Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership to Luca or any of the associated characters.

Chapter 4: The Rooftop

With the fine summer weather bringing them into a warm, pleasant evening, the Paguro and Marcovaldo families came together to enjoy a large, joyous dinner in the Marcovaldo's stone patio garden. Luca and his father helped to set up some tables outside, while Giulia set them with table settings and drinks. Daniela stayed in the small kitchen with Massimo, engaging in a heated but good-humored debate about seasoning.

"I'm telling you, Massimo, it needs more salt. The tomato sauce is simply too sweet!"

"Too much salt will overpower the flavor. I countered the sweetness with a little squeeze of lemon juice already."

"Lemon juice? Whoever told you to put lemon juice in parmigiana di pollo?"

"You can't taste it – it just cuts through the sweet of the tomate. Better than salt, anyway."

"Yes, but adding salt enhances natural flavor."

"With all due respect, signora, you live in salt water. No amount of salt will be enough for you, but if you insist, I will have Giulietta lay out some table salt."

"Well, my finless friend, we must agree to disagree, but I will take you up on your offer there."

It warmed Luca's heart to see and hear the love and friendships that had grown between his family and the humans of Porto Rosso. Only a few years ago his entire species lived in fear of the humans and stayed well below the surface of the water, but now they communed in such harmony that they could argue over recipes. He smiled, remembering fondly how he and Alberto had teamed up with Giulia to compete for the Porto Rosso Triathlon all those years ago… They'd tried so hard to hide their fishy identities, but in the end, it was their special bond as Thalassinos that had not only won them the Cup, but also exposed their true identities to the town. And when they expected to be murdered or captured, they were instead welcomed with love and acceptance. It was a fond memory that Luca didn't think about too often, because now the casual interactions between Thalassinos and humans were commonplace, but every once and a while he would remember the thrill, excitement, and fear of those times and the special connection he shared with Alberto through all of it.

Just as Luca was reminiscing over their childhood escapades, who should appear but Alberto himself, walking through the patio gate like he was the star guest of the dinner. Luca blinked, confused to see that Alberto was already cleaned up and manicured. He had thought Alberto was still working late and would have come home to the Marcovaldo's to get washed up, but upon his entrance he appeared already freshly showered, wearing (per Giulia's demand) a cream-colored linen shirt that sat agape just below his collarbone and with sleeves rolled to his elbows, displaying strong, sun-bronzed forearms. Luca thought he would feel better seeing Alberto properly clothed, but again the uncomfortable fluttery feeling of nervousness had returned. Luca took deep gulps from his glass of water to try and force the flutters out of his stomach, and luckily, the feelings dissipated somewhat as everyone began to gather in for the meal.

It was a jovial time together with both families. Giulia and Luca recounted their stories of graduation, Daniela bragged on Lorenzo and his prize-winning crab at the Underwater Fair, and Alberto told harrowing stories of some of the things he and Edoardo had witnessed during overnight fishing trips. He said they'd seen a herd of giant stingrays passing by the harbor one night, and a full shower of shooting stars that could not have been seen from the coastline because there were too many lights in town. Luca felt so proud of his friend for finding something he was passionate about and was very pleased to see Alberto so happy.

As the evening wore on, the younger generations cleaned in shifts. Giulia collected dirty plates while Luca washed them and Alberto toweled them dry. While Luca's hands were submerged in the sink water, Alberto leaned over closely. Luca didn't notice how close he was until he smelled the scent of sea salt and sandalwood. That's not the dish soap… he wondered, before realizing Alberto's face was directly next to his own.

"Ah!" Luca sprang back, slipping on tiny puddles of soapy water that had dripped from his elbows onto the floor while washing the dishes. His backside landed on the tile floor hard, but his hammering heart was more what caught his attention. What is wrong with me?

"Whoa, Luca! You okay, man?"

With one strong arm, Alberto lifted him swiftly to his feet. Luca tried hastily to regain his footing and dust himself off. "I-I'm okay. You just scared me!"

