"I don't know where we are!" Gloria shouts into her phone. "Can't you, I don't know, track my cell signal or something?"

My left side is getting worse and I'm getting a headache. The pain is traveling from my side up into my rib cage. I'm fighting down panic because this hurts, and I'm starting to get worried there's something really wrong.

Amy is still screaming. I wish she would just pass out already. Not because her screams are annoyingly terrifying--which they are--but because then she wouldn't be in pain anymore. I want to do something for her but come on, what could I do?

Plus there's the fact that Orion is sprawled out across me. And with his side how it is I'm petrified to move him. Thankfully the bleeding seems to have stopped, or at the very least slowed down, but I don't want to accidentally hurt him even more.

"Gloria," Ben calls out, "we're just outside of The Springs. I saw the sign not that long ago."

"And we're heading east," Jake calls, his face covered in blood. "Well, we were, anyway. I don't know what direction we're pointing now."

As Gloria relays the information, I close my eyes. It's getting hard to breathe on account of the pain. Scared, I force myself to look down at my side. I can barely see it, but a large bruise is starting to form. It feels more towards my back. I close my eyes again.

"Um, Jake," I say as loud as I can manage, and it's excruciating. "Could you--could you come here?"

Within moments Jake is at my side. He takes one look at Orion and bursts into tears.

"Fuck. Oh fuck. Is he--"

"No, he's alive."

Jake wipes his tears off, but accomplishes little more than just smearing the blood all around.

"Jake," I hiss through my teeth. Jake looks startled, but then his expression turns serious. "I know people are more hurt than I am, but could you check out my left side, please? It's killing me and I can't get a good look."

The look on his face tells me he doesn't want to. I can see in his eyes he's afraid of what he's going to see. Even so, he takes a deep breath and looks. When all this is done and over with I am giving the man the biggest hug for how absolutely amazing he's being right now.

I watch as his eyes go wide and he visibly startles. He then very gingerly touches my side.

Fuck, I wish he hadn't have done that. I scream out in pain and see stars, and it takes everything in me to not throw up all over Orion.

Jake yanks himself back, looking petrified. "I--I--I--I'm so sorry, I barely touched you..."

I'm panting, trying not to black out. I shake my head roughly. "It's okay. What's wrong?"

He somehow looks even more petrified. "I don't--I don't know--"

He jerks around, going to Gloria and frantically tapping her shoulder. "Hey! There's something really wrong with Tristan, too--"

"Hold on hold on, my friend needs to talk to me--what now, Jake?"

"Something's going on with Tristan, too. His left side is all bruised, and the bruise is spreading even while I look at it, and he's starting to get all pale and shaky, and it seems like he's having trouble breathing or something--I don't--I don't get it. He doesn't have a scratch on him. I don't know what's wrong."

Hearing that about myself sends me into a panic. I blink back tears, fighting off another wave of nausea. I force myself to look down at my boyfriend. I can't freak out now, not with him like this in my lap, his sister screaming in agony.

I have to be strong for Orion.

~

I miss you.

I smile at the text message, taking a bite of my sandwich.

I miss you too.

Look what you've done to me. I'm a mushy mess.

I chuckle. You were a mushy mess before I ever got to you. ;)

So what do you wanna do when you come in next?

I pause a moment, thinking, and then grin. You.

I'm rolling my eyes. Besides that.

D'no.

Well think of something.

Aren't you needy?

I miiiiiisssss yooooooooou.

We saw each other yesterday.

:(

Yeah, but that was yesterday! Today is today and I miss you!

I sigh then and hit the call button. Orion answers immediately.

"Hey!"

"I'm sick of texting," I tell him with a chuckle.

"What're you doing right now?"

I look around, nodding to a co-worker as he walks past. "At work. On my lunch break."

"What do you do? You never told me."

"I'll give you a hint. I'm wearing a hard hat and a reflective, bright yellow vest."

"Construction worker?"

"Yup."

I can almost hear his smirk over the phone. "How very Village People of you."

