#yes a lot of Luna's pov but this is still simbar centric don't worry

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"Roads That Cross... with a Reunion"

You can read the previous chapters here: (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), (14), (15), (16), (17), (18), (19), (20)

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Luna knew that if there was one person that could calm Matteo down and comfort him during this tough time, it was Gastón.

She had never been very close to him, but since he had become Nina’s boyfriend, they had inevitably hung out more. After they broke up though, things had changed again, and although neither Nina nor Luna held any hard feelings toward him, it didn’t mean that it wasn’t weird to speak to him given the circumstances.

Nonetheless, Luna had re-started contact with Gastón after Matteo’s accident. Not immediately after, of course— Things had been very strained between them and Luna felt such guilt over what happened that she honestly didn’t want to talk about it. But after things had cooled down in a way and her relationship with Matteo had returned to some kind of normalcy, Luna had texted Gastón to ask him how they could cheer Matteo up.

The idea of the music video had been hers, but maybe she wouldn’t have come to it if it weren’t for Gastón. He had pointed out how Matteo needed to feel in his element again, have one big win to rise up from the hole he had thrown himself into.

“Matteo needs to feel he’s good at what he does, otherwise he gets depressed. It’s a pride thing, yes, but it’s not as vain as it sounds. He grew up with high expectations on his shoulders because his father always told him he had the abilities to be on top, so he never allowed him less than that. Matteo got used to it, and got so used to succeeding that it goes against his self-concept to fail. It rattles him, you get what I’m saying?”

Luna had blinked many times, staring into space with her phone against her ear. “Uh… I think so. In summary, he needs to feel like he’s great again. Go full Chico Fresa.”

Gastón had laughed on the other side of the line. “Basically. He was upset after forgetting the lyrics in the Flash Open. Maybe if he could participate in another event it could be his revenge?”

Luna considered that. Ámbar was now in charge of the Jam & Roller and therefore any kind of event that Luna proposed would have to go through her first. Since the Flash Open had been just a couple of days ago, Luna doubted that she’d agree to make another big event now only to cheer up her ex.

But maybe it didn’t have to be an event exactly…

“Thank you so much, Gastón, I think I have an idea that could work.”

“You’re welcome. You know, Matteo is like a brother to me,” he said from his heart. “For anything that has to do with him, don’t hesitate in contacting me. I’ll help you.”

And so, Luna had stayed in contact with him, telling him the plans for the music video. What she hadn’t been expecting was for Gastón to tell her he’d fly all the way over there to help with the video in person.

Luna had to talk to Nina before that. She really wanted to do this for Matteo and she knew that he’d be over the moon if Gastón was there, but Nina was her best friend and she was going to be with the camera filming the whole thing, so if she felt in any way uncomfortable with it, Luna would politely ask Gastón to not be part of the video. He was gonna be staying for a week anyway; even if he didn’t appear in it, he’d have plenty of time to be with everyone.

Nina had been surprised and nervous about the news of his visit, understandably so. She said it would be weird to see him after all those weeks and what had happened between them, but she actually preferred to be behind a camera when it happened than to face him directly. Ironically, both working in the video together gave her the perfect excuse to not talk to him.

Which brought them to the day of filming. Luna had already informed everyone through a text the day before that Gastón would be paying a surprise visit and appearing on Matteo’s video. The only ones that knew before that besides Nina were Jim and Yam since they were in charge of choreography and wardrobe and therefore had to be in contact with Gastón to arrange those things with him.

Luna’d had to ask them to keep it a secret from Jazmín though— She feared she should unintentionally spoil the surprise. Hell, considering her own clumsy nature, she had been worried that she would ruin the surprise.

Thankfully though, everything had turned out great, and now, looking at Matteo and Gastón wrapped in an emotional hug, she knew everything had been worth it.

“Wha- How- When did you arrive?! How could you not tell me you were coming?!” Matteo shoot like a machine gun.

