#gastina ff

[sedonalace]

Stormy Nights with You- Gastina

Hey everyone! I thought it would be nice to give everyone a small break from working on ficweek so i brought this to y’all. (For the record I still haven’t started yet because I was working on this and yeah I know my life is a total mess I get it.) Anyways I hope you enjoy it! Send requests and good luck to everyone on finishing their ficweek prompts!!!

No school on a cold and dark day made for a brilliant date for Nina and Gaston. At Nina's house, they watched movies all day long, ordered pizza (twice), and occasionally make out every now and then.

Even after a year and a half of dating, Nina still gets flustered every time, but Gaston would never ever put her in a position she didn't want to be in. She was grateful for that. That she was the luckiest girl to ever find someone so relatable and understanding as Gaston. She loved having him by her side, and he with her. He loved that he could share the same passions with her and adore her with his entire being. They were truly a match made in heaven.

Throughout the day it began to rain. It began to pour later on, the storms were nearly coming. However, it was 10 o'clock meaning Gaston probably should be going. He took his arm from around Nina's shoulder, which caused her to look up from the screen.

"It's getting pretty late, I think I should be going." As Gaston is about to get up, Nina grabs a hold of his arm. "How are you getting home? You walked here." That stumped him there. He didn't really think this through. "I'll just call Matteo to come get me, don't worry." Nina nods in agreement and returns back to the screen, still unsure.

The phone kept ringing and ringing but Matteo did not pick up. Gastón called back again six more times and nothing. "He's not picking up," he calls his girlfriend to attention. "Probably having a little too much fun with Luna on their date tonight." Nina rolled her eyes at this. "It's fine, just stay a bit longer until it stops raining" she suggests.

"You're right. Maybe the rain will clear down soon." She shyly nods in agreement and pulls him back next to her, resuming the movie. He was still a bit anxious though, worried that the rain would keep going. What was he supposed to do then? He didn't bring his car, the bus doesn't run this late at night in this area, and he had nobody else to pick him up.

An hour and a half pass by and the rain is as strong as ever. Gaston was really panicking now. Nina seemed to sense his anxiousness and glanced at her watch and out the window. They look at each other reflecting the same expression. She bites her lip and looks down at her lap. She has an idea but is a bit nervous about. There really is no other option so she just goes for it.

"Um, Gaston?" He snaps out of his mind and turns to his girlfriend, all ears at her. "I-I think you should spend the night....... It's raining badly and all and.... It's just for one night." She looks back up at her boyfriend who wears a surprised expression on his face.

He really wasn't expecting her to suggest that. They had never done anything besides kissing before, and they had never slept over at each other's houses. Nina has always been a quiet and reserved person so they had always been very relaxed as a couple. Her suggestion really threw him off. He wasn't opposed to the idea, he just wasn't sure if it was because she wanted him to or just for hospitality.

"Nina, you don't have to. Really, I'll be fine. Besides, what about when you're dad comes back? I don't think he'd like the idea of me being here. But thank you, I appreciate it." She sat up a bit straighter to talk properly to him. "No, I'm not letting you walk back at this time at night in the rain. My dad texted me not long ago that he had some really big idea for this new app so he might be at his office for a few more hours, probably pulling an all-nighter. I'm okay with it. It'll be alright." She pulls his hand into hers, entwining their fingers together.

Gaston looks back up at her and bites his lip and sighs defeated. "Well if you're okay with it and everything. I'll stay." Nina's lips pull into a shy smile. "Okay, great." They quietly agreed and spent the next few hours in silence.

At about 2 in the morning, Nina finally decides it's time to go to sleep. She wakes Gastón up who is nearly about to fall asleep. "Hey, I'll get you some clothes, I'll be right back." He nods at her and gets up.

While she's gone, he takes the blankets and pillows they were using earlier to set up his bed in the couch. She comes back, clothes and new toothbrush in hand. "Here you go. I'm going to my room now, Goodnight." She reaches up to kiss his cheek and heads back. He goes to the bathroom to change and brush his teeth and falls asleep right away, not even caring that heavy rain is pounding against the home.

Nina is tossing and turning, not finding the ability to sleep. Heavy storms have always scared her. When she young, she'd run to her mother's room and sleep with her for the night. But now Nina is grown, alone but with her boyfriend sleeping in the room next door with no one else knowing.

A loud clap of thunder sounds and startled Nina. She shuts her eyes tight hoping that it will go away. It doesn't. She tries her best to shake it off. After a few minutes she can't take it anymore. She musters up the courage to get up and go towards the living room. She finds Gastón sleeping deeply on the couch. She takes a deep breath and gently shakes him in an attempt to wake him.

"Gastón. Gastón." He slowly blinks his sleepiness away to look at his girlfriend wide awake. He sits up straight thinking there's an emergency. "Nina, what's going on. Why are you awake?"

"I couldn't fall asleep. The thunder has always frightened me." Nina says as she sits next to him. Gastón takes his girlfriend in his arms for a protective hug, running his arms up and down hers.

After a few moments,she takes a few deep breaths before asking him a really bold question. "Gastón?" He pulls away from her just a bit to get a better look at her, "yes Nina?"

She looks down blushing. "Um, can you sleep in my room with me?" She looks back up at him to see a taken aback expression. He doesn't say anything for a few moments, making Nina nervous. "Uh, yeah I'll sleep in your room." She nods her head and pulls him toward her room. He takes the blankets with him and sets them on the floor by her bed.

"I meant, in my bed" the girl whispers shyly.

Man did this girl know how to keep surprises going. Gastón was really astonished by the amount of confidence and boldness his girlfriend had. He really admired that of her.

"Are you sure Nina?" Gastón asked, not wanting to pressure her at all. Nina shook her head, "yes. Please, the thunder is really crazy right now." Gastón hesitated, but decided to follow.

He climbed onto the bed, leaving as much room for Nina as possible. She facing the ceiling, and his back against her.

Only a few moments later did they hear a big crash of thunder which jolted Nina up. She began hyperventilating. Gastón immediately caught her in his arms and began soothing her, rubbing his arms up and down he back. He kept shushing her and her breathing began to go back to normal.

"Are you okay?" he whispered in her ear softly. She could only nod her head in response. He wasn't quite sure whether to let them go back to sleep or stay in that position for a while, so just decided to stay like that for a few minutes more.

She began dropping from his arms and fell against the pillows and crashed to sleep, still holding onto her boyfriend tightly. He didn't want her to wake up frightened again, so he wrapped his arm around her waist and fell asleep holding each other together.

Gastón heard the way too loud pug of his phone at 7 in the morning, indicating a text probably from Matteo. He was about to grab his phone when suddenly he forgot in that brief moment that he had slept with Nina. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes to peer over at an adoring Nina who was peacefully against her boyfriend's chest.

Gastón smiles down at her, fully content. He reaches into his pocket to glance at his text.

6:58 A.M. Matteo Balsano: Dude, where did you go what the hell?

Gastón rolls his eyes at his best friends message. How was he the one at fault?

7:00 A.M. Gastón Perida: Thanks for answering me last night buddy. You're a real one!!

7:00 A.M. Gastón Perida: Don't worry, I slept over at Nina's. Nothing happened by the way.

A few seconds later Matteo responds back.

7:01 A.M. Matteo Balsano: I'm coming for you in 10. Imma need you to explain yoself .

What a dumbass this kid is Gastón thought. But he totally appreciated him.

