"So, what is it you do in your spare time?"

Luna looked up at Erik with a surprised look. She had just sat down at the table they had shared the previous week. Luna had been halfway to drinking her cup of coffee when Erik plopped himself into the chair across from her. Luna glanced at the cup in his hand, her lips twitching slightly into a smile when she spotted the end of a teabag sticking out from under the lid. Erik had spent a fair amount of time the previous week going over why he felt tea was a far superior drink over coffee which led Luna to have one very important question, "So, why are you in a café, then? You know most people come here for coffee."

Her question only led to Erik giving her a wide, cheeky grin that reached his eyes. He planted his elbows on the table and leaned towards her, holding her gaze for a moment before his smile grew impossibly wider.

"And you know they sell more than just coffee here," Erik replied, standing up and making his way to the cashier at the coffee bar to order a tea without another word. Luna had no idea what to make of that particular interaction, but she was thoroughly amused by it.

"What?" Luna questioned, wincing slightly at the confused expression on present-day Erik's face. She could see he was questioning whether she had understood him correctly after they had struggled over their first conversation on the phone a few days prior. Most of their communication was kept to texting, but Erik decided to call. He asked her what she was doing, and the moment she replied with a "nothing," he called on a whim. When they had been texting, Luna had forgotten that Erik had an accent and didn't recall it being so prominent in person, but it was a different story on the phone. "I'm sorry," Luna finally added. "I just wasn't expecting your question. I also wasn't really expecting you to be here so early."

Erik gave Luna a funny look before looking at his watch, even more confused. "Why wouldn't I be here on time?" Erik asked. "We said to meet at 3, right?"

Luna found herself frowning a little, unsure of how to respond. How could she explain to Erik that she wasn't used to people showing up when they meant to without actually having to say that? From the very short time she had known Erik, she doubted he would understand her trying to say that most people showed up late if they had plans with her. He would be silent for a moment before asking her, "Why?" to which Luna would never have an answer to. Instead, Luna took a different route. She would ignore it.

"We did," Luna said, plastering a smile onto her face. It was enough to make Erik smile, a close-mouthed grin that brightened his entire face.

"So, what do you do?" Erik asked, leaning back in his chair. "I think I spent the last week talking about myself, and you've avoided answering all of my questions."

It was true, Luna had to admit. She had avoided any of Erik's questions about herself, very quickly steering the conversation back towards himself. She knew he was a sailor working for a large shipping company. Luna learned that he loved all things heavy machinery – massive cargo ships, planes, trains; if it could move, he loved it. She knew that he lived in the northern part of the Netherlands, which reminded her of an important point as to why Luna was able to avoid answering his questions.

"Well, you did get offended that I referred to the Netherlands as Holland on accident," Luna said pointedly. She tried to keep herself from smiling at the disgruntled noise that escaped Erik's lips at the reminder. "You barely gave me a chance to speak after deciding I needed a crash course on everything Dutch."

"Because you Americans think the Netherlands is just Holland. It's not just Holland," Erik replied, his tone just as pointed. He waved a hand in a vague gesture. "I couldn't have you believing the Netherlands is called Holland. It's offensive."

"At least I didn't just say it was Amsterdam."

"No, but you wanted to, I could tell. You might not have said it, but you still committed a major crime."

Luna huffed out a laugh, gesturing vaguely around the café as if her reply would come out of thin air. "You're the one who sent me a picture of the Dutch flag and tried to make me guess where you were from," Luna spluttered out. "And it was even worse because it wasn't even the flag of the Netherlands! It was something completely different!"

"You guessed wrong."

"I didn't know! I had to Google flags, and it said Holland! That was clearly the only logical answer for me to have from what I read!"

The smile still on Erik's face only grew wider. "Well, you learned quickly, didn't you?"

"Obviously," Luna huffed, taking a drink of her coffee.

"Obviously," Erik teased, drawing out each letter as he spoke.

Luna seemed to live in a perpetual state of surprise whenever she spoke to Erik. In exactly one week, they had fallen into a playful banter as if they had known each other their entire lives. There was an immediate comfort there that Luna could never have imagined, and she didn't mind that Erik did most of the talking in their messages. The less she had to say about herself, the better.

