Beautiful Mistakes || Luca x Alberto <3

A Helping Hand/Intrusive Thoughts

"I can see his house up ahead!" Luca yelled while running ahead of them.

Following behind, Sofia asked, "So uh...is he cute?"

"Not as cute as me!" Al replied, speeding ahead of her.

"Hurry up, you clowns!" Giulia laughed as she looked at them, behind her.

The group froze still as a bike suddenly zoomed past them, almost hitting them.

Giulia gasped in shock, "What the...?"

"Rude, that guy almost hit us!" Sofia frowned, crossing her arms.

"Or maybe he was trying to hit us..." Alberto said in a cold tone. He looked ahead of them, to see who it was that almost crashed into them. He was hoping it wasn't who he was thinking of, until Luca murmured, "Oh great..."

Peddling back towards them, Ercole cackled, spitting at their feet. The four kids backed away, glaring daggers at him.

He hopped off his bike, letting it crash to the ground, and walked over to them. He snickered as he looked at them, "Ciao again, SPULIA. It's good to see your horrid faces again! So tell me, how have you and your little mutts been? Hm?"

Giulia groaned, but before she had a chance to say anything, Sofia got in Ercole's face. "Um, excuse me? Who do you think you are, calling us MUTTS? Who even ARE you?"

Ercole stepped back, holding his hands up in surrender. "Ooh! I see we have a new face here! How FUN! Ciao, the name's Ercole. The one and only Ercole. I'll admit, it's sad that you don't know who I am, EVERYONE here knows me! They adore me! And I bet you will, too!"

Sofia looked offended, "Oh, you're one of THOSE people. Well, ErColE, right now, I'm getting pretty annoyed by you. Not just by the way you're talking to us, but by your voice too, and that outfit- like honey, no. That won't do. I'd help you out, but I don't associate with people like you, fish-lips."

Giulia, Luca and Alberto burst out laughing, cheering her on. Ercole's face grew angry.

He stepped closer to Sofia, "Listen here, piccola ragazza (little girl). I had no trouble dealing with brats like you in the past- (he looks over at Luca and his friends)- I can guarantee you I would have no problem dealing with you too. I don't appreciate kids like you, running all over the place like you own everything here. YOU DON'T. I'M the one who owns this village, ME. I will not say that again, because I expect you to understand the first time. But I get it, you're new here. So, I'll let your behavior slide, for now. But next time, I won't be so easy on you. Just giving you a heads-up, that this won't be the last time we meet. You'll have to deal with me as long as you're staying here! And so will those little tramps behind you...that you call fRiEndS. Disgusting. Why them, of all people?"

After muttering that last part, Ercole backed away from them and got back on his bike. "See you soon..."

Once he peddled off, Giulia hugged Sofia. "Thank goodness you're ok. And hey, you did good, standing up to him! Honestly, I expected that from you, since you were always the protective one!"

Sofia smiled as her friends patted her back. "Aw, thanks, guys! No one messes with my besties!"

"Good job, Sofia!" said Luca.

"Yeah!" Alberto roared. "You show 'em, Sofie!"

"You guys would've done the same for each other, right?" Sofia asked the three.

They looked at her in surprise, and then at each other.

"Well of course!" Alberto scoffed. "I'm usually the one that stands up for these two, but I let you take the wheel, because honestly, I was impressed! You're definitely one of us!"