Chapter Text
Summer, Six Years Ago:
The worn yellow walls of a room that feels like home glow orange in the warm light flooding through the open window. The lights hanging from branches outside illuminate the inside of the room while three friends sit surrounded by piles of markers and paper.
“The… Underdogs… Rules… For… Summer!” Giulia announces the title aloud as she writes in brightly colored markers, large capital letters taking up a majority of the poster paper she writes on. Taken off her wall haphazardly, a random poster of a show she hastily explained she does not enjoy anymore, she had flipped to the back, grabbed art supplies, and sat the two boys down in a chaotic rush.
“Okay, so what’s this for?” Alberto leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he sits with his legs crossed. He raises an eyebrow and looks overall pretty bored with what’s going on.
“Rules! It’s our first summer back and we gotta have rules for what we do every year!”
“Rules suck.”
“Ah ah ah!” Giulia wags her finger at him, smiling as she uncaps a bright red marker, “That’s an opinion. Our rules are gonna be fun.”
Luca finds himself smiling, unable to help it now that he’s back in Portorosso with everyone he loves, “What are the rules then?”
“Uhh…” Giulia hesitates, writing a large number 1 on the page before looking back up with an awkward smile, “No rules yet. We gotta make ‘em.”
A beat of silence hangs in the air, and Luca takes a breath to speak, “What about…”
He hesitates, looking up with his eyes narrowed at the ceiling as if it would give him some clue as to what to say. He taps his finger against the floorboard, but takes a breath, grins, and turns back towards Giulia when he gets his idea.
“How about we always have to tell each other stuff that happened while we were apart?”
Giulia grins, “Yes! E’ perfetto!” She nods enthusiastically, leaning over the poster again to hastily write out what Luca had said, word for word. “Nowwww…” She hums in thought, grabbing a purple marker to write her own rule, “We always get gelato on the first day back. We did that today, so it seems fitting,” she says, her voice pitching up at the end as she adds in a small shrug.
Happily running ahead of their families to the gelato restaurant, picking out what they wanted to eat, followed by sitting on the edge of the fountain: all of these memories from only hours ago flood through Luca’s mind. He pictures Alberto grinning like a madman as he stands up suddenly, wielding his ice cream like a harpoon. Luca remembers laughing so hard it hurt when Alberto’s ice cream dropped out of its cone and onto the concrete below, how Alberto’s smile slowly dropped into a look of complete devastation, and how he and Giulia got pushed into the fountain for laughing so much.
He sighs happily, focusing back on the present to see Giulia look up from the poster to point at Alberto threateningly with the end of the purple marker, “Your turn, make a rule, big guy.”
Alberto puts up his hands in mock surrender, “Okay, okay! How about…” He hums, bringing a hand to his chin as he thinks for a moment, “We get to keep Luca for three days before we let his parents kidnap him.”
“Hey, it’s not kidnapping!” Luca responds, lightly smacking Alberto’s right arm. Although his laughter, as well as Alberto’s small chuckle, rings through the room.
“Too bad!” Giulia says, “He said it so it's going on the poster,” She quickly grabs a blue marker before scribbling the words, her tongue sticking out to the side as she does so. With a wide smile, she looks up, “Any more ideas, boys?”
Luca and Alberto glance at each other, and both turn back to Giulia with a shrug.
“Ugh, you’re no help. Hmm…” She thinks, looking up at her ceiling, and soon deciding that isn’t an optimal thinking position, rolls onto her back with her arms outstretched on either side, still humming in thought.
Luca grins, enamored with even the smallest traits his friends exhibit. Alberto’s hatred of rules, his hands moving around constantly as he speaks, Giulia’s constant energy and her loud, bursting happiness, the dynamic that they share that Luca hasn’t been able to see in about nine months.
“What about…” Giulia blinks up at her ceiling, and then a wide smile spreads across her freckled face, “We always go to the beach our first day back! Like we did today!”
“You’re just taking what we did today and using it as your ideas for these stupid rules,” Alberto accuses, pointing a finger at her and narrowing his eyes.
“Va bene, be quiet, the mastermind is writing,” Giulia says as she rolls back over, picking up a green marker and writing down her rule as she lays on her stomach. Once done, she sits up with her legs crossed, picking up the poster, holding it up, and grinning at the sight of it.
