Applause rang in her ears as she stepped down from the microphone and made her way back to her seat. The rush she felt was like no other high she felt before, and she was the happiest she had been in what seemed like a long while. She seemed to float back to her seat, and him, and she saw him stand up as she got closer.
"Ah, hand me my drink!" She exclaimed as she finally reached her seat, noticing briefly that it was now occupied. He handed her her drink, with a wide grin on his face that matched hers. The next thing she felt was those grins pressed against each other.
"You were really good, darling. Are you ready to go?" He said as their lips parted. He left an aftertaste of his own drink in her mouth, and she barely had time to mutter out an 'oh, sure' before he started guiding her toward the exit.
"Who was that?" She asked as his hand was on the small of her back, gently pushing her along.
"Nobody, let's just go."
"Wait, let me finish my drink." She finally pulled away from him and settled in an open spot at the bar. She sipped her drink and felt him sit next to her and sigh.
"I'm sorry, El. You really did do a great job up there."
"Oh did I, darling?" she jokingly replied, nudging him in the side.
"Agh, she was pestering me. Why do people think they can just come up and talk to you when they don't even know you?"
She chuckled. "Well, bars are usually a social place to hang out." She paused for a bit as she took another sip. "And thanks."
There was an air of silence after they shared a smile and as she finished her drink. A thought lingered in the back of her mind, one that encouraged her to keep her mouth occupied with her glass because she could still feel him, his lips, like his ghost, his soul was still hanging on. She let her lips rest on the rim of the glass for moments after she consumed the last of her drink, then set it down, the glass stained with traces of her lipstick. She got up from her seat and held out her arm for him to link with, but he ignored it and put his hand around her shoulder as he got up, which then travelled down her arm and around her waist in a manner of guiding her toward the exit.
The cool air hit them unexpectedly as they made it outside, his hand dropping to his side. "So how did it feel, being up there, all eyes on you?"
Her smile crept back onto her face, though it felt like it never left. "Yeah, it was wonderful. You should try it sometime. It gives you a high like no other."
"Nah, I think I'll stick with my cocaine and heroin, thanks." He replied. She chuckled.
"Careful, I might have to arrest you for saying things like that."
"Oh really, Miss Detective Inspector?" he challenged, hands in his pockets.
"Just Detective Inspector, thank you. And yes, really." They exchanged a smile. "But I won't. Too much paperwork."
They walked in comfortable silence for a while, the breeze following along with them, and the sky was as clear as day. She spotted a dirt trail under the trees that looked like it led to a hill on the other side of them.
"Come on." She grabbed his hand and led him down the trail. It was dark, and she could barely see the moonlight through the trees as she made her way through. He hadn't let go of her hand, even when they reached the bottom of the hill, so she untangled her fingers from his. He turned to her, like he only just realized that he'd been holding onto her hand for that long, and she laid a hand on his shoulder to steady herself as she took off her heels.
She took off up the hill without him, heels in hand, and let out a little breath that she had been unknowingly holding as she heard him follow. When she reached the apex of it, she looked up at the star-filled, midnight blue sky, dropped her heels and sat down. His gasp broke the peaceful silence of nature and it startled her a bit. "What's the matter?"
"What about grass stains or dirt or bugs-"
"I'm sure your suit will be fine. If not, you have a spare, don't you?" She watched as he grimaced and sat down next to her, face still contorted, and she laughed.
"Do you know how difficult it is to get grass stains out of a suit? It's near impossible, let me tell you."
"Then don't go rolling around in any grass." She was going to ask when or why he had to get grass stains out of his suit, but decided against it, not wanting to ruin the present moment with haunts of the past, and just settled on letting out a laugh as she lay down. After a while, she spoke up again.
"There's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight."
She stayed staring up at the sky as he turned and looked down to her. "Was this your plan all along? Get me out of the house so we could watch stars falling out of the sky?"
"I used to have so many places in Broadchurch that I would go to, to just escape when I was younger." She felt him settle next to her, his whole body turned toward her as he waited for her to continue. "Even more recently, too. Just-" She stopped, remembering the last time. It was about a week before the trip to Florida, and Joe said he was going to the pub with some friends, and she didn't want those memories resurfacing; she didn't want to think about where he actually was that night.
She didn't realize she was crying until she felt him wipe away her tears.
She turned to look at him, but something in the distance caught her eye, and she sat up. "Look."
He stared at her for a while longer before complying, and there amongst the dark blue backdrop peppered with bright, white stars was the first meteor of the night.
"Make a wish."
She closed her eyes as tight as they could go, like if she didn't, her wish wouldn't come true, and wished for a happy and healthy life for her kids, for him, for herself, and she wished that there was some hope for her, she wished that she'd be able to stop trying to understand, but she couldn't, not even after all the times that he told her to. She opened her eyes to see him gazing at her instead of the lightshow all around them, and she smiled. "What was your wish?"
"I can't tell you that, then it won't come true." He lay back down on the grass and she followed soon after, sighing as her back hit the ground. They enjoyed the near silence together as they watched the sky fall in front of them, just the rustle of the leaves and each other's breathing sounding in their ears.
"I wanted to be an astronaut when I was younger."
She immediately turned toward him and there he was, just staring up at the stars, and she wanted to know more, she wanted to know everything about him, and she felt a fondness in her heart that took her by surprise because of the intensity, so she turned back to look at those same stars to bring her back to earth.
"It's just the immense size of it all, being out among the stars…knowing that I'm part of a vast universe probably teeming with life."
She turned back to look at him, her whole body facing him this time, a reverse of what they were before. "What happened?"
"It's not practical, is it? I'd probably just be sitting in simulated space stations and giving tours to young, misguided children just like I was." He turned to look at her. "Plus, I wouldn't have met you."
They stared and smiled at each other for a bit before she spoke up again. "We better go relieve the neighbors; it looks like the show is over." She sat up and grabbed her heels as he stood up and offered a hand to help her.
"Oh, thanks." She said as she laid the shoes in his outstretched hand. "Race you to the bottom!" She shouted, leaving him in the dust. When he finally arrived at the bottom of the hill, heels in hand, she took them from him and steadied herself on him to put them back on. She entwined their fingers together again as they made it back through the trees.
The rest of the walk was spent in blissful silence until they arrived home. They quietly walked in the door and she bid the neighbors farewell, but noticed funny grins on their faces as they left.
"That was strang- Alec!" She exclaimed as she covered her mouth with her hand.
"What, do I have something on my face?"
She led him over to the mirror and turned on the light, and she watched his face quickly turn into surprise as he noticed his lips were stained red, the same colour as hers.