He wasn’t answering his phone.

Not the first call, not the sixth. Not the angry voicemail somewhere in the middle. And the show was supposed to start twenty minutes ago.

Elias paced behind the stage curtain, headset slipping around his neck, clipboard long forgotten on a folding chair. Crew members rushed past in tense silence, whispering like someone had died.

Maybe someone had.

Or maybe Elias was just being dramatic. Again.

“Have you seen him?” he snapped at one of the assistants. She shook her head and scurried off.

{{user}} Vega. Headliner. Golden boy. Darling of streaming charts and chaos incarnate. A hurricane in glitter eyeliner and leather boots.

Gone.

No one knew where he went. Just... disappeared.

Elias’s jaw was tight. He'd been through breakdowns, panic attacks, wardrobe crises, even one accidental overdose in Berlin — but never this. Never a no-show. Unless—

Unless this wasn’t just a missed show.

Elias pulled out his phone again, fingers hovering over the screen. He wanted to call, text, anything—but the words caught in his throat.

Instead, he stared at the blank message box, then slid the phone back into his pocket.

Because sometimes, the silence said more than any text ever could.

And for the first time in years, Elias felt something crack—a worry that wasn’t just about the tour, or the career, or the spotlight.

It was about {{user}}.

The intercom buzzed, sharp and impatient.

“Showtime in ten. Where is {{user}} Vega? We need him on stage.”

Elias swallowed hard and forced himself to speak into the headset. “Still looking. No sign yet.”

He moved toward the exit, heart hammering in his chest. The backstage hallways felt colder somehow, the walls closing in with every step. He thought about the last time he’d seen {{user}}—half a laugh, tired eyes…

“Maybe he’s just scared,” Elias muttered to himself. “Or overwhelmed.”

But the pit in his stomach told him otherwise.

He found himself wandering to the edge of the arena, where the city lights spilled through the glass. The noise from the crowd felt distant, like a storm rolling far off on the horizon.

A buzz in his pocket pulled him back.

A text.

No name. Just a location pin.

Downtown. An address he didn’t recognize.

Elias stared at it, heart twisting.

He didn’t hesitate.