Chapter Text
Alberto Scorfano paced back and forth impatiently just outside the train station of Portrosso. He was tugging at the cap perched on his head, desperately trying to get it to stay on despite his mass of curls keeping it from cooperating. He stopped pacing for a moment to lean against the outside of the small station, trying to seem detached and cool. Not at all like he was so nervous he thought his scales would appear if he could sweat. Wiping his hands on the front of his shirt, he began to pace again. His nerves were at an all time high, and Alberto had half a thought to sprint down the hill and dive in the bay to see if he could drown himself. He already felt like he was drowning, or at least what he thought drowning would be like if he could.
He shook his head, pushing the half baked plan away. No he wouldn’t do that. As nervous as he was, he was even more so excited. It was about a week into summer, the three wonderful months that children had no school and Alberto was waiting for his friends Gulia and Luca. Mostly Luca though. (No offense to Gulia) He liked Gulia, sure, she was great. But it was like asking whether you wanted to hang out with your sister or your best friend. Alberto would pick Luca anyday. Everyday even.
“Alberto.”
Alberto yelped and jumped about 3 feet in the air. “Da-Massimo!” he put a hand on his chest and gasped. “How do you sneak up like that?” Massimo raised a fond eyebrow. “I do not try. You were just distracted.” He stood next to Alberto, the picture of Zen compared to the boy next to him who looked ready to vibrate out of his skin with nerves. “What’s wrong?” He asked, peering around his eyebrows to see the shorter boy. “What? Nothing’s wrong. I’m the picture of health.” Alberto lied.
“You look…” Massimo paused, thinking of the right phrase. “Green at the gills.” Alberto paled and Massimo began to worry. “You can see my gills?!” He cried, patting around his ears and neck frantically. Massimo sighed. “No, Alberto. You look unwell.” Alberto shook his head and started to pace again. “I’m fine Da-Massimo.” He said. Slowly, Massimo said, “You could… call me Dad…” Alberto stopped pacing to stare at him for a moment before glancing away, embarrassed. “Yeah.” he said. “Yeah, no. Uh. I mean I would…But Gulia might get all jealous and defensive y’know? Like, you’re her dad.” He explained nervously. “Like how you are with Luca?” Massimo said with a knowing smirk.
Alberto sputtered and turned red. “No! I’m not-Ugh! That’s not what I meant.” He dug the heels of his palm into his eyes. Massimo shrugged. “Whatever you say.” He made his way past Alberto into the train station. Alberto hesitated before scampering after him. “Shouldn’t we wait for Luca’s family? I mean, shouldn’t they be here too?” He looked up to gauge Massimo’s response, but all he did was nod to the corner of the station. In that corner, was Luca’s father and grandmother playing cards, and his mother smoothing her hair and chewing her nails, only looking slightly less nerve wracked than Alberto felt. After friendly greetings and short reminiscences of their time together over the year, they settled back into their usual dynamic. Luca’s grandmother dealt Massimo into their game and Alberto sat with Luca’s mother and they waited in silence with occasional words exchanged between them. After about an hour or two of this, Alberto flopped back onto the train platform.
“Ugh! How much longer? I can’t take this torture anymore! It’s taking them forever!” Luca’s grandmother and Massimo gave each other knowing looks. “We didn’t need to be this early, but Daniella didn’t want to miss her son getting back.” Daniella, Luca’s mother flushed in embarrassment. “Ma! You wanted to see him too!” She insisted. Luca’s grandmother shook her head. “Sure I did, but I could’ve slept in a little longer too! Not much I’m missing here.” She laid down a few cards on top of the ever growing pile and Luca’s father groaned. “Come on!” He complained.
Alberto sat back up. He knew that he had sprinted to the train station right after breakfast determined to not miss the train, but now he regretted it a little bit more than he would admit. They soon realized how early they had come when they remembered to read the billboard for train times. “Well we’ve still got an hour.” Luca’s grandmother announced, lumbering off toward the station exit. “Wha- Ma? Where are you going? Don’t you wanna see Luca?” Mrs.Paguro stammered. The elder sea monster waved a dismissive hand in her direction. “I do, but my skin just ain’t what it used to be. I’m just ducking out for a bit to hydrate.” Eyeing her daughter down, she snorted. “Maybe you ought to as well. You’ve lost all your hydration and you don’t want to dry out when Luca gets here.” Alberto watched Luca’s mom gape at her mother for a moment before scrambling to her feet, sniffing. “Well. I suppose… She glanced down at Alberto before begrudgingly following her mother and husband. “For Luca.” She groaned. Alberto watched them leave and then glanced at the clock on the wall. Still roughly an hour left.
