Stars Align

chapter thirteen

The sunlight streaming in from my bedroom window warms my skin and hits my eyelids, waking me up. Groaning, I go to roll over, wanting to face away from the sun, but there's a weight across my middle preventing me from doing so. Fluttering my eyes open, I see Nathan's face resting on my pillow, eyes closed and lips parted, sleeping peacefully.

A gasp pulls from my lips.

No, no, no, no, no.

Stella, what the hell did you do?

Removing his arm from around my waist, I sit up in my bed, pulling the sheets close to my bare chest. Cursing myself, I hang my head in my hands feeling sick to my stomach.

How could this have happened? He has a fiancée! But, he initiated this and seemed to enjoy it just as much as I did. I don't know what came over me, but in the moment I felt like I needed his touch and kiss more than I needed air. I couldn't pull away.

Before I can get all of my thoughts together, I feel him stir next to me.

"Stella?" His morning voice rasps and I hear him grab his glasses from the nightstand.

I dare to turn around and look at him. His eyes are wide in shock, not believing last night either. He slumps back in my bed, groaning, scrubbing his hands down his face. "I'm so dead," he mumbles through his hands. "Stella, I'm so sorry," he says, propping himself up on his elbows.

I turn back around, hiding the embarrassment creeping up my neck and onto my cheeks. As much as I want to scream and pin all the blame on him, I know it's just as much my fault.

"Stella," he gasps.

I turn around to see his face has paled and he looks like he's just seen a ghost.

"What?" I ask, looking around my room to see if I can find anything he must see to cause his reaction.

He sits up and his fingers dance across my bare back making me shiver. "Wha-," he gulps, trying to find the words. "What is you mark?"

"I don't have one."

His eyes widen even more. "I... I think you do."

His fingers run along my back again and after a few times, I can feel him trace the outline of a star into my back.

"What are you doing?"

"Stella, the freckles on your back... they're points that can be connected to make a perfect star."

"What?" I grip the sheet, wrapping it tightly around me, as I walk to my mirror. Craning my neck, I turn to try to get a glimpse of my back.

Nathan hops out of bed, throwing his boxers on. He stands next to me, tugging the sheet down a little from my back to expose it completely. Again, he traces his fingers across my back and I can see him connect the freckles on my back to form the outline of a perfect star.

I gasp, clasping my hand over my mouth, feeling tears prick my eyes. It all makes sense now...

No.

It's too good to be true.

"Stella," he says cautiously, his eyes meeting mine in the mirror. "You know what this means, don't you?"

I clamp my hand over my mouth tighter, trying not to let a sob escape as tears roll down my face. I shake my head, forbidding myself to get my hopes up.

"What about Lauren?" I choke.

What makes him so sure that he got it wrong with her? They're about to get married for heaven's sake! That's why I don't believe in love. All because of these stupid marks. It's so common for people to just believe that their marks coincide and they settle. I'm not going to let that happen.