Dean tried to coax me onto a roller coaster, to which I had refused. He rolled his eyes and teased me, but stopped trying to make me get on it.
"Want some lemonade?" he asked as we passed a stand. I shrugged.
"Sure, why not?" We got in line, and as we got to the front, I pulled out my money. Dean pushed it away.
"I got it."
"No, it's-"
"I got it." he repeated.
I just nodded in response.
Things seemed to be a bit awkward after the ferris wheel, which bothered me. I suddenly felt tired, which was odd because it was so early. Dean bought our lemonade, and then we went and found a bench to sit on. We sipped our drinks quietly, people watching.
"What was with those guys?" he asked as he finished his drink.
I shrugged. "I don't know. They're assholes. They hate Elijah because he has a lot of money. I think it also has something to do with his personality."
"But he has a great personality," Dean argued. "He's one of the nicest people I've ever met."
"I know. They like to see people weak. They want to see how far they can push him before he cracks."
"That's pathetic," Dean snorted.
I let out a weak laugh. "Yeah, I know. They're pretty pathetic."
"I can see that."
There was an awkward silence. I drummed my fingers against the side of cup, the straw making a sucking noise when there was no longer any liquid in the cup. I pulled the straw away from my mouth, biting my lips. I opened my mouth, trying to think of something to say to break the silence, when he beat me to it.
"Want to get out of here?"
I made a noise that sounded something like a scoff, my eyes widening and my eyebrows raising. "Pretty presumptuous of you, Dean."
He laughed, his face turning bright red as he did so. "I didn't mean it like that!"
"It sure as hell sounded like that."
Dean continued to laugh, clearly embarrassed. "I meant to see the stars, Audrey. But, if you'd like me to mean it another way, I guess we could take that route too. Although I'm normally a gentleman about it."
It was my turned to be embarrassed. "So the stars," I tried to change the subject.
Dean nodded, smiling, his cheeks still a light shade of red. "The stars."
--
"Elijah's going to kill you."
Dean shrugged. "It's his fault for letting me keep the keys."
I chuckled, closing my eyes and leaning my head back, letting the wind tangle my hair.
"Elijah told me about this place the day I got here," Dean said, a smile in his voice.
"What did he say?"
"He was just telling me about some of the places I have to go before I leave."
I nodded. "And you haven't been here yet?"
"Nope."
I just nodded again.
The rest of the ride was silent. Dean drove up the hill to get to the top, where the cliff was. The cliff was a place a lot of couples went to get away, but I had been up there a few times by myself. It overlooked a beach, and during the day it was the perfect place to watch the waves and the surfers and the people at the beach. When Dean stopped the car at the top of the cliff, it was completely different from how it was during the day. The waves appeared to be black, and were gently lapping against the shore. The moon was barely visible, making the trees around us charcoal, the individual leaves not visible, the silhouettes prominent. And then there were the stars. With no lights around us, the stars created a picture more marvelous than anything I had ever seen.
I was too busy staring at the stars to notice Dean had gotten out of the car. After a few moments, he opened my door.
"Come on, Audrey." he held out his hand to help me out of the car. Not looking away from the sky, I grabbed his hand and let him lead me up and out of the car, towards the hood. We leaned against it, taking in our surroundings. Dean pushed away from the car a few moments after he leaned against it.
"What are you doing?" I asked, tearing my eyes away from the abundance of stars in the sky.
"Checking if there's a blanket or something in the trunk."
"Why?"
"So you can star gaze properly."
I rolled my eyes, pushing away from the car and sitting down on the ground. Dean joined me, leaning back so he was laying on the grass. I mimicked his actions.
"So what do you think?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.
"I've never seen anything like it," I murmured, gazing thoughtfully at the sky.
"Told you." he replied, a smile in his voice.
"It's incredible," I mused. "I've never seen anything so beautiful."
He sighed, the sound happy, thoughtful. "I couldn't agree more."
He wasn't looking at the sky.
