AN: Thanks to lettered for beta'ing as always.
Thorne chewed on his bottom lip as he pulled onto Cress's street. He didn't know why he was so nervous. He had been there less than twenty-four hours ago, dropping Cress off after they had gotten pizza at Maha's. The night had been a joyous occasion since East Commons had beaten Kufra High thirty-one to fifteen and Wolf managed an impressive eighty-four yard dash to score the first goal of the night.
Everyone had been in high spirits and Thorne couldn't help but think that Cress had looked particularly radiant every time he stole a glance at her. Once, Thorne's eyes had caught Wolf's and he smiled at Thorne so wide, he flashed his canines. Thorne wondered if the rest of the group knew that he and Cress would be going on a date the following night. He assumed they did and was glad they didn't make a big deal about it. As excited as he was for the upcoming event, he could have easily thrown up just thinking about it.
Afterwards, while Thorne had been driving Cress home, she had slipped her hand into his free one without saying a word. When he looked over at her, he could see a smile on her face even though she didn't look at him. They rode in silence until they had gotten to Cress's house and Thorne was reluctant to let go. She had given his hand a squeeze before he got out to open the car door for her and took his hand immediately again as he walked her to her front door.
When they had gotten to the porch, Thorne licked his lips instinctively, but didn't know if he should try to kiss her then. Technically they weren't out on a date just yet and it would have been Thorne's first kiss. He wanted it to be perfect and if he was being honest with himself, he was afraid of disappointing Cress, who would have had much more experience in that area. His hesitation gave Cress enough time to push herself on her tiptoes and give Thorne another quick peck on the cheek.
"Goodnight, Thorne. I'll see you tomorrow," she had said before slipping into her house. Again, he had stood at her door, bewildered.
Standing there now, Thorne shook the nerves out of both his arms and legs before ringing the doorbell. Dr. Darnel promptly greeted him.
"Ah, Mr. Thorne, so nice to see you again. Come in." The small man stepped aside to let Thorne into the house.
"Thank you, sir."
"Come, come. Let me take a look at your hand while Crescent gets ready."
Thorne followed Dr. Darnel past the living room and through the main hallway that led to the back of the house towards the kitchen. He couldn't stop himself from slowing down to admire the many framed photographs on the walls.
Cress possibly at age eight, wearing a bright pink helmet and sitting atop a sparkling blue bicycle with multi-colored steamers, grinning from ear to ear and exposing a missing front tooth; Cress in a frilly pink dress and pigtails, cheeks puffed out and eyes in deep concentration in front of a frosted pink birthday cake and a large, lit, number five candle; Cress in shorts that showed off knobby and scabbed knees doing a cartwheel in the grass; Cress no more than a couple months old, sleeping in a bassinet with a sparkling moon and stars hanging from slender ribbons above her; Cress more recently, maybe from prom the year before, in a stunning royal blue dress with blue sequins that dotted the bodice and a skirt of silk and organza that made it look like she was being pulled out to sea.
Thorne heard the opening and closing of drawers and he snapped to attention. He gave the wall of photographs one last sweep of his eyes and continued down the hallway to the kitchen where Dr. Darnel was waiting for him.
"Have a seat, Mr. Thorne." Dr. Darnel gestured towards one of the chairs surrounding the oak table that sat six. Thorne thought about how odd it was that Cress would have such a large kitchen table, but then realized that her friends—The Rampion Crew, they had dubbed themselves the night before at the pizza parlor—would probably have been around often.
Thorne sat and set down the bouquet of roses he had bought earlier that afternoon. He had driven twenty minutes to get to a specialty florist and after spending almost thirty minutes perusing all of the interesting flora he had never seen before, he had realized that if he didn't buy roses, Wolf would probably beat him up. Thorne spent another thirty minutes deciding on the right color since the shop had dozens and dozens of options. He hadn't known there were so many varieties of roses and in so many varying shades of white, pink, yellow, and even purple. In the end, he had settled on a bouquet of two dozen roses of varying species, all in a pink that Thorne thought matched Cress's cheeks when she blushed.
"Alright, let's see what we have here." Dr. Darnel sat down across from Thorne and opened his hands expectantly for Thorne's.
