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No matter how much time passed, the stars were always a constant in Danny’s life. Even from Earth they were an escape. He could get lost in them for hours, his head far above the clouds.
They were a comfort, something he could turn to when he had no one else. Under the safety of the night sky he could pour his heart out and truly be himself without a care in the world, because the stars never judged. Whether he came to them at his lowest or with a smile on his face, they showed him nothing but kindness. It was impossible not to fall in love.
It was because of that immense love that Danny found himself coming back night after night to his favorite stargazing spot to speak to the sky—to space. Even on cloudy nights when the stars were barely visible through the haze, or when his parents insisted he stay home, Danny would open his window to spare the stars a few words.
(And if the clouds often parted as if to give Danny and Danny alone a better view, well… That was between him and the sky.)
Tonight was no different. As soon as he was done with his dinner he was rushing out the door with his parents calling after him, reminding him of a curfew he was sure to forget. He followed the route he knew by heart until he was plopping down in the grass at his favorite spot, eagerly watching the sun set over the city.
Danny couldn’t keep himself from beaming as the sky slowly melted into that inky canvas he was so fond of. It felt like he was falling in love all over again each time he laid eyes on the vast, starry sky. He could never tire of it.
“Hi,” he whispered, and he swore the sky responded. As soon as the wind caught his voice the stars glowed even brighter than before, twinkling incessantly as if they were excited to see him too.
Danny was used to these kinds of occurrences, but tonight they seemed particularly energetic. He couldn’t help but picture a dog enthusiastically wagging its tail, and let out a snort at the image.
“You’re in a good mood,” he said.
Then the sky did something he’d never seen before: it rippled, like the surface of a pond.
He could only watch in fascination as the sky almost seemed to struggle, contorting and shifting until finally it reached for him. Like an optical illusion a hand stretched out from the stars, yet was right in front of him at the same time. A second joined it, and together they rested on either side of Danny’s face, cradling him with a tenderness that made Danny’s heart pound. He couldn’t help but lean into the touch. It felt safe and comfortable and right.
The space in front of Danny warped, shadows and light twisting, forming a body to connect with the hands. Bit by bit, it took the shape of a boy in front of Danny, his body wrapped in stars and galaxies that shimmered and shifted as he moved. It was his face that truly enraptured Danny—pale skin and wispy white hair so pure it almost seemed to glow under the moonlight. His lips curled into a warm smile, green eyes crinkling as he regarded Danny with the utmost fondness.
He was breathtaking. Danny couldn’t stop himself from gaping. It was like the night sky itself had come down to greet him, gazing back at him with just as much adoration as Danny gave it.
The figure ran a hand across Danny’s face, tracing his features with cold fingers, the other carding through Danny’s hair. He was just as captivated with Danny as Danny was with him, touching the human eagerly as if he’d been longing for this moment for millennia.
“Starlight,” he purred, the smoothness of his voice sending chills down Danny’s spine.
Danny rested his hands on the boy’s shoulders, shivering at the sheer power he could sense thrumming beneath the surface. This boy held the might of the universe in his chest, such overwhelming power that Danny was certain he could rend mountains with the flick of the wrist. Danny didn't really know what counted as powerful to a magical entity like him, but Danny felt that he must be something to behold, even among the otherworldly.
“Who are you?” Danny breathed.
The boy hummed, hesitating on what should have been a simple question. His hands drifted to Danny’s waist, drawing him in. “I’m everything," he said. "The stars, the skies, the planets. You’ve spoken to me night after night for so many years. It was about time I answered.”
He was space, the cosmos condensed into one being. It sounded impossible, but something deep in Danny’s chest whispered it was true. He had no proof but the way he fell so naturally into this person’s arms, drawn by his compelling familiarity. It was as if Danny had known him forever—and he had. He was the sun, the moon, the stars. He was every clear night’s sky, every constellation Danny knew by heart. Danny had dedicated his life to memorizing his image; even if he took a different form now Danny would recognize him in a heartbeat.
A smile broke across Danny’s face as the wonderful realization sank in. He was the stars. The very same stars Danny had confided in for as long as he could remember, and now Danny knew they had listened. The stars had listened to every rant and ramble, every sob on lonely nights. They had heard every love letter as Danny waxed poetic about their beauty, and now they’d come to respond in kind with warmth and affection, staring back at Danny like he was something to be treasured.
The universe itself had taken shape, and it only had eyes for him.
