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Alberto walks through the streets like he knows where he’s going, head held high just like Massimo told him to do. Confidence oozes from him, and after years of faking it, he falls back into the lie very easily. But unlike when he was fourteen and pretending was all he ever did, his palms sweat just a little more and his hands fidgeted by his sides because he was all too aware of the fact that his confidence was a lie.
“Don’t let the city intimidate you.” Massimo had told him after they finished dinner, sat at their small dining room table. “It’s big, but just follow the directions I wrote here and you’ll be fine.” Alberto nodded, listening intently as they went over the small details of his trip to Genova. Massimo had called Guilia’s mom when they had first talked about Alberto going to visit during the school year and asked for directions to the school and to the house. Well, first Massimo had offered to go with him so he wouldn’t be alone, but Alberto was adamant that he go by himself, that he was almost eighteen and he could handle a simple city by himself. Massimo smiled and let him go, but only after making sure he was fully stocked with clothes and food and telling him to be safe a few dozen times.
“Papa, I’ll be fine!” Alberto remembered saying, a cool confident feeling going through him. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
As it turned out, the worst that could happen was losing the directions and subsequently, getting lost in a rather large city. It was like being pulled out in the riptides, being thrown around and once you finally righted yourself, it was too late cause you were lost and dizzy and overwhelmed.
But! As overwhelmed as he was, he was even more determined to find Luca. This was a surprise trip, and it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if Massimo called later expecting to find him at home, but he wasn’t there because he was lost. Alberto takes a deep breath, tightens his grip on the handles of his backpack and thinks about his options.
He could always ask for directions. Even in a place this big, how many high schools could there be? Certainly not too many, and that way even if he had to go through all of them, he would find Luca eventually. That’s what this was about. Seeing Luca. Because it was too damn long to wait till the summer, and as amazing as the letters and phone calls were, he needed to see the boy now.
Before it hadn’t been much of a problem, just seeing him in the summer and missing him all through the fall and winter and spring until they finally saw each other again.
Then again, that had been when he was just a pining fool, confused by the feelings he had for his best friend. That was before he came to terms with the fact that he didn’t feel the way for Luca that he did for all his other friends, or even Giulia and Massimo. That was before he realized Luca was so much more than just his best friend, or even his family...he loved him. That was before he had finally silenced Bruno and kissed Luca!
...Okay Luca had kissed him, but he kissed him back! After the initial shock had worn off and one small panic attack on both their parts, he had kissed him back and the rest of the summer had been more than perfect. Massimo congratulated him on finally facing his feelings and talking them out. Giulia groaned and shouted “Finally!” before ranting about how she wouldn’t have to deal with Luca and his long distance pining anymore.
But then the summer had ended, and saying goodbye was never easy, but it was just like the first time they had parted, 3 summers before. Painful and neither of them really wanted to let go. Now that they were dating, the distance hurt more. Now that it wasn’t just longing for a thing he didn’t even know he wanted, but instead a thing he very much knew he missed, it hurt. Not holding him when they were sleeping, not kissing him goodnight and good morning.
A cold breeze breaks him from his thinking, and he realizes that he had been wandering around for a while, and the clouds were beginning to get a little gray, heavy with rain...or possibly the other stuff. The really cold ones that fell to the ground and covered everything like a blanket. Snow, he remembers Massimo calling it one winter. It didn’t happen very often in Italy, but when it did, most of the kids were outside, rolling into balls to build men and throw at each other. As he is staring up at the clouds weighing his options, a familiar looking uniform catches his eyes. He squints and realizes that yes, that’s the very same uniform he has seen in pictures of Luca and Giulia! The two people he had seen are disappearing into the crowd though, and even as tall as he is, he is going to lose them if he continues to stand there and gape at them.
“Scusi, mi scusi! Hey!” he shouts and finally catches the attention of the brown haired girl and boy he saw. Other people are grunting and shaking their heads as he pushes past them, but he smiles in relief when he realizes that the two are waiting for him. They look at him a little confused, but don’t move until he catches up to them, breathing heavily.
