"Hey… Lunes… I got your letter…" Sam said with a cheerful smile, approaching Luna, hugging her.
"Did you really think I could ever love you?" She whispered, a cruel smile crossing her face. Luna gasped, her heart plunging into her stomach.

"I mean, come on… You must've known you never stood a chance with me…" She continued. Luna sighed, nodding.

She had said that the whole time her siblings were trying to convince her to send Sam the letter. She had tried to be optimistic, but she knew it was pointless. Sam was amazing and Luna was just… Ordinary at best. Self-doubt, self-loathing plagued Luna as Sam continued to make fun of her and tears flooded Luna's eyes.

"Ohh… Now you're crying? Well… I guess you've suffered enough… Maybe you'll bring some of your weak lyrics to the music club later so we can all laugh about them after you leave… Later, Lunes… Enjoy your mediocrity!" Sam said mockingly.

Suddenly, Luna gasped, shooting up in her bed. She felt her cheeks. Tears. She had been crying. She never thought that Sam would treat her like that… Did she? Sam was so kind… Such a sweet person… She would never be like that… Was this just her own insecurity getting the better of her? She was meeting Sam later that day. She looked at the clock. 4 am. She wasn't gonna get back to sleep that night. She sighed, sitting up and trudging down to the kitchen, making herself something to eat.

She got some ginger ale out of the fridge. She needed something to settle her stomach. She felt like she was about to throw up. She took the food and sat down on the couch, turning on the TV as low as she could while still hearing it. After a few minutes, she heard a plop next to her.

"Luan… What are you doing up so early? Do you have a comedy routine today?"

"No… I heard you moaning in your sleep and I was worried about you when you came down here. You mentioned Sam's name. Did something happen between you two?"

"No… I don't think anything ever will… How could I possibly be good enough for her? She's amazing and I'm just… Well, I'm just me." Luna muttered, taking a bite of her sandwich. Luan smiled consolingly.

"Hey, that's not true… You're great, Luna… Anyone… Boy or girl would be lucky to have you. You're passionate, you're smart, you're talented… If Sam doesn't see that in you, she's not worth your time."

"But I love her so much… What if she thinks I'm gross for liking her like this?"

"Listen… Lunes, when I confessed to Maggie, I was nervous too. I was making the worst puns of my career… Then when I told her how I felt, she laughed.

"I thought she was laughing at me. It really hurt. I'm used to being laughed at. It's kinda my whole bit… But that time was different. Then she said that she was laughing at my Goth and the Mime joke. We just kind of clicked after that. The whole thing could've gone terribly wrong. She could have been completely uninterested in me or she could have laughed at my confession. I took a chance confessing to her and it paid off. It might do the same for you. It might not.

"That's no reason not to try. If you're looking for guarantees in life, you're going to be disappointed. Look… I know it's nerve wracking to confess to your crush for the first time… But it's not gonna get easier if you keep putting it off. And you've already taken the first step. You gave her the letter. She knows where you stand so she's not going to be surprised. Odds are whether she says yes or no, she'll already have decided how she's going to say it so she won't hurt you."

"But what if our friendship is ruined? What if she doesn't want to talk to me anymore? What if just being together starts making her uncomfortable and she starts avoiding me! I'd rather not be in a relationship with her at all than have to face that! I… I…" Luna was gasping for breath, her hand clutching her chest. She felt like she could barely breathe. Normally she didn't get performance anxiety. She had performed in front of large crowds. But this was different.

"*YAWN!* W-what's up?" Lincoln muttered, shuffling down the stairs and looking tiredly at Luna and Luan.

"Go back to bed, Lincoln… Luna's just a little bit nervous about meeting up with Sam later today."

"Ain't no reason you should lose sleep over my inadequacy, Lil' Bro…" Luna said, looking away, clearly crying now. She had already psyched herself out.

Luan was trying to build up her confidence again.

"Whoo boy… I know how that feels… Back when I confessed to Ronnie Anne, I was sure she was gonna punch me. Instead, she kissed me. Being nervous is normal… But you shouldn't let it stop you from going after what you want."

"But what if…"

"What if Sam falls and breaks her leg and then a plane falls on the two of you? Anything could happen, but asking yourself a million what-if questions is only going to make you feel worse and make it impossible to act normally around her. Is Sam your friend?"

"Y-yes… She's… One of my b-best friends…"

"Do you trust her?" Lincoln asked. "Do you trust her not to deliberately hurt you?"

"Of course she wouldn't… She's the raddest person I know…"

"Then don't worry about it. If you know her and you trust her, then trust that whatever happens today, she won't think any less of you and it won't damage your friendship." Lincoln said.

He sat down next to Luna, hugging her tightly.

"I know it's scary."

"Why is it that my 12 year old brother is giving me exactly the advice I need?" Luna asked, trying to figure out why she hadn't thought of all these things already. She couldn't go back to sleep. She was too hyped up on adrenalin. But she wasn't so nervous anymore.

