#Gaston Battan

[huffletiika]

Hello, stranger.

GASTINA / UNIVERSITY AU

There’s a new app at the campus that allows you to chat with some other student it matches you with according to your hobbies and likes. Nina logs in this app to prove Luna wrong and ends up talking all night long with a very interesting stranger. Little she knows this guy is Gaston, her high school crush, who is also Matteo’s (Luna’s boyfriend) best friend.

So, this is it... this is the last chapter. It took me ages to finish this multi-chapter, and I’m sorry about that, but there have been many things happening in my life, and well... shit happens. This one is specially dedicated for the Gaston to my Nina @silveranchor ... I love you so much. I have an idea to write my version of season 3 with Gastina, but I would like you to tell me if you want it. I, of course, am going to keep writing Soy Luna fanfics, I don’t care if the show is over, so I’m still here with some content for those still interested.

[Other Chapters]

CHAPTER 12 - ABOUT SHOCKING REVELATIONS AND FRAMED POEMS

Shit, shit, shit!

With an apology that he should be receiving and not giving, he stormed out the lockers room, leaving his friend Ramiro standing there, looking at his back with confusion. The Chilean had the amazing idea of interrupting him and Nina right after she told him she was Felicity, when he was barely recovering from the shock caused by her revelation, just to tell him something about some skating exhibition he thought they should go together.

He wanted to kill him.

But then, after he spent several minutes trying to explain the other guy that they could talk later (or never) about that stupid competition, that he was doing something very important at the moment, he turned around to look for Nina and tell her to go talk somewhere else, and realized she wasn’t there anymore. Where did she go? What if she thought he wasn’t happy about her being Felicity? What if he couldn’t explain her that his reaction was only caused by shock and not disgust? He needed to find her.

With his attention focused on finding her, he couldn’t see the person standing on his way until it was too late and he crashed into her. “I’m sorry, I…” he started to form an apology, but then his eyes recognized her face, and he couldn’t help but show his annoyance. “May you move so I can…?” he sharply said, and then made a gesture to continue his path, but she took his arm and stopped his escape.

“Gastón, please,” his ex-girlfriend begged. “We need to talk.”

“I have nothing to talk with you, Delfina,” he replied, his eyes still wandering around the rink, looking for Nina. “And I’m a little bit busy right now, so…”

She interrupted him with an exasperated snort. “Could you please leave your stupid pride aside for just a minute, and listen to me?” she burst out. “I’m trying to apologize over here, do the things right, but you seem to be more interested in whatever you are looking for, instead of giving me the chance to tell you what I have to say,” she continued. “I told Pedro this was a bad idea, but of course I had to leave him convince me-“

“Pedro?” this time it was him who interrupted her. “The drummer of the Roller Band?” he asked, confused. What does he have to do with all of this? He couldn’t understand it. The guy was really nice, and he liked him very much, so thinking about them being close felt a little weird, like he entered into another dimension.

“Seriously? I’m telling you that I’m trying to apologize, and that’s all you catch from my words?” Delfina rolled her eyes, and sighed. “Yes, Pedro from the Roller Band. We are kind of dating,” she explained. “You know Simón is Ámbar’s boyfriend, and one day they had this amazing idea of organizing a double date, and I wasn’t very into it at first, but then I started talking with him and we… well, we somehow started to like each other, and, you know-,” she shook her head, like she couldn’t believe how much she had told him about her relationship with the other guy. “Anyway, we were talking the other day, and he told me that he understood why I did what I did, but that you deserved an apology, so that’s what I’m doing right now, but you seem to not care at all, and I just can’t believe I really thought it was a good idea,” she complained.

Gastón decided to stop looking for Nina, just for a while, and listen to what Delfi had to say.

“Ok, I’m listening,” he said, and she seemed to be shocked at first, but then nodded.

“Look, I was mad at you for being so… well, for overreacting and breaking up with me because of such stupid thing,” she started.

“Stupid thing?” Gastón couldn’t believe her.

“Okay, it wasn’t that stupid, but that’s what I thought at that moment,” she explained. “Look, I thought you wouldn’t like me if I was… you know, like I always was. And you were so excited about those things I could barely understand about, that I started to pretend I cared about them too, thinking that you would end up liking me so much you wouldn’t care about those little white lies I said…” He frowned at her, and she rolled her eyes. “I get it, they weren’t little white lies. I know that now,” she looked at him waiting for his response, and when he nodded, she took a deep breath. “I should have known you were right about being mad at me, and that with those things I said I would cause you a lot harm. I’m sorry about that, I really am, and just so you know I’ve told the people I know that those are all lies, so I hope those rumors fade away soon,” she concluded, looking at him with a pout.

Gastón decided that there was no need to stay mad at her, to keep holding hard feeling towards the girl he used to like, so he put his hand on her shoulder.

“You’re forgiven,” he said, smiling down at her.

Delfi smiled back.

“Good,” she said, with relief. “Anyway, I will leave you alone now, so go do whatever you were doing.”

Suddenly, he remembered he was looking for Nina before crashing into Delfi, and nodded. “Tell Pedro I said hi,” he said as farewell, and skated around the rink, trying to find the shy girl at the sea of people. But, she wasn’t there.

-

After taking off his skates, he found Matteo and Luna at the couches of the cafeteria, sharing a milkshake and laughing about something, lost in their own personal bubble of happiness and cheesiness.

He approached them

“Hey, have you seen Nina?” Gastón asked at Luna, out of breath, and the girl frowned.

“I thought she was with you,” she said, with concern.

“She was,” he explained. “We were talking, and she told me the truth about felicity, but Ramiro came in and interrupted us.”

“What truth about Felicity?” Matteo asked, confused, but his girlfriend was too worried about her best friend to hear him. “And? Why did she leave?” she asked, reaching for her phone, and he shrugged.

“I don’t know, I looked for her after I got rid of Ramiro, but she was already gone,” he messed up his hair. “I searched for her all around the rink, but she is not there, and she isn’t here as well, and…” he led out a frustrated grunt.

“Ok, let me call her…” Luna dialed to her best friend, but it went to voicemail. “She might have turned it off,” she said.

“Is any of you going to explain me what’s going on?” Matteo asked again, as Gastón stood up and started to walk in circles. Luna sighed. “Nina is Felicity,” she explained him.

Matteo`s jaw dropped.

“Nina is Felicity?” he looked at Gastón. “Your Felicity?” he asked, and he nodded. “Oh my God, so you thought you were in love of two girls, but they were the same person? that’s awesome!” he celebrated, but then looked at Luna. “Wait, you knew about this and didn’t tell me? I told you everything about Gastón struggles, about how hurt he was, and you kept all this info for yourself…” He seemed to be mad, like he was going to start an argument with his girlfriend because of him, so Gastón intervened.  

“It wasn’t her secret to tell, Bro,” he said, and smiled at Luna. “You couldn’t give your best friend away, could you? she had to be the one to tell me the truth, and I understand that.” The girl nodded, looking at her boyfriend with concern, and he did the same. “You would have done the same for me,” he raised his eyebrows at the Italian, and he sighed.  

“Yeah, you are right,” Matteo kissed his girlfriend forehead. “I’m sorry,” he said, and she shook her head, and kissed his chin. “It’s okay,” she replied, with heart eyes.

Gastón had to clear his throat, or the couple would have started to make out right in front of him, with the intensity they were looking at each other, when he really needed them to help him. They glanced back at him, looking at him like they had just noticed he was still there, when it hadn’t been even a minute since they went into deep space.

“So… Nina…” he reminded them, and Luna seemed confused at first.

“Oh right, right! Well, she is not picking up her phone, let me see if she sent me any message,” she checked whatsapp, and jumped with excitement when she saw a message from her best friend, but then her happiness faded away as she read it. Gastón got very anxious. “She said she had to leave, that she told you the truth so she needed to be alone to think,” she explained him, and a resolution got into his head: he would go to her dormitory and tell her what he felt, he needed her to see that he was in love with her.

“Ok, perfect… then I will get a taxi and go to your dor-“

Luna interrupted him.

“She is not there,” she said, and he froze. He had already walked a couple of steps towards the exit. “Nina said she would spend the night with her dad.”

He hesitated for a second, but then nodded. Well, he didn’t expect to meet her parents in a while, but if that was the only way to talk to her that night, he would go to meet everyone in her family, even the dog, he just needed to do it.

“It’s ok, just give me his address…” he said, but Luna shook her head.

“I don’t know where her father lives,” she said, and both boys looked at her with confusion. Wasn’t her Nina’s best friend? She should know those things, both of them have spent so much time in each other parent’s houses that they have been unofficially adopted by the other’s families. Luna noticed their looks and sighed. “Her dad works in Miami,” she explained. “So, when he comes to Buenos Aires he stays in different places. If it’s just for a week or so he stays in a hotel, but when it’s longer, he rents some apartment. Sometimes he invites me to go have lunch with them, but I haven’t had time these days.”

Frustration took possession of him.

“So, that’s it? I can’t talk with her tonight? I will have to wait for other day?” he asked, and Luna shrugged. He already knew the answer to his questions.

-

He didn’t sleep, at all.

Every couple of minutes he rolled on his bed and looked for his phone at the nightstand, hoping she would turn her phone on, so he would get a notification to call her. But it didn’t happen, and when he walked through the campus to get to his own lectures, he was looking more like a zombie than an actual human being.

The coffee in his hand was his only hope to survive all day.

Gastón tried to call her again in the morning, but it went directly into the voicemail. He also tried to go to one of her morning classes, wait there for her to arrive, but she didn’t, and instead he had to endure having a conversation with that Xavi guy.

He deserved an award for being polite and not starting a discussion with said individual, even when with every word that came out of the Brazilian’s mouth his mood worsened.

He also called the moon-girl while waiting in line for his coffee, to know if Nina had called her or something, but she didn’t, and his concern increased.

His Economy lecture was the longest, and he almost fell asleep twice, but Ramiro got to keep him awake by giving him soft pushes with his knee every time his eyes closed. He would have thanked him, but it was all his fault in the first place, as everything would be fine if he hadn’t interrupted him and Nina at the lockers.

-

When he arrived home, Matteo was already there.

“Hey,” his best friend said, with a grin that was the complete opposite to the grimace that was his own face, and he knew his best friend enough to know what that meant.

“I guess you will be contemplating the moon tonight,” he replied, even if his mood wasn’t the best. The opportunity to make a pun can never be wasted. His best friend’s smile grew bigger, as he walked to the living room. “That’s exactly what I’m doing,” he said, taking his coat from the armchair. “We are going to watch a movie, and then to have dinner,” he told him, while putting his keys and wallet into his pockets.

Gastón nodded, with a soft smile.

He could be feeling like shit, but he was glad for his best friend, he deserved to be happy with his girlfriend more than anyone.

“Hmm, by the way,” Matteo said, after crossing the front door, peeking inside with half his body outside. “There’s something waiting for you in your bedroom,” he winked, and then left the place, leaving him staring at the closed door with a confused expression.

Did his mom send him cupcakes again? His progenitor was learning how to bake, and so lately she had been sending boxes with her creations so he had something sweet to eat while studying for his exams. And, as thankful as he was about her doing that for him, he had to admit that baking wasn’t one of her strongest abilities. The other day, for example, he had to eat half-cooked cookies just to make her happy.

Now he knows why Matteo ran away so fast.

Before entering to his room, he took out his phone from his pocket, looking at it, his messages still un-read, his voicemail still empty. He sighed, and opened the door, with his eyes still fixed on the screen, opening the chat with Nina, and writing a short ‘please, pick up my calls’, before sending it. The tone of an incoming message rang at the room, but it wasn’t from his phone, so he looked up, his heart beating so fast it felt like he was having a heart attack.

She was there, sitting on his bed, with her phone on her hands, and a shy smile dancing on her lips. And, for the first time in his whole life, he was completely speechless.

Nina stood up.

