Lanterns in the Dark - 10. Chapter 10

Daniele made his way home as soon as the storm abated, treading miserably through the puddles left behind by the downpour. The black water glinted dully in the glow of the old-fashioned streetlights.

When he let himself into the house, dripping gently onto the ceramic tiles, he encountered his father, who had finally returned from his day on the road and was working his way through a bowl of Daniele and Marco’s spaghetti alla puttanesca. To Daniele’s relief, Paolo was so relieved to learn that he had managed to shelter from the worst of the downpour that he didn’t ask too many questions.

Before going to bed, Daniele took a shower to warm up. As the hot water soaked his blond hair and coursed down his shoulders, he allowed himself a quick cry of his own. He couldn’t shake off the mental image of Marco struggling home in the pouring rain, running in breathless misery up the endless steep steps that led from Torello to his own part of town. He hoped desperately that the other boy had made it home safely.

He didn’t understand. If it weren’t for Giaco… I think I’d have been right there with him.

Daniele wondered if there was any way he could hope to repair the damage he had done. If not, he suspected, the events of tonight would only hurt the smaller boy’s self-confidence even further… leaving him more alienated than ever.

* * *

By the next morning, the storm clouds had cleared. Daniele awoke to bright sunlight shining through the cracks in his shutters and opened them onto a sparkling new day. The cicadas scraped in the olive groves, and the distant sea was an expanse of vivid blue.

It was as if the heart-breaking events of the night before had never happened, but Daniele wasn’t fooled. Somewhere, he knew, Marco was still hurting, and it was all his fault.

Daniele hung back at home after breakfast. Going out had lost its appeal for the moment and, once again, he had nobody to go out with. He wondered miserably how he could have made such a mess of things, first with Emilia, and then with Marco.

Aren’t I supposed to be GOOD at reading people? Why am I so rubbish at understanding myself?

As luck would have it, later that morning, fate intervened to provide a distraction.

Daniele had the house to himself, and he was stretched out on the sofa in the living area, reading a book. The morning sun shone in vividly through the great big windows, bathing him in a bright white glow.

Out of habit, he had dressed in his lavender tie-dye t-shirt and beige shorts. The familiar old clothes were oddly comforting: wearing them, he felt slightly more connected with the boy he used to be… before he had so catastrophically entered the world of love.

Daniele glanced up, frowning, as he heard a knock. He put the book to one side and shuffled through to the hallway.

When he opened the front door, he was surprised to find Giacomo waiting on the doorstep. The dark-eyed boy was alone, and he had his bright scarlet mountain bike with him. To Daniele’s surprise, Giacomo was even wearing the red tie-dye t-shirt Daniele had given him in the spring. Remembering how reluctant the other boy had been to accept it in the first place, Daniele wondered if there was any particular significance to his choosing to wear it today.

Giacomo grinned. “Ciao, Dani,” he said. “I was hoping you’d be home. Want to ride with me?”

In spite of everything, Daniele felt his spirits lift a little. He wondered, slightly, at the power the other boy still seemed to hold over him.

“Absolutely,” he replied. “Oh, and… I love the t-shirt.”

Giacomo glanced down at it. “Yeah, well, I ran out of good ones,” he teased.

Then he winked.

Daniele sensed that the other boy was up to something, but he was too glad to see him to care very much. He locked the front door, then went to fetch his own midnight-blue mountain bike from its usual spot on the sun terrace.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“Not far, to begin with,” Giacomo replied. “There’s something I want to tell you first.”

Intrigued, Daniele followed him out through the front gate and mounted his bike. Giacomo led the way up the road, pedalling up the hill with quiet determination.

At the first hairpin bend, Giacomo led Daniele off along the side turning that led into the tiny square at San Cosma. From there, they followed the footpath that led to Toto and Michele’s favourite olive grove. It wound around the base of the sun-drenched cliff below the Villa Cimbrone, passing banks of vibrant magenta bougainvillea and deep purple morning glory. Beneath them, the terraced slopes below the Valle del Dragone plunged and wound their way down to the bright blue sea, dotted with bright white villas and tall, elegant pine and cypress trees.

