Stargazing

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Taylor laid awake in bed, staring up at the ceiling. How long had she been trying to get to sleep again? she'd stopped binge watching Netflix around... one in the morning, she thought. It was beginning to get boring and didn't really ease her thoughts, which was what she was hoping would come with sleep. But all lying down in complete darkness staring at the ceiling did was make her thoughts louder.

It was three in the morning now, according to her clock. Roughly two hours, just lying here, numb to the world around her. Sighing, she sat up and crawled out of bed. This wasn't working. Maybe a walk would help? she used to take early morning jogs - which she'd never admit to anyone, and stopped doing once she found out that the public could easily see through her fence with drones - so maybe an early morning (or late night, she wasn't sure what this counted as) walk would be nice. she slipped on hier shoes, hoodie, and headphones, and slowly made her way out of his room and down the stairs, treading carefully as to not wake anyone up.

She heard a door creak open and froze. What? Who was there?

"Taylor?" a voice said, behind her.

Taylor slowly spun around, frowning as she noticed Joe stood behind her, with... a ladder in one hand, and a telescope in the other. "Joe?" She blinked. "Wh-Why are you awake?" She hung her headphones around her neck.

"I could ask you the same question." He said.

Taylor folded her arms. "I'm... always awake at this time."

"Wrong," Joe said. "In all my years of knowing you, I've never known you to be awake before ten am."

Well, that was because Joe didn't know Taylor that well, at all. Or... well, he supposed that in the time that she and Joe had actually been friends, rather than two people who just thought the other was gorgeous he never really left her room before ten am, even if she'd been awake for hours before. Although, the fact that Joe knew Taylor wasn't the type to leave her room at three am did beg the question - was Joe frequently up that this time? It seemed unlikely, but... it did worry Taylor just a little bit.

"I'll ask again," Joe said, "what are you doing up at this time?"

For a while, Taylor didn't respond, until she quietly mumbled, "Couldn't sleep."

"Ah." Joe shot her a quick smile. "Perhaps limiting your screen time will help? You need to give yourself enough time to actually fall asleep, and give your eyes rest. Although, calming music may also help, or perhaps a glass of warm milk-"

"I've tried," Taylor said, shoving her hands in his pocket. "I've tried everything. Just... can't sleep. Thoughts are too loud."

Joe hummed, but didn't respond. He knew what she meant. Taylor's eyes flickered back up to him.

"So, uh, what are you doing up?" Taylor asked. "Couldn't sleep, either?"

Joe hesitated. "I... There's supposed to be a meteor shower and I wanted to observe it," he stated, although Taylor suspected there was more to it. "Purely for scientific reasons, of course-"

"Joe, I get it, you want to look at pretty stars," Taylor said. "That's fine, you're allowed to have interests that aren't just for work or learning new things."

Joe breathed. "Yes, okay. I wanted to watch it." He shuffled in his spot. "You could come with me, if you want? It's... If you've been having trouble sleeping due to a lack of calmness, watching the stars can help... calm you down, in a way. It- It helps me, sometimes, when everything becomes a little much."

Deciding to ignore Joe's final reason for now (although making a mental note to return to that later, because that was concerning), Taylor nodded, and said, "Yeah, that'd be nice. If I'm not intruding, that is-"

"You're not intruding," Joe promised, beginning to lead Taylor outside and out the back of the house, where he leaned a ladder against the side of the building. Joe began to climb up. Taylor gulped.

"Is- Is that safe?" Taylor asked, eyes darting around.

Joe, about half way up now, stopped and turned to Taylor. "It's quite safe, Taylor. I've done this multiple times before, haven't fallen once."

"But- But what if I- What if I slip, or something?"

Joe slowly climbed back down. "You go up first," he instructed. "If something goes wrong, I'll be here to catch you, yeah? ."

Taylor hesitated, but smiled. Yes, that... that would be good. She slowly began to climb up the ladder, perhaps being a little more cautious than she needed to be, until she reached the roof and sat down, watching Joe climb the ladder after her. The roof was... sturdy enough, and she had a strong enough grip on the tiles that she wouldn't slip off. She was fine.

Joe settled down beside her, setting up a telescope between them. For a while, Taylor just stared up at the clear night sky, a million stars twinkling against the darkness, feeling a wave of calmness wash over her. Joe had been right - this was helping her mind quieten down, and even making her just a little sleepy. Eventually, stars began to shoot across the sky - the meteor shower that Joe had mentioned. And... God, it was beautiful. Joe peered through his telescope, a smile growing across his face, to which Taylor couldn't help but copy.

Joe offered the telescope to Taylor and she took it, staring up at the sky for a while before handing it back to Joe and leaning back. Joe didn't continue looking through his telescope - instead, he just stared at the sky as well, looking completely at peace in his wide eyed gaze.

"Thank you," Taylor breathed, "for bringing me up here."

Joe nodded. "It's no problem, Taylor. Actually, I... I come up here a lot, when I can't sleep. I know I may seem all well put together, but, you know, I get stressed too sometimes, and the stars always help." He took a small pause staring back up at the sky. " I like to come and remember memories they always seem to hold onto me."

Taylor hummed. "Y'know, if you're ever struggling to sleep, you can come to me," she offered. "I'm... probably not great at advice, but I'm up most of the night nowadays, so..."

"Thank you, Taylor," Joe said. "Same, for me. I... do try to sleep, but I won't be angry if you wake me up if you ever need to talk. Or, if you want to use this space, you are more than welcome to."

Taylor reached over, linking her fingers with Joe's hand. Joe twisted his hand around so that they were holding hands comfortably. They didn't say much else, just continued to stare at the night sky, until eventually they found themselves watching the sunrise.

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The next one will be a lot more on the dramatic side and longer I can't wait to post it

★ 彡🍡💮🍼🧸🩹★ 彡

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