27. Alex
Alex
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Before I knew it, both my bags and those belonging to my parents were packed and sitting on the landing downstairs.
The time to go back home had arrived. Back to the rubble of my previous life.
This was the moment I’d been dreading for weeks.
The moment I had to leave this wonderful dream behind.
The dream I’d ruined.
Leo was in the kitchen serving coffee to our parents.
He was good at this. Good at pretending everything was alright and putting on a smile.
And my parents wore easy smiles too, despite their shock when they found out Leo was moving to Italy permanently.
In fact, my mother was already making plans to come out in the fall.
She’d been eligible for retirement for three years now and Leo’s offer seemed to light a fire under her.
In just three days she’d decided to retire and start traveling.
And my stepdad, despite his resignation at first, was warming up to the idea.
That meant, come autumn, it would be me that was all alone back home. My parents would be traveling and Leo would be here, in Livorno, thousands of miles away. And I would be… what? Finding a new job? Living alone? Dating women?
None of that sounded appealing. What I really wanted was here. What I wanted was Leo.
But I’d made a fucking mess of that.
I watched Leo hand my mother her coffee, his movements fluid and practiced.
He was wearing a pale linen shirt that hung loose on his frame, and I noticed he looked almost thinner these past few days.
The stress of everything had carved away at him, leaving him looking almost fragile, and I noticed he hadn’t been eating hardly anything.
But when he smiled at something my stepfather said, that false brightness was there, convincing my parents everything was just fine, that I hadn’t broken his heart.
God, I was such an idiot.
“Alex, sweetheart, come have some coffee before we leave,” my mother called out, and I forced myself to move toward the kitchen.
Every step felt heavy, weighted down with regret and the knowledge that I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life by getting on that plane. But what else could I do?
Leo didn’t look at me as I entered. He was suddenly very interested in refilling my father’s cup, even though it was already full.
I could see the tension in his shoulders, the careful way he was avoiding any eye contact.
We hadn’t been alone together since that conversation in the garden three days ago.
Every moment had been carefully orchestrated chaos.
There were meals with my parents, trips into town, and visits to the beach to fill up the days.
Leo had made sure there was never a moment for us to talk, and I hadn’t pushed because I knew, deep down, I didn’t deserve the chance.
“The car will be here in ten minutes,” my mother said brightly, checking her phone. “I still can’t believe you’re staying, Leo. I’m going to miss you so much, but I’ll be here again before you know it! I’m excited to get to know this place just as much as you do!”
“I’m excited too,” Leo said, and I could hear the lie in his voice if no one else could. “It’s going to be great.”
I picked up a coffee cup with trembling hands, just trying to get through these last few painful minutes before everything was truly over. There was nothing I could say to Leo now to make things better. And there was nothing that could make me feel better either.
“I’m going to take a walk,” I announced suddenly, unable to stand the tension in the room already. “Before we leave. One last time through the garden.”
My mother waved a hand dismissively. “Of course, honey. Take your time.”
I turned and walked back out of the kitchen, hoping Leo would understand. Hoping he would follow me. I made my way through the villa toward the back garden, my heart hammering in my chest as I pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped out into the morning sun.
The lemon trees cast their familiar shadows across the terrace.
I remembered the first time we’d eaten out here, remembered the way Leo had held my hand in the fading light.
Everything had seemed so simple then, so possible.
Now it was crumbling to dust, slipping through my fingers and lost to the wind.
I heard footsteps behind me and turned, hoping it was Leo. It wasn’t.
It was my stepfather.
“You doing alright?” he asked, stepping up beside me. “You’ve seemed out of sorts the past few days.”
“I’m fine,” I lied, knowing I couldn’t tell him the truth. Not about this. “I’m just tired. And ready to go home.”
Michael studied my face for a long moment, and I could see something shift in his expression. He wasn’t buying it. I’d never been a particularly good liar, and he’d known me long enough to spot the tells.
“You know,” he said slowly, leaning against one of the lemon trees, “when your mother told me we were coming out here, I wasn’t thrilled about it. Felt like we were intruding on your space, you know? But I’m glad we came.”
“Yeah?” I asked, not sure where this was going.
“Yeah. Because I got to see you happy for the first time in... well, a long time.” He paused, his weathered face thoughtful. “And I got to see Leo happy too. Both of you kids have been carrying a lot of weight on your shoulders. More than you should have to at such a young age.”
My stomach twisted. I didn’t trust where this conversation was heading.
“He seems better now,” Michael continued, glancing back toward the house. “More settled. But also... sadder, somehow. Like he’s made peace with something he didn’t want to accept.” He turned back to me. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, but my voice came out strained.
“Leo is my son. I’ve watched him his whole life,” Michael said. “And I’ve watched him do a lot of things just to make other people happy. Too many things.” He was quiet for a moment. “I’ve also watched you these past few days. The way you look at him when you think no one’s watching.”
