#soy luna simbar fic

[hide-in-imagination]

Paris & a Promise | Simbar Oneshot

The studio was pristine and cozy, with bright colors on the walls, white leather chairs, one in front of the other, and a big screen between them on the far wall so that the people in the audience, and of course, the host and guest occupying the two chairs, could see pictures and videos of the topic that was being discussed.

Behind the three cameras pointing at the studio (one on the guest, one on the host, and one holding a general view of everything), the floor manager, a woman in her thirties with a headset to hear and communicate the director’s orders, made a signal to the host, a charismatic man on his forties with black hair, wearing a suit and tie. In the guest chair in front of him, the blonde young woman, wearing a tasteful long-sleeve blouse and a mini skirt, listened to the countdown overhead until the ‘On Air’ sign lighted up anew, followed by a short rendition of the show’s theme song, and applause from the audience on their seats.

“Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen! We are here live with Ámbar Smith,” the host resumed the show with a big smile, facing the camera and then focusing on his guest. “Ámbar, once again, thank you so much for coming to our show. I hope you’re having as good a time as we are, but if not, do not worry, your torment is almost over now.”

Ámbar laughed along with the audience.

“Noo, don’t say that, of course I’m having a good time, I’m always happy to be here.”

“I’m so glad to hear that. Now,” the host leaned forward, “I’m sorry for deviating from your achievements but, we simply can not let you leave without talking about—” he pointed at her with his hand, “that huge rock weighing on your finger right now.” The audience started screaming. “Poor thing, she can’t even move her hand— Look how she keeps it on the armrest! Unbelievable!”

The audience whooped and laughed while Ámbar giggled, her right hand coming up to try and hide her grin and blushing cheeks.

“Ámbar, my sincerest congratulations on your engagement,” the host said now in earnest as the audience quieted down.

“Thank you so much.” The audience cheered again, stealing another giddy smile from her.

“Now, I know everyone already knows this, but in case anyone’s been living under a rock these last few years, you’ve been dating the Roller Band’s guitarist and vocalist Simón Álvarez for quite a few years now.” A picture of the couple posing together at a red carpet appeared on the big screen of the studio.

“Six years, yeah,” Ámbar said with a smile.  

“Six whole years, and he finally proposed two weeks ago, as we can see in this picture you two posted on Instagram, showing off the ring.”

A screenshot of their Instagram post showed on the screen. The photo depicted their hands together, Ámbar’s hand over Simón’s turned-up palm, the thick diamond ring front and center, shining on her finger, while the background showed an orange and red sky, with the Eiffel Tower blurry but visible in the distance. 

The audience cheered and a warm smile curled Ámbar’s lips at the photo.

The host looked at her again. “Tell me, Ámbar, did you see it coming? Did you know he was going to do it or did it take you by surprise?”

Ámbar made a complicated face. “Um, I kind of saw it coming, but no, not really,” she broke off with a laugh.

The host looked at her with intrigue. “What do you mean? Like, you did and then you didn’t? What’s the story?”

“Well. We were in Europe because the Roller Band was touring there, and they had stops in different cities, and Simón was like ‘You should come with me, you could visit Paris’ blah blah blah, so I joined them. He knows that Paris is my favorite city in the world, I’ve always loved it— In fact, I spent some months there when I was in university, as part of an exchange program for six months, and I just have very good memories of the city in general. So anyway, that got me thinking, you know… We’re going to be in Paris…” She started hinting. “He invited me to join… We’ve been dating for 6 years… So, on that front, I did have my suspicions, but I just— The timing didn’t make sense to me,” she said. “That was the problem, that’s what threw me off.” 

“How so?”

“Because we were only staying in Paris for one day,” she emphasized. “The guys were scheduled to arrive in the morning at the hotel, then they had their soundcheck in the afternoon, and then their concert, and that same night we had to go to Italy because they had their concert there the next day. So I was like… Yeah, no. No way.” She laughed. “Like, it was a lot in less than 24 hours. How could he even find the time for it? It’s insane.”

“He totally got you then.”

“He did. It took me completely by surprise, it was so sweet.”  

“It was like in some sort of balcony, right?” The host checked. “I mean, I remember from the photos you two posted— Those ones.”

New photos appeared on the screen. It was two selfies of the two of them standing close together on a black iron balcony with a view of the sunset, the city of Paris, and the Eiffel Tower. They were taken by Simón, one of his arms around Ámbar while the other extended beyond the frame, holding the phone. In one of them, they were both grinning brightly at the camera, Ámbar showing off the ring, her eyes glistening with emotion. The second was very similar to the first, probably taken seconds apart from each other, except in that one Simón wasn’t looking at the camera but kissing Ámbar’s cheek with his eyes closed. Ámbar was still grinning and showing off the ring like in the first picture, but she had her eyes closed in that one too, basking in the love. 

“Yeah, that’s the balcony of the hotel room we were staying at,” Ámbar answered, pointing at the screen. “Simón specifically looked for one that had a view of the Eiffel Tower for us.”

“He had it all planned out,” the host said, impressed.

“Everything,” Ámbar confirmed. “From the very first second. Cause— Look. This is how it all went down.” She leaned forward in her seat, entering story-telling mode, and the host leaned forward as well, giving her all of his attention. “We arrived at around 11 am in Spain. The first thing we did was sleep because we were all dead on our feet, and then around two, Simón asked me if I wanted to go out to eat, and I was like ‘Yeah, sure’, so we went to this restaurant I recommended to him, I knew it from my many trips to Paris, and we just, you know, had our meal, talked, walked around the city for a little bit after— Very normal stuff. Then, Simón had to go to his soundcheck, so he left, and I just kept walking around ‘cause, you know, I was like ‘I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back, better make the best of it now.’”

“Of course.”

“And that was all I was planning to do for the rest of the day really, but then, like an hour or so later, I get a call from Simón like ‘Hey, I’m done with the soundcheck, I’m going back to the hotel now, let’s meet up there’, and I was like… Why didn’t he just stay in the arena?” She said, bemused. “His concert was like in two hours, it would’ve made more sense. But anyway. I got back to the hotel, and I asked him how the soundcheck went, and he was like ‘Well, very well, everything good’— Which was a complete and total lie, by the way,” she pointed out, looking at the audience.

“What do you mean ‘lie’?” The host asked with surprise.

“He never went to the soundcheck,” Ámbar said. “I only found out about it later. The guys went to the soundcheck by themselves, Simón never joined them.”

“Then what was he doing?”

“I’m getting there,” she said. “So, we met at the hotel, and Simón was like ‘Hey, so, I only have like an hour and a half before I need to leave but, what do say if we order room service and eat a little something before I leave?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, that sounds nice.’ So we sat at a little table there on the balcony, and we were just, you know, having like a regular dinner, when suddenly he says: ‘My love. I didn’t want to tell you before, but I have a surprise for you.’ And I was like.” Ámbar made a face of curiosity. “‘What?’ And the very instant— I have this so ingrained in my mind— the very instant the sun started setting, he got down on one knee.”

“Oh my god.” The audience cheered and clapped, joining the host’s excitement. “That’s crazy! So, he had it all timed down to the second.”

“He did! He totally did. I couldn’t believe it. And then he, you know, started saying all these beautifulthings, and once the shock wore off, I just started crying,” she laughed a little bit. “And just, you know, I said yes, obviously.”

The audience screamed. Ámbar laughed, radiantly happy, the camera capturing the emotion in her eyes. “Then we hugged and it was very sweet. I really couldn’t have imagined it a better way; it was perfect.”

“And then you two went to celebrate, right? We’ve got some pictures of you on a rooftop.”

“Yeah! That was the craziest part! We had just gotten engaged and Simón was like ‘I’ve got another surprise for you’ and he led me to the hotel’s rooftop, and the whole time I’m thinking, ‘What now?!’ Like, what else had this guy planned? Fireworks? I genuinely couldn’t put it past him by this point. And then we got to the rooftop, and my whole family was there.” The audience went aww. “With our closest friends too; it was like fifteen people up there. And I was like— ‘What are you all doing here?!’” The audience laughed. “‘When did you get here?!’ It was insane!”

“Simón got them all there without you knowing?” The host expressed with awe.  

“No one told me anything! I genuinely don’t know how they managed to keep it from me,” Ámbar said with disbelief. “And the rooftop was decorated with balloons, flowers, there was food— Well, you’ve got the photos there.” She pointed to the screen where the pictures from her Instagram were displaying. “So, like, it was amazing. It was truly amazing, and so beautiful. And our friends started hugging us and giving us their congratulations, and… What got to me the most was that, well, my mom couldn’t go,” she started explaining. “I don’t speak about her a lot publicly but, basically, she’s got a certain degree of blindness, so it’s complicated for her to move around on her own, she has to be accompanied— And honestly, good for her that she didn’t go, I would’ve felt terrible if she had made that huge trip just for me. But she did send me a video congratulating me. I watched it on a tablet. And I just… Well, if I had already cried, that was the moment I finished ruining my makeup.” The audience laughed with her. “But it was sweet. It was all very sweet and moving and just amazing. I had a very good time there with my friends and family until we had to leave.” 

“Sounds wonderful.” The host had a sweet smile on his face. “I bet it was a very treasured moment for you two, for your family, your friends—I have a question though,” he said, more serious now, “that I imagine all of us are wondering as well— What about the concert?”

Ámbar nodded like she knew exactly what he meant. “Yeah, you see, that’s the funniest part! Cause like— Just imagine: Simón organized this whole thing— When he was supposed to be at the soundcheck, by the way; he never did that, he was on the rooftop with everyone else getting everything ready— and in the end, he just like, stayed for half an hour and then he left.” The audience laughed. “Because he had his concert! You know?” She said over the noise. “So like. It was crazy. It was really crazy, he totally rushed to the arena. He must’ve put on his outfit and the microphone in record time, the poor thing. But he always tells me that it was worth it. So.” Ámbar shrugged with a little smile.

The audience went aww again.

A mischievous glint appeared in the host’s eyes. “Yeah, he looked very excited the night of the concert. There was even this video that went viral— You saw it, right?”

“I’ve seen many,” she deadpanned, nodding her head.

“Well, here we’ve got the one that made the most headlines on the internet; a little video posted by a fan.” A video of Simón taking the stage started playing on the studio’s big screen on mute. It was a vertical video, filmed from up close, maybe from the fifth row, or maybe using a lot of zoom. “This is the same night you were telling us about, when the Roller Band was playing at the arena.”

The volume went up and the screams of the crowd could be heard as Simón walked up to the front of the stage where a microphone stand was waiting. He had his guitar hanging from his shoulder, ready to play. For everyone watching at home, the video took the whole screen of the TV, replacing the image of the studio. 

“Paris, how are you doing tonight?!”

The crowd went wild in response to Simón.

Simón laughed a little and started talking again, so the crowd went quiet to be able to hear him. “You know, I’m the exact same way as you, guys, like, exactly. Because this next song,” he started leisurely playing the guitar as he talked, not a melody but just a simple, soft up and down of his hand on the strings, “is one I wrote about a very special someone to me, many years ago now. And since then, I’ve had the fortune, the pleasure, the utter privilege of having this gorgeous, amazing woman by my side. And this night is very special, Paris, because… This very, very night…” He started laughing and had to take a step back, unable to contain his joy. The crowd was screaming. Simón walked up to the microphone again and yelled out ecstatically.

“SHE SAID ‘YES’!!!!”

Simón began strumming the guitar as the rest of the band joined in, playing together the intro of ‘Tiempo de Amor.’

The studio came back on screen and the video continued rolling in a lower volume as Simón started singing the song, eventually going mute, and then pausing altogether. The audience in the studio was screaming excitedly.

“You do realize that because of this 15 thousand people knew about it before many of our relatives and acquaintances, right?” Ámbar told the host, making everyone laugh again.

“I can just picture them seeing this on Twitter or Tiktok and calling you up like ‘WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED?’” The host acted out.

“It happened with more than one person,” Ámbar declared. The audience laughed.

“Alright but, putting all of that aside, the important thing is that you two had this magical moment and now you’re going to take this next step together,” the host moved the narrative along. “Tell me, have you set a date yet for the ceremony?”

“We don’t have an exact date yet, but the idea is to have a Spring wedding next year.”  

“Love that. So, that means you’ve got plenty of time to plan for the event then. I imagine you’ll need it. Are you planning for a big party?”  

“We’ll see,” Ámbar replied. “We’re still deciding whether we wanna do this biiig, over the top wedding or just a small ceremony with our closest friends and family. But, whatever we end up choosing, I think the most important thing is just, our promise to always be together. So,” a serene smile graced her lips, “the rest is just a complement to that and we’ll figure it out as we go.”

“That’s beautiful,” the host said. “Seriously, I’m so happy for you two, congratulations— Give it up for Ámbar Smith, ladies and gentlemen!”

The audience went wild.

“Thank you so much for being here with us today, Ámbar,” the host told her, starting to wrap up.

“Thank you for having me, it was lovely,” she replied with a smile.

The host turned to face the camera and the shot focused on him. “And to everyone watching us at home, you’ll want to stick around because our next guest is an artist who’s been trending all over social media, not only in Spain but in all parts of the world. We’ll be right back!”

…

..

.

. * ⋆ . · 　.╰──────༺♡༻──────╯. * * . 　 *

Okay so, originally, I had this idea in the context of my Actress!Ámbar x Musician!Simón AU. It was going to be, like, a second chapter where I mixed different interviews, some of Simón, some of Ámbar, as a way to tell how their relationship developed after the ending of chapter one. But then I thought—Why limit it to just that one context? I really loved the idea I came up with for this proposal, so I wanted it to fit as many different worlds as possible, especially canon for those who aren’t such big fans of AUs, so— Here it is! I really hope you liked it. It’s very different from everything I’ve written before in terms of format, but that’s precisely why it was so much fun to write. What would you even call this type of POV? Second Person or something? Sdfkjn. I don’t know, I don’t remember much of my high school lessons; it’s been too many years.

And speaking of years. It's been 6 years now since the show ended and this proposal took place 6 years into their relationship, so I think it would be sweet to imagine that Simón and Ámbar are engaged right now as we speak and that they’ll be getting married next year in 2025 <3

Our babies have grown up, and so have we.

See you all next time. – C

[countessofravenclaw]

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. 

E. 

“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. 

E. 

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.

[iridescentis]

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

[missroller15]

see, this is why i can’t get nostalgic over my first ever fandom…. because then i’m LEGALLY obligated to write a chaotic insane fic for it so here’s to the soy luna fandom and every single amazing beautiful wonderful person i’ve met bc of it!!

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

Sunshine and Moonshine

Chapter 24: Sick children

It had been two days and Sharon had not confronted Ámbar properly about her disobedience yet. That made Ámbar a bit nervous, because it could happen at any moment.

She tried focusing on Emilia. It got a bit intense there for a moment… 

As she entered Blake in the morning, Delfi and Jazmin both noticed she was thinking about something, and they immediately wanted to know.

“Did something happen, Ámbar?” Delfi asked. “You look like there’s something on your mind.”

“There’s always something on Ámbar’s mind!” Jazmin said, “She’s got quite a heavy life.”

“That is true… but I got a feeling that the thing Ámbar is thinking about right now is gossip worth sharing!”

Before Ámbar could say anything, they were all caught off guard by someone sneezing extremely loudly.

“Woah, Ramiro!” Matteo exclaimed. “What’s up with you?”

Ramiro furrowed his eyebrows and stared into thin air, as if he didn’t know who to face when talking. “My little brother did not come home with the flu from his school and smitted me. I’m fine! I’m just allergic to… floors!”

With that, he stomped off. 

“Okay…” Jim mumbled. 

In class, Ramiro sat right next to Ámbar. She could hear him sniffing and trying to hold in coughs.

She instinctively tried to move away from him a bit. 

Soon, Ramiro could not hold it anymore and let out a cough. 

“Cover your arm when you cough!” Ámbar exclaimed, as Ramiro had just been coughing right out in the open.

“Relax, there’s no germs in a cough,” Ramiro said.

The teacher had heard them, and stared awkwardly in front of the board. “... I think we need a run through about germ spreading.”

-

While the rest of the school day was fine, by the end of the day, both Delfi and Matteo let out some coughs. People didn’t think much about it, though. 

As Ámbar and Luna headed home, Ámbar suddenly sneezed.

“Did you get Ramiro’s thing?” Luna asked.

“No… at least I hope so… I just sneezed.”

As they got home, the plan was to change out of their school uniforms and then head to Jam and Roller to skate. But Ámbar got this sudden headache… and she decided to stay home. At least until the headache disappeared.

Luna however, has as much energy as possible, and went to Jam and Roller.

She skated around for a bit. She noticed her throat was getting a little heavier. Not a problem, she thought, and decided to drink some water.

She later met up with her friends.

“Wasn’t Gastón coming here with you?” Jim asked Nina.

