Lights Off (Eurovision 2022 AU) [COMPLETE]

07, The Future Still Remains Our Own

Blanco looked up from his phone. He didn't think Mahmood would be able to send him anything.

"Well... Do you want it?" Stefan asked through the door. Blanco swallowed the lump in his throat and walked up to the door. He opened it to see the Estonian standing there with a box wrapped in tinfoil.

Blanco looked at the gift. It was definitely in a box. He was almost nervous to open it. Stefan held out the gift closer to Blanco.

"Well? Aren't you going to open it?" Stefan asked him.

"Y-yeah. I am." Blanco quivered as he reached for the gift. He began to slowly tear away at the tinfoil. When he reached the box, he pulled off the remains of the tinfoil. He opened the box, and what lay inside the box made Blanco start to cry.

....

"And the winner of Sanremo 2022 is..." Amadeus kept the suspension high as he was about to announce the winner or winners of the 71st Festival de Sanremo. Mahmood and Blanco await for the results. Both were nervous out of their minds

"Brividi! Mahmood and Blanco!" Amadeus announced as the crowd went wild. Mahmood looked at Blanco as both men began to jump for joy. Even though Mahmood had won three years prior, he was still very excited to be representing alongside his best friend.

Alessandro! We won!!" Blanco cheered so loud and pulled his friend close to him; his face, three inches away from Mahmood's. The two then did something that neither of them had expected they'd do... They kissed.

Both boys thought it was a very magical moment. Neither could complain. In fact, Mahmood felt queasy, like it was something he wished to do again. He knew that Blanco wouldn't like it, though. He was straight.

In the dressing room, a few hours after winning Sanremo, Blanco looked at Mahmood, who was more calm than Blanco would've thought.

"How can you be so chill?" He asked.

"You do know that I've done this before, right?" Mahmood chuckled.

"Oh right." Blanco said nervously. Mahmood noticed it.

"Hey, what's wrong? You don't seem very happy." Mahmood said as he scooted closer to his friend.

"I'm just nervous.... What if I mess up?" Blanco quivered a little. Mahmood noticed this and began to comfort him.

"Riccardo, don't worry. It'll be okay! I'll be by your side the entire time." Mahmood assured Blanco,

"You will?" Blanco asked,

"We're in this together. I'll always be by your side. We'll ride together on that diamond bike." Mahmood chuckled a little as he knew what reference he made,

"Oh, Alessandro! You make me so relieved to have you as a friend!" Blanco smiled as he hugged his friend...

....

The gift was a miniature bicycle model with two seats. The best part was that the bike was covered with diamonds! All Blanco could do was bawl.

"Su una bici di diamanti..." Blanco quivered in a whisper. He looked up at Stefan with tears streaming down his cheeks. "Wait..."

"There's one more... but I figured you'd want to read the card after you opened the gift." Stefan said as he handed Blanco the envelope with the letter inside of it. The envelope had "To: Riccardo Fabricconi" written on it. He looked at the writing on the envelope. He knew that Mahmood's handwriting was about as good as a fifth grader's, so the fact that his handwriting was fairly decent, made Blanco chuckle a little bit.