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Before Red met Chloe, she wouldn't have imagined she'd be the type of person to like stargazing. But now it had become a weekly routine for her and Chloe, going out to look up at the night sky and the white flecks that painted it.
At the start, she considered it mundane and boring and had only ever tagged along to make her girlfriend happy. But how she found genuine joy in the activity, lying on her back, hands behind her head, gazing up at the bright stars.
"That one's really pretty..." Chloe murmured, lifting Red's hand—which she had been holding for ages now—and pointing to a bright, twinkling star above them.
You're really pretty, She thought about saying for a moment, turning to look over at Chloe. The girl's blue curls were blowing slightly in the cool winter breeze, her eyes glowing with awe and adoration for the night sky, and Red knew that her own were glowing with awe and adoration for her wonderful girlfriend.
Life hadn't always been this way. She'd spent so many years believing she wouldn't have a future, and—
She shook her head. She had one now, and it involved Friday nights with flasks of hot cocoa, bundles of blankets and pillows set up at their tree they had carved their initials into, and most importantly, it involved the girl of her dreams.
Chloe tore her gaze from the sky and looked back down at Red, and Red quickly glanced away, blushing, pretending to keep her eyes on the constellations that glittered overhead, but she wasn't fooling Chloe.
"Hey..." Chloe grinned, propping herself up on an elbow and reaching out to cup Red's chin, tilting her face up to meet brown doe eyes shining with love and affection, "No hiding your pretty face from me, darling."
Red only blushed even more at that, but still gained the courage to pull Chloe on to her lap, holding the girl's waist as she let out a loud squeal of surprise that became a joy-filled laugh, Red's favourite sound in the world.
She sat up slightly, shifting into a more comfortable position, her back against the tree as Chloe nestled into her arms, and nuzzled her head into the crook of Chloe's neck, planting soft kisses along her.
Truthfully, she loved seeing Chloe like this, a flustered look, on her face as she melted into Red and let her girlfriend cover her in kisses. Though Red supposed she was no better, they had been dating for months now and she still got so embarrassed whenever Chloe complimented her or kissed her, or touched her so softly and gently.
With Chloe still on her lap, Red looked up at the stars. Admittedly, there was something mesmerising about them, about how they sparkled and glowed and cast their beautiful light down on everyone.
Red never would have thought twice about topics as soft or mushy as stargazing. She never had the time of day for anything like thay in her old life, and never thought it'd be something she'd ever enjoy— same with camping, or hiking, or picnics, or movie nights, or ice cream, or hot cocoa. She'd probably have called it all childish.
But that was one thing she adored about Chloe: The princess gave her freedom to be the kid she had never gotten to be, to live the childhood she had never been allowed to live when she was young, back in Wonderland. Everything there had been under scrutiny and she had to pretend to be someone else, but not with Chloe.
With Chloe, she was free, she was herself, and she was loved. She had the total opportunity to do every small thing she had never gotten to do as a kid, like jumping in puddles, or snowball fights.
There were times she'd say something soft or gooey and remark to Chloe about how the blue-girl had turned her so mushy and soft. She'd jokingly pretend to be annoyed, but...she wasn't, not at all. She could never be. It was because of Chloe that she knew what it was like to actually live rather than just surviving.
"I don't know how people don't like stargazing." Chloe murmured after a while of comfortable silence.
"Right. They're just...so pretty." Red replied, nodding.
Chloe hummed with agreement. "Without a doubt, the second prettiest thing in the world in my opinion."
Red paused, frowning in thought. "Second prettiest? What do you mean?"
Chloe shifted slightly in Red's lap, twisting around to face her, a grin on her face. She shrugged nonchalantly, though there was a blush on her face as she answered, "You can't blame me. I mean, you're the prettiest, most beautiful person I know, so..."
Red felt her cheeks flush, and her gaze dropped to the blankets and pillows around them. "Chloe..." She whined, embarrassed, swatting Chloe away with a hand.
"What? It's true." Chloe smirked back.
Red rolled her eyes, but even as she did, they were glittering with love, and they both knew it.
"You're so cheesy..."
"I prefer to say I'm charming, personally." Chloe shrugged cheekily, and Red let out a scoff.
"Well that's debatable."
Chloe let out a gasp of shock and mock offense, and now it was her turn to lightly and jokingly smack Red on the arm, with the pillow closest to her.
They both laughed at that before falling back into another comfortable silence, watching the fireflies that dance and flitted around them.
"Hold on," Red murmured, gently lifting Chloe off her lap so she could reach over and grab the flask of cocoa. She lifted it to her lips, then spluttered, shaking her head.
