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𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗠𝗘

CHAPTER EIGHT
he was sunshine, I was midnight
rain

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REAL LIFE

IN ORDER TO make Luna feel slightly better, Karl had offered that they switch TV shows. So now, instead of watching Over the Garden Wall like they had been originally, Stranger Things was playing — one of Luna's favorite shows. Luna now had her back pressed up against Karl's left arm and her legs thrown over Nolan's lap, still occasionally eating the Oreos Karl had given her.

"Do you think we would survive in Stranger Things?" Karl asked, watching Max and Eleven run around the Starcourt Mall.

"Absolutely not," Luna answered immediately. "I would be the first to die. MJ and I would definitely go down together."

"Give me Steve's bat and I would win," Nolan said, taking an Oreo from the package resting on Luna's stomach.

Luna thought it over for a moment. "I think you probably would survive a pretty long time. Karl . . . I don't know, actually."

Suddenly, over Material Girl playing from the TV, a knock on the door sounded throughout the house before the door opened. Luna sat up a little, now no longer leaning against Karl's arm, and looked towards the door only to see Foolish walking in and shutting the door behind him. She pointedly ignored the stares that Nolan and Karl gave her and swung her legs off of Nolan's lap.

"Hi, Foosh," Luna greeted. "We're watching Stranger Things if you want to join."

Foolish nodded. "Cool."

Luna watched as he came over to the couch. "Are you and MJ not hanging out anymore? Or did she just not want to come?"

"Uh, both. She's just still at your guys' house." Foolish sat down on the couch next to Karl. "But, um . . . we broke up."

That was the second thing Luna hadn't expected to hear today — the first being everything Karl and Nolan told her earlier. Luna's eyes immediately widened in shock. Somehow, even through all the arguments and tension they had, she hadn't seen that coming. Maybe it was because she had just gotten so used to see Mary Jane and Foolish together that the thought of them being separated was just plain weird. And yes, Luna knows she constantly wished she was in Mary Jane's place and wondered why Foolish was with a girl like that (no offense to Mary Jane in that sentence at all), but this was jarring.

"Oh my God," Luna let out, still ignoring the glances Nolan and Karl were throwing her way from this news. "Noah, I'm so sorry."

Foolish shrugged. "There's really nothing you have to be sorry for, Lunes. It was a mutual decision that we came to. We just . . . didn't fit anymore, and that's okay. There's no bad blood between us or anything. It seemed like after we broke up there was a sort of relief that we both felt, like we were meant to be just friends this whole time. Maybe we were always better that way."

Luna tilted her head slightly at that. She remembered back in August how much Mary Jane told her that she liked Foolish, but maybe she mistook platonic feelings for romantic feelings. Well, there was really no way to know exactly unless she talked to Mary Jane. Nevertheless, he thought of Mary Jane being by herself in the house after a breakup, even if she was feeling the same way as Foolish, didn't sit right with Luna.

"So . . . you're okay?" Luna questioned.

"Maybe it just hasn't hit me yet, but I feel okay," Foolish replied. "I mean, yeah, it sucks, but it's probably for the best."

Luna stood up from the couch, placing the package of Oreos on the table. "I'm going to go stay with Mary Jane, then. Best friend duties, after all. Karl, thanks for the Oreos." She started to walk away before she stopped in her tracks, pointing at Foolish. "If you need anything, let me know."

He nodded. "Thank you, Luna. You're the best."

Luna gave him a soft smile before rushing towards the door. (She didn't miss the smirks Nolan and Karl gave her, but like always, she very much ignored them.) Luna put on her shoes before leaving Karl's house. She crossed the street over to her own house and opened the door.

Now, Luna wasn't really sure to expect when she walked into the house. However, the sound of her own song blasting from the TV wasn't what she was predicting.

"You said forever, and I almost bought it, I miss fighting in your old apartment," Luna's voice sang to I miss you, I'm sorry. "Breaking dishes when you're disappointed, I still love you, I promise . . ."

Luna paused for a second, stopping at the sight. YouTube was playing the lyric video for her song, which meant her face was enlarged due to the screen. Mary Jane was sitting on their own couch, a hood over her head from the hoodie she was wearing and her knees tucked into her chest. She had a pint of ice cream in one hand and a spoon in the other. Even though the song was loud, Luna didn't hear any crying or sobs, which seemed to be a good sign.

"Hey," Luna greeted, dragging out the word, just a little bit confused. "What'cha doing?"

Mary Jane gestured to the screen with her spoon. "Watching. You look like a princess in this video."

Luna blinked. "It's a video of me in the house during quarantine."

"You look like a fucking princess, and I stand by it."

"Okay then." Luna moved closer to her best friend, sitting down on the couch next to her. Now that she was closer, she also saw that Mary Jane didn't have red eyes from crying, either. "So, Foosh told me what happened."

"Yeah, we broke up," Mary Jane stated, spooning more ice cream into her mouth like it was the most casual thing ever. "Before you say anything, you don't have to say sorry, and you don't have to ask if I'm okay, because I am."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "You're . . . okay? MJ, you're listening to I miss you, I'm sorry. That's a sad song to its core."

"I just needed to play a sad song. I'm having a moment. I'll get over it."

"Is this you pushing your emotions away again, or are you really okay?"

"I'm really okay," Mary Jane confirmed. "You were the one who suggested we had a civilized conversation, so we did. We talked some things through, and we came to the conclusion that friends was better for us, and it always was. I definitely had romantic feelings for him at one point, but we weren't meant to be boyfriend and girlfriend. The planets and the stars didn't align for us, but, you know, shit happens."

"So my advice to you ended in your breakup?" Luna inquired. "MJ—"

"If you're blaming yourself right now, you better fucking stop." MJ leaned forwards and put her ice cream and spoon down on the coffee table before turning to Luna, staring at her seriously. "Your advice helped us realize that all we were doing was hurting each other. It's not healthy to be arguing all the time. In fact I'm relieved that I don't have to wake up tomorrow morning and fall into the same cycle we've been living the past couple of months."

Luna nodded slowly before giving Mary Jane a tiny smile. "Well, I'm just glad the two of you are okay, because I love you both a lot and really don't want you to get hurt."

Mary Jane waved her off. "Don't worry about us, Lunes. Noah and I are still really good friends. We fell into a rhythm the second we broke things off." She let her head fall onto Luna's shoulder. "Thank you, Luna."

Luna wrapped her arms around Mary Jane, staring at the TV, which had switched from the I miss you, I'm sorry lyric video to the lyric video of her song Long Sleeves. So much had happened today that it was hard to wrap her mind around it. All she knew, though, was that even though Mary Jane and Foolish had broken up for good — and were both okay with it — Luna still had to do her best to bury her feelings further inside. She no longer had to wish that he belonged with her instead, but best friend's ex was off limits.

She sighed, snuggling a bit closer to Mary Jane and holding onto her tighter. Luna wished her life wasn't so complicated, but it seemed like the universe just liked fucking it up. She shook that thought out of her mind for now, focusing back on the TV screen of herself singing.

"It's been a long time coming, it's been a long time coming . . ."

-ˏˋ ♥̩͙♥̩̩̥͙♥̩̥̩ ˊˎ-

is this the shortest chapter of my entire lifetime? yes. but is it also something instead of nothing? yes.

big moves I'm making BIG MOVES