(A/N) Here's a much longer chapter than the last!

Thank you for the comments on the last chapter. It was really nice to come back to writing this and reading them all. Someone even said that I inspired them to write. That is so amazing. I was so /

You all are so sweet. :)

I hope you enjoy chapter 22.

The night of the Halloween Dance - Streets of Protorosso

*Flashback*

Giulia was helping a drunken Guido get home. She had his arm around her shoulder while helping to hold him right-side-up with her other hand around his waist. Her boyfriend was stumbling as he walked. Giulia had no idea this is what she'd be doing tonight.

A half-hour ago she had come across Guido in a corner retching with Ciccio bent down with him patting on his back, concerned for his friend. Giulia gasped seeing this and wondered how the hell Guido got like this. Was there something in the punch that he had been drinking before? She hoped not considering she had seen Luca drinking a lot of it as well.

When Giulia had approached the two boys Ciccio was the first to see her coming. Once Ciccio saw her he had given a not-so-friendly expression. As if he were mad at her for some reason. Maybe he was mad that he was dealing with this and not with his date at that moment and the expression had nothing to do with her. Giulia had asked what happened. Ciccio told her and her previous concerns were confirmed. Ciccio had partially raised his voice at her, only proving that he was mad at her about something. He was also being passive-aggressive with his comments here and there, emphasizing the words 'your boyfriend' and acting surprised that she was worrying about Guido at all. Ciccio had practically demanded she'd take Guido home, barely letting her speak and saying that she should 'Actually act like his girlfriend'. It all happened so fast. Giulia agreed to do so of course but she had made a mental note to ask Ciccio what the hell was his problem with her the next time she saw him.

Then, having Guido sit out in the hall outside the girls' bathroom so she could tell Luna she was leaving, she hadn't expected to see Alberto and a drunk Luca in there with Luna as well. Luna had been in the stall at the time but seeing Luca in the state he was in Giulia knew his mother would lose it so she asked Luna to take him to her house, which she agreed to.

Now, Guido was in Giulia's care. He had been mumbling a few things along the way to his house she couldn't fully pick up but it had sounded like something . But Giulia could tell Guido was sobering up a bit, looking a little more aware than when they were at school. The redhead thanked Heaven for that considering she had been unsure of how the boy's parents would have reacted to their son who could've been in a worse state.

Soon the two reached Guido's house. Guido removed his arm from around Giulia's shoulder.

"I'm fine now. You can go home now..." Guido said, walking slowly to keep himself from falling.

The way he had said it had sounded…angry, Giulia thought. But then she quickly wrote it off as her just hearing things.

"Are you sure?" Giulia asked. "I can walk you inside if you'd like."

Guido at first didn't reply. He looked like he was contemplating what to say next. Or maybe he was just confused about where he was? Giulia still wasn't entirely sure if Guido was completely in his right mind. Granted he hadn't been slurring much within the last few minutes.

Then he finally spoke. "Are you a…" he lingered as if he was too afraid to ask.

"Am I a, what?" Giulia pressed, curious.

Guido shook his head slowly. He wasn't ready to ask that question. He chose to ask something else.

"Do you even…like me?" he asked.

Giulia looked at the boy with a confused expression. "What d'ya mean? Of course, I like you. You're my boyfriend, silly ." she lightly punched him in the arm playfully. "Wow, that punch must have hit you hard." she laughed. "Ha! get it? Because 'punch' ?... 'hit'?"

"I am not kidding around, Giulia!" he suddenly raised his voice at her.

Giulia flinched. He was being serious. Guido really was angry. Angry at her. She immediately changed her tone, now taking the boy's question seriously.

"...Why are you asking me that?"

"Luca said something earlier at the dance that you- …look, I've been questioning 'us' for a while now."

"Why? What did Luca say?"

"Something I didn't want to hear. But it was something that would…make sense." Guido crossed his arms and sighed. "...How do you feel about… Luna ?"

Giulia noticed he had said Luna's name in a way that sounded as if just saying her name was distasteful in his mouth. But aside from that, why would Guido ask her a question like that?

"What do you mean?" Giulia asked, wanting clarification.

Guido shook his head again and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Giulia you can't possibly not be getting what I'm trying to say. Are you into her! Do you like, like her?!"

Giulia was then speechless, her mouth agape. She averted her eyes from the boy's. How could he ask her something like that? Luna was…Luna…was…how she felt about her- Giulia was starting to feel overwhelmed. She didn't know how she felt about Luna. But she couldn't answer with that. It would be disastrous if she did.

Guido was starting to get impatient. "Well? "

'Hurry and think of something to say already!' Giulia thought worriedly.

"I…I've just…been going through a lot and…I don't know what I'm doing sometimes." Giulia said finally, choosing her words carefully. "Everything used to be so…simple as a little kid…and now…I'm in high school and in a relationship with…a really nice guy…but sometimes I-"

"Sometimes you what, Giulia?" he interrupted. "Oh dio, you really are a-a-"

"A what? Santa Mozzarella! Just say whatever you're trying to say, Guido!" Giulia shouted, tired of Guido dancing around whatever he meant.

