A Library Romance

After Nico and I finished closing up the store, I drive him, Rosco, and I back to his place since he walked to work. I’m not sure how to feel about going to Nico’s house. I know I shouldn’t be super nervous since it’s not like I’m meeting his parents as his boyfriend, I’m just his friend. But I really want his parents, and everyone else in his family to like me. It would mean a lot to me.

“So, did you ever live in Italy?” I ask, trying to make conversation.

“Yeah, why do you ask?”

“Well, I just noticed that you have a slight accent. So does Antonio. When did you leave?”

“Um, I was seven when we left, I think. I don’t know, we got here when I was in grade three.”

“Ya, actually, I remember when you and Antonio showed up one day. All the girls were crazy about you guys.”

Nico blushes deeply and adorably, “You remember me in grade three?”

“Ya, is that a surprise?”

“Kind of, yeah.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, I just never really thought you knew who I was.”

“I’ve always known who you were,” I say quietly, kind of hoping he didn’t hear me.

Nico directs me to his place and in a minute I’m pulling in to his driveway.

“Nice house,” I whistle.

Father is so wrong about them being peasants. This house is probably almost the same size as mine. And they fill it up much better than my family does.

“Thanks. Oh, and I should warn you, my sister Carina has a crush on Edwyn.”

“That’s good, ‘cause he doesn’t shut up about her,” I laugh as we climb out of his car.

Nico opens the door and I follow him in as he yells, “Ciao! È a casa qualcuno?”

“Nico!” A little girl screams happily, gliding along the linoleum floor of the entryway.

Nico picks her up in his arms, pretending to eat her ear and she giggles. He really would make a fantastic dad one day.

“Nico, are you going to introduce me to this beautiful young lady?” I smirk, kissing the girl’s hand playfully.

She blushes, giggles, and hides her face in the crook of Nico’s neck.

“Ariana, stop hiding, this is Adlar. Adlar this is Ariana,” he says, pulling Ariana’s head out from hiding.

“Hello, Adlar,” she recites politely.

“And hello to you, too,” I smile.

Nico lets Ariana down and she runs away. I faintly hear, “Mamma, Nico’s home and he brought his boyfriend!”

I chuckle, and Nico blushes. I hope this goes well.

Nico’s mom appears out of the kitchen, wiping her hands. She’s a short, chubby woman who gives on such a motherly, warm vibe that I don’t think anyone could not like her.

“There is my beautiful boy,” she pulls Nico in to her chest tightly, “And you bring a friend!”

For some reason Nico is extremely nervous about his mom around me. He stops her from hugging me and instead introduces us, “Mamma, this is Adlar; Adlar, this is my mom.”

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Mammoliti,” I put out my hand.

Nico’s mother laughs which causes her cheeks to ball up, and her eyes to disappear. She pulls me in for a hug, still chuckling, “Such a little gentleman.”

Nico grabs me from his mother’s warm grip and pulls me through the kitchen and in to the living room. Antonio is sitting on the couch with Ariana on his lap, watching Dora the Explorer. Another girl is sitting, reading a magazine. She’s wearing baggy, paint-splattered sweats and an oversized Mickey Mouse t-shirt. Her hair is pulled back and her face is covered by a green face mask. Nico clears his throat and the three look up. The girl’s eyes go wide, she screams, and then runs up the stairs. Antonio and Nico burst out laughing and Ariana giggles. Nico sits beside Antonio on the couch, and I beside Nico.

“Hey, Adlar,” Antonio nods his head.

“Yo, Antonio,” I wave lightly.

“You guys going to Craig’s party next Friday?” Antonio asks.

“Yep,” I say excitedly, “Supposed to be a good one.”

“Deana and Drake are making me go,” Nico says.

“Why do they have to make you? You love to party,” Antonio asks, looking at Nico and I out of the corner of his eye.

“Ya, but I work the next day, man.”

“So do I,” I smirk.

“Then you guys’ll just have to run that store hung over,” Antonio chuckles.

“Speaking of which, I need you to buy me a Jack,” Nico says, handing Antonio thirty bucks.

“Who’s Jack?” Ariana asks, climbing in to Nico’s lap.

“Uh, just a friend,” he says, shrugging.

“Is he another boyfriend?” she giggles.

“No and neither is Adlar,” Nico says slowly.

She rests her head on his chest, smiling shyly at me, “You’re cute,” she giggles.

“Well you’re cute, too,” I poke her nose and she giggles, pressing her face in to Nico’s shirt.

“Um, wanna go up to my room, Adlar? Play some Smash Bros?”

“Ya, but I call Pit!” I yell, rushing to the stairs.

“Screw you!” he calls from behind me.

I stop at the top of a set of stairs, not sure where to go from here.

“Keep going, third floor,” Nico says.

“I was just kidding, by the way, you can have Pit if you want,” I say.

“Oh, no, it’s totally cool, I got Zelda, she’ll totally kick Pit’s ass.”

