Anyone who gets migraines will tell you that migraine hangovers are real. It really could be compared to a night of heavy drinking, with the aches and the unstableness on your feet and the unpredictability of what kind of drunk you'd be that night (weepy, blackout, irritable, etc). I'd experienced mostly all of it, but surprisingly enough, I woke up without one this time.

I stirred awake on my own late into the morning, my eyes adjusting to the soft sunlight trickling in through the blinds of the bedroom. The lingering ache from my body being so tense set in, but otherwise I didn't feel like a raging garbage fire.

The night came back to me in dull, diluted pictures. I remembered laying in the dark and being brought a cold, icy towel. I remembered falling in and out of sleep beside Devon as he watched -

Oh god. Devon.

My thoughts stopped dead in their tracks, to the point where I could almost hear the screeching of metal on metal as someone threw the emergency break. It was only then I registered the warmth of someone's body pressed against mine, and the weight of their arm draped over my torso. Undoubtedly all those bodily appendages belonged to him.

I felt his chest press gently against my back every time he inhaled and exhaled, followed by the soft caress of his breath on my cheek. For a moment I lost myself counting his breaths, steady and almost reassuring. When I inhaled, I caught a whiff of his clean, rainy-day scent. I inhaled again, almost inadvertently syncing my breathing with his. It was calm and controlled and slow and steady. All the things that I wasn't used to him being.

I started to move slightly to see if I could unwind myself from him without waking him, and somehow the shift in weight on the mattress had me sliding back further into his body instead. Something firm pressed into the back of my thigh, and my body knew without having to give it much thought as a bundle of nerves warmed in the pit of my stomach. Devon McCall did in fact have morning wood sleeping beside me, and I wasn't sure if it was satisfying or mortifying.

I decided that at the very least he didn't deserve to be mortified about it (because he absolutely would have been), so I sucked in a breath as I made another attempt to shift my body away from him ever so slightly. A sleepy groan escaped his lips. "Five more minutes."

As if his voice wasn't satisfying enough, the sound of it half-asleep made me weak at the knees. Thank god I was still laying down, otherwise I might have buckled.

"Okay, five more minutes," I replied softly with a delicate smile.

After I'd stood up slowly and made sure the room wasn't going to start spinning, I allowed myself to turn and look at him. He was still in his jeans and his hoodie from yesterday, the bottom hem of his hoodie rising up just slightly to expose the black waistband of his boxers. For a moment I wondered if I was dreaming again (because why did I keep dreaming about watching him sleep), but that feeling dissipated quickly. That was lust - the desire to reach out and touch him in more ways than one. No, this was something entirely different. Something I wasn't sure I could conjure in my dreams.

It always amazed me how much younger people looked when they were sleeping - unhindered and unbothered by the world and everything in it. Pale morning sunlight softened all the rigid edges of him, and there was a peacefulness to him that was such a stark contrast to his grouchy, Prince of Darkness persona. The dark waves of his hair had turned to ripples on the pillow, the way the early morning ocean would hit the shoreline.

Maybe for once in god knows how long he was just comfortable, and after last night, I owed it to him to let him stay in that comfortable place for as long as possible. He had no obligation to me last night, but he acted like he did. He didn't have to take care of me, but he did, and he didn't have to stay when I asked him to, but he did.

I hated that he saw me like that, but I didn't hate the way he made me feel. Not just about being okay about being down for the count last night, but every time he looked at me. It made my stomach grow wings and try to fly out of my body.

After managing to tear my gaze away from his sleeping body, I made sure I was presentable enough for other human eyes (thank god I had the mind to sleep in a hoodie and leggings) before venturing out into the living area of our suite. The lights were off, and the only sound that could be heard was the hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen. The air felt undisturbed, as if we were the only two people that had been there all night.

When I went back into our room (oh god, our room), Devon had begun stirring awake. He rubbed his eye with a tattooed hand as he checked his phone, having rolled over onto his back.

"You're up," was all I could manage to croak out. Duh.

"Getting there," he grumbled, his voice still coated in sleep. Oh my god, could he not? "I mean, it is almost 11."

