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hide-in-imagination · 27 days ago

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“Roads That Cross… with the Day of the Dead (Part 1)"

You can read the previous chapters here: (1),(2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), (14), (15), (16), (17), (18), (19), (20), (21), (22), (23), (24), (25), (26), (27), (28), (29), (30), (31), (32), (33)

The sound of her alarm woke Ámbar up on the morning of the big day.

For one blissful moment, that was all she thought about: the big day, all the people that would come to the Roller, the Day of the Dead party.

Then the memories of the previous night came crashing back to her. Lying to Simón. Letting Sharon escape. Lying to Luna. Simón once more.

Sleep had helped tune down her emotions until she no longer felt on the cusp of a breakdown, but she didn’t think any sleep in the world would make her feel okay about how she handled things, about all her failures— as a person, as a girlfriend, as everything. She almost hadn’t let Simón touch her last night because of all the guilt she felt, all the anger toward herself for the decisions she kept making against her better judgment. But in the silence that his question invoked— ‘You don’t want to?’— she remembered that if she didn’t take these small moments of joy, then there wouldn’t be any. Wasn’t that what she had decided, many days ago, after that dreadful nightmare? To enjoy the now no matter what might happen in the future?

She’d already taken the approach of self-denial before in a way to silently punish herself, and it'd only made Simón worry, as if he’d done something wrong. She could almost see that same expression on his face when he asked last night, the flicker of rejection in his gaze, and Ámbar would be damned if she made him feel like that, as if he weren’t everything she ever wanted.

Her life could be falling apart, but she’d save him from the wreckage for as long as she could. Blissful ignorance, she repeated in her mind, like an enchantment that would make everything okay. What was done was done. No matter what regrets or concerns she might have about her actions last night, she couldn’t change them. What she could do was coax her boyfriend awake with little kisses, and greet his sleepy eyes with a smile. This day was about him after all, in all the ways that mattered. She could worry about her disasters later.

She left Simón to finish waking up and got out of the bed. Usually, she picked her clothes for the day after her shower and dressed in the room, but this morning, she gathered everything she was going to wear and took it into the bathroom with her. She had a surprise for Simón for later and she didn’t want to spoil it, so she dressed there after her shower, with the door locked even, just in case.

With a towel around her hair, she walked out of the bathroom and told Simón he was free to use it. He was fully awake now, and he looked up from his phone when she talked to him, but if it caught his attention to see her walking out already dressed, he didn’t say.

While he was showering, Ámbar put her dress for the party in a bag, along with some hair accessories and face paints she had bought for the occasion. She had considered just wearing her Day of the Dead makeup all day, but thought maybe it wouldn’t look very professional for the manager to do that, so she decided to paint her face later in the Roller before the actual party started.

She blow-dried her hair and then sat in front of her dressing table to do her regular makeup. She was in the middle of that when Simón walked out of the bathroom, so by the time she finished, he was already clothed. That was why she always used the bathroom first. It was just more practical since he took less time getting ready than she did. Ámbar put on some accessories and perfume while Simón blow-dried his hair. Then they were both ready.

At least, she thought so. “Aren’t you bringing anything for later?” She asked him, picking up her own bag and seeing him empty-handed.

“No, I have everything at the Roller.”

Right, he’d mentioned he’d left his costume there. “Okay, then let’s go,” she said, moving toward the door, but before she could take two steps, Simón’s voice stopped her.

“Wait.” She turned to look at him. “Before we head down, I wanted to give you something.”

Ámbar watched curiously as he walked over to the corner next to the dresser where his backpack laid. He kneeled down on the floor to open it and pulled out something, hiding it behind his back as he returned to her.

“I know this day is going to be a little chaotic with all the customers we’ll be receiving, so I thought I’d give you your present now before the craziness starts.” He drew his hand from behind himself and revealed a little rectangular black box. He smiled. “Happy monthaversary, my love.”

Ámbar was floored with affection. Her face scrunched up with tenderness as she looked up from the present to him. “Aww, I told you you didn’t have to,” she said, leaving her bag on the floor so she could take the present from his hand.

“And I told you I was going to anyway,” Simón replied with a smirk.

Ámbar looked down to unwrap the little white bow that held the box closed and then pulled up the lid to see what was inside.

Her lips formed a small ‘o’ as she took in the bracelet that laid on white plush velvet. The bracelet was silver, formed by many little silver stars linked together in succession, each with a round-shaped stone in the middle. The stones came in three different colors: one a reddish orange, one a dark yellow, and then one that looked black— or was it a dark brown? The three repeated in that order up to the end. In total, it had to be more than ten stars.

“It’s not diamonds but, I hope you like it.”

Ámbar took the bracelet out of the box to inspect it closer. Meanwhile, Simón kept talking.

“The stones are amber. And I think the stars go without saying but, just in case you need clarification, it’s because you’re a star.” He brought one hand to her waist and rubbed his thumb over a spot of her stomach. “And because of this little birthmark I’m so fond of.”

Ámbar had no words. She raised her eyes from the bracelet and looked at Simón, feeling so much love that her chest squeezed. She transferred everything to one hand so she could cup his face with the other and kiss him.

“Thank you, I love it, I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said smiling, and they shared one more kissed before Ámbar pulled away.

“Would you clasp it for me?” She asked, offering her wrist.

“Yeah, of course.”

Simón left the box on top of the bed and secured the bracelet around her wrist. Ámbar shook her hand a little, testing that, even if it moved, the bracelet wouldn’t slip out of her hand. Satisfied with the result of her little experiment, she smiled at Simón again.

“Thank you so much. I’ll never take it off.”

“I’m glad you like it.” Simón planted another peck on her lips and walked to the door. “Now let’s go grab breakfast. We’re going to need all the energy we can get for today.”

“Oof, don’t even remind me,” Ámbar said, and picked up her bag again.

Simón held the door open for her and they walked out of her room together. It was going to be a hectic day, yes, but it was going to be fun too, and as long as Simón was by her side, she knew she could take on anything.

********************

The Roller was filled with people, just as they had predicted.

Personally, Simón thought that rainy days were more chaotic— They ran out of tables and people would just stand everywhere, using up every bit of space. This influx of people was higher than normal, but manageable. And, for starters, the ‘normal’ number of clients in the Roller was chill enough that the Roller Band could rehearse songs in the middle of the day, so really, this was probably the equivalent of a normal work day for other more popular establishments.

Simón suspected the Roller would get more popular after this day, because he’d seen many people filming with their phones—And everything looked amazing.

It was so much fun. The excitement could be felt in the air. Families came and went, the kids pointed at the decorations and screamed ‘It’s just like in Coco!’ and Mexican music played through the speakers of the Roller.

It was like a little piece of home right in the heart of his second home. Simón had experienced many events in the Roller by now, all of them amazing, but this one, for obvious reasons, was rapidly becoming his favorite. It was a shame he was chained to his work, but the whole atmosphere and people’s happy faces from seeing a piece of his culture made it worth it. He’d be able to enjoy it more fully later anyway, once the real party started.

Luna showed up at the bar at one point while he was making a hamburger for table 7.

“Look what Jazmín made for me!” She said with an excited smile, turning her face one way and another to show off her makeup. She looked like a Catrina through and through, with teeth drawn over her lips and everything.

Simón let out a laugh. “That’s pretty, Luna, but wasn’t Jazmín’s station meant for little kids?” He teased her.

“Well, I haven’t turned 18 yet, so I’m still a kid,” Luna replied smoothly. She laughed. “Besides, I never could’ve done a makeup this pretty. Remember all those previous years I tried? I always ended up looking more like a raccoon, or a mime.”

Simón laughed at the memories and put the finished burger on a plate. “It wasn’t that bad. But it is true that Jazmín has a talent for this.” He turned around to get some fries from the air fryer. “All the kids I’ve seen have walked out very happy.”

“Won’t you ask her to do your makeup too?”

Simón turned back to place the fries next to the burger. “No, that’s okay, my mask’s enough.”

“Okay, well, I see you’re busy, so I’ll let you keep working. Hang in there,” Luna said and started to leave.

“Wait!” Simón stopped her. “I wanted to ask you something.”

Luna stood in front of him once more. “What is it?”

Are you really going to do this? A voice, probably his conscience, judged him. He and Ámbar had had a nice morning, he was having a nice day— did he really need to talk about this now?

But if everything was truly in order then, there was no harm in asking, right?

“What was that about last night? How did you end up with Ámbar?”

Luna looked at him with confusion. “Didn’t Ámbar tell you?”

Yeah, didn’t Ámbar tell you?

“A little,” he played dumb. “But what were you doing there?”

“Oh, I wanted to look for pictures of Lily and Bernie.” Luna turned a little shy. “This whole Day of the Death party got me thinking about them, and, well… you know. That’s why I went to Sharon’s room.”

“And that’s where Ámbar was?”

“Yeah. Apparently, she heard some weird noises and thought someone had come for the chest again, so she locked herself inside Sharon’s room. She seemed pretty rattled.”

Locked herself? She didn’t tell me that.

But it didn’t lack logic, did it? If anyone was actually after the chest, locking the door would be the most effective way to stop them from getting to it. Ámbar’s story still fit Luna’s.

See? Now stop asking questions. There’s no reason to keep digging into this—

“When you found her, did you see her talking on the phone by any chance?”

He couldn’t help it. He wasn’t proud of this, but he had an uneasy sensation inside, and maybe it was paranoia, but he needed to ask about it.

Luna frowned. “Her phone? No, I didn’t even see her with it. Although,” her brows scrunched up further, as if trying to remember, “maybe I heard her voice through the door… But maybe she was just talking to herself,” she dismissed it. “Or maybe I imagined it, I don’t know.”

The sensation didn’t abate completely, but Simón nodded his head. “Right.”

Luna looked at him with worry. “Why are you asking? I thought you two had made up.”

“Oh, yeah, we did, we’re good now,” he assured her. Technically, they were. “I was just, curious.”

Luna kept staring at him, this time in that certain way she did sometimes that made Simón feel a little exposed, because he knew she knew him from years ago, and on occasion, that became evident.

“Simón—” She put her hand on his forearm. “Enjoy this day, alright?” She said with pleading, earnest eyes. “Look at all this amazing stuff Ámbar put together just for us. For you,” she empathized, tightening her hold, grinning brightly, and for all his conflicted feelings, Simón couldn’t help but break a smile. “Have fun and don’t think silly things, okay?”

Her cheerful energy was certainly contagious, and she made such good points Simón found himself agreeing. “Okay.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” he replied. He’d already asked his questions anyway. Maybe he should let it go.

Something caught his eye behind Luna, a few tables away, and he let out a little laugh. “Now go. Your admirer is waiting for you.”

Luna frowned. “Admirer?” She turned around, following his gaze, but of course, Matteo looked away immediately when she did. It was still pretty obvious he’d been staring though.

Luna turned toward Simón again, giving him a reproachful look, but her lips were curved into a smile anyway. “Oh, come on, don’t start. Actually, you know what? I’m leaving,” she said. And she really walked away, making it a point to go over to Nina’s table and not where Matteo was.

Simón laughed to himself and shook his head at those two’s shenanigans. When were they going to stop running in circles and get back together?

He added a glass of orange juice next to the burger and called Pedro over to deliver it to table 7. Pedro came by, handed him three more notes with orders written on them, and walked away with the tray. O-kay. Better get on with that, then.

He didn’t have much time to think about anything other than work after that. At some point in the afternoon, he switched places with Pedro, with him taking over the waiting tables part and Pedro working the register and making the food— Then the work continued. Eric had his hands full handling the lockers and rink, so he couldn’t help them out with the cafeteria, which was fine, again, it was manageable. But they would definitely be exhausted after today, all three of them. Thankfully, tomorrow was the weekend, so they’d be able to rest, thanks to the part-timers Ámbar had hired. God bless them.

Honestly, Simón only had to look around at all the happy faces and thriving business to see how much good Ámbar had done for this place. He remembered back when Gary appointed her as manager, how everyone feared it would be a reign of terror for the Roller, but it had turned up being the complete opposite— The Jam & Roller had gradually returned to its days of peace under Ámbar’s management, and things were getting even better, with the free weekends (something they always should’ve had, really), the security cameras in the lockers to avoid any further incidents, and who knew what other improvements Ámbar would implement in the future.

Luna was right— Simón had so many positive things to focus on that it was silly not to. At the very least, he could forget about his worries for a couple of hours. His problems would still be there tomorrow if he wanted to do something about them, but today, he would just do his job and enjoy himself as much as possible.

*****************

After many days of effort, the actual day of the Roller Jam was turning out to be quite peaceful for Ámbar, far from what she’d predicted.

Her experience working at the Roller, and the Flash Open in particular, had left her thinking she’d be running around from one place to the next constantly, but as it turned out, when you actually did all the work beforehand, the only thing left to do on the real day was to just… watching things unfold. Of course, she had to be on alert in case something went wrong, but so far, there hadn’t been any issues: People ate and talked at the cafeteria, kids got their makeup done with Jazmín and Yam, Jim took commemorative photos, Delfi filmed the activities and some people waving at the camera for social media…

One could breathe the joy in the air. As long as the lights and music systems worked as they should during the actual party later, everything would be perfect. Then Ámbar would be to relax— A foreign concept for her by this point, but one she was looking forward to.

There wasn’t much for her to do until then. She kept making rounds to make sure everything was going smoothly, and it was, which made her happy, but it also made her feel a little aimless, restless, because while everyone else was busy serving the customers, her whole role was just overseeing. She felt a little bad for Simón. She would’ve liked for him to just sit back and enjoy everything, like Luna was doing, instead of having to work full speed to wait all the tables.

She approached him at one point in the afternoon, while he was picking up the used plates, glasses, and silverware that a group of customers had just left behind and placing them carefully on a tray. Ámbar had seen him carrying that tray with only one hand many times today and she had no idea how he did it. If it were her, she’d probably drop everything, tray and all. Another talent of his she admired.

“I’m so sorry I have you working on our monthaversary.”

Simón glanced in her direction and offered her a smile while he continued filling the tray with the dirty dishes. “Hey, it’s okay, I would’ve been working anyway, event or no event.”

“I could’ve let us both take the day off under different circumstances,” she lamented.

Simón picked up the tray, now full, with both hands, and turned toward her with a smirk. “But then what could we have possibly done all day?”

His flirtatious comment brought Ámbar out of her low mood and drew a huffed laugh out of her lips. She returned his mischievous look, but before they could discuss further what an entire day off could’ve looked like for them, a couple of customers a few tables back raised their hands and started asking for the check, drawing both of their attentions.

Simón balanced the tray on one hand in order to show them a thumbs up, a sign that meant he’d seen them and would be there shortly.

He turned back to Ámbar. “Duty calls,” he said, sighing, but he reincorporated to show her one last smile. “Will you save me a dance later?”

Ámbar pursed her lips. “Mmm I don’t know, I’ll have to think about it,” she said, but the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth was pretty obvious.

Simón grabbed her hand to place a kiss on the back of it. He held it for a second after, enough to run his thumb over the bracelet of stars.

“See you later, boss,” he said, keeping their eyes locked.

Ámbar couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she watched him walk away. She ran her own fingers over the bracelet, feeling her heart full, and her lungs, and her stomach filled with butterflies. She decided to go to the rink and check everything was going well over there, just because she knew that if she stayed here in the cafeteria, she would stare at him forever.

The rest of the afternoon passed by in pretty much the same fashion. As the evening neared, she started seeing more people arriving in costumes for the party, and the Roller guys who hadn’t gotten there already in costume started taking turns in the dressing room, or the lockers, to get ready.

Little by little, the place filled with skeletons adorned with flowers— Life and death in all its splendor. Once Ámbar deemed it was the right time, she went into the dressing room herself to change and do her Catrina makeup.

The first layer of her dress hugged her body down to mid-thigh, covered in intricate designs of flowers and green leaves on a black lace backdrop, held up by thin straps on her shoulders, and accentuated her cleavage with a heart-shaped neckline. The top layer was all black, lacking any flowers or designs, but added volume to the assemble. It consisted of a black open piece that wrapped around her waist, flaring at her hips with ruffles that fell asymmetrically, leaving the front of her legs bare, but extending down to her ankles on her back. The light material would move effortlessly as she did once the party started, but Ámbar had made sure the length was just right and not a centimeter longer so that it wouldn’t accidentally catch on her rollerskates. It was perfect. She was very proud of her outfit.

She added a red flower piece to her head and curled the strands of her hair a little to liven it up. Then she started the process of painting her face into a skull, following a picture she’d found on the internet for reference.

Jazmín entered the dressing room while she was in that process. She had all the face paints and makeup utensils she’d used during the day in her hands, and went to store them for the next time they would be needed— Except for those that were from her own personal collection, of course. Those she left on a separate pile, and Ámbar imagined she would take them home with her at the end of the night.

What she did not imagine was that Jazmín would offer to help her with the finer details of her makeup.

“Not that you’re doing a bad job, but I have a brush that’s thinner and works better with the paint, and I also know a makeup trick to make sure it stays in place all night.”

Ámbar couldn’t help but think back on that time Jazmín did her makeup all wrong just to spite her and briefly wondered if she wanted to do the same now. But she hadn’t done anything this time to make her angry, and Jazmín seemed honest. Maybe she just really liked doing people’s makeup and she would’ve offered whoever she found here. Maybe it was an olive branch. Maybe Ámbar had a tendency of overanalyzing people’s intentions and should just accept kind gestures without thinking so much about it.

“Okay, thank you.” She smiled. “I would appreciate it.”

In just a few minutes, her face looked exactly like the reference picture—Even better, if she said so herself. She thanked Jazmín again, who replied that the best way she could thank her was to start the Roller Jam already because she couldn’t wait to start filming for Ja-Jazmín. True to her words, her tablet seemed to have teleported into her hands the second she stopped holding a brush.

They walked out of the dressing room together, with Jazmín going toward the rink after Ámbar assured her that she would be there shortly to kick off the event. Ámbar looked around the cafeteria, but she didn’t see either of the two people she needed: Simón and Luna. She saw Eric behind the bar, washing some dishes, and asked him about Simón.

“He finished waiting the last table with Pedro and both of them went to the lockers to change,” Eric told her. Clearly, he had gone there first, because he was already wearing a themed costume and someone had drawn skull features on his face. “I already told everyone that if they want anything to drink, they can ask me.”

The Roller couldn’t miss the business opportunity of a party where people were bound to get thirsty, so someone had to be in charge of serving the people who did, and the chosen person for the job was Eric. Of course, all drinks would be non-alcoholic— the Roller didn’t even have a liquor license— and the entrance with alcoholic drinks was actually strictly forbidden for the event. Ámbar suspected someone would try and sneak in some anyway, even though it was an egregiously bad idea when everyone would be on wheels, but if whatever idiot did that got injured, neither Ámbar nor Vidia would be held responsible—They made their policy very clear.