“Hello, Stranger,” she said, unsure. “I- I’m Felicity, we… we have talked with each other through the campus app,” she explained, and he instantly knew what she was doing, so a soft smile appeared on his own lips. He was too startled to reply, tho. “I thought you deserved to know who I was, so I came here to talk with you,” she continued. “I mean, you weren’t here when I arrived, but your flat mate told me that it was okay if I wanted to wait for you in your bedroom.”

Gastón let out a soft giggle, and she did the same.

“I will have to talk with him about security,” he said, when he found his own voice. “I mean, nothing personal, but you could be some serial killer.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I could be that,” she said, blushing when he got too close. “Or, maybe I have a master plan to kidnap you and never let you go,” her voice became a whisper when his fingertips softly brushed her cheek.

“How evil,” Gastón replied, lifting her chin, making her look up at his eyes. “But I would let you do it,” he added, with a soft smile, and for a while there it seemed like she had forgotten how to speak. Or breathe. He held her face in between his hands, and stared at her eyes with devotion, feeling like those hours without knowing about her haven’t actually happened.

After a while, she sighed.

“Gastón, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lied to you, or left last night at the party, I just needed some time to think, to clear my head… I had never-”

“Shh… it’s ok,” he interrupted her, getting closer. “I know you were scared.” Putting their foreheads together, he closed his eyes, and took a deep breath to fill his lungs with her scent, to keep that moment forever with him. She put her hands over his and closed her eyes as well. “but I need you to understand that nothing has made me happier than knowing that Felicity and Nina were the same person, that I didn’t fall in love with two girls, but with two facets of the same amazing girl. That I’m in love with you, only you… all of you.”

For a while, they stayed in silence, with only the sound of their breaths filling the room, but then Nina opened her eyes, and with a light touch she asked him to do the same.

“I love you too,” she whispered. “Since the very beginning.”

They smiled at each other, just for brief time, before he bent down those millimeters required so their lips could finally meet.

It was a soft kiss, as sweet and tender as possible, he was afraid of going too fast and scare her off, so he was taking his time, enjoying the sweet taste of her lips like he had all the time in the universe to do so. He did. But then, her hands dive in his hair, pulling him closer, asking for more, so he let every measure behind and deepened the kiss, feeling like a million supernovas exploding inside his chest, like he had just found everything he could have only dreamed about before. He knew, since that very second, that he was the luckiest guy on planet earth, and the blindest, for not being able to see before that the love of his life was right in front of his eyes all this time.  

-

They were cuddling on his bed, her head resting on his chest, as he absently played with a lock of her hair. They were talking about everything and nothing at the same time, she told him about her crush on him when they were at school, and he told her about everything that came to his mind about those times, while stealing kisses, and keeping each other as close as possible.

He never wants to let her go.

But then, something in his room called her attention, and she fetched it from the library, having to get on top of him to achieve the task. He just smiled, knowing exactly what it was. “You actually framed it,” she said, showing him the poem, the one she sent him the night they met online.

“I told you I would,” he said, with a proud smile.

“Yes, but I thought… I thought you were joking,” she was sitting on his lap, looking down at him with the cutest surprised look, and he thought he just wanted to kiss her again.

“I would never joke about something like that,” he said, sitting up, putting his hands on her hips to keep her close. She might have only noticed their position, because then she became completely red, and bite her lip. “I was serious then, and I’m serious now: I love your writing, and I want to read more,” he added, brushing his nose against hers.

“More?” she asked, startled.

“Everything,” he corrected, and stole a peck, making her whole-body shiver. “I want to read everything you write, I declare myself your fan number one,” he gave her another soft peck, and she closed her eyes, taking one of her hands to his nape, holding the frame against her chest with the other.

“You will have to take that spot from Luna,” she told him, out of breath, and he snorted.

“The moon-girl? Easy pie,” he said. “I just need the astronaut to distract her, and that’s it, I win,” he giggled his eyebrows and she laughed. It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

He took the frame from her hand, putting it back at the library, and then pulled her closer so their chests touched, and there was no millimeter in between them. “I love you, and I will always support you,” he told her, looking directly at her eyes, making her feel special. Loved. Her free hand caressed his cheek, softly, making him shiver. He never felt like this with anyone before, she had something that made every touch different, strongest, like he was Spider-man with his Spidey-senses activated. If that makes any sense.

“I love you too,” she replied, and then their lips met again.

And the rest of the world stopped existing.

[bitchwithsad]

Ok it’s so weird but

I think what Luna and Gaston could be good couple

Like, hey, she crashed into Gaston several times

I thought disney liked to show it like two people are meant for each other.

[c-eu-azul]

Gaston & Nina || Gastina || Flashlight

[mylutteoheart]

I actually like that Gastón isn't completely gone. He might have one scene every two episodes but I'm glad.

[huffletiika]

Hello, stranger.

GASTINA / UNIVERSITY AU

There’s a new app at the campus that allows you to chat with some other student it matches you with according to your hobbies and likes. Nina logs in this app to prove Luna wrong and ends up talking all night long with a very interesting stranger. Little she knows this guy is Gaston, her high school crush, who is also Matteo’s (Luna’s boyfriend) best friend.

I know, I’m taking like forever, and many might have already forgotten this multi-chapter, but as I said in the Simbar OS I published yesterday, I’ve been having disagreements with the muse, so writing have been very hard. Anyway, if things go as planned, I will be publishing a chapter of this AU every week until I get to the last one... that’s very close, indeed. Hope you like it. Word coutn: 3.7k / barely proofread, so expect many mistakes.

[Other Chapters]

CHAPTER 10 -  ABOUT UNEXPECTED JEALOUSY AND SKATING LESSONS

“Who’s that guy?” He asked, looking at Nina and the guy seated next to her, the one who was showing her something from his drawing block, making her blush and, eventually, giggle. They were too close, why were them so close? Why did he even care about it? Luna and Matteo, who were seated in front of him followed his sight­, and the short brunette smiled as soon as she saw her best friend and the guy who was with her.

“Oh, that’s Xavi.” She answered, looking back at him.

Gaston raised his eyebrows. He needed further information than just his name. That was ridiculous, by the way. Did she like him? Were they dating? And if so, for how long? Because he has never heard about that Xavi guy.

Luna, the girl who was 99.9% of the time clueless, seemed to notice those questions in his expression, and gave him an amused look. “He’s one of her classmates, they are working together at some project.” she told him, taking a sip of her drink.

That didn’t look like they were doing a project, he thought. They were too smiley and friendly, like if they were on a date. He wasn’t jealous, of course he wasn’t. He was just concerned about that guy’s intentions with his friend, because that’s what he and Nina are: friends, weren’t they? And friends get concerned about the people their friends are friendly with, or in this case, more than friendly. The burning sensation he had on his chest was just concern, he convinced himself.

“I don’t like him.” He said, without even thinking, after seeing the guy giving her a piece of paper, and her smile growing bigger as she asked something that seemed like ‘for me?’ and him nodding. When she hugged him he had to look away. Something broke in her hand, and he looked down to find the plastic spoon divided in two pieces.

“Well, you don’t have to like him, buddy.” Matteo replied, with a huge grin on his face, which that told him his best friend was jumping into conclusion, and was ready to get his pay back for all the months of space puns. “The guy is Nina’s friend, and I believe she is the one who has a said about it.” If stares could kill, those would have been Balsano’s last words. Luna giggled and looked back at her best friend, a proud smile drawn on her lips. He didn’t like that smile, not at all.

“Why do you say you don’t like him?” she asked, looking back at him.

“I don’t know,” he recognized with a shrug. “He doesn’t seem very trustworthy, that’s all.” His justification sounded stupid, even for himself. How could someone tell if other person is trustworthy or not just for his looks? A glimpse to his best friend’s face and he recognized the same silent question. He decided to change the topic. “Anyway, I guess you are going to the party, right?” he asked Luna, and she started jumping like an overexcited puppy.

“Yes, I’m going!” she said, the excitement in her voice was very obvious. “I was talking with the girls… with Jim and Yam, I mean. We are going shopping in a couple of days to get cool dresses and masks, they want to get everything black and white to be like the yin and the yang, which is very cool because of their names. But I still don’t know what to wear.” She added, thoughtful.

“We could match our costumes if you want.” Matteo suggested, and his girlfriend’s eyes lightened up. “Oh my God, that’s an amazing idea! We have to do it!” she replied, excited. “We can search for ideas later, maybe ask the girls if they have some.” she added, and gave him a kiss in the cheek.

“Maybe you can dress up as the moon, and my friend here as an astronaut…” Gastón suggested, with a grin, gaining a cushion crashing on his face. That didn’t stop his laughter, though. Matteo looked like he was about to kill him, his girlfriend as if she had suddenly become a tomato.

“You are going, right?” Luna asked him, after a while (and a very long sip of her drink), and he nodded. “Good! I need your help with something,” she leaned towards him and lowered her voice, like she is about to tell him a secret. Instinctively, he leaned as well. “I need you to convince Nina to go to the party.”  She whispered.

He frowned. “How do you think I could be able to convince her if you, her best friend, didn’t?” he asks, with sincere curiosity, because he already tried to do it and the result was her saying she had something to do, and running away. “Because she says she won’t because she can’t skate, but she is just scared, and I’m sure she might learn if she tried to do it. But well, I think she might consider to go if you tell her…” He interrupted Luna.

“Well, I already did that, and she ran away.” He told her, and Luna made a grimace.

“Maybe, if you insist…” the girl insisted. “She told me she had a terrible accident when she tried to learn, and now she think she is not good enough.”

“Yeah, she told me she broke her arm,” Gaston sighed. “But it was an accident, we all fall when we are learning, it doesn’t mean someone is not good enough, just that we have to keep trying.” He looked down at his drink, and stirred it with his straw.

He didn’t like Nina thinking that way about herself. She was an amazing girl, she was smart, she was nice, she had this amazing ability to capture real art with her camera, and she was very passionate about those things she liked. He was sure she would be able to learn how to skate in no time, if she gets to overcome her fear and put some effort on it. When they talked, she seemed reluctant to accept doing so, even if he promised he would never let her fall, so he had to find a way to convince her to give it a try. Maybe Luna was right, and he just needed to insist a little.

When that thought came to his mind he looked back at Nina’s direction, and she was walking towards them, firmly holding the other guy’s arm. The burning sensation on his chest got harder to deal with. He looked away, focusing on his drink once again, until he noticed she was standing next to him, then he innocently smiled up at them.

Had she invited this Xavi guy to hang out with them? Because if so, he had some work to do at home, and it would be a great opportunity to excuse himself.

Nina made the presentations, and when it was his turn to shake the other guy’s hand, he might have put a little bit more of strength on his grip than usual. The other seemed to not notice this, or ignored it, and only grinned as he looked back at the others. “I’m very pleased to meet you all,” he said. “Nina has told me great things about you guys.”

“Interesting, mostly because I’ve never heard about you before.” His mouth was faster than his brain… that he can tell. His best friend was holding his laughter, he was biting his lips and looking at the ceiling. Nina seemed kind of mortified. He shouldn’t have said that, but it was late to take his words back.

And a part of himself didn’t want to do it, anyway.

“I guess you don’t talk that much,” Xavi guy fired back, and he saw red. Was he challenging him? WAS HE CHALLENGING HIM? He snorted. “Or maybe we have much more interesting topics to talk about,” he replied, and at that exact moment Matteo intervened, asking the guy if he was going to stay with them, and sending him a warning glare. «Not the moment for this, bro» he could read on his face.

The good part: He wasn’t staying. The guy said he had to go to a lecture, and then left them alone, taking advantage of the farewells to kiss Nina's cheek. Luckily this time there was nothing on his hand.

Next time he and Nina met was at the lockers of the Jam & Roller, a couple of days later. She was putting her books inside her locker, and he was looking for his skates. He stealthily walked until he got next to her, and leaned on the lockers. “Hey,” he greeted, and the book slipped out from her hands, but he was fast enough to stop it before it crashed on the floor.

