I Can See the Stars in Your Eyes

You Are in Love

You can see it with the lights out
You are in love
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The girl lay in bed, a wave of insomnia coming over her. Thoughts ran through her mind, sleep not one of them. She stared at the ceiling, and ultimately decided that her time would be better spent writing. She grabbed her phone and opened it to her notes, creating yet another entry in her mobile diary.

She began to write, time seeming to pass by in a much quicker pace as thoughts flowed out of her restless mind. However, her thoughts were disrupted by a quiet chime.

I can't seem to sleep.

A small smile spread on the girl's face, feeling comforted by the fact that she was not alone in her insomnia. She replied to the boy, finding relief in his presence.

Me either. Too many thoughts, I guess.

Almost instantly, she received a reply.

I'm gonna go for a drive, come with and you can tell me what's going on in that pretty head of yours. Meet you in 10.

The girl sat up in bed, not surprised at his invitation. He drove for the same reason she wrote, and they'd listen to each other's thoughts as they made their way to nowhere in particular. She never expressed to him how much these nights meant to her, but she never felt she had to. There had always been a mutual understanding of the things unspoken between them. Although they'd release their thoughts to each other, they'd keep their feelings at bay, not wanting to stretch into the unknown.

She heard the not so quiet engine of the boy's car outside and she made her way out, not bothering to change out of her pajamas or fix her hair. She was hidden in the darkness of the cool night, and she was able to just relax in his presence. She climbed into the passenger's seat and smiled at the boy next to her, similarly dressed in his own pajamas.

As they began driving, a comfortable silence rested between them until the boy spoke first. "I was thinking about you," he said, trying to mask the small hint of hesitation in his voice. He kept his eyes on the road but watched the girl from the corner of his eye. She looked at him, slightly taken aback by his declaration. Their topics of conversation often ranged from things as small as homework assignments to dreams, both good and bad, to concerns about the future, but somehow never landing on each other.

"You've just, I don't know, been popping up a lot lately," he added as he waited for her to say something. He had always struggled with his walls, but around her he allowed himself to be vulnerable. A part of him entrusted his heart with her without fear of her breaking it, and sometimes, like at this second, it frightened him.

"Care to elaborate?" She finally spoke up. She couldn't help it as her heart seemed to flutter at his confession. She smiled softly and chewed on her bottom lip, hoping he wouldn't be able to notice her reaction to his words in the moonlight.

"Well, I just think about you. How kind you are, these late night talks, everything I guess. You're kinda damn special to me, you know? You're my best friend." He confessed, now finally gathering the courage to take a quick glance at the girl before readjusting his eyes back to the winding road in front of him. He smiled softly in relief to see the girl smiling back at him, knowing that he was sincere and meant what he said.

The girl placed her hand over his hand that was gripping just a little bit too tightly on the gear shift and she felt him relax under her touch. "I'm glad I'm not alone. You know, sometimes I write about you? I write down the small but sweet things I see you do, the stupid jokes you tell me, the things on your mind. Sometimes I make stories out of them." She began to explain. She spoke quietly and timidly. "I write them when I can't sleep and read some of them to help me fall asleep."

"Read me something?" He asked curiously. He was constantly intrigued by the girl sitting next to him, and as she moved her small hand off of his to try to find her notes on her phone, he realized that he missed the contact. She left behind a feeling of warmth even after her hand was gone, and he found himself thinking that her whole presence has the same effect on him. He then decided that it wasn't the driving that helped him sleep better, but rather her.

A weight seemed to lift off his shoulders as she read aloud small passages about him. He never noticed how much attention she paid to him, but it made him want to do the same for her. He looked over to her every so often and made a note of how her  hair, although messy, looked as though she'd spent time to get it all just right; how her voice had hints of exhaustion laced into it; and how small yawns slipped out of her mouth every now and then because she didn't want him to think she was falling asleep.

"I think- I think I'm going to fall in love with you one day," he blurted out, interrupting her reading. He pulled over onto the side of the quiet country road and turned around to look at her. His blue eyes looked up and were met by a pair of brown ones full of surprise, with flecks of sleepiness in them. He searched her face for an answer, hoping she couldn't see the pink tint his cheeks were turning.

"I hope that day is soon, because I think I've already beat you there," she answered in barely anything more than a whisper. A wave of silence came over the two, and she could swear she heard his heart beating and wondered if he could hear hers too. They looked out at the sky, littered with stars, too afraid to face each other and welcomed the quietness.

The boy reached out his hand and found hers, clumsily intertwining their fingers and let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. With their hands together, relief flooded over them.

"You know, the say that following the stars will always lead you home. I guess that's what we've been doing." The boy whispered, gathering the courage to meet her gaze once again. "I'm home."

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Alright, well how about that. There it is, my first work since I was a wee sophomore. But anyway, here's a little background:

I wrote this one night after coming home late as most teenagers do, and just not being able to sleep. It was like 4 am when all of a sudden I thought "screw it, I'll just write it out," and this was created in the notes app on my phone and now I'm sharing it here. 

Thank you for reading, 

Lots of Love,

Arielle