The house smells of the same marijuana and herbs that I've smelled my entire life. I inhale the familiar scent as I walk through the home, knowing each creak and groan on the floorboards. With my bag in hand, I walk to Luna's room. Her door is cracked open, and when I see her, my entire body freezes.
God, she's beautiful.
She sits with her back to me, looking out the window at the lake. A bag sits on the ground at her feet, and a smile breaks out on my face.
It's like she knew I was coming, and she's ready for anything.
She’s wearing one of her dresses, the creamy fabric full of a thick lace that is so hippy, so her. Her dark hair sits in a mess as it tumbles down her shoulders, falling to the small of her waist.
My beautiful Luna. So much the same.
"Luna," I say.
Her body freezes, and it takes her a moment. Like she thinks my voice was in her head. Like she's not sure if it was real or not. But then she turns, so slowly, like she’s moving in slow motion as her body rotates and she ends up staring at me directly in the eyes.
They're wide, wonder and shock filling her features.
"Roman?" She stands up, walking around her bed and stopping in front of me. Her hand raises, touching my bare arm. Like I'm a vision, a dream.
"I'm here," I whisper.
"Roman." Her voice is sad, so depleted and so happy at the same time.
I don't waste another second, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her against me. She smells the same as I bury my face in her hair. It's soft, the scents of the lake and the sand and the sun hitting my nose. "Holy shit, I’ve missed you." My voice is raspy.
I can feel her body shake against me, tears and surprise racking her body in silent sobs. "Shhhh, I'm here, Luna. I'm right here."
She looks up, tears streaming down her face as she looks at me in wonder. "I can't believe you're here. How… how are you here?"
"Our van broke down in Iowa. We were stuck for a few days, so I decided while they stayed there, I’d come home to see you. I've missed you. Fuck, I've missed you so much." I wrap her in my arms again, giving her another squeeze. "It's been too long." She smells so familiar. She feels so familiar.
She doesn't say anything, holding me so tightly against her, her shaky arms and her trembling body feeling so small against mine.
"Let's sit down. Tell me everything. How are you?" I drag her to the bed, sitting down in the middle of it, shoes and all. I pull her on top of me, and she lays curled up in a ball on my lap. Her hand goes up to my hair, feeling the long strands that I've let grow even longer since I've been gone.
She shakes her head. "I want to hear about you."
I let out a breath, feeling so at home here. With her. It doesn't matter that we've been apart for an entire year, that our contact has been lessened. One moment with her and I'm back right where I started. This is why I've gone a year without bringing a girl in my bed. It wasn't even a contest, no question at all whether I should stick to my word and stay faithful to Luna. It wasn't hard, not in the slightest. Luna is it for me, and she always has been.
One moment with Luna and everything is exactly how it should be.
"It's been crazy, Luna. I can't even begin to explain it to you. It's been city after city. Concert after concert. People come to the shows! We have sold out venues. It's like nothing I ever expected when I started this."
"I've heard your songs on the radio," she whispers against my chest.
"I know. I can't believe we have an actual hit. I grew up with my dad having hits all the time, I just never expected that I would actually have a song on the radio of my own. It's just crazy. Our manager is a hard ass, but I've told you that."
She nods.
"I know I missed your graduation, and I'm sorry. I had the dates mixed up, and when I realized it, my manager wouldn't let us bail since we were about to have a huge show in Chicago. So, I was going to come afterward, and we ended up having car issues. Shit, it's been a hell of a last couple weeks. I'm just glad I'm in a home, on an actual bed. You don't realize how good you have it until you're cramped on a bus with a ton of dudes. Shit sucks."
She giggles, even though it sounds sad.
"We have a couple more stops after this, and then we're heading back to LA. I was thinking about packing up my things and heading out to New York. Like we planned. How does that sound?"
She stiffens against my body, her limp form turning still as a statue.
"Luna, what's wrong?" I ask, tilting her face up to mine.