Danny threw his arms around the boy’s neck, a hand gliding up his spine as those starry arms reeled him in closer, enveloping him in galaxies. With their bodies pressed together a heady tension sparked between them, and Danny ached to close the distance completely. He needed to see how those lips would feel against his—to taste the stars. It should have been a strange desire, they had only just met, but nothing about it felt wrong. Danny had loved space for all of his life, and now it was here, tangible and in his arms, seeking Danny with just as much fervor. It filled him with so much want he could barely contain himself.
The boy leaned in, the passion in those glowing eyes all that Danny could see. Danny's fingers tangled in silky white hair, anticipation mounting until finally their lips brushed, sending an electric current coursing through Danny that made his breath hitch and his body shudder. The touch had been featherlight, but it was still enough to leave him breathless, his heart hammering in his chest.
Danny intended to kiss him again, fully this time, but by the time he broke from his stupor the boy had pulled away, a knowing smile on his face.
Heat rushed to Danny’s cheeks, butterflies blooming in his stomach over that charming smile. He tried not to think about just how intimate this was with him resting in the boy’s lap, his nerves still buzzing from the almost-kiss. There were still only inches between them; it would be so easy to close the gap, to press their lips together and get lost like they were made for each other. Danny craved it more than anything, but he reined in his desire this time and tried to find his voice. He didn’t even know what to call the other boy yet.
“D-do you… have a name?” Danny asked softly, as if speaking any louder would wake him from this dream.
“No. Not a human one.” Green eyes sparkled. “Why don’t you choose one for me.”
“Me? But I’m…” A loser, a nobody, nothing special.
Maybe it was from years of listening to Danny vent about his life, but as if he’d read Danny’s mind, the boy said, “You’re perfect, Danny. I wouldn’t want anyone else to name me.”
Danny couldn't quite believe it. He didn’t deserve all of the fondness flowing from that voice. By now he knew that he was on the lowest rung of the social hierarchy by all human standards, so to this boy—this being—he must be lower than the dirt he walked on. In the vastness of the universe he could have anyone, an unfathomable amount of options all undoubtedly better than Danny. Yet he was here, holding Danny in his arms with so much warmth and care, his voice soft and filled with an adoration Danny couldn’t begin to comprehend. The boy's words were too earnest to be lies, it could only be true: the stars were giving Danny their full love and trust.
A smile slowly split across Danny’s face. “Um, in that case…”
Danny bit his lip, a thousand space related names running through his head. He could name the boy after his favorite constellation, or a star, yet when he opened his mouth what came out was—
“Phantom.”
The boy blinked his luminous eyes. “Like… a ghost?”
“Yeah, it’s just a feeling I got. You’re just so… glowy, and otherworldly, a-and… and…” Self-consciousness crept in, a heat rising up Danny’s neck that made his skin crawl. “I-I’m sorry, I can choose something else if you don’t like it.”
“No,” was the boy’s immediate response. “I love it, starlight. You gave it to me.”
Danny’s tentative smile returned, wider than before, and his heart leapt from the pit in his stomach. He tried not to linger on the implications that he just named the universe, instead focusing on the cute face in front of him that now had a name.
“Okay… Phantom.”
Phantom grinned brighter than the sun and all the stars in the sky, then pounced, sending Danny falling back into the grass from the force of his hug. Lips pressed against Danny’s neck, again and again, Phantom showering him in a flood of kisses, each one sparking like fireworks across Danny’s skin. Danny squeaked and shivered with every loving press of those cold lips, clutching Phantom tighter as his mind and body started to melt under all of the affection.
Danny tilted his head back with a sigh and shut his eyes as Phantom nuzzled his jaw. He never wanted this feeling to end. With Phantom pressed against him Danny felt more content than he had in a long time, his mind clear of all worries. He didn’t have to think about school and all that came with it, or his parents and whatever new invention they had to burn a hole in the ceiling. All that mattered was this moment—the love surging between them.
The kisses trailed up his jaw to his cheek, until their eyes finally met again. Backlit by the moon Phantom’s eyes were radiant, his irises dotted with tiny stars—just another part of him that reflected the sky he was born of. Like a black hole Danny was sucked in again, captivated by the enchanting figure Phantom struck. He was charming, perfect, and, most importantly, he was all Danny’s.
Or at least, Danny hoped.
All this time Danny had been allured by the idea that he was special, that Phantom had taken form just for him, but he had no way of knowing that. To Phantom he might just be another in a long line of humans to play with.
