Chapter 34

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Luca sat in his Yiayia and Pappou's living room in Montréal staring intensely out the window with a finger resting on his lips, his mind clearly racing. He could vaguely hear the laughter from the other room as Yiayia and Pappou showed Aidan old photo albums of Luca and the rest of the family.

"And who do you think this is??" Yiayia asked lovingly as she glanced at Aidan, pointing to a picture of a little dark haired baby sitting in a mini baby bathtub.

"Luca!" Aidan gasped in shock, a look of pure joy taking over his face. "Babe, come look at these pictures!"

"I've seen them." Luca turned and smiled, before he walked over to the sofa and sat down next to Yiayia so that both he and Aidan could look at the photo album. "But I'll look at them with you."  It was basically a crash course in the entire Pugliese-Papadakis crime family, minus the whole crime bit.

"And who are they?" Aidan asked sweetly, meeting with a smile from Yiayia and Pappou.

"That was Pappou and me on our wedding day." She said with a nostalgic smile. "It wasn't a big wedding, just the two of us, a courthouse clerk, and my sister and Pappou's brother as witnesses. I stole my Mama's dress out of her closet and Pappou wore the suit he always wore for mass."

"We were only eighteen years old." Pappou laughed heartily. "But we were so in love that we didn't care what anyone said..."

"Were there a lot of people against you getting married?" Aidan asked curiously, as the older couple burst out laughing.

"It felt like the worlds was against it." Pappou chuckled as he reached over to caress his wife's hand. "But once we were married, nothing else mattered. They all came around and look at us now! We have a beautiful home, a beautiful family, and most importantly we have each other."

    Aidan glanced over at Luca, taking his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. He knew Luca was shaken up by the whole ordeal with the Hilldale boys, though the dark haired boy never said a word. At the same time Aidan knew something was off, but he knew better than to ask. Aidan's train of thought was interrupted as he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, pulling it out to see his parents were calling. He politely excused himself to take the call in the other room, leaving Luca alone in the living room with his grandparents.

"Se agapaei, moro mou." (He loves you, baby.) Yiayia said as she lovingly stroked Luca's soft dark hair.

"I know, Yiayia..." He said with a sigh as she traced the healing cuts and bruises on his face. Just as she was about give him her usual sage advice, all their attentions turned to Luca's cousin Kostas as he walked into the room, moving his phone away from his ear.

"Itan Theio Vasilis. Eipe oti exei teleiosei." (That was Uncle Vasilis, he says it's done.) Kostas explained as Luca let out a sigh of both relief and regret. "Kaneis den einai nekros, alla ena agori einai sto nosokomeio. (Nobody is dead, but one boy is in hospital.) He's stable but I think he's learnt his lesson."

"Kai emas?" (And what about us?) Luca asked with bated breaths.

"Canada Border Service Agency confirmed to New York state police that you both entered Canada before this happened and US Border Patrol has confirmed that neither of you have re-entered the States as of yet." Kostas said with a victorious smirk. "Your alibi is airtight, the Police in your county are ruling it as an accident and a prank."

"Good." Luca huffed in relief as Kostas shot him a knowing glance.

"He's a big boy, and he loves you." Kostas whispered with a smile. "He needs to know why you lugged him across an international border randomly."

"Exei dikio." (He's right.) Yiayia placed her hand on Luca's thigh as his Pappou nodded supportively.

"Oh my God, fine!" Luca groaned as he got up from the living room and dragging his feet towards his bedroom.

    He tiptoed into the room and sat next to Aidan who was still on the phone. He flashed his blue eyes up at Luca with a smile and finished up talking to his mom. Luca hoped he would talk for a little while longer, as he was dreading having to have this conversation with Aidan. The last time he mentioned his family's less than legal activities, he had a full meltdown.

"Hey... Aid." Luca cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I need to tell you something but it's really important that you don't freak out."

"Oh." Aidan's smile dropped from his face. "I think I know what this is." Aidan said softly as he caressed Luca cheek. "Is anyone hurt?"

"Colton... He's the only one. But he's in the hospital. He's stable." Luca said with a sigh. "All of them have been shook up in some way or the other. They'll never mess with us again, or anyone for that matter."

"But... I... Who exactly did all this?" Aidan asked curiously, earning him a look from Luca that screamed "please don't ask." But he did ask, and for that he deserved an answer.

"My family here in Montréal aren't dangerous. We do things that may be illegal, but we exercise justice where justice isn't served. It might not be our place to act as the law, but sometimes the law isn't always as fair as it's made out to be." Luca started wearily, knowing this might be a touchy conversation. "But my Mamma has cousins in New York City who are more... involved. My Theio Vasilis is one of the most powerful mafia bosses in Manhattan. He's my Godfather so he's always been protective of me. I asked for his help and he... sent my younger cousins to do as they saw fit... " A single tear fell down Luca's face as he took a deep breath. "They're all in high school, essentially baby mafiosos in training to be the real deal one day. We always send them to handle people who aren't adults. Feels wrong to send an adult mafioso to harm a kid. So they let me younger cousins handle them. It always made sense in my head but saying it out loud it still sounds crazy..."

"Your Godfather is literally THE Godfather?" Aidan chuckled amusedly, earning him a glare from Luca.

"Yes." Luca admitted, finally letting a slight smile slip. "I know this is all weird and super fucked up. I didn't want to do any of this, but... I couldn't let them just get away with all this." Luca glanced up at him as a single tear fell down his face..

