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malina-33 · 1 year ago

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Femme Like You - Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Summary: You are the new tour manager for Arctic Monkeys during The Car era. You are practically the only girl in the team, also younger than the rest (27 y.o.), so your skills are immediately called into question. In particular, by the frontman who is not used to being led by a woman.

Word count: 10,2k

Warnings: swearing, emotional swing (is it even a warning?), kind of voyeurism (slight), age gap

A/N: Dear friends, hi!! I know, I know that I've promised you to update the fic every 3 weeks, and the disappeared for 1.5 months, but I spontaneously found a job, so there was very little time. But the chapter is much longer and with some interesting collaborations ;) I'll hope you enjoy them!

And write down what do you think if I make a description of not only the whole work, but also the chapter before each new part? Or is it better to keep the intrigue till the end?

In any case, I look forward to your feedback, it's soooo much important for me. I won't promise to return before the end of September, but I'll do my best not to delay. I already have an interesting plot for the next chapters, you should like it💔

*guys, English isn't my first language so if I have (and I know I have lol) any grammar/logic mistakes don't hesitate to tell me :)

The first week after meeting with the group flew by unnoticed. You dealt with the documentation, understanding how necessary it is, no matter how much you hated it, phoned the representatives of Ashton Gate stadium, made sure that everything was okay and confirmed the presence of the group and even tried to check the weather since the gig would be held outside. However, it turned out to be a little more difficult with the transport company. Apparently, James forgot to warn them about the temporary removal of his duties, so you had to spend time clarifying the situation and explaining who you are. It seemed that your hands-on approach was excessive, because you were trying to control everything in one time, but only due to the feeling of extra responsibility.

Steven, as promised, sent the contacts of the guys and important people from the technical crew, so now your phone had the names of Jamie Cook, Nick O'Malley, Matthew Helders and Alex "dickhead" Turner among others. 19 years old you would definitely envy yourself. So when you got a message while cooking pasta for dinner on Saturday night, you already knew it was from the drummer and not from an anonymous online scammer.

Matthew Helders: "good evening, Miss Y/S! I hope you aren't busy. We'll wait you on the soundcheck on Monday at 2 pm in Domino, need your advice :)"

You almost overcooked Carbonara bacon rereading the message. "Do they really need my advice?" you whispered, furrowing your brows "About what?". But the only answer was:

You: "Sure! Do I need to take some 12% cider?"

Matthew Helders: "you better not show up without a package lol"

Immediately followed by:

Matthew Helders: "just kidding! We are waiting only for you, but in the company of cider it will be even better)"

You chuckled, surprised at how quickly Matt went from formal Miss at the beginning of the conversation to smiles and lols at the end. To tell the truth, you still didn't fully understand how to behave with them. On the one hand, you are their manager and have a certain influence, as well as subordination. Steven and James don't have it, although they are "higher" in position, but they've been friends for half of a life, and you are a completely new person. On the other hand, in this area there is no place for strict formalities, especially since the guys don't look like those who would comply with them. After all they were big kids no matter how mature and pretentious they could look on stage, and you clearly felt it. Maybe your company will help them to relax even more, so there won't be any awkwardness and you will naturally find an edge where all of you will feel comfortable and which no one will cross.

With those thoughts, Carbonara and Rosé you spent your Saturday night watching your favorite series "La Piovra". You got used to such calm and quiet evenings. The era of parties until the morning has passed in the university years, and it’s not that you don’t go to clubs now, it’s just that the older you become the better you began to appreciate moments of silence. Not to be bored alone with yourself is the most valuable skill that you have acquired in your life. Having lived first with your parents for a long time, then getting married early at the age of 20 and having lived with your husband for 3 years, you were essentially not left alone with yourself. Having discovered over time that you feel absolutely nothing for the person whom you said "yes" to in the registry office, you were horrified and frightened to say at least. You thought that you get married once for a lifetime, but it turned out that happy endings exist only in fairy tales. That period of despondency, depression and eventual deepening into work gave its results. Major labels began to notice you, inviting you to musical projects with famous bands such as Maneskin. You worked with them for 1.5 years, leaving after their heyday at the Eurovision, realizing that you can’t give them more. That was your second decision to leave, but unlike the divorce, it didn't bring you much suffering. You understood that you and the group gave each other a lot, and although the parting was bitter, everyone understood that it was necessary. You still remained friends with the guys and periodically wrote off to meet. You planned to go to their concert, but couldn't find the time. And after your assignment to the Monkeys it became even more harder to shedule.

After the divorce you didn't have a serious relationship, instead you had a dream job, money, a car, a country house and even a corgi Grapes. You weren't afraid of the future, loved the time in seclusion and found inner peace by meditating on the production of cider, which was your unusual but very tasty hobby. Were you fully happy, though? Wouldn't you like to cross the threshold of the house and be met not by a dog's barking, but by a warm kiss on the forehead and a quiet "how was your day"? You probably wanted to, but it was hard to admit, especially considering that the fear of intimacy sat somewhere deep inside, not letting you forget the disappointment that you experienced when you removed the engagement ring from your finger. Although you remained friends who didn't hold evil against each other, the bitterness of your marriage was almost impossible to remove from the memories.

But for now, your head has been occupied by the sudden question of where to put Grapes for the duration of the tour...

Monday morning was sunny and peaceful, you woke up in a surprisingly good mood, put on your make-up, put on your favorite lime flared jeans, loaded a case of apple drink from the basemеnt into the car, patted Grapes and drove off to the studio. The road took about an hour, so during this time you managed to phone your father. You haven't talked much lately due to your workload, and now was almost the only time of the day when you were relatively free. You put the speaker phone mode, listening to the slightly hoarse voice of the man, without being distracted from the road.

"Hello my dear! How are you?"

"Hi daddy, I'm fine, going to work right now"

"My busy bee, James has already told me about your progress" you could hear him chuckle, coughing a little. You could only guess what Ford said to your father, because you spoke to him only once in these 2 weeks, when you recalled him after meeting with the group. And not that your story was very colorful. Therefore, the guys or Steven contacted him, and from this point of view, you couldn't imagine what they possibly come up with towards you.

"He assured me the boys liked you"

"Oh, really?" you said on the exhale, squeezing your hands on the steering wheel tightly.

"Yes, James is pleased with you. Well done, babe!" you melted under his words. It felt like you were a little girl again who drew a family picture that was hung on the refrigerator, even though mom and dad looked like monsters.

"Thank you daddy, I'm very happy to be with them actually"

"Of course, in such a company of men. Should I be jealous? 'Cause I looked through their photos on the Internet" dad said proudly, to which you burst out laughing, stopping at a traffic light.

"Dad, c'mon, no! They're too old for me" you laughed.

"10 years are not a big deal. Anyway, your choice. Just don't forget to eat please, I know how tough you work now. Otherwise you'll get drunk on your cider. God, how did you even manage to get into this alcohol sphere..." the man groaned in prostration. You rolled your eyes, but still smiled without answering. You got used to your father's fast flow of different thoughts.

"And don't roll your eyes, little naughty one! I care about you. So if they hurt you, you know who to call, right?"

"Oi, who will offend whom first" you retorted defiantly.

"Okay okay, I won't interrupt anymore. Kiss Grapes for me. I love you"

"And I love you very much, hello mom"

"I'll pass it on, bye!"

You turned off the call, fully focusing on the road. After talking with your parents, you always felt warm in your soul, so up to the studio you didn't leave a smile when you sang songs from the radio under your breath.

You arrived exactly at 2 o'clock, as agreed with Matt, but when you saw a few more cars in the parking lot in addition to the familiar Cadillac, you realized that the guys had been here for a long time. You must have looked a little ridiculous in a business suit and heels and a wooden box under your arm, but you didn't have other choice. Holding the car key in your mouth and trying to press the button at the same time, you clumsily closed the trunk with your leg. A purse was still dangling somewhere on your shoulder, and sunglasses had slipped from head to the bridge of your nose. "Must be an amazing picture to observe" you thought tiredly "Oh, if only Matt were here".

But before you had time to think about it, you heard a soft laugh behind you. You turned around sharply, noticing the frontman smoking alone near the entrance. You spat the key into the box, finally pressing the right button, and shouted

"And how long do you look?"

"I came exactly at the most interesting moment" man smiled, taking a puff.

You heavily crossed the entire parking lot, approaching him. Turner, having finished smoking a cigarette and throwing it into a nearby trash can, silently took the box from your hands.

"Hi, Y/N" he greeted you wheezing nicotine in the lungs.

"Hi," you frowened a little, but slowly added "Alex".

Calling him by his first name was... Unusual. A week ago the appeal to him was exclusively Mr. Turner, but today he was the first to break this line. "Well, apparently, we will both have problems with the boundaries of what is acceptable" bitterly flashed through your thoughts.

You both entered the building - Alex with a box in front, you behind holding the door. The way was silent. You wanted to say something to break this crystal quietness of his, but by the time you mustered up the courage, you stopped at the door 13A. The vocalist pushed it with his left shoulder, squeezing the alcohol forward, and you trotted along.

As soon as you and Alex entered the sound studio, you were immediately greeted with whistling and loud hooting.

"Look who's here, Miss Y/N"

"Hi, guys! I'm here with gifts as promised" you smiled broadly.

Alex at this time put the box on the table and immediately took one bottle for himself.

You noticed that there were Tyler and Tom in the studio as well, so you mentally praised yourself for taking bottles with a margin. You didn't know them personally yet, but was willing to change it. Turner introduced you to the men, and surprisingly you didn't hear his usual sneer in the voice.

"So, welcome Y/N Y/S, she's our manager for the summer before America starts and James gets back"

"Happy to finally meet you!" you were the first to extend your hand to Tyler, which he shook gently, smiling affably, and then to Tom. But he intercepted your hand, kissing your knuckles and making you laugh.

"Mutually, Miss" Rowley said enchanted.

"And she makes her own awesome cider, get one" Matt ordered businesslike, raising his voice from behind the drum kit.

"Yeah, there is enough for everyone, don't hesitate to take"

Evidently you arrived during the break, and before that they had already rehearsed a bit. You were wondering what kind of advice they need from you. The thought that they just needed cider you pushed back with a grin. But Alex, as if reading your thoughts, leisurely started speaking leaning on the table and holding a drink.

"Well, thanks for the cider, but that's not what we called you for. Since you're such a big fan of My Propeller, we discussed it here and decided that it's possible to put one on the set list for a couple of times. So listen to how it sounds, maybe have some ideas or whatevah" he was trying to sound casual, not attaching importance to his words for you.

"I'll do my best!" you almost jumped from such news.

Jamie chuckled audibly, running his fingers over the guitar. You sat down on the couch as Matt tapped the rhythm with his sticks and the melody began.

Seductive. The first association that came to your mind when you heard the intro of this song. It was your favorite from Humbug for sure and one of the band's all time favorites. Alex never told in any interview what was the secret of the lyrics, and probably that was the reason it attracted you even more. The guys played it selflessly, as if there hadn't been those decades that they hadn't performed it. You liked how they gave themselves to the process, even if it was just a rehearsal. They were in simple t-shirts and Matt was proudly wearing pineapple shorts, but you could swear, a real concert was unfolding right in front of you.

When Alex started singing you tried to hide the goosebumps as best as you could, but it hardly worked out well. His voice flowed melodically, not betraying a hint of wheezing or breaking, which could arise due to the age. He closed his eyes, tightly gripping the microphone stand, and moved his feet to the beat, slightly ridiculous, but at the same time gracefully. Throughout the song, you didn’t take your eyes off the group for a minute, sometimes singing along to the words, pulling the last syllable of

Coax me out my law

And have a spin of my propeller

When the song ended, you clapped and Nick even made a mock bow.

“I don’t know how objective my assessment will be, because apart from the words of delight I have nothing to add” you honestly admitted. It seemed to you that you heard Alex's quiet "As I said", but Matt was quick to interrupt him asking you "Actually, we have already decided to play it in Bristol, but the question is where to chip in. We'll definitely not start with this one, and the outro is already completed, so..."

You thought a little, trying to understand what motives My Propeller reminds you of, and then the penny dropped.

"Pretty Visitors!" you exclaimed louder than you should have because your words echoed through the silent studio.

"Smooth interlude from Pretty Visitors, yeah, not bad actually" Alex quickly developed your idea, turning to Matt, as if asking "Do you mind?", but the drummer only closed his eyes approvingly. It seemed that they didn't need any words at all, they could understand each other with guitar riffs and drum brakes. Their connection, it was amazing, honed to automatism for past 20 years. They were like scientists in a chemistry lab mixing potions together in an attempt to make a new elixir. It was magic to come true and watching this process was so intimate that you involuntarily felt the heat on your cheeks, as if you were engaged in voyeurism.

***

The hours in the studio flew by. Fortunately for you, the guys decided to surprise fans with the return of Mardy Bum which will be the opener. The exact setlist for Bristol was confirmed at the end of the rehearsal, bringing back Teddy Picker and The View From The Afternoon as well. So looking at the perfect 21 songs, you could only imagine what they would save for London. Originally you were going to visit their concert in your hometown, you bought tickets as soon as sales were announced, but after James's call you easily gave the ticket to a friend, saying that you had won a jackpot.

Tom and Tyler have already left and the five of you are left. You were sitting on a soft chair, moved from the corner of the room, and the guys opposite on the sofas. The boys had laid down their guitars and you were leding a peaceful conversation about life, since the studio rental time ended only in an hour. You told them about your career in the industry, Maneskin and the part time projects you've been working on lately, omitting the details of your divorce because you thought it was too early for them to immerse themselves in such personal aspects of your life.

"By the way, Vic is your big fan and Alex in particular" you giggled, remembering the way drunk Maneskin bassist told you that she would like to sleep with Turner. Those were the carefree times of your youth you warmly remembered.

"Really?" Matt raised his eyebrows as he sipped his seemingly endless bottle of cider "You still have their contacts, right?"

"Yeah, sure, we even text each other occasionally" you quipped.

"And you didn't say you were working with us?" Heldres was surprised.

"Actually, somehow it didn't seem possible" you lowered your gaze, "I mean what would it look like? "Hey guys, look who's here, I now manage the Monkeys btw?" - so what?"

You could tell by the Cheshire smile on Matt's bristly face that this was exactly how he thought.

"Oh no, Matthew, don't you-"

"Oh yes, darling, dial FaceTime, you'll show them our doll" the man neighed, turning to Alex, who had been sitting quietly on the couch until this moment, and fidgeted in place after the suggestion.

"For God's sake, Matt, what a kindergarten behavior" the vocalist howled irritably, rolling his eyes, "I don't even remember their names".

The idea of making fun of Turner a little for the morning case with the box and taking revenge seemed to you unexpectedly delightful. Your hand automatically sank into your pants pocket, deftly pulling it out into the light and finding the right WhatsApp chat.

"Don't worry, you just have to say hi to Vic, I'm sure you'll be fine" you sang sweetly, glancing slyly at Matt, who chuckled approvingly, glad that you supported his idea.

Alex only cursed at this and ran a hand through his hair, smoothing it. Either from nerves, or putting his hair in order before the call.

You moved from your seat to the couch between Alex and Matt, gesturing for Nick and Jamie to join. You put your hand in front of you so only your face was visible in the camera frame, waiting for one of the guys to take the call. It might have been a little ill-advised to call like this without warning on a workday evening, but anyway it was already too late, as the beeps trailed in a string of sounds. You hoped that they didn't have a concert today, in any other case, one of them would definitely pick up the phone from you. And by a happy coincidence, it was Vic who ended up on your screen.

"What the hell, Miss Boogie, are you really occasionally calling after all this time of silence?" despite Victoria de Angelis's accusatory words, she sounded playful. She was a little disheveled and with a bright blush on her face. People were walking randomly with the string interruptions in the background. Apparently, the guys were at the soundcheck at one of the venues, and Vic recently finished playing.

Four pairs of eyes openly stared at you with undisguised interest after hearing the nickname, demanding an answer, but you just mouthed "later".

"Awww, sweetheart, and I'm happy to hear you again too!" you said with an ironic smile.

"I have a lot of news for you, and I will definitely call you in private soon"

"Are you not alone? Who's with you?" the girl even moved closer to the camera in an attempt to see something.

"Well, I have a little surprise for you. Actually four surprises, but one of them you'll find really special" you said conspiratorially, looking around at the guys who were still out of the picture. Alex sat to your right, trying to portray the most distant look, as if everything that was happening was nothing more than baby talk for him.

"Darling, if you have a group orgy without me, then I will be offended and drop the call" the bassist said threateningly, wiping her forehead with a towel that was hung on her shoulder.

