Luigi's point of view.
ivy by frank ocean
I had always been the kind of guy who kept my emotions locked away. It wasn't that I didn't careâit was just easier to keep everything tucked behind a wall, hidden from everyone, especially when I didn't want anyone to see how much I was struggling. Even tonight, as I pulled up outside my apartment, I could feel the weight of everything sitting heavy in my chest. But I smiled anyway, running my hand through my curly hair, trying to play it off.
I saw her standing there, waiting for me. Her smile was as effortless as always, but I could tell something was off. She looked at me with those soft eyes of hers, the ones that could read me like an open book if she wanted to.
"Hey," I greeted her, trying to sound normal. "How you doin'?"
I wasn't alright. I hadn't been for a while now. But I couldn't tell her that. So I said the only thing I could think of. "Yeah... I'm alright."
She didn't buy it. I could see it in the way she tilted her head, the way her eyes softened, like she knew I was hiding something.
"What's on your mind, Luigi?" Her voice was soft, almost like a whisper, but it hit me in a way that made everything feel sharper.
I sighed, looking at the ground for a second, trying to figure out how to put this into words. "Nothing... Just thinking about things," I said, my voice coming out more hollow than I intended. "It's not a big deal."
But I knew she wouldn't drop it. She never did.
She stepped closer, her presence pulling me in. "Luigi, you don't have to hide it from me. What's going on?"
I bit my lip, trying to keep my cool. I was used to being the strong one, the guy who had it together. But right now, I didn't.
"I guess... I've been thinking about how things used to be. How we used to be." The words slipped out before I could stop them, and the second I said it, I realized how true it was.
I wasn't good at thisâtalking about feelings, being vulnerableâbut with her, it felt different. She always made it seem like I could open up without judgment, without having to worry about being weak.
She reached for my hand, and for a second, I thought maybe I had misread her. But when her fingers intertwined with mine, I realized she knew. She knew exactly what I was talking about.
"I get it," she said softly, her voice grounding me. "But you're not alone in this. I'm here, always."
I couldn't help the way my chest tightened at her words. Maybe it was the weight of everything I hadn't been saying, or maybe it was the fact that I knew she meant it, that she really meant it.
"I just... I don't know if I can go back to how things were," I admitted quietly, my voice breaking a little. "There's so much I wish I could change."
She didn't say anything at first, just stood there, looking at me like she understood, like she could see right through all the walls I'd built around myself. Then, after a long moment of silence, she spoke, her voice gentle.
"We can't change the past, Luigi. But we can control the future. We can make it ours."
I stared at her, feeling every ounce of tension in my body start to melt away. She was right. I couldn't change what had happened, but maybeâjust maybeâI could change how things were going forward.
And before I knew it, I was leaning in. It wasn't something I planned, not really. It just felt like the right thing to do. Her lips were soft against mine, the kiss slow and hesitant at first, like we were both testing the waters. But when I felt her respond, I knew this was what I needed.
When I pulled back, I rested my forehead against hers, breathing her in, trying to steady my racing heart.
"That... felt right," I murmured, barely above a whisper.
She nodded, her heart beating in sync with mine. "Yeah... it did."
In that moment, it felt like everything elseâeverything I had been overthinking, every doubt that had clouded my mindâfaded away. Maybe I didn't have all the answers, and maybe we didn't know exactly where we were headed. But with her here, standing in front of me, I felt like maybe everything would be okay. Maybe, just maybe, we could make it through whatever came next.