The rollercoaster of emotions that I was currently on took another twist when Stacy bypassed the bed and pulled me to a set of patio doors that led out to a balcony. Of sorts, anyway.

It was so small that she couldn't even fit a chair on it. The only decoration was a plant pot with a stem poking out that was looking a little worse for wear. It was still a balcony though, right?

"What do you think?" She asked.

"It's . . . nice." I shrugged, unsure on how else to describe the balcony that desperately needed a clean.

"No, this you idiot!" She laughed, punching my arm and pointing to the sky. I looked up and saw that she was referring to the stars that were peering out from behind the thin clouds.

"You remembered?" I asked in admiration. I wasn't sure she recalled my love of space.

"Of course! Venus is a long-ass day, right?"

"Right!" I laughed back.

"So are all these stars like planets or something?" She asked, seemingly immune to the chill I was feeling.

"Sometimes they look like stars, the closer planets anyway. But they are mostly actually different galaxies. Every galaxy has a star, like the sun is to us."

"The sun is a star?"

"Sure is," I smiled awkwardly. I was actually feeling a little weird talking to her about this. I mean, I loved that she seemed to be taking an interest but sometimes I feel like people are taking the piss when they ask me about space. I was still willing though as I didn't see why she'd bring it up if she didn't want to actually talk about it.

"Cool," she mused. "Can you point out the constellations to me? Like they do on TV?"

Dammit.

"I could . . . but I would need to use my app for it," I laughed, probably ruining the moment.

"Really? Jeez. There really is an app for everything," Stacy giggled. "I can see why you like to look at them I guess. If you were going to live on any planet, what one would it be?" She asked.

Feet on the ground.

"Well . . . Earth!"

"Really? Why?"

"Well, it's the only one that you could live on. A human anyway. We're the only planet with people, animals, forests, buildings . . . beer." I sniggered. I was still drunk after all.

"Fine, what planet is your favourite?" She rephrased. "Mars? Everybody loves that right?"

"Nah. Mars is the hipster planet," I joked, gaining another laugh from her. "God. That's like trying to name your favourite kid! I mean, Saturn is unbelievably beautiful to look at. Jupiter is big and nasty but so, so special. And all the inner planets have all these cool quirks. Evie and I always say we prefer the outer planets. Neptune and Uranus. Everyone always forgets about them and they're so far away that no one really knows all that much about them."

I left out the part that we related to those two planets on a personal level for the exact same reasons.

"So does all this mean you believe in aliens too?" She asked, now with a teasing tone. This was also an uncomfortable topic because as soon as you say "Yes", people automatically think you're a nut job.

"Yes and no," I sighed. "I think intelligent life out there is a bit of a stretch but not impossible. You know like little green men? But you know, the universe is so vast and massive that I think it's a bit naive to think that there isn't something," I dragged my eyes away from the faint glows to see if she was still listening. She looked back at me, her eyes mirroring the sparkles above.

"That's so cool. So you don't think there'll be an invasion any time soon?" She asked.

"Not for a while anyway, I think you're safe to finish your shows on Netflix first," I smiled. I still couldn't tell if she was joking with me so I decided to play along just in case.

"Or anything else I wanted to do."

"Exactly," I answered, not missing a beat. This was like déjà vu from when we'd been out on the town. Maybe we were destined to do this dance forever.

"I'm surprised you came tonight." She said thoughtfully, changing the subject dramatically.

"Why? You invited me."

"Yeah but I know you hate all the people from school."

"I don't hate them. I just think . . . they try too hard."

"And you don't?" She teased but I could tell that it was tinged with a serious undertone. She saw right through me.

"Fair point," I conceded. "I wasn't sure who all would be here to be honest. Just you."

We fell into a strange silence then, as if the two of us were actually in space, everything just as still too, until an unwelcome sound shattered it once more.

"Sorry." I groaned, looking at my phone which had just buzzed.

"Its fine, I better check mine too," Stacy responded, taking her own phone out of her pocket. Isn't it strange how that is always our natural reaction these days?