"A LESBIAN !" Guido yelled, finally letting it out.

Giulia's hazel eyes widened and her shoulders tensed. A million questions suddenly fell into her thoughts.

A lesbian? Why would he think that? She couldn't- that was a ridiculous assumption! She would know if she was. Simple as that! Was that what Luca had said to him? Why would he say that? What right did Luca think he had to say such things to Guido. Her boyfriend was in a drunken state of mind that would believe anything.

Guido then fell to his knees and leaned his head into his palms. His head hurt and Giulia wasn't into him. Luca must've been right.

"We should just break up…" Guido said quietly.

Giulia's heart almost jumped like that. She didn't want that…, right? If they did, what if he didn't want to be her friend anymore? The friend group that had been built up since day one would be shot. Things wouldn't be the same at school anymore. She was comfortable with the way things were to a large extent.

And what if it was spread around that she was a lesbian. She would probably get ridiculed. What if her dad caught wind of that idea?! That thought scared her. It wasn't even true! She wasn't a lesbian!

Giulia knew she hadn't been giving Guido the attention he deserved but she still valued him. Giulia didn't want to lose Guido. She looked down at the poor boy with pity in her eyes. Giulia couldn't stand to see him like this. She bent down on her knees now on his level.

"Did Luca tell you that?" Giulia asked, hoping her best friend didn't.

Guido nodded, still looking away from her.

Why? Why would Luca say something like that to her boyfriend? Was he trying to ruin everything? Yes, Luca was majorly drunk last time she saw him, which would explain that but what gave him that idea anyway?

Everything in Giulia's life was changing without her. She just wanted something in her life to stay the way it was. Anything.

Giulia then took a deep breath, gathering herself. She was going to have to prove Guido wrong. Prove everyone who thought this-this absolute lie wrong. So she put both her hands onto Guido's cheeks, turned his head upward to make him look straight at her. Her determined eyes looked into his sad ones. Then Giulia slammed her lips onto his, desperately trying to prove to Guido that he was just acting crazy. That everyone was just acting crazy. The kiss was a bit rough and Guido smelt of alcohol.

Guido was surprised by Giulia's sudden action, his eyes being wide open with shock. But this was their first kiss. Though he was stunned by it, Giulia's kiss had made Guido feel secure and wanted. He had been slow to react to the kiss at first and wanted to enjoy what time was left of it. Guido put his hands onto Guilia's waist and kissed her back for the last few seconds of it.

Then the two teens pulled apart, the kiss over. Their first kiss hadn't gone the way they had pictured.

It had been slightly forceful. But at that moment, Guido was willing to take what he could get. Their next kiss would be better.

But for Giulia, as soon as the kiss was over, something at the back of her mind regretted it immediately. Why did that feel…wrong? It shouldn't have. Guido was her boyfriend and a great one at that. But thinking back on her kiss with Luna, that kiss was completely different from what she had just experienced with Guido. The kiss with Luna was soft and gentle and though it had been a practice kiss it had felt…more than that.

But Giulia was going to have to push all those thoughts out of her mind. She shouldn't have been thinking about her kiss with Luna after kissing Guido. It wasn't fair to him. But having those thoughts made her understand why Guido had assumed she liked girls. Maybe their next kiss would be better.

Giulia sighed, clearing her head. "Guido…I am so sorry I've been making you question what we are."

"So…Luca was wrong then?" Guido asked with hopeful eyes.

"He was drunk, okay?"

Guido nodded, now convinced. "Okay then…I trust you."

Giulia bit her lip at that. Hearing those words had sparked a bit of fear and pressure inside. But she didn't understand why.

"Y-yeah…I'm glad…but anyway, you're drunk too and should get inside." Giulia said, pulling Guido to stand up with her.

"Thanks..." Guido said, starting to get tired. "I'll be okay going in."

Giulia gave a half-smile. "Alright..."

When the boy went inside Giulia just stood there alone, trying to process what had just taken place. She felt terrible and wanted to cry. But she refused to let any tears fall. Guido was the victim in this situation. Not her. So she sucked it up and started on her way home.

*End of Flashback*

At the Paguro Household - Saturday Afternoon

Luca, now having got past his mother in his strange attire a bit ago, had gone to his room and then changed into his normal clothes. He was now sitting at his desk working on weekend homework that had to be done. True he had the whole weekend to work on it but he needed a distraction after the morning Luca had had. His headache had wanted him to rest but Luca was too afraid to risk having a dream like the one that had previously spooked him.

He looked at the discarded leather jacket that now laid on his bed neatly folded. Thinking about how Alberto had cared about him enough to give him, a lowly nerd to the school food chain's outlook on him, a Scorpion's jacket to help him keep warm. It made him feel…special. Luca wondered how Alberto kept making him feel that way. But then Luca felt a bit foolish. It was just a simple friendly gesture. After all, Alberto didn't want anyone to know that he did that. It would tarnish his reputation. If Luca caused something like that, Alberto would probably never forgive him and he would stop being his friend.