"Ew, that one's yours." She complained, over-exaggeratedly sticking her tongue out.
Chloe gave her a look of both dismay and disbelief. "Come on, you can't hate my recipe that much."
"Yes I can!" Red pouted, "You literally make it with dark chocolate cocoa powder. That's evil, Chlo. How can you drink it, it's so bitter!"
Chloe scoffed. "I could ask you the same thing about yours, love."
Red shook her head. "Mine has flavour!"
"It has half a can of whipped cream and an illegal amount of marshmallows, sweetheart." Chloe corrected her quickly.
"That's what makes it good!" Red protested, arms folded across her chest.
"It's diabetes inducing, Red." Chloe deadpanned.
Red huffed, reaching over to pick up her own flask and taking a sip. "You just don't have good taste, Princess. It's not my fault you don't like sweet things."
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Don't I? I'm pretty sure I do, actually. I mean, you're my girlfriend after all."
Red almost choked on her hot cocoa at that, the tips of her ears heating up with embarrassment. "No, Bluey, I'm— I'm not sweet..." She muttered, looking away, suddenly extremely warm despite the cool night air.
After her every move being criticised for sixteen years of her life, she was terrible at receiving compliments, especially from the girl who could absolutely destroy her and turn her into a blushing mess with a single look or touch.
"Oh, but you are, darling. You set up these little dates for us every week, and not only are you the best girlfriend anybody could ever want, you're such a great friend to everyone, and an amazing sister to Pink too, even though you're still adjusting to the change she's brought to your life. You're so sweet, but you're also so smart and strong too. Way more than you realise."
Red found her eyes watering at that and decided to blame it on the chilly night wind, because hearts, she was not about to start crying.
"Chlo..." She murmured softly.
A single tear rolled down her face and Chloe reached over to cup her cheek, brushing it away with a gentle thumb.
Red laughed, then leaned in to press her lips against her girlfriend's, eyes fluttering shut at the soft contact. Chloe's free hand slid down to the small of Red's back, holding her as she kissed her girlfriend lovingly and tenderly.
Red shifted, pulling Chloe in by her hoodie, needing her closer. Resting her forehead against the princess's, she went on kissing her delicately.
Chloe pulled back first and Red smiled softly at her, her brown gaze glowing with love that was reflected in Chloe's.
"Love you..." Red murmured, leaning in to press one more quick, chaste kiss to Chloe's petal soft lips.
Chloe breathed a light giggle at that and tucked a strand of Red's hair behind her ear. "Love you too."
Chloe lifted Red onto her lap, and Red let out a surprised laugh.
"Can I braid your hair?" Chloe whispered into Red's ear, and Red nodded wordlessly, too lost in the princess's arms to respond.
Chloe slowly reached up to braid the rebel's hair, and a sigh of contentment escaped Red's lips. Not that she'd ever be caught dead admitting it, but she loved when Chloe did small things like this for her, like braiding her hair, that she never had the patience to do for herself. She usually just wore her hair down, not bothered to take the time to do overly complicated or pretty hairstyles, but Chloe loved doing it for her, always offering to braid Red's hair or play with it.
Even when she wasn't brushing it or styling it, Red just loved how Chloe played with it or softly ran her fingers through it when they'd cuddle or watch a movie together. It never failed to make her smile, or calm her down, or put her at ease after a long day.
Once again, Red looked up at the stars, a thoughtful expression setting in as she pondered everything that was going on right now.
She was so lucky to have this beautiful, amazing girl in her life.
She hadn't always been so lucky. But she was no. Out here underneath the stars with the love of her life. It hurt to know that there could have possibly been a reality where they never even met, where she never had this, where she never had all of the loving moments they shared.
Or maybe they did. Maybe that Wwas what this love was, so special, so strong that it could defy the fabric of time itself.
They stargazed so often— maybe their destiny and love was written in the stars. Red wasn't usually the type to believe in that sort of thing, but with Chloe...
Hearts, maybe they were soulmates. Maybe they were meant to meet in every life. Maybe they were meant to be together in every universe.
Chloe leaned forward to trail little kisses down Red's neck, then lifted her head to murmur into her ear, her voice low and loving. "You're unusually quiet..."
Red hummed. "Just thinking."
Chloe inclined her head. "About what?"
Red paused for a second before leaning closer into the princess's arms, her gaze resting on two bright stars that were positioned close together, twinkling and glowing as though nothing could dim their light.
"Chloe?"
"Yeah?"
"I hope we love each other in every timeline."
She heard Chloe take in a surprised breath at her words, then the girl smiled and leaned forward to kiss her cheek.
"Yeah. Me too."