Chapter 21

AUDREY

"Finally!" Libby cried, the barista smiled at her as she took her milkshake from the counter.

"What would you do without your milkshakes?" I chuckle, shaking my head.

"Probably shrivel up and die, oh I missed you, baby." She cooed, stroking the milkshake. No matter how much James loves her, he will never understand her intense love for milkshakes.

We currently sat at a table in a "Milkshake Bar", Libby's favourite was choosing her chocolate bar of the day and they'd mix it in with the other ingredients. She took a sip and moaned, her eyes rolling back.

I pushed my face into my hands and groaned, "I swear, you make the most cringe-worthy sounds when you have a milkshake. James probably enjoys it." Cue the blush, I don't even need to look up to know his face is beetroot red.

"What can I say, my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard - oh hey Sebastian." I looked up immediately at the mention of his name.

"Hey, I haven't seen you in ages, how are you?" He smiled brightly.

"I'm good how are you?" She asks, taking another sip of her milkshake.

"I'm good too. Ah, may I?" He points to the empty seat beside me.

"Sure," I reply.

"How's the plan going?" James asked, putting an arm around Libby.

I pulled out my phone, checking the time, "It seems my job will be easier than I thought thanks to Sebastian and Rachel's reuniting in a coffee shop."

"How did you know?"

"Margo was there," I answered.

"She was there?" His eyes were wide.

"Yeah, she was on a date with Logan."

"Logan? My friend?" He coaxed, leaning in closer to me.

"Aha, your friend, Logan. He's been courting Margo for four years now."

"Four years?" He gasped.

"Yeah," I chuckled, "He even wrote her a song when he was drunk, she got it on video."

Sebastian rubbed his face with his hands, "I did not know this. Wow."

Libby smiled and drank her milkshake, her eyes glinting with mischief.

He ran his hands through his hair, now a dishevelled mess.

"I feel like I've been the last person to know when it comes to anything." He mumbled.

I glanced up at the happy couple, patiently awaiting my move, I nod to the door, a silent plea for them to leave.

Libby instantly understands and nods, "We, uh, have to go. Yeah, for a..."

"A date," James says calmly.

"Yes!" Libby blurts loudly, "A date, come on James. Bye Audrey, Sebastian."

We are silent for a few minutes after they leave, I give Sebastian some time to cool down.

"You okay?" I ask, craning my head to the side, trying to see his face. He lifts up his head and hesitantly nods, a small smile on display.

"I'm sorry that you feel that way, but we have to focus on the task at hand." He nods again, seeming more relaxed, "How was your hot chocolate with Rachel?"

"I talked with her, about everything that happened. She's not exactly giving up, and she's not fighting on the front lines, she's just there. She understands what's happening." He answers, fidgeting with his hands.

"I see. But it's not Rachel that's worrying you, is it?" No, it's not her. It's something else.

"No." He shakes his head, still fidgeting with his fingers, avoiding any eye-contact.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask softly, turning my body to face him.

"I'm worried, about screwing up your half of the job, of letting you down and ruining what you have, what you would have." His voice is a quiet type of sadness.

I took him in, my eyes scouring every detail, looking for a hint, an answer.

"How would you screw it up? You've done amazing so far, nothing's gone wrong. But why are you concerned about me, when you started this for Rachel?" My voice a whisper. He looks around, at the walls, at the people, and I understand.

I begin to stand, taking his hand in mine, "Come on, we'll talk somewhere else." I make my way to the exit, pulling him along behind me, he complies.

We enter the fresh air, the sun's rays shining upon us. We continue to walk hand-in-hand towards a path in a park, the trees and greenery framing the river alongside it. I could see the birds soaring through the sky in the reflection on the water's surface, glistening silver ripples under the light.

I guide him to the riverbank, taking a seat under a tree. I'm silent and patient, waiting for him to feel comfortable enough to speak.

"I've known Rachel for a long time. You, it's different, I know that the tiniest mistake could be fatal, to you or your future. I don't want to the cause of your talents going to waste." I rolled my eyes.

"Gosh, you sound like my mother. You couldn't do anything to hurt me or my future. You shouldn't care about that sort of thing, you shouldn't care about me, you should be worrying about yourself."

"But I do care! I don't why but I do. I couldn't give less of a shit about me and I know Rachel can handle herself but I care about you. I don't want to screw this up, I'm not going to take any chances." His voice was harsh and roaring with emotion.