Gastón slowly pries his girlfriend off his chest onto her pillows, despite how much he would have wanted to stay like that forever. He really didn't want to get caught by her father. He laid a kiss on her forehead and cheek. He shoots her text explaining why he left before she woke up. He cleans up and gathers his things, and quietly slips away.

Nina wakes up about two hours later, confused as to where her boyfriend was. She finds her phone to read his text and smiles.

7:06 A.M.   Gastón Perida:   Good morning Nina, I had to leave early because Matteo gave me a ride home plus I didn't want your dad to catch me. I'm sorry I wasn't there to wake you up. I had a great time last night and I'm eternally grateful I get to call you my beautiful and wonderful girlfriend. Thank you for letting me stay. I'll see you later today. I love you.

She lays back down all smiley, remembering the fact that she fell asleep in her boyfriend's arms in her bed last night. How unlike her it was to do it. But she didn't regret a single thing. It was something she was going to remember for a very long time. And she would tell Luna every single detail about it when they met day. Never missing a single beat.

[mylutteoheart]

So I don't know if it will be too much for the request, but how about writing some fic with all three couples (Lutteo, Simbar, Gastina), like on some triple date scenario or something?

This took me a while but here it is, enjoy. I’m not sure if it’s good but I hope you like it anyway. It’s pretty long.

send me fic requests

find my other fics here

An Unforgettable Date

It wasFriday night and everyone was tired of the training they just got, it’s alreadylate in the evening. But the day isn’t over yet. Luna had the idea to do atriple date tonight. Everybody loved it. Everyone was looking forward to it. Theyall agreed that they would go to the pizza tent near Jam & Roller. Everyoneloved it there. At first, nobody thought they would agree on a place to eat butit went surprisingly easily.

There hadto be an entire organization for this date. It’s not easy to go on a date withsix people. They all worked together and planned out the night. They decided torent 2 cars because there was a quite a distance between everyone’s house. Lunaand Ámbar would ride together because they live in the same house, but therewas a pretty heated discussion about which one of the boys would come along forthe ride. That’s when Nina came with the suggestion that girls would ride inone car and the boys in the other. Everyone agreed, some were harder toconvince than others.

Nina wasvery nervous, she had no idea how this evening was going to go. There’s a bigpossibility that it could end in disaster. Luna and Ámbar are still on prettybad terms, despite Ámbar being with Simòn. Nina thought the relationship betweenthe two rivals would be much better once she started dating Luna’s best friend.She made a mistake thinking that. She thinks that there’s going to be some kindof fight between the two girls. She’s glad that she has Gastón with her, hecould be the support she needed. She hoped that the guys will help her stop thegirls from having a fight tonight. Let’s hope this night turns out great.

Ámbar was alittle conflicted about tonight. On one side, she really wanted to go on a datewith Simón but on the other side, she didn’t want this to be a triple date, shejust wanted it to be the two of them. She also wasn’t really in the mood tospend time with Luna. Things were better with them ever since she starteddating her best friend. But they weren’t going smooth either. Luna has triedmultiple times to become friends but Ámbar always held back. She really doesn’tknow why. Maybe it’s because she’s used to coming up with plans to let Lunafall. Maybe it’s just a habit.

Luna wasvery excited for tonight. She couldn’t wait any longer. She loved the idea ofgoing with all of her best friends on a date together with theirboyfriend/girlfriend. She’s wanted to do this ever since she got together withMatteo. It’s also because she wanted to improve her relationship with Ámbar andshe wanted the relationship between her boyfriend and best friend to improve aswell. She hoped that she could achieve this with this triple date.

Gastóncouldn’t be more happier than right now, he got to go on a date with hisgirlfriend. It’s been a long time since they spend some time together. On topof it, his best friend was also going to be there. He got to spend time withthe two most important people in his life. Even though he’d rather have had adouble date than a triple date, he’s still happy about this. He hoped thateverything was going to be smooth this night. But he highly doubted this.

Simón washappy about the idea Luna had. Because this might be the night where everyrivalry ends. His with Matteo and the rivalry between his girlfriend and Luna. Hehad high expectations and he really hoped they would be fulfilled on this date.But right now, the only thing he could do was hope for the best.

Matteocouldn’t wait for this date to start. It was the perfect evening and he always wanteda double date with Gastón. He’s so happy that he’s not even mad that the newcouple Simbar would join them. Luna promised a perfect date, he so hoped thatshe would get to keep her promise. But the way it looked at the moment, Ámbartrying to put on a smile but found it hard to do so because Matteo knew thatshe’d rather have a date with just Simón.

The twocars finally arrived at their destination. It was a chic pizza restaurant, ithad the best food in the city. They were all hungry so they couldn’t wait toget a table and order.

After ahalf an hour of waiting, they finally got their table. They were looking at themenu. Luna just realized that this restaurant was way too expensive for her tobe able to pay.

“Oh my God,I totally forgot how high the prizes are here, I don’t have enough money to paymy entire meal” Luna said without thinking.

“Don’tworry, I’ll pay for your dinner” Matteo put a hand on hers and gave her a softsmile.

“You reallydon’t have to do that for me” she tried to object.

“It’s fine,really.”

Ámbar was alittle annoyed by the two of them, she tried to find a distraction. She nolonger wanted to hear those two giggling and joking around: “Simón, shall weshare a pizza? And a smoothie? You know, make this dinner a little moreromantic” she gave him the biggest smile she had.

“Sure,sounds great. Let’s do that” he said and he was holding her hand above thetable, both smiling like dorks at each other.

Nina was alittle embarrassed by all the affection the other couple gave to one another. Shefelt a little uncomfortable. Gastón noticed this and showed her a smile ofsupport. He gave the waiter his order and he also gave her order.

“How didyou know I was going to order that? I didn’t even tell you what I wanted” Ninawas pleasantly surprised.

“I know youvery well” he said. Nina smiled and said thank you. They looked in each other’seyes for a while. Forgetting the world around them.

Everyone orderedwhat they wanted. They were all talking to their boyfriend/girlfriend andforgot the other people that were sitting at the table.

Luna didn’tlike this so she decided to do something about it.

“What areyou all thinking about this evening so far?” Luna interrupted everyconversation at the table.

“Great, I’mhaving a great time” Ámbar said in a dry tone.

“Me too”Nina and Gastón said at the same time. They stared laughing about this.

“I’m havinga lovely evening” Simón said this excitedly while he was looking at Ámbar witha look full of love.

“We should alldo something together!” Luna was already standing up and bouncing on her feet.

“What areyou thinking of?” Matteo asked, laughing at how excited she really is.

“What doyou think about karaoke?” Luna asked with a thoughtful look on her face.

“I wouldlove to do that” Matteo was very happy about the idea.

“Sure, whynot? Are you coming, Ámbar?” Simón answered.

“Fine, let’sdo karaoke” she sounded a little bored but when she looked her boyfriend in theeyes, she was smiling from ear to ear.

“I don’tknow, guys” Nina said with an unsure tone.

“You canlook at me while you’re singing” Gastón tried to convince. Nina smiles at theidea and agrees.

“Yay, we’regoing to sing” Luna was still bouncing on her feet. She almost ran to the stageand grabbed a microphone for everyone.

They sangfor the rest of the night. This made everyone happy. The entire night wasamazing to everyone even though some weren’t really looking forward to thisdate. They all went home with a huge smile on their face. They are planning todo this every Friday night.

