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New Years was a fun holiday, Luca thought. All the parties, the food, the traditions people held every year, all of it was new to him.
Sea monsters didn’t celebrate the new year, not the way humans did. The most Luca’s family ever did was have a special meal and watch human fireworks from under the water.
But this year? This year was different.
This year, Luca was getting to celebrate like a human.
His family had decided to visit Massimo and have a dinner party with him, Giulia, and Alberto. This meant Giulia got to drag her friends around teaching them every small tradition.
She explained how people would throw cookware out their windows, how some people wore red for good luck, the idea of eating grapes when the clock hit midnight, and how the fireworks display would light up the entire sky. She showed them exactly where in the sky they’d fire, and where the best views would be.
The three teens ran all over town, having Giulia answer their questions and goofing around until it got closer to midnight.
At half hour til midnight, Giulia led them back to their treehouse hideout.
“Did I tell you guys, me and Papa actually have our own thing we do at midnight?”
“Ooo, what is it,” Alberto asked, leaning in with curiosity.
“We give each other a big hug and a kiss, for good luck!” She explained.
Confused, Luca tilted his head. “How is that good luck?”
“Hmm…” Giulia thought for a moment. “I dunno! But Papa says it’s always nice to start the year with someone you love!”
Alberto looked at her, then shrugged. “Yeah, makes sense I guess.”
“Anyway, I’m gonna be with him during the fireworks, so you two will be up here alone,” Giulia explained. “Unless you wanna come join us?”
“You said there’s a good view up here, right? I think we’ll be fine,” Luca responded, glancing at Alberto to make sure he agreed.
Alberto nodded, adding, “Plus, it’s comfy up here, and I don’t feel like moving.”
“Alright then, suit yourselves!”
The trio stayed sitting and talking until they heard Massimo call for Giulia.
“Giulietta, it’s almost midnight!” His voice boomed in the night.
“Coming Papa!” She moved to slide down the tree, telling her friends with a wink, “I gotta go. I’ll see you guys next year!”
“Oh- oh, terrible joke Giulia,” Alberto called, rolling his eyes playfully at her silly remark. He could hear her giggling until she hit the ground.
“I thought it was funny,” Luca grinned, giving a tiny shrug.
“Yeah, of course you did,” Alberto smirked, nudging Luca with his elbow.
“And what does that mean?” Luca asked, shoving back with his shoulder.
“You know what it means.”
“Do not!”
A playful fighting match broke out between the two, neither able to suppress their laughter as they tossed insults back and forth.
It ended with both of them catching their breath, sitting on the edge of the treehouse with their legs dangling in the air.
Luca looked off to his right, catching sight of the island sitting alone out at sea.
“Have you seen the fireworks before?” He asked Alberto.
“…From the tower, yeah. They were pretty far away, but I thought they looked cool.”
“What did they look like?”
Alberto thought for a moment before answering. “They were like… like these cool explosions of light that made up a ton of shapes. I swear, some of them looked like fish! It was wild.”
“Woah, cool!” Luca’s eyes went wide just imagining the sight. “Did you have any, uh, traditions you did?
Luca could feel Alberto’s excitement die a little, and he kicked himself mentally for asking such a stupid question.
“Uh, sorry, I didn’t, uh…”
“No, it’s ok,” Alberto said.
Silence fell between them. Luca waited until Alberto was ready to finish.
“It was… it was usually just me so, yknow, I didn’t have a lot to do. It never really felt like a holiday to me.”
Luca’s heart panged, imagining in his mind Alberto sitting alone all that time, waiting for someone who had no intention of coming back. It hurt, remembering Alberto’s voice when he described how his father left. Luca wanted to make sure he never felt that way again.
Gently, he placed his hand on top of Alberto’s. Alberto looked over at him, the two making eye contact.
“Well, now you have me, and you’ll never be alone again,” Luca promised, giving Alberto a small smile.
Both their faces tinged pink as Alberto flipped his hand over, grabbing Luca’s and squeezing.
“Thanks Luca,” he muttered sheepishly.
Luca scooted closer, closing the distance as he leaned slightly against Alberto.
They sat quietly for a minute, taking in the sights and enjoying each other’s presence, when a thought popped into Luca’s head.
“Oh, hey! Didn’t Giulia say something about eating grapes at midnight for good luck?”
“Uhhh I think so… why?”
“Well, why don’t I go get some and we can eat them!”
“Are you sure? It's almost time, you don’t wanna miss the show.”
“I’ll just be really fast, don’t worry!”
Before Alberto could say any more, Luca was already scurrying across the tree branch to Giulia’s room.
“Don’t miss midnight!” Alberto called after him, watching as Luca practically jumped through the doorway to the stairs.
Luca rushed into the kitchen, finding a suitable bowl and looking around for where the fruit was kept. He spotted a giant grapevine sitting on the table and started to pick grapes for the bowl.
He could faintly hear voices outside and decided to listen in on the conversation.
Luca heard his father say something, which then made everyone laugh, and though he couldn’t make it out, he heard Massimo say something in response.
