~ Abbacchio's Playlist: Someday by The Strokes ~
Naples and Cozenza were not by any means close to each other. Maybe it was Mista's annoying antics or Lucrezia who kept egging him on and asking "Are we there yet?" every 10 miles, but the three-hour drive felt like an eternity. The crazy club-like music didn't help either. All the notes made me wanna jump out of the car from the sheer amount of energy they gave me. It had been a while since I danced...maybe not since Giorno.
But when we finally did arrive, nostalgia hit me like a truck. The place was basically a huge luxury apartment complex that took up almost the entire block. Each apartment had 3-5 rooms and there was an apartment for each team member from what I remembered. The architecture was old but had its classic Italian aesthetic which Giorno adored. He couldn't leave the city he called home, there was too much beauty here.
We all piled out of the car when Mista turned down into the underground garage. Most of us stretched and complained about sore legs or the need to run a marathon. Lucrezia had hoped out the car and was immediately trying to play tag with Bruno, and Mista would have joined in if Giorno hadn't barked at him to continue helping so everything would be done and over with.
Giorno led us to the elevator and pressed a button as well as inserted and turned a key. Our place on the fourth floor wasn't accessible if you didn't have the key. The elevator shut and we were suddenly in awkward silence as the elevator music gently played.
"So...I'll show you Lucrezia's room first," Giorno says, breaking the silence. "I updated it since you had left. I hope you both like it."
The elevator door opened and we were met with the grand living room. The couches where a beautiful white and small intricate pillars of gold held up pots of fresh Petunia and Bacopa flowers. More flowers and various plants decorated the living room and even extended into the hallways and Kitchen that ran opposite directions.
Giorno led us up from the living room to a grand staircase that connected to a hallway littered with five doors. Two on either side of the hallway and one at the end. Giorno had said that the rooms on the left were Lucrezia's and Bruno's while my room was on the right, opposite of Lucrezia's and sharing the wall with the door to Mista's room. They often stayed in Giorno's apartment despite having their own three bedroom apartments a floor below.
Opening the door to Lucrezia's room revealed pastel pink walls that were accented with gold. A Princess's bed complete with a dreamy canopy occupied the middle of the big room. A few toys laid neatly placed and organized in a corner while an impressive dollhouse completed the room. It was certainly a little princess's room.
"What do you think of your new room princess?" Giorno asks, squatting down to Lucrezia's height. She excitedly jumps in his arm and squeals.
"It'sh sho pretty! Thank you daddy!"
"I'm glad you like it baby girl. Now, lets hurry and unpack so we can go to the park." Little Lucrezia nods and walks into the room following Bruno who had been carrying some of her boxes. He set them down and the pair of them began unpacking and placing her belongings.
"I can help you unpack if you'd like." Giorno offers, and I immediately deny. My voice was poison as I spit out:
"Mista can help me. I'm sure you have a lot to get done so we'll stay out of your way." I glare at him from the corner of my eyes and walk across the hall to meet Mista who was juggling three heavy boxes.
"Look at you mister man." I tease Mista as I open the door for him. Giorno's jealous gaze didn't go unnoticed
"Anything...for you... (y/n)!" he gasps out. He places the boxes on the ground and I finally get a look at my room. My very old room.
When I was on Giorno's personal guard I was given the room closest to his. The room you were in usually reflected your rank so because I had this room, it meant that I was the leader of his personal guard. I was his left hand, his protector and most trusted bodyguard. It surprised me that the room was the same way I had left it all those years ago.
My room was bare of any personal touch. That had been just a side effect of being a soldier with little to no time on their hands. I had no hobbies then and I thought of nothing but Giorno, his safety, and the safety of the other Passione members. I only lived in the room for 6 months before I found it a hassle to sneak to and from Giorno's room at night and take walks of shame back to my room in the morning.
From the looks of the layers of dust that graced the mirrors and dresser, nobody had been in this room for nine years. Just thinking of the decade that passed made me wanna cough and sneeze a storm with the amount of dust that was probably in this room. But nine years of it being uninhabited meant that nobody has risen to take my place. Not even Bruno Bucciarati himself.
"Open the window for me Mista, this place is too stuffy!"
He moves to pull back the long drapes and opens the window. The natural light that shines through brings me at peace. This room had been a place of peaceful rest once upon a time. It was almost as if the room was frozen in time. I could have slept here and woke up thinking I was late to escorting Don Giovanna to an important meeting. I could have sat in the small cushioned chair in the corner near the window and felt the excitement that washed over me when Giorno would knock lightly at night and I would open the door to be met with a passionate kiss. I was living in the past again...
This was going to be worse than I thought.
