this.”

Oh, he’s sure he won’t. 

-

A couple of months later the bakery and coffee bar added a number of teas to the menu.

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