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The important parts of a movie happen off camera.
Well, that was definitely not what his mom had said, it had to be wrong, because his mom hadn't been an actress. At least not an actress actress, more like a theater actress, but that also counted as an actress and–
Wow, he was high. High, drunk and fucked.
Oh yeah, the important parts of a play happen offstage, that was what his mother used to say.
Why was he remembering this?
"Hey Tom! Wanna come back to the party?" A voice gushed behind the bathroom door. The noise outside felt too much like the rehearsal of a musical and the florescent lights almost looked like the backstage of a theater.
That was probably the reason why he was remembering this, so he tried to concentrate.
He was at a party, that much he knew, but there was an important part of the history he was missing.
He decided to open the door for now. Behind it was a sexy woman with a coattail in her hands and the tiniest skirt he had ever seen. He surely was lucky, so why didn't he feel lucky?
"Heyyy... ya a magnet? Cuz I feel attracted to ya" He slurred, ignoring the pain that caused on his chest. Somewhere in his brain he was aware that she wasn't going to laugh, it was a bad joke. But oh, he wanted to hear a that laugh.
The woman grabbed his arm and guided him to the party without saying anything, then she handed him a drink. How many drinks had been already? Surely he was not lightweight with how much experience he had with alcohol, so why did he feel so heavy?
"Alcohol is a depressant for the nervous system" A warm voice in the back of his mind replied.
That made sense, that's why he loved alcohol and drugs, because they numbed him. And a numb man can't feel alone or abandoned or insignificant or–
He felt hot lips make their way to his neck and for some reason, his first reaction was to shove the woman away from him.
"Wha the fuuck ya doing?!" He screamed, not so sure about the reason of his outburst. He was Tom Ryder, he could have one night stands if he wanted.
"Hahaha, I'm trying to seduce you!" She laughed. "You can't blame me for wanting to sleep with the handsomest man in the room" The most handsome, his brain corrected as he watched her trying to stand up without an ounce of grace–
Fuck, Grace.
He was supposed to be here to make things up with Grace, well Ryland, whatever, he was both. The most important part was that Tom had made him cry.
Oh no, he was such a selfish asshole to think he deserved forgiveness from his grace when this was all he could be. A high, drunk, fucked mess. He had even tried to flirt with another person and there were cameras everywhere, so this would undoubtedly be in the news soon.
This was bad, bad bad. He had to find Ryland and beg for absolution before it was too late and he saw the photos that would prove that Tom was no good for him. That would be the end, he knew it and he didn't want that.
He stood up, or tried to, at least. The world felt like it was spinning, very similar to those weird beds that motels have but this time it wasn't fun, it simply made him want to puke, which he shouldn't because Ryland could be here in any second. That if he hadn't given up on Tom, of course.
"Where are you going Ryder?! Too good to party with us?!" A man mocked. Tom turned around and recognized him as Henry, some wannabe stuntman that sometimes replaced Colt. Gail had told him this party was for stuntmen, but she had also said Ryland would be here too and he wasn't.
He was getting angry, because nothing was going his way, and that didn't use to happen. He had always gotten what he wanted.
A toy, he got it, as long as he stayed quiet while his mom practiced 'Funny honey' for 'Chicago'. A car, granted, so long he didn't bother his dad. An acting career, no problem, if only for the sake of not having to put up with him.
Gail hadn't been different, she gave him fame, money, houses, women. In the end, even if they were cursing him behind his back, everyone had given him whatever he wanted.
Everyone, except... Ryland. He gave him what he needed. Whether it was advice, love or plain company. He loved Tom without extra requirements and oh god, he was never getting Ryland back.
Colt was right, he hadn't changed at all. It was part of him, to take, use and throw away. That was the way he was raised since he was little. It was impossible to be enough for someone so good when Tom was just a selfish, entitled, stupi–
Rough hands took him by his shirt and shook him. It was Henry and he looked mad. That was fine, because he was enraged, so if the man hit him, Tom would respond. Maybe he would let him strike a hit or two, that was a fitting punishment for all the damage he had done to Ryland.
