Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
The next morning, I’m making coffee when Starlight comes into the kitchen. The last time I saw him, his skin was ocean blue, but now it’s a blue-gray color. Like it’s a reflex, I glance out the window and up at the sky.
Yep. Same color.
I turn, a mug of coffee in each hand. “Do you eat?” I ask, bringing them both over to the table, where Starlight takes a seat. He’s rigid in the chair. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t actually know how to sit in it properly.
“No, I do not,” he responds cheerfully.
Right.
I set his cup of coffee down on the table between us, and when I take a seat across from him, I find him staring at me, his eyes steady and unreadable.
“What?” I ask.
A slow smile creeps across his gray-hued face. “You are very beautiful.”
I clear my throat, forcing myself to look away from him. I know I’m a good-looking guy by most standards, but he’s never even been this close to a human before. He doesn’t have much to compare me to. And even if he did, does he have to just say it like that?
I lean back in my seat. “Thanks. Okay, um, listen,” I say, realizing that I still have both mugs of coffee in front of me. I stand and go back to the sink to toss his into it. It’s better over here, where I can avoid the way he’s staring at me. “I’m not sure what I'm supposed to do with you.”
His face is blank. It’s the closest I’ve seen him get to a frown. “You do not have to do anything with me.”
Shit, that came out wrong.
“No, I just mean…” I scrub my hands over my face. “It’s my fault you’re here, and I want to help you figure out how to get home, but in the meantime, I can’t let you tag along with me everywhere I go when you look like that.” I gesture at him, and his face falls.
Now he’s actually frowning. “Like what?”
I’m clearly particularly adept at sticking my foot in my mouth.
“I don’t mean that the way it sounded. There's nothing wrong with the way that you…” I sigh. “You’re very beautiful, too.” I’m hoping the fact that I can’t stop tripping over my words doesn’t come across as insincerity.
He’s the single most beautiful person I’ve ever seen in my life. Glowing yellow curls, broad shoulders, pecs as big as couch cushions…
His puppy dog eyes vanish, replaced with obvious joy.
“But, you know, you don't look human. We don't have blue skin unless it's some kind of, I don't know, health thing.”
For some reason, this makes him laugh, and I think it's because I'm rambling nervously, but what the hell else am I supposed to do with a piece of the sky sitting at my kitchen table looking at me like...
“Anyway, we need to figure out how to send you home.”
He nods, that little furrow still in his brow, which I find concerning since all of his natural instincts seem to lead him to smile at all times.
“What is it?” I ask.
Please, don’t tell me I’m beautiful again.
“Or,” he says, “I could stay.”
“Stay?”
“Not forever,” he says but shrugs his blue shoulders. “I am fascinated by humans, and I am here. Maybe I could…” He waves his hands around. “Stay and learn about the humans.”
I can’t stop the choking sound I make. “No. You… I mean, you can't go anywhere.”
He nods. “Yes.”
“Because you don't look human, and it's a small town. People are gonna notice.”
He nods again. “Yes.”
He’s clearly trying to prove he understands, but I’m not convinced.
Unlike the rest of him, his bright blonde hair that sometimes glows and his skin that changes with the sky outside, his eyes stay the same, a dark, almost fathomless brown.
They settle on me like a heavy weight and his mouth—pink, plump lips—twitches slightly. “Maybe I could stay with you for a little while.”
My heart gives one big thump in my chest. That sounds like a terrible idea, but I also can't bring myself to say no to him.
“Okay. I think it's going to take time to figure this out anyway, right?” I stand at the sink and look out into my backyard that leads into the forest behind my house. “Maybe it's as simple as reversing what you did the first time.”
“Reversing?” he asks.
I grunt, tap my fingers on the kitchen counter. “What if you went back to the waypoint and just reached back out for home?”
He nods. “Perhaps. It is not a bad idea. We could certainly try.”
I turn back to face him with my hip pressed against the counter. “I couldn't drive you out today anyway. I have to go to work.”
He smiles. “Humans, they all have busy lives.” He seems to find this notion endearing.
“Maybe. I don't think I'm as busy as some people, but sure.”
On the table, my phone rings. Starlight's head shoots forward to look at it. “What is that?” he asks.
