Orli

Disclaimer: I do not know Orlando Bloom or any other celebrities who may or may not appear in this story. It's a work of fiction, that I made up. Although, my birthday is the same day as Orlando's. I don't know how that affects anything, but I just like to tell people. I have no idea of Orlando's sexuality, but this story is not implying anything about it. Again, I say, FICTION.

This story isn't going to be all sexy, all the time. It'll probably get steamy, but you'll have to give it a while. It's like soup. It needs to simmer before it can boil. However, any eroticness you do read, is going to be homosexual man-on-man action, so if you're under 21, 18 or however the hell old you have to be where you are, go and have a sandwich. If the thought of guys doing 'stuff' offends you, you might want to go and have a snack also.

Well, I think that's about it. Oh, no, hang about. If you steal my story I will be very angry. E-Mail me before you post it anywhere else, or ooh, I'll be cross.

Whoo! Get out your party hats and some excitingly-decorated streamers boys and girls because it's our birthday! Well, sort of . . . it's 'Orli's 10th Anniversary, by which I mean that I've got to Chapter 10 (finally) without having a nervous breakdown! And it's all because of the lovely lovely people who E-Mail to say they like the story. I love each and every one of you, in different but similar ways, and I am dedicating this chapter to you. Yay you!

This is a very special chapter - as you all know, 'Orli' is told primarily from Matty's point of view. However, for this chapter and this chapter only (and possibly other landmark chapters if this goes down well) I'm splitting the perspective! Yes, this chapter will be told from the point of view of THREE different characters! Yay! Are you excited, because I am? And le twist: NONE OF THEM ARE MATTY! That's right, Matty has no part in the narration of this chapter. Oooh . . .

This means the day after Matty and Orli's sexathon is being told from the point of view of three other people. The first and second sections of this chapter are happening at pretty much the same time, and the third one follows them both. So read them in order, but it's not necessarily chronological . . .

Also, you'll notice there's no 'Previously' since that would be confusing. But I'm sure you can remember what's just happened. Heh.

So, without further ado, here's a very special anniversary 'Orli' . . . I hope you like it. And thank you for waiting.

ORLI

Chapter Ten:

About a Boy

1: BARRY

I sighed deeply as I took a sip of my Diet Coke and Vodka.

Ah, Diet Coke and Vodka. I could taste the subtle mixture of flavours on my tongue and suddenly Matty was in my head, clear as day. Shouting obscenities and threatening me with violence. The good times.

Of course, drinking the drink didn't give me those memories. They were there all the time. Matty had taken up permanent residence in my head, and he wasn't going to go away.

The thing was, the real Matty was so over me. That Orlando Fucking Bloom . . . Matty never looked at me like that. Even when we were having sex. He never looked at me like that.

Sometimes I think maybe I lost my only true chance at - hey, nice glutes.

My attention was caught by a guy strolling past with a tray full of drinks. I could see his ass moving perfectly underneath the material of his black trousers, part of the uniform for the waiters, I guessed. I bit my lip and watched as he bent over to place the drinks on someone's table. Mm-mm good.

I was just considering making my move when out of nowhere some brunette woman appeared and gave him a sickeningly deep kiss on the lips. Uh, straights. Do they have to do it in public where people can watch?

Depressed by this little turn of events, I left money on the bar for my drink and left, thinking back to that night I'd bought Matty his drink. He'd been drunk, but so adorable - that was exactly the problem with Matty, he was so damn adorable, everything he did with those stupid big eyes and his permanently surprised expression . . .

I mean, I'd never say this so he could hear, but Matty's like pretty much the perfect guy. You can tell he thinks he's nothing special, but, God, he's pretty. He has this hair that you can just, you know, run your hands through all day and it stays soft and shiny, and the colour he has it is so black that the blue in his eyes is made really deep, really intense, like he's looking right through you. He has these full, pouty lips that look like they're permanently kissing the air and they just make you, you know, want to taste them, really get a good long kiss out of them, and his face is like the perfect example of a human face - high cheekbones, not so high they're in his forehead, but just high enough to give him that sexy, model profile.

