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╭┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈𑁍ࠬ┈┈┈┈╮ 2.18: back in a saddle again 21: ❝blaze of glory, minus the glory ❞ ╰┈┈┈┈┈𑁍ࠬ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈╯
✨☕️✨
LIFE BEFORE STARS HOLLOW [ CHICAGO ]
The stars were out in full force, twinkling above them like tiny diamonds scattered across a velvet sky. Blaze and Everleigh were perched on the roof of her house, wrapped in the cool, quiet embrace of the night. It was their favorite spot—somewhere they came when the world felt too loud. Up here, it was just the two of them, sitting close enough that their shoulders brushed with every small shift.
Blaze tilts his head back, staring up at the constellations. "You ever think about how small we are compared to all of that?"
Everleigh, sitting beside him with her knees drawn to her chest, turned to look at him instead of the stars. She'd always liked the way his face softened in moments like these, when he was thoughtful and quiet. There was something so magnetic about him—something that made her feel calm, but at the same time, made her heart race in a way she didn't quite understand.
"I guess so," she replies, her voice barely above a whisper. "But I kind of like it. It's like... everything else is so big and out of reach, but this—" she gestured between them, "—this feels close. Real."
Blaze looks over at her then, his eyes reflecting the faint glow of the moonlight. For a second, neither of them said anything. There was no need to. The night seemed to hold its breath around them, the silence filled with the soft rhythm of their breathing.
Without thinking, Everleigh leaned into him just a little, her shoulder pressing more firmly against his. She didn't know when it started—the way her heart seemed to skip every time he smiled at her, or the way she felt like she could stay in his presence forever, never needing to say a word. But in this moment, she knew it wasn't just about being best friends anymore.
Blaze shifts slightly, the movement so subtle she almost missed it, and then he reached out, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. His fingertips lingered for just a second longer than they usually would, sending a shiver down her spine.
There it was—something unspoken between them, hanging in the air like a single note from a song that hadn't finished playing. She didn't know if it was the way his gaze softened, or the warmth of his hand so close to hers, but everything felt... different.
She looked at him—really looked at him—and suddenly, it all made sense. The warmth in her chest, the way her heart fluttered when he was close, the way her world seemed to shift just a little when he was around. She's read it in the books. It was the only explanation of everything she felt;