“Oh, it's just my phone.” I walk over and pick it up off the table. “It's Mackenzie.” I ignore the call, set it back down. “Um, it's how we communicate with each other.”
He shakes his head, still staring at my phone, now face down on the table. “The sound it made.”
“The sound?” I ask, looking down at it. It’s just a little jingle, the preset that came with the phone. “Do you mean music?” I ask.
His eyes are wide, alight like he’s shining from within. “Is that what that sound was?”
“You've never heard music?”
He shakes his head. “I have never heard anything like that.”
I wonder now about the logistics of this whole thing. About what he is, who he is. Is he stuck in one spot forever when he’s in the sky? Right over the forest?
If so, he would've encountered humans, but not many. Not like he would've if he was over the city.
“Here,” I say, picking up my phone and opening my music app. I don’t listen to a ton of music, mostly preferring the quiet, but I have a few playlists saved that Mackenzie has sent me over the years.
I pick one at random and start a song that blares loudly through the speakers, something with an upbeat, jazzy rhythm.
Starlight jumps up from his seat, his eyes fixed on the phone in my hand. At first, I think I might have frightened him. But then he smiles, big and wide and bright.
“It’s perfect,” he says, and then his shoulders start to move. “It makes me feel…” His body begins to sway.
I laugh. “You want to dance?” I set the phone down and join him in a gentle sway. I can’t help it. He’s smiling so big that he’s really living up to his new name.
I’m far from being a good dancer, but he’s so overjoyed that I don’t think he’ll notice that I can’t hold a beat. Besides, if he’s never heard music, he’s probably never seen anyone dance, so he won’t know I’m a total dork.
The song shifts into an electronic chorus and Starlight throws his arms out, wiggling them hilariously. His whole body is moving now, and all I can do is watch him, smiling as he enjoys himself.
The song comes to an end and another starts, this one slow, featuring an acoustic guitar.
Starlight hesitates a moment, and then his eyes drop to my phone. “This is much different. How do you dance to this?” he asks, almost out of breath. Fascinating.
“Oh. Well… I guess you could just dance slower, or…” What am I even doing? What are we doing? Dancing? When we should be figuring out how to solve this problem?
But it’s like gravity, pushing me toward him. I’m helpless to stop it.
“Or?” he asks, when I hesitate too long.
I take a step toward him, pulled like something on a string. My hands go to his waist, his skin warm under my palms. His eyes meet mine, curiosity clear, and then he settles his hands over mine.
I have to hide the gasp that leaves my mouth. “Up here,” I say, guiding his hands up to shoulders.
I settle back around his waist and pull him a little closer before starting us on a small sway. I know it’s a bit juvenile but I’ve never been a good dancer, and I’m not qualified to do much more than this.
I wish he was wearing a shirt. All he has on is my sweatpants, swung low on his hips, and I’m face-to-face with a broad expanse of muscular chest, a light dusting of hair, and shoulders that might as well be mountains on their own.
My eyes meet his again, and nerves settle in my stomach at the way they’re focused on me, like he’s trying to read something on my face.
“I want to know everything about you, Mason,” he says, voice soft.
The music keeps going, but I can barely hear it anymore. “What do you want to know?”
His hands shift, and one of his thumbs presses gently under the collar of my shirt, sliding along my collarbone. I can’t tell if he even notices he’s doing it. “What brings you happiness?”
Of all the questions running through my mind, that’s not one I anticipated. “I guess… maybe I’m not entirely sure I believe in happiness anymore, not in any concrete way.”
His mouth turns down at the corners. “Oh, no, Mason. Happiness exists. I am sure of it.”
“Yeah?” I don’t realize I’m gripping his hips for dear life until I’m afraid I might have left marks on him. I loosen my hold. “What brings you happiness, Starlight?”
His eyes scan over my face, pupils so wide that I can’t see his mud-colored irises anymore.
He opens his mouth, poised for an answer, but then his eyes catch something over my shoulder, and his face lights up with joy.
I turn and look out the window beside the kitchen.
“Snow!” Starlight shouts, and then he’s throwing open the back door and disappearing into the yard.