Starlight | completed

Chapter 15 | agony

He grinned at her, there was nothing real in that smile. Aera brushed back a lock of his dark hair back from his forehead, he looked so exhausted. At times she felt that the universe just took and took everything from him, and never gave him anything back in return. Poor Luce.

"Your hair looks nice today" she mumbled softly, a little wistfully. Hoping it would cheer him up, and this time when he smiled at her again, the twinkle was coming back into his eyes. "Thank you Aera" he replied, something unfamiliar in his eyes. Aera searched his face, but she couldn't seem to pinpoint that emotion.

"Now tell me about what you wanted to talk about" Luce asked, his hand curling around hers. She tightened one of her hands around his, and leaned back grabbing another wipe for the other cut on his cheek.

"So you know the author of those letters?" Aera questioned and Luce oddly looked hesitant now, he slowly nodded. Aera dabbed at his cheek, her hair softly brushing his face. Luce tugged at one of the strands of it, and she teasingly swatted at him.

"He's making me angry" she mumbled, and at that Luce almost bolted up. She sent him a questioning look pausing on what she was doing, and he composed himself again. As if remembering who he was once again.

"W-Why?" he mumbled, and Aera had the sudden urge to lean forward and push back the lock of dark hair that was running along his chocolate eyes. She looked away.

"He told me I basically suck now" she mumbled, and at that Luce literally bolted up. His head almost colliding with Aera's forehead. Aera's hand fumbled, as she had the urge to reach for him once again. She didn't.

"He said that?" he asked a expression of shock on his face, Aera stared at him a bit confused. Luce had been acting really suspicious for a while now. She frowned, she was his best friend. Maybe he was just offended in her place.

"He just said I've changed. It kinda just hurt you know. R-Reminded me of my dad." she mumbled, and Luce just seemed to deflate at that. A look of pure agony filled his face and she frowned once again. It wasn't his fault, what was his problem these days?

"I'm sorry" he meekly mumbled, eyes filled with a pain that Aera for the life of her couldn't seem to understand. Reaching forward she grasped his hands in hers, and tipped his face so he was looking directly at her.

"Hey, it's not your fault. You didn't write it" she softly whispered, hoping it would make Luce feel a bit better. He instead seemed to deflate even more now. His expression was one that looked haunted. Aera frowned.

"B-But you said it reminded you of your d-dad" he mumbled, visibly shaking. Aera reached forward and tugged him towards her, hugging him tightly to her. It did remind her of her dad, because that was the only reason she had even changed. But it wasn't Luce's fault. And with a resigned sigh she knew it wasn't the author of the letter's fault either, how could they have possibly known?

"I'm okay Luce" she mumbled into him, and he clung to her. Still shaking, she wasn't sure why he was so affected. It had been directed at her,
not him. But then again her dad's death had hit Luce pretty hard too, they'd been close. After all they had grown up together.

"It's okay. I'm okay" she mumbled again, running her fingers through the dark locks of his hair. He was still shaky, but he'd calmed a bit down now. He knew he hadn't intentionally meant to remind Aera or her dad, but he was still an idiot.

Aera never talked about her dad, it was the one subject that she would never intentionally speak on. And she spoke a lot, she would talk about anything. Luce knew better than to remind her of him, every time someone mentioned him. There was unadulterated agony in her eyes every time, Luce could never stand it. It was pure anguish. In this world there was no one Aera had felt closer to than her dad.

Of course, she'd changed. She'd been changing since the day her dad died. How could he have done this to Aera? His Aera? The one who would utterly break at the thought of her dad. How could he have reminded her of that memory once again? He was a utter fool. Aera pulling Luce back, stared at his face. "Are you okay?" she questioned.

Luce meekly nodded, and abruptly stood up he smiled at Aera. A shaky and unsure smile, a smile that was very much unlike him. It was the opposite of him in every aspect. "I should get going" he mumbled, eyes frantic.

And before Aera could even hope to reply, he walked away. Slamming the door shut behind him, he trembled a bit. And there was nothing  but torment in his usually bright shining eyes.

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school tomorrow 😭 i have a test and i didn't study enough.