Despite what happens onscreen, the real super-powers that Heroes stars Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia have are grossly unpronounceable surnames and an almost epic level of adorability.

And, like the old saying goes, adorability loves adorability. That's why Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia are totally doing it with each other. That's not exactly news – a relationship between the two of them has been rumoured for months – but with the news that Milo has met Hayden's grandparents, it looks like things have just become official. Sweet, no? So sweet that we're almost able to overlook the fact that Milo Ventimiglia is 30 years and Hayden Panettiere is just 18 and that's a little tiny bit creepy.

Almost.

When you work on a show like Heroes, you get a lot of time to fraternise with your co-stars. That's because the average Heroes episode is made up of 40% babbling on about that virus that nobody cares about, 25% Hiro pulling constipated faces and 58% godawful pseudo-spiritual voiceovers. Since that adds up to 123%, it doesn't leave much for the actors to actually do.

And if you're either Hayden Panettiere or Milo Ventimiglia, that gives you plenty of time to get it on with each other. And break the law in Japan. But mainly get it on with each other. 

Ever since they were spotted canoodling at a concert a few months ago, reports were rife that Hayden Panettiere (the self-repairing low-cut cheerleader) and Milo Ventimiglia (her whining haircut uncle) were a couple, but the lack of an official confirmation and the jolting realisation that he's old enough to be her father meant that nobody really paid much attention to them.

But now it's become unavoidable. A family friend has let slip to People that Milo recently spent time with Hayden's family in New York and everyone loves the adorable floppy-haired bastard:

"Hayden's mom adores Milo. She thinks he's so cute. She tells her friends that he's her boyfriend. She's very proud. He's even met her grandparents. He fits in perfectly with the family. Milo jokes around with her little brother. They're buddies… He really takes care of her, even down to the little things like giving her a back massage and going with her to work things."  

That's a true sign of commitment – going with Hayden to work things. Forget that they both have the same job on the same show at the same time and that him 'going to work things with her' is exactly the same as him 'going to work', that's still sort of sweet.

Since there's still been no official confirmation of Hayden and Milo's relationship, we have no idea about serious they are about each other. We hope it's completely serious, though, because we want nothing more than to see a 30-year-old man from a TV show marry his barely-legal co-star who plays his schoolgirl niece. We're welling up at the very thought of it right now, in fact.

Read more:

Milo Ventimiglia & Hayden Panettiere Are an Item – People