**TRIGGER WARNING** Eludes to an eating disorder, reader discretion is advised.

You're looking at the crisscross crescent crown of thorns

Combining it at twilight

Infiltrate the soil

Tumble and boil

Our life is the foil

Don't bury your cross here

Wake me up at the wrong intersection

Dissecting the day

Bisecting the night

Moving into twilight

You found a cover for me

Now set me free

Into the night

--the song Untitled, by Orion Bauwens

"Shit."

We're about to go on tour after releasing yet another album. We had gone out to lunch and just got back to Orion's house. When we got back, he excused himself to the washroom. I thought nothing of it, seeing as he had the largest sized pop the restaurant had.

Now he was back, scooping up his cell from off the table that Ben and I sat across from each other on his two light blue couches.

"What?" Ben says.

Orion's brow furrows, drinking some more of his pop and swishing it around his mouth before answering. "I have a shit ton of missed calls from Gloria and a few voicemails..."

"That can't be good," Ben grumbles.

Orion puts his phone on speaker and plays the first message. It's the only message we need to hear, really. It gets the point across smashingly, her icy voice slicing through the air. Gloria can be scary when she wants to be.

"Get your scrawny ass in the office. Now."

~

Half an hour later, Gloria is in front of us. She paces back and forth angrily before throwing a magazine down in front of us. We crane our necks down. Before any of us can actually read the article, Gloria leans forward, palms flat on the table.

"Care to explain, Orion?"

He gives his nervous laugh.

"It isn't funny."

"I didn't say it was," he squeaks.

I feel really uncomfortable. I feel like I'm back in high school, sitting in detention. I don't like this, not at all.

"Explain."

"The guy got up in my face--"

She snatches the magazine away and starts shouting. "Oh, so this really, actually happened--"

"Gloria," Orion literally whines at her, "he was following me--"

"That doesn't mean you take a swing at him!"

Orion gets to his feet. Oh shit. He's gone from scared to angry. This...is not good.

"So what, I'm just supposed to let the douche bag follow me and invade my personal space?"

"Orion, he could've pressed charges against you! He still might! You're not some fucking teen anymore!"

"He's lucky I didn't slap him with a harassment lawsuit for stalking! He's also lucky I missed!"

"Orion!"

"What? I'm not fucking sorry for swinging at him!"

"You're about to go on tour!" she screams now. "That's going to give you bad press!"

Orion laughs bitterly. "Really, that's what this is about? Bad fucking press? What about my sanity, Gloria? He was shoving a fucking camera in my face--"

"So then cover your face and let him! He's doing a job, just like you are--you can't just fucking try and punch people, Orion! That's not acceptable, regardless of the job!"

"I can't believe you're defending him!" Orion shrieks in several octaves higher.

"I'm not, but it's part of the kit and kaboodle of being famous--"

"Then I fucking quit!"

There's a stunned silence. Gloria quickly melts into panic. "You don't--you don't mean that--"

"Fuck you!"

Orion turns and goes rushing out of the room. Ben and I jump to our feet, and the three of us go hurrying after him into the hallway.

"Orion--" Gloria tries.

Orion grabs a picture off the wall as he walks past it, smashing it on the ground as he walks.

"Oh real mature Orion!" Gloria snaps at him, so he does it again.

Gloria jogs forward and grabs his arm. "Stop it--"

He yanks his arm away without even stopping, so she grabs it again.

"Stop it!"

She pulls on him, hard, and he whips around. Ben and I stop. She points at him, and when we come around we see her eyes are two pools of fire.

"Stop," she tells him, "think about what you just said. Look, baby, I know it sucks, and I'm sorry I made you think that I'm okay with paparazzi like that, because I'm fucking not. But." She takes a deep breath, putting her finger down. "You have a security detail. Fucking use them. And for fucks sake Orion, did you even ask the douche to not take your picture?"

Orion laughs bitterly, crossing his arms. "Of course I did."

"Not of course Orion! Your behavior is becoming more and more erratic!" she shouts.

The few people who had peeked their heads out at the commotion slowly begin to slip back into their offices.

