Eli Borrelli

24: Getting closer

"Carlos died on the twenty-third and as much as it would hurt to go back there, I need to be with Diego."

Eli spoke quickly, and I'm not even sure if I caught everything, but the overall idea got through pretty clearly.

"Are you sure? There's clearly a lot of bad memories tied to that place," Lorenzo said taking Eli's hand in his own, and for the first time in the six weeks, that Eli had stayed with us, they didn't flinch away.

We were all shocked, but I think none more than Eli. After a few seconds, they looked down at their hand, resting in Lorenzos and their eyes widened for a bit. They tensed up and we all thought that they'd take their hand away but they just relaxed and took a deep breath.

"I need to be with Diego. Last year I was away so I couldn't be with him for this or his birthday or anything else. I know he won't admit it but he needs help and I want to help him," Eli said with a huge exhale, visibly relaxing her shoulders.

"Sounds like someone else I know," I smirked crossing my arms.

Eli just stuck their tongue out at me with a playful grin. I was just glad I could make them smile, so I stuck my tongue out too.

"Where do you think he got it from?" Eli sassed back with an eye-roll.

"How about, we invite Diego here? So you won't have to go back there, and I'm sure Diego could use a change of scenery," Alessandro finally spoke after observing the conversation before him.

"It would be nice to meet your other family," he ended with a warm smile I had never seen before.

Eli's face lifted up instantly.

"Why do I feel like I want to hug you?" they said with a chuckle.

In a flash, Eli was by Alessandro's chair hugging them tightly.

I hadn't seen Alessandro smile like that in years, maybe ever, and Eli being happy was just the most amazing feeling in the world. They could change your mood, with a single smile, and it was just one of the reasons we all loved them so much.

Alessandro POV.

We agreed to let Diego stay with us for as long as he wanted, which made Eli very happy.

I couldn't help but feel a warmth in my chest as they honestly smiled. They didn't do that a lot. Their usual smile was just a curt nod compared to the happy smile they had at that moment. It was the same smile that came out, when we got them talking about music, or when they cooked with Matteo or drew with Gabriele. I knew at that moment, that I would do whatever it took to make them smile like that every day.

Eli POV

After lunch, I raced to my room and dug out my phone.

"Hi," the little black-haired boy answered.

"Diego, I asked my brothers, and you can come over here for a few weeks," I said beaming with joy.

"Are you serious?" he asked shooting up from the couch he was laying on.

"Yeah, they didn't want me coming there, so they invited you here," I said smiling from ear to ear.

"Mierda, Eli, eso es increíble. Voy a empezar a empacar ahora mismo. Joder, me quedaré en tu rica casa. Tomaré el primer vuelo allí. cuando van? ¿Puedo atrapar uno esta noche?" Diego started rambling.

I just chuckled at his excitement as he ran around the apartment.

"cálmate. Hay un vuelo mañana, y lo pagaré. Sale a las diez de la mañana, así que tienes que estar allí por lo menos a las ocho y media. ¿okey?" I said trying to calm Diego down a bit.