It wasn't as though Luna didn't like talking about herself. In fact, some days she loved it, but she wasn't used to it. There were very rare moments where she felt it appropriate to speak about herself and the goings on of her life. Luna almost preferred to remain in the shadows, hidden deep in the dark where someone couldn't see her. There was a profound safety in being able to hide, but Erik kept trying to pull her up and out of the darkness, and Luna didn't know how to handle it. She couldn't even understand why Erik would dare to do such a thing, especially when he was far more interesting. Luna couldn't figure out how exactly Erik had convinced her to leave the house and meet him back at the café. She glanced down at the book in front of her, musing that it was sitting next to her mostly untouched coffee as she was engrossed in what Erik was saying. The purpose of their outing was to discuss the book on the table, but she had a funny feeling

"I really don't know what to say," Luna said quietly before lifting her cup to her lips and taking a long drink of her coffee. She would never have taken such a large sip, but it kept her from having to answer Erik's question.

"It's simple," Erik said as if the answer was obvious. "What do you do when you're at home? You have to do something."

"And what if I said that I do nothing at all? I just stare at the walls and do absolutely nothing except lay in bed questioning everything."

"I wouldn't believe you."

"Well, maybe you should," Luna muttered, taking another drink. It was humiliating that the truth wasn't too far off. There wasn't much that Luna could say about herself, and she could feel the tops of her ears burning pink. Most of her life was spent within the confines of the four walls of her home with her two dogs and her single cat that always seemed to disappear whenever she tried to find her. If she wasn't asleep, she was cleaning. If she wasn't cleaning, she was cooking. She was at work if she wasn't doing any of that. Of course, all of that also depended on whether or not she was sick. Luna didn't like admitting that she would be sick more than she cared to admit, but she supposed that was an occupational hazard of living near the train tracks. Luna didn't think that her life was that remarkable in the least.

"Nope," Erik said serenely after taking a long sip of his tea. He placed the cup down and leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table. "I don't believe that. There has to be something."

Luna couldn't stop the frown that threatened to cross her face. She was sure she was scowling at Erik, but he still wore the remnants of his knowing grin, undeterred by her ire.

"Well, you already know I read," Luna said with a slight shrug.

"I know," Erik replied, his lips twitching upward a little more. "Tell me something else."

"Well...." Luna trailed off, casting her gaze at a spot of light over Erik's shoulder. She gave another slight shrug, humming to herself. "I write sometimes?"

"So then you're a writer."

"Oh, no," Luna said quickly, a nervous giggle escaping her lips as she returned her attention to Erik and saw his amused expression. "No, definitely not a writer."

"But you write," Erik said slowly, the slight shift in the tone of his voice suggesting there couldn't possibly be another explanation. "That means you're a writer. If you write, then you're a writer." Erik hummed to himself, cocking his head slightly in thought. Deciding that there was nothing he needed to add, he picked his cup of tea back up and leaned back in his chair. Luna wanted desperately to argue his point, but Erik had already moved on to the next subject as he waited for her to continue.

Luna studied Erik for a long moment, taking in his relaxed posture and marveling over how he always seemed so collected. Even in their texts, Erik radiated a calm energy that translated perfectly in person. Meanwhile, Luna swore that she was the very definition of anxiety – her very being radiating with a frenetic energy that could never stop moving. Her thoughts moved far faster than she could ever speak or write. Her thoughts bounced like lightning, shattering the air, striking hot before disappearing and leaving Luna in a whirlwind in the following chaos. It was a wonder to her that Erik understood what she was trying to say half the time. He seemed to have a knack for knowing what she was trying to say without her having to say it at all.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Luna finally agreed.

"See?" Erik replied, taking another drink of his tea. "You're a writer. Even you agree."

Luna threw back her head with a loud laugh. It always seemed like things could be so simple to Erik – things were just the way that they were, and there was no getting around it. She wrote so that meant she was a writer. He stated it as factually in the same ways she was short, and he was tall, and he had grey eyes, and she had green (though they had debated their eye colors for hours). It was as simple as that, and it was refreshing.

"Yeah," Luna said quietly, taking a slow drink of her coffee.

"So what is it you write, then?"

"Oh, you know, a little of this...a little of that."

"Poetry?"

"Oh, absolutely not," Luna said, shaking her head and wrinkling her nose with a small giggle. "I don't have the brain for poetry."

"Okay, so then not poetry." Erik studied Luna for a moment before a smirk crossed his face. "You write fanfiction."

"You know about fanfiction?"

"Are there people that don't know about fanfiction?"

"Well, I would imagine there are some people that don't know."

"But you do write fanfiction, don't you?"

"Well, kind of," Luna said, her face burning. She rubbed the back of her neck anxiously and giggled, casting her gaze around the room for something to focus on. "I, uhm, I write novels, too, though. Kind of."

"Cool," Erik replied with a nod. "Do you post anything you've written anywhere?"

"Ah, no. No one would like to read it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's not that good. That's what I mean."

"I doubt that."

"You've never even read it."