My eyes widen at his sudden outburst, my lips turning into a frown, "Sebastian, don't waste your time on me. It's not worth it. Look, you aren't going to screw it up, you need to believe me, rely on me a bit."

"That's the thing, everyone's relying on you, you already have so much going on and I'm just an extra problem to add to the heap. I'm just a hindrance. You don't need this." He replied, staring intently at the stream of liquid silver.

"You aren't a hindrance, I agreed to do this, to help you. I've never gotten this close to a client, to anyone before. It's a first for me, so I don't see you as a problem, I see you as a friend who has asked for my help. So see me as a friend who has chosen to help you."

SEBASTIAN

But I couldn't. I couldn't see her as a friend.

I watched the light dance across her face, a waltz in her eyes, holding flecks of gold that glittered. Freckles were dusted across her face, like the constellations of the night sky she studies through a telescope. The rays wrapped around her dark hair, like a halo.

I nod slowly, "Alright."

She smiles, taking my hand in hers and squeezing it lightly. She stands, pulling me up with her. I'm too exhausted to protest, that I was going along with her every move, not that I would have protested in the first place.

So I let her.

AUDREY

We continued to walk together, well, more I pulled him along beside me.

I glance at him, his dark, ebony hair absorbing the sunlight, "Are you okay?"

His pale skin was accentuated, abnormally pale to be healthy. He had bags under his eyes.

Turning towards me, he shrugged, "Yeah. Why?"

"Sebastian, you look half-dead." I blurted.

"Wow, thanks for the compliment." He replied sarcastically.

"I'm serious Sebastian, have you been eating? Sleeping?"I ask, pivoting myself to face him, our chests a foot apart. Although we have to act like a couple to the public, I'm genuinely concerned for him.

He didn't reply. I huffed and took out my phone, dialling the number and placing it to my ear.

"Hello Lewis, can you pick us up, we'll meet you at Grace's Corner, okay, bye."I slide my phone back into my pocket, "Come on, this way."

When we get there, outside the door, a black BMW sits. Lewis exits the car and holds the door open for us.

"Where to my lady?" He queries as we slip in.

"To the Skyline Planetarium please." I request, not bothering to correct him. I see him smirk into the rearview mirror, silently teasing me.

The car ride is quiet, but a comfortable kind of quiet, unlike the unnerving silence at home. I hear Sebastian gasp as we pull up to the hotel, I too sneak a glance out the window, even though I've been here many times before.

The pristine white building stood in all of its glory. It was colossal, four enormous pillars held up an equally huge triangle, Olympus, the home of the Greek gods and goddesses carved into the marble. The entrance of the planetarium was held in a simple building, the columns and extravagant artwork making it a simplistic beauty. Offices and meeting rooms stretched out from either side, made from the same marble. Behind it, the most important part of this masterpiece, the star of the show, was a large golden globe. Protruding from it, the monstrous telescope.

I reached for Sebastian's hand, and we walked in together.

SEBASTIAN

The inside was just as grand as the building itself. The floor was made of glistening black tiles, as was one of the walls that held an indoor waterfall. They had ornate tables and chairs littered around the entrance, there sat many scientists and others alike, discussing their work.

"Although it's called the Skyline Planetarium, it's a building for all sciences, like a university, it has an individual sector or area for each science." She began.

"It's called the planetarium because that's what it started off as in 1926. Over the years the original founder and owner, Ricardo Day, decided to include the other sciences. Even though the other sciences and a telescope were included, his love for physics and astrology never died, so he had the constellations painted on the ceiling."

I looked up at the ceiling, feeling as if my breath were snatched from me. There, was the night sky, each constellation glowing on the sapphire background.

"Radioluminescent paint was invented in 1908, it became popular and was widely used for forty years afterwards, Ricardo had to follow the trend, he had the same painters come in and repaint over each star in the paint. I hope they were paid good money." She chuckled, "That's not even the best part."

After I got a pass from the main desk, we entered an elevator that flew us up to the top floor. As we exited, I walked over to the railing and looked down, noticing the bottom of the telescope was below us.

"Why isn't the telescope on this floor?" I asked, still gazing down.

"There are smaller telescopes on this floor, either to check the coordinates of the large telescope's findings or to get to places the large telescope can't reach. Plus, on special occasions or when they feel like it, they close the shutters on the ceiling and use the projector to make this place a planetarium." She explained.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, "A planetarium? Not the planetarium?"

