Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Luna and her reckless proposal.
The message Noah received was from Luna.
[Tomorrow, after classes, come to the park where the ice cream stand was.]
Noah read the text several times and typed a reply.
[Why?]
Luna didn’t take long to respond.
[I want to talk to you.]
Noah felt his body tense up.
[Okay.]
Luna’s reply came right away.
[Thank you.]
The next day, Noah could barely concentrate during classes.
He thought about the meeting, about Yume, about the kiss, and about the goddess’s warning.
When classes ended, he walked toward the park.
The ice cream stand was closed at that hour. The tables were still in the same place and there were few people around.
Luna was waiting for him next to a bench.
She wore casual clothes and had her hair down.
Noah approached.
"Hello, Luna."
"Hello."
Luna pointed at the bench.
"Sit down."
Noah sat down beside her, but left some distance between them.
Luna looked toward the closed stand and Noah took a deep breath. He had decided to confront her directly, because he couldn’t keep pretending anymore.
"Luna, about the kiss..."
"I love you."
Noah froze. He hadn’t expected her to speak first, much less like that.
Luna turned toward him with a serious expression, her hands clenched on her skirt.
"I love you, Noah."
He didn’t answer, and Luna continued before he could.
"I tried to ignore it."
Noah listened to her in silence.
"At first I thought I just found you attractive, and later I believed I was grateful because you gave me back my powers."
Luna lowered her gaze.
"When we started training, I thought I just enjoyed receiving your compliments."
Noah remembered every time she had stayed quiet after he praised her.
"Then I started waiting for you."
Luna breathed slowly.
"I wanted to see you after classes, text you, make you food, and more than anything, I wanted you to trust me."
Noah felt a pressure in his chest.
"When you started dating Yume, I tried to accept that I had lost my chance."
Her voice didn’t tremble, but she spoke more slowly.
"I thought I could keep being your friend."
Luna raised her gaze.
"But I couldn’t."
Noah didn’t know what to say.
"Every time you were with her, I felt awful, and every time you smiled because of something she did, I wished I was the one making you smile."
Luna clenched her hands tighter.
"When the enemy kidnapped you, I thought I could lose you."
Noah remembered how Luna had smashed through the roof to rescue him.
"When I found you and saw that contract, I felt rage."
"Luna..."
"Not only because she tried to force you, but because I felt rage that that bitch wanted to have you all to herself."
Noah remained silent.
"I kissed you because I couldn’t keep pretending I only wanted to protect you as a friend."
Luna moved a little closer.
"I want to be with you."
Noah looked at the ground and thought for a moment about Yume.
"Luna, I’m with Yume."
"I know."
"Then you understand why this is complicated."
"Yes."
"Yume probably won’t accept this."
Luna stayed silent for a few seconds.
"For now."
Noah looked at her.
"What does that mean?"
"We can keep it secret."
Noah’s eyes widened.
"Secret?"
"Yes."
"I don’t think that’s a good idea."
"I think the same."
The answer surprised him, but Luna continued.
"But I don’t want you to reject me without giving me a chance."
"I don’t want to hurt Yume."
"Neither do I."
"Hiding it could hurt her a lot."
"That’s why I want to convince her."
Noah frowned.
"How?"
"I don’t know yet."
Luna spoke with sincerity.
"Yume is jealous and impulsive too, so if we tell her this now, she might react badly."
"That’s very likely."
"I just need time."
Luna took Noah’s hand.
"Let me be with you until I find a way to talk to her."
Noah looked at their joined hands.
"That would be deceiving her."
"In this world it’s normal to have more than one partner."
"For me that’s new."
Luna nodded.
"I know."
Noah raised his gaze.
"How do you know?"
"By the way you react when someone talks about shared relationships."
Noah couldn’t deny it.
Luna squeezed his hand.
"I don’t want to take anything away from Yume."
"But you want to hide it from her."
"Temporarily."
Noah closed his eyes.
’This is wrong.’
He knew it, but he also knew that rejecting Luna could destroy her emotionally, and perhaps it wouldn’t be the same as with Yume, but her powers were also tied to her emotions.
Noah remembered the destroyed city and the goddess warning him not to run away from someone’s feelings again.
’I can’t accept just out of fear of another catastrophe.’
But that wasn’t the only reason. Noah enjoyed being with Luna, and he had also thought too much about that kiss.
If he felt nothing, he would have been able to reject her immediately, but he hadn’t.
Noah opened his eyes.
"Only until we can talk to Yume."
Luna watched him.
"Does that mean you accept?"
Noah took a moment to answer.
"I just don’t want to reject you."
Luna stayed completely still and Noah continued.
"But I don’t want this to be secret forever."
"It won’t be."
"And I don’t want you to try to hurt Yume or separate us."
"I won’t."
"If I see that this is hurting her, we’ll have to stop."
Luna nodded.
"Agreed."
Noah took a deep breath.
"Then..."
He didn’t manage to finish the sentence.
Luna moved closer and placed a hand on his cheek.
This time she didn’t catch him by surprise.
Noah knew what was going to happen, yet his heart still began to beat hard.
Luna stopped a few inches away.
"Can I?"
Noah thought about the decision he had just made and all the problems that would begin from that moment, but he nodded.
"Yes."
Luna kissed him, not as suddenly as the first time.
Noah closed his eyes and returned the kiss.
Luna held his face gently while he placed a hand on her waist, and they stayed together for several seconds.
When they separated, Luna rested her forehead against his.
"I love you."
Noah couldn’t say the same yet, since he wasn’t ready, but he didn’t pull away either.
"We have to be careful."
"We will be."
Luna kissed him again.
A few meters away, the ice cream stand remained closed and the park was still almost empty.
Noah had accepted starting a relationship with Luna that, at least for the moment, would have to remain hidden.
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