You just burst out laughing "Ok ok, I'm not languishing you anymore. I hope you're ready. Boys, say hi to Vics" and you finally moved the camera further so that Matt, Nick and Jamie, who were sitting to your left, got into the camera frame, Alex's appearance you saved for a dessert.

The musician's reaction exceeded all your expectations. At first she narrowed her eyes, bringing the phone even closer to face, and then she widened them with a loud squeal, jumping up from her seat.

"What the hell, Y/N! What the actual fuck, you're a shitty mutherfucker!!!" she covered her mouth with her hand, chaotically moving the phone in different directions. Apparently, other members of the group came running to her scream, as you heard the voice of Damiano asking what happened.

"What happened?" she repeated "The fucking Arctic Monkeys are sitting next to Y/N!" answering a question off-camera and stabilizing the phone. Now you could clearly see the vocalist leaning over her shoulder, Thomas to the side and Ethan slightly behind.

Finally, the men next to you decided to introduce themselves "Hey, guys, what's new?" Matt said smiling to the camera, Jamie and Nick just waved their hands in a friendly manner.

"Oh my God, what's going on" Vic, still dumbfounded, spoke with a face of complete amazement. Damiano, who quickly figured out the whole situation and realized that Vic was unlikely to be able to communicate normally now, carefully took the phone from her hands.

"Hi, Y/N, long time no see! Hi, boys, how fresh you are" the frontman winked. The words "for your age" were suggested mutely, but David left them behind the scenes. The men next to you just laughed quietly at this remark and saluted the Italian boy.

"Vic, that's not all yet, look who's next to me" wanting to finally finish off your friend, you moved the camera to the side, revealing Alex's presence, who was already sitting with a polite smile on his face, leaning on the sofa armrest.

"Hi, love" Turner murmured hoarsely, turning on his usual charisma. You were surprised how quickly he went from "fuck off everyone" to his stage persona. Indeed, a skill acquired over the years.

De Angelis, after looking at the camera for just a second, squealed even harder than the first time, which you even grimaced a little, because in a quiet studio it sounded deafening.

The camera was still held by Damiano, but the girl in the frame could be seen doubled over, holding back cries of happiness. Her guys just laughed out loud at this, knowing full well what a strong fan of Alex she was.

"Y/N, I'm going to fucking kill you, I'll strap your ass so you can't sit still for another week, what are you doing to me?" Vic didn't let go of expressions, which made the men next to you shamelessly laugh, even Turner smiled predatoryly.

"Holy shit, you're real" the girl muttered in one breath.

Her adoration entertained Alex. Celebrities fangirling celebrities wasn't an unknown story for Alex, so the way Vic behaved didn't annoy him, but brought a feeling of sincere pleasure from what was happening.

"It would be strange if I wasn't, mhm?" the man grunted, changing the position - now he rested elbows on his knees, bringing the face closer to your phone. You could smell his light apple scent from the cider you both drank and the cigarette halo that soaked into all of the frontman's clothes.

Damiano finally decided to take control over the situation by turning the camera completely on himself.

"So, Y/N, if you wanted to surprise Vic, then you succeeded 100%! But we are now at soundcheck, and we don't have much time, and she" nodding towards the bassist "still needs to be brought to her senses. We were extremely happy to hear from you, babe. Call us when you are free and tell us everything in detail. Miss you very much!"

"Guys, me too! Love ya, see you at Glasto!"

"Wait! Take a screenshot!" Vic's desperate exclamation came from Damiano's left side.

He made a focused face, looking for the right buttons, while you and the men simultaneously smiled at the camera.

"Send it to the chat" you asked, ending the call and blowing a virtual kiss. You obviously cut off Vic's "I love you" without being entirely sure it was addressed to you.

The studio immediately froze in deafening silence. You put your phone down on the coffee table, still smiling.

"That was a real buzz, they're cute" Matt said leaning back on the couch. The mood of the guys clearly improved by this little conversation. You were glad that you could somehow diversify their evening after a productive and exhausting day. Even Alex stopped keeping his always compressed lips and frowning eyebrows.

"So, Miss Boogie, right?" Jamie began slyly, reminding you of your infamous nickname.

An approving "ooooo" reverberated around the room, from which you hid behind your palms.

"Damn, I was hoping you'd forget" you muttered from your hiding place.

"C'mon, we're intrigued already" Nick reached out to you through Matt, gently taking your hands away from your face.

Jamie suddenly started chanting your name, encouraging you to reveal this terrible secret, and Matt whistled as if Sheffield FC had just scored a goal.

"God, okay, just shut up please" you gave up.

The four men took more comfortable positions in anticipation of your story.

"In fact, there is nothing special in this story, it's just stupid. When Maneskin was approved for Eurovision, we went to celebrate, how can we not. It was in Milan. We got very drunk in a bar and went for a walk around the city. It was about 3 in the morning, and to entertain ourselves we played Truth or Dare. The most banal thing that could be, but nothing better came to mind. And I chose Dare, 'cause everyone else only cowardly told their secrets. So Vic asked me to dance for a minute on the street to any song that a passerby would name. Well, since at such time you are unlikely to meet any adequate passerby, we only found a beggar in the square. I don’t know how old he was, but the first song that he remembered was Boogie Wonderland" at this point you made a dramatic pause, "so yes, I had to dance to this song at night in front of other poor people who came up to us. Since then they call me Miss Boogie. Everyone is satisfied now, having fun, huh?"

You intentionally crossed your arms in insult, surreptitiously watching the laughing band.

"I bet there's a video" Matt said cheekily.

"Yes, there is, but you'll never see it!" you retorted quickly, glaring at the drummer.

"Your hot cheeks make me want to see this video even more" Nick teased tapping Matt on the shoulder.

"You know what," Alex suddenly announced, "choose any song you want. We play it, and you show the video"

You could swear your jaw was somewhere on the floor.

"Woah, did you decide to go all-in?" Matt asked, also not expecting such a generous offer "Be careful, otherwise you will have to play a Taylor Swift song"

"Ouch, why do you think I like her?"

"Who doesn't like her?"

"Your truth" you nodded approvingly.

"I meant our song. We'll perform it at the concert" Turner interrupted your dialogue, looking at you testily from under his eyelashes.

There was a slight silence, which you broke with a heavy sigh.

"Wow, okay, this is getting interesting" you muttered, leaning back on the couch like Helders had done earlier. The three men to your left looked at each other in surprise, waiting for an answer, while you've been thinking, looking at the frontman.

"Certain Romance," you easily stated, "I want this one"

"Your wish is my command, Miss Boogie," he joked without any hint of smile, standing up "you guys remember how to play it, don't you?"

The guys looked at each other dumbfounded, unable to find words for such a drastic change in the behavior of the vocalist, but after a discordant series of affirmative nods, they received a condescending smile from him.

"Well, that's great, there's still time to rehearse. I propose Sheffield!" Alex said solemnly, thrusting his hands into the pockets.

"Al, ru ok?" Matt raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"All right, man" Turner said artificially.

"This house is a circus indeed" swirled through your head. Alex's behavior was defiant. Emerging into conflict. Literally a minute ago everything was peace and quiet, and now he, like a proud peacock, was arranging a show for you at the level of a cheap soap opera.

"No, but seriously, let's even organize a lottery, since Y/N has such an influence on the setlist" Alex didn't let up.

"Come on, pipe down, you suggested it yourself" Nick intervened carefully, not wanting to stir up the smoldering coals of the conflict.

"And I think all of you are into this idea, aren't you?" Turner didn't raise his low, heavily accented baritone, but the underlying toxicity in his tone was evident, "oh, even better, let's ask our Italian friends for advice! Let's get their opinion and her video as well".

"Alexander, smoke?" you stood up decisively from the couch, grabbing your purse and phlegmatically glancing at the wooden cider box you'd probably have to leave in the studio. But you couldn’t leave the guys in such an atmosphere, so out of courtesy you promised to return again.

"Y/N, no problem, see you before Bristol! Send the screen to our group, 'cause I'm getting jealous for these Italians" Matt gave you an encouraging wink in the end, and you certainly promised to do it tonight.

"They'll kill each other"

"He doesn't stand a chance"

Jamie and Matt said at the same time as the door closed behind you.

Alex imposingly walked ahead, not hurrying anywhere. He politely said goodbye to the security guard, noting that the rental period had already come to an end. Almost bowing, he opened the door to the street for you, artificially gallantly holding it with his hand, still making a show from every gesture, which for some reason made you feel disgusted. You were counting on working with middle-aged men, accomplished musicians, but it feels like you are talking to teenagers.

Damp cold air from the river hit your red cheeks, which made you wrap yourself in a jacket more tightly. Alex took out a pack of Marlboro, offering you one, but nodding to himself, removed it, remembering your words a week ago practically at the same place.

"Well?" he said with a cigarette in his mouth, lighting the filter.

The sky was overcast with a milky haze of fog, which wasn't uncommon for these places, a weak wind was blowing, but not a single sound from the road was heard, which made you hear sparks from ignited tobacco hiss like champagne bubbles, falling on the asphalt.

Alex exhaled noisily, squinting at you with his eyes. His face was faintly lit by the flame of a cigarette, but even in such low light, it was noticeable that his gaze was completely blank. "Amazingly indifferent and deep eyes at the same time. It's impossible to tell anything from them" you thought. Or maybe he was like this only with unpleasant people to him, who you apparently were. You can’t even imagine the way these eyes changed on stage "Where are you real, Alexander?". But instead of asking this, you just threw your head back, tiredly closing your eyelids, showing with your whole appearance how absurd the situation is.

"Alex," there wasn't any visible point to call him Mr. Turner even though you were annoyed "I thought we made a deal, didn't we?"

"Really? When?" his voice sounded even more affected than in the studio, despite the fact that now the man spoke rather quietly and slowly. Or maybe even a whisper would be loud in this ringing silence.

"I just don't understand what the problem is" you continued, as if you didn't hear his words.

"I don't see it either, Miss Y/S"

You raised your eyebrows high as you asked a silent question, which made Alex smirk slightly. Taking a puff, he began to explain to you with the intonation of a parent teaching a child not to put his fingers in the socket.

"Listen, I won't hide it, you brought some chaos to our tour. This is different from your direct duties though - to solve all the problems on our way. But you're a stranger who stirred up our peace and foundation. I was initially against this idea, but James left me no choice. You are undoubtedly an educated young lady, and probably from a moral point of view, I sound like a scoundrel now-"

"You sound unprofessional, Alex. You only make me feel contempt, and I don't care about any moral side"

The frontman looked at you from under his brows, taking out a second cigarette in a row from the pack, waiting for a further reaction, but inside you was a frozen magma that didn't want to break out, muffled by self-esteem. For now.

His words contradicted his behavior. In the morning he carries your boxes and asks for a song advice, and in the evening he gives out this shit. If women's logic is ridiculed by society, then men do not have it at all.

“You know what, when James offered me this job, I was damn excited and proud that I would be working with a team like yours. I was on a cloud nine. But you, Alex, you're just a spoiled boy in the body of a 37-year-old man who hasn't overplayed his ambitions and thinks that his subtle nature is so fragile to understand that you need to hide behind the facade of an asshole so that normal people with good intentions don't crawl into your soul. You are cowardly and arrogant!"

You were breathing heavily, and the words "fool fool fool" stretched on repeat in a red line behind your eyes.

You didn't even understand how they escaped from your lips, absolutely thoughtlessly. You even instinctively wanted to raise a hand to cover your mouth, but pulled yourself back in time, deciding to play to the end. Show after show.

Alex hadn't raised a cigarette to his face during your tirade, so that the wick was almost dead in his fingers. You intensively looked at each other without stopping, and at some point it seemed to you that fear flashed in his pupils. Fear of the revealed truth. However, they were covered with a thick veil of indifference to what was happening in a second, and he finally took the last puff, throwing the butt right on the road.

"Miss Y/S, it seems that you have to go" the musician said unemotionally.

You took one last burning look at his features and, without saying a word, turned around towards your car. How ironic, a week ago you left each other in roughly the same sequence of activities - studio, cider, parking lot, but under completely different circumstances.

Slamming the door shut, you sharply revved, not bothering to warm up the engine, and drove out of the parking lot with a clang of tires. Burning tears of resentment gushed from your eyes, covering the already foggy road in front, but you didn't pay attention.

Your cooperation has just begun, and you have already swept on an emotional swing. Only in the morning you were driving in a car towards the sun and rejoicing at the warm words of your dad, and in the evening you return home, wiping the salty paths with the back of your hand from your face.

You were never embarrassed by tears, you cried out almost all of them during a divorce, but if they dripped from your eyes today, then there was a reason for that. Your parents taught you that after rain there is always a rainbow, after tears there is always peace of mind, you need to be able to live through any emotions in order to turn them into your power later.

***

You haven't seen the boys since that evening until today's early departure for Bristol. Of course, you communicated on all sorts of organizational issues during this time and there was no visible tension, especially since they didn't hear about your quarrel with Alex. You were more than sure that he would not tell his friends about that incident. This is what infringes on him, and therefore makes him weaker, which he couldn't allow.

All these days you have wondered what was the reason for such a sharp behavior, however you couldn't really delve into yourself. Why exactly you were crying - from resentment, overstrain or just an emotional outburst, it was also difficult to understand. Perhaps all together. Over the past month, from your first conversation with Ford to recent events, your life has changed 180 degrees, so it's no surprise that your psyche gave a little glitch.

You've comforted yourself with routines though — setting Grapes up with a friend until your next visit to London, inviting your parents over for dinner to tell you all the details, packing your suitcase for the tour, checking out all the technical stuff, and almost forgetting what kind of adventure you're packing for.

And now, without any idea of the nearest future, you were sitting in a black Mercedes Sprinter between Marcus and James Kerr, Ben was in the passenger seat in front, Steven was riding with the group in the bus. It was only 8 am, you were sleepy, only at the last moment you didn’t forget to remove eye patches before going out, you didn’t even put on makeup, so you sat in the wide sunglasses, even though the sun wasn't visible through the tinted windows of the car.

It seemed that everyone was relaxed, easily communicated with each other and knew exactly what each would do upon arrival at the venue. Unlike you. The schedule was pretty clear - check-in at the hotel, lunch, departure for the soundcheck and then free time for the management and the band, but very busy time for the technicians. Of all this, the most sensible thing was to drink plenty of wine at dinner and walk around the rest of the day in a relaxed state of mind, but those were only pitiful thoughts of creeping fear. Deep inside you were sure that everything would be fine, it couldn’t be otherwise, because even if you didn’t know how to do this or that task, the guys knew their duties, and they physically couldn’t play the concert badly.

"Hey, Y/N, you kinda took working with us too seriously" Marcus snapped you out of your thoughts with his mocking tone.

"I'm sorry, what?" you asked, turning to him.

He touched the bridge of his nose with his index finger and chuckled. It took you another couple of seconds to figure out what he meant, so he took advantage of your confusion to explain "you now going to wear glasses in the dark as well?"

The reference to Alex was read transparently, so you imperceptibly flinched and pointedly removed them, as if not wanting to be associated with him at all.

"No, no, I just didn't have time to do my make up" you honestly admitted, shrugging your shoulders ingenuously.

"Oh, I'm sorry, we-" the guy looked around at all the passengers, "we don't understand this here"

You laughed slightly, at the same time relaxing, and asked him a question that had been of interest to you for a long time.

"Why don't you have women in the team? I mean at all"

Instead of Marcus, Ben decided to answer from the front seat, apparently as the eldest among you.

“It didn’t happen on purpose, but later it became kind of unspoken rule. We are here like on the fishing, you know? We leave our wives, spend time within our male company, it’s like an alternative branch of your life, you do quality work here, you feel needed, while no one owe you nothing and you feel absolutely free in your actions, understanding thoroughly those who are around you"

"Are you aware that this is how a normal team should work, regardless of gender? It sounds somehow sexist. Am I really embarrassing you in actions?" you smiled slyly, anticipating the denouement.

"Actually, besides you, we have 3 other women in the team.." Marcus embarrassingly chipped in.

"Guys, don't bother yourself with excuses, I knew who I was messing with" you laughed, crossing your legs. Marcus looked at you dumbfounded, but said nothing, and James just chuckled softly at the window.

"Well, if you knew that, then you also should know about our tradition, right, guys?" Ben began in a conspiratorial tone, exchanging glances with the guys.

"Um, about what?" you arched an eyebrow in disbelief.

"The newbie is signed up for the after-party. Tonight is your first concert, and after that we go to the bar, the drinks are off you! We're equal here" Ben imperturbably continued to scan your reaction with a fox-eye, waiting for an answer. It's not that you're greedy or unable to pay, but to buy drinks for the whole team...

