Chapter Text
It started about six months ago.
Luca was simply trying to take a shortcut when he found himself staring. It wasn't more than what he had ever seen in movies that Giulia had dragged him to, or TV shows he's watched with Giulia's mother. But it still had him stop in his tracks.
His classmate pinned against the school's wall, kissing another male student. A student a year or two older, Luca assumed by the other male's height.
After silently gasping, and staring for two seconds too long, Luca ran away.
He didn't know what he was more embarrassed about; seeing his classmate like that, tousled hair, lips bitten red, and moaning against the other student's mouth, or the fact that whenever he closed his eyes, he automatically imagined that it was him against the wall, and Alberto pinning him down.
By the time he had rushed to his room in Giulia's mother's apartment, he already knew. He was embarrassed that he wanted that. He wanted Alberto to hold him like that, kiss him like that.
Luca always knew he loved Alberto. But he also loved his parents and grandmother, he loved Giulia and her mother, he loved Massimo and Machiavelli, he loved school, he loved reading books. It all seemed the same until this point.
His love for Alberto was different. He didn't just love Alberto, he was in love with the other boy.
Before he knew it, Luca was under his sheets, trembling as he cried.
He was happy, excited, scared, and confused.
Wiping away the tears as they caused his skin to blotch with scales, thoughts repeated themselves within him.
I love him.
Can I love him?
Am I allowed to love him?
Will he hate me for loving him?
But I love him.
I love him.
It hurt so much to even look at the newest letter from Alberto. There was nothing special about the letter. As per usual, Alberto would update him on the town gossip, complain to him about the slight hazing he received at his part time job, and whatever message his parents had. It would always end the same, too. Alberto would write out how many more days until Luca and Giulia would be back, and how much he misses them.
Luca always thought that this bitter sweet tang he felt was just from missing his best friend. No, it wasn't just that. He missed the person he loved. He missed the most important person in his life.
From there Luca took the most logical step he could take: research. From the next day, any free time he had he stayed in the school's library.
It started off with the question of 'what is love?', and it soon escalated to reading love stories of mythical creatures. Before he knew it he was studying in a different area of the library every week. Ancient Greek mythology, neurology, voodoo, and so on. One after another, questions piled up within him.
What is love?
Was he allowed to love?
Was he allowed to love his best friend?
Was he allowed to love his best friend, who was a sea monster?
Was he allowed to love his best friend, who was a male sea monster?
He was going down what humans called a 'rabbit hole'.
By the time it was less than a week until their train ride back to Portorosso, Luca was knee deep in researching marriage laws in the human world.
He knew that in the underwater world two boy sea monsters couldn't 'become a family' like his parents, but what about here on land?
After six months of constant research Luca had tried to come to terms with the possibility of his feelings never being returned. So instead he found comfort in finding new facts about being allowed to love the other boy. There were many facts that pointed to his feelings being taboo. That was why whenever he found any new fact that showed that this feeling was not a sin, they all felt like small slivers of hope.
It was on his third day of reading about marriage laws that Giulia came bursting through the doors of the Library.
"I knew I'd find you here."
"Did your mom forget to cook dinner again? Do we need to cook something tonight?"
"No, it's not that-" She sat down next to him as he hid his notes away from her eyes.
"Then-?"
"You've suddenly become smarter than me these past few months, always being stuck here. So I wanted to ask something." It sounded more like a question than a statement.
He looked at her worried. She was averting her eyes and tugging at her hair.
"Everything alright?"
"Yes! Nothing is actually wrong. Not really, I think. . ."
"So-"
“What if I like someone that I'm not really supposed to like?” The girl spits out in one breath.
“What do you mean?”
“Um-” She looked at the table, thinking deeply. “Something like, maybe bad to like them?”
“Bad? Bad like-” Luca gasps. “Is the person you like a criminal, Giulia!? Oh no!”
“No! No no no!!” She waves her hands in front of him. “Not that BAD! I mean, like- I dunno, if it was, was not that bad? Not as bad as liking a criminal! But, as a bit bad as-” She tried to calm Luca while trying to find a better analogy.
“Not as bad as liking a criminal but still a little bad?”
“Yes! For example, maybe, kind of-” She points to the book he was reading. “Maybe, in some way, it was legally questionable to like the person?”
“Oh my goodness, you like someone that it is illegal for you to like!?” Luca gasps again.
“NO!” She rubs her face against her hand while letting out an exhausted gasp. “Not LITERALLY! I meant it as an EXAMPLE!”