My blood ran cold.
“Mike—”
“I’m not going to say anything,” he said quickly, holding up a hand. “That’s not why I’m telling you this. I’m telling you because you look like a man who’s about to make the biggest mistake of his life, and I’ve made enough of those to know what it looks like.”
I couldn’t find words. My throat felt tight.
“Your mother and I...” Michael paused, choosing his words carefully.
“We weren’t always what we are now. When we first got together, there were a lot of people who didn’t understand.
Different backgrounds, different cultures, different ideas about what a marriage should look like.
I went to her when my wife died. She gave me solace and love when I needed it most. People didn’t like that.
They thought it was too fast, or that I was dishonoring my first wife.
We almost didn’t make it because we were too scared of what other people thought. ”
“Yeah, but what people think matters,” I replied, my voice full of venom.
“I lost my job because my company thought my divorce was bad for optics. Amanda turned you and mom against me.” I looked up at him, feeling the tears threatening at the corners of my eyes.
“I really could’ve used your support during the divorce.
But instead, everyone just shut me out. My own mother shut me out. ”
Michael’s expression softened, and I could see genuine regret cross his weathered features.
“You’re right,” he said quietly. “We failed you. Your mother and I, we listened to Amanda’s side of things and we made assumptions. We took the easy route instead of standing by our son. I’m sorry for that, Alex. I really am.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. An apology, after all this time, felt both too little and too much at the same time.
“Maybe you don’t want to take advice from me right now,” he continued. “After what your mother and I did. But if there’s something here for you…” He glanced back toward the villa. “Something you love about this place, then why aren’t you staying?”
“There’s nothing here,” I lied. “Not a damn thing. My life is back home. Everything I need to rebuild is back there.”
Michael nodded, patting me on the shoulder. “If you say so, Alex,” he said softly. “But I have a feeling that if you get on that plane, you’re going to regret it.”
He didn’t give me a chance to respond as he headed back toward the villa.
I stood there in the garden, wishing I didn’t have to leave, wishing that my stepfather actually understood the depth of the situation and still wanted me to stay.
But he didn’t. How could he? His blessing was a blank check of an apology.
He had no idea that I just wanted to stay here with his son. With my stepbrother.
They’d never accept that. Nobody would. So why bother trying?
A car horn from the front of the villa interrupted my thoughts. It signaled the end of my vacation, my trip through a fantasy world that could never be. It was the start of my new life. And honestly? I felt worse than I had after the divorce.
I grabbed my bag from inside and made my way to the front of the villa where the car was already waiting.
My mother was fussing over Leo, pulling him into a tight hug and making him promise again that he’d call every week.
My stepfather was loading the last of the luggage into the trunk with quiet efficiency.
And Leo... Leo stood there with that same false smile plastered on his face, accepting my mother’s affection like he just had to make it through these final moments before he could break down at last.
Our eyes met for just a fraction of a second as I approached, and I saw something flicker across his features. Pain, maybe. Or anger. It was hard to tell because he looked away so quickly.
“Well, this is it,” my mother said, turning to me with tears in her eyes. “Come here, sweetheart.”
I let her pull me into an embrace, breathing in the familiar scent of her perfume. Over her shoulder, I could see Leo watching us, his hands clenched at his sides.
“We’re leaving here together,” I said, hugging her back. “We have the same flight home.”
“I love you,” she whispered. “And I’m sorry it took me so long to say that again. I… I shouldn’t have pushed you away and I’m sorry.”
Another apology. A sincere one. From my own mother.
“I love you too, Mom,” I replied, and I meant it. But it didn’t change how much I was still hurting.
When she released me, I turned to Michael and nodded, grateful for what he’d tried to do in the garden. Even if it hadn’t worked. Even if I was too much of a coward to take his advice.
Then there was Leo.
We stood facing each other for what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few seconds. My mother was already getting into the car, and Michael was closing the trunk. This was it. This was the last moment where I could say something, do something, anything to change what was about to happen.
But I didn’t.
“Take care of yourself,” I said, my voice hollow. “And... good luck with everything.”
It was pathetic. It was weak. It was everything I’d become over the past three days. I was a shell of a person going through the motions of leaving the only thing that had ever made me truly happy.
Leo’s jaw clenched, and for a moment I thought he might say something. Might fight back. Might tell me I was being an asshole.
Instead, he just nodded. “You too,” he said quietly.
I got into the car, and as we pulled away from the villa.
I turned around in my seat to watch Leo standing in the driveway, getting smaller and smaller until he disappeared from view entirely.
My mother was talking about her retirement plans, about the house she wanted to rent in Livorno come autumn.
Michael was humming along to the radio. And I was sitting there, watching the man now realized that I loved fade into the distance, knowing with absolute certainty that I’d just made the biggest mistake of my life.
But there was nothing I could do about it now.