Only Time Will Tell (A Luberto Story)

Chapter 5- The Wooden Carving

"Hey Luca?" Alberto asked.

"Yeah? What's up Alberto?"

Alberto looked at Luca nervously before taking in a deep breath.

"I love you, Luca"

Luca looked puzzled. "What?"

Alberto winced, "I said, I love you. A lot, actually."

Luca gave Alberto a disgusted look. "Alberto, how could you say that? You disgust me."

Luca started to walk away from Alberto. It was like he got smaller and smaller with each step.

"Luca, please! I'm sorry, don't go! Wait!" Alberto shouted.

"Alberto, YOU'RE A MONSTER." Luca shouted back.

Those words kept repeating inside of Alberto's head. You're a monster, Alberto. A monster..

"Alberto?" Massimo asked.

Alberto snapped out of his dream and sat up awkwardly. He must've dozed off. After all, he did stay up late making his cake.

"Oh, sorry. I must've fell asleep," Alberto yawned.

"That's okay, figlio. I was gonna tell you that we're pretty much ready to go to the train station," Massimo said.

Alberto sat up in his seat, eager to hear the news. It's time to go! he thought.

Alberto was all ready to put on his shoes when Massimo grabbed him from behind. Alberto turned around to face his dad, only to see a small wooden carving in Massimo's hands.

"Papà?" Alberto asked. "What is that?"

Massimo took off one of his hands to reveal a beautiful wooden carving.

"Alberto, I have something for you. To give to Luca," Massimo said while handing the wooden carving over to Alberto. "Here, take it."

Alberto hesitantly reached for the carving, before taking a closer look at it. His eyes widened at the sight of it.

It was the island..

The piece of wood was carved into a beautiful picture of Luca and Alberto's island. The island where they first met and where they spent their first memories building vespas. Alberto couldn't stop staring at the beautiful carving, it was so breathtaking. Massimo has truly outdone himself; the carving had so much detail and was designed to look exactly like the island. Memories flooded back to Alberto's mind, and soon enough, tears came flooding out of Alberto's eyes, much more than when he had cried earlier.

Massimo had a concerned look on his face, before Alberto rushed over to him and embraced Massimo. Massimo hugged his son back, and even cried a few tears as well.

Alberto buried his face into Massimo's shirt, still letting out tears.

"Thank you papà," Alberto said with a muffled voice. "It's perfect."

Massimo warmly smiled down at Alberto, and the two embraced in another hug.

"Of course, Alberto," Massimo exclaimed.

After hugging for so long, Alberto let go of Massimo and enthusiastically looked at the carving once more. His face lit up, just how Luca did when talking about school. Massimo even noticed how similar Alberto's face looked.

"Alberto, one last thing," Massimo said slowly. "When you give this to Luca, tell him you made it."

Alberto looked confused, "What?"

Massimo cleared his throat, "When you give this to Luca, don't mention that I made it. Okay? Tell him that it was a gift from you. It'll be extra special then."

Alberto looked at Massimo and smiled slightly, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, absolutely. I'm sure Luca would enjoy a present from his best friend more than a present from an old man like me," Massimo joked.

Alberto chuckled before hugging Massimo tightly again.

"Thank you again, papà."

Massimo hugged Alberto back. "Of course. I will always love you."

"Never forget that."

(A.N

Shorter chapter, I know! This will be the last chapter for today, so I hope to see anyone who's reading this tomorrow. I should be able to update then! Stay awesome!

-Marx