BUTTERFLIES

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I had only been to Berlin once before, and Lena had been a number of times, but didn't have the best sense of direction. She was German, though, which automatically made things easier, though. Nonetheless, we laid low, even though it was our only day there. We didn't have that much we wanted to do, besides the concert. Normally I would be eager to visit museums and walk around a new city, but I was tired and I was more focused on spending time together. Berlin would always be there, Lena would not.

The concert was outside as part of Cro's 'Trip' tour, so we listened to the album to review all the songs we didn't hear as regularly. Hotel room dance parties never disappoint. To both of our surprises, we were still happy with what we had packed the day before.

"Are you going to do makeup?" I asked.

"Oh, I didn't think about it. Might be kinda cool?"

"I was thinking we could since it's sort of festival vibes, I have some sparkles,"

"Will you do mine?"

"Of course!" I said, pulling the little container of shimmery powder from my suitcase.

Lena sat down on the edge of the bed and I straddled her legs. I lifted her chin up with my hand and her eyes met mine.

"Sorry my hand is probably cold," I said.

"It's okay," she said, smiling a little but trying to keep still.

I didn't have a brush, so I used my fingers to apply the glitter along the top of her cheekbone. I cupped her face with my hand and blended it out with my thumb while she stared up at me.

"Okay, close your eyes," I said as I put some on her eyelids. I was so close I could feel her breathing. After I removed my hand, her eyes still closed, I took a moment to admire her. There she was, eyes closed and smiling, inches away from me.

"Can I open my eyes?" she asked, winking one open.

"Oh, yeah, sorry!" I said, giving her a quick kiss on the side of her cheek before going over to the mirror to apply my own.

"Oooh, looks good," she said, checking her face in the mirror behind me.

"Thanks, pretty simple but pretty pretty,"

"Pretty pretty," she repeated.

"Just like you," I smiled. She smiled too.

"Just like you" she finally said, and walked away to finish getting dressed.

She was wearing a light green shirt, which, for more than one reason, I loved. Firstly, I thought that Lena in green was seriously underrated, and secondly because, with her hair long enough now that she was pulling it back into a little bun, it was a somewhat feminine look for her, which I really dug. But mostly, it was because we kind of matched, even though my pants were a brighter green denim and her shirt was light. Our styles were still somewhat different, but we had definitely experienced the "urge to merge" to some degree, though whether there was an actual character change or just the fact that we could now share closets, I do not know. Luckily, Lena was being far cooler than me and wearing her mocha Jordans, so we weren't giving pure "when I say I like green, I mean I like girls."

Dressed, glittered, and hydrated, we were ready to go to the concert, which was only a quick U-Bahn trip away.

When we arrived, a crowd was already forming into a line. After waiting for about twenty minutes, we made it through the front gates. While waiting for the concert to start, someone came up to us with their friend to ask Lena for a photo.

"Hey, bist du Lena?" they said.

"Oh, ja, hey!" Lena responded with surprise.

"Hi, ich folg' euch auf TikTok und Instagram, wie geht's?"