And as if ahead of your question, the man added "enough management and the band".

As if it changed the essence. But you couldn't refuse, so you mumbled something affirmative, getting a roar of male hoarse laughter in response, and starting to laugh at yourself. You appreciated in people, especially males, this ability - to make a woman laugh. In a time of constant change and stress, finding someone who will make you forget about it was very important.

The rest of the road was spent in the same good mood, and these conversations did help you to forget about your anxiety due to upcoming events. Upon arrival, all the management team and the band settled in the hotel. As James promise, you've been given a private suite overlooking the most beautiful park in the city center. But due to an unknown coincidence, you lived not on the same floor with the attendants, but through the door from the group.

Matt carried your things to your room and you agreed to meet for lunch in 20 minutes.

Since you were able to miraculously did a make up even in the car, thanks to the sensitive driving, now you decided to change into more presentable clothes in which you will be at the concert.

Without changing the habit of choosing clothes carefully and for a long time, you took off your hot sweatshirt, remaining in only sweatpants and starting to go through the whole suitcase in search of those things that would match your mood. You had a couple of looks planned, but today's unexpectedly warm weather changed your plans a little, so you confidently took out a black leather skirt and a white blouse.

A piece of matter fit all your forms perfectly, so you were satisfied with the choice, spinning in front of the mirror by the bed. The black bodice harmonized perfectly with the skirt, and the crazy idea of staying only in it, without putting on anything, flashed through your head like a bullet, but flew out just as quickly as soon as you heard the muffled thud of heels on the carpet outside the door and a muttered "Jamie?" at your door followed by a knock. You hysterically shouted "No!" exactly at the moment when the door opened without a click.

"Shit, Y/N!" Alex, not having time to properly enter your room, but having clearly noticed you in a compromising way, abruptly recoiled, remaining in the corridor, but not completely closing the door so that he could hear you, but not see.

"God! What a mess" you pleaded, rushing to the door. You stuck out only your head, meeting the eyes of the musician, who was discomposedly staring at you point-blank.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Why are you naked?"

You asked at the same time, shouting over each other.

"This is my room! And I'm not naked!"

"Where's Jamie? I thought he was at 312" Turner asked, a little bewildered, clearly embarrassed.

"I have no idea where Jamie is. How did you even get in?" you were still half-dressed, hiding most of your body behind a wooden door.

"I knocked, but it turned out that it was not slammed at all"

"What the fuck? Maybe Matt didn't close when he left," you muttered more to yourself. You clearly saw the question “What did Matt do here?” that arose in Alex’s head, but which he never voiced. Clearly realizing that the dialogue could not be continued in this form, you abruptly switched the subject, trying to tear his eyes from your neck.

"I was changing for dinner anyway, so see you there" you sharply slammed the door in front of him, not wanting to go into details, and tiredly leaned your head against the wooden surface from the inside.

"Crazy" you heard quiet along with receding soft steps.

It was your only meaningful conversation with the singer, since that evening. You understood that it couldn’t go on like this for a long time, but at the moment you didn’t have any ideas how to fix the situation. So you just finally put on the look you chose, after checking that the door was locked, then decided to add a black headband, and being satisfied with your appearance, went downstairs.

After lunch, the whole team went to the stadium, where the technicians had already set up half of the equipment. The guys immediately went to the sound check, and you and Steven went to meet Ashton Gate management. It seemed like there was still plenty of time before the concert, and you thought you would have a few more chances to double-check everything, but in the turmoil that was going on behind the scenes, this turned out to be impossible.

To be honest, you were overwhelmed by what was happening. The soft music, people around, the sun rays moving towards the sunset - this whole scene that was unfolding before you as you unexpectedly stepped onto the empty stage a few minutes before the crowd was let into the stadium looked surreal and incredibly familiar, as if you had been here many times before. The noise and chaos behind you contrasted with the tranquility in front of your eyes. The empty space that was about to be filled with a crowd in just a few minutes brought both excitement and serenity. These were the moments that seemed unreal, but made life worth living.

***

The show was about to start, and you stood next to the dark staircase, where the guys from the dressing room were soon to come up. Leaning on the railing, you nervously twirled a lock of hair around your finger. You went through all the items on the checklist in your head, checking off each one mentally, but something still bothered you.

Alex.

Your unfinished conversations and evasive behavior were weighing on you. You felt guilty, knowing that as his manager, you had behaved tactlessly, driven by emotions. It ate at you from the inside. You decided that you would talk to him today, apologize and put this issue to rest once and for all.

Suddenly you noticed a flickering light from the security, which meant that the group is entering the stage, and you turned sharply, both wanting and fearing to see them. As always, looking luxurious, these four men made their way up to the platform, remaining unnoticed by the audience.

"Good luck, guys! I'm buzzing as hell honestly" you tried to sound confident, but your voice trembled on the last word.

"Miss Y/S, is it just me or are you worried about us?" Nick lightly touched your shoulder in a reassuring gesture.

"Well, it's my first time with you" realizing how ambiguous that sounded, you interrupted yourself with a laugh.

"Oh, you'll love it, babe" Matt mimicked a voice from a cheap adult movie, tossing a stick in the air. It seemed like he could find the right words in any situation, and in the future, you would highly appreciate this skill.

All this time, you were glancing at Alex out of the corner of your eye, trying to read his emotions, but he calmly adjusted the folds on his unchanging dark blue jacket and stretched his neck with turns left and right. Seeing that the guys had moved a little away from you, you looked at your watch, estimating that you had 5 minutes maximum, and whispered to yourself "now or never".

"Alex!" you called him out loudly, trying to outshout the crowd "I wanted to talk, I know it's not the most appropriate time, but-"

"Y/N, forgive me, okay," the man unexpectedly began, barely approaching you. For the first time, you saw genuine excitement in his eyes, here, in the darkness of the backstage area of a 30,000-seat stadium. For some reason, only now you clearly feel the difference in height between you two. He looked down at you patronizingly. Maybe it was because of his heels or the knot of nerves in your stomach that made you feel so small in your attempt to hide from his penetrating gaze.

"I've been a complete jerk and acted childish from the very beginning. You didn't do anything to deserve such treatment. I don't want our tension to affect the group and our work in any way, so I admit my guilt"

You stood in shock, slightly opening your mouth. You absolutely did not expect such a turn of events, so your entire improvised speech evaporated from your mind instantly. He suddenly smiled softly, raising an eyebrow, as if asking 'well, what now?' Still not believing what you heard, you nodded your head almost automatically.

"Y-yes, you were a jerk indeed. But I also didn't behave entirely correctly, my first impression wasn't great either," you sighed in frustration, recalling your memories, "I suggest we start over, huh? Hi, my name is Y/N, I'm your new tour manager, nice to meet you" and to confirm your words, you gracefully extended your hand to him.

"Nice to meet you too, I'm Alex Turner, sort of singing here," he shook your hand with an energetic movement. His palm was dry and steady, causing a pleasant warmth throughout your body, "just business then?"

"Just business indeed. And a little bit of music" you said, more relaxed, smiling with all 32 teeth, still holding onto his hand.

"Deal, Miss Y/S"

For a moment, the roar of fans faded away for you, and you only saw the outlines of his pupils in the semi-darkness and his fingers firmly holding yours. However, your fragile moment was promptly ruined by-

"Al, c'mon!" Jamie impatiently called, and your hand felt the gusts of wind instead of calloused skin of the frontman. You watched him walk away in his waddle manner, as he suddenly turned and shouted, winking "By the way, nice lace".

It took you a couple of seconds to understand what was said, and when the meaning of his words reached you, you exclaimed in indignation "You, motherfucker!" almost stomping your foot, but your cry was lost in the wild roar of the crowd, as the guys were already on stage.

It was a miraculous sight. Four men made people go into ecstasy just with their appearance - this is the phenomenon of the Beatles, and they were proof that rock and roll is alive. As long as they are alive. Every strum on the guitar strings, every touch of the lips to the microphone, every drumstick strike, every hair flip was special in their performance, they themselves were special.

You were fascinated, to say the least. When the performance came to the last song before the encore, Body Paint, one of your favorite songs from the album, that was definitely made to be played live, you were out of words. The whole song built you up to the climax, to the outro that every time was a pure jamming and improvisation. And you literally exploded in ecstasy when Alex started walking around the stage, unable to stand still from the knocking down energy. He closed his eyes in languor, biting his lips, screaming, throwing out his arms, and you couldn't take your eyes off. You weren't dancing or jumping, you were inseparably watching his every movement, arms folded across your chest. Your mouth was agape against your will, and your eyes eagerly punched a hole in the frontman. This is a unique performance, it's something that is hard to explain without feeling it for yourself. You were made up of his music, you literally felt these waves inside your veins, your brain wasn't able to comprehend what was happening, it was like a catharsis for all of you. And you definitely didn't want to be saved.

Suddenly Alex turned his head to your side, continuing to play some divine riff outlining the Van Gogh fields on the guitar strings. His hair was tousled, shirt unbuttoned, but his jacket fitted perfectly. He rested his eyes on your figure, smiling with one corner of his lips, and you looked at each other for good seven seconds which felt like eternity. You were sure that everything was clear in your eyes, and even if he stood next to you and heard you, you wouldn't be able to utter a word.

What you definitely didn't expect when your eye contact was broken and Alex walked to another side of the stage, that tears would involuntarily flow from your eyes. "What the hell..." you wondered aloud, quickly removing the salty tracks from your cheeks. In fact, you perfectly understood why you were crying. From a sense of greatness. The greatness of music, human synergy and the power of unity. It was too much for you, too strong emotions to bear. It was excellent, it was the taste of life, thanks to which you still were here. "God, if you exist, bless this band, they are saints" although it sounded ridiculous and naive, you seriously were ready to pray for the talent of these guys, for the ability to make other people feel alive. You were in your place, you did everything right, you were cruising the victory. Today he convinced you.

As soon as the last chords of "RU Mine?" were played and the bows to the fans were taken, the men disappeared from the deafening roar behind the dark curtains of backstage. Their hair stuck to their sweat faces, and a distinct masculine smell was coming from their shirts. The guys passed by you with exhausted smiles, unable to utter a word from fatigue, and disappeared into the darkness of the corridors.

You didn't know what to do right now. According to your understanding, your job didn't end with pre-concert organization, there were also post-concert tasks to be done. But you were so lost in emotions that you felt like you were drifting away from an anaphylactic shock.

Unexpectedly, Tyler came to you as he was the last one to come off the stage. He fraternally put a hand on your shoulder, tousling your hair with his heavy palm.

"Well, with the initiation into our hell, sweetheart. How're you?"

"Thrilled, and I want more!" you declared confidently, matching his quick pace that was pulling you further away from the frenzy of the crowd.

"Well, don't doubt that, it's just the beginning" he charmingly smiled, and you couldn't help but mirror his expression.

"Now we're going to celebrate, and you're coming with us" it sounded so authoritative that even if you wanted to object, you immediately closed your mouth, nodding in agreement. "Besides, seems like you need to unwind" you remembered.

You left the stadium only an hour later, apparently, it was a normal time for the guys to "recover". You'd made several jokes about one woman waiting for seven men and received offended and teasing looks in return. You got into the same Mercedes you arrived in that morning, and the driver took you to one of Bristol's typical English pubs that the guys loved so much.

You didn't understand their fondness for these quaint places where the sofa upholstery hadn't changed along with the owner. There were so many modern bars in the city, any of which the band could afford to rent entirely, but they paid tribute to traditions, obviously cherishing memories of their lively youth when they started playing their first concerts in similar places. Such a return to their roots after the thousands-capacity stadiums grounded them well. And the warm nostalgia, slipping across the Guinness glasses every time, was a corner of genuine joy for the guys, the only true luxury they possessed.

And overall, you didn't care where to spend money or on what. After all today's events, which felt like a whole month, you didn't mind anymore. In the morning, you looked at your apple orchard in the early mist of suburban London, then stood half-naked in a five-star hotel room in front of a world-renowned music star, and now, in the evening, you huddled next to him on an old leather couch under a red velvet chandelier, drinking a B-52.

Glasses, shots and colorful bottles flashed in front of your eyes like a kaleidoscope. Your head was spinning from the amount of alcohol, and your cheeks hurt from laughter.

"My dear mates, I propose a toast to Miss Y/S and her first concert with us! I don't know if she understands where she has ended up, but we'll make sure she has a great time with us, right, guys? To Y/N!" Matt solemnly proclaimed, rising from the table, and 8 hands, pouring drinks onto each other, reached towards the center of the table to clink glasses.

"Guys, thank you for this opportunity, thanks to James for his unplanned vacation, thanks to Steven and Marcus-" although the latter wasn't here, you decided to thank him as he had been providing you with all kinds of help during these weeks, "for their support and adaptation, and of course, to you Monkeys, for accepting me. I do like your crazy Monkey house" you joked, but it didn't negate the truth. Despite all the past disagreements with the lead singer, you felt that you were still doing everything right. And even if you hadn't gone on this adventure today, you would still feel grateful to fate for such an opportunity to be at the center of life.

"Glad to hear that," Jamie chuckled ironically, "as they say, welcome aboard"

And with these words, you all whistled, and Tom even shouted like a saloon girl from the Wild West. Your evening, or rather the night, continued until 3 am, fortunately there was no concert the next day, so you could at least sleep in a bit. You looked in horror at the amount you had drunk, trying to estimate how long it would take to recover the contents of your wallet. But you had consumed so much gin and tonic that the only thing that really worried you was how to walk straight for at least 2 meters to the bar to pay for it all.

"Drinks on me!" you declared with a mischievous smile to the group as you headed towards the bar counter.

"What, for everyone?" Matt playfully refined.

"Well, yeah," you didn't have the energy to realize his surprise, but he also didn't have the energy to argue with you, "that's no problem".

And thus, the following events spun in your head like a foggy whirlpool. Here you were finally breathing in the fresh air of the street, tilting your head towards the purple sky, then you were half-lying on someone's shoulder in the black minivan, and finally for no reason you were walking barefoot on a soft hotel carpet, but there were no shoes in your hands as well.

You didn't have any memories of walking into your room either. But in the moment, the feeling of soft snow-white hotel sheets flooded your body with long-awaited bliss. You instantly fell into the arms of Morpheus, only on the verge of consciousness noticing that someone took off the headband from your hair, which had been squeezing your head tightly, and silently closed the door.

You may be too drunk to remember each of your actions clearly, but you definitely wouldn't mistake the familiar scent of cigarettes in the room.

---------------------------------------------------

A/N: Oh, so much has happened in one chapter, and this is just the beginning of the tour... I decided to tell the background of Y/N for a better understanding of her actions. What do you think, maybe you want more of "Italian friends" in the work? Whose line do you want to read in more detail? Share your emotions, it is incredibly valuable to me that someone reads this work actually!

xo🤍

Taglist: @missbabyjay @rentskenobi @findmeincorneliastreet @indierockgirrl here it is!

*if you want to be removed or added to the taglist, feel free to ask me!

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kiwisandpearls · 1 year ago

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Easing the Pain

Macaque x Platonic! Gn! Reader

Summary: You may have physically moved past the events dealing with the Lady Bone Demon, but you did not move on mentally, and Macaque is there to help you through it

Warnings: Lego Monkie Kid season 3 spoilers, reader being traumatized, Macaque potentially acting OOC, reader using they/them pronouns, and mention of nightmares

You couldn’t sleep again. Another nightmare plagued your mind. It had always been this way. After everything that had happened with The Lady Bone Demon, something inside you had changed. You would constantly get nightmares about what happened, and due to that you couldn’t sleep as much. You sighed, staring up at the ceiling while you laid back on your bed.

You then heard the familiar sound of a portal opening and shutting as you casually moved your eyes to your right, only to see a familiar brown monkey. You smiled softly.

“Hey, Macaque,” you rasped out. Macaque’s yellow eyes widened slightly, whether because of your disheveled appearance or that fact that you were even awake at that hour.

“Uh . . . hey kiddo,” Macaque slightly stuttered. You two sight in an awkward silence until you moved your eyes back ahead to look at the ceiling.

“What’s up? Coming to watch me sleep?” You teased. Macaque chuckled awkwardly, sitting down on the floor next to your bed.

“No not really, just wanted to check in on you, after well . . . y’know . . .” Macaque trailed off. Your smile faded away slowly.

“Macaque, I’m fine, you don’t need to worry, I’m just having a bad dream here and there occasionally,” you rasped out once more. You didn’t want him to worry. These were your troubles and your troubles to deal with alone. Macaque looked at you with a hard look.