"You gave me similar advice when I was nervous about confessing to Ronnie Anne, remember? 'Be yourself and rock the show. Whatever happens, you'll know you did your best. You can't ask for more than that from yourself.' You said that to me, Luna. I kept telling myself that and because I was able to convince myself that it would be alright, I was able to tell Ronnie how I felt."

"I did say that, didn't I? Well… I guess I'll go make breakfast."

"But you just had a huge subway sandwich…" The wrapper is right there on the table." Luan said. Luna shrugged. "Well I'm hungry again. And my adrenalin is wearing off. Maybe I'll be able to get a few hours of sleep."

"What were you dreaming about?" Luan asked. Luna gasped.

"W-what?"

"What was your dream about? You were really tossing and turning and it sounded like you were crying."

"Oh… It was nothing, dude. False alarm." She lied.

"Come on… You can tell me. I wouldn't dream of making fun of you. Get it? Ahahahahaha…"

"Aha… Haha…" Luna muttered.

"Alright. Well, I was at school and Sam was responding to my love letter… But she told me that it was hilarious that I thought I even stood a chance with her. She asked if I really thought that she could ever love someone like me…" Luna muttered, choking up remembering the dream.

Luan's eyes went wide. She was really having a nightmare. She was psyching herself out before she even woke up that day. It really was the worst nightmare for a performer, to believe before you even start that someone or everyone was going to hate you.

"Then she laughed at me because I was crying and told me that she hoped I would keep giving the club my mediocre music so they could keep laughing at me behind my back.

"Whoa… That's a really dark nightmare. Most of my nightmares just involve forgetting to put on pants or embarrassing myself on a date or something."

"And I've had nightmares where I'm on stage, but I realize I've forgotten all my lines. I'm just standing there, completely dumbstruck, staring at the audience, gaping at them and realizing that I have no material and they're all booing me." Luan said. Luna laughed tearfully at this.

"Th-thanks dudes… You really are cool to me." Luna said, frying up some eggs and sausage for all of them and setting it out. Lincoln sighed. He couldn't really go back to bed now. Luna was feeling better, but he wanted to make sure everything stayed that way. They talked through the rest of the morning and finally, 10 o' Clock came around and Luna hurried out the door.

"Hey, Sammy!" Luna called, smiling even though she was feeling a bit nauseous. Sam smiled back. Her smile seemed a lot more natural to Luna.

"Hey, Lunes… It's good to see you… We haven't hung out much outside school lately. I…"

"Sam… Before I lose my nerve, I need to tell you something…" Luna said, taking a deep breath. She couldn't back out now.

Surely Sam knew already what was coming and wouldn't let her get away with lying her way out of the conversation. Whatever happened now, it was in luck's hands.

"Yeah?" Sam asked. Luna gulped. Sam was so gorgeous, but she couldn't tell what her blonde haired friend was thinking. The brown haired rocker took a few breaths to steady herself, but it sounded like she was having trouble breathing.

"You alright, Lunes? You're looking a bit pale. Would ya like to sit down?" Sam asked, leading Luna over to a bench. Luna collapsed onto it, feeling a wave of dizziness overwhelming her. She had built up exactly what she was going to say, but now it all seemed pointless. What good was knowing what she was going to say if she couldn't say it? How could she possibly be acting like such a loser? She could only imagine her dream. Sam laughing at her and demeaning her.

No… She wasn't going to get another chance at this.

"S-sorry… Sam… I… I… I love you, Sam! I-I've loved you for a really long time now, only I was never brave enough to tell you… I… I hope this doesn't change your opinion of me." Luna muttered, turning a faint shade of pink that highlighted her freckles. Sam didn't say anything for a moment. Then she smiled and hugged Luna.

"'Course I don't think any less of you, girl… I'm really flattered… I admire that you were brave enough to say it too."

"S-so… W-would you… Maybe like to go on a date with… Me?" Luna asked. Sam smiled even wider.

"I'd love to…"

"I-I sort of figured you'd say that… I-I hope we can still hang out at scho… Wait, what?" Luna asked, her eyes widening. Tears had been threatening to spill from her eyes.

"You thought I would say no, didn't you?" Sam asked, looking uncertain now.

"Well… I… You're just so cool and you rock your guitar like nobody I know… I never thought I stood a chance with you, Sam…

"I kept telling myself that I should have just left well enough alone. I should have just been happy being friends with you and not wasted your time with a confession that was doomed to fail… I must look pretty pathetic, right?"

"Not at all. I knew how you felt about me… Even before you sent me that letter… I loved the letter by the way. I still keep it in my top drawer in my desk."

"Wait… You knew?" Luna gaped. Sam laughed.

"Yeah… We all knew. I just made them promise not to say anything until you were ready to say something. I didn't wanna freak you out or upset you." Sam said, gently cupping Luna's cheek, hugging her with one arm and kissing her gently on the lips.

"I'm glad you finally told me."

"Mmm… So am I…" Luna sighed dreamily, leaning in for another kiss.