CMBYN alternative ending.

Forever.

"Do you mind?" Oliver said, as flippentley as his "later!" weeks before.
I paused for a moment pondering my answer. Do I let him know that the thought of him marrying anyone but me, makes my heart shatter into a thousand pieces inside my chest. Or do I be the polite boy my parents raised me to be.

"That's wonderful news" I say with a lump in my throat and a break in my voice.

For a few seconds there is nothing but white noise circling in the atmosphere.

Oliver sighs. "I was hoping you would tell me I must not marry this woman. that I should come home to Italy. To you."

Suddenly I'm angry. If this is what he wants why is he going along with this sham, why is he placing on my shoulders the weight of his misfortune.

"Is that what you want me to say?"
I speak in a cold tone, but I know he sees right through it.

"Oliver." He speaks his name so softly that i sink a little deeper into my seat. I was feeling brave now,

"Come home Elio. To Italy. To me."

The instant we called one another by our own names, we knew. It was so natural and loving, I wanted him to jump on a plane right then. Fly to me. run through the winter snow, scoop me up in his arms and tell me, "This is it. It's you and me forever."
Was I being immature,i wondered. Was I imagining a scenario so obserd that it was only making the ache in my heart more painful. Then I hear it. His soft,wilful voice,

"smarten up our room Elio. I'm coming home."

The line cuts before I even have the chance to answer. Is this real, is this happening, or perhaps I'm dreaming the same dreams I did on those summer days when I was just a teenager with a hopeless crush.

Two days had past since our phone call. Reassuring me even more so, that I had imaged the whole conversation. He was not here. He hadn't even contacted me. I was disheartened yet relieved. What was I thinking,asking him to come here. I was so fixated on our summer romance that I was too eager to rehash the the feelings i once felt. Maybe he knew that. Maybe that's why he wasn't here.
I lay on my bed. The bed that was once his. Once ours. I close my eyes, consumed by emotions I no longer want to feel. Unable to fall asleep, I get up and move around the room, silently as to not wake my parents. They'd only worry. I open the wardrobe and pull out a shirt. The shirt. Billowy and Blue, I hug it tight and lift it to my face, it still smells like summer. Am I making things worse for myself intentionally. Maybe so. But for just a second I find some relief in the fabric and the scent I once wanted so much to forget.
It's midnight now, perhaps I have grown up,perhaps not. But as I stare at the letter he sent me that day, the day everything changed. I feel it all. The love,the lust,the pain. It's all too real. A tear falls from my cheek and lands on the page, "shit!" The ink begins to smudge and the words slowly form an unthathamable mess. Just like that I am back to reality.

The next morning I feel weak, I must have had some sleep, but not enough. I stomp down the stairs, letting everyone in the villa know how I'm feeling. Mafalda shakes her head as I slump into the chair at breakfast. My mother, with her concerned smile and bright eyes, simply stares at me. I like this feeling. It is almost fun to have my family's disapproving eyes glare at me. I feel alive. As I start my third egg, a car pulls up in the driveway. We all hear it rumbling down the hot gravel path, but nobody chooses to acknowledge it.
"Tourists again." My father assumes. He gets up from his seat, "I will tell them to come back later, perhaps for dinner."
As I sit there unawares, the thought doesn't even cross my mind that this could be Oliver. My Oliver. Coming home.
That's until I hear the muffled voices echoing from the hall.

"Pro! How have you been. It's so good to see you!"

Nobody had ever called my father Pro. Nobody except Oliver. My head goes light and my eyes start to blur, I daren't stand up in case I fall back and hit the ground, but my body refuses to listen, I throw myself out of my chair and almost sprint down the hall.
I stop.