“I’m so sorry for having you interrupt your fun,” Ámbar apologized to Eric. He’d be paid extra hours, obviously, but still. “It’s just, since you won’t be in rollerskates anyway, I figured—”

“Nono, don’t worry, it’s okay,” Eric dismissed her concerns with a flick of his hand, just as the first time this had been decided. He wasn’t very steady on skates, so he’d said early on that he would rather wear regular shoes during the Roller Jam, and that made him the perfect candidate to be going from the rink to the cafeteria back and forth. “I would’ve offered anyway. Parties aren’t exactly my thing, so having a break every once in a while will be nice.”

“Thank you,” Ámbar said honestly. “The only thing I’m going to ask you is that you make sure that everyone pays for their stuff, okay? This is a business, not a charity— We can’t just give things away to our friends all the time.”

Eric nodded. “Got it.”

She had just left the bar to go in search of Simón when he rounded the corner of the hallway and appeared in front of her.

Both of them stood still, running their eyes over the other. Simón had changed his clothes, but not into the skeleton outfit he’d shown her days prior— He wore a white shirt over black fitted pants, which, upon further inspection, she noticed had sequin stripes on the side of the legs. But the most eye-catching part was the red jacket. It was a deep red, covered on the front, stand collar, and arms with white sequin flower designs that made her dress look simple in comparison. He wore it open over the white shirt, which left the big bronze-and-black bow tie around his neck front and center. Ámbar wasn’t an expert, but she suspected it was some kind of special Mexican bow tie because she had never seen one shaped like that before, with little strings hanging from the bottom.

Overall, he looked kind of like a mariachi without a hat. An extremely handsome one.

It was Simón who spoke first. “Wow, you are…” He seemed unable to find the right words. His eyes shone with admiration. “…the most beautiful Catrina I’ve ever seen.”

Ámbar smiled, very pleased by his reaction, and stepped closer to him with coquetry. “Thank you.” She ran her hands over his jacket and grabbed the open sides. “You look very handsome too. But this Catrina is missing her Catrín; where’s your skull costume?”

“I’ll put it on after the performance.”

That made sense. “Okay. Are you ready?” She asked, returning to business mode. “Is Luna ready?”

“I’m here!”

Luna showed up running from the direction of the rink— Always a whirlwind of scatterbrained energy, this one. She looked very Mexican too, in a white and purple dress stamped with flowers, with stripes here and there in the country’s flag colors. Her big flowers headpiece put Ámbar’s to shame.

She pushed that thought aside. “Great.” She parted from Simón. “I’ll put on my skates, open the Roller Jam with a few words, and then the rink’s all yours,” she told them both.

And that was exactly what she did. The rink was empty when she approached it, as per her request, with all the people standing around it or sitting on the bleachers, waiting for the show to start. Ámbar skated over to the right side of the rink, where the control panel for the music and lights was installed, and grabbed the wireless mic the DJ and sound technician behind it had prepared for her. She stood in front of the crowd and welcomed them to the Roller, to this new special edition of their famous Roller Jams, and thanked everyone who helped make it come true. She told everyone to have fun, enjoy— Marvel at the magic of the Day of the Dead.

“And who better than these two to kick off this very special night?” Ámbar spread her arm toward the rink. “Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Luna and Simón!”

The lights went down and applause erupted from the audience, accompanied by cheers and whistles from the Roller guys supporting their friends. Different colored lights started moving around the place while two big spotlights illuminated the rink. Luna and Simón walked into the rink as if it were their own big stage, both of them holding their own mics, which they had received from the tech guy.

The music started playing. The sound of cheery, melodic trumpets filled the place, submerging everyone into the world of México.

Simón brought the mic to his lips and started singing.

Te vas amor

Si así lo quieres qué le voy a hacer

Tu vanidad no te deja entender

Que en la pobreza se sabe querer…

Opposite from him, with an equally bright smile on her face, Luna raised her own mic and started singing too.

Quiero llorar y me destroza que pienses así

Si más que ahora me quedé sin ti

Me duele lo que tú vas a sufrir…

The music took flight at the chorus, and from there on out, Simón and Luna absolutely marveled with their performance, dancing around the rink, either together or separately, and inspiring everyone to do the same. No one seemed to be able to stay still while they watched them— They either clapped or swayed in place, infected by their energy and joy.

Ámbar couldn’t be happier from seeing Simón so happy. It made all the work she’d put into this day worth it. It even made her want to do something like this every day just to see him smile like that.

The performance came to an end with Simón and Luna leaning back-to-back, harmonizing the last few verses of the song. The crowd burst into a wild round of applause, and Simón and Luna turned around to hug tightly. Once they parted, Simón brought his mic up to his mouth again.

“Okay, everyone, are you ready to party?!”

The crowd cheered in front of them.

“We can’t hear you!” Luna yelled.

The cheers came back louder.

Luna laughed. “Okay, then let’s get this party started!!”

Ámbar made the sign to the DJ and upbeat music started playing through the speakers. On cue, everyone started filling up the rink, skating and dancing, swarming up around Simón and Luna. Ámbar could see them hugging their friends and talking excitedly. Luna stayed with her girl group and started to dance while Simón grabbed both their mics in one hand and crossed the sea of people to join Ámbar.

She received him with a proud smile and a hug. “You were incredible, my love.” She never doubted their opening number would be a success. If there was one thing about this day she wasn’t worried about, it was that.

“Thank you.” He reached his hand over and returned the mics to the sound guy behind her, then he focused on her again. He looked like if he smiled any harder, he was going to hurt his face. “All of this is amazing— I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”

“Well, you owe me a dance,” Ámbar reminded him, to which Simón pulled her by the hand and started dancing with her in time to the music.

He alternated between bringing her close to sway their bodies together or increasing the distance so he could move her around and make her spin, holding her hand over her head. Their balances were different since he was wearing shoes and she was in rollerskates, but it didn’t matter. Ámbar couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed out of pure joy like in this moment. She’d probably been with him too.

“I’m going to change into my costume,” Simón told her after a few minutes, close and loud in order to be heard over the music. “Wait here.”

Ámbar gave him a teasing look. “Did you really have to get another outfit for the performance? Luna sang with her costume already on.”

“And miss the chance to wear this jacket?” He joked, showing it off, and they both laughed. She had to hand it to him—It was a nice jacket. “Be right back.”

He leaned as if to kiss her but stopped himself short. “Ah.”

When he looked around at the people around them, Ámbar understood why he had stopped. She smiled. Bringing her hands up, she held his face between them and kissed him herself.

“It’s okay, don’t worry,” she told him when she drew back. “We’re all in costumes anyway. I don’t think anyone will notice.”

Simón smiled back at her. “Okay.” He gave her another kiss, lingering a little longer, and then pulled back, looking at her softly. “I’ll be right back with you.”

Ámbar watched him go and had half a mind to follow after him, but held herself together and refrained. If she was there while he changed, things would happen, and while that sounded very appealing, she couldn’t allow herself to let loose like that just yet. She still had to announce Matteo— without saying it was Matteo, she thought with an internal roll of her eyes. The things she subjected herself to, honestly. She hadn’t thought yet about what she was going to make him do in return for this surprise for Luna, but she would make sure to make it something big.

Figuring she might as well get that done and over with right away, she went over to the control panel to grab her microphone. They’d already made all the preparations— Matteo only requested a mic stand and a way to connect his guitar to the audio systems— so once she presented him as ‘a surprise performer that would be delighting them with a song in a few minutes’, it’d be up to him to take the stage when he was ready.

Ámbar stood with the mic in hand and made a sign for the DJ to lower the music and shine a spotlight on her. Everyone’s eyes focused on her once he did, and she put on her best public smile. One last duty and I’m free.

She was ready to let the stress go and start dancing the night away.

*****************

Simón hurried out of the rink, not wanting to be away from the fun for too long. He went to the dressing room, where he’d stored his Catrín costume previously, and when he passed by the bar, he noticed it was empty, meaning no one had required Eric’s services yet. Good. He deserved to have some fun after the long day they’d had.

He entered the dressing room and retrieved the hanger that held his costume. He took off his red jacket and white shirt and changed them for a black combo— a shirt and a suit jacket, which had white rib bones painted on it and arm bones on the sleeves. The necktie he put on next had the drawing of a backbone, and just like that, piece by piece, the skeleton came to life— With the leg bones on his black pants, the hand bones on his black globes, and lastly, the skull shape of his white mask. Once he was done changing, he took the time to hang his other outfit under the clothing cover he’d hidden them in during the last week. The corners of his lips turned up. He’d bet Ámbar didn’t think he could have surprises of his own. Judging by the look on her face earlier, she’d really appreciated the outfit— or at least, how it looked on him— but she was right: that Catrina was missing his Catrín, and it’d be a shame to have her missing him for much longer.

He looked at himself in one of the mirrors before leaving, adjusting his necktie so it wasn’t crooked and making sure everything looked alright. He smiled at his reflection. He loved wearing costumes like these. It was kind of the reason why he’d decided to wear a separate outfit for the performance— It wasn’t very often he had the opportunity to wear things reminiscent of México living in Buenos Aires. And today, he’d gotten to wear two. And he sang with Luna. And they did steps of traditional dances.

A happy sigh left his lips. If Ámbar’s plan was to soothe his nostalgia, it had worked, with flying colors. He was so excited he felt like he could dance the whole night without tiring. And, of course, there was no one he would rather dance with than his girlfriend, who had made all of this possible.

He walked out of the dressing room and went to the lockers to put on his rollerskates. Upon entering, he found Pedro behind the counter, crouched down and checking the shelves underneath it. He had one of his skates on while the other laid sideways on top of the counter.

“Hey,” Simón greeted him, frowning a little. “Everything alright? Do you need something?”

Pedro looked up at him briefly. “Hey.” His gaze went back to searching. “Yeah, one of my wheels is missing its axle nut. I have no idea if it was like that from before and I didn’t notice or if it rolled away now when I was skating, but thank god I realized it before I ended up killing myself.” It sounded like an exaggeration, but without the axle nut, the whole wheel could’ve rolled away, so it really was that serious.

“The problem is that I don’t have any replacements with me,” Pedro continued, “so I was checking if we had any here at the lockers, but apparently not.” He stood, bending the knee of the leg that was still wearing a skate so it was at the same height as the other. He looked at Simón. “Do you happen to have any spare ones by any chance?”

Simón smiled sadly at him. “No, sorry.” Pedro deflated in front of him. “But— Hey. Just take one from one of the rental skates,” he proposed. “As long as you remember to return it at the end of the party, no one should get hurt.”

Pedro’s face lighted up. “You’re right.” He turned around, taking a pair of skates from the shelves on the wall. “And just in case I forget, I’ll leave these hidden under the counter so you all know which ones you’re not supposed to touch.” He grabbed a T-tool and started working on the switch. “What about you? I thought you’d be dancing with Ámbar by now.”

“That’s the idea, I just gotta put on my rollerskates first.” He lifted one foot, gesturing towards his untied shoes. He hadn’t bothered to tie them since he’d be taking them off anyway.

“Well, if you need the T-tool, I’ll leave it right here under the counter,” Pedro said, finishing rolling the axle nut onto his own skate.

“Thank you.”

Simón walked over to his locker to pull out his rollerskates and brought them with him to a bench. He sat and checked that everything was alright with his wheels— he didn’t want a repeat of Pedro’s story— and then put them on. The whole time, the music and voices of everyone having fun reached his ears, filling him with eagerness to join them.

By the time he left the lockers, Pedro was already gone. He couldn’t even see him when he neared the crowd of people in the rink—It was too many dancing bodies and too many disguises and masks to find someone in particular.

Except for Ámbar. He would recognize her blonde hair anywhere, no matter how crowded or how dark the room.

It took him barely seconds to place the familiar golden waves. Simón rolled his skates in her direction—

And froze.

He couldn’t quite process what he was seeing. He was seeing it, but he couldn’t understand it. Because Ámbar was wrapped in the arms of someone else, some guy with a mask who held her possessively. And she was kissing him.

The world seemed to stop, along with his breathing, and his heart. Ámbar had her arms around the guy’s neck, and she moved her mouth with his with fluid easefulness, completely into it, into him.

Every party sound around him got replaced by a ringing in Simón’s ears. The only voice he could hear came from inside his own head— the memory of words from many days ago.

‘The moment she gets tired of you, the moment she gets bored of pretending to be someone that she’s not, she’s going to come to me.’

Ámbar parted from the other guy’s lips, and as if taken from a fragment of his worst nightmare, the guy took off his mask, and revealed Benicio’s face.

‘And I’m going to welcome her with open arms.’

He was smirking.

…

---------------------

I’ve been waiting for five years to make that callback to that dialogue.

If anyone wants to see a picture of Ámbar’s bracelet (you know, focusing on the positives) here it is:

#simbar #simbar fic #simbar fanfic #soy luna fanfiction #soy luna #My Writing #roads that cross #next chapter might be ready next month-- May at the latest!

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weirdthoughtsandideas · 5 months ago

Note

10 perhaps? 👀 i miss lunina sleepovers!! sounds cute :D

Takes place either S3 or post-show, or else it would be too risky for them to sneak out like this x)

10. Lunina sapphic sleepover

Nina had spent the night at Luna's more times in the past year than she had ever in her life. She just never had a lot of friends to have sleepovers with growing up.

Really, the only sleepover she remembered going to was when she was a girls scout in middle school. But it felt less like a sleepover and more like a sleepaway camp, as there were so many people sleeping in the same room. She never had a sleepover with just one other person until she befriended Luna.

But she loved it. Even if they didn't do anything special, it was just so fun to spend some more time with Luna. She also appreciated not being home, even though Mora's house definitely made her feel a lot more free than her mom's.

Tonight they sat in Luna's room, just talking.

"Did you ever have sleepovers in Cancún?" Nina asked.

"Yes!" Luna chuckled. She lied down on her bed, with her eyes glowing with nostalgia. "Me and Simón used to have ones when we were younger. My favorite time was when we decided to swim in the pool in the middle of the night."

"A pool?"

"Yes! The mansion in Cancún had a pool... we went swimming, and then saw someone turn a light on. We panicked and ran away from there."

Nina giggled. "Aww, I can picture it so vividly!"

Luna giggled too.

Nina smiled at her. "I love your laughter, Luna. It's so contagious."

"Thank you." Luna leaned down to Nina's mattress to hug her, but accidentally tripped and thus fell right on top of her.

They stared at each other for a brief moment, before awkwardly chuckling.

"Uh..." Nina said, "You can let go of me."

Luna was still embracing her, which she had not at all realized.

"Oh, sorry..."

As she let go, there was another silence.

"So... what should we do?" Luna asked. "I'm not tired."

"Me neither," Nina admitted. But then, she formed a mischievous smile. "What if... you and I sneak out..."

"But we don't have a pool!" Luna said.

"We could do other things, right?"

"I guess... like what?"

"What if we... just go out in the garden? And look at the stars?"

Luna lit up. "Yeah! That sounds so fun!"

They walked downstairs as quietly as they could. Luna was not sure why she was so nervous - she was allowed to be in the garden. It was her house now.

And yet, it just felt better knowing that no one knew what they were doing. Like a silly little secret only she and Nina knew.

They went outside, holding hands so that none of them would get lost in the dark.

Nina looked up in the sky. "Wow... you can really see the stars well."

Luna also looked up. "Woah... I've never noticed it..." She started beaming. "You know... wherever you are, you have the same sky. The same stars... aw, this reminds me of Mexico."

"Did you watch the stars a lot in Mexico?"

"Sometimes. It was always really soothing..."

Nina looked around. "The whole garden looks more... magical, in the darkness."

It was true. The way the garden lit up by the moonlight, and all that was heard was crickets and other insects... it was this aesthetic over it that just was so beautiful.

"You know what I wanna do?" Luna asked. "I wanna run."

"Run?"

Luna laughed and started sprinting away. Nina snickered a bit from surprise, but then decided to run after her.

"Can't catch me!" Luna exclaimed, putting her arms out like she was an airplane. "Wee!"

"Wait up!" Nina laughed.

It was like Luna got some sort of energy boost and she needed to run. Nina soon got out of breath, and had to rest by a tree, while Luna continued running around.

"I'll get you!" Luna said, and ran towards Nina. Nina closed her eyes, afraid Luna would tackle her.

But instead, Luna picked her up mid speed and carried her. Nina yelped, as Luna continued running.

However, Luna could only run for a few seconds, before she realized that Nina was a lot heavier to carry than what she was prepared for. So, Luna had stop and put her down.

"Everyone always carries me," Luna said, "So I wanted to try carrying someone else."

"Everyone's taller than you, so of course you're easier to carry!" Nina chuckled.

"Really? Can you carry me?"

Nina tried to lift her up. "Nah, you're too heavy."

Luna leaned onto Nina's shoulder. "Wooh... I really feel like I got to let out all my energy. This was a great idea."

"Yeah... but we might go change clothes. I don't know if we should sleep in clothes we've had in outside."

"Maybe... but I don't think my pajamas is dirty enough to change!"

Luna then had the great idea to jump onto the ground, rolling around on the grass.

"Luna!" Nina exclaimed.

"Come on! Join me!"

Nina hesitated for a moment, but then decided to join her. She carefully placed herself on the ground, crawling up to Luna.

Luna embraced her. "Now we really need to change sleepwear!"

"Luna, we need a bath... there's grass and dirt in your hair."

"Hm... should we take a middle of the night bath, then?"

Nina frowned. "Together...?"

"Yeah! There's a bathroom with a pretty big bathtub we got, several people can sit in it at once! And we could wash each other's hairs!"

"Ok..."

Nina wasn't sure why she felt oddly nervous of taking a bath with Luna. She had seen her change clothes plenty of times, both at P.E and in Luna's room.

And friends taking baths together was normal. Especially in some cultures. Nina noticed the bathtub resembled one of those japanese bathtubs that fits a group of people (except this one was a lot smaller). Which, considering how rich the Bensons were, she wouldn't get surprised they had a bathtub like that.

She watched Luna undress, and instinctively looked away. She took a deep breath. She would just take a bath with a friend, like they did in Japan, or like Nordic people hung out naked in saunas with their friends. Totally normal. Nudity is natural.

And frankly, both of them did need a bath after their garden adventures.

So why did Nina feel awkward out of nowhere?

She more or less looked down on the floor as she entered the bathtub. It was warm and really was calming.

Luna grabbed some shampoo. "Should we wash each other?"

"Sure..."

"Do you want to start with me?" Luna asked.

Nina nodded, and grabbed the shampoo bottle. Luna placed herself in front of her. Nina slowly applied it into her hair, gently massaging her scalp.