"I..." his mention of the time caught me off a bit. "Nobody's here."

Did nobody come to wake us? Or worse, did anyone actually see us like that? It must have been Evie, that conniving minx. I could only imagine the look on her face, rubbing her hands together like she'd just stumbled upon a cache of raw diamonds.

"They went to the Ecotarium," Devon replied with his head down in his phone. He kept his tone painfully casual, as if I'd made everything up that happened last night, and that he had not in fact been poking me with his erection all morning. It was gone now obviously, and I wished I hadn't even attempted to steal a glance at his crotch. Didn't it hurt in such tight jeans?

No. Stop. I needed to regain control of myself and my thoughts. I was spiraling.

"The what now?" I arched an eyebrow at him.

"The Ecotarium," he replied, this time with almost comical emphasis on Ecotarium. "Apparently it's some cool nature museum thing here in Worcester. I was reading about it, it's got a digital planetarium and animal exhibits and all kinds of nerdy shit. So Gareth wanted to go because he is a fucking nerd."

That got me to snicker. "You need to be nicer to him."

"I know." The softness of his admission took me by surprise. He must have known it too, since he sat up with a groan, rubbing his face with his hands as if he could rub the softness away. I knew better though. I'd already seen it.

"It's more fun to pick on him though." Devon shrugged. "Anyway, if you're...feeling okay, or up for it, or whatever, we can go meet them. Apparently there's also a touch tank."

It was then I realized that behind the usual snark, he was still making an effort to try and make me feel better after last night. He had no obligation to, but he did anyway, and that was ultimately what made me surrender.

"A...a touch tank," I echoed warily.

"Yeah, a touch tank." This time it was Devon's turn to shoot me a wary look. "You know, like at an aquarium, where you get to touch all the baby sharks and stingrays and they're all slimy and shit."

"I know what a touch tank is," I folded my arms over my chest. The thought of all those slimy creatures sent a chill slithering down my back. "I just can't believe you of all people want to participate in something that most people consider fun."

Devon hopped off the foot of the bed and bumped my shoulder with his as he walked past me. "Keeps you on your toes, Polly Pocket."

"When are you going to stop calling me that?" I called after him as he retreated into the other bedroom in the suite.

"Never," he called back, and I smiled to myself.

⋆ ★

It was just after noon when we got to the place, where Devon silently paid for us at the ticket window without even looking back at me to see if I wanted to pay for myself. The entry hallway into the facility was lined with tall, manufactured waterfalls that spilled into little stone culverts at the floor behind glass. The sound of running water steadied my heart as we slowed our walking pace behind a hoard of middle schoolers.

"I can't remember the last time I was even at an aquarium," I said to him.

"An ecotarium," he pointedly corrected me, fiddling with the collar of his leather jacket.

"Whatever you say, Prince of Darkness." I let a faint smirk gently tug at my lips as I nudged him, and he smirked back. I glanced around at the few other small groups of people, wondering how we looked to a casual observer. Was the static electricity between us as visible as it felt?

We took a hallway off to the side and followed those middle schoolers to the touch tank area. Just over the faint laughter and the running of the water filters in the various tanks, soft piano music could be heard. It smelled like fish - which I guess made sense because we were surrounded by them - but it didn't make the smell any less gross. I didn't like deep dark water, and therefore anything that lived in it.

But Devon on the other hand was like a kid in a candy store, leading me over to one of the tanks we could lean over, and suddenly my skin felt like it was crawling as a little spotted stingray seemed to sense our presence and splash up to the surface of the water.

Devon slid his jacket off and draped it over my shoulders so the sleeves wouldn't get wet and reached into the tank, smirking at me as his hand brushed the top of the stingray, as if he knew I was getting skeeved out. But then I watched him soften into more of a contented smile as the stingray swam back and forth underneath his hand, and I wanted to know what was going through his head. When he glanced up at me, I couldn't even bother to look away, and his more conniving smirk returned.

"Come on, you can't leave him hanging."

"No thanks, I'm good." I wrinkled my nose up.

