Only Time Will Tell (A Luberto Story)

Chapter 18- The Fight

Alberto lunged himself towards the bleeding Ercole, sending punches into his face over and over again. Ercole managed to block a few of his punches but was quickly overpowered by Alberto. Ercole was shocked; he was being beaten by the very same boy he could easily take care of the previous summer. While Alberto had gained a lot of muscle from fishing with Massimo, Ercole was still taller and stronger. So how was Ercole being beaten?

Alberto showed no mercy as he kept throwing punches at Ercole, who was laying on the ground, shielding himself from the punches. Alberto looked over at Luca, who was still laying against the rock unconscious. The sight of Luca in such a helpless, painful state infuriated Alberto. He cared about Luca more than anyone or anything else, and the fact that Ercole had hurt him made Alberto furious. He was going to get revenge for Luca; he loved him too much to do nothing.

Ercole managed to spit out his first words in between punches. "Stop! Stop! I was only trying to help him!" He coughed as Alberto kicked him in the gut.

Alberto stopped fighting Ercole for a second. He looked down at him with anger in his eyes.

"Then.. how do you explain this?" Alberto growled.

"It was a mistake.." Ercole pleaded. Something about the fact that Ercole was so weak made Alberto a bit satisfied inside. The person who constantly berated and teased him last summer was now the person who was begging for mercy. The irony..

Alberto lifted his fist up in the air, but hesitated. He slowly put down his fist and grabbed Ercole by the shirt and pulled him up in the air, just like Ercole had done to Luca.

Alberto angrily stared into Ercole's eyes. "Don't touch him. Ever. Again.."

Ercole was dropped to the ground and stood up to face Alberto again. "What are you doing! I was trying to help him.. you idiot!"

Alberto felt his cheeks heat up out of anger, he had the last straw. He turned around and punched Ercole in the stomach ten times harder than he had before. Ercole gasped and grasped his chest with one hand, as he tried to reach Alberto with the other. Alberto was about to throw him to the ground before a voice shouted his name in the distance.

"Alberto! Stop!"

Alberto recognized the voice as Giulia's voice. He didn't listen. He didn't care either. Ercole must pay for hurting my Luca..

Alberto kicked Ercole in the shin, and tackled him to the ground. Ercole fought back and pushed Alberto to the ground, holding the boy down by his neck.

Giulia arrived with a female police officer by her side. "Alberto!" she shouted. She hadn't noticed Luca who was still unconscious against the rock.

The officer ran over and quickly pulled Ercole off of Alberto. Alberto rolled onto his side and took in a large breath of air, coughing as he tried to catch his breath.

The officer sighed, "Ercole, back again terrorizing kids, eh?"

"W-what no! He started it! I was just trying to help!" Ercole spat out.

The officer put a hand to her forehead, "So he also beat up that boy over there? That was him?" The officer pointed over to Luca, which caused Giulia to notice him for the first time since she arrived.

"Well.. yes, but- No! It wasn't my fault!" Ercole shouted.

"Ercole.. save it." the officer sighed. "We should've never let you come back.."

Ercole continued to argue with the officer, but it was no use. He was put in handcuffs and taken away.

"Hey! You can't put me in those!"

"I said, SAVE IT!" the officer shouted angrily. Ercole shut his mouth and glared over at Alberto, who was now over by Luca. "Hey, you! This is all your fault! All your fault! I'll be back!" Ercole shouted back at Alberto.

The officer scoffed, "Mama mia.. Kids, take your friend up to the clinic down the street. Please."

Alberto frowned at Ercole but ignored him as he was taken away by the officer. He had more important things to focus on, things like making sure Luca was okay.

"Oh my god, Luca." Alberto cried out. Luckily, the boy only had some small scratches and bruises, with no deep cuts. The thing that worried Alberto was that Luca was still unconscious.

Giulia came rushing over to Alberto and put an arm around his shoulder. "We need to get him help, Al. We need to go to the hospital." Alberto coldly looked over at his sister, noticing that she had tears in her eyes. Alberto swatted her hand away, causing Giulia to step back in shock.

"Giulia, where have you been during all of this, huh?" Alberto asked accusingly.

"Al, you know that. I was getting help, that's why the officer got here just in time.." Giulia said softly.

"Just in time?" Alberto yelled as he sat up to face Giulia. "You call that just in time? Look at him, Giulia! LOOK!"

"I know, Al, but we got here before Ercole could.."

"No!" Alberto interrupted. "Ercole already hurt him! That's all that matters, and WE WERE TOO LATE!"

Giulia looked over at Alberto in shock. She didn't know what to say as Alberto started to cry. He didn't try to hold any of his tears back. Alberto had learned to cry silently, but this time, it didn't matter. Tears the size of alligators fell down his face, and they didn't stop coming. Giulia moved closer to Alberto and sat next down to him on the floor.

"Al, you're right. I'm sorry.." She said silently. "I shouldn't have ran off like that.."

Giulia moved closer to Luca and took off her beanie. She soaked it in water and set it on his head to cool him off. "But.. we need to get him help. I know it's nothing too bad, but.."

Alberto slowly nodded his head, wiping away some of his tears. He finally started to speak.

"It's not your fault Giulia. I was just.." he paused. "I was just angry.."

"I am too, Al."

Alberto continued, "Luca means everything to me, Giulia. You know that."

He felt more tears drip down his face. The situation overwhelmed him too much. Giulia put an arm around Alberto's shoulder to try and comfort the boy. The two sat their in silence for a while before Alberto started to speak again.

"I just don't want to lose Luca... I don't want to lose him like I did with my dad."

Giulia couldn't say anything. She felt a mix a mix of too many feelings, too many feelings to comprehend what he had just said. She could only hug Alberto tighter. "Luca will be fine. I promise."

Alberto smiled and hugged his sister back. "I'm sorry about earlier.."

Giulia shook her head, "No, I'm sorry. You were just trying to protect Luca."

Alberto looked over at Luca, panicked as he remembered that he was still unconscious.

"Come on, we have to go get him help." Alberto said.

The two picked up Luca and carried him to the clinic up the street. Alberto tried to look away from the unconscious Luca that he was holding; it brought him too much pain to see Luca in that state.

"You're gonna be okay, Luca. I promise," Alberto said softly. He gave Luca a light kiss on the cheek before continuing to carry him up the street.

"I promise."