The doctor pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and hummed as he shifted Thorne's hand back and forth in his own. Thorne only winced once when the doctor had poked a sensitive spot on his middle finger, but aside from that, Dr. Darnel made approving noises as he examined Thorne.
"Everything looks to be in order. I'll just re-do the tape on your splint."
"Thank you, sir."
"So where are you planning on taking Crescent this evening?"
Thorne rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "It's—uh—a surprise."
Dr. Darnel chuckled as he snipped the end of the tape and wrapped it around Thorne's fingers. "I get that you want to surprise Cress, but being as I am her father—"
"Hi, Thorne." Cress stood in the doorway of the kitchen and Thorne could hear the pulse pounding in his ears.
She was wearing a light blue dress printed with flowers with a hem that was shorter than the school dress code allowed, but long enough that Dr. Darnel couldn't make a fuss about it. The light material swished against her thigh as she drummed her fingertips, almost nervously, against her leg. A silver necklace with a glittery moon pendant poked out from behind the dress's collar which wasn't buttoned up all the way and it matched the glittery star hair pin that Cress used to pin back the left side of her hair. She looked beautiful and Thorne felt like his chest was going to burst.
Thorne stood up, forgetting that Dr. Darnel was sitting there. "Hi, Cress. You look—you look beautiful."
Cress smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear.
Thorne reached for the bouquet and handed it to her. "I got these for you."
Cress's eyes twinkled when she saw the bouquet and took it from Thorne, almost crushing it against her chest as she inhaled the flowers' scent. "They're beautiful. Thank you."
"Of course."
Cress smiled and turned towards the kitchen cabinets to get a vase. She was reaching for one on a high shelf when Thorne stepped up and pulled it down for her. Her fingertips brushed his when she took the vase from him and his skin erupted in goosebumps.
"Thank you."
Thorne nodded.
"Mr. Thorne was just telling me where he was planning on taking you." Dr. Darnel piped up, making them both jump.
Cress went to the sink to fill the vase full of water and looked at Thorne curiously.
Thorne rubbed the back of his neck again. "Well, as I was telling your dad, it's a surprise."
Cress smiled.
Dr. Darnel pursed his lips.
"But, I'm sure he has concerns so I have the number of where he can reach us if he needs to." Thorne pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to Dr. Darnel.
The doctor looked at the paper, then back up at Thorne, and down to the paper again before folding it in half and slipping it into his shirt pocket. Cress watched her dad with an amused look on her face and turned to Thorne, hoping to get some answers. Thorne shrugged and Cress laughed before placing the roses into the vase.
"Are you ready to go?" she asked as she set the vase onto the middle of the large kitchen table.
"I am if you are."
Cress turned to her dad to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Bye, Papa."
Dr. Darnel kissed her back and turned his sharp blue eyes onto Thorne. "Goodbye, Mr. Thorne. Don't keep her out too late."
Cress laughed and rolled her eyes before grabbing her jacket and purse that were slung across the banister.
When they got to Thorne's Jeep, he paused before opening the door for her. He fingered the car handle before speaking up. "I just wanted to let you know, again, that you look really, really pretty tonight."
Cress smiled and eyed his outfit. "You're not looking too shabby yourself." She winked and laughed when he looked down at himself and blushed.
Thorne had chosen a blue button-down shirt, tucking it into a pair of khakis and rolling up the sleeves. He smiled to see that his blue shirt matched Cress's blue dress.
When Thorne climbed into the car and turned on the ignition, Cress immediately reached for the radio, but he put his hand out to stop her. She turned to him, curious. Thorne smiled.
"I know you like to play DJ, but I thought I'd give it a go. I made a mixed tape."
"A mixed tape?!"
"Okay, actually a playlist." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the playlist that he had painstakingly prepared. It had taken him a full evening to pull the perfect songs and arrange them in the perfect order. He pressed play and eased when a smile spread across Cress's face.
"I love this song!" Cress proceeded to sing along and Thorne was glad he had spent so much time planning out his perfect date.
