I had pulled some bottoms on when we got back to the blankets and grabbed another spare one. Luella laid down beside me on her blanket and I brought one down on us because is anyone freaking surprised, I am cold?

"What did Rayne want?"

"Um... He's a little stressed at the moment so he wanted to just say hello." I lie.

"Oh okay, he didn't wanna come down?" Trev asks.

I shake my head.

"Nah."

"Are you okay?" Luella asks and I meet her eyes and now, lying flat on my back.

"The sky is pretty." I whisper up.

Trev settles down pretty close to Luella and she moves away from me and pressed her side next to him. And as much as I miss her warmth I just stare up at the sky above.

"Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels." I whisper up at the sky.

"Henry Wadsworth Longfellow." August says and he sits down beside me.

Fucking impressive Leo.

"Evangeline?" Trev says and I nod.

"Tale of Acadie." I clarify.

The darker the night, the brighter the stars. Should there ever be cloud to hide them, they still shine. Perhaps that's why I love the starlight, for it comes not in the ease of the day, but when without it there would only be blackness for the eyes. Looking up I ignore how despite August's insistence that he is not interested, as he settled down in the blanket connected to mine, I imagine moving closer, I still want to move closer.

I don't. Of course.

There were lighter patches, clusters of faint and bold light, the constellations altered according to the time of year. These were the same stars that greeted the ancients, the same ones that would be there in millions of years.

"Tell us about the stars August?" Luella says, staring up too.

My head turns to her and then back to him.

"Luella I know about the stars in the scientific sense, you don't want what I know you're better off asking Em."

He turns his head to mine and he looks at me. "Tell Luella what you know about the stars."

Okay.

I stare back at him but then I turn my head back to the sky.

"Can you see the milky way?" I say softly, lifting my hand to the sky and pointing towards the cluster of stars travelling along the sky.

Luella hums a yeah and Trev looks closely, she lifts her hand up and shows him.

"In the middle of the this is the constellation Aquilla." I say. "Latin for eagle. Aquila was the eagle that in Greek mythology actually bore Ganymede or well Aquarius up to Olympus. The eagle was also the thunderbolt carrier for Zeus."

Their heads turn to me, listening to this random piece of knowledge I have. "Look." I say pointing up. "The main, most prominent star in the eagle is called Altair. The top portion of Aquila forms a shallow inverted "V," with Altair nearly the point. This represents the head and wings of the eagle. A line then descends from Altair, which forms the body of the eagle."

"Can you see it?" Trev whispers to Lue and she shakes her head, he lifts his hand to show her this time.

My eyes scan the sky for another and then when I find the one I smile, amused, and I turn my head to look at Leo.

"Your constellation is up there." I whisper.

"I know." He says and turns his head at me, a small almost smile gracing his lips. "Show them."

I look back towards the sky and tell them to follow the line downwards. "Can you see a lion in the sky?" I ask them. "Look, there's a backwards question mark, the stars form the head and chest, then moves to the left to form a triangle and the lion's rear end. Regulus is Leo's brightest star, and sits in the bottom right of the constellation, representing the lion's front right leg."

"There?" Lue asks, point upwards and I just agree, I dunno where there is but I guess so.

"What's the story with Leo Em?" Trev asks and I smile.

"Leo has been a great lion in the night sky across almost all myths and legends. In Greek mythology, Leo is the monstrous lion that was killed by Hercules as part of his twelve labours. The lion could not be killed by mortal weapons, as its fur was impervious to attack, and its claws sharper than any human sword. Eventually Hercules tracked him down and strangled the great beast." I tell them and I look back around to August.

"Leo is invincible." I whisper and his eyes move from the sky to me.

He goes to say something but Luella interrupts.

"No, the story as to why you call August, Leo."

"Oh." I laugh, turning my head and I look at her. "Because August is both utterly his zodiac sign but also sometimes totally opposite and that just amused me when I was learning about the stars. But yeah so August is a Leo."

"A lion?" She asks in amusement and I smile, shaking my head.

