Te Adoro - Book 2 ✔️

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Sorry I've been gone a while! Been in school, nursing is showing no mercy and it's only been two days. But I'm here! Enjoy~

"You did what?" Alberto gazed at him in disbelief. His deep emerald eyes were still wide, his brows furrowed. The broken vase was long forgotten by him, yet Luca reached down to pick up what he could, placing them down beside the box of letters and dusted his hands off.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Luca, the sweetest, most polite being he's ever met, killed Ercole, the worst being he's ever met. What are the odds?

Although he knew he should be mad, afraid, anxious and all in between, he couldn't. Ercole got what he deserved. Even so...

"I-" Luca stared at the floor like it was the most interesting thing on the planet to him, avoiding Alberto's slowly hardening expression.

"You..killed someone", Alberto swallowed thickly, "For me."

"I blacked out!" Luca defended, his mind in a slight panic. Oh dio, he's really done it now. "I don't remember doing it or what happened after."

"This is insane," Alberto laughed dryly. "Who else knows you literally murdered someone under their noses? What does Giulia think about all this?"

Luca clamped his mouth shut. Staying silent.

Alberto pressed, "Well?"

"She's been..helping me through it all." He barely whispered, cradling himself now. "It's- it's been hard on me, you know. The mind has a way of playing tricks."

Alberto paused for a moment. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, but shook his head, "Luca, do you realize it's a crime right? And all this time no one caught on? The fuck were you thinking?" He softened his panicked tone after seeing Luca whince, "You didn't have to do all that."

"They think he was caught by a shark. I wasn't thinking. Something snapped in me and I just reacted. If I could take it back I would." He sighed, "I don't want things to change."

"I don't know what to think about this" Alberto raked a hand through his curls, "I'll go home. But you, me and Giulia are having a talk about this."

Luca nodded. It was good enough for him.

The other boy looked at the setting sun and sighed. He then looked around him, biting the inside of his bottom lip. Making up his mind on what he wanted to do, he nodded, "Lead the way"

Silently they went, walking with a few feet of distance between them, though Luca couldn't help but fidget.

The waves felt angrier than usual.

As if telling them this was a bad idea.

Luca remained silent beside Alberto, as if wanting for him to go into the blue depths first. He didn't even look at him, the nail of his index finger grazing the side of his thumb, fidgeting. What was that all about?

Suddenly his eyes snapped to him. Alberto couldn't make sense of his expression, even as he spoke he couldn't make sense of what he was thinking. "Well, adiamo. They'll be happy to see you alive and well."

"Wait." Alberto didn't look at him and instead looked at the grass below him.

"Yes?"

Alberto paused, opening his mouth and looked at him, only to clamp it shut. He looked skeptical, tired, and everything in between. His eyes flickered, biting his bottom lip for a mere second before looking back at him. He shook his head and offered a forced smile. "Nevermind. Let's go."

_________________

First thing Luca heard when they reached the shore of Portorosso was Giulia's voice.

Next came the tackle.

Luca held her by the legs weakly, exhausted yet relieved he didn't have to spend another moment in silence. The cold shoulder was killing him. He stepped back to regain the balance he nearly lost; her legs nearly tripped him when she went to wrap them around him.  He let out a weak laugh and patted her head. She weighed nearly anything.

Next was the Yelp of the older male.

Giulia gave him an earful once Luca set her down, pulling at his ear like a mother and weakly socked him in the gut. Obviously it wasn't to hurt him; the dried blood on his tank top was hard to ignore. Luca nearly jumped when Albertos eyes landed on him, though still cold, he could still make out his playful cry for help. He smirked at Giulia and moved.

"Okay hothead, leave him alone" Luca gently pulled her away by the shoulder, making her grumble. This went better than expected.

Until the silence hit them once more.

This was awkward. The tension was thick enough to be cut with a knife. Luca played with a ragged curl before raking his hand through his hair. This received a look from Giulia: she knew the gestures he made when he was stressed.

Luckily, before Hiulia could say anything, Alberto cleared his throat, taking a step, "I'm going to go say hi to Signor Marcovaldo. After I need a word with you guys."

Giulia looked at Luca as he left, who pursed his lips and lowered his voice, "I told him about Ercole"

"Santa Mozzarella. This isn't gonna end well." She raked a hand through her hair, beanie nowhere in sight, which was new. Luca shook his head. Worry about the details later.

"You're telling me." Luca replied dryly.

"Well- worst case scenario is he leaves- again" Giulia whispered.

They were struck frozen when Alberto turned sharply at them. "I can't hear you guys, you know." He turned back around with a sigh, "I'm not going to leave. Not when I just got here. I'm tired, cold and hungry." Luca noticed the slight curl of his lips, "Better feed me, Giulia."

Giulia scoffed and crossed her arms, "Papa made dinner." She deadpanned, then glanced at Luca.

Alberto was ignoring him. That or just plain avoiding socializing with him. He couldn't help but feel hurt, then again, he couldn't blame him.

They followed Alberto to their home, holding their breath as they burned a hole in the back of Alberto's head with their eyes. They had a bad feeling about this.