“He was, but he said he wasn’t feeling well. Maybe he caught Ramiro’s thing. They’re in the same class, after all…”

After she said this, she let out a sneeze.

“Maybe you caught it, too,” Yam said.

“Impossible! I haven’t been near Ramiro today!”

“But have you been near Gastón?” Yam proceeded to do kissing sounds.

Nina stared at her in horror.

Yam immediately backed off. “Sorry, I was just joking. I don’t know when a joke goes too far sometimes? Did it go too far? I didn’t mean to-”

“No, no, it’s okay… I just… there was this free period between two classes… ”

“Did you…” Jim tried to say it as carefully as she could. “... swap spit?”

That was, indeed, as “carefully” as Jim could say it.

Nina nodded. 

“Ok, there’s a high chance you can be sick,” Luna said.

“I hope not…”

Suddenly, Jim was the one to sneeze.

“Did you swap spit with Gastón, too?” Yam joked. Jim stared at her in shock, not prepared for that.

“Ramiro did cough next to me today,” Jim said. “I hope it was just a random sneeze, and there’s nothing to it…”

“I feel peachy!” Luna admitted. “I just feel a bit… cold, which is weird, because I’ve been working out a lot by skating.”

“Yeah, I’m freezing a little, too…” Yam admitted. “How odd…”

-

As Luna and Ámbar ate dinner that night, both were sure that they were just fine. Ámbar was just a little tired, and Luna just felt a bit chilly. 

“What are you doing?” Sharon asked Luna. “You’re shivering.”

“I’m just freezing… I don’t know why, but I do.” She then let out a sneeze.

“I don’t hope you’re getting sick…” Sharon then turned to Ámbar, noticing her looking tired. “And I hope you don’t, either.”

“I’m not sick, madrina,” Ámbar assured her, although in a very dizzy tone. “I just… have been feeling tired since I came home.”

Sharon went up and felt Ámbar’s forehead. “You’re warm.” She then felt Luna’s. “You, too.”

“How can I be warm when I’m freezing?” Luna asked.

“I’ll suggest you take warm baths and then go straight to bed. And keep yourselves upstairs.”

Ámbar felt her throat. It was starting to itch from the inside. She let out a cough, hoping it would make it better, but it didn’t. 

“Eat up your food quickly,” Sharon said, “Then go upstairs.”

Sharon was extremely afraid of getting sick. So, every time one of the girls got sick, she basically quarantined them in their rooms, not even wanting to be close to them. Basically, if you were sick, you were treated like a dangerous zombie. 

The girls went upstairs, took baths (in separate bathrooms), and spent the rest of the night in their bedrooms. 

As they woke up in the morning, it had not gotten better. Ámbar's throat hurt even more than usual and Luna felt her nose being all stuffed. 

But the girls ignored it and went down to breakfast.

Sharon noticed it, however. 

“You’re pale… both of you.”

“We are?” Ámbar asked, and the second she opened her mouth she sounded really hoarse. She coughed a bit. 

“You look sick…” Sharon said. “And you’ve been sniffing this entire time, Luna.”

“Sorry, my nose is a bit stuffed…”

Sharon glanced at both of them, back and forth. “You do not look well.”

“We need to go to school,” Ámbar said. 

“You shouldn’t go to school.”

“What?” Luna asked. “Our education is really important and we should prioritize it! Isn’t that what you always say?”

“In normal circumstances, yes, but if I send you away, your teacher will just send you home. Besides, Blake is good with sending home homework if you missed a day.”

Luna and Ámbar sighed. They didn’t want to get extra homework. 

“Gosh, I don’t feel good…” Luna mumbled.

Sharon’s eyes widened and stood up quickly. She walked fast up to Amanda, who was cleaning the hallway. She snatched Amanda’s cleaning spray and pointed it at the girls.

“Go upstairs.”

“Are you ok?” Ámbar asked.

“I can’t get sick! I don’t want to get whatever virus you have. Upstairs!”

“But… school-”

“I’ll call them and tell them you’re sick, just get up! Now! Before I get smitten!”

“Ok, geez…” Luna said. She then proceeded to sneeze, which caused Sharon to just point the cleaning spray at them harder.

-

Luna sent a group text to her friends.

Luna: I’m sick today, so don’t wait for me before class!

Yam: I’M SICK TOO

Jim: ME TOO

Yam: Conspiracy theory: Ramiro’s fault?

Nina: I’m also sick!

Luna: Aw, so no one can give me homework notes?

Yam: Bold of you to assume I even take notes normally. I learn by listening as I draw in my notebook.

Yam: More or less learning, at least. I have mediocre grades. I still pass, though!

Nina: What a coincidence all of us got sick?

Yam: You’re sick because you swapped spit with Gastón and he swapped spit with Ramiro

Yam: Wait

Jim: My sister asked why I was laughing so much

Yam: Ahh Julia!! Say hi from me!

Luna: I thought your sister was named Aillén?

Jim: Aillén is my little cousin who’s obsessed with me because my Open music performances ended up on youtube and thus she assumes I am world famous. She dyed her hair red and everything for me. 

Nina: That is adorable. Didn’t you say no one in your family actually has red hair except you?

Jim: Yep! I got a recessive gene or something. Aillén was always fascinated with it and had been wanting to dye it red herself for years. 

Yam: Julia looks a lot like you, Nina, actually. Like it’s scary. She even has glasses.

Jim: She goes to Blake too, you must’ve seen her in the hallway at some point. 

Nina: I’ll keep a lookout for her. Some day. When I’m not home sick.

Yam: I wish we could be sick together in the same house. When I was little I loved seeing best friends being sick together in tv shows and sharing a bed. It seemed so cozy. 

Jim: Come over to my house!! We’ll be sick together

Yam: Really??

Jim: Yeah! Come over! 

Yam: Ok yeah I’m coming!

Nina: Won’t you expose people outside of your germs on the way there?

Yam: I’ll wear a mask! It’s fine!

Luna wanted to write “Have fun on your date!” but she decided not to. She did understand why Yam was so excited, though, and she secretly hoped her two friends got even closer so that she could hear all the gossip.

-

Yam went over to Jim’s house quickly, trying not to cough too much on the way there. Luckily, Jim’s house was only 10 minutes away. Yet, she felt her energy dropping much quicker.

As she reached Jim’s house, she knocked on the door, and Jim’s older sister Julia opened.

“Yam! Hi! Oh, you don’t look good…”

“No, I’m sick, and Jim suggested I could come over and we could be sick together.”

Julia smiled. “That is so sweet. Come in… don’t touch me, but do come in.”

As Yam went in, Julia went out. “Well, I’m going to school now… have fun being sick. But not too much fun.”

“What do you mean?”

Julia gave her a knowing smile. “I observe more than you think. Have fun now, you two.”

Yam waved goodbye, feeling a bit unsure what she meant. She then turned to the staircase, as Jim was coming down with a blanket wrapped around her. She also had a blanket for Yam.

“Hi,” she said in a hoarse voice.

“Hello,” Yam replied, snickering. 

“Let’s go to the living room. We’ll cozy up on the couch and watch a movie.” She threw the blanket to her.

“Sounds great.”

-

Luna and Ámbar were quarantined in their separate rooms. 

Ámbar was lying with her laptop on her bed, wondering what to do. She had been checking random videos on youtube, but she felt like she needed something more.

She suddenly saw a video clip from a movie adaptation of a book series she had read a bit as a kid. She never watched the movie adaptation, as it had come out when she was a bit too old for the books and she didn’t find it interesting at that point. 

Watching the clip, she realized how cheesy this movie seemed to be. She curiously read the comments, and to her delight, most people seemed to agree.

Imagine my disappointment when I saw this in theatres.

I refuse to acknowledge this movie’s existence. Let’s pretend it was just a collective fever dream.

This movie is the reason I started writing fanfiction about this franchise. To fix what the movie ruined!

Fanfiction… Ámbar knew what it was, but she had never really… read it before. 

Curious, she went to search for some fanfiction of this book series. Not to really read any of them, but just to see what people wrote. 

She found a website that seemed to just be for fanfictions. She wrote the book series in the search bar. 

Only 200 fanfictions? She recalled this being way more popular… but maybe not that many were into writing fanfiction about it.

She scrolled through it. Some were only a few 1000 words, others were several chapters. Then she found one fanfiction.

50 chapters out of question mark, meaning that the author was still updating it. The latest update was yesterday. 

”Well, I have nothing better to do…” Ámbar said to herself. 

-

Simón sent Luna a text message.

I saw you were online. Aren’t you in school?

Luna quickly replied.

Nope! I’m sick today 

She and Simón started texting.

Simón: Too bad! I’m gonna miss you skating today. 

Luna: You’re probably not gonna see any of us! All of us got sick, basically. 

Simón: What happened? Some sort of epidemic at your school? 

Luna: We think Ramiro is the culprit. He was sick yesterday but came to school anyway. 

Simón: Oof. Well… get some rest! I hope you get to just relax and enjoy junk food.

Luna: Junk food idk. But our maid comes in every other hour and asks what we want to eat, and then she brings us something from the kitchen. I could really eat a pizza right now… but we don’t have that in our kitchen. 

Simón: I always forget you’re a rich kid with maids and stuff. A bit sad you don’t get to order takeout though. 

Luna: I mean, we do get to, but Sharon gets disappointed in us. Plus it’s easier to just get what we got at home. 

Simón: Hmmm… I have an idea

Luna: Tell me.

Simón: No, you’ll see. 

-

Jim and Yam were looking really dazed at the TV. They didn’t know what to watch, and thus they just zapped on the tv and ended up on the kids channel. Right now there was some dubbed cartoon that they were too old to have known about before.

“That voice actress,” Yam said, “I’ve heard her everywhere.” 

“How old is she?” Jim asked. “I feel like she’s been in every single dubbed kids show I’ve seen all of my life.”

“Yeah, like… is it hard to find new voice actors? Is this why they have the same like… 10 people on everything? What will you do when they pass away?”

“Don’t know!”

The kids show ended, and soon a new one began. This one was one that the girls recognized, as it was a show from their own childhoods that now seemed to air as a rerun.

“Oh, I haven’t seen this since I was like 8,” Yam said.

“Me neither! How fun that it still airs!”

They watched for a moment. Suddenly, Jim let out a chuckle.

“I forgot how funny this was!”

“I don’t think I found it as funny as I find it now!” Yam admitted. “But maybe we find it funny because we’re sick.”

“Maybe… but this show is like… on crack!”

Yam laughed.

“I love your laugh so much,” Jim said. “I know I’ve said that before, but I just… really love it.”

“Thank you…” Yam grinned. She stroked Jim with her foot. 

They watched a little more of the show.

“You know, I actually think this isn’t a kids show, it’s a stoner show,” Yam said.”I don’t know if being sick and being high is the same thing, but I feel like stoners would love to watch this.”

“Yam… do you think we should be stoners?”

“Maybe in university.”

“Yeah, that sounds good… it feels like a university thing to do.”

Yam yawned. “Gosh, I feel so tired.”

“Should we take a nap?” Jim suggested. “We’ll go up to my bed and sleep together.”

Yam stared at her for a brief moment.

“What?” Jim asked.

“I…” Yam hated how her brain automatically thought of the dirtiest thing. “Nothing. Yeah, let’s go to your room.”

-

Luna was lying with her feet sticking up, leaning on the wall. She looked up at the ceiling.

She wanted to move. She was so understimulated. 

She had been clicking a pen so much that it broke. So, she had now gone over to drumming on her nightstand. 

Then Rey bursted into her room.

“Hey! Privacy!” Luna shouted.

“You’re very loud! ” Rey muttered. “Stop hitting your furniture.”

“You don’t decide over me!”

Rey sighed. “Please. Some of us are trying to work.”

“This is my room! And I’m sick!”

“I can hear that. So lay in bed and rest.”

“I cannot rest! I cannot sit still!”

“I am very aware… I’ve been trying to suggest to Sharon to maybe look that up, but she insists you just need discipline…”

Luna bounced on her bed. “Can you leave now? I don’t like you in my room.”

“If you stop drumming on furniture so that it bugs me.”

“Fine…”

She plopped down on her bed. What was there to do?

Suddenly, someone knocked on her door.

“Come in…?” she said curiously, as she let out a cough.

Someone with their back turned walked in slowly and closed the door. They then turned around.

Simón stood there, with a large smile and a pizza. “Are you hungry?”

-

Ámbar was completely stuck in this fanfiction. She had not thought about this franchise since she was maybe 11 years old, and yet, she was certain this random person online made the original source so much better. 

She was 15 chapters deep now, and she just loved the language, the funny lines the characters got out… the author had also added some original characters, and Ámbar thought they added some flavor to the story.

She didn’t leave comments. She didn’t have an account, anyway. But, she did read some other people’s comments.

Punknotdead2012 commented on chapter 2: "Looking good this far! I need to ask if the hippie character they met is based on someone you know?"

Moondustfan commented on chapter 4: “I’m lying on the floor clutching my ribs of laughter!”

Punknotdead2012 commented on chapter 5: “Loved the scene between the captain and the starfighter, but I also once again need to ask if your hippie oc is based on someone you know.”

Fernandalikesrollerskating commented on chapter 8: “LMAO believe it or not I had an exact moment like this once with this guy on my roller skate team. A bit different since he was human and not an alien, but still.”

Punknotdead2012 commented on chapter 13: “IS. THE. HIPPIE. OC. BASED. ON. SOMEONE. YOU. KNOW?!?!?!?!?!?!”

It was also interesting seeing the author’s notes at the end of each chapter. It was like the author lived this really odd life.

Supernovagirl’s A/N chapter 3: “Sorry this took longer to post, my mom locked me inside my room and took my phone -.- But I hope the length could make up for it!”

Supernovagirl’s A/N chapter 6: “I had to rush this because my mom pushed my stepdaughter down some stairs and now blames ME and she wants me to go to Switzerland and stuff idk what to do… but hopefully next chapter won’t come out too late.”

Supernovagirl’s A/N chapter 10: “Thanks for all your nice comments! If you wonder why I wrote an extra long chapter today, well, I’m celebrating! I’m staying in this country, my mom is now in a facility and I feel safe! Life can only get better haha!”

Who knew someone with such a traumatic life could just have time to write the most wonderful fanfiction?

As she finished chapter 15, she checked the comments. Another one from Punknotdead2012 who never seemed to get an answer on their one question. But then, she noticed someone that she might know…

Sapphicskater commented on chapter 15:“As someone who’s also hopelessly in love with her best friend, I feel the struggles of both the characters and you, dear author, as you mentioned you’ve experienced this too. I wish me and my bestie could get locked inside a magical space closet too.”

It HAD to be Yam. Ok, not that Yam was not the only sapphic girl that skated and was hopelessly in love with her best friend, but… it must be. 

Ámbar screenshotted it and sent it to Yam, asking if it was her. 

She soon got a reply.

Yam: You woke me up. I took a nap.

Ámbar: Aren’t you in school?

Yam: Nope. I’m in bed with Jim. 

Ámbar raised both of her eyebrows.

“Good for her…” she mumbled to herself.

-

Yam hoped her phone vibrating didn’t wake up Jim. Luckily, it didn’t seem to do that.

Jim was cute sleeping, even when sick. 

Yam smiled and took the opportunity to snuggle into her, because she could. If Jim woke up, Yam could pretend she did that in her sleep. 

She closed her eyes again and tried going back to sleep.

“Mm…” Jim mumbled. Yam squinted at her, smiled, and then closed her eyes again.

Then Jim mumbled again. Yam didn’t think much of it. 

Until the mumbling started to sound more like moaning .

Yam wondered for a moment if maybe it was because Jim was sick, it sounded more like she was moaning in her sleep when she simply snored or even breathed.

But then, Jim started talking in her sleep.

“Yes… we can do that… mmmmm… I like that…”

“Jim?” Yam was really curious about what she was dreaming. 

“Aah…”

Yam wondered if Jim was either having a really bad dream, or a really good dream. Since she mentioned that she liked something, the latter seemed more possible. 

Maybe she’d just try to go back to sleep herself. 

Or maybe she could answer Ámbar, since Ámbar asked her a question.

Yam: That is my fanfiction account… WAIT. You read fanfics, Ámbar Smith?

Ámbar: Let’s just say I’m bored as I am sick.

Ámbar: How was it being in bed with Jim?

Yam: I’m still in bed with Jim.

Ámbar: You’re texting as you’re being intimate? Interesting…

Yam: She’s sleeping for your information. 

Ámbar: After your lovemaking session, I presume?

Yam: I wish.

Yam: FUCK why did I send that…

Yam: I mean 

Yam: No we’re just sick together so I’m over at her house and we just took a nap and she’s still sleeping. 

