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The three boys were gathered in a corner booth at McDonald's near the giant glass window. Matt was on one side, anxiously tapping his fingers on the edge of a tray that held his Big Mac and Olivia's chicken salad. Lucas and Valentine sat next to each other on the other side, both without any food in front of them. Valentine insisted they eat at his house before leaving. "All fast food chains are filled with is high cholesterol and edible coping mechanisms for sad middle-aged people," he told Lucas.
Matt took this opportunity of Olivia freshening up in the girls' restroom to release his anxiousness. "Guys. I think I might have made a mistake taking her here. She said she was fine with it. Right? But I feel like she just said that to be nice..."
Valentine supported his doubts. "You think?" They got there earlier than Matt and Olivia. For the past twenty minutes, he'd just been people watching, not really paying attention to any of the others' small talk. Since then, he'd particularly taken notice of this worn out looking professor grading papers while sipping on coffee and a toddler crying, begging for another toy.
Lucas bumped his elbow with Valentine's and gave him that look he gives him when he says something he shouldn't have. His brows slightly raised, eyes widened more than usual, and lips pressed together. Every time Valentine got that look, he felt a bit like a child being scolded. Though, he still continued with his thought process. "Well, it's true. Why would you bring her to a place that you go to eat when you're high? I know absolutely nothing about romance, but trust me. I can tell you this is not it."
"She's been in the restroom for a long time. Maybe go check on her?" Lucas suggested to Matt, who looked a bit unfazed by Valentine's scorn. They both knew it was because of what Lucas sold to him yesterday. He said he was trying to go cold turkey for awhile, but Lucas tempted him with a fresh batch since he wanted to buy a new watch.
"Yeah, alright." He got up and brushed his auburn hair back from his face.
When he was out of earshot, Valentine spoke up again. "Why are we even here? He's absolutely hopeless."
Lucas gave him an even more intense version of the look before. "We're here to help out our friend." There was this bounce in his voice that didn't quite match his facial expression.
Valentine corrected him. "You're my only friend..." He sighed. "I swear, you should stop being so nice to people and helping them out all the time."
Lucas let out a low chuckle. "What's the harm?" he asked with his palms facing up in the air. "It's only for one night. We'll be out by the lake, listening to the crickets and trying to spot some UFOs before you know it." It was what Lucas promised him for coming. A night out by the lake.
He was about to go on a tangent about how extraterrestrial life couldn't possibly exist and even if they did—would be totally reckless to make themselves so easy to spot, but then Matt came back with Olivia.
Matt slid into the booth first with Olivia following along, pressing herself as close to him as possible. He put his arm around her and kissed her on the cheek to which Valentine mildly flinched at. Lucas's "awww" took over their attention instead.
"Sorry guys. I was touching up my lip gloss when Juniper called," Olivia said.
"Oh, yeah. How has she been after the whole thing by the way?" Lucas asked.
"She's doing better. A lot of tears and ice cream cartons later, she's getting around to being her old self again."
"That's good," Lucas said, looking relieved.
Matt honed in on Olivia's face, taking notice of the shiny pink gloss she just re-applied. He kind of wished he didn't invite company, so they could've had more alone time to do things. He drew his focus on playing with the flap on Olivia's leather jacket. He couldn't get over how pretty she looked or believe she was actually his. It was incredible.
"So, how long have you two been together?" Olivia flitted her blazing blue eyes between Lucas and Valentine. She opened her bowl of chicken salad and started to pour ranch on the side.
Valentine's eyes widened and he looked over to Lucas who started stammering. "We—hah. W-we're not.. we're not together. Hah." He removed his arm from where it was positioned on the booth around Valentine. Sort of did that without noticing.
"It's okay." Olivia gave them a reassuring smile. "If you guys are together, I won't tell Claire." She knew how overly jealous and unreasonable she could be sometimes. Since Olivia was happy with Matt, she looked at any other couple and felt this spark of joy grow in her chest. It felt good to just hang out with people after the whole scandal had closed up.
"We're really not together," Valentine confirmed. He cleared his throat in disbelief that anyone could ever look at him and assume he was with Lucas.
Olivia was shocked. "For real? Sorry. You guys seem so close. Honestly, I thought this was a double date."