“No, kid, I don’t think you get it. I know you’ve been dealing with more than just a few ‘bad dreams’, and I can clearly tell you’re hurting,” he sternly said. You turned your head away from him. When you didn’t respond to him he continued, “and that’s ok, but what’s not ok is you hiding it and not opening up to anyone about it.” You stayed silent as your body started to shake.

“I guess it would feel nice to open up about all this,” you tried to say it lightly, but it only came out as a pathetic murmur as your voice started to waver. You turned your head to Macaque with tears in your eyes, “I just don’t know what to do.” Macaque looked at you sympathetically.

“That’s alright, we can talk more about this tomorrow,” Macaque cooed. He raised his hand to your head and slowly started to pet it, “just go back to sleep, kid. I’ll be here, in case you have a nightmare.” You nodded, slowly feeling yourself falling asleep. And for once in what it felt like years, you finally had a good night’s sleep without any nightmares.

I wrote the majority of this on my phone lol. This didn’t really turn out like I wanted it to but it’s fine. Sorry macaque was ooc here this was my second time really writing him. Sorry if this was pretty short too.

also, reminder that my requests are open. Kay bye

#for you ⌞ 🌙🌱⌝#macaque x reader #six eared macaque x reader #six eared macaque #macaque #lego monkie kid #lego monkie kid x reader #gn reader #x gn!reader #gn!reader #platonic reader

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bellaxgiornata · 2 years ago

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Falling For the Devil [Part twenty: "The 'I Told You So'"]

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Summary: You get sick and have to call off of work. Matt offers to take care of you later.

Matt repeatedly promises you he won't get sick.

[Series of one-shots about Reader meeting, falling for, and dating Matt Murdock.]

Warnings: 18+ for this series; contains humor, fluff, romance, angst, smut (like...a lot of it later in the series), language, some violence

Word Count: 4.3k

a/n: A fluffly installment where Reader gets sick and then so does Matt (and he turns into a clingy baby Capuchin monkey). You can find the entire list of installments for this series on tumblr here and my other Matt Murdock stories on my Masterlist if you enjoy my writing! I have...quite a few Matt Murdock series'...

The alarm on your phone woke you, the sound somehow more grating than you remembered it usually being at six in the morning. With a groan you threw a hand out, searching for your phone along the nightstand. Once you'd found it, you raised your head from your pillow, brows furrowing as a sharp pain shot through your head. Eyes squinting at the bright light of your phone screen in the dark room, you finally managed to turn off your alarm and blissful silence surrounded you again.

But you needed to get up and get ready for work. It was Thursday morning after all.

Sitting up in bed, sheets falling down your chest as you did, your entire body immediately protested the movement. Everything ached–your head, your back, your legs, and your throat. Eyes closing, you faintly groaned from your place in bed. A shiver ran down your back at the chill of your exposed arms in your bedroom that shouldn’t feel quite this cold.

That’s when you realized you were sick.

"Fuck," you muttered.

Tossing the sheets off of you, you slowly threw your legs over the side of the bed, running a hand over your face. Rising to your feet, you shuffled with half-lidded eyes out of your bedroom and into your bathroom across the hall.

Flipping on the light, you winced at the brightness in the small room. You groggily opened the medicine cabinet above the sink and grabbed the thermometer. With a sigh you pulled it out of the container and put it in your mouth before leaning against the wall beside you, eyelids lowering.

You had felt perfectly fine last night, how the hell did you wake up feeling so shitty?

As you waited for the thermometer to read your temperature, hating the fact that you would have to use up a sick day if you had a fever, you felt yourself slowly drifting back off on your feet. A minute later the beeping had your eyes snapping open and your body pushing off of the bathroom wall. Pulling the thermometer out of your mouth, your eyes darted down to the reading. You had a fever–100.6 degrees to be exact. Nothing to be too worried about, but definitely a fever where you should crawl back into bed instead of going to the office.

Frustrated, you washed the thermometer under the faucet knowing you'd have to call Ellison next. You'd also have to cancel your plans with Matt tomorrow night, too, you realized with another irritated groan. And you'd really been looking forward to trying that new restaurant.

Placing the clean thermometer back into its container, you brought it back with you to your bedroom and set it on the nightstand. Taking your phone from the charger, you skimmed the contacts for Ellison's number. Hitting the call button, you sunk down onto your bed and held the phone to your ear. A few rings later Ellison answered, greeting you with your name.

"Hey," you said, voice sounding a little off from the sore throat. "I hate to leave you hanging, but I woke up with a fever. I'm not–not feeling too great," you muttered. "I should probably stay home and not infect everyone else at the office."

"Yeah, you really don't sound too great," he agreed. He sighed over the line, probably quickly reworking a plan to not have your absence screw up the next issue. "That's alright, I'd rather you get better. But…do you think it's possible to email me that article you had just about finished? Maybe some time before five?” he asked in a way where ‘no’ was clearly not an option. “Sabrina can probably finish the edits so it'll still get to print on time."

You nodded, running a hand across your aching forehead. "Yeah, I'll uh, I'll send it along in a couple hours," you assured him.

You hung up shortly after, quickly and eagerly crawling back into your bed and under the sheets and pulling them high towards your chin. Getting comfortable, you slowly began to drift off, curled up with your stuffy nose buried in one of Matt's dark gray shirts that you’d fallen asleep with last night.

The sound of a melodic ringtone drew your eyes wide open not too long after you’d managed to fall back asleep. You groaned, rolling over and throwing out a hand to grab your ringing phone. Matt's name was on the screen and your brows drew together in confusion as you answered the call.

"Matt?" you asked him in lieu of a greeting.

"Hey, sweetheart, where are you?" he asked.

Your other hand rose from the sheets, rubbing your burning eyes. "What? I'm at home," you mumbled.

"We were…supposed to meet up for coffee this morning before work?" Matt hesitantly said over the line. "I thought we'd agreed on that last night or am I misremembering?"

You exhaled slowly, feeling yourself deflate. "Shit, sorry Matt. I totally forgot," you croaked out.

"Are you okay?" he asked curiously. "You sound off."

"I uh, I'm sick," you told him. "Slight fever. I just called Ellison and was about to go back to sleep. I'm sorry, I totally forgot or I'd have called you, I didn't mean to–"

"Sweetie, it's okay," Matt cut you off. "Don't worry about it. I'll stop by after work, okay?"

Your brows pulled together again quickly. "No, I don't want you to get sick," you protested immediately.

He chuckled lightly over the line. “I don’t usually get sick,” he boasted in assurance. “I’ll be fine. I can stop by this evening, bring you some medicine and some dinner.”

“Matt,” you whined, throat aching at the pitch as your voice cracked on his name. “I have a fever and I don’t want to get you sick. I can just order some groceries on my phone and have someone deliver everything to my door.”

“Okay, but would you rather cuddle me or my shirts?” he teased.

You frowned, your eyes dropping down to the dark gray shirt you were currently clutching in a death grip in your left hand. His laughter over the line caught your attention again.

“Yeah, I thought so,” he said in amusement. “I’ll see you this evening. I’ll get some cold medicine–you have a fever but do you have a sore throat? Congestion? Are you vomiting? Do you have–”

“Matt,” you whined again, this time in embarrassment. God forbid the man asked if you had diarrhea next, you’d probably die on the spot. “I’ll be fine, I have cold medicine,” you told him.

“Is it expired?” he asked.

“I–” you began then paused. When the hell did you buy that bottle of Dayquil?

“I’ll get you something,” he assured you. “And bring you soup from that Deli we like for dinner. You just rest up and focus on getting better.”

After you’d exchanged goodbyes and hung up, you rolled back onto your side in your bed, burying your face back into Matt’s shirt. You took a deep inhale the best you could manage through your stuffed up nose and smiled when you could just make out the faint scent of his not-entirely-scent-free detergent.

_________

Shivering under the large, dark blue plush blanket, still snuggling Matt’s shirt, you mindlessly stared at the episode of House Hunters on your television. Your fever had gone up in the afternoon, shortly after you’d managed to make it out of bed and shower knowing Matt was probably going to find a way into your apartment tonight one way or another. You’d managed to eat a piece of buttered toast some time afterwards, but you hadn’t been too hungry all day. Mostly you’d slept, either in your bed or curled up on your sofa with the television softly playing in the background.

A knock came from your front door and your head slowly rose from the pillow, the movement reminding you just how much your body still ached.

“Sweetheart, it’s Matt,” he called through the door.

“Door’s unlocked,” you called back, sore throat stinging at the effort of raising your voice.

A moment later the front door swung open and you saw Matt stepping through the threshold, his cane in one hand and two bags in the other. One of which looked like takeout and the other clearly a CVS bag. You made to sit up on the couch but he quickly threw up his hand still holding his cane in your direction.

“Don’t get up, I’m fine,” he told you. As he slipped off his dress shoes by the door, he shot you a curious look. “Why is your door unlocked, though?”

You shrugged, settling back down on the couch. “Unlocked it earlier for you,” you mumbled. “Knew I’d be too comfortable on the couch to want to get up later.”

He rested his cane near the door, making his way towards you on the couch. You tucked your feet up towards yourself, leaving him room at the other end of it. He placed both bags on your coffee table before he settled down near your feet.

“Please tell me you haven’t had it unlocked while you’ve been asleep?” he asked you flatly.

“Okay, I won’t,” you muttered.

He said your name firmly as he pulled his glasses off, the tone in his voice catching your attention. “Someone could have just walked in here,” he chastised, setting his glasses on the coffee table. “That’s not safe, you of all people should know that.”

“If someone wanted to come in here and stab me, at least I wouldn’t have to feel this sore throat anymore,” you joked.

Matt stared at you from the other side of the couch, his expression unamused. You sighed, slowly sitting up on the couch and wincing as your headache disapproved of the movement.

“I was kidding,” you told him. “You’re not the only one with jokes, Murdock.”

“Jokes are actually funny,” he countered.

“And I thought you were supposed to help me feel better?” you asked, raising a brow at him.

A little grin slid on his mouth before his hand found your thigh over the blue blanket. “You’re right. I just don’t want something to happen to you. Please lock your door.”

“Alright, alright,” you conceded.

You shifted under the blanket, trying to get comfortable again on the couch now that Matt was here. You also tried to discreetly pull his shirt out from under the blanket, slowly placing it on the end table beside you. Matt’s head tilted to the side before he turned back to look at you, one brow raised.

“Were you cuddling with my shirt again?” he asked, smiling at you.

Your mouth opened, an immediate ‘no’ ready to fall out of it, but remembering Matt was a human lie detector, your mouth snapped shut. Instead your cheeks flushed at being caught–or at least, you think they flushed, it was hard to tell with the fever already burning you up.

“See?” he teased, throwing an arm around your shoulders and drawing you into his side. “I knew you’d prefer to cuddle the real thing.”

He wasn’t wrong and you quickly lowered your head to his shoulder, eyelids dropping closed. His fingers were on your chin a moment later, slowly tilting your mouth up towards him. It took your sluggish, feverish brain a moment to realize he was about to kiss you and when you did, your right hand flew up to his chest, abruptly pushing him away from you. Matt sat on the couch staring back at you with his brows raised and his eyes slightly widened.

“What’re you doing?” you asked, startled.

“Trying to kiss my girlfriend?” he answered matter-of-factly.

“No!” you shot back, scooting away from him on the couch as your voice cracked. “I’m going to get you sick if you kiss me!”

His expression swiftly shifted to a look of amusement as he fought back a laugh. “You won’t get me sick,” he assured you for the umpteenth time today. Holding his arms open, he continued to grin wide at you. “Come back here.”

When you didn’t move, he pulled out that look that you swore he’d slowly been perfecting on you. His brows creased together just a little bit, lowering down on his forehead, and his eyes softened, looking almost ready to water. The corners of his lips pulled down a fraction and his head cocked gently to the side.

“No,” you said firmly, holding up a hand. “Don’t do the wounded puppy face on me, Matt. That’s unfair. You know it always works.”

“That’s the point,” he murmured.

He continued to make that face and you felt your resolve quickly disappearing. Barely half a minute later your shoulders sagged and you scooted back towards him on the couch, muttering out a “fucking hell” as you did. A triumphant grin spread across his mouth as he leaned forward to kiss you, but you quickly threw a hand to his chest again, halting his movements.

“For the record, I reserve the right to say ‘I told you so’ if you get sick now,” you said. “And you accept full responsibility for getting yourself sick. No blaming me.”

He chuckled, shaking his head as he gazed down at you. “I’m not going to get sick,” he said again. “And I won’t blame you if I do.”

“I’m remembering that,” you told him.

Still grinning, he leaned down towards you, his fingers lightly tilting your chin up towards him again. Your hand on his chest slid up to his neck, his skin feeling pleasantly warm against your palm as he kissed you. Even his mouth felt deliciously warm against yours, a shiver running down your spine as you eagerly kissed him back, your mouth greedily seeking warmth from his own. Your other hand quickly slid up his chest, your body leaning into the heat radiating from his, trying to take comfort in it. If it wasn’t for the fact that you quickly realized you couldn’t breathe out of your congested nose with how intensely you were kissing him, you wouldn’t have broken the kiss so soon.

Feeling out of breath, you groaned, lowering your forehead to his warm shoulder. Matt’s large palm came up to cradle the back of your head, gently smoothing your hair down.

“You’re burning up,” he noted.

“Mmm, funny,” you muttered into his dress shirt, your eyes closing as you relaxed into him, “because I feel cold and you feel really, really warm.”

“How long ago did you take something for the fever?” he asked.

Your head shifted along his shoulder, your cheek coming to rest along his chest as you squinted at the time on the stove in your kitchen. Taking a moment, you did the mental math as your arms wrapped around his waist.

“About three hours ago,” you answered. “So I still have another hour before I can take more.”

Matt leaned forward, reaching out to the coffee table. Your head remained against his chest, having zero interest in removing it as his hands pulled the bottles of medicine from one of the bags.

“You can at least take some of these,” he said. “And I’m assuming the employee who helped me wasn’t lying about what it was that I was buying.”

You instantly frowned, shifting your head along his chest to look up towards him. “Please tell me that hasn’t happened before.”

His mouth thinned out. “Thankfully I have other senses that help when it has happened,” he murmured. “And these did smell like medicine, so I know it’s not like he tried to get me to buy bottles of sexual lubricant instead or something.”

“Sure those wouldn’t have gone to waste at least,” you muttered before you could stop yourself.

Matt’s head slowly turned towards you, the corner of his mouth quirking up as an amused smirk spread gradually over it. Quickly you sat upright on the couch, clearing your throat and grabbing the bottles of medicine.

“Yeah, these are definitely cold medicine,” you mumbled. “I’m uh, just going to go take them. In the kitchen. Where I uh, can get some water.” Your eyes darted towards Matt, swallowing hard and wincing when it hurt. He was still making that knowing, almost hungry face. “You want some water? Or a beer?”

"Beer would be great, thanks," he answered.

You grabbed the medicine bottles from the coffee table and bolted to the kitchen, trying to ignore Matt still staring at you from across your apartment with that hungry look still on his face that was starting to somehow turn you on while simultaneously making you self-conscious.

"You know, from my experience," Matt called out to you as you filled a glass with water, "you really don't need any lubricant. You've usually got that…very much covered."

"Pretty sure it's because of you," you muttered under your breath.

Matt's loud bark of laughter tore through your apartment and your eyes widened, forgetting about his super hearing in your feverish state.

Turning off the faucet, you drank down some water, the slight chill of it burning your dry, sore throat. You focused on taking some of the medicine he brought instead of the nerves he’d managed to shake loose in you, your nose scrunching at the taste of the overly sweet, fake fruit flavor as it went down. Before heading back to the couch, you grabbed Matt a beer from the fridge and picked your glass of water back up.

“So,” you asked Matt as you sat down beside him on the couch again, offering him the beer, “you still need to go out Cane Tossing tonight?”

He swallowed down the drink he’d just taken before turning towards you, raising one brow very curiously up onto his forehead. “Cane Tossing? Is that some sort of new sexual term I’m unaware of?”

You snorted, the sound quite obnoxious with how congested your nose was, but Matt still grinned instantly–as he always did whenever you made that particular noise of amusement.

“No,” you answered him, setting your water glass onto your coffee table. “The thing you do at night.”

“Another new name?” he asked. “This one doesn’t even make sense.”

“Yes it does,” you replied quickly. “Last weekend we were all leaving Josie’s, you caught wind of something with your fancy Devil senses–”

“–fancy Devil senses?” he asked in amusement.