I roll my eyes. "Ha ha."

"I heard that."

"Heard what?"

"You roll your eyes."

I laugh. "How did you know?"

"Because I know you."

"Well I heard you smirk as you said that."

"I did! Hey, did you know you roll your eyes a lot more ever since you met me?"

I smile a little. "I know. You rubbed off on me."

"So seriously, what do you want to do when you're here?"

"Switch!" one of the foremen calls out, meaning my lunch is over.

"How about this," I say, "why don't you think of something and surprise me?"

My boyfriend moans over the phone. "I hate coming up with stuff...That's why I asked you."

"Look, I gotta go. We'll bounce ideas off each other, okay?"

"Go? I'm pouting."

"I know."

"I'm going to miss you."

I smile sadly. "I miss you already."

"Smith," the foreman says to me, "break is over."

"I gotta go," I grunt unhappily.

"Alright. Love you."

"I love you too, Orion."

Hanging up on him is one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life.

--

In four days time I'm back at Orion's house. He picked me up in his yellow Lambo Huracan, the only car he owns that isn't black. We barely even close the front door before we're all over each other.

I know for me it's because I've missed him this past year. I assume Orion's high libido is due to him not doing anything but pleasing himself for almost an entire year. His dedication to me is sweet, but also a little, um, surprising?

It's a bit crazy, if I'm being honest. It makes me smile though; Orion is an all-or-nothing type of guy. He doesn't mess around.

"So," Orion says later, "did you think about what you want to do this weekend?"

"We should get matching rings," I blurt out.

Orion freezes and gives me a surprised look. This look quickly turns into...I'm not even sure. Complete bewilderment and discombobulation. He gives his high-pitched laugh that he only does when he's nervous or uncomfortable. When he speaks, it's equally high-pitched.

"Um, what?"

My eyes go wide as I think I understand how he took it wrong. "I mean--I was thinking that I want something physical to remind me of you when we're apart."

He looks a little relieved. "O-oh."

I can't help but laugh. "What did you think I meant?"

Just like a snap of a finger, Orion's entire face is bright red.

"I mean--I didn't--I don't--I don't know?" he squeaks. "I-I-I--I mean, usually when people say rings, well--"

I can't help myself. I bust out laughing, which only makes him turns a deeper shade of red. "It doesn't have to be rings. It could be a necklace, or a keychain, or--"

He's suddenly offended. "Are you laughing at me?"

I shake my head, still laugh. "Not at you. You're just kinda cute when you get all flustered."

There's an uncomfortable silence. Well, this blew up in my face. When Orion still doesn't say anything, I look away. I suddenly feel stupid--really stupid. It was an innocent enough idea and he took it all wrong.

"Never mind--"

"Hey."

To my slight surprise, Orion comes around the granite counter in his kitchen and hugs me. He frowns at me. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" I grumble. I'm trying to not be sour about it but it's not working. "It was a stupid idea. Let's just figure out something else to do."

"Hey." He interweaves his fingers through my own. I look at him and he offers up a smile. "It wasn't a stupid idea Tristan. I just--I took it a really stupid way, and I was embarrassed my mind went there immediately."

"Where did it go?" I ask. I know exactly where it went, but I just want to hear him say it.

"Stop," he chides with a glare. He kisses my hand. "Lets just go, okay?"

I can't help but push the issue. "Did you think about marriage?"

For a second I can see him about to rebuttal. I feel like old Orion would've. However, he just looks at me and speaks softly.

"Yeah, I did, which is really stupid because we weren't together for that long and then we weren't together for a year. And we've only started up again a handful of days."

I smile at him and stroke his cheek. "Maybe one day."

My Orion smiles back. "That'd be nice, I think."

--

Orion is peering over the glass counter, hands shoved inside his black jeans pockets. He's wearing a sexy and unique black jacket. It's Victorian styled, short in the front with a faux button vest in front, cinched at the small of his back with two decorative silver buttons situated right above the swallowtail bottom. Beneath he's wearing a thin black shirt that has a hood, which he's wearing up.