Alberto could have gone with Luca’s family, but he was younger so he didn’t lose hydration as fast and he didn’t want to leave Massimo alone. A few minutes later however he was beginning to regret it. He was incredibly bored. He swung his legs, he paced back and forth, he played a whole game of spades with Massimo. Around the fifty minute mark, Alberto was really starting to worry about Luca’s family. It had been long enough for Alberto himself to have walked to the water and back twice. Before Alberto could wonder for too long though, he heard the tell-tale sign of a train whistle in the distance. Massimo perked up and Alberto leapt to attention. He tried to lean over the platform to see how far the train was, but Massimo pulled him back. “Don’t want to get hit by the train Alberto.” He nodded absently. Every second seemed to equal a century. ‘Has this train always been so slow?’ Alberto wondered, about to jump out of his skin.
Finally, Finally , the train pulled into the station and slowed to a stop. The whole thing seemed to sigh with relief after a long journey. The train may have stopped, but nothing else was happening. They waited a second in silence before Alberto broke it. “Why aren’t they getting out?” Massimo chuckled, the laugh rolling like thunder through his chest. “The train conductor must make sure everyone is still on the train and alright first.” Alberto looked down at his still bare feet. “Oh.” After a few more moments, the train sighed again, and the whistle blew. Alberto squawked, covering his ears. The door opened soon afterward and the train conductor stepped out, tipping his hat at the two men on the platform. The older nodded respectfully, and the younger boy tipped his hat too, grinning. He really liked his hat. It was the first gift Massimo had given him, and he felt he had earned it. However, touching his hat was a bad idea because it lifted off his head again. He groaned before Massimo tugged it back down again, this time further toward the back of his head where there was less hair.
He didn’t have a chance to thank him though, as just then the door to the train opened again. This time it was no train conductor, but an older and bored looking woman. The lady passed the two, grumbling something about being back in town. Alberto followed her with his eyes for about 2 seconds before turning back to the train having lost interest. Another 2 couples traipsed off the train, Alberto was starting to worry. “Why haven’t they come off yet?” Alberto asked. Massimo sighed. “They will be off in a minute Alberto. Be patient.” Alberto groaned. He didn’t want to be patient. He wanted to see Luca! And Gulia.
After what felt like an eternity, (but was really only two minutes) There they were. Luca, carrying the same big brown suitcase he had the day he had left. He was wearing the same clothes too. Alberto’s old clothes. He looked the same as before but…different somehow. More confident maybe? Coming down the steps, Luca had been looking over his shoulder saying something vague about not forgetting something. But then he looked straight ahead and saw Alberto. Suddenly it felt like all the air had been punched out of his lungs. Luca’s honey brown eyes were just as Alberto had remembered them. Those same honey eyes scrunched up with a smile so bright, the sun itself pulled clouds over its eyes. “Alberto!” Luca cried, swinging the suitcase to his side and dropping it on the platform before running toward his best friend. Alberto felt his vision go blurry with unshed tears and he rushed forward too. “Hey, Luca!” Reflexively, he opened his arms and before he could correct himself, Luca rushed into them. “Urf!” Alberto grunted when Luca made impact. “Alberto!” Luca repeated, wrapping one arm around his waist and resting the other against his chest. Alberto couldn’t resist the grin that spread across his face. He pressed his face into Luca’s soft curls and inhaled his scent. Luca used to smell like fish and the ocean, but now he smelled like old paper and wind with an undertone of something smoky.
Luca lifted his head to look up at his friend. Tears glistened in both their eyes, and Luca could feel Alberto’s heartbeat though his yellow shirt. It beat out of his chest and Luca could almost feel his in his throat. They smiled at each other unrestrained with joy. “Welcome back Luca.” Alberto whispered. Luca grinned. “Good to be back Alberto.” Luca liked to watch the way Alberto’s eyes softened whenever he said his name.
“Hey guys, I’m back too. Where’s my ‘welcome back’ hug?”
The two turned to see Gulia standing next to Luca’s abandoned suitcase with Massimo, now holding an incredible amount of luggage. Alberto scowled, and Luca laughed. After untangling himself from Luca, Alberto greeted Gulia and did their usual handshake. “ Piacere, Girolamo Trombetta?” They laughed before they all heard a loud shout. “Huh-?” Luca turned to the entrance in confusion. “Luca!!” The voice came again. “Ah.” Alberto said. He leaned into Luca, bumping their shoulders. “It’s your mom. They’re just a little late. They had to take a quick dip. You know how it is.” Luca nodded, even though he definitely didn’t know how it was. Luca’s mother rushed into the station sobbing about how she was so sorry and how she didn’t mean to be late and was Luca okay. Laughing and tearing up Luca said, “Yeah mom, I’m okay.” And Alberto looked on with fond eyes. Once the rest of Luca’s family caught up, more tearful reuniting happened.
