Summer, 1983 (I'll call you by mine)

Summer 2005

"SHIT! We are late!" Chris yelled as the three of them jumped out of the lake running to the house.

"We are so dead! Dad's going to kill us!" Jona panted as he tried to reach the house first.

The three boys ran to the side of the house, barrelling out nearly tripping over each other. The car had just pulled up in the drive when they came to a stop as she was getting out of the car.

"Hello, how was your trip?"

"It was wonderful, long but wonderful."

"Good, good, I'm Professor Adler and these are my boys Christopher, Jona and Chris's best friend Jude."

"I'm Tess, it's nice to meet you all."

"It's nice to meet you too Tess, uh my fiancee couldn't be here, he's in Rome filling in for the pianist in the Roman Orchestra."

"Oh that's fantastic, I love the orchestra."

"Come, come I'll show you the rest of the house. Boys pick up the bags and take them to her room."

"Alright pops." Chris said picking up the bags.

"No, I can do that you don't have too."

"This is part of our job, we do this and take you around B. If we don't he will beat us." Jona said with a straight face. She looked horrible.

"Excuse my youngest he thinks he's funny."

"I'm joking, I'm so totally joking." Jona laughed.

"I am almost sorry for what my brother said but it was funny. Come on we will take you to your room and show you around."

Chris lead Tess to the back room, Chris hadn't been in this room for ages. The room was still set up the way that David had left it last summer. He took a deep breath as he placed her bags on the floor.

"This is your room, the bathroom is right through there. You have your own entrance at the end of the hall if you come in late."

"Oh, I doubt I will be going out."

"That's what our last grad thought but when the people around here find out you're here you will be invited to a lot of things."

"Really?"

"Between my dad, my stepdad and my nonna they get loads of visitors and you will be invited to lots of things."

Christopher just realized he'd never actually looked at Tess. He wasn't sure where she was from, not much of an accident. Her hair was red but not a natural red, her face was round smattered in freckles. She was almost as short as nonna.

She looked at him almost wondering why he was still standing there.

"Oh sorry, I became very good friends with last years grad student but things happened and we don't talk anymore."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Do I have a lot to live up too?" Her dimpled smile was charming.

"Just a little."

*****************************

That evening Oliver sat in his study staring at the phone, he didn't know how to go about asking Elio. Should he ask him outright or ease into it? He would be at home now it was 9. Oliver couldn't take it anymore and just picked up the phone and dialed, it rang 5 times before he picked up.

"Oliver." Elio wasn't questioning who it was, he knew who was calling him.

"Elio. I miss you. Ready to come home yet?"

"I am, I hated sleeping in a big empty bed last night."

"Me too."

"How are the boys and my mom?"

"They are good, I've barely seen the boys and your mother has been loving the new grad student, your mom's really taken with her."

"Oliver?"

"Yes?"

"I thought of you while I played tonight. You in the billowy blue the morning after we made love for the first time." He could hear Elio taking in a deep breath, Oliver knew this was his only chance to bring this up.

"Elio?"

"Mmm?"

"Tell me about Lonette?" The silence was deafening, Oliver could hear his heart pounding in his ears. "Elio? Talk to me."

"You already know everything if you talked to my mother."

"No I don't, I only know you were engaged, that's all Elio."

"Why do you want to talk about this?"

"Because Elio, I want to know, why you became lost. No secrets remember?"

Elio took a long pause figuring out the right words to say, he hadn't thought of her let alone talked about her since he gotten clean.

"She was beautiful, intelligent, funny, a perfect violinist and the closest person to you that I found. Within a few weeks of meeting her, I knew I wanted to be with her, I pursued her. She thought it was funny that I never gave up. One night after a show we went out and I told her everything. I talked for hours honestly I think she kissed me just to get me to shut up. After that moment on we were inseparable after a year, we were engaged. Did I ever tell you I asked Marzia to marry me?"

"Elio you're getting off topic."

"Sorry, you're right. I thought she was my other half, then one day I got a dear John letter. I was confused because the week before we had been to my parent's house and she was fine. After that, she was gone. She told the manager that she had to go back home to Stockholm. I thought she was my last chance, I put everything into it. I had already lost you the day you told me you were getting married and then when she left. I tried to find a way to forget, I'd taken my dad's words and tossed them out the window. I'd wanted to get over the pain quickly and Gi offered me a pill and I felt free. When I needed to sleep I'd take a pill, when I needed to stop feeling I took whatever was offered, when I needed to do a show I smoked. I did whatever I could to not be me and Gi fed my broken heart, he needed me to need him. But when I woke up in that hospital, seeing my momma and papa looking the way they did. I knew I had to stop, in the process of trying to cure my heartbreak, I had broken theirs. They took my home, cared for me through my withdrawals. When dad took me to rehab because I was a terrible person, I said things to my parents, Mafalda and Marzia that were horrible. Anybody else would have hated me, kicked me out but they just loved me harder. I stayed in there willingly for six months, I woke one morning to a letter from my mom. I wept, I wanted to go home to finish healing. After that, word had gotten out that I had left the orchestra. Offers flooded in from all over with orchestras but I didn't want that life so I took the offer from Julliard." The silence was deafening, Elio didn't know if Oliver was still there. "Oliver?"

"I'm here."

"Is there anything else?"

"What else I want to know will have to wait until I can see your face."

"Are you angry with me Oliver?"

"No, but I am sad I was the start of your sadness."

"But I'm grateful now for everything I have. Sometimes we have to suffer for what we love."

"I think we've both suffered enough." Oliver paused thinking about his next words carefully. "I want you to come home, forget what you've promised them. Please come home Elio."

"There's nothing I'd love more but I promised. Can you come to me?"

"I will, I'm coming sooner. Thought tomorrow would be perfect, I will be on the first train out in the morning."

"I'll be waiting. I'll be the handsome one reading on the bench."

"You've been gone two days I promise I've not forgotten how handsome you are."

"Elio-Elio-Elio-Elio"

"Oliver"

"Forgive me?"

"Always"