You Started It, Luke

“Eddie!” Kate’s familiar high-pitched squeal caused Eddie to cringe. Cup of coffee in hand, Eddie spun around to face the noise.

“Kate. I thought you and Luca—”

“He came to his senses. Begged to have me back.”

Eddie couldn’t really picture Luca begging, but she had realized recently that she didn’t know him as well as she thought.

Ever since Marc had returned to New York three days ago, the apartment had been silent, with Luca and Eddie hardly speaking one word to each other.

Eddie still wasn’t sure what she had done to piss Luca off, but she wasn’t one to dwell. If he didn’t want to be friends anymore, then she would just make her peace with that.

“So...I saw you on campus with Parker Collins! What is going on there?”

“We are dating,” Eddie said, playing along with Kate’s conversation.

“Oh my god! That is so cool, he is hot!”

Eddie smiled at Kate’s comment. True enough, Parker was attractive. But the guy who truly held her heart walked into the kitchen moments later.

Luca’s shirtless chest held Eddie’s gaze for a few moments before her subconscious told her off.

Eddie watched Luca wrap his arm around Kate’s waist and pull her into his chest. The landline phone rang next to Eddie, and she answered it automatically.

“Eddison speaking.”

~“Cara, how are you?”~ A familiar Italian accent made her smile.

“Good morning, Mrs. Moretti. I’m fine, thanks. How are you?” Luca’s eyes watched Eddie with caution as she spoke with his mom.

~“Magnifico! When will you and Luciano be arriving in New York for Thanksgiving?”~

Eddie felt herself panic. Every year, she attended the Morettis’ Thanksgiving dinner. But this year, it was the last place she wanted to be. Especially since getting there meant four hours in a confined space with Luca.

“Oh...ah, I actually have a lot of studying. I don’t think I’ll make it.”

~“No! Nonsense!”~

“I will come and visit on a different weekend. I’ll pass you on to Luca.”

~“Grazi, cara. Have a lovely day, Eddison.”~

Luca took the phone from Eddie in silence and pressed it to his ear. “Ciao, Mama.”

~“Luciano, when are you arriving for Thanksgiving?”~

“Wednesday, Ma. The day before, probably around midday.”

Luca watched Eddie rinse her coffee cup and head back to her room, hips swinging. Then he looked down at Katie checking herself out on her phone and sighed loudly.

~“...and why isn’t Eddison coming to Thanksgiving?”~

“She is busy, Ma. Leave it alone.”

~“No, you bring her! The girl has no one, Luciano. We are her family.”~

“Fine. Bye, Ma.”

Luca hung up the phone before his mother. He knew he would get an earful later, but right now, he couldn’t listen to another lecture.

“I have time before class. Want to go again?” Kate asked with a wink.

Luca contemplated kicking her out just as Eddie rushed to the door and opened it for Parker, who greeted her with a chaste kiss. The two left the house hand-in-hand. Luca pulled Kate into his room as his anger flared.

***

Parker dropped Eddie outside her building at the end of the day. She pressed her lips to his before saying goodbye and heading inside. The smell of roasted tomatoes and garlic hit her as she walked through the door.

Curious, she went to the kitchen to see Luca stirring a large pot over the stove. She had missed this. Eddie and Luca would cook together a lot before Eddie pissed him off without realizing it.

Eddie thought this had gone on long enough. She was sick of the silence but wasn’t sure about the best way to approach him.

Eddie tried her best to creep out of the kitchen but kicked her toe on one of the cabinets. “Shit!”

Luca whipped his head around to face her, his eyes full of worry. He rushed to her aid automatically, sitting on the floor and cradling her foot. “Eddie, are you okay?”

“It’s just my toe,” she said, pulling her foot out of his grasp. “I’m fine.”

Luca locked eyes with her, and she smiled. “If I’d known stubbing my toe would have got you to talk to me, I would have done that days ago.”

Luca stood up and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. “I missed you.”

Eddie pushed him away, eyeing him with caution. “You started this, Luke.”

“I know. I’m an idiot. I’m cooking to earn your forgiveness,” he said, gesturing to the pots and pans on the stove. “Homemade gnocchi just like Ma taught me.”

“You hate gnocchi.”

“You don’t,” he said with a shrug. “So, I told Ma we would be in New York Wednesday midday. Does that work for you?”

“I already told your mom that I’m not going, Luke.”

“Are you having Thanksgiving with ~him?~”

“Parker? No, he will be in Miami with his family.”

“So, you ~are~ free.”

“No, Luca!”

“Eddie, come on.”

“I can’t just pretend everything is fine. I want to. I want my roommate back. But you hurt me, Luca, when I didn’t even know what I did wrong.”

“You have to come. Where else are you going to go?”

Eddie took a step back at Luca’s question. His eyes widened as he immediately regretted what he said. Eddie had no family. None that she knew of, anyway. She had grown up in foster care for as long as she could remember.

Eddie was adopted when she was twelve, but then the couple fell pregnant and sent her back. She felt like the unwanted Christmas puppy in February. Mrs. Moretti always said that she wished she had met her before.

It was strange their paths had never crossed. The Moretti family home was in Queens, and Eddie had been shipped from foster home to foster home all around Brooklyn and Queens.

She had been lucky to get a scholarship to Boston College and used most of her savings on the bus trip to Boston and her first rent payment to Luca.

Eddie leaned back on the kitchen counter with tears threatening to spill when Luca’s arms came around her again.

“Eddie, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Please come to Thanksgiving. If you don’t come, Ma might maim me so bad, I’ll never give her grandchildren.”

“I don’t think—”

“Please! I’ll do anything.”

“Luca, I—”

“Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!

“I’ll come—”

“Thank you!”

“If...you tell me why you are angry at me.”