He couldn’t stop his face from falling at the thought.
“What’s wrong?” Phantom asked, brushing Danny's cheek.
“Nothing,” Danny said, too defensive to be believable.
Fingers carded through Danny's hair, and despite everything, Danny leaned into the touch. He was so weak to it.
“I know you, Danny," Phantom whispered, his blunt nails scratching Danny's head soothingly. "Something is bothering you.”
Danny sighed. He held on to the last vestiges of comfort before letting Phantom coax the words out of him.
“It’s just… There must be others,” Danny murmured.
Phantom’s brow furrowed. “Others?”
“Humans. People you’ve come to Earth for.” Danny’s gaze quickly flitted away, unable to bear the way Phantom’s face hardened, confirming his fears. “I know I’m not special. There are countless humans to choose from, I can’t be the only one who—”
“No,” Phantom snapped, the harshest Danny had ever heard him speak. Danny’s wide eyes snapped back to him only to find a grimace on Phantom's face, as if the mere idea of being with another was sickening. “I’ve never come to Earth before. I’ve never even had a body before today.”
“What? Why?”
Phantom shrugged. “I never had a reason, I was just a concept. I watched over the universe, a passive observer.” Some warmth returned to Phantom’s face as he said, “It was you who gave me life. You spoke to me like an old friend—gave me reasons to want.
“I had never wanted before, the concept was foreign to me, but suddenly I wished for things I didn’t need. Hands to touch with, arms to hold you, a mouth to speak. I wanted to know joy and sorrow, emotions a being like me has no use for. I wanted so much, until one day I looked at you and I felt.”
Phantom’s eyes grew distant, his lips pulling into a smile, like he was reliving a happy memory. Perhaps the answer was obvious, but still Danny found himself whispering, “What did you feel?”
If Danny thought Phantom was captivating before, the stare Phantom fixed him with now had him utterly spellbound. Phantom’s eyes were drowning in emotion, the depths of which Danny felt overwhelmed to be the subject of, but he couldn’t look away. Phantom had arrested him with his gaze, and Danny found that there was nowhere else he'd rather be.
Danny was just starting to think Phantom wouldn’t answer when he finally said it.
“Love.”
Phantom let the word hang in the spaces between them, loud in the dreamy silence as it rang over and over in Danny’s head like a chiming bell.
“I love you, Danny. My starlight.”
Starry hands cradled Danny’s face, that gentle caress throwing Danny’s mind into a flutter almost as much as Phantom’s words. He dug his fingers into the cool grass, holding it to keep himself grounded as those three words kept repeating. Danny’s heartbeat was thunderous in his ears, but still he heard it. I love you. I love you.
It felt too soon, but it wasn’t. For all of Danny’s short human existence, Phantom had known him. This was a long time coming—Phantom had waited to speak those words, words Danny had spoken to the sky countless times before. It was different hearing them back, though, and he found them getting caught in his own throat. To say it to another being, another person in front of him, felt too monumental. But he felt it, down to his very core the words “I love you” resonated within him.
Instead he focused on the last word Phantom had spoken. It felt easier, far less life-altering to approach.
“‘Starlight.’ You keep calling me that. Why?”
Phantom's smile became impossibly fonder. “It’s what I’ve always called you ever since you were a little nebula, before I even knew your name. As for why…” He leaned closer, his voice lowering as if to share a big secret. “Because you’re my shining star. You’re a beacon I search for every night. You guide me with your words, brighten my existence. You make the world much more beautiful with your presence—more beautiful than any star in the sky could ever hope to achieve.”
Danny’s face flushed. “Y-you’re exaggerating,” he said, but Phantom shook his head vehemently.
“I’ve seen every planet, every galaxy in this universe, and never have I found anything as perfect as you.” Phantom rested their foreheads together. “There could be no one else. Believe me when I say that you’re the only one for me.”
The earnestness was back, so genuine it made Danny’s heart soar. Danny had never felt so loved and adored before. It wasn’t the same as family, and ran deeper than mere friendship. Phantom was choosing Danny. With every word, every touch, every kiss, Phantom wanted him, and with every breath, every beat of his heart, Danny ached for Phantom even more.
Just like that the spark reignited, engulfing Danny in a blaze of desire. His fingers curled, gripping Phantom’s clothes like a lifeline as he tried to pull the stars he loved closer, as close as they could get. Phantom obliged, letting Danny draw him in until the only gap that remained was the space between their lips, those scant few inches more torturous than Danny could have ever imagined.