Luca shook his head vigorously. He didn't want to think about that.

He was going to have to give it back to Alberto when he came to pick it up the next day. Luca wouldn't have it for much longer. He wasn't sure what made him want to do what he did next but Luca picked up the jacket and put it back on. It was still warm. Or did he just feel warm because he was wearing it inside the house? Luca wasn't sure but it was probably best he didn't dwell on that any longer.

Luca then sat back down and started on his homework.

*Later*

Luca was just about done when his bedroom door then opened unexpectedly. Luca turned in his chair, expecting whoever it was to be one of his family members. But instead, there stood Giulia.

"Oh, hey, Giulia." Luca greeted her with a friendly smile.

"Hey, your mom let me in…can we talk for a sec?" Giulia asked with a serious look on her face.

Luca noticed her demeanour, unsure what to make of it.

"Uh, sure. Everything okay?"

"Actually, no. Last night was terrible! I- well…last night Guido said that you said that I was a…lesbian."

"Oh, sharks…I said that?" Luca questioned, not remembering quite a bit of the night before.

"Apparently…why would you say something like that to him?" Giulia asked, her arms now crossed.

Luca could tell she was starting to get irritated. He didn't remember saying those exact words to Guido but a small part of him was convinced that Giulia was at least attracted to Luna.

Luca turned his chair around to face her. "Look, I was really drunk last night. If I-"

"Oh, I'm very aware you were but just because of that you think you can get off scot-free? The way Guido reacted to what you said caused him to project those feelings of his insecurity about our relationship onto me!"

Luca now had his hands up defensively. "Okay…I'm sorry, alright?"

Giulia gave out a huff, trying to calm herself.

"But…" Luca went on.

Giulia's eyes immediately shot up back to Luca at that. Ready to get her defense back up.

He continued while twiddling his thumbs. "Last time we had a sleepover together…I was awake when you and Luna…you know…"

At first, Giulia was unsure what Luca was referring to. But it only took a second later for her to realize what he meant. Her eyes widened as if she were a deer caught in headlights.

"T-that was nothing…" Giulia said false heartedly, looking away from Luca.

"...Do you mean that?" Luca pressed, unconvinced.

"Oh please! You're the gayest one here!" the redhead suddenly deflected.

"What?!"

"Yeah! I've seen the way you and Alberto look at each other!"

"Shhh! S-shut up. " Luca harshly cautioned Giulia as quietly as his now rising anger allowed. "My parents are right below us."

"Who cares? They're gonna find out about it anyway. It's not like you're subtle about your huge crush on him. I saw the way you were acting with him last night."

Luca groaned. "For the last time. I. Was. Drunk. Stop trying to turn this on me, Giulia."

Giulia kept going. "And I know that's not your jacket because I know that your mom would never let you wear something like that!"

Luca was now out of patience. " You're the one who kissed someone who wasn't Guido. A girl."

"It was a practice kiss!" Giulia shouted again.

"What even is that?"

"She was just teaching me how to kiss."

"Yeah? And yet you went for a 'round two' kiss?"

Giulia then opened her mouth to rebuttal but nothing came out. She didn't know what to say that wouldn't make her sound stupid so instead, she chose to tap out of the argument.

"You know what? I don't need to explain myself to you. You clearly have your own things to deal with and it's not like you have time for me anymore anyway." Giulia went to leave the room.

"How is that even relev-" Luca stopped mid-sentence. He was tired of this. "Giulia, come on ." Luca pleaded.

"See you on Monday." Giulia left and closed the door.

Luca didn't bother to go after her. She wasn't going to listen. He fell back into his chair, slouching.

Luca had never gotten drunk before. If this was how all 'mornings after' were like then he was never going to drink again. Luca had successfully managed to piss off both Giulia and Luna within one single Saturday, not to mention unintentionally causing Guido to have a breakdown. Luca was just relieved he hadn't ruined anything with Alberto and that at least they were still on good terms.

That brought him back to the fact that Alberto was coming over to pick up his jacket the next day. That idea gave Luca a tad bit of anxiety.

The Next Day - Sunday Afternoon

Luca had been waiting all morning for Alberto to arrive at his house. Alberto never gave him an exact time he was going to come but Luca had warned his mother that someone was going to come to the house to pick up the jacket that he had come home wearing the day before.

His mother had asked who would be coming but Luca just told her that they were a friend which wasn't untrue . He just didn't want to explain the details of Alberto's clique at school and who they were not wanting to make his mother freak out. The jacket alone made her ask a few unwanted questions.

Soon there was a noise outside that sounded like a loud motorcycle just outside the house.

'He didn't…' Luca thought, hearing it.

Luca had been hoping Alberto wouldn't come riding his motorcycle and he did just that. He shook his head. Luca thought he had made it very clear to Alberto that his mother didn't approve of them.

Luca went to look outside through the front window but when he got there his mother had beat him to it, slightly brushing aside the curtains to peer outside.

"Who is that? " Daniela asked, judgment in her voice.

Daniela never liked the 'obnoxious noises' that motorcycles made and she believed that only delinquents rode them.

