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Alberto ran after the train, cheering for Luca until he was completely out of the picture. Alberto did the right thing. Luca deserved a happy ending after everything he had done for Alberto. He helped him off the Island after all and Alberto knows, better than he’d like to admit, how it feels to stay trapped. He wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Not even Ercole.
But especially not Luca.
Alberto did the right thing.
Still…
He dropped to his knees and tears began pouring down his cheeks. He felt the burning wet drops hit the palm of his hands but couldn’t make out anything through blurry eyes. It was getting hard to breathe. Why is he…?
Every moment he spent with Luca began flashing through his eyes. When he first saw him, wandering off near his human stuff. When he pulled him out of the water, taught him how to walk, to dress, to talk…
That was the happiest Alberto’s been in a long time. Oh…
Alberto was now shaking, he couldn’t keep his emotions bottled up inside for much longer. It didn’t matter anyway, he could drop the act. Luca was gone. He chose Genova. And Giulia. And not him.
Massimo carefully walked up to Alberto and put his hand sympathetically on his shoulder for comfort. ”Are you okay, ragazzi?” he asked, trying to turn Alberto’s head so he could make direct eye contact but failing miserably as the boy kept fighting back, probably due to embarrassment.
”I know it hurts…but he will come back. We should be able to call him as soon as today. They should arrive in Genova in about 12 hours.” Massimo tried to cheer Alberto up.
Alberto sniffed and wiped his nose on his wrist. Massimo could make out a small nod even though the boy was still facing away from him. He tapped him in the shoulder as a ”cheer up” and then got up and walked away. Alberto stayed silent on his knees, facing the ground. He could hear footsteps again.
”Alberto?” He heard a woman’s voice say. It was Luca’s mother. ”Thank you for doing this for our son. I know I was skeptical of you first, but I can tell that you really care about him. And I just wanted to let you know that you are always welcome to visit us. Consider us family”, she said, giving him a sad smile. Alberto didn’t see it, but he could hear it. He couldn’t talk back. And as he heard footsteps drift away from him, he knew he didn’t need to.
Alberto was happy for Luca, truly, he was. It was the best possible ending for him and Giulia. But how he would’ve loved to have been a part of that happy ending.