Thunk.

What?

Thunk.

I sit up in bed, rubbing my eyes tiredly. 

Thunk.

What is that annoying sound? 

Thunk. Thunk.

I frown and look at my window, watching as a pebble hits the glass then falls back to the ground.

What the heck?

Slowly, I get up, looking at the clock. 2:30 A.M.

What is happening?

I walk over to my window and look outside, immediately spotting him. Isaac? What on earth is he doing here at this hour? 

I unlock my window and open it, sticking my head out into the cool night air. It feels refreshing. 

"Angie?" Isaac whispers up to me, smiling.

I wave down at him, tilting my head to the side a little. 

"I want to show you something." 

I scrunch my face, looking over my shoulder at my closed door for a second. Holly would be sleeping soundly in the room down the hall. Besides, she was the one who took me from Isaac. 

Nodding, I carefully swing out my window, dropping to the ground. 

Isaac smiles at me, then takes my hand and leads me to his car. He opens the door for me then closes it after I get in. I watch as he jogs around the car then into his own seat. 

"It's going to be awesome, I promise." He looks at me with a smile in his eyes then starts the car, driving off. 

The top of the car is down so the wind blows through my hair, and I close my eyes, relishing in the comfort of the night. 

How free it feels to be out here. To be doing what I want. 

Isaac drives at a faster speed than normal, the adrenaline pumping through my veins. And it feels wonderful.

Soon, the land around us changes into flat fields instead of tall apartment buildings. A part of me's scared. No one could help me out here. No one would be able to hear my screams of help if he were to drive far enough.

But the other part of me trusts him. Fully. Completely. 

And so, I let him continue driving, taking in the feeling of being free. 

Isaac comes up to a stop in front of a field with tall, grassy hills in the background. 

He gets out then comes around to help me. I take his hand and jump out of the car, looking around. 

"C'mon," he says, leading me to the far hills.

We run there, and it's like I'm flying. It feels amazing. 

We reach the hill where we gradually come to a stop, both of us catching our breath. 

Isaac sits on the hill, pulling me down with him. "Look." He points out to the night sky and my eyes widen, a smile slowly growing on my face. 

The night sky is a deep black, almost like a whole other colour. A trillion stars dot the sky, their bright lights lighting up the fields and hills, creating beautiful constellations. The crescent moon hangs high above us, bathing us in its moonlight. I can't seem to grasp the beauty of it even as I continue to stare at it. It's like another world out here where we can get away from the stress and chaos of our lives. 

My eyes soon wonder over to Isaac who's already looking at me. And that's one of the greatest feelings ever. When you look at that special someone and they're already smiling at you. The person you love with all your heart. Like if they ever left, that crushing weight that follows would surely leave you in pieces.

Love.

Do I love Isaac? 

Probably not.

I don't even know what that is. What is love? What does being loved feel like? How do you know if you love someone? 

Besides, we just met. Who would love me? I've been used, and I'm broken. Possibly crazy since I'm doing this. 

Isaac lies down and I follow, the soft grass beneath me grazing my skin. 

"Isn't it amazing?" Isaac whispers, looking at me for a second with something in his eyes that I can't quite detect before he looks up at the star-filled sky. 

I nod my head slowly, glancing his way then up. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. 

Suddenly, a star shoots across the sky, leaving a bright, blazing trail behind it.

"Make a wish, Angie," he says, closing his eyes.

I close mine and make my wish, locking it within the depths of my heart.

I open my eyes again, only to see Isaac hovering over me, both of his arms on either side of my body holding up his weight.

His deep, brown eyes holding me in place as they always do. His soft breath fans my face and the closeness of him makes my heart beat unrhythmically. 

Slowly, he lowers his head, his lips barely grazing mine. We both close our eyes for a second, the only sound being our slow breathing. I can feel my heart racing, the butterflies in my stomach rising. 

I open my eyes and see him smiling down at me, his eyes filled with an emotion I've never seen before. 

