Tomorrow couldn’t have come any faster, and when it did, the two of them could barely say anything to each other, despite the fact that they were together for nearly the whole day. It was awkward, Amber was nervous, and there were people around them at all hours of the event. Even on stage, Amber’s nerves wouldn’t leave her alone, especially when she had to share it with Luna during her guest appearance in the solo.

She just didn’t know what the other girl was thinking. She’d just forced her out of the apartment the night before, and now Amber was stuck standing beside her, and she was just difficult to read.

“Are you two okay?” One of their stylists had asked them had asked when they were seated in an uncharacteristic bubble of silence.

“What? Oh no we’re just-”

“We’re just tired,” Luna told the woman, turning her head to look at Amber for a moment before quickly darting them away. Whether she was being like this because of the others around or something else, Amber didn't know. Whatever the reason was, she couldn't stop thinking about it.

After what felt like forever, the concert was finally over and the two of them were allowed to retreat back to their hotel rooms for the night. The only problem was that there were no hotel rooms, only a hotel room, that their management had booked for them to share.

“Uhh, after you,” Amber muttered, holding the door open for her after she finally managed to unlock it after an embarrassing fourth try.

“Thanks,” Luna said quietly, walking through it with her head down. Amber sighed, stepping in after her before shutting the door behind her, suddenly plagued with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she couldn’t ignore. Even with all the kissing that happened the night before, something felt off. They were supposed to talk. And now that it was finally time to, God, she was nervous.

There bags were already there and and Amber watched as Luna moved over to hers, undoing the zips to gather her things before standing up to head to the bathroom, passing Amber as she stood by the vanity. For two people that had known each other for all of eight years, they were incredibly awkward. After a weird back and forth, they eventually decided that Luna would shower first. Not knowing what else to do, Amber decided to take a seat sat in the large chair beside the window, finding herself having to try a little too hard to not think about what Luna was doing at that very moment. She hadn’t the slightest clue what was going on in Luna’s head right now. She had no idea what she was going to say, or whether she was going to say anything at all at this point. When it was her turn with the bathroom, she quickly went in, accidentally brushing against Luna as she passed.

“Sorry…” Amber muttered when Luna nearly dropped her towel, wet hair swinging against her shoulders.

“It’s okay,” Luna replied, stepping back so Amber could go into the steam-filled room, letting out a breath of relief when the door closed.

When Amber got out, Luna was still seated in front of the vanity, running a brush through her nearly-dry hair. She set the brush down when she saw Amber heading towards her bag, turning to watch her put away some of her belongings. When Amber turned around, she knew Luna had been staring at her, catching sight of the way her head had quickly moved away. Luna scooted her chair back and stood up.

“Do you want to go for a walk?”

“A walk?”

-

It was pretty cold. Or at least, Amber figured it must’ve been, given the thick fog that loomed over their heads. She couldn’t quite tell, though, the only feeling she was capable of noticing being the one of discomfort that didn’t seem to fade in the time they left the hotel for Luna’s suggested walk.

“Do you want to go this way?” Luna’s sweet voice called out to her, eyes widened above the gray mask that covered and nose as she waited for a response.

“Yeah, sure,” Amber nodded, tugging on her hood as they headed in the direction she pointed to. It was quite late, and the road they were walking along was empty and scattered with light. Quietly, they trudged forward, soon happening upon a nice path, one surrounded by beautiful trees that Amber probably would’ve appreciated on any other day than this one in particular.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Luna asked her, tilting her head up to admire the large oak to to their right. Light from one of the lampposts was shining just above her, a ray of it perfectly hitting the side of her face. All of her makeup from the day was gone and fuzzy beanie pulled over her forehead, short brown hair peeking out from the sides. Even with the little dark circles that resided just below her eyes, it was quite a sight.

“Amber?”

“Huh?” Amber stuttered, averting her gaze the moment she realized Luna’d caught her. “Oh, yes, it’s, uhh, really pretty here.”

“It is.” Luna nodded her head, eyeing her curiously. Feeling awkward under her stare, Amber turned her head forward, continuing down the little path with Luna following beside her. They kept going like that for a little while, walking side-by-side in silence. There were a million things Amber wanted to say to her, though the thought of bringing up just one never escaped her lips. They kept on walking and Amber swore Luna was beginning to come closer to her until she really was just against her side, lightly bumping into her shoulder.

“Amber,” she said in a quiet voice, eyes fixated on the ground.

“Y-yes?”