"But I've talked to you. I've seen how you write in your messages; I bet it's good," Erik said, a mischievous look crossing his face. Luna felt herself practically withering in anxiety at the expression on Erik's face.

"What?" She asked, her brows knitting together. "What is it?"

"Well, you said I've never read your writing before," Erik said slowly, "so perhaps you should show me. I can be the judge of whether it's good or bad."

Luna's jaw dropped, and she stared at Erik like he had three heads. "You can't be serious," she laughed. "I've never shown anyone my writing before."

"There's a first for everything," Erik shrugged. "I don't mind being the first. I love reading."

Luna continued to stare at Erik, cocking her head to the side slowly in confusion. She wasn't sure that she wanted to believe that Erik would read her writing. They hadn't known each other that long, and though she felt a kinship with him to the point that it felt like they had known each other for years, it felt impossible. None of her other friends were ever even interested in her writing, yet Erik, within one week of knowing her, was willing to read her work? In a small way, maybe she could believe him considering he did love to read, but Luna wasn't sure if she felt she could do such a thing.

"I couldn't," Luna finally said. "I..." she trailed off, almost wanting to give him an explanation about her anxieties but changed her mind. "I'm sorry."

"That's all right," Erik said, shrugging off Luna's apology. "Your fanfiction, what is it about?" He gave Luna a knowing smile when she lifted the book in front of her in response with a sheepish smile.

It was the sort of fond smile that you gave to someone familiar, crinkling at the corners of his eyes and softening his expression considerably. Erik's smile threw Luna off guard for a moment before Erik graciously changed the subject and launched into telling her about a new historical fact he had discovered. The slightest inkling of anxiety that had started to creep into her system slowly began to weave its way out of her pores as Erik nodded pointedly at her cup of coffee. Even though Luna had never actually mentioned her anxiety before, and she had mastered the art of looking calmer than she was, it felt like he somehow knew. Luna took the hint and lifted the cup to her lips, taking a long drink to still her overactive nerves. The coffee was exactly what she needed, and as long as Erik was willing to talk, Luna was more than willing to listen.

The very same anxiety that had started to creep in while sitting in the café with Erik never entirely left her system. It began to creep in as they parted ways, each step back to her car increasing the pressure on her chest and forcing Luna's fingers to twitch with a need to fidget. By the time she made it to her car, she felt the tell-tale tingling under her skin of her skin starting to grow sensitive. The closer she found herself to being home, Luna was a steady mix of hot and cold; her skin was flush, but the blood flowing through her veins felt cold. Her shoulders were tensing painfully, and Luna could feel the muscles in her legs starting to tighten. A dull throb was making its way up her spine and the base of her skull. The tightening of her chest only worsened, and it felt like something heavy was sitting on her, compressing her lungs and keeping her from taking full breaths.

Luna tried to roll her head on her neck to loosen up her sore muscles. Perhaps snuggling on the couch with her dogs would help ease some of the tension, but she knew it wouldn't help with everything. Bentley would inevitably get excited over something and disrupt the calm she would share with Daisy, and chaos would ensue. She sighed as the thought crossed her mind. Luna would have to take a long, scorching shower to work out some of the tightness in her body that would take days to relieve itself. Desperate for a last-ditch effort to reduce some of the tension, Luna punched on the seat warmer despite the car already being considerably warm. She would take whatever she could get, and the slowly warming heat on her lower back helped a little.

She pulled into the driveway of her home with a heavy sigh and cut the power to the car's engine. Luna remained in her seat for a long time, listening to the quiet surrounding her with the music off. The silence almost felt calming. It was nothing like the oppressive feeling she would experience when she stepped into the house. She could practically see the state of the house in her mind; dishes piled up in the kitchen sink, shoes and clothing entirely out of place, and other objects strewn about on the counters and table. Everything could be seen in her mind as if she had already walked into the house and Luna was dreading it. Her thoughts started to drift to the state of the bathroom, but her attention was drawn to the buzzing of her phone in the center console of her car.

| Home yet?

Luna felt her lips twitch upward into a smile seeing Erik's name in the preview of her phone and just the two words he sent. She hit the quick reply button and stared at the keyboard as it popped up. Luna wanted to respond with something witty but couldn't think of anything to say.

| I'm home.

| Good. I wasn't sure how long it took.

| Not too long, but long enough. Gives a girl a lot of time to think.

| Thinking about sending me your writing? ;)

| No!

| I tried. :P

| You did.

| What are you doing?

| Sitting in my car. Don't feel like going inside yet.

| Why not?