Faced with such a landscape, and back in the company of his best friend, Daniele found it harder and harder to hold onto his guilt over the events of last night. The late summer sun seemed to be smiling down upon them both, and he surrendered to the feeling for a while.

When they reached the dappled shade of the olive grove, Giacomo dismounted. Daniele followed suit, and they pulled the bikes off the path, laying them down amidst a scattering of last year’s old leaves. All around them, the silvery foliage of the olive trees shone softly in the bright morning sunlight.

Giacomo knelt down on the soft, powdery earth and tugged Daniele down to face him. His dark eyes were alight with a strange sort of excitement.

“I want you to know,” he said, “that I’ve finished things with Laura.”

Daniele stared at him. “What…?” he gasped. “Why?”

Giacomo laughed. “Isn’t it obvious, Dani?” He gestured at his red tie-dye t-shirt. “I missed you too much, that’s why.”

Daniele was lost for words for a moment; he felt his heart begin to expand with some tremendous feeling.

“You mean…” he breathed.

Giacomo smiled. “I’m all yours.”

Daniele could no longer contain himself. He let forth a peal of joyous laughter and flung himself onto the other boy. Both giggling, they rolled down the slope together, eventually coming to rest under the canopy of a particularly gnarled old olive tree, where they broke apart, sprawling back on the warm ground.

Slowly, Daniele felt a trace of rational thought return to his dazzled mind, and he found a pang of sympathy for the abandoned party.

“How did Laura feel?” he asked. “Was she very upset?”

Giacomo gave Daniele a slightly guilty shrug. “A bit, I guess…” he replied, “but, you know… we didn’t exactly have long left anyway.”

Daniele looked at the other boy wistfully. “It’s just… I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me.”

Giacomo frowned curiously. “What do you mean, Dani? Did something happen?”

Daniele bit his lip. “I upset Marco.”

“How?”

“I’d rather not say… not yet.”

Giacomo looked a little disappointed. “You don’t have to tell me, I guess. But… don’t you trust me?”

“I do,” Daniele replied earnestly.

“Then, why…?”

“I’m still making sense of it… I guess I’ll tell you when I’m ready.”

“All right… if you’re sure,” Giacomo said quietly, but then his expression cleared, an enthusiastic glint entering his dark eyes.

Daniele couldn’t help smiling. “What is it, Giaco?”

Giacomo took him by the shoulders. “I know I should feel bad, but I’m stoked, Dani. I can’t wait to start doing all the things we’ve missed out on for the last few weeks.”

Daniele nodded fervently. “Me too,” he replied. “Starting with what, though…?”

“For today, I thought we could just cycle up the valley today, like old times,” Giacomo said.

“Okay.”

“But, tomorrow, maybe we could go a bit further?”

At the other boy’s use of the word ‘tomorrow’, Daniele felt his happy bubble rising again.

This is real. He’s come back to me…!

“Like?” he asked.

Giacomo looked back at him with a strangely thoughtful expression. “We never did take that trip to the beach,” he said. “What do you say?”

Daniele flushed slightly. “The beach?” he repeated.

Giacomo smiled. “Yeah. Just the two of us.”

Daniele stared at the other boy. They had talked about this before, but originally Emilia was going to be involved. Her likely presence had been a frustration… but also a comfort. With three of them there, it would have felt more like a simple trip between friends. This… seemed different, somehow.

All of this passed through Daniele’s mind in little more than a couple of seconds, but even so, he could tell that Giacomo was impatient for an answer.

Daniele took a deep breath. “I… I’d love to.”

The other boy grinned. He sprang on Daniele, who allowed himself to be wrestled to the ground in a state of happy confusion.

“Awesome,” Giacomo said.

* * *

At first, Daniele managed to persuade himself that he wasn’t nervous about the coming beach visit but, as the hour grew nearer, he began to regret his rashness in agreeing to it so quickly.

