Illusory | ✓

i l l u s o r y : 22

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED COPYRIGHTED 2015

I L L U S O R Y : 22

The rest of dinner is spent in content conversations and jokes, but it isn't until we put our dishes into the dishwasher and Bridger starts the dishwasher that I remember his offer this morning about sitting outside and watching the stars. My eyes flicker towards the back door before they turn their attention back towards Bridger, who is already pulling out a thick wool blanket for us to sit on and another wool blanket for us to wrap ourselves in.

"I kinda figured that you would want to watch the stars," Bridger says as I close the closet door behind him and follow him through the kitchen and towards the backdoor again. I open the door and he walks out, before I do and shut the door behind us.

"Ah, so you figured I'd be the star gazing type of girl, huh?" I comment as I turn back around and observe him when he throws one of the blankets down on the dry grass and smooths it out before he sits down and pats the spot next to him.

"Not really," Bridger admits as he wraps the other blanket around the both of us. I sit in between his legs and lean my head against his chest as we tilt our heads up to look at the stars. "I just, I've always watched the stars growing up. Dad has a telescope that used to belong to his dad and it was a tradition for them to watch the stars when the night was clear or it felt nice. So he decided to continue the tradition and while Patty wasn't that interested in the stars when we reached middle school, since she was starting her drama career and was always on her phone, he and I would sit out here and stare up at the stars. I just thought that you would want to watch them with me, ya know, because you can never grow old of staring up at the galaxy."

"Since when did you get so deep? Are you secretly a poet or something? You secretly write cheesy love novels or poems and you've memorized Shakespeare and know him by heart?" I crane my head to the side, seeing him roll his eyes at me before he holds me tighter against him.

"No, I'm not a good writer. That I can assure you. I just don't have much to say really, and when I do have something good to say, I want to make an impact with what it is," Bridger declares with no indifference in his voice, as though it's not that big of a deal but I can't help but smile and wrap my arms around him and hug him.

"Well I'll have you know that it's very attractive on you. And not many guys would divulge me with their deepness," I acknowledge and hear him chuckle softly as he holds me against him like I'm holding him. It's the type of hold that lets the other know that we don't want the night to end, this moment to end, but we know it will end in the future. For now though, we'll indulge into each other and have tonight.

It only takes another fifteen minutes for our eyes to adjust and with each minute that they adjust more I can see twice the stars. Lying back onto the blanket I can't help but stare up at the twinkling stars and how I could never live in the city, all that light pollution and all the gas pollution lighting up the sky and being unable to see the stars unless I could get to the top of a roof of a thirty story building doesn't sound appealing to me.

To be able to just lie on the ground and be captivated while being on a thick wool blanket sounds more appealing than lying on a concrete rooftop of a building with a blanket underneath me and the sounds of the city in the background. No, I enjoy the sound of cars barely passing through the neighborhood and maybe the sound of dogs but not much less.

Turning on my side so that I'm looking at Bridger, I observe him as he's staring up at the stars, a gentleness rests around him and breathing in deeply I can't help but speak in the air, breaking the enchantment that star gazing gives.

"What are you thinking about?" I can't help but ask, causing Bridger to blink and turn on his side to face me. The blanket covering us slips a little and I tug it back up, guiltiness of wanting the warmth instead of the cold air around us is noticeable.