"Maybe a little bit of a lion." I muse. "But I mean okay so Leo is ruled by the sun, the sun which governs life and vitality. The sun never goes into retrograde, and likewise Leo's are supposed to be renowned for their stability, loyalty and consistency."

"August is very Loyal." I admit and turn to him and I send him a soft sheepish smile. "But consistent and stable are not two words I would use to describe you."

His lips turn upwards, not at all offended and he just nods his head a little.

"But more than that." I whisper, still looking at August because I feel like he might need to hear this. "Leos are known for Bravery. In tarot his card means strength, which depicts like divine expression of physical, mental and emotional fortitude."

Leo's eyes are amused, disagreeing with my words so much so but I don't care. I like them.

"And okay well your instability." I whisper. "Doesn't equate to weakness. The way you were telling me the other day about tryng to get your life together just shows me bravery and so yeah, Leo is full of contrasts and I think that's interesting. So I started calling him Leo."

I turn back to Luella. "I think that answers your question right?"

"Yeah." She says softly.

"How'd you know about this?" Trev says.

I smile. "I get bored easily, I learnt all of this when I was like 13 or something I don't know. Or well actually the my mum taught me to read palms when I was like five. I have been obsessed with it forever." I tell them and Trev its up and throws a few more logs onto the fire. Lue and I brought a sack load from a garage just before we came.

"I just like looking up at the stars and seeing the connection."

August lets out a breath of amusement through his nose and I look back at him.

"Do you think the symbolism is stupid?" I whisper, curious.

"Not stupid Em."

He sits up but tilts his head back, his throat exposed, and I accidently watch the way his Adams apple bobs as he talks.

"I think it's funny how everyone thinks the stars are so connected when they really aren't." He says slowly.

We all look back up.

"Like even constellations.... They are pretty alone in reality. Most stars are sitting up there with no one around for huge distances in any direction."

We look at the sequined sky in incredulity because they were so close, so connected.

"Our sun is no exception—the closest star to us, Proxima Centauri, is 4.24 light years away, or 70,000 years away in our fastest spacecraft."

August's brain is nerdy and honestly why is that so fucking hot?

"How far is that?" Luella asks. "Like in people's terms."

"Um okay wait." August says and he thinks. "So if the sun were a 4cm-diameter ping pong ball in New York, the closest star is another ping pong ball 1,153kilometers or well 743 miles away in Atlanta."

Our heads slowly turn to him.

"Did you just figure that out in your head?" I say, the attraction dropping, now he's just freaking scary.

"You remember quotes, I see numbers." He says and I lie back down unimpressed.

"You remember the quotes too." I mumble and Trev laughs at my sad tone.

"August why couldn't you have tolerated me years ago when I was failing Math and needed help?"

He looks down at me amused. "You father and I work through math problems, for his amusement, you had his help didn't you?"

A slow smile creeps up on my face. "Well yeah but it would have been nice having a guy who's hot teaching me."

His face drops, unamused.

Luella laughs. "You dad is hot though."

My lips part and my head turns to hers. "Lu.El.La."

"Okay okay sorry." She laughs, raising her hands in surrender and Trev pokes her side amused.

"I would not be able to teach you, your attention span drives me insane and all I try and do is talk to you." August says and I pout.

"I- you hardly start conversations anyway."

"How can I?" He laughs. "You are miles away if you aren't bugging me about something."

I just scrunch my nose up at him and look towards the stars.

"I am sad that I now know they are so far apart."

"They don't know anything else." August laughs, humouring me.

"Just-"

"The stars do not have feelings Emersyn."

I thought he was humouring me but I guess not.

"Next you're going to tell me the moon is not a she."

"The moon is not-"

I turn my head and glare.

He chuckles, lying back down beside me.

"The moon is my most favourite thing in this world August."

"It's not in this world Emersyn Rose."

I huff, turning on my side and I hear Luella and Trev talking between them, ignoring my upcoming rant about the moon.

I am facing him, him laid on his back, an amused smile gracing his lips as he stares up at the stars and I just glare at the side of his face.