She stands, walks over to her wall, and sticks it back on with the same tape that had been stuck to the poster before, bringing her hands up as she steps back, framing it in her vision. A wide smile replaces her look of snooty critique as if their poster of rules were an art piece to be judged, and it passed the test. She turns back to Luca and Alberto with that same warm smile, just as bright as the lights hung outside, clung onto nostalgic branches.
Every part of him feels alight with wonder and warmth and happiness, and Luca doesn’t even try to contain his matching smile.
Present Day:
No one, when looking back on their pasts, could ever quite believe the changes they’ve gone through. Luca can barely even convince himself that the higher-pitched, slightly squeakier voice he remembers so vividly ever came from Alberto’s mouth. When he hears his voice now, excitedly screaming over the phone, it sounds so natural, as if it’s always been that way.
“Are you serious? You’re serious!” Alberto is ecstatic, Luca knows.
“Certo! Sì, we’re serious!” Giulia answers for him. Luca can barely breathe, can barely even contain the wide smile that makes his face ache. He probably couldn't even answer if he wanted to.
“So you’re gonna be staying? Like… even when the summer ends?” The hint of hope that echoes through his voice, cracking not from youth but from the technology that connects them from great distances, forces Luca to ignore his painful smile and answer.
He breathes out the word, “Yeah…” It’s like a weight is lifted from his chest, his smile somehow only growing wider, his heart only feeling lighter. He glances at Giulia, sees her bouncing up and down, throwing her arms up in the air and squealing in matching excitement. Luca turns back toward the phone, “School’s done. I got my diploma… I’m gonna be staying.”
Cheers and whoops erupt from the phone, the voices of their family. The Paguros, the Marcovaldo-Scorfanos, all together celebrating Luca and Giulia’s eventual return. Only a week left, in which they will pack their bags, say goodbye to school friends, and head back on the train to Portorosso.
No one wants to acknowledge the fact that Giulia has to go to school for three more years to earn her diploma. The paths they chose were different, similar enough to keep them in the same place, but different in the time they had to put into it. Being older and choosing an education path that takes significantly less time means that Luca is done long before Giulia ever will be.
Honestly, at the moment, sitting with Giulia and her mom, with Nerone blinking up at him, awoken from a nap by all of the yelling, with the cheering of his family, a distant call from his mom yelling about how proud she is… Luca couldn’t care less about what the far future holds. All he is looking forward to lies a mere week away: going home.
Those cheers echo in Luca’s mind now, as his right leg bounces up and down in barely-contained excitement. The uncomfortable, stiff leather seats always hurt his back on the way home, but this time around, Luca can’t bring himself to care. He doesn’t care about anything right now except for the thrumming in his veins, the dull longing he’s felt for months preparing for its screeching halt the moment he sees his parents, his grandma, his family . Because really, everyone in Portorosso is family to him.
“You’re nervous,” Giulia interrupts his thoughts, poking his cheek. When Luca turns to look at her, he smiles, though his leg still bounces up and down.
“Well duh I’m nervous. I always am. We’re going back home! I mean, I think I’m more excited than nervous, to be honest. Mostly it’s just all coming out as shaking and I really can’t stop that--”
“Yyyep,” Giulia interrupts, extending the word and ending it with a pop, “You’re ranting, so that’s a lotta nerves. Calm yourself, pesciolino. We’re almost there,” She says with a smile, “Just wait until we get back, and all of your energy can be crushed out of you by the massive rib-bruising hug your mom is gonna give.”
“Yeah…” Luca responds, and returns to looking out the window, his leg still bouncing up and down. He watches the trees fade to the shore with fascination, the blur of green transitioning into a view of the ocean, the sun above the rippling water, the image almost still due to the great distance between the train and home.
“Is the view nice?” Giulia asks even though she knows the answer already.
“Of course it is.”
“Then take a picture of it. Your first picture back in Portorosso,” The grin is audible in her voice.
“Yeah!” Luca says, smiling as he reaches for the camera around his neck, but then he pauses, “Wait… back in…” His smile fades as he realizes her words, and then gradually comes back stronger than before, “In Portorosso!?”
“A-yep,” She nods, “In Portorosso,” She leans forward to whisper, grinning, though her voice is soft with understanding. And just as Luca looks back toward the window, he sees familiar buildings, sees a train station, sees familiar people.