Ámbar: I’m gonna read your fanfictions

Yam: I was about to go “NOOO” but you know what? The ones I posted I think turned out quite well. I don’t think you’re in any of my fandoms though

Ámbar: That’s ok, then I’m just gonna treat it as an original story. 

“Yam…” Jim mumbled.

Yam turned to her. “Yeah?” She thought Jim had woken up.

However, Jim seemed to still be asleep.

Jim made a moaning sound again, and then said it again. “Yam…”

Was Yam in her dream…?

Jim formed a rather satisfied smile. 

“Yam… I love you.”

Yam’s heart started beating faster. She didn’t know what kind of dream Jim actually had. She didn’t know if the “i love you” was platonic or romantic, or whatever else. She didn’t know if Jim was just having a fever dream, even though it didn’t seem like any of them had a fever, just a nasty cold. 

Yet, she smiled to herself, and hoped Jim remembered her dream when she woke up.

“I love you too, Jim.”

-

“Simón, what are you doing here?” Luna asked. 

“I decided to give you some pizza!”

“Wow!”

Simón sat down. “I didn’t know exactly what your favorite pizza flavor was, but I went off vibes.” He opened the box to reveal a pizza with bacon on it.

“Wait, is this a pizza that exists?” Luna laughed.

“Apparently! And I thought it was perfectly chaotic for you!”

Before Luna could eat, he took a slice and fed her himself. She made eye contact with him as she chewed on the pizza. 

“Delicious…”

“Really? I have to give it a taste!” Simón picked up his own slice. Meanwhile, Luna just stared at him.

Something in her belly tickled. She wondered at first if it was because she was sick and her body fought against anything she ate. But it felt… good.

“I hope I don’t get you smitten…” she said.

“Oh, it’s fine! I have four siblings! I’m pretty used to getting sick! Starting to get immune to it by this point, haha.”

“That’s good…” She took another pizza slice. “Mm! I don’t know how you actually could find out my pizza preference without me even having tasted this type of pizza before!”

“Well, I guess I have magical powers.”

She giggled.

“Are you the only one home sick today?” Simón asked.

“No, Ámbar is sick, too.”

“Aww… do you think she wants pizza?”

“I’m sure she does… you could go over and give her some.”

“Alright! I’ll go over and give her a slice. But then I’ll be back, ok?”

“Yeah…”

Luna felt really happy he was gonna come back to her. Though, she knew he’d probably want to be with Ámbar more. Even if they broke up… 

A minute after Simón had left the room, Sharon suddenly opened the door. She didn’t go in, due to not wanting to be smitten.

“I heard loud noises. What are you doing?”

“I’m just being myself in my own room!” Luna replied.

Sharon looked at the pizza box like it was a weapon. “Where did you get a pizza from?”

“I don’t know! It just seemed to come from thin air! Weird, right?” Luna held up a slice. “Want some?”

Sharon stared at her in silence, before slowly closing the door.

-

Someone knocked on Ámbar’s door and she immediately closed her laptop. “Come in!”

Simón came in with a grin. “Surprise! Want a pizza slice?”

“Simón? What are you doing here?”

“I bought Luna pizza and I wanted to give you a slice!”

“Ok… why did you buy Luna a pizza?”

“I felt like it!”

Ámbar took the slice and ate it. “It was… ok, but a bit strange. Could you get me some wipes, my hands are sticky from pizza now…”

Simón handed over some wet wipes for her to wipe her hands with.

“So, what are you doing lying in bed sick?” Simón asked.

“I mostly check my laptop.”

“I see! What are you looking at?”

“Well…”

Simón crossed his arms and smirked. “Ámbar, it’s ok if you look at something embarrassing. I promise I’ve looked at worse things online than what you’ve ever seen.”

“Fine…” She opened her laptop and showed him. He immediately started laughing.

“Oh, fanfiction? Ámbar, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. I read it sometimes, too. Although. I prefer reading it out loud for my friends, it’s really entertaining.”

“I found Yam’s fanfiction account.”

“Yam’s? Oh my gosh, show me!”

He took a picture of Yam’s account. “I’m totally gonna read this later and then reference it to her!”

“She’s gonna be so surprised!”

“I know!”

Both chuckled. 

“Well… get well soon, Ámbar. I need to go.”

“Yeah… see you!”

Ámbar still had a soft spot for Simón. She wasn’t sure if she still had romantic feelings for him, but he made her feel good.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed. It was from Emilia.

How’s it going? Wanna skate?

Emilia also made her feel good… but in another way. 

Ámbar: Sorry, but I’m sick today.

Emilia: Are you really sick or are your weird guardian forcing you to be inside?

Ámbar: Well both, but I am actually sick. Like I cough and sneeze and shit

Emilia: Gnarly! 

Emilia: I wish I was over there and fed you pizza or something

Ámbar: Haha.

She closed her eyes, and imagined Emilia coming over and seductively feeding her pizza.

Suddenly, Sharon came in. Not knocking, of course, this was her house and privacy was a privilege, not a right. 

“Ámbar…” she said slowly.

“Hi, madrina.”

“I’m not gonna get close to you, but we need to discuss you being disobedient the other day.”

“Ok.” Ámbar was too sick to really feel anything about a lecture about her bad behavior.

Sharon closed the door, leaning against it to be as far away from Ámbar as possible. “You’re out of control, Ámbar, and I am wondering if there is some outside force influencing you to be like this.”

“No, I just feel grumpy over life.”

“How come?”

Ámbar sighed. “I’m raised by you, and you wonder why I feel grumpy over life?”

“See! Now you’re like that again! Rude and no respect for me.”

Ámbar felt like keeping her eyes up was harder for each second that passed.

“Why can’t you be like you were when you were little? Always listening and being respectful.”

“You never told me that when I was little. I tried and tried to please you, and it never seemed like it was enough for you. Eventually I guess I gave up, because it was no use anyway.”

Sharon crossed her arms. “I don’t remember what I said and didn’t say, but this is not the Ámbar I raised.”

Ámbar yawned, not really having the energy to care about anything Sharon said. “Well, I’m not 8 years old anymore.”

Sharon glanced at her. Suddenly, she felt a bit of sympathy, which she rarely felt.

“You really are sick right now, aren’t you?”

“Maybe…” 

“I can see that… you look really tired.”

“I’d like to nap, actually. I don’t want to argue with you. I don’t have the energy for that.”

“You’re right. We shouldn’t argue. You should get some rest.”

Ámbar closed her eyes. 

Sharon stared at her for a few moments. “Ámbar…?” she said carefully. No response. 

She went as close as she could without feeling like she’d be at risk to be smitten. 

She had put that little girl down for a nap when she was very young. She knew when Ámbar was actually sleeping.

She almost wanted to pet her, but… once again, she did not want to be sick.

Suddenly, Ámbar’s phone vibrated.

Curious, Sharon took it. 

Emilia: Imagine that tho. You sitting there like a princess and me feeding you. Would be pretty hot lol

Sharon furrowed her eyebrows. What kind of language was this?

She wondered if she could unlock Ámbar’s phone.

Immediately, she walked out in the hallway. 

“Rey! Come over here?”

Rey came very fast. 

“Yes, Miss Benson?”

“Unlock this phone for me, please.”

“Right on it, Miss Benson.”

[mylutteoheart]

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.

[hide-in-imagination]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH

SOY LUNA Argentina, 2016-2018.

[putonmyfavoriteshow]

putonmyfavoriteshow's master fic writing post on-going ~ Violetta the heart of pretending (future franletta/leonetta reverse fake-dating au dramedy; my passion project) Soy Luna ...and they were roommates (post show jazmilia/delfma; self-indulgent rom-com chaos for side-characters who deserved more) BIA the celestial goat & her cosmic fish (platonic-for-now chiarleste's great astrology debate; a dynamic exploration between my favorite kind of bickering sidekicks) finished multi-chaps ~ Violetta a perfectly perfect gift (luty ft. franletta - my first official dcla multi-chap!) luty month (daily prompts from @iristhedeadflower) franletta month (daily prompts from @weirdthoughtsandideas) finished one-shots/two-shots ~ Violetta no boys, no problems (right?) (franletta s2 alternate ending to italy arc) an unexpected evening (jadangie fix-it fic - dcla gift exchange 2022 + bonus dcla pride month chap) midnights (a ludmila pov luty fic + bonus luty month chap) playing murder (and all that jazz) (violetta gang halloween fic - canon pairings) go figure (a naty pov luty fic) the mistletoe experiment (a natila story based on a dcla advent calendar prompt from @countessofravenclaw) welcome to new york (christmas version) (violetta gang xmas fic - canon pairings) it is what it is (luty - angsty ficlet) the deadfast club (violetta gang horror two-shot - luty focus ft leonetta/camcesca)

Soy Luna elevator goes up, elevator come down (simbar s3 missing scene - tumblr soy luna fic week 2021) unlock my heart (when lutteo got locked in the dressing room, except it's jazmilia aka the best non-canon ship ever made by a random wheel) there's a great big beautiful tomorrow (lutteo/gastina tomorrowland adventure - dcla gift exchange 2023) BIA losin' sleep (thiana s2 missing scene inspired by @assim-eu-sou) dream date (romantic chiarleste debut to ao3) non dcla ~ my sorta friend's sister's funeral (victorious - jori - angst/fluff one-shot) even crows have wings (six of crows - kanej - sl/roller skating au one-shot) page 55 (the villains of valley view - hartmy - missing scene drabble) if we were a horror movie (the villains of valley view - hartmy - hartmy watch jennifer's body)

other fan content: my tumblr edits tag my tumblr gifs tag

[lastshadeofme]

A Simbar fic featuring full Prince Charming Simón and wonderful mother Ámbar yay!

(Probably one of the best and longest work I’ve written so far)

[sapphire374]

Forever In Your Arms

“I scraped my knee and now you’re fixing it up and I swear if you don’t stop running your hands over my leg, I will kick you.”

Wattpad Link

Ámbar stormed out of the Jam and Roller. Furious was an understatement for how she was feeling. “No Ámbar, wait,” Simón yelled chasing after her. “For what. So you can tell me it was my fault and that I was the one to blame.” Simon was able to catch up to her and took a hold of her arm so she could stop. She turned around facing him this time and pushed her arm out of his hand. She pursed her lips in anger and barely wanted to see his face. 

“Look Ambar I wasn’t trying to accuse you. I was only trying to ask if you were the one who took Luna’s lucky keychain. Sometimes we take things by accident.”

“Oh please Simón you know that’s a lie what you’re saying right now. You did accuse me of stealing it. Nobody just takes things by accident and you automatically assumed I purposely stole it. Look I know I’ve done bad things in the past but I have changed and I thought you saw that too but it turns out I was wrong.”

Simón began to stutter seeing Ámbar’s eyes water. “No no no I don’t doubt for a second you have changed ok. I was only curious that’s all. The keychain wasn’t appearing anywhere and you didn’t say a single word after Luna told us about it.”

Ámbar bit her lip holding back the tears. She didn’t say anything all day but for a reason. A reason she wasn’t comfortable to say yet. “Simón you can’t quickly assume it was me just because I stayed quiet in a conversation. That is a pity excuse and I thought you knew me very well and would have noticed I haven’t said a word all day before that conversation happened. But I was wrong, you don’t know me. All I am to you is some girl you imagine me to be. A vision of the perfect woman but you still linger onto the doubt that I haven’t changed.” Ámbar turns around and leaves clenching the strap of her shoulder back. The tears were slowly coming out now. She didn’t mean to say all of those harsh things to Simón cause she knows he truly does love her but she felt it was best and that he deserved it. He shouldn’t have assumed she would do something like that after she has numerously proved that she has changed for good. Out of all the people in the world, it had to be him who doubted her. When that thought settled in at that moment, the pain couldn’t escape her lungs. 

Simón with his head down ambled to the Jam and Roller. There, Luna immediately greeted him. “Simón what happened? I saw you chasing after Ámbar, how did it go?” Simón scratching his head replied, “Horrible. It was the worst. And to be honest I deserved it. What was I thinking to question Ámbar is if she did it? I should’ve trusted her. She changed to become a better person for good and I, the idiot, doubted her. Now I don’t know what to do. She probably doesn’t ever want to see me again.” Luna didn’t know what to say or do other than hug him. 

After a two minute silent hug, Luna broke free from his arms and said, “Look it’s going to take Ambar some time to forgive you but I know she will cause she loves you and knows you love her, but you will have to demonstrate that to her these upcoming days.”

“Like how? How can I be able to erase my act of stupidity from existence.”

Luna giggles. “Yes it was very stupid what you did but we’re all human and the important thing is you learned from your mistakes. You won’t be able to erase that moment from existence since that’s not possible but like I said you can truly show her that you are sincerely sorry and really do love her.”

“But the real question is how do I do that?” Simón being frustrated now.

Luna pauses for a second to think. “Well there are many ways you can show your love for Ámbar. You can write her a song, you can surprise her with a gift, or you can hire a mariachi band to sing to her how sorry you are.” Luna then nudged Simon’s arm and he let out a little chuckle. 

“Luna, Mariachi bands may have been able to save us many times but I don’t think it can save me this time. Tú Carcel isn’t that powerful either so don’t even think about it.”

Luna then frowned and jokingly said, “Simón, how dare you disrespect our song that way. Ámbar probably wasn’t singing it that day but I can guarantee you, she was singing it in her head.” 

“No but I really blew it this time Luna. I doubted her and lost all of her trust after everything we have gone through together.”

Luna froze for a second. She hasn’t seen Simón so disheartening in ages. “Look Simón, what you did was wrong but you can’t give up on love so easily. Plus, we’re all human and bound to make mistakes. Eventually she will understand and forgive you.”

Simón rapidly took his hands out of his face to now cover his mouth in shock. “No no no I’m so stupid!”

“Well you definitely can be at times but I thought we already cleared up that topic since you came back here.”

“No it’s that I forgot to apologize. The whole time I was too busy trying to find excuses that I forgot to tell her I was sorry,” Simón stuttered.

“Then what are you waiting for, do it now!” Luna demanded.

“I can't, it's too late already and I’m in charge of closing up the Jam and Roller today,” Simón whined.

“Well then you’ll do it first thing in the morning.”

~~~~

Ámbar slammed the door shut behind her. Her anger lingered around the air, ever since she entered the mansion, like strong perfume. Everyone in the house noticed the vibe and felt it was best to leave her alone. Well almost everyone. She paraded around her room scrambling for her journal. She had officially decided for a month now to let out her anger in a journal. She felt like this coping mechanism was easier to work with than her mirror sessions. She had a precise plan laid out. She would write down her feelings, rip the page out of her notebook and stick it into the paper shredder. The paper shredder was a better choice than doing it by hand so no one would even be able to tape back the pieces. 

Right when she finally found her journal and a pen to use, she heard a knocking at the door. “Who could it possibly be now,” Ámbar agitated wondered. Ambar got up from the covers and annoyingly turned the knob of her door. Her face quickly changed when she saw it was Monica there. “Hi Ámbar. I wanted to tell you goodnight before you went to bed.”

“Was that all you wanted to tell me cause it seems like there’s more.” Ámbar sounded more irritated than what she meant it to be. She sincerely was curious but found it hard to show it.

“Well you appeared upset ever since you came and it made me worried. Since I am a mom, maybe I can help. It’s ok you can talk to me… or not whichever is your choice just know I’ll always be here.”

Ámbar now stared at the floor, contemplating what to say next. The only other person she felt a little more comfortable with when opening up, other than Simon, was surprisingly Luna’s mom. She always wished ever since she was little to have somebody there to talk to and listen to her, no matter how stupid or unimportant the topic may have sounded.

“I guess you can come in.”

Monica slowly took a few steps into Ámbar’s room. At the time Ámbar didn’t realize Monica was carrying something till now. She took out a tray of delicacies from her behind and placed them on the coffee table. There was a cup of milk, a plate of chocolate chip cookies, and a bowl of precisely cut fruit. They were in the shape of little stars. Ámbar couldn’t stop but stare at the food.

“I already ate dinner,” Ámbar coldly stated.

“I know you have but you forgot dessert. I brought you some options so you can pick what you like. I even cut up the fruit into little stars since I know that’s your favorite shape.”

“You do?!!”

“Of course I do. I remember you once said it in a conversation we had at the dinner table.”

Ámbar couldn’t help but get a little teary-eyed. No one has ever put this much effort for her. In fact no one has ever known her favorite shape was a star, not even her best friends Delfi and Jazmin. It’s her favorite ship since it reminds her of the birthmark she has at the side of her stomach. Monica noticed the shiny, watery glare in Ámbar’s eyes. She thought of the best thing to do, and that was to hug her. Ámbar really started crying in her warm, and gentle embrace. 

“Shh it’s ok hija. It’s ok. You’re safe with me.”

The hug lasted for a good ten minutes. Once Ámbar cried out all the tears she had held in, she broke free from the hug. 

“Thank you…. It’s just me and Simon got in an argument and I know that may sound so stupid cause it’s boy drama but it’s more than that -”

Monica immediately cut Ámbar off and said, “It’s not stupid at all and you don’t have to give me an excuse dear, I completely understand.”

This came as a shock to Ámbar. She wasn’t used to this at all. Whenever she wanted to talk about anything outside of school to Sharon, her Madrina would scold her for wasting her attention on useless topics and people.

“Well it’s just I’m worried that no one will ever believe the fact that I have truly changed. How everyone will probably still see me as the same manipulative mean girl I used to be. I’m tired of gaining everyone’s trust and belief. I really have changed but I don’t know what else to do so they can realize that,” Ámbar now sat down slouching.

“Ámbar you don’t have to prove to anyone that you have changed. You’ve already been showing it for quite a long time now. Don’t beat yourself up so hard for this. For some people it takes longer than others to trust again. Try not to focus your energy on those people. If they can’t see the incredible person I see right in front of me, then it's their loss.”

“You truly think so.”

“I know so.”

