(This is rather short, I know, but think of this as an introduction rather than the first chapter of the story. I wanted readers to meet Luna (and Ivan, slightly) before going on with the actual storyline, although I'd like to add that she isn't always this way.)

1; AN INTRODUCTION TO LUNA ROSS

Stars were scattered unevenly across the dark sky, varying in size and brightness. A crescent moon hung lowly, only just visible through the thick mass of silhouetted trees behind her house.

Her back was pressed against the wall, her cheek resting against the cool glass of the window and her feet were stretched out in front of her, ankles crossed over one another. She had dark hair that had messily been pulled up into a bun and pale skin with misty grey eyes that were rimmed with black eyeliner, smudged from the tears that slid down her face. Her hands rested in her lap, clutching something tightly.

"Has it really been four years?" she wondered aloud, blankly staring outside.

The room that she sat in was dim, the only light emitting from dozens of candles spread across the room. There was a large cluster of them sat in front of a photograph of a man and woman stood at the alter, arms wrapped around each other as they stood in a deep embrace. The woman's hair was brown with a few blonde streaks, pulled into a stylish updo and the man's was jet black, almost reaching his shoulders. She was slim and tall, although shorter than him, wearing a ivory dress while he was dressed in a white suit, the smallest hint of a red rose in his top pocket.

Turning her attention to her hands, she opened them slightly to reveal three rings. There were too simple bands, one gold and the other silver, but there was also another; it was a silver ring with a small diamond and the phrase 'forever and always, my love for you remains' engraved on the inside.

She carefully turned the rings over in her hands, the ghost of a smile on her face as she thought about those who had once worn them, the promise those two had made.

Her parents had been lovely people. Helen and Thomas Ross were two of the kindest people anybody who knew them had ever met, donating money to charities and people in need whenever they could, lending a hand at homeless shelters and fundraisers. Both were deeply infatuated with one another and neither of them had ever had to worry about somebody else catching their significant other's eye.

When their first child, their baby boy Ivan, had been born, the couple finally got married at the wish of their families, despite both believing that marriage was just a piece of paper. A few years later their second child, Luna, was brought into the world and the two of them were content with their little family. All it took was one snowy day fifteen years later to wreck the family that they had built.

Sighing, Luna breathed in deeply. She missed them. She missed the way her parents would joke together, how her mother would laugh at one of her dad's silly jokes, unaware that he was watching her adoringly while she did.

"Luna?" a deep voice called from outside the room. The nineteen year old closed her eyes and pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. She didn't answer. She didn't want to speak to anyone.

A few minutes there was a quiet knock on her door. Slowly, her brother pushed it open and hesitated before stepping into his sisters room. He glanced at where she sat on the window seat and his heart clenched upon seeing the tears staining her cheeks.

"Do you want any dinner?" he asked quietly, staring down at the plum coloured carpeted floor. His brown hair was greasy and the skin around his bright green eyes was puffy and red, his complexion a lot paler than usual.

Not turning to look at Ivan, Luna mumbled a small, "no." Honestly, he hadn't expected her to eat anything. She never did on the anniversary of their parents death. She blamed herself.

Every year on December 19th, Luna would sit on the window seat in her room and just stare out into the world. She never did anything, hardly moved, hardly drank. She just sat and stared, reliving old memories and remembering the two people she had loved the most in the entire world, the people who had stood by her through thick and thin.

A car accident had claimed their lives, although it had some assistance. Somebody had shot out one of the tyres on their fathers car and it had skidded on some black ice, spinning off the road. It had hung off the edge of a cliff for almost ten minutes before falling, taking both Helen and Thomas down with it, the impact killing them both.

Luna had been sixteen at the time, Ivan eighteen.

"I miss them," she said flatly, shifting her body so that she was finally facing her brother.

Ivan quickly closed the gap between himself and his sibling, pulling her into his arms and hugging her tight.

"I do too," he said, letting her cry into his shoulder. "I do too."