Devon scoffed. "Wow, you're no fun."

"Says the King of No Fun."

"Funny, I thought I was the Prince of Darkness."

"You've ascended the throne, congratulations."

I crossed my arms over my chest, realizing his jacket still draped over me, and it smelled just as good as he always did. It almost canceled out the icky fish smell, and I could have buried myself in it.

Devon sighed and shook his head. "Just give me your hand."

I recoiled almost comically. "Why?"

"Because I asked you to, and you trust me."

It wasn't a question. It was a statement, and he was infuriatingly right. Against all odds, I really did trust him. Because how else are you supposed to feel about someone who's already seen right through you and is still standing next to you?

So when he held his hand out, I took it. Even though he wanted me to touch him, it wasn't lost on me how he still flinched almost imperceptibly when I did, as if I was the icky slimy fish.

He gently guided my hand in his down to just graze the surface of the water, where a baby shark was waiting, its silvery back painted with thick black stripes. It was definitely slimy, but not in an unpleasant way. It was like petting any other animal - something about it stilled your nerves and your heart and grounded you in a way most other things couldn't.

"He's cute," I mused as I ran a finger down one of his little fins. When I looked over at Devon, that rare beaming smile of his lit up the room.

"Told ya so."

"Are you...are you actually having fun?" I chided him with a coy grin.

Devon stood up straight, letting a resigned sigh escape his lips. "I like sharks. People are scared of them, but most of the time, they're just doing what they have to to survive. It's not really their fault."

The shark wiggled back up to us, as if he could hear and understand Devon.

"Kind of like you," I whispered, more to myself than him.

"I...I know," he replied in a soft, breathy sigh. "And I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Everything, I guess."

He lowered his gaze to me, and there was an intensity in eyes that I'd never seen before. He looked at me the way that people did when they not only saw right through you, but knew that they did. I had to gulp my heart back down into my throat. Could he see that all my ricocheting thoughts were about him?

I didn't have much time to spiral any further when someone beside us cleared their throat.

We both glanced over to see three of those middle school boys looking at us in exactly the way you'd expect middle school boys to look at a guy and a girl standing as close together as we were.

"So...are you two gonna kiss or move out of the way?" one of the kids asked with way too much attitude. The two kids beside him giggled.

I felt my whole face blanch, but whatever demon that lived in Devon took over. He zeroed his glare in on that kid, letting out a low growl from his chest. "Or I could throw you in there and watch them eat you."

The kids turned to mortified statues, and I clapped my hand over my mouth to hide the unattractive laugh I would have let out at this poor kid's expense.

"Oh my god, we're leaving," I said through breathy laughter, taking Devon's arm and dragging him out of the touch tank room.

"You're terrible," I scolded him as we made it out into the hallway. Soft blue and green lights danced on the walls, highlighting different signs for different exhibits in the nature museum. "That kid is gonna see you in his nightmares now."

"Good," Devon snorted. "My life goal is to be nightmare fuel."

I snickered. "I don't think you mean that. You just tried to cuddle a baby shark."

A sheepish smile worked its way onto Devon's face as he rubbed the back of his neck. While I was very sure we weren't going to kiss (despite that obnoxious middle schoolers poor observation skills), when I looped my arm around his, he settled into me, his body comfortable like it had been this morning. Did he know I saw right through him too, and that underneath that black heart of his was something that would thrive if he just let it?

"So...aren't we supposed to be meeting them somewhere?" I asked, still completely unable to settle into silence in a way that he could. That was the undying yapper in me.

"Evie said they're at the planetarium thing," Devon replied, pointing to a sign that led to two big steel doors.

When we reached it, Devon reached over me to open it, gesturing for me to walk in first.

"Why thank you, your highness." I grinned as I curtsied at him.

"Oh shut up," he grumbled, but it was getting harder and harder for him to hide that coy little smirk of his.

