✺ 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 ✺- Josh Kiszka

Part 33

 The elevator finally came to an abrupt stop, shaking with a violent metallic clang as it did so. An echoey ding rang out and the doors slid open in a slow manner. The night wind blew into the elevator and I tugged the edge of my coat further around me to keep it out.

"Here's our stop," Josh stated and slid out of our embrace to hold his hand out for me. I took it with a joking curtsy to poke fun at his formal manner.

When we stepped out onto the roof, a chilled breeze nipped at my nose and cheeks. It was cold enough to make me shiver slightly, but it still wasn't far enough into autumn to see our breath in the air.

As my eyes adjusted to the dark night, I trailed my gaze across the rooftop. I didn't see Sam nor Violet around, and nothing seemed particularly odd about it. Just a plain rooftop laid with smooth red stone and a short brick barrier surrounded the edge. A few metal tables and chairs sat around looking peacefully undisturbed.

I darted my eyes back to Josh as he released my hand and began unfolding the thick quilted blanket he had carried with him. I squinted down at the old thing and took notice that it was the same one he had set out the day at the waterfall.

I laughed silently to myself and watched as Josh continued to spread it out over the stone. He sat down with a sigh and looked up at me with a quirked eyebrow, "are you going to sit or just stand there staring at me?"

He reached out a hand and I took it, lowering myself down next to him on the blanket. Josh scooted himself into me and wrapped an arm around me, running it up and down my arm in an attempt to warm me up.

I took a deep breath and let the cold air fill my lungs. It felt sharp and nice and I closed my eyes while listening to Josh's slowed breathing.

"Do you want to see why I brought you here or do you enjoy sitting in silence?" Josh asked with a gentle laugh.

I opened my eyes and hastily looked his way. He sat staring straight forward and smiled to himself.

"I wasn't sitting in silence, I was just enjoying the moment," I replied.

Josh let out a deeper laugh and turned his attention towards me, "Ok ok."

Suddenly Josh craned his head up and laid flat across the blankets, wrapping his arms together and sliding them under his head. I gave him a questioning look before he rolled his eyes and pushed gently on my shoulder, enticing me to lay back as well. As I did so, I saw him draw his arm up and point to the night sky. I followed his gesture and skimmed my eyes across the bare sky.

I felt my mouth fall slightly agape as I took it in. The sky wasn't bare at all, it was sprinkled with hundreds of glittering stars that were so bright it was like looking at a national geographic photograph. The moon hung to the right of the sky, completely full and glowing a blinding white. It would seem like such a mundane sight until you see it like that. My entire vision was encapsulated by the dark night and the glowing stars, and I couldn't seem to pull my eyes away from it.

"You look like you've never seen the stars before," Josh stated, pulling my distracted mind back to him.

"I have, just not like this," I replied quietly as if raising my voice would disturb the magical sense of the moment.

"Pretty right?"

All I could do was nod in response while I kept my eyes trained on the sky.

"They seem brighter than usual from here because we're higher up away from most city lights," Josh stated, "the constellations are easier to find as well."

"Staring at it is almost intoxicating," I joked. This time, Josh nodded in response.

"Do you know any?" He asked.

"What?" I replied, finally turning my head and shifting my gaze to him. I was a little taken aback to see how close his face was to mine, and I suddenly felt as though someone was gripping my chest.

Josh, observing my sudden fluster, smiled slightly before answering, "Constellations, do you know any?"

"Oh," I remarked, "apart from the basic names of some, I have no idea."

That was the biggest lie. I couldn't begin to go on about how many countless hours I had spent learning about the names and locations of the many constellations over the years, but the idea of Josh being excited to show them to me was pretty cute as well.

Josh trained his gaze back to the sky and I followed suit.

"Well, right there is the center of Orion," Josh stated as he traced an invisible shape between six bright stars, "and it stretches out to these stars as well." He continues to trace the extending arms of the constellation out across the night, reaching far up like he could grab one from the sky at any moment.

Josh continued to point out and trace the patterns in the stars like the sky was a big connect the dots game. I nodded along and mimicked his tracing in the air, pretending like this was the first time I had heard of Cassiopeia or Hydra.

I had thought I knew as much to know about the stars and constellations as there was to know, but the way Josh explained the names of each individual star, and the enticing way he would drift his pointed finger from one star to the next—it was like learning it all over again.

In the midst of one of his explanations, our heads jolted to the left when a loud metal followed by a bang, rang out. I felt my heart leap out of my chest and jumped hard at the sound.

I found the source of the awful noise when I noticed Sam and Violet had appeared in a small door frame on the far left of the rooftop.

I had almost forgotten they had taken the stairs, and from the look spread across Josh's face, he had as well.

"This damn idiot got us lost," Violet spat as they both trudged their way towards our spot.

"I didn't get us lost," Sam protested in a somewhat embarrassed manner.

"How do you even get lost in a stairwell that only goes up?" I asked while sitting up alongside Josh.

"A door on one of the landings had a sign with an arrow saying "rooftop," Sam explained quickly before Violet could interject. "And I assumed, because of the sign, it was an easier way to get here."

"It wasn't," Violet stated with a smug smile she shot at Sam.

"Ok, I get that now." Sam quipped back, throwing her a defeated smile and laugh.

Violet sighed and set down the cooler she had been lugging along, and spread a blanket out next to our own.

"Mind if we join?"

"Not at all," Josh replied casually, laying back down as he had just been a second ago.

"I was just showing her some constellations," he added.

Violet and Sam lowered themselves down onto their respective blanket next to us.

"Oh you were showing her the constellations," Violet replied, laughing into her words a bit. I shot her a side glance, trying to signal her to shut up. She knew that I could point out any constellation above us, and I didn't exactly need her letting Josh onto that fact.

Violet glanced my way and gave an overdramatic wink, silently hinting she won't let onto my fake ignorance.