"My world August."

"Your world doesn't exist." He chuckles. "The universe does not revolve around you Emersyn Rose."

"No one else calls me by my double barrel apart from my mum if she is maybe annoyed or something. You need to stop."

His eyes flick to mine. "I need to stop?"

"Yeah."

He moves a little away from me but he also turns on his side, facing me.

"Tell me why you love the moon Emersyn Rose?"

My eyebrows furrow in annoyance. "Because I like the metaphors. I like the way you can write about the moon. I like how beautiful it is."

"Tell me the metaphors." He whispers, and I stare into his eyes as they shine with curiosity. I think curiosity. He is amused, I can tell, I think he's taking the piss, so I shake my head.

"You don't deserve them."

His eyes shine.

How rare is it to fine someone whose eyes shine brighter than the stars?

"You're right. But tell me."

"I am not going to whisper poems into your ear August."

His eyes close and I am cold.

"That's probably smart."

I nod and I am the one to turn away from him. To look back up at the sky.

"Wait." Luella says, looking at me. "You can read palms?"

I smile, nodding.

She practically shoves her hand in my face.

Right.

We three sit up and I move a little closer to August so Trev and Luella can move closer to me. He stays laying down, relaxed and I perch up by his head. His head close to my knee as I sit cross legged.

"Okay." I say softly, reaching to Luella's right hand.

"Which hand do you me to read actually?" I ask.

"There's a difference?"

"Sorta." I answer.

She just gives me her right one and I look down at it.

It was dark, but the light from the fire was glowing at us so it was doable.

Now, it was always a think with me to say the positives and ignore any negatives.

So I just trace the lines of her palm with my hand and she watches me intently, they all do.

"This line that circles your thumb is called your life line."

"Oh god." She says in amusement.

"Yours is is long." I say. "Which suggests you're highly resistant to disease and full of vitality."

"You hear that." She jokes looking at Trev. "Full of vitality."

He just smiles a little at her.

"Your starting point is a little low, so that suggest you're a loner."

She laughs a little. "How does that suggest I am a loner?"

"I dunno." I smile. "Just does."

"Your life line ends here." I say, pressing my finger to the point. "Which suggests you need to escape, travel, hey you wanna come on my trip with me?" I smile and she grins.

"Don't joke I will."

I just smile.

"Okay your heart line." I tell her, moving across the hand. "The closer it is to your fingers the more emotional you are. The less self control you have."

She looks down at her hand. It's the line that runs straight below your fingers.

Hers is quite far away.

"Where's yours?" August says in amusent and I just narrow my eyes at him and show him, lifting my hand infront of his face and he chuckles when the fact is mine is really close to my fingers.

Whatever.

"Yours starts high." I tell her and then I look at the ending point. "But it ends low which suggests you are optimistic but sometimes forget."

She laughs a little.

Her line is short which is supposed to mean that she has a selfish approach to love and a poor emotional state.

I won't say this.

"Your line is curved." I say softly. "Which means that you're supposed to be a sensitive person, caring and things."

"This is cute." She laughs and she pulls her hand away and shoves Trev's in my face.

"Read him."

We laugh at her.

"Right or Left?" I say to him.

"What's the difference?"

"Okay so I think it's your right hand is an indication of your future and your left is your past. But it's like sort is whatever because they look the same so it combines to make present I think."

I read his palm using the two basic lines and then I focus more on his on his life line. "You have one major cross over you line." I say gently. "At about age..." I count the centimetres between the start and the finish. "Of fifteen?" I whisper.

He looks at me confused.

"A break in the line, or like the cross suggests an injury or a trauma or I don't know something really significant that changed your life."

"My dad died?" Trev offers and I pause, a little guilty that I brought it up when honestly the line looked like a broken leg or a broken limb or something like that, not a death.

"Sorry for your loss Trev, but yeah, at fifteen?" I ask and he nods slowly.

"Okay now you've freaked me out Em." Luella laughs and she pulls his hand away and I smile when she links there fingers together.