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Luna’s words were just a whisper and when Amber turned, she felt a flush rise to her cheeks and the look of amusement on Luna’s face.

“What do you want me to say?” she asked shyly, hoping her black mask would conceal some of her visible embarrassment.

“I don’t know...something.” Luna bumped into her shoulder again and Amber could feel her pulse increase ten-fold.

“Well, umm, I don’t know…”

“Nothing?”

“I mean…”

“Amber!”

“What?” she asked as they stopped walking, Amber turning to find Luna looking at her with mild annoyance mixed with an amused smile. For a second, Amber forgot what they were even talking about, caught up in the moment over the fact that Luna was smiling and she was the reason for it. She’d removed her mask now, too, which Amber just noticed, her entire face visible in the dim light from the streetlamps above them. “You’re pretty,” Amber found herself saying suddenly, watching Luna’s eyes widen in surprise as hers did the same.

“Oh…” Luna muttered, covering her warm cheeks with her hands, glancing down at the ground.

“S-sorry,” Amber stuttered apologetically, looking at the discomfort on Luna’s face, “I don’t even know why I said that. It just slipped out and I…”

“It’s okay,” Luna said awkwardly, grinning down at the pavement, “Thanks.”

Amber felt like hitting herself in the forward right now, unsure of how she was being so incredibly bad at this. She didn’t want to say anything, and Luna didn’t say anything, either, the only sounds coming from the streets and the wind rustling through the trees behind them. A small bench was just beside them, so naturally, they both moved towards it to sit down, making sure to leave a good distance between them.

“So…” Luna began after a few seconds of silence, plopping her hands shyly in her lap.

“So…” Amber replied, stretching her legs out in front of her, eyes fixated on them instead of her.

“You like me, huh?” Luna stated, evidently deciding to cut right to the chase, much to Amber’s dismay. She was looking at Amber patiently when she finally mustered up the courage to face her, their eyes finally meeting after all that time they spent avoiding doing so.

“I do,” she cleared uncomfortably.

“Why?” Luna could see the fear her question prompted, biting her lip before deciding saying, “Or, at least, since when?”

It was a fair question, though Amber still wished she didn’t have to answer it, pondering whether she should tell her a lie or admit the truth. “A few years…” She decided to tell her vaguely, watching Luna’s eyebrows raise in surprise.

“Years?” she repeated, baffled over the idea that she hadn’t known for so long. “You’ve liked me for years and I never noticed?”

“Well…”

“Even when I was with…” Luna trailed off, not wanting to say much more about her past ex.

“Yeah,” Amber nodded, internally shuddering at the dark memories of that time,“Even then.”

Luna leaned back into the bench, staring off distractedly as she no doubt thought of all the time they’d spent together in the past few years, unable to believe that she’d never noticed anything to indicate Amber’s feelings for her. Eyebrows knit together, she tilted her head in Amber’s direction, asking, “So did you never go out with anyone?”

“I did.”

"A girl?"

"Yeah."

“And it didn’t work out?” Luna inquired, leaning closer just a hair.

“Well, I had feelings for someone else, so…”

“Oh,” Luna nodded in realization, returning back to her previous position with the cool metal backing behind her back. It was beginning to get late, and with the scattered conversation, Amber considered having them just head back to the hotel for the night. She was just about to suggest it, clearing when Luna suddenly said her name.

“Yeah?” Amber asked, waiting for her to respond. Luna was suddenly looking like she was about to gnaw her bottom lip raw with the way her teeth had been digging into it, her eyes nervous as she appeared to be struggling with the next thing she wanted to say.

“I think you’re pretty, too.”

“Oh.” Suddenly it hit her that Luna was just a few inches away and the lips she was biting on were they ones she’d felt on hers just the night before.

“Yeah,” she heard Luna say, realizing her eyes had lowered to the bottom part of her face.

“Thanks,” Amber all but croaked, suddenly having become insanely dry. And then, with little warning, she felt Luna’s hands rise to the sides of her mask, gently tugging it down. Their lips came together in a quick, sealed kiss, before Luna pulled away with wide eyes and pink cheeks.

“I am allowed to do that now, right?” she blushed madly.

“I-If you want to.”

“Good.”

The thought of Luna wanting to kiss her was one she didn't think she'd ever believe, no matter how many times she said it. As if to prove it, Luna leaned in just a second later and their lips came together again before she suddenly jumped up from the bench and shouted, “I’ll race you!," sprinting all the way back to the hotel with the smitten older girl hot at her heels.

im trash. sorry.