Page 120 of Control Us (Next Generation 1)

“LUNA.” I GRABBED HERhands and pushed her back gently. “I’ll never love anyone else.” I cupped her face.

Tears streamed down her cheeks. “God, I can’t…this hurts.”

Seeing her cry tore at my heart. It shredded into a million little pieces. And I knew it right then. If we never came out of this, if we never found our way back to each other, she would be my greatest accomplishment.

“I love you,” I whispered.

“Don’t.” She pushed me. “You can’t say that shit to me.”

“Luna.” Before she could pull away, I wrapped my arms around her.

Her body shook with silent sobs. “I hate him. I hate him for what he’s done to us.”

I couldn’t say I blamed her, but she would get over this and her relationship with her father would be mended. She would move on.

“Is this it?” she asked, her voice small. “Are we done when we’ve hardly even started?”

I swallowed hard, a lump lodging its way into my throat. “We…” I didn’t even know how to answer that. Leaning my forehead against hers, I breathed her in. The sweet scent of her lavender perfume. The faint scent of sex I put there. And when I kissed her, I tasted the saltiness of her tears on my tongue.

“I love you, Luna,” I whispered. “I love you so fucking much.”

***

(Luna)

Never in my whole life, did I think the first man I loved could break my heart the way he did. And the second man broke it just as much. Two heartbreaks. By two different men for nearly the same reason.

When Zach pulled away, my tears quickly dried up and the sadness that was there, turned into anger.

When I reached out for him, he only picked up his pace, I knew. This was it. We were done. Zach and Luna were no more.

But I ran after him anyway. As pissed as I was, I still needed him. That rage was the driving force behind my feet rushing toward him.

He was crossing the front lawn when I caught up with him. I latched onto his back, forcing him to spin around.

Just when I thought he was going to push me away, he cupped my face instead and kissed me. I breathed him in, taking everything that had come to light and unleashing it onto him. I didn’t want this to end. No matter how difficult my father was being, no matter how scared Zach was, he and I were meant to be. We just were.

“Luna.” Zach leaned back, keeping his hands on my face and staring at me.

“Please, Zach. We can get through this. I won’t hurt you. I promise you I won’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Do you not trust me? I love you. I’ve only ever loved you. You stopped being with other women because of me. Because you love me. Why can’t you see that? We’re meant to be.”

“You need to move on,” he said gently, his voice thick.

“How can I do that, Zach?” I grabbed onto the collar of his shirt. “How can I when I see you all the time?”

“I’ll stay away then.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “You will get over me.”

“I don’t want to.” The tears fell, rolling down my cheeks and dripping off my chin. “I can’t.”

“Baby, you can. You’ll find some guy, make him happy and he’ll make you happy in return. You’ll have kids, a big house somewhere. Maybe a dog. Or a cat. Or even a fucking fish. But you’ll get over me. I promise you, you will.”

“This is it? All because I’m getting too close?”

He looked away.

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