Breathe

C h a p t e r T e n

The day the AO began was a mild, smoky affair. The sky was blue, or perhaps it was grey, Luna wasn't sure. Nevertheless, the sun must still have been shining somewhere, as Nick, Rafa, Stef and Naomi all won their first rounds in straight sets. Luna watched all of them from the stands. Nick and Naomi watched Stef's game live as well, and the three of them really enjoyed their evening. Nick and Naomi did not know each other very well, but it made Luna smile to see them making an effort to get closer. By this time, she adored both of them, and was happy that at least one of her friends got on with him. Stefanos, of course, loved everybody, and when the trio met up with him afterwards, he was a welcome addition to the party. Luna wished Rafa could have been there, since he knew he got on really well with Stefanos. However, Rafa was still giving her the cold shoulder, so much so that the media were beginning to notice. She knew too that people were beginning to realise how often she was with Nick. However, neither Rafa or Nick had been asked any awkward questions yet, and the brunette hoped it would stay that way.

After Nick's straight sets win the day before, the two of them spent so much time... ahem, kissing, in the locker room after Nick was done with press, that by the time they were done, the arena was deserted. Luna opened the door to what seemed almost like a ghost town instead of Nick's beloved Melbourne arena.

"This is so weird," she muttered. "It's dead silent."

"Not sure if I prefer the silence or the deafening noise," Nick replied, standing directly behind her. He placed his hands at her waist, and directed her out the door. "Come on, I want to see the court when it's like this."

"Okay," Luna agreed, allowing him to take her hand, and following him down the empty corridors. "Reckon anyone's about?"

"Nah, it's super late, and it was a late game. Everyone's gone home."

The moonlight filtered through to the hard court, and in the half darkness, the smoke that still lingered in the air wasn't visible at all. Despite how much time she spent with Rafael Nadal, Luna had not walked out onto an arena court very often in her life, and it always gave her a sense of awe when she did.

"Whatcha thinking?" Asked Nick, turning to look at her.

"It's incredible that you can walk out here when it's full of people and put on the performance that you do," she said, looking him in the eye. "That's real impressive, Nick."

"You should try it when they boo you, it's great fun," he said sarcastically, and Luna smiled a little.

"You remember that match when you beat Rafa? At Acapulco last year?"

"Of course I remember it," Nick chuckled, rolling his eyes. "I'd be crazy to forget it."

"It felt like hardly anyone in that arena was rooting for you, I know, I was there," she said. "And you still did it. You still killed the dragon."