/i was listening to 'i don't wanna watch the world end with someone else' by clinton kane and i almost cried \
Hazel watched the ceiling of stars overhead. She had first watch, but nothing was happening so she had laid down on the Argo's deck. She'd lost track of time- of how long she had been lying there.
She watched the stars that painted the night sky twinkle. It was almost like they were dancing. Dancing to music only they could hear. They were extra bright tonight. Like beacons of hope for lost souls.
Stars, she knew, weren't born bright and beautiful. They were born from a cycle of chaos and darkness. They wouldn't be as prepossessing as they were without the darkness.
They looked like scattered moondust in the night. Like somebody had thrown it into the sky and it froze because of its beauty. They were stunning. Twinkling and flickering, like they were winking at her. Like they knew something she didn't. Like they were the only thing in the world that mattered.
There's a sudden weight on her chest- like maybe, she won't see the stars again. Like maybe, this is one of the last times she'll be able to feel the cool night breeze on her skin, enveloping her like a blanket.
"They're beautiful," she hears.
She turns to see everyone else has joined her, laying on the deck. She wasn't sure why exactly they were there- maybe they couldn't sleep, maybe she woke them- but at the moment she didn't care. All she cared about was the fact that they were there.
"I didn't know you guys walked in," Hazel whispered.
Piper shrugged, "We're stealthy like that,"
Hazel grins, turning back to the stars, the weight on her chest lifting a bit. Suddenly she thinks of all the other times they layed like this on the deck- in a circle, shoulder-to-shoulder- and how at the beginning, they didn't even get along. It was tense and awkward. That, to Hazel, looking back, is kind of unbelievable. And she's glad it's not that way, anymore.
It's funny, she thinks, how far they've gotten. Like, maybe it's just a dream or maybe it's the mist- she's not sure. But whatever it is, it doesn't feel like reality. It feels like something that would be conjured in a dream, something the unconscious mind would create. Because, right now, the stars a too beautiful for everything to end. The moon shone too bright.
"Yeah. They are,"
They lapse into silence. Sometimes Hazel wonders if these are the moments that are important. Like maybe it's okay if they didn't finish writing their story. Or if these were the ones that mattered. Or maybe it was all of it. She wasn't sure.
It's hard to break away when you can't decide what's important.
"What do you think will happen?" She's asking the question before she can stop herself.
"I don't know," Leo whispers.
"None of us do," Jason says
That's what scares her. Because they were trying to deal with all the little changes, that affected everything. Everything seemed so empty. Like everyone knew the world was gonna end. They left. The streets seemed empty like there wasn't a person left on the planet. Except for them. Hazel hoped they wouldn't say goodbye. Everything was still and she didn't know what tomorrow would hold.
"Well," Piper says after a moment, "I know one thing,"
Hazel looks at her, "What?"
She smiles, grabbing her hand, "I wouldn't wanna watch the world end with someone else,"
If this was their last goodbye, Hazel decided that it'd be a pretty good one. Who cares what wrongs they caused themselves, because here- in this moment- Hazel couldn't ask for more. Because this was her family. And she didn't think she could ask for a better one.
Hazel looks around. She wanted to say it- what, exactly, she wasn't sure. But whatever it was, she couldn't put it into words. There was too much. How much she was glad that it was them she was with. How unbelievably happy it made her that they were living in this moment. How they reminded her of stars- all thrown together into the sky until they got stuck there.
"I wouldn't either,"
And she figures those three words would have to cut it. Because, even though there were thousands of other words she wanted to say, and even though they would've rushed out of her mouth like water after a dam broke, and even though it was more than just that- if those three words were anything, they were the truth.
