Lutteoficweek

Teaching the moon

  Day 4: „You noticed me standing off to the side instead of dancing and I told you that I can't dance but you just gave me the flirtiest smile and said you'd teach me, and who am I to refuse?"   

So far, Luna hated this party.

She didn't like parties in general, but this one in particular did everything possible to become the worst one of her life yet. The smell of cigarettes and sweat filled the air, awful music tortured her ears and way too many people hung around while they got drunk on presumably bad punch. And one of them was her best friend. The traitor.

She never expected Nina to be one of those party people, but one glimpse at her crush and she escaped into the arms of the bittersweet alcohol. Who knew where she was off to now, with this Gastón boy from photography class by her side and Luna left behind. Alone. When she only came so Nina had someone else by her side.

So, Luna decided to leave after unsuccessfully searching for Nina in the entire house. Without her, she had no reason to stay anymore.

Well, until a voice surprised her from behind just as she started to walk, that was. "Oh, look who's hiding in the corner. Moon girl, why aren't you going crazy on the dancefloor?"

Moon girl. Only one person called her that. She whirled around.

"Matteo? What are you doing here?" Should she feel glad he noticed her or wish she'd left a few minutes earlier? Luna had no idea. His answer didn't help at all: "Saving lonely girls from dying of boredom, of course."

"Who says I need to be saved?", Luna shot back, arms crossed. Matteo huffed at her words before he leaned in a bit, just close enough for her to feel his breath tingling on her skin. Her stomach turned into a knot, tight and tensing up. To hell with him and the constant disrespect for her personal space.

"The question should be, when do you not need saving?" He lied, they both knew it. Or maybe there was a tiny, tiny truth to his words, "And anyway, that face of yours spoke volumes. Did you have no friends coming with you?"

His smirk disgusted her, drove her insane and she wanted to wipe it out of this ridiculously good-looking face of his. However, instead she said: "My friend is kind of busy right now."

Matteo nodded. "I see. So, then why aren't you dancing?" Luna shrugged. "I don't know how to dance." The intensity in his brown only increased after she admitted this, until she had to look away. Even with the lights dimmed, his eyes sparkled too bright. It made her realize this might be a mistake, whatever 'it' was.

"I could teach you."

She broke into laughter. Matteo Balsano, a true snob at heart, who used the smallest opportunity to tease her, offering to show her how to dance... the concept sounded absurd. Too absurd to be true. "You? Teaching me? Good one, Matteo", she panted in between giggles and breaths.

Matteo didn't look amused. "What's so funny about it?" By his offended tone, she stopped. "Oh. You're serious about this?"

No answer. He was still close, his head tilted and staring at her. At her lips? No, she must have imagined that.

Out of nowhere, his hand grabbed her wrist, pulling her along. He only let go of her when they reached the empty hallway. The door behind them fell shut, the shatter of the crowd turning distinct, muffled. Only the music remained loud and clear. "Why here?", Luna inquired, well aware that the DJ put on a slow song, with no real beat to dance to and lots of romantic potential. (Had she mentioned she hated this party?)

"Well, if you trip no one will see it except me", Matteo answered as if he stated the sky was blue. A snort slipped through her lips. "And how is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Don't be nervous, moon girl, I promise, this is my favorite dance and it's very easy. You'll see, this will be fun."

She should go. Turn around and run away. A slow song and he called it his favorite dance? In no way would this end well for her. But his little smirk with that glint of softness drew her in, made her stay.

"Why does it sound like it will be everything but fun?"

"Have some faith in me, Luna", Matteo grinned, "Look, first you put your arms around me." Hesitantly, she took a step forward, resting his arms on his shoulders. The knot where once her stomach had been grew when he shook his head. "No, no, around my neck. Yeah, that's better. May I?"

His hands found her waist. They were warm and electric, causing jolts where they laid down. Hopefully he failed to see her cheeks heating up in the darkness.

"Now, it's a step to the left and then a step to the right, back and forth."

Luna followed his example. Indeed, it was easy, if she ignored how one of his curls occasionally stroke her hand and how soft it felt. Or if she ignored his thumb drawing lazy circles on her skin and the smile he gave her.

She regretted declining the punch – maybe Matteo wouldn't overwhelm her so much if her brain had no chance to overthink this. But now, he was her alcohol, intoxicated her until she felt herself losing control. Actually, he was worse than any punch and more addicting too.

He let go of her waist and she nearly complained before his hand wandered from her upper arm to her hand to gently lift it. She prayed he didn't notice the goosebumps all over her arms as he spun her around. "See, you're a natural talent", he whispered into her ear.

"Thank you, a compliment like that from the chico fresa honestly means so much to me! Without you, I never would have managed to learn this!", Luna giggled, much to Matteo's dismay. The pout on his face looked cute though. "Yes, mock me for trying to be nice, that's the way to thank me for saving you again."

"Oooh, poor Matteíto", she carefully patted his back and chuckled at the face he pulled, "Seriously, this isn't theatre class, don't be so dramatic."

Matteo pulled away, clenching his hands over the left side of his chest. "Me, dramatic? Never! You're just breaking my heart!" There it was, this part of the chico fresa that kept her mind busy because she couldn't tell if he meant it or not. If he simply teased her for the pure fun of it or if he truly had some interest in her.

"Ugh, fine, show me some more moves." Just like that, the mischievous glimmer in his eyes returned. "It would be my greatest pleasure, moon girl."

They ended up dancing for what felt like ages, only pausing when some drunks stumbled into the hallway. To her surprise, Matteo made a good teacher, being all patient and focused on her. And it was the longest time she ever spent around him without rolling her eyes or wanting him to shut up because he became too full of himself.

In fact, this time she forgot completely about the world around them, even about Nina who still hadn't reappeared. In some moments, they ended up a bit too close with her heart jumping in her ribcage in return. Or she found herself intruding his personal space too, holding on to him a second longer than necessary, taking his hand even if she didn't need to.

Now, there was another slow song playing, a cheesy ballad, and they went back to slow dancing. "You are such a good student", Matteo announced, a steady grip on her hips and a smile settled on his face. She glanced up. "In dancing maybe, but there are a lot of things I'm not good at."

The corners of his mouth curled up further. "Such as? Kissing? You know, I could show you how to do that too."

An electric strike went through her whole body. She must've looked like a deer in the headlights, eyes all wide opened and filled with surprise. Did he just...

He gave her no time to ask or even think about it – within the fraction of a second, he bridged the distance between them and pressed his mouth on hers. She pulled him closer, one hand tousling his hair, which he took as permission to gently move his lips against hers. A new song blasted through the house, but Luna ignored it, too caught up in the sensation of being all pressed against Matteo, too caught up in the firework that went off inside her. Maybe this party wasn't too bad, Luna decided, at least if she could stay like this a little longer.

They broke apart, foreheads touching and Luna discovered he still had his eyes closed. "Nah", he murmured before taking a deep breath, "You don't need any lessons."

"A little practice can't help, don't you think?", she replied and kissed him again.