"Aah..." Luna mumbled. "You're good with your hands, Nina."

Nina blushed. "Thanks."

"My turn!" Luna exclaimed after Nina was done. "Turn around!"

Nina did so, and soon felt Luna's hands in her hair. The way she touched her... she felt this electric feeling running through her head down to her legs.

"You ok, Nina?" Luna asked.

"Y-Yeah... I just... I'm getting tired. The bath calmed me down a lot."

"Well, I know a quick way to wash the shampoo off!" Luna said.

"How?"

Luna giggled and then went completely underwater. The shampoo in her hair colored the whole bathtub.

Luna then got up again, giggling.

Nina looked at her, and felt her heart beating faster. There was something about Luna that just was so... pretty.

"What?" Luna asked, noticing she was staring.

"Uh... I just think, I don't know if they shampoo gets off just by being underwater. Maybe we should also rinse it to make sure it really gets off."

"Good idea!" Luna said and stood up, which Nina was not prepared for. "We need to wash our bodies with soap properly, too."

She took out the plug holding the water, and then turned on the shower that was attached to the bathtub. She then grabbed some soap. "Come on! Let's wash ourselves off properly!"

10 minutes later, they sat in bathrobes drying their hairs. Nina was not sure why she was feeling so awkward.

Every time she had looked at Luna today, she felt a flutter inside. Which was why she tried to avoid eye contact.

As the two walked out from the bathroom, they suddenly noticed a door opening in the corridor.

This very bathtub happened to be in the part of the mansion close to Ámbar's room. And Ámbar was for some reason not sleeping. She was standing in her pajamas, giving them a frown.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We..." Luna said, but didn't know where to begin.

"Did you two... take a bath together?" Ámbar asked.

"Yes," Nina said, looking down on the floor.

Ámbar raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged. "Interesting... spare me the details." She then closed the door again.

As they got back to Luna's room, Luna gave Nina some new sleepwear as she had only packed one pair with her.

As they both had changed, Luna laid down on her bed. "Oh gosh... there's something so cozy going to sleep after a bath... feel my sheets! Come on, lie next to me."

Nina laid down next to her.

"Newly washed skin against bed sheets is just... ahh..." Luna said.

"Yeah..." Nina said.

"Your hair smells so good," Luna commented, turning her head to Nina.

Nina turned her head to Luna. "Your hair, too. We both used the same shampoo."

"You know, Nina... you're really pretty. I've always thought so, but especially tonight..."

"Thank you..." Nina felt her heart beat even faster.

"Nina..."

"Eh..."

Nina tucked some hair behind Luna's ear, as she leaned in closer. She stared at Luna for a final time, raising an eyebrow, as if she communicated something telepathically.

Luna nodded in response.

In the next moment, the two girls kissed.

Nina let go quickly. She was red in the face, and laid down, staring up at the ceiling.

"I..."

Luna also blushed. She let out a snicker. "That was..."

"Yeah, I... don't know."

"Me neither, but I liked it."

"You did?"

"Mhm. You're a good kisser."

Nina smiled. "Can I kiss you again?"

"Yes."

They kissed again, and then giggled about it.

Luna embraced her. "I think you should sleep in my bed tonight. We'll share it."

"I was thinking the same thing."

As Monica woke up in the morning, she quickly peeked into Luna's room. The two girls were still fast asleep.

But they were still in each other's embrace, Luna holding onto Nina's upper body like she was hugging a pillow.

Monica smiled.

Later, as Luna and Nina ate breakfast, everyone could tell something had happened between them. Monica wanted to ask, but Luna didn't give much answer. She figured the girls would tell them when they were ready, or when they wanted to.

Luna and Nina still needed to process the night they had. One thing was clear, though: It was one of their most memorable sleepovers they'd have in a long while.

#i love writing sapphic sleepovers so much. like it’s a common theme i have in my fics in general #sara's dcla tumblr fics #soy luna #lunina

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calyxthenerd · 1 year ago

Note

If you have to pick one fic (that is specifically an Au) to be canon in the respective show, what would it be and why (you need to pinpoint at least 10 things for why). Answer both Soy Luna and Violetta (you can do BIA too, but I don't know if there is enough fics)

I have to go with MOT, and here are the reasons why

I love the transfer of conscience as a timetravel trope

Their futures in that fic are awesome

I think it’s really sweet that they were all traveling together

The drama of them all having to find each other in Cancun, and then getting in contact with Gastina back in BA

The fact that they got to remake their lives, without erasing the things that happened to them in canon

The gasfina part is really funny

Gastón and Nina struggling not to show their Oxford scholar level knowledge is funny too

Luna dreading having to go through high school again

Everyone looking to Ámbar for plans and her stepping up

The fact that they had the one mission of laying low and they failed

Gastón just up and kidnapping his girlfriend so they could go to Paris

The replacement rings

#honestly I could go on and on about that fic #i love it so much #soy luna #thanks for the ask!

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countessofravenclaw · 3 months ago

Text

Oye, es Navidad, y es Navidad, y es Navidad otra vez

[🇫🇮] Kaikki vaan joukkohon leikkiä lyömään ja puuroa syömään kun joulu on! Kas, nythän on joulu, ja nythän on joulu, ja nythän on joulu taas - Nisse Polkka; Henning Koie & Jorma Ikävalko

[🇬🇧] Let's all get together to play, hit and eat porridge when it's Christmas Hey, it's Christmas, and it's Christmas, and it's Christmas again

Listen the song here... (You should, it is very good)

“And now, before we release you all, we invite the 8th graders to receive their leaving certificates.”

Nina squeezed Gastón’s hand as they sat in the audience at the La Hoja de Roble comprehensive education institution.

“Olinda Bezenty, Aurelius Flavius, Cassius Longinus, Gaius Octavius,” Headmaster started reading off the list. “Laura Perida, Quintus Pictor, Lucius Seneca, Publius Severus, Marcus Tullius, Sarita Urea…”

The eight graders lined up on the stage. Laura was easy to spot, in her glittering red dress. Hoja had actually quite a strict dress code, and the only time the students were allowed to be out of their uniforms was on their last day.

Laura flashed a very charming smile as she accepted her certificate.

“And after all that, we wish our students a very happy summer and Christmas and wish farewell to the eighth graders. We will miss you and good luck as you start your journey into upper secondary!”

“Well, the ceremony hasn’t changed one bit from last year.” Gastón remarked as they were waiting in the lobby, since Laura still had to pick up her things from her homeroom and—even if she wouldn’t admit it—she wanted to say bye to her teacher.

“Or from when Oscar finished here.” Nina noted, as she wrapped her arm around his, “Well, this was the last time…”

“Kind of makes you sad, if you think about it.” He nodded, pulling her closer, “Laura’s starting highschool, that’s scary.”

“Tell me about it.” Nina shook her head, “Where did the time go?”

“I guess we are getting old.” Gastón laughed, his voice getting sultrier, moving his hand to his wife’s waist, pulling her closer. “Just can’t let it stop us. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“You’re daring.” She laughed leaning closer…

“Uhm, can you not like…do this here?” They turned around and saw Laura standing next to them, arms crossed.

“You being the one complaining is new.” Gastón responded.

“I don’t care what you do, I’m not Aurora.” Laura shook her head, “I just wanna get out of here.”

“What’s the rush?” Nina asked.

“You think I want to stay here any longer than necessary?” Laura continued.

“Fair enough.” Gastón laughed, “Come on, show us the degree at least first.”

“It’s not a degree.” Laura shook her head—obviously at this point in time no school used paper report cards, everything was digital, but La Hoja de Roble carried a tradition of handing out out acrylic boards, that read the student’s names, grade point average, and the date when they had completed their comprehensive education—before handing her school-leaving certificate to her parents. “The GPA is 9,6; by the way, on the dot.”

“That’s amazing.” Nina hugged her. “Congratulations sweetie.”

“You are amazing.” Gastón hugged her as well.

“Are you gonna put that thing on the shelf too?” Laura gestured to the board Gastón was holding now.

“Why wouldn’t we? It’s gonna fit right in with Oscar’s and Aurora’s.”

“Okay, but can we go now?” Laura rolled her eyes, “I need to see if Ivory got out already.”

“Ambar texted us, saying that the ceremony at Ruste´ks is taking a little longer. There are more students there.”

“Simon and Ambar should have let Ivory go here.” Laura grumbled, “I can’t believe that we have not been allowed to be in the same school.”

“Sweetie, you know that they wanted her to go to the school closest to their house.” Gastón explained as they got into the car. “You’ll get to go to the school together now, as you go to Blake… Which reminds me that we need to book the fitting for your uniform.”

“I don’t wanna wear plaid.” Laura grumbled.

“Necessary evil,” Nina shook her head, “It’s kind of required. We survived, so can you.”

“Can we not talk about school any longer?” Laura whined, “I’m done now… I still need to do all my Christmas shopping. I haven’t even started yet and…”

“You have time. Don’t worry.” Gastón laughed, “Let's talk about that during dinner when Oscar and Aurora are back home as well. You all need to do those angel tree donations as well.”

The Angel Tree Donations was something Gastón had been doing with his parents since forever, buying gifts for families that couldn’t afford them themselves. It was something that had always been really important to Isla and Marco and Gastón had wanted to instill the same mindset to his own children.

***

“Now, take your tablets out.” Marvin Engelsó, the literature teacher and the teacher in charge of the freshman class at Blake said while writing on the digital board at the front of the classroom. “We are gonna do a fun Christmas activity, just something special for the last day.”

“Seriously?” Aurora rolled her eyes at Stella who was sitting beside her, “So we are allowed to acknowledge the holidays now?”

“I guess Mr. Engelsó woke up and wanted to be the fun teacher today.” Stella laughed. “Let’s see what he thinks is fun?”

“I want you to write a list of what you wish for Christmas…”

“Or this is actually going to be fun—” Stella’s eyes widened.

“…and then detail under it why and how that wish would make your life better. What will bring into the…”

“Are we in philosophy class?” Aurora sighed, “Of course there is a catch. Who thinks about their Christmas gifts deeply.”

“Get to work.” Mr. Engelsó piped up. “You aren’t free yet, so this is still time for education.”

“Of course.” Aurora chuckled as she opened her tablet and picked up her pen. She sighed…as she was so notoriously bad at asking anything. Mom and Dad were somehow super good at reading her mind on that font, and so were grandma and grandpa too, and her godparents…

She always got what she wanted. Books, notebooks—yes, because she still wrote in those, hair care, cosmetics, golden jewelry, puzzles… Everything she liked.

Mom and Dad were also pretty into giving experiences as gifts…

Aurora glanced at Stella, who was already totally engulfed in her own work, writing things down in a hurry. Obviously, Stella had a thousand ideas, as always.

Aurora carefully inched closer to what Stella was writing.

New roller skates… Of course, Stella was like her mother. Romance books, again, not surprising—

At the bottom…the last line caught Aurora’s attention. It wasn’t just a simple bullet point, but… Embellished with hearts? Stella didn’t do hearts. Stars were her go to motif.

Aurora leaned closer to read what was written next to the hearts—

💗💗 I wish that the one who holds my heart would notice me 💗💗

“What?” Aurora stared at Stella.

“What are you snooping?” Stella whipped her head around with an alarming speed and hurried to cover the tablet.

“Something you clearly haven’t told me,” Aurora stared at her best friend. “Since when have you had a crush on someone?”

“Since…” Stella’s eyes started growing desperate. “I don’t know when…you can’t determine timing for these things.”

“Why haven’t you told me?”

“Because…” Stella shook her head again. “I don’t know. Give me some grace here, please… And please don’t tell anyone—especially Mom and Dad.”

“Uh…” Aurora couldn't get a word out of her mouth.

“Dad would start fuming and Mom would jump onto the walls and start planning the wedding.” Stella continued.

“But who is it?” Aurora insisted, while looking around at class. “Don’t tell me it is anyone here.”

“No, no, not in our class,” Stella looked Aurora into the eyes. “…I can’t tell you.”

***

“Hey. Did you see that the last grades have finally been uploaded to the portal?” Oscar glanced at his best friend Ethan as they were walking toward their lockers.

“No. They usually take forever with them.” He took his phone out and opened the school portal that all of their course evaluations were always updated.

“It’s not like you will have something surprising there.” Ethan snorted. “Mr. Straight acer.”

“I got few B:s this semester.” Oscar shrugged.

“Let me guess, philosophy and social studies.” Ethan laughed again. “Well, I don’t think those will hinder your medical school applications. I got a B in chemistry, and C in philosophy.”

“You just need to really understand that substitution and addition are not the same thing.”

“Well, I passed. That’s the victory here.” Etha shrugged. “B is not bad.”

“It is not.” Oscar nodded as he pressed the touchscreen on the locker, and it popped open. “I don’t really get why we need to have actual classes on the last day. There is no use for this info.”

“We all know Blake would rather crumble down in ruins than let a good moment for education go to waste and let us have fun. We just need to hang in here for another two hours.”

“Yep, then we can forget this whole thing until March.” Oscar nodded—

“I’ve been here for one and half months…” Suddenly the sound of lively Andino Spanish came from behind Oscar. The voice moved until it stopped next to him. “…they finally got me a locker.”

Oscar turned around to look as Eliza had stopped next to the locker next to him—no one had been using that one since he had started at Blake three years ago—and was tapping the control screen.

“Oh, hey boys.” She flashed a bright smile toward Oscar and Ethan—Let's be real, it was mostly toward Oscar—as she opened the door. “Helps me a lot to get this on the last day, but I guess I can leave some stuff here for over the summer.”

“Yeah, it’s really great to have a locker.” Ethan leaned over his locker on the opposite wall, “Ain't it great that she’s right next to you, right Oscar?”

Oscar shot a murderous look toward Ethan.

“It is great. I’m so happy it did work out this way.” Eliza smiled at Oscar again. “I mean, it makes everything easier too, for next year.”

“Oh yeah… Next year…” Oscar tried to snap back into the moment, from the thoughts of the fact that he would need—or get—brush shoulders with Eliza every single time they went to the lockers. The hallway always got so crammed too, so there usually wasn’t much room for personal space—

“Or are you planning on jilting me for a lab partner?” Eliza’s laugh snapped him back again. Get a grip Perida, please. “Because… Don’t you dare!”

“No no, of course not.” He shook his head. “Why would I? You’re the best partner I’ve had.”

“Good.” Eliza glanced at him again, before starting to go through her bag. How did she manage to make it look so radiant? “I actually have some books here that I could leave—Ugh.” She made an attempt to reach up for the upper shelf in the locker but was failing miserably. “Why am I so short?”

“If only we knew somebody who’s really tall.” Ethan remarked again. “Right Oscar?”

“Here let me help you.” Oscar grabbed the book and put it on the shelf. “You can’t get those down either now, though.”

“It’s fine.” Eliza shook his head, “I’m just leaving them here for the summer. You can help me again, in the fall.”

“Yeah, I can do that.” Oscar nodded and pushed his own locker shut, slamming the door maybe a little too hard.

“We should probably head toward Mrs. Poncaer’s class.” Eliza also shut hers.

“She always comes up with the most useless things to do on the last day.” Ethan remarked. “Oral exercises or something.”

“I actually need those.” Eliza shook her head as they walked down the hallways. “Mrs. Poncaer doesn’t like me due to the accent.”

“Try having a Cordoban accent.” Oscar laughed, “Dad told me horror stories about how he was treated in English classes. Now he has a flawless British accent and a degree in that language. It's doable.”

“Good to know.” Eliza laughed back, “I guess I have hope then. And since you are good, you can help me…right?”

“Yeah, of course.” Oscar nodded while he swallowed involuntarily. He quickly turned toward Ethan. “When are you leaving, by the way.”

“Day after tomorrow.” Ethan answered.

“You’re leaving?” Eliza asked.

“Oh yeah,” Ethan nodded, “We always spent most of the Holiday season there at home, in Virginia. To see family and such… It’s not summer, it's really cold, but it’s nice to experience the proper weather…” His face curled into a small smile, “But since I’m leaving Oscar alone for most of the summer, I can trust on you right to make sure he won’t get too bored.” He patted Oscar on the shoulder, while glancing between him and Eliza

They reached a small hall area with a couch and an armchair, which Ethan quickly claimed.

“What do you usually do for Christmas?” Eliza sat next to Oscar on the couch.

“We?” He asked, “Well, the usual. We always get a proper real tree, from this farm just outside of Buenos Aires, and decorate it together.”

“Do not ask about those ornaments.” Ethan noted, “In that house, everything has a story, even Christmas decorations.”

“Super funny.” Oscar rolled his eyes. “But yeah, I mean, Mom is an author. Mom and Dad have gotten ornaments made out of photos they have taken and stuff. They also get a lot from charity foundations too. Like we have a lot of ornaments from the Rosa Ribbon foundation, because my great-grandparents died of cancer when my grandpa was in his early 20s. Then we always make those angel tree donations. Dad insists that we all do at least three every year.”

“That’s super amazing, that you do that.” Eliza tilted her head, “Helping others.”

“Yeah,” Oscar nodded, “It was something my grandparents started, as soon as they could, because they believe that if you can help, you should, to the people who cannot help themselves. They once were in that position themselves, so it’s kind of integrated into them on a really deep level.”

“Your grandparents were poor?”

“Yeah, they were.” Oscar nodded, “When they were kids, at Cordoba. They got scholarships to attend uni, where they met. They moved here when Dad was four and with a lot of work, they became who they are today. I guess they’ve never wanted to forget where they come from, I mean. Where we come from. Dad wants to continue the same thing I guess.”

“That is a really beautiful sentiment.” Eliza nodded. “Gives hope to the rest of us.”

“What do you do?”

“I guess I'm still figuring it out,” She lowered her head, “Now that we are here—and Mom and Dad are gone…”

Eliza Topacio had lived at Salta, her parents had owned a sugarcane plantation there…well until they had died, nine months ago. The 17-year-old girl had come to live with her aunt and uncle in Buenos Aires after they had sold the plantation, that’s why she had transferred into Blake one and a half months ago.

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking…” Oscar started.

“It’s okay.” Eliza placed her hand on his arm, which made him stiffen slightly. “I'd like to remember them somehow… We always used to go to church, but Auntie Ida and Uncle Rico aren’t really church goers…”

“We always attend the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar.” Oscar mentions, trying to sound casual.

“You go to church?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of a tradition.” Oscar ran his hand through his hair. He truly wished Ethan would wipe that smirk off his face, while looking at him and Eliza. “We do like mornings with my godparents’ family, they’re like Mom and Dad’s best friends since high school, and then we go to my grandparents for the evening—”

His phone rang suddenly with an incoming message. “Sorry about that. It was just my parents, from our family group chat. Sent a picture of my sister at her leaving ceremony. She’s gonna come here next year, so I can’t ever get rid of them.”