“So, the person-”
Luca is stopped by a hand being pushed into his face.
“NEVERMIND!” She stomps away. “Should’ve never even THOUGHT about coming to you for your opinion!”
“Illegal to like . . ?” He looks down at the law he was just reading. The boy felt his heart sink deep into the pits of his stomach.
Last year Alberto and Giulia had legally become siblings. It was on the anniversary of the three of them winning the cup. Even though Alberto had already lived with him for a year, Massimo wanted it to be special, he wanted all three of them to be there. It was the perfect day to make it all official.
As much as Luca’s heart had filled with pure happiness at that moment, now Luca’s heart was spilling-over with countless emotions; fear and shock, distress and confusion.
Alberto and Giulia were now siblings. Now that they were legally family, they could not legally get married, right? Was it Alberto that she liked? Was she worried that the law would not allow that?
Was she also in love with Alberto?
Luca let out a sad laugh. Of course Giulia also loved Alberto. It was impossible to not love him, and it was also impossible to not fall in love with him. Luca couldn't blame the human for something so easy to do. For the young sea monster, falling in love with the other boy was as natural as gliding through the cool ocean water.
Of course Giulia would also fall in love with Alberto.
Luca put his head down against the hard wooden table. He wasn't going to cry. If he was, it would only be tears of joy. He was happy for Giulia, happy that she had also found love. That was what was important.
Something was weird, but Alberto didn’t know what to do or say. One thing he was sure of, Luca had been clearly ignoring him since he and Giulia had come back from school last week.
Alberto tried to tell himself that it was his own fault; he was the one that hadn't been able to make time to spend with Luca. Although he had been working there for almost a year, he was still the newbie at Ciccio’s family’s restaurant. So he couldn’t say no when they got short staffed that week and supposedly needed him to work extra shifts.
Of course he felt bad for Guido, the boy had to go out of town with his mother to take her to a big hospital. But why did he have to take on almost all of Guido’s shifts? There were other workers, and it wasn’t like Ciccio was busy either. He had seen Ciccio sit down to have a nice long lunch during peak lunch time!
Still, it seemed obvious that Luca had been ignoring him. Even with the added shifts, he still had the mornings free and the late nights open. He did his best to try and offer to go with Luca back to the ocean for a morning swim or to stay up a little later to stargaze together, but to no avail. Luca had either already other plans or nowhere to be found in the first place.
Had he done something to push the other one away? He kept thinking back to every single letter he had sent out over the past year. Had he written too much about town gossip? He knew he complained a lot about his job at the restaurant, maybe that was it? Or had he written one too many ‘I miss you’s?
It felt like it happened out of nowhere, the moment he saw the other boy step off the train. That moment was where everything went from Heaven to Hell in less than two seconds.
One second they were looking into each others eyes. Alberto felt all the love and joy in the world as he finally got to see those beautiful brown eyes looking back at him. He was about to run toward the shorter boy, hold him tight, shower the younger boy with all the ‘I missed you’s he could say in a breath.
Then the other sea monster’s expression quickly changed. Instead of mirroring what he himself was feeling, there was something akin to fear on his face. There was definitely a bit of sadness, and possibly even regret. Before he could try and take a better look, the other boy was already in the arms of his parents.
That moment Alberto felt a nostalgic pain creep through his veins, but he viciously tried to ignore it.
He was happy. He was happy to see his best friend back. He was happy to see his sister back. He was happy.
Alberto kept repeating this as a mantra for the past week, but it didn’t help as much as he would’ve hoped.
He was mopping the floors, getting ready to leave when Ciccio had given him the news that Guido was coming back to the town the next morning. The taller ex-bully would even be starting back on his shifts that night, meaning that Alberto was finally going to have a night off. It was a little annoying that Ciccio sounded disgruntled, but Alberto’s head was mostly full with thoughts about what he would do with his newfound free time now.
The cafe down the street had added 2 new flavors of gelato this year, he knew Luca would love them both. Maybe he could take him there after a morning swim? He could maybe pack a picnic, and they could take his Vespa up the hill! Working at the restaurant, Alberto had learned to cook a few more human dishes, even Massimo had given him actual compliments. Maybe he could cook a nice dinner so they could stay at the top of the hill until the night, take in the beautiful sunset, then listen to Luca explain about all the stars in the sky.
If Luca would say yes. Right, that was pretty important; Luca giving him a chance to even talk to him. He sighed.
“What’s up, brother?”
