Moons, Stars & Fragile Hearts

Cancers are shy and sensitive. They are deathly afraid of rejection and often do anything in their power to hide away from it.

I wasn't lying when I said I didn't like Oliver's music. In fact, I hated it. His screaming gave me headaches, but the boy did have stage presence. Tom was definitely more of my friend than Oliver was. He was quieter, sweeter, let me put him in his place. We had argued over the finer points of photography, and of painting, and he was beginning to be less and less shy around me. It was refreshing. So I didn't surprise myself when I accepted to go to Tom's house to hang out, even though I knew his brother would be there.

I was surprised when I walked into the small, cozy home of the Sykes residence and saw all of Bring Me The Horizon sitting in the living room with beers in their hands. All the boys stopped talking to one another and looked up at me, all clearly taken back to see me again. I wasn’t sure if I should have been offended or not, but I shrugged it off my shoulders and smiled at them as I said my hello.

“Aye!” A boy with shaggy light brown hair said from one of the black leather couches that I recognized as Matt Nicholls. “It’s Leyla, righ’?”

I nodded as Tom offered to take my coat and bag. I smiled at his manners and shrugged the thick material from my shoulders before handing it to Tom along with my purse. He took them and disappeared from the living room, leaving with me with the other boys.

“Ello, Leyla,” The other two boys, Matt Kean and Lee chorused in union. I smiled at them and gave a little wave as I stood awkwardly. Tom came back in and smiled at me. I returned it, raising my eyebrows a little.

“Want somethin’ to drink?” Tom offered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Anything but a beer,” I said, scrunching up my nose a little. I wasn’t fond of beer; it tasted too sour and burned my throat. I only drink it when I’m getting drunk.

“Alrigh’. How ‘bout some wine? We have a bottle open,” He reasoned, smiling. I nodded in agreement and he turned on his heel, walking into the kitchen. I turned back to the guys to see that they were now talking amongst themselves. Lee, Matt N, and Matt K were on one couch, conversing the pros and cons of wine and across from them sat Curtis and Oliver, whispering to one another.

“Oi, Leyla, come sit down nex’ teh yeh favorite bloke,” Oliver boomed suddenly, patting the seat between him and Curtis. I rolled my eyes at his invitation but accepted it anyways and walked over, sitting down between the two boys awkwardly. Oliver put his arm behind me and flashed a smile my way. “How are yeh, love?”

“Fine. And you, da Vinci?” I asked, smirking a bit. Oliver rolled his hazel eyes but the smile remained confident on his pretty boy face.

“I’m absolutely wonderful,” He responded. With the arm behind me, he let his hand gently knock into Curtis’s shoulder, catching his attention. “And how are yeh, Curtis?”

Curtis rolled his eyes and brushed some of the brown hair from face. I hid my small smile as he snickered, “I’m great, Olleh. Jus’ fantastic.”

Tom re-entered the room with my wine glass and a fresh beer. As he handed me the glass, Oliver grabbed the beer from his other hand and grabbed the bottle opener from the table, breaking off the cap. He smiled at Tom, raising the beer up before pressing it to his lips and taking a big gulp. When he swallowed, he let out a loud, melodramatic refreshing sigh and looked up at his brother, “Thanks, I really needed it.”

Tom sneered at his brother before turning around and going back into the kitchen.

“So Leyla, yeh from America?” Matt Kean piped up. I looked towards him before nodding. “What made yeh come to Sheffield?”

I looked down at my wine and shrugged a little before explaining, “I don’t really know. Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to travel and see the world. My parents supported me and even bought me plane tickets then and again to see places like Vancouver, Madrid and Tokyo. But when I turned 18, I mentioned living somewhere outside of Newport, outside the states and they completely shot me down, refused to pay for a thing. I was starting to get really annoyed with my surroundings so I took what was in my savings and money I saved up in a year and bought a plane ticket for Sheffield where a friend of mine moved to for college. She offered to let me live with her if I paid half the rent. She even had a job waiting for me. I guess, in the end, I was kind of forced to choose Sheffield. There were so many opportunities here and so few everywhere else, it was obvious this was the only place I could really make it.”