He takes a deep breath and smiles, straightening up. “Hey, I’m sorry, I’m looking for your school. My friends go where you do, I recognize the uniform.” he points to their clothes. The girl seems a little relieved and nods.
“Sure, we’re going there now. You can walk with us.” she offers and Alberto thanks them, pulling his jacket a little tighter around him. His backpack is beginning to feel heavier and heavier as he keeps walking and he says this in a joking manner. The boy laughs.
“Did you get lost?” he asks, an amused look in his green eyes. Alberto blushes in embarrassment and nods, hiding his face as much as he can behind his scarf, a gift from Grandma Paguro.
“Yeah. I had directions! But I must have left them on the train cause when I get off they weren’t in my pocket anymore. I’m from Pottorosso, so I’ve never been in a place like this.” The girl's eyes light up with recognition.
“Oh! Are you friends with Luca and Giulia?” she asks. Alberto’s smile widens and he begins to shake his hands in excitement.
“Yes! I’m Alberto!” the girl looks just as excited as he is.
“Alberto! Yes, Luca talks about you all the time. I have advanced astronomy with him and Giulia.” she says, and he’s relieved. Their friends, meaning he’s that much closer to finding them, and seeing him. “I’m Sofia, by the way. That’s Franco.” Franco, waves a hand and smiles, but doesn’t say anything else. Alberto is too excited to care really about their names, but he appreciates their help, so he bites his tongue and doesn’t say that.
“Amazing! Do you know where they are!” he asks, his hands practically vibrating from how lucky he feels.
They arrive at the campus not long after, and Alberto is in awe. There are no buildings like this in Pottorosso, except maybe the churches. But this towers over even the largest buildings at home, just like Luca said it did. Alberto remembers how Luca had waved his hands around trying to describe to everyone just how big it was, a nervous but excited look in his eyes that made Alberto’s heart swell.
“Luca should be in the library, that’s where he spends his free time. Not sure Giulia is with him though.” Sofia explains and Alberto just hears Luca and Library and knows that’s exactly where he is going to go.
“Which way to the library?” he asks, his foot bouncing with impatience. Sofia and Franco share a look and they both smile.
“Go that way, and take a right, then a left. Great big doors, can’t miss them.” Alberto is running off before she is finished with her sentence, yelling “Grazie!” behind him as he leaves his new friends. As they watch him go, Franco finally speaks again.
“That’s got to be-”
“Oh it definitely is.” Sofia agrees, a smile on her face.
_________
Alberto turns the last corner and sees what he guesses are ‘the great big doors’, his breath coming out in heavy puffs of cold air floating in front of his face. For a few seconds he stands there, catching his breath and looking around for any other big doors that might be what he is looking for. But he determines that this must be it, so he straightens up and evens out his breathing as much as possible. He messes with his hair a little bit, trying to fix his shirt from looking too rumpled when the doors just a little ways away swing open and he spots a familiar head of curly dark hair and freezes.
Luca looks just as he did a few months ago when they had to leave, minus a little bit of stubble on his chin that he hides in his scarf, a deep blue and purple, also a gift from Grandma Paguro. Alberto’s was similar, except for the colors. His was green and blue, and they had both blushed rather heavily when she handed the gifts to them, a mischievous look in her eyes.
Luca is holding 3 rather large books in his hands, his backpack over his shoulders and a small content smile on his face. Alberto could have stood and stared forever, just watching Luca be happy here.
For a second, he thinks maybe this was a mistake, he shouldn’t have dropped in randomly. What if he is messing up Luca’s schedule and what he is doing here in Genova? Just as he is going to whisper a quiet but strong “Silenco Burno”, Luca finally, finally, looks up and locks eyes with Alberto, his mouth locked open and eyes wide.