And as they pull into the station, a blur of waving figures rushes by, and Luca swallows the lump in his throat, the anticipation and excitement growing beyond control now after he sees the flash of people. His mom’s curly brown hair, greying slightly from age, and her wide smile as she spots him. His dad is hidden almost completely behind Massimo with his height, though grinning nonetheless. His grandma frantically waving, only outmatched in excitement by Alberto.
Luca stands from his seat before the train even comes to a complete stop. Giulia stands up as well, her smile wide and bright from her now-unleashed excitement. No longer teasing Luca for his own, she happily lets it show how much she’s been anticipating the moment when the train stops.
And once it does, Luca’s hand is grabbed by Giulia and he is pulled toward the front of their train car, to the exit, to Portorosso, to his family.
Bags in hand, he steps off the train and is immediately focused on the sound of rushing footsteps, yelling, cheering, and Luca has enough sense to place his bag down before strong arms are wrapped around him.
“Luca! Oh, Luca, I'm so so so proud of you!” he hears his mom’s voice close to his ear, close to him , and he nearly feels the tears slip out already, “You graduated! I can’t believe it!”
“Mom, mom!” Luca says, smiling despite the bit of panic, “My camera! Also my ribs…” He adds on with a wheeze, and he feels his mom let go. And despite the fact that his chest is in pain, he smiles wider than he has in months.
Luca looks up at his mom, smiling wide, and he opens his arms again for her, stepping forward and placing his head on her shoulder in a much gentler hug. She holds him, and he hears the tears in her voice as she mumbles into his hair, “I’m so proud of you.”
Luca pulls away just enough to smile at her, trying and failing to keep the tears back. It happens every year. “Thanks, mom,” he says quietly. He looks to his right, sees his dad standing there, and Luca’s smile comes back even stronger as he opens his arms for his dad.
It’s still weird getting used to the fact that he’s taller than his dad now. The changes are still so hard to comprehend.
Looking over his dad’s shoulders as he cries into Luca’s chest, Luca smiles as he sees Giulia being engulfed in a hug by her father. Although she grew taller, even taller than Luca, the man still dwarfed everyone around him.
And then Luca’s eyes shift to the left, where he sees Alberto. The gentle smile on his face widens when Luca meets his eyes. Luca exhales a small breath, and with it goes the nervousness, the anticipation, and the longing. Everyone he’s missed is right here, on this train platform.
Luca pulls back from his dad, smiles at his parents, his grandma, who ruffles his hair. “I missed you guys,” He says quietly.
“No more tears,” he hears Giulia say, and suddenly she emerges from behind his parents, and his hand is grabbed again. He is being pulled over to Massimo and Alberto before he even gets the opportunity to prepare himself.
“Wait, wait, Giulia,” Luca says in a slight panic, reaching with his free hand to grab the camera from around his neck, handing it to her, “Almost got crushed by my mom, so--”
“Luca!” Luca looks up. Somehow Alberto’s grin grows even wider, and before he knows it, arms are being wrapped around his torso and a cheek is pressed against the top of his head. Luca sighs, and his smile is aching as he closes his eyes and finally, finally hugs his best friend after so long. His head rests against Alberto’s chest, and he finds out then and there just how happy he is.
There is no voice in the back of his head that he has to silence, no Bruno telling him that these happy moments can’t last because finally, he’s staying. School is over and he’s staying .
“I missed you, Luca,” The words are mumbled into his hair, and honestly, he should be crying. Every year, Luca cries at their reunions, but right now, happiness flows through him, and he can only pull away, meet Alberto’s eyes, and laugh as he jumps into his arms again.
“Woah! Okay, this is new,” Alberto says in surprise, laughter slipping out of him as well even despite the tears in his eyes. The two spin in an energetic hug, Luca with his arms around Alberto’s shoulders, and once his feet are on the ground again, he smiles up at his best friend.
“I missed you too,” and his smile is painful with the intensity of it, though his heart is lighter than it’s been in years.
Summer, Six Years Ago:
“I got it from Giulia’s mom,” Luca says, holding the item in his hand like it’s the most precious thing on earth, and really, it is, “We talked for a while about her art, and… she mentioned photography and I asked what it was, and she gave me this old camera. It… it means a lot to me.”
“What can you even do with it?” Alberto asks. His eyes shine with some sort of curiosity, illuminated by the lights in the branches above. Stars shine down on them, and Giulia’s snoring can be heard through her open window.
“Well, I mean-- I can show you.”
“Oookay?” Alberto says with a shrug, tilting his head to the side. His eyes widen in surprise when Luca scoots closer to him.
