Lutteoficweek

When the order is not on the menu

Lutteoficweek Day 5: „When I asked what you wanted to order, you said „You", and now I'm kinda blushing? And you look mildly horrified?"

Luna was talking to him again. Finally, Matteo might add, but to his misery, she wanted them to stay friends. Friends. Of course, it was better than not having her in his life at all. Of course, and yet every time he looked at her he wanted to kiss her, hug her, and not being able to give into that desire nearly killed him.

In fact, just thinking about her, her radiant smile, the light she shed made it impossible to focus on anything around him. During his shifts at the Jam&Roller, he pushed those thoughts far away – Juliana hated mistakes, and he couldn't afford to make one. But now he had a break, sitting on the stage and trying his best not to stare in Luna's direction. Naturally, he failed. Like the moon gravitating towards the earth, his gaze wandered towards her without his will-doing.

She sat by one of the tables with Nina. They were chatting, maybe about homework, maybe about the upcoming Open. All Matteo knew for sure was that occasionally her eyes rushed right to where he strummed some chords too. And he had no strength to escape the intensity of her stare.

Hesitating, he peaked at his guitar, then back at Luna. Recently, he worked on a song just for her. Every free minute went into writing it, every waking hour he pondered over ways to make it perfect. And even though it was nowhere near done, his hands began playing the first chords. It happened the same way he had fallen in love with her, without a second thought, without control.

Como es que elige una princesa...

All his piled-up feelings flew into the song, into his voice, his fingertips. Around her, this was bound to happen, she unlocked him like that. And now, for the second time in his life, he sang just for her. Hopefully this time she would realize this song was for her, because he lacked the courage to confess to her even more than back on that park bench.

His gaze found hers.

He stopped thinking.

Surprise filled her beaming green, he noticed that much from afar. Then, she jumped up abruptly. For a moment Matteo felt too stunned to remember the next line. It didn't help that she walked over, right until every little sprinkle in her eyes became visible to him.

Like that, singing became easy again.

Silence settled between them when he finished. The whole world disappeared, all he felt was his heart beating in his chest, all he saw was her, all he cared about was that hesitant smile on her lips and this seed of hope inside him.

Nevertheless, her words rang in his head, especially the one that haunted him for weeks. Friends. Even when it hurt, he needed to respect her choice. So, he swallowed until he felt like he could look at her without being overwhelmed by his craving of her affection.

"Do you want to order something? What do you want?", he asked.

Her answer came quick, like a bullet shot aimed in his direction. "You."

His heart stopped for a second, maybe even for two or three. Was this a dream?It couldn't be, he thought, if it was a dream Luna wouldn't look so pale. She wouldn't stare at him with wide eyes full of horror, as if she never had wanted to say this, never had wanted him.

"What?"

"I, eh... I mean, I want you, us, to talk? Yeah. We need to talk." Her face turned into a red shade close to the color of ripe strawberries. He wanted to call her chica fresa, wanted to tease her and make her roll her eyes at him before she laughed. But he didn't dare, she still seemed in shock.