“Gastón!” she said, shaken.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he apologized, giving her book back. She was blushing. “It’s okay,” she replied. “I was distracted.” She explained.

“Yeah, I noticed that.” He felt concern taking over his other emotions. “Is there something that concerns you? Maybe I can help.” He offered, with a soft smile, and she looked at him with those cute eyes of her that reminded him to an innocent fawn, pink starting to cover her cheeks.

“It’s no -nothing,” she stuttered, and then bit her lower lip. For a whole second he fantasied with being the one biting that lip. WAIT, WHAT? He shook his head, shooing that thought. She was just a friend, and he liked other girl, he reminded himself. “It’s just…” she sighed and supported her back on the closed lockers. “The girls want me to go to the party, but I really don’t know how to skate, and if I rationality think about it I know the probabilities of falling again are very low, less than 15% indeed, but still… I’m just not the kind of person who skates, I prefer to write about it, but I also want to enjoy the party with you- you all, I mean, with Luna, and Jim, Yam… Simón, Matteo, everyone. I don’t want to disappoint anyone,” she sighed.

“I’m pretty sure you would make a great skater,” he replied, without hesitation.

She looked down. “Don’t say those things just to make me feel better,” she interlaced her own hands. “I’m sure I would fall all the time.” He put one of his hand over hers, squeezing them. She looked up at him, and he smiled.

“Hey, can I tell you a secret?” She nodded. “When I was learning to skate the floor became my best friend, I was always visiting it, I became an expert on falling,” he told her, and she giggled. What a beautiful sound. “We all fall when we are learning, Nina. The important thing is to have the courage to get up and keep trying,” he added.

“Hey! We could go and skate together now, I came to look for my skates anyway,” he suggested, after a few seconds of silence, and she looked taken aback. “And don’t tell me you don’t have skates as an excuse, because they rent them here, so we can ask Pedro to get a pair for you.”

“I don’t know, I…” He interrupted her. “I promised you the other day I wouldn’t let you fall, didn’t I?” he said, and she nodded. “I meant it, Nina, I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Please,” he pleaded, making his best impersonation of the cat from Shrek, hoping she wouldn’t be able to resist it.

 He still couldn’t believe she accepted to skate with him, that he convinced Nina to do such thing as putting skates on, but apparently the force was with him, because no other explanation could come to his mind.

He was a freakin’ Jedi master.

He already had explained her the basics, and she was doing amazing. He took her hands the whole time (which, being honest, was the best part of the whole process), and told her how to go forward, how to turn, how to brake. He even explained her the best way to fall (He wasn’t lying when he told her he had mastered on it), and showed her some nice dance moves he and Matteo have been practicing. She applauded them. They skated for a while, staying very close to each other (he promised he would, didn’t he?) and then went to the corner of the rink to drink some water and take a well-deserved rest.

“It was… it was amazing!” she said, very excited. “I didn’t know I could skate.” He nodded, that’s the only reply he could come out with, as her smile was so radiant, he got lost on it. She is gorgeous, he thought, and as soon as those words emerged on his mind he took a very long sip from his water bottle and looked back at the rink. Staring at her was messing with his head. They were just friends, he reminded himself. He liked another girl. But you can like two girls at the same time, don’t you? His brain told him. And Felicity wasn’t answering to his messages, anyway, so maybe it was time for him to move on.

He shushed those thoughts.

“See? I was right,” he grinned, and she smiled back at him.

Oh God, she had to stop it with that cute smile.

“Yes, you were,” she replied, a soft blush covering her cheeks. It was the cutest thing ever. He looked at her as she talked about going to tell her friends that she was going to the party, she couldn’t wait to see Luna’s face when she tell her she had skated without falling. She would need a costume, of course, and getting one at last minute would be hard. But, maybe she could ask to her mother’s friend to do one for her, or the other girls, Yam was very talented.

He found himself staring at her lips, and he reminded his earlier thought of biting them, but this time he just wanted to softly stroke them with his. Stop, his brain warned him, and he obligated himself to focus on something else, like the strain of her that fell over her face. He couldn’t stop himself and his hand gently put it behind her ear. The pink on her cheek suddenly became red, and when the realization of what he had done hit his brain, he almost choked.

“I… erm, we should go back to skating,” he said, taking his hand to his own hair, nervously messing it. She looked down at her feet. “I can’t, I have to go… I mean, I have a lecture.” She explained, and he nodded and accompanied her to the lockers where they could change into their shoes. He didn’t believe her excuse for a second.

 The realization crashed into him like a truck. But not any truck. This one was full of bricks, and was being driven at 120 kilometers per hour by a drunk guy covered in tattoos and a cliché name like Billy or Dave, who has an insane obsession with fast and furious, and that realized a little too late that the brakes weren’t working.

He was falling for Nina.  

He was truly jealous the other day. He was jealous of that guy being with Nina, of him giving her drawings, hugs, and kisses in the cheek, and about the possibility of her liking him back. Because the guy liked her, he knew that for the way he looked at her when she wasn’t looking. The burning sensation on his stomach wasn’t just concern, he was truly jealous. And that day at the rink… he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to lean closer, feel her warm breath caressing his face, take a taste of her lips, and possibly get lost on them until the end of times.

Well… fudge, he was in deep.

“Are you telling me what’s going on?” Matteo asked, offering him a can of beer, and sitting next to him on the couch. He opened it and took a sip, still not ready to put his thought into words. “You have been here motionless since you arrived from the roller. Did something happen?” He could feel the concern in his best friend’s voice.

“Something like that,” he sighed, and took another sip.

“Let me guess…” his friend grinned. “It has something to do with Nina, am I right?” sometimes it scares him to death how much his best friend knows him. If such thing as soulmates existed, they might be that, as sometimes a look is enough to be sure what’s happening to the other.

“Yes,” he wasn’t even going to try to keep this from his friend. “I believe I have fallen for her.” He sighed, and closed his eyes, taking his hands to his own hair. He only does that when he is really nervous.

“Damn it! It was about time!” Matteo gave him a friendly poke. “We have been speculating about this with the guys of the Roller Band for a while now. Simon was sure it would take you months to figure it out, but after your jealousy scene from the other day, I knew this day was close, and I was right!” he celebrated.

“You have been gossiping with them about me? What kind of best friend are you?” He felt betrayed, was Matteo replacing him with those guys? They had been spending way too much time together. “You’re a cheater, Balsano.” He could perfectly understand him leaving him to go with Luna, she was his girlfriend. The Roller Band, on the other hand, were nice and all but Matteo was HIS best friend. “I will tell Luna you’re cheating on us with the guitarist and his friends.”

Matteo laughed.

The disrespect.

“Luna asked me to get along with her male best friend and his bandmates, something about collaborating with the band in some way, so it’s her fault,” he explained him.

“I can’t believe it, this is betrayal,” he might be exaggerating. To be honest, part of him just wanted to postpone de actual topic of their conversation. “I will have a word or two with the moon girl, she will have to hear me,” he snorted. His friend laughed for a while, and then gave him a pat on his shoulder.

“Don’t change the topic,” he said. “You just admitted that you are falling for Nina.” Gaston sighed, he knew he couldn’t keep his friend from the topic.

“I do.” He wasn’t even going to deny it.

“Then, what are you waiting for? Go and tell her.” Gaston rolled his eyes. As if it was so easy. Matteo spent a solid month after recognizing he liked Luna before leveling up and telling her his lunatic status (it was puns season, best month ever), and now he expects him to go there and tell her? Just like that? “I can’t,” he said. “What if she doesn’t feel the same? What if she likes that guy from the other day? I don’t want to spoil our friendship, it has been hard to get her to open up at me.” He took another drink. “Also…” he sighed. “There’s Felicity.” His hand went back to his hair, messing it.

“What with Felicity?” his friend asked.

“I still like her,” he recognized, with a sight. He thought forgetting the other girl would be easy after she stopped writing him messages, but he still wants her, somehow, he’s still confused and afraid, afraid of never knowing the answer for the questions in his head concerning to the mysterious girl that one night answered his stupid “Hello, stranger” and that one day just didn’t, like she had never existed. Her messages, those he sometimes read, are the only proof he has that she really existed, that he didn’t imagined her.

“Of course you do,” his friend replied, giving him a soft pat on his shoulder. “But, in my humble opinion you should go for the real girl.”

“When has something of yours been humble?” he mocked, and his friend shrugged.

“That’s not the point,” he replied. “The point is that this unknown girl hasn’t done anything to meet you until now, and if you wait too long, maybe you will lose any opportunity with Nina.” Gaston felt the weight of Matteo’s words on his shoulders. “And before you ask: No, I don’t think she is dating that guy. Remember I thought Luna and Simon were a thing? That I didn’t tell her about my feelings because I thought hers belonged to her best friend? Well, I was an idiot who wasted a lot of time, and I don’t want you to make the same mistake. But Nina is a really nice girl, and she is less shy nowadays, so everyone is starting to notice her. And she might not be dating this guy at the moment, but she could someday, or there could be someone else, and you will be here regretting this during your whole life.” He sighed.

“I know, I know...” Gastón hid his face on his hands. “But, how can I tell a girl that I like her, when I still have feelings for someone else?” He asked. “I need to, at least, meet Felicity. I need to know if she is the girl my head imagined, the one I fell for, or if it was a stupid fantasy… that’s the only way I can move on.” He waited for any claim from his friend, but it never came.

His phone notified him about an incoming message, and he looked at the screen. It almost fell off from his hand when he read the name of the sender.

“It’s…” his heartbeat was so fast it could break his ribs. How can such a coincidence exist? A second ago they were talking about her, and now she sends him a message, after days of complete silence. “It’s a message from Felicity,” with shaky hands, he showed the screen of his phone.

[huffletiika]

Gastón Battan Perida (+red) moodboard

[huffletiika]

Hello, stranger.

GASTINA / UNIVERSITY AU

There’s a new app at the campus that allows you to chat with some other student it matches you with according to your hobbies and likes. Nina logs in this app to prove Luna wrong and ends up talking all night long with a very interesting stranger. Little she knows this guy is Gaston, her high school crush, who is also Matteo’s (Luna’s boyfriend) best friend.

This too longer than I thought, I’m so sorry... I’ve been in a very crazy time of my life, and inspiration was having vacations, or something like that. I hope you like this chapter, we are getting closer to the end, but I can’t tell how many chapters are left. I will try to update the next chapter soon, but I can promise anything, because when I do that I fail... horribly. This is 3k words, people.

[Other Chapters]

CHAPTER 9 - ABOUT FEELINGS OF GUILT AND MASQUERADE PARTIES

Nina was feeling guilty.

He had told her everything about Felicity, about his feelings for her, and she hadn’t got the nerves to speak out the truth. She had been thinking about it all day and night, rolling on her bed and looking at her phone, trying to figure out what to do. Part of her wanted to tell him the truth, she didn’t like to lie, and lying at him is the worst thing she has ever done. But, what if he felt disappointed after knowing she is Felicity? He said so many nice things about her alter ego, about how amazing that girl from the internet was, that she was sure she would never be able to meet his expectations. She would never be that girl he described, Felicity was far more interesting than her, even if they were practically the same person.

When the morning came she felt like the worst person in planet earth, and wanted to stay in bed for the rest of the year, but she is too responsible to do that, so she went to class trying to put aside her feelings and pay attention to the teacher’s words. Needless to say, this last thing was impossible, as her thoughts where still about him. The class finished, and she felt a hand in her shoulder, turning around to find the friendly smile of one of her classmates.

“So, partner, when do you want us to meet to do the project?” he asked, and she frowned with confusion. She didn’t know what he was talking about.

“What project?” she asked, and he giggled.

“That for which the teacher has just paired us, pigeon.” He was the only one to call her like that, since their first day of classes, because he saw her giving food to a bird just before entering to the classroom. Luna thinks that’s adorable. “You weren’t paying attention today, were you?” he added, seeming surprised, as Nina was one of the best students from that class. She blushed with embarrassment.

“I’m not having a good day, Xavi,” she explained, and he looked at her with concern.

