Lost Then Found - Lutteo

The guilty one

"What exactly happened between Luna and you? Why aren't you together yet?"

Matteo sighed and rested his head once more against the wall. "I knew you'd ask eventually... Look, she seems to hate me now, and she has every right to." In his head, memories played, of the first sleepless nights in Italy, of unlocking his phone to Luna's contact open. Memories of the many times he reassured his parents he was over her, and the many more times she somehow appeared in his dreams. "You know my parents, it was already hard enough to stay in contact with you. Talking to a girl on a different continent that, and I quote, 'never even dated and therefore cannot be serious about and should move on from', was a whole new dimension of no-go to them."

"But we never dated either", Gastón threw in, "Just kidding, don't roll your eyes at me like this. And anyway, you just let them forbid you to talk to Luna? That's so screwed up."

Another sigh. Sadness darkened Matteo's expressions, and Gastón wished he could help him fixing this. He hadn't forgotten about how Luna and his best friend used to smile around each other, how they sometimes forgot the world existed when they talked. "You know, it was the first time they actually cared about me. That they spent time with me. I was so afraid of them stopping if they discovered I stayed in contact with her. And I honestly thought I'd never come back."

"Did you tell her that?" A bitter laugh escaped Matteo's lungs. "How am I supposed to explain myself when she avoids me or runs away when she sees me?" A fair point, Gastón thought, but he wouldn't allow his friend to give up so easily. "All I'm saying is, she won't be able to do that when you join the team. And I could ask Nina for help, if you'd like."

Matteo immediately shook his head. "No, please, leave her out of this." I don't need both of her best friends to hate me. "I don't want my mistakes to mess with your relationship", he added out loud. "As you wish", Gastón shrugged. They fell silent, until Gastón shrieked up, clearly something on his mind. "Hey, did you send her something for her birthday?"

"Yes. But I don't think she kept it. Why?"

For the split of a second, Gastón hesitated. He was sure Luna didn't want Matteo to know, but then she also didn't want to see him and give them a chance to work things out. Maybe he should say this in a different place, a safe one. Maybe it didn't matter, and he could actually help. "We were sitting by the stage, and she was opening her presents and next thing I know she had an envelope in her hand and ran out. I have no idea why, though. I think she cried. Could that have been from you?"

Matteo remained silent, but the look on his face was answer enough. "Look", Gastón started, patting his arm, "I'm sure you can work things out with her. And your parents will be fine. Because if all of this was about her not being good enough for them, you should know..." Matteo wouldn't let him finish.

"This is not because of my parents, okay? I screwed up. And now she doesn't want to see me and she's happy without me, and I need to learn to do the same."

In the end, he signed up. Tamara gave him a big smile when he asked for her approval, which didn't end him from doubting his decision. The first training was no help in making him feel better either. The minute Matteo stepped on the rink, regret showed up in Luna's eyes. Even from the distance he saw her whole body tensing up. She was already warming up, with Simón and Ámbar by her side. Jim and Yam closely followed, vividly talking and laughing. They didn't notice the shift in Luna's face, or the way she had to force her smile.

"Are you still sure she can't avoid me even now? Cause to me, it looks like she has her own bodyguards now", Matteo inquired after turning around to face his best friend. "We haven't even been here for a minute, have a little hope."