Wonder • Five Hargreeves

*Special*

3 A.M.

September 20th, 2003

Abandoned Walmart parking lot.

When everything was simple and innocent.

Two teens laid out on stolen comforters and giant pillows on the broken asphalt. A hand-held basket filled with candy bars and cold sodas sat on their left, already starting to dwindle in size. They were illuminated only by the stars, the moon, and a four dollar plastic camping light.

"Do you ever think about the stars?"

A pause. A breath. A smile.

"Why would I? You do enough for the both of us."

The brunet haired boy was on his back and staring upwards at the thousands of stars. As always, he looked for the patterns and shapes amongst the bright dots.

"Well they are brilliant —wait, right there; a crab— burning masses of matter, trillions of miles away"

The beautiful blonde with her head propped against his stomach, only glanced at the sky for a second before going back to scribble on her sketch book.

A charcoal crab appeared in the left corner, among dozens of other little black creatures. Half of the sketch book was dedicated purely to those patterns and shapes her brunet boy saw in the stars.

"Tell me more about them, Five." She said softly.

"The stars? You just said you don't think about them."

"But you do." Winnie giggled.

If Five could bottle that sound, he would get drunk on it every night. He'd be a lovesick alcoholic by November and... well maybe its a good thing he couldn't bottle the sound.

"Stars... we gave them names before we knew what they were. We gave them stories before we knew what we were. Around for so long..."

Winnie sat up slowly and flipped her sketchbook shut. She tucked the booklet under the Walmart shopping basket of sweets, turning off the camping light as she went. Then she laid back down- this time so her head was parallel with Fives.

"They are beautiful Winnie. A map. A calendar. A tale of the cosmos in one glance." Five sighed happily.

"Well that explains why you like them."

"Why?" Five asked without looking away from the sky.

"Time, space, beauty- all wrapped into a tangible body. Im a lucky girl." Winnie said honestly with her eyes closed.

They were quiet for a moment. The only thing they heard was screaming cicadas and the buzzing neon sign of Walmart.

Winnie felt the asphalt beneath the layers of blanket, Five shifting subtlety for comfort and she was grounded. Five felt the night breeze drift over his skin, quickly warmed by the proximity of Winnie and he was free.

"Why don't you think about the stars?" He asked finally- breaking their silence.

"Ive already said. You do enough for me."

Five shook his head and furrowed his brow. Always the scientist. Always digging for an explanation that fit and not the one he was given. Everyone thinks about the stars. Everyone.

"You'll stare at a canvas for hours, thinking about all the possibilities- but you wont do the same to the stars?"

Winnie smiled lovingly but kept her beautiful blue eyes closed. Then she reached up a pale hand and started to trace pictures in the sky from memory.

Five could only look on in wonder.

"The stars don't have any possibilities Five- not like a painting. The stars are answers without the question."

"You're gunna have to be more specific dearest." He told her softly- afraid being too loud would break their peaceful atmosphere.

"Your entire life, Five, you've been trying to figure out the world. You've got all the answers at the tips of your fingers... but...you just cant... find the right question." Winnie stopped drawing to grasp fruitlessly at something unknown.

"The stars don't make sense unless you ask the time." She finished.

Five was stuck in his spot. The stars. A calendar- A map. They really were blatant answers without the right questions. The possibilities he talked about where never the questions; they were always about what answers the stars could reveal.

He shook his head. Winnie said the most brilliant things without ever meaning to.

"Well then... who doesn't like answers?"

Winnies eyes popped open so quickly Five was startled. Her bright goofy grin flashed across her face and she rolled over to straddle poor number Five. His face couldn't have been more red as Winnie let her hair curtain both of their faces.

"Answers? I deal exclusively with the answers. All my paintings? The future, the answers- they aren't the fun part. Its the questions I love."

"I uh- I-" Five stuttered over his words. All he could think about was where she was sitting and her tiny hands and her beautiful face... fucking puberty.

Life was so much easier when he could give her cherry ring pop as a proposal and call it a day.

"You are a tall glass of questions Five." Winnie said with her eyes sparkling gleefully. She almost licked her lips, enjoying the way he squirmed. "I could just drink you up."

"I- uh- yeah... What a pair we make." Five sighed uselessly. He gave up trying to say anything of value while the girl of his dreams sat on top of him. Winnie pulled back just a little though at his words.

"Pair?"

"Yeah. Well...You've got my answers. Ive got your questions." Five awkwardly supplied.

He always said the right things at the right times- aint he a keeper? Winnie thought so. She chuckled under her breath and pressed her pink lips against Five.

Her lips her so soft and nice. She tasted, ironically, like a cherry ring pop. Go figure. His little boy love tactics come back to bite him in the butt and he falls in love with her just a little bit more.

She peppered kisses along his mouth and jaw. They were sweet and careful, making him feel so loved. Flirty as she acted, Winnie was never aggressive with how she kissed him. It was always what made him come undone.

He felt like chaos in his bones. Like a storm brewed deep in his body, stored only under lock and key with his logic and science. Winnie... he could kiss her with every emotion on the spectrum to make her a mess- but with him? She only needed one.

She lifted back up, hands on his chest, as smug as a cat with its canary. She stared down at her love, enjoying his dazed eyes and boyish grin as much as she did his awkward stuttering.

She chuckled and laid down on top of him, her platinum head under his chin. Five absently wrapped his arms around her, still basking in the chaos she caused.

"So.." Winnie said with her eyes closed, listening to his erratic heartbeat.

"Huh?"

"What are your questions for the stars?"

And so he told her all the questions he had, that he planned to eventually solve. She giggled and flirted all the while he spoke. At 6 A.M. they had to run home with all of their blankets and pillows, love drunk and tired, so to not get caught by Reginald or Pogo.

It was a good night.

It was the last night they spent together before Winnie painted a portrait and Five fell through time.