LUNA

Milo and I walk down the street relatively quiet but it's an easy quiet between us. It's something I appreciate since most of the time, the silence I have with people stems from awkwardness and my inability to maintain a flowing conversation.

Since it's almost noon on a Monday, and we're walking on the main street, it's very busy. However, we're not stuck in the human traffic for long since we only walk for a few minutes before Milo stops in front of a bookstore that I have walked by a thousand times but have never once stepped inside.

The store, called 'Aiko's library', is painted a bright lilac with a huge window overlooking a display of new releases. The bell jingles as we step inside, Milo holding the door open for me before he follows.

It's almost as if we step into another world; the moment the door shuts behind, the sounds of the city mute immediately. The atmosphere of the store is peaceful and welcoming, with green plants everywhere and books displayed on every possible surface; not just on the shelves. A large, black cat rests on a pile of books almost the same size as me by the front door and meows its welcome as we walk by.

"Ojisan," Milo calls out for his uncle, not too loud to disrupt the peace in the store but loud enough to be heard.

A few seconds pass and then an older man peeks his head around a large bookcase. "Milo?" He pauses for a second before putting on his glasses that are draped around his neck. "It is you Milo!"

"Hi uncle," Milo grins as the older man moves forward to pat his cheek in endearment. He then turns and, in a not so quiet voice, calls out a phrase in Japanese. A few seconds later, a woman rounds another bookcase and joins Milo's uncle to his side.

"Milo!" The woman immediately pulls Milo into a warm hug. "Oh, it's good to see you! Where have you been these past few weeks?" She babbles quickly.

"Hi auntie," Milo laughs, patting the woman's back as she clings onto him, "sorry I haven't come to visit, I've been wrapped up with work."

She pulls back and tuts, "I wanted to show you the changes we made to your display."

"Well, I'm here to see it today," Milo reassures her with a warm smile, "but before that, there's someone I want you two to meet." He gestures to me standing behind him, "this is my friend Luna."

Both his uncle and aunt slide their gazes towards me as Milo says this, huge smiles pulling on their lips when I wave a hand at them both.

"Luna," Milo continues, "these are my biggest fans: my uncle Ren and aunt Aiko."

"I remember you!" Aiko remarks excitedly. "At one of Milo's birthday parties, I think it was his 14th, didn't you wear an orange dress with the frills?"

"Um," I pause as I try to think back a whole decade ago, "I think so, I did own an orange dress with frills."

"I knew it!" She gives my arm a squeeze. "It's good to see you again!"

"I don't have an unusually good memory as my wife here," Ren interjects with a laugh, "so I can't remember if I met you before, but hello dear, welcome to our bookstore!"

"Thank you." I smile. "It's lovely here."

"It is, isn't it?" Ren grins, gazing down at his wife warmly and giving her waist a squeeze. Aiko beams up at him in return, melting into his touch and I immediately want to cry at how adorable they are. "We've been running it for almost 25 years."

"It's the same age as Milo." Aiko continues, turning her smile to me, "we opened it up about a month before he was born and coincidentally Milo has always been our most loyal customer and one of the most popular authors we sell here. I have always believed that it was destined for him to be apart of this store–"

"Auntie, if you're going to launch into a speech on why it's in my fate to take over the bookstore, I'm gonna have to put a little pause on it," Milo interrupts with a playful raise or his eyebrow, "Luna only has 20 minutes of break and I want to show her my display."

I glance back at him and am thoroughly surprised to see a huge pile of books clutched in his arms. Where on earth did those come from?

Whilst Aiko's pouts and Ren pats her arm sympathetically, Milo thrusts forward the stack of books to his aunt and uncle. "Can you guys scan these for me please?"

Ren nods and Milo divides the huge pile into both of their arms.

"I'll drop by in the evening," Milo adds at the disappointed look on his aunt's face and her mood instantly lifts, "we can talk then."

Aiko nods, hooking her arm through her husbands. "We'll be at the front if you need anything."

