lunar love - steve harrington

prologue

Fall was Luna's favorite time of the year. The transition from hot to cold, shorts to pants, ice to hot coffee - the feeling was just so much more enjoyable than any other season. Sure, Spring was similar, but it was all just so backwards. It didn't compare to the warm and cozy feeling the autumn weather brought and seemed to cover the city of New York in a blanket of fallen leaves and hot coffee from stands and cafés.

Fall was Luna's favorite time of the year - usually. But not this year. This year, this fall, she was standing outside of the apartment she'd lived in her whole life, a suitcase in hand as her father shoved the other boxes into the trunk. This fall, she would not have the privilege of experiencing her favorite fall in her favorite city. This fall, she would be leaving her childhood home behind, and would be moving someplace unfamiliar.

Hawkins, Indiana. A place where she knew nobody, knew nothing about anything. New York City was familiar to her. She knew all of her favorite places, her friends, and every memory that seemed to mark its territory in whichever location it had been made. Luna wasn't ready to leave all of this behind - and Mark, her father, had assured her that maybe she didn't have to.

"Give it one year, Luna," he sighed, watching as the young girl seemed to fade away as her eyes bounced from one spot to the other, taking in every bit of New York she could see from the spot she found herself glued to on the sidewalk next to the cab. "You know the deal. If it's really as bad as you think it's going to be, then you can move back here with your mom."

Luna wasn't sure what sounded worse - living in Indiana, or hating it so much that she felt the need to move back in with her mom. A part of her, a selfish part, hoped that something would happen between her dad and his new girlfriend that would send the two of them back to New York. But she pushed that part down and forced herself to smile at her Dad, who was excited to try the small town life with a woman he loved.

Her name was Joyce Byers, and they had known each other their whole lives. Luna's dad had grown up in Hawkins, but his job moved him to the big city shortly after he turned 20. When he went back to visit the small town just a year earlier, he'd reconnected with Joyce. All it took was that short trip to make them fall in love with each other, though Mark insisted that a part of him had always loved Joyce.

Luna was happy that her father had met someone so good for him. He deserved it, and she knew that. It was just that moving to an entirely different town was scary. The thought of making friends again, even after having so few in New York, was horrifying. Thinking of having a first day of school again for the first time since beginning school in Kindergarten made her chest tighten. But, regardless, the brunette joined her father as he hurried into the car, rambling about how if they didn't hurry they'd miss their flight.

Luna watched with watery eyes as the city, her city, flew past her. It doesn't have to be forever, she reminded herself. If I hate it, I can always come back.

The car sped up as they headed towards the airport. The reminder that the move didn't have to be permanent cycled through her mind repeatedly, the sound of The Mamas & The Papas "Dedicated To the One I Love" playing softly from the stereo. This time next year, she would definitely be starting the new school year, her last school year, in New York.