He was about to spend a whole morning alone on the beach with the boy who had spent more time in his thoughts than anybody else. Once, he would probably have been able to handle it with only slight embarrassment, but things had changed lately, and now the thought of it filled him with an excitable sort of fear.

For the first couple of years, his attraction to Giacomo had been soft and unfocused, punctuated only by occasional moments of uncomfortable clarity. But lately, following everything they had been through together in the spring, his awareness of the other boy had sharpened. His experiences with Emilia and Marco had only served to exacerbate the feeling; had, somehow, awoken a voice within him that now refused to be silenced.

Could he really go to the beach with Giacomo and muck about with him as he would with any other friend, without it turning into something else? What if, like Marco, he was unable to restrain himself? How would Giacomo react to an accidental kiss?

How, he wondered, had Gianni and Angelo coped with it? Or Toto and Michele?

Daniele felt lost in an ocean of feelings that were too adult for him to comprehend. He had no real agenda, and a single kiss from Giacomo would have been enough to send him to the moon. But why risk their friendship now, just when things were going so well?

* * *

Daniele’s parents seemed baffled by his constantly shifting relationships. Patrizia, especially, seemed surprised to learn that he and Giacomo were heading to the beach together as if none of the business with Laura had happened. None the less, she sent him on his way with her blessing and a copious supply of water, along with a bottle of sun cream and strict instructions to use it.

Daniele left the house with his swimming trunks already on under his street shorts. After some consideration, he had opted for his orange tie-dye t-shirt today, feeling that he should wear something sunny to mark the occasion. He wore a large rucksack that contained the rest of his gear, including a beach mat, a towel, an inflatable beach ball and his wallet for snacks and cold drinks.

Daniele was the first to arrive at the bus stops and he waited there, keyed up with anticipation. Before long, Giacomo arrived. He was wearing a navy blue, slim fit shirt and matching shorts. On his feet, he wore nothing but a pair of flip-flops. Daniele found himself strangely fascinated by the sight of his friend’s bare toes.

“Ciao, Dani,” Giacomo said with a smile. “Are you ready for this?”

If you only knew…

Daniele wondered if his friend had any idea how uncomfortable the whole business was making him. Did the other boy feel any confusion about it himself? Giacomo’s confession at the Villa Cimbrone had suggested that he might, but, as always, when Daniele looked into the other boy’s dark eyes, his ability to read thoughts and feelings crumbled into disarray.

The bus ride down the Valle del Dragone would have been a hair-raising experience if the two boys were less used to it, but as it was, they took it in their stride.

As it so often was during the high season, the bus was full to bursting, and Daniele and Giacomo had to stand; they squeezed in shoulder-to-shoulder, sharing the same metal pole to help them stay upright. They lurched from side to side as the bus swung round the repeated hairpin bends; the rugged cliffs of the valley rose around them, growing ever taller and more imposing as they approached the coast road at Castiglione. Giacomo seemed to think the whole thing a great game; Daniele, meanwhile, was acutely aware of the feeling of his friend’s body pressed against his own.

Things got a little easier as they boarded the larger bus that ran along the coast from Amalfi to Minori. They were able to sit down together and, with a fewer people on board, the air conditioning was more effective, cooling Daniele’s fevered brow a little.

They alighted from the bus on the main street through the little town. Compared to Ravello or even Amalfi, it wasn’t a particularly picturesque place; the street was populated with its fair share of modern apartment buildings and hotels, and the noisy traffic was an assault on their senses after several weeks spent exclusively amongst the airy heights of Ravello. Daniele, however, scarcely noticed. He had other things on his mind.

The broad beachfront promenade, which was lined with pine and plane trees, fronted a parade of imposing buildings that hosted a row of shops, bars and restaurants. Like many of the beaches on the Amalfi coast, large parts of the beach were privatised, dominated by serried ranks of colour-coded parasols, but there were still some sections where you could access the beach for free. By the afternoon, Daniele knew, the whole beach would be packed, but this early in the morning there was still space available.