“Is there something concerning you?” he asked, and she nodded. “You can tell me about it if you need to talk with somebody, you know that, right?” he added, and she smiled.

“Yeah, but it’s just me overthinking as usual, nothing to worry about,” she smiles. “You can explain me about the project we have to do as we walk to our next class, though.” She adds, as she picks up her backpack from her seat, and he agreed with a bright smile.

The rest of the day went like that: she swallowing her feelings of guilt, and trying to pay attention to her classes, disastrously failing at both things. By sunset, she was holding herself from running to her bedroom and hide there for as long as possible, but she had told her best friend they would meet at the Jam & Roller, and she is the kind to break promises, so she headed over there as soon as her last class from the day was over.

When she arrived her friend was already there, animatedly chatting with Simon about a guy from Mexico they both knew, who had called Simon to ask him about helping him with his music career now that the Roller Band was getting popular, having been a total pain in the ass back then.

“Such a jerk,” was saying Luna when she took the seat in front of her, as Simon laughed.

“You know I’m not the kind of person who denies help to others, but he totally deserved that no for answer, didn’t he?” he asked, this time looking at Nina, as if she knew the full story. She shrugged.

“If you say he isn’t worth of your trust, I believe you,” she replied, and he smiled.

“Thank you!” he gives her a soft pat in her shoulder, and then looks back at his best friend. “I was this close to hang the call without saying anything, but I’m not that kind of people, so I just told him that I was too busy for that before wishing him the best, even if I was using all the bad words I know in my head.” He told them, and then he got called from one of the guys who worked there with him so he looked at them apologetically. “I’m sorry, duty is calling,” he smiled at her. “Want to make an order?” he asked, and she nodded.

“A cold tea, please.” She replied.

“Okay,” he stood up. “Oh… by the way, tell Gaston he can come to the rehearsals whenever he wants. It was nice to have you two around the other day.” He said and then left.

Nina looked at her best friend, finding the exact face expression she had expected to find on her.

“You and Gastón dated and you didn’t tell me?” her friend claimed.

“We didn’t date, that wasn’t a date at all,” she replied. “We were paired to make some pictures for our photography elective, and he suggested to come here to snap his, that’s all.” She felt her cheeks burning.

“Interesting, tell me more,” her friend gave her a teasing smile.

“There’s no more to tell, we came here and ordered something to drink, saw the band’s practice, and he took his picture.” She told her, and her friend’s look let her know she knew she wasn’t being one hundred percent honest. She sighed. “Ok, we talked, and he told me about his failed meeting with Felicity.”

“With you,” her friend corrected her.

“Lately I feel like we are two different people,” she said, and her friend rolled her eyes.

“No, you are not,” Luna took a sip of her drink. “Felicity is you, the true you, is the Nina you show me every day when we are not surrounded by other people, and somehow you got to show her to Gaston through that app, and he fell in love with that girl. That means he is in love with the real you, and that’s something you are bent on denying.” Luna told her, and she looked away, too embarrassed to look at her friend.

“Gaston can’t be in love with Felicity, he only knows her from some stupid messages he got in a stupid chat app, nothing else. In a couple of weeks it will be all forgotten for him, and he will be dating some random girl from one of his classes, and everything will go back to normal.” She snapped, and her friend looked at her with concern.

“Do you really think it will be like that?” she asked, and she sighed.

“I don’t know, I just…” she looked back at her friend. “I don’t like to see him hurt,” she finally admitted.

“Then, you must tell him the truth,” her friend suggested.

“I can’t,” she replied. “Because then I’ll see disappointment in his face after knowing I’m felicity, and then I will be the hurt one.” Nina knew she was being selfish, he deserved to know the whole truth, and respond to it according to his true feelings, and she was denying him that only because she was afraid his response wouldn’t be the one she wishes.

Luna was going to tell her something else, maybe trying to make her change her mind, but then Simon arrived with Nina’s drink and so the Mexican kept her thought for herself, as her friend started talking about some party they were planning to do there in a couple of weeks.

“It’s for Halloween,” he explained, “but it will be more like a masquerade than a costume party. Ambar and her friends are organizing everything, she gave the idea to the manager the other day when she came to one of the band’s rehearsals, and she loved it. Those kind of events are very popular lately.”

“Masquerade on skates? Count me in,” said Luna, “and Nina too,” she added, and the shy girl almost spilled her drink.

“That’s not a good idea,” she said, shaking her head. “Last time I wore skates I broke my arm, and it was very painful,” she told them. It had been when she was at school, everyone there did skating and she felt like she could give it a try, but she was too shy to learn in a rink with an instructor and tried to do it by herself in a park. It didn’t end well, and for weeks her classmates joked about the many ways she could have caused that injury to herself, including a bookshelf falling over her. But it was better than them knowing it had been skating.

“It won’t happen again, I will teach you,” her friend told her, with puppy eyes.

“I’m sure if there’s someone who can teach anyone to skate, that’s Luna,” Simon supported her. “Come on, it will be fun.”

“And maybe Gaston will come, and so you can dance with your prince charming” her friend added, with a teasing smile.

“Are you and Gaston dating?” Simon asked, confused.

“No, we are not.” She firmly contradicted her friend, “Luna is only teasing, as usual.” She frowned at her, so she would stop talking about it, but she knew it wouldn’t work.

“Well, that’s a shame.” The Mexican guy said. “You two seemed to have such a nice connection the other day, I really thought you were a couple.”

“I know, right?! They are like super cute together,” Luna agreed with him, and for the first time in forever Nina wanted to throw something at their faces.

 Almost a week had passed by, but she hadn’t seen him much around the campus, as he seemed to be in a rush always when their paths met. His messages in Felicity’s inbox also stopped appearing, the last one being from the day after she talked with Luna and Simon at the J&R, and it was as short as hurtful.

«I don’t know what I’ve done so you don’t want to meet me». It read. «But, I guess this was either a bad joke or a series of unfortunate events. Reference unintended. Maybe I rushed you to do something you weren’t ready to do, or maybe I wasn’t what you expected, I guess I’m sorry for either of them. I just want to tell you that I’m tired of sending messages and not getting any word back from you, so this will be the last one, unless you decide to finish your silence vow and finally tell me what’s going on. Goodbye, Felicity».

She is sitting on the grass, her back against the trunk of an oak whose leaves were turning yellow and red, a book on her lap, and her hair falling free on each side of her face. But she is not focused in the book, not at that moment at least, her sight is at the screen of her phone as she reads his message again and again.

Nina had promised herself she wouldn’t answer, she wanted him to forget Felicity, and cutting any via of communication would do the job. After a couple of week he wouldn’t even remember her, that’s how time works, bringing new things to our lives so we can leave other aside. But she would still remember, and seeing him every day, knowing she owes him an explanation, would be the worst. The feelings of guilt would keep growing inside of her every time he would talk to her, and she would feel as the worst human being in planet earth, biting her tongue so she wouldn’t confess it all.

She closed the app, not feeling like being able to keep reading his words, because they hurtled more than she could handle, and because she has been this close to write a reply. Then, she put her phone inside of her backpack, and looked back at the pages of her book, trying to get lost in the imaginary world it painted in her head. It was an old science fiction novel, one of her favorites, and she had just heard somewhere that they would make a cinematographic adaptation of it, so she thought it would be a great moment to read it again. But her mind was somewhere else, so she has been spacing out for most of the paragraphs, having to repeat them more than once.

“A wrinkle of time, I love it!” his voice brought her back to reality, making her look up to find him smiling down at her, as a soft blush covered her own cheeks. Her heart skipped a beat. “It’s your first time reading it?” he asked, and she shook her head.

“It’s like my fifth time, to be honest,” she told him, putting a bookmark on the part where she had stopped reading, and closing the book. “This is one of my favorite books.” She added, and he seemed impressed.

“I didn’t know you were into this kind of literature,” he told her, as he sat in the grass next to her. She hugged her legs and looked at him with a soft smile on her lips. It was impossible to not smile when he was in front of her.

“There are many things you don’t know about me, Gaston,” she said, with an amused tone. Part of her was shook, she didn’t know she was able to talk to him like that, using a tone that could be easily considered flirting.  

“Believe me, I know.” He shrugged. “But I'm very committed on changing that.” As soon as those words came out from his lips, she looked down with embarrassment, feeling her face burning. He doesn’t know how much his words are able to affect her.

They stayed silent for a couple of minutes in which she didn’t allow herself to look at him, as he would notice the crimson color of her cheeks, but somehow she knew he was staring at her, his sight felt like a warm caressing on her skin.

“About the book,” he truly seemed invested in continuing the conversation. “I heard there would be movie.” She allowed herself to look back at him.

“Me too, that’s why I’m reading it again,” she informed with a soft smile.

“I should do the same,” he rubbed his nape, smiling at her. “You know? It would be nice to watch it together at the cinema when it comes out,” he suggested, and she was paralyzed by surprise, looking at him with her eyes wide open. “I mean,” he added, noticing just now what he had suggested, “We both like the book, and it’s better to watch this kind of movies with somebody who will enjoy them as much as you do, or that’s what I think. Can you believe Matteo fell asleep in Interstellar? I almost send him to sleep in the terrace after that.” She relaxed, with a slight giggle.

“Yes, I can. Luna fell asleep in our Star Wars marathon,” she told him.

“Dishonor!” he shook his head in disbelief, and they both laughed for almost a minute. “Well, at least now we know they are meant for each other.” He sighed. “I can’t believe that such an astronomy dork and his girlfriend, who’s named after not one but two stellar objects, can’t appreciate the awesomeness of science fiction.”

“The biggest irony in life,” she replied, and he smiled.

“I will never understand how things like that can happen,” he agreed, “at least now I have someone to talk with about these things, I don’t want to self-combust for keeping my thoughts about J.J. Abrams vision with Star Wars’ new trilogy,” he added, and she giggled.

“That’s a good topic, indeed,” She smiled, even if her cheeks were the brightest red.

They stayed silent for a while, he greeted at some guys that passed by and called his name, and she shamefully looked down and put a lock of her hair behind her ear when they joked about her being his new girlfriend. He had just sent them to fuck off, and rolled his eyes when they walked away laughing.

“Don’t listen to them, they are idiots,” he said with an amused tone, but he looked ashamed as well.

“It’s ok,” she said, not being able to look back at him. What if he sees in her eyes what she really felt? That she truly wished that those things the guys said were true? She hovered her hand over the grass for a couple of seconds, until she felt the emotions had diminished, to look back at him. “Have you heard about the party at the roller?” she asked, just because she needed a topic to talk about, instead of just staring and feeling like some kind of weirdo.

“Yeah, Matteo told me about it,” he said with a bright smile. “Please, tell me you are going, because I know he is going to meet Luna there, and he will just dismiss me as soon as they are together.”

She blushed, again.

“I don’t think I’m going,” she told him. “The party is with skates, and the last time I wore ones I broke my arm, and I don’t want that happening again.”

“It won’t happen again,” he assured her.

“How do you know?” she asked. “As far as I know, with my terrible luck, lack of expertise, and zero coordination, that probabilities are pretty high,” she looked down, not being able to look at his face, but then she felt his warm hand on top of her, squeezing it. She slowly raised her sight to find his eyes, his touch and the soft smile in his lips making her feel dizzy.  

“It won’t happen again because I’ll be right next to you, and I’d never let you fall.” He said, looking straight at her eyes, and she thought she could easily faint in that exact moment. 

[huffletiika]

Back to you

Lutteo | kinda canon Best Friend’s Wedding AU

Ok, so... I KNOW I SHOUDLN’T be doing this, but this last chapters of the season inspired me, and so I wrote something that was supposed to be a OS but ended up being a multi-chapter. But is not going to be very long, three chapters at most, so I hope you enjoy it... I will continue my other multi-chapter soon, I have a chapter of the Gastina one almost ready.