"It's Evie." I said without thinking.

Sorry! Left my phone at home when I went to the cinema with Emily. Do you still want picked up? I can leave now.

In all the sudden excitement I'd forgotten that I had text her asking her to pick me up. It was when I thought that Stacy was going to ditch me for the One Direction clones. I explained what she was saying and Stacy told me to accept the lift.

"It's getting pretty late anyway and I think we're the only people left. Stupid, fucking friends!"

"What do you mean?" I asked, shocked. She seemed so close with everyone earlier on at the party.

"Nothing. That was a bit over dramatic. Sorry," She laughed at herself before looking back to the hiding stars for answers. "It's just weird being back here, you know? People are different. All my friends are married, have kids, cool jobs or just settled in general. No one is in the same boat anymore," She was still looking to the heavens but I presumed she was talking to me.

"Maybe that's a good thing," I shrugged. "You can sail wherever you want."

"Nice phrase," She smirked, looking back at me now. "I don't hate them or anything. I just wish we were all closer. Like you and Evie. Did you text her back?"

"She's on her way," I confirmed.

"I really like her. She's got that whole . . . plain Jane thing going on. It really works."

I started and literally took a step back. It wasn't a big one, given the size of the balcony though.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing plain about her! She's funny, smart, always there for people . . ."

"And she's pretty," Stacy added.

"And she's really pretty," I agreed, once again without thinking.

I really need to stop drinking.

"I knew it," Stacy grinned victoriously, as if she'd just won whatever game we'd been playing.

"Knew what?" I asked, both confused and nervous.

"You're in love with her too!" Stacy cried, literally jumping for joy. She had definitely drank too much.

"No I don- wait, what do you mean "too"?" I asked, quickly changing gears.

"Isn't it obvious? She is so into you!"

"We're just friends!" I assured her.

"I find that hard to believe," She challenged.

I was ready to argue some more when I heard a car horn. Looking down from the second storey balcony, I saw the familiar site of Evie's trusty Fiesta. It says a lot that that car has lasted longer than both of our past relationships combined.

"You better go," Stacy winked before heading back inside. Taking my cue, I followed her, somehow more confused than when I'd first entered the bedroom.

*

"Hey what took you so long?" Evie cried as I got into the passenger seat of her car.

"Uuuhhh . . . it's hard to explain." I was totally thrown right now, with a million thoughts swirling round in my head.

"Well can't you try? Was it shit? Was it full of assholes?" She was relentless.

"What? No. Nothing like that," I looked at her for the first time then. "I just . . . I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh . . . right. I'm sorry Mike," She said with concern, even touching my arm. She definitely thought I'd been rejected by Stacy or something.

Had I?

Maybe in a weird way I had.

"Thank you . . . Evie." I smiled at her. She smiled back.

Her hair was tied up into a bun and she had her glasses on, covering her brown eyes. She still had her make up on from when she'd been out earlier but she'd changed clothes into her more comfortable attire, a vest top and grey jogging bottoms. Her smile still shined like a diamond, covering almost all of her narrow face and reaching up to her snub nose.

She wasn't just pretty. She was beautiful.

Why hadn't I noticed it before?

"What?" She asked, breaking my confused thoughts.

"What?" I asked back to buy myself some time.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She said, pulling her head back in concern. I wasn't aware that I was looking at her any differently than normal but apparently it was obvious.

"It's nothing. Let's get out of here."

"Ok fine. But . . . first . . . there! The cheesy music you asked for, sir!" She grinned again after setting up Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" on her cars sound system.

Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down.

"Thanks," I laughed as she pulled away from the kerb, though my chuckle didn't last long before my mind turned back to the serious questions I was now asking myself.

Was Evie in love with me?

Or more importantly, was I in love with her?

___________________________________________________________________________

Well that took a turn!

This chapter wasn't as long as I was expecting so I got it out quicker than expected!

So many questions! Lets go!

Mike and Stacy?

Mike and Evie?

Neither?

Do you have a favourite planet?

I want to know all the things!!!