"What the hell is it with everyone being so damn protective over you?" Mike grumbles, making his way up to Goldie's room.

She shrugs, already deep into a slice of pizza.

"Dunno, I guess I'm just soft."

As they enter the room, she sets the pizza box on the counter along with the snacks, and plops onto her fluffy covers. A loud groan leaves her lips.

"I'll be back, I'm gonna change," Mike excuses himself, going into her restroom.

While he does that, Marigold decides to get into comfortable clothes herself. She decides on a plain old shirt and shorts, throwing Steve's hoodie on as well. She's thankful for chilly night like these because she doesn't have to worry about getting sweaty sleeping in a hoodie.

Not even a few minutes after she's done changing, Mike comes out.

"How do you know Steve again?" He inquires, grabbing a slice of pizza from the box before sitting down.

"Oh, um," she racks her brain for the memory, "I showed up to his house one day and asked him to give me a ride."

"You asked a stranger for a ride?" He scoffs. "You're lucky he didn't, like, murder you."

"Meh," she shrugs. "Murder, shmurder."

"Okay, so why exactly do I have to stay the night again?" He hums, chewing on a piece of pizza. "Cause I feel like I could be spending my time doing better things."

"Time spent together is time well spent," she smiles. "I think I deserve some time with you without you being a total douche."

Mike smiles a little, finishing his slice of pizza.

"I don't know you well, and I'm wondering if staying here was even a good idea," He shrugs.

"Well apparently you know more about me than I do about you," she defends. "Considering you did some snooping around on my past life, you know?"

"I'm sorry about that," Mike frowns, becoming serious. "I never meant to intrude, and I swear—"

Goldie breaks into laughter, "Mike! It's okay. I was just kidding. Really though, I would like to know more about you."

Mike settles a bit before shrugging his shoulders.

"There's really not much to know," he insists. "I don't even know why you want to be friends with me so bad, I'm a loser."

"Apparently I have a thing for losers," she shrugs, staring at her ceiling.

He raises a brow, "What do you mean?"

She's silent for a second, and he takes the opportunity to lay beside her, staring at the stars painted along her ceiling as well.

"Well," she begins, "I knew a guy named Richie once, he looked just like you. Except he was an idiot. He made 'your mom' jokes, like, every three seconds. Still, I miss him. I liked him a lot. Probably why I like you so much."

"Stop saying that!" He groans, shoving his hands over his heated face.

"Saying what?" She questions with a confused look.

"That you like me!" He exclaims as if it's obvious.

She grins, "But I do!"

Rather than getting upset about it and being rude, he turns to her with a genuinely curious expression.

"Why?" He whispers.

"Probably cause you look like Richie," she jokes.

"Charming. Thanks a lot," he rolls his eyes, deciding he was dumb to even take her serious for a second.

"I'm kidding!" She laughs. "Mike, I don't know you very well, but there's a lot to like about you from what I've seen so far."

"What does that mean?" He blushes, pretending not to care very much.

"Well," she begins with a smile, "you're stubborn, but you stick by your friends at all costs. You're not afraid to risk your life for the people you care about, and you're a little broken."

He stares at her with wide eyes, taking in each word with just a little more appreciate than the last. Never before has he known that he needed someone to tell him all the things he really is. It seems like you're clueless about who you really are until you watch someone express what they see so confidently.

She silences all his demons with her kind words.

"Broken?" He questions softly.

"Yeah," she nods, turning her head to him.

They're both staring into each other's eyes.

"Everyone's a little bit broken, Mike," she whispers. "That's what makes us human. It's what makes us relatable, sociable, and....lovable."

"I can see why so many people protect you now," he swallows, turning his head back to the ceiling before the heat around them can get any hotter.

She continues watching him closely, fully aware that she's slowly developing deeper feelings for him as he continues to push her away.

As Mike skims the stars painted above them, he notices an unusual added detail.

On one corner, a whale is painted, it's mouth open and vacuuming stars into its mouth. The opposite corner portrays two brightly colored squids hugging— or dancing, he can't really tell. Point is, the majority of their tentacles are intertwined. The neon purple squid holds a clear sack full of unborn baby squid in one of its 8 tentacle. The lime green glowy pattern, likely the Dad, seems content with their life.

"Why do you have those painted? They don't exactly fit the star theme," Mike questions, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

Goldie turns to the paintings, immediately catching onto what he's talking about.

"Oh, that? That's a little story line I've been following for quite some time," she nods. "It's not really about anyone in particular, just something I came up with. Wanna hear I?"

He nods, "Yeah, sure."

"So, basically," she gestures towards the squids, "those two squids are in love, and soon to be parents. They live in the stars together, and their job is to provide new stars in the sky every single night."

Mike listens intently, intrigued by the story.

"They make new stars every night?" He hums.

"Yup," she nods, "but that's not all. Us human beings basically rely on their making of the stars. Without them, every night would be boring, unlit, and dangerous. There'd be less romance in the world, and more chaos."

He nods his head, urging her to continue.

"Anyway, so, what those squids don't know is that their one natural predator has finally found their hide out, and is coming to eat them. The humpback whale," she states.

"No!" he frowns. "There always has to be a bad guy, doesn't there?"

"Well, he isn't really a bad guy," she corrects. "He's just responding to the instincts that come to him."

Mike reaches over for another slice of pizza before laying back beside her and listening in on what else she has to say. Clearly, that can't be the end of the story.

"So, anyway," she continues, "this whale— he has this huge mouth that can suck up everything even if it's like an entire two miles away!"

"Go on," Mike hums, smiling lightly at how her eyes light up.

"Well," Goldie suddenly appears slight sadder, "he reaches them, and at first, the mother and her children are the ones to be pulled towards the whales monstrous vacuum. The father squid tugs and tugs with his tentacles intertwined with her, trying to pull her to safety...with no such luck. One of them has to go, and like most would do, the father spins them around so that he's the one being pulled into the suction, and throws his wife away from the winds."

Mike stops chewing, fully listening now. As she speaks, his eyes tear up a little. He remembers how Eleven sacrificed herself for him. For everyone.

"The father spread out all of his tentacles, hanging on to the whales mouth before he could be sucked in," she softly states, looking dazed, "and he waves to his wife and unborn children, one final goodbye. The wife waves back, a single tear in her eye, knowing nothing else can be done. She watches her husband be sucked into the abyss that is the whales mouth. The squid goes out with one large ink, stars bursting everywhere around them. Then, the mother swims all the way down to the earth with her children, into safety."

She's silent for a moment, taking a moment to blink tears out of her eyes.

"Down at the earth, is a house in the middle of no where. When she lands, a large explosion gets the attention of a dog who goes to alert his owner. His owner is a kind old lady, unbothered by the fact that the squid is extraterrestrial. She offers the squid help, and this squid— wow, it is much larger than an average squid. The size of a house even!" She exclaims. "In the end, the mother squid is too weak from the landing, and dies. However, thanks to the dog and his owner, she is able to live long enough to send her babies back to space safely. When she dies, she dissolves into a beautiful garden."

With that, Goldie sits up, glancing at Mike who has barely taken any bites from his pizza, looking quite blank.

"That's all I got so far," she shrugs. "You like it?"

"That's all you have?!" He exclaims, sitting up quickly. "What about the babies?! What happens to the babies?! And what about the whale?! Does he die?!"

She laughs, "well, geez, I don't know! I haven't figured it out yet!"

Mike laughs a little too, going back to eating his pizza. As he dines, he contemplates her story. It seems so relatable and real, and he almost wonders if she's lost someone too.

"Hey, how did you come up with that's story?" He hums.

She seems a little surprised at his question, tilting her head to think.

"I just mean, did you lose someone he?" He elaborates. "I lost someone, and I swear it was a lot like that."

"Is that why you're always so mad?" She inquires.

Mike frowns, glancing down at the crust of his pizza.

"Yeah," he nods. "I guess you could say that."

She nods, "well, I didn't really lose someone. More like something."

"Oh," he nods, not really knowing what she means. "Well, you're really good at story telling. Which explains why you know about D&D— I mean, you have to be great at coming up with campaigns."

"Yeah," she grins. "I've always loved D&D! I swear time flies so fast when you're in the zone."

"Tell me about it," he snorts, "Will, Dustin, Lucas, and I once spent ten whole hours playing in my basement! We weren't even completely finished, but our curfew was up."

"Ten hours?!" She laughs. "That's totally insane!"

He smiles, becoming excited to have finally met a girl he can share his thoughts to without having to explain every single little things. It's hard to find people interested and capable of understanding things you enjoy, but when you finally find them, it is life changing.

Mike can see why so many people seem to like having Goldie around.

She's so easy to get along with.

"You're alright," he randomly states. "I just don't like you very much."

"I think I can handle that," she laughs. "I just want you to be aware that I like you a lot."

He blushes wildly, shaking his head at her.

"Stop that," he states, serious this time. "Stop liking me, I know you're only gonna hurt yourself."

"I'm use to pain," she easily states, clearly off her bed. "You're gonna have to do a lot worse to hurt me. Plus, I know that somewhere, closer to the surface than you know, you like me. I just know it."

Mike swallows nervously, wondering if she's caught onto to his constant blushing and cover ups.

"What makes you so sure?" He protests.

"You stayed," she yawns, crawling under her blankets and urging him to join.

He stares at her sleepy expression for a moment before moving to lay beside her. Her fluffy blankets engulf the spaces between, and he ponders her statement.

If he really didn't like her, why did he stay? I think we know the real truth to that.