And his skin! Skin is so important to me, and Matty's skin is like, it's like velvet. Soft, and smooth, and no blemishes anywhere, the guy is like the anti-teenager, I don't think he's ever had a spot in his life.

I grunted to myself, annoyed, as I made my way towards my flat. I'd never really done relationships before, never really got into that whole thing of commitment and, you know, till death us do part, but I guess Matty's the closest I've ever come to feeling strongly enough about anyone to actually do it.

Of course, I had to screw it up. I was the one who decided it'd be fun to play around a little, completely forgetting I'd given Matty a key to my apartment. I was the one he found balls-deep in some eighteen-year-old with come-fuck-me eyes and an ass just waiting to get plowed.

It had been so sad. Thinking about it, the way Matty reacted - maybe I wouldn't still like him if he'd screamed and raged and tried to hit me, but he didn't. He just stood there with those sexy big eyes, like he'd had the biggest shock in the world, and went, 'Oh.' And then he turned and tried to walk out, but poor Matty, he's so clumsy and he just tripped, right on the door, and he managed to save himself but he'd already half-fallen, and then he was just so embarrassed, and when I tried to help he looked at me with those big eyes, full of hurt, and just said 'No, Barry.' And then he just left.

And then the next time I saw him he was drunk, and horny, and then I had sex with him, then he went into denial and then I tried to surprise him and Orlando was there, and Matty kicked me out, again. Was it my fault I was naked? No, I was trying to make a gesture, and Matty threw me out.

It was obvious Matty had seen enough of me. He'd made that quite clear in the way he'd reacted when he saw me at the restaurant. God, he'd looked furious, and he and Orlando left straight after. Left this really cute waiter looking really puzzled, too. I made a mental note to head back to that restaurant see if that waiter was still around.

I woke up the next morning feeling surprisingly sprightly - I guess that's what happens when you don't drink/shag yourself into unconsciousness the night before. I thought briefly about sacrificing my day off and heading into work - I had a lot of stuff that needed doing - but then thought fuck it, I deserve a day off as much as anyone else.

Maybe I'll go to the park, I thought as I got dressed. Or to some shops, buy myself a new TV or something, make myself feel better. Stop moping around like some sort of lovesick teenager. It wasn't like I was in love with Matty, for fuck's sake. He was just a hot screw I got a little too attached to, is all.

I strolled through the park, enjoying the feeling of the wind in my face, letting my feet take me wherever they wanted while I thought things over. The more I thought about it, the more I knew that I was completely fine with what happened between Matty and me. He caught me messing around, he couldn't handle it, end of story. If he can't have a mature adult relationship then that's not my fault. Nothing to do with me.

Something Matty said rang through my mind the exact instant I looked up: 'Everyone's life's a cliche,' he'd laughed once, 'and nobody expects the obvious.' He and Orlando were sitting on a bench right up ahead of me. Typical. Like living in a movie. My life was never like this before Matty.

I tensed up, wondering if I should turn around and walk off before they noticed me, but before I could make up my mind, Matty looked up and saw me standing there. I wrestled with myself for a minute before sighing deeply and walking over to them.

The first shock was that Matty didn't look happy at all. His big wide eyes were back again and he looked like he was on the verge of crying. Orlando was stony-faced, playing with something on his gloves, and didn't even see me approach until I was right on top of him. He kind of jumped when my shadow covered him and then looked up. 'Oh, hi, uh, Barton.'

'Barry.'

'Barry, sorry, yeah.'

I shuffled awkwardly. 'So, how are you guys?'

Matty glared up at me. 'Look, Barry, we're kind of having a conversation here. Do you mind?'

I glared back, sick of his attitude. 'Look, Matty, I never said we were mutual, OK? It wasn't like we were married. Just grow up and get used to it, fairy tales don't happen and you've got to take the best you can. I like sex with different people, OK, and if you couldn't handle that then maybe you should have found someone else sooner.' I instantly regretted it when I saw tears welling up in his eyes, and I moved forward to apologise, but he got to his feet in a hurry. Orlando made a move to touch his arm, but Matty wrenched away with such force he nearly toppled over the edge of the bench.

