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𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗠𝗘

CHAPTER ONE
typical tuesday night

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REAL LIFE

THE LAST THING Luna Hayes wanted to hear in her room on a typical Tuesday night was the sound of yet another argument.

Luna wasn't sure when the arguments started, or why. It just seemed that all of the sudden, two of the people closest to her in her life — Mary Jane Brooks and Noah Brown, also known as Foolish_Gamers — who had been dating for months just started to argue, and argue, and argue. The only time they really weren't was when Mary Jane appeared on Foolish's stream, or when they were all hanging out together with a distinct note of tension between them.

It was strange, truly. Mary Jane wasn't the one to argue just for the hell of it — she was usually calm and collected. And Foolish . . . well, Foolish did a lot of play fighting. Luna had an inkling that Foolish had probably said something in his own sense of humor, the one that she always got, and it set Mary Jane off for some reason.

That was why Luna was lost in her head. Ever since Mary Jane and Foolish had started dating, it sort of felt like Luna was left to the side on the bleachers, even though the two made every effort to include her in things. Luna had this big, stupid, pathetic crush on Foolish ever since she laid eyes on him on her computer screen, and it only increased when they actually met in person after discovering they lived literally right next to each other. It was just the icing on the cake that he started dating her best friend. Not that it was Mary Jane's fault — she didn't know about Luna's feelings.

There was just something different about Luna and Foolish, though. Anyone who saw them or heard them together could see that their bond was deep. They had their own little thing — not like that, because the thought of hurting Mary Jane actually killed Luna inside. Luna seemed a little brighter around him, and Foolish's loud nature softened around her. They just got each other more than anyone else, and it seemed like they should be dating, but they weren't.

Luna wanted it. It sounded incredibly selfish, and it fucking was, but she wanted to be the one Foolish wrapped up in his arms, she wanted to be the one to be on the receiving end of his kisses, she wanted to be the one that he said I love you to. Yet she wasn't, and she had to live with that. She just had to live with the fact that it would be Mary Jane he would do all of that with, and that had to be okay.

It had been that way for months. She could continue it. Surely Mary Jane and Foolish were just going through a rough patch. All couples do, don't they?

The sound of Mary Jane's voice complaining snapped Luna out of whatever daydream she had been in. Luna turned her head slightly to see Mary Jane pacing from her room out into the hallway, her phone pressed to her ear. Why Mary Jane didn't just go over to Foolish's house and talk to him in person, Luna didn't know. It seemed like all of their arguments happened on the phone. Whenever Foolish was on the phone with his girlfriend now, she was upset.

Luna never really pushed Mary Jane or Foolish to tell her what was wrong, or why they were arguing again. Of course she checked up on them, but they would tell her if they really wanted to. Basically, right now, Luna was just left in a state of total and utter confusion.

"You didn't have to say that, though," Mary Jane said, walking back into her room from the living room. "Noah, come on . . ."

Just as Luna thought. Going off about something that he said.

Luna sighed. She glanced back down at the journal she had in front of her — her song journal, a trusty pink notebook decorated with butterfly stickers. There was no way she would be able to focus on writing another song for the album she was making with the noise. To be fair, all she had written down was last night, I spiraled alone in the kitchen, making pretend that the furniture listened, but still. If she wanted to start recording and producing soon, she had to finalize some of her songs.

She looked around her room for her headphones, but her eyes caught on the window right across from hers. It looked directly into Foolish's bedroom. She tilted her head slightly as she watched him. He was also pacing around his room, one hand holding his phone up to his ear and the other moving with whatever he was saying. As she watched him, it was like the whole world faded away — even the sound of Mary Jane's arguments with him turned into static.

Luna found it wild how he could just make her feel like that so easily. Truly, in her twenty-three years of existence, absolutely no one made her feel the way Foolish did. He made her heart race, he made her hands shake, he made her stomach feel all fluttery, he made her head spin. And the thing is? He didn't have a fucking clue. Now, it was no secret that Foolish was a himbo — Luna means that in the most loving way possible — but she couldn't believe that he just didn't see the effect he had on her.

Foolish then tapped his phone screen and tossed his phone on his bed. Luna straightened up — Mary Jane had also gone quiet in her room, her words replaced with some music she had put on. She looked back to the door for a moment before turning back to the window. Foolish let out what seemed to be an audibly frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his long hair, pushing it back with his fingers. Luna felt a rush of butterflies inside her stomach just by watching him, and it only increased when they locked eyes through the window. She gave him a soft smile and a little wave before reaching over and grabbing the pad of paper and marker she left by her bed.

You ok? she wrote in loopy cursive, holding it up for him to see.

He grinned back at her, his eyes crinkling like they always did, before writing back to her in his usual chicken scratch handwriting. Just tired of drama.