__________
When Mista and I had finished lightly dusting and placing all my pictures and various knick-knacks, he invited me to go downstairs to the bigger living room where all the team members hung out. They had planned to go on a Picnic to celebrate the return of their 'golden girls' and properly welcome them home with a nice lunch. I agreed, eager to see the others and how they changed in the five years that passed.
We were in Lucrezia's room now. I had just finished dressing her in a cute yellow sundress decorated with a blue bow. A matching bow was tied in her blond hair and there she was: Our little angel.
The rest of the group stood in awe as we appeared from the elevator. We were on the second floor where most of the communal spaces were. Narancia and Fugo had stopped their barking from the kitchen and Abbacchio craned his head away from the tv to see what in gods green earth could have possibly blessed him this silence.
Narancia was the first to move, dashing to the exit of the elevator and hugging me tightly. He lifted me off the ground and began spinning in circles cheering about how much he had missed me. I hugged him back just as hard and inhaled his familiar scent of oranges, his namesake.
"Narancia I missed you so much..." I choked out, trying so hard to hold back the tears. Seeing him so happy and smiling and...well ALIVE made my eyes tear up. He had been older than both me and Giorno but since he was the youngest of the original gang, he always had a younger brother aura that completed his childish personality. I was close to Narancia. We worked on plenty of missions together and I aided a bit in his tutoring since I was a graduating student at the time I had met him.
When I pulled away from him, I was met with Fugo. Narancia stepped back and Fugo replaced him in my arms.
"It's so nice to see you again (y/n). I'm sick of being surrounded by idiots." He pulled away to wipe a tear from my cheek and smiled. "You don't need to cry (y/n). We're all here with you now."
"Thank you, Fugo. For everything you're doing for us."
"Oh, it's no problem (y/n)! You were my best student. I can't wait to try my hand at homeschooling Lucrezia." He bends down to Lucrezia's height and holds his arms open for her to jump into.
"Shtrawberry! You promised you would vishit and you didn't. That'sh called lying!" Lucrezia accuses him. Fugo gives her a surprised look and fumbles out several apologies. Lucrezia wasn't going to let him off the hook though.
"Liarsh go to jail! Don't lie shtrawberry I don't want you to go to jail!" she complains as he hugs her close.
"I know I know, little one." He looks at me and gives a smile. "We'll have to work on her lisp, won't we?"
"She always struggled with her S's, be patient with her will ya?"
Fugo hadn't been as close to Lucrezia as Bruno had but the bond they shared was natural like something else. It must have been because of how explosive the man was. He had a lot of emotions just as I do and I wouldn't be surprised if he calmed down from his fits of rage by her touch.
"Hey stranger. How's the kid?" Abbacchio says from the couch. I turn to him and give him a smile. I missed Abbacchio just as much as I had missed Mista and Narancia if not more. We shared a bond like no other, two soldiers who valued each other more than anyone else would. We respected each other's drive and loyalty to the special ones in our lives. For him that was Bruno and for me, that was Giorno (and now Lucrezia). We could count the differences between us on one hand. He had his place in my heart just as everyone else did. A tear burst free from the dam holding back all the emotions I was feeling seeing everyone again. My hand instinctively covered my mouth as I let out one soft whimper.
"Hey, don't go crying on me idiot...You know I'm bad with that stuff..." he said nervously scratching the back of his head and avoiding eye contact.
Two steps and I was in his arms. He didn't hug me back until I gave him the tightest squeeze I could.
"Wow, I'm actually hurt. you didn't cry and do all that for me." Mista complains.
"Shut up," I say, burying my face into Abbacchio's chest and squeezing the man as hard as I could.
"H-Hey you're cutting off my air flow!" He complains and I finally loosen my grip to look him in the eyes.
"I'm sorry...I just miss you a lot, Leo. I didn't have any friends in Cosenza and even if I did nobody would get me like you do." I spoke softly. It took me a moment to pull away from him but when I did, he flashed a faint smile and placed a heavy hand on my head.
"I missed you too (y/n)."
"We get it he's the 'favorite' " Mista said placing air quotes around favorite. "Stop babying him he'll get worse."
"I'm not babying him Mista. Someone jealous because they don't have a nickname."
"N-No... I already know I'm the favorite anyway." He tsks and turns away with a faint blush from embarrassment.
_____
I hope babies lisp dont annoy anyone. It'll get better as she works with Fugo.
Also I opened a tumblr you can find me on IjenBlue. I'm mostly re-uploading Chase there but I'd appreciate it if y'all sent me some asks and requests ya dig. I wanna start writing imagines for y'all . I'll probably take them on Wattpad too and keep the two updated.
Arrivederci and Stan Diego Brando