“I thought your younger sister was already here.” Eliza asked.

“Aurora is, but Laura is my younger younger sister.” Oscar turned his phone around to show her the picture.

“Oh, right, you had two.”

“Yep.” Oscar nodded, “Laura has been the one flooding my phone with pictures of accessories she wants to get for Kelvin. She’s a dog, not a doll you can dress up.”

“You don’t like that?” Eliza grinned.

“Collar is enough “clothes” dog will ever need.” Oscar shook his head. “But in Laura’s opinion, she needs to look fancy for the party. She doesn’t need some glitter and sequin cardigan, she’s gonna overheat, and she’s already cute enough. We don’t need glitter. Don’t even get me started on the time when she wanted to dress Kelvin as all Taylor Swift Eras.”

“She is cute.” Eliza looked at a picture of Kelvin Oscar was showing her on his phone. “I love dogs… I always wanted them on the farm, but Mom and Dad said it would be too much. Can I meet her someday?”

“Yeah, sure.” Oscar nodded.

***

“Okay, go ahead,” Gastón said as the family walked into the Galerias Pacifico. “Have fun. Get all the presents you need. And remember, that I can see everything you buy on those credit cards, so don’t think you can slip something in there that you shouldn't. Meet us for dinner at six.”

“Bye!”

“You say that to them every year, and they have never once misused those credit cards.” Nina laughed after the kids had departed, while wrapping her arm around Gastón’s.

“It means it is working.” He shrugged, “I never misused that credit card Mom and Dad insisted I have for emergencies.”

“The one you tried to return about a hundred times before they actually accepted it?” Nina laughed.

“I couldn’t really be over 35 and still have a credit card from my parents," he laughed back.

“Okay, so which ones are we choosing here?” Nina said while looking up the tree. The Angel Trees still worked the same way as forever ago. Wishes of children were hung on the tree.

“The oldest ones,” Gastón said. “They always get overlooked.”

“So 14 and up?” Nina nodded, “Do we start with five?”

“That sounds good.” He nodded back.

“You know, I will never stop admiring you for this.” Nina ran her hand on his arm after they had picked out the first round of tags.

“We’ve been doing this for years.”

“Yes, that doesn’t make it any less remarkable.” Nina shook her head.

“I could have been them.” Gastón noted while looking at the tags, “If life had gone differently. Mom and Dad were them, my cousins would have been if they didn’t send a check back to Cordoba every December. I’m the one privileged enough not to know how it is like to struggle. Mom and Dad are right, I can’t forget that.”

“And you haven’t.” Nina nodded. “I grew up pretty comfortable, but my main worries during Christmas was what Mom and Dad were going to fight over this time. I never gave any thought to anyone else, who have it worse.”

***

“What is going on here?” Simon was bombarded with a cloud of glitter as he came out of his music room. He had to blink at least two times before his field of vision cleared up.

“Well, welcome back to the land of the living.” Ambar smiled at him as she crouched down to pull a tray of cookies out of the oven. “How’s the song?”

“Almost finished.” Simon nodded, while still wiping part of glitter out of his face, “Who brought a party cannon in here?”

“Oh, girls are just wrapping presents.” Ambar pointed toward the dining table. Simon looked over and saw it brawling all over with pink wrapping paper, silver ribbons, golden stars and other gemstones, and everything covered in glitter.

“Hold this please.” He saw his older daughter Ivory cut a ribbon, and then hand it to her best friend…

Was Laura here? Well, that explained the amount of glitter, because only those two together could create a pink glittering hurricane that Barbie herself would be jealous of.

“Okay, now, after we tape it down, we fold it over, so it looks like a star.” Laura read something from her tablet, before they tied the ribbon in a way that looked like they were tackling a monster.

“They said they wanted to try some new wrapping methods.” Ambar mentioned, before handing Simon a bowl, “Help me with this?”

“Yeah, sure.” Simon nodded and took the bowl his wife was offering him, “What is this?”

“Just some Yule pudding. I found the recipe online.” Ambar explained while piling the cookies on the straight pile. “Come on Darling, where is your holiday spirit?”

“I have plenty of cheerfulness.” Simon chuckled. “Just I don’t need it in my face in the form of rough glitter.”

“Necessary evil,” Ambar grinned, “You know how the girls are. Laura has gotten Ivory to try all sorts of artistic pursuits. She wouldn’t even be singing in the choir without her.”

“Oky, now we just need to add the rhinestones.” Ivory said while holding a glue gun. She started tapping small drops on the wrapped present, while Laura pressed small diamonds on the row following the glue gun.

“Hey Dad!” Ivory looked up after they had finished their rhinestoning pursuits. “Did you finish that Christmas song yet?”

“I did.” Simon grabbed a glass of orange juice and went to sit at the table, opposite of the girl’s mess. “Wasn’t that hard after Nina sent the lyrics. I sent the demo to Pedro. We’re gonna record on Friday and release it on the Eve.”

“Huh, fast process.” Laura remarked, while she focused on painting a twirl on silver on the side of the white package.

“Sometimes it is.” Simon nodded as he put his glass down.

“Wow, DAD! What are you doing?!!” Ivory shrieked.

“What?” Simon stared at her.

“No liquids at the table.” Ivory shook her head, so her blond curls swayed from left to right. “You’re way too close to the danger zone. Come on now. Back it up.”

“Okay, okay,” Simon made a gesture of surrender and moved to the end of the table. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to disrupt your art project.”

“Uuf, I forgot a few things in my room.” Ivory rolled her eyes, before getting up from the table. “I’ll be right back.”

Laura nodded as Ivory left. She then flipped a tab open on the tablet on a page she had doodled something on there

“What is that?” Simon leaned closer, because it somewhat looked like guitars.

“Oh, just something I’ve designed.” Laura turned the tablet toward him. “I mean I’ve bejeweled the guitar I have, and have gotten so many other ideas, but Mom and Dad say that they won’t buy me any more guitars, which is a bummer—” Her phone dinged. “—and now they are telling me to be at home by six.”

“That's in like forever,” Ivory came back behind them. “Tell them we still need to wrap these and that you need to help me pick the jewelry for my choir recital tomorrow.”

“I can drive you back if that’s the issue.” Simon explained. “Those guitars look really cool, by the way. I wish mine looked like that.”

***

“Thanks for carrying the bags to the door,” Laura said to Simon as they walked to her house’s door, Simon trying to keep his balance under the bags of elaborately wrapped presents.

“Oh, no.” Laura suddenly stopped in her tracks. “I forgot my keys.”

“Well, is someone home?” Simon asked.

“They should be.” Laura shrugged and rang the doorbell.

“Hey. Did you forget your keys?” Gastón opened the door.

“Apparently.” Laura shrugged and skipped in.

“And you brought luggage I see,” Gastón looked at Simon, who was carrying the bags. “Come on in.”

“Thank you.” Simon sighed as he finally let the bags onto the floor. “I don’t know how they make these so heavy.”

“Glitter is weightier than you would believe,” Gastón laughed. “Laura, you can move these to your room yourself.”

“I gotta say our house will be the most festive one on the block, because we will never get rid of all that glitter.” Simon shook his head after Laura started moving upstairs.

“Thanks for taking the mess at your place.” Gastón grinned at Simon.

“No need to thank me.” He shook his head. “By the way, does Laura need a ride to the choir concert tomorrow?”

“We bribed Oscar to drive her.” Gastón responded. “In the end he loves his sisters, no matter how much he likes to complain that we use him as a personal chauffeur.”

“Well, I live with three women.” Simon chuckled, “I am the personal chauffeur, so I can relate. Oh, I thought I’d ask because I saw that Laura has designed guitars.”

“Oh yeah, she does that.” Gastón nodded. “She decorates her guitar more than actually plays it. She’d paint and bejewel a collection of guitars if we’d let her.”

“That’s what I mean. Would she like making me one?” Simon asked.

“Uhm, no. Absolutely not.” Gastón’s expression froze. “Look, it’s really good that you asked me, because it is not that she wouldn’t want to do that or that we wouldn’t want her to do that, but it’s not that simple. Unless you are willing to have a guitar on stage made by an anonymous artist.”

“Anonymous?”

“I am not having her name out there in any circumstances.” Gastón shook his head. “Our name is not common. The moment they hear Perida, it’s linked to me and Nina and my parents. I got to have a normal life because the press didn’t know I existed until I was 23. I am not having my children out there either; they get to decide it themselves when they are 18.”

“Okay I get that.” Simon nodded. Gastón and Nina had kept intensely private, even though both of their careers and Gastón’s family legacy was keeping them in the public eye.

“She’s immensely talented.” Gastón continued, “Nina would love to have her illustrate her book someday, but right now her safety is more important. Sorry.”

***

“Sit.” Oscar placed his backpack down on the ground and looked at Kelvin, who sat on the ground, her blonde tail wagging. “Good girl.”

He checked his watch and then ran his hand over her silky head, before unclipping her leash. “Okay, you know the rules, don’t you dare to run away from me.”

Kelvin tilted her head and gave him a look that appeared to say: “I am not an idiot”.

“Don’t glare at me.” Oscar laughed, “Come on. Give me a high five.”

Kelvin’s eyes glimmered as she threw her right paw up to meet Oscar’s hand.

“Wow.” Oscar turned around to see Eliza behind him.

“Hey, you made it.”

“Of course.” She nodded, “Kind of what you do when you’re new to town, so you have nothing else to do than come to meet your only friend’s dog.”

“I’m glad you came.” Oscar nodded, “No matter how you put it. Kelvin, are you not gonna say hi?”

Kelvin padded over to Eliza and sat in front of her and offered her left paw.

“Well, look who is the proper lady I see.” Eliza laughed and took the paw that was offered and shook it. “You are so pretty.”

“Don’t flatter her too much, it’ll go to her head. She is the most spoiled dog in the whole world as it is.”

“Well, someone this adorable better be.” Eliza crouched down and scratched Kelvin behind her ears.

“Okay, Kelvin, get the ball.” Oscar commanded. Kelvin hopped over to his backpack, pulled on the ribbon in the zipper and got out a ball that she now held toward Oscar. “Good girl.”

Oscar took the ball and threw it across the park.

“Wow, nice curve.” Eliza remarked as Kelvin bolted after the ball. “If the whole med school thing doesn’t mellow out, you got promise as a baseballer.”

“In the words of both my sisters, I don’t do ball sports.” Oscar shook his head.

“What kind of sports do you like then?”

“Climbing,” Oscar shrugged, “Everything that gives my mom a heart attack. The ball’s just for Kelvin.”

“She seems extremely smart.” Eliza noted. “Have you trained her yourself?”

“More or less.” Oscar nodded, “We got her when I was 13, and Mom and Dad wanted me to take care of her as much as possible, especially after…”

“After?”

“She’s not our first dog.” Oscar shook his head, “Her grandfather actually, was a dog Mom and Dad got on their first anniversary. His name was Newton. I don’t really remember everything anymore, but they told me that we were very close, ever since I was born. He had to be put down when I was 7 or something like that.”

“I’m sorry.” Eliza ran her hand on his arm. Oscar tried to ignore the way his skin tingled after.

“It’s fine. That’s life, right.” He nodded as he threw the ball for Kelvin again. “You’ve figured out what you’re gonna do for the holidays yet?”

“Well, I guess we are just gonna be following what my aunt and uncle have always done.” Eliza shrugged. “My cousins want to go the Chrismast market.”

“That's really pretty there.” Oscar noted.

“Oh… And I did get this invite, for 23rd.” Eliza looked at her phone, “From Mandy Ezénois to this eve’s eve party…but I don’t know.”

“She is in our class,” Oscar noted, “She has been doing those for years with the girls.”

“I know she is in our class.” Eliza nodded, “But…”

“You’re not gonna go?”

“I don’t know any of them.” Eliza shook her head, “I mean we’ve talked sometimes and they’ve seemed kind of nice, but only people I actually know are Ethan and especially you. I don’t want to be the pity invite just because I’m the new orphan farm girl from nowhere.”

“Salta’s not nowhere.” Oscar shook his head. “You have a farm. That’s pretty cool.”

“I used to have a farm.” Eliza corrected, “Now it’s my school and college fund and the plantation has new owners. I’m not mad about that, I wouldn’t have time to run it once I’m in med school anyway.”

“You should take the leap and go to the party.” Oscar noted. “According to Mom and Dad, I used to be so shy, until we started going on Disney Cruises and I started loving the kids’ clubs and made so many friends there. Sometimes you just have to try.”

“I’ll think about it.” Eliza smiled at him. “I honestly can’t imagine you as shy. You’ve always been so confident at what you do, and so admirable. How could someone not like you? It’s impossible.”

“Uh. Anyone would be so lucky to be your friend. You really should just let everyone see the person I know…” Oscar realized that they were standing pretty close, and as the sun was starting to go down, the remaining light reflected from her eyes.

At that moment Kelvin crashed into his feet, wagging her tail and holding the ball upwards again.

***

“Where is Oscar?” Nina asked as she pulled an ornament out of a box.

“Still out with Kelvin I think.” Gastón said while walking out of the kitchen, “Don’t worry. He has probably just decided to take a longer route. Let's give him 20 minutes and then call him.”

“Typical,” Aurora rolled her eyes as she was hanging an ornament on the tree, “Oscar starts ditching the time-honored family tradition.”

“Pass me the pink ball,” Laura said from the other side of the tree? “Oh, Mom, Dad, did you already sign all the stuff for that camp?”

“You are signed in there now,” Nina responded, “We still have over a week before you go, so there’s time.”

“Nina,” Gastón suddenly gestured to her, when the girls were engulfed in tree decoration. “You need to see this.”

“What?” She got up from the couch and walked to the foyer, where Gastón was looking out of the front window.

“I think I found out the reason why he is taking so long.” He pointed toward the outside. “Would you look at that.”

Nina looked through the window and saw it. Oscar was standing in front of the gate, Kelvin’s leash in hand, but that wasn't what they were actually looking for. He was smiling and there was that certain glint in his eyes as he was talking very animatedly to a girl with deep red hair.

“I am willing to bet my Ph.D. that that is that girl he has been talking about…Eliza, right?” Gastón continued.

“It has to be.” Nina nodded.

“If I am being honest, I never fully understood my mom’s comments about the light in my eyes that I got from Dad.” Gastón looked outside again, “Until I am seeing it myself in front of my eyes.”

“Your mother does have an eye for these things.” Nina chuckled, while glancing outside again. “I’ve never seen him look like that before…”

“Well, we should have seen this coming,” Gaston laughed, “Given how much he has talked about her, his laboratory partner… Well, we’ll be having a daughter-in-law candidate probably during the next fall.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, men in my family have a problem,” Gastón shook his head, “We are completely idiots when it comes to women we like. Getting out of that idiocy takes time.”

“How were you an idiot?” Nina looked at Gastón amused.

“You probably remember all the idiotic stuff I did chasing you around,” He looked at her back, “and then I was an idiot some more, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten, it is not just me either, it’s generational. Dad held out on Mom for five months, and even then, it took his father to die for him to act on anything.”

“And if I recall we all ended up married,” Nina added, while grabbing Gastón’s arm. “Five months or not, you parents have been blissfully happy for almost 50 years now. We are also very happy. Better to follow your family cycle than mine, since that doesn’t know the word happiness.”

“I guess we just have to let Oscar run its course and hope he will get there on his own.” Gastón shook his head. “He’s almost 18 after all.”

***

“Today was fun.” Oscar said to Eliza, as he leaned on the gate of his house.

“It was.” Eliza nodded, looking up, “Also, nice house.”

“Dad built it when Aurora was a baby.” Oscar shook his head, “I know it looks fancy, but…”

“It is fancy,” Eliza laughed, “But there is nothing wrong with that. I wouldn’t expect anything less for you, Perida.”

“Name comes with territory I guess.” Oscar shook his head.

“I am still glad to know you.” Eliza continued, before opening her bag. “Uh… I have something for you.” She pulled out a wrapped box. “Ehm, merry christmas.”

“Wow, thanks. You didn’t need to…”

“I have always had a way with presents.” Eliza laughed, “I guess, I just keep adding people on my list, so it won’t seem so empty now—and I always get gifs for my friends…but right now I don’t have anyone else—”

“Well, I am honored.” Oscar nodded before opening his own bag. “And I actually got something for you too, just didn’t know how to bring it up…didn’t know if you’d find it awkward.”

He handed her a small box, tied with a sapphire blue ribbon.

“It would have never been awkward.” Eliza laughed. “Thank you.”

They just stood in silence for a moment.

“Oh, it’s getting late.” Oscar checked his watch suddenly. “We were supposed to do the tree today. Mom and Dad are probably fuming at me right now… Uh, are you able to get home alright?”

“Yeah, it’s not that far.” Eliza tapped him on the arm—a gesture that ended up being a tad bit clumsy. “Good night.”

“Good night. Merry Christmas.”

“Where have you been?” Oscar was greeted by Aurora’s voice as soon as he got through the door.

“On a walk with Kelvin.” He just shrugged and dropped his backpack down. He looked at his parents who were sitting on the couch. “You weren’t worried, right. I’m sorry, I should have texted or something.”

“It’s okay.” Nina nodded.

“We do hope that this won’t mean that you will start skipping on the tree.” Gastón remarked.

“Oh, nooo.” Oscar shook his head. “I didn’t mean to. Just lost track of time.”

“Good. You can help the girls finish up.”

“Yeah.” Oscar nodded and moved to the living room. “Is Newton’s paw somewhere?”

“On the coffee table.” Laura pointed. “We all know that you’d kill us if we put it on the tree, because it’s yours.”

“Well, good for you to remember.” Oscar laughed slightly, before picking up the ornament from the table. It was a plaster cast of Newton's paw that his parents had gotten made on his last Christmas. Apparently, he had gotten quite upset as younger a few times when it had almost gotten lost.

“Kelvin.” He called the dog, and she padded over to him and boobed her nose against the ornament, like he had taught her, before hanging the ornament on the tree.

“You can handle the higher branches.” Aurora dropped a box of stars in his hand. “I don’t wanna get the step stool out, and you’re the only one of us who actually is tall as a tower.”

Later that night, Oscar dropped his bag on his bed. The time was nearing midnight soon and Kelvin was already curled up at the foot of the bed. He opened the bag and pulled the gift Eliza had given him out.

He looked at it for a moment. It was the 21st of December. Christmas was in four days. Surely, he could open it… And he really didn’t want to open it in front of everyone else in the hassle of Christmas morning anyway. Luna, Matteo, Stella and Milo were coming over and it would be usual festive chaos that it always was.

He made a split-second decision and pulled the ribbon off the package.

There were two items there. The first one was an ornament.

As Oscar raised it to his eye level, he realized that it was a glass pipette. Inside of it, it looked like there were crystals of some sort.

