The middle of May brought with it a bright sun that made Everett's skin simmer as he trotted down the street beside of his boyfriend, who playfully swung their hands back and forth, his other clasped around a cup of iced coffee. The hot weather also drew Kurt, just as warm of a person, out of his winter coat, which he shed with a giddiness that launched him away from it and sent him bounding feet ahead of them, well on his way to the small boutique where he was to pick out his birthday party decorations. Everett covered a giggle that bubbled out of him when Kurt tossed himself at the door handle, but skidded to a stop inches away from it when Keegan barked at him, "Hold it! Get back here, princess!" At the sad look that Kurt gave him, Keegan stopped walking and snapped his fingers, pointing at the sidewalk in front of him. "Front and center, birthday boy."

As if Everett didn't know what this lecture would be about. Watching Kurt slink over to them like a pouting child, Everett smiled affectionately at the boy's slumped shoulders and puckered lip. Keegan would never be able to be stern with such a look. "You heard your aunt, you spoiled child. Fifty dollars. That's it. We have to spend it wisely. That's why I'll be making the decisions about what we're getting... You just get to pick out what colors you want to use." Sticking his tongue out at Kurt when he made a face at him, Keegan waved him off. "Off you go, you adorable, little nuisance. Watch out... a wild Kurt has been released in his hunting territory."

Chuckling when Kurt sped through the wooden door, announcing himself with the dinging bell that he pushed to the side, Keegan grabbed the door and nudged Everett in, then shouted after Kurt as soon as he realized where he was scampering off to. "Kurt! No! We're not here to look at shoes! Get out of that aisle right now!" Raising his brows when Kurt stamped his foot at him, Keegan crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his toned bicep with his fingertips. "Don't give me that face! I have no humility about making a scene in this store!"

"But, Keegan—!" Kurt's high pitched voice had a squeaky lilt to it, obviously strained with his desperation to have the cutest pair of shoes. Pushing his bottom lip out, Kurt grabbed a yellow pair of shoes that were adorned with big flowers, showing them off to Keegan as if their loveliness might help his case. "Pretty, pretty please, Keegan? With a cherry on top?"

Kurt went back to admiring the shoes, and Keegan rolled his eyes, giving in with an exasperated sigh. Everett snorted at the fact that he'd given in without a fight. "He drives a hard bargain, Keegan."

"I'm so weak. All he has to do is blow a few kisses and tell me he loves me." Shaking his head at himself, Keegan squeezed Everett's arm, slowly stepping away from him. "He's never even made me a dessert with a cherry on top! I have to make all of his food! I have to go before he promises me a lasagna if I buy him a dress. This is going to get ugly... so I'd go to the other side of the store if I were you."

Everett lifted on his toes, pecking a light kiss to Keegan's grinning mouth, "But don't you have a clue that a princess is never fully dressed without a gown to go with her shoes?" Spinning away from his scoffing boyfriend, who suddenly realized whose side Everett was on, Everett folded his arms over his chest as he stepped through another of the aisles. He took in his surroundings, as he did everything else, studying every nook and cranny of the quaint, little boutique that offered some of the strangest knickknacks he had ever seen. In the aisle he went down, his face was projected in a million different colors and shapes, his worried eyes staring back at him in a hundred mirrors inside of kaleidoscopes.

Turning at the end of that aisle, Everett found himself faced with a wall of dusty books, many of them jadedly resting on their sides, or toppled over the book ends that had once kept them upright, but had eventually fallen over with weariness themselves. He raised a single brow, curiously walking over to the books, which smelled like old, crusty paper. Lowering his arm from his stomach, he reached out and ran the pad of his thumb over a shelf, then he rubbed it against his other fingers to brush off the thick, gray dust. "These poor books." He whispered to himself, picking a larger, red book from within a series of smaller, thicker books. Glancing over the cover, he traced the letters of words he couldn't read, and then he flipped to the middle of the book.

Within this page was a crinkled picture of blackness, dotted with billions of bright lights that, when brought together, made tiny shapes, like those of a woman and her man dancing among the stars, and a man throwing an arrow at something that he was either terrified of, or hungry for. One of the patterns outlined a big spoon, one that was held at an angle, as if an unseen person was lowering it to a bowl of soup. "How beautiful." He murmured, pressing the book to his chest as if he could somehow make the pictures seep into himself. Certain that he couldn't live without knowing what these shapes meant, Everett let go of the book with one hand and felt around for his pocket, where the few coins he had left still jangled. It was the money he still had from his time with Brody, the only money he had to himself. He knew that he was being ridiculous by wanting to spend it on something like a book, when he never would have thought of spending it on something so trivial months ago, the time when food was sparse and shelter was nothing.