Luca simply turns the camera around, pointing it at them. He glances over at Alberto, and an amused smile spreads across his face when he sees his friend’s wide eyes, small, scared frown, and the upward tilt of his eyebrows. He looks a little startled, to say the least.
“You gotta smile,” Luca explains.
“What? Why?” Alberto’s eyes narrow in suspicion at the camera, and then back at Luca.
“Just trust me, okay? Per favore?” He adds the extra please on with a nervous smile.
Alberto groans, rolling his eyes, “Fine, fine,” though his genuine smile gives away the fact that he doesn’t mind at all.
And before he even thinks, Luca snaps the picture. Alberto nearly jumps out of his skin at the flash of light, but Luca is excitedly turning the camera back around to see the finished product slide out. He grabs the photo and flips it over.
“Why are you turning that over? What is it?” Alberto asks, leaning towards him and reaching for the photo.
“No, hold on, I gotta flip it over so I can protect it from the light. Giulia’s mom told me that’s what I have to do.”
“Huh. Okay.”
There is a pause in the air.
“So… how long does this take?” Alberto asks.
Luca feels an awkward smile cross his face, “I uh… don’t know. I never used it before now. She gave it to me right before we got on the train back here. I guess we can check… now?” Luca flips the image over, and his smile shifts into something more genuine, awed even, fascinated by the picture in front of him.
With their slight changes, Luca’s pimples, the “torture machines” that Alberto has to wear, which Giulia explained are braces, their slight difference in height from what Luca remembers it being last year, sitting in the treehouse that Luca considers a second home. Close together, eyes rolling and head tilted, Alberto wears a genuine, gentle smile while looking at Luca. Luca, meanwhile, is sticking out his tongue in concentration, squinting slightly at the camera as he tries to find the button to press to make it work.
It’s incredible.
“Woah!” Alberto looks at the picture in fascination, grabbing it from Luca’s hand and holding it up in front of his face, “It's us! How did you do that?!”
“It's the camera!” Luca explains, his giggling being the only noise as he watches Alberto flip the photo around, observing it from every angle, “It takes photos. It basically just… captures a moment and keeps it that way forever, in this little picture.”
“That’s so cool!” Alberto looks up from the picture, a crooked smile on his face as he looks back down at it, “Man, we look cool.”
Luca laughs, shaking his head, “Yeah…” he agrees, breathing out in a way that feels like pure relief, pure happiness. He’s here with his best friend after one full year of school.
“Here,” Alberto says, looking around the shoddy wooden flooring for something until he finally finds what he’s looking for, holding up a nail with a triumphant expression, “Aha!” He grins, and scoots toward one of the larger branches in their tree fort, placing the photo against it and sticking it to the wood with the nail, “Now we got a forever reminder of your first night back home,” he looks at the photo, hands on his hips like he’s proud of his idea, before turning back around to smile at Luca.
Luca’s smile is just as wide.
“Yeah, we do.”
Present Day:
“Tempo scaduto, my turn!” Giulia yells, and it is the only warning they receive before arms are wrapped around both of their shoulders and Giulia crushes them both in her attempt at a group hug.
Both boys are immediately in pain if their shared glances are any indication. Luca laughs anyway because of course Giulia would do this. She does it every single year, and even recently, has begun somehow picking up Alberto in her own massive hugs.
“It’s also your turn over here!” Luca’s mom calls, grinning, “Welcome back, Giulia!” and she’s immediately heading over for the terrifying, rib-crushing hug. Luca glances over to see Giulia cringe. She backs away from Alberto and Luca, takes a deep breath to prepare herself, and takes a step toward Luca’s mom.
“Wait, wait!” Luca says, “You still have my camera.”
“Oh, yeah!” Giulia says, quickly taking off the camera and holding it to her left in a panic, because Luca’s mom immediately wrapped her up in her arms and lifted her into the air, despite Giulia’s height. She lets out a small shriek before she laughs.
However, Giulia’s reunion with Luca’s family fades into the distance as Luca blinks, watching Alberto look down with wide, panicked eyes at the expensive camera that now lies in his hands. Alberto gently extends his hands back towards Luca to hand it to him. It’s like he’s afraid to even touch it.
Luca shakes his head, an endeared smile making its way onto his face, “Hold onto it for me for now, it’s okay.”
“What?” Alberto looks floored, like he can’t even believe the words Luca just said to him, “Really?”
