"What Happened Under the Table," Luca x Alberto (Luberto) Oneshot Fluff

An Awkward Hideout

Amidst the celebration, Giulia's cat Machiavelli pounced onto Luca's face and started scratching and biting him. "MACHIAVELLI," Giulia scolded the cat and Alberto jumped on his feet to help Luca but was also scratched. With one hand, Massimo grabbed the cat, which immediately retracted its claws, and set him to the side. Giulia walked the boys down the stairs to the patio and apologized for her pet's behavior. "It's fine," Luca said with a painful smile across his messy face. "We're gonna head back to-" he realized there wasn't anywhere for them to go and looked back at Alberto who gave him a soft shrug. Giulia noticed his tone and remembered they were runaways, "oh, do you guys need a place to stay," she said leading the boys' focus to a large tree.
The boys climbed up the wooden planks nailed to the tree and onto a wood platform. "OH! Stay right there! I'll be right back" Giulia said running back into her house to get pillows for the boys. Her footsteps got quieter and Alberto's heart started beating loudly. Now Luca and Alberto were alone again. He wanted to say something, they both did, but neither knew how to start talking. Luca tucked his feet under him and started tracing the outlines of his knees.
Alberto, who was usually opened up, had his legs crossed under him and curled forward a bit. Luca eyed him but turned away when Alberto stared back. "Luca-" Alberto began to talk but was interrupted by a flickering sound above them. The little bulbs framing the trees lit up a warm yellow light. Both of their nerves were eased and Alberto leaned back to look at them. Giulia's wooden sandals clanked back down the stairs and popped out the dark hallway with two striped pillows. She tossed one pillow up after another, "catch," Giulia said to the boys. Alberto caught the pillows and set them behind him while Giulia made her way up the planks, his eyes were still shifting around the tree. Giulia pulled herself up and noticed her schoolbooks in a pile, "oops! Sorry," she collected the books in her hands, "this is my...." she was unsure of what to call it, "your hideout," Alberto finished. That was it, this was her special hideout, she hadn't ever thought of a name for it. "Huh, yeah. My hideout," she said with a smile. She wished the boys goodnight and turned off the lights after slipping into her room.

"Whew. That was close," Luca sighed to Alberto. "I know, like how big was that dad human," Alberto replied while handing Luca a pillow, "that guy kills thing FOR SURE," he said while punching the fluff of his pillow. Luca set his pillow down and recalled the dinner, "I thought we were gonna die like a hundred times," he said as he curled in his body towards Alberto. Alberto patted Luca and reassured him, "Hey, relax. We're incredible at this humaning thing," he told Luca. This made him feel better. Luca always felt protected around Alberto and it gave him the confidence to try new things, "yeah. You're right," Luca said. He remembered all the amazing things that happened that day. "Hey! Did you see me on the bike," Luca excitedly reminded Alberto who was proud of him. "Guilia said 'look up,'" Alberto's smile faded, "and then all the sudden I was riding it," Luca boasted. "Yeah yeah, our Vespa's gonna be even better than a bike, because the moment we get it, we're outta here," Alberto reminded Luca of their plan. Luca thought about how amazing it would be and let out a soft sigh, "I can't wait," he said contently.

Luca's mind drifted to all the amazing adventures he would have with Alberto on their Vespa, and all the exciting places they would see together. The image of Alberto's face so close to his shifted into his mind. He tried to think of something else. Now it was Alberto's close face AND his hand on Luca's thigh that filled his thoughts. Luca couldn't shake off what happened under the table, he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, just like the night of meeting Alberto on the surface for the first time. Luca knew he had to say something.

"Alberto," Luca said turning his head towards him, "you wanted to say something earlier?" Alberto stared at him with a relaxed smile, hiding the strange feeling that tingled his cheeks. "Was it about what happened earlier...under the table," Luca asked anxiously. "Yeah," Alberto replied quietly. Luca began to panic and started apologizing "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to grab you like that I was wor-" Alberto cut him off, "Luca." Alberto sat up, his body still facing towards the sea. "It's fine," Alberto said firmly. This worried Luca more and made him sit up too, he leaned over to glimpse at Alberto's face, which was neutral. Luca played with his fingers close to his chest and waited for Alberto to talk again. Alberto let out a sigh and continued, "Luca. What happened under the table, made me feel weird." Luca's heart sank a bit, "oh..." he muttered. Luca pulled himself closer. "Sorry..." he said starting to lay down again in a curled position, he felt ashamed of his feelings and thoughts of Alberto. However, Alberto grabbed one of Luca's hands and pull him back upright. Alberto's weight shifted to the right side of his body when he pulled Luca towards him. He was still holding onto Luca's hand, running his thumb over the backside of it, signaling to Luca his fondness. Luca's eyes widened, and Alberto's eyes glowed with the backlit moon, reminiscent of the scene earlier. Alberto retraced the soft lines of Luca's face with his eyes like he did under the table and said, "Luca, I think I like you." The words flowed through Luca's mind and his hand instinctively placed itself on Alberto's shoulder. "I like you, too," Luca said, "and...under the table... I mean... When you fell on top of me..." Alberto crawled a bit closer, their faces were just as close as they were earlier. "Can we," Alberto asked even though he did finish his sentence, Luca knew what he meant. Luca nodded with a sweet smile and leaned forward. Alberto met him with a small and quick kiss on the lips, like a chicken peck. Alberto grinned with widened eyes and chuckled at Luca who was giggling and rubbing his fists together in excitement. They held hands and admired each other for a moment before laying back down and said "goodnight."

[The next morning]