When we look up at the sky, most of us tend to forget that amid those countless stars and galaxies, there also exist rogue planets.

Free-floating planets that do not orbit a star. Untethered and cast aside from their celestial brethren. Bereft of a sun to call their own as they roam aimlessly through the cosmic abyss.

So incredibly common in the universe that they may outnumber stars.

When I was younger, I shared a silent lament with them over how they're like desolate wanderers forever condemned to solitude; these little celestial outcasts with their vacant landscapes and frigid winds, lost amidst the infinite reaches of space.

When I was younger, I didn't know that one day I'd be a traveler instead of a wanderer in the celestial sphere of the affection of the people around me — venturing through the vastness of their devotion, encountering planets of compassion and moons of tenderness along my journey.

There are nimble fingers weaving locks of my hair together in a crown braid, tucking small, white flowers in it as they go when I hear a mildly familiar, reverberant voice echo through the speakers of Daisy's laptop alongside gritty guitar music: 'We say — we, we use such words as warmth, um, tenderness... uh, all these things, they don't really get to the point...'

I hear the sound of a door opening, but since I can't move my head until Kaia is done with my hair, I check the mirror instead and find Layla stepping out into the living room with her outfit, make-up, and hair perfectly in place.

"I think I'm gonna cry," Imani chokes out at the sight of her friend, covering her mouth with her hands. "Lay, oh, my God."

'...When you're... you're loving somebody, you are simply delighting in that person... as such...'

Layla's engagement gown is crafted from satin, bodice adorned with delicate lace appliqués. The curves of the sweetheart neckline emphasize her collarbones and shoulders, the dainty straps falling over her shoulders in the perfect balance between sophisticated and playful.

Moving down, the gown flares into a gorgeous voluminous skirt with a tea-length hemline, designed to fall gracefully to her mid-calf. It sways with each step Layla takes, revealing glimpses of the tulle layers underneath and adding a sense of whimsy to her overall appearance.

'As if another human organism, in its mental and its physical aspects... were a piece of music, or a — a work of art, or a glorious morning...'

Layla waves a finger in Imani's face, eyes narrowed theatrically. "One streak of mascara down your cheek and I'm revoking your invite immediately, you emotional bitch."

"Ugh." Imani fans her face for a second as if to keep the tears at bay, and then holds her arms out so wide you'd think she was getting ready to embrace the moon. "I'm just really happy for you, but you suck. Come here."

'It's the adoration of the form of a human being. And you do — you do that adoring in terms of physical contacts... that are, say, dancing with your fingers across the skin or whatever it may be...'

I watch them hug with fondness unfurling in my chest, and wonder if there would ever be a word in the world that I could use to voice the feeling jumping its way up my throat at the sight of them when Imani presses her forehead to Layla's shoulder and the latter lets out a watery chuckle.

"Daisy Maria Jang, if I come over there and find you working, I'm going to punch a hole through your laptop screen," Layla says without looking in her direction, and the said woman barks out a laugh from the couch where she's been sitting for the past twenty minutes or so.

'What is the content of love?' — echoes the voice from Daisy's laptop before she hits pause to look at Layla, only for her eyes and the part of her lips to widen in pleasant surprise.

"Oh... oh, god damn," Daisy says with a whistle. "You can't be out and about looking like that, my girl. What if someone asks for your hand in marriage? What are we going to do then?"

Layla pulls back without taking her arm off Imani's waist to direct a long, exaggerated sigh at Daisy, holding her hand out to show off the sparkling ring on her fourth finger. "Learn to live with it. What else?"

Daisy mimes being shot in the chest, falling back on the couch. "Hashtag heartbroken."

"Hashtag you're a workhorse and you can't change the subject by distracting me with compliments," Layla fires, but the pleased smile on her face fails to deliver the original impact of her words.

"I was all dressed up —" Daisy points out, gesturing down at herself, "and waiting for everyone else to be done. You know I get jittery about it." When Layla continues to stare her down with an unimpressed frown, Daisy throws her hands in the air and says, "I don't know what else to do while we wait, okay! Plus, I'm like... personally attached to this project. I can't help it."