“–and you made up some random excuse,” you continued, not even bothering to respond to his question, though you noted the growing entertained smile on his face, “and you bolted down some side alley and you fucking whipped your goddamn cane . Like, that fucker went on a freaking Six Flags ride straight out of your hand. Remember? I had Karen double back with me when Foggy took Marci home and we fished it out of the dumpster you threw it in. Which took a lot of drunk creativity, by the way.” Your head tilted to the side as you added on, “And what is it with you and dumpsters lately?”

Matt quickly lost the fight he had with holding back his laughter, a wide grin breaking free as the warm sound of his mirth filled your apartment. Despite how shitty you felt, you smiled wide in return, your eyes drawn to that one little damn dimple in his right cheek.

“You are–” he began, trying to rein in his laughter, “–by far the funniest person I have ever met. And thank you, by the way,” he said, large smile still spread across his face. “I don’t know if I thanked you enough for crawling into another dumpster for me.”

“For your cane,” you corrected. “I wasn’t sure how many of them you had laying around. Even less sure now that I’ve seen how you treat them. But uh,” you began, voice returning serious, “thank you for–for stopping by. Bringing me medicine and food. Even though I swear to God Matthew Murdock, you better not end up getting sick.”

He looked at you seriously, trying to fight down the laugh that kept trying to fall out of him as he said your name, his hands reaching out towards yours. “I promise you, I will not get sick.”

_________

Matt swung his apartment door open and you were greeted with a sight of him you hadn’t seen before. His nose was tinged red, probably from blowing it too much, and his hair was a disheveled mess of brown on his head, sticking up in various places from where he had most likely tossed and turned trying to sleep. He looked incredibly tired, his eyes half-lidded as he sniffled lightly. He was dressed in a zip-up hoodie, no shirt underneath, and a pair of sweatpants tucked into some cozy looking socks. Your face fell at how miserable he looked and you instantly rushed towards him and drew him into a hug, entirely disregarding the bag of food and medicine in your hands. His strong arms wrapped around your waist in return, his face burying itself into the side of your neck.

“You got sick, didn’t you?” you asked, your own face buried in his shoulder.

“Yeah,” he answered softly.

“Dammit, Matt, I told you so,” you chided.

"Yeah," he mumbled against your neck, "you did."

You drew back from him, heart sinking at the sight of him before you. He somehow looked permanently like a wounded puppy while sick. He was also still clinging to you, apparently more in need of touch while sick than when he wasn’t–something you made a mental note of.

"Did you take something for your fever yet?" you asked him as you turned in his hold, closing and locking his door.

"About an hour ago," he told you.

"Well I brought you cold medicine and some lunch," you said, glancing at the bags you'd brought. "You hungry yet?"

He shook his head silently, his hands still holding tight to you. With a sigh you grabbed onto one of his hands and led him down his entry hall and to the kitchen.

"How about I put your lunch in the fridge and you take some medicine," you told him, trying to do just that while he was still clinging to you like a baby Capuchin monkey.

"Then will you come cuddle with me?" he asked hopefully, voice a bit muffled by his congested nose.

Closing the fridge door, you turned towards him in his one-armed hold around your waist and reached a hand up. Gently you ran the tips of your fingers along the length of his stubbled jaw, the hairs pleasantly prickling the pads of your fingers. A faint smile drew onto his face as he leaned into your touch.

"Yeah, Matty," you agreed.

You brought the bag of medicine to his counter, pulling the bottles out of the bag as Matt still clung to the back of you, his forehead resting in the crook of your neck. Afterwards you stepped over to a cabinet, trying to reach up and grab a glass as Matt clearly refused to let go of you. Carefully you filled the glass with room temperature water as best you could so the water wouldn't irritate his throat too much–you assumed he'd be much more sensitive to temperature, especially with a sore throat.

Turning back to his counter, you set the glass down and measured out the appropriate amount of medicine for him.

"You're going to have to let go of me to take the medicine, Matty," you told him.

With a groan he rolled his head off of you, finally releasing you from his hold and accepting the little cup of medicine. He pulled a face before throwing it back and you quickly held out the glass of water for him to chase it down with. Immediately he accepted it, guzzling it down with audible swallows.

Despite the water, he still ended up having to brush his teeth after downing the medicine, trying to rid his mouth of the awful taste. You couldn't imagine how gross it was to him, but he definitely seemed disgusted and you waited on his couch patiently while he thoroughly brushed his teeth.

A few minutes later, he shuffled out of his bathroom and to where you were waiting for him on the leather couch. You rose to your feet and made your way to his room, Matt happily following along behind you as you moved, wrapping his arms back around your waist and rubbing his face into your neck as you walked. You kept giggling when his stubble tickled you, which only spurred him on. Eventually he broke away when you reached his bedroom, Matt getting into his bed as you slid his bedroom door closed. Then you made your way towards the other side of the bed and pulled the sheets back–and abruptly paused, your eyes catching sight of the article of clothing he was clutching under the sheets. You bit down on your bottom lip, fighting back the smile.

"Matt?" you asked him. When he responded with a questioning hum, you asked, "Have you been cuddling with my sweatshirt?"

"You left it behind last week," he murmured as you crawled in beside him. "Smells like you."

He pulled it out of his sheets, setting it onto the nightstand behind him with one hand before he slid his way towards you in the bed. Immediately his arms and legs wrapped around your body, Matt's head instantly coming to rest along your chest. His slightly red nose nuzzled into your shirt as he made a few throaty, happy noises that you couldn't help but smile at. Eventually he settled, his eyes closing as a peaceful expression spread over his face as he rested on you. Absently your left hand came up and began combing through his soft hair and you felt him shudder against you, humming contentedly again.

"I'm sorry I got you sick," you whispered.

"Worth it," he mumbled into your shirt, "for the cuddles."

#matt murdock x reader #matt murdock x you #matt murdock x fem reader #matt murdock fic #matt murdock series #daredevil x female reader #daredevil x reader #fftd

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heyidkyay · 2 years ago

Note

Just wondering if you would ever consider writing a Matty fic where he falls in love with a fan in the audience of a show? Maybe he writes songs about it all? It’s very cliche but man does it pull on my heart strings, the Cinderella of it all. Getting swept up into his life like that would be so romantic.

Tag along |

Part one

Strayed a little but it’s still very much fluff filled, maybe not what you’d first expect? Idk, that sounds strange but I hope you enjoy it anyway! Thank you for the prompt!<3

Part Two

It was official.

After days of relentless pleading and having been so blatantly coerced into it by my mum and younger sister, I’d finally relented and given in to attending the concert. And I sort of hated myself for it. Strange, I know, but now I had no choice but to see some fuck-off band- I’d never even heard of- with my teenage sister and her best mate, who were practically mad about them.

I mean, I love the girls, I truly do. With all my heart. But having to spend an entire evening with them, surrounded by a thousand other screaming fans, just wasn’t something I was looking too forward to.

And who could honestly blame me?

You see, it had all begun earlier that same week. I’d been on my lunch break, grateful to have just a minute to myself, when my mum had called. We’d gone through the motions, happy to catch up; she told me the gossip whirling round back home (next door were back to rowing again and Tracey in the post office had fallen pregnant for the seventh time); she’d asked after me, like she always did, questioned if I was eating enough, sleeping alright, if I’d met anyone new…

My mum and I had always been pretty close. She’d had me young, I was her first baby- something she never failed to remind me of- and we’d sort of grown up together. Seeing as how my father (nickname: The Sperm-Doner- yes, the caps were necessary) had gone and fallen into all kinds of shit and ultimately decided to fuck off when things had gotten too real. She was my rock, the one person I could count on to defend my corner, and always believed in everything I ever set my mind to.

It had been hard on the both of us when I’d left home, especially seeing as I was now a couple dozen cities away. But life continued on and we adapted, I went back to visit as much as I possibly could, and called whenever I had the time. Even though in moments when all I really needed was a good hug from her, it was easy to remember what I was doing this all for, and that my family was only a train journey away. They were a constant, even if they lived a couple hundred miles from me.

So she had phoned, I’d immediately noticed the stress which underlined her tone and I’d asked what was up. She’d danced around the topic as much as she could- she hated asking for things, ‘that’s my job,’ she liked to reiterate whenever something occurred and I tried to help out. But I’d dragged it out of her in the end. And oh how I now wished that I’d just left it.

Because here I was, stood in the freezing cold, outside of the O2 arena, in a line full of a couple hundred other excited fans who were all waiting eagerly for the gates to open.

The two girls were squirming beside me, so ecstatic you’d have thought that I’d gone and laced their drinks with something other than sugar, jumping all about the place whilst they squealed to one another in such a high pitched tone that anyone else would’ve believed that they were conversing in another language all together.

It was amusing to a point, because I could honestly recall the same euphoric high I’d felt when I’d finally gotten tickets to an Arctic Monkeys gig almost a decade ago now.

Internally I winced as the memory drifted to the forefront of my mind, feeling far too old for my twenty-three years.

But I could also admit that I was honestly in a tad bit of a mood, had been for the last half hour or so, because I truly fucking hated the cold. And right now? It was baltic and I was freezing my tits off.

I’d already buried my face into the opening of the leather jacket I’d thrown on that morning and wrapped my arms around my torso to enclose some of my remaining heat, but it was of little use. I was still shivering away with a frown.

I’d gotten a couple of lingering looks whilst here, something I’d noticed but could’ve cared less about. It was far too cold to be stood about waiting in any sort of line, so they could all excuse me for not being overly delighted with the whole ordeal.

I sighed and peered down at my phone screen, glancing at the time, then double checked my pockets for the tickets I’d been handed on arrival and told to guard with my life.

It was probably the twentieth time I’d done so, because who in their right mind would give me, of all people, something important to look after? I was the least irresponsible person I knew when it came to being organised.

Because listen, I could get anywhere on time, I was insanely good at that- a job interview, an airport, a school play… But nine times out of ten, I’d almost always forget the one thing I’d needed most. My resume, everybody’s passports, the wig I’d worn one halloween and promised to my younger brother so that he could complete his costume in time for his class assembly…

Yeah, so I was a bit of a mess. But who wasn’t?

Albeit saying that, I had ultimately been the one to score these tickets. My mum and step-dad had gifted them to my younger sister as an early Christmas present after she’d literally begged for months on end during the lead up to the drop of the presale.

It had just been the three of us, all sat down in the family living room, back home up north, earlier this year. We’d counted down the minutes, a dozen devices in hand and at the ready, and it had been something short of a miracle, in all truth.

The website had crashed a couple times, my step-dad’s phone had died, and then my laptop had quickly followed. The dog had knocked over a freshly made brew and almost pissed itself. And then the postman had scared the absolute life out of us when he’d knocked on the front door.

So to say that we had all breathed in sudden relief when I’d loudly announced that I’d managed it, was a MASSIVE understatement.

Note. The worst part to seeing your favourite band live; Ticketmaster.

Even the thought of doing it again had me riddled with anxiety. I shivered involuntary, whether it was from the mere idea of it, or the cold, I’d never know.

But being stood here now, I was cursing myself for having been the one to officially bag the stupid things. I sighed inwardly, if only I wasn’t such a brilliant, caring and amazing older sister. But it was a hard life, I supposed.

“I’m so excited!” My sister, Rosie, squealed, drawing me from my thoughts. She’d gripped onto Tea’s arm in her sudden bout of elation, and the two shared a maddening grin. The other girl didn’t seem to mind the tight grip her best friend held, and so I figured it was probably down to the anticipation of it all- or the fact that it was still so bloody cold.

The thing about Rosie and Tea was, they had been as thick as thieves for as long as I could remember. There’d never been one without the other, and so it was sweet to see the pair looking so forward to something like this, something which they both shared such an obvious love for.

“I know!” Tea breathed dramatically, looking a little flushed, “I want to meet them so bad, it actually hurts.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes at the pair, in good fun of course, because they were both so adorably obsessed.

Oh, to be a teen again.

“You two are really looking forward to this,” I commented with a light chuckle, watching on as the two girls danced around happily in the small section we’d claimed. “I just don’t get it.”

Once those words had left my lips, I instantly regretted it. Having been met with the deathly glare of two teenage girls was not something I’d offer up to just anyone.

“Are you serious?” My sister outrightly demanded, staring up at me with a face of utter bewilderment. Scarily, she looked a lot like our mum in that moment. “They’re The 1975, Y/n. They’re- incredible! You must have heard at least one of their songs!”

Tea nodded her head alongside Rosie, bobbing up and down in agreement.

I simply shrugged at the pair of them, finding amusement in their infatuation. “Can’t say that I have, Ro.”

“But, Y/n/n, you love bands! Music in general- I’d bet my whole vinyl collection that you’ll love them too!” Rosie stressed, she then smiled brightly up at me when I merely quirked a brow in retort. I dug my hands deeper into my pockets.

“I like bands, yeah. Band’s like The Stone Roses, The Kooks, Joy Division… The type that make music for music’s sake, you know? Not the kind that strive to get on the top ten, babe.”

I shook my head fondly at the two.

This band they were so enamoured by were probably just as decent as they claimed, and I could admit that simply because, well, they’d have to be to have all these crazy fans gathered in one place. But they just weren’t my cup of tea.

Ooh, talking of tea, I was proper gagging for one. I’d yet to have my daily fix, and after having been rudely rushed out of my flat early this morning, I’d been unable to stop off at any sort of coffee shop on the way over in fear of losing a spot in line.

The two teens rolled their eyes at me, and my forehead pinched when my sister pulled out a pair of headphones and all but shoved them into my ears. “Look, just listen, okay?”

I reeled back in alarm, having not expected the sudden ambush. “Christ, Ro!” I exclaimed, but the girl only huffed at me before turning to press play on her phone. She gave me a stern look. I relented.

At first, I couldn’t hear anything but the slow intro to an unfamiliar song- even with the swarm of fans gathered around me. But I continued to listen, honing in on the tempo and its melody. And as the song went on, I begun to understand why so many people enjoyed it. The lyrics, although a bit out there and entertainingly vulgar at parts, were smart and witty, they fell with the instrumental perfectly and the singer’s voice was pretty different to what I’d first expected. It made me want to really listen, to follow along, to understand the backstory.

Honestly, they weren’t half as terrible as I’d first believed. And once the outro had faded out, I actually felt a little conflicted. The song obviously had a much deeper meaning to it, but its instrumental made it so lively and energetic that I’d found myself bobbing along almost subconsciously. It was something I could see myself getting lost in, and I wondered whether or not they’d made anything more raw, or emotional.

The songwriter was definitely talented, I couldn’t deny that, they’d had gone through some shit, and I found myself longing to read deeper into their words.

“They’re sick, right?”

The headphones being ripped out of my ears brought me back to the present and I blinked slowly at my sister’s question.

“Yeah.” I shrugged a shoulder, handing over the wire. “Yeah, they’re alright. Can sort of see why you two like them so much.”

I laughed to myself when the girls faces lit up.

“They’re amazing! And you’ll so enjoy this show- as well as the boys! They’re proper nice deep down, like really care about us as fans and all that.” Tea encouraged, seemingly quite happy that I hadn’t just gone and shit all over her favourite band.

“Yeah, they’re so lovely, Y/n!” Rosie added, eyes alive as she barrelled on to explain further, “There’s four of them, right? First, we have Adam, he plays the guitar mainly- blonde, tall, only one who’s started his own little family. And then there’s Ross and George-”

“Ross is on bass, long haired with a beard, whilst George plays the drums.” Tea weighed in, before Rosie was back to chattering away again.

I was honestly beginning to feel as though I was watching an extreme game of tennis with the way my attention kept batting back and forth between them.

“Tea’s obsessed with him.” Rosie felt the need to inform me, before her face immediately brightened, “Oh, and then there’s Matty of course!”

My sister was wearing one of the biggest grins I’d ever witnessed on any singular person and I snorted when Tea rolled her eyes and made a slight dig, “You can see who Ro’s claimed.”

“Hardy har.” Rosie deadpanned, jutting a light elbow into her friend’s side before she gave me a serious look, “I haven’t ‘claimed’ him. I just…”

“You just want to have his children. Yeah, I know, Rose. You never fail to not mention it.”

Rosie stuck her tongue out in retort whilst I tried to bite back my rising amusement when they continued to bicker. The two made a right pair.

“So, what’s this Matty like then?” I questioned, wanting to know a little bit more about the guy who’d caught my sister’s eye, but mainly just eager to poke a bit more fun at her. “Come on, what’s so great about him that you’ve gone and dubbed yourself a tribute to birth his prodigy spawn?”

The girls wrinkled their noses at me, Rosie’s upper lip curled in faint disgust. “Why’ve you gotta word it like that?” She scoffed, shaking her head at me.

I chuckled, shrugging a singular shoulder. “Because I live to annoy you. So, are you gonna tell me or do I have to ask about?”

