Chapter 5 

    “¿A Starry Sky for the Two of Us?”

Four days had passed since that kiss in the bathroom.

Aster was happy... and, at the same time, embarrassed.

They hadn't spoken again.

“Did I ruin it?” he thought.

Maybe Bruno didn't feel the same way, maybe he just saw him as a friend.

At recess, Bruno laughed with other classmates under the sun.

Aster watched him from the grass, isolated by his doubts:

"Was it all a lie?

Weren't we a team?"

The bell rang.

Before entering the classroom, Bruno glanced at him briefly; Aster looked away.

During class, they both remained silent.

Aster pretended to pay attention to the explanation, but in the reflection of the window he saw Bruno's profile... and his own shrinking heart.

When the final bell rang, everyone left.

Bruno remained seated.

Aster got up to leave, but a warm hand held his arm.

“Do you want... to go back together?” Bruno asked, his voice trembling.

Aster nodded, surprised.

They walked side by side down the sidewalk, without words, letting their eyes do the talking.

“I'm sorry about these past few days,” Bruno murmured. “I didn't know what to do after... the bathroom incident.”

Aster swallowed; he hadn't known either.

They reached the point where their paths diverged. They stopped facing each other, motionless.

Bruno took a deep breath.

“When I first saw you, I thought, ‘What's wrong with this quiet guy?’ But the more I got to know you, the more I needed to be with you. With you... I don't feel alone. Aster, you are my light. I like you. Sorry for taking so long to say it,” he smiled nervously.

Tears flooded Aster's eyes.

“I thought you hated me,” he confessed. “I thought you were disgusted that I kissed you. But... Bruno, you're my light too.”

Bruno hugged him gently.

“So... would you like to go out with me?” he whispered in his ear.

Aster held him tight, trembling with excitement.

“Yes. I'd love to.”

They looked at each other; in each other's eyes, they saw only stars.

And they kissed, softly, as if the night sky had opened up just for them.

Between stifled laughs, they pressed their foreheads together.

The world around them disappeared: there, under an imaginary sky full of light, they were two stars that had finally found each other.