This is kinda canon, but at the same way it’s inspired by one of the prompts from day 6 of the Lutteo FicWeek. This one is dedicated to @deliverychicafresa because I know she will die, and to my babies @slxever and @karaa-danverss because I know they love some Lutteo, and that their birthdays are coming.

Warning: some scenes and conversations are more adult, as the characters in this AU aren’t children anymore. | 5.2k words... and it’s not proofreaded because I’ma lazy.

CHAPTER 1 [other chapters]

The light coming through the windows hits directly in her face, making her wince and try to cover her face with the blankets, because it’s too much for her to handle in that exact moment. She doesn’t know what time it is, and doesn’t want to open her eyes and look for her phone to find it out, she just wants to sleep a little bit longer, like for the rest of the weekend if possible. But she knows that it is an important day for her best friend, and she has to be there for her. However, five more minutes in bed wouldn’t kill anyone, as the wedding preparations would start after noon, and that gives her a little bit more of time to have some kind of rest.

Hotel room beds have something special that she has always loved. Somehow, they are more comfortable than any regular bed, it even feels like you’re sleeping in a freaking cloud. When she figures out that not even the blanked will protect her from the sun coming through the window, for the sake of her five more minutes, she rolls in the bed seeking for some shadow. But then, she collapses into something, or rather into someone, and that makes her open her eyes with confusion, finding his face just millimeters away from her own.

Memories from the night before start to storm over her brain at that precise moment, and she gets paralyzed, while her heart threatens to break away from her chest. Oh God! It has been one of the best nights of her life… by far. But, at the same time, it has been her biggest mistake, because the two of them had been carried away for the moment, for those feelings that remain there despite everything, without even thinking how complicated the situation would become afterwards.  

She knows she has to leave his room, because there is where she is, as he soon will wake up, and she doesn’t know what to say or what to do when that happen. She is confused, more than she has ever been in her whole life, although the whole Sol Benson drama is a very close second place to this. But instead of turning away from him she stares at his face, his eyes closed, his relaxed expression, and the soft smile which looms at the corner of his lips. She has always loved his smile, more than anything, and his fresaness, how could she forget about his fresaness? She loved it when they used to tease each other, and his stupid jokes, she has missed them the most. All this time being apart from him she felt like there was a missing part of herself, and now she feels that missing part is there, right in front of her eyes, and still she can’t reach it.

He mumbles something, but she can’t understand a word, even if she tries really hard to do it. Then, she looks up at his hair: it is messy, his locks going in all directions, making him look even more perfect, if that was even possible. She remembers her own hands sinking in between them the night before, as they fell in the bed, their lips passionately crashing into each other’s, and she wants to touch it again. Biting her own lips she raises her hand to accomplish her wish, but then she remembers she shouldn’t wake him up, so her hand stays suspended on the air, mere millimeters away from his locks.

She knows she has to leave, and so she does, even if it’s the hardest thing she has ever done. She stands up, picking up her clothes from the floor and putting them on, before making sure no one was outside the room, and sneaking out of it.  

Twenty four hours earlier, she was leaving her own room to meet Nina at the breakfast catering from the hotel in Bariloche where the wedding between her best friend and Gastón would be taking place, as the couple decided they wanted it to be at the mountains, far away from the loud city of Buenos Aires. And what a place it was! Luna had arrived with the happy couple, their parents, and Mora the day before everyone else, as her role as maid of honor demanded, and got some time to walk around the hotel and its surroundings, being amazed by the views.

They rest of the guests would arrive later that day, many of them from very far away, the best male included. She hadn’t seen Matteo for a long time, he had been traveling around the world due to the commitments of his record company, and his own career as a singer. And, in those days when he had been in city of Buenos Aires, she did anything to avoid him, making up any excuse to get rid from any attempt of their best friends to make them meet and talk about what happened between them many years ago.

At this point, she wasn’t even mad with him, not anymore, not for a long time. She was, years ago, when he forgot all the promises he had once made about their relationship being his priority, and about him not letting anyone or anything to get in between them. But now she was just– she didn’t have a word to describe it, it’s a mix between sadness for what it could have been and never was, and uncertainty, because she didn’t know how it would feel to see him again, if the butterflies she felt every time their gazes met would be back there, or if they were already gone. She knew she shouldn’t care anymore, she had told that to herself more than once all these years, but somehow, she wasn’t able to let it go.

She thought that seeing Matteo again during the wedding would make her find peace, it could be the opportunity for her to let the past in the past and look forward, as she was sure he had already done. She had seen in some magazines (by accident, obviously) that he hasn’t precisely stayed single all these years. Only a week before there were pictures of him kissing with an unidentified blonde in a club in Milan, and a couple of months before there were rumors of him dating a famous fashion model. Not that she cared if he did, of course.

She had been dating as well, just a couple of weeks before she went out with a really nice guy Jim introduced her with, being the wedding preparations with Nina, Mora and Ana, the only reason why they haven’t had the opportunity to meet again. But she promised him to go out again when she is back at the city, and so she would, because she is not one of those people who break their promises.

At the restaurant, she met with Nina and Mora, who were discussing about the dress she would wear that night for the pre-wedding dinner, as the latest have made three of them for the occasion. “What do you think, Luna? Which one should I wear?” her friend asked, showing her the pictures that Mora had in her phone. “I just can’t decide, I love the three of them!” she sighed.

Luna scrolled through the pictures, and when she made her decision she showed it to, with a bright smile on her face. “You should wear this one,” she said. “Blue is one of Gaston’s favorite colors, and it looks amazing on you.” Her best friend smiled back at her.

“Yeah, I had thought about choosing that one,” she replied, and having an answer about the dress, Mora left to meet with Ana and continue working on the preparations for the night.

Both girls start having breakfast when they are finally alone, and talked about some of the things they still had to do for that night’s dinner, and the wedding ceremony that would take the next day at the gardens of the hotel. Nina told her about the flowers having arrived already, and about the fact that her dad got her a very beautiful hair comb that belonged to her grandmother, which matched perfectly with her dress. The hair stylist had approved it as well, showing her some hair styles that would go perfectly with it, so now she only had to choose one.

“That means I have already something old and something borrowed, but I don’t have the rest,” she was saying, when Gastón came to meet them with bright smile, covering his fiancée’s eyes with his hands. Nina laughed and put her hands on top of his, before turning her face to him, leaving a soft kiss on his cheek. “Did you sleep well, love?” she asked him, and he nodded before looking at Luna.

“Can you believe our parents are not letting us share bedroom until the wedding night?” he asked, truly offended. “I mean, we have been living together since Nina went to finish her mayor in Oxford, isn’t it very stupid to keep that dumb tradition?” he leaned, putting his arms around the bride, and resting his chin on top of her head.

Nina laughed. “It’s only for a couple of nights, love.” She reassured him. “By tomorrow night we will be married, and they won’t have any excuse to keep us apart.” She relied her back on his chest, and Luna started to consider that it was a good moment for her to leave them alone.

“Well, maybe I can leave you two alone…” she started to say, but Gastón stopped her.

“No, no… don’t go anywhere,” he said. “I’m the one who is leaving. I have to go to the airport to pick up the international mega star, and astronaut, that I have as best friend.” Luna felt the mention of Matteo as a punch on her chest, mostly because she knew where that astronaut pun comes from, and that she had something to do with it.

“Why? can’t he take a taxi? Are the seats too ordinary for his multi-platinum butt?” She asked, trying to sound as casual as possible, but failing. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice it, as the happy couple was hysterically laughing.

“I need him to go with me to do some groom duties before tonight’s dinner,” he shrugged. “Also, I like to imagine he missed his best friend so much that he wants to spend every possible minute with me.” The guy added, and then dramatically paused, the corners of his lips lifting in a malicious grin. “I even made a sign for him.”

At this point, Luna was curious.

“Can I see it, please?” she asked, but Gaston shook his head.

“Sorry, moon-girl, it’s supposed to be a surprise. And it’s an inside joke, anyway, you wouldn’t get it.” He shrugs. “Besides, it’s already at the car.”

“It’s a super annoying pun for him, right?” This time it was Nina the one who talked, and he smiled down at his fiancée, who rolled her eyes at him.

“You always get me, love.” He said, leaving a kiss on her forehead, before looking at his wristwatch and wince. “Oh shit! I’m freaking late,” he shout.

“Go and annoy your best friend, then. Let me know when you’re back at the hotel.” Nina said, and he nodded, before saying goodbye and taking a bread from the table, putting it on his mouth as he left the room.

“So… what were we talking about?” Luna asked, trying to avoid the unavoidable: her friend asking her about Matteo. “Oh right! Now I remember. You still need something new, and something blue. We could go to the town to look for something blue you could wear under the wedding dress and buy it, that way it would work for both charms.” Luna said, but then noticed her friend’s eyes fixed on her, and sighed, because she knew she had failed. “Nina… don’t.” She begged.

“I just want to make sure you’re fine about having to spend the whole weekend at the same place as him,” her best friend ignored her plea, taking one her hand in hers. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable in any way.”

Luna smiled at her. “It’s ok, it was long time ago, and it is about time for us to meet again,” she reassured her. “It has been very childish to avoid him all these years, we are not teenagers anymore, and he has his own life and I have mine. I believe we can behave as the civilized adults we are now while being around each other, even if things didn’t end that good between us.”

Her friend squeezed her hand.

“Are you sure?” she asked, concern tinted in her eyes.

“Yes, I am,” Luna smiled at her, and then clapped and jumped in her seat with excitement. “Now, going back to what is really important, we have to go get that blue and new thing you need to wear for the wedding… and I was thinking about something that could be very useful for the wedding night, if you know what I mean.” She added, with a mischievous smile, and Nina turned completely red.

“Luna!” She shouted, throwing a napkin at her best friend, who was laughing out loud. But it wasn’t a bad idea, not at all.

Matteo yawned as he walked his way out from the luggage belt to the national arrivals door, thinking about how nice it would be to go to his hotel room and sleep for the rest of the day, as he hasn’t been able to do it in almost 48 hours. He had a concert in Rome that ended around two in the morning, then he had to fly very early in the morning to Madrid, were he had a press day to promote his upcoming concerts in that country, after which he had to go immediately to the airport so he wouldn’t miss his flight to Buenos Aires, where he arrived at four in the morning (after a 13 hours flight),before having to take another plane to Bariloche, after a five hours scale in which he only got time to get home and change his suitcase.

And yes, he could have slept during the flights, but he couldn’t. Every time he closed his eyes he thought about the fact he was going to actually see her again, that this time she couldn’t avoid him, and his mind did anything but rest.

His best friend had told him that he was going to pick him up at the airport. At first, he had rejected the offer, it was Gaston’s wedding weekend after all, and he surely had more important things to do than giving him a ride. But the idiot insisted, and he… well, he missed his best friend too much to be able to say no to the opportunity to see him at the airport, even if he regretted this decision as soon as his eyes found him: Gaston was holding a sign with the words ‘The Astronaut Balsano” written on it, and drawings of moons and suns around them. He seriously considered passing by and not even looking at him, but instead he stood in front of him and only rolled his eyes, before going in for a hug.

“So, how were your flights?” Gastón asked as he put the bags at the trunk of the rented car, and Matteo stretched and let out another yawn.

“Long… boring, I had already watched all the movies that were available on board, and I couldn’t sleep at all.” He shrugged, and then got in the car, looking at his friend as he started it. “I tried to use that time to work in some new music, but I didn’t get to concentrate on it, so I ended up just looking at the screen of my laptop for hours like a freaking idiot.”

“And I guess your distraction has a really nice name that is related to space, correction… two names related to space, indeed.” his friend teased and he winced, but didn’t say anything to contradict him. “I saw her with Nina at the breakfast before coming to pick you up, by the way.” Gastón continued, while still driving. “She even made a very funny comment about you not being able to take a taxi because of your fancy behind which, as you can imagine, made me proud.”

Matteo slightly smiled.

“It wouldn’t be the Chica Delivery if she didn’t,” he said, nostalgic. “Is she coming with a date for the wedding?” he then asked, after a couple of minutes of complete silence.