"Shh..." Aidan comforted him, smiling as he thumbed the tear off of Luca's radiant, tanned cheek. "Nobody is dead, and nobody is seriously injured. They wanted to hurt you and us. You... You did the right thing."

    Aidan got up from the bed and walked over to his jacket which was hanging on the back of the chair in Luca's room. He pulled a small white jewellery box out of jacket pocket as Luca stared at him curiously, with a cocked eyebrow.

"Your Yiayia gave this to me yesterday." Aidan sat down next to  Luca and held the smaller boy's hand in his own, fondly admiring how delicate it looked. "She said she knows we're young, but she know that we're in love." Aidan opened the small white jewellery box to reveal two plain gold rings inside them. "She said they belonged to your great-grandparents. She said to do with them what I saw fit."

"What exactly would that be...?" Luca gulped nervously. He'd only been dating Luca for two months and change; everything was moving so fast, but at the same time, it all felt so natural, so organic, so perfect.

"I'm not saying we have to get married." Aidan said softly. "I'm not saying we have to get engaged at this very moment... Not that I'd be against either of those options." He smirked, caressing Luca's cheek with the back of his hand. "But maybe... if you think it's a good idea... We could keep them as Promise rings or something?"

"I would love that." Luca chuckled as his eyes glassed over with tears of happiness. It seemed like after the storm of the past week they finally had the happiness they deserved. Aidan chuckled as he fumbled with the box, pulling the smaller gold ring out and slipping it on Luca's finger. Luca fished the second larger ring out of the box and did the same to Aidan.

"They... fit perfectly..." Luca gasped, staring wide eyed at the gold rings on their hands.

"It's fate." Aidan said with a knowing smile. "I guess we're not as star-crossed as you thought we were."

    Later on that afternoon they drove the six hours back to Crenshaw. The entire route there, Aidan would periodically glance down contently at the gold ring on his finger as his hand rested on the steering wheel. They listened to music and joked and laughed the entire route home, not a care in the world for the storm that they were potentially driving back into once they got home.

"Hey... Um... Do you think we could go home first? Like my home?" Luca suggested out of the blue, as Aidan glanced at him confusedly then back to the road.

"Your car is at my place, but... Sure?" Aidan blinked in confusion, but chose not to question it.

"There's something I have to do." Luca said as he stared softly out the windshield. "Something I should have done a long time ago."

    It wasn't long before Aidan pulled into Luca's driveway, leaving Luca feeling a sudden sensation of unease in the depths of his stomach. His family was intimidating, loud, and often intense. But he knew it was time they did this. Sure they'd be furious at first that had an entire torrid love affair behind all their backs, but they'd get over it, they're family after all.

"Alright, you look good." Luca said as he fixed the collar on Aidan's shirt and straightened his messy blond hair up a bit. "Definitely mention you're Catholic and your Italian grandma, but leave out the part about not having gone to Mass in like a decade." Luca let out a huff before they walked across his yard and toward's his Nonno and Nonna's house. "The whole family will be here for lunch at Nonna and Nonno's after Mass, so it might be a bit intense. You'll know all the cousins there, but the adults are a different story. Overall just be yourself and you'll be fine!"

    Luca walked in through the front door of his Nonno and Nonna's place and stepped through to the living room wearily, approaching the sound of laughter and Italian yelling coming from the dining room. They all suddenly went silent as they turned to see Luca standing awkwardly a few feet away from them, exchanging confused glances and staring at him like he had grown a second head.

"Luca! I didn't know you were coming in this early!" His Mamma said with a smile as she walked up and gave him a tight hug, kissing him on the cheek.

"You should have called! We would have waited on you for lunch." His Pappa smiled, squeezing him tightly and ruffling Luca's soft dark hair before his eyes shifted to the blond boy awkwardly standing  a few feet behind Luca. "And who is this?" He asked his son, placing a loving kiss on top of his head.

"Ehm...Sì. Questo è Aidan, il mio fidanzato..."(Um.. Yeah. This is Aidan, my boyfriend.) Luca said as the entire family stared at them both blankly; his Zio Giuseppe, Gio and Gianna's dad, dropping his fork dramatically onto his plate as all the men glared at Aidan as if sizing him up. "È cattolico." (He's Catholic.) Luca continued hopefully, as the entire family let out a sigh of relief, warmly smiling and getting up from the table to crowd the young couple.

"Aidan, is it?" Luca's Nonna said with a smile. "I'll make you a plate, you must be hungry! You like risotto? Come come! Eat something!"

"Hi!!" Gianna said warmly as she pulled both of them in for a hug. "Lose the rings before you get the third degree from the family." She whispered quickly as both of them slipped the promise rings off their fingers.

    The family went quiet as Gio walked up to Luca and Aidan, he was the last of the family to acknowledge them. He glared up at Aidan with a stoic look on his face, taking a deep breath and letting it out as he offered his hand towards the blond boy.

"It won't be easy, because I still think you're an insufferable prick." Gio said lowly as Luca rolled his eyes. "But if you make my cousin happy, I'm willing to put aside our differences..." He said cracking a slight, but forced smile. "What say you, Taylor? Truce?"

"Truce" Aidan said strongly as they firmly shook hands. "But strictly off the field, huh Greco?"

"Wouldn't expect it any other way." Gio chuckled as Luca watched on, truly happy for the first time in a long time.

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