The two boys made their way down onto the grey volcanic beach and shook off their shoes. Daniele wriggled his toes for a moment, enjoying the feeling of the sand between his toes. Then, wandering as far as they could away from the other morning visitors, they set up their camp close to the high tide line.

By some unspoken agreement, they set out their beach mats so close together that they were almost touching. They weighed them down with their shoes and rucksacks, then they sat for a moment, their bare feet stretched out in front of them.

As they relaxed together, Giacomo placed an arm around Daniele’s shoulders. Puzzled, but pleased, Daniele leant into it slightly, wanting to make the most of the feeling while he could. In front of them, the morning sunlight sparkled off the gently lapping waves; the babble of voices from the other visitors around them faded away, ceasing to matter, somehow.

“What are we really doing here, Giaco?” Daniele asked.

Giacomo smiled slightly. “Just hanging together.”

“I mean, I’m really glad we are,” Daniele said, reaching up and resting a hand on the other boy’s outstretched arm, “but… why are we cuddling?”

“Isn’t that something best friends do?”

Daniele frowned slightly. “Not usually… at least, I don’t think so.”

Giacomo shrugged and stared out to sea for a moment, his expression unusually thoughtful.

“Some summer, huh?” he murmured after a while.

Daniele looked at him curiously. “Didn’t you enjoy it?” he asked.

Giacomo gave him a sideways glance. “Before Laura came along, I wasn’t even thinking about dating,” he replied. “I can’t believe how fast everything changed. I mean, Laura was great, but then I had to spend every day with her, and …” he sighed. “I dunno.”

“Maybe that’s just the way it goes, when you meet someone?” Daniele wondered.

“If that’s right, then I’m done with it, for the moment.” Giacomo said determinedly. “It sucks. I don’t want anything to come between us like that again.”

Daniele stared at him wonderingly for a moment.

Just you and me?

“What about Emilia?” he asked.

“Oh, I missed her, too,” Giacomo replied. “But, you and I, we’re a team.” He smiled. “You saved my life in the spring, Dani. How is anyone else ever going to beat that?”

Daniele’s heart sank slightly.

Is that all this is about?

He shrugged the other boy’s arm from his shoulders and looked away, fiddling with the sand on the other side of his beach mat.

“You don’t have to spend your life with me just because of that.”

Giacomo tugged gently at his arm to bring his attention back. He shook his head. “I’m not saying that I owe you, Dani.” His brow knotted slightly, and Daniele could sense him struggling to make sense of some complex feeling. “I’m saying… when Antonio attacked me, you came charging in to help without a thought for yourself.” He clasped one of Daniele’s hands in both of his own for a moment and placed it gently against his chest. “That’s… I dunno… some serious friendship, right there…”

Daniele found himself in the grip of those dark eyes once again. “I didn’t really think about it,” he explained quietly. “I just… wanted to.”

Giacomo released Daniele’s hand. “You see?” he said. “That’s what I’m talking about. And, the thing is… I reckon I’d do the same for you in a heartbeat.”

Yes, but what IS that feeling?

Confused, Daniele turned his blue gaze out to sea, trying to work out what his friend was really trying to say. His mind ranged around the possibilities until he heard a soft giggle from beside him.

“Earth to Dani…”

“Huh?” Daniele asked, glancing back at the other boy.

Giacomo smiled. “Did I lose you somewhere?”

“Sorry.”

Giacomo turned his attention to his shirt buttons. “C’mon, Dani,” he said. “We didn’t come here just to talk.”

Flushing slightly, Daniele forced himself to tear his eyes away as the other boy shrugged off his shirt. He pulled his own t-shirt roughly over his head and disentangled his trunks from his street shorts. The bottle of sun cream lay forgotten in the bottom of his rucksack.

Giacomo sprang to his feet, now dressed in nothing but a pair of scarlet swimming shorts. Daniele stared reluctantly up at him, helplessly taking in every curve of his growing figure.

Giacomo extended a hand; Daniele took it and allowed the other boy to pull him to his feet.