Luna frowned at her phone and Erik's question. It was a simple question – mostly. But why exactly did she not want to go in? She had Sam, and she had the dogs. More importantly, she had a roof over her head. There was no real reason why she shouldn't want to go inside. Everything she was worried about was completely normal and shouldn't give her any anxiety.

| A good song was playing lol. Needed to finish it.

It was a complete and utter lie, and Luna felt guilty sending it. She scrunched up her nose, frowning at her phone and the faint image of herself reflected on the screen. Luna argued with herself that it was the best response she could have made when she didn't know how to explain her thoughts.

| It must have been a good one.

| I'll send you the link on Spotify later.

| :)

Luna stared at her phone, waiting for another response from Erik, but when it didn't come, she found herself disappointed. He didn't usually send smiley faces by themselves and had something else to say, but perhaps he was busy. Luna looked up from her phone and towards the door to the house. Sitting in her car wouldn't delay what was coming, and she would have to go inside at some point. Eventually, she would have to go inside, and the sky was starting to darken quickly. Luna gathered her things and stepped out of her car, begrudgingly entering the house.

Two small black, furry bodies practically crashed into each other as they ran into Luna's legs with happy yips. Luna smiled, crouching down to greet each tiny dog in turn. Daisy always seemed to need less attention than Bentley, Bentley happily keeping his front paws on Luna's knee. Daisy was content to kiss Luna quickly before rushing off to whatever she was doing. Aslan, their cat, was nowhere to be seen, but that was expected. He was most likely lounging somewhere on top of one of the cabinets in the kitchen. In the meantime, Luna happily gave Bentley the attention he deserved until a shadow appeared overhead.

"Hi," Luna said quietly, standing up and giving Sam a tight smile.

"Hey," Sam said, leaning down to kiss Luna. Luna ducked out of the way, only allowing Sam to kiss her on the cheek as she snuck toward the living room. He seemed entirely unbothered by the exchange, not reacting to how she moved out of the way. "How was your time with Michael? You met up with him after work, right?"

Michael? Luna asked herself. Oh, yeah. Luna had forgotten she told Sam that she was meeting a mutual friend of theirs. Granted, Michael was more her friend than his, but Luna and Sam agreed that Michael was a "mutual" friend considering how long they were together. Besides, he was one of the few people she could get away with saying she was with. She wasn't sure why she hadn't told Sam about Erik, but something told her not to say a word. At least not yet. Some of her felt guilty, but she needed something for herself, and having a new friend she enjoyed talking to felt like just the thing. It felt like Sam needed to know every little thing she was doing at every waking moment. While it was nice to have him care so much, it made her feel caged in.

"It was fine," Luna replied. "You know how Michael is. Once he starts talking, he never shuts up."

"Hmm," Sam hummed to himself. "He certainly does." Sam scratched his head, eyes flicking in the direction of the kitchen. "So, dinner?"

"You could have started it yourself, you know," Luna said, sitting on the couch. She looked around the living room – the books Luna had made into a neat pile before leaving the house earlier were scattered around. Dog toys littered the floor, and Luna frowned at the half-eaten dog treat that neither Daisy nor Bentley felt the need to finish. Bits of fluff from the dog toys had found their way into the carpet and would be miserable to vacuum up later, the fibers sticking into the rug like Velcro.

"It's never good unless you make it."

"Pasta is easy."

"Not really," Sam shrugged. Sam's face suddenly lit up with an idea, and he grinned. "Hey, I can go get us takeout from that place we like down the road."

Luna gave Sam a look but didn't comment. The last thing she wanted was to have takeout again. Work had been stressful for Luna, and Sam had been given much shorter shifts at work, leaving him at home more often that week. The deal was that whoever was home longer would be the one to cook, but it felt like Sam was never willing. She could already practically feel how the food would sit in her belly, adding to the nausea brought on by her anxiety. It was the last thing she wanted, but she said, "Okay."

            "Perfect," Sam said, turning on his heel, "I'll head out now. Be back in a half-hour."

            The front door closed behind Sam, and both dogs started to bark, annoyed that he had left them. The dogs liked to go on car rides, and either human leaving meant a massive betrayal for Daisy and Bentley.

Luna closed her eyes and rubbed them hard with her fingers, groaning at the technicolor explosion behind her eyelids. She ran down the list of things she had to do before going to sleep, thinking of everything she noticed when entering the house.

            "At least I won't have to do the dishes," Luna said to no one in particular as she forced herself off the couch. She looked down at the fluff in the rug, her lips pressing into a thin line. Luna made her way to the hall closet with a quick look at her watch to grab the vacuum. At least, that would be one more thing she wouldn't have to do before going to bed.