This is an update on the breaking news from earlier today, regarding the accident on I-70 involving the popular band, Saturn Mutants.

It is believed the deadly crash was caused when an RV maneuvered to avoid debris in the road. The RV swerved into the tour bus, causing the bus to veer into the mountain. The bus driver appears to have over-corrected, slamming back into the RV, causing both vehicles to flip repeatedly.

The occupants inside the RV and the driver of the bus died in the crash. We erroneously reported earlier that someone else on the bus besides the driver had died--that is incorrect. Three people from the bus were brought to the hospital in critical condition. The names have not been released yet, nor have any of their conditions been updated at this time.

We now switch live to the scene with--

I shut off the TV. I don't need to see the live footage. I was there.

I've been watching the news since I was transferred to my patient room as I not-so-patiently wait for the nurse to return with an update on my friends.

Just then a nurse comes in.

"Excuse me," I say.

"Yes?"

"Is there an update on my friends? Please, it's been hours, I really need to know."

"I'm sorry," she says, checking my various IV drips, sticking an oxygen level tester on my finger, "no one's gotten back to you yet about that?"

"No."

"I'll check for you."

"You're the fifth person to tell me that!" I snap at her. When she looks surprised, I rub my eyes. "Sorry. Sorry. Not your fault."

She puts her hand on my shoulder. "You've been through a lot. It's okay. I'll go find out that information for you right now, okay?"

"Really?"

"Yeah."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise. Okay?"

I nod and she leaves. Finally.

~

"I really like this new groove we got going!"

That was Orion. I was on Orion's white couch, reading. Glancing down at my watch, I frown a little. It's a little after seven in the morning. The band had pulled an all-nighter. I put my book down and pad across the drawing room, greeting everyone in the foyer. Hooking my thumbs in the band of my sweatpants, I lean against the wall and offer up a grin.

"Morning, team."

My grin falters when Jake is the last one to enter. I really need to get over this jealousy thing. I really do.

"How far is your window from mine?" Amy is chattering away excitedly with Ben.

"I d'no, lets go check it out."

As they run past, I raise my eyebrow at them as they go.

"Amy had the dorky idea that, since the window of the guest bedroom she's in faces Ben's, they should string two cans together and see if it actually works."

"Hey!" she shouts as they run up the stairs, "I heard that!"

Chuckling, I move to Orion. Throwing the briefest glare at Jake, I wrap one arm around Orion's waist, pull him forcefully to me, and kiss him deeply. When we're done Orion looks up at me, confused and flushed.

"Well good morning to you too, babe."

I grin at him.

"Well, I'm going to sleep," Jake announces, heading to the stairs.

I look at him, still holding onto Orion. "Where are you going?"

"To bed."

"Upstairs?"

As a reply, Jake merely waves over his shoulder and ascends the stairs.

I narrow my eyes. "You live two houses away..."

"It's okay babe," Orion tells me softly. "After pulling an all-nighter, everyone usually crashes back here."

I frown.

He looks at me concerned. "Hey. Are you okay?"

I look at him and smile. Then I plant a small kiss on his nose. "Yeah."

"C'mon," Orion tells me, taking me by the hand and leading me towards the stairs, "lets go to bed."

"Bed?" I chuckle. "I've been up for an hour already, Orio."

"We'll snuggle then."

I grin. "That sounds lovely."

As Orion undresses I sit on his bed, waiting for him. It's been a few weeks and they've all been rather tight-lipped about what they're working on.

"So how have the sessions been going?"

"Great!" he calls from his expansive closet, "we've really hit our stride. I never would've thought that adding a piano to the mix would work out so well. She's not even like a major part, she's a accompaniment. It's absolutely brilliant."

I smile, swinging my feet a little. I haven't heard him so excited, so happy, about anything for awhile. It's wonderful.

"She's really phenomenal at composing music, too. She's not as shy anymore and if something doesn't work, she tells us. I'm so fucking stoked--I really think having her as an addition is going to better us as a whole."

"That's wonderful," I tell him, smiling.

"With taking her on, we've really taken it to the next level. She also has this fucking phenomenal voice. It took her awhile for her to finally sing for us, but once she did, man. She has a pair of fucking pipes on her."

I chuckle.

"And I'm not just saying all this because she's my sister. Don't get me wrong, she has her faults. She sucks at writing lyrics."

I laugh. Just then Orion comes out, wearing his signature bed wear. Black sweatpants and nothing else. It's sexy. I love it. I love him so much.

He stands in front of me, hands on his hips, scratching the back of his head briefly. "Now if there was only some way to convince her to sing...She doesn't even wanna do backing vocals..."

Grinning, I beckon him over with my finger. Orion comes over and straddles my lap. I kiss him, just as enthusiastically as I had downstairs. After a minute he moans, but then it turns into a squeak and he pulls away.