“No way, Zelda’s a chick!” I argue.

“Fuck you! Zelda’s the shit!”

Nico shows me in to his room. I have to admit, I have wondered about Nico’s room, and about what would happen if I was with Nico alone in his room. Nico walks in behind me, turning on his TV and his Xbox 360. I wander around his room.

“Nice calendar,” I chuckle, coming across a calendar of half-naked men.

Nico turns towards me quickly, blushing. He rubs the back of his neck, stuttering, “Uh-um, D-Dee got me that for a joke on New Year’s.”

I laugh, posing like the January guy. I lean against the wall and place my arms over my head, biting my lip.

“You could be a model, dude,” Nico says.

“Whatever,” I scoff, jumping on to Nico’s bed on my back, placing my hands behind my head.

“Time to kick your ass,” Nico laughs, sounding a little nervous. He throws me a controller and sits on the bed.

We played for an hour. I didn’t even realize how long we’d been there for until Nico’s adorable little sister Ariana came in to the room, jumping up and down.

“Nico, Nico, it’s taco time, bring Boyfriend!” she yells shrilly and then jumps out.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Nico yells after her, “Sorry, Adlar, but my family seems to be hard of hearing.”

“S’okay, let’s go eat, I’m fucking hungry,” I say, standing up and stretching.

Nico avoids eye contact me as I follow him to the dining room. The rest of his family is already seated at the table. Except for Ariana, she’s still bouncing. Nico tries to sit in the seat beside her.

“No!” Ariana shrieks, hitting him, “That’s Boyfriend’s seat!”

“For the fiftieth time, he’s not my boyfriend!” He says loudly.

“He’s not yours,” Ariana stands with a hip cocked and her hands resting on her hips, “He’s my boyfriend!”

Nico and I both laugh. She really is one of the most adorable kids I’ve ever known. All the little kids in my family are little devils. Ariana grabs my hand and pulls me in to the chair beside hers and Nico sits beside me.

“So, Adlar, you’ve already met my mom and dad, Carina, Antonio, and Ariana. The others are Belina, Donato, and Paolo. And Naked Girl!” Nico introduces, although I don’t think I’m actually supposed to call that last one Naked Girl. That just seems like it would be awkward.

“Actually,” ‘Naked Girl’ smiles, “It’s Kim.”

“Hi,” I wave.

Rosco shuffles over and lies down on Nico’s feet with a groan.

“Eat, Adlar, you too thin,” His mom says as we all begin to make our tacos. I actually like that she’s fussing over me a little. It’s a lot more care than my mom ever showed me that’s for sure.

“Are you hairy?” Ariana asks suddenly through a mouthful of food.

“What?” I choke on my taco.

“My brudders are really hairy. It’s like everywhere!” she says dramatically, spreading out her arms. “Even Carina, but she takes care of it!”

“Ah!” Carina shrieks and Antonio puts an arm around her shoulder, trying not to laugh.

I decide not to answer and it seems like Ariana forgets she even asked. Nico then leans behind and whispers something to Ariana.

“What was that about?” I whisper in Nico’s ear.

He replies with, “You’ll see.”

One second later I watch as a glob of sour cream flies through the air and hits Belina on the cheek. She shrieks and throws one back. Except for she has horrible aim and it hits me instead.

“That was my boyfriend!” Ariana yells throwing another and hitting Antonio. Antonio hits Nico and he hits Donato. Soon it turns in to a full-fledged food fight. Food is flying everywhere and Nico’s mom is shrieking at us to stop.

“Fermare!” His dad yells and the room becomes silent.

We all take a good look around. Food is stuck to the walls and on the floor and on people. Then everyone is laughing. After a few minutes we eat what is left and Nico’s mom insists on washing all of our clothes right away; even mine. So Nico takes me back to his room and fishes through his closet, looking for something I can wear. He hands me pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. He changes in to ripped jeans and a white wife beater.

He looks seriously hot!

Heading back downstairs, I see that Antonio has put in Paranormal Activity and is waiting for us to come down. Kim is now in a pair of Carina’s sweats and Antonio’s wife beater. Nico sits down beside the cuddling couple and I sit beside him. I watch as Nico pulls his feet up under him.

“Why are you sitting like that?” I ask.

“Cause I can’t have my feet on the ground when I watch a scary movie. It scares the fuck out of me.”

“Okay,” I chuckle.

Halfway through the movie, I can tell that Nico is getting freaked out. Scary movies don’t really bother me all that much because I always think that my family is a lot scarier. There’s a really loud banging noise and Nico screams, grabbing on to my hand. My heart skips as I feel his warm, soft hand enclosed around mine. After a few seconds I guess he realizes what he’s done and lets go of my hand. Something else happens and I hear him whimper.

And then, I’m not sure what happened in my brain, but I don’t like Nico being so scared. I grab his hand in mine.