Silenzio Bruno!

Chapter 12~ Luca

Luca's heart pounded. He was seated on Giulia's bed, waiting anxiously for Alberto to get back. He had arrived only a few minutes ago with Massimo, but he had already bitten his nails down to stubs.

"Calmati, dude!" Giulia said, landing with a soft plop next to Luca on the bed. "It's not like his feelings for you have changed in the two weeks since we last saw him."

Luca nodded, but still stayed silent. This was his first time visiting Alberto as his boyfriend. Maybe things had changed...

He was immersed in his thoughts before being snapped back to reality by the sound of the front door opening and Massimo's warm welcome. Luca's heartbeat filled his ears. He was so excited to see Alberto, but at the same time, so nervous.

Giulia tugged on his arm. "Come on!" she whispered as she walked carefully out the door. The two made their way down the hallway until they were nearly in the kitchen. Alberto's back was to them so that they couldn't see his face, but the sight of him made a giddy feeling spread through Luca's chest.

When Massimo gestured them forward, Alberto turned around quickly. His eyes locked onto Luca's.

"LUCA!" he shouted, flying out of his chair. In a flash, his arms were around Luca and the two boys were intertwined. Tears of joy prickled Luca's eyes as his boyfriend pulled away. "What are you doing here??" Alberto gasped.

"We just got off of school for Winter Break!" he said, grabbing Alberto's hands. "Giulia and I are staying here for the next two weeks!"

The taller boy beamed and pulled him in for another tight hug, as if he couldn't believe they were together again.

"Yeah, well, great to see you too, fratello," Giulia muttered. The boys pulled apart, red painting both of their cheeks. They could suddenly feel the stare of both Guilia and Massimo.

Not quite meeting the old man's eyes, Luca and Alberto sat down next to each other at the table. Massimo set four bowls of trenette al pesto down, one for each of them.

"So," Massimo said, breaking the awkward silence, "tell me about your school."

As if on cue, Luca's eyes light up. He loved talking about all of the things he had learned, and, if given the opportunity, would talk for hours.

Well," he started, trying to figure out what to say first. "My favorite class is definitely astrology, but history is a close second..."

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After a long meal of talking and laughing, the boys separated from Giulia and her father. As they walked down the hall to Alberto's bedroom (which had previously been a study), Luca noticed that there were more pictures on the walls. Alberto smiled up at him from inside the wooden frames, his adoptive father by his side.

"Here is my room!" Alberto said with a flourish. The warmly-lit room had a twin bed in the corner and a large window opposite it. More pictures hung on the walls, along with many of the posters and decorations from the tower on the island. To Luca's surprise, the Vespa poster now hung directly above the bed. Alberto followed his gaze and smiled. "Yeah, Massimo helped me transfer most of my stuff here." He blushed. "I really like that poster because it reminds me of you and our dream for a Vespa."

Luca's eyes widened in surprise, but then he grinned. "That's funny, whenever I miss you I look at some postcards with Vespas on them that I collected." Both boys laughed, matching blushes on their cheeks.

Alberto pulled a sleeping bag out from under the bed. "Since there's only one place to sleep, you can take the bed and I'll sleep on the ground."

"What? No," Luca said, grabbing the sleeping bag from Alberto's hands. "You have the bed, I'll sleep on the floor."

Alberto shook his head. "You're the guest and my boyfriend. I'm not letting you sleep on the floor."

"Well, you're MY boyfriend too, so you're not sleeping on the ground either."

Alberto huffed. "Fine then, I guess we're both sleeping on the bed. It'll be a little cramped, though."

"That's fine, as long as you're not on the ground," Luca said, jumping with a thump onto the bed.

"I'm gonna get changed in the bathroom, you can change here," Alberto said, pulling out an old shirt from a drawer next to the bed. Luca grabbed his suitcase, which had already been placed in the room by Giulia, and began digging through it for his pajamas. After his hands came up empty, he realized that he wasn't going to find any. His pajamas were laying on his bed back in Genova where he had accidentally left them.

When Alberto got back, Luca told him his problem.

"I guess I could give you a pair of my old shorts and a shirt since you don't have any," Alberto said. Heat rose to Luca's cheeks.

"I-I guess," he stammered. Alberto tossed him some pajamas. Luca thanked him and made his way to the bathroom to change.

As he pulled the oversized shirt onto his body, the scent of Alberto filled his nose. He blushed furiously and finished getting changed as quickly as he could.

Luca got back into the room to see his boyfriend already on the bed, nearly asleep. Luca turned off the lights and curled up next to Alberto. He pulled the blanket over the two of them and closed his eyes. He was starting to drift off when he felt an arm wrap around his body and pull him close. He opened his eyes to see that Alberto had fallen asleep and draped his arm around Luca. The smaller boy smiled and snuggled deeper into the blanket. Between the softness of the bed and the warmth from his boyfriend, Luca soon found himself fast asleep.

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