~~~~

“Wait, Ámbar slow down,” Simón yells out a mile away from her. Ámbar decided to skate in the morning to the Jam and Roller today. She tried to take the other route to avoid Simón, but he knew that she likes to take this path whenever she’s angry, especially at him.

“Can you please stop following me. I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Ámbar I came to apologize and say I’m sorry.”

This came off as a shock to Ámbar. “You wh-” Thump. Due to her attention being solely focused on Simón, she didn’t realize the big hole on the pavement. Her foot lost control of the wheel and her knee slid on to the pure concrete. Ámbar was on the floor now in pain, clenching on to her knee. It was bleeding and she tried to not show any signs of pain.

Simón came faster than lightning. “ÁMBAR!” He bent down to the floor and examined her knee. He then slid his backpack off of his shoulders and unzipped it. He took out a napkin and hurriedly cleaned off the blood streaming down her lower leg. His touch felt like an electric zap and the way his fingers swept across her leg made her badly want to kick him now. She’s still angry at him but deep down finds him very romantic the way in how he’s stressing out about her. She shook her head out of a daydream, surprisingly feeling like her prince charming coming to the rescue. She doesn’t need a prince even though having one right by her side feels nice. She may be a damsel in distress but can handle this all on her own. 

“Look it’s ok. I can fix it just let me be.”

“No you’re not okay Ámbar. I don’t care what else you say, and be mad at me for all that matters but I’m not leaving you alone. I can’t bear to witness you hurt. So go ahead and complain all you want but I’m not leaving.”

Ámbar froze at his response. He untied the plaid shirt around his waist and instead wrapped it around her leg. Before he was able to hear a response from her, he picked her up and carried her bridal style. He skated like the Flash, almost never before. She couldn’t help but stare at Simón’s worry look plastered all over his face. Now the electricity in her is building up into fireworks, her heart has never beaten so fast in her life. She can feel his tense grasp around her waist and legs. This position actually felt comforting for her, as if she can stay in his arms forever. 

Right then and there Ámbar realized how it didn’t matter if people didn’t believe her or not on whether she has changed. She has people by her side who truly care about her. 

“You know I’m still mad at you.”

“You can be mad at me for an eternity. I deserve it. As long as you're healthy and safe while you scold me, I’ll forever be happy. I truly am sorry by the way. I do trust you and I don’t know why I even doubted you for a second, it was such a dumb decision and I truly regret it,” Simón panted.

“Good. You should regret it. You apologizing and running to help me, not necessarily saving since I don’t need saving, has made me a little less angry at you.”

Simón chuckled. “I love you so much bonita. Never forget that.”

“I love you too, stupid,” Ámbar giggled.

[assim-eu-sou]

the fact that the Solos videoclip exists is actually so funny

[hide-in-imagination]

The Blind Date | Simbar Oneshot

AU – Different First Meeting. Simón is 28, Ámbar is 27 (They have 1 year and 5 months of age difference but this is after Ámbar’s birthday, so she’s already 27). For plot purposes, Luna and Simón are the same age here (not like it matters since she’s not technically mentioned, but I wanted to clarify in case someone pointed it out.)

Hope you enjoy!

“I still don’t like this.”

Walking out of the restaurant, Delfi followed her boyfriend over to the street corner, where they waited for the light to turn green to cross. The sound of traffic and pedestrians was louder here than it’d been inside the establishment, and yet she still made her voice quieter than usual, as if the two still inside would magically hear her. “I mean, set Ámbar up with Simón? He’s too sweet, she’s gonna eat him alive!”

For the record, Delfi loved her friend, she really did. But Ámbar’s attitude toward her friends versus the guys they tried for her to meet was totally different. Delfi stayed in there with them until the waiter took their orders just to make sure Ámbar wouldn’t leave the date the moment they walked out— It had happened before.

Her boyfriend held her hand and interlocked their fingers reassuringly. “Okay, one: it’s too late to back out now, my love,” Pedro reminded her. “And two, as I see it, he might be the only one with enough patience to deal with her.”

Delfi bit her lip, not very convinced. “I guess…”

There were many reasons why they thought it would be great if those two started going out, but now that they’d gotten to the moment of truth, she was worried that theory would be nothing like reality. 

Delfi stole one last glance at the two people sitting inside the restaurant. Ámbar caught her eye through the window and waved at her with a smile.

I should probably start looking for a new amplifier for Simón in case this goes too badly.

The traffic light turned green and Delfi walked away with her boyfriend, praying for the best. 

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

Ámbar lowered her hand the moment Delfi was out of sight. 

In front of her, her lunch date was smiling a little nervously, but sincerely, as far as she could tell— Simón, she thought his name was. He wasn’t the worst any of her friends had ever fished out for her. At least this one had arrived in a dark blue shirt and black jeans instead of a tank top and basketball shorts. Seriously, what was Jazmín thinking?   

The guy shifted in his seat now that they were alone and opened his mouth. “So—”

“Let’s get things straight,” Ámbar cut him off. “The only reason why I’m here is to get Delfi off my back. I’m not interested in the slightest in learning anything about you, and I won’t be sharing any personal information I don’t feel comfortable sharing either. Let’s just eat our food and leave. Understood?”

Simón was dumbfounded. He blinked a few times, processing the information, and then backed up slightly in his seat, a little deflated.

“Um… Well, I guess that takes the pressure off…” He mused.

Ámbar showed him a fake smile. Good thing he took it so positively.

She looked down at her phone.

Simón rubbed the back of his neck.

“Um, what should we tell our friends about today then?”

She shrugged, scrolling through Instagram. “I’ll just say you weren’t my type.”

Simón pursed his lips, considering. “Okay, I’ll say that too,” he decided, and then checked his phone as well.

Ámbar snorted. “Please. Say something believable. I’m everyone’s type.”

Now it was him who let out a little laugh. “If you say so,” Simón said, rolling his eyes a bit.

Ámbar looked up immediately. Her lips pulled up into a murderous smile as she put her phone down. “Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?”

He shrugged. “You’re not exactly my type, so… I guess not everyone’s.”

“Oh, really? What’s your type then, if I may ask? Ugly?” She guessed. “No personality?”  

Simón ignored her ironic remarks and just thought over the question.

He gave a little shrug again. She was starting to hate that. “I don’t know… a girl who’s kind, sweet, funny…”

“And how can you affirm I’ve got none of those qualities? You don’t know me at all.”

“And I never will, as you so kindly informed me,” Simón said with a smile, trying his own hand at irony, apparently. “So, let’s just enjoy our meal and go our separate ways, okay?”

He brought his gaze back to the screen of his phone.

Ámbar watched him for a moment. She crossed her arms, leaning back on her seat. “Are you always this condescending?”

“You will never know,” he said with a shit-eating smirk. He seemed to be really enjoying himself, the jerk.

Ámbar told herself she didn’t care what he thought about her— she was never going to see him again anyway— but the fact that he had written her off so quickly annoyed her. It hurt her ego.

So, after the waiter arrived with their drinks, she decided to interact just a tiny bit.

“Fine. We’ll have to wait for our orders anyway, so let’s play 20 questions— it’ll serve to pass the time.”

“Or,” Simón proposed, “we could just have a regular conversation like normal people.”

Ámbar shot him a look. “Do you want to or not? I can deal with icy silence.”

He sighed. “Okay. 20 Questions it is.”

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

“So, are you always this condescending?” Ámbar asked, after he ceded the first question to her with ‘ladies first’.

“No. At least, no one has ever told me that before. I guess it’s just a side of me that comes out when someone is gratuitously mean to me.”

“I wasn’t mean; I was being direct and honest,” she defended. “If one of us is not actually interested in pursuing a relationship, should we let the other person get their hopes up?”

“No, but there are nicer ways to say the exact same thing.”

“Sure, but if I say I’m not looking for a relationship right now and ‘let’s just have a nice time, maybe we could be friends’, guys take that as either, one, a ‘not yet’ situation and turn it into a challenge, or two, an ‘oh, okay, I don’t want anything serious either; do you want to have a quickie in my car?’

Simón looked horrified. “…… Did that really happen or are you exaggerating?” 

“Well, those weren’t his exact words, but yes, it happened. And the other thing too, more than once, so I learned to not be nice.”  

Simón remained quiet.

“By the way, that was your first question; it’s my turn again.”

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

They went through the typical small talk questions: what do you do for a living, where did you study, what are your hobbies… She knew most of it already from Delfi, like the fact that he’d come from México nine years ago, that he was in a band with Pedro and they met up once per week to play (of course she knew that, he was Delfi’s new boyfriend) and that he worked as a music teacher at a school. 

“What’s your favorite color?”

Ámbar raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? You couldn’t think of something more interesting?”

“Well, would you be willing to share anything deeper?”

“No.”

Simón raised his glass, cheering to that. “Favorite color it is.”

“Purple. Yours?”

“Blue.” He took a sip of his drink. “And for your information, favorite colors actually say a lot about a person. Like, from a psychological perspective.”

“Really?” She found that interesting. “What does purple say about me?”

“Nah uh, it’s my turn. Favorite animal?”

“Cat. What does purple say about me?”

“Actually… I don’t remember.” He laughed. “I read it somewhere online the other day. I’m sure you’ll find it if you look it up.” Ámbar grabbed her phone to do just that.

“But, how would you describe yourself?” Simón asked, curious.

“Kind and sweet,” she answered with a smile.

Simón gave her a flat look. “Funny.”

Ámbar smiled wider.

“Come on, seriously,” he encouraged her.

Ámbar thought it over. It wasn’t a deep question really, anyone who knew her probably would say the same.

“Assertive,” she started, fishing for the right words. “Ambitious. I go for what I want and I get it.  A little bossy sometimes, I admit. But I’m a good friend, or at least I think I am. I don’t like leaving people alone. If I feel like they need someone, I like being there for them.” Simón nodded to himself, like taking this in, or agreeing with her perhaps. “As long as I can and it’s reasonable, of course,” she clarified. “I’m not going to walk out of my job at the drop of a hat because my friend had a fight with her boyfriend.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, that could be quite draining.”

“I return the question to you: how would you describe yourself?”

“Kind and sweet.”

She chuckled against her will. He seemed pleased with himself.

“Mmm, I don’t know…” he continued, now thinking it over more seriously. “Overall, I’d say I’m a good person. I don’t know if there’s anything too special about me other than I play music, but I like helping people, and I’m a good listener, and a good friend. I’m… enthusiastic— I don’t know if that’s the right word for it, but— I love life. I love to experience new things, try new things, even if they don’t end up well, and… I’d dare say I’m funny,” he ended with.

“I think you think you’re funny, which is different,” Ámbar said.

“You laughed,” he pointed out smugly.  

“Because you repeated back my own joke!” She retorted. “I’m the funny one.”

“Okay, okay…”

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

“What did Pedro say about me?” Ámbar asked out of curiosity a moment after their food arrived. Simón had ordered steak with rustic mashed potatoes and roasted veggies, while she was now digging into her ravioli. “You know, to convince you to come.”

“Actually, Delfi did most of the talking. She said you were very funny, a very good friend, that maybe you could be a little surly but it was ‘nothing to worry about.’ Pedro just put on a smile and nodded his head.” Simón paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. “Now that I think about it, I should’ve known.”

Ámbar gave him a look, but Simón could tell she wasn’t really annoyed.

Wow, how could he know that already? Well, to be fair, she wasn’t nearly as inscrutable as she probably thought she was. Secretive, sure. Defensive, absolutely. (Seriously, one would think he was attacking her.) But her expressions, her eyes… those weren’t that hard to read.

“Well, they both spoke wonders about you.”

Her voice brought Simón back from his thoughts.

“Really?” He asked. It wasn’t like he had been expecting them to say bad stuff but, it warmed his heart that they’d put in a good word for him. 

“Yeah, but I tuned out after the first thirty seconds or so, so I actually have no idea what they said.”

Simón snorted. Of course. “How do you know they said wonders about me then? Maybe they were warning you about me being a serial killer.”

“First of all, I doubt they’re the kind of people who would say that with big smiles on their faces.” Simón cracked a smile. Yeah, that would be pretty weird. “Second, no one tries to convince you to go out with somebody and talks about them for ten minutes if they have nothing good to say. And third, that counted as your question; it’s my turn now.”

“Damn…” Simón said, but he couldn’t help but smile. He walked right into that one, didn’t he? He’d have to be more alert.

Ámbar took a few sips of her drink, thinking about what to ask next.

“So, assuming that you’re not a serial killer and that they did speak wonders about you, what would you say is the reason you’re single?”

Simón hesitated for a bit, clearly not having been expecting that question.

After thinking about it for a bit, he answered, “I guess I just suck at choosing women.”

Ámbar scoffed so hard. “Really? So they are the problem? Don’t you think that’s a little convenient?”

“Nonono, I’m not saying I don’t have any flaws— I’ll give you a full list if you want,” he hurried to say. “But seriously, it’s like I’m somehow hard-wired to fall for girls who hurt me.”

Ámbar raised her eyebrows with interest. She grabbed her glass. “Do tell.”

Simón sighed heavily. “Okay. My first girlfriend: dumped me two weeks after taking my virginity and then made a pass on one of my friends.”

Ámbar winced. “Ouch.”

“Well, we were in high school, so I guess that stuff happens,” Simón tried to minimize it. “My second girlfriend,” he continued. “She was very toxic. I didn’t know the term back then, but that whole relationship was toxic. If I did what she wanted, she showered me with love, but if not, she got insufferable, and I had to spend days trying to make it up to her even if the whole conflict had been her fault. And then, every time I tried to break things off with her, she found ways to manipulate me. She wore a fracture boot for her ankle and walked around with crutches for a whole month before I found out—she never even broke it!”

“Are you kidding me?”

“You would think so, but no.” He leaned forward on the table, getting more into the storytelling. “Then there was my best friend from that time; she was a girl. We had known each other for years. We did everything together, and she supported me a lot when I went through those relationships. Maybe it was for that very reason that I started seeing her differently, and, at some point, I realized I wanted to be more than just her friend. I told her about my feelings after we graduated high school, and she agreed to try it out, so we started dating, and it was very nice for some time… Then she friendzoned me in front of this new college guy she fell for. They’ve been together ever since.”

Simón took a sip from his drink while Ámbar stared, aback. “Wow.”

“Yeah… I came to live here in Buenos Aires after that.” He left his glass back on the table. “Things didn’t get much better in the love department though.  There was the girl who could never see me on the weekends— Turns out she was still seeing her ex.” He lifted a finger. “The one who only used me to buy her stuff— That might have been my best relationship actually.” He lifted another. “Then the girl who only wanted me to make her ex jealous— Thankfully, I saw that one coming, so we didn’t even officially date. And… I think that’s it.” He lowered his hands. “I kind of just focused on getting my degree and then a job. I’ve had a couple of… somethings the past two years but, they didn’t amount to anything really.”

“So that’s why you didn’t run out the second I told you I had no interest in you.” Ámbar leaned forward, teasing him with a half-lidded stare. “Did my rudeness turn you on?”

“Oooh, yes,” he replied in a heated voice. “Please, degrade me, spit on my face, you have no idea how that gets me.”   

Ámbar laughed. Like, really laughed out loud, her hand coming to cover her face because she had always hated how her nose scrunched up when she did that.  

Simón, on the other hand, was suddenly tongue-tied at the view.

Wow, she really is beautiful.

He’d known it ever since Delfi showed him a picture, even questioned her about it like— “Isn’t she too pretty for me?” But there were things an image would never be able to capture.

Fortunately, he had more filter than to say that. But the “I like your smile” that slipped from his lips was inevitable.

Ámbar’s laugh subsided as her eyes met his. For a second, Simón panicked (the flutter in his heart was panic, right?) Should he not have said that? Would that make things weird? It was just an innocent comment though. 