Orion tisks and looks off to the side. So she does something that surprises everyone--she grabs his chin and yanks his face to face her. She points at him again.

"I'm gonna ask you one more fucking time, Orion, and then I'm done. What's going on with you?"

He opens his mouth a couple times. I see him curl up into himself and he glares. "Guess."

She sighs in frustration. "Do you really want to stop? If you do, I can't stop you. But think about that. You couldn't perform. You'd have to get a regular job--you love what you do. You might have to go back to Michigan."

Even saying that I can see a flicker of panic cross his face. "No I wouldn't."

"You live in a mansion, have a landscaping crew. The average person can't afford all that!"

I can see realization slowly coming over his face, and he quickly starts looking embarrassed.

"Do what you want, Orion, it's your life. And you may not believe it right now, but I care about your happiness, sweetie, I do. But you're not exhausting all your available options before throwing in the towel."

She puts a hand on his shoulder. "You're acting rashly, hun, which is what got you into this mess in the first place."

Orion looks down. "Y-yeah."

"Right. So. Are you really leaving the band?"

Orion scratches his head. "No."

Gloria smiles when he looks at her. "Okay, good. You're going to make this right though--you know that, correct?"

He looks at his feet again, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Yeah..."

"Alright. Now, come on, let's go find you a dust pan."

She walks off. Orion sighs and walks after his, hanging his head.

"You may be a millionaire now," Gloria says as she walks, "but you're not above cleaning up your own messes."

When they disappear around a corner, Ben slips his own hands into his pockets and lets out a long whistle. "Damn. She reminds me of my mom sometimes."

I watch after them, shaking my head. "Yeah, she's like, all of our moms..."

~

"I would like to offer a heartfelt apology to Mr. Ryans."

I'm watching Orion on TV. I feel bad for him--he looks miserable. He looks defeated, and tired, and uncomfortable. Cameras are flashing all around loudly, and the table is filled with microphones.

I also have to say it's weird watching him on TV. Knowing someone so intimately in person (literally and figuratively), and to see that person on TV, it's...well, jarring. It once again makes me question reality. It also makes me question whether any of us will get used to this, like Gloria suggested Orion do.

"Trying to hit someone is not okay. It's not acceptable as a celebrity whom people look up to, it's not acceptable in society, and it's not acceptable on a day to day basis." He pauses. "However."

I literally facepalm. "Oh for fucks sake, Orion..."

He lifts his head. "It also is not acceptable the way photographers treat celebrities. I get it, they're just doing their job. And I get it, my job is that of a celebrity. But there's a deeper layer there, one human being to another. 

"I was on a fu--I wasn't performing. I was 'off the clock'," he makes air quotes. "I was just being Orion Bauwens walking to the gas station to try and get an energy drink. And then I had a person--who, for the record, I asked them to not photograph me repeatedly, and he didn't listen--start to follow me. In reality that's called harassment. But because I'm a rockstar, that's okay?"

I'm literally sitting on the edge of the couch. This is either going to go over really well, or really poorly. Gloria is probably having kittens.

Orion shakes his head. "This issue has been addressed ad nauseum since Princess Diana's death. It comes in crests and troughs. But it keeps happening and nothing ever is resolved."

He scratches the back of his neck, and then puts his hand back under the table where his hands are clasped. "I'm not trying to say I can wave a magic wand and fix this, and I unfortunately believe this issue is going to be an issue for as long as celebrity culture exists. However I want everyone to know today that from here on out I am going to be an advocate for celebrities rights. Because everyone forgets we're not a product, we're an actual person." He shakes his head. "We deserve the same rights everyone else receives in this country and in other developed nations."

Orion nods then and scoots back his chair. "Thank you for your time, everyone, and Mr. Ryans, I really am sorry."

The feed breaks out into pandemonium as everyone starts shouting questions all at once. Orion ignores it all, and I watch a body guard escort him out of the room. The feed goes back to the normal news broadcast. I shut off the TV and lean back on my couch, stunned.

"Wow. Okay then."

I get up to make myself a snack.