“Won’t you burn?” Giacomo asked, looking him up and down, observing his noticeably fairer skin.

He shook his head. “I can take it for a while.”

“Then come and get wet,” Giacomo smiled, gesturing to the sea.

“Just a minute,” Daniele replied.

He rummaged in his rucksack for a moment and produced the beach ball. Once he had inflated it, he followed the other boy down to the water’s edge.

Giacomo flung himself into the shallows with a whoop, emerging with his dark hair awry and water pouring off every part of his body. For a moment, Daniele was entranced by the way the water trickled down the other boy’s back in little runnels, following the contours of his shoulder blades, but then he mastered himself and jumped in after him.

The wonderfully cooling seawater washed away a lot of Daniele’s anxiety, and he gave in to the joy of the game. They splashed out into the sea until the water was up to their waists and began to throw the ball to one another. For several minutes, back and forth the colourful object flew, alternating clear panels with bright flashes of yellow and red. As it went, it left a trail of water droplets, making rainbows in the sun.

After a while, they began trying to trick each other, sending the ball in unexpected directions. Daniele leapt and dived to catch it, relying on the water to break his fall, until he was dripping from head to toe.

“Nice one,” Giacomo laughed after one particularly spectacular save.

“Try this for size,” Daniele called back, flinging the ball high. Undaunted, Giacomo surged out of the waist-high water like a dolphin; trapping the ball with both hands as it flew over his head, he brought it back to waist height and grinned.

“Want it, Dani?” he called. “Come and get it.”

Giacomo turned and ran for the shore, and Daniele set off in pursuit. Mindless of the drag of the water and the pebbles that dug into his feet, he closed in on the other boy. Catching up with Giacomo just as he reached the soft sand, he made a play for the ball and, laughing, they wrestled over it for a while.

Suddenly, the slippery ball flew from their grasp, and both boys tumbled down with a yelp. Daniele spread his arms just in time and came to rest on top of the other boy, their faces inches away from each other. He could feel the rapid rise and fall of his friend’s chest below him.

For a second or two that felt like an eternity, they just stared into each other’s eyes. Daniele imagined how easy it would be to just lean down a little, and…

But then Giacomo giggled.

“Ah… Dani…” he said. “Would you mind getting off me?”

Reluctantly, Daniele rolled off the other boy, and they crawled the short distance back to their beach mats. They collapsed down on them together, facing one another.

Giacomo’s hair, normally so neatly styled, had flopped all over the place. Heart pounding nervously, Daniele reached out and brushed aside a lock of it that had tumbled down over one dark eye. The other boy looked back at him thoughtfully, then reached out with one hand and twined it around one of Daniele’s own. Gently, he brought their knotted hands up to chest height.

“This really means something to you, doesn’t it?” he ventured.

Silently, Daniele nodded.

Giacomo frowned slightly. “I don’t know what, exactly,” he said, “but it means… something… to me, too.”

“What are you saying?” Daniele asked quietly.

Giacomo was silent for a moment, seemingly wrestling with his answer.

“I think…” he hesitated. “I think I’m saying I love you.”

Daniele stared at him, his mind in freefall. “You… love me?”

Giacomo nodded. “But… I’m not exactly sure which way.”

Daniele was overcome for a moment, lost in a wave of intense hope that fought with an equally deep melancholy.

“I… love you, too,” he said in a small voice.

Giacomo pulled Daniele closer until their foreheads were touching. The feeling of Giacomo’s arm around his bare shoulders was almost more than Daniele could bear, but he reached for the other boy all the same.

“You’re my best friend, Dani,” Giacomo whispered. “That’s good enough for me, for now.”

Wordlessly, Daniele nodded. He felt a tear drop from his eye, although whether it was a tear of happiness or a tear of sadness, he couldn’t have said.

Giacomo brushed the tear away. “Say something,” he entreated him.

Daniele broke their embrace and rolled onto his back. Suddenly, the whole beach trip seemed selfish and naïve.

