”With that I can agree” he said with a light chuckle as she commented on his dad, it was in fact sad and not as funny, he did suck, and it wasn’t sometime Gio had learned recently at all, but there was no point in getting all down and sad about it, laughing instead was always good. Aline was a nice girl, it sucked that he didn’t remember just how much, but he could tell she was someone he wanted in his life, and… she promised to make his birthday great, though it was still a day he didn’t like, but a promise is a promise isn’t it? ”Not too fun” he pointed, ”but yes”
“I honestly don’t know how anyone can not get lost in here.”
”I bet they have a pocket map” he said as the two walked, finding themselves in the greenhouse. Gio spoke up, putting his fears aside as he said what he wanted to say, looking at this boy in front of him who was leaning against some column, responding to Gio’s words with a slight smile with a hint of sadness in his eyes before speaking up himself,
"I… G, I’m not gonna lie, of course I want a fresh start with you, that’s… the one thing I want more than anything.” he started, words that sparked a glimmer of hope in Gio’s heart, though of course, there was a but. The boy listened as Luciano told him what happened the day of the accident, what happened to them the day of the accident… As he spoke, Gio listened, he never actually knew what happened that day, all he knew even before the accident, was that he and Aline walked into the cafe where he saw the love of his life kissing another man, and from there… everything went black, even before he forgot the rest of it.
Gio stood there, silently listening as he told him how he met with his ex for closure, and how he kissed him exactly when he and Aline walked in, when Aline brought him there on purpose so he’d know what she thought was the truth. In this moment Gio appreciated Aline even more, how she chose telling her friend the truth over keeping her brother’s bad secret, it said a lot about her as a person, good things. Luciano looked at him for a moment as he spoke, the pain visible in his eyes which only made Gio’s heart ache as well.
“You said to me, ‘I should’ve known it was too good to be true.’ And then you were gone, and then you got into that crash and I-”
And all along with that whole story he was just hearing, now, like has happened only a small amount of times before, Gio had a flash, as if he didn’t get back his memory back altogether, but in flashes, pictures, short clips of specific moments.
He saw himself and Aline in his car, her tapping anxiously on her leg as he drove, then he saw the front of the cafe, cafe con amor, it was ironic how a place with a word meaning love in the title has caused so much heartbreak.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t-- I didn’t know.” The girl muttered as she saw the shocking surprise in front of her eyes. Anger, yelling, disappointment, regret.
“Gio, God, I’m so sorry. I swear I’m not cheating on you, this is the first time I’ve met with him.” Gio saw Luciano standing in front of him in his mind, and the feelings he felt in that moment came back to him, the surprise, the cluelessness, the pain. Was it a bad dream or was it reality? Tricky question, because in fact, it was actually both.
“So yeah, you lost your memory, but you didn’t lose us. I did enough of a job doing that myself."
Gio stayed silent for a moment as the flashes of the event ran through it, his eyes staring into the air as he stood there, not saying a word even though Luciano had already finished talking. ”No you didn’t” he whispered, closing his eyes for a moment, his head tilted down before turning up to face the boy. ”I-… I’m not mad” he said, and it was true, he wasn’t mad, but actually remembering that moment hurt like hell, even if it was just in parts. Like, dammit, there were so many other moments in the past three years that he’d rather remember, not this… but maybe being the moment leading to his accident, made that come in a memory, it was a key moment, it stick there in his subconscious even if he didn’t know it… but no, Giovanni wasn’t mad.
”I never was…” he added, looking at the water as he quietly spoke, ”I was hurt, I didn’t know the whole story even then, but walking into a cafe and seeing the one person I loved the most, kissing someone else…” the boy told him, the pain of the memory somewhat audiable in his voice ”I thought you got bored of me…” he admitted. Frankly, there was no surprise he thought it was too good to be true, because it was, and he out of all people in the world wasn’t the person who deserved that. There was nothing special about him, he was just Gio, that’s it. What about that deserved such a good thing as Luciano? They were never on the same level, and yet somehow they did end up together, and even with that, in that moment in the cafe, what Gio thought it finally happened , one of his greatest worries that in his mind was always around the corner, the day when eventually Lui would realises he can do better, and moves on.
Gio raised his gaze to look at the boy in front of him, ”It’s not your fault…” he said, genuinely meaning every word. Taking a small step towards him, Gio spoke again ”I said what I said… if it’s really the one thing you want more than anything, like you said,” he added, quoting Lui’s words from earlier as looking at him straight in the eyes. Doing that, Gio put all his insecurities aside, because if there was one thing he learned from this crazy experience, it was the fact that life was so damn fragile, there was no room for letting fear hold him back, especially not now. Not this… ”I’m right here”
@unsungcheerio longer 
