I Told The Moon About You

2: Head in the Clouds

TWO
Head in the Clouds

Elias smiled at Mars when she came out of their neighbor's house later that day, bounding up to his side. She was all grins when she stopped by him, braced teeth on display.

"Guess what!" she chirped, moving in front of him and walking backwards as they made their way back home.

"What?" Elias mused. She was in a good mood.

"You have to guess," Mars drawled. "Come on. Guess!"

"Is it school related?"

Mars pursed her lips. "Yeah, kind of."

"Kind of?" Elias chuckled, pulling the house keys out of his back pocket when they approached the front door. "Okay. Does it involve one of your classmates?"

"Yep!"

Elias gave her a quick look, frowning. "Don't tell me a boy asked you out."

Mars' smile dropped. "You're so annoying."

"I was kidding," Elias said, ruffling her hair, ignoring her protests as she tried to swat his hand away. "Just tell me. I'm terrible at guessing."

"You're so boring," Mars groaned, flipping onto the sofa once they got inside the house. Elias rolled his eyes, sitting on the arm of the chair. "This girl invited me to her birthday thing next weekend. It's a sleepover."

Elias raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? You think you'll be okay if you go? You haven't spent the night at someone's house before."

Mars nodded rapidly. "Yes! There'll be a bunch of other girls there, too."

"If you really want to go, I don't mind," Elias told her, though he couldn't get rid of that inkling of concern sitting inside of him. He'd never gone a full day without her in his sights. But he had to trust that this girl's parents would make sure they were all okay. "You said it's next weekend?"

"Mhm! Friday and Saturday."

Elias nodded slowly, giving her a serious look. "If you change your mind at all while you're there, don't be afraid to call me. I'll come pick you up."

"I'll be fine," Mars whined, sitting up, pushing her hair out of her face with a pout. "I'm not a baby."

"I know you're not," Elias replied, lips twitching. "You don't have to be a baby to be afraid of something."

Mars nodded, then got to her feet abruptly. "I'm gonna go to my room."

"Homework first if you didn't finish it already before you play that game," he reminded her, watching as she started racing up the stairs. "I mean it, Mars!"

"Uh-huh!"

He sighed and slipped off the arm to settle into the cushions, leaning his head against the back of the sofa. Usually he wasn't this exhausted after work, but those new guys... they could talk a lot. They had forced Elias into conversations when he thought they wouldn't. It was a nightmare, socializing was.

"Hey, pretty boy!" was what Buzzcut said after Elias had finished serving them. He turned to find him grinning, leaning forward, chin on his palm.

Elias had always hated when people called him that: pretty boy. He knew he wasn't the most masculine looking guy out there, but he wasn't close to being feminine either. He refrained from rolling his eyes.

"My name's Elias," he said, hoping that would give him a hint.

It didn't.

"Yeah? I'm Marco, nice to meet you, pretty boy." Elias had a feeling this guy wouldn't be his favorite customer. "I had a question."