Can I Hold You Now? ~Luberto~

~6~

🚨Gore warning🚨

~

"Sea monster!" Luca shouted, pointing at Alberto.

"Luca?" Alberto stumbled forward, his heart torn open. He reached his arms out toward Luca.

"Stay back!" Giulia shouted, pointing a stick at him, fear in her eyes.

Alberto stumbled backward, maintaining eye contact with Luca. He began to crouch down and swim away when, suddenly, a harpoon burst through his chest, dark red clouding the water around him. Alberto fell forward, then everything went dark.

"Alberto! Wake up!" Luca shoved Alberto awake, then interlocked one of his hands with Alberto's, "it was just a dream,"

"W-what?" Alberto looked at his hands.

"I'm still here, love," Luca leaned into Alberto and wrapped his arms around Alberto's torso.

Alberto loved what was happening, but something felt off. Luca looked a few years older than the Luca Alberto knew and remembered. Alberto himself also felt older.

"Love? Are you alright?" Luca looked into Alberto's eyes, cupping Alberto's cheek in his hand.

"Is this real?" Alberto asked, grabbing both of Luca's wrists.

Luca stared at him with a crooked smile, "Mrow?"

"What-?" Alberto opened his eyes. Now he was for sure in the real world, with Paguro digging his claws into his feet. Alberto picked Paguro up and stared him in the eyes, "Don't do that to me again! I was having a good dream!"

Paguro blinked slowly and licked his nose. Then mowed again and tried to attack Alberto's hands.

"Okay, I'll let it slide this time, but I won't be so merciful if you do it again," Alberto joked as he changed into his fishing clothes.

"Figlio," Massimo walked in, "no fishing today, the sea is frozen over,"

"What?" Alberto asked, then walked over to his window and peeked outside. Sure enough, the pier was covered in ice, "how does that happen?"

"I'm not sure," Massimo replied, "but it happens every year for a month or so,"

"A month?" Alberto asked, half excited to have no work to do, and half disappointed he would be bored all day.

"Yes. Now you can sleep in if you'd like, figlio," Massimo suggested calmly.

"Wow, I think I will do that!" Alberto jumped back into bed, excited for his dream to continue. His dreams had never continued before, but he hoped it would today.

Paguro jumped up onto Alberto's bed and curled up beside his head, meowing repeatedly.

Alberto closed his eyes, welcoming the familiar feeling of sleep.

"Alberto! Come here, dear!" A familiar voice called.

Alberto was standing in a grassy field, the silhouette of a woman a few meters away from him. Alberto jumped toward her. He had no idea who she was, but he felt safe near her.

She took his hand, leading him towards the sea. Alberto smiled up at her, skipping beside her. The woman had brown hair and green eyes, with a beautiful woven, green dress on.

The woman took Alberto to the water, and she became a sea monster, too, with bright blue scales and green fins.

~

Oof! Super short chapter today!

I'll try my hardest to write a longer one tomorrow, but we have company coming over and that may take a while to prepare for.