"Uhh…well..." Luca started.

"Hmm, it looks like he's coming to the door. What does he want?"

Then Alberto knocked on the door. Luca quickly rushed to open it, wanting to be the one to let Alberto in, unsure if his mother would even let him in if she were to answer it. Luca opened the door.

"Alberto. Hey..." Luca greeted with a slightly nervous expression.

"Hey, Luca," Alberto said back with a cool smirk. He noticed the look on the shorter boy's face and his smirk dropped. "Something up?"

"Kinda…I didn't expect you to show up on your bike. I've told you that my mom doesn't like them."

"Ohh…right. I could go back and park it somewhere else I guess."

Luca sighed. "It doesn't matter now. She's already seen it."

"Ah…my bad." Alberto apologized.

"It's fine. Come in." Luca opened the door wider for him and Alberto stepped inside. "Hang on. I'll go get your jacket."

Luca then went up the stairs as quickly as he could, not wanting any interaction with Alberto, his mother and himself together.

Now left alone, Alberto waited. He casually slipped his hands in his pant pockets and looked around as he stood there. Luca's house was nothing like his own. It looked like every other middle-class home. His house was a bit bigger since his dad had money to spend but Luca's house felt warmer, welcoming and had a bit of the scent of the sea. Maybe that smell came from a special kind of air freshener or something. A tinge of jealousy formed in Alberto for only a second until he instantly banished that thought out of his mind. It was a stupid thought anyway. It was better not to wish for anything like this when realistically it wasn't in the cards for him. He felt out of place.

It wasn't long until Luca returned, jacket in hand.

Luca handed him the jacket. "Here…thanks for letting me borrow it…"

Luca's eyes looked down and away from Alberto, a blush forming on his face.

"Y-yeah..no problem," Alberto replied with a small smile, taking the jacket.

"Who is this strapping young man?" an elderly female voice said.

The two boys looked in the direction where the voice came from. It was Grandma Paguro. She walked up and stood beside her grandson and faced Alberto with a smile. Luca was unsure how his nonna was going to react to the taller boy. Regardless, he introduced them.

"Oh, uh…This is Alberto. He's a friend from school." Luca turned to Alberto. "This is my Nonna."

"Ah, well, aren't you a tall one. I'm sure you must have a lot of admirers," she said to Alberto and then winking to Luca.

Luca's face reddened at that. He hoped Alberto hadn't seen her do that. What was she thinking?

"Nonna s-stop. you're embarrassing him." Luca stuttered.

Alberto chuckled awkwardly "It's fine." he cleared his throat. "T-thanks."

"And how exactly did you two boys meet?" Daniela said, finally stepping into the room.

The woman looked at Alberto with a skeptical look on her face making both boys nervous.

"W-well, Alberto is the one I've been t-tutoring for the past few months…" Luca stammered.

Daniela raised an eyebrow. She looked Alberto up and down and her expression became supercilious and not at all impressed.

Alberto noticed this and forced himself to speak. "H-hey. It's n-nice to meetcha, ma'am.

This was who her son had been tutoring for an hour every day after school? Daniela had figured she had most definitely been right. This boy was probably uncooperative during their sessions and wasting her poor son's time. Then she remembered back when Luca had told her he had tutored the boy at his house. That fact made her skin crawl. She wondered what kind of atrocious environment her son was subjected to that day and if the boy had ever pressured Luca into doing something illegal. She hoped to god that she was just being paranoid. She knew her son would never do anything she wouldn't do. But then again, she recalled grounding Luca a while ago. This Alberto was probably the cause of Luca staying out late.

Luca felt bad for Alberto. He had tried to make it so things wouldn't go the way they were

"And why is it you've been struggling in your math class? Have you not been paying attention?" Daniela said arrogantly.

" Mom! " Luca said roughly through his teeth.

Luca couldn't believe the way his mother was acting. He knew she would have a problem and judge Alberto on the spot but he hadn't expected her to go that far.

The question had caught Alberto off guard, leaving him unsure of what to say to that. It was a true assumption the year before but not anymore. His ego had just got shot down and left him a bit disconcerted.

Luca's nonna stepped in. "Daniela, he's just a boy. Don't be rude."

"Hmph,…my apologies," Daniela said, not sounding very sincere.

With his pride damaged, Alberto had to get out of there. This woman clearly did not like him. It was very hard for someone to intimidate Alberto and within seconds Signorita Paguro had managed to do just that.

"I think I should go," Alberto said halfheartedly.

"Oh. Alright. See you tomorrow?" Luca asked.

A small part of Luca genuinely wondered if he actually would see Alberto the next day given his mother had most likely just obliterated the taller boy's ego.

"Yep," Alberto said simply.

Alberto then went out the door.

Luca felt terrible. It had been the first time Alberto had visited his house and the experience was disastrous.

Daniela didn't say anything more and went to the kitchen to start making dinner wanting her mind off the many worries that now lingered in her head because of that boy.

Grandma Paguro put her hand on Luca's shoulder to get his attention. Luca turned his head to her.

