kiddo

chapter nineteen

"I- That- Woah," I stutter as we leave the atrium, a flood of people trailing along behind us, and unable to say anything else I whisper "Thank you for taking me to the planetarium."

"You're welcome," he whispers back, pulling me closer as we amble to the exit, giving me a small kiss on the head.

With closed eyes I take a breath, hoping to save this memory forever, the feeling of his lips on my hair enough to make me swoon.

"Did you know, some of the stars we see now are actually ghosts?" I say as we step outside, the clear night sky the perfect backdrop to the many twinkling lights greeting us.

He cocks his head in confusion, repeating, "Ghosts?"

"Well not really ghosts," I admit, "But since some stars are so far away the light from those stars takes a long time to reach Earth. So when a star dies, we don't immediately notice, it could take years before the star disappears from our perspective. So, inherently, we see ghosts."

"Oh yeah, I've heard that before somewhere," he mutters while taking a look up, his face softly illuminated by the streetlights.

I nod my head and follow his gaze upward, murmuring, "Yeah, I've always found that kind of astronomy interesting."

"When I was your age I could not have been bothered with anything academic," he chuckles, digging in his pockets to find his keys.

"'Your age'? That makes me sound like a child," I say, crinkling my nose in slight disgust.

With raised eyebrows he quietly argues, "I mean you still kind of are."

"I guess your right," I say while walking to the other side of the car, fidgeting with the handle before he unlocks the door, falling into the seat with a sigh, "Does that bother you?"

He looks at me and then rubs his lips, struggling to come up with a good answer, "Okay, if we're being sincere, I guess I don't notice it too much? I don't see you as a kid, just as... I don't know, my Koda? I can't explain it well, but the age gap doesn't bother me that much. As long as it's not illegal."

"Right," I chuckle, but after a moment I whisper, "I don't even know how old you are."

"You don't?" he asks in surprise, eyes flying wide open, "Why would you hook up with someone when you don't even know how old they are?"

With a shrug I mutter, "Age doesn't really mean that much to me. As long as two people connect and find common ground it should be okay. Again, it can't be illegal, but I'm eighteen so. And you are..."

I pause and dramatically place a hand on my chin, eyes squinting as I take a good look at him, finally guessing, "Late twenties?"

He smirks and raises his eyebrows, "You are an actual dumbass. You know I was in the same class as Yū right?"

"Yes?" I reply, not knowing what that has to do with anything.

With the shake of his head, he turns and starts the car, saying, "If we were in the same class that means we probably also are the same age."

I bite my lip in embarrassment, closing my eyes to try and contain my urge to fucking kill myself, "Uhuh...yeah makes sense."

"So I'm?" he teases, a wide smile decorating his face.

"You're twenty-six," I whisper, slumping deeper and deeper into my seat, the shame making me want to disappear.

He glances over, laughing as he asks, "Where're you going baby?"

"Don't talk to me, I'm too embarrassed," I mumble, hands coming to hide my face.

He laughs, but after a small silence, he questions, "So, now that you know my age, has anything changed? Like your attraction to me or-"