"Promise me you'll never stop dreaming."
― Melina Marchetta

bade

"No, I'm not seeing anybody."

I didn't notice Solaris walking away.

"Then why did you come to the bonfire with her?"

"Because, we wanted to keep each other company."

Amelia smiled as if I just said something funny. "Why didn't you come over right after everybody was let out of school?"

"Because I wasn't aware of everybody meeting up at..."

I trailed off when I looked over to where Solaris was.

She was talking to the one guy she considered an ass-hole, and she didn't look happy at all.

Amelia was trying to get my attention, but I couldn't take my eyes off Chandler and Solaris.

He looked to be a little too close to her for them to be merely acquaintances.

He said some words to her and she attempted to walk away from him, but he stepped in front of her blocking her way.

"Bade, I asked you a question..."

I looked at Amelia for barely a second. "Yeah, what?"

She spoke again, but I turned my attention back to Solaris and Chandler. She was trying to walk away from him again, but he grabbed her hand.

I knew Solaris had a strength to her, and an independence. Yet, in this moment it seemed as though Chandler was getting to her.

Right then and there I came to a realization.

Solaris was a girl Chandler spoke about.

(

We walked in silence to Lars' house. I still didn't know what to say because I didn't know if there was anything to say to make her feel better.

The only thing I did that seemed to matter (to me especially) was that I had got a couple punches-in on Chandler's face.

"Doesn't your friend Lars do motocross?" Solaris asked me.

I looked at her. "He used to do motocross, but he quit after his bike stopped working."

"Why didn't he want to go and get it fixed?"

"Because he hadn't cared that much about motocross in the first place."

"Oh..."

Lars' house eventually came into view. It was a two story brick house, with a porch. The porch light was on.

"This is his place," I told her as we neared the house.

"Was he emancipated?"

"No. His Mom usually works late, or is out with her boyfriend."

I walked up the steps with Solaris following behind. Stopping in front of the front door, I gave the door a few steady knocks.

Music could be heard outside which came from the inside. The song sounded like "City of Stars" by Logic. Lars did own a portable doc-n-station, that required only batteries, no plug.

"C'mon Lars!" I tried to say over the music. "Open the door!"

Solaris snickered. "What do you think he's doing?"

"I don't know. He's probably passed out, or playing Halo." I walked over to the window to the right of the door.

I peered in and saw how messy his living area was, and I was positive his Mom wasn't going to be impressed with there being dirty laundry on the floor.

Lars was asleep on the couch.

"I can't believe this," I muttered. "He says I can come over to chill with him, and he's passed out on the couch? I hope he wasn't drinking."

Solaris started to pound on the door. "LARS MAN, WAKE UP AND OPEN THE DOOR!" She shouted.

I slightly cringed. She could've woken up the neighbors, who would have most-likely summoned the police.

Thank God Lars was a light sleeper at a time like this because he fell of the couch and looked alert.

I waved at him through the window. He spotted me.

"'The hell man?" He said opening the door. "You and your girl could get me in trouble. Cyan came by and if I'm caught with it, I could be in juvie."

"Lars, you were passed out on the couch asleep," I stated.

He looked at me and Solaris. "You could've called me."

"Dude, just let us through."

Lars moved out of the way. "I hope you guys haven't gotten me in trouble. Hey, what's your name?"

He pointed at Solaris with a raised eyebrow, but a smirk played at his lips. "Don't we have the same lunch?"

She smiled and nodded her head. "Yeah, we have the same lunch. You're the guy that's always arguing with the lunch lady."

He laughed. "Yeah. She's always being crabby."

Solaris sat down on the couch, and Lars and I walked into the kitchen.

"So, you like her?" Lars asked me as he took a beer out the fridge. "She's cute."

I shrugged. "Lars what have you been doing all day?"

He opened his beer, and took a long sip. "This."

"And I couldn't come over till later?"

Lars shushed me. "Dude, you're the one that doesn't want to talk about the cutie in the living room."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Yeah right." He gave me a smile like he knew something I did not know. "If I wasn't with Zinny. I'd want to get to know her better."

"You and Zinny are still going out?"

He didn't answer me. He took another long sip of his beer, and headed towards the living room.

I followed him.

"Hey, you guys want to try some?"

Solaris and I looked at each other. "Try what?" She asked slowly.

He took a brown cigar from the pocket of his hoodie. "It's completely harmless. You might be forgetful but it's good for the soul."