"Mi piace lui. You should bring Alberto over for dinner sometime. I'm sure your mother will come around if she gets to know him," she said with kind eyes.

Luca gave a weak chuckle. "I don't know about that one, Nonna."

"Well, I can tell he likes you an awful lot. You better hang on to him. He's very handsome." she gave a sly smirk.

Luca flushed at that and felt mortified.

"W-what are you saying?!" Luca asked shakily. "We're not- uh, I'm not- We're just friends !"

His nonna just snickered and shook her head then followed her daughter into the kitchen. Luca wiped sweat he hadn't realized had been perspiring upon his hairline. What was that?

The Next Day - Monday

For Luca, the whole weekend had sucked, having argued with both Giulia and Luna and that his mother did not like Alberto in the slightest. How she had kept asking Luca questions about Alberto on if the older boy had ever made him do anything he wasn't supposed to among other things, painting Alberto as an absolute delinquent. After a while, it seemed like she might as well had asked Luca straight up if Alberto had ever gone to jail.

The weather outside wasn't as cold as it was on Saturday. It was a rare warm and sunny November morning. It was probably going to be the last the town would see until Spring came again which was a long way off.

But things had been awkward for Luca right when the day had started. Giulia had gone ahead of Luca to school without him, leaving him to head to school by himself. It had made him feel lousy but he hadn't been surprised. Luca didn't expect Giulia to forgive him so soon. In a way he deserved it.

Luca planned on talking to Giulia and Luna on the soccer field after he tutored Alberto. Luca had his views on how Giulia felt towards Luna but he was going to have to keep those opinions to himself if he wanted Giulia to forgive him sooner. As for Luna, Luca honestly wasn't sure how to make amends with her. Like him with Giulia, Luna seemed to have her own thoughts and opinions on who Luca found attractive. He wasn't ever going to believe her but he was going to try to see what he could do to get her to be on good terms with him again.

When he arrived in Homeroom he didn't sit next to Giulia like he usually did. Luca had done the same with all their other classes he had with her during the morning and he was probably going to do that again with their last class together as well. When lunch came around everyone seemed to sit at separate tables. Giulia sat with Guido, Ciccio sat with Cianna along with a few of his science class mutuals and Luna sat by herself.

Luca thought about joining her but she looked like she wanted to be left alone. But Luca didn't have to worry about where to sit for long because Signora Marsigliese had pulled him aside for something very important.

In Signora Marsigliese's math classroom.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Luca asked.

"Well, my math class is having a very important test coming up on Friday. Alberto is going to need to be prepared for it. What he gets on the test is crucial to his grade and him passing it. He needs at least a B- to pass it." she replied

Luca's heart dropped at this. This scenario was sounding way too familiar to what went on in the dream he had promised himself he'd never think about again. This was just a downright scary coincidence.

"Luca, are you alright? You look pale." Signora Marsigliese said, observing the boy's peculiar behaviour.

Luca snapped out of it. "Y-yes! I'm fine! I'm just uh… hungry."

"Ah, yes. It is your lunch break after all. Let's make this quick then." She pulled out a small stack of paper from her desk drawer and handed them to Luca. "This is a copy of the questions and answers for the test. I've asked your math teacher to cut you some slack on the homework tonight so you can study the work for this tonight in preparation. So you can figure out your work plan to teach Alberto. And can I trust you to not let him see the answer sheet?"

Luca smiled knowing she was just teasing on that last part. She knew he'd be responsible about that. "Yes, Signora"

After Classes - Tutoring Session

Art class wasn't any better. Yes, Alberto did sit next to Luca as usual but he hadn't been very talkative. He had barely even looked at Luca. The younger boy hadn't been sure why but it worried him that he might've done something to upset Alberto.

Luca was now going through the test real quick, seeing if he could get a headstart on giving good tips to Alberto before he took it home to study it himself.

Luca's eyes, almost against his will, slowly moved away from the test sheets and leered at Alberto's form in the corner of his eyes, unbeknownst to the older boy. Luca admired the taller boy's features as his own face started to heat up. Being in this almost exact setting with Alberto like in his dream had him on edge. There was a dark tiny part of him that longed for the whole dream scenario to repeat in reality. Would he like it as much as he did in the dream? Would it repulse him in real life instead? Would it feel the same as in the dream? Would it feel even better? That last thought he was curious about most of all and that fact scared him. Luca forced himself to damn all those traitorous thoughts into oblivion. That wasn't going to happen, it shouldn't happen and there was something wrong with him for even wanting that to happen at all. What was Alberto doing to him?

But what was happening in Alberto's head at that time was endless conflict. He was still bothered by the way Luca's mother looked at him the day before. Alberto wouldn't let himself stop thinking about it. To her, he was bad company, a bad influence...bad for Luca. And…he agreed with her.

Ever since he had realized he had feelings for Luca, no matter how much he tried to push them away, every time Alberto saw Luca those feelings would flood back and hit him hard. But he wasn't good enough for Luca. But he was getting ahead of himself. Who said Luca even felt that way about him at all?

