#but given Elliott drowned... it seemed in poor taste

[starlitangels]

St. Cloud

We all know @gingerbreadmonsters​ is The Queen of the Balance storyline fics. I’m just... campaigning for Princess apparently with all these brother fics lol 1.5k words

This jumps all over. It’s just fun

—

Elliott sat on the roof, staring up into the stars. His knees were drawn up to his chest and his arms were wrapped around them. Inside, he ignored the sounds of shouting. Dad, mostly. He was drunk again. Elliott could hear Mom talking quietly back, but Dad’s uproarious shouting drowned her out.

Aaron was staying the night at a friend’s house, leaving Elliott alone on a bad day for Dad. Normally, Aaron would bring Elliott into his room and they’d put headphones in and watch a movie on the laptop Aaron got for high school. Or they’d hide in Elliott’s room and pour over Elliott’s night sky atlases and Aaron would listen to Elliott talk about the stars. Trivia about constellations or Aaron quizzing him about stars and pretending to care about the difference between a constellation and an asterism.

But not tonight. Tonight, Elliott was alone.

He held still, staring skyward. Maybe if he held still enough, his dad wouldn’t remember he was home. As long as they didn’t hear the creaking of the roof, he wouldn’t have to hear his own name shouted.

A few warm tears fell down his face. He sniffled and looked at one of the only visible constellations he could see with the light pollution. Ursa Major. He ran through the stars as he looked at them. “Alkaid... Mizar... Alioth...Megrez... Phecda... Dubhe... Merak... Talitha... Tania Borealis and Australis...” he whispered under his breath.

At some point, the front door opened and slammed shut. Elliott huddled further back on the roof so no one would see him.

He heard his dad stumbling around the front yard and then hollering as he went down the street. When Elliott peeked, he saw Dad’s arms flailing in an attempt to keep his balance.

After a few minutes, the hollering faded into the distance. Elliott sighed. Later tonight, sometime long after midnight, the cops would probably be knocking on the door with his dad in tow after getting a call about disorderly conduct and escorting him home. Again.

He jolted as a window wrenched open nearby on the rooftop. “Elliott St. Cloud, you get your ass in this house right now,” Mom ordered, looking past the edge of Aaron’s dormer window to see him. “You are going to fall off this roof and break your leg!”

Elliott nodded and scooted toward his bedroom window. “Okay,” he said quietly.

She sighed heavily. “Why you always climb out on this roof I have no idea.”

“I like looking at the stars.”

“There aren’t enough stars to look at in this city.”

Elliott shrugged and climbed into the window. “Sorry, Mom,” he said quietly. He shut the window. He heard Mom leave Aaron’s room—but didn’t come into his.

He sat on the floor at the foot of his bed and picked up a night sky atlas, opening it to a random page. Southern Hemisphere Constellations.

Carina - The Keel

One of three constellations that used to be part of a much larger one. The larger former constellation being of the Ancient Greek ship, The Argo. Referred to as the Keel, it actually represents the main body (or hull) of the ship.

—

Smartass

I slammed the door shut harder than necessary and leaned back against it.

“Hey!” my roommate greeted, her glasses fogged up where she was boiling water for pasta. “How’s the new job going?”

I groaned, bonking my head against the back of the front door. “Fine, I guess.”

“Uh-oh. What’s wrong?” She balanced the wooden spoon she was using across the diameter of the pot and turned to me, pushing her glasses up onto the top of her head, squinting a little at me.

“I finished the generalized training this morning, and got to meet my team this afternoon.”

“Oh no. Is one of your coworkers a nightmare?”

“Coworkers? No. Boss? Yes.”

“Oh nooo! I’m so sorry!” Her eyebrows tilted sympathetically.

I heaved a sigh. “It’s fine. I don’t have to interact with him much. He’s gonna have one of the team members who’s been around awhile finish up my training but we do one-on-ones once a week.”

“What is it about him you don’t like?”

