Lucy slung her bag over her shoulder as she kicked the door to her car shut behind her. The car was, ironically, a late model BMW with faded orange paint. It had been a gift from Munch after she had legally obtained her license. He'd thought it was funny.

Emerald eyes took a moment to look upwards as she lingered on the curb. After her first night sleeping under them, stars had always been soothing to Lucy. She wasn't sure if it was the lingering feeling of relief after finally getting out of the closet, or if it was just the scene picture the night sky always painted; a feeling she'd never been able to copy in her drawings. She supposed such a feeling wasn't meant to be preserved, but rather savored.

Shaking herself out of the dark spiral of her thoughts, Lucy stepped away from her car and crossed the park to the bench she had occupied earlier that day. Setting her bag down next to her as she sat, she bent her head back to observe the sky. For the first time in a while, none of her anxiety, none of her PTSD clouded her mind. The only darkness was the expanse above her.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there, but she was eventually broken out of her daze by the voice of a ghost saying her name.

"Lucy."

Lucy's head snapped up so quickly she almost gave herself whiplash. That accent, that voice, it wasn't possible!

She blinked. "Oh. Hullo Barry." She gave him a small smile. He looked different than the previous times she'd seen him; his coat and beanie traded out for an ironed gray shirt and a pair of rectangle glasses. She found the change odd, but didn't question it.

His smile seemed a little stiff. "Hello. May I?" he nodded to the place on the bench beside her.

"Course." Lucy shifted her bag to the ground by her feet and Barry sat down next to her.

"It's a beautiful night."

"Night's always beautiful." Her eyes returned to the sky.

"You like stars?"

"Mm. I never knew what it was but….they just make me feel peaceful."

Had she taken her eyes off the stars, she would have noticed that her companion's eyes were on her rather than the sky. Dennis felt torn. He didn't know if Lucy remembered them – he didn't even know if this was their Lucy. The peaceful feeling that he recalled all those years ago however, the one that came with knowing he was sitting next to someone who cared for Kevin, cared for him, he could feel it in her presence now. It was likely the nostalgia – her name, her features, the way she talked about the stars…..Even if this wasn't Lucy, he wanted to hold on to the feeling he had missed so desperately.

Patricia's harsh voice pulled at the edges of his mind and the feeling was suddenly gone. Lucy would be disgusted with them. She'd be disgusted with him, with him and all his perversions. With what he was planning to do when the sun rose. Lucy had always been kind, gentle. The only person he'd ever seen her hurt was Kevin's mother, and that had been to protect him.

"Look! A shooting star!" her voice pulled him from his thoughts.

His eyes flickered upwards just in time to see the line of light whoosh across the sky. "You should make a wish." The grin that had been on her face at spotting the shooting star faded slowly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just…..it's funny…..today was my birthday." She informed. "And one of my art students got me this little cupcake with a candle. I actually, made a wish. That I didn't have to be alone on my birthday." She smiled at him. "Then you turned up. So I think you get this one."

'Make a wish.' A small voice echoed across his thoughts from long ago. A time back before his head was so crowded.

"I wish the world was just me and you."

A confused look crossed Lucy's face, and before she could respond something sprayed in her face and everything went black.