“It was a surprise! And, honestly, I should’ve come much earlier, brother,” Gastón said eagerly. “I should’ve come the moment you had the accident, I know that, but I had a lot of assignments and I was studying like crazy and—”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Matteo soothed him with a hand on his shoulder. “You’re here now. I can’t believe you’re here now. I’ve missed you so much.”

“Okay, okay! Do we wait until you kiss or can we start with the video?” Luna called out teasingly.

Matteo and Gastón finally regrouped with the rest and Gastón received some welcoming hugs and pats on the back. Nina stayed behind the camera along with Luna and Michel, who was some steps to the side, next to the speakers. Gastón waved at them from his spot, but it was quite clear who his eyes were set on. Nina just waved back timidly. Luna couldn’t blame her.

After that quick reunion, with the promise that they could catch up later, everyone got back in position and the filming began. Shot after shot, Luna followed the pseudo-storyboard that she had made with Nina so she wouldn’t forget anything. It turned out that the things she had imagined had names like ‘medium-close up’, ‘worm’s eye’, ‘trucking’— Luna honestly didn’t know them much, but Nina understood them.

Anyway, everything went smoothly, it just took a long time because they needed to repeat many parts from different angles, some in group and some of just Matteo.

If Luna found herself momentarily distracted sometimes, it was only because she was happy of seeing Matteo move so confidently again, not because she liked watching him.

“We’re baaaack.”

Several minutes after the final “cut”, Luna entered the mansion with Simón, Matteo, Pedro and Michel in tow. Matteo had wanted Gastón to come with them, but he had to go to his family— Obviously, they must miss him immensely— so they all agreed to meet at the Roller the next day. It wasn’t like they didn’t naturally do so every day already, but now they had a reunion to celebrate.

Hearing them come in, her mom and Ámbar (who apparently had been helping her set the table?? Wow, what?) walked out of the dining room to receive them.

“About time,” her mom said, putting her hands on her hips. She zeroed in on her, not angry but with the tone she usually used to reprimand her. “I told you to call me if it took you longer, Luna.”

She winced. She forgot. “I’m sorry, we were all so focused we lost track of time.”

Some steps away, Simón was wrapping Ámbar in his arms. “Hello, my beautiful blonde,” she heard him say, right before kissing her.

Well, now Luna was officially uncomfortable.

Her mom sighed and smiled. “Well, what’s important is that you’re all okay. Could you film everything you wanted?”

“Yes!” Luna replied excitedly, and she had just started telling her everything when her dad appeared from upstairs, also unhappy about them staying out late, but luckily, he didn’t reprimand them much and just told everyone to go wash their hands to have dinner.

They had been waiting for them to eat, Luna found out later from her grandpa when they were all at the table. “Food always tastes better when you eat it with family,” he declared with a grin. “And friends, of course,” he added, referring to the guys. “The more, the better.”

Luna felt a little bad for making them wait, but she was also very moved by her grandpa’s words. She took a glance at Ámbar, half-expecting her to contradict him. ‘You are not my family and we are not friends’, something like that. She had said it many times whenever her grandpa tried to include her.

But she didn’t. And, truthfully, she hadn’t in a while. It wasn’t like she went around hugging everyone now and telling them how much she loved them— Her relationship with Luna was still pretty much the same in which they didn’t talk much unless necessary— But she was different, lately. She smiled more. Not that fake, hostile smile that she used to always direct at her, and pretty much everyone who crossed her way really. No, this one was real, a term that she struggled to associate with Ámbar after being deceived by her so many times, but it was what her eyes saw.

She looked at her during dinner. Ámbar remained with an affable air, listened with interest when others talked, answered politely whatever questions came her way, even threw a joke every now and then. And whenever Simón spoke…

When Simón spoke, she looked at him like he was all the stars in the sky.

It eased something inside Luna’s heart. She didn’t know if she and Ámbar would ever be friends or act like family. She didn’t know if all her changes were for Simón’s sake or if he’d been right and Ámbar only needed someone to guide her to show she’s good. But at least Luna had the peace of mind that her best friend wasn’t alone in this, that all the love he felt, Ámbar felt it too.