Then Ámbar squared her shoulders cockily. “Of course, you do.”

The tension dropped and Simón laughed as she reached for her drink. “Of course, you would say that,” he said shaking his head. “Can’t you be humble for once?”

“With this face? Nah.” She took a sip. “But I guess your smile isn’t so bad either. It’s not painful to look at.”

“Why, thank you. Such high praise from your lips, I feel really special.”   

Ámbar hid her smile behind her glass. Simón was smiling too, but he didn’t even try to hide it.

There was a small pause while both ate their food before he spoke again.

“So… What about you?” Simón ventured. “Why are you single?”

He thought maybe she’d deem that too personal, but to his surprise, she answered immediately. “Because I have no use for men.”

Simón raised his brows.

“I just mean that I’m fine without having a boyfriend,” Ámbar explained. “My friends don’t understand it because they’re all idiotized by love, but I don’t need a guy taking out part of my free time. I work at a law firm, my time is precious, guys just aren’t worth it.”

Simón stopped cutting his steak and looked at her, analyzing. “I kinda want to debate that, but before I do, why the disdain?” He asked. “What were your previous relationships like?”

She shrugged. “Nothing much, I guess. I had some flings while I was young, nothing too serious. I was popular, you see, so pretty much every guy wanted to date me, but they didn’t really care about me and I didn’t really care about them, because I wasn’t stupid enough to believe they really cared, so nothing lasted very long.”

She took a bite from her food and then kept talking. “Until I met this guy in sophomore year. He was new in school and he was instantly an eye-catcher. He said he was always moving from one place to another because of his dad’s job, but that now it was the first time he really got to stay somewhere. I thought we were kind of similar. Neither of us had had long-term relationships because we knew it would eventually end. For the first time, I found something deeply in common with a guy, and the fact that we were both from good families rapidly pushed us together. We dated all the way through high school and two more years in university. It wasn’t perfect, but I was happy.”

Simón made a face, dreading what he was going to hear but needing to ask. “And then what happened?”

Ámbar raised her glass to her lips. “He cheated on me with my cousin.”

Simón did a double-take. “Wow— What?”

“Yeah. We were at our summer house on vacation, I had invited him to spend it with my family. We were there for only two days before I found them making out. Turns out it had been going on for a while, way before we left for the summer. Me and my cousin were never close, so it didn’t really hurt me on that front, but the fact that he had the nerve to do it in my own house, with a relative, right under my very nose… I made him pack his bags and leave. He took the next flight back to Buenos Aires and my cousin followed him. I believe they’re still together but I haven’t really asked.”

Simón was stupefied. “Are you kidding me?”

Ámbar shook her head. “Apparently, he discovered true love with her or something.”

Simón shook his head too but with outrage. “That guy is the stupidest idiot in the whole wide world. I mean, who would cheat on you?”

She raised an eyebrow. “I thought I wasn’t your type.”

“Maybe, but I’m not blind,” Simón retorted. “And even then— If he really liked your cousin, he could’ve just told you, he could’ve broken up with you first. Cheating is so wrong, and it’s cruel, and disrespectful, and you are—”

He stopped himself short, mouth hanging open as their eyes met.

Ámbar found herself anticipating what he would say. When had that happened? Since when did she care what he thought of her to the point of holding her breath? 

Simón looked down and cleared his throat. “You didn’t deserve that,” he finished in a quieter voice. “No one does.”

Ámbar focused on her ravioli again, ignoring how she’d expected him to say more. “Looks only get you so far, I’ve found…” She ate one more bite before continuing the conversation. “Anyway, after that, I realized what a gigantic waste of time that relationship had been and decided that it just wasn’t worth it. I’m content with my life. I have a nice apartment, a promising professional future… I don’t need anything else.”

She’d eaten two more bites when Simón spoke again. “But don’t you want more?” 

Ámbar looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“At the end of the day, relationships aren’t really because you need to be with someone,” he said. “There are other ways to deal with loneliness— a pet, for example.”

He leaned forward on the table.  “When you date someone it’s because you want to have that kind of connection with another person. A partner. Someone to talk to about how your day was when you’re back from work and to tell all of your stories to. Someone to share your life with, who supports you, even with all your flaws, and to whom you are the most important person in the world, and they’re the most important person to you too. It can be a little scary when someone has that much power over you,” he admitted. “I won’t deny that it can be easier to live without it. You don’t need it… but you choose it. A relationship is two different people, choosing to stay together every day because, in spite of all their problems, they make each other happy and they want to be together. So, they work for that.”

Ámbar had completely forgotten about her meal or the world around her, immersed in the life he pictured, in the words he intertwined with wonder, longing, and wistfulness.

“How do you get someone to choose you every day of their life?” She wondered out loud.

Simón’s lips turned into a smile that was a little sad. “Well, that’s the hard part. I clearly haven’t figured it out or I wouldn’t be here.”

The world came crashing back to her.

Ámbar straightened in her seat. “Right, I forgot for a second there that you have horrible experiences,” she said sourly. “You almost made me believe your emotional speech about the wonders of love.”

And it was stupid, really. She knew how reality worked. Even if what he described happened for someone, it was so rare it was almost a miracle.

Simón looked down. “Yeah… love hasn’t been very kind to me.” He grabbed his cutlery and brought them to his meal. “But I still believe in it.”

Ámbar couldn’t help but look at him in disbelief. “Why?”  After all he’d been through? After all I’ve been through?

Simón looked up at her, huffing out a short laugh. “Because what a sad life it would be if I didn’t,” he said, and focused on finishing his food, eating his last bites of mashed potatoes.

Ámbar sat immobile for moment, just watching him. His words had hit her, but she didn’t know what to say.

Her first instinct was a defensive retort. ‘You’re saying my life is sad?’ It was a little insulting, and she could’ve certainly called him out on it, even if it didn’t seem like he meant it that way.  But she didn’t voice that complaint because… Was it? 

“Whose turn was it to ask now? Yours or mine?” Simón asked, pulling Ámbar out of her musings. “And before you say it, that does not count as my question,” he pointed at her playfully.

Honestly, Ámbar was so distracted she didn’t remember either. “I think it’s your turn,” she replied.

“Okay.” Simón’s eyes wandered a little, thinking of what to ask. His gaze settled on her plate, all but empty now, and then glanced at his own. The smile on his face faded. “Well, seeing as we’re both pretty much done with our food… Are you going to have dessert?” He asked slowly, with an apprehensive tilt to his voice that indicated he was expecting a no.

Ámbar should’ve said no. Her plan had always been to finish this as soon as possible and go back to her normal routine, with her apartment, her job, and her friends.

But looking at Simón now, she didn’t feel the urge to run. In fact, there was a part of her that wanted to keep listening to him talk about the world and learn what other views he had about different things.

She called it curiosity. She wasn’t ready to call it anything beyond that. But dessert? That she could do.  

She showed him a smile. “Yeah, why not?”

Simón’s face betrayed his surprise— He really had been convinced she’d say no— but then a grin lit up his features. “Okay!” He said, and called over a waiter.

Ámbar thought she liked his smile too.

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

The conversation flowed after that. They continued with their questions, but their answers weren’t short and to the point anymore. They ended up trading stories with each one, and Simón got Ámbar to laugh again, with a joke that he ‘thought of all by himself’ he pointed out, making her shake her head and roll her eyes.

It was fun. And easy.

It didn’t feel like a waste of time.

Simón finished his ice cream, and Ámbar finished her chocolate lava cake, and then it was time to ask for the check.  

When the waiter came with it, Ámbar pulled out her wallet, but Simón offered to pay for both of them. She protested, saying that the fairest was for each of them to pay for their own food, but he insisted, saying it was no problem since he’d already come with the intention of paying anyway.

If he pays, it was a date— an anxious voice rang in her mind. She had always intended to pay for herself, as one final proof that it had just been a shared lunch and nothing more.

Simón took out his card and smiled at her reassuringly.

She let him pay.

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

The weather was nice as they walked out of the restaurant. The sun had gone down a little, so its warmth remained but none of its scorching heat.

The two walked a few steps as to not block the entrance for other people and then turned to face each other.

“Well… It was nice meeting you, Ámbar,” Simón said with a faint smile. “I hope Delfi lets you off the hook for a while after this.”

“It was nice meeting you too,” she replied. “Now I have sad love stories to tell myself if I ever want to make myself feel better.”

They laughed.

Once the mirth subsided, it was time to fill the silence.

“Okay, well, I’m parked this way,” Simón said, pointing to one side of the street. “Did you get here by car too? Or do you want me to maybe drive you somewhere…?”

“No, no, it’s fine, thank you,” Ámbar told him. “I live close by, so I’m just gonna walk home,” she pointed behind her.

“Oh,” Simón glanced behind her, “you’re… headed that way then?” He pointed.

“Yeah, I’m headed that way,” she confirmed, pointing in the opposite direction to his car.  

Simón nodded. “Okay. Then… I guess we’re saying goodbye here.”

“It appears so.”

After some more nervous shifting, Simón surged forward to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Bye.” He parted. “Good luck with everything.”

“You too.”

Simón turned around and started walking toward his car with a grimace.

Kiss on the cheek. Why did you kiss her on the cheek? You should’ve just waved, that was too much. What if you made her uncomfortable? God, that was lame. Lame, lame, lame, you’re so lame.

“Simón!”

He stopped in his tracks and whirled around toward Ámbar’s voice. She came near him and stood in front of him again.

“You didn’t get to 20,” she said, holding the strap of her purse with both palms. “You can ask me one more thing if you want.”

Simón’s heart raced. He studied Ámbar’s expression, trying to make sure if this meant what he thought it meant.

He chose to take the risk.

“Can we meet again?”

He didn’t want this to be the last time he talked to her. Even if it didn’t lead to anything, even if she was still convinced that she was better off alone, he just wanted to see her for a little longer.

Ámbar looked at him and her lips trembled into a tiny smile. “I was actually giving you the chance to ask for my number,” she said with amusement.

Simón blinked. “Oh. Oh!” He sprang into action, searching his pockets quickly for his phone. “Yeah! That would be great—”

“Nope, you lost your chance.” She took a step back, smiling widely. “But I’ll think about what you said.”

Ámbar turned to leave and threw one last look at him over her shoulder. “Bye, Simón.”

Simón stared open-mouthed as she walked away, and a short laugh burst from his lips. He shook his head and turned to leave too. He couldn’t stop smiling.

The next day, he got a message on his phone from an unknown number.

It was only one word, but he knew immediately who the sender was.

“Yes.”

…

..

.

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

Can you all believe this fic has been sitting in my files 80% finished since 2019?! Seriously, what took me so long?!

Anyway, it’s here now, and I think my acquired knowledge throughout these past years gave it a boost from the original draft, so I guess all’s well that ends well <3 If there’s anything you don’t like, I blame 2019’s C, not me.

Thank you all for reading. See you next time! - C

[countessofravenclaw]

Like the Red Rose blooms in the Oxford Garden: Chapter ten

Sometimes when your heart breaks… it feels like there is no way to fix it. No matter what you try. All the memories get left behind as something unfinished… But maybe, there is to way to fix it, A second chance. Some way to finish the story you two started writing because it was never the end, but just a part of the story… even if you have to travel far to achieve it.

You can say "Goodbye", you can say "Hello". But you'll always find your way back home.

“Was that your phone?” Nina asked as Gastón’s phone dinged. 

They had been studying at the library on the evening as the term finals closed in on them. There only was about a month left before the exams, and the summer would begin.

“Oh, yeah I think it was,” Gastón reached for his phone and looked at it. “It was an email… from Renishaw.” 

“What does it say?” Nina closed the book she had been browsing through, “I thought you already got the job.”

“I did,” Gastón opened the email. He would be continuing the internship he had done at Renishaw last summer, this summer. “It must be just some information.”

“He opened the email and read it through. “Huh?” 

“What is it?” Gastón looked up and saw Nina’s face growing in concern.

“Oh, nothing bad,” he reached her hand in reassurance, “Just the email said that I don’t need to do the three-week intern training period there, because I was there last year.”

“Is that a bad or good thing?”

“Good,” Gastón laughed while playing with Nina’s fingers, “It means that I have three weeks free at the start of summer. So, what do you wanna do?”

“What am I supposed to want to do?” Nina looked at him. The look of slight confusion on her face was way too cute, and Gastón had to try his hardest not to get distracted. 

“Well, it would be a waste if we just sit here the whole summer. There are lot of different things we can do.”

“I don’t know how to come up with something. You choose.”

“Well, if you want me to.” Gastón grinned at Nina, “We already were at Kent, but there are lot of other places here as well.” Gastón stopped to think for a moment, “but, honestly, we can just do that during the weekends if we want, so… How about we go back home?”

“Home?” Nina looked up at his eyes, “You wanna return to Buenos Aires?”

“Well… Yeah.” Gastón reached to take both of her hands to his and ran his thumps over them. “I have been thinking that for a while now. I mean, I didn’t come back last year, and honestly kind of regret it. Matteo really tried to get me to come. So, you’d like that, if we did go back? We could stay at mine.”

“Yes, I really would love that,” Nina smiled at him, “Your parents would be fine with us staying there?”

“Of course. I am not sure about their schedules right now, but if we get to be by ourselves, I’m not gonna be upset.” Gastón got up from his chair and moved to one on the other side of the table next to Nina.

“Luna will be so excited,” Nina smiled, “It would be so great to see everybody…and we can tell them.”

“Right, they don’t know,” Gastón laughed, “Almost forgot about that. If Luna and Matteo have kept their mouths shut, which I think they actually have. Jazmin would have flown across the ocean to make a video about this.”

“She’s probably never going to change in that aspect,” Nina laughed, “At least Delfi shut Fab and Chic down, but Jazmin is never going to stop.”

“We’re never going to live to see that day,” Gastón agreed, “How about we just call Matteo and Luna now, and let them know, so we can plan accordingly? And make sure nothing has actually leaked and they are just waiting to ambush us.”

“That's a good idea.”

“Well, lets not waste any time.” Gastón took his phone out and called Matteo.

“Hey!!!” Matteo appeared on the screen after a moment, “Nice to see you fancy school people. I was beginning to worry that you are beginning to forget how to speak Spanish.”

“We spoke yesterday,” Gastón snarked while changing his phone to his other hand, while wrapping the other around Nina. “Is Luna there?”

“We want to talk to you both.” Nina continued.

“Yeah, she is here… somewhere.” Matteo appeared to look around, “I think she went to the kitchen.”

Nina and Gastón looked as Matteo got up, from Mansion’s living room from the looks of it, and started walking around. 

“She’s with Simon in the kitchen,” Matteo whispered to them, “Do you want to…?”

“Just don’t show the screen,” Gastón said, while their view on the video call got quite crooked as Matteo lowered the phone.

“Chica Delivery,” Matteo entered the kitchen where Luna was sitting with Simon and Ambar, “Can you come with me for a moment?”

“For what?” Nina and Gastón heard Luna’s voice question. 

“We, uhm, have a phone call,” Gastón felt half bad for kind of finding Matteo’s stumblings in the attempt of hiding who he had been talking, kind of funny.

“From who?” Simon’s voice rang, “Why the secrecy?”

“There is no secrecy. It is my cousin, wants to meet my girlfriend,” Matteo continued, “And its none of your business anyway.”

“You know, if you wanna make out, you can just say so!” Ambar’s voice yelled as Luna and Matteo walked to the mansion’s stairwell.

“What does your cousin want from me?” Luna questioned as they entered her room. 

“It’s not my cousin,” Mateo huffed and sat on her bed, flipping the videocall’s camera back to the front and spoke to Nina and Gastón. “I hope this means we can stop this act at some point soon.”

“Oh my gosh!!! Hi!” Luna jumped next to Matteo on the bed. “You could have just said that it was them.”

“Actually, your performance was very entertaining,” Gastón laughed. 

“Glad you enjoyed it,” Matteo rolled his eyes sarcastically. “So what is up with you two?”

“Well, we want to talk with you two about something,” Gastón started talking, “You’ll probably be happy about that, since you like to complain.”

“Uuuuuu, about what?” Luna leaned closer, excited.

“We were talking about the summer, and Gastón’s internship doesn’t start until in a few weeks from starts of the summer—” Nina started explaining, “—so we thought we’d come back, for a couple of weeks.”

“REALLY!?!” Luna started jumping, “OMG! You are really planning on coming back?”

“Yeah, I think we both miss all of you there,” Gastón responded, “Plus, maybe it is time to let everyone know, about us I mean. You two haven’t told anybody right?”

“Of course not.” Matteo scoffed clearly smiling, “Everyone else is in deep darkness about you two, even if it really should be really obvious, if they just saw your faces.”

“Well, thats the plan, we want to tell everybody.”

“So, when exactly are you coming, on what day?” Matteo asked, “Because, uhm… actually, I have an idea. We’ll be at Italy for a couple of days at the start of summer, so what if we fly to you after that and then we fly back to Argentina together.”