Alberto smiled but didn't let go of Luca's wrist. Pulling it upward to the light, he gazed intently at Luca's arm which was dotted with bright green iridescent scales from being submerged in the sink water. "Wow, I haven't seen your scales in so long. Did they get greener? And there's hints of blue on the edges now. How cool!"

Luca felt warmth building in his ears and the same uncomfortable fluttery feeling returned to his stomach. Alberto didn't seem to notice, as he was so closely examining Luca's scales, but Luca's pulse had jumped so dramatically that he could feel his heartbeat in his throat. He chuckled awkwardly and pulled his arm away, plunging both his hands back into the sink and avoiding eye contact. "Ahah, uh maybe? I-I hadn't noticed. Been spending a lot of time in my human form at school, you know?"

Alberto shrugged and then continued toweling out a drink glass as if nothing odd had happened. "Yeah, I get that. I mean I only change back when I need to for work, but I spend most of my time living as humanly as possible these days."

Luca thought back to his parent's discussion the night before, regarding their distaste of Alberto's alleged escapades with human women in the town, but he didn't have time to dwell on the matter because Giulia popped her head back into the kitchen carrying the last remaining dishes from outside. As they finished their chores, they made their way back outside, where Alberto announced his departure.

"You're leaving?" Luca asked. He felt like he'd only just gotten to see Alberto. He thought he'd have more time with him.

"Yeah, I've got an early morning tomorrow. Right, Pops?" Alberto elbowed his adoptive father affectionately in the side, and Massimo clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Alberto has been doing a wonderful job for our company and our family." It was hard to see his eyes underneath his immense eyebrows, but Luca figured if anyone could see them, they'd be twinkling. Alberto seemed to grow a foot taller as he swelled with pride.

"Hey, it's what I do." he said with a casual shrug. "But in order to do it, I gotta get a good night's rest, right? See you guys later!"

Luca blinked. "Wait… don't you live here?"

Alberto paused momentarily, eyeing Luca with one cocked eyebrow as though completely dumbfounded by his question, before slapping his forehead. "Oh, mio dio! I forgot! Massimo and I agreed that since Giulia was moving home for a while that I should probably get my own place. I've been living in my own apartment for the last month or so."

"What! Really?" Luca said excitedly. "That's awesome!"

"Yeah! It's totally great!" Alberto paused for a moment. "You wanna come see it?"

"Uh, yeah! Of course, I do!" Luca and Alberto shared a split second of giddy excitement before Luca turned to his parents. "Mom, Dad, do you care if I go?"

Lorenzo looked like he was so stuffed with chicken parmesan that he may well have to have been rolled back into the ocean, but Daniela raised a skeptical brow. "Thought you needed to turn in early, Alberto?"

The older of the two young men wrapped one strong arm around his friend's shoulders. "I promise, signora, I won't keep Luca late. We'll just do a quick tour and then right off to bed!"

Luca's grandmother patted Daniela's arm reassuringly. "Ah the boy just returned home. Go let him have fun with his friends." Luca's mom heaved a sigh, not at all enjoying being guilted into a decision by her own mother. Nonetheless, she waved a hand to her son as if to say, "Go on."

Luca flashed a wide smile, before it faltered slightly, and he turned unexpectedly to Giulia. "Giulia, do you want to come?"

He felt bad considering her as an afterthought, but for the first time in a long time, Luca felt like he really wanted this opportunity to spend time with Alberto. He loved both his friends equally, but he'd spent the last five years glued to Giulia, especially because she was the only person (other than her own mother) who knew his Thalassino heritage outside Porto Rosso. He valued her deeply and they got along so well, but secretly, in this moment, he hoped that he might have some time with Alberto all to himself.

"Nah, I'm tired and I haven't even unpacked yet. You boys have fun!" Giulia shot a wink at them.

Trying very hard to not show his glee at her declination, Luca rushed his family with quick hugs, promising to be home later that evening. Once both young men exited the patio gate, Alberto gave Luca a dazzling smile and Luca felt lightheaded with excitement. "Come on," he said. He grasped Luca's hand and pulled him hurriedly down a street. "This way!"