That was enough.

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

Simón walked into the room and went directly to change into his pajamas. His body felt heavy after moving around so much, and after sitting down for dinner, all the adrenaline that had been energizing him finally went down.

While Ámbar took off her makeup in front of her vanity, he went into the bathroom to wash his teeth and all that. When he came out, Ámbar was getting ready for bed too, placing her pajamas on top of the bed to put it on.

Simón walked to his side of the bed –Wow, he had a side of the bed now— and watched casually as she changed, wondering all the while what he had done to deserve a girl so perfect. With or without makeup, she looked beautiful. His eyes took in the curve of her waist, her soft, smooth skin—

“Oh my god.”

Ámbar stopped with her pajama capris in hand. “What?”

Simón crossed the bed and sat on his knees before her. His gaze was zeroed in on her hips, where bruises darkened her otherwise clear skin on both sides. He brushed them with his thumbs. The marks looked too much like fingers.

“Was this me?” He asked, unable to believe he’d gripped her this hard. “Bonita, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

Ámbar just smiled and took his hands, giving them a squeeze before letting them go. “My love, relax, I really don’t care,” she said, and pulled her pajama up her legs, which covered the marks.

“It doesn’t hurt?”

She moved to get under the covers so he scooted over to let her. “Do the scratches I leave down your back hurt?” She volleyed back.

Simón thought about it. Yes, he could feel a slight burning at times with the rubbing of his t-shirt against his skin, but more than pain, each time he felt it he felt almost proud, like they were proof he had done something very right. It brought back good memories.

His train of thought must have shown on his face because Ámbar smiled at him with intent. “There’s your answer. Now relax.”

She eased him against the pillows and settled next to him. They cuddled up together and put on a movie on Netflix.

Simón tried to keep his eyes open, but Ámbar’s warmth and the smell of her hair were too welcoming.

The next time he came to, the lights were off, both of them were laying under the covers, and Ámbar’s sleeping face rested some centimeters from his.

He just held her closer and went back to sleep.

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

Out of all the struggles Ámbar had to face on a daily basis, she had to admit, this one was by far her favorite.

“Noooo,” Simón whined, hugging her harder when she tried to stand. “I refuse. Take the day off. Let’s take a day off.”

Simón never wanted to get out of bed in the morning— or let her go for that matter. She found it adorable if she was being honest. This morning, moreover, it was probably amplified by the fact that he’d been helping with Matteo’s video until late, right after a full day of work. It was understandable that he was tired.

(And that without counting that interlude at lunch. God, how she wished she could tell Emilia just to shove in her face that she had been right. “How boring, Ámbar, he’s a total loser,” she’d told her back then, and what had Ámbar replied? “I think there’s a side of him he hasn’t shown yet.” – And said and done! Simón could be a real animal with the right encouragement. Who was laughing now, Emilia?)

However… “All days off need to be forewarned at least 24 hours in advance unless it’s an emergency,” she had to remind him. It was her duty as manager.

He groaned. “Tomorrow then.” He rose on his forearms on top of her and looked at her. “Let’s take a day off, the two of us. Go out somewhere… Or we could stay in this bed, all,” he kissed her cheek, “day,” he kissed her jaw, “long,” he kissed her neck.

Ámbar closed her eyes and hummed as he kept leaving melting kisses on her skin. Each spark they elicited on her body was a very convincing argument. It didn’t sit right with her to leave her responsibilities when she was the manager, but would it really be that bad? It’d be just one day; it wasn’t like she was taking vacations. She’d say they both deserved a little rest.

“Okay, I’ll call one of the part-timers and— ah,” she moaned as he sucked one of her nipples, “see if they can cover...”

There were a couple of guys that usually took care of the Roller whenever the regular staff needed to be absent due to a skating competition, vacations or stuff like that so that the business could keep running. The chance that they all just happened to be busy the next day was very slim, so it should be fine.

Simón let go of her breast. “Great.” And went for the other.

