The Void Between Stars: Book 4 Of The Orion Series

Trying For Normal

"Babe!"

Olivia is standing in front of me on the porch. She looks absolutely horrified.

"I can explain," I tell her quickly, holding up my hands.

She comes in and she still looks absolutely bewildered. "Are you alright?! I mean, clearly you're not alright, but—"

I do my nervous laugh. "It's—I'm fine. I made up with Jake."

Olivia screws up her face. "That's how you guys make up? Shit, I'd hate to see what he would do to you if you ever piss him off."

I laugh as we sit down in my drawing room. She snuggles into me immediately, and I wrap my arm around her, pulling her tight to my chest. "Okay, in Jake's defense I started throwing things first."

Olivia frowns deeply at me.

"We're fine now!" I chirp.

Now she smirks at me, like she doesn't believe me; I laugh. Then an idea pops into my head. "Hey—did you wanna meet Jake and Ben?" When she looks broadsided, I add quickly, "You don't have to, if you don't want to."

"No, I'd love to..."

"But?" I pry.

She explodes into a deep blush. "You guys are my favorite band...I don't want to make an ass out of myself."

I kiss her on the cheek, which earns me an endearing smile. "Ben and Jake? Naw, they're harmless. Trust me, they're just people."

"Yeah," she says, tucking her hair behind her heavily pierced ear, "famous people..."

"Please?" I nearly beg. "We all hate that stigma. We just want to make people comfortable. We came from nothing, and we still kinda think of ourselves as that."

Olivia puts her hand to my cheek, smiling sweetly. "You're not nothing, Orion."

"I know," I tell her, because I do. The therapy really is working, and I'm finding myself being much softer with myself. "I just mean, we came from nothing. We were just regular guys who got lucky."

"You're insanely talented. All of you."

I take her hand from my cheek and run my thumb over it. "I don't like talking about it," I tell her gently with a smile. "Look—the point is, we all like making normal friends—friends who don't have some sort of title or trophy assigned to them."

That makes her laugh.

"Please?" I ask hopefully.

Olivia kisses me. "I'd love to.

~

Ben is laughing hysterically. "Holy shit, dude, the hell happened to your face?"

I roll my eyes as Jake explodes into a blush and looks away. Deciding to mess with him, I point at Jake and grin. "I d'no — ask our bassist."

Jake blushes further, damn near the color of red wine. I can tell she doesn't mean to but Olivia giggles, trying to stifle it. Jake rubs the back of his neck and shoots me a glare.

"Um. There may have been a book involved..."

This just makes Ben laugh harder. Deciding not to press my luck, because on my end things still feel strained between us, I shoot Jake a smile. "We're okay though, that's all that matters."

We're over at Ben's house. Once I let them know Olivia wanted to meet them, Ben offered for everyone to meet at his house. I can't help but wonder if he had briefly talked to Jake so he knew about our explosive fight. I also wonder if there was still blood everywhere, and I felt guilty.

I know, kinda messed up, right? Here he threw a book at me and broke my nose, but I felt bad. Then again, I was the asshole who started throwing shit, so I deserved it. It makes me suddenly see Jake and mine relationship in a whole new light--and it's a horrific sight.

I think back to everything we had been through, everything I had done to him. Not even recently, shit all the way back in High School. As I think about every interaction, it dawns on me how absolutely unhealthy we were for each other. I felt like my surroundings were swept up in this swirling dervish suddenly, and I feel so, so incredibly sad. So sad, and so guilty for everything I had put him through.

Jake waves his hand in front of my face, and I snap out of my horror. Jake gives me a worried smile. "You alright there, buddy?"

I force a smile. My devastated mind makes a note that Jake and I would have to have a more serious conversation, sooner than later. "Yeah, I'm great."

Jake shoots me a quick look, and it's a, "We're going to talk later" look. At least we're on the same page.

"Shall we?" Ben says with a friendly smile, gesturing for us to follow him. So that's exactly what the three of us do.

I've always liked Ben's back yard. It's not nearly as extravagant as mine, but it has a nice, homey, welcoming, rustic feel. The patio is stone, with oversized lanterns on pedestals for decoration. There's a seated dining area, which he leads us to, complete with a hearth that has a grill. Surrounding the long table and chairs is a slated structure from which string lights hang from.

If we were to move off to the side, and back a little there would be a pool. Surrounding the pool was grass and shrubbery. The rest of the expansive back yard was admittedly plain, with just grass and shrubs around the perimeter.

We spent the evening wining and dining—well, sort of. There wasn't any actual alcohol in sight. Instead we drank fruity, bubbly summery drinks that were refreshing and tasty. I'm happy when the evening unfolds, and the talk and laughter comes easy for everyone.

After a while the string lights come on, and we're accompanied by dancing fireflies. The air takes on a chill to it, and it makes me sad that I wasted another summer in rehab. By the end of the night it's way later than any of us thought we'd stay up. Olivia ends up sitting on my lap, and we're both sort of dozing in and out of sleep.

"You all can crash here," Ben offers as we all get up, yawning and stretching.

"Oh no," Olivia says immediately, shaking her head at Ben, "you've been such a wonderful host today, I couldn't impose—"

"G'nite," Jake says tiredly, slipping through the patio door. "I'll be in my usual spot."

When Olivia looks confused, I smile and fill her in. "We crash at each other's houses all the time."

She looks confused. "But...don't you both live just a house or two away?"

"Shhh," Ben says with a chuckle, gently guiding Olivia towards the door. "Don't question our logic, just go with it."

Olivia gives a tired laugh. "Alright."

"See you guys in the morning," Ben says once we're inside.

"You mean, see you later?" Olivia teases because it's three in the morning.

Ben laughs "Yeah, that."

"This was fun," Olivia tells me once her and I are settled in a guest room upstairs. "Thank you."

"I'm so glad you enjoyed yourself."

"I'd like to continue to enjoy myself," she says, walking her fingers up my chest towards my collar, flashing bedroom eyes at me.

I grin and pull her close. "I'm game."