***

“I wonder what Matteo bribed Luna with to get her on this early morning flight,” Gastón said to Nina as they were walking towards Luna and Matteo’s arrival gate at 9:35 the morning at Heathrow.

“I honestly don’t know, or do I want to know,” Nina shook her head and turned to look at Gastón’s watch, “When is it landing?”

“In ten minutes,” Gastón said pulling her closer by the waist as they sat down. “We better enjoy the quiet while we can.”

“You know you miss them,” Nina rolled her eyes at him before leaning her head in his shoulder, “But it probably will take a while until they can get off. I can’t imagine Luna and the baggage claim conveyer belt are good friends. Remember when she was convinced that she had lost her bag at Cancun during Roda Fest?”

“Good times,” Gastón laughed before brushing a strand of hair back behind Nina’s ear. He looked like he was about to lean in to kiss her when a burst of people started coming out of the arrivals gate. 

There was no sign of Luna and Matteo until the crowd started dwindling. 

“¿Estás seguro de que esta es la dirección correcta?” A bubbly voice all a sudden was heard at the terminal.

“Yes, this is the right direction.”

“But are you sure? We need to find them.”

“I have been here before… I am sure.”

Nina and Gastón raised their heads to see a couple walk out of the gate. Luna was hard to miss in the crowd while she was wearing a flagrantly bright rainbow summer dress. 

“But are they here?” Luna was jumping on her tiptoes on the platform sneakers she was wearing, “What if they went to the wrong gate?”

“They didn’t,” Nina and Gastón saw Matteo and Luna’s heads turn towards them and they got up from the bench they had been sitting. “They’re right there.”

“AAAAAAAaaaaaahhhh!” Nina felt Gastón detach his arm from around her, just a few moments before she was tackled into an extremely tight hug. Wasn’t Luna just at the other side of the terminal? Well, maybe she had finally actually learned to fly. “I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!”

“I missed you too.” Nina hugged Luna back, and Luna tightened her grip, so it got hard to breathe for a moment. 

“You look so good!” Luna still kept jumping up and down after she had released Nina, “You have not fully turned into a “posh English lady” on me?” Luna joked.

“No, never,” Nina laughed. She turned to look at Gastón who was just coming out of his own hug with Matteo.

“I honestly can’t believe this! You’re together again. True love really conquers all!” Luna gushed after tackling Gastón in a hug as well. 

“I am with her,” Matteo laughed, “I honestly needed to see this in person, so now I can fully believe it.”

“You need a demonstration?” Nina saw Gastón smirk before his arm wrapped around her pulling her into a kiss. 

***

“So, you are looking very well,” Matteo nudged Gastón with his elbow. They had separated from the girls at first when they had arrived at campus because Luna had wanted to see Nina’s room. “Such a different tune from the fall.”

“Well, it is hard to mask how happy she makes me.” Gastón smiled as he opened the door to his room. Oliver and Jacob had left to their homes earlier during the week.

“And everything that comes with it?” Matteo raised an eyebrow suggestively as he sat down.

“Well, I don’t have any reasons to complain,” Gastón nodded his head, “She’s amazing, in any way imaginable. Even though I do sometimes fear that Nina’s mother is getting ready to wring my neck for what we have been doing, like she probably would have when Nina was 17.”

“Are you in a relationship if you are not scared of your in-laws?” Matteo laughed, “Oh, I can finally say this in person. Congratulations, you’re no longer acting like an idiot!”

“You been waiting for a long time to say that huh?” Gastón punched Matteo lightly on the shoulder.

“Yes!” Matteo punched him right back, “I have been watching you to be the biggest mess in your life when it has come to Nina for FOUR years now… it’s finally over! I am just so happy about you two being happy.”

“I mean, I could say the same about you and Luna—” Gastón was interrupted by the door opening. Had he not locked it and the girls were coming… No, they would have heard them afar.

“I thought you left in the morning?” Gastón asked as James suddenly walked through the door.

“Series of unfortunate events… because I don’t have a car,” James leaned on the doorframe, “Dad’s picking me up…” James moved his eyes in the room and finally noticed Matteo, “...I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had company. Wait… are you Matteo?”

“En vivo y en persona.” Matteo got up from the bed, while eyeing James verily. Gastón had not really considered how this meeting would go down before this moment. Matteo out of principle wasn’t the biggest fan of Gastón’s other friends —whom he had never met until now— because he was a bit territorial about their friendship. On the other hand, Matteo did know that what he and Gastón had was never going to be broken. 

“Matteo, be nice.” He said in Spanish.

“I am always nice,” Matteo rolled his eyes before offering his hand to James and switching to English, “Matteo Balsano, Gastón’s best friend.”

“James Wilson,” James shook Matteo’s hand, “Nice to finally meet you, since I have heard a lot about you. Plus, I have heard you multiple times, but never understood what was being said.”

“Yeah, Spanish can be a hard language to master… But I managed to do it once upon a time.” Matteo deadpanned. Gastón found this scene purely comical.

“So, you are flying to Buenos Aires in the evening?”

“Yeah,” Gastón answered James, “Matteo and his girlfriend flew here from Italy, so we can go back together. Nina’s showing her around.”

“Oh yeah, you finally got to meet her,” James directed his words to Matteo who threw Gastón a side glance. “I am sure you have heard all about everything to do with Nina, so you definitely can agree that it definitely was such a relief that Gastón stopped being an idiot.”

“Yeah, I have a lot of experience with him being an idiot when it comes to girls. Nina’s no exception” Matteo started saying, his side eye towards Gastón growing “But yep, I have met her… for the first time.”

“Don’t oversell it,” Gastón said to Matteo in Spanish so James couldn’t hear. “We should probably go find the girls.” 

“James, I see you at the fall.” He patted James on the back as he and Matteo walked out of the door.

“How long are you gonna keep this up?” Matteo questioned as they were walking down a hallway, “These guys still don’t know about your crazy quest for the invisible internet girl?”

“Or that I knew her before at all,” Gastón shook his head, “I even told them that Luna’s name is Sol, because otherwise, it would look quite weird that my best friend's girlfriend has the exact same name as Nina’s best friend.”

“You do know that you need to tell them someday,” Matteo continued, “You can’t lie to save your life, so I am surprised that anyone has ever bought this. They’ll find out during the wedding anyway.”

“When have you become this wise?” Gastón nudged Matteo with his elbow.

“I have always been like it,” Matteo shrugged laughing, “But don’t change the subject. They need to know before the wedding.” He looked at Gastón smirking, “What? We both know that that’s the endgame here. Not like you haven’t thought about it.”

“Of course, I have.” Gastón smiled. He had thought about it, maybe a little too much for only being 20, but he couldn’t help it. That was the only future he saw in his mind. “But, we've only been together again for a little over a month. We can’t just pick up where we left off and were young. Nina’s 19. Ana would actually kill me. I guess there is no rush, if we're being realistic here. It’s not like you have any proposal plans yet either.” 

“Hey! We were talking about you!” Matteo pointed a finger at Gastón.

“It’s really good to have you back!” Gastón started laughing.

“You too,” Matteo hugged him suddenly, “I honestly missed you, a lot.”

***

“Are your roommates here?” Luna asked while skipping ahead of Nina in the stairwell.

“No, I told you, Marlee and Ariana went home earlier this week.” Nina explained as she opened the door to the level where her room was located. 

“Awww, thats sad.” Luna hung her head as they walked on a hallway, “They sound awesome, I would like to meet them.”

“I am sure you will,” Nina said as she opened her dorm room’s door.

“Uuuuuuu, this room is nice,” Luna gushed as they walked into the room. It was a little more bare than normal as Marlee and Ariana had taken most of their things home. “But have you been staying here alone now that they’ve gone?”

“No, I haven’t been staying here,” Nina said as she sat on her bed. “Gastón’s roommates are also gone, so I have been spending the night there.”

“Oh, right,” Luna said while jumping next to Nina, “So, do you need any help with packing?”

“I got everything sorted out yesterday,” Nina said while pointing to the suitcase next to the bed. That had been one of the only times she had actually been back in her room after Oliver and Jacob had been gone. Staying in separate rooms with Gastón didn’t make any sense when they weren’t forced to do it.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. 

“Are we going to eat or what?” Matteo and Gastón appeared through the door, “I am starving.”

*

Nina and Gastón were sitting at the table with Ana. They had arrived in Buenos Aires the morning the day before and stayed at Gastón’s house. Nina’s mom had insisted that they come to have lunch with her as soon as they arrived. 

Ana knew about them already, Nina had told her parents pretty soon after they had talked to Gastón’s parents. Their friends at Buenos Aires on the other hand… still had no idea, but they had a plan… or part of it. After they were done with Ana they were going to meet with Luna and Matteo at the mansion. 

According to their plan, Simon and Ambar would be the first ones to be told. Luna and Matteo had told them that Nina would be visiting. After that, they would figure out how to tell the others. 

“Isla and Marco must be happy to have you back,” Ana said addressing Gastón. 

“Well, they would be,” Gastón laughed, “If they were here. They’re in Columbia. They were actually quite mad, that we were coming back while they were gone. But they’ll be back next week, and I will get no peace.”

“Well, I understand them quite well,” Ana turned toward Nina, “I would be the same way if you came back while I wasn’t here.”

“Well, you never travel anyway,” Nina rolled her eyes, “So you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Why would I want to travel? Ana continued, “There is plenty of justice in need to serving right here in Buenos Aires. Not like your father, who seems to be very at home at Miami.”

“You know Dad’s very happy there,” Nina responded, “What would he need to be here anyway? I’m not here. Oh, did you get those boxes I asked for?”

“Yes, I did.” Ana said, “What do you need them for?”

“I need to sort out my stuff so I can ship some of it over.” Nina answered. She had thought she had already explained this to Mom. “I am not going to be gone forever. We talked about this. Just until I am done with my degree. If you feel lonely you can just say so.”

“Actually, have you talked to Mora lately?”

“No, not really,” Nina furrowed her brow. 

“Well, she’s coming back from Milan.” Ana smiled.

*

“What are you looking at?” Nina asked as she walked back to her room after grabbing couple things from downstairs. Her mother had left to meet a client so Nina and Gastón had been left alone. They had few hours before they had agreed to meet up with Luna and Matteo. 

Gastón had been standing in front of her nightstand looking at something. Nina walked behind him. He was holding the framed picture from her graduation with everyone, in his hand.

“You were very beautiful,” His head turned towards her for a moment. There was clear sadness in his eyes. “I should have been there.”

“No one can blame you for not being,” Nina wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hugging him from behind. “You were across the ocean and had a lot of things going on. Renishaw is more than a formidable place to have an internship at as a freshman and look where it has gotten you now.”

“That's what I said to Matteo, but I was lying,” Gastón put the photo back down, “If I would have tried, I could have come to see your performance live at the River Live Fest, Luna’s party, and to your graduation. Mom and Dad have miles for the rest of my life… I just couldn’t do it. It wouldn’t have been fair to you and… I couldn’t have borne to see you, with him.”

“I can’t blame you for that either.”

“He’s not in this picture.”

“I broke up with him the day before,” Nina explained. She still felt guilty when she thought of that. “So, he obviously didn’t show up. I don’t know what happened with him afterward, except that he doesn’t work at Roller anymore. Maybe it’s for the best that we don’t see each other, I hurt Eric way too much for it to be fair for us to be friends.”

“You could never hurt anybody.” Gastón turned around and ran his finger on Nina’s cheek. 

“But I have, and probably will in the future.” Nina shook her head before looking into his eyes, “Why are we even talking about my ex? There’s no point to that, he’s gone, and I am in love with you. I only hope that he is happy, the way I am.”

Gastón pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around Nina as she leaned her head on his chest. Her mind turned to peaceful almost at once. 

“So, I am pretty sure your stuff isn’t going to pack itself,” Gastón said looking around in Nina’s room. “Are you taking those photos?”

“Should I?” Nina asked looking at her nightstand, “Did you pack the ones you have from your graduation?”

“Yes. I thought I’d take that whole album.” Gastón nodded, “It’s just something nice to have. Those are good pictures.”

“I agree,” Nina said, turning her head, “I’ll look through some of the books I have here, see if I wanna take any.”

She was leaning forward on the bookcase when she felt fingers trace down on her spine. 

“What are you doing?” She turned around and Gastón’s arm grabbed her tight around the waist. 

“Well, just a thought. I did some calculations, and we have more than plenty of time on our hands and your mother’s gone…”

“We were supposed be packing.” A smile formed on Nina’s lips as his hand moved to her hip, caging her against the wall next to the bookcase. She had no actual intention of fighting his intentions, she had truthfully thought about it herself. Gastón was just the one who acted on more daring impulses faster.

“We can 100 percent get it done, but now that we’re alone, and will probably be hounded by everyone the rest of the day when we get to the mansion.”

“Aha.”

***

“Welcome!” Luna and Matteo were waiting for them at the mansion’s gate when Gastón drove his car up to the gate.   

“Is everything in order?” Nina asked Luna as they started walking across the garden.

“Yes,” Luna was practically bouncing. “Simon and Ambar are thinking that just Nina is coming.”

“Pedro’s not here,” Matteo continued, “He’s out with Delfi, house hunting. Or not house hunting exactly but looking for an apartment so they can move in together.”

“Oh, I just love surprises!” Luna jumped up. 

“Lets just hope it’s a good one,” Gastón ran his hand on the back of his neck. He had been detached from the rest of the group, you couldn’t get around that fact, so he was a little nervous. 

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Luna looked at him. “When has love not been good news?”

“Well, it will be a surprise,” Nina reached to take Gastón’s hand, “No one knows that we even ended up at the same campus.”

“I can’t wait to see Simon’s face,” Matteo laughed. 

“I’m excited!” Luna jumped again as they got to the door.

“Here we go,” Gastón shared a look with Nina and tightened his grip on her hand as Luna opened the door and four of them walked inside the mansion. The hall was empty. 

“Hey!” Luna yelled inside the house and winked an eye to the others, “SHE’S HERE!”

After a moment, footstep started approaching them.

“Nina’s here already?” Ambar, wearing pastels once more, emerged from direction of the kitchen, Simon behind her. “So great that you’re back…”

Ambar’s voice trailed off as Gastón felt both of hers and Simon’s eyes focus on him. Amber clearly was attempting to minimize the shock on her face.

Simon on the other hand did not even try: “What?”

*

“You need to tell us everything,” Ambar said once everyone was sitting down at the mansion’s living room. “I mean, we knew nothing about this at all.”

“Well, it’s a long story,” Gastón said looking at Nina, “We will probably never know how this happened, but someone somewhere was clearly on my side. I have mentioned my friends before, Jacob, Oliver, James, but important to this are Ariana and Marlee.”

“Who just happened to be my roommates,” Nina continued, “So it was kind of impossible to avoid each other.”

“We bumped into her on the first day, not that I knew that Nina was there, Matteo.” Gastón shot a side-eye towards his best friend, “So I thought I was hallucinating for a second. But that being said, it was just impossible to stay away from her. Should have known that from the other times I tried that. It’s impossible.”

“We all know that fighting against something that is inevitable has no use,” Simon said draping his arm around Ambar. 

“But you kept this under wraps really well,” Ambar continued, “I mean, I am gonna be honest here, many of us, me included were curious of what would become of you now that Nina had come to Oxford, but then we heard nothing.” Then she suddenly turned toward Luna and Matteo, “I also can’t believe that you two knew about this and somehow kept it secret.”

“I can keep a secret.” Luna protested. 

“Well, yes, you can, but I thought you would have been bouncing off the walls.”

“She was, trust me.” Matteo remarked, “Not like they told us right away either, though.”

“It was two weeks,” Gastón rolled his eyes, “And you were the first to know before anybody else.”

“How did your other friends react?” Simon asked. 

“Well, thats the thing,” Gastón smiled shortly, “They do not know. I mean they know that were together and I had to deal with month of nagging about needing to ask Nina out, not just from Matteo. All they know that I had a girlfriend in Buenos Aires who I left… they don’t know that Nina’s the same person.”

“Seriously?” Simon and Ambar looked astonished, “That kind of secret is almost impossible to keep.”

“They don’t speak any Spanish, so we don’t need to worry about saying something and being overheard,” Nina started talking. Gastón slid his arm on her waist, lacing his left-hand fingers with hers. “We know that we need to tell them at some point, but don’t exactly know how. Yet anyway.”

“It is one step at the time, right now.” Gastón continued, “Right now, we need to tell you all that we’re back together. You we’re the first ones after Luna and Matteo, then there are the rest.”

“Do you have any plan for that?” Luna asked, “Because Ramiro took Jim and Yam to Chile.”

“Thats the problem, not everyone is even here.” Nina breathed.  

“I might have an idea,” Ambar perked up suddenly. 

