When We Fall

Part 3

This one's pretty short, so think about it as part one of part three:)

The night was silent as Joel thought of what to say.

"No, I don't." He kept his distance and Lizzie stayed closed off, her eyes forwards.

"You know, I haven't actually tried to kill either of you," She looked over her shoulder.

"Yet." He was stern, Lizzie grimaced.

"Fair. I mean, I understand, trust is earned, not given." Sighing, her eyes strayed back to the city's silhouette before dancing to the stars. A moment filled with silence slipped between the pair and Lizzie breathed in the stillness.

"Why did you come out here?" Joel asked, a step closer.

"I'm not maniacally plotting–" She scoffed "--if that's what you're thinking." She looked back at him, he stared. Waiting. Something inside her tugged at the familiarity of the look, remembering the same expression on someone she'd almost forgotten.

"Fine." Her eyes narrowed at him, "When I can't sleep, I come out here to read the stars."

"Read the stars?" The man questioned. Lizzie nodded, dropping her legs so they were crossed.

"Yeah, my dad taught me." Her eyes jumped back to the sky, searching for something Joel couldn't see. He watched as her arm reached out, and followed it to where she was pointing.

"There, do you see that cluster of stars? there's 16 of 'em." She didn't wait for his answer, 

"That constellation's named Andromeda. It was named after the Greek princess, who was sacrificed to a giant sea monster because her parents insisted that she was more beautiful than the gods," a soft smile fell on her lips as she turned to see Joel trying to find it.

"It's unfair if you ask me, the princess never said she was extraordinarily pretty, yet she still had to die to save her family." Lizzie leaned back to rest on her hands. She watched Joel as he studied the stars, blindly sitting down on a raised platform behind her. The girl shifted to face him, picking at the moss below her. Thoughts from a different time filled her mind, of when her dad used to sit beside her and tell her the stories of the sky.

"Where is he?" She looked up at Joel, confused by the softness in his tone.

"My dad?" Her eyes dropped, "He's dead."

He nodded, "and your Mother, where is–"

"Her too." She shrugged, hearing him shift.

"I'm...sorry." Joel whispered. Lizzie looked at him,

"Don't be. We all have to grow up at some point, right?" They didn't speak for a while after that, both of them finding something to stare at. Lizzie focused on the way the concrete melded with the moss she sat on, studying the seam between green and gray.

"What's that one?" Joel spoke, feeling the girl's eyes consider him. He was pointing up, and Lizzie realised he was asking about the stars again. She followed his focus, moving to sit closer to him

"Uhmm, I think that's the Perseus constellation," she looked again, "Yeah, it is."

"What's his tragic tale?" He asked. She smiled, remembering her dad telling her the great exploits of Perseus.

"He was a demi-god, the son of a princess and Zeus himself. His grandfather basically kicked him out, and then a different king told him to kill medusa. The king wanted her head, which is pretty fucked up if yo..."
The time passed with Joel finding new constellations to quiz Lizzie on. At some point, the girl managed to close her eyes, falling asleep against Joel's leg as he voiced his opinion on the tragedy of Orion. The man himself stayed awake through sunrise, keeping a watchful eye on both the greenhouse and Lizzie. He'd never admit it, but she was growing on him.