Ah. I couldn't make the deadline, because i had a week of tests. I have one more test on Monday, but I figured I couldn't leave you hanging. And besides, today is AmTheLion's birthday, so here it is:

Happy Birthday to you, AmTheLion! Hope you have a great year filled with lots of great fanfiction and happy stuff and great food! This chapter is for you!

And I would also like to thank Hibisha and Galaxy-Eyes11 for reviewing!

But I feel kind of depressed because this is the ninth chapter so far and I've only received, what, 27 reviews? I feel like I'm being a whiny child but I genuinely feel pathetic because my hit-counter says 2184 views! It's not adding up!

Please review you guys! You're pretty much the only reason I'm slogging away to finish this soon, despite my crazy ass schedule! Gimme my righteous share of love and chocolate! *puppy pout* I'm not asking for much, just, at least help me hit the 40-review mark by the time we wrap up with this story? Please? *higher intensity puppy pout*

Anyway,

When the Stars Cease to Shine

Chapter 9: An Unexpected Turn of Events

There hadn't been any messages since last week, and Tala was a little curious, not to mention worried. What had happened? Kai used to text him almost every day, so suddenly not getting any texts seemed really odd. And besides, it had been three weeks since they'd last seen each other, and Tala was getting antsy. He was being ridiculous and lovesick and moronic but he couldn't help how he felt.

And he really couldn't afford to slack off on his work now. He'd been slacking off a lot lately, and his boss was this close to firing him. He needed to stop fretting and start focusing on his work. He could worry about Kai later.

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Later turned out to be ten minutes after he'd started focusing on his work. He just couldn't do it, with all the 'why's in his head. He couldn't.

Vitali placed a cup of coffee on his workstation, taking a sip from his own as he leaned casually against the wall. "You look like you could use some."

Tala smiled gratefully as he takes the disposable paper cup. What would he do without his friends, really? "What are you doing here?"

"My eyes were beginning to burn so I asked boss for a break. Felt like annoying you so I came here." He grinned from behind his cup, a twinkle in his eyes. "So. The hot-shot giving you shit?"

Tala narrowed his eyes at the brunette, not liking the odd tone the other had. "Don't talk about him like that."

"Like what? I was just asking things instead of assuming, so shoot me."

The redhead huffed out a breath. "It's nothing. I'm just a little worried since I haven't heard from him for a while."

"A while?"

"One week."

"Uhm. Isn't that being a bit too... Clingy?"

Tala paused, considering. "Not really. He texts me almost everyday, so not hearing from him for such a long time gives me a bad feeling in my gut."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well, who knows? Maybe he got stalked or something and had to change his number, or maybe his phone was stolen? Maybe he lost the passwords to all his social networking accounts. Maybe he's out of the country for a shoot and can't contact you? Stop worrying, everything's gonna be fine, yeah?"

"As much as it physically pains me to admit it, you're right." Tala threw his cup into the waste paper bin at the other side of the room, and grinned at the other man when it landed perfectly. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." He turned away, but not before thoroughly messing up the redhead's hair. "See you around, red rose o' mine."

"Stop calling me that! Poop head!"

"Reeal mature Tala. Nice."

Tala turned to glare at Yuri as he snickered loudly.

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Another week had passed, and now Tala was full on panicking. He'd seen on the gossip news that Kai had turned down the chance to work with a world renowned fashion photographer for unspecified reasons, and that his grandfather had popped a blood vessel about it. There was no other news, though.

He tried texting him, but received no reply. When he called, a mechanical voice said that the customer he was trying to reach was currently unavailable. he never came online on facebook, so he could only send a few messages. He didn't have his email id. Bummer.

What could have been keeping Kai from contacting him? Did he get into trouble for meeting up with him? Maybe Voltaire didn't take too kindly to his grandson associating with commoners. That was quite possible.

Maybe he could try contacting the secretary?

Naw.

Then what else could he do? He couldn't just drive up to the Hiwatari mansion, stomp up to his door and demand to speak to Kai, either.

All he could do was wait, and he was tired of waiting.

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Kai was pacing in his luxurious bedroom, the comfy feel of the Kashmiri carpet on his bare feet doing nothing to quell the outrage and helplessness flooding his body.

His grandfather was such an arrogant, self absorbed, overbearing prick!

Aaaarrrrrrgggg!

It had been two weeks since he'd last spoken to Tala, and he knew the other man would be sick with worry by now. Not for his physical safety -Tala would know better than to worry about that, what with all his body guards wandering about- but for his sanity.

He'd been grounded.

He was eighteen years old, an adult, and his grandfather had grounded him.

The nerve.

How could he do this to him? Just because he turned down the ad for Versace? But his grandfather knew why he did it. Was his personal comfort such a trivial matter to overlook in the face of money? Didn't his personal opinion matter when he was the one who was actually doing the work? Sure, his grandfather decided his work all the time, but couldn't he have a say in the matter at least once?

This was not working out. He had been thinking the same thoughts over and over again for the past week, and he was tired of his head throbbing all the damn time.