After fifteen minutes of driving, Cress started interrogated him about where they were headed, insisting that she hated surprises, but was unable to keep the grin off her face. When she noticed they were driving out of town, she started a new string of questions, but got distracted when they hit a pothole and a clattering sound came from the back of the Jeep. Thorne had to persuade her not to look back there, and was relieved when she obliged, smirking.
Another twenty minutes passed by and Thorne finally pulled off of the highway. The road was lined with trees and Cress leaned forward, trying to make sense of where they were. She turned to him when she finally saw the large green sign at the entrance to where they were heading.
"Bear Bend State Park?"
Thorne beamed.
Cress looked worried.
"Are we going camping?" Cress asked, nervously.
"Not exactly." He reached over to pat her knee reassuringly and she grabbed his hand, not letting go.
He gave her hands a squeeze. "There aren't actually bears here, you know."
Cress nodded, although the look on her face made Thorne think that she didn't exactly believe him. He gave her hand another squeeze before they pulled up to the ticket gate.
"Hey Thorne, how's it going?" A slender blonde guy in his mid-twenties wearing a park ranger outfit greeted them when Thorne rolled down his window.
"Hi Jace. We're great."
Jace tilted his head so he could get a better look at Cress and smiled at Thorne, waving them along. "I marked your spot for you. Have fun."
Thorne couldn't help but grin back. "Thanks."
Cress had finally begun to ease her grip on Thorne's hand. "Come here often?"
Thorne laughed. "You could say that."
Cress sank back in her seat and watched the setting sun flicker between the trees as Thorne drove along the winding dirt road. "This is nice. No one's ever taken me to a state park for a date before."
Thorne grinned, taking Cress's remark as the highest compliment. He slowed down as the trees began to thin and spotted a red balloon marking the spot where he had mapped out the perfect location for their date. He also had to persuade Jace to set up the marker for him, but that had been easier than Thorne had expected. Thorne turned left when they reached the balloon and another clatter came from the back of the car as the terrain underneath them changed.
Another five minutes and the trees broke away to reveal a clearing, lush with grass and wildflowers. Thorne eased the Jeep to a stop, cut the ignition, and turned expectantly to Cress.
"We're here."
Her eyes lit up. "Really?"
He nodded and got out to open the door for her. Cress slipped out and stretched her legs before Thorne pulled her towards the back of the car. He pulled out a blanket and kerosene lamp which he handed to Cress. He rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a map and compass before slinging it across his shoulder. Lastly, he reached for a long, wooden box that gleamed with polish and had CKT monogramed into it in gold lettering. He grabbed it by the worn leather handle and swung the back door of the Jeep closed.
"Come on."
Cress followed Thorne's lead and watched curiously as he held up the compass and consulted the map. He looked up at the sky a couple of times to make sure he was headed in the right direction. Finally, he looked over at Cress and grinned, delicately laying the long box down in the ground and reaching for the blanket. He unfurled it and lay it out on the grass, taking Cress's hand and helping her sit down.
"Wait, one second."
Cress nodded and Thorne sprinted back to the Jeep to pull out the small cooler he had also packed. Her eyes lit up with amusement when he settled himself on the blanket next to her.
"I hope you don't mind, but I made us dinner."
Cress's tinkling laugh rang out. "You made dinner?"
Thorne blushed as he opened the cooler and began to rummage through it's contents. "Granted, it's not much. Nothing like Scarlet can do. Far from what Scarlet can do, but I like to think I'm an expert on the perfect stargazing food."
Cress beamed at him and the excitement was evident in her voice. "We're stargazing?"
Thorne nodded, unable to keep the smile off his face.
Cress scooted closer on the blanket and peered into the cooler. "So what's the perfect stargazing food?"
"PB and J, of course."
Cress laughed. "Seriously?"
"Yeah. Peanut butter is a brain food, you know, and you can't have peanut butter without jelly. Plus, you don't have to look down to eat it."
Cress laughed again. "You're a genius!"
Thorne beamed and handed her a sandwich wrapped in parchment paper. Cress was particularly impressed at the fact that he had cut off the crust and cut the sandwiches in half diagonally. They ate their sandwiches, grapes, and carrot sticks while Thorne explained about finding the perfect spot to see the most constellations for that time of year.
