I had left my apartment as soon as I'd received Skye's message saying that his house was clear of all the paparazzi and that it's safe for me to come over. To say that I was elated and kind of nervous at the same time would be an understatement.
I felt like a teenager rebelling just to meet her secret lover. The feeling of hiding from the paparazzi gave me an adrenaline rush. It was like we're both staying away from the world, fighting against everyone.
Randomly parking my car on the gravel pathway leading toward the tree house, I got out with a giddy smile. It was a relief that his security didn't stop me or spared me another glance. It's like they knew I was coming.
Once I unlocked my car, I held in a gasp when I saw Skye leaning against the door of his tree house. "I was scared there for a sec," I rasped out with wide eyes.
He just chuckled and beckoned me to come forward with his fingers. "Why?" He asked me once I was standing in front of him.
"I thought you were an underground shadow lurking around here. I mean, it's dark," I told him, laughing and covering my mouth to hide my embarrassment. "That's just an exaggeration though. So... tell me, why are you standing down here?"
"Waiting for you." He smiled down at me before walking closer to me. Dangling his arms around my neck, he kept on grinning at me lazily. "I wanna show you something."
My heart almost flipped at how beautiful he was looking with his hair falling in his eyes. His eyes were twinkling with an unforeseen excitement and I matched his exaltation. "Lead the way then!" I chirped.
He seemed like he wanted to kiss me with the way his gaze turned intense and for a fleeting second, it did linger on my lips. Although he sighed and took a step back with a promising look on his face. Taking my hand in his, he led us away from the tree house and toward the back. A giggly smile formed on my lips when he held my hand with a firm yet gentle grip.
I was never intrigued to have a look at the huge expanse of this empty ground with his tree house in the middle of it but I was amazed looking at it right now. I glanced over my shoulder to see that we were a few yards away from it.
Skye tugged on my hand and I turned back to him. "Remember when you'd said that you wanted to see the stars through a telescope?"
I gave him an incredulous look because I had an inkling of where this was going. I could guess what his next words were going to be.
"So here you go!" He exclaimed like a kid in a candy store and stepped aside to reveal a brand new telescope. It was placed on the tripod and I walked up to it with slow and deliberate steps.
My fingers itched to touch it but I was scared that one touch from me and it'll delicately turn into pieces of shreds.
"I never said that I wanted it. I just... wished for it," I whisper-exclaimed but even I could tell that my eyes were filled with hearts dancing inside them.
In a flash, he was in front of me with a gorgeous smile. Leaning closer to me, he stared into my eyes deeply with a smouldering gaze. He put a hand on his chest with an innocent smile. "Your wish is my command, madame," he said. "Plus, it's the same thing."
"Shut up, you devil." I giggled, slapping his chest with the back of my hand. A handsome devil.
We both started laughing and turned toward the telescope. After both of us staring at it for about a second with marvel, Skye kneeled down and started adjusting the half pillar of the telescope.
His brows were furrowed in concentration and lips pouted absent-mindedly. My breath stuttered a bit when he suddenly turned to me and winked. I couldn't tell what it was for but my best bet was that he must have sensed me staring at him.
"Come on," he said, urging me to come forward. I did as he told me to while he changed his position by crouching low. "Come here," he mumbled and stood behind me closely.
I could feel my body getting warm as I crouched low, trying to level with the telescope. I stiffened instantly the moment he gingerly placed his hands on my hips. His face was hovering over my shoulder while our cheeks were almost touching and I had to remind myself to breathe normally.
Skye pointed at something on the telescope and began, "This is called the "eyepiece". The name's pretty explanatory in itself so yeah... you look at the beautiful creation of the universe through here." His breath fanned the side of my face while I tried to concentrate on his words.
It took every willpower in me to hold myself back from telling him to give me some space because my thoughts were all in a jumbled up distortion. It was as if my mind was drunk and stumbled across the various thoughts like the stupid chicken from Moana.
Skye continued giving me the instructions before asking me to look through the eyepiece. Before I could do as he told me to, he quickly adjusted the telescope skywards better. "Go ahead," he encouraged me.
The moment I put my eye against the eyepiece, Skye left his place from behind me. However before it could register in my brain properly, I gasped loudly. I was directly looking at the portion of our moon. I was mesmerized by having a close up look at its greyish tint and the pores that were visible as if I was standing in front of it.
