Letters to Italy

43. home

One week later

This was the moment I waited for, for three years! "I see you're ready to go,' Liene said. I turned around to see my sad sister standing in the door frame. "I'll never be completely ready!" I said. "There will always be the feeling I forgot something. In this case, someone. I'm gonna miss you Liene!" She ran toward me to give me a long hug. We stand there for over five minutes, embracing each other. It was hard to leave her behind. I was gonna miss her enthusiasm, her happiness, her energy. There was no one alive who could replace her. So of course I was going to visit my family in Belgium a lot. Or they could come to Italy too.

"I think it's time," she said. I was standing in my bedroom. My old bedroom. The last room I had to see before I 'said goodbye' to every little corner of the house. I was gonna miss it. And the village too. "Bye," I whispered to my room. And then I took the last suitcase down the stairs. My mom had tears in her eyes. "No, don't cry! That makes me wanna cry too!" I said with the tears ready in my eyecorners to stream down my face. "Group hug", I said and we all came close to give the last real hug with all four of us. Only Jonas was missing. But soon I would see him a lot again because he and Carlotta moved closer to the place where I was going to live, with Gianluca. Abruzzo of course.

After a long and emotional trip to the airport of Brussels, I took all the luggage out of the car. I hoped I didn't forget a thing, especially a very important thing. But then my parents would send it to Italy for sure. Or they could bring it when they visited me. "Goodbye my sweetheart, have lots of fun there, in Italy!" my mom said while hugging me and giving me some kisses. That was the moment the tears really came. It was so hard. There was never really a solution that good that I was happy for a hundred percent. But it was the right one, for sure. Although the sadness of leaving my family and hometown behind made me hesitate a bit. Was it really the right solution? But then my dad confirmed it was the best I could do. And if my parents were saying it, it sure was the right solution. "You're doing the right thing! You deserve it to go to that beautiful country. But especially to your wonderful boyfriend. And Gianluca deserves you! He's such a good guy. So I know I can trust him to take care of you in Italy."

"Thanks dad! Thanks!" I cried while giving him a long hug too. The last one.

a few hours later

Gianluca's POV

As soon as I saw her I ran toward her and lifted her in the air. She looked like an angel.  I had a lot of happy days, but none of them were as good as this day. "I love you!" was the first thing she said. "I love you more!"

"I can't believe this is really happening!" she said, crying a bit. I wiped her tears away. "If you want to go back already, I'll understand!" I said. "What? No way!" she laughed and cried at the same time. "Are you crazy! I just arrived. I never want to go back if it's not with you!"

"I just want you to know I would understand if you missed your real home and your parents and Liene." I knew she was missing them already. Or at least the realization of never seeing them as much as she did the previous 23 years made her feel sad. "My real home is where you are," she said smiling to me. "Come on! Let's go!" It seemed like she really wanted to leave the airport, because for me too, it made me sad because of the previous times of saying her goodbye again at the airport. That were difficult times. But now it wasn't going to happen anymore. Or not a lot, let's hope.

Aline's POV

His apartment was wonderful. Not really that big, what you would expect when visiting a superstar, but I immediately felt at home. It was very stylish and it felt kinda 'Italian'. "Is it okay?" Gianluca asked careful, like he doubted wether I was going to like it or not. "It's more than okay! Really! I love it almost as much as I love you!" I said. If I said that last sentence, it really was good. Because I liked nothing or no one more than him, so it was a big compliment for his apartment. I giggled. "What?" he said, not really sure why I was laughing. "I just can't believe I'm really here. And I'm gonna stay forever! That makes me so happy."

"I can't believe it either. It feels like a dream to me. You're like a dream! And I never wanna wake up!"

Together we unpacked my luggage. He tried to make me feel at home as much as possible. He really didn't want me to feel not at home. He even wanted to move all of his clothes to make room for mine. But I said that was not necessary. "I just lay them down here and we'll find a solution for it later." Then I took the last box out of my last suitcase. "What's that?" he asked curious while sitting down next to me on the bed. "Something very special!" And I handed the box to him. He looked at me to ask permission to open the box. When he did, he looked so happy and surprised, just like a child while opening a present. "You still have them too! All of them?!" he whispered amazed. "Of course I do!"

Gianluca took the letters out of the box and started reading the very first letter he ever wrote me. I laid my head resting on his shoulder while he read the letter very calm. His warm voice reading every word so beautifully, like it was a song.

"...I can't wait to see you!

kisses,

Gianluca Ginoble (from Il Volo)

Oh, and just one more thing, I'm so sorry for ignoring you and acting weird before! I wasn't myself, I was overwhelmed by your beauty! And it was certainly not because I didn't like you of course!

kisses again,

Gianluca"

He turned his head to me to give me a kiss on my hair. "Ti amo" I whispered and so we sat for a long time next to each other. Just enjoying finally being with each other.