Gaston frowned at him, before looking back at the road. “No, she didn’t,” he replied. “Are you asking because of something in particular?”

“Nothing, just curiosity,” Matteo shrugged, trying to downplay it, and then looked at the window. But soon his real concern overcomes, and he ends up looking back at his friend, breaking the silence again. “It’s just that… I was talking with Ramiro a couple of weeks ago, and he told me he heard Jim telling Yam that Luna was dating a guy she had introduced to her, and I just–“ he hesitated “I´m aware that’s not on my business, I just need to be prepared, you know? I can’t behave as I did every time I saw her with someone else in the past, if I want to make things up with her.”

“Aww… It sounds like you are up to re-ignite the flames of love” his friend mocked, looking sincerely excited about these news. It felt like they were back at the Jam & Roller lockers, talking about his disastrous love life, all over again. He sighed.

“No, I’m not,” he replied. “I just want her back as a friend, nothing else. I damaged our relationship so much that… only hopefully, I could aspire to have her speak to me again.”

“Yeah, you screwed it big time.” His friend agreed, and he rolled his eyes.

“Thanks for the words of encouragement, bro” Matteo sarcastically said, and Gastón laughed.

“Anytime, Buzz Lightyear” he replied. “Now, let me reassure you she isn’t coming to the wedding with any date, I would know, I saw the guests list and the seats arrangement this morning, there’s no any Luna’s date in it. In fact, I have amazing news for you, and this one is better than when I told you that your moon girl and Simon had broken up: you will be sitting next to each other at tonight’s dinner.”

Silence again.

“You arranged the seats, right?” Matteo suspiciously asked, as he freaked out internally.

Gastón shrugged.

“If Nina asks, it was my mother’s idea.”  

Luna and Nina entered to the salon where the dinner would take place later that night, around them many people were arranging the tables with their respective centerpieces, and Ana and Gaston’s mother coordinated them as if they were the perfect orchestra conductors. The girls smiled. The biggest fear of Nina was her mother not getting along with her fiancé’s mother, as both women were well known for having a strong character, and little to none chill when someone contradict them, but they connected immediately and with incredibly ease, surprising their respective children, who were expecting the apocalypses.

“Finally, you are back!” Ana shouted when she saw her daughter, and went to hug her. “Where have you been, young ladies? We have been looking for you the whole day.” She came closer to them, hugging Nina.

“We had to go downtown and buy some things I had forgotten.” Nina replied, with a soft smile, showing her mother the bag with her purchases. “I needed something blue and new to wear tomorrow, as my dad got me grandma’s comb.” she added, with a smile and a soft tint of pink on her cheeks.

Ana smiled.

“Oh! What is it? Can I see it?” she asked, and Nina got violently red.

“Let’s just say, it’s a little surprise that only the groom himself will see,” Luna intervened with a mischievous smile in her face, taking the bag from her friend, to prevent Ana from looking inside it. Gaston’s mother was shaking in laughter. “So, why were you looking for us? Has something happened that requires our immediate attention?” then she asked, to change the topic.

“Not exactly,” Ana replied, after clearing her throat. “Some guests have already arrived, and they were looking for you two, especially Jim and Yam, and this guy... the one from that nice band,” she tried to remember his name, but couldn’t.

“Simón arrived!” Luna shouted, with excitement.

She hasn’t seen her best friend in a while, not since the Roller Band’s tour started a couple of months before, and she was glad they got to arrange the dates so them three could be in the wedding. They were even going to play at the party, so it would feel as if they had traveled in time, to that time when they all used to hang out at the Jam and Roller, skating in the rink, and singing at the open music. He would never forget the day she introduced Simon to the other guys, and that first time they played together: she had known, right away, that something important had been born.

“Oh God! I have to look for him. I need him to tell me everything about the tour.” She said.

“And I have to take this to my room,” her best friend said, taking her bag from Luna’s hands.

They both left, and as Nina took the elevator to go to her room, Luna took out her phone from her purse and called her friend, who told her that he was at the hotel’s bar, chatting with the guys and the rest of the guests who had already arrived.

The first thing Luna noticed when she got to the table was Ambar sitting next to Simon, with a bright smile on her face, as she merrily chatted with the rest. The couple had had their ups and downs during the past years (more downs than ups, to be honest), but time had passed, and after a while Ambar started to gain back their trust. It hasn’t been easy, after the competition she started to behave even meaner than before, but Luna always thought there could be some good in her, so she let her stay at the mansion when Sharon left, and did everything possible to bring back the girl with whom she had those deep conversations about their pasts, even when the rest told her she was naïve for doing so.

Simon, hurt as he had been at the time, was one of those who told her to stay away from Ambar. But, as time passed, and the changes started to show in her, Simon went to make up his mind as well, and helped Luna to bring back that Ambar he felt in love with. However, Ambar was prideful, and even if she still loved him, she couldn’t forgive him for releasing her when she needed him most, and so the arguments between them kept coming. After a while, Ambar decided to apply for a scholarship to finish her studies in Paris, and when she got it Luna offered her to help her economically with the Benson’s fortune, but she refused and told her that she wanted to learn how to be responsible of herself. Luna felt proud of her decision, even if she knew how much it would hurt her best friend, as she knew that both of them needed that time to figure out their feelings for each other.

They had seen each other again back in April, although they had stayed in contact by phone during all those years, something she learnt after a long interrogation. Ambar went to one of the Roller Band’s concerts in Paris, where she is working as corporate executive in a very well-known fashion house, getting a backstage pass to get to surprise Simon. Luna didn’t know what had happened next, but seeing them both together in the table, looking so happy and close to each other, gave her hope.

“Hey, guys!” she greeted as she got to the table. Next to Simon and Ambar there were Pedro and Delfina, whose pregnancy was beginning to be notorious, with Jazmin and her boyfriend, a British Youtuber she met in one of the Vidcons she has being part of. Her best friend’s smile widened as soon as he saw her, and then he stood up and went for a hug.

They spent an hour talking about the tour, and about everyone’s latest whereabouts, including the fact that Nico hasn’t been able to arrive yet, as he had to stay one more day in Buenos Aires for a family issue, but would arrive the next day just in time for the wedding and the party, and that Jim, Yam and Ramiro had arrived as well, the latest with their twin daughters, and had gone to their rooms to have some rest. During this conversation, Luna also learned that Ambar had asked for some days off at work, and met the guys during their latest concert in Munich, so she could travel with them to Argentina. And it looked like her vacations wouldn’t end there, as it seemed like she and Simon had planned to go somewhere else, without the rest, before going back to reality.

They didn’t say where, though.

Luna was trying to get them to tell their destination when Gastón approached them. Unconsciously, she looked behind him as if she was expecting to see someone else to come as well, but he was alone. It was perhaps disappointment what she felt in that moment? Because suddenly, it was as if her lungs where a deflated balloon. However, she didn’t dare to ask him about Matteo, so she just looked down at the drink she had bought for herself, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

“Hey! Look who is alive: the lucky bastard who is getting married tomorrow,” Pedro greeted him, and they all started laughing. “Enjoying your last hours as a single man?” he then asked, as Gastón took a seat.

“Yeah, I am… even if my best friend has just dumped me to go sleep.”  He replied, and asked for a beer to the waiter. “But I don’t blame him, I have no idea how he can keep up with the amount of work he has lately, he hasn’t sleep in more than freaking two days! You musicians have a very busy life, which I don’t envy at all,” he looked at Simon and Pedro with a grimace, and then thanked the waiter when he brought his drink.

“Well, our life is not as busy as his,” Simon replied, “I mean, tours are exhausting and all, but at the end of them we go back home and have some time to rest before having to make another record. He, on the other hand, has his own record label, so he has to keep up with other people’s career… as ours from now on.” He shrugged.

“Oh, so the rumors are true, you are really leaving Vidia,” Jazmin’s boyfriend asked, and Simon nodded.

“Vidia has been trying to change a lot of things lately, so we weren’t very comfortable working with them anymore, and I was talking with Matteo about it like… three months ago? And next thing we know someone from his label contacted us and made us an offer we couldn’t refuse, considering how big Deimos Records has become.” He took a sip of his drink. “They told us we would have the last word in everything, that our music would be the priority, and even offered to pay the penalty to finish the contract with Vidia. So, this is our last album and tour with them, before we move to Deimos.”

Luna knew all this already, but when she first heard about it she couldn’t believe it. First of all, because… since when are Matteo and Simon so close they regularly talk by phone, and tell each other such personal things? And second, because Matteo helping Simon with his career was something she thought she wouldn’t live to witness, more than anything for how their Vidia soloist contracts ended. She asked Simon about it, about how he ended up being friends with Matteo, and he told her that what happened with Ambar had taught him that time can help people to grow to their mistakes, and that this has been Matteo’s case as well.

Her phone vibrated, and she looked down at the screen to find a message from Nina.

“Excuse me, guys. I have to go.” She suddenly said, finishing her drink and standing up.

“But Lunita, you don’t have to leave.” It was Ambar the one who spoke. “If our conversation about Matteo makes you feel uncomfortable you can tell us, we can change the topic, talk about something else.” She looked at her with sincere concern. Luna noticed the grimace in Gaston’s face, and frowned at him, before shaking her head at Ambar.

“No, I’m not leaving because of that,” she assured. “Nina asked me to meet her, Jim and Yam in her room. Some bridesmaids meeting, I guess.” She showed them her phone as she left, walking to the lobby to take the elevator.

As the numbers of the floors lit up showing that she was coming up, Luna leaned her back against the wall of the elevator and closed her eyes. Truth be told, she was actually a little uncomfortable since they started talking about Matteo, because they all sounded like they really get along with him, even Ambar, and that made her feel guilty for wasting all that time. Simon could be right, with time people learn from their past, and she had spent all those years denying herself the opportunity to see that change happening in him. But he had avoided her as well, she reminded herself, after the competition in Cancun he totally made up any excuse to not talk with her, until he left the skating team to focus in his studies, and then started to go to the Roller less and less, to eventually not going there at all. Only years later she was offered the opportunity to meet with him again, but her pride didn’t let her accept: he started the avoiding game, after all.

The elevator stopped moving, and a soft bell let her know that she had arrive to the correct floor, so she opened her eyes and waited for the doors to open so she could step out of it. She has never been a big fan of elevators, they make her feel trapped, as if there was no way out. Some people have told her that fear comes from the fire in the mansion, as she was hidden in a reduced space during it as well. But as soon as she was free to leave her whole body got paralyzed.

Matteo was there, right in front of her.

[huffletiika]

Back to you

Lutteo | kinda canon Best Friend’s Wedding AU

Ok, here is the second chapter... this is 5.8k words, so be warned (I should stop writing this bibles, seiously) Other warning: there is some mature content here. Thanks to @deliverychicafresa for giving me her opinion on said scene. What else can I say? I hope you like it, just that.

Also, tried to proofread it and gave up.

CHAPTER 2 [other chapters]

There was one thing Matteo was sure about: even if he stayed the whole afternoon in his bed trying to fall asleep he won’t be able to do so. He tried for several minutes, used all the methods he knew for it, even counting sheep, but his mind was too busy thinking about Luna to allow his body receive it’s well deserved rest. At the end, he just decided that the best he could do was call room service and ask for tea, he has been told chamomile or valerian are good to solve insomnia, but as he called and didn’t get any answer, he decided to go by himself to the cafeteria, so he put on his shoes and a jacket, and then left his room.

He knew there would be a big range of probability of crossing paths with Luna, they were at the same hotel after all, and it has been stated that their destiny was to bump into each other every time they are close enough for that to happen. Nevertheless, the last thing he was expecting to find when the elevator doors opened was her, so when he saw her standing right in front of him, he froze.