I understood why this room was behind steel doors - to keep it as dark as possible for maximum effect. The planetarium room was a giant, sky-high dome with projections of various constellations and points in the galaxy. Even though it was all just a projection, the ribbons of stars as they flickered across bursts of red and purple and blue felt real enough to be able to reach out and touch. Soothing lo-fi music played from hidden speakers spread throughout the room, but other than that it was eerily quiet, as if being there brought an unexpected sense of peace to everyone.

There were cushy chairs lined up along the wall to sit and observe, and in the center was an interactive display on a big touchscreen, where you could change the view of the galaxy above us.

"This is pretty sick," he muttered, keeping his gaze upwards towards the outstretched arms of the galaxy.

All the flickering stars cast an unusually warm glow across his face, and all the hard, rigid edges of him fell away, the way clouds dispersed after a storm, exposing nothing but the soft light of the sun. I was Icarus, and I had flown too close to him.

"What?"

He'd realized I was staring, and me, the yapper, was suddenly at a loss for words. Maybe we really were in an alternate universe. A galaxy far, far away, where me and him made more sense.

"Oh, nothing, you just...you have like, a piece of seaweed in your hair or something." I chuckled. "Probably from the slimy touch tank."

He raked a hand through his hair - an act that should not have been as endearing as it was. "Is it gone?"

It was obviously never there to begin with, but I should have had him do it again for good measure.

"Yeah," I breathed out. "It's gone."

That eye contact lingered just a moment too long again, and this time Devon was the one to clear his throat as he tore his gaze away towards the floor. "I, uh...I guess they're not here."

"We could just wait," I offered, tilting my head towards the chairs. "Enjoy the stars a little bit."

As we settled into two chairs, I watched him again, trying to see through his stained glass windows to see if I could find answers to the Universe of Devon's greatest questions.

Instead, I poked him in the arm, and did what I did best. Yapped. "You know, I was thinking about something you said to me before."

Devon rolled his eyes into yet another galaxy. "What happened to enjoy the stars?"

"I said enjoy the stars, not the silence." I scoffed. The chair was big enough that I could tuck my legs underneath me and turn my body to face him fully. "You said that I trusted you. You didn't ask me if I did, you just knew that I did."

He responded with a shrug.

"Well I'm going to ask you. Do you trust me?"

He hesitated at first, shaking his head as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, I do. So what?"

"So..." I shot him a look. "I think you should play Just Pretend at tomorrow's show."

He shot upright like he'd been electrocuted. "Absolutely not."

"Why not?" I pressed. "What could possibly be wrong with this song that you refuse to play it in front of people."

"There's nothing wrong with it," Devon pressed his fingers to his temple, and the following admission came surprisingly soft. "It's the best song I've ever written."

I groaned in frustration. "Look, you guys play at the Palladium tomorrow. It's the biggest show of the tour, and it's sold out. It is the perfect place to play the best song you've ever written."

"You don't understand," he rubbed his hands down his face, slumping back into the chair.

"Then help me to." I reached out and put a gentle hand to his forearm. "Trust me the way I trust you."

It looked like the night sky lived in his eyes as stars flickered over the darkness of his gaze, and his chest heaved as he took a deep breath, ready to plunge into the abyss.

"Sienna, I..."

"I found them!"

Gareth's grating voice cut through any semblance of peace and silence we had, and Devon recoiled, throwing his arms up and slapped them down on his thighs in obvious frustration. I couldn't help but do the same, slumping back into my chair with a defeated sigh. Where did this frustration come from? Was it what I had said? Or was it what he almost said?

As he stood up to go join them (or scold them, to be determined), I reached for his arm. "Devon...we should continue this conversation. You're too talented to keep hiding away."

And as much as I was shocked by my own admission, my god did I mean it.

He let out a resigned sigh as he shook his head. "Maybe in another universe, Polly Pocket."

⋆ ★

the worcester ecotarium is technically a real place but i amped it up a lot *for the plot* to be more of a combo of the georgia aquarium (fav place ever) and the liberty science center (went all the time as a kid). i LOVED this chapter, i hope yall did too <3

also BLESS BAD OMENS FOR NEW NOAH GIFS SAY THANK YOUUU WE LOVE YOU