Luna

"You sure you don't want me to come down there?" Gio asks for what has to be the sixth time since we started our FaceTime call.

I giggle and continue to prepare my tea, in the small kitchen of my hotel suite. "I'm positive, Gio. Everything is fine over here."

"You're not lonely?" he raises an eyebrow at me through the screen.

"I mean...I guess it's a little bit lonely over here but nothing too major for you to fly all the way over here," I roll my eyes.

"Okay okay..." Gio sighs. "No need to roll your eyes. I'm just trying to make sure you're okay."

"And that's very sweet of you but I'm perfectly fine," I give him a small smile as I pour the steaming hot water into a mug and grab a tea bag. As I'm doing this, the call cuts out, insinuating that I'm getting another phone call. "I'll call you back later, Gio. I'm getting another phone call."

"Alright. I love you! Bye!" Gio waves and hangs up. I hurry and switch to the other call, feeling a sense of happiness when I hear who it is.

"Luna!" Anna's voice bursts through the phone.

"Hi, Anna!" I giggle. As much as I love to pretend she annoys me, she could always find a good way to make me laugh. Not talking to her for a couple of days made me realize how much I enjoy her company.

"So...whatcha doin'?" She questions, sounding a bit suspicious. I pour a bit of milk into my tea and customize it to my liking before taking a sip.

"Uh..just enjoying a cup of tea, what about you?" I ask as I take another sip.

"Standing outside of your room," she blatantly states. I roll my eyes and twirl the spoon in my tea mug.

"Seriously, Anna. What are you doing?" I giggle.

"I'm being one hundred percent serious, Lu. I'm standing outside of your hotel room," she says once again, causing me to choke on my lovely drink. I place the mug on the counter as I continue to cough so that I won't drop it. "Now come open the door. My feet hurt and I'm tired from the flight."

Wide eyed, I make my way over to the door and open it. And there in the flesh, stands my wonderful coworker from back home. Anna gives me a bright smile and bursts inside of the hotel room, holding her suitcase in hand. Still shocked, I raise an eyebrow and say, "Anna...what the heck are you doing here?"

"I came to visit!" She smiles and rolls her suitcase into the small living room. I place my hand on my hips and stare at her. "Okay fine...I wanted to get away from work so I convinced your father to let me come down here and keep you company. Do you not want me here or something?"

It's not that I don't want Anna here...it's just that this was supposed to be my time to prove to my dad that I'm responsible enough to handle things on my own. But now that Anna is here, I'm not exactly on my own anymore... "it's fine, Anna," I sigh and take a seat on the couch. "How long do you plan to stay?"

"Just for a few weeks," She says as she plops down next to me. "So...how has America been?"

"It's been alright," I shrug. And that is the truth. Everything has been just alright.

"Just alright?" Anna raised an eyebrow at me. I nod and take a long sip of my tea. "Well we're gonna have to change that. What time is it?"

I glance at my phone which happens to be sitting next to me. "3:07," I respond, looking up at her with curious eyes.

"We're going out tonight. Be ready by nine."

"What if I don't wanna go?" I raise an eyebrow at the woman.

"You don't have a choice. We're gonna make America the best experience of your life," Anna gave me a bright smile.

***

Adrian

"See you later, Ry," I ruffle his fur before heading out of my house. I climb into my car and begin driving to the location I was given. After about twenty minutes, I pull up to a tall brick building. I get out of the car and walk inside, not caring enough to look over my appearance. I make my way over to the elevator, pressing the button to the third floor. As soon as it stops, I exit and walk down the long hallway until I finally make it to the last door. Before I could even raise my fist to knock, the door swings open revealing my date for the night.

"M-Mr. Hafler," Josh stutters and opens the door wide. "C-Come in..."

"Good evening, Josh," I smile and enter the apartment. Immediately, I notice the smell of food. He takes my coat as I look around at the modernly decorated place. "Nice place."

"T-Thank you," he blushes and hangs my coat up on the coat rack. I follow him toward his dining room where there are two plates of freshly made spaghetti and a bottle of red wine. "I-I didn't know what you would like to eat but I figured everyone eats spaghetti..."

"Thank you, Josh," I say, politely. I truly appreciate his efforts despite how I feel about the set up. I'm not very fond of a fancy aesthetic. We take a seat opposite of each other at the table and he pours wine into two glasses. As I dig into the warm plate of pasta, Josh begins to speak.

"So...Mr. Hafler..." he starts.

I clear my throat. "You can call me Adrian. I normally only go by honorifics when in a business setting."

"Oh," Josh nods and smiles as he takes a long gulp of his wine. "Well, Adrian, how about we get to know each other better?"

"Sure thing, Josh," I accept his offer, a bit shocked at the sudden boost of confidence. Soon enough, we're lost in a conversation about our personal lives. It isn't long before we are done with our food and take our conversation over to the couch. Josh sits on the opposite side of the couch from me, a near empty glass of wine in his hand. I look down at my own glass to see I'd barely taken three sips. I notice that Josh, who'd been on his third glass, was starting to become a lot more open than I'd expected him to be. Our long conversation about our personal lives and childhoods resulted in me becoming a lot more open as well. "So she didn't realize that her teddy bear had been in her bed the whole time?" I laugh as he tells me a story about his younger sister.

"No. And she'd had already ran around accusing everyone of stealing it," Josh giggles.

