Chapter 29
Later that evening, my mother went out with Piero and Ignazio's mothers to have dinner, and I was left at the Ginoble house with Gianluca and his parents.
I borrowed Gianluca's iPod and sat alone in the guestroom to try writing a short story I had been rolling around in my mind. I wasn't completely sure what the plot was yet, but I scribbled over several pages, trying to begin by conveying the love of a young couple. Down the hallway, Gianluca was finalizing that song he had been working on. Every once in a while he would sing a few notes, and repeat them over and over again to test them out, and I decided to forsake the iPod to listen to him.
His parents were talking downstairs, and the constant murmur of their voices was comforting. It reminded me of when my parents used to chat in the kitchen when I played in the living room.
I straightened my stack of loose-leaf, and tapped the pencil thoughtfully against my knee.
"Gianluca!?" called up the stairs. "Your father and I need to talk to you about something important!"
I sat up and listened as Gianluca went down the hallway and down the staircase to join in on the murmur of voices.
I looked down at the blank pages before me and tried to think of what would happen in my story now that I had introduced the couple, but nothing came to mind.
I twisted a curl around my finger as I pondered over the nonexistent plotline, listening to the murmuring, which stopped moments later. I heard Gianluca began to speak, quicker and louder than his parents. His mother spoke, slower than before, and his dad said something sharply. Gianluca started to speak again, and his voice was raised, which provoked a harsh response from his father.
There was definitely an argument going on, quick words being exchanged in raised voices from all of them.
I felt out of place, as if I wasn't supposed to hear this. My mother wasn't in the house at the moment, and I was the only one present who was not a Ginoble. The argument continued, and I stood and pulled on my tennis shoes, feeling a bit uneasy at hearing the family argument.
I went to the window and opened it, peeing downward to discover that I couldn't safely reach the ground.
So I left the guestroom and crept down the steps, peering cautiously into the living room. The three of them were in the master bedroom, and arguing in Italian.
I could see Gianluca in the doorway with his back to me, speaking slowly, obviously frustrated, and his father tried to silence him to no avail. He sounded desperate, and he began to plead with his mother, his Italian starting to sound choked up. When she began to speak, I was reminded of my being out of place.
I went quickly through the living room and out the front door, closing it quietly behind me.
I jumped off the porch steps and looked around. Where would I go? I'm not allowed to go exploring after dark. I impulsively set out in the direction of Piero and Ignazio's houses, jogging through the dirt path. I stopped in between them, unsure of where I was going.
I slid my hands into my pockets and turned to gaze at the mountains in the distance, wondering what the Ginobles were arguing about.
A door opening interrupted the quiet, and I heard Ignazio call, "Naomi, what are you doing?"
I turned to see him standing on his porch, smiling at me.
I shrugged.
"I just wanted to get out of the house for a little while…"
"Well, I just made some pasta, if you would like some."
I nodded, glad for the offer, and went up the porch steps and into the house.
He had made some kind of creamy sauce for the pasta, and he dished some out for me.
Then he sat across from me, and studied my face as I tasted it. I grinned and looked up at him.
"This is amazing, Ignazio!? You made this?"
He smiled triumphantly.
"Remember how I used to be chubby?"
I smiled.
"I made this A LOT…"
I laughed.
"I don't blame you, Ignazio! It's so good!"
"Gratzi! So how was your day today? Did you take another recovery day?"
I smiled and shook my head.
"Should've known Naomi wouldn't stay inside a second longer than she had to!"
I laughed, and filled him in on my day of horseback riding and mountain trekking, and he was greatly interesting in Gianluca's riding skills, prodding me until I admitted that he fell off.
Then he laughed and laughed, and I laughed with him.
He told me about his day, which apparently consisted of messing with Piero, hanging around the market, and playing video games.
Hearing the ways in which he picked at Piero cracked me up, and in no time I had almost forgotten about my reason for leaving the Ginoble house. Almost.
As Ignazio washed our dishes afterwards, I sat on the couch and checked my phone to see if Gianluca had texted me. He hadn't, and I sighed, wondering what had been going on, what he had been pleading with his parents for, why he was getting choked up…
Ignazio came to sit next to me.
"Okay, Naomi, now you have to tell me what's going on."
"Huh?"
"When you were outside, you seemed a little distressed, and I want to know why you left the Ginoble house. Did you and Gianluca have a fight or something?"
I shook my head.
"No, but he and his parents did. I only left because I felt like I shouldn't be hearing it."
He nodded.
"What were they saying?"
"I don't know. It was in Italian."
"Well, Naomi, people fight with their parents all the time. It's nothing to fret over."
"But… he just sounded so desperate, and he was pleading with them…I just…I hope nothing bad's happened."
He nodded, and I waited for him to say something, but he didn't. Instead he reached out to hug me, reassuringly rubbing my back.
"I'm sure he will tell you what's going on."
