Grace's POV…
"It's a surprise." Zoe tells me, taking hold of my hand. "I'm sure you'll love it!"
We walk up the hill's grassy slope with our fingers entwined. She sits down and pulls me down next to her as we watch the sun setting in the distance, the sky a myriad of colours: there's brilliant purples, golden yellows and beautifully dark reds.
"It's perfect." I whisper in awe, unable to avert my gaze. I never thought that prissy diva Zoe Rivas could actually convince me to go out with her after school and then make me want to stay out and watch a sunset.
"That's not even the best bit." She tells me, squeezing my hand. "Although I knew you'd like it; who says goths have to hate the sun?" Out of the corner of my eye I see her turning to face me but I continue to look forward, mesmerized by the gorgeous sky. I can sense her beautiful brown eyes searching my face and I give in, turning to look at her.
"You're missing it." I tell her, unable to understand why she isn't captivated by this scene.
"But I'm not." She replies softly, her voice seemingly laced with an emotion that I've never associated with her, leading me to wonder if she's nervous, and why on earth she would be. "I can see everything that I need to and the most beautiful thing of all is staring me right in the eyes."
I feel my eyes widen; we've been flirting for weeks but she's never come out with anything like that before, I was even starting to doubt that she felt the same way as me. I'm unable to hold back a smile as I rest my head on her shoulder and return my gaze to the sky.
"You're so cheesy." I mutter, my head reeling; she just told me that I'm beautiful. I've never been taken aback by a compliment before, but somehow, coming out of Zoe's mouth, it felt so different: so much more special.
"Yeah, and that's one of the things you love most about me." She says in reply, and I can tell that she's smirking. I don't argue with her; she's right and she knows it, yet I can't help but acknowledge that- if someone had told me a few weeks ago that I'd fall for an ex TV star who strives on being popular- I'd have laughed in their face.
We sit there leaning on each other for a few moments, neither of us uttering a word; the silence is beautiful due to the view it's accompanied with. After a while, Zoe lies back and pulls me down with her so we can watch the moon take its place in the centre of the sky. I can't help but gasp as the stars around it become more visible; I've always had a soft spot for the night sky.
"That one over there, that's Orion's Belt." She says all of a sudden, using her perfectly manicured finger to point at a constellation to the right of the moon. "And that's because of your smile."
"My smile?" I repeat, looking at her confusedly.
"Each star you can see tonight is one reason that I love you. And that one's because of your smile." She explains to me, her mouth forming a grin as if she just knew that the groan I then let out was going to be provoked from that statement.
I'm about to make a sarcastic joke about how cliché she is, when I decide to surprise her and instead play along.
"Well that one over there is because of your smile." I tell her, pointing at an even brighter star. This causes her to turn to me with a surprised, yet seemingly delighted expression and my eyes are drawn to her lips. Before I can lean forward however, she points out another star and tells me that it's shining to represent how much she loves my ability to make her feel safe and loved.
We go on like this for what must be about an hour (although it feels like less than a minute) when Zoe lets out a sigh.
"I could carry on all night you know" she informs me, rolling over so we're face to face once again. "Or at least until I run out of stars."
"Me too" I whisper, feeling unbelievably lucky to be spending the night with her. "You know, I've always found astronomy so interesting; there's something healing about looking up and seeing the constellations above."
"That's exactly what I've always said." Zoe tells me, sitting up and brushing her hair behind her ear. "When everything seems wrong, the stars always make it right again. But I've been thinking, and I'm lucky"
I sit up too, and we're directly opposite each other when she continues.
"Since I met you, I haven't felt like I need to wait until it's dark; when I feel confused, or broken, I find you. You're like my own star, Grace; I can just watch the sparkle in your eyes."
Thanks for reading! Please review if you want more (and if you want them to be longer) or if you have a prompt for the next chapter :)