"That's insane," I sigh and place my glass on the table after taking a small sip. Josh scoots a bit closer and places his hand on my knee.

"What about your sister? I always see her around but I don't know anything about her."

"Dakota is pretty cra–" I cut myself off as I feel his hand running up and down my knee. My new found comfort in his home is suddenly gone as I notice him get close enough so our thighs are touching. "Josh?"

"Hm..?" he hums, still running his long pale fingers across my knee. "Continue talking.."

I sigh and continue what I was saying. "Anyway, Dakota is kinda wild. She– Josh!"

"What?" Josh looks up at me with innocent eyes as he slides his hand up, under my sweater.

"Why are you touching me like that?" I ask as I grab his hand and move it away from my body, scooting back to the very end of the couch. Josh hums in response and reaches for my sweater again. "Josh. No." I try to push him away as he crawls toward me and sits on my lap.

"Why not?" he asks, leaning forward to place his lips on my neck. I push him away as I feel slight tugs on the skin, knowing I bruise easily.

"Because I said so," I say firmly and stand up. Josh stands up as well, wobbling over a bit due to his slight intoxication. "I think it's time for me to go," I walk over to the coat rack and grab my jacket.

Josh almost instantly sobers up. "Wait! Adrian! I'm sorry!"

"I'll see you on Monday Josh," I sigh and exit the apartment. As soon as I enter my car, I look in the mirror to examine my neck. I feel my face get red as I spot the slight purple mark starting to form on the flesh. With a roll of the eyes, I close the mirror and glance at the clock. 11:46. I begin to head home, thinking of how I am going to work with Josh after what had just happened.

As I make my way home, I notice a familiar, curly haired figure making his way down the sidewalk. I pull over to the side of the road to get a closer look and see that this familiar figure is none other than the boy who I'd taken an interest in. Why is he walking in the cold? I wonder as he walks down the road. Glancing at the clock again, I decide that it is unsafe for a beautiful boy like him to be walking this late at night. I pull up next to him and honk my horn, causing him to jump and freeze like a deer caught in headlights. I roll down my tinted window and watch him squeeze his eyes shut.

"Please don't kill me!" he squeaks in his cute accent.

I chuckle at his reaction. "I'm not gonna kill you." He peeks open one eye and I was him visibly relax as he sees that it's me.

"Oh...Mr. Architect Man. You scared me," he blushed, looking down. I motion for him to get inside of my car only for him to pause and shake his head. "My parents told me to be wary of strangers."

"I'm not a stranger," I say, looking at him weird.

"Well of course you are. I've only met you once."

"Twice, if you count the time when you ruined my shoes," I smirk at him.

He blushes even harder and looks away. "I said I was sorry!" he pouts. He cowers away in fear as I park my car and hop out, walking over to sidewalk.

"Why are you so scared?" I ask, leaning against my car.

"I don't know. You're kind of intimidating. You might try to kill me."

"I promise I'm not trying to kill you," I assure. I open the passenger door and motion for him to get inside again.

"How do I know you won't kill me?" he crosses his arms over his chest.

"Just get in. It's too cold and dangerous out here for you to be walking," I roll my eyes. "I'm just trying to drive you home."

"My home is very far away, Mr. Architect Man. I live all the way in England," he says as he gives in, climbing inside of the vehicle. I jog over to the other side and climb in.

"Well I'm just trying to drive you to your desired destination," I correct myself. "And why do you keep calling me that?" The beautiful boy looks down again as his tan cheeks turn a crimson color. He bites his cloudy, pink lip and plays with his small fingers. "What?" I raise an eyebrow.

"I-I forgot your name..." he whispers, finally looking up at me. It's clear he's embarrassed as his face gets redder than before.

I smile at his cuteness and begin driving. "My name is Adrian."

"Oh yeah!" A bright grin forms on his face. I try my best not to stare at him as his brown eyes light up after telling him my name. "Hi Adrian. My name is Luna."

"I already knew that," I chuckle. How could I forget? He'd been on my mind ever since I ran into him at the park. There's no way I'd forget anything about him. "Where are you headed, Luna?" I question. He tells me the name of his hotel and I nod, making a quick U-turn as I had been traveling in the wrong direction. I had been driving toward my own house instead. We sit in silence for a little while before I decide to make conversation. "Where are you coming from?"

"A bar. My friend dragged me there but she found some guy and left so..." Luna shrugs, clutching onto the bottom of his maroon sweater.

"That sucks," I frown. Soon enough, I pull up in front of a large hotel. Before Luna could exit the car, I grab his phone and quickly enter my phone number in it. "Next time, hit me up if you need a ride somewhere. You're too cute to be walking around so late," I shoot him a wink. I suppress a laugh as he stumbles out of the car with a red face and pouty lips. I pull off once he is inside and head home. My body relaxes as I finally hit the sheets, Riot cuddled up next to me. As I prepare myself to drift into dreamland, my phone vibrates next to me. I pick it up and smile as I read what it says:

Unknown: Hiya! I forgot to say thank you for the ride so here I am! Thank you for the ride ❤️ -Luna

Mr. Architect Man: No problem, Luna. I'll talk to you on Monday. Goodnight!

Luna❤️: Goodnight

I grin and set my phone down. "I'm obsessed, Ri," I say. Riot licks my face and snuggles back into my arms as we both drift off to sleep.