the moon [h.s.] - EDITING

twelve.

LUNA

She's getting ready in her bedroom and she's struggling. She knows makeup. She knows how to keep it natural or go all out when she has to. She's learned through endless amounts of makeup tutorials. She's usually pretty good at it, but not right now. Luna keeps messing up her winged eyeliner.

With a makeup remover wipe, Luna takes off the liner and decides against making it work. She's probably nervous. The party sounds like it'll be glamorous, but she's far from that. She doesn't know what to expect since she's never really been to a party. Not even to a high school party when she was younger. She wasn't allowed. She told Harry she likes parties. Why did she say she did? She sighs as she takes a brush to blend out a bronzed shadow on her eyelids.

'From Harry

On my way.'

Luna reads the message. Shit. She is running late. She begins to type out a quick reply.

'To Harry

Okay! I'll meet you downstairs.'

After pressing send, Luna applies on false lashes. She blinks a few times once they were glued on and luckily, she didn't mess up. After applying her favorite nude lipstick, she gets up from her vanity to put on the dress.

She looks at the dress and she admires it. She's never worn anything so expensive and so elegant before. It scares her. She brushes off her worry and undresses to put it on.

Luna fixes her appearance in the mirror. She had her heels and the dress on. Her hair was down, straight, and parted in the middle. She smiles after then putting on the diamond necklace. She's weirded out by how good she looks. She checks the time on her phone and decides to head out. He's probably almost here, she thinks.

She walks out of the bedroom and heads down the hall. She sees Zavier and Madison cuddled up on the couch watching TV. They both look at her.

"Luna? Wow, where are you heading looking like a million bucks?" Zavier asks.

Luna smiles. She doesn't know if she's smiling from his compliment or from Madison's reaction. Madison pulled away from the cuddle. She looks serious, as always. "Thanks. I have a party to go to with... Harry," she tells them truthfully. "He should be here any minute so... I'll see you later!"

Before she is about to open the door to walk out, she hears Madison. "A party? Wow, remember when he used to take Kristen to his work-related parties, babe? Aw, they would be out all night."

Luna just smiles. Madison has been doing that a lot, bringing up Harry's ex-fiancée whenever she was around. It's not like she cared, though. She walks out of the apartment without saying more. She makes her way down the elevator and just on cue, she gets another message from Harry that he's arrived.

He's standing outside of a black SUV when she's out of the building. The look on his face makes her grin. He's checking her out and she doesn't mind it. "You look... even more amazing. Wow," he tells her.

Luna steps towards him and takes in what he's wearing. All white. It's hot. So much hotter than any man wearing a formal black and white tux or something. He also has on pink-tinted sunglasses with square-like frames and he has painted nails. Some nails are pink and some are blue. Hot. "Yeah, yeah... you look pretty neat, too." She smiles and for a moment, she wants to kiss him. She has a feeling Madison might be spying from their apartment window. So she wants to kiss him for that reason and because he also looks good. But it'll be weird. She can't kiss him if sex won't be leading up to it, she tells herself. She shakes her thoughts away. "We're riding in this?" She points to the SUV.

Harry nods. He steps aside to let her climb into the backseat. "Yes, Beth covered the ride for us. We should head there now."

Luna lifts the ends of her gown and Harry helps as she slides into the backseat. She adjusts herself and pulls the seatbelt to put it on. She then smiles at the driver when he greets her. "Good evening to you, too," she tells him. She then watches Harry sit beside her. He also buckles up. "Can you tell me what I can expect?"

Harry nods and lifts the sunglasses up to his hair. "Well, we'll most likely have to pass through a red carpet entrance with tons of photographers. It's not meant to stop and pose, but expect flashing lights."

"Oh," Luna says. She frowns to herself. "Is there any way around the flashing lights?"

He raises an eyebrow at her question. "I don't know, it's usually the only way in. Why? Afraid to get your picture taken?" He nudges her lightly.

Luna smiles at him and bites his lip. Bright lights usually hurt her eyes, maybe she's just nervous. She'll be fine. "Yeah, that's it. Afraid I might outshine you." She nudges him back playfully.

Harry laughs. "You might be right about that... But you can expect a regular party like with drinks, food, and music. We might not even be there too long."

Luna's silent and she only nods. She gives him a smile before looking out the window to see a little bit more of New York. She still can't believe how different it all is compared to her small town in Iowa.

»»

Luna can see the flashing lights already behind the tinted windows of the SUV.

"Ready?" Harry asks. He puts on his glasses and steps out of the car. He helps Luna with her dress again. When she's out, the ends of her gown reach the carpet. Harry takes her hand.

Luna looks at Harry. She's surprised by all the photographers and crowds that gather around the entrance. "What do I do?" She asks Harry as he begins to lead her.

"Just walk... Once they figure out we aren't important, they'll delete any photos that were ever taken of us," he tells her and he laughs.

Luna smiles as she walks by his side. She doesn't look into any cameras and avoids the flash. "Oh, that makes sense."

They make it inside the party hall after Harry spoke to one of the bouncers. Luna is surprised all over again by what she's seeing. She sees a built-in runway on one side, the bar and dance floor on the other. She also sees all the other people in the room. They all look important and fashionable. For a second, she forgets she's wearing a gown and feels underdressed. But she isn't. She could be mistaken for another model or fashion mogul by the end of the night because of how she looks.

"Why don't we start with drinks?" He suggests.

Luna nods quickly. "Yes, please." She follows Harry to the bar. They were still holding hands, she notices. There's a lot of people, it's crowded, so it's okay if they're holding hands.

When they reach the bar, Luna looks around again. "Shots. Let's take lots of them," she tells him. She lets go of his hand, finally, and folds her arms by the table surface.

"You read my mind," Harry says.

Luna watches him. He moves down the bar and leaves her alone for just a moment. When he's back with three rounds of double shots, she laughs. "You don't mess around," she tells him.

"If I'm being told to come to this thing, I'd rather make the most of the free drinks. Don't you think?" He smiles as he lifts up a shot.

Luna lifts up a shot as well. "Oh yeah," she grins before drinking the shot down. She hums and laughs after it. "We might need more than three, now two, rounds."