Luckily a card was hanging on it. Oscar detached it from the ornament and read it.

You said that your family likes to collect ornaments with meanings. I tried my best.

Oncotrix-1 (C₂₅₀H₃₇₅N₉₅O₁₄₀P₅₀, but you know that) was the first non-harmful cure for cancer developed in 2030. Nowadays it has become ineffective, but it still was the first important steppingstone in the treatments we have today.

There is one Oncotrix-1 molecule stored in each one of those crystals.

I remember what you told me about your great grandparents and how their fates influenced your grandparents’ path, which is super admirable.

“Wow.” Oscar mouthed as he looked at the ornament. She had not been kidding. She really did have a way with gifts. How did she even remember all those details that he had told her in a passing conversation…

She was good.

Too good, as he found himself taking a few deep breaths. He still wasn’t quite prepared for the sensation that started overtaking him.

He looked at the other item, to distract himself for a moment. It was a deep scarlet red collar that looked like it was velvet or something similar. It was decorated with a small row of pearls.

There was another note hanging on it.

Okay, hear me out here. I know you said you don’t like to dress her up, but…

Come on now, every girl deserves something to feel pretty in during the holidays. Also, this is a collar, not an accessory and you said those were fine. Hopefully Kelvin likes it.

Oscar chuckled. Leave it to Eliza to find a loophole from what he had said. “Kelvin, come here.”

The dog jumped in front of him on the bed wagging her tail and was actually looking at the collar quite curiously.

“Let’s see how this looks.” Oscar put the collar around her neck. It fit perfectly. Kelvin’s eye’s sparkled and she wagged her tail some more and slurped his face with her tongue.

“Okay, I see that you like it.” He laughed as he pushed her furry snoot away. “Calm down now girl.” He traced the collar with his finger. “I like it too.”

He reached for his phone. It dinged as soon as it was in his hand.

He froze for a moment as he realized that it was from Eliza.

Eliza: The complexity and endlessness of the celtic knots honor the idea of legacy — that a person’s life and contributions are woven into the lives of those they leave behind, like an eternal tapestry of memory. I see what you did there ;). It is beautiful. I never took you as a guy who has the chops for jewelry shopping, but always nice to be surprised.

Oscar stared at the message for a moment, while he felt the heat rise in his face. He had gotten Eliza a bracelet woven from celtic knots. The endless loops of Celtic knots symbolized the idea of eternity and the continuation of love and memories, even after someone had passed. It suggested that the love shared with the deceased endures, binding the living and the departed together in an unbroken connection.

He had felt like that was something that would be good for Eliza. So, she could keep the life she had lost always close.

He had taken a bit of a risk, by going to buy jewelry on his own. No way he would have asked either Aurora or Laura for advice. Mom was out too, and Dad…Dad was probably the best at buying jewelry in their house—over half of Mom’s jewelry collection was courtesy of him—but Oscar didn’t want anyone to know. It would raise all sorts of questions and…

…he had already been afraid that the gift was little too forward or overstepping or something.

He looked at the text again. It hadn't been the case. She liked it. She loved it−

His phone dinged again.

Eliza: And yes, I did open it up.

Oscar smiled and started typing.

Oscar: I never said you couldn’t. I'm glad you liked it. Eliza: Where have you learned to buy jewelry? Oscar: That’s classified Eliza: How classified?

***

“That’s the last one.” Gastón said as he hung up the last stocking on the railing on the stairs.

“I wonder how long they are going to allow us to keep doing this?” Nina smiled at him from the couch.

“Well, Oscar hasn't expressed anything that he won’t want a stocking after he turns 18, which he isn’t yet.” Gastón remarked as he sat next to her. “I doubt the girls will either, anytime soon.”

“I guess you’re right.” Nina leaned her head on his shoulder. “You know, with all the chaos, quiet like this is really beautiful.”

“I know.” He pulled her closer, kissing her head. “Kind of reminds me of all the times we spent at the Villa, even if we didn’t often do Christmas there.”

“Those sound magical,” Nina smiled, “I am always so happy to always hear about that. You truly had a happy childhood. We can’t all say that. Well, we don’t want to even get to the Christmases I had growing up,” She laughed slightly, “I don’t want to think about those…even at the time I thought I could never have a happy Christmas, so thank you.”

“I told you that you will never have to go back to that.” Gastón ran his hand over his arm. “I’ve kept my word for 23 years and counting.” He leaned closer to her. “I also hid mistletoe somewhere around here.

“Where?” She looked at him questiongly.

“Not going to tell you.” Gastón grinned, “So better keep on your toes.”

***

“Merry Christmas!!!” Luna exclaimed as soon as Gastón opened the door. “We brough so many presents.”

“Good to hear.” Gastón nodded, and looked over to the driveway, “Matteo, need help?”

“No, I am fine!!!” Matteo yelled from the car, where he was getting a huge bag out of the trunk.

“Sure.” Gastón nodded, before turning around. “Oscar… Go help him.”

“Sure thing Dad.” Oscar nodded and walked outside.

“How’s our goddaughter?” Gastón hugged Stella, whose blonde dyed curls were tied on two pigtails, tied with glittering ribbons.

“I’m hungry.” Stella jumped.

“Good thing we have a lot of food.” Gastón laughed.

“Hey.” Nina appeared at the door. “Come on in.”

“It is so pretty here.” Luna hugged her. “I mean, we decorated too, and Matteo called our house a glittering mess.”

“There is nothing wrong with that.” Nina laughed.

“Hey!!!” Stella stepped into the living room where Aurora and Laura were sitting on the couch.

“Hi!” Aurora got up and Stella tackled her into a hug. “You’ve been avoiding me.” She whispered into her ear.

“No I have not.” Stella whispered back.

“Yes you have.” Aurora continued. “I can’t believe you won’t tell me who you have a crush on—”

“Aurora, have you seen this before?” Laura suddenly interrupted.

“What? She turned around.

“Look at Kelvin’s collar.” Laura pointed out. “That’s new?”

“There is no way Oscar got her a new collar,” Aurora looked at it closer, tracing her fingers on the beading on the collar, “Especially one that looks like this.”

“Or maybe he just has a good taste in collars,” Stella suggested, which was kind of uncharacterized for her.

At that moment, Matteo, Oscar and Milo came in with the gift bags. “Thanks lads.” Matteo sighed and the bags went down.

“And I thought you said you could handle them by yourself.” Luna laughed at him.

“Never mind that.” Matteo shook his head.

“Oscar,” Aurora piped up, pointing at Kelvin’s collar. “What is this?”

“You always get mad at us when we get her accessories,” Laura continued, “but now she has a new collar. Where did you get it?”

“I didn’t get it.” Oscar shook his head. “It was a gift from a friend.”

“There is no way Ethan got that.” Laura shook her head.

“Because it wasn’t Ethan.” Oscar sighed. “She—”

“She? So that lab partner of yours, Eliza?” Aurora asked.

“Yeah, her.” Oscar nodded, “And Kelvin gets to wear it, because she has actual taste.”

“Yeah, sure…” Aurora remarked sarcastically.

“Hey kids!” Gastón interrupted, whatever the conversation was becoming. “Food’s done in 10 minutes, so help Matteo get the packages out of the bags.”

“Yeah, sure.” Oscar nodded while grabbing a bag. “Stella, catch.”

“Huh?” Again, something that was not very in character for Stella, she froze in surprise and wasn’t able to catch the bag in time.

“Sorry. You okay?” Oscar laughed as the bag hit Stella and the contents spilled on the floor.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” Stella laughed nervously. “Now we need to pick these up.”

Aurora had grabbed the last present from the bag she had been emptying into a neat line when she looked around after hearing a giggle. She furrowed her brow… It had come from Stella’s direction but… Stella did not giggle like that.

Aurora looked at her best friend again. She was gathering packages off the ground and at the same time brushing a non-existent lock of hair behind her ear. She had that same kind of puppy face that Kelvin used to beg for treats. And worst of all, Stella was looking at—

“Would you excuse us for a second?” Aurora went to grab Stella’s arm and started pulling her down a hallway.

“What are you doing?” Stella asked after Aurora had pulled her into the library.

“The better question is what are you doing?” Aurora stared at her. “Please please tell me that I am wrong—even though I am never wrong—and you don’t have a crush on Oscar.”

“I—” Stella stuttered and unmistakably started blushing. “This is why I couldn’t tell you.”

“Why? How?” Aurora almost pleaded, “Scratch that. I don’t want to know. You can’t like him.”

“Why not?”

“Million reasons.” Aurora shook her head, “You are my best friend, he is my brother, your parents are his godparents, our parents are your godparents…” Aurora pointed toward a picture at the end of one of the book cases, which had been taken a few days after Luna and Matteo had brought Stella back from the hospital. In the picture, Oscar, who was almost three, almost one year old Aurora, and Stella as a newborn were lying on the carpet in a circle. “We have known you since you were born, he has known you since then… That is like Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker -weird, and they didn’t know!!!”

“It could not be weird.” Stella tried to suggest. “What if…”

“There are no what ifs…” Aurora looked at Stella concerned, “It’s impossible. This not the Christmas present I thought I’d be getting…”

{}

Well, Merry Chrismas!!!! So, I feel like I pretty much nailed the Chrismas fic last eyar, so I had super hard time thinking what I could do for this year. This year's theme has kind of been the SL next gen year for me, so here's the Christmas of 2046 for you. It ended up being more of a slice of life kind of story, just during the holidays. So there was no real plot, but just some holiday scheningans and some set up for future stories. I mean I can say that this alsmot work as a prologue for a story that I have not even started yet, but the story focusing on Oscar, because he is going to get his own story. Aurora has gotten her time travel escapades, Laura is going thorugh he wons stuff right now, so we are not sweeping their older brother under the rug. I love Oscar Perida as a character, and he is gonna get his spolight–and you can probably guess what's that story will be about. Happy holidays everyone!!! And I absolutely have taken it as my mission to educat you all on Finnish Chrismas song every holid days season, because we have bangers.

#soy luna #soy luna fanfiction #gastina #simbar #lutteo #Holidays #christmas fic #christmas

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iridescentis · 1 year ago

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random question for the people who have dabbled in some future soy luna aspects, who do we think gets engaged first?

purely because im thinking of writing a lil fic that takes place during the first engagement party and i cannot decide whose party it is

#i know this question has definitely been answered before but i forgot sorry 😭#my gut instinct is to go with pelfi #but i thought i would ask The People just in case #the fic actually has nothing to do with the engaged couple in question #but rather two “friends” returning from a certain someones world tour 👀#but basically my options are pelfi simbar or gastina unless anyone else has another idea #hey maybe it could be jazmin's #idk who she's marrying but that could be funny #and yes this is one of the ships that does not have enough fics so i have to do it myself #in fact i just checked and there is just one #changes must be made folks #soy luna

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putonmyfavoriteshow · 2 years ago

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Thinking about Jazmín again from last night's rewatch because of just how much she wants to care for people in her life but they just don't let her because they don't take her seriously. And when Emilia is introduced, she acts so intimidating and independent but whenever she's a little bit vulnerable, you can tell she just wants to be taken care of for once.

Jazmilia is the ship ever I'm gonna cry.

#jazmilia #soy luna #i mean this is perfect timing for this brainrot since ch3 of my jazmilia fic is next on my writing to do list :)#but yeah.gif

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gaybarbiegirl · 2 years ago

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Love wins <3

(And happy Gastiro day everybody)

#ITS THE DAY #THE DAY WEVE BEEN WAITING FOR #i can't believe the gastiro lore is finally getting released into the world #i'm so happy #anyway please appreciate the drawings and go check out @marciego's absolute banger of a fic #one of the best fics i ever read in my life fr #we truly gave everything we had for the boys #soy luna #gastiro

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marciego · 2 years ago

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love wins, happy gastiro day <3

#HAPPY GASTIRO DAY!!!!#so fucking excited for today #please please please check out gaybarbiegirl's art for the fic it's fucking phenomenal #gastiro nation won so hard today #this was such a blast to write i had the time of my life being over dramatic for no reason #we gave everything we had for today we've been suffering together to get it done in time for weeks #AND IT WAS SO WORTH IT #soy luna #gastiro

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psychicbluebirdmiracle · 1 year ago

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I kept thinking Ámbar in Soy Luna reminded me of Chloe Bourgeois and now here we are her boyfriend flirting with other girls and she's treated like the bad guy Chloe and Ámbar should be friends and they can both bond over being the mean bratty girls who deserve better

#i would and might totally write a fic on this #chloe bourgeois #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #soy luna #ámbar smith #disney channel

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purple-fireflies · 2 years ago

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gastina au based on tis the damn season (by taylor swift) where both nina and gastón went their separate ways (nina went to college in the US), nina is this world renowned author but known to be tight lipped about her private life, gastón is a photographer that travels the world, and they both come back to argentina for lutteo’s wedding during christmas time and things start happening 👀👀

#soy luna #lutteo #gastina #one of my fifty fic ideas that i’d write if not for the sats

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mylutteoheart · 2 years ago

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Playing Cupid (chapter 10)

New chapter out now! There are only 2-3 left before the end of this fic. The edited version will be out tomorrow on ao3. Also keep your eyes open for a little simbar in this chapter. Luna and Matteo have been building their lives together slowly. Fresh out of college, they’re planning their future. But by planning this, they have an underlying plan no one knows of. Bringing their best friends together after 4 years of not being happy without the other. How well will their plan of playing Cupid work?

Prologue | chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | find my other fics here

"So nothing happened?" Luna insisted as she and Nina were walking to the bridal shop for the last dress fitting before the wedding.

"Well, I wouldn't say nothing," Nina answered as she looked down at her feet to hide her blush.

Suddenly, out of excitement, Luna took Nina's arm and pulled it to make her stop. She asked excitedly: "What? What happened? Tell me!"

"You remember the day we went scouting for locations?", Nina said carefully.

"Right, the location you found was even better than the one we initially had," she said, already imagining her and Matteo standing there on front of all their friends.

"When we started talking about you two loving the location, I started imagining the romance that comes with marriage on that venue and there was this moment, where it was just the two of us and we were this close to kissing," Nina gestured with her thumb and pointer finger close to one another to indicate the distance there was between them.

Luna jumped up and down at the news and said: "That's great! That must mean he feels the same way about you."

"I don't want to get too excited. It was just the spur of the moment. It meant nothing," she tried to deny, not wanting to get her hopes up.

"Don't say that, you have to keep hoping," she rested her hand on her best friend's arm in support.

"Let's just get going," Nina said, not wanting to think about it.

Luna understood and together, they started walking again to go to the bridal shop.

***

"I'm talling you, she likes you," Matteo said to Gastón, also on their way to the bridal shop.

Every bridesmaid and groomsman had to come to the fitting today. The suits were also tailored in the bridal shop.

"I just think she got swept up in the heat of the moment. There was a romantic side to it all," Gastón said airily, not wanting to show how much that moment meant to him.

"And I always thought me and Luna were bad at communication," Matteo shook his head in disbelief.

"What are you on about?" he took a look at Matteo to see him roll his eyes.

"We all see they way you look at each other and it's still the same look you had when you were both so in love in senior year at Blake," Matteo explained, "It hasn't changed in six years."

"Really? I haven't noticed," Gastón frowned, trying to picture what his best friend is saying.

"Of course you haven't. You know, this all reminds me of the time I was so dumb to see how Luna truly felt about me when that guy Michel appeared," he said with a fond smile, he did frown when he said the name Michel. He would never like that guy.

"Oh, I remember you complaining a lot about that guy. I would have loved to be there to witness your idiocy and to talk some sense into you," Gastón chuckled at the many phone calls with Matteo during that time. He really was hopeless when it came to Luna.

"Well, now it's my job to do that," Matteo became serious and continued, "What you need is one clear conversation with Nina and everything will be cleared up."

"You make it sound so simple," he sighed, not believing a word.

"That's because it is," he just answered, "And I'll make sure I'll prove you right. I'll just have to convince Luna, Ámbar and Simón to leave you two alone in a way where you can't do anything but talk."

Matteo held his chin in thought, already trying to come up with dozens of ways to make this happen.

Gastón's eyes widened and said: "You're going to do this now?"

"The sooner the better, weddings are all about happiness and romance so I'd love to see you and Nina being happy and together at our wedding," he said.

"You really want us to be together?" Gastón said in surprise.

"Of course, I want you to be happy and you've never been as happy as you were with Nina. I know that wouldn't have changed a bit," Matteo said as if it was the world's most known fact.

"Thank you for being such a good friend," Gastón smiled and gave him a quick hug, "Now, let's get this fitting over with."

***

"I see you've already started on the champagne," Matteo said with a smile as he entered the bridal shop with his best friend.

"You were just taking too long," Ámbar said with a smirk.

"Is Luna here yet?" Simón asked as he appeared and stood next to his fiancée.

"She was coming with Nina, she's probably running a little late," Matteo answered, "While we wait for the other girls to appear, we can already try the suits for me and the groomsmen."

"Oh, Simón in a suit, I can't wait to see that," Ámbar said as she sat down on the sofa in front of the fitting rooms with her glass in her hands.

"I'm sure you would look radiating in your bridesmaid's dress as well," he flirted and pecked her on the cheek. Getting into the fitting room.

The other guys followed but not before he sent a text to Luna that they needed to talk as soon as she came in.

"Hey, sorry we're late. We ran into some issues on the way," Luna apologized as soon as she came in the shop.

"It's fine, we already got started," Matteo greeted her as he walked out of the fitting room and taking Luna in his arms as he gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Don't you look handsome," Luna said as she looked him up and down.

"I always look handsome," he answered her with a fond smile.

"Let's look at the other before your ego grows too big," Ámbar interrupted their sweet moment.

"Here we are," Simón said as he appeared in front of the four people in the room.

"I'm definitely not disappointed to have come here," Ámbar said as she looked at the guy she loves so much.

"I'm sure I can't compare with you by my side at the wedding," Simón said while he gave her a big smile.

"Alright guys, let the girls put on their dresses and wait with the flirting when you have a room on your own," Matteo said as he put a hand on Simón's shoulder, showing them he's just teasing.

"Let's go Nina, the bride will put on her dress after Matteo left," Ámbar said and took Nina by the arm to lead her to the fitting room.

"Hold on, Ámbar, I'd like to ask you something first," Matteo stopped her before she was gone, Nina already disappeared.

"What's going on?" she frowned, having no clue why she was pulled apart.

"Yeah, your text sounded urgent," Luna interrupted.

"It's time we do some more matchmaking with the two lovebirds that aren't together but really want to be," Matteo said with an excited smile.

Simón turned to Gastón to confirm who they were talking about, Gastón just rolled his eyes and shook his head in exasperation.

"Is that why you two have been so secretive lately? Because you were playing matchmakers?" Ámbar raised an eyebrow.

