Stars Uncrossed (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 22

Trigger Warning: Murder and references to a child grooming/sexual abuse situation.

"Bienvenue chez vous, et bonne route." (Welcome home and have a safe journey.) The Canadian border patrol officer smiled as he handed Luca his passport back through his car window.

"Merci." Luca nodded politely to the uniformed officer as he drove off through the border checkpoint and well into Canada.

    Luca always felt like America was home, he was a New Yorker born and bred, but being the child of a Canadian mother made Canada his home too. Whenever he'd cross the border into Canada he always felt like this was his home too. He continued onto Autoroute 15 towards Montréal and  it wasn't long before he was parked in his grandparent's driveway.

"Yeia sou, Loukaki mou!" (Hello my little Luca!) His Yiayia cried out from the front porch, with a wide welcoming smile as she ran up to her little grandson and threw her arms around him. "Ti kaneis?!" (How are you?!)

"Mia xara, Yiayia, kai esy?" (I'm fine, Grandma. And you?) Luca smiled brightly at his grandmother as she stroked his dark wavy hair, pushing it out of his face.

"Poli kala eimai, moro mou. Ela ela, theleis na fas kati?" (I'm doing very well, baby! Come, come! Do you want something to eat?)  Yiayia said excitedly as Luca nodded, starving from his six hour journey. He knew regardless of what his response was, his Yiayia was going to feed him something anyway; that was inevitable.

    As Luca walked into the kitchen he saw a whole bunch of familiar faces, all his mother's siblings and cousins were in there and spilling into living room and the dining room. There must have been at least forty people there, all being loud, loving, and just overall having a good time. Just your average loud, proud, Greek/Italian family.

    The whole room turned their attentions to Luca as they all crowded around him, kissing him on the cheek, telling him how tall and handsome he had grown and how he needed to eat because he's too skinny. It was basically like his family back home in Crenshaw, just add some Greek into the mix.

"Pappou!" Luca spotted his grandfather in the distance before running up and hugging the older man.

"Sei arrivato, cucciolo mio!" (You've arrived, my puppy!) His Pappou said with a wide smile as he kissed his grandson tenderly on the head. He always had a soft corner for little Luca. When Luca came out as gay, it broke his heart. Not because he was disappointed, but because he knew that Luca's life would be more difficult because of it.

He wanted his little cucciolo to have the happiest life, and he knew that being gay he'd face bigotry, hatred and judgement. At first Luca was upset that his Pappou seemed to be unaccepting, but eventually he understood where the older man was coming from.

"Loukaki mou! Ela! Fae kati." (My Little Luca! Come! Eat something!) His Yiayia smiled as she brought over a large plate filled with home-made spanakopita, souvlakia, and moussaka. "Eat! You look too skinny."

"Mangia, Mangia! Eri affamato, vero?" (Eat eat! You were hungry, weren't you?) His Pappou chuckled as Luca began to eat all the food at an alarmingly fast rate. Luca nodded but noted a strange distance in his grandfather, he looked as if there was something he wished to say, but was holding in.

"Va tutto bene, Pappou?" (Everything alright, grandpa?) Luca asked him with a concerned glance.

"Sì, sì. Cucciolo mio, (Yes, yes, my puppy.) It's nothing to concern you with." Pappou said with a smile, but Luca could tell the older man wasn't telling him something