I made the effort then to pretend as though I was about to disrupt the group behind us’s conversation, but the girls were quick to waylay me, jumping hastily to grab at my outstretched hand. I smirked.

“Stop it!” Rosie all but hissed, her worried eyes flicking back over towards the people beside us before falling on me again, this time they were slitted. “God, you’re so embarrassing.”

Me, embarrassing? Hah. She should be thankful that I knew when to stop. I could still vividly recall the days when my mum had attempted the same shit with me, except she’s the type to actually follow through, leaving her daughter to stand sheepishly behind her, internally cursing the day her mother had decided to forgo an abortion. Dark, yes, but I’d also been a hormonal fifteen year old girl, so sue me.

I rolled my eyes instead of voicing this though, knowing it would only go in one ear and out the other. And ultimately, my sister sighed allowing me to prompt her on further with the rise of my brows.

“Matty, he’s the frontman basically.” She said, back to talking with her hands, forgetting about the whole ordeal.

That made sense, I thought to myself, although I’d always been a drummer sort of girl. Helders, Taylor, Fleetwood, Bonham, Moretti… I could go on.

No honestly, I could, so I was just glad that Rosie chose that moment to stop me.

“He’s a proper performer, you know? Like he just belongs up there, on stage.” My sister breathed, and she wore the sweetest look of admiration on her face. “He’s got this mop of messy black curls and he’s covered in tattoos. Wears all this cool shit and he’s-”

“-also a bit of an arsehole.” Tea summarised for her, before Rosie could get too carried away.

I blinked at my sister’s best friend in surprise, before a loud laugh bubbled out of me.

In all the years I’d known this girl, this deceivingly sweet girl, not once- once, I stress!- had I ever heard something so shameless spill from out her mouth, and with the exasperated look she had paired with it, I couldn’t hold in my delight.

“Tea!” I exclaimed, and was so tickled to see the younger girl’s cheeks redden when she turned to give me a sheepish sort of smile. “How crass! I always thought it was Rosie who’d been the bad influence between the pair of you, but now I see quite a few secrets are coming to light tonight.”

Rosie snorted in reply, “She’s done worse. Trust me.”

Tea swatted at my sister’s arm upon hearing that, widening her eyes in a silent warning.

“Oh, come off it.” Rosie waved away with a roll of her eyes. “It’s just Y/n.”

I decided to leave off of the teasing, feeling a bit bad for embarrassing the younger girl. “Yeah, I’m just messing, lovie.” I told Tea with a soft smile as I draped an arm over her shoulders to draw her in for a hug. “You can relax, nothing that happens tonight will be getting back to your mum, alright?”

“Yeah, ‘cause we all know what she’s like.” Rosie tittered under her breath and I slapped lightly at her bicep to scold her. “What?” The girl exaggerated with a high-pitched drawl, rubbing at her arm with a narrowed eyed glare that was directed towards both Tea and I. “I was just saying! And what’s with you two and smacking me about today?”

Tea giggled and I squeezed her lightly before letting go.

“Don’t talk about things that have nothing to do with you.” I told my sister simply, “Freya’s a perfectly lovely woman, just a tad…”

“Insane?” Rosie offered, at the same time Tea said, “Extreme.”

“Eccentric- was what I was going to say.” I shook my head at the duo. “Honestly, the two of you.”

The girls only laughed.

The line started to move a little while later, slowly mind, but it was a progress I was grateful to see.

Anything to get out of this chilly wind in truth.

And as we waddled along, the two teens I was with continued to speak of the band, trying to catch me up on anything and everything I’d missed before the show officially started.

Not that it helped at all. I was beyond crap when it came to things like that- recalling anything trivial- I could hardly even remember the band’s actual name and it was plastered practically everywhere around me. As well as this big box thing.

I breathed out a loud sigh of relief when I realised that we were up next, and when we were signalled over towards the gates by one of the arenas guards I could see just how nervous Rosie and Tea had grown, giddy but mostly eager to just get inside. I couldn’t help the fond smile which limned my lips then, happy to see them so excited.

“You three.” A large man, branded in a security uniform, called, jerking his head over at us. I heard the girls take a deep breath as we approached and I quietly chuckled at them. “Tickets?” He stated.

Oh shit, yeah. The tickets.

“Tickets…” I murmured quietly to myself, patting down my pockets to find them, “Tickets, tickets, tickets…”

I could feel the apprehension radiating off of my younger sister as I continued to riffle around for the poxy things, and so I flashed the bloke a wry smile before I started to unload the contents of my jacket pockets into both Rosie and Tea’s hands...

Gum, house keys, a stray tampon. Pack of haribo (because you never knew when you’d need those), ID, bank card, phone, charger. A few spare pound coins-

Oh God, that was where my Argos receipt had got to! I could finally return that shitty Nespresso machine my cousin and her fiancé had talked me into buying now.

I grinned in quiet victory whilst tucking the slip into the back pocket of my trousers.

“Y/n.” My sister stressed out in a hushed whisper, I just simply waved her off.

“They’re here somewhere. I felt them like, twenty minutes ago.” I assured her and- “Aha, told you! Three tickets, all here!”

I wore a triumphant grin when I held out the wrinkled papers towards the guard, who appeared to have been throughly amused by my prolonged charade. He took them from me to scan with a toothy smile.

“Oh cheer up, we’ll be in there in a sec.” I huffed at the girls, tucking all of my belongings back into their rightful place. Rosie didn’t look too cheerful though, but I could see that Tea’s lips had started to twitch, so I have her a conspiratorial wink in turn. Then glanced back towards the bloke, “We all good here?”

“Yeah, all good, love.” He exhaled on a faint chuckle, waving us in through the barrier without further issue. “You girls enjoy your night.”

“We will!” I promised, gifting him a gleeful smile, “You too- hope you don’t have to spend too much longer out in that cold!”

He just nodded at me, still looking rather entertained by all our antics.

“So embarrassing.” My sister felt the need to reiterate as we wondered further into the arena, practically growling.

“Oh, loosen up, would you? He was proper nice about it all. Fit too, don’t you think?” I said, glancing back over my shoulder.

But Rosie just rolled her eyes at me. Fed up, I was about to bite back at her when Tea’s unexpected gasp broke us from our little quarrel.

“Oh my god. They have the limited edition LP!”

Rosie’s eyes widened dramatically and before I knew it the two were scurrying away from me and over towards the merch stand. I sighed to myself and glanced about, hoping to see a sign that would lead me to where the bar might be.

—

We were here. In the middle of a fucking mass of people, but we’d actually done it. We’d finally managed to swindle our way near the front of standing, practically touching the barriers, even after having loaded up on snacks and drinks- mine mostly alcoholic.

The girls were buzzing. Looking all cute and excited in the outfits they’d planned months in advance, singing along to the set that was playing through the speakers to keep the crowd entertained before things begun.

And me? I was getting swept up in the atmosphere. Unable to believe that I’d almost forgotten how good it all felt. Because live music was truly unmatched.

There was just something about the heavy thud you felt in your veins, how being this close to the amps could make your chest ache in the very best way, and how’d you’d have to scream just to be heard over all the noise whilst you got lost in an avalanche of happy people.

It really had been too long.

I was already a fair few drinks in by the time the opening act came out, and was chatting away to the couple crowded beside us. They were both a year older than me and studying down in Bournemouth. They’d bought their tickets off of a mate, who hadn’t been able to make it, on a whim when they’d had the cash to spare, and had decided to make a weekend out of it.

We’d actually only gotten to talking when they’d almost sloshed a canned cocktail all down my back.

I’d been startled at first, rightfully so, as this giant of a man had all but stumbled right into me, eyes as wide as saucers. His boyfriend had come to his rescue though, offered me up one in apology, and who would I have been to deny?

So I’d cracked it open, found myself pleasantly surprised by the taste, and one thing had quickly led to another and they’d ended up letting me share the bagged vodka they’d also managed to smuggle into the stadium in the bands of their socks.

To say that I’d been impressed wouldn’t have been a lie, I sort of felt like I’d found my people in truth. Because the price of alcohol at these kind of events was always extortionate. Practically daylight robbery, there was no other way about it.

And my bank account had taken quite the hit from the first trip to the stands alone. And with two teenage girls, who could care less about money unless it was their own, I’d almost wanted to shed a tear when I’d handed over my card to the boy behind the till- he’d sympathised with me, I’d seen it in his eyes as he wished us a good time.

So here I now was, pissing it up in the pit with a bunch of strangers, a medical bag full of spirits clutched tightly in one hand.

“Oh, God! Y/n, Y/n! It’s starting!”

I turned away from one of the boys to glance back towards my sister, who was staring up at the stage with this starry eyed expression, Tea was right beside her wearing the exact same face. I chuckled beneath my breath.

“You girls ever been to a show before?” Lewis, one half of the couple I’d met earlier, asked Rosie.

My sister shook her head at his question whilst the screens above us begun to distort and screams overwhelmed the arena. Lewis merely chuckled at Rosie's nonverbal reply, she only had eyes for the stage it seemed.

“It’s her first gig ever. She’s been dying to see these lot for years.” I answered for her, leaning in close so that he could hear.

I saw his eyebrows lift at the information before he was grinning against my ear. “She’ll never want to see anyone else after this!”

My forehead pinched, silently questioning his statement, but just laughed it off when a row of boxes flashed brightly above us.

Lewis and I separated on cue, just as the world around us hushed for a split second and the sudden intro of a loud guitar pierced the veil.

“Please welcome, my favourite band, The 1975!” A voice then announced and I looked up, right into the eyes of a man who’d seemingly taken claim of the stage.

His smile was wide, unmatched, as he pranced up and down the front, his hair a mess of curls as a set of drums picked up the pace of the opening beat. I had to be reminded to close my gawping mouth.

Who the fuck’s that?

And I must’ve said it out loud, because I heard Lewis snort obnoxiously from right beside me, continuing to sing away whilst the girls immediately turned towards me to shout, “Matty!”

Shockingly, their loud exclamation also managed to garner the attention of the man himself when he danced by, and I watched on as the dark-haired frontman smiled down at Rosie and Tea. Waving hello.

I was caught by utter surprise when I then found myself trapped in his heady gaze, still giggling away at the girls' hysterical reactions.

Okay. Before I continue on, I truly am putting this all down to the alcohol that was streaming through my system, because it was then that Matty appeared to pause before me for the briefest of moments.

And I didn’t dare look away. I couldn’t.

He smirked down at me, eyes so observant, and I found myself shaking my head at him with a smile of my own. But sadly he only left me with a sly wink as he traipsed away to sing out into the rest of the audience.

Rosie and Tea had squealed beside me, excited to have captured the singer's focus, whilst I tried to catch my breath.

The show continued on after that and I allowed myself to relax and get lost in the people, their heat, the music. I danced, the girls and I swayed, twirling about, Lewis and I laughed, and I even managed to sing along to a couple of songs I sort of recognised.

The current one came to an end though soon enough, and Rosie informed me with a glossy eyed smile and smudged liner that the last song was fast approaching, whilst Tea just pulled out her phone to record again.

I nodded at my sister, squeezing her close before she pivoted away back towards her best mate, leaving me to sip at the drink I’d been trying not to spill all down myself due to the constant shoving and pushing.

Minutes went by and Matty engaged with the burly bloke on bass- whose hair I found I’d rather like to touch (because honestly, how did he get it so glossy?). Before he continued on, pointing out signs here and there, and sparking up another massive round of cheers by vocalising the inner workings of his mind, which was something he supposedly did quite often. Enough for the rest of the band to begin playing again only to shut him up. That had made me giggle.

Dozens of faces passed over the main screen, most of them beaming, or crying, there wasn’t much of an inbetween. And Matty interacted with them all, grinning and joking in such a way that only screamed sincerity.

The shouts around us only started to double then when he made his way over to our section, and even my own heartbeat sped up as I watched his eyes drag over the absurdly large crowd. He was unfairly attractive, okay? I could easily see why my sister had taken such a shine to him.

He was smiling and my pulse stuttered then stopped altogether when Matty paused right by us, to look me directly in the eye, his eyebrows drawn tightly together.

“Alright, darling? Having a good night?” He quizzed me, the sudden weight of his attention making me jump even though the surrounding screams had yet to cease. “What’s in the bag?”

I glanced down at the liquid filled bag I was still holding, gaze drifting to Lewis for a split second before it darted back up towards the singer. “Vodka.” I told him before I could think better of it.

The sound Matty produced then was almost inhuman and I was actually quite proud of myself for having been the cause of it.

“Definitely snuck that in.” He accused, quieter this time around and with a growing smile. The audience laughed.

Rosie and Tea spun around to face me, huge smiles threatening to split their faces in half, as my brows pinched.

“Way to out me to an entire arena!” I instantly called back, ducking slightly to avoid the eyes of the hefty security man stood on the other side of the barricade. Matty’s cackle echoed out around me, coming from all directions.

“Oi, mate! Escort her out, will you?” Matty ordered, nodding down at the same man I’d previously noticed. “Ruining it for everyone.”

I gaped, eyes widening in sudden alarm whilst he just shook his head at me, feigning disappointment.

Thankfully though the singer was quick to go back on his word, waving the guard (who had actually begun to MOVE) off with a sway of his hand and a thoroughly amused grin.

Fuck, this man was really going to be the death of me, I thought.

I willed my racing heart to slow.

“I’m just joking, love.” Matty reassured me, eyes twinkling under the array of lights. “Spotted you a couple times tonight, actually. Like to stand out, don’t you?”

It didn’t sound like much of a question.

“Might do.”

I could physically feel my brain struggling to make my mouth cooperate, and I figured I might’ve drunk a tad too much, because I usually wasn’t this tactless. Which was how I managed to surprise even myself with the next sentence I fired back.

“Or maybe it’s just you.”

“Just me?” Matty queried with a tilt of his head, and he squatted down then, bouncing on the balls of his feet for a moment before he took perch on the side of the stage. “What do you mean?”

“You’re the one who spotted me.” I retorted with a smug smile, raising my voice to be heard. “I’m just one face in a thousand. Nothing I did.”

He hummed, mouth quirked to one side. “So this is all on me then?”

I shrugged casually, but my mind was reeling.

Matty laughed before he motioned me closer. “Here’re.” He prompted, jutting his chin out and willing the crowd to woefully part. “Come on, let her through. Let her through.”

I frowned but did as I was told, slipping my way past the few who had actually managed to claim the metal fence before us, quirking a confused brow up at him.

He towered above me, even from where he was seated on the stage, and I willed back my shock when he proceeded to jump down from off his perch and approach me. My heart hammered and a lump formed in my throat.

“Have you got a favourite song of ours?” He asked and I actually felt how embarrassed I must have looked in that moment, gifting the singer a sheepish smile before I quietly informed him that I didn't have one.

His head jerked back, “What do you mean, you don’t have one?”

The sudden crow of Rosie's voice sounded above the rest of the buzzing noise then and I was unsure on whether or not to be grateful for it.

“She’d never heard any of them before tonight!”

I grimaced slightly from behind the hand that had come up to hide my face, silently hoping for the ground to just open up and swallow me whole. I could feel the heat radiating in my cheeks and the tips of my ears, knowing full well that Tea was definitely recording every inch of this mortifying moment.

“Oh, so we have a fake fan within our midsts?” Matty voiced and it was full of mirth, he found pleasure in his teasing.

A soft brush touched my skin and before I even knew what was occurring my hand was being pried away from my flushed cheeks by the singer himself, who looked me dead in the eye and had the utter nerve to wear the most devastating grin.

“Is this all part of your plan? Lure me in and then break my heart. How’re you at my gig, after never having heard a single one of our songs?”

“I’ve heard a few!”

But my attempt to defend myself was waylaid, it seemed Matty had other ideas.

The frontman nodded over towards Rosie, who blanched under his gaze. “Go on. Tell me more. What’s her motive here?”

I watched on as Tea nudged my younger sister into talking, Rosie too shellshocked to remember that she had the biggest gob I’d known to man.

“Um,” My sister startled, blinking away before she took a deep breath, “I dragged her along tonight. Me and my friend, we’re huge fans!”

“Lovely to meet you. Glad you could make it- only wish you’d made a listener out of this one beforehand!”

“We’ve tried!” Rosie exclaimed with an exasperated sigh that had me rolling my eyes. It appeared as though she'd reverted back to her usual self, despite being under the gaze of her favourite person in the entire world. Yes, you could be assured that that was an actual quote.

“Oh it’s like that is it?” Matty asked, peering down at me. I couldn’t tear my gaze away, his brown eyes smudged with kohl making them that much more enticing.

