BEYOND THE LIGHTS «j.p.»

you ain't ever gonna fly

Los Angeles, 2017

"Rio!"

Daphne's scream echoes out, a plead for her son's safety, or maybe a plea for the safety net that is her son—she created his career, and in turn his career created hers. Who knows if she really cares about him?

Aiden stands on the balcony, hanging on to Rio, who dangles around the edge as the wind whips around them. He can feel Rio slipping out of his grip.

"Please," Aiden says, looking desperately down into Rio's eyes. "Please, take my hand. You don't want to do this."

Rio doesn't say anything, he just looks down at the ground, then back up Aiden. "I have to."

With that, Rio slips from his grasp, and plummets down to the ground.

BANG!

The gunshot makes Aiden shoot straight up in bed, sheets tossed to the side, body covered in a thin layer of sweat as he tries to catch his breath. With a sigh, he runs a hand over his head and face, trying to calm himself down. Now he has something else to fuel his worst nightmares.

The image of Seven's dead body is burned in his brain, and right there next to it, like two paintings side-by-side in a gallery, is the image of Rio hanging off the balcony.

•••

"Do you realize what you did last night?!" Daphne exclaims, scowling at Rio as his stylist's hold up different outfit options to his body, whispering to themselves. They were used to Daphne's rants, desensitized to it just like Rio is, except this one was different...much different.

"You could've died." Daphne exclaims. "People are saying you tried to commit suicide. It's all over the internet. Your a trending topic on Twitter. This is not good publicity."

Rio sighs, his head was pounding, he felt a little sick, and all he wanted to do was lay in bed and waste away. He had that same empty feeling inside of him, he wanted to go back out and leap off the balcony, but every time he thought about it, he could hear the cop's words in his head.

"I see you."

Could it be true? Could it be possible that someone was capable of looking past the public image that his mother had created of him, that they were able to see into his soul, his true being? Regardless of if the cop was being honest or not, Rio felt that he meant it. It was gonna get him through today, through this awful day.

"I've already got a press conference set up." Daphne says, turning her attention to her phone. She couldn't keep it on Rio for more than five seconds, and when it is on him it's because she's angry at him about something. "We'll be there right after breakfast. I've invited the cop. You'll thank him, tell everyone you were drunk, that you were doing something stupid, and that you slipped. Luckily, he was there help you. You are not suicidal. You love your life, you love your fans, and most importantly—you can't wait for your debut album to drop. You've got a long career planned ahead of you. Understand?"

Rio doesn't answer, just absorbs her words, staring blankly at his appearance in the mirror.

Daphne grabs his chin, roughly yanking his head to look at her. "I said do you understand?"