(Complete✔) With a side of anxiety (Luca x Alberto)

Chapter 9

Alberto felt his heart sank as his eyes widened. The joy that tugged at his heart completely disappeared and fear had taken over his senses. His arms trembled in shock as Luca shakily extends his arm to try and find Alberto's face.

"Is...Is this real?" Luca asks weakly. "A-Am I..." Luca begins to cough violently, startling Alberto out of his state of shock. He gently sat Luca up and made him lean over his shoulder to pat his back.

"Am I...dead?" Luca force out his mouth and Alberto hugs him, nuzzling his cheek into Luca's shoulder.

"No...No Luca, you're not. You're alive and in my arms..." Alberto smiles. "I'm just glad you're okay..."

"..."

"Luca?"

"What...happened?" His tone was weak and sounded forced. His eyes continued staring up at the sky. They didn't dilate like they were supposed to when staring at the sun, and his eyes remained unmoving. "Why can't I see? My...body...hurts..."

"I-I know...I know..." Alberto says calmly as he begins to play with Luca's hair. He was debating if he should tell him what happened or just lie. But lying wouldn't be any good. Luca would probably remember later on and question Alberto on why he lied. But he couldn't exactly tell the truth either. That would put Luca in a state of shock and he would start freaking out.

Maybe he should tell the truth and sprinkle in some lies? No, that wouldn't work either.

Telling truth turns out to be the only option for Alberto. It would be painful to deal with Luca's panicking but it's better than nothing. So, Alberto gathers up his courage and tells Luca what happened from everything he knew. On how his parents sent him to the bottom of the ocean, to the part where he saved Alberto's life from that sea creature, to the part where his Uncle Ugo died, and to the present. It wasn't easy telling Luca, but he did felt relieved to rant a bit about what happened over the past couple of days.

Once Alberto was finished, he was shaking a bit. The blood...Luca's blood...no...he couldn't think of that. Not now.

"..." Luca was silent. He wasn't lying...

He was actually telling the truth. The horrible truth. The ugly truth and reality. All of those times in the darkness...they were true...

Him fighting that monster...it was true...

Him being alone for the god who knows how long, in the dark ocean. Those scary sounds. The clawing of his skin...the cold water...the fresh blood spilling out of his stomach...it...was all true...

Luca begins to panic as he blindly searches for Alberto's hand. Now he was blind. He couldn't see anything. Where was he now? Were his parents coming to get him? Did Alberto make sure they were somewhere far away? The many questions that spiked in Luca's head made him panic even more. Were his parents going to take him away again? Was something bad going to happen? Was Alberto going to sell him out?

"H-Hey! Luca!" Alberto grabs his hand and feels his friend tightened. "Luca, I'm here!" Alberto frowns as Luca's breath becomes shallow. His eyes remained unblinking, but the pupils were looking everywhere. The sight freaked Alberto out for a moment.

"A-Am I dead?" Luca cries. "I-Is this all fake?!" His breaths were getting sharper and sharper and Alberto tried his best to calm him down. He didn't want Luca to stress and not cause his wounds to heal anytime soon.

"Calm down, Luca! I'm here! I'm here!" He caresses his face, but Luca jerks his head away in fear, not believing this was the real Alberto. This must be another trick his mind is playing. He must still be at the bottom of the ocean, trapped there and slowly turning insane. Alberto wasn't there! It was just his imagination.