"Babe...I'm so tired...Please no..."

"But you're so hot..."

"Later."

Bucking my hips a couple times I let him go, feigning anger. "Fine."

He crawls into bed, taking one of his pillows and throwing it at the back of my head. Laughing, I bring it with me as I crawl next to him. We get situated, me spooning him.

"Babe," he whines at me. "Stop poking me."

"I can't help it!" I protest truthfully, "you're hot. I'm sorry."

He sighs and shuts his eyes. It doesn't take long before his breath evens out.

"Orion?"

"Hmm?" he mumbles sleepily.

"Which bedroom is Jake in?"

He pauses. "I don't fucking know. Does it matter?"

"I was just wondering..."

"Probably in the one right next to us, honestly. So no sex, if that's what you're getting at."

It wasn't. However, the thought of Jake being so close completely annihilates any arousal for my boyfriend I had. In near record time, Orion begins to snore ever so softly.

I shift, laying on my back, one hand on my chest, the other behind my head. Normally I love listening to him sleep. It's cute. He doesn't have an obnoxious snore, it's soft and sweet. And he looks so peaceful when he sleeps.

However, all I can do right now is stare up at the plethora of posters above me and be upset over the fact that Orion's ex lover is just one room over.

--

"Oh shit."

Orion had risen around noon. Everyone else was still asleep. It's currently a little past three thirty.

Orion and myself were sitting in the drawing room, playing chess. I had taught him how to play. He's still not good at it, and it frustrates him, but I keep reminding him it's a very difficult game that takes years to master. Plus, secretly, I want him to play because it's just yet another thing to preoccupy his time and keep him out of the damn bottle.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit."

Orion and I look to where the sound is coming from. Seconds later, Jake stands before us, his hair pointing every which direction. He holds up his hands and takes a deep breath. His eyes are huge. Confused, I throw Orion a worried look.

"Okay," Jake says. "Orion, what I'm about to say, you have to promise me you're not going to do anything rash."

Orion raises an eyebrow.

"I just walked in on Amy and Ben having sex."

Orion is on his feet immediately, walking out of the room. I jump to mine. Jake tries to grab Orion's arm as he walks past, but Orion shakes him off.

"Orio," I say, alarmed. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, you know. To fucking murder my sister and one of my best friends!" he screams.

Jake and I take off after him. But he's already running up the steps.

"BEN! AMY!"

"Orion," Jake pleads with him, "come on, can we please just talk about this rationally."

"No," he snaps, opening up and slamming the door shut to all of the guest bedrooms.

"Orion," I try desperately, "really think--"

We find them in the last one. Ben is mid-putting his jeans on while Amy is standing in a tank top and her underwear and nothing else.

Ben immediately holds up his hands and looks scared. "Look, I can explain--"

Instead Orion goes to him and punches him in the face. Ben goes down immediately with a grunt. Jake and myself grab each of Orion's arms.

"That's my fucking sister!" he bellows.

"Orion!" Amy shrieks at him.

"Dude, the fuck is your problem?" Jake barks at him.

"No, no," Ben says, sitting up and gingerly touching his cheek. "Guys, I deserved that."

Orion is fuming, face bright red. "Amy! I'm fucking dragging your ass back to Minnesota!"

"W-what?" she says, bursting into tears.

"Dude," Jake tells him, "no, you're not."

Orion whips his head around. "Yes I fucking am! She's my fucking sister, she fucking knew she was on thin ice going into this, so she's fucking gone!"

"Lets all just calm down," Ben says.

"Calm down?" Orion raves at him. "Calm down? You're banging my sister!"

"She's twenty."

Orion goes to lunge at him again, and Jake and I grab him.

"You fucking pervert!"

"We're stopping this conversation for now!" Jake yells. He looks at me. "Tristan, get Orion downstairs. Ben, you and I are talking. Amy, go...Somewhere. Go to the basement or another guest room or something." He narrows his eyes at her a little. "We'll deal with you later."

"Hey," I say to Orion, gently taking him by both shoulders. But he's looking past me, villainous look honed on Ben.

I move my head so he has to look at me. He focuses his eyes on my face and I smile a little. "Lets go downstairs and cool off, okay?"

He glares at me now.

"Orio, come on. We'll go talk things through, okay?"

He sighs, still glaring, though it's focus is back on Ben. "Fine."

We go downstairs, him stomping the entire way. I love the guy to death, but man, sometimes I wish he didn't act like such a child. Even so I remain silent, following him.

"Where would you like to sit? Where would you be comfortable?"

"Kitchen," he mumbles.

I follow him as he goes to the fridge, grabs an aloe vera drink, and sits at the counter. I grab an orange juice--they're there for me on account they're still too acidic for his stomach. We sit across from each other, not saying anything. I'm trying to look at him in the face, but he's looking everywhere but at me. I narrow my eyes.

"Orion."