'I'm going to feed the ducks,' he sniffed, and wandered towards the water despite clearly having no duck food in sight. Orlando seemed reluctant to follow; just carrying on playing with his gloves. I hesitated for a second, unsure what to do, but out of the corner of my eye saw some blond guy talking to Matty and figured I'd try and break the ice.

I sat down next to Orlando and tried out a weak smile. 'You OK, mate?'

Orlando shook his head, morosely. 'No. I'm totally fucked up.' I must've looked surprised, because he looked at me with a challenge in his face and said, 'What?'

'Sorry. Just didn't think celebrities swore.'

He managed a quick grin, the smile changing his features and making him look instantly kinder and less weighed down. 'Yeah, sometimes we eat food as well. We're only human, you know.'

We sat in uncomfortable silence for a couple of seconds, before I tried, 'Look, I know it's none of my business -'

'You're right, it's not.'

'- but is something up between the two of you? You don't exactly seem happy today, and Matty's not exactly predisposed to sadness.'

Orlando didn't speak for a second, clearly wrestling with some kind of inner monologue, trying to decide how much to tell me, then adopted a 'fuck-it' expression and sighed. 'I'm kind of in the middle of ruining the best thing that ever happened to me.'

I blinked. 'Matty?' He nodded morosely. 'How? You guys seemed completely happy when I saw you in the restaurant.'

'We were,' he sighed. 'We were, we were completely - it was amazing, but, I don't know . . . we slept together last night.'

'And that's a bad thing?'

'No, it was amazing, it was incredible, it was - I-I can't describe how perfect it felt, but - Matty's the first guy I've ever done anything like that with. Ever. I mean, I'm not some straight guy experimenting but he's the first guy I've felt close enough with to do anything and - shit, I'm totally fucked up.'

'Is that why you're arguing?'

'Yeah, I guess. Matty kind of thinks I don't want to be with him because he's a guy.' I could see tears beginning to brim in Orlando's eyes, as well. If he started I didn't know if I'd be able to stop myself; the park was turning into a right den of misery.

'And is he right?'

'No!' Orlando chewed his lip, then repeated, 'No. No. Definitely not. No.'

'Then what's the problem?'

'Me! I'm the problem, I'm being totally stupid and I'm gonna lose him and - argh!' he groaned suddenly, making me jump.

I wrestled with my conscience for a second. The right words, now, and I could break these two up forever. Get back in with Matty. Maybe get a regular screw again. I glanced over and saw that he'd finished talking with the blond guy and was on his way back over, leaving the blond guy looking out over the water.

Crunch time, Barry. Do you want Matty or not?

No, that's not the question.

Crunch time, Barry. Do you want Matty to be happy or not?

I leaned closer to Orlando. 'Mate,' I said quietly. 'I messed things up with Matty and I'm never going to have anyone like him ever again. He's about as close as you get to the perfect guy. If I was you? I would grab him and I would never ever let him go, because people like that don't happen twice. Don't screw this up.'

I was starting to get emotional. I jumped up and walked away before Orlando could say anything, walked straight past Matty without making eye contact, and moved as quickly as I could in the opposite direction, refusing to look back. I didn't want to know what happened. Didn't want to know if I'd just destroyed all hope of ever being with Matty. Convincing myself I didn't care.

I heard feet running behind me, but still didn't turn back, trying to avoid seeing the scene on the bench. After a couple of seconds the sound got closer and I felt someone beside me. I looked up, and saw the blond guy Matty had been talking to by the lake.

'Dude,' he laughed breathlessly in a broad Californian accent, 'slow it down, dude! Catchin' you up's like runnin' a marathon!' His eyes sparkled in the light from the sun, and he flashed me a dazzling smile. Fucking hot, I thought to myself. He reached out a hand. 'I'm Brad.'

2: BRAD

'Tell the teacher we're surfin', surfin' USA,' I sang as I danced round the totally tiny little space we were supposed to change into our rockin' English waiter uniforms, while Ned, a waiter with the most anal 'tude in the history of the world, watched me from over his big fat nose.

'Tell me again how you're not fired?' he said in his 'I'm-so-English-aren't-I-rockin'?' voice.