All at once, the voice of doubt in Alberto’s head is silenced and he smiles. Before Alberto can say anything, or even raise his hand to wave hello, Luca has dropped his books and his bag and starts sprinting towards him. Alberto barely has time to open his arms when Luca hits him with a force that almost knocks the both of them down. Luca’s arms are tight around his neck, one hand fisted in Alberto’s hair. Alberto squeezes Luca around the middle, picking him up just a little and laughing.
“Alberto! What are you doing here!” Luca finally says, pulling his face away just enough to look Alberto in the eyes.
“I finally worked up enough money for a ticket here to see you. Summer is too far away.” he says, and Luca laughs, going back to hiding his face in Alberto’s scarf, squeezing him a little tighter. They stand there for a moment just holding each other, when Alberto feels something wet on his neck and he realizes that Luca’s shoulders are trembling just a little bit. He pulls back a little bit and sees that there are tears on Luca’s face, green shining on his face very slightly.
“Why are you crying?” Alberto whispers, using his thumb to wipe away the tears that are still gathering in his eyes. Luca laughs a little bit and nuzzles his face into Alberto’s palm, eyes closing.
“I’m just so happy.” he says, and Alberto feels his heart melt just a little bit. “I just can’t believe you came all this way to see me.” Luca adds, his eyes opening back up, free of tears but with the same heavy adoration Alberto wasn’t used to being directed towards him, even after all this time. He leans his forehead against Lucas’ and smiles, his own eyes watering.
“Believe it.” Alberto closes the little bit of distance between them and kisses Luca, gentle and passionate. Luca hmms a little in surprise, but leans into Alberto’s hold and kisses him back, uncaring if anyone can see them. As far as he is concerned, they’re the only ones in the whole universe that exist right now.
That is, until he feels something cold and wet fall into his hair and it feels rather scaly suddenly. Luca pulls away from a rather happy and dazed looking Alberto and touches his head, feeling a scale instead of curl. When he looks back at Alberto, he sees some of his hair is also purple scales now.
“Is it raining?” he asks, running his hands through Alberto’s hair. Alberto looks up and sees no, it’s not rain, but the other stuff. Cold and frozen, until it hits something warm. Alberto pulls Luca underneath the pavilion, close to where Luca had dropped his stuff.
“It’s snowing.” Alberto says, his hands still around Luca’s waist, unwilling to move. Luca looks up at him, then back to the snow. His hands move away from Alberto’s head and he stretches until his hand is now palm up towards the sky. A snowflake gently drops into his palm, his skin rippling and turning green as the frozen substance melts into water. Alberto pulls his hand back, kissing the scales as they turn back into warm colored skin.
“Guess we can’t go anywhere until Guilia finds us with an umbrella.” he says with a suggestive, humorous smile on his face. Luca blushes a pretty pink and laughs, hiding his face back into Alberto’s scarf. Alberto relishes the sound, hearing it right next to his ear and he leans on the wall, pulling Luca ever closer until they’re as close as they can possibly be.
“I missed you.” he says after Luca stops laughing. Luca looks up at him and yes, there’s the love he was missing. The sense of belonging he only felt with his love.
“I love you too.” Luca replies, and leans up to kiss Alberto again, who happily accepts the affection. After months of saving and keeping this trip a secret, it was all so worth it to kiss Luca before summer. He’d follow Luca anywhere, just as they always planned to do.
“ALBERTO! LUCA!” The two pull away from each other to see Giulia running to them, a bright smile on her face and an umbrella tucked underneath her arm. Alberto only lets go of Luca then to run towards his sister and hug her just as tightly as he did Luca. She laughs and hugs him so tight, and after a moment, grabbing Luca and forcing him into the hug too.
They’re all laughing, and smiling, and Alberto can feel his face getting hot just from the pure happiness he feels with them. This is where he belongs. With them. Wherever they may be, be it Portorosso, be it Genova, be it the Moon. As long as he was with Luca and he was smiling that bright red smile, and as long as his sister had that goofy look on her face, he was home.