"What do you think?" I heard Skye's cheery voice from somewhere beside me but I didn't avert my gaze. I was scared that if I looked away, it might disappear like it was some figment of my imagination.
"Moonstruck," I murmured, not blinking even once.
I heard his laughter and I reluctantly stepped back with the same dazed look. "Oh, Valerie." One look at my face and he began laughing again. Not that I minded.
"You're not gonna watch?" I asked him once he calmed down from his fit of laughter.
He shook his head with a funny grin still plastered on his face. "No, I've already had my share of fun yesterday. It's addictive though, isn't it?" He mused with a carefree chuckle.
I nodded my head in agreement. "I agree."
After that, Skye circled the telescope to show me the other breathtaking part of our universe. Within a matter of an hour, I had seen different types of constellations, all the planets, stars and a few other things we both had no idea about but were equally dazzled at the sight of them all. Skye would take a peek whenever I'd get too excited and practically shoved him in front of the telescope.
He also informed me that we couldn't watch the sun for two reasons. One of them being that it was night and the other was that he didn't have the filter to watch it since it's fatal for the naked eye. Nevertheless, I was beyond content.
"Wow." I inhaled, grinning and hopping around with my fists on my chest. If I were an onlooker, I'd have wheezed at myself for resembling a cartoon.
"Val," Skye's amused, teasing voice drawled from behind me.
Turning to face him, I saw that his lips were turned up into an ear splitting grin. "What? Can you blame me? I am completely amazed!" I said 'amazed' in a deep voice to show how much I genuinely enjoyed seeing through the telescope.
"No, I can't." His smile was almost secretive as he shoved his hands in his pockets.
I walked a few steps toward him and patted his shoulder gaily. "Thank you for that though! I am literally happy."
Skye didn't say anything and instead just passed me a soft smile.
It was quiet between us after that as we continued staring at the dark sky in a different light filled with marvel. I felt a sense of serenity wash over me, thinking about how sweet Skye's gesture was. He actually bought a telescope because I'd wished for it.
Every time I thought about it, my heart and stomach would flutter simultaneously. What was even more beautiful was that he likes me back. Although I silently wondered where we both stood in our relationship since we like each other. We haven't talked about it but it didn't deter me at all. I was just fine with what we are. I somewhat felt bad to not be able to tell him that I love him but everything has its time. I would tell when we would be prepared, ready and comfortable enough for it.
"Wanna head in? It's getting chilly out here." Skye suggested, breaking the silence and pointed behind us toward the tree house.
I nodded my head because it was indeed cold and mid-November could get pretty brash during the nights. The only reason I had forgotten all about the cold was because of the excitement wreathing me in its wake.
Tightening my trench coat around me, I followed behind Skye. We were both lost in our own thoughts and the sounds of our shoes crunching beneath, insects chittering, cold wind billowing past us and the smooth gliding of our pace held all my attention. The thing and beauty about observing is that it could make you sound poetic.
My train of observation ended as soon as we were inside the tree house. Looking around, I saw that its walls were all covered behind the cabinets. I looked at Skye in disbelief because this work was incomplete just two days ago and now the entire house was almost brimming with them along with the fresh woodsy scent.
"Whoa." I chuckled breathlessly. "You really do love to work with wood, don't you?" I said with wonderment.
Skye snorted loudly from beside me. "I love me some carving," he spoke in a cute, cooing tone and I swear I almost swooned at the sight.
Turning away, my eyes fell on his seventeen year old grinning picture frame on the desk. I walked closer to it and tentatively lifted it up before giving a quick glance to Skye. He didn't seem to care that I was staring at it but his face was pinched with sorrow and angst.
"I used to hate being Skylar Nolan, you know. Nolan's my middle name though." He chuckled softly, reminiscing back to his teenage days. "I just passionately hated being that overweight kid. It's not like life was easy back then. In fact, it was hard but those moments are gone and it feels like things are always the worst in the present, you know? And now it's almost like I... miss those days. Miss being him," he said, pointing a finger at the frame that I was still holding. "Because sometimes, life is just hard as a grown up."