“All the help is welcomed.”

“Okay good,” Ambar continued, “Unlock your phones and give them to me.”

“Okay…” Gastón and Nina handed their phones to Ambar. 

“So, I trust, when the case is two of you, that you have pictures.” Ambar looked very focused, “Preferably one where you are kissing.”

“Yes, we do.”

“Perfect. Now everyone else, mute the group chat.” Ambar chucked her own phone to Simon. “So, I have your permission to do this?” She looked at Nina and Gastón. 

“Yes.”

“Great,” Ambar smiled and handed them their phones back. “Now everyone will definitely know within the hour. If I have learned anything from Delfi and Jazmin, it is that news travel quickly.”

“Well, now that thats done, tell me everything about Oxford.” Ambar continued, “It must be so beautiful.”

“It truly is,” Nina started saying, “I feel like I have learned more during this year than I have in my whole life. The language was a bit challenging at first, but I am starting to get the hang of it.”

“She is already showing signs of a British accent,” Gastón turned to look at her, “So she is definitely getting the hang of it.”

“Those two won’t speak any Spanish anymore once they return to us for good,” Matteo laughed. 

“Well, we’ll see in four years.” Gastón rolled his eyes again toward Matteo.

“Four years?” Simon questioned.

“Until I graduate,” Nina explained. 

“Are you coming back then too?” Ambar looked at Gastón. “I thought you’d be doing a PhD.”

“Oh no, I am not doing that,” He shook his head, “I did think about it at some point, but no. It would be way too much effort right now and masters in science and technology from Oxford will get me way ahead in life already. I can get that doctorate later if I want, but I don’t wanna spend all my twenties studying. There are other things I want out of life.”

“I am just going to sit here and pretend to know what you are talking about,” Simon laughed, “I was talking to Mom the other day and happen to mention that two of my friends go to Oxford and for a moment she did not believe that I have winded up in the such sophisticated crowd, especially with Ambar at law-school. Rico and Julio, my brothers, flat out didn’t believe me.”

“Well, everyone has their own paths,” Nina nodded, “How are you doing with Pedro and the band?”

“Still figuring it out,” Simon grimaced, “But we’re optimistic. It is really not the same with no Nico.”

“Nico still having fun at New York?” Matteo crossed his arms, “We haven’t heard of him in a while.”

“Thats the thing,” Simon continued furrowing his brow, “I am not sure… He and Ada have not worked out.”

“Maybe he’ll come back then!” Luna piped up. 

“We can hope that.” Simon shook his head smiling. 

“Lot of people are coming back now,” Ambar said looking down, “I mean I came back from pretty much oblivion… and honestly I should thank you.” She turned to look at Gastón. “You don’t need to be this nice to me, last we saw each other I was skating for the Sliders.”

“Actually, it was during the Open,” Gastón responded. Honestly, he didn’t see any reason to be mad at Ambar. He had heard many good things about how she had turned things around. 

“I have been trying to compartmentalize the Red Sharks out of my mind.” Ambar closed her eyes.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. We’re fine. I have known you for a long time, and honestly proud of you.”

“How long have you known each other?” Simon leaned forward, curious.

“Since third grade?” Ambar counted with her fingers, “I am not doing the math right now. I went my whole comprehensive schooling at La Hoja de roble.”

“And I started there when I was nine,” Gastón added, “So yeah, third grade checks out. If I remember correctly both Delfi and Jazmin both started there in the fifth grade.”

“Did you go to that school as well?” Luna asked Matteo.

“Yep, I started there at eighth grade. Probably like a week or two after the semester actually started, because Dad’s moving schedule of course couldn’t possibly let me start school like a normal person.”

“Yep, I saved your skin during the chemistry class.” Gastón laughed. 

“Thats not what happened!” Matteo countered. “I had it under control.”

“It didn’t look like it,” Gastón shook his head, “You were absolutely lost with Mr. Patrena’s whiteboard.”

“He was the worst,” Ambar huffed, “How anybody ever learned anything from his classes, is beyond me.”

Suddenly they heard the noise of mansion’s door opening. 

“Have you seen this—??!!” Delfi walked through the door, Pedro trying to keep up with her pace behind her, her phone in her hand. They both stopped in their tracks as they saw everyone at the living room. 

“Yes, we have,” Ambar spoke first, “Live, actually.”

“It really is true?” Delfi and Pedro turned to look at Gastón and Nina. 

The Team of Jam&Roller

Ramiro: What?

Jim: IIIiiiiiiIIIIIiiiiIII!! 💗💜💚💙💛

Yam: Omg!!💙💙💙💙

Ramiro: Cool

Jazmin: I need an interview now!

Gastón: No.

Nina: No

{}

Hey! Has anyone been missing the Roller Crew? Well, don't worry, we got them back for a chapter because I miss them too. The reason why I made Simbar to be the first to find out about Gastina is because they will have a strong friendship with each other in my canon. This was the start. Little spoiler here, but you'd know this if you've red SI: Simon and Ambar will come to attend Gastón's graduation, and they will eventually become the godparents to Gastón and Nina's second child. Plus, Simbar with Lutteo are the ones who have had to face the odds when it comes to their love, and they are the Holy Trinity of Ships, who need to be a trio. You know how I feel about that if you read MOT. Also Gastón and Ambar, having known each other the longest, is a nod to Aliados, a show which Agustin and Valentina were both in before Soy Luna (They actually played love interests, and yes it was trippy).

And for my Swifty readers, I know that you always find a way back home is technically not a Taylor song, but she did write it so fair game

[iridescentis]

ive been thinking about my SL next gen ocs recently and ive come to realise the reason why i can't really think of any plot is because these kids have zero trauma - they are all raised in happy loving families who are at least comfortable if not wealthy and very successful

what kind of plot am i supposed to put them through?? making any of them angsty isn't even fun because it's hard to feel sorry for a teenager with a perfect well off family throwing a tantrum

my writing is 90% inner monologue what do these kids have to monologue about??

[purple-fireflies]

try to slip past his defense (without granting innocence)

A/N: Soy Luna Grey’s Anatomy au -- some plot devices will be the same, others may differ. (This is just an excerpt, I'll post the full chapter on ao3 & tumblr when I'm done with it!)

Other notes:

The title is from The Fray’s “How To Save A Life” which is basically the show’s anthem song (that and chasing cars)

Sometimes, certain dialogue may be verbatim from the show (this is only for medical-related plot devices, ie meeting patients, assigning lab reports, establishing exposition, etc) so I’m stating here right now that that specific dialogue belongs to Grey’s Anatomy, and the characters belong to Soy Luna, but everything else belongs to me

Juliana never had the last name given in the show, so for story’s sake, it’s Bahiense.

She’s referred to as “The Nazi” but that’s not meant to offend anyone at all, it was the nickname given in the show, so I’m transferring it here.

In Soy Luna, Ámbar is one year older than Luna, but here she’s the same age as her

In Grey’s Anatomy, there are only 5 people in each group of interns, but for plot’s sake, there are 7 each

In the show, Benicio’s name was never mentioned, so for writing purposes, his last name is going to be Calisto

Luna sits up quickly—bad idea.

She winces at the light coming in through the window and groans at her headache.

And someone stirs next to her.

Exactly how much did she drink?

Enough so she doesn’t remember the name of the smirky boy staring at her, pulling on his boxers.

She is never drinking again.

And he needs to leave.

“You are?” He asks, grinning the grin that probably got Luna into this mess.

“Humiliated on so many levels,” She mutters, “And I’m late, as well. So if you could just, I dunno, leave, that would be perfect,”

“Or we could pick up where we left off?” He asks, with a grin that tells Luna he isn’t used to being rejected.

“No, seriously. I’m late. Which I shouldn’t be on my first day of work, so?”

Take the hint.

“Wait, so you live here?”

Jesus Christ, she’s going to be late.

“Huh? Oh yeah, it was my aunt’s house, but I’m selling it so technically, not for long.” She rushes out.

“I’m sorry,” He replies, actual emotion in his eyes.

“My aunt is still ali—you know, we don’t have to do the thing,”

“We can do whatever you want,”

Really?

“No, the thing. Where you pretend you care or ask me nice questions or whatever. Listen. I’m going to go upstairs and shower, and when I get back, you’re not going to be here, uh…”

What was his name?

He laughs softly, “Matteo.”

“Luna,” She replies, shaking his hand.

“Bye, Luna,” He says winking at her.

She smiles in response and jerks her head towards the door.

“Bye, Matteo,”

And that’s the last she has to see of him.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

“Each of you comes here hopeful. Wanting in on the game. A month ago you were in med school being taught by doctors. Today, you are the doctors. The seven years you spend here as a surgical resident will be the best and worst of your life. You will be pushed to the breaking point. Look around you. Say hello to your competition. Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty. Five of you will crack under the pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave. This is your starting line. This is your arena. How well you play? That's up to you,” The chief, Tamara Rios, says as Luna stumbles into the room, causing everyone to stare at her.

Great job, Valente.

Luna walks around the room. She sees Ámbar, avoiding her gaze as if it was poisonous. She sees another girl, a brunette, looking around the room with wide eyes. She sees Simón, looking back at her, and resists waving at him as a kindergartner would. She walks around the OR a little more and sees two girls so close they might as well be stuck together, one a blonde and the other a redhead. She bumps into another boy, who just huffs softly and brushes her off.

Rude.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

The resident takes 3 more interns, leaving Luna with the brunette she saw at the orientation.

“Only 6 women out of 20,” She says, sighing, as if mad at the statistic itself.

“And I think one of them’s a model. As if that would’ve helped with the whole respect thing,” The redhead interjects.

Luna and Ámbar share a look.

Luna turns to the brunette.

“You’re Nina, right?” She says, smiling.

Nina nods, “Which resident did you get assigned to? I got Bahiense.”

“The Nazi? Me too,” Luna replies.

The guy who bumped into her says, “You got the Nazi? So did I. At least we’ll be tortured together,” He says, trying to lean into Luna’s space.

Luna and Nina exchange a quick look saying, God, can you believe him?

A doctor comes up and calls out “Smith, Valente, Ponce, Simonetti, Medina, Sánchez, Álvarez,”

Ámbar walks up to the guy and asks, “Bahiense?”

He points down the hall.

The seven look down to see who he’s pointing at. It’s a woman slightly shorter than them, using a cane to stand up, ordering some other resident around.

The guy who bumped into her says, “I thought the Nazi would be a guy,”

Sexist much?

“I thought the Nazi would be...you know, the Nazi,” Luna mutters.

“Guys seriously? Maybe it’s just professional jealousy. You know, maybe she’s just brilliant and they’re so jealous so they call her the Nazi. Maybe she’s nice.” The redhead says, and Luna sees her nametag saying Jimena Medina.

The blonde next to her, Yamila Sánchez, Luna supposes, nods.

Which means the only one left that she doesn’t know would be...Luna cranes her neck to see his nametag.

Ramiro Ponce. Who is currently staring wistfully at Yamila.

Please.

“Let me guess, you still have hope left in your heart,” Ámbar says to Jimena, rolling her eyes as if it’s what she was born to do.

Jimena shoots Ámbar a dirty look (wow, Luna wishes her luck with that can of worms) and proceeds to try to shake Dr. Bahiense’s hand when she walks over.

Dr. Bahiense looks at her hand as if it’s infectious.

Jimena, undeterred, continues to say, “Right, well. I’m Jimena Medina, but you can call me Jim if it’s easier,”

Yamila, who seemed to jump out of thin air, says, “And you can call me Yam,”

Bahiense looks so unimpressed Luna thinks that if contempt alone was enough to murder someone, Bahiense would be a serial killer.

Luna shares a quick look with Simón, who gives her a reassuring nod.

Bahiense looks them all up and down, evidently annoyed with being stuck with their group (ouch).

"I have five rules. Memorize them. Rule number one, don't bother sucking up, I already hate you, that's not gonna change,” She starts, then moves to a bench, filled with different objects, “Trauma protocol, phone lists, pagers. Nurses will page you, you answer every page at a run. A run, that's rule number two. Your first shift starts now and lasts forty-eight hours,”

Everyone rushes to grab their pagers, studying them before Bahiense starts talking again.

“You’re interns, grunts, nobodies, bottom of the surgical food chain, you run labs, write orders, work every second night till you drop, and don't complain!”

Bahiense opens what Luna supposes is an on-call room, “On-call rooms. Attendings hog them, sleep when you can, where you can, which brings me to rule number three, if I'm sleeping, don't wake me, unless your patient is actually dying. Rule number four, the dying patient better not be dead when I get there, not only would you have killed someone, you would have also woken me for no good reason, we clear?”

Luna rushes to nod, writing furiously on her notepad, and then goes, oh.

She raises her hand.

Dr. Bahiense looks extremely pissed at Luna for having the audacity to have a question.

“Yes?”

“You said five rules. Those were only four.” Luna says, trying not to wilt against Dr. Bahiense’s gaze.

“Rule number five. When I move, you move,” She says after her pager beeps.

That’s some TV show shit right there.

They break into a run and watch as Dr. Bahiense runs down a couple of doctors.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

The helicopter—yes, a helicopter—lands, and a doctor pulls out a teenager on a stretcher.

This is way too much for Luna on her first day.

“What do we got?” Bahiense asks, and Luna hears Nina correct the grammar under her breath.

As the paramedic puts the girl on the stretcher (while she’s seizing) he says, “Katie Bryce, fifteen-year-old female, new-onset seizures, intermittent for the past week, ID lost en route, started grand mal seizing as we descended,”

Bahiense stops, leaning on her cane for a second, and then it’s all business.

“All right. Yam, put her on the side, 10 milligrams diazepam,” Bahiense groans when Yam does it incorrectly, “No, no, the white lead is on the right, righty whitey, smoke over fire, a large-bore I.V. don't let the blood haemolyse, let's go!”

Yam injects the diazepam and Katie stops seizing.

Luna releases the breath that she wasn’t aware she was holding.

Another doctor, in dark blue scrubs, another doctor comes up in stark contrast to what she and the other interns are wearing. Luna catches his name very quickly. Gastón Perida.

Nina sucks in a breath as he walks past them, Luna realizes with a start.

“So I heard we got a wet fish on dry land?” Dr. Perida says, and Luna catches how Nina stares at him with intent.

Dr. Bahiense, her sudden brashness gone, replaced with respect as she says, “Absolutely Dr. Perida,”

Dr. Perida nods, his eyes brushing over the intern group, stopping at Nina, and he then continues.

“All right, Dr. Bahiense, I’m gonna shotgun her,”

“That means every test in the book, CT, CBC, chem. seven, a tox screen, Nina and Ámbar, you're on labs, Ramiro and Yam, patient workups, Luna, get Katie for a CT, she's your responsibility now,”

Wonderful. Her first day and she gets the really hard patient.

“What about me and Simón?” Jim asks.

Bahiense looks so tired when she stares at Jim, “Right, you two, uh. You get to do rectal exams. Okay?”

Jim and Simón have faces that say no, not okay.

Luna makes a face gloating at Simón and he just glares at her in return.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

Ámbar peeks into the OR where Dr. Bahiense is. Bahiense comes out and looks at her expectantly.

“Um, Katie Bryce's labs came out clear, there's nothing in the results that explain her seizures,” She says, hoping to catch Dr. Bahiense to ask her what she really wants to ask her.

“And…?”

“ I heard every year the attending on-call picks the best intern and, and lets them perform a procedure, during the first shift?” Ámbar asks, glaring back at Dr. Bahiense when she tries to stare her down.

Ámbar Smith does not get stared down.

“Go away. Now.” Dr. Bahiense says, and Ámbar groans internally.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

Yam sighs at yet another ill-tried joke Ramiro attempts.

Flirty in med school and flirty now.

Why should she even bother?

“We have one more patient to work up,” She mumbles and he nods, walking slower to keep up with her pace.

She places her stethoscope and hears for a heartbeat. “Everything seems to be in order,”

“So he’ll be fine?” The woman next to him—presumably his wife—asks.

“If you don’t count that my bacon days are over, sure,” The patient replies.

Yam shares a smirk with Ramiro.

“You'll have surgery tomorrow with Dr. Perida, I hear he's good, and after that, you can have all of the bacon-flavored soy product you can eat,” Ramiro interjects, speaking easily with the patients.

“Please, kill me now,” the patient jokes.

“Wish I could, but I took the Hippocratic Oath for a reason,” Yam replies absently, going over and signing his charts.

She blushes at the weird looks she gets and rolls her eyes at Ramiro’s never-ending smirk.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

Katie. Won’t. Stop. Talking. Which isn’t helping Luna find her way through these halls.

Did she just miss the last turn?

“You’re lost,” the kid says, grumbling.

What do you think I’m trying to fix right now? Luna thinks to herself and just about stops herself from saying.

