Breathe

C h a p t e r T h i r t e e n

Luna hadn't consciously accepted the fact, but she had given up trying with Rafa. She was no longer seeking him out, and trying to make amends with him. Rather, she had learned to live around him, and avoid him where possible. If she thought about the void he left in her life, it hurt, so she blocked it out. However, Rafa's guilt had finally kicked in, and it had kicked in big time. To Luna, it was so sudden a switch that it seemed like a bolt from the blue when he seemed to materialise beside her in her room in their hotel apartment. She spent barely any time there these days - Rafa had made it abundantly clear that he didn't want to be anywhere near Nick, and since she was spending all her time with the afore mentioned outcast, she couldn't come back to the room. She was so surprised to see Rafa there that she simply stared at him for a few moments, trying to take in the fact that he was voluntarily approaching her.

"What?" She asked, her voice betraying the hurt that she'd felt, and continued to feel.

"I'm sorry for shutting you out, Luna," he said, watching her carefully, and trying to make out what she was thinking.

"Are you?" She raised an eyebrow critically. "This isn't just because you're playing Nick tomorrow is it?"

"What? No," Rafa retorted. "I miss you. You didn't even come to my match the other day, I don't even know if you watched it. I need you in my life Luna, you've always been my rock."

Luna tried to breathe evenly.

"Rafa, I miss you too," she stated. "But you're being selfish. You say you need me in my life, but you can't just treat me like I don't exist for a few weeks and then expect me to welcome you back with open arms when you need me again."

"I wasn't..."

"Hey, let me finish," she held up a hand to prevent him from speaking. "I get that you're upset, or mad, or whatever that I'm dating Nick, but this isn't going to go away any time soon. I'm serious about my relationship with him, and until you can accept that, we can't go back to how we were."

Rafa shook his head, and raised his eyes to the ceiling with a sigh.

"If he wasn't rubbing it in my face that he's dating you, I wouldn't have had so much trouble accepting it."

"What do you mean, rubbing it in your face?" Luna frowned. "You haven't even seen each other."

"Not in person," Raf rolled his eyes. "I don't know if you know, but he's been making use of text message services."

"What?" Luna rolled her eyes. "But I asked him if anything had happened... I should have known," she sighed. "Don't tell me any more, I don't want to know. You two have to play each other tomorrow, we'll deal with it after then."

"Who's box you sitting in?" Rafa raised an eyebrow.

"Neither," she rolled her eyes. "I'm sitting in the back row with a grey wig and big sunglasses on."