Only Time Will Tell (A Luberto Story)

Chapter 37- The End

(A.N

This is the longest chapter in the entire book. It sits at 5400 words

Please enjoy)
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Luca woke up the same way he did every morning. He got out of bed, brushed his teeth, took a quick shower, put on a fresh pair of clothes, and walked downstairs for breakfast. But this time was a whole lot different.

For starters, it was 5:30 in the morning. Luca couldn't remember a time he ever woke up that early. The ticket to Genova said the train would be leaving at 6:30 A.M sharp, no exceptions. Having an hour to get ready and go to the train stazione would give Luca, Alberto, and Giulia plenty of time.

Luca walked downstairs and sat down in the kitchen, instantly recognizing that the mood felt different. His mom didn't say good morning to him, his dad wasn't going and on and on about random things, and his grandma... actually, she wasn't doing anything different at all. Luca noticed her sitting by the window, reading the newspaper like she always did. In fact, his grandma was really the only person that was acting normal. Everyone else seemed tense, which even included Luca himself.

"Morning mom, what are we having today?" Luca asked as he sat down at the counter.

Daniela didn't turn around around, nor did she say anything for a while. "Eggs."

Luca nodded, "Sounds good."

You could hear a pin drop. It was as if there was an overbearing feeling of doom filling the room.

Daniela continued to cook the eggs, and Luca continued to wait at the counter, resting his chin in his hands. Lorenzo walked over to the kitchen to help her, but he didn't say anything either.

"Alright, so I guess nobody else is gonna say anything about... this."

Luca turned around to where the voice was coming from. Unsurprisingly, his grandma was smiling and looked like she was about to laugh. She beckoned him over with her hand. Luca took a seat next to her, and as soon as he did, his grandma leaned in closer and whispered in his ear.

"Honestly, I think your parents are trying to hold it together.."

Luca looked at his grandma, perplexed. "What?"

"I don't think they got much sleep last night, Luca. I could hear them talking through the whole night."

"Oh.." Luca said.

"Look, bubble. I think it's easy for you to forget, heck— it's easy for me to forget— that you're getting older. And that means.. you want to go off and explore new places."

She paused for a moment. Luca payed attention closely.

"What I'm trying to say is.. your parents are so used to having you around. Sure, you left last year, but even then, they got lonely at times. I just want you to understand that they're not ignoring you or anything. It's just hard for them to adjust to this, that's all."

Luca's jaw opened, and suddenly he felt sad for his parents. He had never really thought about it like that before. His grandma was right; it was easy to forget that he was leaving the people he had spent almost every minute of his life with. And for an entire school year? That made it seem even worse.

"Is that a bad thing?.." Luca asked cautiously.

"No, not at all, not at all," his grandma responded. She looked over at Daniela and laughed. "Before, your mom thought that she had to control everything you did. She's a lot better about it now, but those overprotective mom instincts never leave a person. Remember what I said last year? Alberto had to talk them into it, and it was definitely not easy."