By the time I was done with my speech, Tom had already come back into the room and pulled a chair up for himself. Everyone was sipping their drinks and staring at me even after I finished so I brought my wine glass to my lips and took a tiny sip myself.

Curtis was the first one to speak, looking directly at me from my right, “So are yeh on bad terms with yeh parents then?”

“I can’t say we’re close exactly, but I don’t hate them or anything drastic like that,” I replied, shrugging softly and looking back down at my wine glass, admiring the way it curved. I fingered the stem before sighing and looking back up.

A pause passed through the room before the doorbell rang through the house. Tom looked towards Oliver, furrowing his brow. But Oliver ignored his stare and got up with a little grunt, “That mus’ be Heather.”

All the boys looked at one another, trying to figure out who Heather was. Tom sighed and said, “Heather is a girl tha’ Olleh met at the press party.”

Just as he ended his sentence, Heather and Oliver came back in. And I couldn’t hide how repulsed I was.

Heather was tall, I could tell even without her heels. She was just under Oliver’s height. She had two toned hair, bleach blond on top with black streaks and black underneath. Her face make up was completely caked on and her eye make up was way overdone. Her skin was a bright orange shade and clashed horribly with her pink v-neck that showed off her fake boobs and white skinny jeans. I almost gasped out loud when I saw her.

“Everyone, this is Heather,” Oliver introduced with a wide, proud smile.

“Hi, Heather,” Everyone chorused, not including me. I couldn’t get myself to speak. I always thought girls like this only existed in California. I also didn’t think Oliver would go for such low bait. As arrogant as he was, I thought he had some sort of class.

Oliver guided her towards the couch and let her take his spot beside me. The smell of her cheap perfume was so ridiculously strong, I silently gagged when she turned her head to smile at Oliver who sat on the arm rest. I could hear Curtis laugh a little beside me.

“Yeh know wha’ we should do?” Oliver piped up as everyone silently stared at Heather, who didn’t seem to notice or care. He didn’t wait for anyone to respond or even ask what, “We should have a kickback.”

The boys looked at one another before agreeing with shrugs. Oliver smiled and whipped out his iPhone, obviously sending an invitation over texting to his phonebook. The others began talking about food and drinks.

“Tom and I can barbecue and I’ll tell people to bring shit to drink,” Oliver said as his fingers danced on the screen of his phone. When he was done, he shoved his phone back into his pocket and looked at Curtis. He raised his eyebrows and lowered his head a bit, obviously inquiring something. I looked towards Curtis, who glanced down at me then looked back towards Oliver and nodded.

I shot Curtis a confused look but he turned his head and rubbed his neck awkwardly like Tom had before. I bit my lip and took a sip of my wine to cover the odd feeling that had come over me. Tom got up and sighed, averting his eyes from Oliver to me. He noticed that my eyes were locked on him as I swallowed the wine and he gestured to follow him as he walked towards the garden.

I got up and sheepishly rushed to fall into step with him as he flew out to the garden. As he made his way to the small barbecue, I took time to admire the scenery. Gardens in England were what Americans would call backyards. They were small and simple but the Sykes’ was breathtakingly gorgeous. The small space was filled with flowers, all bright and matching perfectly, a couple bird feeders, wind chimers and a little table for two. It was absolutely adorable.

“God, did yeh see her?” Tom asked as he put the coal into the small, red barbecue. I furrowed my brow as he pulled matches from one of his back pockets.

“Who?”

“Heather,” He grumbled as he lit a match and set it to the coal. They caught fire, spreading about as Tom grabbed the metal cover and set it on top the coal before turning towards me. “She’s hideous.”

“Oh. God, I thought I was the only one who noticed,” I sighed, pressing the wine glass to my lips and taking a long sip. Tom sighed and shook his head, looking into the living room through the glass sliding door towards his brother.

“No, everyone’s jus’ used teh seein’ Olleh with girls like her,” He explained, running a hand through his hair. I stared at him as he continued to watch his brother through the glass door.

