“The stars are so pretty out here,” Bash says. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen them outside the city that I’d forgotten how bright they shine.”
“They’re like this at the village, too. Harder to see with all the trees, but just as beautiful.”
“Have you ever wished on one?” he asks.
I squeeze his hand, rubbing my thumb over his knuckles. “After they made you leave, I spent my nights on the rooftops, staring off into the distance like I might sense where you were. I was a shell of a person, Bash. Barely eating and in a constant state of panic, but I climbed that ladder every night trying to find you. Most nights I sent a prayer up, too.”
“What did you pray for?”
“For you to be okay,” I answer. “That was all I wanted… it’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“I was never okay without you,” he says quietly.
I roll onto my side to stare at his profile in the darkness. “But you’re okay now?”
“Yeah…” He glances over at me and meets my gaze as a tender smile curves his lips. “Now I am.”
“Did you wish on any stars?” I ask.
His smile turns rueful. “The scientist in me hates to admit it, but yeah. Mine wasn’t as altruistic as yours, though. It was about a year after I’d been in the city, and I had been flirting with this guy at the bar.”
“Sebastian,” I warn.
He chuckles and peeks over at me. “Hold the jealousy and let me finish.” The humor slides off his face as he stares into the sky again. “He was tall and lean… long blond hair.”
“Sounds familiar.”
He nods as he ignores my pointed sarcasm. “We stepped outside, and I was so glad it was dark. I couldn’t see his face, so I pretended it was you. He tried to kiss me, and your name left my lips. He was pissed… and rightfully so. Abandoned me there, alone in the dark, and I remember leaning against that wall and staring up into the sky. A single star was there, twinkling back at me. I made a wish, then.”
“What was it?” I ask, rubbing his knuckles again.
“You,” he whispers. “I wished for you. To find me, to come back… to give me the piece of my heart that you’d held onto from the minute we met. I didn’t care how it happened, or where we ended up, but I begged the fates for it that night. My wish was for you. It’s always been you.”
We turn to each other, arms reaching and hugging and holding. His hand weaves through my hair and presses my face into his neck as I draw in a shuddering inhale, and I clutch at clothing as we weave ourselves around one another.
“It came true, you know,” he says after a long moment. “You came back to me.”
“Maybe the Fates were listening, after all.”
He sighs contentedly into my hair. “Yeah. Maybe they were.”
Bash
Aknockonthedoor wakes me, and I roll over to glance at the light pouring through the windows. I don’t normally sleep this late, but we were out until the middle of the night, staring up at the sky and talking about everything and nothing until exhaustion forced us to bed.
Xeni grunts beside me and yanks the covers over his head, burrowing deeper like a nocturnal creature avoiding the dawn. He hates getting out of bed. Morning alarms and schedules have always been more of a suggestion than a necessity, and he’s a pro at ignoring them.
I’ve always been too smitten to wake him unless it’s necessary, and today is no different.
I chuckle as I slide out from between the sheets, then pull on a pair of shorts before answering the door.
Sovran stands there, his massive frame filling the doorway. “Hello, Sebastian.” His golden curls gleam in the sunlight as he dips his chin, stoic as ever.
“Hey! Welcome back. Did you finish… whatever it was you needed to do?”
Sovran nods and stares past me where Xeni has a pillow covering his face, and Sovran's expression turns baffled. “Is he alright?”
I glance back at Xeni with a snicker. “He is… not a morning person.”
