Stars danced in the blue eyes of a blonde-haired teen. He sat patiently. Waiting. Waiting for something. For someone. Waiting for the strings of his heart to be pulled on. For a gorgeous melody to be played by the harp that is the inner workings of the thing inside his chest. The very thing that beats a little too loudly, a little too hard, when a certain person shows up. He was waiting for his blood to start churning along with that beat, stringing together every fiber of his being- he was waiting to feel complete.

"Lake!"

The blonde perked up. He whipped around to see the silhouette of a boy about sixteen walking down the sidewalk and resisted every urge to run and embrace the teen as he felt everything in his body being rushed with adrenaline. "Cree!" Lake spoke in reply.

Finally, the taller of the two made his way up the walk, and Lake could see light spilling across his face as the two made their way inside. Cree wore a fitted grey t-shirt, and his long chocolate brown hair cascaded down his back like the rolling of a beautiful waterfall as it rushed down a cliff. As Lake looked up into his friend's dark chestnut eyes, he took in Cree's face framed by stands of his tumbling hair, and the sight he beheld caused him to forget how to breathe.

"You look really nice Cree." Thrum thrum. Thrum thrum. The blonde's heart beat faster with the utterance of the teen's name- like a roller coaster at the top of a hill finally surging in speed as it barreled down. Lake was still as he felt the beating in his chest- a bowling ball rolling faster and faster until it finally knocked over the hearts at the end of the lane.

Cree looked at him in a questioning manner. "Uh thanks, um," he paused, fiddling with his hands. "It's nice to see you again Lake." Lake laughed. A laugh with a bite to it, but a laugh that Cree had joined with many times. A laugh that was part of the symphony of the music that Cree helped Lake to hear.

"You just saw me today at school, stupid," Lake teased.

"Can't I still be glad to see you?" Lake started turning into the house and walking briskly toward the empty kitchen to hide his glowing face from Cree, which was clearly displaying all his emotions like a children's fable. He then started chopping the remainder of some meat on a cutting board, skimming his hand in the process. Bright blood stained the pure white cutting board. "Crap." he cursed.

"Hm?" Lake lifted up his hand. "Lake!" Cree scolded, yet even as he did so he was taking his friend and bringing him over to the sink to run cold water on his hand. Cree glanced over at the meat, and Lake panicked until Cree turned back, seemingly not to notice anything. "You're going to need to wash the blood off the board, I don't want to eat that."

Lake looked at his friend for a second before realizing that Cree really had no idea what he was preparing. "Yeah, I know cleanliness and all that stuff." Lake laughed uncomfortably. Cree joined in, and after the joyous noise ceased, Lake went back over to the stove to scrape the meat into the boiling soup on the stove, careful not to let his own blood be mixed into the delicious smelling concoction.

"So why did you invite me tonight?" Cree mused.

"I just figured it's been a while since we did anything, just the two of us. I've missed you." Lake said, his voice treading on eggshells, hoping against hope that his friend wouldn't think anything of his invitation.

Cree nodded. "Yeah since the new law was passed everyone's been going kind of crazy." Lake bobbed his head in agreeance.

Cree's family disagreed with the new law. The Annicalb Decree. Lake knew that- but there was no way Cree himself could also disagree. Everyone knew it was only going to be a matter of time before this happened. It was only a question of how many more lives. How many more lives would be taken simply because people refused to change? Even if it tasted wrong it was necessary, and no matter how wrong it felt as you chewed over it, it still tasted good.

"I think it's good The Annicalb was finally passed, don't you?" Lake asked, almost too afraid to know the answer. Yet he asked the question. He couldn't pick out the words now hanging in the air. He couldn't take back the dust he scattered into the stars. Cree shrugged. He put the cutting board on the drying rack.

"I don't really want to talk about this." He said, making his way over to the couch. Lake felt his stomach knot and churn.

Lake made his way over to where Cree was on the couch and sat down next to him. He could feel the body heat radiating off of his friend, and couldn't help but move a little closer. For every time they touched a storm started in Lake's mind. Every look they shared, every little piece of affection he held onto like he was collecting pieces of a beautiful picture. With all of those bits- he joined them and made a net to catch his heart. His heart that Cree had no idea he held in his bare hand. If he squeezed, even a little bit, it would surely kill Lake, but still, Lake yearned for those small bits of illustration. He yearned for every little drizzle their interactions created. Even if the lightning on the horizon of his mind was at its brightest, when Cree's smile blinded him, even with all that beauty, he knew he could never tell Cree. But now. Now was different. Now was not then.

***

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first part of this short story, I know I had a lot of fun writing it! The next part will start right where this one left off!

Thank you so much for reading! If you liked it please consider leaving a vote/comment!

-Sunny <3