The stars gleam
The poets dream
The eagles fly
Without you

Blaze gazed at the stars from the lodging house roof and sighed. Watching them had since lost their appeal without Bumlets besides her, but she had promised him she'd still watch them, if only to remember him by. How she loved to sit with him on the roof, her back lying gently against his chest and his arms wrapped completely around her. Closing her eyes, she could almost feel him there with her, the memories still vividly clear.

~~~~

"So, it's a nice night out," Bumlets pointed out. "Ya can see lots of stars and all dat." Clearing his throat, Bumlets sat besides Blaze in a secluded corner and gazed upwards.

"Yeah, lots of stars," Blaze repeated, fretting to hide her nervousness.

"Blaze."

"Bumlets, I."

Having both spoken at the same time, the couple blushed, and Bumlets took her hands in his.

"If yer not ready, we don't gotta. ya know. we can wait," he explained honestly.

Blaze looked into his eyes, at this point not caring that her cheeks were bright red. "No, I don't wanna wait, dat is, if you don't wanna wait. den I'm ready."

His fingers trailing down her cheek, Bumlets smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too," Blaze whispered. She closed her eyes once Bumlets pressed his lips to hers, and melted into his arms.

His hands roaming, Bumlets started to discard her shirt slowly, his body anxious and nervous at the same time. He gently lay Blaze against the tattered blanket they had brought with them, and covered her body with his.

"Ya okay?" he whispered in between kisses.

Blaze merely nodded and slipped her arms around him, pulling him closer, urging him to continue.

~~

Their breaths ragged after the heated encounter, Bumlets covered her face in small kisses. "Dat was." he fumbled over his words.

"Pretty damn good?" Blaze interrupted.

"Incredible woiks too," he grinned and held her close, doing his best not to reveal how out of breath he actually was.

~~~~

Standing up, Blaze walked past the secluded area of the roof where she had shared some of the best moments of her life with Bumlets and sighed. "Ya tried so hard ta hide dat makin' love, or runnin' around wid da boys, or climbin' da stairs made it awful hard ta breathe. I'll never forget dat," she muttered towards the sky. "Ya never wanted ta think about yer sickness, or show other people dat ya was sick. Nobody was braver den you."

Wiping her eyes, Blaze started towards the fire escape. She could hear Kloppman yelling that it was time for lights out, and just made it back into the girls' room before the lights were dimmed.