“I was just thinking… can’t we all go back to being friends? Everything that’s happened this summer… it just seems to have split us all up.”

“Who do you mean?” Giacomo asked.

“You, me, Emilia… Marco.”

“Marco?” Giacomo repeated doubtfully. “I don’t know.” He paused, giving Daniele a curious look. “Just how did you two get so close, anyway? You still haven’t told me.”

Daniele rubbed his eyes. “I’m just tired of people getting hurt.”

Frowning slightly, Giacomo took his hand again and squeezed it. Daniele turned to stare at the bright blue sky, lost in thought.

* * *

When they parted at the bus stops, Daniele and Giacomo embraced for a long time, and promised to meet up again the next afternoon.

Daniele walked slowly home, his mind back on the unfortunate Marco once more. He felt ashamed of himself for having a wonderful time on the beach with his best friend while the smaller boy was still out there, lost and alone.

He needed advice from someone with a bit more experience. Maybe someone who knew what it was like to have feelings for another boy.

Daniele wandered up to the square the next morning, hoping to encounter one of his older friends. But, as it happened, the first person he ran into was Emilia. She was lurking in the shade of the umbrella pines, flicking through a handful of envelopes. It looked like she was delivering letters for her father again.

If he was going to start repairing friendships, this seemed as good a place as any to start. Daniele approached her slowly, surrounded by the gentle babble of conversation and the drowsy churring of the cicadas.

“Ciao,” he said uncertainly.

Emilia looked up. “Oh, look,” she said offhandedly. “It’s Giacomo’s golden boy.”

Daniele shoved his hands miserably into his pockets.

“How’s Laura?” he asked.

“She’s at home, packing,” Emilia replied. “She asked to go home early… I can’t imagine why.”

“Sorry,” Daniele mumbled.

Her expression softened a little. “Look… it was nice of you to ask, I guess.” She paused, scratching her head in a puzzled sort of way. “Did Giacomo really finish things with Laura just to hang out with you, Dani?”

Daniele shrugged. “I guess.”

“Wow…” Emilia murmured. “I guess you must have really got to him.”

“It’s… complicated.”

“No kidding,” Emilia replied. She gave him a questioning look. “What did you want, Dani?”

“To make things up to you,” Daniele said. “I’d really like us to be friends again.”

She crossed her arms, the sheaf of letters still dangling from one hand. “You really hurt my feelings, you know,” she said, fixing him with a fierce look.

Daniele nodded. “I get that,” he said. “I didn’t mean to, I swear. I guess I just… didn’t know what I was doing.”

Emilia nodded. “You got that right,” she said, but her brown eyes relented. “Look… I miss the way things were, too. I’m willing to give you another chance, but… don’t you ever mess with my heart like that again.”

Daniele offered her a cautious smile. “Agreed.”

Emilia drew a little closer. Now that they were friends again, Daniele could tell she had a question that she had been desperate to ask him.

“Laura said something about you hanging out with Marco?” she whispered.

Daniele shrugged again. “I was for a bit.”

Emilia shook her head. “I never saw that coming. Just… how?”

Daniele sighed and glanced down at the paving stones. “Don’t ask.”

Emilia scowled slightly. “If we’re going to be friends again, Dani, that’s not going to cut it.”

Daniele looked reluctantly back up at her. “I’ve still got some stuff to work out about that. Give me time.”

They were disturbed, at that point, by two familiar voices. Daniele looked up to see Angelo and Claudia approaching from the tree-lined street at the lower corner of the square.

“Are you sure you want that many people?” Angelo was asking.

Claudia nodded determinedly. “I only get to do this once, Angelo. Gianni and Toto have both had a big party at the Villa Cimbrone. Now it’s my turn.”

Angelo laughed. “And do you really think you can persuade Pietro and Anna to provide the catering?”

“I spoke to Mamma,” she said casually. “She’ll persuade them… oh, ciao, Dani!”

The two of them halted in front of him, having apparently only just realised he was there.

“Ciao, guys,” Daniele replied. “You’re planning a party?”

