Chapter Text
Inizio (beginning)
Summer was approaching again in Geneva. The warm breeze blew through the curtains of Luca’s room, blowing away long forgotten papers and flipping the pages of his textbooks. It was almost summer days like these that Luca thought of Alberto.
It was days like these in Geneva that he thought of curly brown hair. Sleeping under the fish. The Portorosso cup. Vespas. When Luca tired of studying–which was often these days– he thought of that summer clouded with nostalgia.
Luca’s head laid in his arms, his studies long forgotten. He was broken out of his trance by the red-haired girl sitting across from him, no longer engrossed in her work.
“I have an idea.” Giulia exclaimed, pulling Luca’s mind from a boy and a word he could not grasp. Her red hair bounced with the sudden movement and a toothy grin pulled at her lips.
Luca’s response was muffled from his sleeves, refusing to lift his head. “What’s your idea?” He asked. “Please say your idea is that we’re done studying for the night.”
Giulia did not humor him with a response to the latter.
“After graduation, let’s have one last summer where we can be kids again” She started, fervently, catching her breath. “Before we have to be adults, before college. Let’s go back to when we were last happy.”
Luca, for the first time all night, lifted his head from his arms.
Not for the first time tonight, he found himself thinking of Alberto. He last felt happy that summer spent in Portorosso. Like the stars, Luca had burnt out. He was tired of studying, he wished for adventure. Even while homeless and feared by the town, the last time he had felt true happiness was when we was with him.
Studies long forgotten, even with oncoming exams, Luca gave Giulia a soft smile. “That’s a great idea.” He said. Luca turned his gaze over to the letters pinned to his wall. He had kept every single one.
The thought alone was enough to make Luca pick up his pencil again, flipping through his textbooks. He studied half heartedly that night. Instead, he thought of Giulia’s words:
One last summer to be kids again.
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The conversation wasn’t brought up again until after graduation. While the thought stuck with Luca, as he daydreamed of another summer with his friends, it hadn’t felt real until that moment.
Giulia, still in her graduation gown, proudly held up two tickets with her signature toothy grin. Only then had it felt real to Luca: He would have one last Italian summer. He would be going to Portorosso. A place he only knew as home because Alberto was there.
Later, Giulia and Luca sat on the balcony of their home in Geneva. They pointed out constellations, cheeks flushed from the cold air. They were sentimental as this phase of their life ended. Luca found himself talking about Alberto.
“Summers without him feel empty,” Luca smiled sadly, “I followed my dream and learned everything for the both of us. So why do I still feel so empty without him?”
Giulia pulled her eyes from the sky, “Oh, santa mozzarella,” She sighed. When she looked over at Luca, he could see how she pitied him. “You silly boy, you love him.”
And finally, everything seemed to click. That word he had no name for. Love. He hadn’t known the meaning of the word all those summers ago. That last summer he romanticized despite them being runaways, the betrayal, them being feared by the entire sea monster obsessed town–it was all because he loved Alberto.
“What am I going to do?” He buried his face in his hands.
˗ˏˋ ☆ ˎˊ˗
Alberto knew long before Luca had. It was obvious, really; his jealousy over Giulia, his jealousy over Luca finding a dream that surpassed their own. Jealousy seemed to be a common theme. Despite how obvious it seemed to be, he only knew he loved him when he was willing to let him go if that meant he could be happy.
When Luca left, Alberto filled his days helping Massimo fish. He became the best lifeguard of Portorosso (if he did say so himself) He played soccer sometimes with the kids. He helped the two sweet old ladies–who were also sea monsters–with their chores. Alberto was pretty sure they loved each other, too. He was jealous of it.
He wrote to Luca often. He wrote a lot actually. He also threw a lot of the letters away. He struggled to find the words to say ‘I miss you. I love you. Come home to me.’ Instead he’ll write, ‘teach me what you learned today’ or ‘have you found anyone to replace me yet?’ His spelling’s gotten a lot better with Massimo and Giulia’s help. But, no matter how much help he gets, he fears he will never know the right words to say to him.
He ate a lot of pasta. Massimo taught Alberto how to make his own. Massimo calls Alberto his son. Machiavelli even seems to finally be warming up to him. He’s happy, for the most part. But, the part of him that isn’t felt that there was something missing. He was incomplete. Almost like a puzzle that was missing a single piece. Only his missing piece was in Genova, a boy with his head up in space. This puzzle piece went missing summers ago when he left. The boy had so much to offer the world and Alberto was just himself. As letters became less and less frequent, Alberto knew that time was running out. He feared that he would never know the words that would get Luca to stay. With him. In Portorosso. The dreams they had together would be just that. Dreams.
When Massimo gave Alberto an envelope with stars drawn on the outside, Alberto knew that this would be the last letter he’d receive for months. It was only until Alberto carefully opened the letter that he had hope again.
Luca and Giulia were coming to Portorosso.
He was coming home to him.
˗ˏˋ ☆ ˎˊ˗