Flicking his eyes back up as his fingers closed around the change, Everett saw Keegan and Kurt standing down one of the aisles, a pale yellow dress and those shoes clutched tightly in Kurt's jittering hands. Keegan stroked his chin as he considered what plates they could buy for the party, and he chuckled lowly when Kurt swatted him, obviously offended that he didn't automatically assume that Kurt would want the ones with the pink flowers floating across them. If Keegan left him, Everett would have no more money, because he would have wasted it on a book like this, something that was so tired and discarded that no one else would likely buy it back. Blinking at Keegan's smiling face as he picked Kurt up and shook him around, smacking kisses all over his blond hair, Everett pressed his lips together when his blue eyes caught on his redhead. Keegan released Kurt just enough to wave his fingers at Everett, mouthing silently that he loved him, but then he snatched Kurt up again when the boy started to wiggle his way out of his grip. As soon as Keegan turned his head down to the screeching boy, Everett parted his dry lips, whispering back to him that he loved him.

Twisting away from his boyfriend, Everett grabbed the handful of coins and pulled them from his pocket, counting out the quarters and dimes. He could only hope that it was enough to buy this book, since he couldn't read the price tag on it. He carried it over to what he assumed was the cashier, who was an elderly woman, her head down as she distracted herself with sorting out dollar bills. "Um… excuse me." Everett murmured, setting his book on the counter. The woman's head snapped up, as if she was surprised to have a customer standing in front of her. "I would like to know more about these stars. Can you tell me what these words mean… so I know what the stars are called?"

The woman squinted at the picture that Everett was showing her, one of the man waltzing his lady around the invisible room, and she sadly shook her head. "I'm sorry… I can't. I don't know a thing about stars."

Although disappointed that it might be more difficult to figure out these pictures, Everett still laid his change on the counter, flinching at the clang the coins let out as they dropped, one by one, to the hard surface. "Maybe my boyfriend will know what these are. Is this enough money to buy this book?"

The woman raised her eyes to his face, and a gentle smile tweaked at her lips, "You know, no one has come in here for years to buy a book. They say that my collection is too outdated. I used to read all of those books, front to back, and knew everything about these stars. But my memory has gone away over the years. You're a rare kind, young man." She patted the back of his hand, making his eyes widen to the size of saucers before he withdrew, "Why don't you just take this book home?" As if she had been watching the two of them interact before, her warm eyes flashed over to Keegan, who had enveloped Kurt in his arms as the younger boy picked out pieces of candy. "He's a very lucky man to have you. He should know that not enough people are interested in the stars."

Everett shyly grinned at her, shrugging a shoulder, "My boyfriend likes clouds… I like flowers. But maybe we'll agree on the stars. Thank you for giving this to me." Picking the book back up, he hugged it to his chest, starting to turn away. But before he got very far, he glimpsed over his shoulder and murmured, "Are you sure it's okay if I take this? I can give you money, I promise."

The woman waved him off, "Think of it as a token of my appreciation." Quirking a corner of her wrinkled mouth, she said, "Has your boyfriend ever told you that you're very beautiful? I think we need more people with red hair. It's a trait that not many are gifted with."

Blushing, Everett twitched his fingers at her to tell her goodbye, and then he went away from her, seeking out his boyfriend, who had his hands cupped around a pile of candies and chocolates. Keegan gave him a winning grin, but his kind expression quickly turned into one of annoyance as he kicked at the back of Kurt's leg, since he couldn't grab for him. "Hey! No! We're getting candy, Kurt! Keep your greedy hands off of those ribbons!"

"But, Keegan—!" Kurt whined, making Everett giggle once more as he took the candy from Keegan, opening his hands to the lengths of ribbons that Kurt was draping across them. "I need them for my sewing kit!" Keegan rolled his eyes, rocking back on his heels and simply accepting the ribbons that fell around his knuckles.

"I see that things are going well here." Everett laughed, getting a look of pain from Keegan, who obviously realized that they had gone over budget a long time ago. When Keegan arched a brow at the book that Everett was holding under his arm, he held it up to him and opened to the picture of the man and woman holding each other in a loving embrace. "Keegan, I got a book. I wanted to know what these stars meant. Can you tell me?"

"There isn't a name for that one." Keegan told him, making Everett frown with regret that he wouldn't get the answers he wanted. "They never came up with one because so many people see different things. What do you see?"

"I see a man holding a woman." Everett drew his finger over the couple of stars that made that form, and he glanced up at Keegan's face when he softly chuckled.

