“How did you like the first lesson?” Elijah had to ask, only to see the expression of annoyance cross Luca's face, something cute between a grimace and a purse of lips. 

He knew what the answer would be, cause Luca simply couldn't accept not knowing something, but nothing could compare to seeing it all in person. No one could blame him if Luca had become a lot more expressive in recent years, as if the boy had given himself the right to feel and express himself however he wanted, without any kind of fear or hesitation. So no one could blame him for getting lost in Luca's beauty, for wanting to feel it on his fingertips to make sure it was real.

"It was normal. I think. I'm a little behind, but nothing some reading can't fix." Luca shrugged and continued walking beside him, running his hands through his own hair and throwing it back, preventing it from falling into his eyes; long hair that seemed to shine in the sun, long and black, but not like he would in the past, it was a more expansive and relaxed gesture that Elijah couldn't say how he could tell the two apart. In the end, Oliver had to be right. He was obsessed. He always were.

"Hungry?”

"Not much.”

Elijah held Luca's hands, and yet, both of them without appetite, they went through the cafeteria side by side, walking between the tables and benches until they reached the cafeteria counter. Elijah couldn't help but notice, it felt like they were being paraded, if only by the way people were looking at them; whether they were looks of admiration, envy or disgust, it was hard to tell them apart, he was too busy staring at the profile of Luca's face, especially when Luca brought his fingers to his mouth and bit them lightly, looking unsure.

At that moment, Elijah decided. He wanted to parade with Luca hanging from his arms. He wanted everyone to see, to know who Luca belonged to. He would never let anything stand in their way again.

“What are you going to order?” Luca asked, finally looking up at him, seemingly oblivious to everything else.

“Juice is fine. How about sharing a pie?” Elijah still remembered every little detail about Luca, that he liked to sleep late, that he was always uncertain about something and he knew that vegetable pie with cheese was Luca's favorite.

And just to prove his point, Luca smiled and waved, ordering a milkshake for himself.

It was all so familiar that Elijah felt his heart sink. Why did that hurt so much? Shouldn't he be happy to have his best friend back? Well, Luca seemed to be very happy with his milkshake and half of the pie now that they had found an unoccupied place to sit. It was like a magic trick, seeing a slight blush of happiness spread across the brunette's face, the heat in Luca's face deepening as Elijah kept watching him eat small pieces, gently and delicately.

"Aren't you gonna eat? It's just as good as I remembered.”

“Luca.” Elijah complained, frustrated.

"What is it?”

"Could you eat with less pleasure?"

Certain things never changed. Luca looked at him with his mouth around the straw and smiled, sucking the ice cream heartily. Elijah just shook his head and looked away, taking the first bite. And Luca was right, the pie still tasted the same, the dough smooth and soft, the cheese melting in your mouth and the gratin crunchy on top. Since Luca had left, Elijah hadn't had the heart to eat that pie, it brought back memories he preferred to leave behind.

“Eli-jah.” Luca called out to him, practically humming, smiling, resting his head in his hands and blinking slowly at him, his bright black eyes distracting Elijah for a moment.

“Hm?”

"Shouldn't you eat with your friends?"

"Why?”

“They're looking at us.”

Maybe it was true.

Elijah shifted his gaze towards them quickly and returned his focus to Luca. They weren't important, even if he felt trouble looming for the simple reason that Daylla was among them. Daylla, Lily, Ben, Oliver, Chris e Cora. All of his and Luca's old friends. And okay, maybe it wasn't right to keep Luca all to himself when he wasn't the only one who missed him.

"Do you want to talk to them?"

“Nah. Later. What I want to know is, who are you seeing right now?”

"What? I’m not--"

“Daylla or Ben?”

"I’d never!” When Luca scowled, unimpressed, Elijah confessed, “Okay! We had a thing, but it's a thing of the past. I'm free as a bird.”

"Are you sure?”

"I promise.”

“Why don’t I believe you?” Then, Luca leaned back against the back of the bench and crossed his arms. "I'm not going to get a little surprise from your ex-boyfriends, am I?"

“Why would that happen?”

"The way things are looking…”

Elijah couldn't pretend any longer, he smiled at Luca and leaned towards the boy, holding his hands and brought them to his own lips, kissing them for a long time: "I promise nothing will happen. I'm not that kind of man.”

