My Italian Nightmare

Chapter 32: Dinner Date

"It's so sad that we have to fly back tomorrow", Hanna uttered as we were on our way back to L.A. Teo and I were sitting opposite each other, moving our heads to a Led Zeppelin song while he was wearing one of Val's big glasses he had stolen from her on the beach. I turned to Hanna and the smile vanished from my face.
"I totally forgot about that." I turned down the music a bit and sighed audibly.
"You're leaving tomorrow?", Val asked and looked from me to Hanna.
"Yeah", I said and leaned back into my seat.
"But we really wanted to invite you to our private gig tomorrow night!", Teo exclaimed and I looked at him wide-eyed.
"Really?", I asked and Teo nodded.
"Yes, we are playing a private concert, like a hundred people in the audience...Tickets were only given out through...how do you say, lottery?"
"Yes, exactly", Val confirmed.
"But...", Edoardo started and tucked his hair behind his ears, "can you not re-book your flights?"
"I don't know...", I hesitated and looked at Hanna. "The university booked and paid for our flights. I don't know if I am allowed to rebook them. I can definitely not pay for new tickets myself."
"And my dad's company paid for mine", Hanna added. "I could ask him if it was possible to rebook it, but–", she shrugged.
"You know we could new book flights for you", Edoardo stated and I turned to him.
"Listen, that's a very sweet offer, really, but–"
"Oh come on Ari", Val interrupted and smiled at me, her eyes shining excitedly, "you know it's no problem for us. Just ask your Uni if it's fine and spend another day here!"
"It would be so cool to see you at our concert", Teo added and nodded empathetically. I stayed silent for a couple seconds. I was very torn, because obviously I did want to stay longer in L.A; I would love to attend a small gig by my favorite band, and I was honored to have been invited by Val and Teo. But...
"What about Angelo?", I asked and looked at Val, Teo and Edoardo in a serious manner. "You know he wouldn't be very content to see me there." Val rolled her eyes and Teo sighed, taking the glasses of his face.
"Angelo is a big boy, Ari, you have to stop worrying about him!", Val said, while Teo looked a little unsure, although I could see in his face that he agreed with Val. "You have to stop letting him dictate your life", Hanna added and Val nodded.
"But...", I started again, now turning to Edoardo, "have you not said to me that you think it's a good idea if Angelo doesn't see me for a while?" Val made an indignant noise and pushed against Edoardo's arm.
"I just want to protect Ari", Edoardo uttered calmly and raised his eyebrows at Val. She snorted and rolled her eyes.
"You just want to play white knight in shining armor, Angelo is not a threat for Ari. He is just a dramatic bitch with an insulted ego."
"Lovely, how you speak of our friend and band mate", Edoardo countered and Teo grinned a bit.
"Ah come on", Val said, "you know I love the fucker just as much as you do. But that doesn't mean I have to justify his weird love-sick actions."
"Love-sick?", I asked and raised my brows.
"Ah that's just uh, about Italian men chasing after girls – uh people, they can't have. All with that stupid pride and ego–"
"Ah Val, don't do us so dirty", Teo interrupted and laughed, while punching her in the shoulder.
"Then don't do shit like that", Val replied, but she grinned nonetheless. "Whatever", she continued and looked at both me and Edoardo. "Please come to our gig. Angelo will get over it." I was still hesitating, but deep down I agreed with Valentina. I couldn't hide away from him, not when I was getting more and more close with the rest of the band. I did not want to hurt him, and I did not want to be the reason for his turmoil. But it was him who had to manage his pride, after all it was him who'd hurt me, not the other way around.
"Fine", I said defeated and slouched into my seat. I looked at Val and mouthed "men", while rolling my eyes. She grinned and mouthed back "Thank god I'm gay." I gave her two thumbs up and she started to giggle, while Teo and Edoardo both looked at us confused. That made Val and me giggle even more, and we couldn't stop until the car parked outside the Roosevelt Hotel.