The Obscure Downsides of Fame

46 // Mercury

"That right there is Venus." He pointed up at the sky, towards a very bright star.

I looked through the telescope. It looked almost like a crescent moon, which was interesting.

"Wait, that's the same thing?"

"Yeah! I mean it's pretty cool but my favorite is Mercury." I looked up at him. It was like his eyes were sparkling as he talked about it.

"Why?"

"It's really difficult to spot since it's so close to the sun." He sat down in a chair next to me. "My uncle's an astronomer. When I was ten, he showed me it through his telescope and I haven't seen it since. I mean, I've tried before. It was just really fucking impossible. Or maybe I'm just impatient and keep missing it. It totally sucks."

I knew Oakley liked space. He'd told me that before. I just didn't know how much he loved it.

"Why do you love space so much?" I asked him. He looked at me and smiled.

"I don't know. Maybe because there's just so much. There's so much we don't know. It's creepy yet fascinating at the same time. I mean maybe that's why I like you too. You're full of surprises. I love that."

I looked into his eyes, and they were sparkling just as much as they did before.

"You look tired. I'm sorry," he said with a sheepish laugh. He rested his hand on my cheek, his thumb tracing the bag under my eye.

"It's okay," I said. I liked this.

•••

The sun finally started to rise, and Oakley and I made our way to my house.

"Is it just me or are you always home alone?" he asked, looking around. I shrugged. I liked being home alone. Better than my mom coming home with a new dude every other week.

"I guess," I said. I yawned immediately as we reached my room.

"I'm really sorry for making you wake up this early."

"It's okay," I said, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my chin on his shoulder. I pressed a kiss against where his jaw met his neck. And then he hugged me tighter.

"Can I tell you something?" he asked me, slowly pulling away to look at me. I nodded my head. We sat down in the middle of my bed. I raised my knees and held onto my legs as Oakley sat cross-legged across from me.

"Sometimes I just really mess up. And I tend to push people away and all. I don't want to do that to you." Tears started spilling out, and it concerned me. I hadn't seen him cry before. But he was also smiling and sometimes even laughing—like it was a bittersweet feeling.

I already wasn't good at crying people, but crying, smiling, and laughing at the same time was something completely different.

He seemed to notice my worry, and he ended up being the one to comfort me, instead of the other way around.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm good. I don't know why I'm crying. Whenever I'm with you everything just seems better, you know?" his eyes skimmed around the room as he talked. "It's kinda scary because I haven't known you for that long. Don't give up on me. I'm still trying to be better. I mean I have an award show next week and I'm thinking of actually going. That's good, right?"

I nodded, but I wasn't following most of what he was saying. Be better how? Why would I want to give up on him?

"I've been thinking about things a lot lately. And I think sometimes, you'll have to do things you dislike in order to get to where you want to be, right? That's what you're doing now too, isn't it?"

"Uhm, I guess so." I hadn't really thought about it too much. I knew an opportunity or something better would come my way eventually. All I needed right now, was patience.

"I'm talking too much again, aren't I? I'm sorry. You're obviously tired."

"What? No, of course not."

"It's okay. Come here." He spread out his arms, and I gave in. I leaned against him, my arms wrapped around his waist. I closed my eyes as I listened to his heartbeat, and then I smiled.

"By the way," I said, slowly pulling myself away from him. "I love the hair."

He smiled broadly and hugged me tightly as my chuckles got muffled into his chest. But as I eventually drifted off to sleep, my mind kept drifting back to Oakley. I wasn't a doctor, but I knew he wasn't acting as per usual.

Another thing I knew for sure was that I couldn't help him on my own, but I'd do anything to try.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

guys, I'm so tired of everything rn ngl. Everything just kinda bores me :(

I watched the Umbrella Academy though, and it kept me entertained for the past few days :) now I gotta look for something new.

Question of the update: what do you do when bored?

Don't forget to vote by the way! Because I always forget to mention that 😭 okay bye 💕💕