“Hmm, I know. Am I supposed to know anything else?”

“I only have eyes for you, darling.”

“You have to stop this.” But, even as Luca said this, a flush rose to Luca's cheeks and returned in full force, warming Elijah's chest and heart. Maybe it was because he was still holding Luca's hands or maybe it was because they were sitting side by side in the middle of all those people, both looking at each other as if the rest of the world didn't exist, in a moment that they would rarely share with a crowd of this size, a moment that should be intimate and private. Theirs alone.

“Why am I doing? Showing how important you are to me?”

“Elijah.”

“I should’ve done this years ago.”

Elijah held Luca's hands tighter and brought them to his lips once again. And this time, Elijah expressed much more than words could ever say. Satisfied, Elijah watched Luca hold in his breath and felt his small hands tremble, making Luca stop breathing for a moment, on the verge of bursting into flames. But when the minutes passed and no one came to torture them, Luca relaxed and let Elijah pull him closer and hug him tightly, bringing up that delicious feeling in the middle of his chest.

For the next few minutes the world around them froze, neither of them spoke again and no one approached them. Luca kept eating and Elijah kept holding the hand Luca wasn't using. That is, they would've stayed that way, but time waited for no one, the knock of the bell shattering the calm that had settled in, forcing them to separate; Luca going to history class and Elijah to advanced math. Before that could happen, Elijah, like the perfect gentleman he was, led Luca to the correct classroom.

Elijah could admit, for a brief moment, he thought about acting like the cliché Luca had accused him of being; he contemplated kissing Luca right there where anyone could see. But, in the end, Elijah decided to give him a long, tight hug, before letting Luca go into the classroom. The good news was that they would have their last class together, advanced physics.

***

Elijah had barely set foot inside the room when a barrage of voices surrounded him. It seemed that everyone had something to say about the newly transferred Italian boy, as apparently, he was the only one who knew about Luca's return.

"I told you!" One of them said.

"Who would say?” Another commented with far less enthusiasm.

And Elijah? Well, he didn't care what they had to say. He walked calmly to his desk, took his books out of his bag and looked straight ahead, like the model student he never was. What could Elijah say? Daydreaming about Luca was far more pleasant than feeding more gossip. Or entertain bored people.

"Dude! You can’t do this to me.” It was Oliver, once again, who now sat beside him and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it and looking proud for some reason. It wasn't Oliver's words that annoyed him, it was his tone of voice; it was pure mockery. “You have to tell me everything.”

"And here I thought cheerleaders were gossips." Elijah returned.

“Elijah!”

“Fine.”

"Fine? Aren't you forgetting anything?”

"Like what?”

“Since when are you and Luca still speaking?”

“We always have been. Since we were eleven.”

"But how!  Wasn't he in Italy?”

"And?”

"Dude." This time who spoke was Ben who was nearby just listening. “I feel used.”

That was a joke! The boy with the biggest cheating record he had ever met, feeling used! And just because they had something quick during Luca's absence? Something completely meaningless? Well, Ben always knew that nothing serious could happen between them, so Elijah knew that Ben was only joking. Elijah had even arranged a “boyfriend” for Ben at the time. In the end, everybody had won.

"I thought we had something special." Like Elijah thought, when he turned to Ben, his friend had a strange glint in his eyes and a smile like he was about to do something. "You know who wouldn't like to hear that?"

“Daylla.” Oliver completed for him, now much quieter so that only he and Ben could hear.

"What's it got to do with me? She's not my girlfriend.”

"Are you sure about that? Daylla doesn't seem to think the same.”

"That's her problem, not mine."

“Dude, I can see the trouble coming. Don't say I didn't warn you.” Ben said and touched his arm, pretending to be understanding.

"How about you mind your own business? How’s Arden doing?"

"He’s fine. If I were you, I'd be careful. I remember how helpless little Luca used to be. And nobody wants that to happen again.”

Elijah looked closely at Ben, trying to decide if this was a threat or if it was a reminder of what Daylla was capable of to get what she wanted. In the end, he decided it was just a warning, because in the past Ben had been one of the few people to defend Luca when he couldn't. He just hoped the past wouldn't repeat itself.