Ámbar groaned and pulled him by the nape. “Come’ere.”

She kissed him soundly and flipped them over, pressing her body against his.

Oh yeah, there was definitely no better way to start the day than this.

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

Just as she had predicted, things were very lively in the Jam & Roller from early on. Of course, it was the Jam & Roller they were talking about— There was always something going on. But there was a special brand of vibrant excitement in the air that day, and it overflowed like a shaken can when Gastón walked through the doors.

Soon enough, everyone was gathered around at the Roller’s tables, asking him how he’d been and how was London treating him. The girls had just gotten back from school so they didn’t miss anything. Pedro and Simón had to stand to serve a customer every now and then, but mostly they could stay with everyone. The only one who didn’t stay was Delfi, who only chatted for a little while before leaving, claiming she was too excited to edit Matteo’s video to wait. “You’ll see, it’s going to be amazing!” She promised.

(Ámbar suspected that she had also wanted to escape from Jazmín, who hadn’t stopped whining about how she hadn’t told her about Gastón’s visit.)

(She also suspected that Eric was staying strictly on the rink zone for a reason.)

The cheery sounds of everyone catching up filled the cafeteria. Ámbar didn’t sit with them, she didn’t feel it was her place, but she could see and hear them from her work table, so, in a way, it was like being there in spirit. She had greeted Gastón when he arrived, in any case. He’d smiled and treated her very naturally, not like the awkward interactions she had with the rest, for which she was grateful. She may no longer be part of that group of friends and teammates, but she had been once.

Her mood darkened a little as she remembered her last teammates and friends. For a period of her life, they’d been all she had, especially Emilia, whom she’d spent all of the summer with. Up until not so long, they used to hang out at each other’s places once practice was over, talk about skating, or their lives, or how they were going to screw up with the Roller team next. That last part she wasn’t proud of. In fact, that whole period of her life wasn’t something she was proud of, but she did feel like she’d needed to break free and let out a lot of crap she had accumulated over the years.

She didn’t miss her friendship with Emilia, not exactly, but… she did miss parts of it. She missed having someone to tell stuff to. Of course she had Simón, but that was different. It had been a while since she had… friends.

Well, she had Ramiro, they sent each other memes every once in a while, but they weren’t very close. Maybe, now that he was done with the video thing, she could talk to him more. But he was still a guy, it wasn’t the same as having girl friends. If she were to tell him something cute Simón did or said, he’d tease her for days, not join in on her excitement.

Ámbar glanced at Jazmín, who had only stopped pouting when she realized that, with Delfi gone, she would have the full scoop of Gastón’s return for the Fab & Chic. Did she miss being her friend? It was hard to tell. As a trio, it somehow worked, but Jazmín had always had an easy way to exasperate her. She guessed she did grow on you with time— She wouldn’t have allowed her to stick by her side for so long otherwise. But was it really a friendship what they had to begin with?

Ámbar sighed. What even was a healthy friendship like? She guessed something like what Simón and her had except without the ‘falling in love’ part. With Delfi and Jazmín things never were very equal— She led, they followed. She’d already apologized to Delfi about that, she guessed she had to do the same with Jazmín. Was she annoying at times? Yes. Did she have no concept of tact or personal boundaries whatsoever? Absolutely. But, for someone that was supposed to be her friend, Ámbar had surely treated her too poorly.

They probably would never be as close as they’d once been— They were just too different, and someone with no filter was not what Ámbar needed right now as she was dealing with a lot of delicate, personal stuff. Also, it wasn’t like she could talk to her about Simón— That’d be mean, probably.

But she was trying this new thing where she did the right thing, and she knew the right thing was to patch things up with her, if anything for old time’s sake.

She had to re-read a paragraph on the document she was working on for like the fifth time as her thoughts kept drifting. By the time she finished with that and focused back on the other’s conversation, Gastón was talking about how happy his family was to see him. Apparently, they’d missed him so much that they wanted to do a bunch of activities with him to make up for lost time.