"And you didn't know about my dad until like this second?" Trev says shocked and I agree, smiling slightly.

"Your traumas are written into your skin." I whisper and I turn to August, heavily freaking curious about his hand and he just shakes his head at me.

"Please?"

"I don't believe in that shit Em."

I smile. "You don't have to, but I think I do, so can I please see your hand?"

He shakes his head and I just pout a little, looking down at him.

"No."

"Okay." I give up and Luella and Trev move away so they can lie down again and I copy them, looking back up at the stars.

This night was so nice.

Like so nice.

"Are you still coming to the gig?" Trev suddenly says, looking over at me.

"Oh when is it?"

He laughs. "Well it was tomorrow but it got cancelled so it's next week."

"Then yeah sure, I will make sure I am off and stuff."

He nods, throwing me a smile and he lets his head down again.

"Do you go?" I whisper, looking at August.

"No."

"Why?"

"It's not really my scene unless im fucked up and I am trying not to get fucked up."

I nod, that sounds fair enough.

"So I'll just be with Luella?" I ask and he looks at me confused.

"Yes."

"Okay." I whisper.

"I might come." He says, his tone soft and I just watch him watch me.

"Don't come if you'll do something you don't want to."

"I can just drink." Leo answers. "That's not too destructive."

"I don't know if I've seen you just drunk."

"Probably not." August says. "We probably shouldn't both we drunk at the same time."

I frown at him.

"Don't look so offended." He chuckles, turning his eyes to the sky.

"We can both have a good time around each other." I whisper.

"Mm. Sounds a little dangerous to me."

Does he mean because everytime one of us is a little too fucked up, inappropriateness always happens.

"Well I don't mind." I say, amused and shakes his head at me, a hidden smile not being hidden very well.

"I know you don't. That's why it's dangerous."

"Dangerous for who?"

"Everyone." August chuckles, looking back at the sky and his hand leaves it's place where it was pressed easily against his torso and he places it on my stomach.

I stare at him.

And then I realise he was offering his hand for me to read.

I smile.

Shit I think I have butterflies and I don't know if my stomach is flipping because his palm is pressed down on it or whether the gesture just got to me.

I reach for it and pull it up, turning onto my side so I could rise to to next to my eyes and see.

"Don't tell me what you see Emersyn." August says and I lift my eyes to the hazel mess of his.

"I wouldn't." I whisper. "It's my secret."

His eyes soften, looking at me and then he shakes his head a little and he closes his eyes.

I just take the opportunity to look and yeah okay his fate is written chaotically across his skin. The universe saying August didn't ever get pushed into this world from the right way up. There were crosses and merging and deep ridges that spoke of trauma that I knew but never saw depicted as a picture.

It was something else. I don't know why. I don't know why when I look at his lifeline, when I can see the mark which would depict his attempt this year, tears are almost choking me. How I am forcing myself to calm down when I see more of the same. How there's at least three other ones that look like this along the line on his skin which symbolises his life, his teen years, his childhood.

I just stare at them, my fingers tracing the lines.

I know palm reading isn't a science, I know, I know I am upset over lines that probably hold no meaning.

"Is it lonely living in your own little world Emersyn?"

Those words confuse me, I look up at him.

"No."

"No?"

"Not at all."

He smiles a little. "What do you see?" He asks and I let his hand fall flat.

"Nothing." I tell him.

"Nothing?"

"No."

August smiles. "That bad huh?"

I just shake my head and look back at the stars.

"The lines are sort of like the stars." I tell him.

He stays quiet and then his head lifts, looking over me to Trev and Luella and I freeze a little because I forgot about them.

Things just disappear when his attention is solely on me.

"How was your date." I ask and he snorts, sitting up and moving closer to the fire. I sit up too, looking at Lue and Trev who were a little away from us, eating the snacks that I brought.

I look at the chocolate that they're pigging and stare a little.

Then I get a choclate bar tossed over at me.

"Eat." Lue says, turning back around to Trev but I toss it away from me, reaching over to grab my water.