As Luna had expected, her parents were against her traveling abroad to a strange land to be with strangers. Luna's mother was especially distraught after hearing that Luna was going to leave in a couple weeks. Her father, although initially against it, he eventually came to terms with it. Mr. Rose reassured Luna that he will talk to her mother and hopefully she changes her feelings about the situation. Luna was going to leave even if her parents disapproved of it because this is her part of her dream: to bring about positive changes in the lives of underprivileged and orphaned children around the world.

Two days after Luna broke the news to her family, her mother finally had a conversation with her. Mrs. Rose was still against her daughter leaving the country alone, but she will respect Luna's wishes. Before their conversation ended, Mrs. Rose, being Mrs. Rose, asked Luna about her dating life.

"What happened with Mr. Vandin?"

"Oh, Noah. We decided to be friends." Luna gave a little smile. She knew her mother was going to be disappointed, but she was relieved to not be in a romantic relationship seeing how she was going to be out of the country for about five months. Mrs. Rose gave Luna an unexpected hug.

"You know that I love you, right?"

"Uh." Luna felt awkward. The last time her mother hugged her was when she graduated from university about three years ago.

"I only want the best for you, that's why I'm so hard on you."

"I know, mom."

"The world is a cruel place. I don't want you to have to see that, but its inevitable. You will have to leave in order to build your own life." Mrs. Rose's voice started to crack.

"Mom," Luna said softly. "I will always be your daughter wherever I am. I love you too."

Luna was feeling quite emotional after speaking with her mother. She still had to tell Naia as well. Luna went up to her bedroom and called her friend.

"Hi Naia. Do you have some time today? I have something to tell you." Luna and Naia decided to meet that evening at a restaurant for dinner.

When Luna arrived to the restaurant, Naia was there and had gotten them a table already. After ordering, Luna couldn't wait anymore so she broke the news to Naia.

"I will be going to Sao Paolo in two weeks."

"For vacation? How long?"

"It's not for vacation. Do you remember when I told you abut the Universal Children's Center Society?" Naia nodded. "Well, I just received an acceptance letter a couple days ago. I will be leaving for Brazil in two weeks until the end of the year." Luna saw Naia's surprised face. It took Naia a minute to process the information, but she eventually congratulated her friend and got up to give her a hug.

"What about Grayson? You haven't told me about your lunch date the other day."

Honestly, Luna was too preoccupied with the news of her acceptance into the UCCS that she had not thought about her 'date' with Grayson.

"Well," Luna started. Their dinner arrived and after they were placed on the table, Luna continued. "He took us to a park where we had a picnic."

"Awww, how sweet!"

"He made the lunch we had." Luna smiled, remembering her time with him underneath the great big tree. "And..."

"And?"

"And... Grayson said that he likes me."

"What?!" Naia gasped loudly. "Oh my goodness! I knew it!"

"Shhh," Luna said putting her finger up to her lips.

"I knew he liked you. He paid too much unnecessary attention to you. if a guy didn't like you, he would not go out of his way to do as much as Grayson did for you. So?"

"So what?"

"What did you say?"

"I... I didn't say anything," Luna replied feeling a bit embarrassed about the situation.

"You didn't tell him that you like him too?"

"Naia! I don't like him," Luna denied.

"Luna," Naia said leaning back in her chair and crossed her arms across her chest. "You don't have to lie to me. I know you like Grayson."

So many thoughts ran across Luna's mind as she sat on the chair. She finally sighed. "I do like him," she said.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." There was a silent pause before Luna spoke again. "I am leaving in two weeks. I don't know if I should do anything."

"You will be coming back in a couple months though," Naia reminded her.

"But what if by then he loses interest in me?" Her insecurity was showing itself again.

"You need to talk to Grayson."

'Talk to Grayson?' Luna didn't even have the confidence to see him again after their 'date'. She felt a bit guilty for how she reacted after he confessed to her. 'No one's ever told me they liked me before,' she thought as she picked up some vegetables from her plate of food.

Luna and Naia finished their dinner and parted ways. As Sean was driving her home, Luna spoke. "Have my parents told you about Brazil?"

"Yes, Miss. I am happy for you."

"Thank you," Luna sighed. "I will miss you and everyone here."

"We will miss you too, Luna."

During the car ride home, Luna received a phone call from Celeste. "William and I are going to throw you a party!"

"There's no need for a party."

"Angel already told me that you agreed to a celebration. This is how we're going to celebrate!" Luna sighed and agreed to the party.

As Luna walked into her room, her phone rang. She looked at who was calling and froze. It was Grayson.

'Do I pick up?' After the fourth ring, Luna answered the call.

"Hello," She said.

"Hi, Luna. I'm sorry I haven't called you the past couple days. I didn't know how you would feel after the lunch date."

'Date.' Luna smiled. And sat down on her bed. It felt so nice to hear Grayson's voice.

"So how have you been?"

"I've been doing well. The past couple days were a bit... exciting and stressful."

"Oh, what happened?"

"Well... I got a letter from an organization that I applied to work with and learned that I have been accepted!" Luna said with excitement in her voice.

"Oh wow! Congratulations!"

"Thank you."

"When do you start?"

"I leave in two weeks."

"Leave?"

"Yeah." The excitement died down. She had to tell Grayson eventually. Sooner was better than later. "It's in Brazil."

"Brazil?"

"Yeah. I will be leaving for Brazil in two weeks."

"For how long?" Luna could hear the gloom in Grayson's voice.

"Until the end of the year."

"Oh." Grayson cleared his throat. "Well, congratulations again," he cheered up his tone.

"Thank you."

"Your sister and brother-in-law invited me to a celebratory party later this week. I can now assume that it's for your acceptance letter?"

Luna smiled. "Yes, it is. My sisters want one more party before I leave."

"Well, I will see you there then."

"Yes, you will." Luna wanted to see Grayson right now, but she didn't want to go into a relationship that she knew was not going to last. She didn't want to get hurt. She knew she would get hurt and she was afraid.

"Good night, Luna." Grayson's deep voice was soothing.

"Good night, Grayson."