[sky-girls]

I am what I feel

I don’t even know what to say about this. You can see some interesting new development for both gastina and Lutteo this chapter and sadly no simbar this time but it will come next chapter, I promise. I really hope you guys like this and that you are liking this au.

Chapter 6 (Find the other chapters here)

That feeling I will fight

“It was Ámbar, right?” Luna asks and Matteo looks at her confused.

They are sitting on one of the couches Jam&Roller, or more accurately, she was sitting on one of the couches of the Jam&Roller and he had decided she looked lonely without Nina and could use some company, even if she seemed extremely focused on doing her homework. They had engaged on their usual banter and after a while they had fallen into silence again until that question.

“What was Ámbar?” He asks her.

“What you were worried about the other day.” She clarifies. “It was Ámbar right?”

“How do you know?” He asks curious.

“I saw her that day on the rink she seemed…” She bites her lower lip, trying to find the word, and Matteo doesn’t let that distract him, for too long anyway. “Frustrated, sad, lonely, you pick.”

“You noticed all of that?” He asks surprised that someone who doesn’t know Ámbar could read her feelings so well.

“I’m good at reading, people.”She shrugs. “But really, I’m worried about her. Is she better now?”

“Why are you worried about her?” Matteo asks her confused. “You don’t know her.”

“No one deserves to feel that way.” Luna whisper looking down, her face full of sincere concern. “But she seems better now, that's why I’m asking.”

“Yeah, she just needed a few days to clear her head.” Matteo shrugs remembering the last three days, days full of rage and late night calls.

“To clear her head of what?”Luna asks curious. Matteo looks at her not sure if she should tell her about Ámbar’s problem, in fact he is sure he shouldn’t but Luna really seems worried about her and he can’t really deny her much when she is looking at him with those big green eyes of hers.

“Let’s just say that sometimes she lets people’s criticism get to her head.” Matteo shrugs,settling on a vague answer. “One person’s criticism in particular.”

“Her godmother?” Luna guesses and Matteo raises his eyebrows at her but nods anyway.

“She is just not the best guardian.” Matteo sighs. “But Ámbar always manages to pull through, she is strong.”

“I hope she has someone to support her.” Luna whispers looking down at the table.

“She has me.” Matteo shrugs. “And who better than me?”

“Why?”She asks raising her head and locking eyes with him. “Because you are Matteo ‘the snob’ Balsano and there’s no one better than you?”

“Yes.” He let’s himself smirks for a second before becoming serious again. “And because I understand her?”

“You do?” She frowns,leaning closer to him and Matteo has to smile a little at how cute this girl is.

“My parents are not as bad as Sharon is.” Matte shrugs. “But they are never around and when they are they like to remind me all the expectations they have for me and for my life.”

“I’m sorry.” She says in a soft voice and once again she puts her hand on top of his, he pulls the same move than the last time and turns his hand around to squeeze her but this time he doesn’t let it go after a few seconds, he  starts tracing little circles on the back of her hand, Luna’s eyes go to their hands but she doesn’t pull away.

“It’s not your fault.” He tells her. “It’s just the way things are.”

They are so close, he could just try his luck now, just lean in and brush his lips against hers. He can see it in his mind, he can see himself shortening the distance between them and finally getting to kiss those lips of hers and find out if they are as soft as they look but he can also see her breaking the kiss and running away, she doesn’t seem like the kind of girl to kiss a guy she’s known for just two weeks. He clears his throat, erasing the thought of his mind, for now at least.

“How are your parents?” He asks and he can see the exact moment her eyes lose a little of her characteristic light.

“They are not bad.” She starts. “But I never see them, like never.”

“Never?” Matteo asks, feeling like she is exaggerating.

“The last time I saw any of them was months ago and it wasn’t for long.” She says and Matteo changes the position of their hands so he can tangle their fingers together. “It doesn’t really bother me, to be honest”

“It doesn’t?” He asks, looking at her face closely.

“It’s kinda sad, yes.” She admits. “But I never knew another life and almost everyone I know has to go through the same, there are not many good parents between our kind.”

“Your kind?” He repeats, finding the choice of words weird.

“Business people I mean.”She shakes her head smiling but he still thinks there’s something weird about that statement. “I like to joke with the fact that they think they are all high and mighty and separated from other human beings.”

Matteo nods not fully convinced but not knowing what else could be.

“So you don’t care?” Matteo asks surprised.

“They are always busy and they don’t ask much of me.” Luna shrugs. “Besides I get to travel a lot, even if never staying in one place gets kind of lonely sometimes it’s still so amazing.”

“For me is more lonely than everything.” Matteo mutters, looking down at their joined hands, he is not sure why he is telling her this, he just feels like he can talk with her and that she will listen.

“Your parents move a lot?” She ask and Matteo doesn’t take his eyes away from their hands.

“Yeah, I’ve lived in so many countries.” Matteo sighs when she squeezes his hand in a sign of support, her hand looks so tiny on his. “But we've stayed here the longest.”

“Do you think you’ll stay here?” Luna asks him.

“I never have that hope.”Matteo tells her.

“Do you want to stay here?” She changes the question and he can only nod.

“I hope you get what you want, Matteo.” Luna says and when looks back at her she is smiling softly at him.  

“Thank you.” He whispers, not sure what else to say.

She is still playing that moment in her mind, how close they were, how intently he was looking at her, the way his eyes wandered to her lips for a second, the exact moment she thought ‘He is going to kiss me’ and the exact moment she realized she wanted him to. Her heart is still beating fast and even if the moment is long over and they are both focused on their own things now she is way too aware of his presence next to her on the couch, too aware of the warmth of his body. She clears her throat, uncomfortable with the previously unknown feeling of wanting to be so close to someone, so close to a human.

“Everything okay, little lady ?” Matteo asks and when she lifts her head to look at him he is smiling knowingly at her. The jerk.

Luna squirms a little on her spot involuntarily but catches herself soon enough.

“Yeah.” She answers trying to sound casual. “Everything okay with you, snob?”

“Perfect.” He says leaning in closer to her and Luna is torn between mirroring him or doing the exact opposite so she stays as still as she can. “But you seem a little nervous.”

“Well, I’m not.” Luna says turning her body towards him and crossing her arms over her chest.

“It doesn't look it.” Matteo smirks down at her. “Do I make you nervous, munchkin?”

“You wish.” She rolls her eyes at him.

“And you keep reading my mind.” Matteo says casually but his eyes are fixed on her face, waiting for her reaction, and for the way he smiles she doesn’t think he misses that little second where she stops breathing. Luna shakes her head and goes back to her boring homework.

“Are we really going to stay here all afternoon while you do your homework?” He asks leaning back on the couch.

“You don’t have to stay.” Luna tells him.

“Come on, let’s go skate.” He says bumping her knee with his, Luna ignores the fact that she feels like her knee is burning after that one second touch. She can’t not help the little laugh at his behaviour.

“I can’t.” She lies, it’s more like she really shouldn’t.

“Why can’t you?” He insists looking like a little kid fighting to get his favourite toy and Luna doesn’t find it cute, because that’s ridiculous.

“I gotta leave in like ten minutes.” She lies again, that’s the good thing of being a teenager,  you can always blame the person who’s responsible for you for your decisions. “I promised Lena, my nanny, I would be home by then.”

“Anything important?” Matteo asks. “You could text her and tell her there’s a change of plans.”

“I have a dress fitting for some fancy party I have to attend on the name of the family or something.” Luna shrugs, proud of her lie. “It needs to be today.”