“So speaking of whores,” I spoke up, trying to break the silence. Tom smiled a little and turned his attention back to me, “Does Curtis have a girlfriend?”

Tom laughed a bit, glancing down at the barbecue before shaking his head softly, “No, he’s single as can be.”

I nodded, looking down at my wine glass just as the garden door slid open. I snapped my head up to see Oliver with hot dogs, burgers and tongs. He handed them to Tom without a word before messing up his hair in a brotherly way then going back inside.

Tom rolled his eyes, fixing his hair a bit. He put opened each package of what I noticed was fake meat then set them down on the barbecue with a loud sizzle. As they fried against the hot metal, Tom moved them around a bit and asked, “Do yeh fancy Curtis?”

I stared at the food on the grill as I thought about the question. I barely knew Curtis, having seen him only twice and having only one real conversation with him. But from what I knew, he was sweet, a real gentleman and awfully cute. I shrugged and said, “I don’t know yet.”

Tom nodded slowly as he flipped over some veggie dogs. They sizzled loudly as Tom and I stood in silence, watching them grill against the heat.

______________________________________

The kickback consisted of, maybe, thirty people and a lot of beer. The people invited were mellow and sociable. The music in the background was loud and reminded me of Oliver’s band but no one seemed to mind it other than me.

I stood with my second glass of wine beside Tom who was conversing with one of his friends. I stood next to them, listening in here and there but mostly people watching. Everyone was split up in their own little groups, drinking and conversing. I didn’t mind them much, I mostly kept my eyes on Curtis, who sat across the room with Lee and two unfamiliar girls. Occasionally, Curtis would look my way catching me staring, causing me to quickly look away, smiling a little. I felt like I was in high school again, playing innocent games.

I brought the glass to my lips as I watched Curtis talk to the group surrounding him. A tiny drop landed on my tongue, finishing off the entire glass. I sighed and tapped Tom on the arm. He turned to me as I said, “I’m going to get a refill.”

“Alrigh’, don’ have too much,” Tom warned. I nodded and walked into the kitchen, finding the wine bottle on the counter quickly along with other bottles of alcohol. I picked it up and poured the red liquid into the pretty glass until it was half filled. I set the wine bottle back down and grabbed my glass, quickly taking a long sip as I leaned against the counter just when someone entered the kitchen.

“Wha’ is tha’, yeh third glass?” A voice asked. I turned my head and looked to see Curtis smiling down at me. I swallowed the wine and nodded a little. He chuckled a bit, “Slow down.”

I sighed and shrugged. “I feel out of place. Everyone’s so comfortable with each other and all the alcohol and music. And I’m just standing awkwardly in the middle of it all.”

“Trus’ me,” Curtis said, walking up beside me and taking the glass from my hands and putting it on the counter, “Drinkin’ doesn’ make it any better. Yeh just end up makin’ an ass out of yehself.”

“I suppose you’re right,” I mumbled. I looked down at my feet as I felt Curtis’s soft eyes on me. “So I caught you looking at me occasionally in the living room.”

I turned and stared up at Curtis. His cheeks were flushed a bright pink color. His hands were shoved nervously in his pockets as he rocked on his feet. He smiled a little and shrugged, “Yeah, wha’ abou’ it?”

I shrugged a little, my eyes staying on him. He locked eyes with me and for a long while we both didn’t say a thing. I wasn’t sure what he was feeling until he sighed and removed his hands from his pockets. They shot up and ran over his face as he sighed. When they dropped back down to his sides, he looked away and muttered softly, “I-I’m intrigued by yeh, Leyla. There’s somehin’ abou’ yeh that’s got me hooked.”

The corners of my mouth tugged upwards as he looked anywhere but directly at me. I couldn’t help but find his nervous habits to be somewhat cute. I moved closer to him, bringing his attention to me and said as I pressed my finger to his chest, “Good, then I have you exactly where I want you.”

I went on my very tip toes and kissed his cheek gently, grabbed my drink and with that, left the kitchen with a sly smirk playing on my lips.