Luna let out a soft laugh, her marker scribbling across the page in her response. It's MJ. She's sensitive, not dramatic. Just give her some time, she'll come around.

Foolish sat down on his bed as he wrote. I sure hope so. He flipped to a new page. What are you up to?

Writing.

He looked confused — which, to Luna, kind of made him look like a lost puppy. It was cute. I meant before we were writing to each other.

Luna rolled her eyes fondly. No, dumbass. I'm writing, as in writing songs.

Foolish seemed to perk up a bit. Album soon?

Not yet. Be patient.

But I don't want to be, Foolish had responded, drawing a very large frowny face next to it.

Luna wrote back, Too bad.

Foolish childishly stuck his tongue out at her, clearly not liking her answer. Luna shook her head, more laughs spilling past her lips. She hesitated for a moment before writing another message on a new piece of paper.

You can tell me what's wrong, you know. We're friends. That's what friends do.

Foolish's sort-of happy demeanor that he had adopted from writing with Luna seemed to slightly disappear once he read that. Luna's heart sank, and she was about to close the curtains to her bedroom and pretend that that didn't just happen, when Foolish bowed his head and started to write again. So she waited, absentmindedly spinning the marker between her fingers like it would calm her down.

He held up his new piece of paper. I'm trying to fix things from breaking apart, but I don't know if I'm doing a good job at it.

Luna frowned at that before writing her new message, one that kind of hurt for her to write out. Things will get better soon, I know they will. You really like MJ and MJ really likes you. You'll fight for each other.

Foolish wrote for a moment. Thanks, Lunes. Have you ever thought about becoming a therapist?

Isn't a singer kind of like a therapist? she replied, making her question mark bigger for emphasis.

I guess. Foolish then wrote another message under that one. I'm going to try and get some sleep.

No stream tonight? she asked.

Not in the mood, Foolish answered, which made Luna's frown deepen. Tomorrow, though. Wanna join?

Sure, she agreed, accidentally getting black ink on her palm from the marker. I should probably go check on MJ, anyways. Goodnight, Foosh.

Goodnight, he repeated, now drawing a smiley face.

Luna felt her frown turn up into another smile. Foolish responded with a big grin as well before getting up and shutting his curtains on his window, blocking her view into his room for the night. Like always, Luna felt her mood dim just a bit as the warmth of the light from Foolish's room, or just the warmth from Foolish himself, disappeared.

She placed the notepad and marker back on her nightstand before looking back towards the door. "MJ?"

Silence for a moment. Luna thought Mary Jane wasn't going to respond, but she did, just not verbally. Mary Jane suddenly appeared in her doorway, the hood of her sweatshirt pulled over her head and her arms crossed. She wasn't crying, but Luna could see her eyes were sad. Her face was bare, free of the red lipstick she usually wore.

Luna tilted her head slightly at her. "What happened?"

Mary Jane let out a deep breath. "Nothing. It's stupid, really stupid." She padded over to Luna's bed and flopped down, her head landing in Luna's lap. Mary Jane stared at the ceiling for a moment before her eyebrows knit in thought. "Maybe I should get a cat. Would you be down to get a cat?"

"I would," Luna agreed. "Slight problem — your boyfriend's over here a lot, and he's allergic."

"Well, he can deal with it."

Luna stared at her. "MJ, are you sure nothing happened? I mean, I just spoke to Foosh, and he seemed upset, too."

"When did you—" Mary Jane began, but she quickly cut herself off. "Oh. The notepads." Mary Jane looked up at her. "Was he really upset?"

"I wouldn't lie to you."

Oh, just like you're lying about your crush on Foolish to her, and have been for months?

Luna hated her brain sometimes.

Mary Jane groaned and put her hands over her face. "This is such a mess. How do I fix this?"

"Well, for starters, maybe try tomorrow," Luna suggested. "You're tired, he's tired. You're probably not going to get anywhere right now. How about you and I just chill for the night, and we can deal with tomorrow when the time comes."

"Lunes, you are so smart." Mary Jane sat up and looked at her seriously. "This is why you're my best friend."

Luna gave her a small smile. "I mean, I try." She nodded her head towards her door. "Come on. We can order pizza and watch something, if you want."

Mary Jane enthusiastically nodded and left her room. Luna hung back for a moment, her eyes trailing back to the window across from hers that was now covered by curtains, although the image of Foolish behind them was practically burned into her mind.

She sighed. All Luna was left to do was bury her feelings deep down inside, but secretly hope that one day, Foolish would see that she was the one who understood him.

-ˏˋ ♥̩͙♥̩̩̥͙♥̩̥̩ ˊˎ-

HI HI HI HI HI WELCOMEEEEE <3

first chapters are always the worst so just give me maybe a chapter or two to really get a flow going :)