the cut that always bleeds

genuine

June 10th.
Alberto sat still on the shoreline, his entire body felt as though it was on fire. Why? Because Luca was there, sitting next to him, with his head resting on Alberto's shoulder. Water rose and fell against the shore, the sound of the waves crashing filling the space. Normally the sound would calm Alberto, remind him of his home below the surface, but not now. Not with him sitting beside Alberto. The air was heavy, humidity felt suffocating. The sun had only begun to set. They had only been in each other's company for about 5 hours, and their summer had just started.
Between letters and phone calls, Alberto had already heard plenty about Luca's time at school. There wasn't very much catching up that they had to do, instead, they took the time to take in each other's presence.
Alberto had made note of Luca's changing appearance, his longer hair, sharper jawline, wide shoulders. His voice had dropped, and he carried himself with a new-found confidence. He was handsome. At least, Alberto thought so. Alberto changed physically about 2 years prior, he had a small amount of facial hair, only on his chin. He had upper body strength, working with Massimo had allowed him to grow in size. His amount of freckles had increased, being out in the sun had caused more spots to appear on his skin. Ever since Luca had mentioned how his skin looked like the night sky, he had grown to love the spots. Especially when Luca would use his finger to connect some of them, stating he was making constellations.
Luca turned and met Alberto's gaze, and Alberto turned his head away quickly. Luca smiled.
"What?"
Alberto brushed it off.
"Nothing, you've just changed a lot."
Luca looked down at himself, breaking the contact between them.
"Have I? I think I look the same."
Alberto snickered.
"You've definitely changed."
Alberto watched as Luca lifted his arms up to the sky, making a strained noise as he stretched himself out. He collapsed backwards, letting out a small noise as he hit the sand, and before Alberto could say a word, he was tugged and fell alongside Luca.
"Could've warned me." Alberto smiled, playfully hitting Luca's arm. Luca laughed, his eyes closed, nose scrunched up.
Alberto's eyes locked onto Luca's expression, and he felt the heat in his face grow overwhelmingly fast.
Music from the town had reached them, someone outside must've been playing a song.

'I found my love in Portofino-'

Alberto's eyes shone with admiration, and he was completely and utterly stunned. Luca caught onto the song, and grinned.
"Hey! I know this song! It was played at a party I was at in Genova."
Alberto turned his body towards Luca, hoisting his upper body up with his arm, and he rested his head on his hand.
"A party, huh? Luca Paguro went to a party?"
Luca rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Alberto. Giulia dragged me along, and...it was kinda fun. We danced, and I met some cool people! Some kids had drinks."
Luca caught sight of the shocked look on Alberto's face.
"I didn't drink! I don't- that's not really my scene."
Alberto chuckled at Luca's startled response.
"I know, I know. I'm messing with you."
"You know, something did happen at the party though."
Alberto leaned closer.
"Oh? Did Giulia finally punch that one kid she's been threatening all semester?"
Luca laughed.
"Andrea? No, I don't think she ever will. No, we played a game."
Alberto's face changed to one of complete confusion, one eyebrow hitched higher.
"A game?"
Luca nodded, and took his finger to outline a bottle in the sand.
"See, you take a bottle, and you sit in a circle with a bunch of people, and you spin it. The two people it lands on have to kiss."
Alberto's eyes went from the bottle, to Luca, fast.
"You KISSED someone?"
Luca looked off somewhere in the distance.
"Yeah, I did. It wasn't genuine, obviously. It was weird, honestly."
Alberto swallowed hard.
"So that was your first kiss?"
Luca grimaced.
"Yeah, I guess. Kinda sucky if you ask me. Wish I had a redo, ya know? Something real, genuine." He laughed.
Alberto didn't think, he only spoke.

"I could be real. Genuine."

Luca's head snapped back towards Alberto, shocked to find Alberto already staring at him. Their eyes locked, and for a moment, just a moment, Luca watched Alberto's inhales and exhales. The constellations on Alberto's skin seemed far more inviting than ever before, he wanted to reach and connect them once again. The tide crashed onto the shore, and in that moment, there was nothing but him, and the look Alberto was giving him. He felt fire in his throat.
Luca smiled, awkward, his eyebrows downturned.

"Funny joke, Alberto."

Alberto blinked a couple of times, realizing that was in fact, not dreaming. He coughed, trying to laugh it off. But seeing the way Luca tensed up, it was impossible.
"Hey, have you seen your family yet? They've been talking my ear off, telling me to make sure you visit them when you arrive."
"Oh, I actually haven't." Luca looked up. "Oh man...and it's dark. They're gonna kill me."
Alberto sat up, and placed his hand on Luca's shoulder.
"Well you better go before they get more upset, they'll take it out on me ya know." He grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Luca nodded, and he let himself relax.
"Yeah, tomorrow."
Alberto watched as Luca went into the water, and for a moment, he was captivated by the bright scales that appeared under the water. Once Luca was out of view, he instantly placed his hands over his face, grimacing.
"Smooth one, Alberto. Real smooth." He mumbled to himself before turning and making his way to Massimo's.