Luca felt the motion shouldn't have been a big deal, but feeling Alberto's strong, warm hand encasing his own smaller one made him feel oddly warm and his throat immediately felt very dry. He tried hard to focus on where they were going, but Alberto's grip on his hand was very distracting, and with Alberto being much taller than him, his long strides made it difficult for Luca to keep up. Eventually, they made it to a much older section of Porto Rosso, where the cobbled street was particularly uneven and all the buildings looked squished impossibly close together. Alberto led them through a small, covered alleyway that had only one narrow door in the side of it, and through the door they climbed a suffocatingly tight stairway. The stairs emptied onto a tiny landing with two doors on either end of a small hallway.

"It's a split level," Alberto explained. "Old man Dante lives in that unit there. He's my landlord. And this…" he used a dingy-looking key to unlock the other door, "is me!"

Luca stepped into almost full darkness at first, until Alberto clicked on a single tiny lamp against the wall. The apartment was tiny, consisting of only one small room that had a small kitchen area on one side, one window facing out towards the harbor, an unkempt bed in the corner, a tiny door leading to what was presumably a bathroom, and a single bookshelf propped under the window. Adorning the top of the bookshelf were various trinkets and random items that Luca recognized to be silly, unimportant human items that Alberto used to collect when he was still living alone in his island tower all those years ago. Now that he lived among humans, surely these items didn't hold any other value except that which was sentimental. Otherwise, the apartment was… kind of disappointing. It had a telltale odor of an old building which wasn't well cared for, and the ceiling looked like it might cave in for the sag it was carrying.

"Isn't it awesome?" Alberto said, stretching his arms wide and spinning around as if the tiny apartment was in fact a giant castle. Luca smiled in spite of himself. He loved Alberto's enthusiasm. Alberto continued, "It was nice getting to live with Massimo for a while, but now that I'm a grown man I like to have my own space, you know? It's just nice to have my own place to get back to whenever I want, like on nights like tonight."

"So, you can get a good night's sleep?" Luca asked innocently. Alberto leaned casually against his tiny kitchen sink. The "V" of his shirt spilled open, displaying even more of his muscled chest as he adopted the new stance. Luca glanced quickly away as if he felt he was looking at something inappropriate.

"Nah, that was just an excuse," he said grinning. "I've got a hot date tonight."

Luca turned back to see Alberto grinning cockily. He quickly remembered his parent's conversation again, and felt the horrible sensation sinking in that maybe, against his better judgment, they had been right. Maybe Alberto had become a playboy, after all.

"A-a hot date?" Luca asked. For Poseidon's sake, why did his voice sound like it had jumped two octaves higher?

Alberto seemed pleased at Luca's shocked response. "Yeah, it's nice to have some privacy for when a lady friend comes over. You know how it is."

Luca rubbed a hand through his hair uncomfortably, feeling a hot blush creeping into his cheeks. "I-I can't say that I do."

Alberto lifted himself from his casual position. "What? A handsome shark like you hasn't had a girlfriend yet at that fancy school of yours?"

"W-what? No!" Luca felt utterly embarrassed.

Alberto's eyebrows edged higher and a playful grin crept across his beautiful mouth. "Maybe a boyfriend, then?"

Luca choked back what might've been a gasp, feeling wholly uncomfortable with the whole conversation. He hadn't been prepared for Alberto to call him handsome, much less discuss his sadly lacking love life. "I-I was busy! School is tough! I spent most of my time studying!"

Alberto rolled his eyes with a huff and reached forward to ruffle his friend's fluffy brown curls. "You're such a nerd. Come on! I haven't even shown you the best part yet!"

Before Luca could comprehend what was happening, Alberto swept past him, pushed open the window above the bookshelf, and leapt out of the small opening feet-first. Luca screamed to see his friend's mop of tight brown twists disappear below the windowsill, but a second later they had reappeared, with Alberto giving him a cheeky grin. "Come on, follow me!"