'Toldja, Ned, I give the bossman fuckin' A head.' Ned blushed from his neck right up to his eyes and went runnin' off down the corridor like some little English rat. I laughed as I watched him disappear round the corner, then straightened my bow tie with 'Surfin' USA!' and strolled out into the main area to take my first order.

'You're twenty minutes -'

'Chill it!'

'- late,' shouted Bianca, my sort-of boss who I don't give head to, but I walked straight past her and went to my first table, where an old guy and his girl were havin' a meal with their daughter. Pretty hot chick. Pity I'm into guys, though. I still flashed her the pearly-whites in case she tipped good, and gave her a special grin when she blushed while her panties got wet.

While I was waitin' for the old guy to make a choice, I flashed back to a couple nights before, when Matty and his hot new boyfriend came in for a meal. He'd gotten all flustered when he saw I was here and then argued with some other customer before high-tailin' it out of there. I'd been so confused I had to go home and rest it off. I kinda do that most of the time anyway, though, so it wasn't like a big deal or anythin'.

'. . . thank you,' finished the old guy and I realised I'd totally zoned while he was mumblin' his order at me.

'Whatever,' I managed and headed back to the staff room. 'Bianca, I'm takin' off,' I called, and heard her bangin' her head against somethin', but, you know, whatever, and headed home.

Next mornin' was kinda nice - nothin' like back home in California, but nice considerin' it's English weather which is normally rainy and cold, so I decided that I'd go cruisin' in the park and see if I could find some guy to spend the day with.

While I was walkin' along, I thought back to my flashback about Matty, which made me remember the first time we'd met, when he'd transferred to my college for a year on his course. He'd been totally hot from the minute we met, all pale and British and sexy, and he's so fuckin' adorable too! He's just got these eyes that make you think he's this innocent little puppy or somethin;, but you get him into bed and he is a damn horny bitch - the things he can do to you, God, I couldn't walk in the mornin' and I was the one givin' it him.

Matty was a cool guy, come to think of it. Super nice to everyone, and a great fuck, so bonus, and he was always so happy about everythin' too, always smilin' and givin' everyone these little waves and huggin' people and makin' 'em feel better - I've never been any good at all that touchy-feely 'there there' stuff, but Matty spent the first week we were together wanderin' round healin' people's pain and stuff and fuck, he's good, too! He just told people how great they were and made 'em feel a whole lot better - if I knew it was that easy, I woulda done it myself.

All that thinking about Matty, it was totally awesome when I looked up and saw him sit-in' with the guy from the restaurant on a bench up ahead. Whoa, I didn't even know I was in the park, this was so, like, cool and meant to be.

I saw a cute guy who I remembered Matty arguing with at the restaurant walk up to them from the other side and after a second Matty went stomping' off towards the edge of the water, and the cute guy sat with Matty's new bed-buddy - ah, what does he call 'em? Oh, that's right - I mean boyfriend. I wandered up behind Matty and put my hands over his eyes. 'Guess - shit, you're cryin'!' I gasped as I felt my hands get wet. 'Whoa, dude, what's up?'

Matty hadn't even seemed to notice me until I'd spoken to him. He sniffed loudly and looked at me, his eyes all red and puffy. 'I don't think Orlando wants to be with me,' he said in a weird kind of throaty voice.

'Hey, man,' I said, tryin' to think of what he'd say if it was me cryin', 'Why wouldn't he wanna be with a hottie like you? Look at you, dude, you're buff, who wouldn't wanna get a piece of that?'

'People who don't say 'piece of that', for a start,' Matty sniped but he smiled a little bit.

Cool, I thought, I'm healin' his pain, this really is easy. 'So what's the big bust-up all about?' I asked, movin' round so that I was standin' next to him.

'Oh, it's stupid, really.' Matty sniffed again. 'He's never been with a guy before, and I'm his first, and he's kind of freaking out.'

'That's all?' I laughed. 'Dude, everyone does that! You did that, I remember you tellin' me about it! Remember, you woke up next to your first guy and screamed so hard that your neighbours called the police? And you were tryin' to explain the situation to them while he tried to find some breakfast cereal in the background? And then he couldn't get out and started accusin' you of kidnappin' him and stuff?'

