The long-awaited phone call. Roma was impatient but let himself cool down before picking up the receiver.

"Thirty minutes? Okay," he replied the call with fake carelessness. They had discovered how much joy being with each other brought them. They had ruined their plans for three days in a row just because they felt like spending some time together after training, so something had to be done. They were officially going out together for the very first time and of course he was nervous. Yeah, fake carelessness for now.


Roma spent a ridiculous amount of time in front of the bathroom mirror. He shaved himself and even somehow managed to avoid cutting himself, despite the excitement that was making his heart jump. Then he poured some cologne on his neck and wrists, already imagining Luka snuggling very tightly to him and getting turned on by the fresh smell. A few more minutes were spent doing the hair; Roma took a couple of steps from the mirror and smiled at his own reflection. Yeah, he quite liked this.


Unused to spending so much time on these things, he was surprised to realize he had to hurry up now. Luckily, he had already decided he'd wear a daffodil yellow linen shirt and plain jeans. He got dressed hastily and went out.

Luka shocked him by dressing in an "I ♥ Roma" T-shirt. "I was in Italy a couple of years ago and I really loved it there," he explained with a shy smile. The sparkle in his eyes gave an entirely different explanation that Roma didn't quite allow himself to think of. All the nervousness - of them both - was gone when they embraced, still in a more friendly than romantic way.

They felt at ease with each other - "as usual" was still too daring a thought but it was a fact. They held hands. They talked. They smiled. They told each other jokes - not really in order to entertain, even simply being with each other couldn't anyhow be boring; but just to hear joyful laughter. They looked each other in the eyes, feeling happy to exist.

Even London itself, still largely an unfamiliar city, no longer seemed so grey and hostile to them as they walked through a park, among tall, golden trees. The air was cool and somehow transparent. Dry leaves rustled under their feet with every step, as if encouraging them to whisper what they can't say loudly, especially when teammates are around. The sun shone and made Luka's amber hair look even more gorgeous than it always did. Yeah, that was possible.

Someone had recently told Roma that it's better to say romantic things into the left ear, so he made sure to remain to the left of Luka. It took a while before he actually whispered something properly romantic, though. Once again, it seemed to be the nature itself encouraging him, as the wind started blowing harder and Luka shifted closer to him in need of warmth.

"I... I really like you," he said so quietly that Luka could've thought it had just seemed to him, if it wasn't for Roma's smile - different from any other time he had seen it, although Roma smiled practically all the time, especially when he was around.

"Me too," the younger man replied seriously.

Yeah, eventually this was going to develop into something big. They both felt it.