A/N: I would like to dedicate this fic to Beatrice, who is relentless in the best of ways, and without whom I probably would not have written this, and to all my other Getty Girls. I hope you all enjoy it!
In retrospect of "The Kids Are Alright", I thought I should clear up that this was written prior to the amazing line at the end of that episode ("That's just it. I don't want to be the rebound guy. I want to be the guy.") and therefore is not affiliated with that episode. (I swear it's still a good read, though, so don't let that turn you off.) I wrote this because since the airing of "24 Candles", 'He's the guy' has been our mantra over at the "Make Every Second Count" community. Needless to say when he actually said he wanted to be the guy, we were all shocked, ecstatic, and convinced more than ever that he is the guy.
I'd also like to take the time to thank all of those who have read and reviewed my story so far. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it, as I enjoyed writing it!
Six months had passed since Betty and Gio started dating when Betty found herself sitting in the front of Gio's van early one Sunday morning. Twenty minutes earlier she had been sound asleep when Gio had gently woke her up. He was standing over her already dressed.
"Hey, Max called and said that the fridge went out at the deli last night. Everything's still good, but I have to get over there and take care of it now. I should be back before too long," he told her.
"No, wait," she said, sitting up, still half asleep, "Let me get dressed and I'll come with you."
He looked for a moment like he was about to argue, but then he gave her a nod as he said, "Hurry up."
Now, as the van rolled though the streets of Queens, Gio was singing, or to be more precise, wailing out of tune along to an old love ballad. Betty had long since gotten used to her boyfriend's singing and idea of "fun" car songs. Actually, ordinarily she'd be wailing along right with him. But this morning it was taking all she had to keep herself from yawning loudly.
She was happy to help out, but she also couldn't wait until she was snugly back in Gio's warm bed, reading the paper while he watched a game on TV. Betty smiled. Sunday mornings were her favorite.
Gio looked over at her as he animatedly drew out a particularly long note of the song. He raised his eyebrows at her as though to entice her to sing along.
"Ugh," she complained, "How are you so energetic this early in the morning?" she asked.
He sang even more enthusiastically as way of a response. Betty felt the familiar annoyance that only he could rise in her and was thinking up a rude comment when he spoke.
"Hey, I've never heard you complain about my early morning energy before," he said with a smirk.
Betty immediately flushed, partly from the comment and partly in remembrance of some of their early morning excursions. Betty would never admit it to him, but she loved Gio's blunt and teasing ways. Yet there were some things that he'd say that she was still learning to be comfortable with, and this was one of them. She'd never dated anyone so open about the physical side of their relationship before. And the knowing look that Gio was giving her didn't help matters any.
To try and get her bearings back she asked, "How long do you think we'll be at the deli?"
The real matter back at hand, Gio got serious. "I'm not sure," he told her. "My Uncle Massimo is going to meet me there and he's going to try and fix the fridge, if he can."
"And if he can't?" Betty asked.
"We have to take all my stock to various members of my family's houses while I try to come up with the way and means to buy another fridge," he said with a grimace.
A couple minutes later the van came to a stop about a block from the deli. Betty climbed out of the van and after Gio locked the doors, they set off in the direction of Gio's Deli. They walked in silence, Gio clearly concerned with the amount of money this might set him back. Betty slipped her hand into his, hoping to give him some comfort. Gio looked over at Betty and gave a small smile as he squeezed her hand in recognition of the gesture. They continued down the street, hands entwined until they reached a glass door with a smiling pickle on it. Gio pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door. Betty followed Gio into the still dark and deserted deli as he headed towards a light coming from the back.
A tall man with dark hair stood in the middle of the backroom, surrounded by about five large buckets.
"What's going on, Max," Gio greeted as he walked over to his employee.
"Sorry about this, man," Max said, "I went ahead and took everything out of the fridge," he told Gio, gesturing to the buckets that Betty could now see were filled with ice and various meats and cheeses. "Oh, hey, Betty," he added, with a smile once he noticed she was behind Gio.
"Morning, Max," she greeted, "I came to help as much as I can," she told him.
"Not much to do, really," he told her. "You can help me get set up for when we open, if you want."
"You're still going to be open today?" she asked, a little surprised.
"Yeah, there's no sense in losing Gio even more money," Max told her.
Betty found herself worrying for Gio again. She looked over at him, but he was already busy looking at the back of the pulled out refrigerator.
"I need one of you to let Massimo in when he get here. He should be here anytime now," Gio called out.
"I'll go," Betty said, and headed towards the front leaving the two men to discuss what they thought the sales would be for the day.
Betty absent mindedly arranged the chips while she waited for Gio's uncle to show up. She really hoped that Massimo could fix the fridge. Gio wasn't doing badly, but his business was just starting off, and this deli was just the first phase of his five year plan towards owning a whole franchise of condiment laden sandwich shops. A huge purchase like that so soon would really set him back. She was wracking her mind for ways to help him come up with money when a knock at the door startled her into knocking a whole shelve of chips onto the ground. She looked through the window embarrassedly at Massimo who was waving apologetically.
Betty walked over to the door and let the short, plump, balding man in.
"Hi, Massimo," Betty greeted.
"Hello, Betty," he responded with a smile. "Sorry I scared you."
"Don't worry about it," she reassured him. "Gio's in the back," she added, heading towards that direction.
"I think it's the compressor, Uncle Mo," Gio said.
"Let me get a look, nipote," Massimo gestured for him to scoot over.
"Betty, we can start setting up now, if you're ready," Max told her. Betty agreed and she and Max went to work on putting out the sandwich fixings and the sides and salads while Massimo and Gio set about repairing the refrigerator.
Close to two hours later, the deli was ready for customers, Massimo had installed a new compressor in Gio's refrigerator, and all the food that had been in buckets of ice was back inside the now cool fridge. Gio, who was clearly in high spirits now that everything was in order, and Max were animatedly talking about the Mets when Betty found herself staring at Gio in the way she did when he said something that really surprised, but also pleased her. She couldn't believe it, but listening to him talk about something he loved so much, a sport she didn't even get no less, made her love him even more.
This is the guy, her heart told her.
Wait, did she just think what she thought she did?
Betty barely registered that Gio and Max's conversation was over and that Max was heading towards the front to open up the shop, she was so lost in her frantic thoughts.
Could it be true? Was Gio the guy? Betty looked over at him, he was sweeping the floor. He glanced up at her and gave her a smile and a quick eyebrow raise.
"We'll leave just as soon as I'm done sweeping," he told her.
"Yeah," she said distractedly.
He gave her a look. "You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," she repeated. He went back to sweeping, but kept eyeing her as though to make sure she was indeed fine.
There was no doubt about it. He was the guy. He was the only guy she wanted to ever kiss or wake up to again. He was the guy she wanted to share her life with. He was the guy she wanted to be the father of her children. He was the guy she wanted to grow old with.
"Gio," she blurted before she could stop herself, "you're the guy!" She immediately felt embarrassed for saying it, but it had popped out of her mouth out of the pure astounding realization of it all.
"What?" he asked as he stopped sweeping and squinted at her, trying to understand her meaning.
She debated brushing it off, but she decided she'd gone too far to go back. "You're the guy," she repeated quietly, "The guy I want to spend the rest of my life with."
He gave her that look that he reserved for her. The one that made her feel more loved than she could have ever imagined, the look that made her melt, the look that made her want to kiss him and never stop. Then a huge grin broke out on his face as he said, "Hells yeah, I'm the guy."