'Brad, if this is supposed to make me feel better -'

'Look, all I'm sayin' is, we all freak a little bit our first time. It's way different from what we've done before, and, you know, no wonder he's havin' a bit of a spaz-out. But you can tell he likes you, dude. I saw the way he was lookin' at you in the ten seconds you were in the restaurant. He's totally into you.'

'Really?'

'Really. Stop bein' so surprised when guys like you, man. You're way hot.'

'Really?'

'Really.'

Matty sniffed again. 'Thanks, Brad. You're a good guy. Maybe I'll stop by the restaurant and we can have a drink or something sometime.' Then, like he'd read my mind, 'but only as a friend, OK?'

'Sure,' I grinned. 'Friend. That's cool.' I cast a glance back towards the bench. 'Uh, dude, who's that guy with your bed - boyfriend? He's totally hot.'

'Him? Oh, that's Barry. Another of my exes. You tend to come in twos.'

'He single?'

'I don't think it matters.'

'Totally awesome.'

'I'll see you around, Brad.'

'You too, dude.'

'And thank you.'

'You're welcome.'

I watched as he headed back to the bench, but didn't see what happened when he got there 'cause I was too busy watchin' Matty's hot Barry-friend walkin' in the other direction at, like, Warp 7000. I hurried after him, thinkin' maybe today wasn't gonna be such a bust after all.

He jumped as I caught up with him, but I gave him a grin as he stopped and turned to stare at me. 'Dude,' I gasped, out of breath from the run. 'Slow it down, dude! Catchin' you up's like runnin' a marathon!' Barry gave a tiny grin as I looked him up and down. Definite grade-A hottie, I thought. 'I'm Brad,' I said, extendin' a hand.

'Barry,' he grinned, shakin' my hand and holdin' on just a second too long. 'Are you a friend of Matty's?'

'Totally,' I laughed. 'Fucked him silly when he was in America. He says some nice things about you.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, like you're hot and we're wastin' valuable hours chattin' about it. My place is ten minutes away.'

I grinned as Barry grabbed my ass and we headed for my apartment.

Total result.

Thank you, Matty.

3: ORLANDO

I watched Matty walk back towards me, Barry's words still ringing in my head.

'He's about as close as you get to the perfect guy.'

'People like that don't happen twice.'

'Don't screw this up.'

But what if it was too late?

Matty arrived back at the bench and breathed deeply, tilting his head so he was looking at me. One look in those big, blue eyes, hurt brimming over so that they were little pools of pain. I found myself flashing back to earlier in the day, to everything that had led to this moment.

I felt weird as soon as I woke up. Lying next to Matty, my arms wrapped all the way round him, my head buried in the back of his neck like that was where it belonged, felt like the most right position I've ever woken up in, but at the same time it felt . . . weird. Different. I'd used to a head resting on my chest, soft breasts pressing against me, moisture on my legs. Holding a guy is so . . . it's just the first time I'd ever done it, and my head was all screwed up.

So being the moron that I am, and lending weight to all the reviewers who call me 'pretty boy' and never seem to think that I have any intelligence at all, I left the room. Just left. Walked out of the house, straight past Matty's friends, wandered the streets for a couple of hours, trying to clear my head but knowing that nothing but Matty could clear it - but at the same time, knowing that Matty was likely to confuse me all over again.

I knew he'd be worried about me, knew he'd be missing me, but part of me just didn't care. Part of me just needed to be somewhere, anywhere, that wasn't where he was, needed to keep myself separate from him, so that he couldn't hypnotise me all over again.

Because that's what he does. I see Matty, and it's like everything else fades to grey, and he's standing there in the middle bathed in colour and light. He's got that smile on him, a big, beaming smile like he'd stretch his mouth if he could fit more of a smile in it. His eyes shining with some new adventure, excited about some other little detail I hadn't even noticed. Lips slightly pouted, eyebrows slightly raised in that expression of permanent mild surprise, like everything that happened to him was new and interesting. Laughing at something I'd said - or maybe even something that he'd said - pushing his hair out of his eyes and giving me that wide-eyed innocent look that made my knees feel like they were going to cave in on themselves.