They all waited long enough to watch the train leave, Alberto, covering his ears again, and then they all set off. Massimo invited everyone over for dinner, and the kids went upstairs to help Gulia unpack. Gulia had already known about Alberto getting her room, but insisted she get the bed. Alberto surrendered and took the mattress in the kitchen and dining room with Massimo. Eventually, Luca came back from his home underwater with his family for dinner. After dinner, the adults chatted amongst themselves, and Gulia just wanted to go to sleep. Upon seeing her friend’s exaggerated puppy dog eyes she rolled her eyes. “We’ll have all summer to spend together, guys!” She insisted. “But-” Alberto started before getting cut off by Gulia putting her finger up. “No buts! I need to rest before having the summer of our lives!” Alberto watched Luca frown before Gulia addressed him too. “And Luca, I saw you all year. You need time away from me. I’m not your security blanket.” Luca looked embarrassed. “Okay…” He murmured. Gulia stood straight. “Alright. Now that that’s sorted…” She spun them around and shoved them out her window onto the treepad. “Buona notte, boys!” She said, before closing the shutters on her window. The boys stared at her window in bewilderment for a moment before looking at each other, suddenly nervous to be alone together after so long.
“So…” Alberto started, moving to flop down on his back. When Luca joined him, he continued. “How was…it?” Luca turned to his right to look at him. “What?” Alberto’s eyes scanned the sky. “Y’know…” He glanced at Luca. “…school…” “Oh.” Luca looked up. “It was fine.” Alberto couldn’t take it. He felt like he was drowning in nerves and awkwardness. He propped himself up on his elbow. “Luca, I’m not mad at you. You can tell me how it was.” He paused and then shrugged, trying to seem unbothered. “I’ve already heard most of it on the phone anyway, I bet.” At this, Luca got a gleam in his eye. “Oh no, you definitely haven’t!” He giggled and Alberto smiled back. ‘Finally’ he thought, as Luca started telling him about grocery stores. ‘This feels right.’ They talked and exchanged stories until they were beginning to nod off. “You can’t really see the stars like this in the city…” Luca yawned. Alberto nodded sleepily.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Luca rolled on his side to face Alberto. “Alberto?” At the sound of his name, he rolled over to mirror Luca. “Hm.” Luca picked at the wood on the pad for a moment before murmuring, “I missed you.” Alberto felt warm all over all of a sudden. He swallowed. “I missed you too, Luca.” Luca’s brown eyes met Alberto’s green. They smiled at each other warmly. Soon after they fell asleep under the stars.
Three months came and went much faster than anyone would have liked. Soon Luca and Gulia were back at the train station saying their goodbyes. Luca’s mother didn’t cry as hard this time, and a sense of bittersweet sadness hung over them all. Soon they were loaded and ready to leave. Alberto approached Luca bashfully with his hands behind his back. “‘Berto!” Luca exclaimed, glad he would get to say a proper goodbye. “Luca.” He said, looking nonchalant until he caught Luca’s eye. They dissolved into giggles and Alberto came closer. “Here. Give me your hand.” Confused, Luca offered his palm. Alberto brought his hands out from behind him and pressed a cloth covered sphere into Luca’s palm. Luca stared at it a moment in confusion before going to unwrap the cloth, but Alberto put his hands over his. Luca could feel his face warming (??) and he looked at him, questioning. “Not yet.” He explained. “Maybe open it on the train or something. Just not here.”
Luca tilted his head. “Why? What’s in it?” Alberto groaned good-naturedly. “You and your questions!” He leaned in close to speak low so only they could hear. “It’s not a surprise if you know what it is. You can share it with Gulia if you want, but make sure you eat most of it.” Pulling back, he pointed at the ball. “And be sure you read the note with it.” Luca stared at the cloth ball before looking up at Alberto again. He wrapped his arms around him and squeezed. He heard Alberto’s stained “Oh.” And he smiled. “Thank you, ‘Berto.” He pulled back and Alberto looked much tanner than before. “Uh- um. Yeah. No- no problem Luca.” He stammered. Luca picked up his suitcase and made his way onto the train but not without one last look at his family and Alberto. The train departed and the Marcovaldos said goodbye to the Paguros.
On their way back home, Massimo kept glancing at Alberto. After a while, Alberto got sick of this. “What is it?” He said. Massimo quickly glanced away. “What?” He played dumb. Alberto raised his eyebrow. “You keep glancing at me.” Massimo huffed as if dismissing the idea as ridiculous. After a moment, Massimo spoke again. “What did you give Luca?” Alberto started, embarrassed to have been caught. “Huh? Oh. An orange. He likes the orange taste. Strawberries are harder to pack and go all squishy after a few days.” He pulled a face and his guardian laughed. “So.” Massimo said abruptly. Alberto glanced at him. “So?” He prompted. His adoptive father’s mustache curled up in a telltale smirk. “Luca, eh?” Alberto colored a brighter red than Luca’s sunburn a few weeks ago. “What? What are you talking about?” A knowing look was the only answer he got. Alberto groaned and pulled at his face before crossing his arms. “It’s just an orange.” He muttered, still embarrassed.