His attention differed then, flitting back towards my sister.

“She seemed to be enjoying the set whenever I looked over though, so what happened?”

“She’s stubborn!” Rosie shouted back, and I could hear her muffled laughter through the crowd, probably upon seeing me so put out.

“Stubborn, are we?” Matty smirked, and his lips were by my ear before I knew any better, his mic long forgotten. “I like a challenge.”

And then he was gone, back to wooing the crowd and making the most of having all this attention.

I let myself slip back into the seams, breathing heavily as my sister and Tea joggled me about, Lewis and his boyfriend beaming madly from ear to ear. I tried to focus.

What had just happened?

Part Two>

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alovesreading · 1 year ago

Text

Constant Repeat | Part 13

Summary: Having worked at Focus Creeps for a year, Ella knows that as a production assistant and part of the crew, there’s one important rule: don’t interact with the talent unless it’s needed. But once she meets Arctic Monkeys, and the recording of the music videos for their upcoming fourth studio album starts, the band seem to become her exception. Not only because they treat her more like a friend than just someone else they’re working with but when Alex continuously makes her blush with his flirting, so enthralled by her that he forgets he’s got a girlfriend, Ella finds herself growing closer to him. As videos are filmed, wrapped and edited, the friendship lines become blurry. Situations unfold, secrets are told and others are kept under lock and key, but how long can Alex and Ella endure being stuck in each other’s minds on constant repeat.

Word Count: 24.9k

Story Warnings: Throughout this series there will be suggestive talk, jealousy, cheating, alcohol and drug use, angst, smut.

A/N: Well hello... It's the one we've been waiting for and I'm actually fucking jumping in my spot as I write this. Cannot wait for you to read this, and yes the pictures in the moodboard are what you're thinking. Safe to say it’s gonna get a bit steamy, enjoy ;) xx

Masterlist

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Ella woke up slightly terrified yet excited that Saturday morning.

She hadn't gone on a first date since the one she went with her ex at the start of the previous year and after everything that had happened with him, the prospect of going on a date, even if it wasn't more than a last minute plan, was wracking her nerves.

The feeling had made her almost miss breakfast, her appetite almost gone until she started feeling faint and she realized that if she wanted to actually not have a miserable day then she'd have to eat.

She had gone downstairs to the hotel's restaurant in a zombie-like state, ordering herself some scrambled eggs and pancakes so the homely feeling of the food made her feel better. And it did.

When she got upstairs, she took a shower and lounged in bed, still in her robe and letting her hair air dry, until it was at least half past twelve. The date wasn't until four but she figured she'd slowly get ready so she'd not freak out about the date and bail out of it at the last minute.

Ella had been absentmindedly straightening her hair and curling the ends of it when her phone rang, and it was none other than Mrs. Healy.

"Good afternoon Miss Hayes, are you ready for today?" Flo greeted her with a chipper tone in her voice, Ella could practically see the beaming smile on the artist's face just from her voice.

Biting on her bottom lip, she let the phone rest on her lap as she continued with the next section of hair and admitted, "I'm actually nervous..."

Flo cooed at her, "Good but also don't be. He's an absolute dream."

The tiny piece of information only made Ella more curious about the person's identity, who she now knew was a male but that being the only hint she'd gotten had her somewhat obnoxiously asking, "Are you finally gonna tell me who it is?"

But all she got was another vague answer, "All you have to know is that he's fit and I know you'll get on with him perfectly well."

At least the reassurance that they would get on well was easing Ella's nerves a little. Not as much as she wished though, but that was because she knew herself and when she first met anyone, she got shy and was a bit awkward, so she was praying that she'd be able to get a bit of courage not to make a fool out of herself.

Thankfully Florence had stayed on the phone with Ella as she finished doing her hair and she'd actually video called her when was doing her makeup, making her laugh throughout it all and somehow making her forget about how tense she had been for a bit.

Matty had just come back from a meeting when Ella was showing Flo the dress she had gotten in Manchester for the date and, to Flo's dismay, he had almost slipped and told Ella who it was that she was seeing in merely an hour from then.

"Matthew!" Flo had exclaimed loudly before the name fell from his lips and he had quickly thrown his hand over his mouth with wide eyes.

His honest, "I'm so sorry." sounded muffled behind his hand and it only got an eye roll from his wife.

Ella was gutted that her only chance to find out had gone that way, telling Flo, "Why are you so fast?" with a sorrowful voice which had the British woman laughing.

Flo took her husband's close mishap as a sign to let the girl go, "You're gonna have to get faster Miss, it's quarter past three and it's a twenty five minute walk over there."

"Shit, right." Ella cursed under her breath, realizing she needed to get dressed already and leave as soon as she could so she wasn't late.

"You're gonna look stunning, hun." Flo reassured her since she seemed to start growing panicky, "I'm gonna leave you now so you can change but you have the best time Ellie, alright?"

Ella pursed her lips at the camera and clutched her chest, "Thanks Flo, love you."

Flo grinned sweetly at her American friend and reciprocated, "Love you too. And let me know how it goes, alright?"

"Will do, but I don't promise anything too interesting." Ella made sure to make that point clear, she didn't have much expectations for the date just so she wouldn't end up feeling defeated for it not meeting whatever she could imagine it to be if she allowed herself to.

But Florence was in heavy doubt of it not being interesting considering she knew who Ella was meeting with. So she offered Ella a gallic shrug, "Yeah, well... We shall see about that."

The artist looked as if she was holding back laughter so Ella narrowed her eyes at her and sternly inquired, "What?"

Which wasn't answered because Flo played dumb and simply said, "Okay byeee! Love you!" loudly before hanging up the phone.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Ella walked the best she could in her high heeled chelsea boots which were not a great pick when mixed with how nervous she was and how far she'd had to walk. She had debated getting a taxi when she was walking through the hotel lobby but decided against it when she realized that if she did, she'd get there quicker and she wanted to stall as much as she could.

She wasn't even late yet, ten minutes left for the clocks to strike four in the afternoon and she was merely five minutes away. The whole walk, she had been practicing in her head whatever she could say to the guy she was meeting with, just to prevent embarrassing herself. If anything went wrong though, she had brought her camera with her and a few rolls were stuffed in her pocket so that she could at least take the opportunity to take pictures.

She had gone from any topics she could come up with about herself, deciding against being the one to mention her tragic love life and definitely not touch the subject of her lack of driving skills when it came to manual transmission—she had enough with the Monkeys teasing about it even after two years—, and picking a few questions that could be interesting to ask the guy.

But all the inquiries and words she had been rehearsing died in her throat when she rounded the corner on the end of the restaurant's street and she saw the tall guy smoking a cigarette, leaning on a lamppost right by the entrance of the establishment.

Ella thought of making a run back to the hotel, hesitating which way to go and how it would work with her long dress but his eyes fell on her before she could make up her mind and when he smiled sweetly at her, cigarette perched between his lips, she knew it was too late.

On Ella's face a shy smile broke and she gave him a little wave before approaching him, faking confidence as she got closer until he was only a few feet away so she said, "Oh hi, I wasn't expecting you."

Her face was burning and she knew he could see it because he smirked down at her, and cheekily asked, "Were you hoping for someone else?"

Looking up at him through her eyelashes, Ella smiled harder at his playfulness and in a rush of braveness she chose to play along, "Do you really want to know the answer?"

He took a drag of his cigarette and let the smoke out steadily as he shook his head, "I'm just hoping you remember my name."

And how could Ella forget, "Of course I remember you, George."

George hummed, taking one last drag as he took in her appearance and he grinned mischievously when seeing the dark satin and lace of her dress contrasting on her skin, her leather jacket making her look even more stunning and coincidentally matching the one he was wearing.

"Glad you haven't, Ella." The drummer replied with a wink, dropping the bud on the ground and stepping on it before taking something out of the pocket of his dark jeans, "Flo sent this for you."

An involuntary "Oh." fell from Ella's lips, entirely intrigued by what could be that friend had wanted to tell her that couldn't be said on the phone because George handed her a folded piece of paper that only said Ellie x on the front.

Ella carefully opened it, trying her best to avoid George seeing it—which was a bit of an issue since he was so tall he could've easily read if he looked down—and she instantly blushed harder when she read Get the nice kind of messy ;) x

A flashback of the moment at Glastonbury when she had been gawking at George and she had let slip how fit she found him came to the forefront of her mind and she couldn't help herself getting a little flustered at the mere thought of it.

In an attempt to try and play it cool, Ella folded the note and shoved it in one of the pocket's of her leather jacket, clearing her throat, adjusting the strap of her camera on her shoulder and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear like it was all fine.

But George could see her cheeks bright pink, the rush of color even going to the tips of her ears which she had just let show with her last action. "What did she say?" He had kept his promise that he wouldn't open the note when Florence gave it to him earlier that day, even though he had been really tempted too, especially when he realized Matty knew what it said for he was giggling when his wife handed it to him.

Ella didn't give him an answer though, only a little cough that acted as a coverup of her avoiding his gaze and a subtle shrug, "Just a little joke."

"Can you share?" He tried further, his hand coming to nudge her softly in the arm.

Not even that helped her answer change. She shook her head and said a shy, "Not really."

"I see how it is." George had narrowed his eyes at her and added, "S'alright, I'll remember that." which was a promise that had Ella biting her tongue.

"Shall we go inside?" The drummer said then, watching her struggling to come up with a response to his previous statement.

The new question was much easier to reply to, a soft "Yes." falling from her lips, breathlessly.

And he took her breath even more when he let her walk ahead, only to rest his hand on her lower back delicately and casually comment, "You look beautiful by the way. Really like that we're matching with the leather jackets."

The opportunity to not acknowledge the compliment was perfect because she felt like she was going to explode under George's attention. She giggled and nodded, "What a great coincidence huh?"

His answer being, "Hot coincidence." accompanied by a wink didn't make it easy for her though and she found that being on a date with George Daniel meant blushing every five minutes even if the chat was about mundane topics.

They had talked about their hometowns, to which George had found the opportunity to say how much he liked cowgirls and comment on how good she looked at Glastonbury with her boots. They had exchanged stories about their jobs, Ella asking all that came to her mind about producing music which she found fascinating that he was the one to produce all of his band's songs. They had told each other how they had ended up doing what they were doing currently, Ella cooing constantly when George told her how the guys became friends and how the band had come together, George being fascinated about her knowledge on films and everything to do with photography and cinematography.

Then he had asked her about her hand tattoo, smirking when he rubbed his thumb over it and asking if she had any more which ended up in them sharing the amount of ink they had on their bodies which George beat her to by an incredible amount. They both had ended up taking their jackets off and showing each other each piece they had on their skin.

Eventually, the chat had come back to the band and Ella had asked him whereabouts they had toured so far, her jaw dropping the more his list continued and she genuinely had a hard time wrapping her head around them being relatively new to the mainstream scene when they were already going to all those places.

She'd been so amazed at every place he'd mentioned that she'd ended up telling him it was her first time in England.

"Really? First time here?" He asked intrigued before taking a sip of his wine.

She nodded because she had a bit of food in her mouth and she waited until she swallowed to correct him, "Anywhere outside the States really."

George was quite surprised about that, "No way. Are you liking it here then?"

"Yeah, it's quite nice." Ella admitted with a soft smile, "Love how different it is from what I've grown up seeing."

He hummed, "Have you been anywhere else other than London and Glasto?"

And she nodded, her smile growing as she said, "Went to Sheffield and Manchester yesterday and the day before."

"Ohhh, big up Manc." He smirked, liking hearing that she'd visited the city he held dearest to his heart, but then he traced back to what Ella had said and with an eyebrow raised added, "Sheffield though... Did the lads take you?"

"Alex did, yeah." She mindlessly answered as she gathered some more food with her fork and took it in her mouth.

"Right, Turner." The drummer nodded, and before he could let the subject go he had to mention, "Thought you two were going out actually. Surprised me when Flo called me and asked if I wanted to go on a date with you."

"Oh no, we're not. But god, that's embarrassing." Ella winced at the information, both pieces of them.

George smirked playfully, "Dating Turner?"

Ella laughed in response to that, shaking her head before clearing up, "Flo asking you if you wanted to go out with me. You know you could've said no."

He frowned at her, like she had just said the most outrageous thing and he wholeheartedly asked, "But why would I?"

"Oh George, stop it." Ella warned him, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes at him.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" George reached his hand out to touch hers, the one with her 'Pure Desire' tattoo again, and she almost shivered under it.

Ella let her fork down beside her plate and fanned herself with her hand as she said, "You're making me blush."

But that was nothing that would keep him quiet, because he honestly admitted, "Yeah and I quite enjoy doing it."

The rest of the date had been spent between good food, good wine, laughter, a picture she had taken of George, and chatter that had been really nice. Getting to know George had been like a breath of fresh air, that's why when they had left the restaurant, the drummer had offered to walk her back to her hotel and Ella hadn't even doubted to accept.

He had taken a few detours, taking her around to places that she hadn't seen from where he had hilarious and very wholesome stories of his childhood and teenage years when he would come around to London with the lads and other friends just mess about.

And Ella had been grateful for the anecdotes because she was making sure to capture each place in its unique beauty and she knew behind each shot she'd have the memory of what George had shared with her.

George watched her closely every time she took a picture, taking in all that she did every time she wanted to take a picture. She was so adorable to him, the way she lit up when she'd pressed the shutter and looked at him excitedly when she rolled the film.

The two had walked through a gorgeous park, one that was bustling with people. Some were running, others having picnics, some walking their dogs, some biking past everyone and some just leisurely taking a stroll like they were.

They had been approached by the cutest dog who had strayed away from beside their owner who was sitting on a bench and excitedly walked up to them.

Ella cooed as she crouched down, petting the husky's head and put on a funny baby voice to greet the dog. George had chuckled, crouching down right beside her and showered the dog with attention as well.

From the bench, they heard the owner apologize to which they replied that it was alright and complimenting him on how gorgeous his dog was.

They asked about it, which ended up being her and called Daisy, which had Ella and George cooing again.

She had asked the owner if she could take a picture of Daisy and he had nodded right away, telling her to please do so. Ella had the biggest smile on her face as she looked through the viewfinder and tried focusing the shot, George had helped her by waving his hand right on top of the camera so it looked like Daisy was staring into the lenses perfectly.

Before they could continue walking after managing to get a few pictures of Daisy, Ella asked the owner for an email address so she could send the pictures to him and she was so glad the man had one.

After saving it on her phone's notes app, Ella and George waved the man and Daisy goodbye. The dog wagging her tail around as she stayed sat beside her owner on the bench this time.

Ella blew the husky a kiss and said loudly, "Bye Daisy darling!"

That just made George's chest swell and in a lack of any more self control, he wrapped his arm around Ella's waist and pulled her into him, her chest hitting his chest and making them both stop.

"Oh hi." Ella giggled at the sudden action, her hands had subconsciously ended up on his chest after that.

But any other words died in her throat when he dipped his head and trapped her lips with his.

Ella hummed into the kiss, which was a dizzying combination between sweet and determined. His left arm stayed wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush into his chest but the other one came up so his hand cupped her jaw and kept her at the perfect angle for him to kiss her.

Her arms slowly moved up until they were wrapped around his shoulders and she let her fingers tangle in his hair. It was soft and slightly long which she really liked. His tongue brushed against her bottom lip, his fingers clutching her tighter and she let her mouth open so they could taste each other.

She had completely forgotten where they were until a cyclist rushed past them and rang their bell multiple times, startling them out of the kiss. Yes we are in the middle of the road but that was fucking rude, she thought. She had really enjoyed that kiss, and it showed in the way she looked up at George with rosy cheeks and something written on her face.

"I liked that." George cheekily stated, getting ahold of her hand and resuming their walk.

Ella hummed, trying not to giggle because of the feeling that was bubbling inside her. "Yeah, I liked that too."

She felt like a teenager. Blushing to herself while she walked hand in hand with the person she had a crush on, and it was so ridiculous but so relieving at the same time to feel that kind of pathetic elation instead of despair and heartache.

Their chatter resumed, only it was getting more and more flirty and she liked where it was going until they managed to get to the hotel she was staying at and she sighed sadly when they were a few feet away from the big glass doors.

"This is me." Ella mumbled, squeezing his hand in hers but he didn't let go.

He hummed as if hesitant of believing what she'd just said and instead he suggested, "Don't you wanna take another walk around the block?"

"George, my feet hurt." They had been hurting for a while but she hadn't said anything just to not ruin things.

The drummer came to a quick solution, "I'll carry you."

Which made her chuckle, "Sure you would." She genuinely didn't want the date to end so in a bit of a rushed decision, she bargained, "Don't you... Do you wanna come upstairs?"

