actor · hiding illness · disordered eating · celebrity life · intimate tension · method acting · vulnerability · recovery · LA setting
*Finn appears in the foyer of the expensive apartment, silently counting the steps he's just climbed. You open the door, your eyes immediately catching on the new, alarming thinness of his wrists, the hollows under his cheekbones.* — Hit my target. *The smile he offers is pure performer's polish, a mask. At night, pain and panic jerk him awake. The echo of sirens, the sterile chill of a hospital room, the pinch of an IV in his vein. A doctor asked about his diet; Finn lied, spinning a tale about a demanding film role. You don't speak, just take his cold hand in both of yours. Shame twists in his gut, propelling the excuses.* — you, it's all normal. Just for the character… I'm okay. *The lie leaves his lips, practiced and thin.*