Hold Me While You Wait

8|you were one with the stars

you were one with the stars

There weren't any couches in the living room. Mrs Collins had gotten rid of them in her determination towards renovating the lake house.

Gray was standing in the middle of the empty room. She had come with aunt Lauren to help Elis's mom clean and rid of a few more other furnitures, but Gray felt that a bigger reason having to do with why she wanted to come over was so that she could see Elis.

A full day has passed since the night of the bonfire. The night of conversations, stargazing and minimalistic touches. The pictures were trapped in Gray's mind, when both girls would hold hands, when Elis would say something so meaningful in the time that they were both quietly looking at the night above.

The stars...they know my soul.

She couldn't forget those words, and so with the vulnerable tone and faltering voice used to speak them.

She wished to know to what depths they originated, seeing all of Elis more than her curly hair and attractive chestnut irises.

But she knew better than to hope for Elis to show her everything at once. Gray, at the very least, tried to understand what the curly haired girl was going through and the state of susceptibility she tried to hide behind walls.

But still it was the thought of going behind the walls that made her more eager to continue talking to Elis, to make her smile much more often than she did. Gray didn't understand her emotions half the time, but she knew about attraction, the constant need to see Elis, and to simply be.

With her, she wanted to be.

"Gray? A little help over here please," Mrs Collins called.

The ginger girl walked over to the kitchen where both Mrs Collins and Aunt Lauren were trying to push the fridge away from the wall.

"Oh good you're here. Honey, can you help us move this old, ragged thing? I want to clean under all the furniture, who knows how much dirt three years of not coming back here gathered? Everything is just so dirty and rusty and old! I need to buy new furniture soon. Lauren, do you think there are good deals in the local furniture shop? I think I want to get a--"

"Why do you need to buy new furniture if you're only staying for summer?" Gray asked, moving over to help the older ladies with pushing the fridge.

"You can't cut off adults in the middle of their sentences, Gray," aunt Lauren scolded.

Mrs Collins chuckled. "Oh no it's fine. I was rambling on anyway. But yes, even though we are going to be here for a short while, Jack and I are planning to keep visiting this place often."

"Speaking of Jack, why isn't dad helping you push the fridge anyway?" All three of them turned around to see Elis walking into the kitchen.

Gray's lips couldn't help tug a small smile at the arrival of the curly haired girl, she didn't think that she'd actually get out of her room.

"He's not here currently. Do you remember Mr Yan from church? He had a puncher on main road and called your father to help tow his car."

Elis nodded at her mother's words, her eyes falling over to Gray as she leaned against the doorframe with one foot crossed over the other.

The ginger girl was simply clad in jean shorts and a yellow tank top, similar to the one she wore on the night of the bonfire. Elis also noticed how the pair of shorts accentuated her legs, which stood unparticularly long in their golden glory, like a reflection of the sun stuck on someone's skin.

Mrs Collins subtly cleared her throat, a small smile on her face as she returned her attention to the fridge. "Actually, honey, you and Elis can go clean her room or something. I don't think Lauren and I will fail to move this thing on our own."

"You sure?" Gray asked, her eyes darting to Elis's mom.

"Yes yes," the smiling woman affirmed. "Go now, the both of you."

Gray nodded and walked over to Elis, who turned to walk away just before Gray could reach her.

The wooden floor creaked as both girls walked up to her room, Elis knowing that the ginger girl was right behind her.