Now the two boys were in the library as usual. Those dark thoughts hadn't left Alberto which had caused him to not focus a lot in his math class which wasn't good. But Luca then broke Alberto out of those thoughts when Luca had suddenly cleared his throat.

"Um… s-so I'm sure your teacher told you and everyone else in your class that y-you all have a test coming up. O-on Friday?" Luca stuttered, still a little flustered.

'Oh god, I'm stuttering.' Luca mentally cursed himself.

"There's a test on Friday?" Alberto asked, confused.

Luca looked at him, astonished at his confusion.

Alberto felt like a moron. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he must've completely bypassed the news in class.

Alberto sighed "Accidenti...I've been out of it all day. I…I must've missed it."

"Is everything okay?" Luca asked, concerned.

Alberto, seeing Luca's adorable face filled with genuine concern for him almost made Alberto melt.

Alberto gave Luca a warm smile. "I…I'll be fine…" Oh no, the feelings were flooding back again. Alberto averted his eyes from Luca. "Let's just focus on math."

That response had almost scared Luca. Usually, it was Luca who was the one who had to say that. Alberto had been acting so different and almost distant again here and there. Alberto had stopped teasing him and Luca had caught Alberto staring at him a few times. The younger boy had almost dared to think that maybe he…no, that was a stupid assumption. Besides, Alberto was right. They had more important things to concentrate on.

And so the two, to the best of their ability, got to work. Luca was able to figure out a few tips for Alberto to remember for the test but other than that they eventually just stuck with routine. They had a big week ahead of them.

After the tutoring session

As they were getting ready to leave the library, Luca was starting to get anxious thinking about how his next move was to try to make amends with both Giulia and Luna. He realized that didn't want to be alone on this. Luca desperately wanted support just in case it ended in failure.

He turned to Alberto. "Alberto?"

"Yeah?" Alberto replied, not looking at him.

"...During the weekend I kind of messed things up with both Giulia and Luna."

Alberto gave him a dumbfounded look. "Whoa…how did you accomplish that?"

Luca was not about to give Alberto any details considering both of the arguments had both girls accusing him of having feelings for the boy in front of him.

"I'd rather not say…but anyway, I wanted to get on their good sides again before they went home today. I thought I could do it but now that it's closer I…well…could you come with me? For support?" Luca said with pleading eyes.

Alberto was once again forced to look at Luca's soft brown eyes, now desperate and pleading. Asking for his help. Alberto couldn't bring himself to say no.

"Heh…how can I say 'no' to those eyes…" Alberto said a bit too affectionately than he had intended. What was Luca doing to him?

Alberto's answer had taken Luca by surprise. Something about the way Alberto had said that made Luca's heart flutter.

"Th…thanks…" Luca said, lowering his head, hiding a blush and trying his hardest not to let what he just heard make him overthink things.

On the soccer field - After practice

The two boys, now on the field, watched the two girls that were on separate sides of the bleachers. Giulia was with Guido on one side and Luna was by herself like she had been all day on the other. Usually, the three of them would pack up their things together but things seemed different now. Luca decided to try Giulia first.

The kiss Giulia gave on Guido's lips was quick and then the two waved goodbye to each other. But then Guilia just stood there, her eyes lingered at Guido's back as he left. Her expression looked almost sad and her hand had slowly paused its waving action, her arm faltering.

As Luca and Alberto came closer to Giulia they caught her eye and brought her back to reality. She put her hands on her hips, her expression getting a tad defensive.

Alberto had noticed that Luca was starting to shake a little and he sucked in a breath. Alberto's body wanted to move his hand to hold Luca's so he would calm down but Alberto knew he couldn't do that. So Alberto forcefully held himself back and tightened his hold on the straps of his backpack.

Instead, Alberto said, "You got this."

Luca nodded. He smiled, thankful for Alberto's words of encouragement.

"I wasn't expecting you guys to show up here today," Giulia admitted.

She had been certain that her actions of purposely being cold to Luca would give Luca the hint that she was still upset with him. And she thought it had when it seemed like he was avoiding her as well.

"I-I don't want to fight anymore." Luca started. "I know I messed up last Friday and put you in that bad position with Guido. Whether I was in my right mind or not, it was wrong. That's all I should have said the other day. I shouldn't have…assumed you have anything going on with Luna."

Alberto's eyebrows raised at that, those last words catching his interest but he stayed silent.

Luca continued. "That's your business. I'm really sorry. Can we be friends again?"

Giulia's face softened at those words. She knew Luca's apology was genuine and he was giving her a sad face that she gave in to a lot of the time when he asked her for something. But she also wanted to be friends with Luca again.

"...We both said things we…shouldn't have and I'm also sorry…Mi sei mancato oggi." Giulia said with a smile.

The redhead then lunged at Luca and hugged him tightly.

Luca returned the hug. "I missed you too," he whispered. "Wanna walk home together?"

Giulia nodded.

Luca was relieved that the first apology was a success. Luca looked over Giulia's shoulder and saw Luna was still there now almost done packing up. Luca and Giulia's hug then came to an end.

"I just gotta talk to Luna first," Luca said to her.

