Alfie and I stay up late that night, talking about anything and everything. We talked about our favorite bands, our favorite stores to shop, how we need to go camping together, how the color wheel is actually interesting, everything.

I fell more and more in love with him as he rambled on about random stories.

We fell asleep at 2:00 am, tired but only physically, Alfie on the couch and me in my bedroom.

I awake to the smell of pancakes. Confused at first, thinking I'm alone, I wander out into the kitchen. I see Alfie and remember last night's events. I smile at him and he flips a pancake into the air, smiling when it hits the pan.

"I'm almost done, don't worry" Alfie says.

"It's fine." I reply tiredly. I look through the window at the overcast world outside, leaning on the windowsill.

"I've got some cooked already. Go ahead and take some." He says.

I grab a plate and flop three pancakes onto my plate, leaving two on the stack- not counting the one he's cooking. Taking a seat at the table, I yawn.

"It looks like it'll rain again" I say.

"Is that what you see in your world? Rain? All the time? If not, you've done enough to show me that you're not okay inside." He says, setting his plate down and taking a seat across from me.

I sigh, "yeah.. it's.. complicated."

He gives me a weak smile before stuffing his face with food. The little bit of conversation we had going dies out as we eat.

After breakfast, Alfie looks to me as we stand randomly in the kitchen.

"I better go. Can't be bothering you all day. And besides, I've got work."

"Okay" I say, reluctant to the idea of him leaving.

His deep brown eyes lock on mine and I feel my knees go weak, my body buzzing with electricity.

He hugs me tightly, making me feel safe and warm in his embrace. He doesn't let go and I decide that I'll let him make that move. So we hug for what seems like forever.

"We all have our days and nights. And it seems as though you're all of the stars lighting up my nights and the sun shining through my days." He whispers, still not letting go of our hug.

"Alfie.. I can't be. I am the cold darkness, I can't be anyone's stars and sun."

"That's bullshit"

I laugh and he breaks away from our embrace and walks out the door.

I plop onto my couch and fall back asleep until noon.

I don't do much for the remainder of the day besides Tumblr and YouTube.

The next day, I take a walk in the brisk wind, feeling slightly numb inside.

I start to think about Alfie. I'm so glad we met. Although I know I have feelings for him, I doubt he does for me. Who would like a tragic mess like me?! I sit down on a park bench, the wind blowing my long hair everywhere.

I've been having days. Today is a dark and cold night. Maybe Alfie could bring the metaphorical sunshine back into my sky.

I call him but he doesn't pick up. I don't leave a message, instead I slip my phone back into the pocket of my skinny jeans.

I walk home, giving up on trying to get out of the house. I have work tomorrow at a small coffee shop. I dread going to work. It's been closed due to the remodeling of the interior so I guess I'm a little excited to see how that turned out. Stepping into my apartment, I hang my jacket up on the coat rack and slip off my shoes.

I grab my constellation book and study it for about an hour, giving myself comfort. I try to clear my thoughts and reading about the stars always helps.

I sigh and lay down onto my couch, falling asleep. Sleep is good, although this kind of tired sleep doesn't do good at fixing.

Alfie calls me at 1:00 a.m. and of course I'm awake, scrolling through Tumblr.

"Hey.." his voice is quiet, serious.

"Hey Alf, what's up?"

"I need to come over." he inhales sharply, and I can feel the pain in his words.

"Okay. The door's unlocked, just come inside."

"Okay. Uh thanks." he hangs up.

I glance at the moon through the window next to my bed, full and bright and shining through the night.

I hear Alfie enter through the eery silence, and he makes his way to my bedroom. I set my laptop aside, and look at him with worried eyes.

"I'm a horrible person, Zoe!" he says, a mixture of anger and sadness in his voice.

"No you're not! What happened?!"

"I got fired from my job.. Marcus got me caught up in his illegal 'activities' and my boss found out and how am I going to pay rent? I'm not like this, Zoe!"

I hug him, "We'll find you a new job soon. For now, try not to think about it.. Everything happens for a reason. And hey, the best things in life are often unexpected. It's going to be okay."

He nods. "Were you just on Tumblr?" he asks although it is barely audible.

"Yes! Care to join?"

"Sure.."

So we scroll through pictures on Tumblr until I realize Alfie has fallen asleep on my shoulder.

I smile stupidly and put my laptop up before sleeping in my jeans and tee shirt on top of the covers on my bed. I leave a bit of space between Alfie and I although the space will forever be too much. I need him in a way that I cannot contain.

The next morning, Alfie wakes up two hours after I did, and he looks a bit hopeless.

"How are you?"

He pauses, his hair still a mess and his voice still thick from sleep, "I'm okay"

I give him a sympathetic smile and tell him to take a shower. I head off to work, leaving my apartment in the hands of Alfie for the couple hours it takes for him to get motivated enough to retreat to his apartment across the street.

Work was long and boring and I kept thinking of Alfie, wondering where his mind is at right now. I am more than worried about him; I even screwed up on two coffees today.

Entering my apartment, I can feel the silence pierce my thoughts. I needed some new energy in my life. I dumped out the jar of money i had sitting atop my dresser, I count it out. I have $60.45.

I grab my phone, and click to Alfie's contact.

"Hey" he answers, the worry and stress about money and paying rent seeping into his words.

"Hi!! Are you busy right now?"

"Aside from doing these ever demanding tasks like snacking on junk food and watching Netflix, no. Why?"

"Do you know anything about interior design?"

"Uh not really. Where is this going?"

"Perfect!! You wanna meet me outside your apartment building where I am currently standing?"

"Okay"smiles but he doesn't hang up.

The door opens in front of me. Alfie Deyes flashes his smile to me and hangs up on our phone call.

"Come with me" I say and walk down the sidewalk, my mind at knowing that I caused him to smile.

I approach a thrift shop (what what what what? Im gonna pop some tags..) and I steal a glance at Alfie.

He's smirking, already skeptical about where I am going with this.

We walk into the store and I spot some old Christmas lights, better known as fairy lilights. $3. I also grab a few random vintage decorations.

I tell Alfie to buy something with my money, and that it will be going into my apartment. He picks out a wooden board painted white with a blue infinity sign.

Making it back to my apartment, I tell him the plan.

"We are decorating, obviously. But let's face it; we both need a new coat of metaphorical paint and I figured if we brought new things in here together, it might help us see that we can start again."

He nods and says, "Let's get to it then!"

We string up the fairy lights over the doorway entrance to the living room from the mud room, letting the lights string down the sides freely. I set a few of the decorative pieces around the living room and into the kitchen. Alfie hangs up the infinity sign board onto the wall in the mud room, it being the first thing you will see walking into my apartment. He adjusts it and steps back to stand next to me as we judge if it's level.

"Because you are my infinity, Zoe." he says, his eyes still trained onto the piece of art. I blush and smile at my shoes.