It was late by the time they met up. The guests ended up staying longer than planned, and Hope needed to help clean up the aftermath of hosting a community barbeque.

The sun had just set and it was beginning to get dark. Faith waited by their spot at the lake, checking over her shoulder every few minutes to see if Hope would materialize. She turned towards the water and watched the ripples move towards the shore.

"Hey you," she heard her voice. Faith turned around and saw Hope coming towards her.
"Finally. It's about time."
"Sorry, there was a lot to do," Hope said as she sat down beside Faith and kissed her cheek. "So what's up? You wanted me to meet you here."
"Yeah, just to hang out. Talk. I don't know."
"Okay. What's on your mind?"
"That's a loaded question."
"Right," Hope laughed. "Everything."
"Yeah," Faith nodded, and then it was quiet for a moment. "The sky looks so pretty right now."
"Mhm," Hope agreed. "It's always prettiest just after the sun sets. When the sky turns that dark shade of red and pink and orange. Like a kaleidoscope of colours just bursting through the horizon."
"It's pretty just before it rises too. It has that pale hue of pinky orange."
"The earth is so incredible sometimes."
"Sometimes."
It was quiet again, the only sound was the waves hitting the shore.
"Do you ever think about how small and insignificant we are?" Faith said, head tilted upwards, looking at the sky.
"What do you mean?"
"Like, in comparison to the universe. It's so huge and vast. It possesses so many solar systems and galaxies that could literally go on for eternities. And here we are, on this tiny blue planet, spinning around the sun, and we think we're so special."
"But who says we're not special? Humans are pretty spectacular."
"Yeah, but in the grand scheme of things, we're irrelevant. There are so many bigger and better things out there than human existence."
"Maybe. Maybe not. I like to think that humans have some sort of importance."
Faith laughed. "You know what I mean."
"I guess. Why are you thinking about this?"
"I tend to think philosophically when I'm looking at the sky. It generates great thoughts and discussion."
"Can you name the stars?"
"No. Can you?"
"A few. I know the most famous ones. Orion's Belt, Polaris, Sirius, Vega. The big dipper."
"That's more than I can name."
"I don't know much about astrology."
"That's okay. You're going to be a doctor, not a rocket scientist."
"Very true."
"Imagine if the sky was empty," Faith said, looking up again. "Like, how weird would that be?"
"Pretty weird."
"We're so used to looking up and seeing the stars, which by the way, are like, actually planets. And most of the stars we see in the sky are from hundreds of years ago or something."
"I thought you didn't know anything about astrology?"
"I don't," Faith said. "Just something I heard. Isn't that strange though? And kind of depressing? All of the stars are dead."
"Very depressing."
"The stars complete the sky," Faith said. "Just like the sun does."
"They do. They make everything look so magical."
Faith turned and looked at Hope. She was staring up towards the sky, analyzing every tiny dot. She didn't say it aloud, but she thought to herself, even if the sky was empty, my life would still be full of stars, because the entire universe is inside of you. Instead, she said to Hope, "You light up my sky. You make life worth living."
Hope turned to her, caught off guard by the sentiment. "Faith," she said. "Don't say that."
"I'm serious," Faith turned her body so that she was facing Hope. "I don't know how I got through life before I met you. Everything is so different now. My entire existence has changed."
Hope looked away, then looked back at Faith. Her expression was difficult to read. "I'm scared," she whispered.
"Of what?"
"Falling in love with a girl."
Faith was quiet. She looked up at the stars, then returned her gaze to Hope. "There are worse things in life, Hope. Far worse things."