Fragile

Chapter 3

"Alexandria?" My eyes fluttered open at the deep husky voice.
"Grayson?" I whispered back, in the darkness.
I made out his silhouette in the opening of my window. His green eyes glinted in the moonlight.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him, barely audible, but I knew he heard.
"I want to take you somewhere," A smirk was playing across his lips.
"Where?" I asked.
"That's a secret, A."
I slowly pulled the covers off my skin and walked towards him. I was wearing a baggy T-shirt and shorts.
"Okay I'll go but let me change first," I shot him a confused glance.
He nodded and I grabbed my soft jeans and a sweatshirt. I locked myself in the bathroom and put my clothes on. I was being as quiet as I could.
When I was done, I went back to my room. I opened the door to Grayson, standing in the middle of my room and taking everything in. The messy clothes on the floor. The music sheets on my desk. My room was new, but already a mess. My cheeks flushed, but I took a deep breath and let it out.
"So can you tell me anything about where you're taking me?" I asked him.
"Not yet, but I know you'll love it," he smiled at me in the light of the moon.
"How do you know?," I smiled back, trusting him.
"Cause even though I haven't seen you in like 10 years, I know who you are."
He climbed out my window and into the tree neighboring it. I followed him down cautiously. "My parents are going to be so mad."
"They'll never know," he smiled at me. "I've been sneaking out for a while now."
"You're a bad kid." I said to him. He led me to the sidewalk, where we walked side by side, his shoulder brushing mine.
"Do you ever wonder why we always try so hard when we know we'll be let down?" He asked me, his eyebrows knit together.
I gave him a confused look.
"Why do we always bring our hopes up when we know we'll be disappointed? Why do we get attached to people when we know it's only temporary? Why do we fall in love when it might never even last? Why do we get attached?"
"You're attached to me," I said, smiling at him. I was surprised. I know we were best friends before, but I didn't think immediately we'd be extremely close. I didn't expect him to open up about things like this. I didn't expect it at all. "But you should be, I'm awesome." I joked, trying to lighten the conversation.
"You are pretty awesome." He paused, his eyebrows furrowed. "What if one of us moves again or something?"
"I just moved, why would I move again?" I sarcastically retorted.
He nodded, laughing. "We're almost there," he stepped into a forest path and pulled out a flashlight. The light glowed in front of us, lighting the way.
I grabbed his arm to stop him. "You aren't going to kill me or anything, right?"
He grabbed my hand and laughed. "I wasn't planning to, no."
My hand felt warm in his. "Then, where are we going?" I asked him.
"A, we live so close to the mountains, and I didn't even realize it until a little while ago. I'm going to show you something, okay? You're going to love it. Trust me," his husky voice whispered through the darkness.
"Okay. I trust you," I said as he started walking again. Our footsteps echoed through the forest.
We started walking up a rocky slope, and I stumbled on every step. Soon enough we came to a clearing and my breath got caught in my throat.
The jewels shined in the night sky. Specks of broken glass illuminated my face. They always seemed to amaze me, the millions and millions of stars glimmering in darkness. Every star was a single heart. They shined so bright, so alive, full of glory. But they fade, they always fade. They flicker out until there's no more light. And just like that, they disappear. No one sees it, the hearts flickering out. It's invisible to my eyes. Because one heart, one star, is insignificant in the grand scheme of things. My heart is insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
In front of us, was a big clearing. The grass spread in front of us, but stopped at a drop off. I walked to the front of the cliff and stared at the world around me. Lights sparkled in houses and buildings under me. My eyes searched for my house, the one I wasn't used to calling my own. I found Grayson's house, the lights off. The houses were asleep, but we were wide awake.
Grayson's hand squeezed mine and I looked up at him. His green eyes lit up in the dim light from the sparkling stars and the moon, peering over, watching us.
It was glorious. The stars, the world around us. We were so small, so insignificant in the grand scheme of it all.
"No one knows we're standing here, only us," he stared at the city in front of us in awe.
"Up here, I feel so insignificant. I feel like nothing," I laid down in the grass and looked up at the shimmering stars in the sky.
"You're significant to me," he smiled and laid down next to me.
"Cheesy." I teased. "I know. But if there's 8 billion people in this world, and if for some reason died or something, only a few people would actually care. Of course that isn't bad, because it hurts and I know that. But out of 8 billion people, if I died, it would feel so small. It would feel so insignificant."
"Has it ever crossed your mind, that if we'd die, we'd be here one moment," He paused and sighed. "And gone the next. There are so many ways to die. We could all fall off the face of the earth in a millisecond, and we'd never understand why."
"I don't want to die," I turned my face away from the glittering jewels in the sky and looked at him.
"Neither do I," He answered, looking at me.
My heart pounded a fast beat. We stayed there, me looking into his green eyes, and him looking back into my blue ones. Looking at Grayson, seeing him, I felt like I knew everything about him, but did I? Maybe he's changed since the second grade, was he the same Grayson that would help me when I needed it most? The same Grayson who always loved to hear me sing? If it wasn't, what would I do then?
His eyes searched my face, looking for something, but mine calmly stayed, only looking at his. "You've grown up so much," He smiled at me.
"So have you," I smiled back.
"I knew you were pretty when we were younger, but now," His eyes searched my face once again. "You are seriously beautiful."
My cheeks flushed. "Thanks."
He looked back up at the stars, but my eyes lingered on his face for a few more seconds.
My eyes darted to the sky. This moment, this insignificant moment in the grand scheme of things felt so significant, so meaningful, so purposeful. Just being here, with Grayson, was significant. The words we said, the words he said, felt so meaningful. All this time away from him, I'm glad this is how we were when we found each other again. I've barely been here for a week, but I trust Grayson with my life.