"You didn't hear me?!" Henry spat, shaking Tom a little more. "We work our assess off for you and you can't even listen to me!" He roared, visibly drunk, but less drunk than Tom.
"Ha! You lucky I even le you work wi me!" He laughed, knowing it was a lie, no one around him was lucky to be there. "I can do everythin! I'm Tom fuucking Ryder!" He pushed Henry away, getting ready for the fight.
"You think you could it without Seavers?! Without us?!" Henry punched him. "You can't even do your own stunts!" He was right, Tom couldn't, he couldn't do anything, not even make Ryland happy.
"Oh! Watch me!"
At that moment everything went black, but he could remember the blood pouring from Henry's head after the kick. It was almost as red as the curtain of the theater.
—
He bought pizza, it was the only thing he could find at 11 pm. Pizza and Jody, because she was at the apartment door when he came back, so it wasn't so bad.
"Hey Ry! Colt got pizza!" Jody said aloud. Colt could only hope that the need for food would get his brother out, but that was probably not going to happen because he had seen his twin go days without food, water or sleep for the sake of science. This twenty four hours were nothing.
"Leave it, I'll do it" He sighed, earning a stern look from his girlfriend. They had that conversation outside, the one about not judging a book by its cover, since Tom Ryder could possibly be a nice person on the inside.
It was worth a shot... but later when Jody wasn't listening.
He sat on the couch and scrolled on the tv to find a movie. Jody sat beside him with two plates and a disappointed glare, probably wondering why he had done the opposite of what he said he would.
They ate while 'interstellar' played on the tv in a fruitless attempt to lure Ryland out of his misery. And as soon as Jody fell asleep he went to stand in front of the door again.
"Ry... I know it was wrong to..." He stopped, struggling to find the words. "I shouldn't have..." Fuck, Jody had made this seem so easy. "It just that, Ryder it's too much like me, you know? He's gonna fuck it up and you'll have to pick up the pieces and..." It was not working, so he decided to drop the Ryder talk for now and focus on his brother.
"I only wanted to protect you. And I do understand that's not an excuse but... if you promise to be careful, I promise to give Ryder a chance" It would be difficult and it was probably a bad idea, but if Ry wanted to date that asshole then Colt would be there to support him. Perhaps be prepared for hitting Ryder if everything resulted as he thought.
"So open the door, please?" He begged, putting his forehead in the wood of the door to–
He tripped towards the bedroom.
The door was open and inside of the room was the messy bed with Ryland's fox cardigan. But his brother was not there.
"J-jody!" He screamed. Jody jumped out of the couch half sleep and rubbed her eyes, slightly confused.
"What? Where's the fire?" She asked, walking to get closer to him. The empty room in front of her didn't make sense right away, but after regaining full consciousness it clicked. "Oh my god" She gasped.
"You think he went back to San Francisco?" He questioned even though she probably didn't know either.
"At 2 am in the morning? No" She affirmed, turning around to catch his eyes. "But maybe he's in a hotel. You know, mad at you" Possibly, yes, that was plausible. "If my sibling was the cause of my break up I wouldn't want to stay in their room" She stated.
"Or he's at Ryder's" He groaned. Jody simply rubbed his back and giggled.
"Then we'll ask him tomorrow... and maybe you can even apologize" She suggested with glee on her face, so he just groaned again.
Tomorrow was not going to be a good day.
—
The most important parts of a movie happen at the producer's office.
It was easy, everybody had a job to perform but some jobs could be done by anyone. For example Jody's, they could have another director and no one would bat an eye. Or Colt's, if he didn't do a scene people would hardly realize.
Tom on the other side, was almost irreplaceable. And most important, his job was public, so his fans would ask questions that would make her lose money.
That was why she had created this plan. For Tom to indulge in his old habits from before he met the teacher. It wasn't supposed to be complicated, just drug him and let someone seduce him. That way the teacher's heart would be broken beyond repair and he would never want to see Tom again, easy.