"That's one thing. But look at this… an owl." Pointing out the dots that connected to form the beady eyes and flat head of an owl, Keegan smiled at Everett's expression of delight. "Star-gazing is a hidden talent of mine. Ever since Kurt first taught me about stars, I've found it fascinating to see the images that they show us. As much as I love clouds and flowers, stars might be my favorite of the three. They are like clouds and flowers… they're hard to touch, and they'll go away overtime, but they last for such a long time that it feels like you have them forever. And even though they look like each other, you can always tell them apart. They have flaming red heads."

Everett smirked at that, flipping the page to the spoon that was dribbling milk off of it. "Some people have put a name on that one. They call it the Big Dipper. But I don't see a spoon… I see a sleeping lion. I think I'm a little like a lion." Everett chuckled lowly, making Keegan laugh just as quietly as he bent down to put his face near Everett's, gazing into his wide, brown eyes with his adoring, blue eyes. "And you're owlish to me. I'm not as big and bad as I seem… because you make sure to peck me into place. You can fly as far as you want, but you don't… and I don't go very far either… because I want to look out for you."

Everett wanted to tell Keegan that the reason he didn't fly away was because he loved him, but he didn't, and instead he hesitated before he mumbled, "Um… Keegan… that woman at the counter spoke to me." Keegan nodded, expressing that he already knew of this. "I haven't been around many people in the past few months… besides you and Kurt. No one really bothers to stop and give me the time of day. But she was very nice to me. She didn't look at me like I was different from her. She… She said I was beautiful. She said that you were lucky, even though—"

Keegan rubbed the tip of Everett's chin with the side of his finger, silencing him, "You are beautiful, Evie. There's nothing ugly about you. She was right about that. You're not so completely different, baby doll, but you're also not totally normal. If you were, I wouldn't love you quite as much as I do." He touched his own chest, his fingertips hitting it with a low thud, "I am the lucky one, Evie. I don't think you understand all that you could have done on the day we met… You'd been with so many men, probably ones that were more handsome than me, or less clumsy. You could have left… but you thought I was worth something."

"You were kind." Everett interrupted him, stretching on his toes so he could easily wrap his arms around his neck. "Keegan, no man had ever been kind to me. It didn't matter what you looked like… or where your feet carried you… You treated me in a way that no one ever had. You were respectful and polite… even though you could have been condescending because I was dirtier than you were. You acted like I was a person… with feelings and thoughts… instead of something you could use for your own good… and then throw me aside as if it wouldn't hurt… like it did every other time."

"That's because you are a person, Evie." Keegan scraped a fingernail against his red sideburn, "I never thought lowly of you because your clothes weren't washed… or your hair was caked in mud. All I saw was a pair of the warmest, brownest eyes that were so knowing. And I saw these precious, red lips that said that wittiest things. You have an interest in stars, Evie. You're not normal… but I'm so happy that you aren't. The way you are… the things you love… what you do with every day you have… makes me love you so much more." Touching his lips to Everett's jaw, Keegan held him closer, "You're like a star, Evie… but I don't want you to be far away. I want to be able to see you forever."

Everett tittered, turning his face into Keegan's collarbone, which was so hard against his cheek, "Luckily… I'm also like an owl. Once owls pick their homes, they never leave." Lassoing Keegan's neck with his arms, he glanced over at Kurt, who was still picking through the candies. "You should probably stop him. Do you really want him to have this much candy? I think he's hyper enough without the sugar."

"Owls are also wise parents." Keegan remarked, leaving Everett's side so he could gather Kurt and his armfuls of candy up. "Okay, cutie pie, do you have everything you want for your birthday party?" Kurt bounced up and down, screaming that he did, which made Keegan laugh before he snatched Kurt in his arms and swooped him off his feet. "Let's go show your aunt what you found!" Wobbling forward as he carried a kicking Kurt through the store, Keegan looked over his shoulder at Everett, who smiled at him. "Evie's right! You're too hyper already! I'm going to eat every bite of your candy!"

"No!" Kurt cried, punching at any body part he could find on Keegan. "I won't share my candy with you, Keegan!"

"Fine… but I expect my lasagna with a cherry on top, you pretty, little brat." Bunching Kurt up under his arm, he half dragged him down the rest of the aisles, Everett trailing several feet behind them so he avoided Kurt's swinging legs. While Keegan went up to the counter to pay for the party supplies, Everett stayed behind, his eyes flickering back down to the silhouette of a man, clinging so tightly to a woman he either loved with all of his might, or was protecting from something unseen.