"No," she shook her head, "The planetarium in down the hall, being able to turn this place into a planetarium is a bonus for the scientists, it's where they hold their Christmas dinner and Halloween party."

"Hey, Audrey! I got your text. You must be Sebastian." A tall, sophisticated woman approached us, smiling brightly.

"Sebastian, this is doctor Lucy Neel, Lucy, this is Sebastian." Audrey introduced as I shook her hand.

Lucy nodded before gesturing for us to follow her. She led us down a hallway into the room at the end.

"It's all yours Audrey. Just don't do anything too loud okay." She smirked, wiggling her eyebrows, "Here's the key anyway, just in case."

Audrey's eyes widened as she gasped, "Lucy!"

"I didn't say anything, what are you talking about?" She joked, raising an eyebrow. Ah, so she communicates through her eyebrows, interesting.

"Come on," Audrey says, rolling her eyes. "Let's go."

We enter the room, Lucy throwing us one last wink before leaving. It was like a miniature arena, there was a black-carpeted open space, with black seats around it. The walls were also black until a certain point, where the white dome began.

"Okay, go to the middle, I'll be there in a moment." She instructed, walking over a pulling open the doors of what seemed to be a hidden cabinet.

"In our course, sometimes we have to do placement or work experience, so we do anywhere of our choice. I chose here. They let the students have naps or relaxation periods in here, so they keep a whole bunch of blankets and pillows. Most of us bring our own because we love fluffy blankets, but these are good too."

She joins me in the middle and lays down two of the blankets, then she hands me one of the remaining two and a pillow. She then lay down on one of the blankets, throwing the one in her hand on top of her.

"Come on. Join me."

"You sound like you're coaxing me into joining a cult." I joke, laying down on the blanket next to her and doing the same.

"Okay," she intoned, "ready?" she asks, a remote in her hand. I nod my head, receiving a small, closed-lipped smile.

With a click, the lights dimmed to darkness. At first, I couldn't see anything, then, there it was. As I looked up, I could see it. Purples and blues and all sorts of colours filled my vision. Everywhere I looked, colours and lights filled the endless space of darkness. Although it was a projection, the stars seemed so real, within reach.

Here, as I lay beside Audrey, above me, was the sky I gazed up at every night. Here shone the stars that made me feel less alone, less of an outcast. Here, lay my reason to keep pushing on, the reason being an outcast shouldn't matter, didn't matter, not in the grand scheme of things. That even though I was different, I shouldn't try to fit in so hard, I should keep doing what I love - it wouldn't make a difference to the universe, but to my universe.

I turned my head to the side, gazing at the woman beside me. She stared up at the ceiling, a smile I didn't know she had, an undeniable twinkle in her eyes. She was so lost in the view. She radiated happiness and love, something you don't often see so clearly on Audrey. Her happiness and love were always kept hidden, it makes her seem cold.

But you can't show happiness if you don't know how. Right?

I chuckled, causing her to tare her gaze away from the majesty of space, and face me instead. "What?" She queried, raising an eyebrow.

"You look so happy. I can see why, but...I don't know." I shrugged.

"Oh gosh, I must be doing it again," She mumbled, covering her face with her hands.

I reach over, pulling her hands away from her face, "What do you mean?"

She shook her head, "No it's just that, every time I come here, to see this or to use a telescope, I've always been told I...I don't know, 'glow with happiness'."

"I can see why they say that." I concurred.

"They tell me it's weird, sometimes scary." She replies, looking back up to the cosmos.

"No. Not at all. It's, yes, weird to see such a big smile on your face because you don't do it often but," I pause, "I like it. You look so happy, it's comforting, seeing you doing something you enjoy. Seeing you happy makes me feel happy, it's contagious." A soft laugh escapes my lips when she quickly turns to face me again.

"Sebastian King, you sure are weird. Stop being deep and enjoy the moment. We're gazing up into space. Space! You know, the universe, the place where our planet is a tiny floating orb in an endless abyss. I probably shouldn't say that since I've had panic attacks and nightmares about that."

"Alright, whatever you do, don't stop smiling. The universe needs more of your smiles." I intoned, gazing up at the ceiling again. Not before long, I feel a sharp pain in my left shoulder, "Ow! What was that for?"

"You weirdo. Don't ever change."