Brooklyn:
After being forced to spend one summer in Italy with her grandma, Brooklyn always found her way back to the cobblestone streets but not for the feeling of a summer never ending, but for Valentino, a boy who radiates trouble and sees throu...
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POV: Brooklyn "His face. His smile. His eyes. His voice. Him." Summer #3
"Nothing is as beautiful as the countryside of Italy."
"Nothing is as beautiful as you."
The memories of what was cloud my mind and burn my eyes as I try not to give in to the tears threatening to slip. This place, our place, holds too many memories for me to just forget. Coming back here is like reliving each one of them, and it's hell. It makes me wonder if Valentino feels the same way every time he comes here.
Does our past haunt him the way it haunts me?
It's selfish, but I hope it does. I pray every time Val sees the flowers he used to put in my hair, it will cause his chest to hurt just like mine, or when he sees a couple down the street, he thinks how it could have easily been us.
I want him to feel the way I do.
Feel the pain and loneliness. I feel at night wondering if he will forget us and the future we planned in a matter of weeks or months while I'm being haunted for years. It consumes me every hour from the inside out, starting with my broken heart and ending with my tired feet.
I need it to stop, but I know Valentino's mom needs help more. He should be there for her. Mrs. Morelli has done more for me than either of my parents had, and if I must drag Val by his mom's side, I will do it.
Even though the anticipation is eating at me more and more the closer the driver gets.
It's ten more agonizing minutes before he arrives in the countryside of northern Italy and drops me off towards the place where my dearest memories are captured like an ice castle.
"Tell me."
"Tell you what?"
"Everything. Your dreams and fears The things that keep you up at night Favorite ice cream flavor. I want to know everything."
I told you everything, so why couldn't you tell me the truth? The thought brushes the back of my mind like the million others circling my head. It's so bad that there are times when I lazily paint while my mind carries me to a different place. I've lost all focus these past months, and if the bags under my eyes aren't any indication, then I don't know what else is.
While time passes, I'm frozen in a different era in my head.
Prom. I can't even remember the name of my date.
College application. I forgot which colleges I applied to unless my parents brought them up at dinner.
Graduation. I swear that day never happened, even though there were pictures showing I was there, but I wasn't there. Anyone with eyes could see that my smile was strained, and my eyes were distracted, looking for him in a crowd of hundreds of people.
He wasn't there, and I was a fool to believe that he could keep a promise we made so long ago. Valentino probably didn't remember, or more likely didn't care.
The walk to our old spot was long, but familiar none the less. Most people would have missed it with a big green bush blocking the entryway, but something twisted found a way to get two teenage kids in the same place at the same time.
Sometimes I wish that the younger me was not so curious and walked the other way, taking the other path that life had to offer. Cut off the friendship and the inevitable heartbreak that was coming.
Things would be easier for everyone.
When I spot the familiar widow tree, goosebumps run up my arm and the hairs start to stand on my back of my neck, heightening my awareness by 10x. He was here. I could tell from the way my heart pounded in my chest in a way that would alter a doctor's relaxed demeanor.
Five more steps
Five more deep breaths
Five more regrets
My breath hitched once I caught the sight of Valentino looking up at the sky while absentmindedly twisting a pocketknife in his hands. The sunlight gives everything an unearthly shine, casting a shine on Val's tan skin. He knows I'm here; I can tell from the way his shoulders tense and how the knife's motions slow. Valentino acts like he doesn't notice anyway.
"Your mom needs you."
Nothing.
"She sent me here, and I won't leave without you, whether you like it or not."
Still nothing.
"I hate you."
This gets Valentino to stop bathing in the sun; he pauses for a few seconds before his shoulders start to shake dramatically. I thought he was crying for a second or maybe having a seizure before I heard the bloom of his laughter.
Dark and mocking.
My cheeks rivaled a tomato, and anger started to course through my veins as I saw the obvious disrespect Valentino was showing. This must be one of the most embarrassing things I've ever done. I try to imagine myself from Val's point of view and only see a girl who pathetically ran back to her ex-boyfriend just to say how much she hated him.
No wonder he was laughing; I'm really a big fat stupid joke, and here I am thinking I was different from before.
I still crawl back to people who could care less about me.
I still look for love in people whose hearts are full of bitterness.
I still care after everything.
A laugh erupts out of me too, big and loud. Even when I try to stop it, the laugh continues to flow through me, taking the stress of the past few months with it. I can't remember if I really laughed. Sure, I coughed out a fake one when it was appropriate, but it was never like this.
This one was real.
Eventually, the laugh subsides, but when it does, my stomach hurts from the clutching and my cheeks ache from the smiling. It was only then that I realized my face was wet with tears. I've been crying and laughing like a psychopath.
The rest of my sanity has disappeared, along with Valentino's own laughter. When I look back up at him, Val's calculating eyes search mine in confusion, looking for the pathetic girl from moments ago. The mood changes were sudden, but hey, maybe I was wrong after all.
Maybe I'm not that weak anymore.
Valentino's eyes are still on mine as I walk towards him, sitting a few feet away for both of our sakes. On the outside, I'm indifferent, but on the inside, all I think about are the galaxies in Val's eyes. The way the stars map out stories of different times makes me think of how our story. ____________________________________ A/N: younger Brooklyn and Valentino>>>>