Matteo nods, looking thoughtful.

“I could walk you home if you want.” He offers and a part of Luna wants so much to say yes, but she can’t, he is a human and the things that she is feeling for him are forbidden, she should never forget that. And there’s also the fact that she is living alone in an apartment and not in the huge mansion she is supposed to be living in, but that’s just a tiny detail in the big scheme of how things are right now. She can’t be falling in love with a human for the gods’ sake.

“I don’t want to bother you.” Luna says, gathering her things.

“It’s not a bother, munchkin.” Matteo tells her in a soft voice that instantly brings a smile to her face. She needs to get a grip.

“It’s okay.”  Luna shrugs standing up. “Besides you wanted to skate.”

“I can do that later.” He stands up. “I really don’t mind, Luna.”

“I’m okay, really.” She insists smiling up at him. “Thank you.”

Matteo bites his lower lip, probably trying to think of something that will convince her of letting him walk her home, coming up with nothing he just nods and says his goodbyes.

“Luna.” He calls once she has already turned around and started her way to the exit. “See you tomorrow?”

Luna has to smile.

“See you tomorrow.” She confirms, not being able to stop herself.

She uses the walk to her apartment as an opportunity to asses the situation, she really needs to get a grip, she can’t be falling for a human being, but apparently she is. The most logical, and responsible, thing to do so she can fix this mess is to stay away from Matteo, that way she can ignore the feelings until they disappear. But staying away from Matteo means losing an easy access to both Gastón and Ámbar so staying away from him could actually jeopardize her mission (yeah, right) so doing that is out of the question for her.

The only thing she can do is try to keep him at arm’s length. She needs to control herself and her feelings, she needs to stop interacting with him the way she does,this constant bantering and teasing needs to end and she needs to stop standing so close to him every time they talk. She just needs to stop all of the things that make her heart flutter and convince herself that it doesn’t beat faster the moment she realizes he is around. So that’s it, that’s what she’ll do, she’ll convince herself this means nothing and that she’ll get over it quickly because there’s no way she is falling for a human. She’ll believe her own lies and focus on her job because there’s nothing else she can do, not if she wants to keep Matteo Balsano away from her heart. She hopes it’s not too late, that’s still possible to back out.

Nina bites her lip, her eyes running wild through the page of the book she is holding. This book is quickly becoming one of her favorite ones, even is she is still unsure where it’s going she has faith the author can handle it perfectly and will end things in  a good, satisfying way that actually makes sense. Nina is about to turn the page when she feels someone abruptly sitting next to her and scaring the crap out of her.

“Wow, I’m sorry.” Gastón says after he sees her jump and Nina blushes. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay.” Nina mumbles looking down at her feet, trying to force her blush away, sadly she can feel how her cheeks get warmer instead.

“What are you reading?” Gastón asks excited and Nina wants to answer him, she really does, she feels the words bubbling excitedly on her chest but they all die before they can escape her mouth so she just lifts her book so he can read the title. “What is it about? Never heard of it.”

Nina wants to tell him everything she has read so far, how interesting and engaging she finds this book and it’s characters but she just can’t.

“It’s a fantasy novel.” She says instead.

“About what?”He asks and Nina looks down at the book, her brain is filled of ideas of how to summarize what she has read so far and they all seem worthy of saying, but she can’t seems to organize them, not when Gastón is looking at her so intently.

“About two sisters on a family that has a curse, apparently.” She mumbles looking down at her book, taking the opportunity to check the back cover for the summary when the irrational fear that she actually was reading another book overcomes her.

“What curse?” Gastón asks interested.

“Uh...Well…” Nina stumbles over her own words, cursing herself over the fact that she can’t make her thoughts come out of her mouth.

“Is it still not mentioned?” Gastón eyes the book and her in such a way Nina is sure he must think she is too dumb to actually form words.

“No.” She says and then realizes  how vague her answer is. “I mean yes...I mean, they did say what the curse was.”

She knows is wildly unlikely, statically speaking, but it would be so nice if the earth decided to do her a favour and swallow her right this moment. Nina waits for a few seconds, holding into the tiny, illogical hope that it will happen while Gastón keep looking at her intently.

“If I’m making you uncomfortable you can just tell me you know?” Gastón says and Nina focuses her eyes on him, confused. “I mean I know Matteo and Luna have that thing going on but you don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to.”

“What?” Nina asks, not knowing how he could possibly think she doesn’t want to talk to him. What a ridiculous idea.

“Look you don’t have to be nice  to me.” Gastón shrugs. “I can see that you don’t like being around me and I will not bother you again, bye Nina.”

Nina is left staring at Gastón’s back while he walks away from her, unable to make herself call after him, her voice dying on her throat every time, not capable of leaving her mouth to go to the outside world when fear and anxiety are shoving the words down inside her to never be spoken.

[ambar-smith]

playing games.

Gastón should have listened to Ricardo when he said that his daughter was a pro at playing video games. He and his girlfriend had been sitting for two hours and played a game and Nina had won over him all the time.

It's not like he was a beginner or so, since he had spent time with his best friend Matteo and played games with him. But he had to admit that his girlfriend is good. Very good.

"Give up?" Nina asked with a smile. She saw that Gastón was getting tired and groaned every time he lost.

"Nope. We play some more." Actually, he had almost no feeling in his fingers, his brain was about to kill him, but he wanted to continue. He held a swear word when he almost lost again.

Ricardo was right. His daughter is a pro and even he could not win over her - how could Gastón be able to beat her?

Nina hesitated, "We should take a break and then we play again. Sounds good?" Gastón was about to shook his head to answer but then he nodded. He needed some rest. He was exhausted and he saw on Nina's face that she was too.

They went into the kitchen and took a drink. After 20 minutes, Gastón felt that he could finally feel his fingers. And after talking about books, poetry, what is going on at Jam & Roller, school and FelicityForNow's latest post (Nina is such a beautiful writer and he loves every single post she writes) both felt to play again.

They went to the living room and sat down on the sofa. Nina pressed on "Play" and they started playing.

This time, however, Gastón felt he was more into the game than before. He finally felt that he had control.

And he couldn't believe when a pop-up window came on and told him that he had won.

Gastón wasn't going to go; "I WON, YOU LOST HAHA." on his girlfriend like some people who hadn't been able to beat someone and then they do that. He turned to Nina who smiled at him, wasn't sad at all that she had lost this time.

"It looks like you finally won." Nina smirked and gave her boyfriend a hug.

Gastón couldn't almost answer, he was still shocked. "Y-yeah... but how?"

