His Sunflower

34

'Two damaged people trying to heal each other is love.'

"Enzo and Isabella aren't my real parents", he said shakily, his hands trembling on his lap.

I carefully took his hand in mine and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

There were so many questions I had whizzing through my mind.

What happened to his real parents?

Who are his real parents?

How did he end up with Enzo and Isabella?

Are Sofia and Giovanni his real siblings?

As if he read my mind, he spoke again.

"I know you must have a lot of questions. I'll tell you my story and feel free to stop me and ask any questions, yeah?", he said, his eyes fixed on mine.

I gave him a nod and continued stroking Forza who was lying comfortably on my lap.

"Since I was a child, around three or four, I realised that my parents weren't like the parents of the kids of my street. My birth mamma was one of the kindest people I've met in my entire life", he said with pure admiration.

"W-What was her n-name?", I asked, wanting to know more about his birth mother.

"Luna", he replied, his eyes glossing over slightly.

"That's a b-beautiful name", I whispered, receiving a sad smile from him.

"During the day, she would tell me all kinds of fascinating stories of her childhood and memories of the adventures her and her sister, Isabella, would have, but at night, it all changed. As soon as he came back, it would almost be like she had shut down. He would a-abuse her and most nights...most nights I could hear them from my bedroom. He would force her t-to do things", he paused. I could see tears welling up in his eyes until his gaze dropped down onto our joint hands.

"Y-You don't h-have to continue", I whispered to him, my thumb stroking small circles on his hand.

"I-I need to", he whispered back, his eyes still refusing to meet mine.

"I was j-just a kid and I didn't know what was happening. I used to ask my mamma what was happening but she just used to brush it off and tell me that everything was okay as long as I was safe. A couple of months later, I noticed a stray puppy in the street. Its leg was injured and I took him inside to help my mamma to bandage his leg. I begged her to let me keep the puppy and she agreed as long as no one found out."

"T-The puppy was Forza, w-wasn't it?", I asked in shock.

He nodded whilst petting the furball on my lap.

"A few weeks passed until he found out, He had seen me sneaking food out to him in the garden and that was the first time that he hit me", he said, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"I think that was the last straw for my mamma; she knew that we had to get away. Every night, he would make sure she ate this pill but I remember her taking it out of her mouth whilst he wasn't looking one night. That evening, she came into my room and told me to get up put my backpack on which she had pre-packed for me. Not knowing what was going on, I just followed what she was saying and taking the puppy into my arms. We crept out of the house but only managed to make it to the front garden until he noticed that we were gone and ran after us. I had climbed over the wall he had built around the house and it was my mammas turn, but she was too late", he whispered the last part and I could tell that he was almost sobbing by the way his shoulders were shaking.

I squeezed his hand to comfort him and he squeezed it back in gratitude.

"H-He had a knife in his hand and he s-stabbed her."

I immediately threw my arms around him and held him tightly as he cried into my shoulder. I also had tears running down my cheeks as I couldn't believe how strong he was.

A few minutes later, he began to quietly speak again.

"I can still remember her last words to me. Corri, mio prezioso. Ti amo Luca (Run, my precious boy. I love you Luca), and so I did. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. From the gap in the wall, I could see Forza biting his leg and he screamed out in pain as he jumped through the hole and ran into my arms. I had never gone outside the house before on my own so I didn't know where I was running to, until I found myself at the cliff. I sat there for a while, crying my eyes out for my mamma and I eventually tired myself out and fell asleep. I remember a woman shaking me awake and asking my where my parents were but I didnt know what to say to her.

Apparently, she had found a tag on my backpack which my mamma had written with her sister, Isabellas, contact details on it. The kind lady stayed with me until Isabella came and collected me. It took years of therapy and lots of time with my loved ones, but life eventually got better. I began calling Isabella and Enzo mamma and papa when I was around ten years old. They supported and cared for me like real parents ever since they found I out that I existed and I was eternally grateful to them. They never once made me feel as if I wasnt their real son and I love them so much for that", he said, the love shining brightly in his eyes.

I didn't even know what I could say. Everything that came to my mind felt so insignificant to say to someone who had been through hell and back and still managed to be an angel.

My angel.

"I-I admire your s-strength so much", I stuttered out, hoping that would amount to something.

"Non capisci quanto significhi per me, mio girasole (You don't understand how much that means to me, my sunflower)", he breathed out, kissing the side of my head.

"There's more", he said, his body tensing.

"When I was seventeen, I began to get these sort of...episodes. I would wake up in the middle of the night from flashbacks and I began to feel angry all the time. I couldn't understand how people like him could just walk around freely and people like...people like me would have to continue their life in constant fear of something happening to them again", he looked away in what seemed like shame and then continued.

"I began to crave revenge. I started to take boxing classes and soon found myself participating in illegal underground fighting rings. It wasn't until I got a kick to my head and ended up unconscious in hospital did my mamma and papà find out. I don't even know why I did it. I sometimes couldn't even stop myself. I got so caught up in my anger that I would struggle to realise how much I would be hurting the other person until I got pulled off of them", he said, his fist in his mouth muffling his sobs.

I carefully placed my hand in his cheek and gently turned his face so his eyes could meet mine.

"You have n-nothing to be ashamed of", I said as sternly as I could, wanting him to believe every word I was saying.

"I-I don't want you to be scared of me. I would never hurt you", he said quietly but firmly.

"Lo so, Luca. Lo so (I know, Luca. I know)", I whispered back to him. I believed with my whole heart that the man in front of me would never hurt me.