"Want me to come with you?" Alberto offered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

Luca smiled at the offer but he shook his head. "No. I think I should do this one alone. I'm not sure if she's exactly warmed up to you yet. I don't want to overwhelm her."

Alberto pretended to be offended. "I beg to differ. Her and I had a breakthrough last Friday."

" Did you now?"

"Yep. I'm sure I've charmed her." Alberto joked.

Luca chuckled at that. "Well that's good but still I think I should do this one alone."

But before Luca turned to leave, the younger boy gave him a sweet smile showing Alberto that he was thankful for him being there as his support with Giulia.

Luca then went off to talk to Luna, leaving Alberto and Giulia alone.

Luca approached Luna with caution and care not to surprise her since she was turned away from him.

"Hey, Luna," he said softly.

"Oh..*sniff*Luca…" Luna's voice was uneven.

'Is she crying?' Luca asked himself.

Luca leaned in to get a better look at the girl's face. Once he did, for a second, he could see that her cheeks were damp and there were pink scaly trails that went from her eyes to the lower edge of her face. Luna noticed Luca had caught that she had been crying. She quickly wiped the evidence from her face in embarrassment.

"What do you want?" Luna asked.

"Are you okay?" Luca's tone was coded with worry.

"It's nothing…It's just…I found out that Giulia had kissed Guido last Friday…She told me at lunch. She sure sounded proud of it." Luna said, the flow of her voice weak.

Luca didn't say anything and just listened. He sat down and patted the spot beside him. It was true that Luna was still upset with the boy but she needed a friend at this moment and Luca seemed ready to listen.

She sat down beside him and continued. "And why shouldn't she be, right? I mean…that's the whole reason we kissed in the first place…so she was ready for when she kissed him. I knew her kissing him was going to happen eventually but…I didn't think it would hurt me when it did. When she told me it almost felt like she was shoving it in my face. Like she was trying to convince me it happened even though I fully believed her. It was like she wasn't just telling me because I'm her friend…I don't know. Maybe I'm just overthinking that."

Luna sniffled again. Luca decided to speak when she hadn't said anything else for a few seconds.

"Is that why you sat alone at lunch?" Luca asked.

Luna nodded. "There've been many times where I've watched them sit and be a couple together but now that I know they have finally kissed it just made it…more real. I just couldn't stand it so I didn't sit with them. I was fine all day until I saw her kiss him goodbye just a minute ago..." she put her face between her palms as her elbows rested on her thighs. "We're both complete messes, huh?"

"Ouch," Luca said. But then he thought about it. He had been a huge mess during the whole tutoring session being around Alberto. "But…it's true. I am a mess."

Luna sat up at this.

Luca went on. "Luna, I'm sorry but...I can't give you the exact confession you want from me. But today I've found myself, without a doubt, unsure of how I see Alberto." He admitted. "I want to say he and I are friends and I do care about him but…"

Seeing Luca struggle to form a sentence about how he was feeling reminded her and herself when she had been going through what Luca was right now. She suddenly felt terrible.

"Luca, you don't have to say anymore." Luna said, stopping him "I'm sorry."

Luca looked at her, surprised. " You're sorry?"

"I got frustrated with you and that was wrong of me. I almost forgot what it was like to be at constant war with yourself, trying to figure out who you are...who you love and…if that love is right or not."

Then Luca understood what she was getting at and couldn't stop himself from getting defensive again. "Well, hey wait. I didn't say I was in lo-"

Luna put a hand tightly on his shoulder. "Luca!"

He stopped talking at that instant, afraid she was angry again.

But Luna assured him with kind eyes that he wasn't in trouble. "Just…don't forget to listen to your heart. Don't let your fears call the shots…Okay?"

Luca looked down at his lap, thinking about her words. Then he nodded in agreement.

"So then we're good?" Luca asked.

Luna almost agreed but then smirked at him. "Weeellll…you did make me have to deal with you being drunk and have to explain the truth to my mom that you weren't my boyfriend, which was embarrassing. I think you do owe me something for having to deal with all that."

Luca looked at the girl, nervous. "Like…what?"

"Come over to my house later and I'll show you."

"B-but I have homework and I have to figure out a study plan on how to help Alberto get ready for you guys' math test on Friday."

"Bring that all with you then, I'll even help you. You owe me this, Paguro. It's time to pay your dues."

"Fine…It's not going to be painful is it?" Luca asked, worried.

"Naw, you might even like it. But at 5:00 tonight, you're mine." Luna said, picking up her now packed-up backpack, slinging it on her shoulder and cooly walking away.

Luca sighed. He wasn't sure what awaited him at 5:00 tonight but he was glad he and Luna weren't fighting anymore.

A few minutes ago…

Watching Luca head off towards Luna, Alberto let his eyes wander, looking to his right. Over the fence, he could see Ercole. It looked like the older teen had just finished talking to some random guy he had never seen before. That fact seemed a little sketchy but then again everything Ercole did seemed sketchy. But he was out of the gang now and was no longer Alberto's problem.

Alberto then turned to Giulia. He cleared his throat, getting the redhead's attention.

