Cooper must notice the air change around us.‘So, the thing I wanted to give you.I’ll go get it from my room,’ he says as he swiftly gets up from the bean bag and walks to his room.
Every second he spends in his room is agonising.The closure, the ending that I was hoping for before I stepped into his house, might not be what my heart wants anymore.My knee bops up and down, my fingers travel to my lips, and I bite the skin around my nails.Cooper finally walks out of the room with a framed canvas wrapped in brown wrapping paper and tied with a red bow – my favourite colour.I stand from the couch and reach out to take the canvas from his hand.
My eyes flit back and forth between the mysterious canvas in my hands and Cooper’s face.He nods towards the canvas, encouraging me to open it.I tug at the bow, and it unravels immediately along with the wrapping paper.Behind the paper is a painting of me.My breath hitches, and my brain connects the dots as to why it looks so familiar.It is from the day at the river; the day I submitted my final thesis.I pick out the details from the painting and match them with the memory in my head.My eyes are closed, a soft smile dances on my lips, my hair is in the wind, and the sky around me is exploding with colours.‘What ...what is this Cooper?’
‘It is the painting I did for my final thesis.I had the background ready for months, and I didn’t know what to paint as the subject, but I knew that day that it had to be you.You looked ethereal and peaceful that day, Luna.I couldn’t shake that day out of my head, so I tried to capture it the best I could.’
My heart starts beating faster in my chest.‘And ...that was the day I realised that I loved you.It made it more meaningful for me to paint.’He continues.
His words are like a wrecking ball to the wall I built over the years between him and me.I can’t fathom what is happening right now.That day at the river is the same dayIrealised I was in love with him.My fingers slowly pass over the dried brushstrokes of the painting, trying to comprehend it all.
‘You ended up becoming my muse, Luna.’Cooper’s hand travels towards my face, but he stops himself and maintains distance.‘This painting was the centrepiece of my gallery, but after I saw you yesterday, it didn’t feel right sitting in the gallery.I want you to have it.’
Soft sobs come out of me, the tears roll down my face, and droplets fall onto the painting.I look up at Cooper through my glassy eyes.His eyes dart between my eyes and lips, and I let go of the painting, which lands quietly on the couch.I throw my arms around Cooper’s neck and kiss him.
He pulls back for a second, stunned by what just happened, but he instantly collides with my lips and kisses me back with what feels like a need that was festering within him for several years.I melt into him, but my thoughts immediately screamwhat are you doing?I pull back and put several feet of distance between us, my eyes widen, and disappointment tears through me.I touch my lips as if they were scorched.‘I have to go.’
‘Luna, wait, I—’
‘No, Cooper.If you say anything more, I will stay.But I shouldn’t.Not when I still haven’t forgiven you.’I continue walking towards the door.
I step out of the house and catch the faintest whisper.‘I still think about you, Luna.’
26
Luna
Isit on the bus backhome, nauseous the entire way, and my throat is thick with tears.I count down the minutes until I can get back home, and when I finally reach, I dash into my house and run up the stairs, sprinting past my parents sitting on the couch.The last few words of Appa’s question reach me as I open my door.‘...okay, Luna?’
I throw my bag on the floor and fall onto my bed, and the wail comes out of me, rattling its way through my body.I cry with the pain of love, anger and guilt.I can’t believe I kissed Cooper; it’s the last thing I should have done.Now I barely have forty-eight hours left before I have to pack everything and leave this country again – leave Cooper again.It hurts how thoughtful and affectionate he still is, but I cannot physically get over the fact that he left me.It was easy for him to cut the thread that kept us tethered to each other, and what good would it be if I put myself in the same position again?
A headache throbs against my forehead from crying hard.In the silence between my sniffles, soft footsteps get louder outside my bedroom door, which is shortly followed by a knock.‘Can we come in, Luna?’Appa’s voice travels through the door.
‘Okay,’ I respond in between my chokes and sobs.
The door creaks open, and my parents stand on the other side, their faces filled with worry.They walk into my room one after the other, my Mum closing the door behind her.Appa sits right next to me on the bed and pulls me to his side, hugging me tightly and smoothing my hair.‘Enna aachu kanna?’