Nina shrugged. "Who knows?"

~~~~~

During the dinner, Ricardo leaned in to his daughter and whispered into her ear; "You let him win, didn't you?"

Nina didn't respond but her wide smile revealed that he had been right.

[sedonalace]

Graduation

Happy Late 2018 Everyone!! It’s been a good three months since I last wrote anything lol but I’m back. This is to fill in the void for not having a canon Graduation. Enjoy :)

The day that almost every student has looked forward to since they arrived at school nearly twelve years prior. The day they worked their asses off just to see the light of it. It was finally upon them. Graduation. It was the day that, at least for a few certain people, couldn’t wait to be over with.

Matteo Balsano, the most popular guy in their class, the one that everyone adores, should be in taking the last moments with his peers. Saying goodbyes, having some last laughs, reminiscing some good memories. But he isn’t. Instead, he is sitting on top of a desk, bouncing his leg up and down nervously while staringly blankly onto the floor while the other students chat amongst themselves in a classroom which was claimed as the official waiting room. He had no room in his brain to think about the ceremony moments away or the party or the competition or even the future. He only had one thing on his mind. And it was regret. Losing Luna.

There were so many things about this that were clogging up his mind. The course of their relationship, the drama, the breakup, so many things. But his thoughts were interrupted when his best friend came walking over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Are you still thinking about Luna?” he asked his best friend deeply concerned. Matteo nods his head quietly, his eyes still not leaving the ground.

Gaston walks over and hops on an open desk opposite of him to talk to him better. “You really messed up dude. I know I’ve said this a million times, but I think you knocked the ball out of the park on this one.” Matteo throws his head back, looking towards the ceiling and groans. “I know Captain Obvious, thank you for pointing it for the 1000th time,” he says dreadfully.

The soon-to-be Oxford student just shakes his head at him once more. “But you still know I’m right though. And is this really what you’re really going to be doing for the rest of your days? Sitting back and watching the girl of your dreams live her life away and take someone else with her? No, your not. You need to do something, fast,” The boy just buried his head in his hands that were resting on his knees. He let out a sigh rubbing his hands down his face. “I know. I know I need to do something about it,” he admits.

Gaston smirks at the boy and bumps his shoulder with his fist. “There you go. So, what are you gonna do?” Matteo purses his lips as he stares straight at the door where more people are coming in. “I’m gonna talk to her,” he turns toward his best friend now. “At the party, I’ll have to get her alone. But I pray that she stays.” Gaston nods approvingly. When he’s about to congratulate him, two familiar little brunettes come through the door. The usually quiet one with glasses comes running and charges straight to Gaston. immediately wrapping her arms around his torso into a hug.

And the other one walks more languidly, taking her pace and staring at the cute couple adoringly. She leans against the doorframe crossing her arms with a bitten lower lip. Luna. His lost girl. Looking darling in a beautiful orange dress and her long loose curls. Matteo was unable to take his eyes off her. And when she looked at him, his stare completely burned her, color turning up at her cheeks, causing her to look back at their friends. It was a moment, where he was so close, yet so far from her.

Nina had her arms wrapped tight around her boyfriend, smiling like crazy and giggling. They had looked so enamored with one another, in a peaceful but deeply connected way. Matteo had admired that about his friend’s relationship. The two of them were generally simplistic and delicate as a couple, but their connection was strong as any other couples. They made it seem so easy, even when there were so many obstacles in the way.

Once Nina pulled away, Luna walked and stood next to her now that the two lovebirds were apart. “Hi Gaston,” she greeted cheerfully. But when she looked at the curly brunette boy, it was hard for her to keep a connection. “Matteo,” she murmurs softly, barely audible for him to hear. And she almost appears she shrinks back a bit, flushing. Matteo does the same, looking around the room randomly, trying his best to get out of this incredibly awkward introduction.

Nina is fully aware of the rough tensions in the air, so she bravely speaks up. “We know we’re not supposed to be in here, but we just wanted to wish you guys luck. And I can’t wait to hear your speech, Gaston. I just know it’ll be the best,” “I can’t wait either,” Luna chimes. “I know it’ll be amazing,” she smiles at him. Gaston beams a wide smile. “Thank you girls, I really appreciate it. I just hope I won’t mess up,”

Luna looks at him almost offended. “That’s nonsense, you won’t mess up. You never do,” She looks toward Matteo when she says that last part. Her eyes getting cold. Gaston laughs nervously as he gets what message she’s sending to Matteo, who’s bracing her bitter words.

“Well, I wouldn’t say never but I like your thinking so of it,” Gaston laughs again. Nina wears a matching nervous expression to her boyfriend’s. Frozen in what to do. And then they’re all standing in place looking at one another and it’s so painful, the entire room can feel it. Who knew the tensions were extremely high?

Luckily, Ambar comes and joins the circle greeting the girls. “Nina, Lunita. Surprised to see you here,” she says in a devilish way. Underneath her open navy blue gown, she wears black leather pants and a black tank top with spiked stilettos. It is her fashion now. But totally resembling Sharpay Evan’s in HSM3 with a dark twist. She stole the look from there.

Luna gives her a fake smile, looking at her outfit. “Hi, Ambar, nice to see you too. We just came to say a quick hello before going back to our seats,” she says. Ambar smiles weakly and nods, looking at both boys shrugging their shoulders and agreeing silently.

They’re interrupted when one of the administrators stops and see the two girls who are without caps and gowns. “You two,” she warns. “You’re not supposed to be here. Get out and onto the bleachers.” she shoos at them. Both girls panic and scurry out the door quickly waving back as they walk to the door. But they suddenly bump right into Simon at the entryway.

“You guys I’ve been looking for you everywhere, why were you in here?” And before either girl can answer, he sees the boys a few feet away at the desks and he waves hello at them. His eyes unexpectedly land on the blue-eyed girl’s who is looking just as frigid as he is. “Ambar” he bluntly greets. “Simon,” she repeats. If Luna and Matteo’s stares were cold, then their’s were dry ice, so dangerous it could kill you.

To them, the atmosphere seemed unsafe at this point, so the girls dragged Simon out of the doorway. “Okay, we’ll see you guys at the party, bye!” Luna shouts back at them not looking. And the three of them go back out into the outside stadium bleachers and sit back down again. They exchanged curious looks amongst each other in question. What a weird commotion it was.

The ceremony starts ten minutes later and the usual pomp and circumstance begins to play. Everyone lined up and seating as the rows fill up. Their class is generally small so not many people to get through. As Matteo is about to sit down, his eyes lock with Luna for the briefest of moments before he pulls away. And it leaves Luna with a barely sensible tinge.

The principal speaks his opening speech, the mayor does his as well, and just many random adults that none of the students even heard or cared about come to speak. It felt like such agony.

It finally comes time for everyone to walk on stage and accept their diplomas. They all line back up again to be presented. Luna follows her eyes to Matteo for some unknown reason. She just looks at how sullen he appears. Not really caring to be here at all. And she knows she’s at least part of the reason. But what can she do? She was loyal and forgiving far too many times. He is the one who has to step up and ask for forgiveness. She shouldn’t be feeling guilty. But here she was feeling so. She tried to brush it away as best as possible by focusing on the other graduates receiving their diplomas like Delfi, Jazmin, Ramiro, Gaston, and Ambar.

When Ambar receives hers, she looks in Simon’s direction for any type of support, a clap or cheer. But she’s faced with the stone cold expression plastered on Simon’s face. He looks away, trying to pretend he never saw her in the first place. And she heaves a sigh, walking back off the stage saddened. Luna squeezes his hand a bit tighter for reassurance. And he smiles back at her a tiny bit.