Claudia nodded. “It’s my going away do,” she said. “Friday night, seven thirty. Be there.”

“You’re inviting me?” Daniele asked in surprise.

“Of course,” Claudia replied. “I want all my friends to be there…” She smirked, her eyes gleaming mischievously. “…and I wouldn’t be without my very favourite boy.”

To Daniele’s horror, she swooped down on him, tormenting him with a slow kiss on the cheek.

“Ah, c’mon, Claudia,” he grumbled, cringing away from her reproachfully. Next to him, Emilia snickered, earning a satisfied grin from the older girl.

“Bring your friends if you want, Dani,” Claudia said. “Everyone’s welcome. For the moment, though, I’ve got some more people I need to see.”

“See you later, Dani,” Angelo winked, and they moved off across the square together.

Daniele turned to Emilia. “Will you come? I’ll ask Giaco, too… I promise it won’t be just the two of us.”

Emilia looked thoughtfully back at him for a moment. “Sure, I guess.”

Daniele glanced across the square. Claudia and Angelo had parted company beside the cathedral, and Angelo was just setting off up the avenue of oleanders. He sensed an opportunity to seek the advice he needed.

“I need to go and talk to someone,” he said quickly. “See you on Friday, though?”

Emilia nodded briefly. “Okay.”

* * *

Daniele ran across the square, scattering a group of pigeons as he went, and caught up with Angelo halfway up the steps. The young man glanced over his shoulder in surprise.

“Dani?” he said. “What’s up?”

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Daniele panted.

Angelo nodded. “What about?”

Daniele glanced warily up and down the street. “It’s… kinda personal.”

Angelo looked intrigued. He placed an arm around Daniele’s shoulders and led him on up the steps.

“Sure thing,” he said. “Let’s get out of the sun, first.”

They turned left onto the main street that led up through the Toro. To Daniele’s surprise, Angelo steered him into the courtyard entrance to Marina’s old house. He led the way up the old stone steps and produced a key. Having opened the old wooden door, he ushered Daniele gently inside.

As Daniele’s eyes adjusted to the gloom, he saw that Gianni was already there. He was sitting at the dining table, browsing a catalogue of some kind. Sunlight streamed in through the two small windows behind him, catching the motes of dust that danced in the air.

Angelo, it appeared, was in the middle of fabricating some new windows. The kitchen floor was strewn with wood shavings, neatly cut timber and glass panels, and there was a pleasant smell of sawdust in the room.

“Ciao, Dani,” Gianni smiled, looking up from his catalogue. He marked the page with a scrap of paper and folded it shut. “This is an unexpected pleasure.” He glanced at his partner. “What’s going on, Angelo?”

Angelo shrugged. “Dani accosted me halfway up Viale Wagner. He said he wanted to talk to me about something.” He paused, glancing down at Daniele. “Do you mind talking to both of us, instead?”

Daniele shook his head. “No, it’s fine. Better, even.”

Angelo bent down over the fridge and pulled out two cans of Lemon Soda, one of which he handed to Daniele. “Then pull up a chair, Dani, and let’s talk.”

Daniele moved round the table and sat down next to Gianni; the wooden chair scraped noisily against the terracotta tiles as he pulled it in. Angelo settled down into a seat opposite.

“Have you decided to keep the house, then?” Daniele asked, glancing from one young man to the other.

“Yes, we have,” Angelo replied. “In the end, it seemed ridiculous to keep paying rent on our other place when we have a ready-made house right here.”

“Plus, there are the memories,” Gianni said. “I mean, it needs modernising… there isn’t even a television, or a lounge…”

“We thought maybe we could convert the basement,” Angelo interjected.

Gianni nodded. “…but it feels like a home.”

“And that’s what we think we need,” Angelo said, “especially now we…” But Gianni gestured slightly with one hand, and Angelo left the thought unfinished. “Never mind,” he added. “What did you want to talk about, Dani?”

Daniele frowned thoughtfully as he tried to work out where to begin.

