Page 123 of Lunar Crest University

He was paying attention to me the entire time I thought he wasn’t.

Always taking care of me.

“He tells us he’s your friend,” Mom adds, a knowing smile dancing across her lips.

“Well, he, uh…” I swallow before taking a deep breath. “We haven’t really put a label on it, so I guess we are friends? I don’t know what we are, but I do know I love him.”

Mom’s smile turns into her laughing excitedly, grasping my hand and squeezing it eagerly. “Where did you meet him?”

“I met him at the…university.”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret them. Any story would have sufficed; they would never second guess a random meet-cute, but it’s quite clear he’s older than the average student at a university. My alarm heightens as I see the realization flash across my dad’s features while the informationis still lost on my mom. If he’s angry, it doesn’t show, and they don’t have time to respond before Luca and Levi return to the room with my nurse.

It would have to be a conversation for another day. I just hope that when that day comes, they can try to understand.

Chapter Forty-Seven

FINLEY

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1ST, 2023

I’ve never been more excited to go home than I am now. Between the stiff mattress, thin pillows, and hospital food, if I didn’t have to use these crutches, I’d be running out of this place. Not to mention thesmell. Hospitals smell so sterile, and…I don’t like it. It only reminds me of wounds and stitches and everything I don’t want to think about.

So, watching Luca pack up our things as I wait on the sofa bed with my crutches propped up next to me, I can’t help my knee from bouncing in anticipation.

We’re finally going back to my apartment, my warm and cozy apartment with one too many throw pillows and my favorite plush blankets I can’t wait to wrap myself in. Luca is staying with me, which is more than I could ever want, even though the fact that he doesn’t even have a house to go home to dampens the mood a little bit.

My parents left to go back home, two hours away, this morning, and Levi started classes again, gathering everything he missed the past week and even my curriculum so I don’t falltoo far behind while I’m out. An argument ensued when I tried to assure everyone it would be okay if I didn’t graduate in the spring with everyone else, so I eventually gave up.

“You’ll probably be so behind in class, huh?” I ask Luca as he shoves some clothes into a bag. “I hate that you’re missing so much because of me.”

Lifting his head and cocking it slightly, he gives me a pointed look. I half expect him to scold me again for worrying so much, but he doesn’t.

“I told the dean about my house, so I kind of got a pass. I’ve been doing everything remotely, and I’ll start back next week,” he tells me. “I won’t be able to stay at home with you the whole time, but I thought Levi could come over when he can, and I could askmi mamáto come check on you sometimes too.”

“I feel like such a burden?—”

“No.” He stops what he’s doing as he approaches me, putting his large hand on my shoulders. “You’re far from being a burden, Finley.”

“Then why do I feel like one?” I whisper.

Luca’s hands slide up my neck as he leans down to press a kiss to my forehead. With a teasing smirk, he says, “Because you wouldn’t beyouif you didn’t feel like that.”

With a meek pout, I lean into his hand against my cheek before he walks over to grab our bags. He’s annoyingly patient with me as I use my crutches to make my way out into the hallway and toward the nurse's station to check out—his hand hovering against my lower back the entire time, his pace matching mine without a word, and his fingers combing through the tresses of my long, dark waves as they sway with my movement.

He’s quiet as I check out, but I feel his touch every so often, like he’s letting me know he’s here if I need him.

I thought I’d be okay using crutches, but by the time we make it into the elevator, I have to lean against the cold metal wall as my chest heaves in exhausted pants. My body has been through a lot, I know that, but it’s hard not to feel discouraged anyway.

“I had a thought,” Luca says, standing next to me so I can rest my head on his shoulder.

“Oh, yeah?”

“I’m going to be staying with you for a while,” he prompts, and out of the corner of my eye, I see him fidgeting with the strap of the bags. “And I don’t technically have a house anymore, so I thought I…I could move in. With you. If you’ll have me?”

I lift my head to look up at him. “You want to move in with me?”

He nods, but his eyebrows cinch.

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