“Sure, if that long-with-love-acquainted eyes
Can judge of love, thou feel’st a lover’s case;
I read it in thy looks; thy languished grace
To me, that feel the like, thy state descries …”
--Sir Philip Sidney, Sonnet 31 from Astrophil and Stella

A crackling noise startles me and I jolt upright to peer into the darkness. My tense muscles relax in relief when I realize it’s only Leo.
“Hey.” I call to him. “Why are you out so late?”
He chuckles. “I should ask you the same, you know.” He settles into the grass beside me. “Petrus and Isabella wanted some alone time.” He winks at me when he says “alone time,” and I smile. Besides me and Leo, Petrus and Isabella are the only remaining Variants&...

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