“I swear all they want to fit in just a few days it’s crazy; don’t be surprised if you end up not seeing me at all after today,” Gastón joked.

Luna laughed. “Better get used to it, it’ll probably be like that every time you visit. Simón’s parents do the same thing every time he goes back to Cancún, right Simón?”

He smiled. “Yeah.”

“You’ll have to come more often then,” Matteo told Gastón. “I’m guessing you’ll be here for Christmas and New Year's?”

“Yeah, that’s the idea. I mean, it’s not like it’s easy because plane tickets aren’t cheap, but I feel like those are the kind of moments that you should especially spend with family, you know? I’d love to be here for Halloween as well, but I’m gonna be in the middle of Michaelmas Term and I don’t think…”

Gastón kept talking about dates he’d have to spend over there, especially birthdays, but Ámbar tuned out as she noticed Simón’s face. The light in his eyes was dimmed, his smile more mechanic than genuine. It was subtle, so much so that probably everyone else wouldn’t notice anything amiss even if their focus wasn’t on Gastón, wouldn’t notice these details, but she could tell. It didn’t last long, so maybe it was nothing, but she made a mental note to pay attention in case it happened again.

She wondered if Luna could notice these things too. Then she laughed internally. Was she seriously going to be competitive even with things like these? God... She wondered if she’d been born like that or Sharon really did a number on her.

Maybe one of my parents—

She stopped that thought from fully forming. That was something she didn’t want to think about.

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

“Alright but, tell me about the video!” Jazmín said excitedly.

Everyone had been so focused on Gastón’s visit and his stories from London that even Simón had forgotten about that.

“How was it? Everything fine?” She asked. “I mean, aside from missing my outstanding talent with the camera.” She turned to Nina. “No offense.”

Everyone just smiled amusedly, accustomed to Jazmín’s antics by this point. Simón even saw Ámbar shaking her head at her table with a tiny smile tugging on her lips.

“It was more than fine,” Matteo said with a healthy dose of pride. “You’re not going to believe your eyes when you see it.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be the best music video on the planet,” Luna declared.

“And I didn’t forget the lyrics once,” Matteo added, probably the part he was proud of the most.

Simón smiled. “What did we tell you? You just had to loosen up and let yourself roll with it.”

“Yeah, we knew you could do it, buddy,” Gastón agreed, placing a hand on Matteo’s shoulder.

“Anyone who didn’t doesn’t know you,” Ramiro joined in.

Matteo looked at everyone with a heartfelt expression. “Thank you all, really.”

A chorus of ‘you’re welcome’s and ‘it was nothing’ rung back to him.

“Hey, um,” Ramiro began timidly, which called everyone’s attention because ‘timid’ and ‘Ramiro’ usually didn’t belong on the same sentence. “Since we’re all here, I’d like to tell you guys that I… well, whether you accept me back on the team or not, I’d really like it if we could all be friends again,” he said earnestly. “I had a very great time filming with everyone yesterday. It was kinda like old times; all of us hanging out, doing stuff together, and um… I totally understand if you don’t want me back on the team, I really do. But I just wanted to say that, despite that, I hope we can all keep hanging out together, just like this.”

Simón shared looks with the rest of the guys, feeling the excitement rise under the surface. It seemed like the time had come.

Jim was the first to speak, a little knowing smile growing on her lips as she looked at Ramiro.

“Well… Who said that our answer is no?”

Ramiro’s face lighted up, hope and disbelief fighting in his gaze as he ran it over each one of them, who were also wearing barely contained grins. “You mean…?”

Matteo looked at Luna, who made him a gesture with her hands, giving him the honors.

He stood, acting as spokesman.

“The decision is made.” He smiled. “Welcome back to the Jam & Roller team, Ramiro.”

Ramiro grinned widely and rose from his seat, sealing the moment with a hug as everyone else cheered.

“Oh thank you so much,” he expressed, looking at everyone. “I won’t let you down this time, I promise.”

Yam plastered a fake smile under deadly eyes. “Mm, you better.”