"Thanks, Ignazio."
I glanced up at him, to find that he was staring past me at the window. He released me and and went to it, pulling back the curtains.
"Naomi."
He motioned me over, and pointed at the Ginoble house.
Gianluca was sitting on the porch steps, his knees pulled to his chest and his head resting on them, buried in his arms.
I reached out to gingerly touch the window, and Ignazio nodded to me.
"Go and see him."
I nodded and gave him a quick hug, then went out the door and walked cautiously toward the porch, keeping my eyes on Gianluca's huddled figure. He kept his head down until I was only a few feet away, then he peered up at me, his handsome face streaked with tears.
"Gianluca?" I asked softly, surprised.
He quickly ran his hands over his face and gazed up at me.
I knelt on the step below him, placing my hands on his knees and waiting for a response. We looked at each other, and then he reached out and pulled me into him so tightly I couldn't move, and I let him cling to me. He took sharp intakes of breath, and I desperately wanted to know what was going on.
"Gianluca?"
His grip loosened, and he moved back to look at me.
I reached up for his face and tenderly wiped away the tear streaks on his cheeks.
"Ginaluca?" I whispered.
He kissed me very sweetly, and wiped his own eyes and took my hands in his. He held me on his thighs, with my head on his shoulder and his arm around my back.
"Naomi, my love, in only two days you will be going home…"
I nodded and said softly, "Well, all of us, me and you and Piero and Ignazio."
He shook his head.
"No. Not me."
I stopped breathing.
"What?"
He squeezed my hand in his and began to explain.
"Naomi, my parents have missed this place so much that they refuse to leave! They want to spend the rest of the summer here, and then return to the U.S. at the end! They reason that the boys and I can write music separately, and then collaborate when we meet up again."
"I…I'm not going to see you until the end of the summer?"
He nodded.
"Oh, Gianluca, no!"
I started to tear up.
"Oh, Naomi, don't cry, you're going to make me start again!"
"I can't help it! I love you, Gianluca! I don't want to be apart from you!"
I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and his arms went around my back.
Tears ran down my cheeks, and Gianluca was crying, too.
"How, Gianluca!? How can I leave you for the whole summer! My mom's never going to let me stay here with you!"
"I know, Naomi, I love you so much, it's not fair!"
"Oh, Gianluca!"
I kissed him and he kissed me over and over again, holding me so tightly…
I wiped my face over and over again, but the tears refused to stop, and I started to gasp for breath. I clung to his shirt.
"I don't want to leave, Gianluca! I only want to be with you!"
"Naomi, I desire the same."
He covered my face in kisses.
"I love you so much, Gianluca!"
He took my hand and pressed it against his chest, with his over it.
"Oh, my heart, Naomi, it hurts!"
I kissed him, feeling mine hurting too.
We cried on the porch, wrapped in each other's arms, unwilling to let go because in only a few days we'd give anything to return to this moment.
Eventually, when we had cried ourselves out, we sat on the porch in each other's arms, listening to the silence. I rested my hand on his chest and felt it rise and fall as he breathed. He kept one hand around my back, and the other slipped down to lightly rest on my waist.
"Naomi."
I lifted my head from his shoulder and watched the strange expression on his face. Sad, but determined, his eyes sparkling in the moonlight.
"Naomi, I love you, and I don't want to be the one to…hold you down."
"Gianluca?"
"Hush, my dear. You are going to be apart from me from a while, and to me you are worth the wait, but…I know that you might not want…to try to keep our relationship going while we're apart."
"Gianluca, I-"
"Naomi, what I'm saying here is that if you want to…end it-" his voice cracked, "then I'll just have to accept that. Don't let me hold you down."
His eyes filled with tears, and he quickly swiped at them.
I kissed him, and he held me very tightly for a second, but then released me, and placed his hands on the porch floor. He watched me, waiting for my answer.
"No, Gianluca, no! I don't want to end it! It's only the summer! It's going to be hard, I know, but you're worth the wait! We can do it, my Gianluca, and we'll have so much fun when you go back!"
He sighed and then closed his eyes and smiled..
"Good, I'm so glad!"
I kissed his cheek, and to my delight his arms came up again to hold me.
I rested there in his arms on the porch for a while, kissing him and hugging him and delighting in his presence and his touch.
Then eventually I kissed him one last time, then got up from his lap and went inside to take a shower.
The cool waters felt good, and the crying had made me sleepy. When I emerged from the bathroom, I found my mother in her guestroom, and I went to tell her the news.
As I spoke, the tears started to fall again, and my mother tried to comfort me to no avail.
I was so happy he was mine, but I was going to miss him so much.
I left her and ran to Gianluca, who accepted me with open arms, and held me and cried with me until I was unable to cry anymore and was drifting to sleep with my head on his shoulder. He carefully picked me up and carried me to the guestroom, where he tucked me in and kissed me over and over before he left.