Valentine shifted in discomfort, wanting to leave earlier than anticipated. Lucas noticed the change in mood and suppressed his inner excitement in order to clear things up. "Matt here," he held out his hand, "was a little nervous about tonight, so he asked me to come along, and I brought Valentine. That's all."
"Ohhh, I see." Olivia's eyes suddenly lit up with fondness. She turned over to Matt and kissed him on the cheek. "You're so cute," she said, nuzzling into his neck.
Matt tightened her hold on her. He lifted one side of his flannel up and down and said smugly, "Yeah, that's me."
Valentine tried not to appear amused and swiftly made his exit. "Well, I think our job here is done." He unclasped his hands and patted them on the table, heading for the door.
Lucas watched as all five foot five of him strutted away with his head held high and oxfords hitting the glossy floor tiles. He didn't really know what else to do besides follow him.
Before leaving, he flashed both of them a big smile and hoped they continue to have a great time. Matt nodded at him. "Hey. Thanks for coming dude." Olivia waved as he got up.
"No problem. See you guys at school," Lucas replied.
In the parking lot, he spotted Valentine with his arms crossed, leaning his back against the passenger side of Lucas's pickup truck. For some reason, he had a hunch that Valentine would've stood there all night if he hadn't come out right away. He was looking up at something. With his feet planted on the sidewalk, Lucas followed his gaze up to the night sky—a rich indigo fading to dark and speckled with bright stars. Some twinkled, and some faded to let the others shine. A small crescent moon could be seen behind misty clouds. It was a breathtaking sight. "Wow," he whispered to himself.
Coming back down to reality, he walked over to stand next to Valentine. "I don't get why people put so much emphasis on first dates," Valentine told him as he passed.
Lucas pondered the topic. "The more you think about something, the more important it seems."
"I suppose." He didn't sound so sure.
A comfortable silence settled between them. Lucas took this time to pay attention to the gentle, cool breeze making him slightly shiver. It carried discarded napkins to their next destination. It made the whole parking lot feel more ghostly. Besides his pickup and Matt's Camry, he could only see three other cars parked out back. He looked up at the flickering golden arches near the entrance and then at Valentine.
"Have you ever heard the theory of people becoming stars after death?" Lucas asked.
Valentine briefly looked him in the eye. "Yes, I have. It seems implausible considering that stars are just huge balls of plasma. The transference of a human spirit from here to there is unlikely, because it takes at least 4.24 light-years to even reach one. Also, I can't imagine the people in my life who are gone constantly looking down on me like that. Sounds terrifying."
"You may be right," Lucas agreed, "but I don't know. I find it sort of comforting to think that they're moving with me—protecting me somehow, throughout all the struggles in my life."
"That's such a you way to view things."
Lucas kept looking at Valentine and saw in him all the stars in the sky. Actually, they couldn't even compare. The entire cosmos danced on his long, blond lashes. He was more wondrous than unexplored galaxies in space and just as beautiful as every phase of the moon. These thoughts were terrifying to him since Valentine could never feel the same way. He knew that—but still, Lucas accepted him. It didn't change the fact that out of all the places he's been and all the people he's met, Valentine felt the most like home. Maybe they were destined to meet somehow, like the way the sun rises in the morning or how the moon glows each night. You just know it's going to happen eventually.
"I'm sorry about earlier... you know about Olivia." He said, with caution. "I guess I never really told her I didn't have a boyfriend."
Valentine drew his attention away from the sky. He spoke in a voice that was different from his normal, callous one. It was more gentle and reassuring. Only for Lucas. "Yes, well. That's alright. I just didn't know how to respond," he stated, matter-of-factly.
"You don't have to. I'll do all the responding for you." Lucas’s words were filled with authenticity you couldn't miss.
A sudden rush of fondness made Valentine look down at his shoes. Lucas happened to catch the corners of his mouth faintly pulling upwards. A rare Valentine Simmons smile. He felt grateful that he was the one that caused it.
Valentine lifted his head back up again. "Shall we go?" He turned around and opened the passenger side door.
"Sure." Lucas nodded and walked around the front of his truck to the driver's seat.
Out of all the stars, Lucas was glad he found Valentine.