"I don't know if I'll be able to get to any blankets," Gloria tells the dispatcher over the phone. "They're in back and I don't know how mangled the rest of the bus is."

"Orio," I whisper. 

It hurts a lot to talk, to breathe, but the pain is making me stay conscious. Without it I'm pretty sure I'd pass out. I'm starting to get really groggy, and I know there really is something really, horribly wrong with me. I'm trying my best to not panic, but I'm losing the battle. 

"You gotta survive...think about John, and Seth, and your mom."

"Jake," Gloria says, "we need blankets. Can you see if the first aid kit up front has one, and I'll see if I can get to Orion's room?"

"Yeah--wait, isn't the driver dead?"

She pauses. "Yes."

With a heavy sigh, Jake slowly gets to his feet. "Looks like I'll be joining Orion in therapy after this."

"Thank you love," Gloria tells him, heading towards the back, "I owe you."

"Fuck yeah you do..."

"Be careful," I call out to Gloria.

I was going to say more but speaking that loudly makes me lose consciousness. For how long though, I don't know. A noise brings me back.

"Mmmm."

My eyes pop open at the sound of Orion. Him and I are now covered in the black blanket I had bought him. I'm a little surprised he brought it with on tour. But then again I'm not; he's sentimental like that. I look down at him and his eyes flutter open.

"Orio?" I ask.

His brow furrows and he closes his eyes tightly for a moment before his gorgeous orbs focus on my face. "Mmmm. My side hurts. What's going on?"

"There's been an accident."

I don't think he heard me because he's slipped into unconsciousness again. Even so, I'm so relieved to have heard his voice. Just then my ears pick up something, and Gloria confirms what I thought I heard.

"I hear sirens!" she says excitedly into her phone.

After a moment though, nothing happens.

"G-guys," she says, bursting into tears.

"What's wrong?" Jake asks from the ground, his eyes closed.

"They said there appears to have been some boulders that fell down the mountain. An RV crashed into us, and we smashed into the side of the mountain and flipped."

I'm struggling to stay awake. This is important. I need to stay awake just a little longer...

"The ambulances can't get through. They have to send air medics because going around would take too long. They're going to be here in a few minutes, they're on their way."

"Fuck!" Jake screams then and starts crying again. "I don't know if Amy, Tristan, and Orion have a few more Goddamn minutes! Especially Amy, she's in really bad shape."

As I hear Gloria speak into the phone, I start to slip out of consciousness again.

"Please hurry. My friends are--I don't know if they're going to make it."

Blackness.

~

Orion and I are alone in the house the next day. It's the weekend. His mom has work while his siblings are hanging out with friends. Seth had come in specifically just to see Orion and myself; he leaves late tomorrow to go back to university.

Since we're alone, I've persuaded Orion to mess around. He had been practicing guitar. A few nips on his ear quickly changed that.

Suddenly we hear someone upstairs and we both freeze. We stare at each other, eyes equally wide.

"I thought no one was home," I whisper to Orion.

"I didn't think anyone was," he tells me quickly. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit--"

There's a flurry of activity all at once. We hear running feet down the stairs. Orion tries to get off me, but gets tangled in the black blanket I had bought for him last year. Ungracefully he falls to the floor with a thump, awkwardly sprawled between the couch and the coffee table. As Amy appears at the foot of the steps, we grab the blanket together, covering ourselves.

Amy stumbles a moment upon seeing us. She then continues on her way, walks over to the armchair to the right of the couch and sits, resting her chin on her hands.

"A-Amy!" Orion sputters. His face, ears, and chest are all a deep crimson.

"Hi."

"I didn't know you were home!" Orion snaps, looking beyond horrified. Honestly I feel the same way, but outwardly I'm collected.

Amy merely grins.

"Get out of here!" he gapes at her.

"I wanted to ask you something," she replies, looking highly amused.

"W-what?! No! Ask me later!"

"Actually I think this is the perfect time to ask you." She grins wickedly. "I mean, not like you can go anywhere..."

Orion looks mortified.

"She's definitely your sister," I mumble.

"Okay, not even I'm this perverse."

That simply makes her grin wider. Orion glares.

"You're sick."

"No, merely opportunistic."

"Did you seriously wait for me to be in a compromised position so you could corner me?"

"Absolutely not. Like I said, this fell right into my lap." She briefly looks at me and then Orion. "No pun intended."

That makes me blush.

"Oh God...just ask already."

"So awhile ago we talked about me joining Saturn Mutants..."

"Oh not this shit again," he balks, his deep humiliated blush being replaced by one coming from anger.

"Have you given any thought to it?"

"Yes I have," he glares, "and my answer is still no."

"Orion," she whines at him exactly the same way he whines. "I'm still fucking up at school. I don't have a future. Come on!"

"Get it together Amy," he tells her simply. "I'm not here to just swoop in and fix your problems."

Now she glares. "Oh really? Then why the fuck did you pick me up from that party that one time?"

"That was different."

"I don't see how!"

"There's a huge difference between me getting you out of a bad situation and dictating the rest of your life."

"I could leave the band at any time. It wouldn't be my entire life necessarily."

"You're insufferable. No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes Amy!"

She glares. "Fine."

As she stomps to the stairs, she throws a glare over her shoulder. "And make sure you spray air freshener or light a candle or something, it smells like sex down here."

Orion gawks at her. "How do you know what that smells--" He screws up his face. "Never mind, just get the fuck out of here."

As soon as she's stomped up the stairs like a child, Orion and I look at each other. He sighs heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I think I have to do this."

"What? Why? She's only nineteen."

"Yeah," he says sounding defeated, "and I was only eighteen. Tristan, I don't like what she's doing with her life."

I bite my lip a moment. "Love, that's not really your responsibility. You're not her parent. Does your mother know that she's doing bad in school?"

"I'm not sure. I could ask her."

"I think you need to."

Orion sighs. "Great, another awkward conversation I'm going to have to have..."

"Another?"

"Yeah," Orion looks at me.

"What's the other?"

"That I want to essentially kidnap her daughter."