But Tom was a stubborn bastard that kept shoving women off him, claiming he had a boyfriend, one time after another. So at some point she had simply paid some girls to take him to bed and left. It was gonna be fine, he would relax eventually, right?
But no, the little shit had to make things complicated and instead of fucking a sexy model he had fucked Henry up. So now, instead of a photo of Tom cheating on Ryland, she had a video of Tom killing a stuntman.
If she didn't want to lose a king for a pawn she had to do some damage control and find a solution. Well two solutions, because separating the love birds was still on the table.
"Just take the body to the hotel they were staying at and... I don't know, make it look like an accident?" She mused, giving the necessary instructions to the bodyguards.
"I don't think this can look like an accident" One of them said. In all honesty, Gail didn't know their names. "And besides, there's also the video matter" He reminded her.
Oh yeah, the video, this had to happen on camera. And the worst, there were posible testifies of this all over the room, so she would have to bribe the waiters, the models, the stuntmen... That was it.
She could kill two birds with one stone, she just had to get a sacrificial lamb. Blame it on the stuntman twin and the other would hate Tom forever, easy.
"On second thought. Make it look premeditated" She commanded, looking at the confused expressions of the men before her. "Don't look at me like that, it's ok!" She said with confidence.
"Ok, then what about him?" He pointed at Tom, who was passed out in a corner of the room.
"Just take him home, but get him out first thing tomorrow" She ordered, watching the men drag Tom to the car.
He woke up suddenly because of the movement, looking everywhere and nowhere at the same time. His face denoted confusion and exhaustion, yet he still managed to babbler something.
"Heeey Gail!" He slurred with a smile. "Whes Ry?" He asked, smile fading. She grabbed his face gently, only because he was valuable.
"I'll tell you this because you're not gonna remember anything in the morning, but he was never coming" She saw his eyes water, but she didn't care, this was for his own good. "Don't worry Tom. When he chooses his brother over you, I'll be here to fix the mess you made. So just rest, I'll handle this" She finished, signaling the bodyguards to take him home.
Tomorrow was going to be a good day.
—
The first thing he saw waking up was the bottom of his jacuzzi blurred by cold clear water.
The second thing was an angel offering a towel. Well, it was not exactly an angel, but it was the closest description to the concept.
"I'm dreaming?" He asked, silently praying this was a hallucination, so his grace didn't have to see him like this.
"This is the closest you've been to being awake, so I'll say no" His boyfriend said. Were they still a couple? Maybe Ryland had come here to end things and had found him like this. Taking care of your hungover ex was something only a good person like Ry would do.
"You're here because..." He snapped like an asshole. It was better to let him understand that Tom was no good. Ryland didn't seem faced, his face looked almost bored.
"Colt does that too, you know? He pushes people away when he feels hurt" It made sense, maybe the reason why this angel had put up with him for so long. "I heard it somewhere... 'Hurt people, hurt people'" He mumbled softly, as if talking to a wounded animal.
"What are you doing here?" He retorted. This was for the best, he had to push him out of this mess to at least keep a little sympathy from him.
"Do you love me?" Ryland questioned, not even bothering with his attempt of being rude. It was the serious expression on his face that disarmed Tom's resolve of letting him go.
"I'm an actor, sweetheart, I could just lie to you" He warned him, giving him a final chance to run away.
A smile appeared in Ryland's face, so warm that his heart melted instantly, and Tom knew he would have to try his best to change into a person who deserved that smile.
His lover laughed. "You're barely able to talk coherently, Tom. I doubt you have enough cognitive capacities at the moment to lie" He assured him, and that was the final straw.
He told Ryland everything. From his original plan of using him to annoy Colt, to the falling in love with him and spending the nights planning how to win him over. There was only one thing left to confess.
"Hey, baby?" He whispered, almost asleep again. His head was so comfortable in his boyfriend's lap that he could feel himself dripping off.
"Yes, honey?" That was new, he liked it.
"I think I killed someone" His eyes closed, like the lenses of a camera turning off.