Seeing Me, Seeing You [COMPLETED]

~Chapter 4~

"I want to take you somewhere," I said to him, "Somewhere that I really love. I think you might enjoy it."

If he could see, his eyes would have pierced right through me.

"You do realize that we just met, right?" He reminded me.

"This will give us the chance to get to spend some time together and get to know each other more," I said to him.

He thought about it for a second.

"Does it involve food?" He perked up.

If food was the way to his heart, then so be it.

"Only the best!" I grinned from ear to ear.

After closing time, we drove to a place on the west side of Chicago where I spent many days with my family growing up.

As we got off onto Taylor Street, the nightlife of Chicago's Little Italy was in full swing.

"Are you ever gonna tell me where we are?" Trevor asked me as we walked down the street together.

"Trevor Forsythe, you are in the heart of Little Italy! The next best thing to the real deal!"

I took him to my favorite Italian restaurant for some authentic homemade pasta. After browsing the menu, I ordered a small bowl of pasta e fagioli, followed by a heaping plate of chicken parmigiana. He played it safe with fettuccine alfredo. To my surprise, he ordered an expensive bottle of Chianti to go with our meal. He said that it was his treat since I didn't get to go to Italy with the rest of my family.

"I'm guessing you are full-blooded Italian then?" He asked me over dinner.

"Yep! You wouldn't think it by looking at me though. I'm as pale as a ghost and I have blue eyes. I have two siblings and they both have dark hair and tanned skin. They both look very Italian. What nationality are you?" I asked him in between bites of food.

"My mother was Polish and Latvian. I'm not sure about my father. He kinda bailed as soon as he and my mother found out that I had retinoblastoma as a kid."

"Retinoblastoma?" I cleared my throat, "Cancer?"

"Yeah... My pops freaked when the doctors told them that I was eventually going to lose my eyes. He told my mother that he didn't know how to deal with it, so he just up and left us. My mother didn't know how to deal either. She would just drink and self-medicate. She found another man and they were always drunk or high. It was clear that they didn't want me. He was a bad influence on her. By that point, I was a really sick kid and that wasn't what they wanted in their lives."

"God, Trevor. I'm sorry that you had it so rough." I just couldn't imagine what he had went through. It broke my heart.

"That's okay. I ended up in a good home with my foster parents, Marvin and Kay. They helped me get through the loss of my sight, by introducing me to the piano. They were there for me when I had to have my eyes removed when the cancer came back. Ever since I came to live with them at age twelve, they loved me as if I were their own. They truly are remarkable people. They have fostered many children over the years, many with special needs. It's definitely been an interesting experience, but they are the best family that I have ever had."

"I'd love to meet them someday," I expressed, "So is that why you wear those Ray Bans? Because you don't have any eyes?"

"I'd rather not scare away the children... or you for that matter. I have prosthetic eyes, but I don't wear them often. But not having any eyes makes for a great Halloween costume!" He joked.

"Haha, I bet! But you wouldn't ever scare me," I took a sip of my wine.

"I'm surprised that I haven't scared you off already."

I cocked my head.

"Why do you say that?" I asked him.

"The blindness. My family situation. The amount of times that I have accidentally offended you. And yet, here we are eating dinner together in Little Italy, telling you my life story."

"I think you are pretty awesome, Trevor. I'm really enjoying getting to know you," I lifted my glass, "La vita è bella! Cheers!"

He nodded. "I have no idea what you just said, but I assume it's a good thing. Cheers!" We clinked wine glasses.

After we finished dinner, to my surprise, he paid for our entire meal. We left the restaurant and made our way outside. We held hands as we walked down the street passed the many shops and bars. It felt wonderful to have somebody so fun and interesting to spend the evening with.

Because we were a little tipsy from the wine, we decided to wait a little while before heading home. We ended up just west of the University of Illinois Chicago campus. Wasted college kids were roaming the streets, bringing me back to my good old college days of bar hopping on the weekends. I never drank much, but it was something fun to do to pass my time.

"I used to come out here when I was first learning how to paint. I'd paint the same scenery over and over again and I'd never get it right. I still like to come here though. I like the atmosphere."

"Even though I can't see it, it feels amazing. Being here with you... feels amazing." He grabbed my hands. "Would it be too forward of me to ask if I can kiss you?"

"I would really like that," I said. My knees shook nervously.

He placed his hands on my chin and brought me in for a passionate kiss. My heart was beating a million miles a minute. His lips were so tender and soft. We smiled at each other giddily. Little did he know that he was my first kiss... and it was perfect! La vita è bella!