Everyone finally has received their little piece of paper of proof of graduation at this point, and Gaston comes to the podium with his closing speech, looking as frantic as ever. He peers over to Matteo who gives him a thumbs up and mouths words of encouragement to him, which makes him feel better already.

“Welcome, thank you, everyone, for coming out to our official prison release day, greatly appreciate it,” he opens and earns a few laughs from the crowd. “As I’m pretty sure everyone is too exhausted at this point to get through another speech and waiting to party, I’ll make this brief and get the point straight across.”

“We’ve all worked extremely hard to get to this moment right here. It’s all we’ve ever wanted. And now we will go off on our own. And we’ll all be doing different things that we desire. It’ll either be college, or be traveling the world, or perhaps both. But we are now done, and there’s no better feeling than that.”

“Something that will strike us the most is changing our routine, and that means people. Most of us grew up together for over a decade. We know each other inside and out, we are used to seeing each other’s annoying faces every single day. Now we’ll no longer have that. Sure we’ll still see our friends every now and then, but it’ll never be the same as it once was.

Gaston looks more towards Matteo this time. “Although many aren’t too keen on keeping connections with friends in high school, I think for all of us we should. We could have known someone our entire lives and know their bare minimum, or a few months and know every detail of their life. Either way, we shouldn’t let any of it go. They are the people we love despite so many things. It would be a shame to lose them,”

Matteo nods intaking his words, it really hit him. “With that being said, I hope to still hear from many of you in the years to come. I would never want to forget our memories shared together, and I want us to keep creating them, together and apart. Thank you,”

He receives a standing ovation as he walks off the stage and back into his seat. Gaston really set out a point to realize what he has to do to keep Luna all within a public speech. Little bastard he thought, but he loved him like always.

Everything was finally over and the graduated class was dismissed. Matteo tries to Luna in the bustling crowd as he walks away, straying further and further. She was too small to be found in the crowd and he begins to give up hope seeing her. And he reaches the end of the tunnel, she’s nowhere to be found.

The party at Jam & Roller was surprisingly full. Even though there were only six students, or five really excluding Ambar, that were graduates and skaters at the rink, they brought their entire families and every skater and all their friends were in attendance as well.

Matteo was in a conversation with Gaston and his parents talking about Oxford. Although he wasn’t saying much, the conversation coming in and out of his ear, mostly when he heard his name. Nina comes all by her lonesome and goes right to Gaston’s side to join the conversation. Matteo’s ears perk up when he sees her. “Hey, Nina do you know where Luna is?” he asks.

Nina’s smile dips a bit as the boy who broke her best friend’s heart wishes to see her. She felt cautious. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea for me to tell you,” she says. Matteo winces and begins to beg. “Please, Nina. I really need to talk to her. I just need to make things right,”

The girl looks up at Gaston, a look in his eyes pleading for her to give permission. She finally sighs and looks back toward Matteo. “She’s in the rink. Please be careful with her,” she warns him. Matteo nods fast and excuses himself.

He pushes past everyone and makes his way to the other side, approaching the rink. He turns the corner and sees Luna leaning against the outside barriers, still in her heals. She looks into nothingness all by herself. Matteo is unsure to even approach her at this point. There are so many things that could go wrong. But he has to do it.

He walks over to her and she hears his footsteps the closer he comes. A look of sheer panic drags on her face and she internally debates on whether to go back to the party. And when she decides to go, he quickly catches her wrist in the blink of an eye. “Wait, just please let me talk,” “Why should I?” she spits.

That really hurt him to the core. But he deserved it after all, for being the asshole he was. “Just listen for three minutes. Three that’s it,” Luna rolls her eyes and faces him, crossing her arms angrily. “Go on,” she says.

Matteo takes a deep breath before he begins. “I did a ton of shit that was bad for not only you but for me as well. I continued to repeatedly follow Bruno’s orders because I was only thinking of myself. And then I had it all taken away from me. I hurt both of us at the same time I was so wrong and I’ll never forgive myself for not listening to you in the first place.

"You were my girlfriend and while you even supported me I was supposed to listen to you. I didn’t follow through on my part. I lost you and I lost my record deal and I almost lost Gaston. I just regret everything.”

Matteo is spewing his guts left and right and Luna is left stunned. She is getting the apology she wanted and deserved for that her heart is lifted higher into the air. Her lips curl up a bit at his words.

“So although I hope you forgive me, I don’t expect you to. And if you want this to be the last of us. Just being partners in the competition and through and then being done, I’m okay with that. I just don’t want things to be bad anymore…”

Luna rubs her hand lightly up and down his arm, a faint smile appears on their lips. And she takes a deep breath. “You told me everything I wanted to hear, and that’s all I could ever ask for,” he relieves a small sigh. And she holds back a bit. “But, although I think we’re okay now, I think we need to distance ourselves for indefinitely. I need some space to take this all in before going into something again. I want to fully trust myself before anyone else.” Matteo swallows her words hard but accepts them.

She holds her hands with his encouragingly. “I don’t think we should be together again, at least for now. But when the time is right, you’ll know. But for now, the air is good.” Matteo looks down at their hands together. Maybe one of their last times. It was a bittersweet moment.

She looks into his eyes one more time before pulling away and walking off. The clacking of her heels growing softer into the distance and he is left standing alone. Looking at his hands again, wishing they were tied to Luna’s. But they aren’t. Who know’s when they’ll ever be again.

[sedonalace]

The Key- SL Halloween Party

Intro- 0. 

For Halloween Week, I decided to extend the last day’s theme and make it into a mini four-part fic. The first official part will be uploaded tomorrow, the second on Sunday, and the third and final part on Halloween like planned. But to explain the whole thing, here is the introductory part of the story. Which is titled 0 being not the story itself but just the beginning. 

The mansion was a madhouse with everyone running around like headless chickens trying to get everything ready for the party. Ambar was throwing her final annual Halloween bash. Since it's her last one as a high school student, she wanted it to be the biggest and most explosive party she's ever thrown.

Immediately once she came home from school, she dropped her stuff at the door and began ordering people around to make sure every task was done. Within under an hour, the mansion looked just like the inside of a dungeon castle complete with all of the decor, just the way she envisioned it.

And the surprise she had for her guests in store was about to change everything. She had never done this before at any of her parties, but like she wanted, she really wanted to outdo herself this time. Maybe a bit too generous for her normal self, but there's a chance she could take part of it too, at least that's what she convinced herself.

Once Ambar does a final walkthrough of the entire scenery, the fully decorated living room, snacks in the kitchen, everything, she breathes a sigh of relief. "Is everything up to your standard, Señorita Ambar?" Miguel asks AMbar as he finishes the walkthrough with Ambar. She curls her lips up in a satisfactory smirk. "Yes, all is very well. Thank you, Monica and Miguel," The two of them nod their heads in appreciation.

Before dismissing them, Ambar hands Miguel a small pouch and an envelope. She nods her head firmly hoping he will understand what she is asking. He nods back in understanding and places both envelopes inside his interior coat pocket and they are soon both dismissed.

She scans the room one more time before calling Amanda to follow her upstairs to get ready for the party herself.

-

On her invitation, she told everyone to arrive promptly by 8 pm. And thankfully they did. All at the same time nearly. Because this is Ambar Smith, after all, she has too many tricks up her sleeve for someone to disobey her orders after all.

