"TRISTAN!"

I pull my phone away from my ear and flinch. Chuckling, I cautiously bring it back. "Ben. The heck? Trying to make me go deaf?"

It's been a few weeks since they kicked off the tour in Madison Square Garden. I, admittedly, haven't spoken much with Jake or Ben. We've been trying to figure out the logistics of me seeing Orion. Between my work schedule (I have to go to work to pay rent and put gas in my car, all that adult stuff) and their tour, it's proving difficult.

"I have an idea."

I'm immediately excited. "You do?"

"Why don't you just call Orion, you nimrod?"

I moan. "Ben, I'll be fixing to kill you if you seriously called me to state the obvious."

Ben laughs. "'Fixing to'? You lost me."

"It's a Texas thing. I mean, I'm gonna kill you if you seriously just called me to tell me to call Orion."

"I mean, since we can't get schedules to mesh."

I sigh heavily, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I know, but if I was gonna do that, don't you think I would've by now?"

Ben laughs. "Honestly? I don't know you that well. But now I feel dumb when you put it like that."

"Naw, don't feel dumb."

"Well, tell me what you want, Tristan. What is your ideal meeting with Orion?"

I let out a heavy sigh. "I d'no, honestly. That's part of what's making this so difficult."

"Okay--what do you imagine?"

I rub the back of my neck, looking at my kitchen ceiling for a moment, and try to think. "I d'no. I want it to be something relatively public. I worry if it's just him and me, one on one, he'll bolt."

"I mean, yeah, that sounds like something Ori might do."

"So I was thinking...Fuck, I d'no."

I half expected Ben to say something, so when he doesn't I keep talking.

"I want him to feel comfortable, not like I'm backing him into a corner. I d'no, maybe we could meet up for coffee or something--ahh, fuck, I d'no."

"It's okay, we'll figure this out together, Tristan. Don't get frustrated."

I pad over to my couch and sit down. My stupid air isn't working, and I'm on the fifth floor, and it's sweltering. As such, I'm wearing just some baggy grey pants and nothing else. "Coffee is probably a bad idea actually...I mean, what if he gets mobbed? He hates that." I pause, and then everything seems hopeless. "Fuck!"

"It's okay, Tristan."

"No, it isn't," I grump at him. "Being one on one would make him anxious. Going in public would run the risk of us getting interrupted and him getting stressed."

"Maybe you should just call him."

"I can't."

"You can't, or you won't?"

"I can't. Phone calls are so impersonal. When I see him, I want it to be meaningful. I don't want the sterile harshness of talking into a clunky piece of plastic and electronics."

Ben doesn't say anything.

"I want to be able to look into his eyes. I wanna be able to gage his body language. I don't want to just talk, I want to feel him."

"You want to have sex with him?"

That makes me laugh. "Jesus, Ben, no! I mean, yes, but no!"

Ben laughs.

"I mean, I want to feel his presence. I want to pick up the silent cues that come with conversation, yaknow? I want to read the room, so to speak." 

I abruptly stop.

"What?" Ben asks.

"I want to be there, physically, because I need to make sure I still feel about him like I used to."

There's a drawn out pause. "Er, I thought you did? Isn't that why we've all been going through this?" 

I sigh. "Ben--have you ever been in love?"

"Uh, no..."

"I know I still love Orion," I tell him simply, "but I need to make sure it's what I want. I want to make sure the same magic is there, yaknow?"

"Okay. I mean, I guess that makes sense, sure."

For the millionth time, I sigh. 

"So, let me get this straight. You want a controlled environment to meet him in?"

"Yes."

"Hm. What if we threw a party?"

I raise my eyebrows. "A party?"

"Yeah. We could frame it as a celebration of some sort. Maybe like his birthday or something?"

"Fuck, his birthday isn't until January. I don't wanna wait that long!"

"Okay, okay," Ben replies, clearly brainstorming. Then, he speaks. "Wait--Tristan. I have the best idea I've ever had in my entire life."

I laugh. "Uh, alright."

"Do you mind if I give your phone number to someone?"

"Uh..." I think quickly. Ben clearly has something in mind, and I trust Ben and Jake explicitly. "I don't mind, that's fine."

"Excellent! Expect a phone call from a random weird number. Just answer it."

"Okay." I chuckle. "Care to fill me in on your idea?"

"No," Ben says, and I can picture him smirking in my head. "I think it'll be funnier when he calls you. Bye, Tristan."

"Wait," I try to say, "when can I expect him to--"

Beep.

I look at my phone, Ben hung up. I shake my head, smirking. "Call."

~

A few days pass. In the back of my mind, there's an insatiable itch. I hadn't had any random phone calls. I didn't want to seem pathetically desperate, so I told myself I'd give it a week before I reached out to Ben to let him know that no one contacted me.

However, on day four, my phone rings. It's around eleven AM. Luckily it was one of my day's off. I don't recognize the number. Furthermore, it's a really strange phone number. It starts with a '0'. I didn't think phone numbers could start with zero.

I'm about to send it to voice mail, assuming "my car warranty had expired and they had been trying to reach me", but then I abruptly remembered what Ben had said. Frantically I pick it up, hoping whoever was calling me didn't hang up.

"Hello?"

"Er, is this Mr. Tristan Smith?"

My heart skips a beat, and then thuds against my chest. I think I know who this is. At the same time, my brain is telling me that there is no fucking way who I think it is is actually on the other end of the phone.

"Y'sir."

"Oh, thank God! Here I thought I had dialed wrong like a twat."

Yup, now that he was talking more, there was no mistaking that voice. I felt temporarily dizzy.

"I'm Scott, a friend of Orion's. Ben and Jake tell me that you want to set up a meeting with him?"

And even though he can't see me, I nod, because I'm too stunned to speak. My brain is trying to catch up with the fact I'm really speaking with this high-profile actor. This very hot high profile actor.

Scott chuckles when I don't say anything. "I think I might be able to help you out with that. Do you have a few minutes to spare?"