Found Family

Chapter Five - Alonzo?

Recap: Luca gets lost at the mall

Luca POV

It was Kenny, one of Sir's "friends". He was at the house a lot, and he did bad things to me. He slowly got up off of the chair he was sitting on, and walked towards me slowly. I started walking backwards, before tripping on something and falling down. There were so many people around, I couldn't get back up.

My breathing picked up and tears stung my eyes as he made his way over to me. The sounds and lights seemed to amplify around me, and all I could hear was the pounding of my own heart.

Through my brain fog, a voice broke through. "Luc? What are you doing down there, buddy?" I felt myself being lifted off my feet, and now I couldn't resist the urge to cover my ears and squint my eyes shut. "Luca? What's up buddy? We thought we lost you for a sec, fratellino." (little brother) His voice felt like it was shredding my brain, and I winced.

"Luca? What's wrong?" Alessio's voice seemed a bit frantic now. "Too loud." I whispered. "Shit." I heard Alonzo said. "He's overstimulated. He's having a sensory overload." I felt myself transferred from one pair of arms to another, and I winced again as my shirt fabric scratched against my skin.

I kept my eyes shut tight and my hands over my ears as I felt us move through the mall. We entered a cool, dark room, but there were still a lot of voices. "Everyone, out!!" A loud voice boomed through the room, and I whimpered. Someone rubbed my head gently, shushing me. The voices gradually faded out.

I was set on the ground, and the lack of contact with my scratchy shirt made me sigh in relief. Someone's big, warm hands removed my small hands from my ears, instead placing their hands gently over my ears. Thumbs brushed my eyelids gently, forcing me to open my eyes.

We were in a dark room, which looked like a movie theater as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Alonzo—wait, Alonzo?—crouched in front of him, eyes soft. I hadn't ever seen him like this. What happened?

"Feeling better, struzzo (squirt)?" I nodded my head slowly, although the movement still itched at my skin. "It all got a bit crazy there, didn't it?" Who was this and what had they done to my mean, scary brother?  I nodded again. "Do you wanna tell me what happened? You seemed pretty spooked." That's when the image of Kenny came back to me. I had forgotten about that. My eyes widened and I shook my head rapidly. "Okay okay, it's okay buddy we don't have to." I relaxed a bit. "Do you wanna go home now?" He asked.

"Yes" I whispered in the dark, just wanting to go to bed. "Is it okay if I carry you? We need to go get your silly other brother before we go, and I would prefer you to stick with me." I nodded again, and he reached underneath my armpits and lifted me into his arms. I buried my face in his neck, worried about the noise, and he rubbed his hand softly on my back.

Alonzo POV

What the fuck am I doing? The thought dawns on me and I carry Luca out of the empty theater, and I stiffen imperceptibly. I'm not supposed to be getting close to him. It's just, when I saw him panicking on the mall floor, I knew exactly what it was. I developed a fairly serious anxiety disorder after Luca's disappearance, and so I get overstimulated every once in a while, and I can recognize the signs.

Mass put me through so many different doctors and therapists, but none of them really helped until Mass found Penny. Penny is an older lady, and she is really good at her job. She doesn't ask dumb questions, like how does that make you feel? Or why do you think you reacted that way? She just lets you work it out, and figure things out for yourself.

Anyway, I saw Luca and knew he was experiencing a sensory overload, so I just acted. However, this means that there may be more to him than we originally thought. People without mental disorders can get overstimulated, but it usually isn't that severe.