Hange Zoe Short Story Collection

Line without a Hook (Part 2)

"Do you like it when I'm away? If I went and hurt my body, baby, would you love me the same?"

(Y/N) woke to the sound of something hitting her window repeatedly. She rubbed tiredly at her eyes, glancing at the clock that read 11 pm. Was it raining? Was it sleet? Whatever it was had caused her to become wake up, unable to drift back into a peaceful slumber. There was another loud 'clunk', this time louder than the rest. (Y/N) startled, slightly fearful about the repetitive sounds. She swung her legs over the bed and edged towards the window, peering outside curiously.

It was Hange. Of course, it was Hange. When they saw her staring back, they brightened and waved wildly, trying to get her attention.

"Hange?" (Y/N) whispered, opening her window. Hange ran up to the ledge, their expression borderline ecstatic.

"I can see Andromeda!" Hange beamed.

"Huh?" (Y/N) blinked. Most of the time when she talked to Hange, she was normally confused about whatever it was they were saying. Hange had an amazing mind, their thoughts jumping from one thing to another, never staying in one place. It was never boring with them.

"Andromeda, (Y/N)!" Hange repeated, gripping onto her window ledge. Luckily, the nine-year-old's bedroom was on the first floor, allowing Hange to hoist themselves through the window. (Y/N) stood there, confused.

"Who's Andromeda?" (Y/N) tilted her head. "And why are you waking me up this late at night? My mom will kill me if she sees you here."

"Not who! What! Andromeda is a constellation!" Hange bounced on the balls of their feet, their excitement oozing out of them. "I've been going outside in my backyard for weeks now, trying to find the constellation. I've been able to find the big dipper, Ursa major, and even Virgo! But the skies were cloudy, and my telescope was broken or something, so it took me a long time to find Andromeda...but I finally found it!"

"Oh, stars," (Y/N) nodded. The night sky had been Hange's latest hyper fixation. Two months ago, they had been obsessed with grasshoppers, and the month before that they had loved narwhales. "But why'd you come to wake me up? I was having a good dream."

"I came to show you Andromeda," Hange reached out and gripped (Y/N)'s hand. "The second I found it I came here! Don't you want to see it too?"

(Y/N) glanced longingly at her bed, wanting nothing more than to be swaddled in her warm blankets again, but she sighed and nodded. "Let's go see Andromed—"

Hange didn't let her finish her sentence before pulling her out the window. (Y/N) scrambled out after them, hoping with all of her heart that her parents wouldn't wake soon. She really didn't want to be in trouble. Hange tugged her along to their backyard, which was right next door, and pointed towards the telescope.

"Just look through the little viewfinder, it's positioned and everything—don't move it!" Hange instructed, watching her face intently as she leaned forward to look at the constellation. "Isn't it beautiful, (Y/N)?"

If (Y/N) was being honest, she wasn't really sure what she was looking at. She was still tired from being jarred from her sleep, and she was also freezing cold. Goosebumps lined the lengths of her arms and she shivered. But she glanced at Hange's proud expression and smiled in their direction.

"It's amazing, Hange," she said, sincerely. "Thank you for waking me up for this."

"Of course, I would!" Hange beamed, sliding off their green jacket and handing it to (Y/N) wordlessly. They knew her so well that they could tell she was freezing. (Y/N) took the jacket gratefully, sliding into it. "You're my best friend, I have to show you all the good stuff."