Artistic Lover

The following morning, Ethan woke up in his chair, still at his desk. His neck ached from sleeping at an awkward angle, and the faint light of dawn seeped through his window. His eyes blinked open, adjusting to the morning glow.

For a moment, he thought everything from the night before had been a dream.

But then he heard it—a soft humming, melodic and gentle.

Ethan's gaze snapped toward the corner of his room. Luna was there, crouched by his shelf of books, carefully examining a tattered novel with a curious expression. Her dress shimmered faintly in the early light, as if it were catching and reflecting the sun in ways no ordinary fabric could.

"𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍 m𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐," she said without looking up, her voice lilting and cheerful.

"𝔸𝔸𝔸𝔸𝔸𝔸𝔸𝔸ℝℍℝℍℝℍℍℝℍℍℍℝℍ!!! ,"

Ethan Scared & gostared, his breath caught in his throat. His heart raced as the events of the night before came rushing back. She was real—or as real as anything could be.

"𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖," he said, his voice rough with sleep.

Luna glanced up, her smile radiant. "𝙾𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝙸'𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝙸 𝚋𝚎?"

Ethan rubbed his eyes, trying to make sense of it all. The logical part of his brain screamed that this was impossible, but the evidence stood in front of him—alive, tangible, and leafing through his books as if she'd always been there.

"𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕," he said, his voice cracking slightly. "𝕐𝕠𝕦..𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕞𝕪 𝕤𝕜𝕖𝕥𝕔𝕙.. 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖."

Luna straightened, placing the book back on the shelf with care. "𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎," she said gently, "𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚊𝚖. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎."

Ethan shook his head, still unable to believe what was happening. "𝔸𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦… 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕘𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕣 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘?"

Luna laughed, a sound so light and musical it made Ethan's chest ache. "𝙳𝚘 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞?" she teased, spinning slowly to show off her shimmering form. "𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚊𝚖, 𝙴𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗. 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚠."

Ethan leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his messy hair. His mind felt like it was spinning in circles, trying to find an explanation. He looked at Luna again, at the way her eyes seemed to sparkle with life and curiosity.

"𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕞𝕖?" he asked quietly.

Luna stepped closer, her expression softening. "𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎," she said simply. "𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔, 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞?"

Ethan swallowed hard, her words cutting through him. He couldn't deny the truth in them. He had wanted someone—someone who understood him, who wouldn't judge him or leave him behind. Someone who could fill the quiet spaces of his life with warmth.

But wanting something didn't make it real. And yet, there she was.

"𝕆𝕜𝕒𝕪," he said finally, exhaling slowly. "𝕃𝕖𝕥'𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕀 𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦. 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕨?" Luna's smile returned, this time softer, almost mischievous. "𝙽𝚘𝚠, 𝚠𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜," 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍. "𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚊𝚢?"

Ethan blinked at her, unsure how to answer. "𝕀… 𝕕𝕣𝕒𝕨. 𝕀 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕. 𝕀 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖, 𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕝𝕪." "𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕫𝕪," Luna said, plopping herself onto the edge of his bed. "𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚍𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝."

"𝔹𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣?" Ethan repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Luna nodded eagerly. "𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚜," she said, gesturing toward the drawings on his walls. "𝙸 𝚋𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚝. 𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜?"

Ethan hesitated. He didn't want to admit how small his world had become, how the idea of stepping outside his comfort zone filled him with dread.

"ℕ𝕠𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪," he muttered.

Luna tilted her head, studying him intently. "𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢," she said after a moment. "𝚆𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝙱𝚊𝚋𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚜, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝?" Ethan frowned, feeling a strange mix of annoyance and intrigue. There was something about Luna's optimism that felt both challenging and comforting.

"𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟, '𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝'?" he asked. Luna grinned, hopping to her feet. "𝙻𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚐𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔," she said. "𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍." Ethan's stomach twisted at the thought. "𝔸 𝕨𝕒𝕝𝕜? 𝕆𝕦𝕥𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖?"

"𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝?" Luna asked, her expression bright and encouraging. "𝙸𝚝'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚗." He hesitated, glancing toward the window. The rain had stopped, leaving the world outside damp and gray. The thought of leaving his room, even for a short time, made his chest tighten with anxiety.

"𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨…" he started.

Luna stepped closer, her eyes warm and understanding. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚍, 𝙴𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗," she said softly. "𝙸'𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙 𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎."

Her words sank into him, quieting the storm in his mind. He took a deep breath, trying to muster the courage to agree. "𝕆𝕜𝕒𝕪," he said finally. "𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕔𝕜."

Luna beamed, grabbing his hand before he could change his mind. "𝙻𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚐𝚘!"

As they stepped out into the damp morning air, Ethan felt an unfamiliar sensation—a flicker of excitement mixed with nervous energy. Luna walked beside him, her presence steady and reassuring.

For the first time in a long time, Ethan felt like he wasn't facing the world alone.

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To Be Continued..