"Dude, it's illegal."

"Bade, it's been legalized in some states already."

(

Lars was passed out again upstairs on the couch, Solaris and I were now down in the basement.

I hadn't finished my little bit of MJ.

I drank a beer, and still found myself in some sort daze.

At one point Solaris chose to blab about her life. She told me why she didn't want to go home. "My stepdad's an asshole, and my mom chooses his side all the fucking time. It's infuriating."

She took another sip of her beer, and rested her head against the wall. "I sometimes wish that I'd go to sleep, and never wake up at all."

"Don't say that," I whispered. "Where's your real dad?"

"He's all the way in Texas, with his presentable, and oh so perfect wife and kids. He decided to leave his seemingly mediocre wife, and his runt of a daughter."

She looked like she wanted to cry, and I started to tear up just a little, too. "We're pathetic aren't we?" She said with a bitter laugh. "You choose to hang out with a sorry ass grunge nerdy girl, when you could be hanging out with somebody a lot cooler."

I set my can of beer down, and pointed at her. "Don't say that."

"Say what, the truth?"

I scooted a little closer to her. She looked at me with wide eyes, as though she were seeing a ghost. Or perhaps she felt mellow due to the couple hits she took. But nonetheless, she continued to stare at me, and I cupped her face softly.

She held a steady gaze.

"Tell me if you want me to stop leaning in. My ex-girlfriend, she told me I sucked."

Solaris didn't take her eyes off of me, and whispered, "Sucked at what?"

Our faces were an inch apart.

I never noticed the black eyeliner on her eyes, and for some reason I thought her eye color was a hazel, but they're a brown.

"This."

I pressed my lips against hers, and for some reason I felt electricity. She was at first hesitant when she started to kiss me back.

I pulled away, already feeling a bit breathless.

She touched her lips and grinned. "You're not bad."

I leaned in to kiss her again, and just like the first kiss there was still that spark of electricity.

The kiss wasn't chaste, but it wasn't sloppy or eager either.

Kissing Solaris Monroe was something different.

The second kiss had been longer, and again I was breathless. Breathing hard, I looked at Solaris who looked flushed.

We smiled at each other, and I leaned in again.

For a long time it seemed we kissed. There was a third kiss, fourth kiss, fifth kiss...we'd lost count.

She broke away from the kiss abruptly and scooted away. She wiped her mouth, and started to giggle.

"What?" I said with a smirk, but my face looking as dazed as ever. "That wasn't a good kiss?"

She shook her head. "No. It was a lot better than expected."

She scooted closer to me again. This time, she touched both sides of my face and leaned in to kiss me, and I put my hands on her waist.

We kissed as though the house was about to collapse, and there was no way out of the danger.

(

"Bade, do you think time ever stops?"

I kissed her on the cheek. "I don't know. But I believe that time allows us to make choices when we need to. At the right moment."

I kissed her on the forehead. "I believe that if it wasn't for the power outage, we wouldn't be here now. Talking."

I kissed her on the chin. "Solaris will we still talk after today?"

She looked at me differently than before. Her look wasn't hate-filled, nor sad. But there was a happiness I hadn't seen before.

I gave her a kiss on the jaw. "Because I really want to keep knowing you."

Before I could give her another kiss, this time on the lips, she turned her head away. "Stop kissing me. That's the only way I'll be able to answer your question."

I laughed, and gave her a quick peck on the lips before sitting back and giving her space.

I wrapped my arms around my legs, and waited for her to speak.

"Yeah, Bade," she said sounding very genuine. "I'd love it if we still talked, too."

She pressed the home screen on her phone. "I just want to see what your face is saying. It's hella dark in here."

"I'm smiling."

She turned her phone to me. "My phone is almost dead...but, you are smiling. So that means you're happy, or high?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Am, what?"

She crossed her legs, and I went over to her and laid my head down on her lap.

"Happy."

(

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

The song Lars was listening to (^)

(

A/N: PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO VOTE, COMMENT, OR FOLLOW.

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5 Questions:

☽ THEY KISSED!!! Too soon?

☽ Do you think they're cute together?

☽ Bade is chivalrous. Do you think chivalry is dead?

☽ Are you even MORE convinced Bade and Solaris are soul-mates?

☽ Do you think they'll still talk, even after today?

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A/N: Don't forget to check out our two COMPLETED stories: