Leap of Faith (Aiello x Reader)
***You mooks wanted it, and I decided Iād do it for the fandom- Character x Reader stories. I do this very reluctantly, with Aiello being my first victim. Aiello has been in love with his female best friend (thatās you) for years, and has an inkling she feels the same. In an emotional moment while at home between Kasserine and Europe, he takes a leap of faith with the girl of his dreams. Also you are catholic in this story for plot purposes. Donāt worry if youāre not, neither am I. The story just works better that way.***
They were walking together to the ice cream shop on the corner, the way theyād done since they were kids every Friday afternoon. With him getting his double scoop of coffee and her with her plain vanilla- something he always teased her for. Usually about her being boring, which to him she could never be.
This time felt different, however. It was the last time heād see her again for a while, as he was being shipped off into the war effort yet again.
She was quieter than usual today, which usually meant something was on her mind. He always knew when something was going on with her, she was his best friend after all. Although heād be lying if he said he didnāt wish they could be more.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
(Y/N)(L/N)- Frank Aielloās best friend since they were seven years old in Catholic school. Sheād fallen down on the playground and he, the gentleman he was, picked her up and took her to the nuns to get patched up. Theyād been inseparable ever since.
As they grew up, they did everything together. From their Friday ice cream outings (she refused to let him call them dates) to her attending all his baseball games, to hot-wiring her fatherās car in high school for a joyride.
It was sometime after she got her first boyfriend when they were sixteen that he noticed the first inklings of stronger emotions bubbling to the surface. Whenever sheād bring her beau around, heād be filled with seething jealousy. Although heād certainly never tell her that. He didnāt want to ruin his friendship with her, so he buried the feelings under baseball and drumming- places two and three on the list of things he liked most about life.
He could deny them no longer when they boy sheād been seeing dumped her for another girl. Sheās gone to his house sobbing and, being the friend he was, he held her in his arms as she cried, trying his best not to cry himself. Heād always hated seeing her upset.
It was then he knew. He was so hopelessly and madly in love with the girl crying in his arms. So much so it took every ounce of willpower not to kiss her there and then. This wasnāt the time. He was selfishly glad that that chucklehead had screwed up this bad. Maybe now sheād realize that she should be with him instead of that jerk. Unfortunately for him, she never did seem to realize just how deep his feelings for her went. At least not then.
When he was shipped off to Kasserine, sheād written him a letter every week. Telling him the most random bits of her everyday life while he was gone. He always wrote her back- hoping, praying, that maybe absence would make the heart grow fonder, and that maybe sheād finally give him a chance to love her right.
Eventually, her letters started started to revolve more around his absence rather than her own life. How much she missed him, how she couldnāt wait for him to be home, how she missed their ice cream dates. His heart had skipped a beat on the last one. She called it a date. Could it be? Could she finally be starting to feel the same feelings he had been feeling for so long?
He was back home for a brief furlough. He was being shipped off again in a couple of days, either to the Pacific or to Europe. Heād decided to spend it with her, not knowing if heād ever see her in the flesh again, or if their next meeting would be at heavenās gates after sheād lived a long life with some other man. Frank hated that thought. He wanted to be the one she spent her life with.
The night prior heād decided to talk to Nonna about it. Nonna always had good advice for everyone about every subject on Godās green earth, so he figured maybe sheād have some for him too. What did he do with the all the love he had for this girl? Did he let her go and let her be happy with some other guy? Or did he pour his heart out to her and risk ruining their friendship for good?
He said as much to Nonna, who in response whacked him upside the head with her stirring spoon.
āHow did I end up with such a stupid boy for a grandson? Are you blind, Francis?ā She had yelled at him, whipping her spoon wildly through the air and getting her homemade vodka sauce on everything. He cringed at her usage if his first name. He much preferred to go by Frank, or as (Y/N) called him, Frankie.
āNo, Nonna. Just confused.ā He responded rubbing his head. āAnd concussed,ā he thought to himself. She didnāt need to hit him to get her point across.
āFrankie, if you havenāt noticed by now, then youāre hopeless! Have you seen the way she looks at you? Have you seen the way she smiles when sheās with you? The way she acts around you? That girl is in love with you and youāre too blind and stupid to see it!ā She yelled at him, pointing at him with the spoon and dripping more sauce on the floor and her grandson.
āNonna, she doesnāt think of me that way. Thatās my problem,ā he said leaning against the kitchen counter.
āOh mio Dio! Aiuta questo povero, stupido ragazzo!ā Nonna yelled before taking another swing at the man with the sauce-covered spoon. This time he managed to duck out of the way. Why did this crazy lady keep trying to hit him?
āFrankie, Saint Valentine himself couldnāt put together a better match for you than (y/n). Tell her, before itās too late. Take a leap of faith, Francis. She may surprise you.ā Was that all? That wouldnāt help him anymore than another whack with the spoon. āAnd take a bath before you go. You are covered in sauce.ā
āYeah. No thanks to you, Nonna,ā he thought. Could she be right? Did he have a chance? Could she possibly feel the same way about him? Heād have to think about that while he washed the sauce out of his hair.