Everything went into action the moment people stepped through the doors of the mansion. The music and dancing all at full blast. The various costumes underneath the ghoulish LED lights speckled the room in various dark and bright vibrant colors. Scary or sweet. Short or long. Everyone wore their best and it was glorious.

Everyone from Jam and Roller's costumes was very unique, to say the least. Jim, Yam, and Ramiro dressed as those from the Lizzie McGuire Movie. Yam as Lizzie, Jim as Isabella, and Ramiro as Pablo. Delfi and Jazmin dress as the angel and devil. Delfi being the angel and Jazmin the devil. The Roller Band thought it would be funny to go as characters from Twilight. Nico and Pedro as vampires Edward and Emmett. And Simon as werewolf Jacob. His costume required him shirtless which was unfortunate because it was quite cold out. and the giant fake tattoo on his right arm wasn't exactly something that took away the attention.

After much debate on what they were going to dress as and who was going to dress with who, Gaston and Nina ultimate chose to go as Beatrice and Giovanni from Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story Rappacini's Daughter, one of their favorite stories. With their very ordinary old Italian lifestyle clothing, a graceful purple gown and blue vest and peasant's top, it would be hard for people to guess who they were, but at least they were content with what they chose themselves.

After being let down that Gaston wasn't going to dress up with him this year, Matteo was all on his own, and it felt sad to him. But luckily, as a self-proclaimed 'King of the Rink', looking good wasn't going to be a problem for him. Which is why he dressed as the king himself, Elvis, one of his idols. Gaston gave him some serious crap and laughter for it, but he shook it off and it didn't bother him.

Luna knew that her best friend wouldn't really see eye to eye with her on costume ideas, but she still had the tiniest of hopes held inside of her. With the slight disappointment and anger of being left in the dust, she decided to rebel. It was Halloween after all, and Luna doesn't actually rebel, she never could. But coming out into the party in all black skin-tight off-the-shoulder clothing, dark curled and hair and red lips resembling Sandy from Grease, it definitely made a few eyes pop out of their sockets and a few jaws drop. A certain curly haired Italian included.

Once Matteo's eyes landed on her from across the room, he stopped dead in his tracks, and his heart included. He watched as she looked around the room nervously biting her lip and eventually falling her eyes into his. He starts to push through the crowd to get to her.But before he can reach her, the music fades and light appears at the top of the staircase.

The hostess herself swiftly leans over the railing dawning a beautiful ivory toga gown adorned with gold accents dressed at the Greek goddess Aphrodite. SHe smiles gently at the crowd as she patiently waits for the DJ at the top of the staircase to hand her a microphone. Once she has it, she stands into a power stance, mentally preparing her speech.

"Hello Everyone. Welcome to the Annual Benson Mansion Halloween Bash. Hosted by yours truly," she announces. An eruption of claps sounds from down below, cheering on. "As you all know, this will, unfortunately, be my last Halloween bash, as I am preparing to continue my studies in Paris next year," the crowd pouts and awes hearing the news all over again. "However, since this is the very last Halloween Bash, I have decided to take it to extraordinary heights," the people react to each other very curious and surprised, having no idea what exactly she's saying.

"Which is why to close out this era, I have turned this fest into a game. And the prize is extraordinary," Everyone gasps in excitement and chatter now, jumpy and anxious to discover what the game and prizes actually are.

Ambar pulls out a picture of an old-fashioned key and shows it to the entire room. "Your task is to pair up with a partner to find this key. In the gift bags, you were given at the door contain small clues to finding the next. With each clue, it will lead you closer to the key. Whichever pair finds the key first will win an amazing prize. The chance to see a concert of their artist of choice ANYWHERE in the world,"

People begin screaming and erupt into thunderous cheers at the sound of the prize. Immediately people start eyeing who they want as their partners.

Ambar looks at her phone to check the time and smirks seeing she is right on time. "It is 9 o'clock. You and your partner have until midnight to find the key that could be hidden anywhere on these premises. Your time starts now. Good Luck. And let the game begin."

[sedonalace]

The Key- Soy Luna Halloween Party

1. 

I’m updating this one every other day until Halloween. If you missed the first part, you can click right here to catch up. Enjoy.

At the sound of the large countdown timer manteled on the staircase railing, Gaston immediately has a hand wrapped around her arm. "You and me?" he asks Nina, as the crowd of people around them descends into a flurry of chaos. She nods her head smiling as they look in which direction to take.

"Nina! Nina! Nina!" they hear the voice of Luna calling from behind them. They both turn around to find her pushing her way to them. "You wanna be my-" she attempts to say while out of breath. She stops when she realizes the couple's hands holding. "Oh, yeah. Of course, it's fine," Luna sighs sadly. Nina hates the unsettled feeling in her chest not being her best friend's partner. "No, Luna we can be partners. It's fine. Don't" she waves her hands at her. "No, no, no. You stay with Gaston. Trust me I'll be fine," Sandy says with a softer smile as she leaves them be.

As she walks off, Gaston notices Nina's frown. "Are you alright? You can go and be partners with Luna if you want. I can just go ask Matteo." Nina shakes her head. "No, it's fine. I wanna be with you. Plus, maybe Luna and Matteo will find their way in partnering up," Gaston chuckles at her comment. "Very true, pushing them together like that. Genius," earning a smile from Nina.

As soon as the main floor opens up a bit more space, they both pull out their bags. They find a small envelope, no bigger than a post it. Gaston looks down at the girl holding his breath in. "Are you ready?" she nods her head. "Countdown to three. 1,2, 3!"

They both open theirs at the exact same time and squint at the tiny lettering of their papers. "What does yours say?" Nina asks the boy. He hands her his paper with a confused face. It had only numbers on it. "1: 3/10. What's that supposed to mean?" he only shrugs with an unreadable look. She adjusts he glasses to look at it better while she absentmindedly hands him her note without even reading it herself. He does a double take at her note as well. "Nina, your note has only numbers on it too," She blinks and grabs back her own. "What? Give me that," she demands, causing Gaston to back up just a little.

And sure he was right. The only clue on the card was the numbers '639'. Both of them look at each other and back at the notes several times. "What do these exactly mean?" Nina questions. Gaston loudly sighs and an idea suddenly pos up in his head. "Why don't we look it up on my phone to see if it's some sort of code," he suggests. Nina nods her head in agreement. "Yeah, that's a good idea."

Right, when he unlocks his phone and opens up the explorer page, Ambar comes by and clears her throat loudly. "Um, no cell phones allowed. That's cheating," she states, putting a hand on her hip.

The both of them look very offended. "But Ambar, these hints are so vague. How are we supposed to actually get clues from this?" Gaston asks her. She only shrugs her shoulders at them with an out-of-luck look. "Figure it out on your own. Bye!" she says as she struts away toward the kitchen. SHe stops briefly and looks back at them once more. "And by the way, if anyone gets caught pulling their phone out for the use other than a flashlight, you're automatically disqualified. Anyway, have fun!" And with that she struts away finally, leaving the couple speechless.

"Well, what are we supposed to do now?" Gaston turns to Nina. She looks back down at the papers trying to decipher their meaning. "Maybe they're math problems? I mean I don't know exactly which formulas to use but I have a handful that could work and if we just go through all of them and-" he cuts her off. "Nina, as smart as that sounds. We don't have the time to do that. It's too much," he says. Nina pouts at him. "You're right, it is a bit too much work. "

"But let's think: the key has to be hidden well, but not too well. Accessible but easy to miss. Meaning no private rooms or cupboards. So it's most likely to be in a general area. But obviously not somewhere where you'd expect it to be..." Nina strategically plans. Gaston listens intently to what she is saying. "So where do we look first?" he asks her. "Kitchen." she simply says. "By now everyone's probably raided it but like I said there may be places that they've missed. He nods as they both walk over there.

