Lost Then Found - Lutteo

Love me or leave me

"Simón, hurry up, I need to talk to you!"

Luna banged against the door. Her knuckles were turning white, but she didn't care. Open, open, open, please, I need you. She repeated it like a mantra, whispered those words to herself until the fire in her lungs slowly burned out. The mantra kept her from crying. From shattering and losing it. She had been too close to the edge for more than two hours now. Since Matteo left her alone on the rink, a million thoughts raced through her head. Open questions. Explanations for what had happened right there. Scenarios of a future she didn't want. So many feelings as well. Too many. It was a mess, she was a mess. In no way could she bear this on her own any longer. Open, please.

Finally, her best friend showed up behind the door. He wore his favorite beanie on his hair and a grin on his lips: "Luna, hey! What a surprise!"

"Are you alone?" To her own surprise, her voice sounded much stronger than she felt. "Yeah", Simón answered, "Pedro's out with Delfi and Nico went to town. Hopefully to get a new haircut." He got suspicious when Luna didn't even raise an eyebrow at his joke. "Are you alright?"

She shook her head. Her feet lead her to the couch where she fell face down into the cushions. Simón watched her speechless. "I think I screwed up", she bawled after a minute of silence.

Now he remembered. "Oh, yeah. That. Well, figuring from how loud you argued, I kinda assumed that." Immediately, he caught all of her attention. "Wait, what? You mean you... you heard it?" A grin slipped on his face. He knew it shouldn't amuse him, so he tried to hold it back: "I think the whole Jam&Roller heard it. I mean, you really gave him a lecture there. We were pretty surprised you could turn into a volcano."

Luna groaned and pressed her face deeper into the pillow. "It's not funny!" She didn't feel like a volcano. If anything, she was both the lava and the people buried underneath. "Hey, I'm sorry. But seriously, what made you go off like that? Though I'm not saying he didn't deserve it."

"I don't know", Luna sighed. "I don't know anything except that I need your help. Simón, please, I'm not joking, I wasn't this confused about the whole Sol thing and it's not right, I... I wish I could understand but I don't know what to do next or even how to ever look at him again." Patting her shoulder, her best friend cowered in front of her. "Okay, I will help you, but you should relax a bit first. Take a deep breath. Yes, and another one."

It worked.

Well, until Matteo's face appeared in front of her and reminded her of the hurt written all over his face. His lost smile. The missing spark in his eyes. His words. I did miss you. I still do. And I will. Her chest tightened all over again.

"Eh, what do you mean?", Simón continued, "You don't know how to look at him again? What did he do?" Luna lifted her head. Seeing the tears in her eyes, he gasped. "What did I miss? What did you do?" A small sob escaped her mouth. "I, I might have been wrong all the time and there's a chance he didn't deserve me yelling at him?"

"Wait, what?" He struggled to process this new information. After all, it was Matteo's fault that Luna had been a shadow of herself over the last twelve months. He had noticed how she tried to cover up, to act as if everything was perfectly fine. Normal. But the light in her eyes undeniably used to shine brighter. Luna had every right to lash out at Balsano. So why did she regret it now? Why didn't it relieve but hurt her more? He couldn't imagine.

The shrilling sound of the bell interrupted them. First, Simón ignored it. After it rang for a second and a painful long third time he got up. Luna felt grateful for the time to think of an explanation. One that went beyond "He said he cared for me and I'm still mad but I also want to run into his arms". She didn't find one. But by the time she looked up again, she found Ámbar. Next to Simón, with his arm casually wrapped around her shoulder. She imagined Matteo holding her close like that. No, let it go. "Hi Lunita!"