As the sky began to turn from a fiery orange-pink, to a dusty blue, and then deeper, little spots of light began to flicker into existence and Cress pointed them out as they appeared. Thorne told her the names of each of ones he knew, which he was happy to see were most of them, and soon the navy blue sky was so littered with stars that Cress couldn't distinguish one from another.
She sighed happily. "It's so beautiful."
"I'm glad you like it."
"I do." She stretched her legs out and leaned back onto her elbows, giving herself a better view of the skies. Her eyes swept across the dark expanse and then she shot up in a sitting position, her arm stretched out. "Oh look! It's the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper!" She drew out the shape of the smaller cluster of stars in the air, connecting the dots of the bowl before moving up the handle and landing on the end. "And Polaris?"
Thorne couldn't keep the smile off his face. "Yep. How do you know about Polaris?"
Cress hesitated for a moment before answering. "Keats."
Thorne smiled, but he wasn't sure she could have seen him in the darkness.
Two heartbeats later, Cress's voice spoke up.
"Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art—
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like Nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—"
"No—yet still steadfast, still unchangeable," Thorne interrupted.
"Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast." He blushed and paused a moment before continuing.
"To feel for ever its soft swell and fall,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever—or else swoon to death."
Thorne's cheeks burned and he was glad it was so dark that Cress couldn't see his face. He watched her outline shift. She cleared her throat.
"What's in the box?"
Thorne sat dazed for a second before realizing she was talking about his telescope. He leaned over to the edge of the blanket and turned on the kerosene lamp, illuminating Cress's face in the process. Her pale skin glowed, almost like the face of the moon. Thorne reached over to pull the slender object onto his lap.
"It's my telescope. I thought you might want to see some stars up close." He undid the latch and lifted the lid, revealing a shiny brass telescope.
Cress's eyes lit up as she leaned in to touch it. "It's, beautiful. I didn't even know they make telescopes like this anymore."
"They do, but they're pretty pricey. This one belonged to my granddad." Thorne set up the telescope's wooden tripod and screwed the contraption together. He adjusted the lenses and positioned the shaft towards Polaris. "Here, take a look."
Cress's voice was almost dreamy. "That's beautiful." She looked up at him expectantly. "Show me something else."
Thorne peered up into the night sky. "Okay, you see those three stars close together, in a straight line?"
"Orion's Belt."
"Exactly. Orion's Belt is actually an asterism. It's a grouping of stars that makes up the bigger constellation of Orion. There's Saiph, Orion's right foot and Rigel, his left foot and the alpha star. Then there's his belt and Bellatrix, his left shoulder, and a much smaller star, Meissa as his head and then his right shoulder, Betelgeuse."
Cress laughed. "As in Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice?"
Thorne chuckled. "Actually, yeah." He focused the telescope onto the bright star and leaned back to let Cress look. "Betelgeuse is a red supergiant. It's so big that if it were our sun, it would extend all the way out to Jupiter."
"This is amazing, Thorne."
Thorne watched as Cress titled her head up towards the sky again and scanned it. Egged on by her enthusiasm, he scooted himself closer and began to point out other constellations to her. He pointed out his astrological sign, Gemini, and she laughed at the fact that the two figures were holding hands. Then Thorne laughed when Cress asked to see her sign, Cancer, and harrumphed, saying it looked like a big Y in the sky and nothing like a crab.
Cress liked Canis Major and Canis Minor and cooed when Thorne told her how they were Orion's dogs, who followed him everywhere. She was giddy when she could make out the shape of Lepus including it's two rabbit ears through Thorne's telescope.
"And then there's Winter Cress." Thorne closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip hard, cursing himself for getting carried away.
Cress turned to face him, excitement evident on her face. "What? There's a constellation named Cress?"
"Well …" Thorne rubbed the back of his neck, looking at a spot on the blanket intensely. "I kind of … made it up."
If Cress registered his uneasiness, she didn't acknowledge it. "How? Why?"
Thorne shrugged, still unable to bring himself to look at her. "I just made it up. It's just some stars that match your freckles."