Once they walk away, Milo grabs my hand and begins pulling me forwards. My gaze flits across the store as we walk, taking note of how big the store actually is on the inside compared to the outside. There's a large children's section to the right where colourful mats lay on the ground; around 5 or 6 children sit on them listening to a reading of a picture book. Several older men linger in the crime section and a few teens survey the poetry and young adult section.

"You know this store has a curse," Milo says, drawing my attention away from my surroundings and back onto him. I watch as he looks down at me with a bewildered expression.

"A curse?" I repeat.

He nods and in a serious voice, says: "Every single time I come to visit, I leave at least $70 poorer."

I raise an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's a curse or just a book shopping addiction?"

Milo is silent for a second and then: "Okay, it's an addiction but at least I have the friends and family discount."

I burst out into a laugh and Milo's grin widens.

"So where is this display of yours?" I ask, shaking my head in amusement.

Milo gestures in front of us. "It's just ahead."

After a few more twists and turns, we reach an opening in the maze of books which leads to a huge section displaying an array of novels by a certain author and well...a certain genre. A very niche genre.

I walk right up to the display, blinking several times to make sure what I'm seeing is right.

"You write erotic romance?" I exclaim, stunned. I stare at titles such as 'Dirty Cowboy' or the 'Duke Who Charmed Me' with covers that show women who look like they're in throes of pleasure and men who are shirtless and sweaty.

I look over my shoulder at Milo who now looks embarrassed, if the blush tainting his cheeks is any indication but is determined to appear confident, with his back rigid and his hands in his pockets. "Yep," he says wryly, "I do."

"Sorry," I quickly backtrack, schooling my shock and replacing it with an easy smile as I take in his expression, "I'm not judging, I'm just surprised. When you said romance I was preparing myself for John Green-esque books," I pause to point at the shirtless man on the cover of the book closest to me, "not the abs."

"Yeah," Milo rubs the back of his neck. "Dirty Prince isn't really on the same level as The Fault in Our Stars."

I gaze at the books and then look back to Milo. "Well," I say truthfully, "I think it's pretty cool that you even write at all."

Milo's awkwardness eases up a bit, his shoulders loosening. "Thanks, angel."

I turn back to the display, picking up a book and running my fingers over the cover. "M.K. Delano." I say out loud, reading the author's name. "That's you?"

He nods, coming to stand beside me. "It's my pen name, I used my mom's maiden name instead of my actual surname."

"To keep your identity a secret?"

Milo nods. "When I first started writing, I didn't want anyone to know."

"Understandable," I reply, twisting so that I'm facing him. I lean my side against the wooden shelf as Milo looks down at me. "Now I know that you write romance, I wanna know how you got into writing it."

Milo holds my gaze for a second before he replies and in the short silence I realise how close we're standing together. Milo seems to notice it too, glancing down between the slither of space between us but makes no move to distance himself from me. I don't either.

"Well I started writing my first ever novel when I was fresh out of high school," he finally begins to explain, bringing his gaze back up to mine, "it was a thriller, not a romance which I self published."

I glance over at the display, trying to find a thriller looking book amongst the romance. "Which one is it?"

Milo shakes his head. "It's not displayed, I told Aiko and Ren not to stock it because it was a huge flop. I cringe even thinking about it."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad."

Milo throws me a dry look. "The whole novel was basically a plagiarised version of the Scooby Doo movie."

"Ah," I reply, and then shrug. "Well that movie is really good."

Milo's dry look deepens.

"Okay, okay," I smile, raising my hands in defence and then gesturing for him to carry on. "Continue with what you were saying."

Milo shakes his head and leans into the shelf, now mirroring my stance as he speaks again. "My next book was a murder mystery which I wrote during my first year of university," he points to a bunch of books exhibited on a seperate corner to the main display, "and this time I secretly told Aiko and Ren and they publicised my book in this bookstore. One of the book clubs that happen here picked it up to read and one of the ladies wrote a blog about the novel," Milo pauses and backtracks, "...well she wrote more about the romance subplot between two of the characters. The blog went viral and more people started picking my book up to read as a result."

