Singularities

Prolouge

Music is pounding, lights are glaring, and Dirk is starting to sweat. His hand grips his heart through his shirt, this is bad. This is really bad. He scans the crowd before him, eyes glazing over until a familiar face pops out at him. His twin on TV and in real life, the shining exploding star, Roxy Strilonde. Her face flushed from partying like the adults who made up most of the crowd, celebrating a successful third season of their hit sitcom "Zoey & Frankie". She bounds over to him, an exuberant smile painted onto her features.

"What's wrong? You look like you're about to puke." She says, delayed concern stealing her smile.

"I am" Dirk spoke, voice threatening to wobble. He swallows hard. "Where's Dave?"

"I dunno" she slurs back to him. At first, it seems she's going to wrap her arm around his shoulders, but halfway through the movement, she thinks better of her actions and stops. Dirk doesn't like to be touched when he's on edge. "We can try to find him, it's gonna be okay, Dirky." Her twin responds with a roll of his eyes, he can tell she's been drinking. Seriously, at a function like this? With cameras everywhere? He assumed there were cameras at least, it helped explain the white spots in his vision. Dirk's stomach lurches, disrupting his train of thought and he grabs her hand leading her outside.

Dirk breaks into the cool night air outside of the restaurant the producers rented out for the night, however, he doesn't get to enjoy this moment of relief. He lets go of Roxy's hand and almost immediately he is on all fours, retching the contents of his stomach onto the concrete sidewalk. Not that there was much to begin with. He hadn't eaten yet, nothing was wrong with the food offered to them he was just overwhelmed with everything and his stomach had been churning since they arrived. Dirk didn't like parties.

Thankfully the paparazzi had gone home by now, so no one was there other than themselves to witness this pitiful scene. Roxy bent and rested her hands on her knees, they itched to comfort him in some way. To rub his back or smooth his hair, but he was in no condition to deal with human contact, in his current state. "I mean, if you think about it, Hollywood smells anyways. I doubt anyone will notice." She was trying to be helpful.

Dirk groaned.

He didn't like most loud or bright things- Save for Roxy. She was his best friend and twin. Always there for him, listening and comforting. Maybe he wasn't the best at comforting her in return but Roxy knew when he was making the effort. She was the only one in the whole wide world who could even begin to understand him. The world saw his persona as cool and stoic due to his role as Frankie on their sitcom, and that was good. He couldn't handle the world seeing what Roxy did.

Dirk finally finishes his one-man rendition of The Exorcist and rolls onto his side. He lies there. Cheek pressing against the frigid sidewalk, eyes closed. Until Roxy speaks.

"Didn't we see a TMZ report that Lohan shit on the sidewalk outside this place a few days ago?"

"Uhg, Rox, that's disgusting." Dirk pulls himself upright off the ground. His head is finally beginning to clear and the knots in his stomach start to loosen, despite Roxy's words. She sits beside him on the curb, shooting him a quizzical glance to which he responds with a nod. She rests her head on his shoulder and focuses on her nails. The pink nail polish adorning her fingers was beginning to chip, she continued the job as she spoke.

"What happened back there?" Roxy was starting to sober up. The situation with Dirk had brought her back to earth. It was a party, and no one seemed to mind what was in her cup so she didn't see the harm in it. She liked the burn, the way that it made her feel warm. Like there was something in her chest instead of nothing. She wasn't heartless, quite the opposite, she was just... empty. Sometimes, not all the time, she kept very busy as a star for a reason. If she could simply go too fast then the emptiness could never catch up with her.

"I don't know..." he started, "the lights, the people, the music. Kinda overwhelming." He didn't have to say much, Roxy usually knew what was up with him. He had to prepare mentally for what he was going to say next, however. He swallowed hard and winced at his raw throat.

"It's okay Dirk, not everyone is-"

"Roxy, I think I'm going to quit acting." He shot her a stare, trying to study her features for a hint of disgust or disapproval with him, yet found none. She looks at him instead with a bit of a surprised face that fades slowly into a look of understanding. She was good with things like this.

"Okay, if that's what you want."

"I think so."

Roxy was good with things like this because she had to be. You don't make it very far in Hollywood if you couldn't be good at dealing with unpleasant situations. This one in particular made her feel as sick as her twin did. She was afraid, of course she was, Dirk had been by her side since their very first audition, but now? She was on her own, and Roxy couldn't be sure that she could do this without him. Her mind raced at the prospect of everything she had dreamed of and worked so hard for just falling apart. Was she good enough to be a solo act?

It was almost as if Dirk could sense this sudden spike of anxiety. Of course Roxy was worried about being a solo act but she is the one that carries their show. Dirk was aware of the fact he couldn't act very well, most of his television persona was written to accommodate that by allowing him to carry himself as a cool impassive brother that didn't have a vast emotional range.

"You're going to be amazing Rox, and I'll still be there for you." He leans over and gives her a gentle punch on the shoulder. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

She releases a breath she didn't realize she held, "thank you. What do you plan on doing instead?" The comfort helped if only for now, this was a conversation that would have to be expanded upon later. Roxy knew Dirk wasn't the most into acting. He didn't understand the art form in the way that she did and no one could hold it against him, though she knew they would try.

He shrugged.

Roxy's heart stopped. "Where's Dave's car?" She asked him, a pang of fear shoots through her nervous system setting everything on edge. The spot along the street parking where Dave's car had once sat was empty now. Dirk turned his gaze to where her's fell.

"You've got to be fucking joking," Dirk muttered under his breath in disbelief.

"Did you see him leave?"

"I was kind of in the middle of something, Rox." He reminded her.

"Un-fucking-believable."