Luberto Headcanons

The Return Part 1

"...And I miss his laugh, and when he bites his lip after saying that he's an expert at everything, oooh, and when he..."

Luca had been going on about how much he missed Alberto as they walked home from school and honestly, Giulia was tired of it.

"We're leaving TOMORROW, Luca. Surely you can for the rest of the day without him. I mean, you haven't seen him since last summer and haven't talked this much about him since the first week here."

"I know," Luca mumbled, shy from the fact that Giulia called him out," but I'm just so excited to see him again!"

Giulia knew that Luca was just excited to see his boy- I mean best friend tomorrow, but Alberto is all Luca has been talking about for the past week. Whether they were trying to study for exams, eat at lunch, or even falling asleep, Luca couldn't keep his mouth shut about how dearly he wished to be back in Alberto's arms. 

"Santa mozzarella, Luca. I know you have a crush on him, but if you're like this next year I'm leaving you in Portorosso with my fratello."

Luca's ears and nose reddened at that. He told Giulia about his crush on Alberto during Christmas break. He had made her promise not to say anything about it to anyone but when the two were alone, Giulia's teasing was never-ending. Though Luca didn't know, Giulia had talked to her papa on the phone about how Luca finally admitted to liking Alberto and was not surprised when she was told that Alberto had asked his dad for advice on asking someone out. Massimo asked Alberto who he was interested in and had gotten Luca's name coughed out with a bright red face. 

"Oh, come on, you know I'm just kidding. I wouldn't make you stay away from school after all the work you've put in." Giulia says while opening the front door to her mama's house. "Unless things work out well this summer and you just can't leave again," she added while wiggling her eyebrows at him. After a beat, she turned to the inside of the house and shouted, "MAMA, WE'RE HOME!"

Luca started removing his shoes while Maria walked into the foyer, whipping leftover paint on her pants. 

"Ciao, Giulietta," Maria says while hugging her daughter. Luca takes note of how similar Giulia and her mother looked. Both with fiery red hair and the same glint of mischief in their eyes. she then turns to Luca, "Ciao, Luca. How was your last day of school?"

"Ciao, Signora Marcovaldo. It would've been better if we didn't have exams but I at least think I did okay."

"Luca," Giulia sighs, "this is your first year going to school and you're already at the top of our class, I'm sure you did great." 

Maria smiles at the children, thinking about how tomorrow they'll be leaving and she won't see them again until the fall. 

"Well, in that case, we should enjoy a lovely dinner to celebrate!" Maria claps her hands together and turns to go to the kitchen.

The three of them spent the rest of the evening cooking and eating Maria's signature dish of lasagna before the kids packed the last of their possessions and settled in for the night.

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Alberto woke to sunlight in his eyes and the faint smell of espresso coming from downstairs. He took a moment to enjoy the calm energy of the morning while dozing lazily in bed. Alberto shot up like he was electrocuted, suddenly remembering why he hadn't bothered to set his alarm last night. Today was the day Luca was coming home. And Giulia. Giulia was coming too. 

Alberto jumped out of bed and flew into the bathroom to brush his teeth and fix his hair, the entire time thinking about Luca's eyes crinkled when he smiled and how Luca's laugh sounds like a choir of angels. Alberto look in the mirror and sighed at the thought before his eyes shot open and he sprinted to his rook to pick out something to wear. Eventually, he ended up having a pair of light blue ripped jeans picked out and was trying to pick which shirt to wear when his father knocked on his bedroom door.