"Luca, She looks just like me. This, This is why you've been so hellbent on me, that is sick, You're sick !" Is all you can muster out, how dare he lead me on because of some twisted fetish, I'm not one to judge, I've got my own sick and twisted kinks, but this is low, even for me. Your thoughts flip a switch in you, you're surprised smoke isn't coming out of your ears.
"Yeah, I'm fucked up, maybe a bit twisted, I may have lost a lover but you lost a sister. You were too young, when you were snatched, I'm not surprised you don't remember anything! It's a very long and complicated story, the short version, your biological parents are flying in. Mr. & Mrs. Arthur will be here in the morning. Natalia, you were the first tragedy that happened to Mrs. Arthur, you were less than a month old when you were stolen."
By now you went from fuming to completely broken, hearing this you almost don't believe him. But you do, it all makes sense, why your mother never gave a damn about you, the puzzle was coming together. Luca continues,
"It was the first time I ever met the Arthur's, my mother took me with her to go console her best friend, we stayed a few months. I was very young I remember very little, Hell I didn't even think about you until Mark had seen you at one of the matches when you went with Ella. Not too many people know this but Marks father is from Italy, his father was another close friend of my father. It was fate that made all this happen. Mark remembering the description of Flora and it all coming back to him when he seen you. Plus I'm sure he's already fallen for Ella! I only expected to reunite you with your real family but the moment I saw you, my heart felt whole again, yeah it's twisted but you grew up to look just like her, and I just couldn't help myself. My only regret is I took too long to tell you the truth, I just didn't wanna ruin it or scare you off...."
Before he can finish you cut him off, "I... I don't know what or even how to feel... Why didn't you just tell me straight up why did you pretend to not know me and lead me on just to drop this bullshit on me... How much does Ella know, did she lie to me too?"
He responds "I'm sure Mark has filled her in as well by now, but she didn't know either please don't be upset with her..."
You sit in silence for a few seconds before you respond, "Why didn't you just let it be, why did you decide to do this, what did you want from me?"
"I wanted two things, I found out you were a journalist so I figured when everything was told to you, you'd write it, you have enough credentials you'd get the big story out with no problem, but mostly I wanted you. I know it's fucked it, and if you don't want anything to do with me after all of this I'll understand. But I owe it to Flora to atleast try and give her mother some bit of happiness, losing two of her three children is too much pain for one soul. I couldn't protect one of her daughters the least I can do is bring her her lost daughter."
You're a bit surprised to hear you have another sibling so you do ask him about them.
"You have an older brother, he's named after your father, Kenneth Arthur. He was the only thing that kept your mother from ... taking a dark and impulsive action... I promise you, I didn't mean for it to go like this, really! It really does feel like fate" Luca says.
You take in all this new fucked up information, giving you about four minutes to absorb and simmer before arriving at Marks house. As you two get out and make your way up to the door Luca stops, he grabs your hand and says "Regardless of the way this played out, None of my feelings or words were fake, I was okay for a whole decade, then my world fell apart and came together at the same time. Just... please don't hate me..."
Before you can even knock the moment you reach close enough the door slams open and before long your face is bombarded with long thick blonde hair. El, your touchstone, is squeezing you into oblivion. You don't fight it, you completely fucking lose it. Tears start coming down before you even realize you're crying. About four seconds in your legs turn to jello and you collapse, El of course following you down.
She let's you just fall apart, no words just tight squeezes and back rubs. After awhile she grabs your hand and leads you into the living room, you sit down on a long fluffy couch. Mark brings some drinks assuming you'd want some. You gulp it down in a fast single drink, so he sets the bottle down on the beautiful table in front of you.
The silence is broken by El asking if you were alright followed with Mark apologizing. With tear stained cheeks you look up and see the three of them just staring at you. You need to be alone right now, one thing you've learned to do is to suffer in silence, you've gone through your darkest moments alone. It became a coping mechanism for you, starting back longer than you can even remember. Your mother, the fake mother always treated you like shit and you never understood until now. If she didn't birth you why didn't she just give you away?
Before more thoughts flood you turn to Mark and ask if there's anywhere you can go to be alone for awhile. He points down the hallway and says that'll be your room for the night so that's where you head. Luca stands up but El grabs his hand to stop him. He doesn't fight it, he sits back down, grabs the bottle and gulps down a good amount.
A few hours later when you've stopped crying and have had more time to sit and think about everything you're interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Ella coming to tell you goodnight and give you love, letting you know if you need her she's right up the stairs. You return the love and watch her disappear, as she makes it out of the doorway Luca let's himself in.
He's pretty drunk at this point, bathing in self loathing in his solo pity party. As much as you hate everything about this situation he was only trying to do the right thing, in his own messed up way. He sits down beside you and lays back, you stare at him in this state and can't help but feel sorry for him. As much as you want to you can't stay mad at him.
"So... I get to meet my parents tomorrow?" You ask. Luca sits up and tells you yes, even your brother. You respond with a soft sigh of relief. You're nervous and happy at the same time, you look at him and say "We better get some sleep then!" Luca stands up and you walk him out, before turning to leave you grab his hand and you plant a soft, sweet kiss on his alcohol flavored lips. "Goodnight Luca, I'll see you in the morning" He responds with the same, you close the door and begin pulling blankets back and you slide into the luxurious bed.
Your mind is racing with more emotions than you knew even existed, your whole life was a lie. Every single bad, traumatic thing happened because you were somewhere you were never meant to be. You play back your life and remember all the times you wished for a new mother, a new life or even no life at all. You think about Luca and what he said about it being fate, was it fate that you grew up to look damn near identical to your older sister, was it fate that he just so happened to of find me and that I'd be a fan of career he just so happens to have, or that I'd even be interested.
So many thoughts, you finally give in to the sleep and you drift away in dreamland. Before you know it it's the next morning, the morning of meeting your actual family.