Beautiful Mistakes || Luca x Alberto <3

A Helping Hand/Intrusive Thoughts

Rolling his eyes, Luca replied, "Hey, Giulia and I stood up to Ercole before! I know you didn't forget about the time we called him a catfish!"

"Oh that's a good one!" Sofia chuckled, high-fiving him.

"Hey guys," popping out from the side of a house, Riccardo walked over to the group and joined them.

Giulia smiled when she saw him, "Riccardo! There you are! We were on our way to come introduce you to Sofia, but SOME CERTAIN PERSON stopped us, heheh. Also, uh...how long have you been hiding behind that house?"

"Oh, I was helping my neighbor water her flowers. Then I saw you guys and decided to come see what was going on," Riccardo replied.

"Ah, sorry buddy. You missed the show," Alberto said, crossing his arms.

Riccardo shook his head, "Oh I heard everything. What you did was brave, Sofia, but now you're definitely one of Ercole's targets, unfortunately. So uh, welcome to the club!"

Sofia waved her hand at him, "Oh I don't care, really. I wasn't just gonna stand by and let my friends get picked on! He can chase after me all he wants, it was worth helping out these goofballs!"

Riccardo looked at the ground sadly, rubbing his arm. "Man, I wish I had the courage to do that. But, I'm one of Ercole's favorite targets, so...I just stay away from him, as far and safe as I can. You should be careful too, did Giuila and her friends tell you about his gang?"

Sofia stopped smiling and her eyes grew large. "GANG?"

"Oh boy..." Riccardo muttered, putting a hand over his face.

Feeling bad now, Giulia approached beside her, "I'm sorry, Sofie. I didn't tell you about Ercole's friends in our letters, I guess there was so much going on that I forgot. Here, we should go back to my Papa's place, so we'll be safe enough to explain there."

"Uh, I can't come," Riccardo told them, looking at them sadly.

"Aw, why not?" asked Giulia.

"I'll be busy for the rest of the day, sorry," said Riccardo. "But maybe I'll be able to hang out tomorrow! See you then."

After they waved to each other goodbye, Riccardo headed back to his house. The rest of the group began walking back home.

***

After explaining to Sofia everything about Ercole and his friends and what'd been happing in the village, she began to understand now.

"Oh, ok! That all makes total sense now, haha!" She then gave them a look of concern. "But...about the whole camera idea, it's great and all. But with the amount of money you guys are getting paid...it could take a WHILE to get that camera."

Giulia sighed, "Yeah, we know. That's why we're working more days, to try to get paid more. So far I've made ten dollars, and Alberto and Luca don't get paid until Tuesday. We're really trying, though! You can...help too, if you want."

Sofia shook her head. She hopped off Giulia's bed and kneeled down on the floor, zipping open her backpack. After a few seconds of digging, she pulled out a black object and held it in front of their faces. They gasped, very surprised. It was a camera.

Sofia handed it to Giulia, "It's brand new. It works perfectly fine and it can take tons of great pictures."

Giulia quickly shook her head, pushing the camera away. "Sofia, I...we can't accept this! This is YOURS, we'll just buy our own! Don't worry! You don't have to-"

Sofia cut her off, "Giulia, Luca, Alberto. This is serious. What Ercole and his 'pigs' are doing is TERRIBLE, and it has to be put to an end, SOON. We can't wait until you guys make the money, this HAS to be done NOW. We can't waste any time! I will not take no for an answer! You guys are going to get that evidence, and you're going to make them pay! Just, please stay safe. I trust you. I don't care if I get the camera back or not, or if it breaks. As long as you have enough pictures, you and all of those kids will be saved!"

Luca and Alberto gave Giulia a hopeful look. She sighed and took the camera, hugging Sofia. "Ok. Thanks, Sofie. Thank you so much."

Luca and Al nodded and thanked her too. Sofia stepped away, giggling, "Ok, ok, don't start crying, now! Anyways, so, are we still doing the tour around the village?"

Beaming, Giulia took her hand. "Sure, why not? We'll have to be careful though, for Ercole and his spawns. You coming, boys?"

"Uh, actually...I'm gonna sit this one out," said Alberto. He gave them a small smile. "You guys can go on without me, it's fine. I kinda wanna hang around here with the cats, for a while."

"Well, ok then! We'll be back before it gets dark. Don't break anything!" Giulia joked as she set the camera down and she and Sofia left the room. Luca looked at Al one more time before taking off with them.

Alberto shut the door and sat down on the bed, sighing. He lowered his head as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"That was a terrible lie," Alberto muttered. "But yet they believed it."

The reason he wanted to be alone, was because he couldn't get his mind off of Luca. What had happened between them when they were messing around in the water. He'd been thinking about it since they arrived back to the surface, keeping him from paying attention to what'd been happening later on.

He didn't know why he was feeling so guilty about it, but thinking about Luca being upset with him messed with his head.

(TW: self-harm and negative thoughts)

Alberto growled, pulling at his hair and skin. 'Why am I still thinking about him? WHY IS HE STILL IN MY HEAD?'

"Get out, get out, get out," Al gritted his teeth, closing his eyes shut.

'Why do I have to be such a horrible person to him? He obviously doesn't like getting scared, or grabbed, why do I do it?! WHY?'

'He's mad at you, now. He doesn't wanna be around you anymore. Why is he still nice after all I've done to him? After all I put him through?! How does he still enjoy being around me? Or maybe he's faking it so he won't hurt my feelings.'

'But I deserve it though, because I never listen. I never listened to anybody, I only think about myself. I only do what I want. I...don't want Luca to leave...'

'I just want to hold him. He's so small and delicate, like a flower. His hair is fluffy and he's just so adorable. His face is cute, his freckles...'

Al's face turned into a look of dread and disgust. "What the hell..."

'God, shut up.' He stood up, burying his face in his hands.

'I shouldn't be around him, but I want to, anyway. I'm such a creep, how I think of him. He doesn't deserve any of this-'

"God, just shut up, Bruno!" Alberto breathed heavily, sweat running down his face. After taking a moment to calm down, Al closed his eyes again, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

'Screw this, I'm going to bed.'