Phantom tilted his head, their lips perfectly aligned to kiss, but he moved no further. Danny swallowed back a whine, his hands shaking in his desperation.
“I need you,” Danny breathed.
The stars in Phantom’s eyes twinkled. “Then what are you waiting for?”
The words were barely out of Phantom’s mouth when Danny surged forward, dragging Phantom into a proper kiss. Their lips connecting sparked a supernova of elation that tore Danny’s breath away, the firm press of Phantom’s lips feeling so right, more than anything he’d ever felt before. They slotted together perfectly, like they were meant to be, and Danny allowed himself to be just a little sappy over the thought that he had a place in the universe.
It wasn’t the first time he’d kissed someone, but none had ever been like this. No one else had ever left him with such a fierce ache in his chest, a burning desire for more that threatened to eat him alive. Phantom’s touch unraveled him unlike anyone before, and with every movement of their lips Danny was certain that, just like Phantom, there could be no one else for him. He had found his match, and Danny never wanted to let him go.
They drew the kiss out for as long as they could, parting only briefly for air. It was like they were making up for all of the time they hadn’t spent in each other’s arms, clinging to each other in their fervor. By the time they finally parted, Danny felt drunk off the chaste kisses, his mind reeling while his heart beat wildly in his chest.
“Phantom,” Danny mumbled. It was the only coherent thought his brain could form.
Phantom looked just as dazed as him, face flushed in constellations and graced with a dopey smile. Danny couldn’t help but grin back, watching the stars on Phantom’s cheeks glitter.
“Danny.” Phantom flopped onto the grass next to the human, dramatically throwing an arm over his eyes. “You’re doing things to me.”
Danny couldn’t hide his amusement. “Yeah?”
“I’ve never felt so much.” Phantom lowered his hand to his chest and the vibrant emotions that fluttered beneath the surface. “You are more powerful than you realize. If I didn’t know better I would think that you were the Ancient one.”
It was still difficult for Danny to believe that he could have such an effect on such a powerful entity—that said entity even wanted him to begin with. Danny could think of a thousand reasons he wasn’t worthy, but none of it mattered when the proof was right in front of him. Phantom was here, so affected by a simple kiss all because it was Danny who had claimed his lips. Danny was the one who put that blush on Phantom’s face and rendered him breathless. He couldn’t deny it.
Danny shifted so that he could rest his head on Phantom’s shoulder, draping half of his body over the stars. “Maybe I’m secretly an Ancient,” he said with a lopsided smile.
Phantom laughed as he wrapped Danny in his arms. “Really? What kind of Ancient would you be?”
“I’d say space, but I think that one’s already taken.” Danny shot Phantom a pointed look, but the Ancient only brightened.
“We can share! Just you and me, taking care of the universe.”
It sounded perfect—to live among the stars, cradling planets in his hands and keeping every errant asteroid in line. He could spend his days exploring unnamed galaxies and watching every cosmic event scientists could only dream of. And with Phantom by his side Danny couldn’t think of a more idyllic way to spend his time.
“I’d like that,” Danny said softly.
“An eternity to hold you and listen to your voice…” Phantom murmured, deep in a fantasy of his own. He suddenly perked up, turning his luminous eyes to Danny. “You haven’t spoken today.”
Danny blinked. “‘Spoken’?”
“Yes. Like you’ve done almost every night before.”
Right. His nightly ritual. He’d completely forgotten. Between Phantom’s dazzling entrance and the revelation that he was loved by what could qualify as a god, talking about his dull school day was the last thing on Danny’s mind.
“You kind of distracted me.” Danny couldn’t keep the wry tone out of his voice, earning him a sheepish smile from Phantom.
“You can do it now.”
A blush crept across Danny’s face. The thought of doing his usual rambling to a tangible audience was daunting. He knew now that someone was listening—someone he could possibly bore.
“I-I don’t know. I don’t really have anything interesting to say…” Danny mumbled.
“Everything you say is interesting.” Phantom rubbed Danny’s flank, the gentle touch soothing some of Danny’s nerves. “Please. Let me hear your voice.”
Faced with how bright and hopeful Phantom’s eyes were, Danny couldn’t possibly say no.
“Well…” he started, a coy smile spreading across his face. “I have a new favorite star.”
“Really? Which one?” Phantom asked eagerly, already looking to the sky as if he could find it there.
But Danny’s eyes never left Phantom.