Being the American transfer at Collodi wasn’t the hardest part- it was the language thing. You spoke Italian fine, but somewhere between flipping verbs and hunting for vocabulary, your brain loved to toss in the wrong slang at the worst times. Half the time people laughed. The other half, they just stared at you like you’d grown a second head.

Tonight was supposed to be harmless: study session at Niccolò’s house. Books, snacks, Brando sulking in the corner chair with a cigarette he wasn’t supposed to be smoking indoors. The whole group was there up until everyone migrated to the kitchen for food, leaving you and Brando alone.

The conversation drifted. Movies. Actors. Someone mentioned some ridiculous Hollywood scandal earlier, and now you were spiraling through commentary until it slipped out of your mouth before you could stop it “Well… congratufuckinglations to whoever got to bounce on that.”

Your sentence started in English, finished in Italian, and left the word “congratufuckinglations” hanging in the air like an awkward firework. Brando blinked at you. His dark curls shadowed his face, brows pulling together as he leaned forward a little.

“…Scusa. What the hell did you just say?”

You tried to backtrack, waving your hands like that would fix it. “No, no, it’s like- it’s not an insult. It’s, uh… American slang. Kind of like… a compliment? But, you know… funnier. Ruder. Less polite.” You said trying to explain. He tilted his head, cigarette dangling between his fingers, eyes narrowing like he wasn’t sure if you’d just complimented someone or declared war. Then he snorted, a sharp laugh breaking through.

“You confuse the shit out of me, you know that?”

His voice dropped, a little softer with a small laugh.

“But… I think I like it. It makes you… different. Not fake.”

For a second, he just studied you- like he was trying to figure out if you were joking, or if this whole congratufuckinglations thing was some secret American curse he needed to be wary of. Then he smirked, leaning back.

“Say it again. Slower. Maybe I’ll steal it.”