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“Ahhh, I can see it,” Ash said, sitting up straighter.

“Hmm?” Cass blinked his eyes open slowly, still distracted.

“The Milky Way. Just barely, but it’s there, yeah?” Ash pulled his hand away from Cass’s thigh and swept his arm from the west to the east across the sky. “Is that it? Can you see too?”

It took Cass a second to reorient himself, but then he searched the sky where Ash had indicated, and he shook his head in amazement. It was faint—just a hint of a cloudy band stretching across the sky—but obvious enough. “Yeah, I can. Wow.”

“It’s beautiful,” Ash said, his voice dropping to a whisper. “It must be huge, huh?”

Cass nodded in agreement and swallowed hard as Ash’s hand settled back on his thigh. “I remember reading that all the stars we can see in the sky are within the Milky Way Galaxy. The nearest is Promixa Centauri, but I don’t think we can see it. The brightest is Sirius, but—”

He frowned, trying to recall the information he’d looked up a few nights ago when he’d started planning this outing. Thinking was much, much too difficult right now, though, especially when Ash’s hand drifted slightly higher on Cass’s thigh.

“Sirius, hmm . . .” Ash trailed off for a moment and leaned into Cass again. “I kinda want to take my phone out and look it up, but then if I do, I feel like we’ll have to start the clock over and let our eyes adjust again.”

“You’re probably right. I feel like it was supposed to be clearly visible to the south. Or the southeast. But not until later, a couple hours, maybe.”

“Can we identify any others without having to look things up?” Ash asked, resting his head back against Cass’s again. “I mean, I can see Orion’s Belt there. What’s that orangish one?”

Glad for the distraction—and that he actually remembered this one—Cass grinned. “That’s Betelgeuse. It’s part of Orion, his shoulder, actually. And then Rigel there . . .”

He continued on, pointing out another couple of stars in that constellation and then giving Ash a summary of the myths and lore he remembered about how the Milky Way had gotten its name. Ash asked some questions, most of which Cass couldn’t answer, and they agreed to file them away until later, when they could look the information up.

They talked more, mostly about constellations and what they knew and didn’t know, but also about family and holidays and random things. Another hour or more easily passed, and when they fell back into silence a while later, the night chill seemed to deepen. Cass knew it had to be well after ten, maybe even close to eleven.

He slowly searched the sky again and then nodded. “Ah, there’s Sirius,” he said, pointing with his free hand to a spot a little above the horizon to the southeast, where a bright bluish-whitish star twinkled.

Ash hummed and twisted his head to follow in the direction Cass was pointing. “Ah, yep, I see it. And—”

A burst of light popped in the sky, and a bright white streak shot up in a wide arc, tail streaming along behind it until the light fizzled out and disappeared. Cass’s heart thudded in his chest, and Ash’s hand drifted higher on Cass’s thigh again as he sat up a little.

“Did you see that?” Ash asked in awe.

“Yeah. Yeah, I did,” Cass confirmed.

Ash huffed a quiet laugh and then shook his head before resting back against Cass. “Make a wish, yeah?”

Cass swallowed hard, and, his heart still pounding, he reached up and touched Ash’s chin. Ash turned to look at him, his smile soft and filled with wonder. It was so, so beautiful.

Something fluttered in his chest, and Cass finally couldn’t hold back any longer. He knew exactly what he wanted to wish for, and he had it right there. Right in front of him.

He brushed his thumb gently across Ash’s lips in a silent question of consent. And when Ash pursed his lips and nodded, Cass let his hand drift lower to cup Ash’s cheek. He leaned in slowly, his arm tightening around Ash’s shoulders, and Ash met him partway.

Their lips touched softly at first, as tentative as their kiss the previous night. This time, however, neither of them pulled away. They moved together, their lips caressing and exploring, and it was somehow warm and soft and tender but also sure and intense. Cass moaned—a sound he knew he’d never made before—and then he felt Ash smile into him.

For whatever reason, that was about as much as he could take right then.

He broke the kiss, panting as he tipped his head forward to rest against Ash’s. Ash let out a weak laugh.

“Was that your wish?” Ash asked breathlessly.

But Cass couldn’t answer. His heart was still racing, his chest was on fire, and his lips tingled in the most amazing way. He somehow managed a nod and then closed the gap between them again, his lips easily finding Ash’s in the darkness.

Grant (Saturday, November 26, 2022 – 11:01 p.m.): Yo dude remind me what time I’m picking you up from the airport tomorrow

Chapter Thirty-Five

Ash