Luca stuck his head out the window to realize there was a small metal landing below, and a rickety looking ladder next to it that Alberto was already climbing. Heart still pounding from the momentary shock of thinking his friend had jumped to his death, Luca cautiously edged his way out the tiny window frame and started up the ladder behind him. The ladder led them to a small rooftop patio surrounded on three sides by taller buildings but with a clear open view towards the harbor on the open edge of the roof. It was already dark out, but Luca admired the orange glow from the dozens of little windows lining the streets and the bright light of the moon reflecting on the dark water below. In the harbor, dark shadows of miniscule boats bounced and bobbed in the waves with the gentle swish, swish sounds of water splashing over stone below.

"Wow, it's beautiful." Luca gazed over the lovely view for a moment, before Alberto drew his attention again.

"Yeah, and that's not even the best part."

All at once, Alberto's hand grasped Luca's wrist firmly and yanked him downward. Luca made a sound of surprise as his rump hit the wooden rooftop hard, and he nearly felt the wind knocked out of him when his back connected with the roof tiles. Angrily, he turned to face Alberto. "Hey! What was that f—"

But Alberto wasn't looking at him. He was gazing upward into the darkness. This was the closest they had been to each other since Luca's return. Luca noticed that Alberto's jawline had chiseled into a fine clean line, and he even had a gentle dusting of a five-o-clock shadow beginning to prickle his skin. Again, Luca felt the nervousness returning to his stomach and he quickly looked away, only to be momentarily stunned by a different view.

There, lying on their backs on the rooftop, Luca could see thousands of stars overhead. He breathed a content sigh. "Wow…"

He'd forgotten how amazing it was to just simply look out and admire the sky. In Genova, there were always too many lights. It was a much larger city than Porto Rosso, and the only times he really got to look at the stars was during his science and astronomy classes. There they had a giant telescope in which he could examine far away planets and stars in great detail, but he'd forgotten how it felt to sit back and admire the night sky in its entirety, to feel so small against the ever expansive, sparkling blackness and the warm, reassuring, glow of the moon.

"I know, right?" Alberto whispered. "I hoped you'd like it."

Luca turned back to look at his friend and was shocked to see Alberto was looking at him this time. He looked just as surprised to lock eyes with Luca, and both men sat up quickly, facing away from the other in embarrassment. Luca felt his heart hammering in his ears. What was wrong with him? Why was he suddenly feeling so ridiculously nervous around Alberto? He was his very best friend—he'd never felt so overwhelmed and anxious just spending time with him before.

"Anyways," Alberto covered quickly, "I just know you like stars and stuff. So, I thought you'd like to see the view from my roof. There aren't many other buildings around that have the same type of rooftop patio, so mine's clearly the best because you can come up here and see the whole sky. You could even sleep up here under the Giant Fish if you wanted—" He chuckled uncomfortably, "—though obviously I know it's not really a fish. It's a big rock stuck up in the sky… and I didn't mean you specifically could sleep up here, haha, unless y'know… you wanted to… I mean you could if you wanted to…"

Luca glanced quickly back to his friend, who was standing awkwardly with one hand rubbing the back of his neck. He knew Alberto had a tendency for rambling when he was nervous. Luca chewed his lip guiltily. I must have made him uncomfortable…

"Yeah—" he said quickly. "It's really great. I-I bet it's a lovely place to bring your dates, right?" Alberto looked briefly dumbfounded, and Luca felt he would have jumped off the roof in the moment. You idiot. That makes it sound like you're his date. Argh!

"Well, I hadn't really brought anyone up here yet, but I guess you're right." Alberto stuck his hands in his pockets. "Ahem, speaking of dates, I suppose I should—"

"Yeah! Right! Of course!" Luca hurriedly made his way toward the ladder and began climbing down, grateful for this excuse to escape his embarrassment. He missed the way Alberto's eyes followed him down the ladder and out of sight.

Luca quickly hopped down onto the metal landing, but the window ledge that he now needed to climb through was positioned at a much more difficult angle than it had been from inside the apartment. Feeling terribly inflexible, he tried unsteadily to lift one leg through the opening first but discovered too late that he wasn't tall enough to reach proper footing on the other side. With a loud crash and yelp of pain, Luca made a very uncoordinated reentry into the apartment.

