Guyys I know it's been forever since I updated this book but fear no more, because starting today I'm going to be updating it more! I've changed a few things around so here's a summary about things so far;

Lara and James have escaped planet Exion and were captured by two bounty hunters. The bounty hunters flew them to a strange orange sandy planet where James and Laura escaped their grasps and ran away. 

On this same planet in an alien bar they meet Fox, a Stargazer from the planet Tonic (in the same galaxy as Earth). Fox promises to bring them to his home planet if they work for him there for a month or so, and they agree. They go with Fox and shower for the first time in forever. A Stargazer is someone who lives on a planet that is almost always dark, they are similar to humans but in Fox's case he has strange eyes. 

Ok, more info at the end now you can finally enjoy this new chapter:

Chapter 21- If I Can See Your Thoughts

When I awoke James was still asleep beside me, yet it wasn't morning as the room was still pitch black. I wasn't wearing anything but my long fur coat as my leather clothes were drying from washing them last night. 

I sat up and looked around the room, Fox's bed was empty. Where was he? Panic mode activated in my mind as I imagined him giving us up to the bounty hunters or worse; finding out that he himself was trying to turn us in for money. 

I stood and creeped to the door. I was careful not to wake James up incase I was worrying for nothing. He needed to sleep badly, because god knew the next time we'd get a full night's sleep. I went to the door and slowly opened it, looking down the narrow hallway. It was dark but for a window on the left, in which sat a dark hooded figure. Fox.

I sat on the thick window sill beside him, he gave me a grunt of acknowledgement. He was staring out at the stars, stars which were so unfamiliar to me. There were no constellations in this sky that I knew. 

"It's the darkness that makes bright things shine," Fox murmered. He slowly turned his head to face me and his dark eyes turned a light almost pink colour. I just couldn't get used to that.  He settled his gaze on me intently. It was odd, mostly because on Earth we never seemed to look at one another too long in the eyes. It was... what? Not embarrassing, because I almost liked his gaze.

I nodded at his quote and his eyes turned back to their normal dark colouring. "Your eyes confuse me greatly," I sighed honestly. Upon me saying this they turned copper and Fox smiled lightly. 

"Imagine what I feel looking at you," he replied smoothly. I blushed, why did I blush? I didn't know this person! He wasn't even exactly... human. What was I doing out here with him? I didn't know him.

"What do you feel?" I said boldly. I'd never been this bold. Why was this, was it because I'd not talked to another person in months? Yes... that was certainly it.

"You were beautiful before when I saw you at the bar," he stated, "I didn't think much of it until now."

I thought of all the grime I'd showered off, how terrible I'd looked before the shower and how bad I must've looked still. There was no way, he must have been lying. My blonde hair was a weird length from where the young bounty hunter had crudely cut it with his knife.

"That can't be true," I laughed. Maybe his eyes were broken, that would certainly explain it. I was my awkward sheepish self and this stranger thought me beautiful? 

"Yet it is." He looked back outside at the stars. I didn't quite know what to make of this situation. This boy, or whatever he was, was certainly strange but in the smooth dark stranger way.

"Fox, what work do you want us to do on your planet?" I asked, eager for a topic change. I couldn't handle this awkward tension with someone I knew so little of.

"On Tonic we mostly live underground, as the surface is cold. There is little sun so we see well in the dark, but okay also in the light." His face was shadowed in this darkness, I could only barely see the light in his eyes and the highlight from the few moons outside on his nose and cheeks. He hadn't answered my question, but I let it go.

"Can you see me well right now?" 

"Yes," he replied. 

"Can you see well in the daylight?"

"If I wear sunglasses, perfectly."

"Interesting," I looked back at him again, and he was staring at me.

He put his hand to my cheek and leaned his forehead in to touch mine. His eyes were very light now, a warm brown. Was it to emotion that his eyes changed? Warmth? "I may be much like you in form, as humans are the same as us stargazers, yet you must understand why it is so important for me to hate you."

I was shocked, yet I stayed close. He smelled sweet, like honey. "Why must you hate me?"

"Because I can't catch feelings for you the way humans do for one another."

"What is so wrong with that?" How could he dismiss the idea of loving or even liking a person so easily? It wasn't like this was even about me! No one deserved no one, and that was a fact.

"As I said, inside I am different." I looked into his eyes, trying to decipher his thoughts. I swear I hadn't meant to, I really didn't. I looked into his mind, purely by accident. I wasn't used to this power, I didn't know how to control it. But I looked.

His mind wasn't a dark place, which surprised me. I could see things the way he saw them, right now his eyes saw me as light because that's how they seemed to work. It was like he was wearing night vision goggles, yet the colour remained perfect.

He was thinking of a woman dressed in the same black as he was mourning the loss of her lover, much like an old sad romance. Then he thought of that very same woman dying the next day. Lovesick? I hadn't thought there was such a thing.

Then he thought of me, of... kissing me, and... his mind snapped shut like a door was slammed in my face. This was strange, and I felt guilty immediately.

"Interesting," he whispered. He was not shocked, which surprised me the most. Obviously he'd been aware of me entering his thoughts, but how? How had he slammed his mind closed like that?

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" I exclaimed, pulling far away from him and covering my mouth with my hands. He knew what I could do now! What if I'd given us away? What if he'd tell someone?

"Nonsense," he smiled. Smiled? Who even was he? Why wasn't he afraid?

"No, I-"

"I had thought you were human," he laughed, "I'm sorry for that."

"Fox," I shook my head, "I am."

He tilted his head and his eyes became a deep black. I could see him calculating but not judging, which was nice. 

"I know you don't know me well, but when you do I'm very interested as to how and you can tell me." His use of when surprised me. When you know me well...

"Okay, I will."

"You know now the dangers of being close in my race," he sighed, yet he leaned close as if to demonstrate how he wasn't afraid.

"Could you die?"

"No, it isn't like that. If I fall in love and the other dies, then I'm ruined."

"Strange," I sighed, if anything I was learning more about other species. 

"Indeed."

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Author's Note!

Hello guys! I hope you liked this chapter, feel free to vote and comment and please share so that I can get this story going again!! I was super busy this summer and haven't had time to update since, but now the updates shall be back!

Every Saturday, I promise. 

So tell me how things are going and if you liked this. Who do you prefer? James and Lara or Fox and Lara? I'm going to need a name for a character in the next chapter, it's a girl. Suggestions are great!! I'll dedicate the chapter to the person who comes up with the name, so think hard ;)

Hope you all have a great Christmas!

-Claire (aka the author)