He looked at the clock.

6:45.

Seventy five minutes till dinner.

He peeked out of his room, checking to see if anyone was walking about.

The coast was clear.

He silently closed his door, even though no one was around to hear it, and locked it.

Good.

He walked back to his bed, and looked around, his actions registering as silly even to himself, but he was beyond paranoid when it came to his one ferociously guarded secret. Not even Nadja knew about this.

He crawled his way to the edge of his queen sized bed, pulled back the royal blue covers, and lifted the thick mattress to reveal the small compartment that he had painstakingly and secretly created.

His grandfather would flip if he found out that he had sawed off a bit from an antique redwood bed to create a hidey hole.

He carefully pulled out his treasure using the very tips of his thumb and forefinger, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

His ancient portable phone.

It was an extension of his house's main phone which connected to the caretakers's lounge, so he didn't have to worry about paying the bills or anything. He also didn't need to worry about getting found out.

He glanced one last time at the door, before he curled up in the corner of the bed, hugging a pillow between his legs, as he typed in the number that he'd memorised.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three-

"Hello?"

"Tala?"

"Kai! Oh my God, I was so worried! What happened? I heard your gramps flipped out when you turned down that ad? How have you been?"

"Tala!" Kai breathed out, the relief tangible in his voice. "Yeah. I turned it down. The old man absolutely flew off the handle at that. He grounded me."

"What!?"

"Yeah. No phone, no internet, no means of contact with the outside world. I'm confined to my bedroom, library, dining room and training room. I can't even go out for a walk. I've been rotting away for the past week with only the cruddy radio to keep me company. All the songs are shit. And I didn't feel like reading. I've been so bored. And I really missed talking to you."

"I missed talking to you too." Tala's voice sounded relieved, but there was something else to it. "Wait a second. You're eighteen. How could he ground you? And besides, if he took away all your phones and stuff, how are you calling me now?"

"Well. This is my last link to humanity. I have this nifty little phone from the stone ages tucked away in a little space not even my maids know about. He probably thought I threw this away a few years ago and didn't bother to search for it. Good for me. I would have called sooner but I wanted to be sure I wouldn't be found out. And the man controls everything I do, you think he won't be able to ground me?"

"Hmm. That's harsh. So he doesn't know you have this phone, then?"

"No, hence my contacting you with it."

"You're crafty."

"Thanks. With a grandfather like mine, you have to be."

"Ha. Hey, Why did you get grounded in the first place? It wasn't because of me was it?"

"No. It was because I turned down the Versace offer."

"But why?"

"Why did I turn it down, or why he ground me?"

"Both?"

"Hm. I turned it down because the photographer is a smarmy, slithery, lecherous asshole, and I didn't want to see him again. I nearly got molested the last time I worked with him, and I didn't want to get into that kind of a situation again. He made me feel like there were insects crawling on my skin, you know? It was so disgusting. And I told my grandfather this, but he insisted I suck it up like a man and just do the job. I locked myself up in my room, then shit really hit the fan... and the rest is history."

There was an odd, uncomfortable silence from the other side. Kai didn't like it, so he bulldozed on ahead. "And that's why I'm sitting all alone in my room with nothing to do, bored out of my mind, trying to curse my grandfather out of existence. I'm really sorry I'm unloading all this on you, but I really just wanted to talk to you and-"

"Run away."

... "What?"

"You heard me, run away from there. You could escape and run away with me. I'll come get you."

"Voltaire will have us in handcuffs before we even have the chance to get out of Moscow."

"I have a plan. No, I have a brilliant plan!" Tala's voice sounded more enthusiastic by the minute, and Kai didn't like it one tiny bit.

"Tala. Are you drunk?"

"I'm offended, Kai. No, I'm not. But listen, I know a way to get you away from the mess that is your life and have some down time and just let loose and relax. It'll be fun, I promise. Just pack a few clothes and clean undies in a backpack."

"I hate to burst your shiny little bubble Tala, but there's absolutely no way you can just waltz into the estate and whisk me away. Do you know the kind of security we have to keep away the crazed loons and papparazi? Nobody has breached these walls so far, and I don't think you'll be the first."

There was a small pause on the other side, and Kai swore he could feel a shiver down his spine as he imagined the crazed grin that was no doubt eating up the redhead's face.

"I'm not coming in, darling. You're coming out."

**********continues...

Ha! How was that? I moved the plot along a bit because I was getting restless to reach the action! You should understand that almost 2 months have passed by now, and Tala and Kai have become good friends, so Kai trusts Tala even though he's highly skeptical of whatever idea Tala has.

Again, I would like to shamelessly beg for reviews, and tell you that it'll be another few weeks before I'm able to get the next chapter out. I've been roped in to edit one of my college mags, and write few repots for another magazine, plus the ususal college bullshit we have going on, tests, essays, et cetera.

Happy birthday again, AmTheLion! I hope you liked this chapter!

Pleeeeeaaaaase revieeeeeeewwww! Your reviews are my sustenance in my hectic and joy-less lifestyle! (shame? What's that?)