"Luca!" Alberto quickly scrambled down the ladder and poked his upper body through the window to find Luca in a crumpled heap covered by books and random human items, including an empty glass mason jar, a rotary phone that no longer worked, and a pair of fuzzy dice one might find hanging on the rearview mirror of a fancy car. The small bookcase was laying on its side beside him.

Groaning, Luca rolled over trying to hide his shame. His body wasn't hurt quite so badly as his pride. "Alberto! I-I'm so sorry!"

It seemed completely unfair how easily Alberto was able to squeeze so nimbly through the tiny window when he was so much bulkier than Luca. He knelt down to help his friend to his feet while Luca immediately tried to clean up the mess he made. Alberto placed a hand on a large book that Luca was trying to pick up from the ground and waited for him to look at him directly.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked with real concern etched on his large green eyes. Luca gulped thickly.

"I'm fine! I hope I didn't break anything. I promise I'll clean everything up!"

With a sigh, Alberto resigned himself to assuming that Luca wasn't too hurt and easily righted the heavy bookshelf. "It's okay," he said, starting to place the fallen items back in their rightful spots. In a way, it sounded like his voice had changed, like he wasn't as jovial as before. Luca looked down, feeling that he had somehow ruined their nice time together, when something unusual caught his eye. The large book he was holding was not at all what he would have expected. The worn paper cover read:

Il Sistema Solare

Vol. II

Kuiper, G. P., & Middlehurst, B. M.

"You've been reading about the solar system?" Luca asked quietly.

Almost as though embarrassed, Alberto quickly snatched the book from his hands and hurriedly stuffed it in the bookcase. "Oh, uh yeah – Hah, the library was, uh, giving away a lot of old, unused books and my apartment felt a little bare without some décor in it, you know?" He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm usually too busy to read this stuff anyways. The life of a working man—never much time for leisure reading. Not like at school where I bet you do nothing but read, am I right?"

But Luca was only partially listening, because as his eyes scanned the rest of books on the shelves, he spotted several familiar book spines about astronomy, ranging from elementary level reading to collegiate textbooks. It seemed odd to him that they were all about the same subject. Had the library really emptied out their entire astronomy section…?

Suddenly remembering why they had returned to the apartment in the first place, Luca straightened up and faced his friend, though he felt terribly uneasy for some reason. He tried to act casual, but his arms stuck out stiffly by his sides and his neck felt oddly taut.

"I uh… should be getting back home, I suppose. Thanks for showing me your apartment. It's really, really great. And I'm really happy for you!" Without knowing what else to say, he chirped, "Ciao!" and made it way towards the door.

"Are you sure you know how to get back…?" Alberto's voice followed behind him.

"Yeah, yeah – No problem."

"I could walk back with you—"

"N-no, I'm good. You should get ready for your, uh, date. I'll just keep heading downhill until I reach the harbor. S-see you later!"

Luca felt like he was going mad, like he needed to escape the tiny room like a guppy fleeing a predator. But there was no predator. It was just Alberto. And just as Luca was finally back on the cobble street again, he suddenly felt very alone. How could it be that he wanted so badly to be around his best friend and also want to run from him at the same time? He began slowly trudging his way down the uneven cobblestone path.

"Estupido!" he groaned and squeezed his head in his hands.

"Scusi?"

He glanced up quickly to see he had just passed another person: a pretty young woman with long blonde ringlets and big, water blue eyes that gazed at him with confusion. She thought he was speaking to her!

"No-no, I'm sorry! I wasn't talking about you…!" Luca fumbled.

The young woman smiled a pretty smile and seemed to relax. "Oh, no problem. Have a good evening." She turned to walk away, but as Luca's eyes followed her, he noticed she slipped into a very familiar alleyway. Oh, right. She must be Alberto's date… he thought sadly. But Alberto hadn't kicked him out or anything. He'd been honest about his date that night, so Luca had no reason to feel jealous…

I'm not jealous! He thought to himself, but a deep feeling of irritation was seeping into his very core. He trudged his way down the street down towards the water, somehow feeling even worse than he had before.

Silly boys. Feelings are hard.

Thank you for reading. A review is always greatly appreciated.

-Olly