"Sadly, yes," Gastón sighed.

"Come on, you agreed," Matteo said with a frown.

"I did and I think I'm starting to regret it," he answered.

"You don't," Matteo said without blinking.

Gastón answered: "You're right."

"Okay, what's the plan?" Luna interrupted, wanting to get back on track.

"We need to get them to talk alone without interruptions," Mattteo started to explain.

"Easy, just lock them in the fitting room, it locks from the outside," Ámbar simply said.

The four others look at her with a frown.

"What? I might not pull that stuff anymore but that doesn't mean I don't notice things," she said in a flat tone.

"You're brilliant, bonita," Simón said and gave her a kiss on her crown.

"Okay, now we just got to figure out how we get Gastón in that fitting room," Luna said, thinking out loud.

"That's easy. He just walks in," Matteo said.

They all start to think for a moment and couldn't find a better alternative. They ended up nodding and agreeing with his plan. It was the best they could do.

"Alright, let's get this crazy plan started," Gastón sighed and gave in. Getting ready to finally have the conversation he and Nina had to have.

#soy luna #lutteo #gastina #my soy luna fic #simbar #sl fanfiction #gaston perida #nina simonetti #luna valente #matteo balsano #ambar smith #simon alvarez

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hide-in-imagination · 4 months ago

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“Roads That Cross… Not Knowing What To Do"

Thank you all so much for your continued support, it means so much to me.

Things were fine, but they also weren’t.

That night, after their hug, Simón had insisted they finished the garlands as they had set themselves to do. Ámbar truthfully couldn’t have cared less about the garlands or her original plan of getting them done— Simón had forgiven her. Nothing else mattered to her. All she wanted was to be close to him, hug him more, kiss him, reaffirm herself that they were alright— She had been so scared...

But she didn’t want to be too imposing after they’d just reconciled, so she followed his lead, and agreed to work on the decorations.

Then they had dinner with everyone, and, sure, Simón was a little less talkative than usual—especially when he got asked about his ‘headache’ and Ámbar could feel his discomfort radiating from him— but they’d gone through an emotional moment just an hour ago. It was normal if things were still a little tense.

Then they climbed up to her room, with Simón carrying the cardboard box after having offered, and after he placed it on her coffee table, Ámbar held his hand and asked if he would stay the night with her. Simón hesitated, just a little bit, but then he smiled and squeezed her hand and said, ‘of course’, and Ámbar felt so relieved that she kissed him. She kissed him gently at first, just a tiny thing, but then she sought his lips again and tried to linger, tried to deepen the contact, and that was when Simón pulled away.

“Do you want to use the bathroom first or should I?”

It wasn’t an out-of-the-ordinary question, so Ámbar answered ordinarily as well. “Uh, no, I gotta take off my makeup and do all my skincare, so it’s going to take eons— You go first.”

And he said ‘okay’ and went to the bathroom, and it was normal, seemed just like routine, but Ámbar felt it… off.

Later, as they were lying under the covers to sleep, she soaked in the normalcy of it and convinced herself everything would be fine. They had just fixed things between them, so it was normal if it felt a little weird. They were still snuggled up together in spite of that, with Ámbar’s face on his chest and Simón’s arms around her, and it felt so nice after spending a whole night alone, in this bed that felt too empty without him.

She breathed in Simón’s scent and fell asleep, thinking everything would be better the next day.

It wasn’t. Not really.

Nor was the day after that.

--------------------

There was an air of hesitation that lingered around Simón and every move he made now. It wasn’t constant— it appeared every now and then, subtle, but Ámbar noticed, and it kept her from relaxing fully into their normal routine.

It also didn’t go unnoticed that they weren’t having sex. Which was fine— they didn’t need to do that every day. But they used to. So it was… different.

She couldn’t say it was all Simón because she hadn’t tried to initiate it either. But the mood just never felt right, and that was exactly the problem.

Getting there used to be easy, and now it was not.

And that, she felt, applied to everything.

It wasn’t like Simón was distant. He didn’t avoid contact with her or acted cold— Nothing like that. She also didn’t think he was… punishing her or something because of what happened. Whatever was up with him didn’t seem to be on purpose— In fact, it seemed like he wanted it gone just as much as she did. But it kept coming back.

The worst part was that Ámbar couldn’t address it. What could she say? Ask if there was anything wrong? She knew there was. And she knew it had to be related to her lies and her secrets, so she couldn’t bring it up because that would just lead to questions she couldn’t answer.

It was distressing.

And then, as if Ámbar didn’t have enough problems, Sharon happened.

------------------

The final nail in the coffin came in the form of a phone call— Again. Ámbar was in the mansion, working, when her phone started ringing, and every thought of the upcoming event she was overseeing flew out of her mind when she read the caller id.

‘Vanessa.’

Ámbar rejected the call. It was the middle of the day and the last thing she wanted was to talk to her godmother. After all the trouble she had caused her. After all the pain she kept putting her through because of her inability to do things right.

Ámbar put her phone on vibrate and continued working. But not two minutes passed by before her phone started vibrating, and when she didn’t pick up that call either, her screen lit up with a new message.

Vanessa: Pick up the phone, Ámbar.

When her phone started vibrating for the third time, Ámbar finally gave up and answered it. With a bit of luck, she would make it quick, and then she could go back to try to not let Sharon ruin her life.

“What do you want? It’s the middle of the day, I’m working.”

“Ámbar.” The sound of her name in her voice always brought her an ominous feeling. “How kind of you to finally pick up. Since you’re going straight to the point, allow me to do so as well,” Sharon said drily. “I heard from Rey that not only do you refuse to help me, but you’ve been also wandering around the mansion, searching for ways to stop my plans.”

Ámbar growled internally. That damned Rey— He’d fallen onto her clutches again, right when she’d had hope that Maggie had managed to convince him for good. Not only that, but he had tattled on her to her godmother after she specifically told him, threatened him, to keep his mouth shut.

Must everything go the opposite way of how I want it to?

“I don’t know what Rey told you, but I have no ulterior motives,” she replied as casually as she could. “I’m just working from home because all the noise at the Roller was distracting me.”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Ámbar; you’ve tested my patience enough already,” Sharon shut her down with a scathing tone. “I want you to stop this absurd rebellion you have against me immediately. Whether you like it or not, you and I are on the same side. The Valente will never forgive you for helping me, and you know that perfectly well. That’s the reason why you haven’t told them anything despite wasting your time pestering me, or am I wrong?”

Ámbar clenched her eyes shut. Maybe at some point that had been one of her worries, but it was never the main one, couldn’t she see? “I don’t want to have to tell them anything— I just want you to stop this before you ruin your life,” she begged.

All she wanted was to keep her safe. Everyone safe. Was that so much to ask? Couldn’t this war just end?

“And I want you to stop meddling with my plans, so listen carefully,” Sharon said in a hard voice. “Either you let Rey and Maggie do their jobs or I’ll be making a call to your two-bit boyfriend.”

Ámbar’s heart stopped. Every muscle on her body seized, quick and violently with the impetus of dread.

“What?”

She could hear Sharon’s sadistic smile on the phone. “I imagine you don’t want him to know about our conversations. How do you think he will react when he finds out you’ve been helping me since last year, pretending to be Sol Benson when you knew Luna was the real one?”

Ámbar shook her head. “You can’t do that.”

“No? How long do you think it’d take me to get his phone number? Half an hour? Less than?”

Ámbar swallowed her saliva, her mouth as dry as a desert, and took in a shaky breath. “No, you can’t do that because, if you do, I’ll talk,” she said. “I’ll tell them everything I know— Your new identity, that Rey and Maggie are helping you— everything about your plan.”

“So I’ll make another one,” Sharon replied easily, sinking Ámbar’s stomach to the ground. “I have time and resources. Rey and Maggie too are expandable. I could get other people to help me.” Her voice lost its levity then, gaining a dark edge to it. “One way or another, I will have my revenge, Ámbar. Now you can either stay on my side like you’ve always done, or face the consequences all by yourself. It’s your choice. This is your one and final warning.”

She hung up the phone.

Ámbar sat there, frozen from head to toe, trying to convince herself that this wasn’t happening, that it was just another nightmare. But the more she stayed there, the more achingly clear it became that this was reality.

She’s not going to stop.

The feeling sunk in and her chest started clenching. Panic.

She’s not going to stop. There’s nothing I can do. I have to tell them.

But Sharon, the other part of her wept. What will happen to her? I don’t want anything to happen to her. Why does it have to be me?

She could tell Maggie to do it. Maggie could give them all away— it wouldn’t have to be Ámbar.

But even then, the moment they were captured, either Rey or Sharon would make sure to tell everyone that Ámbar knew. They would want her to go down with them.

Simón would find out that Ámbar knew, and once again, she wouldn’t get the chance to explain anything to him because she wasn’t the one who told him.

But I don’t want to tell him. I want to be happy. I want us to continue being happy for a little longer.

Wouldn’t Simón choose the same? To remain in blissful ignorance for a little longer instead of going through heartbreak? Anyone would choose happiness, right?

Especially now that the Day of the Dead Roller Jam was coming up. She couldn’t ruin this for him. Maybe she could tell him after, but not right now.

Yeah, after. She could tell him after. At some point. She could do that.

She had to… she had to focus on the event first, and then on fixing whatever weird thing was up with her relationship with Simón, and then when things were good between them again, she could unveil everything, and maybe… maybe he’d understand. Maybe everything would be fine. Maybe…

Ámbar spent was felt like hours trying to calm down her pulse. She had no idea what a panic attack felt like, but she imagined the starts of one felt like this— like shortness of breath and a knot behind her sternum, so she had to calm down, think of something else.

She worked on decorations, one after another, focusing on the repetitive movements, and eventually, it worked. Her mind was getting clearer.

Then Rey walked in through the front door, passing by the lobby, and Ámbar saw red.

She was out of her seat in a fraction of a second. She yanked him into the empty dining room by his suit jacket and turned to him with such a fierce glare it should’ve killed him.

“How could you rat on me with Sharon?” She snarled. “You do know I can talk, right? I warned you, Rey. I told you not tomess with me. Are you out of your mind? Do you truly care more about Sharon than your own damn safety now?”

“I'm going to expressly ask you to calm down,” Rey seethed through gritted teeth, “and to not lay a single hand on me again because we both know you have a lot to lose from all of this.”

Ámbar scoffed and shook her head. “I don’t get it. I swear to god, I can not understand it— How can you not see this is reaching the end of the line, Rey? Any moment now, my godmother is going to sneak into this house because she is obsessed with that stupid chest, and she’s going to get caught, and then she, you, and Maggie are going get sent straight to a prison cell— You should be stopping her, not helping her!”

“Your godmother is not going to back out, miss,” Rey said with certainty, spitting the last word with venom. “She is unyieldingly set on destroying the Valente. And ensuring she doesn’t get caught doing it is my job. All you have to do, as you’ve done until now, is remain quiet.”

“I can’t, Rey, Ican’t— This is wrong,” Ámbar said in agony. “The Valente don’t deserve this— God, not even you and Maggie deserve this. Do you know what she told me?” She expressed with incredulity. “Do you know what Sharon told me when she called me earlier? That you’re replaceable,” she affirmed. “That she doesn’t care if you and Maggie go to jail because she can just pay someone else to do her dirty work. Open your eyes, Rey. This is going to end badly for everyone.”

Rey reared his head back a little. A few emotions flashed through his eyes—Fear, Ámbar was almost certain, and something that looked like hurt— but then all of that was gone as he put his firm expression back.

“I don’t believe a single word you say,” he enunciated strongly. “Your godmother considers me her right-hand man— I’ve spent years supporting her in everything she’s ever endeavored and she recognizes that.” Ámbar closed her eyes and shook her head, frustrated, distraught, but Rey kept talking. “You just want to confuse me because you’re scared of what your little boyfriend might think of all this. Sharon already warned me that you might react this way. But that’s all the more reason for you to keep your mouth shut. And I know you will.”

He leaned forward and looked her right in the eye. “You always do what’s most convenient for you. You can stop pretending otherwise.”

Rey straightened the jacket of his suit and walked away, leaving her standing there.

And Ámbar…

Ámbar hit the spot where he had been on the wall and drowned her fingers in her hair.

She couldn’t take this anymore.

------------------------

Later that night, as they were getting ready for bed, Ámbar put on a smile and turned to face Simón.

“Good news! Well, I hope it’s good news. Starting from tomorrow, I’m going to work in the Roller again.”

Simón finished putting on his sleep shirt and blinked in her direction. “Oh. You’re not going to work from home anymore? I thought you could focus better that way.”

Ámbar avoided his gaze by pulling back the covers. “Mm, maybe, but the Roller Jam is this Friday and I need to be where the action’s at.” She sat on the bed and reached for his hand. “Besides, I miss being able to see my favorite person all day.”

Simón’s expression showed a hundred different questions. He was suspicious—Of course he was. Her decision to start working from home had been abrupt, and now she was coming back to the Roller just as abruptly. It could be just whims. Ámbar was known to have them. But Simón wasn’t stupid.

He wasn’t, but he just showed a little smile and said nothing.

They got under the covers after that, and again, the air between them wasn’t tense, but it was different.

Maybe this different was their new normal. With everything she had done and was still doing, maybe she didn’t deserve more than this. Maybe it was something she had to get used to.

Ámbar buried her face in Simón’s neck and tried not to cry.

-------------------

On her very first day back in the Roller, she was surprised to find people happy to see her working there.

“We were starting to miss seeing you at that table,” Eric told her with a gentle smile. “I’ll bring you your usual juice right up.”

Ámbar blinked as he went to the bar. “Thank you…”

And then Ramiro smiled at her as well. “The Roller’s not the same without you, so welcome back.”

Warmth gathered inside of Ámbar. Everything looked so bleak lately that sometimes she forgot she had good relationships now— She wasn’t in the dark pit she once resided in. She didn’t have friendships based on hostility now. She wasn’t the pariah, completely alone, shunned by everyone. She wasn’t even that girl who only had friends because of the popularity she exuded.

She had genuine bonds now. Because she didn’t pretend anymore, nor did she attack anymore, and, surprisingly, some people seemed to like her without any facades.

Delfi saw her working on decorations in the afternoon and offered to help her with them. Ámbar felt a surge of joy and readily said yes— If there was one bond she was happy to have back, it was that one. This new go at their friendship was still rocky, but she felt like it got better every time they talked, and that was exactly what they did as they made the handicrafts— Talk, leisurely, casually, gloriously light and breezy with no particular direction.

Some minutes after they sat down to do that, Jim and Yam saw them working and asked to join in too. It took Ámbar by surprise, but the Roller Jam was just around the corner and she had to get these done, so the more hands, the better. She accepted gratefully.

Then Jazmín arrived and claimed she didn’t want to be excluded, so she started helping too. Ramiro joined in as well soon after, followed by Nina, and before Ámbar knew it, she had a whole group gathered on the Roller’s stage, all making decorations together. Even Simón and Pedro took a break to join them.

It felt so nice. Seeing everyone talking and working together… Feeling part of a group... Ámbar was pretty independent, and she didn’t mind doing things alone, but it was nice to be able to turn her brain off for a minute and let herself be carried by a cheerful current.

So, of course, something had to ruin it.

“What if we put candles around the rink like they do in México?” Jazmín proposed with sparkling eyes.

“It’d be very pretty, but also very dangerous, so let’s better not,” Simón kindly shot down her well-meaning but poor idea.

“Yeah, did you forget already how the rink caught fire last year?” Pedro said.

It was like a black hole had sucked out all the calm they’d felt until that moment. Ámbar’s chest contracted, and one could’ve heard a pin drop in the silence that followed.

Many stares fell on her at once.

Simón turned to his friend with a reproachful look. “Pedro.”

Even in the awkwardness, it made her a little happy to see him jump in her defense, but Ámbar didn’t want this to turn into an argument, so she hurried to intervene.

“No, it’s okay, you don’t have to censure yourselves for me,” she told them. The fire was something that happened and that affected everyone— It was bound to come up every now and then.

She didn’t want it to be a taboo topic forever. She didn’t want everyone’s eyes to turn judgmental and distrustful every time they talked about last year.

Of course, there wasn’t much she could do about that, but… there was one thing.

Ámbar cleared her throat a little, joining her hands in her lap to stop them from fidgeting. “Since you’re all gathered here, I’d like to take the opportunity to apologize about the fire.” She glanced at them. “I know most of you won’t believe me, but it really was an accident, and I’m sorry about that. And…” She brought her gaze down to her hands. “I’m sorry about the other stuff I did too.” There were so many she couldn’t even count them. She squirmed a little with discomfort and rushed her words, looking up. “I know that just saying it is not enough and that it’s going to take a while for you to see I really changed, but either way, I…”

Ámbar had to look away again. She was not good at this. “I don’t know, I just… wanted to… say that.”

Lame. That ending was so lame.

She stood up quickly. If she had to sit through one more awkward silence, she was going to jump off the roof. “I’ll go check the decorations in the rink.”

Ámbar walked away, fighting a grimace. God, she couldn’t believe she had done that.

But that’s it. I did it. It’s done now.

She knew she had to apologize at some point— it probably should’ve been item 1 on her list if she meant to mend her ways, actually. She should’ve planned more how she was going to do it, maybe rehearse the words or something, but the important part was that it was done, right? Better an improvised speech than nothing.

Once in the rink, Ámbar went over to her worktable, looking for something to do. There were a couple of skull decorations that could use a second coat of paint, so she gathered her brushes and the paints to do just that.

Before she could start working on the first, though, she heard footsteps approaching, and when she turned her head toward the sound, she saw Simón had come after her.

Oh.

She thought she’d have a little more time before she had to talk about it.

Simón stood barely two steps away from her, and her eyes flicked back to the decorations. She couldn’t ignore him though, obviously, so Ámbar placed the skull and the brush carefully back on the table and wiped her hands on her clothes before facing him, even though they were clean.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad was that apology?” She tried to joke, letting out an awkward huff of laughter.

Simón didn’t hold a fraction of her tension though. The smile that grew on his lips filled his whole face with warmth. His brown eyes looked at her with an incredible softness.

“It was great.”

Ámbar almost got speechless seeing such fondness directed at her. Simón grabbed one of her hands in both his own and held it between their chests. He caressed it gently with his thumb.

“That couldn’t have been easy. I didn’t expect Pedro to bring up the fire so out of the blue, I think it took all of us aback, but you handled it so well.” His hands squeezed hers. “You spoke from the heart, and I think the guys realized that too.” He took a step closer to her, his face absolutely beaming. “So, from one to ten, a hundred, bonita. A thousand. I’m very proud of you, my love.”

Oh.

Suddenly, Ámbar tried to remember if he had called her that the past few days. He had, of course, he had. But not like this. Not with that tone in his voice. Not with eyes so affectionate they kicked her heart into overdrive.