“Well, this should be celebrated, right?” Pedro said enthusiastically.

Five minutes later, all the guys were on stage, singing and dancing “Nadie como tú” with a smile on their faces. Simón couldn’t help but think that this was how things should’ve been, with Gastón by their side instead of Benicio, all friends worried about nothing but having a good time. One thing was the same though; he still sang looking at Ámbar. And it was even better, because this time she looked back with a grin on her face and blew him a kiss.

After their group performance, Simón and Pedro left the stage and went back to waiting tables while the girls (minus Jazmín, who insisted on filming everything— “My followers are going to go nuts about this!”) joined the rest of the guys to sing a rendition of ‘Valiente’. Simón’s heart always filled with pride whenever someone sang it. He was very happy that the song he’d written two years ago to try to cheer Luna up had now become a tune that brought them all together.

That finished, everyone walked down the stage except for Matteo and Gastón, and cheered for them as the first notes of ‘Aquí Estoy’ started playing.

“You still remember the steps?” Matteo asked his friend with a little daring smile.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Gastón replied smugly, smoothing down his jacket. And, indeed, the two broke into a perfect choreography, full of energy and swag, that was only interrupted by Ámbar yelling—

“Matteo, not the bar, we’re not in an Open!”

“Sorry!”

As the two guys sang the final chorus, Simón leaned close to Luna and muttered amusedly.

“You may wanna wipe your face, you have a little saliva dripping down your mouth.”

Luna whipped toward him with a gasp. “Simón!”

He broke out laughing and left, ignoring her denials and claims of innocence.

As the two friends finished the song and hugged, one thing was clear. Gastón wasn’t the only one back— Matteo was back too.

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

Luna watched the edited version of Matteo’s music video and her heart filled with pride. Delfi had come that night right after dinner to show them how it was coming along and they couldn’t be happier with it. The music video had been a lot of work, but a lot of fun as well, and after seeing the final product, Luna knew she had made the right choice.

Delfi insisted it wasn’t finished yet though. She still had to do some color corrections and check some transitions and— Honestly? Luna believed it was already amazing as it was, but what could she say? Her friend was a perfectionist. She just hoped she got some sleep tonight instead of staying up working on the video.

Matteo stayed on the couch after Delfi went home. Of course he did, he lives here now, Luna reminded herself. She still hadn’t gotten completely used to that to be honest. Living with your ex was… well, weird. She didn’t know how Simón had handled it.

Oh. Right.

Luna shook those perturbing ideas from her head before Matteo could somehow know where her mind had gone. She threw a cushion at him just in case, to distract him.

Even if it was weird to have him in the house all the time, she couldn’t say it was a bad thing. Things had been pretty good between them lately. They had gotten back to the teasing kind of friendship they used to have and, to tell the truth, she was glad. Being able to laugh with Matteo again… It was nice. Very nice.

When her mom came and found them talking, it was like she could see her thoughts through her skull. She could tell she wanted to tease her about it the moment Matteo went to bed, so she quickly changed the topic to the secret chest instead. The chest which key had been lost because of Sharon.

Her mom told her a locksmith would come to open it and she felt relieved. It was about time they knew what was inside.

Her tranquility only lasted about five minutes though, because then Michel appeared in the living room.

Luna almost choked on her glass of milk. Michel had also helped in the making of the video, handling the playback. It had been very useful, but there was a small part of her that wished he hadn’t been there. The reason? He had confessed to her right after the shooting had finished.

Luna wished he hadn’t told her he liked her. She really liked Michel, he’d become a precious friend to her, but she didn’t like him like him, and now, knowing he liked her in that way made things awkward. Things had been stiffy between them for a while, but now she really didn’t know how to talk to him, how to let him down easy.

Thankfully, he made things easy for her, apologizing for putting her on the spot and saying that whatever her answer was, he didn’t want to lose her as a friend. She latched onto that, saying she really liked being her friend and that she didn’t want to lose that either. That was answer enough, right? She was so glad she didn’t have to say the ‘I don’t like you’ bit. She really didn’t want to hurt him.