I scrunched my nose like there was a bad smell under it. “He’s got a bad attitude, for one. You should have seen the way he would barely look at me when I got led into his office by the general trainer. Like he couldn’t even give me the time of day.” I scoffed. “Aaron St. Cloud. I mean, the last name alone is an obvious sign the guy’s gonna be a prick. Who needs a two-word last name?” My roommate grunted. “Stupid St. Cloud and his stupid square jaw and his stupid arms looking like they’re gonna bust the seams of his stupid button-down and—”

My roommate’s eyebrows slowly lifted higher up her forehead while I complained. “Ohhh. You’re also mad because he’s hot. I gotcha,” she said, spinning around to check on her pasta.

“I am not mad and he is not hot,” I retorted.

I caught a glimpse of her pursing her lips as she put her glasses back in their proper place. “Uh-huh. Sure,” she said, trying to suppress sarcasm but not at all sounding convinced.

“He’s not,” I insisted.

“Yet you noticed the way his arms look in his shirt and the fact that he has a square jaw,” she remarked, taking her wooden spoon and stirring her boiling pasta.

“Even if he was hot, his attitude absolutely makes him insufferable. And he’s my boss—so it wouldn’t matter if he was or not.”

“Which he is.”

“Is not.”

My roommate laughed. “You’re really doubling down on this. Alright. Suit yourself. But I suspect that if you ever leave that place... I might need to shop around for another roommate.”

I snorted. “Oh please. I’m the one that’s always teased for being perpetually single. Having a hot boss isn’t going to change that.”

She whirled so fast she nearly flung her glasses off. “You admitted it!”

“What? No! I did not—” I swore.

She burst out laughing, throwing her head back and then doubling over.

Rolling my eyes, I pushed off the door. “I’m gonna go change. I’ll see you for dinner.”

“See you theeeeen!” she singsonged as I shut my bedroom door behind me.

“Stupid St. Cloud,” I muttered, stripping off my work shirt and shimmying out of the tight trousers I’d worn.

—

Sunshine

“St. Cloud! You get your ass back here!” I shouted, bending forward and chasing after Elliott while he took off ahead of me.

“Uh-oh! Ray of sunshine is calling me by my last name! I must be in trouble!” he teased.

“Ohhh my Goood! Go get a roooom you two!” Hayden complained, lolling his head back. “We’re supposed to be playing flag football and you two can’t pay attention to save your lives!”

“He’s cheating, Hayden!” I replied sharply, pouncing on Elliott while he laughed. He grabbed my legs to keep me stable, so I was piggyback riding him.

“I don’t know what you could possibly be talkin’ about,” Elliott teased. “I’m doing nothing of the sort! I don’t even know how to play flag football.”

“That’s why you’re cheating, dumbass!” I retorted. “You think that not knowing the rules gives you permission to break them or make up your own! I don’t even know all the rules of flag football and I know you’re being obtuse just for the sake of it!” I wrapped my arms around his neck to keep from falling off. “And I will not allow it, St. Cloud!”

Elliott laughed. “Oh I got double last-named, Hayden. I’m really in trouble now.”

Hayden rolled his eyes. “You two are both insufferable,” he complained.

“Yeah but you love us. Which is why we’re all still here.”

“Unfortunately for me, you’re both good friends,” Hayden admitted.

I laughed—and slowly climbed off of Elliott, snatching the football out of his hands and throwing it at Hayden. “We’re starting that play over, yeah?” I said.

“Like it never happened,” Hayden agreed. “This is what I get for being friends with nerds.”

I whacked him—hard—in the arm as I passed. “We are nerds, but that doesn’t mean we’re not enjoying the game.”

Hayden laughed. “I think you two are enjoying each other more than you’re enjoying the rest of us.”

I bit my lip and glanced over my shoulder at Elliott where he was tucking his beanie in his pocket. God, I loved him and had no idea what to do with it. It wasn’t fair that he was cute, hot, and funny. And smart. “Shut up, Hayden,” I muttered.

He guffawed. “Alright, St. Cloud! Let’s try this again. Take it seriously this time.”

Elliott laughed. “I make no promises!”