“Don
’t say that,” she said. The wispy tone of her voice told me she was about to lose it. “You’re going to be fine.”
“Oh, Star,” he wheezed. “You need to realize that I might not be. That’s okay. I want you to be happy. If Easton makes you happy, then that’s all I care about, even if I still don’t like him.”
Luckily, he winked at me. Now that Luna and I were together, his hate for me seemed to lessen. He was protective, understandably, but he trusted me with her now, and that was more than I could have hoped for a few weeks ago.
“He does, but dad—”
“—Go with him, Star. I won’t let you see me die.”
She fell to the bed, holding her stomach, and gasped as she watched him walk out of the room. Each step up the creaking steps was slow like he couldn’t make it.
She stood, but I held her shoulder down to make her stay on the bed. “Don’t, the last things he wants is help.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
“Because he is a man, and he is feeling weak. The last thing he wants is to feel weaker.”
“He’s my dad, Easton.”
“I know, Moon. He’ll be okay.”
She stood abruptly and wiped her cheeks. Luna hated dealing with sadness. I guess anyone did, but with her, it was different. It was like she was sad about the sadness. She was so kind and empathetic. It was one of the many things I loved about her. “Come on, let’s go,” she said.
“You sure?” I asked, tossing the bag over my shoulder. “We can go talk to your dad.”
“No. He has made up his mind. He won’t talk to me right now, no matter how much I want him too.”
I knew just what she needed. I flipped my phone open and texted my brothers. We had a group message and I kicked myself because it sent to Ethan.
Who hadn’t woken up yet.
And now he had a message on his phone that he wouldn’t check for who knows how long. Evan, Zeke, and Ezra messaged back and said they would meet me there with all of the equipment at the camping site near the cliff.
I wanted her to be able to have a night where she didn’t have to worry about anything except staring at the sky and watching the sea. Ever since she had moved back, it had been a constant whirlwind, and it was time to give her a break. A chance to relax and breathe. Tomorrow was another day, and as long as I knew she was safe in my arms tonight, I’d worry about tomorrow— well— tomorrow.
“Come on, let’s go. Tomorrow we will come to see your dad after he relaxes, okay?” I kissed the top of her head as we walked out of her bedroom. It was incomplete. Only the walls were painted, and the mattress was on the floor. Everything else was still shoved in the basement living room. A part of me was kind of glad she didn’t get too comfortable because she belonged with me, in my home, and after the Hampton Mansion was restored, we’d build a life.
The life we always deserved.
“Yeah, okay,” she said, withdrawn and distant. I hated to see her like that. I wanted to fix it, but I knew this was something I couldn’t do anything about. I could be there for her. That was it. It wasn’t enough, but it was all I could offer until her dad got better.
And he would get better. He had to.
If anything happened to him, I’d lose Luna to sadness.
I knew a lot of things about Luna Nightingale, but I wouldn’t know where to begin to pull her out of the darkness. She might be my Moon, but some nights, the moon just didn’t shine as bright, if at all.
I opened up the basement door for Luna, and when she walked out, a thin layer of snow had built up on the ground, covering the green grass evenly. She wore a black beanie on top of her head and the snow that fell stuck to the material.
She was so beautiful, even in her sadness, I couldn’t look away. Her eyes were a bright neon green, big and round, and her lashes were wet from the tears. I knew finding her eyes enchanting in that moment was wrong, but I didn’t want to be a liar anymore, and her eyes were my undoing. In every moment I got to look at her, I fell harder.
We climbed into the truck and turned on the windshield wipers. The ride was silent. Luna didn’t have much to say, which was fine; she never needed to say anything with me because I understood her. She reached over and placed her left hand on my leg, and it was a way for her to seek comfort. I was her comfort.
After so many years of hating me, I evolved.
I was who she came to now.