Cress edged closer to him and even though they weren't touching, he could feel the warmth of her body next to his. "Show me."
Still avoiding her gaze, he spoke up. "Well, we can only see half of it right now, hence Winter Cress. The other half reveals itself in the spring and summer but … " Thorne looked up into the ink sky and located the first star. "There's Betelgeuse and Gomeisa." He swept his arm wide and pointed to another. "Then there's Capella—"
Cress laid a gentle hand onto Thorne's arm, bringing it down, and he finally turned to look at her. Her eyelashes dipped before a small smile spread on her lips. "No, Thorne. Show me." She lifted her face towards him and closed her eyes.
Thorne gulped. "Well, there's the Milky Way," he said, brushing a delicate finger along the light freckles that splattered across Cress's cheeks and the bridge of her nose.
She giggled.
"Then, there's—there's Betelgeuse." Thorne touched the freckle that sat just below the outside corner of her left eye.
She whispered, "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice."
Thorne chuckled, instantly feeling more at ease. He drew his finger down to her cheek. "Then there's Gomeisa."
Cress smiled and Thorne swept his finger to the side of her nose. "Then there's Capella and Errai." He pointed to the third and fourth freckle, and then gulped before dipping his finger down to the right corner of her mouth, barely missing her lips. "And Omicron Draconis."
Thorne ran his hand down the delicate line of Cress's jaw. "Then there's Vega and one of the Alpha Herculis stars. And lastly," he swallowed hard before running the tip of his finger ever so gently down her throat to the little freckle just above the hollow. "There's Spica."
Cress's eyes fluttered open to look at him and he saw something familiar in them. Something he thought he'd never see, but there it was, even in the dim light of the kerosene lamp. Wanting. She closed her eyes again and before Thorne could register what was happening, he felt her lips on his. He froze.
In all the scenarios he had made up in his head of his first kiss, he could only hope and wish it would be with Cress and now here they were, surrounded by trees and stars and she had kissed him. He thought he could die at that very moment and regret nothing
Thorne felt Cress's lips coaxing his and the softness of them convinced him that they were going to melt into his at any moment, but before he could react, she pulled away. Thorne could see the flush on her cheeks and she kept her gaze on his mouth.
"Sorry, I—"
But her apology was interrupted by Thorne cupping her face in his hands and pulling her close. He pressed his lips against hers and felt her body lean into his. Eager to kiss her, his teeth clipped hers and she laughed against his lips, but didn't pull away.
Feeling like he was making a complete fool of himself, he tried to remember anything that he saw in the movies. Something to make Cress swoon. Thorne began to lift his hands up from her jaw to run through her hair. He felt Cress sigh against him and felt bolder, until the splint on his right hand snagged on Cress's hair pin and she laughed again.
She pulled away and helped Thorne untangle his fingers from her hair, smiling the whole time, while Thorne looked on with mortification. She laid Thorne's hand down onto her lap and brought her hand up to pull the pin out. She twirled it in her fingers and Thorne watched how it sparkled in the dim night before she tucked it into the front pocket of his shirt.
"For safe keeping."
Thorne expected Cress to pull away then, but she didn't. She rested her hand on his chest and a calmness rolled over him. She smiled at him again, nodded her head, and then Thorne had his mouth on hers. He tasted salt and sweetness and wondered if it was from the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or if it was just Cress. He felt the very tip of Cress's tongue run along his upper lip and he shuddered. He pressed deeper, full of need. He gasped for air and heard Cress do the same before their lips crashed into each other's again and Thorne kissed the corner of Cress's mouth and felt Cress tug at his bottom lip.
He felt dizzy and euphoric. He felt like he could float away and clung onto her in case he did. He felt Cress's fingertips against the back of his neck, making their way up through his hair and his whole body erupted in goosebumps. He could feel the urgency in her kiss and returned it tenfold. With a contented sigh, Cress finally pulled away, but Thorne reached further for one last peck.
Cress laughed again, and rested her forehead against Thorne's. His heart was threatening to burst out of his chest and all he could hear was his pulse and all he could feel was Cress's fingertips and all he could see were the pools of her eyes and he felt like he was drowning.
"Cress?"
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
