LOCKDOWN

Chapter 23

It's been two days since our awkward discussion where we had both admitted we wanted to kiss each other, and in true Peyton fashion, she had not mentioned it since. I knew better than to bring it up, so I acted as if it hadn't happened. We ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner together every day. We watched TV together, we played with Dennis together, and had casual, albeit slightly tension filled, conversations with each other.

Today was no different.

We were sitting on the lounge with Dennis watching a news report about medical scientists in the UK conducting experiments in which they inject 'non fatal' strains of the virus into individuals and then monitor them while they undergo treatment. Once the segment was over, the news anchor then began to read out reports of deaths in the capital cities of Australia. At this, Peyton stood up silently and walked outside, the back door closing loudly behind her.

I followed her not long after, finding her lying on the grass, staring up at the night sky. I approached her slowly and lay down next to her, joining her in staring upward at the star speckled canvas above.

"You okay?" I asked softly, not removing my eyes from the sky.

"Yeah, I just...it's so depressing," she sighed deeply. "I needed a break from it all, you know?"

I nodded in understanding. I wasn't sure if she had seen, as she was still looking up at the sky, so I spoke.

"I know what you mean."

"You can watch it if you want. I know hearing the good news stories makes you happy," she said.

She wasn't wrong. Hearing news of recovered patients, donated money, and feel good moments always put a smile on my face. But in this moment, I didn't want to watch the TV. I wanted to be here, with Peyton.

"I'd like to stay with you, if that's okay?" I asked gently.

She was silent for a moment, before replying. "Yeah, I'd like that."

And so we lay together in silence, staring up at the deep blue sky. I hadn't spent much time outside since lockdown had started and I was now cursing myself for it. Nature had truly taken over — the sky was brighter than it had ever been, no doubt due to less pollution since the lockdown had begun. The lack of planes didn't go unnoticed either, since travel had been banned, and the plethora of bright stars that littered the inky sky were mesmerising.

"Wow, it's so beautiful," I whispered.

"See that bright star up there?" Peyton shuffled closer to me, grabbing my arm and pointing it towards a star that was significantly brighter than the others.

"Yeah," I confirmed, my heart rate increasing at our close proximity.

"That's actually Venus. And that one to the left there, with the slightly orange hue? That's Mars."

She sounded so excited as she spoke, pointing out various visible planets and constellations in the sky. I wanted to ask her where she found out all of this information, but I didn't want to interrupt her as she spoke so passionately. I had never seen her so enthralled in a topic before, and her excitement was both contagious and heart warming.

"And that's Gemini over there," she pointed out, gesturing to a cluster of brightly shining stars. "That's my star sign."

"Can you see mine? I'm an Aquarius," I asked her.

"Aquarius isn't visible until October," she sighed, shaking her head. "Of course you're an Aquarius, though."

"What do you mean?"