Alberto almost screamed.
“Giulia! You scared the living guppies out of me!!”
“Jeez. I’m sorry.” She gave him a fake frown.
“Now, what brings you here, my baby sister?” He smirked.
“Shut-up. You’re not even a full year older than me, ‘berto.”
“Still older. So I will always be allowed to call you my baby sister.”
“Yeah yeah. Whatever.” She giggled as he poked her sides with the mop in his hands.
They bantered on for a while as the sea monster finished cleaning. It was always simply nice to be with the human girl, comfortable and natural. When they were talking about absolutely nothing like this, it really felt like they had known each other for their entire lives, as if they were really born to be family.
“But seriously, Giulia, what’s up? You couldn't wait for 30 more minutes to see me, or what?"
The girl fell silent, shuffling her feet.
"Uh- I mean, unless you don't want to talk about it?"
"I-" She quickly looked behind her as she leaned a few degrees closer to him. “Do guys really not like girls who are taller than them?”
"Huh?"
"I know that I'm not the most attractive girl around, but-"
“Giulia? What's wrong?"
"Just thought that maybe if I wasn't this tall, maybe I'd look prettier?"
"What are you talking about?" Alberto started to feel genuine worry. "Did someone say something to you?"
She quickly shook her head.
"It's not like that . . . don't worry . . ." He frowned as she tried to look away.
Giulia wasn't as tall as she seemed to assume. Even if she’d grown to be taller than most of the teens their age in the town, she was still shorter than him. Maybe she was the tallest in her class at school? Did someone bug her about it? What more didn't sit right with the older teen was her statement about attractiveness.
"It's the dirty overalls you're always wearing that repels all male-kind." He sighs sarcastically, trying to brighten the mood. “I know you love your mom, but maybe stop using her old clothes!”
"Yeah . . . Maybe." She gave him a halfhearted smile.
Alberto sighed and gave in a little.
"Maybe try to wear something with less paint? I dunno, something a bit nicer? Maybe show that you can be pretty?”
“So, you think I’m pretty?” She smirks.
“No!” Alberto abruptly denies. “I mean that you can look pretty if you tried.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment anyways.” the adopted siblings giggled together.
“If you want an expert’s help, I can always go shopping with you!”
“Who says you’re an expert?”
“Well, I am a guy, right? So, I know what guys like.”
“Fine.” She sighed
“So, who’s this mysterious boy that I have to kill for stealing away my lil sister's heart.”
"Who said there's anyone!" She quickly clapped back.
"Oh, come on! We're siblings! We're supposed to share all of our secrets with each other!" The taller one tried to bat his lashes at her. “And! It’s the older brother’s job to beat-up their baby sister’s boyfriend!”
“That's probably not a part of the contractual obligation of siblings." She laughed. "And anyways, they're like the last person you're going to want to beat-up.” She laughs while walking out the restaurant’s backdoor before him.
“There’s no one in the world that I wouldn’t-”
Alberto lost his breath for a moment.
Luca.
“Oh no . . .” He put his forehead against his palm.
Of course, who else?
It didn’t take him a week to fall in love with Luca. That smile that was brighter than the sun, that laugh that made his heart beat faster. By their 2nd home-made Vespa, all Alberto wanted to do was keep making more Vespas with Luca for the rest of his life. Although now officially siblings, it was with Luca that Giulia had spent most of the past two years with. There was no doubt that she would also fall in love with him, having spent this much time with him.
Alberto's memories took him back to the train station two summers ago. Of course it hurt so much when Luca had left with Giulia. He knew he did the right thing, giving Luca what he wanted, but the pain didn’t hurt any less.
Through the first year he did his best to let go of the love he had for Luca. He wanted the hurt to stop. He wished he could just be best friends with Luca, nothing more. But as soon as he saw the other sea monster step off the train last year, every drop of love he had tried to suppress over the year had broken through the dam.
That was why for the past year, instead of doing the impossible, he did what he could. Alberto knew he could not not love the other boy, but he also didn’t want to be what holds Luca back. He knew too well how much of a caring creature the other boy was. If he knew Alberto’s feelings, he would stay. Whether or not the love was mutual, it wouldn’t have mattered. Alberto knew that Luca was too kind to abandon him.
He promised himself he would never let Luca know. He would never become what held Luca back.
“Alberto?” Giulia peaked back in. “You coming?”
He was brought back to the real world.
“Yeah. Of course. . . Sis.” He gave her a gentle smile.