“I’m so glad we finally resolved things between us,” she told him. “Things had been so weird I could hardly look at you in the eye and—”

“I know, I know.” Michel smiled ruefully. “Sorry, it’s just, I had so much stuff in my mind when I talked to Matteo that I didn’t know what to tell you or what to do—”

“Wait.” She frowned. “What does Matteo have to do with this?”

“Oh. It’s just— I talked to him before talking to you,” he explained. “I told him that I wanted to ask you out and he told me I was free to do so, that your relationship with him was a thing of the past.”

It was like a ball had hit her in the stomach.

Luna remembered that feeling from P.E class. The lack of air, the burn in your chest. Except her eyes started burning too, and that was a different kind of pain.

“Matteo told you that?” She managed to say. “Wha— what exactly did he tell you?”

“Well, what I just said. That I was free to go after you, that you two were history. He encouraged me to ask you out.”

She averted her gaze, trying to keep her emotions in check.

“I’m sorry,” Michel told her, his voice and face filled with sadness. “I shouldn’t have told you. Clearly there’s still something between you tw—”

“No,” she snapped. It wasn’t Michel she was mad at though. She was mad at Matteo for making decisions without bothering to ask what she might think about it.

But that didn’t matter now, did it? It was done. There wasn’t anything between them anymore and there would never be again.

“It is as he said,” she told Michel, fighting the knot on her throat. “Whatever we had is history.”

If that was what Matteo wanted, then so be it. She couldn’t force him to think differently, to feel differently, no matter how much she—

“So… friends then?”

Luna looked at Michel’s hopeful eyes and tentative smile and did her best to answer with one of her own to appease him.

“Friends.”

Friends. That was all Matteo and she would ever be now.

She had just started to get used to him living in the mansion and now she had to get used to that idea as well.

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

It was almost funny, Ámbar thought, just how easy it was for them to end up like this.

It was just a comment, after the credits rolled, the TV was off and Simón checked his phone for the last time.

“Is there anything more pleasurable than being able to disable your alarm?” He’d said, like it really was one of the best things in life.

Ámbar had looked at him and pursed her lips.“I can think of a few things.”

One instant later, they were rolling around the bed, pulling at each other’s clothes.

Ámbar liked that. She liked the feeling of his mouth devouring her own like that was the best thing in his life. She liked how he always seemed to be warm and she always cold, but in moments like these, he made her feel boiling hot and she rose goosebumps on his skin. She liked that she could touch him all over, that he allowed it, that he rejoiced in it.

She rejoiced in it too, arching her back to press her breasts harder into his palms, moaning as he tasted her neck and nibbled her earlobe playfully.

He started going lower, leaving her throat for her chest, kissing the freckles between her breasts, her abdomen, her star birthmark…

His hands were in her thighs. He kissed her navel, under it, lower still.

She brought her hands to his head and pulled him back up to kiss him, to wrap her legs around his hips. But he broke the kiss and looked away from her.

Ámbar frowned. “What is it?”

Simón pulled away and sat up at her side. She sat as well, pulling the sheet to her chest on instinct. Her heart was still beating fast, but the reason behind it was changing at his silence. He still wasn’t looking at her. He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Okay,” he said finally. “It’s the fifth time that I try to go down on you and you stop me, so I need to ask: Do I do it wrong?”

Ámbar blinked, completely taken by surprise by that question. Simón’s gaze was earnest, fixed on her own.

“Please, tell me honestly. Because I understand if you don’t feel like it sometimes, but I feel like if I did a good job, you would be into it, so I need you to tell me what’s wrong. I can’t get better if you don’t tell me and I’d like to at least try.”

The dejected way he said it sounded like she thought he was so beyond hope she hadn’t even deemed it worth it to let him try.

Hurt, he sounded hurt.

Ámbar felt a horrible pang in her chest.

“Oh no, my love, I’m sorry.” She cupped one of his cheeks, keeping her touch as gentle as her voice. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.” She hadn’t even thought— It never occurred to her that he’d see it as a rejection.

