Piccoletto

The Secret

Alberto and Luca got faster as they ran, their bare feet thumping the ground as they reached Giulia's house. Alberto scurried up the ladder and extended a hand to pull Luca up. As soon as both boys were in Giulia's tree fort, Luca dropped to his knees and buried his face into his hands to stifle the cries that followed. All they wanted was to look through the window which held the vespa they were going to use to run away together. But now. . .

"Luca, Luca," Alberto whispered, crouching behind Luca and wrapping his arms around him. "Are you ok?"

Luca only sniffed in return, but lay back into Alberto's arms. Alberto wasn't crying anymore, but holding a crying Luca in his arms almost made him want to.

"I'm sorry I let him hurt you. I should've run away from the start, like you said," Alberto said. "I'm so stupid! I shouldn't have let you fight my battles. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Luca immediately looked up. The string lights tied to the branches around them better illuminated the mark on his cheek, as well as Alberto's black eye, which was quickly getting darker.

"No, Alberto," Luca said. "I- I shouldn't have just watched as he punched you. I should have done something sooner!"

"Luca," Alberto said sternly. "Don't say that. I'd never want you to get in between me and Ercole. You had nothing to do with it. And as soon as you did, look what he did to you. . ."

Alberto brushed his fingers against the red mark on Luca's cheek but Luca pushed him away.

"No, Alberto. You don't understand. We're a team, you and me! I-"

"Silenzio Bruno!" Alberto interrupted. "This wasn't your fault, it was mine."

"It wasn't!" Luca shot back. "Ercole came looking for us, none of it was your fault. Besides, I shouldn't have asked to see the vespa. I should've known that was a trap."

"Silenzio Bruno, Luca! Silenzio Bruno!" Alberto said loudly. A loud snore broke the silence and both boys turned towards Giulia's closed window and backed towards each other.

"It was none of our faults then," Alberto said in a quieter voice. "None of it. Is your face ok?"

Luca sat up. "It's fine. Is your eye ok? And your mouth? And your chest?"

Alberto lifted up his shirt. A nice big bruise was starting to form, and Alberto smiled in an attempt to comfort Luca. Although he did wince when Luca brushed his fingers across it.

"What are we going to do now?" Luca said. "If Giulia sees this, she'll know. And Massimo will know, and everyone will know! We'll never be allowed to compete! And Ercole. . ."

Luca trailed off. Alberto watched as Luca's eyes darted back and forth, trying to find a solution.

"We have to compete, Alberto!" Luca finally said, his breath rapidly ascending. "How can we? We need that vespa! We- I- how do we-"

"Luca, stop," Alberto said softly. He reached out and put a hand over Luca's heart. "Your heart is beating really fast. That's just Bruno talking. Silenzio Bruno, remember?"

Luca nodded. "Silenzio Bruno."

"It's ok if you don't want to compete. We'll find more money, we'll get a vespa, just in a different way."

"Yeah," Luca said, not really listening to Alberto. He was looking up towards Giulia's window. Alberto knew what this was about, which made his heart fall.

"Do you still want to go to school?"

Luca shifted uncomfortably, and brought his knees up to his chest. "N- no. I want to see the world. With you. And sleep under the stars- I mean, the fish."

Alberto sighed and looked down at Luca. It was painfully obvious that Luca was still trying to hide the fact that he wanted to go to school. With Giulia. Alberto knew what he had to do, but he wasn't sure if he had the strength to do it. He couldn't just say goodbye to Luca. Alberto didn't even know if he would ever be happy without him again. But if Luca really wanted this, than maybe. . .

"Come on," said Luca, starting to find a comfortable position on the wood below him. "Let's go to bed. In the morning we'll train with Giulia. In secret."

"In secret," nodded Alberto. He lay down next to Luca and looked up at the sky. Was he really going to risk never seeing his best friend again?

Luca snuggled up against Alberto, which Alberto welcomed with a flutter in his chest. It only made him wonder how he could ever decide to part with Luca.

He couldn't.