I hate him. Damn, I hate him so much! Maybe if I get Massimo to distract Ilaria for long enough, I can go and kick Ercole's ass into oblivion once and for all! But…. no. I'm sure the townspeople would start to wonder why their village "hero" suddenly disappeared overnight. Sigh. I'll just have to wait for the race, I guess.

Massimo brought me out on the boat again that morning. In the past couple of weeks we'd all gotten into a routine of sorts. Massimo and I would go fishing while Ilaria made the deliveries each morning, then we'd have lunch together and Ilaria and I would go off to train all afternoon. The day would end with the three of us eating dinner and hanging out in the garden.

It's honestly the happiest I've ever been in my life- minus that run-in with Erco-lame. The days started to blur together at some point. I lost track of when the weeks began and ended. My whole day, my whole world centred around one thing- one person- now. At the start and end was Ilaria. Just Ilaria. Where she was was where I began and where she ended was where I stopped. There was always her now…..

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Now I think Massimo was beginning to notice that something was going on too. Ilaria and I were spending more time together, laughing together and wanting to make the other smile. In my mind we were still friends….. She's my best friend whom I happen to be in love with. But I never thought that anything would really change besides her and I growing closer each and every day. The idea of marriage brought up by those two guys didn't pop back up into my head, partly because I had no notion what a human marriage would be like. I think you live with your spouse and call each other "husband" and "wife", but that's about it. And don't quote me on the "living together" bit; I might be wrong there. That may be something only sea creatures do. Who knows with humans and their endless customs and laws.

My mind wasn't on any of that just now. I was too busy sewing over Ercole and imagining how good it would be to punch him square in the face. Maybe that's why I didn't notice Massimo gleaning over at me from the corner of his eye. He passed me the net and looked down.

"You and Ilaria are sure training hard for the race," he noted dryily. "I really wanna win," I said with more than a hint of competitiveness- and a desire to utterly crush Erco-lame- in my tone. Massimo kept pulling the net up into the boat. "What will you do with the prize money if you do win?" "Huh?" This confused me for a second; I still wasn't sure on how human money worked or what it was good for. "The prize money. You and my niece are going to spilt it, aren't you?" "Oh… Oh, right! Yeah, she said something about that. Uh, I don't know. Give it to Ilaria, I suppose." "Really?!" Massimo blinked up to me in surprise, again catching me off-guard. I simply shrugged. "There's nothing I need it for." "So you're just going to let Ilaria have the whole prize? Are you sure about that, Alberto? Isn't there anything you'd like to buy? Anything at all?"

I thought about it for a moment, then shook my head. "Not really. I just wanna spend time with Ilaria. She wants to use the money to buy her dad a ticket so he can come see her. If she has all the prize money, she can buy him two tickets," was my reasoning. Made perfect sense to me.

Massimo watched me for another moment before slowly going back to his net. "You really….. care for my niece, don't you?" This question also surprised me; I thought that was obvious. "Well, yeah; more than anything," I admitted freely, not seeing what the big deal was. Massimo's hand paused here a second, only pulling the net in after a think. I was observing him at this point, unsure if I'd said or done something wrong. Like I've said, you never know with humans.

"Tell me about your family, Alberto." "Huh?!" Ok, I was not expecting that! Why the heck would he care about who my family is? How do I tell him the truth without looking like an abandoned loser? Should I tell him the truth? Uhhhhhhhhhh….. "Erm, n-not much to tell. It's just me now," I awkwardly replied, keeping my eyes locked down on the net as I said it. I could feel Massimo's stunned eyes back onto me. "You don't have any family?!" "W-Well there was m-my dad, but….." My voice trailed off here into a pause for a minute. My hands hung out motionless in front of me. "But he…. um, he's not around anymore." "He died?" "Uh, no. He um…. left….. a couple of years ago," why is this so damn painful to talk about? I've never told anyone this before- not a single soul. Not even Ilaria.

Massimo's sadden gaze drifted back down off me. "Oh, I'm sorry, lad." "I-It's ok! I'm doing pretty well on my own! And hey! Now I've got you and Ilaria to hang around!" Why does it sound like I'm trying to cheer him up? I'm the one who should be trying to cheer up! But it honestly felt like I was going to cry any moment now. Massimo sighed heavily and gave me a kind, paternal smile. "Yes, you have us, Alberto." The instant he told me this, my cheeks began to blush for some reason. I have no idea what's wrong with me right now! Why am I acting so strange?!

The fisherman straightened up his back to look me in the eye. "Have you told Ilaria this?" "U-Uh, no…. I didn't wanna…. make her sad for me, you know?" My hands waved around a bit- fruitlessly, I'm sure. Massimo's head nodded. "I understand where you're coming from. It shouldn't matter anyway; I don't buy into all that high-class mumbo jumbo." "W-What are you talking about? Matter for what?" My voice sputtered a little. "I don't know how these things work. The one who's really the authority on all this would be Ilaria, but I'm sure she'd say that my permission is all that's needed." "Needed for what?"

Massimo's eyes relaxed onto me about this point. His shoulders visibly softened. "You're… planning on sticking around after the race, yes?" "Course! Ilaria's here; I wanna stay where you and her are." Massimo nodded again. "Then it's all settled. Don't worry about the details; Ilaria will take care of that, I'm sure." "What details? Did I do something wrong?" "No, no," he chuckled, placing his hand on my shoulder. A pregnant pause ensued as he gave me a loving little shake. "Don't worry, boy. There's no need to rush anything. You and my niece are still young; you can time your time." Take our time with what? I wanted to ask this out loud but got the feeling that he expected me to already know what he was talking about.

I did not.

I stood there, merely listening now as he proceeded to give me one more gentle shake. Then he removed his hand to continue pulling in the netting. "I'll talk to Ilaria…. when the time is right. She'll tell me how this is supposed to work. Then the three of us can sit down and have a talk about the matter, ok?" "Uh, o-ok?" What am I agreeing to now? What's he going to talk to Ilaria about? Why do humans speak in these weird, hard-to-understand codes?!

Massimo finished pulling in the net and put out the buoy. "I've got to go into town this afternoon; Ilaria's expecting a letter from her father. I suppose…. I ought to write him about this," I think he was saying this more to himself than to me. I watched him, utterly confused out of my wits, as he chewed on the idea for a minute. Then he sighed and shook his head. "Bah, it may be too early for that. I'm sure he'll have an opinion on the matter." "Uhhhhhhh, right," sure, why not? Massimo then glanced back up my way; his face kind and sincere. "Don't concern yourself with him either. Regardless of what my brother says, you have my permission and that's all that should matter," his eyes gleamed onto me here for the briefest of seconds. "You have my permission, Alberto Scorfano." "Uh, ok? Thank you," I guess. What's he giving me permission for? He already said that we could enter the race. He wouldn't have given us the entry fee if he disapproved. Maybe he's talking about me and Ilaria training together or my giving her my half of the prize money. Who knows? All I know is that Massimo- this gruff, burly, wonderful brute of a man- has given me his permission for something. For what, I have no clue.

But something.