The Void Between Stars: Book 4 Of The Orion Series

Memories and Movies

I was dreaming, though it was more of a memory than anything.

"This movie is really weird," Tristan said, sitting next to me on the beige leather couch that was on my tour bus.

We were currently watching The Matrix, a movie I couldn't believe he had never seen. The true plot had just began to unfold, Agent Smith arriving at Neo's workplace.

"Sh," I tell him, grinning, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye. "This is when it gets interesting."

"All I know about this movie," Tristan replies quietly, "is that scene where the people are being shot at, but then time slows down, and--"

"Sh!" I insist again, laughing. "That doesn't happen until way later."

"Oh, so it is that movie. I thought I was--mmrmph!"

"Shhhh!" I say through my laughter. I had made a bowl of popcorn for us to snack on, and I had just unceremoniously crammed some into his mouth. "You're going to miss something!"

Tristan, looking bewildered, spits some of it out. Blinking at me in disbelief for a moment as he chews and swallows, Tristan then cracked up. "What the Hell, man?"

"You won't shut up," I whined at him through my giggles. "I had to get you to somehow. This is my favorite movie--" I cut myself off, and pat his forearm wildly. "Okay Trinity's back, now pay attention!"

Tristan is still looking at me, I can see him out of the corner of my eye, though my own are glued to the screen.

"You're weird, man."

That got my attention, and I had looked at him. I was still smiling, though. "Good weird or bad weird?"

Grinning his perfect smile, Tristan answered honestly. "I'm not sure yet."

Rolling my eyes, I looked back at the movie.

I can feel myself starting to stir from my sleep, but I don't want to wake up. I'm fighting it tooth and nail. I knew how the rest played out. Tristan had quieted after that, only gasping in surprise a few times.

That wasn't the important detail, however.

The important detail was the fact that I kept catching him looking at me. At the time I thought it was my imagination. Perhaps, it was my anxiety over meeting someone new. Now I know he was checking me out. During our watching of The Matrix, at several points I had to fight the urge to snuggle him. I wanted nothing more than to just lean into him, or perhaps even rest my head in his lap. But we weren't there yet, so instead we spent a good portion of the movie stealing awkward glances at one another.

And as I open my eyes, and I can see it's still dark out, I can feel tears threatening to spill out of my eyes. I sit up, swinging my feet over the edge of the bed, and wipe them away before they fall.

How long was this going to go on for? How long was I going to be plagued with thoughts and dreams of Tristan? Shaking my head in annoyance, I look over at the clock. It was 3:24AM. I reach over to my bedside table, grabbing my glasses and my phone. I vacillate between seeing if Ben or Jake were awake.

The meeting at EMI had gone well. I had told them about my plans to do a live interview. After we hashed out the details, every one of them voiced their concerns for me.

I surprised myself; last year, had the conversation gone like that, I know I would've been pissed. But now? Now I was happy and grateful. It was nice knowing that these three people in this room would always have my back, forever.

A thought popped into my head, and I quickly pulled up my contacts menu. After a quick search, I hit call.

"What's wrong?" Scott's worried voice asks in my ear.