Ursa Minor (On hiatus)

Little Bear pt II

a/n: Really excited to post these 'lots-of-interaction' chapters. And there's more to come ;) Dedicated to BlancPain for following and leaving lovely comments! <3

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I thundered down the stairs, just to have Allen tackle me in the middle of it, trying to get ahead. 

"Hey," I protested, tripping into the railing. To no avail as he jumped past me, easily flying off the last step. Well, maybe it was to prefer over us landing in a heap of limbs on the floor. I still shoved him as I caught up. He shoved me back and I gripped onto his shoulders and he got this intense look on his face trying to flip me over with some old-school wrestling technique and that heap of limbs suddenly seemed extremely tempting. 

"You really shouldn't," he said lowly, but still smiling so brightly that his dimple was positively blinding me. "I have two older brothers you know." He pushed me off, and I saw my chance. 

"And I have a little sister so," I ducked down under his flailing arms, pinching his side grinning like a maniac as he squealed. Sliding over the floor to the kitchen entrance poking my head in.  

"We're going out," I announced, shaking with laughter. Susan sitting by the dinner table looked up from a crossword of all things. Tim and my mom looked up from the containers they were filling with left-overs. "Ok, don't be long," my mom admonished, but mostly looking amused. 

"Won't, just an-" I yelped as Allen appeared behind me, pinching my side in retaliation. "Just an hour maybe."  

"Thanks for dinner Katya," Allen filled in, all frickin' innocent-faced and smiling. "It was great." 

I left to get my shoes in the hallway. Couldn't make out what my mo replied, but I heard the smile in her voice. A pinch inside because it was so nice that she liked Allen and they were so easily getting along. Not that he had to know. 

"Stop sucking up to my mom," I hissed, as Allen bent down next to me. 

"Just trying to be nice," he retorted mock-seriously. 

I huffed. "You're being way too nice. Like Susan would totally be your girlfriend if she was twenty years younger." 

"Well, maybe it's just as good that she isn't twenty years younger, 'cause maybe I wouldn't want a girlfriend, so it would maybe just be sad if she was..." Allen trailed of rambling. Odd. I looked up to see if Allen's open face would provide any explanation, but he had immersed himself in his shoe-lace tying. Whatever.

There was some snow falling as we walked over our backyard, crouching under the hedges. Some but not the feathery kind. Instead the tiniest crystals flitting around in the air, glittering in the yellow lights on the lit path winding up the West Highland Park. After a couple of minutes I stepped outside the trail, pulling Allen with me. It felt strangely good stepping onto the thin white duvet covering the ground, some snow sneaking into my boots. Leaving my footprints trailing behind me to intermingle with Allen's. He was comfortably quiet. We'd hardly said a word to one another after leaving the house. Should have been awkward. Wasn't. Weird. Or maybe the weird thing was that I didn't even find it weird anymore. I had gotten used to it.

Soon we reached the clearing in the forest that I had been aiming for. The perfect place to watch the stars. Even tonight, through a thin veiling of clouds to the east. The snow muffling the sound of traffic on the interstate. A wall of high trees conveniently covering the nearby lights from the valley, but there was still a faint glow low in the sky. Glenville. The clearing allowed free sky view if you tilted your head backwards. So I did. Next to me Allen did the same.