Not Today | ✔️

Chapter Twenty Three.

"I'll make the moon shine just for your view,
I'll make the starlight circle the room..."

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As it turns out, the last destination was Evelyn's house, Tristan realized as they arrived there.

Evelyn trailed up the stairs of the empty house first, and Tristan followed until they reached her bedroom. The second she opened her bedroom door, Tristan felt his lips part slightly.

Evelyn had turned her room into a fort, white sheets draped on furniture to create the scene. More than that, though, her room was illuminated only by a star projector, little specks of ethereal light were all across her walls, ceiling, and in the fort, from the projector. Her room looked, for lack of a better word, magical.

"I know you like stars, so," Evelyn said, or rather, mumbled, looking down, clearly embarrassed.

Tristan stepped closer to her, hesitating for a second, as he questioned whether he was crossing a line he shouldn't when he placed his hand under her chin gently. When she didn't look appalled or shift away, he applied gentle pressure, urging her to look up at him.

As her hazel eyes met his brown ones, he smiled softly, hoping his gentle facial expression could properly convey the way his heart felt inside his chest. Gentle, somehow.

"Why are you embarrassed?" he asked quietly.

She just shrugged.

He looked around the room one more time. "You did all this for me?"

"There's more, actually," she admitted, smiling sheepishly.

Tristan furrowed his eyebrows. "What more could there possibly be?"

"Wait in there," Evelyn said, gesturing towards the fort before she scurried away from him, and out of the room.

Tristan followed her instruction, stepping inside the fort. The lighting inside the fort was soft, dim, and it was cozy as he sat down, waiting for Evelyn.

It wasn't long before she returned, entering the fort and sitting down right next to him.

It was then he realized the things in her hands, she was holding two spoons, two bowls, a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and a movie. The Little Princess.

Tristan felt like, similar to the way ice cream did on a summer day or Olaf would for the people he deemed worth it, he melted.

"You remembered?" he asked quietly, referring to the ice cream and film.

"'course. Why wouldn't I?" Evelyn said, furrowing her eyebrows.

Tristan just looked at her for a second, and the back at the items in her hands. He'd mentioned it in passing, one time, straight after she'd had a nightmare, he was sure she wouldn't have remembered the fact that his mom used to watch The Little Princess and let him eat mint chocolate chip ice cream when he was upset or scared.

But he was wrong. She did remember.

Tristan had so many things that he wanted to say, that he just didn't say anything at all, hoping Evelyn could somehow read minds, or rather, hearts, as his mind made no fucking sense, even he didn't understand what he was thinking in that moment; only what he was feeling.

Evelyn began serving the ice cream and was just about to play the movie when she paused.

"There's actually one more thing," she said with a sheepish smile.

Tristan cocked his head to the side, noticing the way she smiled slightly at the action. That was all he did when it came to Evelyn. Notice. He noticed everything, he couldn't help it.