She adds the last part in a grumble, folding her arms across her chest.

"Whose speech did you guys sample for this, again?" Kaia asks nonchalantly, and it's so glaringly obvious that she's the one trying to change the subject this time that both Imani and I laugh quietly to ourselves.

Daisy perks up at that. "Alan Watts! Have you listened to any of his recordings before? The new guy on the editing team introduced me to a couple speeches and I've been losing my shit since."

"Hm... I think my mom was a fan of his writing, but I've never really read any of it."

"I'm not big on reading, but I might just pick one of his books at this point."

Imani makes a hmmm sound at Daisy's words and tilts her head to one side. "Is that because you're a fan of this man's work or because you want to fuck the new editor?"

Daisy makes a faux wounded noise at the back of her throat at the allegation. "Okay, first of all —" she starts, only to be interrupted by the sound of the front door being thrown open with such force that a loud bang echoes through the house.

I startle violently, but the other women in the room look unfazed.

"Juni," is all Kaia says as an explanation when she meets my gaping eyes in the mirror.

"We should hide Layla," says Daisy without looking away from the screen. "Just for shits and giggles."

Imani walks over to Kaia and me to check her makeup in the mirror one last time. "Very mature," she says dryly.

"No need!" announces a new voice, and I look up to the right just in time to see Juni strike a pose with their hands on their waist and nose high in the air. "We have blindfolded and chained the to-be-groom in an abandoned warehouse."

They look ethereal; cat-like eyes lined with liner so sharp it could cut someone, and the corners sparkling gold. Their ruffled shirt is the same color as our dresses and neatly tucked into black trousers, the string pulled loose at the top to reveal a couple inches of their smooth chest.

"Only one part of that sentence is true," follows Ved's voice, and I feel like someone punched me in the gut a second time when he steps in, Sean and Atlas in tow with River between them — blindfolded and definitely not looking happy about it.

All of them are dressed like they could take the modeling industry by storm if they wanted.

"Guys, please." River's voice sounds like it's three seconds away from taking on a begging tone. "I haven't seen Layla in two days. Can't you just take this thing off?"

"Now, where's the fun in that?" Juni drawls, beckoning Layla closer with a grin on their face when they spot her standing in the corner with her hands covering her mouth.

No one in the room could blame her, really. River looks like a dream in his cream tuxedo.

Everyone is quiet as Layla walks over to him, her bottom lip pressed between her teeth but doing nothing to hide her smile. River reaches out like he can feel her presence when she's close enough to touch, and Layla puts her hand in his.

When River reaches to pull the blindfold off, Juni grabs his arm to stop him. "Nah-uh." They look overjoyed at River's misery. "What's the magic word, hotshot?"

"My tears are going to soak through this thing any second now?" says River, and everyone bursts out laughing. Juni takes pity on him and pulls the blindfold off, leaving River blinking for a few seconds to adjust to the light before his eyes find Layla's.

Sean gestures at the door with his thumb to signal that he's going to be outside, and curls his fingers around Atlas's wrist to tug him along as he leaves the room.

"Hi," River whispers, seemingly frozen in place at the sight of his fianceè. "You look..."

Layla breathes out a laugh when he trails off and just gives up on words, reaching out to fix his apricot bowtie. "Hello."

"Hi," River repeats dumbly, and this time Imani is the first one to burst into giggles, the rest of us following only a second after.

"Oh, man," says Juni, wiping their non-existent tears. "I was going to give these two a moment before we leave, but this is a bit too entertaining."

Ved shakes his head with a lopsided smile, leaning against the wall in silence as he waits.

I have a clear view of River's face from where I'm sitting, and my laughter dies in my throat when he cups Layla's cheeks between his hands and presses a kiss to her forehead, his eyes getting misty when Layla murmurs something to him in a voice too low for the rest of us to hear.

Imani shifts closer to loop her arms around Kaia's and coos quietly, resting her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.

"If you two start making out right now, I'm throwing up all over your furniture," Daisy declares loudly, and Layla rolls her eyes.

"Close your eyes. Problem solved."

Juni folds their arms across their chest and leans back against the closest wall with a click of their tongue. "I, for one, would like to watch."

Layla groans loudly and pitches forward to hide her face against River's chest.

"Booooo." Juni pushes themself away from the wall and walks further in while throwing both their thumbs down in River and Layla's direction. "Lend me your highlighter," they say to Kaia, and my eyes follow their dainty figure like they have a mind of their own. "I want to look like the gayest person at this fucking party."

Daisy scoffs and hits play on the track she was working on.

'It's a sort of — it's part of it, it's incidental...' continues the voice, the guitar slowing down and being taken over by the sound of drums.

"Cover up, whore," Imani says to Juni in mock disdain, only for them to tug the fabric on their shoulders further apart so their collarbones are visible, all the while staring straight at her.

Kaia takes hold of Imani's chin and turns her face away. "Don't look them in the eye, Imani, they'll ruin your life."

Juni goes back to smudge highlighter across the dips of their collarbones with a smirk on their face, and meets my eyes in the mirror. "And how are you doing?" they ask me with a playful arch of their eyebrow, and Jesus Christ, I think. No one should be allowed to look this level of attractive without paying extra taxes or something.

"Good," I respond softly, and watch the teasing smile on their lips melt into a genuine one. "Really good."

"Yeah?" The grin on their face could put the brightest star in the northern constellation of Auriga to shame.

"Mhm."

"Good," they repeat, lightly flicking my crescent moon-shaped dangly earring like we've been friends for years. It's beginning to feel like it, really. "You look absolutely radiant, by the way."

"Thank you," I murmur, ears and cheeks growing warm. "You look like you could make an entire army of people kneel without lifting a finger."

They throw their head back and laugh.

"You do not want to boost their ego like that," Ved says wryly, and I look up to blink in his direction. I had almost forgotten he was in the room, which seems a bit unbelievable when I think about how lost I was for words the first time I met him. "Trust me."

I've come to notice that he isn't much of a talker.

"It's true, though." I turn to look at Daisy and find her now sitting with her elbows set on her thighs, watching Juni with faux distaste. "Unfortunately." She scrunches her nose at Juni. "Gorgeous motherfucker."

"Now, now," they drawl in response, raising a hand up. Their gold-painted nails glint under the warm lights, charm bracelets sliding to their forearm. "We don't want to take the attention away from Layla. It's her day, after all."

Layla turns away from River only for a second to give Juni a look, and then reaches for the blindfold they had left on one of the decor shelves after taking it off River's eyes. "Do your worst, bitch."

"Maybe I will, bitch," they fire back.

Layla swiftly looks up at River and slides the blindfold into his pocket. "You should keep this," she tells her fiancé, and then narrows her eyes at Juni. "I'm sure the two of us could put it to much better use than Juni, anyway."

"Jesus, shut up," Imani whines, covering her face and groaning into her hands. Daisy has pretty much the same reaction, her entire face puckered like she tasted something bad.

Kaia and Ved just look at each other like it's a regular day in the Less Miserable household.

And me? I just laugh at the embarrassment on River's face.

"Should have left with the gay bastards when I had the chance," Daisy mutters, longingly staring at the door Atlas and Sean walked through only a few minutes ago. Almost like they had already seen this coming.

"You and me, both," Ved sighs.

'It's a way of saying very strongly—' comes the voice from Daisy's laptop before she stretches her arms up and reaches for her Mary Janes to slip them back on so we can get ready to leave, the last line I hear from the audio being:

'Yes, I do want to be with you.'

a/n

hello! it has been a while! 

i have not slept for about 10 nights in a row now, and i missed you guys so i came here to update instead of whatever the hell i was doing 😭

do you know that the audio i mentioned in this chapter is a real track from an acid ghost album !! i first discovered it a Long while ago on a bangtan edit and it changed the entire trajectory of my life, honestly. it's called 'hide my face' and you can find it on spotify ! i'm emotionally attached to it at this point

thank you so, so much for reading! i hope you guys had a better week than i did 💛