Artistic Lover

The days that followed felt like a delicate balancing act for Ethan. Luna's words had given him a sense of comfort, but the fears and doubts that clung to him for years didn't just vanish overnight.

He tried to step out of his comfort zone a little more. A walk through the park here, a stop at the corner café there. Each time, Luna was by his side, her encouragement like a steady drumbeat against his uncertainty. Yet every interaction with the world brought with it a weight—an old, familiar voice in his head whispering that he wasn't enough.

It started small at first.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝," Luna said one afternoon as they walked by the river.

Ethan shrugged, kicking a stone into the water. "𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕕."

Luna tilted her head, her gaze searching.

"𝚃𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐?"

Ethan sighed. She had a knack for cutting through his excuses. "𝕆𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘," he admitted.

They sat on the grass near the riverbank, the sound of rushing water filling the silence. Ethan pulled out his sketchbook, hoping to lose himself in the familiar rhythm of his pencil on paper. But his hand felt heavy, his lines hesitant.

"𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜?" he asked finally, his voice barely audible.

Luna sat beside him, her expression soft.

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗?"

"𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤," Ethan said, gesturing vaguely.

"𝕋𝕣𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠... 𝕓𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥. 𝔹𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣. 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕗 𝕀'𝕞 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕪 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖?"

Luna's smile was gentle but unwavering.

"𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝙴𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐."

Ethan frowned, frustration bubbling beneath the surface. "𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕗 𝕀 𝕗𝕒𝕚𝕝? 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕗 𝕀 𝕡𝕦𝕥 𝕞𝕪𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕤?"

Luna's gaze didn't waver. "𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚜."

Her words should have reassured him, but instead, they unsettled him. He felt the familiar sting of doubt creeping in, the fear that maybe he was chasing something unattainable.

That evening, as Ethan sat in his room, Luna seemed quieter than usual. She sat on the bed, flipping through one of his sketchbooks with a faraway look in her eyes.

"𝕐.. 𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝔽𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘!," Ethan said abruptly, his voice tinged with panic.

Luna looked up, startled. "𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝?"

"𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕤... 𝕤𝕠𝕝𝕚𝕕 𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖," Ethan said, his gaze fixed on her. "𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖... 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘."

Luna glanced at her hands, her expression unreadable. "𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎," she said softly.

"𝔹𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕪," Ethan muttered.

Luna set the sketchbook aside and moved closer to him. "𝙴𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗, 𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐," she said gently. "𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎."

Ethan's chest tightened. "ℕ𝕠," he said, shaking his head. "𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕘. 𝕀 𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦. 𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤."

Luna's gaze softened, her smile tinged with sadness. "𝙸'𝚖 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝙴𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚎—𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝."

Her words felt like a weight pressing on his chest. He wanted to believe her, but the thought of losing her, of facing the world alone again, was unbearable.

"𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕘𝕠!!," he said, his voice trembling.

Luna reached out, her hand warm against his cheek. "𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞," she said. "𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠."

Ethan swallowed hard, his throat tight. "𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕗 𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕕𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥."

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗," Luna said firmly. "𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕. 𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚜." Ethan closed his eyes, his mind swirling with emotions he couldn't name. Fear, doubt, and a flicker of hope all battled for dominance.

When he opened his eyes, Luna was still there, her presence as steady as ever. But he couldn't shake the feeling that her time with him was running out.

That night, Ethan lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. Luna's words echoed in his mind, a mix of comfort and challenge. He wanted to believe in himself, to take the steps she believed he could. But the path ahead felt uncertain, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to walk it alone.

As he drifted off to sleep, he felt a strange sense of calm wash over him, as though Luna's presence lingered even in his dreams.

---

To Be Continued...