“Yeah?” Her voice came out too breathy, so she cleared her throat and spoke again, fast, a little clumsy. “I mean, I should’ve done it a long time ago, really. And maybe better. But it was the right thing to do, and, like I said, it’s not that I think this will fix everything; it’s not that easy. But at least—”

Simón held her face and kissed her. It wasn’t a hard kiss, but it was enough to cut off her nervous thoughts and leave her mind pleasantly blank.

“You were great,” he told her again, close.

Ámbar smiled, a mirror reflex from seeing him smile so beautifully, and welcomed his lips when he kissed her again.

And that night, their kisses did linger, and the contact did deepen, and Simón held her closer and closer. It was heady, and slow, and consuming.

It was easy.

*****************

“I’ll go check the decorations in the rink.”

Simón followed Ámbar with his eyes as she walked away, his heart doing a weird thing where it seemed like it wanted to squeeze and expand at the same time. Around him, his friends were just as quiet as him.

It was Nina who broke the silence. “Wow.”

Simón brought his gaze back to the group and saw similar expressions of surprise on everyone’s faces. The good kind.

“Is this the same Ámbar or did someone switch her with a clone?” Yam said in disbelief.

“I told you guys she had changed,” Delfi said with some superiority.

Simón couldn’t stay to hear more after that, possessed with the need to go to Ámbar.

His heart was thrumming as he walked toward the rink. It was a rush of elation, an invigorating mix of relief and love that started building the moment Ámbar started to speak. See? It screamed. I wasn’t wrong. I’m not wrong for believing in Ámbar. I never was.

It’d been hard the last few days. The constant fight against the voices in his head, rationality and emotion working on different wavelengths, and him, caught in the middle.

But that apology had been a balm to his anxious brain. Empiric proof that Ámbar was different from how she was before. Simón felt aligned again. He had hope. Sometimes, that was all he needed.

Things were much better after that day. They were good, actually. Their time spent at the Roller felt like old times. Everyone was smiling, excited by the upcoming Roller Jam, and the smiles didn’t dim around Ámbar anymore. Everyone worked together on the final preparations for the event. It was almost like they were all friends again.

In between waiting tables, Simón showed off his costume for the party to Ámbar and then stored it in the dressing room, ready for Friday. He was excited about sharing a little piece of his culture with his friends and with everyone who showed up, lured in by the decorations, and the food, and the music.

Ámbar said her costume was ready too. She refused to let him see it though, insisting on keeping it a surprise for the big day.

She really loves her secrets, doesn’t she?

Simón shot down the intrusive thought. He’d been doing that a lot lately. They kept popping up, but he wasn’t going to let them fester, especially for something like this. He loved surprises. It was fun.

Time flew by and suddenly it was the last night before the big event. At dinner, it was all everyone was talking about: Luna told her parents that they had to go check it out, even if only for a little bit. Mr. Alfredo invited himself too, which, of course, everyone agreed with. The guys went over the itinerary with Ámbar, especially Pedro and Simón, who would be on the employee side of things, and Michel marveled about how he was getting the best student exchange experience ever, because he didn’t only get to learn about one new culture, but two.

After dinner, when everyone had finished their food and the first few were excusing themselves to go up to their rooms, Maggie finished picking all the dishes from the table and turned to Ámbar with a smile.

“Ámbar, sweetie, want to do the dishes with me like last time? So I’m not so lonely doing it?”

Ámbar looked a little surprised, and bemused, by the invitation. Honestly, Simón was too. Maggie didn’t usually ask anyone to do things with her. Mónica sometimes offered, and Ámbar offered once as well, but that was it.

“Yeah, sure,” Ámbar replied after a moment, smiling, and got up from her chair. Simón thought of how much she’d changed from the conceited girl he met when he first arrived in Buenos Aires. That Ámbar would’ve never agreed to something like that, much less with a smile on her face. “Goodnight,” she told Simón, placing her hand shortly on his shoulder. She couldn’t openly say ‘See you later’ in front of Luna’s parents.

“Goodnight,” Simón said back, and watched her disappear inside the kitchen with Maggie. He stayed talking with his friends for a little longer and then excused himself and went up to Ámbar’s room.

The first thing he did was kick off his shoes and throw himself on the bed. He was tired from work, but also so excited about tomorrow he wasn’t sure how he was going to sleep. He knew he had to catch some good hours though— There was going to be a lot of movement tomorrow, lots of customers, and then a party. Hell, he even had a performance! He definitely had to sleep.

It was still early though, so he checked social media for a while, and then turned on the TV.

He had just opened Netflix when Ámbar walked into the room.

“Hey, just in time,” he greeted her, smiling. “I was thinking of watching a movie or something. What do you think?”

Ámbar blinked at him for a moment and then at the screen. “Um… Yeah, sure,” she said softly. “I mean, if you want.”

“I think I’ve been picking the movies for a little too long,” Simón joked self-critically. “You pick something.” He offered her the remote. “Whatever you want.”

Ámbar looked at the remote for a moment before taking it. “Okay.”

She went to the bed and Simón scooted over to his side to make space for her. Not like there was much space to give, the bed was small, but that wasn’t a problem when they were used to touching anyway.

Ámbar sat next to him, crossed-legged, and began to scroll through the different titles.

A moment passed. Simón watched her profile.

“You okay?”

Ámbar’s eyes moved from the screen to him. “Hm?” It took her a second to process the question. “Yeah, why?”

“Nothing, just, you’re a little quiet.” Ever since she came in, actually.

“Oh. No. I’m just focused on finding something,” she said, and brought her gaze back to the screen. “I don’t know if I want to watch a movie though— Maybe something shorter. With a faster pace. I don’t know, distracting.”

Ah.

Simón brushed back a lock of her hair and caressed her face softly with his knuckles.

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?”

If he was going to have a hard time sleeping, he could only imagine how she was feeling.

Ámbar met his eyes. There was something in hers, something familiar, like something he’d seen there before, but she lowered her gaze before he could discern exactly what. She could’ve stayed quiet and it would’ve still been obvious something was up. She confirmed it anyway. “A little.”

Simón cupped her face, waited until she looked back at him to give her his most reassuring smile. “It’s going to be amazing,” he told her with certainty. “You’ll see. You’ve worked too hard for it not to.”

Ámbar smiled.

The both of them focused on the screen after that to find something to watch. They ended up deciding on a sitcom, and they settled together with their backs against the pillows and Simón’s arm around Ámbar.

Simón enjoyed the show, but Ámbar still seemed a little distracted. She laughed a little late at the jokes, and was a little restless, moving her fingers constantly, checking her phone every few minutes, sometimes even seconds apart, as if she hadn’t looked at it right the first time.

She had to be really nervous, Simón thought. Ámbar had a tendency of being a perfectionist, and a little workaholic, so he wouldn’t be surprised if she was checking work emails even now. God knew it wouldn’t be the first time he caught her doing that after work hours.

After the second episode ended, Ámbar detached herself from his side and sat up. She shoved her phone into the pocket of her jeans as she turned to look at him.

“You know what? I think I’m gonna make myself some tea in the kitchen, maybe even something to eat, I don’t know— I’ll be back, okay?”

She started to get up but Simón caught her arm.

“Want me to get it for you?” He offered. It was the least he could do. All of tomorrow’s event was basically for his sake. “That way you don’t have to move.”

Ámbar showed him a smile but declined swiftly. “No, thank you, I’ll do it, don’t worry.”

She stood. Simón did as well. “No, really, I don’t mind.” He walked over to the other side of the bed to stand in front of her. “I mean,” he smiled playfully, “what use is the best Mexican boyfriend in the world if he can’t even bring his girlfriend food in bed?” He let out a little laugh. “Come on, what do you want? I believe you said tea. What flavor should I bring?”

“I don’t know, love, that’s why I want to go myself, let me do it.”

“Oh but that’s no problem, I can bring different options for you to choose, like before.” He felt a surge of amusement and fondness, remembering that time. “It’ll take me a little longer but—”

“Enough.”

Simón stopped in his tracks.

“That’s enough, Simón,I said ‘No, thank you.’ I’m very grateful, but I’m perfectly capable of doing things by myself. I’m going. Now drop it.”

Ámbar said it all sharp and fast, in one go, like exasperated.

Simón stood very still. His train of thought had turned to nothing.

Ámbar winced looking at his face and sighed. Her whole body softened and she moved closer to him, placing her hands on his shoulders gently.

She caressed them as she spoke. “Look. We’re both tired. Tomorrow’s a big day. Why don’t you stay here, rest, put on a movie like you wanted to, and I’ll watch it with you once I’m back, okay?” She kissed his cheek. “Wait for me.”

With that, she pulled away and walked out of the bedroom.

Simón stared at the door in her absence. Strange. All of that had been too strange. One second, they were fine, and the next, she was snapping at him with a hard voice— She didn’t have to get so defensive over something like that.

Unless it wasn’t about that.

Why was she so desperate for me to stay here?

Simón walked over to the door, and his hand was already on the handle when he stopped himself.

“No.” He let go and turned around, letting out a huff of laughter. “No, come on, what am I doing?”

Why would Ámbar lie about going to the kitchen? It was ridiculous. He was paranoid. What did he want to do? Go down there and make sure she was actually there?

What if she isn’t?

Simón shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. He was overthinking it. Yes, she was acting a little strange, but she was nervous. Worried and stressed about tomorrow. That was most probably why she lashed out too, but she realized her mistake and changed her tune immediately. Those things happened under stress.

He decided to stop dwelling on it and walked over to his side of the bed. He picked up his phone from the nightstand and checked the time. It wasn’t that late yet. He placed it back on the nightstand, and was about to put on a movie, like Ámbar said, as a distraction, when a thought struck him.

Her phone.

Simón’s heart stuttered. He flicked his eyes toward the opposite nightstand. It was empty. His feet brought him over to it as if to make sure, and then he looked around, over the vanity, the table. Nothing.

He remembered he’d seen her putting it in her pocket.

His stomach sunk low.

She took her phone with her.

Simón’s mind went into overdrive. Ámbar had been checking her phone incessantly since she walked into the room, hadn’t she? He thought it was work emails—What if it wasn’t? Why would she bring her phone to make herself tea?

Maybe just to pass the time?? A critical voice retorted in his head. You’re exaggerating.

Was he? Because it was all adding up. She’d been acting strange, distracted, checking her phone instead of focusing on the show, and now, suddenly, she wanted to be alone so badly that she basically ordered him to stay here, and she took her phone with her.

She could’ve taken it without thinking, it’s not that big of a deal, the voice reproached again. It sounded like himself. Like his old self. The one who had stronger views of right and wrong.

Good thing that she took it too or you would’ve already gone through it with the way you’re acting right now.

Simón stopped pacing at once. He hadn’t even realized he was doing it.

No. Absolutely not.He was not that kind of boyfriend.

He kept repeating that in his head while he fought the urge to go to the kitchen. I’m not like that, I don’t want to be like that, I won’t do it—

But his eyes kept glancing at the door.

**********************

“Ámbar, sweetie, want to do the dishes with me like last time? So I’m not so lonely doing it?”

Upon receiving Maggie’s invitation, Ámbar immediately got a bad feeling in her gut. Maggie’s expression was sweet and chirpy— overly so, if you knew how she really was, which was a clear indicator that something was up. Ámbar saw it in her eyes. ‘Come with me’ they urged.

Ámbar did so. Once in the kitchen, Maggie handed her a pair of gloves, the same ones she’d used last time, and for a moment, they just washed the dishes normally.

“Sorry about that, but I needed to talk to you,” Maggie started in a quiet voice.

“Yeah, I figured, what happened?” Ámbar said in the same volume.

“Well, you didn’t hear it from me but…” Maggie looked around quickly, making sure there was no one near. She leaned closer. “I overheard Rey talking on the phone with Sharon. She’s going to sneak into the house tonight.”

Ámbar’s heart leaped. “What? At what time? Right now?” She expelled in a rush.

“I don’t know!” Maggie whisper-yelled too. “Rey didn’t even tell me about it— I only heard him because I noticed he was acting weird and spied on him. Clearly, he’s being very cautious.”

Ámbar scrubbed the plate in her hands to let out some of her nervous energy. She should’ve known it was only a matter of time before this happened. She wasn’t expecting to hear about it, though. Now that she had the information, what was she supposed to do with it?

“Why are you telling me?” She asked Maggie. If Rey didn’t even tell her about it, clearly the plan was exclusively between him and Sharon.

“I don’t know, I thought maybe you could do something about it and save us all from going to prison?” She suggested. The fear and urgency in her voice were evident, and in her movements as she washed the dishes too. “I mean, it’s too risky coming here again after she was almost caught twice before. I’m telling you, Sharon has completely lost her mind.”

Ámbar lowered her gaze to the sink. She felt her heart drop to her stomach, wilted like a two-week rose. “I know. But there’s nothing I can do to stop her,” she admitted ruefully. “I’ve tried everything; it’s useless.”

Maggie sighed heavily. “Rey too. For a moment, I thought I had gotten through to him but… Ugh! I don’t know what enchantment that woman pulled him under.” She scrubbed the dishes with more force. “So, what do we do?”

Ámbar watched the suds and food scraps drip down the drain. Her voice came out hopeless. “I don’t know.”

The two washed the dishes in silence for a while. Ámbar got lost in her thoughts. Thoughts of how she wished things had gone differently. Thoughts of all the things she could do… and all the consequences those decisions could bring.

Maggie broke the silence after some minutes. “If they catch her…” Ámbar’s heart faltered. “Could you please tell everyone that I tried to stop this?”

Ámbar looked to the side, meeting her gaze. Maggie drew a tiny smile on her lips. It looked gloomy. “My designer clothes weren’t made for jail.”

Once more, Ámbar was made very aware of all the lives that were entangled in Sharon’s plot. Everything that could be ruined if she talked. Everything that could be ruined if she didn’t.

She wondered if Rey had told Maggie about what Sharon told her on the phone, about replacing them, her disregard for their safety.

Even if he didn’t, Maggie seemed to know. She wouldn’t be asking her this otherwise.

“Yeah, I’ll tell them,” Ámbar promised. She couldn’t control many things, but this she could do.

She went up to her room with a thousand thoughts raging through her mind. Of course, Simón noticed. He always noticed when something was up with her, even if he didn’t know why.

Outwardly, Ámbar tried to seem composed while her pulse galloped with anxiety, harder every minute. She couldn’t stop looking at the time, wondering if Sharon had already entered the mansion or if she hadn’t yet; wondering if she should talk, right now, put an end to everything once and for all, or stay out of it and hope it resolved by itself. Maybe someone else would catch her. Maybe something would come up and Sharon wouldn’t sneak in at all. But if she did— How could she waste such an opportunity to stop her? But if she didn’t, Ámbar would just be ending her peaceful days prematurely for nothing. But it wouldn’t be for nothing— It was the right thing to do. But she had the event tomorrow. But that wasn’t the most important thing. But—

The second episode of the sitcom ended and Ámbar couldn’t have said what any of the character’s names were. She had to leave. She had to do something.

But Simón was being inopportunely sweet, and ugh—

She walked out of her room feeling like a rope frayed to the last thread, tugged in all directions. She had to move, or she was going to break.

Ámbar sped over to Sharon’s room. There was no one inside when she walked in. Was she late? Had it already happened?

She pulled out her phone to call Sharon but then stopped herself short. She couldn’t call her— What if she was already making her way inside and the ringtone alerted everyone of her presence? Same thing with a message. She wanted to believe Sharon wouldn’t be so stupid as to not set her phone on silent mode, but she hadn’t been making the most rational decisions lately, so she didn’t know.

She chose to hide somewhere and wait. Everyone hadn’t gone to bed that long ago— it was unlikely her godmother had been in and out already. The curtains next to the bed were long enough to hide her feet, so Ámbar got behind them and turned to the window, which gave her a view of the front yard of the house.

She didn’t know how long she spent standing there, looking out. It was probably just a few minutes, but her nerves were strung tight, and it felt like hours. She thought she saw something at some point, but it was dark and she was high up, and there was the chance that Sharon wouldn’t even use the main entrance to walk in. All the uncertainty and the waiting did nothing to assuage her heart rate.

Then she heard someone opening the door.

Ámbar held her breath. Her senses zeroed in on every little noise, cataloging each of them, discerning.

Heels. She could clearly hear the sound of heels walking on wooden floor.

Ámbar pushed the curtain aside and stepped forward.

In a red hair wig and a similar dress to the one she’d seen before, Sharon stopped in her tracks and spun around quickly, reacting to the sound of footsteps other than her own, and her wide eyes met Ámbar’s in the semi-darkness.

Sharon’s posture relaxed, just slightly, when she saw it was her. That was a mistake. Ámbar would let her know.

“What are you doing here?” Sharon’s voice was accusatory.

“I should be asking you that.” Ámbar marched across the room, passing by Sharon and standing between her and the bookshelf that concealed the secret chest. “I told you it was too dangerous. But, of course, you wouldn’t listen to me. You don’t listen to anyone but yourself.”

“I don’t have time for sermons, Ámbar,” Sharon said dismissively and tried to go toward the bookshelf.

Ámbar stood in her way.

Sharon glared at her with irritation.

“Step aside.”

“No.”

Sharon’s eyes threatened murder. “Ámbar.”

“What’s most important to you?” She asked. “Whatever’s in that chest or your revenge?”

“Both,” Sharon spat darkly, and tried to push past her, but Ámbar blocked her way again.

“No, you don’t get both.” Her voice was strong and resolute. Her posture firm. “You’re in a checkmate, godmother. One scream from me and all your plans are over— Rey will not be able to save you in time. You’ll have to pay for what you did.”

Sharon looked at her appraisingly, taking her words for what they were— A threat.

Her lips curled into an ironic smile. “So, it’s finally come to this, huh?" She shook her head. "Raise crows and they will poke out your eyes.”

Ámbar didn’t respond to that proverb. This wasn’t a betrayal. She told herself it wasn’t. “I’m giving you a choice,” she made clear. “Take whatever is inside that chest, leave all of us alone, for good, and you can spend the rest of your days building an empire somewhere else or whatever it is that you want. But if you insist on your stupid revenge, I promise you, I will personally make sure to stop you, even if you manage to escape tonight, which seems very unlikely.”

Sharon watched her in silence, and Ámbar could see in her expression that she knew it too— Right now, the cards weren’t in her favor.

“So, I ask you again,” Ámbar said with finality. “What’s more important to you?”

The two took each other’s measure, unblinking, unmoving.

Sharon spoke flatly. “Step aside.”

“No.”

“Move, Ámbar,” she reiterated with annoyance. “I’ll take what’s mine and go. Far away,” she clarified. She was conceding. “So long as you keep your end of the bargain as well.”