"What?" he snaps at me.

"You shouldn't've punched Ben. You know that, right?"

"He defiled my sister!" he shouts at me.

"We both know she was defiled awhile ago."

He chokes on his drink. I raise an eyebrow.

"You alright?"

He coughs a bit and wipes his mouth on his sleeve. Then he nods.

"So why did you explode like a volcano?"

He drops his eyes and speaks in a somewhat hushed voice. "She's my sister, Tristan."

"You can't protect her forever."

He rolls his eyes.

"Just a handful of hours ago you were gushing about what a wonderful addition she is to the band, and now you're going to send her packing?"

"I do not gush," he mumbles at me, glaring off to the side and picking at the label on his bottle.

I grin. "You gush when you talk about me."

He cracks a smile. "Oh stop..."

"You do. Ask anyone."

He flips me off.

"Alright. Now that I got ya to smile...Orion."

He moans and puts his head on the counter. "I don't want anything to happen to her."

"I understand you see a lot of yourself in her, but..." I'm trying to think of a way to say the next part tactfully.

"But what?" he bemoans.

"She's...She has a better handle on her responses to..." I want to say stressors, but that sounds too clinical. "Situations."

I really want to say she's not a damn mess that runs away from problems or self-destructs. But that's not fair to him, at all, and would only cause a fight between us then.

He picks his head up.

"You two are very similar. But you're also very different." I cross my arms. "Besides, don't you trust Ben?"

"I did before this," he scoffs at me, folding his own arms and turning his head away.

"Orion."

My boyfriend sighs heavily. "Yeah."

"So if she's going to end up with someone, shouldn't you be happy it's someone you trust?"

"But what if they break up?"

"Do we know if they're a couple? They might just be sleeping together."

Orion visibly shudders and he shuts his eyes. "Dude. Could you not?"

I suppress a laugh. He opens his beautiful eyes and looks at me again.

"Assuming they're dating. If they break up, it's gonna fuck up the band."

"You don't know that."

"It could."

"I'll give you that."

"And if it does, how could they do that to me?"

I raise my eyebrow. He rolls his eyes.

"Fine, to us. The band."

"I think that's a very valid point to discuss with them once everyone reconvenes...Once you've calmed yourself and are no longer at risk of decking anyone."

He moans again and puts his head back down on the smooth surface of the counter top. "I'm gonna have to apologize for that, aren't I?"

"Damn straight you are."

By the time Jake and Ben come down, Orion has kept his head on the counter for so long he has a huge red mark on his forehead. Jake suppresses a laugh.

"What?"

Jake points to his forehead. Orion touches it.

"Oh fuck me...I have a red mark, don't I?"

Ben grins wickedly. "Yup."

"Want me to leave?" I ask, getting to my feet.

"No," Jake says, "please be our referee."

"I'm not going to do anything," Orion mumbles grumpily.

Jake looks at him. "Still."

I sit back down.

Orion looks at Ben. "I'm sorry. Do you want some ice?"

"No. Luckily you throw punches like a pussy, so I think I'll be fine."

For a moment Orion merely blinks at him. Then he busts out laughing. We all look at him. Orion snorts and covers his mouth, waving with his other hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry--but did you seriously just insult me after I caught you sleeping with my sister?"

Ben grins. Orion gets up then and comes around, hugging Ben. "C'mere...I can never stay mad at you for long."

"I know," Ben says, hugging him back. "But seriously. If you ever punch me again it's gloves fucking off."

"He boxes, remember..." Jake said in warning.

"Eh, I could take him," Orion grins.

Ben laughs. "Your scrawny ass? Doubtful."

Orion sits back down as Jake and Ben slide into their own chairs. Orion steeples his hands and then looks at Ben.

"Seriously. What's going on between you guys?"

Ben turns bright red and doesn't answer.

"Are you guys just sleeping together, or dating, or...?"

He scratches the back of his neck. "Um. Dating."

"For how long?"

"Uh...A couple weeks now?"

Orion holds his head in his hands. "Could we please have no more secrets? Seriously."

"In my defense Amy and I didn't want to say anything for exactly the reason of what just happened."

"You still should've told me," Orion snarls.

"Orion," Jake interjects, "I already tore him a new one upstairs. I don't think anymore is needed."

"Really? Because I do."

"Orion," Jake says in warning.

"Well what the fuck happens if you guys break up?" Orion says then, running his hand through his hair. "What the fuck happens to the band? Did you guys even take that into fucking consideration?"

"I'm sure nothing will change, just like when you and Jake ended whatever that was," Ben replies.

I shift uncomfortably in my seat and look away.

"Yeah well, what if it does? What if it fucking does?"

Ben narrows his eyes, and it's in that moment I startle to realize I don't think I've seen Ben look anything but cheerful. Seeing him glare is sort of scary. I make a mental note to never piss the guy off.

"It won't."