Turns out that they were right. The kitchen had looked already disheveled. And not because of badly behaved teenagers. But they were still willing to look anyways. "You cover the cupboards on the left, and I on the right, go," she demands. They split off and rummage through every pot and pan. Every cookbook, every food item in the refrigerator, every dirty dish in the sink. And nothing. And they had expected this. So they kept moving. "Where to next?" he questions her.

She scans around the room and into the hallway, finding a cracked door to what looks like the staff bathroom and she points her finger to it without saying a word as she works over to it, with him on her tail. Nina opened the door carefully just in case there was anyone in there. Luckily there wasn't since it was generally small anyway. And it still looked pristine, meaning probably not many people have looked in there.

Gaston turns on the light and closes the door behind him, being nearly squished together because of the tight space, causing Nina to blush furiously. She opens the cupboard under the sink while he looks through the mirror medicine cabinet. And still nothing. When she gets up and is about to open the door again, Gaston stops her. "We haven't checked behind the shower yet," She shakes her head. "Why would it be behind there it's too obvious," "I don't know, it could be for all we know,"

She lazily shrugs giving him a whatever motions and he slowly peels back the shower curtains. They both peer down into the bottom of the bathtub where they find a small box. Smaller than a snowglobe giftbox, but bigger than a jeweler's box. Nina gasps upon their so soon discovery. She motions or Gaston to pick it up, which he does so cautiously. He gently lifts it up and rests it in her hands. He mentally counts to three before opening the lid.

And when the lid is off, there's another paper found inside.

[sedonalace]

This is Home pt. 2- Simbar

I’m back! I didn’t have a lot of time to write, so it’s up later than I wanted. I hope you enjoy it! 

I wake up briefly confused. I had forgotten. I moved. To an apartment. With my boyfriend. Who is currently still asleep right next to me.

Sleepy Simón is a beautiful view, really. Better than the scenery of our balcony. He looks like a literal puppy. Body spread out everywhere, one arm gripped loosely around my waist, the other above his head, and his legs are weirdly placed. His hair is super scruffed up. Not to mention the fact that he's shirtless, with only his grey sweatpants on. With the face of an angel sleeping peacefully on a cloud. Again, a beautiful view.

I try to come up with a clever way to wake him up. Slip out quietly and make him breakfast. Tickle a feather on his nose. Pour cold water all over him. I decide against all of those. I mean I'm a cruel person, but not to Simón.

I go for a romantic gesture. I begin to leave kisses all over. From this forehead to his jaw, down the neck and chest, and back up again. He begins to stir as I'm kissing him. He fully awakens almost immediately as he realises what I'm doing. He gives a really sexy sleepy smirk. "Well good morning love." He chuckles at me and I stop. I giggle at him. "Good morning sleepy head". I stick my tongue out at him playfully for a second, only for him to kiss me.

He decides to return the gesture and leaves kisses all over me. Along my jaw down my neck and collarbone and back up. He leaves several kisses on my face before returning to my lips. He takes my face in his hands and strokes my cheeks with his thumbs. We pull away after what seems like forever and look into each other, breathless.

"Thank you for the wake-up call, love." Simón breathes to me in a soft whisper and winks while booping my nose with his finger. Gosh, he's adorable. I faintly blush. "Anytime love."

He rolls over to check the time on his phone on the nightstand. 9:52 A.M. He clicks it shut and rolls back facing me again. He pecks me lightly, a wide smirk growing on his face. "Last one to the kitchen has to make the coffee." He immediately pushes the blankets off of him and makes a beeline toward the kitchen. I don't miss a beat and follow immediately behind him, rolling my eyes. Obviously, he beats me, since our bedroom is right next to the kitchen. He leans against the counter with folded arms and a mischievous grin of victory.

I stand in front of him and playfully swat him. "Jerk." I pout at him, sticking my bottom lip out. He tilts his head adoringly. "Is someone upset?" I nod fake sadly, like a little girl trying to get what she wants, which I technically am. He smirks once again, it's usually never good. "I know what will make you feel better." His fingers wiggle in front of my face and instantly Simón is tickling the hell out of me. Gosh dammit for being so ticklish.

I'm laughing so uncontrollably hard, wrestling with all of my might to get out of his grasp, but he's too strong. He tickles my sides and arms, I'm too weak under the tickles. The moment he lets go for the briefest second, I sprint away. Not making it far, I land on the couch, being engulfed in his tickle attack on me. Tears are coming out of my eyes and I'm nearly about to pee.

"Simón stop please please, please! I'm begging you!" He lowers his face closer to mine and stops. "What's the magic word?" He asks politely. I'm trying to regain breath. I breathe out as fast as I can just in case I'm attacked even more, "Please? I love you? Tacos? I don't know?" He lets go defeated. "It was actually Enchiladas, but I'll take those." I roll my eyes far back at his answer.

I regain most of my breath and sit upright on the couch. Simón is crouched in front of me, his hands clasped around mine. "I'm sorry I tortured you, love. How about I make both coffee and breakfast? Will that be better?" He's too sweet. "It's okay. I'll make coffee, it's no problem. As long as you cook, because we both know I'd burn this place down." He chuckles at my remark and kisses my hands. He pulls me off from the couch. "Let's get to work then."

Simón makes a breakfast casserole I recognise from those Tasty videos I see on Facebook all the time. And it tastes as just as it looks. Egg, English muffin, sausage and peppers, it was delicious.

We decide to have our coffee out on our balcony and look at the view outside. It's a gorgeous spring Sunday morning in Buenos Aires. Busy streets of cars, children down below playing fútbol, the downtown shopping centres in full swing. We sip our coffee in silence for a few moments, just taking everything in. It's a picture perfect moment. In my own place with the love of my life beside me having coffee right next to me looking over my home city. Nothing could be more perfect that that.

Simón looks over at me pulling me out of a trance. "How do you like it so far?" Simón asks curiously. "Honestly I couldn't picture anything better. It's a dream." I reach over the table and grab his hand, running my thumb over his knuckles. I return the question, "how do you like it?" He shrugs. I think it's perfect. I wouldn't change a thing."

From the other side of the balcony, from our new neighbours side struts over the wall divider and perches itself there. It looks straight at Simón and hisses in the most witch like way I've ever seen and runs away. I double over laughing so hard. "It just- looked- only at you- and-" I can't finish my sentence because I'm dying of laughter. He looks down, a bit of red coming from his ears. "I'd maybe change that," he says jokingly bitter. I regain breath again. Wow, I've lost a lot of air today, and it's not even noon yet.

I walk over to his chair and sit on his lap, caressing his cheeks. "I'm sorry I teased you. We're even now." I bury my face in his neck and he rubs my back. We sit like that for a few minutes, until I get an idea. "Can we get a dog?" He widens his eyes, slightly taken aback by my question. I bat my eyes adoringly, trying to make the little girl trick work. "Well, I don't know, considering that encounter I just had I may not like the idea of a pet anymore." I pout at his response. But I knew how to solve this. I smirk at him for once. "We could have a baby. I really want one." I plead at him, only as a joke. I'm for sure not ready for kids. And he is far less prepared.

His eyes go as big as baseballs. Nodding rapidly no. "Absolutely not. Not for another few years." I swat his chest playfully. "Well, then can we get a puppy? Pleeeeeeease?," I turn to a more serious voice, "It's either a puppy, or there will be a surprise choose wisely."

I can see the panic in this face and I can hear his heart beat rapidly. I chuckle and bury my head back in his neck. He tilts my head up and gives me a gentle kiss. "Fine, we can have a puppy.  We'll go tomorrow." I squeal and hug him.

"Just no surprises please." I hear the strain in his voice. "No surprises........ At least no intentional ones."

[sedonalace]

I’m wondering if i should start writing some sl stories on here or something. I do love writing, but I always have that fear of people not liking it. I also don’t have enough people following me to notice it. Idk we’ll see....