Chapter Thirty-One

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"I wonder what it would be like to melt into your sweet arms and stay there for eternity."

- Christy Ann Martine


Oli's POV

Luna's sitting right next to me in the passenger seat, and yet I feel a world away from her right now. My eyes are completely focused on the road, but my mind is nowhere near it. I'm feeling so many things at once and I don't even know how to begin figuring out what they mean.

My best friend opened up a lot to me tonight. She confessed how much my leaving affected her and how much she's dealt with over the last few years. And how much of what she had to deal with was my fault.

She told me it wasn't. But it was. We both know it was. Even if I didn't intend to do so, I hurt her. Deeply and intensely. I can't change that. But I can try to undo it, try to mend that broken heart of hers. I just need her to give me her heart first, so that I have the chance to do so. Right now, even with how much she's opened up to me, her heart is still behind some strong, thick walls. I'm trying to break through them, but I'm worried it's breaking me in the process.

Quiet mumbled singing pulls me out of my thoughts. Luna's voice is soft as she absently mumbles the words to a song she used to love. I have a whole playlist filled with every song she's ever mentioned she likes. I put it on whenever I'm around her. I put it on when she's not around too, when I miss her the most. It makes me feel closer to her, somehow.

I glance to the side to get a glimpse of her. She's looking out the passenger window, so I can't really see her face. Her head's resting on the headrest, her legs pulled up to her chest. Her hair falls in loose waves around her.

I snap my eyes away quickly, not wanting to cause an accident by getting distracted from the road. Too bad there's the biggest distraction ever sitting right beside me. She's my motivation and distraction all at once.

Suddenly I feel eyes on me. It's a niggling feeling, crawling over my skin in goosebumps. I've never felt that way under anyone else's gaze, but hers. I glance over at her again, this time catching her eye.

"You want to park up somewhere and talk?" She asks softly, "Like we used to?"

I don't think twice before nodding. I would give her anything she asked for, no hesitation. I've just been driving around aimlessly up until now, the dark night and streetlights encasing us in our own secluded bubble. But now I know exactly where to go.

Within ten minutes, I've pulled up to the basketball courts we always used to go to. Sometimes, we would come here with the intention of practising, but instead we would end up sitting in my car and talking all day. Time passes differently when I'm with her.

The court is empty, as is the small parking lot. I swing into an empty parking space and put the car in park. I leave the engine running, knowing the heating system is keeping her warm.

"There are so many memories here," She murmurs after a moment of us sitting in a comfortable silence.

"Like the time Cory and I boosted you up to sit on the hoop and you got so scared-"

"I started crying," She finishes for me, wincing with embarrassment. "And it was my idea in the first place too. Not my brightest moment."

"You were just a kid," I chuckle, "When we finally got you down, you wouldn't let me go four hours afterwards."

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