IT HAD BEEN MORE THAN A WEEK since his social media post with Orion went viral, and it truly changed William's life in a few days. His viral post with his mysterious "boyfriend" as they were "going out" to dinner, coaxed cologne brands to contact him for advertisements. His followers steadily grew into the thousands, and all of a sudden he was a rising influencer.
Soon realizing this, William took it upon himself to delete all of his old posts to prevent people from finding out too much about him. William appreciated the sudden support but didn't care much about being famous. It only mattered whether or not Christian would be bombarded with the post thanks to its popularity.
It didn't take much to keep Orion happy and entertained. Orion sat next to William on the couch, playing mobile games on William's phone with fascination. William smiled at the man unknowingly, as he had found Orion's joy in human activities like playing "Fruit Ninja" adorable.
William bit his lip as the moon's light shone into his living room. At this point, was he being obsessive? He wouldn't have ever thought of himself as an obsessive person, but perhaps that was because he had always had exactly what he wanted.
William's eyes drifted toward his window. The stars he frequently gazed at shone in the sky, their illumination reminding him of the past.
"Hey, Orion?"
Orion immediately looked up from William's phone, and turned towards him as he tossed it on the couch. "Everything okay, Will?"
William fought a smile. He liked it whenever Orion called him Will.
"Since you're a star, can I assume that you know a lot about them?"
"I do."
"So... what do you think about going star-gazing with me?"
Orion blinked at William in confusion, meekly glancing around the room as if he couldn't believe that William would ever ask him that question.
"I would..." Orion started, "really like that, Will. I feel like I haven't been able to tell you much about myself."
William grinned at him. "Then let's go. I'll borrow you a sweater."
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Somehow, William had wound up with his head on top of Orion's bicep while they lay on the ground. As they traversed through different topics and stared at the night sky, the two men decided that this position was far from uncomfortable.
But although it was far from uncomfortable, it was still close to awkward.
"So why didn't you travel?" William pointed at a position in the sky. "Why did you stay right up there?"
William couldn't imagine what it would be like to have lived Orion's life. It was easy to believe that life away from Earth made room for more freedom, but the more he spoke with Orion, the more the man realized that his life may not have been as enjoyable as he would have thought.
"My parents stay in this area because they aren't up to granting wishes anymore. They saw no reason to migrate, and I've never felt a need to part from them honestly.."
William hummed in agreement. "That makes sense. Although, I can't say the same. I try to get away from my parents whenever I can."
Orion chuckled.
"To be honest, I just really like this area. I have granted wishes in different areas before, but a part of me is always drawn back here."
"Towards your family?"
Orion closed his eyes with a faint smile on his lips. "I guess."
William sat up and stretched his arms, wanting to give Orion's bicep a break from being crushed by his head. He rolled over onto his stomach and settled his head on his palm. "So what's the craziest wish you have ever been requested to grant?"
Orion opened his eyes and sat up beside him. He shook his head in disbelief and shot William a lopsided grin. "Oh, let me tell you."
"I'm scared."
"I can promise you, it was ridiculous."
Orion went on to explain the wish of a 40-year-old woman a few cities away from where they were. She had been divorced by three different men on three different occasions, and she was frequently fired from each job she somehow managed to obtain. Orion was feeling generous and decided to give her the gift of three wishes, in hopes that she would be able to turn her life around. Instead of utilizing this opportunity, she proved to be someone who strived for chaos.
"She made all of her wishes in one go. First, she wished for a chocolate fountain which I couldn't even blame her for because that sounds awesome, then she wished for a particular pair of Prada high-heels that seemed pretty...professional, and then..."
William leaned closer to Orion in interest, hanging on to every word he said. "Then what?"
Orion sighed. "She wished for me to make her neighbour divorce his wife and marry her instead because he had a good job and she didn't want to work."
William's laugh was instantaneous. "Oh, she was delusional. That's so unfortunate because she was doing so well!"
Orion smiled at William's entertained expression. "Of course I couldn't grant that last wish, but it still caught me off guard. You'd be surprised how many people fumble their wishes and lose the opportunity to do some good for themselves and others."
William nodded at that. He had never thought about it, but he assumed that if he wished for something against his rules, he wouldn't get a retry. That would mean that that was it.
After knowing about the woman's troubled past and horrible decisions, the logical thing for Orion to do would have been to not waste his time, and not give her the opportunity. But that wasn't Orion. Orion believed in people when no one else did.
"I do think it's sweet that you still gave her a chance.." William said softly.
"You think?"
"Yeah... you're a pretty sweet guy."
William hadn't recalled when he and Orion had gotten so close to each other, but their faces were only a few inches apart. His eyes glanced around Orion's freckled face, admiring each perfectly sculpted crevice and feature seated upon it.
William's eyes drifted towards Orion's lips, and he found himself tilting his head to meet them. Neither of the men attempted to move away, and so, William kept going.
But, when William's lips were only a centimetre away, he quickly pushed off the ground to move away from Orion.
"I'm sorry I don't know what Iâ"
"It's okay, Will."
"âAnd I think because I'm always here with Chrisâ"
"It's okay."
"I'm so used toâ"
Orion grabbed ahold of William's shoulders with a pained smile.
"Hey, I said it was alright," Orion stood up, "let's go back now, yeah? It's getting a little chilly."
As Orion walked away from William towards William's house, William could only think of the fact that Orion hadn't pushed him away. He hoped that Orion's curiosity had been the reason for his willingness, because if not, William knew that his situation would become a lot more complicated than it already was.