And then he's pushing himself off me and onto the grass next to me. 

My heart is still fluttering and my stomach is doing flips. I can almost still feel him above me, his smile and dark eyes engraved in my head. 

As beautiful as the sky we're sharing. As the stars hovering over us. As the moon bathing us. As the constellations hanging over us, connecting us all. 

Isaac sits up and sighs then looks at me. "Wanna go back?"

I frown and shake my head. Honestly? No. 

"Then what?"

I shrug, looking at him. He chuckles, shaking his head. "We really should get back." 

Sighing, I nod. Looking at him, I smile. 

He smiles, too, then gets up, holding out his hand to me. He's seemed to help more within a few days than anyone in a few years. 

Grabbing his hand, I stand up with his help. Neither of us let go of each other's hand as we walk back to the car. 

Isaac drives us back to town and stops at the very edge, cutting the engine then just sitting there, staring. 

Gently, I put my hand on his shoulder. 

He looks at me and gives me a small smile then looks over his shoulder. "Wouldn't it have been nice to just stay there forever? Under that sky full of stars?"

I nod, looking back, too. But we simply can't just disappear. 

"I can still see some of the stars but all these damn lights block the way. Someday, I'd just like to live under a glass dome somewhere in the Arctic, you know? Just lying there on the warm bed staring up at the twinkling stars and then, just imagine, the Northern Lights appearing, brightening up the whole sky with its greens and purples and pinks. Wouldn't that be amazing?" Isaac whispers, his eyes closed.

I look at him and imagine what he's saying. Lying in a warm bed staring up at the beautiful night sky. Next to him. Yes, that would be amazing. 

But it's never going to happen.

Sighing, he opens his eyes again and looks at me. "Are you ever going to tell me what happened to you?" 

I frown and shrug. Honestly, I don't fully remember what happened to me. I take what Holly told me and picture it in my head, almost as if I had really remembered it.

"Here, I grabbed a pad of paper and a pen. Will you talk again someday?"

Maybe. I don't know. I don't have a reason to right now.

Isaac frowns then shakes his head. "So, what happened?"

I really don't know. I only know what my friend told me.

"You mean the one who took you away from my house earlier?" Isaac raised an eyebrow.

I smiled and nodded. 

Shaking his head, he suppressed a smile. 

Almost everyone bullied me in school. They'd tell me all different things. Mean things. I hated going to school. 

Isaac immediately frowned, looking at me. "Why on earth would they do that to you?"

I shrug.

He's quiet for a second then smiles. "Write down everything they told you you were or weren't."

I give him a confused look but in return, I get a reassuring one. So, I scribble down a bunch of words I still remember. 

Ugly.

Trash.

Never going to do anything good.

Never going to go anywhere.

Dumb bitch.

No one could ever love you.

Isaac scowls when I show him then looks at me with a sad smile. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all this. It's not right. It's just not right how the..." he mumbles the rest of the words, incoherent to my ears. 

I tilt my head but he shakes his then holds out his hand. "Can I have that piece of paper with all the... insults, please?"

Curious, I rip off the piece of paper then give it to him. He takes it, glowering down at it, then stuffing it in his pocket.

What are you doing?

He only smiles. "You'll see." 

I trust him fully and completely so I let it go. Now what?

Tapping his finger to his chin, he looks around. "Go for a walk maybe?"

Okay.

I climb out of the car and wait for Isaac to come around. Without a second thought, he laces his fingers with mine and leads me to the nearest park where we walk on the forest trail. The trees around us sway gently in the slow, night wind. The moon hangs low in the sky. The birds and critters of the day are asleep. 

And two people walk through the park.

Their fingers laced together.

Their hearts warm.

Their souls tugging towards each other. 

And a smile on each of their face.

I like this. No, I love it. I wish it could be like this forever.

~~~

❝When you look at that special someone and they're already smiling at you. The person you love with all your heart.❞