She was gorgeous, that’s the first thought that came to his mind, despite of the mess it was in that particular moment. Her hair was lighter than the last time he saw her, but it was still curly and long, falling like a waterfall over her shoulders. She was still very short, even wearing high heels, something of which he used mock about when they were younger. Her skin was looking bright, and it seemed so soft, he had to resist the urge of raising his hand a caressing her cheek; and her lips, oh God! They looked so pink and full, his mind brought back memories from when he kissed them, making him wish to be able to do it again. But it was her eyes the thing that trapped him the most. The light in her pupils, and the green tone surrounding them, made him feel hypnotized, as if there was nothing else around them.

“Matteo,” she whispered with her beautiful voice, and he felt like a thousand fireworks exploding in his chest, while coming back from his entanglement state. He thought he would never hear his name coming out from her lips ever again.

“Luna,” he replied. He had said her name to himself and to others several times during all these years, but nothing compares to being able to say it in front of her, mostly because of the soft pink that covered her cheeks as he spoke. “It’s been a long time.” He didn’t know what else to say.

“Yeah, a very long time...” She walked out from the elevator, and he turned around, following her with his sight. Oh God, this was awkward. They stayed in silence for a couple of minutes, during which she kept looking at the floor, and he hated that, because he wanted to get lost again in her eyes. “I thought– I mean, are you okay? Gastón told us that you were having some sleep, he said that you haven’t rest for a couple of days.” She broke the silence.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he answered, after sighing. “I’m just tired, but I can’t asleep.” This seemed to call her attention, because she looked up at him with sincere concern. Her face has always been an open book for him, and so he was glad it hasn’t changed.

“Is there something concerning you?” she asked, and he looked right into her eyes.

«Yeah, you» were the words that came to his mind, but they didn’t went out from his mouth. Instead, he just shrugged and rubbed his nape, as saying he had no idea what it could be.

“Maybe it’s just work,” she suggested, and he thought it was a safe path to follow, so he nodded.

“I guess you’re right, it might be that,” he looked at her with a soft smile. “There are so many artists and bands that have signed with Deimos that it has been hard to balance my work at the company with my own career.” That, indeed, was true.

His latest two days are just a sample of that, and he still had to check the contracts from the new acts that signed with Deimos, and approve the balance that the accountant sent him, before leaving on Tuesday to Europe, where he still had dates of his tour and press conferences. His agenda was filled with appointments, interviews and shows, and the only reason why he was there for the wedding was the fact he had made very clear he would not accept any activity during that weekend. It was his best friend wedding with his soulmate, after all. And even though, he was sure he would have to spend some time working in his laptop in between the dinner, the ceremony and the party.

It seemed like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t dare to do it, and instead bit her lower lip and looked down. “Shout,” he asked her, because he needed to know what was in her mind, more than anything, to be honest.

“I was just wondering…” she looked back at his eyes. “I mean, it came to my mind if you are happy doing all this, if you really enjoy going from one place to another nonstop, and being so busy you can’t even properly enjoy your best friend’s wedding.”

He tensed.

“I am,” he defensively said, “this has always be my dream,” he added, but deep inside his mind a small voice asked him if he was so sure about that. He decided to ignore it. He had the life he always wanted for himself: he has fame, his records get to the top of the selling lists in no time, and his concerts are always sold out. And then, there was Deimos, his label.

When years ago his father suggested him to study administration so he could create his own business the idea sounded very good, he could impulse his own career, and help others to achieve their dreams as well. Then, he started to learn more and more about the industry, and Deimos started to become in something more, something that made him feel passionate, not only because it was his way to reach his own dream, but because it made him full. But he was tired, she wasn’t the first person to mention it, he even had got to admit it to himself a couple of times, but he just didn’t know if he could do something to balance both things, so he decided to change the topic.

“How about you?” he asked. “I heard you bought the Jam & Roller.” The smile in her face told him how right he had been in bringing the topic to the conversation.

“Yeah, I did.” She nervously touched her moon and sun necklace. “After the Red Sharks disaster Vidia decided they no longer wanted a skating rink, and I didn’t want the place I love to become in something else, or being completely demolished to build an office building, so I talked with my grandpa, and he agreed with me in the fact it could be a good investment for the Benson’s company, so I bought it.” She shrugged.

“And you became the trainer of the team, am I right?” He asked, and she nodded with a bright smile. He got really proud when he heard about that, he knew how happy she would be, her passion for skating was one of the thing he loved the most about her. “Those kids are lucky,” he added, getting lost In the light of her eyes.

“Why would they?” she asked.

“Because they have the most talented coach ever, that’s why. I would do anything to go back there and see you skate… or skate with you,” he replied, and she blushed.

And then again, they became silent.

He looked at her without knowing what to say or do next, maybe he had let himself go too much, maybe he made her uncomfortable, and as much as he loves to see her getting embarrassed by his comments, he knew teasing her wasn’t the best he could do when he is walking over thin ice. Again, she was the one who broke the silence.

“Why?” her question confused him.

“Why what?” he asked, wishing he could read her thoughts.

“Why did you stop going there? To the Jam & Roller, I mean,” she said. “I know you said it was because you didn't have time, that you had too many things in your mind as you were studying two majors, but I can understand you leaving the team because of that, not to stop going to a place that was so important to you, and so I was wondering if… if there was another reason.”

He sighed, without knowing how to answer her question. How could he explain her how he felt when, after the competition in Cancun, he went to the beach looking for her, determined to tell her what he felt, and to explain her how sorry he was for all the stupid things he did that teared them apart, just to find her hugging Simon? Now he knows how wrong he was for thinking there was something more between them, mostly because his own insecurities drove him to jump into stupid conclusions, and even more stupid actions. But at the time, he just thought the worst, and left the beach with a broken heart. How could he tell her how hard it had become to see her every day, to hear her voice, to skate with her, when he knew he didn’t deserve her, that there was no way to get her back after all the mistakes he had done? After a while, he just couldn’t stand it anymore, and so he just stopped going, using how busy he was as an excuse. It was only after a few years that he got to talk with Nina, and then with Simon (he still doesn’t understand why the guy was snice with him that day), and knew how wrong he had been. But again, it was late, and he didn’t want to provoke tension between her and her friends, so he asked them not to speak on his behalf.

That, of course, didn’t stop Gastón and Nina from trying to make them meet every time he was in Buenos Aires, but when she excused herself from going for the third time he understood the message loud and clear: she didn’t want to see him. And so, he lost any hope, and decided to continue with his own life.

But she wanted explanations in that moment, and he was tired of keeping all that for himself, so he just looked right straight to her eyes, and took a step closer to her.

“Do you really want to know it?” he asked first, because he needed to know that she wanted to hear everything he had to tell her.

She swallowed, looking back at his eyes.

“I do,” she answered, and they were so close he could feel her breath brushing his face. “I want you to tell me the truth.”

He took a deep breath, he was shaking, and that was something that didn’t happen to him regularity, not even before going to a stage to sing in from of thousands of people. In that exact moment it felt like if time had frozen, she was there looking at him after so long, and he was there trying to hold himself from taking her face in his hands and kiss her. He couldn’t do that, not yet, he needed to tell her everything, he needed to say how sorry he was about everything, and he needed her to forgive him before allowing himself to taste her lips again.

“It was you, you were the reason wh–” his words got interrupted when her phone rang, and just as if both of them had woken up from some kind of trance, they flinched. She took her phone out and looked at the screen, taking a step back, putting some distance between them.

“It’s Nina, I… I was in my way to her room,” she told him. “She is waiting for me with Jim and Yam, and I shouldn’t make them wait for me any longer.” She explained, and he nodded.

“Yeah, and I was going to look for something that could help me to sleep,” he said, seeming to be disappointed. “So, I guess we could talk later.” He looked at her, waiting for her response, and she just nodded. He took a deep breath. “See you at the dinner?” he asked, while calling back the elevator.

“See you at the dinner,” she responded, before walking to her friend’s room.

“Are you going to tell us what’s going on, Luna?” Jim’s voice took her out from her thoughts, making her jump, and look at her three friends with confusion.

She has been in the moon (more than usual, it that was possible) all the time she had been in the room, almost acting like a zombie, answering to her friends only with monosyllables, and doing everything mechanically. But she just couldn’t take out of her mind the fact that she saw Matteo, and their conversation, because she was sure she was ready to hear whatever reason he had to stop going to the roller, but hearing that she was that reason made her feel terrible. Was he so mad at her that he just stopped doing something he loved, as going to the roller, just so he wouldn’t have to see her again? She knew he was mad at her at the time, but she didn’t know it had been that much to stop going to the Roller.

“What do you mean?” she asked to her friend, pretending everything was fine.

“You are kind of off this afternoon” it was Yam the one who talked this time, one of her twin daughters was on her lap, playing with the blond curl that she got to reach, as the other one was sleeping in Nina’s bed.

Ramiro had offered to take care of them while Yam was in Nina’s room helping her to get ready for the dinner, as they had sent the girl who traveled with them to take care of the twins to buy some things they had forgotten in the town, but Yam told him to go to the bar and enjoy with his ex-classmates and the rest of the guys, as she was sure the girls wouldn’t matter her taking the little girls with her. And she was right, they loved the little twins, they were overly adorable.

“Very off, indeed.” Jim corrected her best friend.

“The girls are right, It’s like you saw a ghost or…” Nina interrupted herself and, surprised, she put her hand over her mouth. “You saw him! Oh my God, you saw Matteo.” It wasn’t even a question, and Luna didn’t have a way to contradict her, so she nodded.

“I didn’t only see him, I talked with him,” she answered, and the only reason why Jim and Yam didn’t scream was not to wake the sleeping baby. That didn’t stop them from jumping in their places, though. Luna sighed. “But it was a disaster, so stop fangirling,” she added, with a grimace.

The three girls looked at her with concern.

“What happened?” Nina asked, taking her hand.

Luna sighed.

“It was going fine, we were talking about our lives, work… those kind of things, you know? But then I was stupid and asked him why he stopped going to the Jam & Roller years ago, and I don’t know what I was expecting him to say, but then he told me that it was because of me, and–” she sobbed. “Did he hate me that much to do that?” Jim handed her napkin, looking at her with concern. She felt stupid for crying when it had happened long ago, but it hurt like a re-opened wound.

“He only told you that? That it had been because of you?” Nina asked. “Without any further explanation?” Luna bit her lip, and nodded.

“In that moment your message came, and I… I used it as an excuse to run away,” she explained. “But, what did you want me to do? I couldn’t stay there and listen to him saying how much he hated me, how he stopped doing what he liked just so he wouldn’t see my face again.” That would have destroyed her.

“I agree, what an idiot.” Jim said, and Nina sighed.

“You should have heard the whole story before jumping into conclusions,” she looked at her best friend, raising her eyebrows, and Luna frowned at her.

“You know something,” she accused her.

“No, I don’t,” Nina was looking suspiciously nervous, so Luna didn’t believe her for a second.

“Yes, you do,” She crossed her arms. “You know the whole truth, don’t you? Spill it!” Was her best friend hiding something from her? For how long? She better had a very good excuse for this, because if Nina knew it all and didn’t tell her, there would be problems.

With a sigh, Nina gave up.

“I know what happened,” she admitted. “Remember when I went to finish my major in Oxford and went to live with Gaston? Well, Matteo went there to visit when he was doing some promo in the UK, and stayed in our flat. And I couldn’t stop myself from asking him what had happened. I was really mad at him that I didn’t want him to stay with us, you know? But he was my boyfriend’s best friend, and Gastón convinced me that I had to give him an opportunity to explain himself.” She shrugged. “The thing is he told me the truth, but he made me promise I wouldn’t tell you because it was on him doing so, and I’m sorry, but I agree: he is the one who has to tell you.” She bit her lip. “But is not what you think, that I can tell you.” She added, finishing her makeup.

“You mean… he didn’t do it because he hate me? Or hated, anyway.” Luna asked, that’s the only thing she needed to know.

“If there’s one thing I’m one hundred percent sure, Luna, is that Matteo Balsano could never hate you.” Nina replied, and then there was a chorus of «awws» starring Jim and Yam, followed by the cry of a waking baby.