Gently, I put it down and leaned my back against the desk, turning to face him fully. "Wanna talk about it?" I passed him an invigorating smile.
For a second, he looked at me as if he couldn't believe his ears but then almost immediately his face fell and he nodded slowly. "Sure," he mumbled.
Without another glance or word, he trudged toward his bed but instead sat down on the creaky wooden floor. He wrapped his arms around his knees and stared up at the ceiling.
"Don't tell me because you feel like you're obliged to, Skye. Talk to me if you really want to. Like you need a shoulder to put your head on and an ear to confide your secrets in," I told him with a serious expression.
Skye bobbed his head funnily to look at me but this time he seemed amused. "Valerie..." he began. "I need your shoulder to put my head on and your ear to confide my secrets in."
"You sly-" I didn't even finish my sentence and sprinted toward him. I put my fists on my waist and huffed out loudly. Sitting down beside him, I grumbled, "No need to be sarcastic."
He convulsed into a hearty laughter, making my frown melt away within seconds. "Aww, Val. But I was serious. If anything, I know I can always count on you." He grinned, showing off his dimples and the crinkles around his eyes.
I glared at him playfully. "Good." Seconds and minutes ticked by as I continued staring at him, seeing the torrent of emotions playing on his face which then settled into a sad one.
"So..." He sighed, seeming distressed again. His pause was way too long as if he was trying to frame his words. The furrow between his brows was a clear sign that the mere talk stressed him out completely. "I was about twelve when I moved in with my maternal grandparents because the pressure got too much... for me to handle. Being the son of one of the wealthiest men has never been... easy for me.
"Believe it or not but when you're under a constant scrutiny of the public's eye, they expect you to look glamorous. They really want you to play the part. They don't care even if it depresses or hurts you in any way because they don't know you personally. I mean, sometimes a huge celebrity has to commit suicide because of receiving hate from the public for something that's not even wrong like existing. And when he dies, we all paste "RIPs" everywhere, faking condolences and mourning over his death."
I tilted my head to properly look at him when I saw the burning anger swirling in his usually calm eyes. It was like he had first hand witnessed it which I was pretty sure that he did. I cradled his head with one hand and rested it on my shoulder very gently. "Did you... did you..." I gulped, unable to finish my sentence and also too scared to utter the word.
"Don't worry. I did no such thing. I would never bring myself to harm my body," he assured me.
His words took me back to the day when we were standing on the bridge. When he'd assured me that he wouldn't do such a thing as we were watching the sunset. Sunsets reminded me of how much Skye loved watching them back then as well. Now I understood why he was being so deep about them. And now I also understood as to why he used to come out just to watch the glowing orange sky turning dark.
"I am telling all of this because... I was literally body shamed and trolled for no apparent reason. Living with my parents got hard after a certain point." His voice sounded almost choked but he swallowed the lump in his throat. "My mom made a decision in my favor and arranged for me to live with her parents since they live in this small town. The town where you used to live in as well." His smile at the end was filled with warmth and wistfulness.
I returned his smile and nodded my head shyly. "Yeah but... but then you left," I uttered the last word in a sigh.
"I did, yes but that's because I had to leave for college since my homeschooling was done," he replied, staring at his hands.
"Which reminds me why did you homeschool? Were the paps hard on you back then too?" I asked, trying to conceal my worry but I guess it didn't work out.
Skye chuckled bitterly, lifting his head off of my shoulder. "Paps were hard when I was here in NYC but after my parents brought me to my grandparents' place, they made sure to not let them follow me. Which is why I had to change my name. To not be recognized. But there was another disaster waiting for me there. I-I-" He didn't even finish his statement as he struggled to form the words.
I quickly scrambled in front of him and held his face in my hands. "Hey, hey. Look at me," I coaxed as he reluctantly followed my words. "It's okay. Just keep looking at me."
His eyes were brimming with unshed tears and without another word, I put my arms around his neck tightly and his familiar whiff of wood wafted through my nostrils. It soothed my senses. He did the same and clung onto me like his life depended on it. My heart soared as well as wavered slightly at his broken expression.
At that moment, I wished nothing more than for him to forget about all of those worst things that happened to him. But then again, he wouldn't be half of what he is if it weren't for his past. I couldn't be more proud of how he turned out to be. A good man with a heart of gold.