Luna
"— Please, no," I muttered as I looked at the message.
"Today afternoon. No excuses. We're dragging you out of that cave."
It was from Julia. And right below it, as if that wasn't enough, came Marina's:
"We're going to the new bookstore. Or better… that bookstore with the cute guy you pretend not to see 👀"
"Idiots," I mumbled, laughing.
Of course, they couldn't hear me, but it was the kind of thing we said to each other all the time. Julia and Marina had a special talent for getting involved in my love life — or, in my case, the lack of it.
Marina showed up at my house first, barging into my room without knocking. As always.
"Come on, come on, come on, Luna! Get ready, girl! Let's go find out if the hot bookstore guy has a name. I bet he reads Dostoevsky just to impress you."
"Or Wuthering Heights, just like her," Julia added, coming in right behind her.
"You two are a problem," I said, laughing as I grabbed my jacket. "We're just returning a book, okay?"
"Uh-huh," Marina said. "And if the guy asks you out, are you returning your dignity too?"
"Shut up, Marina!" I replied, already laughing hard.
As we walked down the street, I felt… light. It was rare. The last few weeks had been a tangle of strange sensations, like someone was always nearby. But with them there, everything felt normal again.
Ethan
I saw them walking down the street. Luna was laughing. A real laugh, carefree. Not the shy smile she gave me when we talked.
The two girls with her — Julia and Marina. I'd already looked them up. Julia studies psychology and is the nosiest. Marina works in digital marketing and has a posting pattern that suggests a control fixation. Dangerous friends.
I hid behind the Russian classics shelf and watched. The three walked in with a gust of cheap perfume and loud voices. Marina looked straight at me. Smiled.
"That's him," she whispered, discreetly pulling Luna's arm.
She blushed. Of course. The flush of embarrassment and expectation. I held back a smile.
"Hi… Ethan, right?" Luna said, approaching the counter.
"Yes," I replied, with the softest voice I could muster. "Returning the book?"
She handed me Wuthering Heights.
"It was an intense read. I kinda saw myself in the characters… a bit tragic, a bit passionate. I think that's kinda… my vibe, sometimes."
"Tragic passion is the most sincere," I said, holding her gaze. "But it usually ends badly."
She laughed, a little nervous. Her friends had moved away, pretending to browse — but they were clearly listening in.
It was the moment.
"I was thinking… maybe we could grab a coffee after I get off. There's a place not far from here. It's quiet."
She looked at me surprised. Hesitated. Then smiled.
"Yeah… could be. But if you kidnap and kill me, I swear I'll haunt you, okay?"
I laughed. Not at the joke, but at the thought. If only she knew.
"I promise to keep you alive. At least for the first date."
Luna
We left the bookstore and I could barely contain my laughter.
"He asked me out, guys!"
"I KNEW IT!" Julia screamed.
"You owe me a drink, I bet this would happen today," Marina added.
"Calm down! It's just coffee!" I said, but the warmth in my face betrayed me.
"'Just coffee' is the start of every forbidden romance," Marina said dramatically.
"Or the beginning of a kidnapping," Julia added, making us laugh.
But a pang hit me. What if something really was off? There was something in Ethan's gaze… something that took my breath away, but also made me uneasy.
Ethan
I watched Luna as she walked away with her friends. They laughed. Talked about me. As if I didn't know. As if I hadn't been there long before it all began.
The difference between them and me?
They thought they were helping Luna live.
I was saving Luna from the world.
And in the end, the only voice she'd listen to… would be mine.
Bonus Scene 1 – First Meeting, First Touch
Narrator: Ethan
The bookstore was already closed when she came back. Said she forgot a book. Poorly told lie. But I let her in. I always do.
She wore a light beige coat, hair half-tied, and a smile that mocked the cold.
"Do you always forget books or is it just a pretty excuse to see me again?" I asked.
She laughed.
"And are you always this… direct?"
"Only when I'm interested."
Silence. She bit her lower lip. The heat between us started right there. I shut the door. Locked it.
Luna walked toward the shelves. Her fingers slid over the books like she knew each one by scent. I saw every detail — her neck, the way she leaned her hip against the wood, how she breathed deeper when nervous.
"You watch me… don't you?"
"What if I say yes?"
She turned to face me. We were inches apart.
"I don't think I'd mind."
I kissed her. Hard, hungry, with all the silent months of waiting. She kissed back with the same thirst. Pushed me against the shelf, books falling as witnesses to our sin.
My hands explored her back, her fingers clutched my neck. A low moan escaped her lips. Our breath became an assault against the silence. But I wanted more. Still, control… control is everything.
"Not here," I whispered in her ear. "I want a place where I can hear you… completely."
She looked at me wide-eyed, smiling somewhere between naughty and scared.
"Are you always like this? So intense?"
"No. Only when I want someone too much."
Bonus Scene 2 – At His Apartment
Narrator: Ethan
The wine didn't even need to be there. She was already enough to make me drunk.
"You really live above the bookstore?" she asked, taking off her coat.
"That's right. I like being close to what I love."
"Books?"
"Something… more unpredictable."
She turned around. She wore a shirt far too thin, no bra. On purpose. She knew what it did to me. And I let her.
I held her waist. Her skin was warm, pulsing under my fingers. The pressure of desire already beat like a drum between us.
"You have no idea how much I wanted you."
"Then show me."
Voracious kisses. Clothes ripped in haste. She straddled me on the couch like she wanted to take control, but I was the one guiding, with firm hands, rhythm carved from lust and contained fury.
She moaned my name like begging forgiveness for all she didn't know. Every touch was a map, every heavy breath a verse of madness.
In the end, lying on my chest, she asked:
"Was this real?"
"More real than anything you've ever lived."
But she didn't know enough. Not yet.
She didn't know this was just the beginning.
And that I would never let her go.