“I’m not lost.” Luna insists, then remembers she’s a doctor, “How’re you feeling?”

“I’m missing my pageant. How do you think I feel?”

“Right. You’re missing your pageant.”

This poor girl is in the hospital with seizures and the only thing that she can think about is her pageant.

Luna feels sorry for her.

“The Spokane Teen Miss? I was in the top ten after the first two rounds. This is my year. I could've won,”

Luna absently hums and realizes that they’re going the wrong way. Again.

She turns around and pushes Katie back the same way.

“You are so lost. What are you, new?”

Luna chokes back a laugh. Yeah, something like that.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

Yam watches Ramiro try to give their patient a central line. It’s not working.

And it’s visibly hurting the patient.

She groans and pushes past him, about to put the line in when Dr. Perida waltzes into their room and raises his eyebrows.

“Out.” He says, his nice demeanor replaced with annoyance.

Do all of the residents and attendings just hate interns on principle?

Yam glares at Ramiro and pulls him out, watching from the window as Perida puts the line in perfectly.

“Bet you used to mess up a lot when you started out,” Ramiro tries to joke with Perida.

Yam just winces and nods at Dr. Perida as she leaves.

Ramiro at least has the decency to look sheepish.

This is going to be a long shift.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

Luna sits, taking Katie’s patient history and generally listening to her incessant babbling.

“I twisted my ankle. I do rhythmic gymnastics, which is like, really cool. Nobody else does it. And I tripped over my ribbon, and I didn't get stuck with someone this clueless. And that was like, a nurse,” Katie says.

Luna bites back a retort.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

Simón groans at the plate of food in front of him. The number of rectal exams he and Jim had to do was enough to take the appetite away from anyone.

“This shift is 80 hours long, you have to eat, Simón,” Ámbar mutters, her gaze hardening after leaving Simón’s eyes.

“I can’t.”

“Eat.” Ámbar insists, pushing Simón’s plate towards him.

“You try eating after performing 17 rectal exams. The Nazi hates me. I want to puke.” Simón says, his face contorting.

“Just don’t puke near me,” Ámbar mutters.

“The Nazi’s just a resident. Attendings hate me,” Ramiro replies.

“Did you know Luna is inbred?” Nina asks, and all heads whip to her immediately.

Partly because no one expected the shy ingenue to say anything.

And partly because Luna being inbred is very surprising.

Simón hurries to say “It’s not uncommon to be the kid of a doctor,”

“I mean royally inbred. Her mother is Lili Benson.”

“Shut up. The Lili Benson?” Jim asks.

Nina nods.

“Who’s Lili Benson?” Ramiro asks.

“The Benson method? Where’d you go to med school, Antarctica?” Yam says incredulously.

No one notices how Simón and Ámbar tense up as Yam continues talking. “She was one of the biggest women surgeons. She practically invented th—”

“She won the Harper Avery. Twice.” Jim says, rolling her eyes at Ramiro.

“So I didn’t know one thing.”

“I would kill to have Lili Benson as my mother. Scratch that, I’d kill to be Lili Benson.” Nina says, her eyes alight.

“Katie Bryce is a pain in the ass. I swear if it wouldn’t get me fired, I’d strangle her with my bare hands.” Luna says, walking over to their table, sitting next to Nina.

She seems to miss the wistful glance Simón throws her way.

She does seem to notice the way everyone’s staring at her.

“What?”

Nina opens her mouth to say something but stops immediately when Dr. Perida walks over.

“Good afternoon interns. It's posted, but I thought I'd share the good news personally. As you know, the honor of performing the first surgery is reserved for the intern that shows the most promise. As I'm running the OR today, I get to make that choice,” Dr. Perida says, and Luna feels a rush of hope.

Or. Felt. Seeing as Dr. Perida is clapping Ramiro on his back (it was kind of worth it to see him choke a little on his salad) and saying, “Ramiro Ponce. You’ll be scrubbing in on an appendectomy this afternoon. Congrats.”

Luna deflates.

She wanted that surgery.

She wanted it really badly.

“Me?” Ramiro asks, not quite believing it. Or maybe he’s just wilting under Yam’s intense glare.

“Enjoy.” Dr. Perida says, nodding to everyone.

Luna doesn’t fail to notice that he’s staring at Nina while he says that.

Nina doesn’t fail to notice either, if the blush on her cheeks has anything to say about it.

Ramiro looks like he’s still in shock.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

“I’ve seen his file. Ramiro Ponce barely even made the cut to get into the program. He’s not your guy.” Juliana says to Gastón, raising her eyebrows.

“Oh, he’s my guy alright,” Gastón responds, absently checking the labs.

Juliana sighs, “Every year you pick your guy, and every year your guy suffers most.”

Gastón smiles. Everyone who knows him knows his easy nature, his inclination to being on the side of less serious.

Unless of course, it has to do with work.

“Terrorize one, and the rest fall in line, Bahiense.”

“I get it. I respect it. But Ramiro? Ponce is a puppy. A cute little puppy that is waiting to be killed. He can’t take the pressure. Think about it, Perida.” Juliana says, walking away.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

Luna watches as Katie’s parents stumble into Katie’s room.

The look of pure worry and fear on their faces makes Luna warm to them immediately.

A couple of hours ago, their kid was supposed to go on stage and wear a sash and be a kid.

Now they’re scared that their kid could be dying.

“Katie?” The mom asks, trying to hold her hand.

Luna falters, not wanting to break their little window.

“They gave her a sedative for the CT scan, so she’s just a tad groggy,” Luna says, standing up.

“Will she be okay?”

“Does she need surgery?” The parents ask at the same time.

Their urging faces make Luna wish she had an answer.

“Uh. You know, I’m not her doctor, I am a doctor, just not hers. Anyway, I’m not Katie’s doctor. I’ll go find him.” Luna rambles.

Luna finds Bahiense, “Katie’s parents have questions. Should I get Dr. Perida to answer them?”

“What? No. Perida’s off the case. The case is the new neuro attending’s case, Dr. Balsano. He’s over there.” Bahiense says, pointing to…

Oh god.

Please.

Not today.

This is not happening.

Matteo turns and stops dead in his tracks, his eyes clicking in recognition.

This is not happening.

Luna is not dealing with this.

She turns away from his gaze and walks away. What is she going to do?

She walks towards the stairwell and gets grabbed in.

She stumbles and Matteo catches her, running a hand through his hair, which Luna grudgingly admits looks not bad.

No. Luna. Stop it. Luna. No.

“Dr. Balsano. Did you need anything?” Luna asks, trying to not look at flustered as she is.

Matteo looks positively ecstatic at this turn of events. “Dr. Balsano? This morning it was Matteo. Now it’s Dr. Balsano.”

Luna dearly wants to slap that smirk off of his face.

“Dr. Balsano, we should pretend this never happened,”

“What never happened? You sleeping with me last night or kicking me out this morning because I don’t know about you, but both are memories I’d dearly love to keep.”

This guy really can’t take a hint.

“No. No. No. This is not happening. There are no memories of anything. I’m not the girl in the bar and you’re not the guy in the bar. I am your intern, Dr. Balsano.”

“I see how it is. You took advantage of me last night and now you want to forget about it.” He says, smirking incessantly.

“I most certainly did not,”

“I was drunk and vulnerable. Not to mention, insanely good-looking,”

“You’re not that good-looking,” Luna says, while her traitorous brain says Liar over and over.

“Sure I’m not. But last night, I was wearing my red shirt and I was extremely good-looking and you took advantage,”

He’s not entirely wrong about the red shirt.

“I didn—”

“Want to take advantage again? Say, Friday night?”

He’s smiling again, only this time it’s a smile, not a smirk.

Maybe Luna wouldn’t have said no if he wasn’t an attending.

“No. You’re an attending. I’m your intern. And I would seriously appreciate it if you stopped looking at me like that,” Luna says, glaring at him. It doesn’t seem to deter him.

“Like what?” He asks innocently as if he has no idea what he’s doing right now.

“Like you’ve slept with me,”

Matteo smirks.

“Dr. Balsano. Have you ever considered the fact that this is inappropriate?” Luna breathes.

He doesn’t say anything.

Luna sighs and leaves, the door slamming behind her.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

“Open. Identify. Irrigate. Close.” Jim instructs, and Yam sighs.

“Jim, I think he’d know,”

“He looks like he’s going to puke,” Jim shoots back.

Yam looks at Ramiro and says, “We have to go to the gallery now. Don’t screw it up.”

They walk up and take a seat behind Luna and Nina.

The intern above them says, “He’s going to faint. He’s a fainter.”

Yam fights back a if you only knew.

“Nah, I’m guessing code brown. Right in his pants,” another intern snickers.

Yam and Jim share a look.

Sure, she’s not a huge fan of Ramiro but he helped her a lot in med school. He helped Jim a lot in med school.

This is just savage.

“He’s going to sweat himself unsterile,”

“10 bucks he’s messing up the McBird,” someone says.

Oh god, they’re betting on Ramiro.

“20 says he cries,” Ámbar says, and sends an apologetic look at Luna.

“I’ll put 20 on him melting down completely,”

“50 says he pulls the whole thing off.” Yam hears herself say.

Luna grins at her, “That’s one of us down there. The first one of us. Where the hell is your loyalty?”

Yam breathes out.

The entire gallery, while it was buzzing before, is now silent.

“75 he can’t even ID the appendix,” Ámbar says again.

This time it’s Simón shooting her the look.

“I’ll take that action,” someone says.

Eric, Yam realizes.

The idiot from their bio class.

Nina elbows Luna when Dr. Perida says, “Okay, Ponce, let’s see what you can do,”

Jim breathes in quickly and Yam also holds her breath.

Do it right do it right please do it right.

“Here it comes,” Simón says.

“Scalpel,” Ramiro says and the nurse hands it to him, echoing the word.

Ramiro takes it and everyone cheers.

Perida motions for them to shut up as Nina says, “God, he’s quite a bit of trouble,”

Ramiro gets ready to cut as Perida instructs, “More pressure.”

Ramiro manages to do it without any mishaps and then proceeds to say, “Pickups.”

The scrub nurse echoes the command and hands him the instrument.

They go on for a little bit, and Yam thinks he might actually pull it off.

Until it goes downhill after Ramiro takes out the appendix.

Perida mutters an angry remark as all the interns in the gallery call him Double O’7.

Jim shares a worried look with Yam and asks Luna, “What does 007 mean?”

Luna sends them an apologetic look.

“License to Kill.”

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

The cool air rushes into the basement that Bahiense’s interns have settled into.

The majority of them pile onto the gurney as Nina goes to the vending machine looking for some chocolate.

Luna winces at the whine that Ramiro makes as he walks into their “hideout”.

“They’re calling me 007 aren’t they?”

Luna groans and shoves Simón’s head off of Ámbar’s lap so she can fall asleep in it.

She’s too tired to deal with any human interaction that requires her to, you know, have any sort of emotional security.

“No one’s calling you 007,” Jim and Yam lie (but they do it in unison so like, props).

Ramiro shoots Yam an annoyed look, “I was on an elevator and Eric whispered 007,”

Ámbar pushes Luna’s head off of her lap and glares at Ramiro, “How many times do we have to go through with this? 5, 10, 15? Please tell me soon or I’m going to rim your head off.”

Ramiro sits on the gurney and groans “Eric whispered 007 in the elevator and everyone laughed,”

Luna picks her head up from where she’s trying (unsuccessfully) to fall asleep and actually feels sorry for the guy for a second but the aching limbs and pounding migraine make it kind of hard to console the poor guy.

“They weren’t laughing at you,” Jim says.

“You sure?”

“Would we lie to you?” Jim asks.

“Yes,” Ramiro, Ámbar, Simon and Luna say.

“007 is a state of mind,” Nina yells from the vending machine and throws a packet of chips at Luna as she walks back.

“Says the girl who finished first at freaking Stanford,” Simón yells at her.

Nina just rolls her eyes in response.

Just as Luna finally feels the call of sleep, her pager beeps.

She just wanted 5 minutes.

“It’s 911. Damn. I gotta go,” and Luna takes off at a sprint.

“I should’ve gone into geriatrics. No one cares if you kill an old person.” Ramiro continues after Luna leaves.

“Yes. Yes, they do care if you kill an old person. Plus. Surgery is hot. Geriatrics is… Well, it’s for freaks who live in the basement with their mom,” Simón replies.

“I have got to move out of my mom’s,” Ramiro mutters.

Nina and Ámbar share a grin.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

Luna’s out of breath by the time she gets to Katie’s room.

She really has to go to the gym more.

“Finally,” Katie mutters.

Luna looks around, seeing if anything’s wrong.

Oh god, please tell me she has a good reason for this. She has a good reason. Maybe. Hopefully.

“Are you alright?” The nurse paged me 911.”

“Ha, it took me forever to get her to even pick up the phone. I had to go full Hulk.”

“Wait. So there’s nothing wrong? Nothing medically wrong?”

“I’m bored.” Katie shrugs.

Luna likes to think she’s a nice person. A little absentminded at times, but a nice person nonetheless.

Katie, however, is really testing the whole “do no harm” thing.

“I am not your babysitter. I am not your cruise director. You can’t just page me for anything.”

“Don’t be so overdramatic. My pageant is supposed to be on cable, but it’s like this hospital lives in the ’90s. I can’t find anything. If someone who’s not me gets the crown, I should at least get to see it.”

Luna takes a deep breath. She’s a teenager. You were also stupid as a teenager.

“Okay. This is a hospital. There are sick people here. Go to sleep and stop wasting my time.”

“I can’t sleep, my head’s all full.”

“Those are called thoughts. Run with them.” Luna says in a fit of anger.

She’s been working for almost 24 hours and she just wanted 2 minutes of rest.

But maybe she shouldn’t have snapped at a patient.

But that’s a lesson for another day.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

Luna and Nina are in the ER when they hear a loud voice.

“4B has post-op pneumonia. Let’s get her started on antibiotics, okay?” An intern says to a nurse.

Someone didn’t tell the newbie not to piss off the nurses.

“Are you sure it’s the right diagnosis?”

“Oh gee, I don’t know. I’m only an intern. But here’s an idea. You go and spend 4 years in med school and then talk to me. She’s got shortness of breath and fever. It’s post-op pneumonia. Start antibiotics.” He sneers.

Luna rolls her eyes.

The same guy walks over to her and Nina, “God, I hate nurses. I’m Benicio. I’m with Jeremy. You guys are with the Nazi, right?”

“You know it doesn’t have to be pneumonia, right? It could be splinting. Or she could have aPE.”

He sneers again (does it ever leave his face?), “As I said, I hate nurses.” and walks away.

“Well, he’s an absolute idiot,” Nina says, shooting daggers towards Benicios across the room.

Luna’s about to respond, but her pager beeps again.

“Dammit, Katie.”

This time she walks.

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

When seeing the most popular fics in the Violetta and Soy Luna tags on ao3, you can see what people really prefer to read about. And it’s not so much non-canon ships

Ok, so checking the Violetta tag, the most popular fic is my season 1 rewrite (hashtag no flex). Honestly I think it gained this because 1. Back when it was posted, Violetta legit had like 10 fics. Which meant that, well, whenever someone posted a fic, you read it, regardless what it was about. And it’s been so long now that it has gained that amount of hits. So I wouldn’t say it’s really the ”definition” of what people like to read. However, number 2 and 3 in the hits list are two leonetta fics (which ALSO are written by me… which feels a bit funny because it’s also the ONLY leonetta centric fics I’ve written). And honestly, I think it has to do with the fact that leonetta is the most popular canon ship and, I myself when I was younger LOVED reading about them, and I know how much Leonetta holds so many people chokehold. I was one of them. I myself don’t think it’s as fun to write about Leonetta anymore even if they’re still dear to me, and I don’t think my fics focusing on them are my best work, but they excite young teenage girls a lot and I get that.

However, after this? The non-canon ship fics starts to flood in. It’s Luty, it’s Franletta, it’s Natila… WLW fics are dominating. I mean, sure, the fics about Leonetta have the most hits, but relationship wise, who does people want to write about the most?

The queer girls own the Violetta tag on ao3 it’s true

But the Soy Luna tag? Yeah, there is very little non-canon ships that are getting the most hits. It’s a very consistent theme there: Simbar.

Simbar this, Simbar that, Simbar doing anything and everything with each other. The majority of the first page is just tagged with Simbar, even if it’s not the only ship.

But canon ships dominate the SL ao3 tag. I mean, when it’s two boys or girls it’s most often just tagged platonically, with some few exceptions.

(Also 10 of those Jim/Yam fics are mine… I was surprised with how little content they had when they seemed to be such a well liked ship… I guess people just found it more interesting with the canon ships than with them, since they canonically didn’t end up with someone).

So… Yeah, it’s not so much non-canon ships maybe in Soy Luna, but in VIOLETTA? The queers awoke and blasted off