Ámbar hesitated. Could she trust her to keep her word? Could she trust her own vow of hunting her to the ends of the Earth if she didn’t?

Ironically, it was Simón’s words that crossed her mind.

For someone to change, you have to give them a chance to do so.

Sharon wasted no time in advancing toward the bookshelf once Ámbar stepped out of the way. The furniture made a clicking noise as the secret compartment was revealed, and Sharon pulled the little doors open to access the chest inside. Ámbar stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest, watching as Sharon pulled the key out of her purse, hoping she wouldn’t regret this later.

She had to look away as she opened it. What if this was a terrible mistake? What if whatever was in that chest was even worse than the revenge she wanted to inflict on the Valentes? What if—

The sound of struggle reached her ears. Metal against metal, wood being shaken, followed by an angry tsk of Sharon’s tongue.

“It’s not working— This is not the right key!” She fumed.

Ámbar whipped her head toward her. “What?” How could it be the wrong key? Right when she’d made a deal with her? “Are you sure? Here, let me try—”

She reached for the key, but Sharon twirled around quickly, blocking her way to the chest. “No!” She exclaimed, frantic. “I don’t want you anywhere near this chest, you hear me? Especially you. And Luna.”

Ámbar frowned, both at her exaggerated reaction and the words that came with it. What did she mean ‘especially you and Luna?’

She didn’t get to ask about it because, right then, the knob of the door rattled as someone tried to open it. Sharon had had the good sense to lock it when she walked in, but that didn’t change the fact that there was someone outside the door right now, someone who then knocked when they couldn’t push it open.

“Hello?” It was Luna. “Is someone there?”

Time seemed to slow down around Ámbar. It was over. The key didn’t work, so Sharon couldn’t have what was in the chest, and without that, their deal was void, so she couldn’t risk letting her go— She had to give her away. Now.

Her eyes met her godmother’s, and she knew from the look in them that she was thinking the same thing.

There was fear in them. Ámbar didn’t think she had ever seen her that scared before, with the certainty of doom paling her face, and never with that look directed at her.

Ámbar didn’t think. She just acted.

“Hide.”

Time started moving again.

Ámbar went to the door and turned the key to unlock it. Before opening it, she took a glance behind her back, making sure Sharon wasn’t visible. She couldn’t spot her.

She opened the door just enough to show herself to Luna.

“Luna, hi, sorry for locking the door.”

“Ámbar?” Luna looked at her with her face wrinkled in confusion. “What are you doing in Sharon’s room?”

“You have no idea what just happened.” Ámbar walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Years of pretending to be good paid out now, fueling her improvisation. “I was coming back from the kitchen when I started hearing some weird noises. I thought they were footsteps and I got scared— I thought maybe Sharon had come here again, so I came to her room, but there was no one. I haven’t seen anyone else either, or heard anything since then. I think maybe I imagined it all. I’ve been paranoid since the last time she came here.”

Luna’s eyes fluttered with surprise. “Wow, I— I haven’t heard anything. I was in my room and wanted to come here, and I didn’t see anything on the way either, maybe you did imagine things.” Ámbar nodded her head. Luna frowned. “Wait— And why did you lock the door?”

Her heart jumped to her throat. “Because I’m paranoid,” Ámbar said. “Like I said, I got scared that maybe someone was here and they were going to try and come for the chest, so I locked myself inside, and then you knocked on the door and almost gave me a heart attack.” That part was actually true.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Luna apologized. She lowered her gaze a little shyly, fidgeting with her fingers. “I just— Since tomorrow we’ll be celebrating the Day of the Dead at the Roller, I got a little sentimental and I thought maybe I could search for some pictures of Lily and Bernie.” Her eyes looked at the door wistfully. “This used to be their room, before. Would you help me look?”

Her hand reached for the handle but Ámbar blocked her way. “No, no, I don’t think it’d be a good idea.” She contorted her face into an image of empathy. “I mean, if you’re already feeling kind of sad about it, I think seeing pictures would only make you feel worse. Maybe tomorrow,” she suggested, “with the whole Roller Jam and everything, you’ll be in better spirits and you can search then.”

“Well, I’m not feeling that sad really—”

“And now that you mention it—” She needed to get her away from here, now. “You know, I have a problem with my costume for tomorrow, you think you could help me?”

Luna frowned. “Me?”

“Yeah, I mean, you’re from México, and there’s something about it that doesn’t seem quite right to me. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but I’d like a second opinion. Could you come to my room and check it out with me?”

“Simón is from México too, why don’t you ask him?”

“I’m keeping it a surprise from him, he hasn’t seen it yet.” Again, all the better lies always had a kernel of truth. Ámbar joined her hands together. “Please, Luna? It’ll be quick, I promise, I’ll let you be after that.”

Luna hesitated, still looking very confused, but she agreed. “Okay, sure.”

Powerful relief flooded Ámbar as they started walking and left Sharon’s room behind, further and further with each step they took. She had no idea what minimal detail of her costume she was going to point out to Luna once they got to her own room, but that was unimportant— The coast was clear now. Sharon would be able to escape.

As soon as that thought registered in her mind, her chest hitched with a sharp pang. Her stomach sunk along with her relief, both crushed under a wave of guilt so potent it was almost asphyxiating.

Her brain reproached her without mercy. You weren’t supposed to let her escape— You had to stop her!

Ámbar’s pulse went wild again, and she became very aware of her own breathing. She tried to keep it normal, but now that she’d stopped moving by instinct, her mind was frantic, urging her to action so loudly it was like a blare in her ears.

It’s not too late. Turn around. Tell Luna to go get her parents. You have Sharon right there, served on a silver platter— What are you doing?

But Sharons’ face. The fear in her eyes.

Who cares? You’re not at fault for everything she has to pay for. Hand her over, help getting her captured, and the Valente will be grateful. Maybe even Simón will be happy. Maybe he’ll be proud of you, for doing the right thing, like when you apologized in the Roller.

Ámbar felt her stomach so tied up in knots it was like she was going to be sick.

“Ámbar?” Luna spoke to her. “Are you okay? Is something wrong?”

Her heart pounded even harder.

“No.” Her natural instinct was to lie. Hide everything behind a smile. “Everything’s fine, I’m okay.”

“Is the issue with your costume that bad?” Luna ventured, clearly not believing her words.

A breathless laugh burst out of Ámbar. “No, no, that’s just a tiny thing, you’ll see when we get there.” Her hands fidgeted. “It’s just…”

She could feel Luna’s stare on her face. Ámbar swallowed.

“It’s just that… thinking that Sharon had sneaked into the house again left me a little rattled, that’s all.”

Lie. Liar. Say the truth. Stop this. Stop this.

“I didn’t know that Sharon’s appearances had affected you so much,” Luna said with sympathy, but there were some strong undertones of surprise and bemusement. “I mean, with how close you two used to be, I would guess you’re the one with the least reasons to worry. She would never do anything to you.”

Thump.

A dagger ran through Ámbar’s heart.

It took her a while to regain her composure. She had to remind herself how untrue that was, all the things Sharon had done, everything she had threatened to do.

“You forget she lied to me about my identity,” she said to Luna. And that’s only what you know.

Luna looked down, embarrassed. “Oh. Right. You’re right,” she said quietly, and remained quiet all the rest of the way, which suited Ámbar just fine.

She didn’t want to talk. She wanted to wrap up this ruse as quickly as possible and then get into bed. She had a big day tomorrow after all. That was the only thing she had to focus on right now.

Coward, her brain grumbled at her.

‘You always do what’s most convenient for you,’ she heard Rey’s voice. ‘You can stop pretending otherwise.’

She was sure that was how it looked from the outside. But Rey was wrong.

Ámbar didn’t do what was convenient for her, almost never. She did whatever poured out of her in the moment— Whatever she could. She told herself she was smart, and cunning, and calculative, but she wasn’t. She followed her emotions more often than her head. She got things wrong. Over, and over, and over.

Maybe she could break that cycle if she weren’t so stupid, she thought numbly. She would never know, she guessed. She was too emotional to do things right, too much of a disaster to stop making more messes.

I deserve everything coming my way.

She opened the door of her room and saw Simón on the bed, already wearing his pajamas. He did a double-take when he saw she wasn’t alone, surprised and confused.

“Luna?” He said, blinking. “Wha…?”

Ámbar drew a smile on her face.

Time to perform! Don’t you just love that, you lying bitch?

“I found Luna on the way and asked her to help me with my costume, sorry for startling you.”

She closed the door behind them.

**********************

Simón didn’t go to the kitchen.

He didn’t leave the room at all, mainly because he had made a decision, long ago, regarding Ámbar. He chose to believe in the good in her. He chose to trust her when he started this relationship, and chose it again when she apologized about the phone call. He had to stick by that choice. He couldn’t keep wavering over every little thing.

Ámbar wouldn’t lie to me again, he stated in his mind, with conviction, with logic. Not after what happened the last time. She knows better and she wouldn’t do that to me. She loves me.

Since she loved him, she wouldn’t purposely do something that would hurt him, right?

Simón went to use the bathroom and do his nighttime routine— brush his teeth, wash his face. Ámbar had a wide variety of products and she’d told him to just help himself to whatever. There was a cleanser he liked, so he’d taken to using that one. It definitely made his face feel better than regular soap.

He usually would take a shower, but he wanted to be present when Ámbar came back to the room (he told himself there was no particular reason behind that). He could take one in the morning, he decided, and walked out of the bathroom.

He changed into his sleep t-shirt and pajama pants, a soft cotton combination he fancied in the colder months. Well, usually he wore a little more, like thicker pants or a long-sleeve shirt, but that was in the loft when he slept with barely a sleeping bag on top of him, and most importantly, that was when he slept alone, because Ámbar might use him to warm up her cold feet every night, but that didn’t mean her body didn’t produce heat. If Simón tried to sleep more covered, he would lie awake in a puddle of sweat.

Ámbar still hadn’t come back when he laid back down on the bed. He scrolled through Instagram for a few minutes, checking the passage of time, until he realized he was doing that and put his phone down. He grabbed the remote and searched for a movie to watch (he didn’t really want to watch anything but…)

He had just selected something when the bedroom door opened. Simón looked toward it, expecting to see Ámbar, but he didn’t expect to see—

“Luna?” He sat up. “Wha...?”

“I found Luna on the way and asked her to help me with my costume, sorry for startling you,” Ámbar said to him, and closed the door behind them both. “Thank god you were dressed.”

Luna grimaced so hard after hearing that.

“Oh,” Simón said, taking that in. He crossed his legs, leaning slightly forward. “Does that mean I finally get to see it?”

“Nope,” Ámbar replied humorously. “We’re gonna be in my en-suite— No peaking!” She started crossing the room and looked behind her. “Follow me, Luna.”

The two disappeared inside the bathroom seconds later, leaving Simón alone again.

He frowned.

Well, that was weird.

Ámbar left to serve herself some tea or something and then she showed up around twenty minutes later with Luna in tow?? Had Luna ever even been inside Ámbar’s room before? They never had the best relationship. They got along well enough now, but enough for Ámbar to bring her here and ask for her opinion on her costume? A costume that she didn’t even show him?

Well, if she doesn’t want to show it to you, it makes sense she’d have to ask someone else.

But now? The night before? When Ámbar liked to be prepared for everything and always tried to leave things ready in advance?

You’re overthinking again.

After some minutes, he heard the bathroom door open, so he quickly schooled his face into a neutral expression. Luna and Ámbar reappeared in the room, the latter stopping by her closet to put back a hanger with a black garment cover on it.

“Thank you again, Luna, sorry for bothering you.”

Luna chuckled. “I really didn’t do anything— I don’t know why you thought there was something wrong with your dress.”

“Ssh.” Ámbar tilted her head pointedly toward Simón.

Luna’s eyes widened. “Dress, pants, blouse—Who knows?” She corrected, letting out another light laugh. She smiled at both of them as she walked to the door. “Goodnight, Simón, see you tomorrow.”

He smiled at her. “Goodnight.”

Luna left the room, letting the two of them alone. Simón’s eyes immediately focused on Ámbar. He saw her sigh, the slightest bit of tension dropping from her shoulders, and she ran her fingers through her hair, probably in an unconscious gesture.

“How was it that you ended up with Luna again?”

He made his voice sound curious and not suspicious— Just conversational. Ámbar’s back still straightened before she turned to look at him.

“I was coming back from the kitchen when I heard some weird noises,” she started saying. “Or, well, I thought I had heard weird noises. Evidently, I was wrong.”

Ámbar bent down to take off her shoes. She kept talking as she put them back in her closet, and then as she walked toward her vanity and started taking off her jewelry. “But when I went to check Sharon’s room to make sure everything was fine, that’s where I met Luna. She wanted to look for photos of Lily and Bernie. She said that since we’ll be celebrating the Day of the Dead tomorrow, she was feeling melancholic. I told her it’d be better if she saw them some other day, since looking at their pictures now would only make her sadder, and that’s when I asked her to come help me with my costume.” Now that she’d stored everything back in its place, she spun to face him with a smile. “What better way to take her mind off such sad topics, right?”

Simón’s shoulders slumped a little. “Right.”

He felt a little bad after hearing her explanation. It all sounded perfectly reasonable— even nice toward Luna.

I’ll have to ask her later to see if she tells me the same story.

Simón shook himself internally right after finishing that thought. What was wrong with him? He was blowing this whole thing way out of proportion— He just had to believe her and that was it.

Ámbar went to her nightstand to leave her phone charging. Simón finished processing her words.

“So… there was nothing wrong with your costume, actually,” he concluded.

Ámbar turned her head toward him, and her whole posture revealed she’d been caught. She showed him an apologetic smile with a tint of playfulness. “Could you keep it a secret from Luna?” She asked. “I don’t want her to think I was just messing with her like I used to do; that wasn’t my intention.”

Simón smiled. “Yeah, sure.”

So, there was a lie, but just a little white one. Maybe that was what his intuition was picking up on and it was nothing bad after all. It definitely was more believable than Ámbar seeking help with her costume the night before the event.

And her doing all of that just for Luna is more believable? His brain mocked. They’re not even friends.

Simón tucked his hands under his thighs and curled them into fists. Stop it.

“Thank you,” Ámbar said. She glanced at the TV. “I see you found a movie.” She climbed onto the bed and sat next to him. “Did you start watching it already?”

“No, not yet.”

“Good, so we can watch it together,” she said smiling. “Although,” she checked her phone briefly, “it’s a little late now. I better take off my makeup first, so we can just turn off the TV after and sleep.” She slipped out of her side of the bed. “I’ll brush my teeth too. I’ll be right back.”

Simón got up. “Wait.”

He intercepted her on the way. Ámbar stopped and looked at him curiously.

He wrapped his arms loosely around her and put on a smile. “I want a kiss first.”

Ámbar’s face filled with tenderness. With her hands on his chest, she tilted her head up to give him a kiss, sweet and short. Too short. “Are you charging me a toll to pass through now?” She said with amusement.

“Yes,” he said, and leaned in to join their lips once more.

He kissed her longer this time. Softly at first, then a little more insistently, tilting his head and parting her lips with his. He sucked on them slightly before pulling back.

She didn’t taste like tea.

Simón held her head between his hands and kissed her deeper. Ámbar’s hands went to his back, and when his tongue entered her mouth, her fingers dug into his skin and she let out a little moan. Simón felt an answering shiver go down his body. Heat pooled low in his stomach, but she didn’t taste like anything. She didn’t smell like anything. Nothing.

Then what did you do for twenty minutes?

Ámbar pulled back, panting a little. Simón’s breathing was accelerated too. Her hands held his shoulders. “Um.” She looked down momentarily. “Not that I don’t like it, but maybe we should just watch the movie,” she said slowly. “We have a long day tomorrow and it’s already late.”

Simón knew the twinge in his chest wasn’t rational. He felt it anyway.

“You don’t want to?”

Ámbar looked a little troubled. Maybe it was an unfair question to ask. Maybe it wasn’t. Simón felt like he didn’t know anything at the moment. “It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just…”

She looked to the side and— Oh… There was that look on her face again. The one she always denied that existed.

She blinked it away soon. She always did. “Actually, you know what?” She cupped his face. “It doesn’t matter.”

And for once, Simón instinct wasn’t to ask. He didn’t want to know what was causing her hesitation. He didn’t want to talk. He wanted to drown himself in a feeling.

So, when Ámbar kissed him, that was exactly what he did.

He poured all of himself into the meeting of their mouths. He held her against him and moved them to the bed, and with every layer they took off, he reminded himself of something.

She loves me.

Ámbar pulled him down and closer, pressing her body against his and circling him with her legs.

Even if sometimes I annoy her. Even if I don’t have that much to offer. Even if I don’t have a place of my own. She doesn’t care about any of that. She doesn’t want anyone else. She loves me.

He entered her in one slide, groaning at the tight, melting feeling, and Ámbar moaned, sighing as he bottomed out as if it was a relief to have him this close to her. She kissed the side of his neck, his jaw, his temple, and Simón started to move, stealing a gasp from her kiss-swollen lips.

Ámbar loves me.

He kissed her mouth and her neck. Heard her moan.

I know she does.

He thrust harder.

I know she does.

“Hey.”

Ámbar grabbed his face. Simón stopped.

“What’s the matter? Is it a cramp?” She asked breathlessly. “Why the painful face?”

Simón’s chest seized. Ámbar was looking at him with worried eyes.

He didn’t want to talk.

“Yeah, it’s a cramp,” he said. “But it’ll go away, it doesn’t matter.”

Ámbar’s face softened with sympathy. “Let’s switch positions.”

She guided him gently to lie on his back while she got on top of him. She arched up with her hands on his stomach and moved her hips, getting fully seated on his cock. A little trembling sigh left her lips.

“Better?”

Simón reached for her. “Can you kiss me while you do that?”

Ámbar lowered her upper body, moaning a little at the change of angle, and pressed their lips together.

Simón held the back of her neck and kissed her fervently as she moved.

Ámbar loves me. I know she does.

…

----------------------

I played a little with the timeline in this chapter, doing some back and forth, which is something I hadn’t done before. I hope you liked it. I personally love this chapter a lot.

As a fun fact, I’ll tell you that this changed drastically from my first draft back in 2020. The ending, though, with the ‘Ámbar loves me, I know she does’ is the one thing that didn’t change, and I’m very happy I could keep it.

I’M SO EXCITED ABOUT NEXT CHAPTER !!!!

Coming up -> Roads that cross… with the Day of the Dead (Part 1)

#simbar #soy luna #simbar fic #simbar fanfic #soy luna fanfiction #My Writing #roads that cross #I love so many things about this- Especially Simón's last POV- like uggghhhh love this so much #I know I wrote it but I dont always love what I write so let me enjoy this ksjdnf

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