“Yeah, I trust you,” Luca says with ease. He feels his heart warm a little at the sight of Alberto’s shocked expression melting into a gentle smile.
“Okay,” Alberto stands up straighter, holding the camera in his hands, “Okay, yeah. You trust me. I got this. No big deal,” He says, and Luca giggles at the familiar way Alberto’s voice pitches up slightly, cracking in a nostalgic way. The nervousness can be heard in Alberto’s voice, but then again, the determination in his eyes is just as easy for Luca to see.
“Yep, no big deal,” Luca assures him, patting him on the shoulder before he turns to look at his family with a smile. He sees Giulia towering over his dad when she hugs him, and sees her smile as she fistbumps his grandma. Then, Luca feels a large hand placed on his shoulder, and he turns to look up at Massimo, grinning wide before he steps forward to hug him.
Like another father, Massimo hugs him gently, and it is a wordless exchange, but Luca feels the love within it. He feels Alberto watching, and when he turns to look, sees a soft smile on his face.
The group converges into one, voices overlap as Giulia begins telling a story of Luca falling face-first into the grass as he was running across their campus to get to the train, and Luca hides his red face in his hands as his family, his loved ones, laugh at his embarrassment. He can’t help but smile anyway.
“Now, time for gelato?” Giulia speaks up, grinning at the crowd. A tradition every year, they all go together, get ice cream, and tell stories about their time apart.
“Yes!” Luca says, “Let’s go!” And as he begins running forward like usual, he realizes it’s only him and Giulia running.
Looking back, he meets Alberto’s eyes just as he says, “Wait, you forgot your camera!”
Luca grins, and waves his arm to call Alberto over, “Yeah, cause you have it! Come on!”
Realization hits, and Luca can see it in every shift of Alberto’s expression. A smile gently graces his freckled face, and he reaches up to place the camera around his neck before he runs forward to catch up to Giulia and Luca, the rest of their family lagging behind, talking in their own little space while the three of them run ahead.
It feels like almost no time has passed since they were full of youth, eyes wide and curious and playful because that’s just how it is when the three of them are together. School, jobs, life, identities, their whole futures fall away in the blink of an eye, because despite knowing each other for almost seven full years now, childlike wonder fills their hearts again when the train pulls into the station at Portorosso every summer.
Summer, Six Years Ago:
“Come on, come on, come on, per favore? Ti prego, papa?” Giulia begs her dad while Luca and Alberto stand off to the side, awkward smiles across their faces as Massimo glances towards them.
“With Alberto’s help, I was able to buy this new place, with rooms for the three of you so these two wouldn’t have to sleep on an old piece of wood anymore. Why do you want to build another treehouse?” He asks.
“It’s sentimental,” Luca chips in nervously, “That treehouse meant a lot to us so… we could go to our rooms after sleeping there for like… a week? Maybe?” He suggests.
With a single glance at Giulia, Luca knows that the grin on her face means she knows her dad is going to cave.
The rest of the day is spent in the warm sun, and all four of them are covered in sweat by the end of it. Giulia and Alberto, however, are also covered in mud from their “sword fight” with tree branches.
After five long hours, a better treehouse is built. Still just a plank that allows for the sight of the stars above through patches of leaves, but more securely built, strong enough to hold two people rather than the old one, only intended for one little girl. Lights are hung on branches, and so is a picture.
Present Day:
Laughter, smiles, and levity fill the air on the walk back home from the beach. After getting ice cream, the Paguros and the Marcovaldo-Scorfanos head down there every year.
The families swim together, sea monsters and humans alike. Within all of the years they’ve had to grow as a community, sea monsters regularly come out to Portorosso, and it’s almost as if the place is half and half in its diversity, alive with colorful sea monsters that now walk the streets as equals within the small Italian town.
The day that Luca and Giulia return is celebratory for almost the whole town now, as everyone knows the story of how the present came to be. People bring food, tables are set up along the shore, and everyone in town celebrates together.
The shore is alive with color, voices speaking happily as children play in the water with younger sea monsters, and parents stand on the shore chatting with one another. Alberto gets a break from his lifeguard duties, yet remains vigilant in watching every kid that dives into the ocean. Giulia has become a much better swimmer and constantly asks Alberto and Luca to race (she hasn’t beaten either of them yet, but she’s determined to succeed one day). And Luca stays with his two closest friends in the world, reveling in the warmth they bring to his heart.