Far from comforted, Simón seemed even more on edge at hearing that.

“What else have you not told me to not make me feel bad?”

Her heart skipped a beat. Unwillingly and all at once, his words reminded her of all the things she was hiding from him.

It kept her silent for a second too long. Simón seemed to interpret this silence in the worst possible way because his expression changed from slightly panicked to absolutely mortified.

“Oh god,” he said in dismay, turning away from her and dropping his head into his hands.

Ámbar’s eyes widened. “Nonono, my love. Simón.” She hurried towards him, placing her hands on his shoulders, trying to make him look at her. “It’s not what you think, I swear. You’re good— more than good. You’d know otherwise. I’m not that good of an actress, believe me.”

Simón turned slightly and looked at her, not very convinced. “… You sure?”

Ámbar nodded categorically. “Yes. 100%. I’ve got no complaints.”

He searched her face, and after some seconds, seemed to believe her. He faced her fully then, calmer, but still a bit unsure. “Then what is it?”

She tried to keep his gaze but was nervous about the question.

“I just…” felt I didn’t deserve it. Felt guilty. I shouldn’t even accept anything from you. “…thought it was selfish.”

He looked confused. “Selfish?”

“Yeah, I mean… You get nothing out of it, so I thought it was better to jump to the part we both enjoy,” she reasoned.

Simón looked at her. His lips curled into a grin and he tilted his head to the side. “Ámbar...”

“What?”

“My love, that’s not how it works,” he said with something like tender amusement. “Love is not an equivalent exchange of goods. Relationships are very based on giving. And taking too, sometimes, but there’s a lot of giving.”

“…Ookay…” She uttered slowly, not knowing very well what else to say.

His smile disappeared then, and the look in his eyes turned into something a little more intense than tenderness.

“And who said I don’t enjoy it?”

She blushed. “I…” Her gaze fluttered around. “…just kind of assumed.”

Simón’s eyes roamed her form and Ámbar’s heart rate accelerated, aware once again that they were both naked, the sheets that had covered her long abandoned in her hurry to reassure him.

“It may have been a while,” he started, leaning forward slowly, guiding her until she was once again laying underneath him, “but I still remember how you grabbed my hair, and how you fought so hard not to let your moans out… That was hot.”

Her legs quaked slightly, wanting to rub themselves together at the tingling heat that sparked between them anew, but he was amid them, so she could not. 

“O-Oh…”

Simón leaned down, pressing kisses down her stomach.

“And by the end of it, the way your thighs squeezed my head… God, I wanna feel that again,” he said hoarsely.

He sat on his knees and lifted her right thigh with his hand. He kissed the inner side of it, keeping his eyes locked on hers as she shuddered from the contact.

“Would you let me?”

Ámbar couldn’t do more than nod her head, her mouth suddenly completely dry.

At the first move of his tongue against her, she found her vocal cords still worked. She tensed, squirmed, thrashed, and while he’d talked about her noises, he didn’t hold back his moans as he tasted her, driving her to the point of wild madness.

She came with his fingers inside her and his lips around her clit.

“Was that good?”

She was still trembling when Simón spoke. Did he really need to ask?

She met his dark eyes beyond her heaving breasts— Earnest, dedicated. She nodded.

“Great,” he said, and put his hand on top of hers in his hair. “Then hold on tight, cause we have a lot of time to make up for.”

He spent what felt like hours between her thighs. Giving and giving, again and again as she bit her lip not to scream. At the last one, she really wondered if she would faint. If it was legal to feel so much pleasure. What she’d done to deserve him.

The first one, as it turned out, was a no. The second had to be a yes. The third…

Well, she’d never know.

…

..

.

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Hope you liked it!

This is more of a filler for me though— The next chapter is what I'm really excited about. It has one of my favorite scenes in the whole fic— I just love it. It is 100% self-indulgent sdkjnf. I hope you'll like it too.

See ya! <3 — ☾