"So, I'm not sure if you know about this already, it's pretty funny. I got Ercole out of the gang on Saturday." Alberto said proudly.

Giulia's eyebrows rose. "Really? Whoa… So that's why he wasn't with the rest of you guys at lunch." she put her hands on her hips. "Serves that idiota right. So, why did ya guys kick him?"

"He was the one that spiked the punch at the dance," Alberto replied.

"That was him!? Ugh, I should have known! So it was his fault that Luca and Guido lost it that night. I'm already frustrated I haven't gotten him back for what he did on the first day of school. I'm sure you know from Luca that he got me all wet when I went to protect Luca from getting splashed by him and your other idiot gang friends."

"They're not exactly my f-"

"Don't care!" Giulia interrupted. "Luca told me you weren't there when it happened. No need to defend. But, I've been way off my revenge mojo since things have been changing a lot lately. I'm so ashamed of myself that I haven't gotten Ercole back yet."

"You haven't?" Alberto asked in surprise.

The older boy looked back to see if Ercole was still there on the other side of the fence and he was. He was currently taking out his comb to go through his hair with. Alberto rolled his eyes at the sight and his eyes landed on a discarded soccer ball that was laying on the field.

Alberto then got an idea. "Wanna get him back right now?"

"Huh?" Giulia said with confusion.

"Well, he's right over there on the other side of the fence," Alberto said to her, pointing at the fence with his thumb. "And…we got some resources to work with…"

Giulia looked where he pointed and saw the jerk on the other side. Then she looked around her and she then knew what Alberto meant. Giulia then picked up the nearby ball which was freshly inflated and hard and then walked closer to the fence. It was a bit too high for her to see over the bushes that were also behind the fence. Giulia wanted to land a direct hit.

She turned to Alberto again. "Alright. I'm gonna need a boost. Get over here."

Giulia was bossy but Alberto obliged nonetheless. He bent in front of her and Giulia got on his back, ball in hand.

Giulia, now having a better view over the fence, aimed the ball at Ercole's unsuspecting head. He wasn't going to see it coming.

"Here's the cherry on top to the end of his evil empire of injustice," Giulia said quietly, a mischievous grin forming on her face.

"Alright, do it already." Alberto urged while quietly snickering.

"With pleasure."

Giulia then finally threw the ball as hard as she could. The ball made a direct hit, making a 'bonk' sound bouncing off of Ercole's head.

The impact had made the older teen drop his comb and it fell onto the dirty ground. The hit had put Ercole in a daze. But shortly after he shook himself out of it and rubbed his head where he got hit.

Ercole looked around left and right for the culprit. Face red with anger. "Chi diavolo l'ha fatto?! Show yourself!"

But by the time Ercole faced the direction of where the culprits were they were now nowhere to be seen. The two trouble-making teens had run away from the fence in laughing fits.

"H-holy crap, d-did you see that? His eyes practically bulged out of their sockets!" Giulia said, almost out of breath laughing.

"Haha! Yeah, that was awesome!" Alberto replied, laughing just as hard.

Giulia caught her breath then looked up at the boy with respect. "Well, it was a simple revenge idea but that was a great idea."

Alberto smirked at that. "Is that a compliment? Am I growing on you, Spitfire?"

"Now, now, don't let that go to your head, Big Guy," Giulia said as she stood on her toes to playfully scuffle the top of Alberto's hair with her hand, messing it up a bit.

Alberto was surprised by the gesture but didn't pull away. He found it endearing. Alberto would never admit it but Giulia was growing on him.

Giulia then stood back on her feet and smiled at him. "Ya know…I like you for him. You have my blessing."

Alberto looked back at her, bewildered. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"~ Nothing~ " she replied in a sing-song voice.

Luca was not heading back towards them. Giulia ran to Luca and took him by the arm with excitement. Luca looked shocked by her sudden change of mood. Alberto couldn't quite hear what Giulia was saying to Luca but when Luca looked at him with his eyebrows raised Alberto assumed she told him about what he and Giulia had just done to Ercole.

"See you tomorrow, Big Guy," Giulia said as they passed him, now leaving.

Alberto caught the appreciative look Luca gave him as they passed by. Thanking him for putting Giulia in her usual chipper and hyper mood. Alberto couldn't help but wink at the younger boy which made Luca flush and then quickly look ahead along with Giulia.

(A/N) I really hope I didn't make Giulia unlikable in the first part of the chapter. She is going through a stage that is new, different and it is scaring her. She doesn't like change and is afraid to lose people she cares about. There are people like that who are confused about a lot of things going on in their teen years. Especially if they are still trying to figure out their sexuality. So please try to go easy on her.

Also, yeah I had to make some consequences for Luca's drunken behaviour towards Guido even if he wasn't in his right mind. Especially if it affects others badly. Sometimes you can't get off the hook just because you were drunk.

What did you think of the mini 'meet the parents' scene?

Also, man, I didn't realize I was going to like writing Alberto and Giulia's friendship this much.

Reviews are very much appreciated! They really do motivate me and make me feel good. I read every one.