Now, as the sun sets on Portorosso, Luca’s family heads back to their home underwater, and the rest of the family walk back in the calm summer air.
The newer, larger home stands before them, the one bought a few years ago to support the bigger family that Massimo now hosts, and Giulia climbs down from her dad’s shoulders to open the front door with excitement.
“Wow, it feels good to be home,” Luca flops onto the small couch in Giulia’s room the moment he steps inside. When Giulia does the same, landing on him, Luca lets out a huff of air that’s pushed from his lungs.
“Ow ow ow, get off!” Luca says through his fit of laughter, pushing at Giulia until she stands, hands on her hips in triumph as she looks down at him.
“I see she’s still stronger than you,” Alberto says with a grin, grabbing Luca’s ankles and lifting them before he sits on the couch, dropping Luca’s legs back down, now on his lap. Luca looks unimpressed, knowing that Alberto was doing that just to prove he’s still stronger, too.
Luca rolls his eyes, tilting his head back to look at the poster that hangs on the wall, a hastily written fifth rule standing out, written in pencil and crammed into the small space. Luca grins.
“And I see you somehow got even taller,” he responds to Alberto, and then clears his throat, reading aloud, “‘Rule number five: Luca and Alberto have to sleep in the treehouse for at least a week before going to their rooms,’” Luca pauses, looking back at Alberto, “Ready to see if you can still fit on that old piece of wood?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be, let’s go!” Alberto stands, knocking Luca’s legs off of his lap, and grabbing his hand to pull him toward the window.
Giulia follows after them, leaning her elbows on the window as she watches. Luca can barely contain his laughter when he sees that, when lying straight on his back, Alberto’s feet hang off the edge of the small platform.
“Okay, but I sleep all curled up and stuff anyway, so it barely matters,” Alberto says, huffing out his chest indignantly.
“Sì, certo, certo,” Giulia says, waving a hand in the air as a mischievous grin makes its way onto her face, “Makes sense. I’ve seen how you two sleep. Just make sure to wear your backpack to bed.”
“What? Backpack?” Alberto tilts his head curiously, squinting his eyes at Giulia’s words.
“Uh… yeah?” Giulia raises an eyebrow as if what she’s saying should be common sense, “Luca.”
“ Huh? ” Both Luca and Alberto are confused now, looking between each other and Giulia with lost expressions.
She sighs, rolls her eyes, and explains further, “Usually you’re all curled up and stuff with your back facing Luca, and he has his arms around you, and he’s so small it literally looks like you’re wearing a backpack, Alberto.”
Alberto laughs, “Aww, I didn’t know that! You’re so short,” he turns back to Luca and pats his head patronizingly, and Luca glares up at him.
“Aaaanyway,” Giulia extends her syllables once again, “I’m gonna go to bed. That train ride is exhausting.”
“Agreed,” says Luca, sighing in relief at the change in subject.
Giulia heads in, and faintly, they can hear her cooing happily at the cat, saying “Ciao, Machiavelli!” while presumably holding the poor thing in the air against its will.
Luca sighs, leaning his head back against one of the branches. Silently, he holds his hand out to Alberto, and immediately knowing what to do, Alberto leans forward and lifts his hand to take the camera off his neck, handing it to Luca with a smile.
Alberto scoots over, right next to Luca, and leans his head onto Luca’s shoulder while Luca holds the camera up with a bright smile. A picture is taken, and a photo slowly slides out from the camera. Luca holds it upside down, and after a few seconds, flips it over and observes it with a prideful smile.
Already prepared, Alberto hands Luca a piece of tape, eyebrow raised, a casual smile on his face, and a hand on his hip.
Luca takes the tape, endeared with every little mannerism Alberto does, the things he hasn’t seen in months. Luca still rolls his eyes anyway. He places the tape on the top of the picture, and leans forward to place the new photo against the large tree trunk within a collage of six others, hung up with a variety of nails, thumbtacks, and colorful pieces of tape.
Different poses, tongues sticking out, bunny ears made from fingers, braces and acne, one first day of summer in the rain where they are bright green and teal and purple and blue, smiling wide as their “hair” is dripping with rainwater, gradually changing faces as the years pass, acne fades and braces come off, growing up changes things and leaves so much the same. Seven photos are hung on the wall, and they encapsulate the entirety of their growth together.
“Man, we look cool.”
Luca laughs, and the air feels light and free, full of new beginnings, new summers that won’t end.