"6 months later, a publishing house picked up my story and they requested that my first project should be a full length novel about the two characters in the subplot. I decided to write it and once it was published it got super popular. Fans of the novel requested for me to write another romance novel and I did," a blush begins to bloom on his cheeks, "I also increased the...spice level and it became super popular and that's what I've been writing since." Milo shrugs. "I enjoy writing romance more than any other genre and I have a steady set of loyal readers."

"I can't believe you kept it a secret for years that you were a whole ass author," I nudge him with my elbow, "when did you start telling people beside your aunt and uncle?" 

"Last year." He responds. "I had a feeling Aiko was going to burst any second and tell my parents who were already questioning why I didn't have a job after graduating."

"How did they take it?"

"They were a bit surprised at first, but then they came around. Though my mom swears she will never read a book of mine because she doesn't want to be traumatised." He shrugs, "which is perfectly fine by me, it would probably traumatise me too if she read any of my books."

I laugh, trying to picture a serious Mrs Kaneko reading erotica. "When did you tell Archer?"

"Also last year. It had been the hardest to keep it from him since I tell him everything. At first he thought I was joking and when he found out I wasn't..." Milo raises his eyebrows, "well he pretty much hasn't stopped teasing me since." He rubs a hand over his mouth and shakes his head. "His favourite pastime is texting me passages from my novels. But he can tease all he wants because I know he is my most loyal reader."

I nod in understanding, a smile pulling at my lips. My brother may be the most annoying human to exist but he is also the most supportive.

"So now you know my little secret," Milo flashes me a crooked grin, pushing away the dark hair that falls into his eyes. "Though I'm trying not to keep it so much of a secret anymore."

"Which is good," I encourage with a twinning smile, "I'm not lying when I say it's really impressive that you're an author."

He squeezes my hand that is resting on the display table. "Thank you, Luna."

I nod in return, trying to ignore the flutters that measly touch has sent through me. "What are your most popular books?" I ask, to distract myself.

Milo turns and points to three stacked together on the table and I immediately go to pick them up, briefly looking at the covers before clutching them to my chest. "I'm gonna read them." I say.

Milo raises an eyebrow, unconvinced. "I appreciate the gesture angel, but you've shown me enough support already, you don't have to actually read my books."

"But I want to read them."

"Sure," Milo replies sarcastically. "The only time I've seen you pick up a book was to swat a bee out of your room, Luna. You hate reading."

"Well I think I could finish all three of these books by the end of the week." I shoot back, standing straighter.

Milo realises I'm serious and pauses, cocking his head to the side. "Oh really?" He questions.

I nod earnestly. "Yes."

A mischievous glimmer appears in his eyes. "Okay, Luna."

Both the tone of his voice and the look on his face tells me he is still doubtful that I'll be able to do it. I narrow my eyes at him. "I can do it, Milo." I say, standing my ground.

Milo lifts an eyebrow and then confirms his scepticism by leaning down, invading my space, and saying in a teasing voice: "Fine, but if you can't finish these books within the end of this week; you owe me something."

"Owe you what?"

"I don't know yet," he shrugs, still smirking, "but I'll think of something good."

I mull over his challenge for a beat. "Fine," I reply, sticking my hand out. Milo stares down at my outstretched palm for a second before his warm hand envelopes it, the largeness of it swallowing mine. Tingles shoot up my entire arm as he clasps onto my hand a little longer than what is necessary. "I accept the challenge."

–

AUTHORS NOTE:

I went to three bookstores today, including the biggest bookstore in Europe and I came home with ZERO books :'( I am also super duper sorry for this extremely late update, I'll try to get the next chapter out earlier to make up for it :) <33

Anyway, I hope you had fun reading. Lots of love always – Mai ♡