Finally having filled the bowl, Luca made his way toward the door when something Massimo said caught his ear.
“Will you two be having a new year’s kiss?”
Luca froze.
“A new year’s kiss? What’s that?” He heard his mother ask.
“It’s when you kiss your partner at midnight! It’s lucky or something!” Giulia answered. “Well, maybe not lucky, but I think it’s supposed to be romantic.”
Luca felt his face begin to flush.
A kiss? You’re supposed to kiss someone at midnight? Did that mean he was supposed to kiss Alberto?!
Luca snuck around to the stairs, sitting down to process for a moment.
Sure, he and Alberto were… together, and Alberto had kissed his cheek before, but…
Was this supposed to be a kiss on the cheek, or something more?
Just the thought of kissing Alberto made his stomach flutter, and his face turned even redder.
No, no, calm down Luca, he told himself. You don’t even have to do it. Not doing it doesn’t mean bad luck, it’s just a silly human thing. I- I mean, Alberto probably doesn’t even know about this, so you’re fine.
He started to take deep breaths, rationalizing everything in his mind.
Yeah, if he hadn’t known about this, then Alberto definitely didn’t, so it was fine! There would be no kiss!
Unless…
“LUCAAA!”
Luca screamed, jumping to his feet in a panic. He looked up the stairs to find Alberto coming out of Giulia’s room, looking for him.
“There you are! What took you so long?”
Luca’s face immediately flushed again upon seeing Alberto. “Oh, I uhhh… I couldn’t find a good bowl for the grapes. They were all, uh, too small.”
Alberto walked down the stairs, coming to a stop beside Luca. “Are you ok? Your face is all red.”
”UH, I- I’M FINE, NOTHING WRONG HERE!” Luca responded much too loudly.
“Oooh-kay, well c’mon, it’s almost time.” Alberto grabbed Luca’s hand and led him forward, sending the poor boy into cardiac arrest just at the touch of their hands.
Carefully they crossed the branch leading from Giulia’s room to their treehouse, Alberto keeping a gentle grip on Luca’s hand and waist to keep him from falling. Normally Luca didn’t mind and enjoyed the contact, but tonight it sent his mind spinning so hard he feared he might actually fall over.
The two sat back down on the ledge, Alberto instantly starting to eat from the bowl.
“Mm, these are really good,” he said, mouth filled with grapes. “Want one?”
He offered one to Luca, who instinctively opened his mouth to be fed. Alberto happily obliged, and began to give Luca grapes in between his own servings.
Luca, meanwhile, was in an entirely different world. His head was swimming in thoughts and he couldn’t get his face to cool down no matter how hard he tried.
He decided to use a technique Giulia’s mom had taught him for dealing with his anxiety.
“Just close your eyes, take a deep breath, and think about what you wanna do next.”
So he did.
Eyes closed, Luca took a breath and focused in on his feelings.
He removed the fog of confusion clouding his mind and honed in on the thoughts floating around. One stuck out above all the others.
And really, it was simple.
He wanted to give Alberto a kiss at midnight. So he would.
Luca opened his eyes to find Alberto looking at him, fondness leaking from his eyes.
“Whatcha thinkin about?”
Luca smiled back, kicking his legs. “Just thinking about how nice this is.”
“It is nice, huh?” Alberto said, the smile seeping into his voice.
Suddenly, they were startled by an earth-shaking boom and looked up to see the sky lit with fire.
Both boys watched with eyes wide as color and light filled the sky. The noise was a bit much to handle at first, but Luca’s hand found its place in Alberto’s, receiving a calming squeeze.
Luca looked at the boy beside him and decided it was time. He locked onto a spot on Alberto’s cheek and closed his eyes.
Quickly moving forward, Luca didn’t realize that Alberto had turned to say something, and their lips touched.
Time froze as Alberto realized what was happening.
Panic, adrenaline, affection, more panic, heat rising in his face, a lot of adrenaline, until finally his mind settled on happiness.
Alberto closed his eyes, focusing on nothing but Luca. His hand unconsciously moved to Luca’s face, cupping it and gently holding it in place.
What was only a few seconds seemed to last a lifetime, until Luca pulled away. He opened his eyes to a dazed Alberto looking at him.
And then it hit him what had happened.
The two sat in silence for a moment, both red and shy and very, very happy, but not wanting to show it.
Alberto spoke first.
“You, uh… You taste like grapes.”
Luca stared blankly.
“Probably cause… y’know… we’re eating grapes,” Alberto continued. His brain was so fried he could barely comprehend what he was saying.
Luca burst out laughing, falling onto his back hardly able to breathe. Alberto joined in, the two of them howling with laughter until they had tears in their eyes.
Eventually the two lay still, occasional giggles escaping as they laid together. Alberto placed his arm under Luca’s neck, Luca snuggling into his chest.
The fireworks had long since ended, the grape bowl laying empty and discarded off to the side.
Luca looked up at Alberto, smiling fondly.
“Happy new year, Alberto.”
Alberto leaned in to place a kiss on the back of Luca’s head.
“Happy new year.”