Chapter 121: Under the Stars

Lisa's POV

I can’t sleep.

It’s not restlessness exactly, more like an alertness—of the warm night air coming in through the bedroom window, of Leo’s deep breathing next to me, of something pulling me outside. The moon is full tonight, I glanced up, low and heavy, like a lantern hanging in the sky.

With care I slide out of bed and make a point of not waking Leo. He shifts a bit, to no avail, his arm instinctually going to where I had been before finding solace in the pillow. Even in sleep, he’s reaching for me. The thought makes my chest warm.

I pull on his old shirt from before—looks like I’m getting into the habit of wearing his clothes now—and walk barefoot to the balcony doors. We hardly use the balcony, a minor gap in an otherwise lived in home. But tonight something’s pulling me there.

The doors glide open and I step into the night.

The temperature is just right — warm, not humid, and with a hint of jasmine from the garden below. Overhead, the sky is a work of art.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Startled, I spin around and see Leo in the doorway.

"I didn’t mean to wake you," I whisper.

"You didn’t." He walks onto the balcony and the door shuts with a click behind him. “Bed got cold without you.”

“I had forgotten how beautiful the skies were.”

“I know. I was thinking the same thing.” I rest my head on his shoulder. “We should do this more often. Get out here, I mean. Just…be.”

His arm goes around me, drawing me in. "Abso-freakin'-lutely. This is too perfect to be overlooked."

We linger in our own quiet, comfortable silence for quite a spell, until our naked eyes have been walking across the seemingly infinite stars. The world seems muted, tranquil, like we’re the only two people up right now in the whole universe.

“Do you ever think about it? ” Leo inquires all of a sudden. “How tiny we are? How big everything else is?”

“Sometimes,” I say.“Does it scare you?”

“Not really.” He pauses.“It used to be a massive universe thing. The notion that we’re just tiny specks in this gigantic universe.”

My throat tightens with feeling. “That’s beautiful, Leo.”

“ You make me poetic,” he says with a soft smile, and I feel his lips brush against my temple again. “You make me a lot of things I never thought I’d be.”

“Like what?”

"Happy. Contented. Settled."

“Like everything in my life has led me to you.”

He kisses me then — soft and sweet, like sleep and warmth and Leo. His thumb grazes my cheekbone as he pulls away.

“Again with the wearing of my shirt,” he says, his voice dropping even lower.

“Is that okay?”

“This is so much better than okay.” His hands pressed down to my waist, his fingers bagging with the hem. “Though I have to confess, I like you better without it.”

The night is cold, but I’m flush with heat. “Leo...”

“Hmm?” His lips are on my neck, kissing me along the bend. “Just us out here. There’s only us and the stars.”

“I’m afraid someone might see,” I protest faintly, even as I tilt my head back to give him better access.

It's three in the morning and everyone is sleeping." His teeth graze my neck, right at the pulse point. "And I want you. Right here, beneath the stars."

I’m shivering, but it’s not from cold. “That’s... we can’t...”

"Why not?" He pulls back to look at me, eyes dark with desire in the moonlight. “Live a little, Lisa. Be spontaneous with me.”

My heart is pounding now, nerves and adrenaline both. "What if—"

"What if we make a memory?" he interrupts softly.

"What if we do something wild and beautiful and just for us?"

"Yeah." I grab the bottom of the shirt and pull it over my head in one smooth motion. The crisp night air fans across my bare skin-I’m vulnerable and powerful all at once.

Leo's breath catches."God, Lisa. You're stunning."

"Come here," he murmurs, leading me over to the lounge chair we’ve barely sat in. He goes first, then brings me onto his lap so that I’m straddling him, our bodies lined up perfectly.

I lean down to kiss him, and it's different out here—raw and primal and somehow more real. Having my hips guided by his hands, I slowly lower myself onto him, both of us gasping at the feeling.

For a moment, we're frozen roots, foreheads glued together, simply basking in the perfection of want to be riveted like this. Above us, stars witness our union, the moon bathes us in the light of silver and the night encloses us into darkness.

Then I begin to move.

It's slow at first— a rolling of hips, a soft rhythm that gradually accelerates. Leo's hands are everywhere—my back, my breasts, my face—he is indecisive with his touch—unable to choose where to place his hands, or maybe wanting to place his hands all over.

"Lisa," he groans, his voice rough with pleasure. "You feel incredible."

The fire in his eyes nearly undoes me. It’s so much love, so much want, so much tenderness, so much wild need. I feel very exposed in a way that has nothing to do with being naked.

“I love you,” I pant as I build and coil tighter and tighter in pleasure. “Leo, I love you too much.”

his hand moving in time with him

“I love you too,” he answers, his pacing becoming less measured, more frantic. “So much, Lisa. So goddamn much.“

His hand slides between us, seeking our connection, and pressing in a way that makes me shout. Above us, stars slowly drift over the sky and all all-seeing and unchanging deceivers of the heart and soul. “Let go,” he is coaxing, his other hand weaving through my hair. "Come for me baby. Let me see you fall apart."

And I do.

Pleasure rolls over me in waves, and I call out his name to the stars, my body shaking as I burst apart with him. He follows moments later with a desperate kiss as he pulls me down, holding me close with his arms, as if afraid I'll vanish.

We tumble into each other, breathing hard, sweat slicking our skin in the night air. I snuggle my head into his shoulder and feel his chest moving as he breathes under me as I hear his heartbeat slowing.

"That was..." I begin, then stop, finding no adequate way to express it.

"Incredible," he adds, pulling me closer with his arms. "Perfect. Magical."

"All of the above." I raise my head to look at him. "I can't believe we just did that."

He smiles, looking quite pleased with himself. "I can. We’re spontaneous now, remember?"

"Spontaneous," I repeat, chuckling softly. "Is that what we’re calling it?"

"That and being heartbroken and young and desperate to make out with someone."

"TBH right."

So we stay like that for a long while - intertwined on the lounge chair, and neither of us eager to get up. The cool night air blows through our flaming skin and I feel a chill.

Instantly, Leo’s hands are rubbing my back, warming me up. “Cold?”

“A little.”

“Come on.” He helps me up, both of them gathering their discarded clothes. “ Let’s get you inside and warm up,” he says.

But when we're about to leave I turn around to look up at the sky once more. The stars were still there, still bright, still witnessing everything we’d shared tonight.

He spins me in his arms, tilting my chin so his eyes can meet mine.

Eventually, we do get inside, leaving behind the balcony, the stars. But as we snuggle up in bed, Leo’s arms wrapped tightly around me, I can still feel the night’s magic on my skin.

"We should definitely use that balcony more often," Leo murmurs sleepily against my hair.

I giggle. "For stargazing? "

“And stuff."

"Deal."

When sleep finally pulls me under, warm and safe in Leo’s arms, I think about the universe, about how tiny we are in the vast expanse of everything. But here, in this bed, in his arms, I am infinite.

Love does that, I think. It makes you feel like you’re simultaneously impossibly tiny and impossibly important.

And as I fall asleep, I see you among the stars — a memory from this perfect, impromptu, splendid night beneath the sky.