I can't help but smirk as I look at him. He's trying to be discreet. The jacket is pretty over-the-top though. Maybe if he were younger he'd just go under the radar, blend in with the other teens that are in this mall. But he's...Well, he doesn't look old, but he also definitely couldn't pass as a teenager.

I am happy that, so far, no one has noticed him. Personally I don't care. I think the entire celebrity thing is laughable. But I know it bothers my Orio, so I just want to get in and out as quick as possible. His sentiments surprisingly aren't the same as my own, however.

"Relax," he had told me about fifteen minutes after we had arrived, walking hand in hand. "I wanna browse, walk around for awhile. What's the hurry?"

Truthfully there wasn't a hurry. But I knew if he was spotted a scene would happen, especially in a mall. And I know if a scene was caused, it would ruin his time. And if his time was ruined, well, his nerves might be shot. And who knows what would happen then.

I'm not worried about all this because it's "inconvenient", or "bothersome", or what have you. I worry about it because I know how badly he wants to just...be. Orion wants to just be able to go to a mall without getting mobbed. He wants to be self-sufficient without worrying about who is going to say what if they see him.

But I also know how fragile he is. And even though I haven't spent much time with him so far, I can tell he's doing much better. How to quantify that, however, is comparative, and I really don't know. So I stay on guard.

Orion stands erect and comes over to me. He takes my hand, smiling sweetly.

"What sort of band were you thinking? Like, what material did you want it made from?"

I shrug. "Doesn't matter. I just want something that reminds me of you."

Orion tugs on my hand and then releases it. I walk over to where he leads me. He points.

"I really like that," he tells me, pointing to a black tungsten band.

It's very him. The outside has a bright blue band down the middle circumference, and the inside is the same blue. It's pretty and yet masculine all at once. He smiles at me excitedly, speaking softly.

"We could get each other's names engraved on the inside..."

I hadn't even thought of that. A smile slips across my lips. "That would be perfect, Orio."

Now he grins at me, and it's Heaven on Earth. That smile makes me fall for him all over again.

"Make yours say 'Orio'."

I grin back. "I will."

Once we make the purchase (he insists on paying, which I hate), we decided to take them to another shop in the mall.

"There's a store that does strictly engraving," he tells me as we walk hand-in-hand, leading me somewhere, "they're usually not busy so they can probably have our rings ready in an hour or less if you want."

I kiss his knuckles and smile. "That sounds lovely."

He grins at me. Lord, I've never seen him smile so much in all the time I've known him. It's intoxicating. "Did you wanna get ice cream while we wait?"

"Wouldn't that--"

I was going to ask him if it would bother his stomach, but I was interrupted.

"Excuse me," a girl's voice says behind us.

We turn around and then stop walking. A group of three teens, two girls and a boy, stand before us. The boy breaks into a huge smile, and the girl to his right nudges him in the ribs.

"See," she tells the boy. "Told you it's him."

Orion smiles and cocks his head to the side. "Can I help you?"

"You're Orion Bauwens, yeah?" the boy asks.

"Yup."

"Oh, wow. I'm a huge fan. Sorry to bother you, I just wanted to say hi."

"It's no bother!"

I raise an eyebrow as I watch Orion. He willingly enters a conversation with the teens, chattering away. He answers all of their questions, but also asks them questions; their names, how old they are, their likes and dislikes, what they're doing at the mall. He seems genuine, and I can tell by the look in his eyes he's nothing but sincere.

Had this happened a year ago, he would have behaved much different. I watch in wonder as he laughs with them, and then finally takes a group selfie. When it's all said and done the trio walks away, the girls teasing the boy about how he shouldn't be so chicken-shit.

"Did you wanna go?" I ask him.

"Go?" he asks innocently, "why would we go?"

"Word might get out that you're here."

"Oh bah. Whatever. I don't mind talking to my fans. So long as I don't get mobbed, I don't care." He wraps both his arms around my one arm and grins. "Besides, even if I do get mobbed, you're here to protect me."