“I need your advice,” he said.

“About…?” Gianni asked gently.

Daniele gave them both a despairing look. “About Marco.”

Angelo leaned forward a little, leaving Daniele with the uncomfortable feeling that he was being x-rayed.

“I take it… there’s been a thaw between you, and now you’re not sure where you stand?” Angelo murmured.

“How can you tell?” Daniele asked.

“It’s in your eyes,” Angelo said. “I recognise that look. Gianni wore it, once.”

As best he could, Daniele told his tale, from the point where he and Marco had started spending time together after the fire, up to everything that had happened on the night they went for the firefly hunt. When he got to part about the kiss, and Marco’s humiliated reaction, he felt tears begin to form in the corners of his eyes once again, and he wiped them away in frustration.

Gianni gave Daniele a squeeze about the shoulders. “Hey, Dani,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to cry.”

“I’m not,” Daniele replied honestly. “It’s just… I’ve done enough crying already. I want to start fixing stuff, instead.”

“Which way do you want things fixed, Dani?” Angelo asked gently. “It seems like… you didn’t hate it when he kissed you.”

“No,” Daniele admitted. “It was… pretty okay.”

“But you’re still hung up on your friend Giacomo.”

Wordlessly, Daniele nodded.

“I wonder… do you and Giacomo really have that kind of future?” Gianni asked. “I mean… from what we’ve both seen, he’s spent most of the summer with his girlfriend from Rome.”

“She’s gone now,” Daniele mumbled.

Giving the two young men a pained look, he recounted his confusing conversation with Giacomo on the beach. When he’d finished, Angelo scratched his head in amazement.

“You don’t do things by halves, Dani,” he said respectfully. “What do you think, Gianni?”

Gianni glanced at the other young man in surprise. “I… don’t know if we can really help you with that part, Dani. It sounds like your friend needs more time to figure out what all this means to him. I suppose he may come to you in the end, but, you know, it’s equally possible that…”

“That he loves me like a brother?” Daniele supplied miserably.

Gianni nodded sympathetically. “I guess so.” He stroked his mouth thoughtfully. “I mean, you’re all so young, still, but I wonder… are you prepared to let everything else go by, in hope of a future that may never happen?”

Daniele shook his head. “I just don’t know yet,” he sighed. He glanced up at the two young men, appealing to them one last time. “But what about Marco, though? He’s hurting now. What should I do?”

Angelo looked contemplatively at Daniele for a moment.

“It can’t have been easy for Marco to risk switching his affections from Giacomo to you, Dani,” he said. “It sounds like he’s put his heart in your hands. I suspect he left it there when he ran off in the rain, and I think…” He paused. “I think you’re probably the only one who can rescue him now.”

* * *

Daniele left Gianni and Angelo’s house a little while later, armed with a new sense of purpose and, just in case they were needed, a borrowed pen and a scrap of blank paper.

Angelo was right, he thought, except for one thing. Marco didn’t just need him: he needed Giacomo and Emilia, too.

Daniele made the descent to the square with the fountain, blind to the shimmer of the hot summer air and the panoramic view across the sun-drenched valley to Scala. Passing the hotel where his mother worked, he took the narrow street at the far side and approached the ill-fitting, peeling old front door to Marco’s house.

Raising a hand, he knocked three times.

“Marco?” he called. “It’s me.”

There was silence. The other boy was either out, or he didn’t want to answer.

Disappointed, but not entirely surprised, Daniele pulled out the pen and the scrap of paper. He sucked the top of the pen for a few moments, trying to work out what to write, but then he decided to keep it simple. He leant on the wooden door and wrote down a few neat words.

Marco,

I’m sorry for what happened, and I miss you. Please be my friend again.

Love,
Dani

Daniele posted the note under the door. Having done so, he shoved his hands into his pockets, stowing the pen safely in the process. He stepped back for a moment, glancing at the small upstairs windows: they stared blankly back at him, giving nothing away.

He had done all he could for now. Daniele turned and began to walk back towards town.