The dinner was, as expected, really nice. Matteo enjoyed it a lot, even if his sleep deprivation was giving him a hard time, making him feel as if his eyelids weighted several tons. Talking with his old friends had been very enjoyable, and knowing about their lives was a surprising delight, as he didn’t have much time to be updated with social media. For example, he had no idea that Delfi was expecting her first child with Pedro, even if the couple had made a big announcement in the Fab & Chick, which she still owned. Much less he knew that Jim had become in a very well-known choreographer, or that Ambar and Simon were re-igniting the flame of love. He knew that the couple had seen each other from time to time, but not that they were really trying it, despite the distance and their jobs.

And Luna… Oh God, she was looking so radiating during the dinner. When she went to sit next to him at the table she managed to leave him speechless, even though he spent the whole time since she left him in the hallway thinking about what to say when he could see her again, and had the perfect words prepared in the tip of his tongue. Tt’s worth saying that he hasn’t slept yet.

That dress accentuated the curves of her body so perfectly that it should be illegal. Seriously, he had to drink the whole glass of water that was placed in the table in front of him all at once, and even then, he still felt thirsty. She was very surprised because of the seats arrangement, but he managed to act like he had no idea about it, as internally he was thanking his best friend for having such a great idea, and making a mental note to give him a good present for his new place with Nina, as the couple have decided they needed a little bit more of space. However, it wasn’t much that he could talk to Luna being at the table, as most of their friends were around, taking turns to interrupt them. He really wanted to finish that conversation they were having in the afternoon next to the elevator, he didn’t want there to be a misunderstanding, something he knew that could happen if he didn’t tell her the whole story of why he had avoided her.

He tried asking her to go somewhere else so they could talk alone, and she even accepted, but then the speeches started and they couldn’t leave the place. Then, when the speeches finished, he tried again, but Jim and Yam came and took her away from his side. Something about her maid of honor duties, he got to catch from the conversation, as he mentally hit the table with his fist… or his head, preferably. He didn’t see her for the rest of the dinner, so as it finished he felt disappointed, and wished he could at least just go to his room and finally get some sleep, but he wouldn’t even have that granted either.

They didn’t get to do a proper stag party for Gaston, mostly because of the difficulties of coordinating all of their agendas, so the guys from the Jam & Roller decided to go for a couple of drinks in the bar of the hotel. He included. Matteo heard the stories his friends were telling while he absently looked at his drink, not because he wasn’t interested in the things they were saying, he really was, but tiredness and certain girl didn’t allow him to pay attention.

“And, as you can see, our dear astronaut has left us for his new mission to the moon,” Gaston’s voice, and the laughter of the guys, made him abandon his thoughts and look back at them.

“What?” he asked with confusion, causing even more laughter.

“Oh my God! You really were at the moon, didn’t you?” his best friend patted his shoulder, and he rolled his eyes.

“No, I wasn’t.” He replied. The least he wanted to do that night was to discuss his failed attempts to talk with Luna, much less with all the guys there, Simon included. Even if all rivalry with the guy was long gone, he didn’t feel very comfortable talking about Luna with said girl’s best friend, or with anyone… to be honest. “I’m just tired.” Half the truth would work.

“I thought you slept in the afternoon,” his best friend seemed worried. “Go to sleep, Matteo. You don’t have to stay here with us, we still have tomorrow.” He looked back at his friend, a grin growing on his lips.    

“Tomorrow you will be a married man, bro,” he replied, as if it was the most logical argument for him to stay in that improvised stag party. In his mind, it was.

“And this married man will need his best man to be able to stay awake as he stands beside him in the altar, so I’d rather see you going to your room right now.” Gaston crossed his arms, he wasn’t going to accept anything but his surrender. He sighed.

“At least, let me finish my drink,” he said, showing him his cup. “Meanwhile, you can continue to interrogate Simon about his trip with the blondie. As I heard, he hasn’t tell us their destination.” He toasted in his direction.

“And I won’t,” Simon replied.

“Oh, come on… spill it!” Ramiro intervened.

“He hasn’t even tell Nico and me, and we are his bandmates,” Pedro talked. “What makes you think he's going to tell you?” he made a grimace, before taking a sip of his drink.

“That tomorrow is my wedding, and that some gossip could be a really nice wedding present,” Gastón replied, making everybody laugh.

“In that case, I would want the very expensive present that I already gave you back,” Simon raised his eyebrows. “However, I don’t think your future wife would agree.”

Gaston swore, and Matteo had to recognize that the guitarist had done an amazing job defeating his best friend, achieving something that he thought was almost impossible. He stayed with them for a while, but when he finished his drink he didn’t have any other excuse to stay longer, so he just left the guys in the bar and headed towards his room.

He saw her as soon as he left the elevator and started to walk towards his room. She was in the hallway, leaning against the wall next to the door of his room, still wearing that wonderful dress she had at the dinner, but this time her hair was falling in waves over her shoulders, instead of the styled bun she had before. To be honest, he preferred it this way.

“Are you waiting for me, Chica Delivery?” he teased, as he reached his room’s door.

“You told me you wanted to talk, Chico Fresa,” she replied, taking her back off the wall. He couldn’t help but smile at that moment, he thought he would never hear her calling him like that ever again, and doing it made him feel like time hasn’t passed by.

“How long have you been here?” if he knew that she was waiting for him in his room, he would have listened to his friend, and had gone there earlier.

“Not much,” she answered. “I was in Nina’s room, we were talking about– you know, the kind of things you talk with your best friend the night before of her wedding,” she bit her lower lip. “And well, Gaston sent her a message about you coming up to your room, and Nina convinced me to come and finish our conversation.” She nervously interlaced her own fingers. “Unless, you know, you are too tired. In that case we can talk tomorrow… I guess.” Matteo was asking himself if he was imagining all this.

“So, are you telling me our best friends conspired together to bring us together?” he laughed. “That’s totally something they would do, yeah.” He can imagine Gaston and Nina spending hours trying to elaborate a plan so Lutteo could rise again. His best friend always called himself the captain of the ship, and fought anyone who ever dared to steal his place.

Luna laughed as well.

“Well, she suggested me to come, but I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t really want to,” she smiled at him, and it felt like if a warm wave ran over his chest. “I really want to know the truth.” He wanted to touch her in that exact moment, he needed to feel the softness of her skin in his fingertips, and hold her in his arms. But he restrained himself, and instead he took the key of his room from the pocket of his suit.

“Then, we should go inside… I mean, I don’t think we should talk about this in the middle of hallway,” he suggested, and she seemed to hesitate, but a couple of seconds later she nodded and followed him inside the bedroom. “Feel comfortable if you want to sit, or something.” He added, as he closed the door behind him.

“It’s okay, I’d rather stand.” She hugged herself and looked around the room, as he thanked all the gods for the fact that it was tidy. “Now, explain me how I made you stop going to the Jam & Roller, because I have never been more confused in my life.” He let a soft laugh come out from his lips, as he sat in the border of the bed, without looking away from her.

And then he told her everything, he didn’t keep any thought or detail for himself, as he needed her to understand that kid he once was, and the reason to everything he did. He was no saint, he knew that, he was also aware that he wasn’t one at present and, to be honest, that he would never be one. He made a lot of mistakes, took decisions that weren’t the best, let his insecurities lead him to say and do things that he would later regret, and as he had grown to accept that, he had also grown to accept that he was still far from being perfect, and from taking the best decision. He looked down as he told her about Cancun, about how he saw her hugging Simon, and the thoughts that came to his mind in that moment. Embarrassment wouldn’t let him see her straight to the eyes while telling her those things. He explained her how hard it was to see her every day, knowing that he had lost his chance, and how those feelings made him avoid going to the Roller.  

When he finished talking he looked up at her, she was standing in the same place, as she covered her mouth with one of her hands. “I’m really sorry, Luna. I–“. His words were interrupted as she walked towards him and, taking his face with her hands, pressed her lips against his.

It took him a couple of seconds to realize that he wasn’t daydreaming because of sleep deprivation, that she was actually kissing him, so he kissed her back, taking her by her hips and making her sit on his lap. And then she moaned against his lips, sinking her fingers in his hair, as he slid his hands up to her back and deepened the kiss.

Words were not required in that moment, they longed for this for so long that they just let their feelings lead them, and take control of their actions. He spent years dreaming about kissing Luna Valente again, but now that he was finally doing it, a kiss was just not enough, he needed more, much more. He needed her, all of her, he needed to get lost in every inch of her body, and to feel her in every fiber of himself. And she seemed to read his mind, because her hands went to his shoulders, and slid the jacket of his tailored suit off them. He helped her to get rid of it, letting it fall somewhere in the floor, and then took his hands to her face, keeping her closer, as he explored the depths behind her lips.

“Matteo, I need…” she whispered, her breath filling all his senses.

“I know,” he replied, without hesitation, knowing exactly what she meant. “Me too.” He added, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs, putting their foreheads together. The need to touch, be touched, to take and give, overwhelmed him.

Tiredness had long been forgotten.

She pulled him by his tie and their lips met again, passionately, as if they had waited for longer than a minute to meet again. He slid his hands to her back again and slowly unzipped her dress, and she instinctively put herself closer to him, making their chests collide. His lips abandoned hers and ran the curve of her neck, sucking, biting, and leaving marks that later would need a lot of concealer to be covered. And she moved her head aside to give him better access to her skin, while undoing his tie, and starting to unbutton his shirt with shaking hands, until she managed to run her fingertips across his torso.

Helped by him, her dress found its way to the floor, followed by his tie and his shirt, and later on the rest of their clothes. Breathing became an issue, as it seemed like none of them could catch enough of air into their lungs, their heavy breathing being the only sound that filled the room. They rolled over the bed more than once, as he did his best not to leave any inch of her skin untouched, and as she let herself go at the overdose of sensations that crowded into her.

“You are gorgeous,” he murmured, looking down at her, his chest filled with emotions. She was looking back at him, her skin blushing in front of his eyes, her lips swollen from kissing, and her hair spread out on the pillows and her face. He gently brushed some strands from her face, his gaze still locked with hers, and he leaned to kiss her again. “I love you, Luna. I always have.” He murmured against her lips, and he felt her whole body shaking as response.

“Matteo…” she managed to say in the middle of a groan, as her body arched in search for his contact, and he couldn’t stop himself anymore. How could he? She was there, her whole body asking him for more, just as his own body was doing. With a gasp, he sank deep into her, and she let out a loud moan in his ear, surrounding him with her legs and arms, digging her nails on his back.

Then, there was no room for any coherent thought, his mind went completely off from the rest of the world, and there was only room in his mind for her. Luna, her sweet lips as their crashed into his, her hands golfing onto his back, the increasing heat of her body against his, the softness of her skin as his hands ran over it, and her voice in his ear pledging for more and more. And that’s what he did, for her he would do anything… God damn, he was hers, that’s the thought that came to his mind the second after she tensed around him, and just before he let himself go.

Nothing he had ever done in his life compared to this moment.

– 

The next morning, as the daylight hits his face and wakes him up, the memories of the night before come back, and he stretches out his arm, reaching for her in the other side of the bed. But she isn’t there. Matteo lazily opens his eyes, and sat up on the bed looking for her across the room, but she is neither there, nor in the bathroom. Was it a dream? He asks to himself, was it all his imagination playing games with his sanity? That’s ridiculous, he thinks as he discards that thought. He still feels the warmth of her touch in his skin, and the sweetness of her scent in the sheets.

Confusion makes him frown, but as he puts the sheets aside, and seeks for his phone to look at the time, he convinces himself that she maybe had something to do, and didn’t want to wake him up.

[huffletiika]

I don't know if you've updated the Hello, Stranger fic after The chocolate milkshakes (I believe) one so I was just wondering if it has been and could you give me a link to the next chapter?

Hello! Yeah… I updated a chapter last week, I will leave you the link for it over HERE :) but, if you ever want to check again if there’s another chapter you can do it in this link: http://maybe-tiika.tumblr.com/tagged/strangerfic // I’ll be posting a new chapter tomorrow.