Yeah, Matty's hot. But what you don't get when you look at him, what the thought processes that make your dick twitch and your heart beat and your mind race can't replicate, is his personality. His soul.

He's like a saint. He's kind, he's so kind. We were once twenty minutes late to a rehearsal because Matty insisted on stopping and talking to a homeless guy who was holding a cup out for spare change. And then when we ate lunch, he bought an extra meal for 'his friend Mike,' and we had to eat lunch outside with Mike, this homeless guy we barely knew, with Matty jabbering away like they were old schoolfriends. And I've seen the way he is around Katie. Gently teasing her, laughing with her, prising her more and more out of her shell every passing day. She'd laughed at something he'd said just a few days ago and the whole rehearsal had stopped, everyone staring in shock at the girl Matty was curing of her shyness.

He doesn't even know he's doing it. He floats through his life, smiling and laughing and hugging and waving, and everybody he meets is made better just because they've seen him, just because he's seen them. He's my angel.

And I was on the verge of losing him.

He'd found my eventually, sitting on this bench, trying to lose myself in my thoughts, and failing. I don't know how he knew where I was. I didn't even know where I was, not really; there'd been no conscious decision to come here.

But still he found me. And since, for an actor, I have a shocking way with words, I'd mumbled and muttered and ummed and aahed so much that Matty, confused as hell, had looked at me with those wide, confused eyes and said, 'Are you breaking up with me?' Simple as that. Heartbreaking as that.

I hadn't known what to say. My own throat was catching. I didn't know what - or who - I wanted.

Hell, what about Kate? I'd told her I wanted a break. I couldn't keep her hanging forever, at some point I had to make a decision, but with Matty staring at me it was so hard, so hard to choose . . .

And then, just as I saw tears starting to brim in Matty's eyes, Barry had arrived. Matty's irritating ex who I'd first encountered lying naked on Matty's bed in some weird attempt to get him back.

And for the first time, Barry actually did something right. Maybe because this time he was talking instead of taking all his clothes off.

He made me see something. People like Matty don't happen twice. They happen once. A lifetime. Maybe less. And the people who they happen to are blessed, and lucky, and I refused to let anything like that lip away from me.

So as he looked at me, words forming on his lips, I made a decision.

Kate? She'd want me to be happy. She'd understand.

My parents? My parents loved me. They would never stand in my way.

My team? Hey, I employed them. They'd like me so long as I kept paying them to.

The press? Fuck the press. I couldn't care less if they printed a front-page picture of me and Matty.

Matty was the important one here. No one else.

I pushed my index finger against his lips, saw his eyes wide in surprise as I stifled the words before they left his mouth. I fought for the right words, found them, lost them again and gave up trying, replacing the words with two hands on Matty's head, pulling him to me and burying his face in kisses, covering his face in them, holding him tightly to me as I felt my walls break and tears begin falling down my face and onto Matty as I realised what I'd almost lost.

And he was kissing me back, his lips fighting their way to mine, and we were kissing, we were kissing in a park, in public, and it didn't matter who saw, because I loved Matty and the whole world should know it!

Matty should know it.

'I love you, Matty. With all my heart.'

'I love you too, Orlando. What would I do without you?'

I smirked. 'Well, you'd get more sleeping done.'

TO BE CONTINUED.

Now, this took a rather long time to get here, didn't it? Sorry. But I really am very busy at the minute.

Orli WILL CONTINUE. I know this seems like a bit of an endy-type chapter, but it is most definitely not. See? I've written TO BE CONTINUED. That means there is more to come.

However. I AM STILL VERY BUSY. Which means that the most optimistic outlook for the near future, for the lovely Orli and all you lovely fans, is a chapter a month. Hopefully.

I know this is rubbish. I cannot help it.

Keep the feedback coming!

madi_mcfarland@hotmail.com

What I love is that even though there hasn't been an Orli for about five million years, I'm still getting people writing to me saying that they like it! This is marvellous and should continue forever!!

Once more: Thank you for waiting.

Maddy

x x x