When he finally got out of the bath and returned to his room, he found that Nonna had left a small box along with a note on his pillow.
āTake the leapā was all the note said, and inside the box was her own engagement ring. The one his grandfather had given her nearly 60 years before. Was she serious? He couldnāt just propose to her out of the blue like this! Heād scare her off for sure. But if Nonna was sureā¦.
He was taking her out on one of their ice cream dates tomorrow. May God and Saint Valentine help him. He was probably out of his mind for doing this. But if it went well, it would all be worth it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
āWhatās wrong, (n/n)?ā He asked her, stopping abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk and turning to face her. She looked ready to burst into tears, from what he couldnāt imagine.
āNothing. Iām fine,ā came the abrupt reply. Yep. Something was wrong, and her response said she didnāt want to talk about it.
āI know you better than that. Whatās wrong? You know can tell me anything,ā he pressed, brushing a rogue lock of (h/c) hair away from her forehead.
āJust lay off, Frank! Iām fine! Just stop!ā She yelled at him, batting his hands away. Sheād never yelled at him like that before in all the years heād known her. Not even when his mischievous schemes got them both into trouble. Something was eating at her.
āNo youāre not,ā he said, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her back in the direction of his house. āWeāre not going anywhere until you tell me what on earth is going on.ā
She remained quiet as he dragged her back down the block to his house. He turned to look at her before unlocking his front door. Were those tears in her (e/c) eyes? What could possibly be causing her this much emotional turmoil?
What ifā¦? No. It couldnāt be. Sheād been fine when he left for basic before Kasserine. Sheād given him a hug and sent him on his way with a promise to write to him as often as she could. She hadnāt even shown up to the train station to say goodbye. But what if?
āWhat is wrong? Please! Tell me whatās wrong, (y/n)! Youāre scaring me!ā He told her, closing the door behind them and grabbing her by the shoulders. She looked around the room, looking anywhere but his eyes, her hands shoved into her coat pockets. She was beginning to break, a few tears slipping down her cheeks.
āPlease. Just tell me whatās wrong. Please, (n/n). I canāt help you unless you tell me whatās wrong.ā He could hear the tears in his own voice as he spoke. Damn it! If there was one person who could make him cry, it was (Y/N). Sheād never done this. She always told him everything no matter how difficult it was. What was so wrong that she was refusing to tell him this? What ifā¦?
He shook the thought out of his head. This wasnāt the time to be thinking of his own feelings. He pulled her over to the couch and sat down, pulling her down with him.
āPlease, just talk to me, (n/n). Youāre scaring me,ā he told her again, pulling her head to his chest and wrapping his arms around her. It wasnāt lost on him that this was the same position they were in when he first realized how deep his feelings for her went. She was crying into his chest now, and he could feel a few of his own tears beginning to slip over. What if?
He couldnāt. Could he? Was it worth the risk? What was the harm? What if thatās what itās all been leading to? What if? What if thatās what was bothering her? What if? What if this was the moment for that leap of faith Nonna had told him to take? He took a deep breath, trying to stop his own silent tears. Leap of faithā¦
āYou know I love you, (y/n). I know you do. And I think you love me too. And I think you donāt want me to leave without knowing, but youāre too afraid to say it out loud.ā
His feelings were out in the open now, and there was no taking it back. He stroked her hair, hoping and praying that sheād be receptive. If she wasnāt, heād respect it. It would hurt, but heād let her go if thatās what she wanted. This girl he knew everything about, heād love to be the one by her side through all of lifeās trials and celebrations.
He rested his head on hers, still softly crying. He rubbed circles on her back, each one speaking a silent āI love you.ā Was she holding onto him even tighter now? He held her closer to him, whispering his love into the top of her head, praying that it would sink in. That maybe sheād realize he meant every word. That maybe sheād share his feelings. That maybe theyād have a future together after this cruel war was over. Suddenly he heard her muffled voice in his arms:
Finally. The words he had longed to hear for so many years had escaped her lips. He could cry from the joy he felt in this moment. He would do anything for this girl. Heād swim across the ocean if she wanted him to, she need only speak the word.
Should he? Did he dare? They loved each other already. And they already knew everything there was to know about the other. There was nothing that could be discovered in a courtship that he didnāt already know about her. Would she give him the answer he longed to hear? Leap of faithā¦
He pulled the ring box out of his pocket. He didnāt know how to ask her. He was risking everything with this one move.
āWait for me,ā he told her, presenting her with the jewelry. āWait for me, and when I get home weāll go to the priest and have him marry us. We can have a life together.ā
His answer was given to him in the form of a passionate kiss. Fireworks went off in his head as the moment heād imagined for so long played out better than in his daydreams.
His girl in his arms, a ring on her finger, a future full of promise to come home to. The one leap of faith had paid off.
***And today you mooks learned that yours truly is not only angsty, but is also a hopeless romantic (emphasis on the hopeless). I hope you people that wanted this like how it turned out. And let me know if you want more like this.***
