Counting Stars
by Annie


“I wonder, how many stars are there?”

Wade looked over at Justin and laughed. “More than anyone could ever count.”

“I bet I could do it,” Justin said with a grin, settling back into the grass and looking up at the large night sky.

Wade laughed again. “You’re never going to be able to, it’s impossible.”

Justin took Wade’s hand in his and just smiled. “Nothing’s impossible.”

“Counting stars is. Now come on, lets go back inside, it’s starting to get cold.” Wade stood up, pulling Justin up with him. Justin grabbed the blanket they had been laying on and the two headed back towards the house they shared, hands still clasped.

“I’m going to prove it to you, that I can count all the stars.”

Wade thought that the determination on Justin’s face and in his voice was too endearing, so he only smiled.

 

The next night, Justin surprised Wade when he came down the stairs with a blanket under one arm and a flashlight in one hand, notebook and pen in the other.

“What are you doing?” Wade asked him.

“I’m going to count the stars,” Justin said, heading for the back door.

“You’re serious?” Wade asked, and Justin nodded.

“J, you’re never going to be able to do it.”

Justin gave Wade one of his trademark smiles. “Have faith in me.”

 

When Justin crawled into their bed that night, Wade turned to him and asked, “How many stars did you count tonight?”

Justin simply smiled and curled into Wade’s arms.

 

The next night, Justin went out again. Wade looked out the window of their bedroom, watching him.

Justin would scribble something down in his notebook every now and then, but mostly he just looked up at the sky.

When they went to bed that night, Wade asked Justin the same question. "How many stars did you count tonight?"

Justin just gave him the same smile in response.

 

The next night, Wade asked Justin if he could sit out with him. Justin agreed and they went outside together. Justin laid out the blanket and the two laid down, side by side.

While Justin watched the sky, Wade watched Justin.

“What are you thinking?” Wade asked after a little while, his voice a whisper.

“I’m thinking about stars,” Justin told him.

“I’m thinking about you,” Wade said.

Justin grinned and set his notebook aside, turning to Wade. Wade pulled Justin down on top of him into a kiss, and soon all thoughts of stars were forgotten.

 

Justin came in the next night with a triumphant smile on his face.

“Did you count all your stars?” Wade asked, and Justin nodded.

“Well? How many stars are there?”

“Twenty-six,” Justin told him.

Wade looked at Justin incredulously. “Twenty-six stars? Are you sure you counted right?”

Justin nodded and said, “The first star is for the first day we met. The second star is for when I started to like you. The third star is for when you started to like me. The fourth star was when I admitted it to you, and the fifth star is when you admitted it back. The sixth star is for our first date. The seventh star is for our second. The eighth star is for our first kiss. The ninth star is for our third date. The tenth star is for our fourth, and the eleventh star is for our fifth, and the twelfth star is for our sixth. The thirteenth star is for when we decided to stop counting our dates.”

“The fourteenth star is for our first month anniversary. The fifteenth star is for the first time I told you I loved you. The sixteenth star is for the first time you told me you loved me back. The seventeenth star is for our first major fight. The eighteenth star is for the first time we made love. The nineteenth star is for all the kisses after the first. The twentieth star is for all the fights after the first. The twenty-first star is for all the times we’ve made love after the first.”

“The twenty-second star is for the support we gave each other when we told our families about our relationship. The twenty-third star is for all the anniversaries we’ve shared together since the first. The twenty-fourth star is for all the times we’ve told each other we love each other since that first time. The twenty-fifth is for every moment we’ve ever shared together. And the twenty-sixth star is for this moment, right now.”

Wade smiled at Justin and pulled him close. “What about all the other stars in the sky?” he whispered.

Justin smiled back. “Those stars don‘t have stories yet.”

And as they kissed, Justin’s stars were dancing in Wade’s mind.