The Summer of Amalfi - A Love Story

Chapter One

The Summer of Amalfi - A Love Story

Monday, 18th June of 1988

We started with Louis - he lived in the Western part of Italy in the countryside of Amalfi. His parents and his sister lived with him at home. He was this tall boy, brown, curly hair covering his head, light brown and he had Mediterranean skin. Louis was known for being a handsome, intelligent, emotional person who would always stick to the rules.

On the other side of the country in Rome, there was Matisse, a blonde-haired, strong boy. He was coming to Amalfi over the summer, to meet his distant family.

After they met every single day, they started building up a bond like never before.

One day, Louis was reading an ancient love story about Aphrodite and her lovers and he seemingly finished it in no time. Louis came up with the idea of going to the village, looking around in the bookstore to find the second part of the story and Matisse accompanied him.

Louis was told to be back at his two-story house before dusk. The two boys laughed and had quite a lot of fun. When the sun set in the West, right behind the mountains, Louis and Matisse were still talking on their wide veranda, late into the night. It got colder and Louis started shivering. None of them wanted to leave this happy place. It was very dark outside and they began talking about more vulnerable topics. Louis opened up to Matisse and told him about what he was feeling, actually since he was a kid. The brown-headed boy always felt like he had some kind of special thing to him and that he wouldn't fit in - some perception no one else understood. Louis was gifted - and he knew. He has always been an intelligent and intellectual person, but never knew how to handle social life - that's why he didn't know how to approach having Matisse now in his life. The other boy was inspired and could emphasize what Louis must have felt.

Matisse now on the other hand is a very empathetic person and knew how to comfort people. They were very different individuals, but still so similar and exceptionally understandable to the other person.
A new day has started, as the sun rose in the east. Louis and Matisse were not tired at all, they felt like they could keep talking for the rest of their lives, but unfortunately, they didn't have time - and never would.

It got quieter and they turned themselves to one another - Louis watching Matisse's eyes move. Matisse came closer - slowly. The brown-headed boy took on his indication, stepped forward, moved his whole body towards him, millimetres away from his face, switching with his view between his eyes and his lips. Finally kissing him passionately. It wasn't perfect, but both of them enjoyed it, just like they started another life.

Louis and Matisse didn't know what they should feel for each other because of what had just taken place. For the rest of the day, both of them couldn't think of anything else.

Louis' mum, Léa stepped out of the wide, glass window, carrying a small cup of tea, herself covered in bedsheets, looking out onto the wide field of Italy's beautiful countryside. She noticed the boys sitting on the outside furniture. The mother smiled, winked with her dark eyelashes and left after she recognized they would rather be on their own.

The next few days the boys went to the store again and it felt like the happiest time they ever had.

The boys took their bikes again and went out into the night. It was an old, bumpy street they were driving on - cycling with no end in sight. The sun set again, giving the sky a reddish colour. Soon after, the moon rose.

Louis looked around, seeing field and field and more field. But - where are we - the two thought. The guys got lost, late at night, with no way to contact their parents or anyone else and Louis started panicking. Matisse told him "Everything will be fine, believe me!"

It was late at night and both of them were a bit scared by the fact, they might not come back home tonight. After some time the feeling got loosened and everybody got comfortable again. The moon was up high and Matisse decided to stop - have a break after that rollercoaster of feelings. Although they didn't even know, the rollercoaster hasn't even reached the top yet.

Matisse looked into Louis' deep eyes again and saw the moonlight reflecting. Louis saw the affection Matisse represented in the way he acted, moved and looked. Spontaneously, the young boy started crying somehow, standing there on his own, head down, facing the hardly textured ground. He just faced the truth - there was only one day left and most of the summer had passed. But... It felt like it was yesterday since Matisse came to Amalfi. Matisse went up to him, moving his head up gently, watching the details in Louis' iris, his light red lips, his nicely formed chin, memorizing his entire face from top to bottom and left to right. "Everything will be fine, believe me", Matisse whispered quietly.

They both kissed with overwhelming emotion. Matisse hugged Louis and it felt like forever - and also like nothing. Louis looked up from Matisse's chest, faded his view across the wide field.

The next day, they both woke up, resting on another in the middle of a wide, green meadow. At first, none of them realized, they even fell asleep. The young men followed the long, gravel road to drive back home.

When Louis opened the front door, he tried to be as quiet as possible. His mum stood up from the sofa, looking at him angrily. "Matisse, would you please leave for a moment, sweetie?", she said. "Louis, stay here. We have to talk! Why would you be out so late? What were you even doing? But... You didn't... You know... Do stuff, right?" He had his head down and wouldn't start speaking. She stared at him, as disappointed as someone could probably be. "But mum, I didn't do anything wrong! Why can't I have the same thing AS LIKE EVERYONE ELSE?"Louis started shouting. "But you know, that CERTAINLY is not normal. You can't just have some guy you love AND ESPECIALLY NOT IF HE IS RELATED, that's just disgusting!" "Louis looked her in the eyes like he had just lost any emotion for her. "NO MOTHER, YOU'RE WRONG! DO YOU THINK, I'LL JUST ACCEPT THAT? Never... NEVER in my entire life will I change who I love - FOR YOU!" he screamed and slammed the door behind him.
Louis and Matisse had to stay separated for the entire day, never leaving their rooms until the evening, when it was time to say goodbye. On their way to the airport, nobody talked at all and Léa ignored her son. Matisse checked in, Louis and his parents followed him to the furthest possible destination when it was finally the end for the both of them. Matisse directly fell into the arms of his love and kissed him a few times. Louis handed Matisse a ring of his grandparents and Matisse told him he was gonna wear it every single day of his following life. Léa said goodbye, the same as Louis' dad did. Louis whispered to him: " You know - Everything will be fine, sweetie! Believe me!"

Louis' love is gone. They knew something changed. What was it? Will we ever know? All we can say, they're different. Different people, with different experiences and different stories to tell. And none of them will ever forget what happened this summer.

TO BE CONTINUED