He got a kick of excitement inside him but he wanted to play it cool, so he joked, "What, are you gonna take my picture?"

Ella held back a snort of laughter, and shrugged as if it was fine by her that he only wanted that. "If that's what you want." There was a little voice in her head that told her not to but there was another one that purely encouraged her to have fun.

"Yeah, that works." George casually said, like he wasn't praying that he got lucky to even get another kiss out of her.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

"Where'd you want me?" George turned to look at her as she dropped her camera on one of the bedside tables and shed her jacket off to perch on the back of a loveseat close to the door.

Ella took one of the new rolls out of her pocket and changed it for the one she'd almost fully used earlier that day. "Wherever you're comfortable." She indicated the drummer, focused on perfectly lining the roll before she could turn to him.

"Bed's quite comfy." She heard George say from behind her and when she looked up to see him, she found him lying on his side, head perched on his hand and a smirk on his face. "Paint me like one of your french girls." He teased, resting his other hand dramatically on his forehead.

The American girl giggled at his antics, "You're such an idiot." She shook her head as she came up to the bed, and tried looking at the scene through her lenses but she wasn't quite convinced by the shot.

George watched her struggle, stepping backwards and forwards, to the sides before sighing. He reminded her, "I'm not used to being the one to pose for the camera. You're gonna have to guide me."

"Okay." She thought about it as she bit on her thumb and once a vision came to her, she started instructing him, "Lean into your forearms, sideways so you fit in the bed." But she found what was bothering her and it was that his legs were half hanging off the bed.

"Why are you so tall, oh my god." Ella went over to the drummer and prompted him to go further into the bed, perched one of his sock-clad feet up on the bed and the other leg stayed stretched on the bed. "There, now look at me."

George looked at her with a blank face first to which she complained about him not smiling but when he smiled he started giggling and if there had been something she had learned about George quite early into her date was that his laugh was incredibly contagious so she found herself shaking with laughter as she tried to take his pictures and she had to call him out for it.

"Don't laugh! You're making me laugh!" Ella scorned him, struggling to sound serious between her giggles.

"Sorry, sorry." He apologized halfheartedly, swallowing his laughter until he went back to a stoic face and he gave her the perfect soft smolder.

Ella hummed in satisfaction of that frame and then she moved onto instructing him to do the next pose, "Throw your head back a bit and close your eyes." He silently listened and did as she said which earned him a sweet, "Just like that." from her.

Her words made George give her a look though, one that had Ella lightly blushing which she hid behind her camera. "What?" She asked into the air, and warned him, "Don't look at me like that."

George chuckled to himself, wondering if she was that naive or if she was playing dumb but she took another picture of him and, purposely, he complained, "My leg's cramping." to then throw himself back on the bed, ending up completely splayed over the duvet and breaking the pose.

"George!" Ella scolded him, a bit of amusement sneaking through her words.

He groaned in response and without moving, told her to "Just take a picture like this."

Ella clicked her tongue and shook her head, "I can't even see your face."

"Come here so you can see it." He resolved easily for her, making her roll her eyes but in the end having to do just as he said because he really wasn't moving.

She tried getting a picture from above while standing beside the bed and she just couldn't. "That's an awkward angle, look at me." She tried to get him to turn to his side again but he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Need you on your side." She said explicitly this time but he didn't let up either.

Instead he suggested, "Why don't you just get up here?" He patted the bed, right next to his hip and she blushed just thinking about it. At her silence, he opened his eyes and turned his head to the side to encourage her with a "C'mon."

He offered his hand so she could use it as leverage to kneel on the bed on each side of his hips and hover above him. She struggled as she did so because she was growing nervous and therefore clumsy. "Fucking hell, George." She cursed under her breath, seeing him from above was an angle that she didn't know if she could handle.

"What?" George bit his bottom lip to not let a smirk break on his face.

Yet, not even that kept her from knowing that he knew just what he was doing but she wouldn't say anything, because she was enjoying this a lot more than she intended to. So she stuck to just replying, "Nothing." as she took yet another picture of him.

Remembering his tattoos, Ella bit her bottom lip for a few seconds before hesitatingly asking, "Why don't you take your jacket off?"

George let his hands rest right above her knees and squeezed her legs as he teased, "Is that code for something?"

She hoped her blush wasn't obvious so she could play off her nonchalant, "For 'I want to see your tattoos', yes."

It went right over his head though, because he kept smirking as he sarcastically replied, "Right, right."

She moved so he could take the piece of clothing off without her hovering over him but when he was done and laying on the bed again, he patted his right side so she could move her left leg there and have her hover over him properly again.

"How's that look?" He asked cheekily as his hands went to touch her legs again, the skin up to her mid thighs showing because her dress slit allowed it to open and rise up in the position she was in.

"Amazing." She breathlessly compliment, making him raise an eyebrow at her.

The shutter went off again and, as she rolled the film, he tested the waters, "Do you want to see them all?"

"Sure." The word came out so soft it could've gone with the wind, his hands leaving her thighs for a second to come grab the bottom of his shirt.

"Top's coming off next then, is that alright?" He asked for confirmation first and she nodded eagerly, her pupils dilating in anticipation.

He shed himself off his shirt in the constricted space he had, Ella was so spaced out that she hadn't moved but it wasn't a problem for George. If anything, his smirk grew at her inability to act and it got bigger when he threw it somewhere across the room and Ella was shamelessly gawking at his naked top half.

After a minute of Ella's eyes wandering everywhere, George brought her back to reality by letting his hands come over her thighs again. She trembled at the same time as the drummer said, "Ella?"

"Yeah?" She asked, slowly coming back to reality. Her brain had been completely taken over by the view of the taut muscles of his arms littered by colorful ink, a pair of symmetric 'broken' tattoos on both sides of his collarbones and his torso beautifully chiseled with a defined six pack.

"When are you taking the picture?" He reminded her trying not to smirk too hard not to put her off.

"Shit, sorry." She said under her breath and, quickly focusing, finally took a picture of him like that.

There was a heavy silence that hung over them, the trail of his fingers making her skin grow hot and her throat going dry at the growing need for anything at all. So Ella found herself surprised when he broke the silence to ask her, "Can I take your picture?"

"Mine?" She repeated like she'd heard wrong.

But George nodded entirely sure, and let her know, "You look really pretty from here."

In a feeble attempt not to have him do that, Ella reminded him, "You don't know how to."

"Matty had a film camera a few years ago, I know how to." George surprised her even further when he explained and just to try a bit harder, he pouted at her and said, almost begging, "Please?"

"Okay." She let herself accept, her mind too distraught by the view beneath her to even fight.

Once she handed him the camera, he lifted it up to his eyes and let out a chipper, "Smile." as an instruction, which she followed only just a bit shyly.

She was about to get the device back from him when he pulled it away from her grasp and pleaded, "Another one please?"

She sighed at the drummer's exaggerated pout, so it turned into a giggle and that was when the shutter went off. Her cheeks burned again when he complimented as he rolled the film, "Stunning."

Letting the camera rest beside them, George tried his luck and let his hands rub on the skin of her thighs a bit further up. She didn't refuse it, he could clearly see the growing hunger in her eyes as she looked down at him so he continued, letting his gaze trail down her body to drink in all of her but when he reached down to her legs was when he caught a slight glimpse of red ink on her left thigh that made him ask, "Do you have more tattoos?"

He didn't remember her mentioning any other tattoos than the ones she'd shown him at the restaurant. So when she nodded, he couldn't help but ask, "Where?"

"One, right here." Ella grabbed his right hand so he could touch over the fabric of her dress where the one on her rib was. Her eyes were looking right into his and his lips drew open further when she continued, "And this one here." lifting the fabric up to show her 'Divine Feminine' tattoo on her leg.

George let his right hand fall until it reached the one on her thigh, Ella still clutching the satin in her first so he could fully see it. He rubbed on the red ink on her skin as he stared at it, eliciting goosebumps to break on Ella's entire body.

He looked up and asked with a low voice about the only one he hadn't seen yet but she'd let him touch over her dress, "What's the other one?"

"A word." She vaguely said, as if he was encouraging him to continue asking about it.

"Which word?" His fingers were trailing further up, making her knees go completely weak. They had been hurting from hovering over him for so long but his touch had been the thing to finally have her sit on his lap.

And that was when she had felt him growing hard in his jeans.

His fingers had already been making her every thought go straight down to her core so Ella was driven by lust when she fully lifted the satin up and shed the dress off her body, leaving her only in her underwear and in full show for George.

It was involuntary, his hip jerking forward and pressing on Ella's center, his mouth agape at the sight and he grew even more breathless when Ella rolled her hips against his hardening cock.

"Fuck." He cursed under his breath, taking one quick look at the strange word on her rib before perching himself up on his left forearm to wrap his right hand around her neck and pull her in for a hungry kiss.

She leaned further into him, one arm wrapping around his shoulders and digging into his hair to pull on it as their lips moved with each other. Her fingers tugging on his hair made him groan into her mouth and, as payback, he tightened his fingers around her neck, eliciting a loud moan from her.

George pushed himself up with his left hand until he was sitting on the bed, his right arm wrapped around Ella's waist to keep her flush against him. Their tongues tasted each other and their breaths grew heavy when they started rolling their hips, meeting in the middle and creating a delicious friction that soon enough forced them to break the kiss only to gasp in pleasure into each other's mouths.

His fingers came to graze the ink on her left rib, her desperate side having her sink her hips down to roll against him and turned his, "What does it mean?" into a gorgeous moan. Their lips brushed as he asked and Ella responded to his sound with a mewl of her own and when that reached his ears, George forgot ever asking anything for he couldn't wait any longer to feel her lips on his again.

The kiss grew needy then. His hand went from her ribs down to knead the flesh of her ass, fingers harshly digging into her skin and encouraging her to move against him. Her clit was getting so stimulated from only being covered by the thin material of her lace thong against his jeans which meant she couldn't kiss him any longer.

A string of moans fell from her as she quickened her pace, getting louder as she went but her actions were interrupted when George clutched her tightly by her middle and swiftly turned them around so it was Ella resting on her back on the bed with him hovering right over her.

Her breath hitched in her throat at the sudden change of positions, her hand flying to cup his face and bring his lips back on hers and wrapping her legs around his waist to pull his hips into her core in a desperate attempt to have the friction back.

The feeling of his hard on coming down to rub harshly against her every time he bucked his hips forward was making her head spin. He started off by teasing her with the friction and leaving her hanging for a few seconds before going back in but when she started gasping into his mouth, he kept himself close to her and relentlessly rolled his hips on hers, hard cock pressing deliciously against her throbbing clit.

The pace grew faster, making it impossible for her to continue moving her lips with his so he took it as a sign to continue on with what he wanted to do first. Unfortunately, that meant his hips stopped moving and left her throbbing and clenching around nothing but he made it up to her with his lips all over her.

Wet kisses trailed down her neck, his lips taking their time to give every bit of her skin attention on the way down. Kissing, sucking, licking. His fingers ran down her sides until they clutch tightly on her hips, fingers pressing hard on the skin there and making her cry out in pleasure even louder.

Her breath was heavy by the time he stopped sucking bruises all over her chest and abdomen, her fingers tangled in his hair and tugged on it so he could come back up but instead his tongue ran flat from just above her belly button agonizingly slowly up until his nose bumped against the hem of her bra.

George looked up at her through his lashes, teeth coming to bite on the fabric and tugging them the slightest bit down so she knew what he wanted to do and Ella desperately nodded.

Without much of a proper attempt to take the piece of clothing off, he just tugged down the lace cups on it and let her tits spill out freely for him. He groaned from the pits of his chest, hips bucking forwards into the mattress harshly in search of some relief for himself.

But not letting any more seconds go by, George dove to suck one of her nipples into his mouth. Groaning around it, the vibrations of the noise causing white heat to run straight down to Ella's throbbing wet cunt.

He switched the sucking for flicking it with his tongue, blowing cold air and smirking as her nipple hardened at his actions, ending with a soft bite and tug that had Ella loudly saying his name in call for mercy.

She needed something, anything. She felt herself clenching around nothing and it was almost torturous. But her cries fell on deaf ears for he moved onto her other nipple and repeated his process. Ella was only ruining her underwear further, so wet she felt uncomfortably sticky with her thong still on.

"George, baby, please–" She pleaded in anguish when he started sucking bruises on her tits, biting them until she whimpered loudly under him.

"What do you need Ellie?" He asked sweetly, a stark contrast to his vicious attack on her chest.

"Anything. Just–" She tried to say, her words catching up in her throat as her desperation for release clouded her logic and made her sound stupid.

So she relied on grabbing one of his hands from her hips and guided it down to where she needed him most. The simple graze of one of his fingertips on her swollen clit eliciting a pathetic mewl out of her.

"Oh sweetheart," George tutted, "Made quite a mess, haven't you?" His pointer finger ran up and down her clothed core slowly and so faintly Ella didn't know if she was imagining it.

Applying a bit more pressure assured him to hear every one of Ella's needy sounds and feeling like she had waited enough, he left a light feather kiss over her center.

"Need help cleaning up this mess, yeah?" His words were sweet, like he was finally taking pity on her. The thought of him doing absolutely anything at that moment sounded so fucking good her hum in agreement sounded more like a whine, barely able to make eye contact with him in her hazy mind.

His long tongue ran flat over her underwear, wetting even more than it already was and he moaned at the taste of her soaking through it. His fingers tugged the fabric down her legs and threw it somewhere behind him in record time, and he found himself almost drooling at the sight of Ella completely exposed for him.

If Ella'd had any hint of inhibition left in her, she would've tried to close her legs under his attentive gaze but he was entranced and she'd had it with waiting any longer so she propped her legs wide open and squirmed in her place.

"George, please."

Her pleading was so sweet, so desperate, he couldn't deny her. So he dipped his head in between her legs and started lapping at her like a starved man. At the first proper taste he had moaned loudly, tongue running up and down her slit to gather as much of her as he could and enjoying every drop of her on his tongue.

"Are you not gonna continue taking my picture?" George interrupted his task to tauntingly ask, going back to using his tongue on her, this time flicking it up and down quickly on her clit and making her shiver.

Her words caught in her throat when he didn't relent his actions, "Right– F-fuck! Right now?"

Only allowing himself to stop for the amount of seconds it took him to say, "Yes baby, be a good girl and take my picture."

That 'good girl' had made Ella roll her eyes in utter pleasure. Her head turned quickly to see where he'd left the camera and brought it to her eyes to take a picture as fast as she could. Her thoughts were already becoming clouded by the growing heat in her lower belly.

His disheveled dirty blonde hair in between her legs, his arms underneath her legs and hands clutching her thighs in place was what she captured in that frame. The shutter went off letting George know she'd done as he'd said and he congratulated her by praising her with a proud, "Such a good girl." and a few kisses to her clit which made her jolt.

He went back down, trying to clean up the mess of slick and saliva that was dripping down her inner thighs and onto the duvet and a desperate Ella had started rocking her hips against his face, trying to steer him back to where she wanted him to be and, to her satisfaction, he followed the silent instruction by going back to her center and this time pointing his tongue and dipping it inside her.

Her legs instinctively closed around his head, eliciting a breathy laugh from him that hit her core as he continued tongue fucking her. His hands came to spread open her legs again, holding her limbs down on the bed strongly, not allowing her to move any longer.

The feeling of his wet tongue dipping in and out of her had her growing louder, begging and pleading with him not to stop, but he did.

In that moment, Ella swore she could cry as she'd felt herself nearing closer to the edge but just before she could pathetically let her frustrated tears roll down, his lips wrapped around her throbbing clit and he sucked on it applying the perfect amount of pleasure. Enough pressure for her to let out a string of moans of his name and then a bunch of "Yes! Fuck yes!", hands flying down to tangle her fingers in his hair and keep him in his place.

"I'm gonna cum!" She yelled out loud, eyes shut tightly since the pleasure impeded her from keeping them open, and when George started humming as he sucked her clit, she was done for.

Her legs trembled under his hold, toes curling and her fingers surely tugging his hair tighter than she was before. She blacked out as her orgasm hit her hard, the oxygen in her lungs leaving her entirely as her back arched off the bed and she came back when his incessant sucking became too much for her oversensitive self and she pulled him back off her.

He giggled, completely entranced by her fucked out state. Watching her cum had been an experience but god didn't she look beautiful with her chest heaving, bruises looming on her skin, a flush to her face and chest, a thin coat of sweat making her body and face shine.

But before he could give her any more attention, his gaze fell back to her cunt and it was glistening with arousal. She tasted so good to him, so he wasted no more time to lick her clean. Her legs trembled at the resumed contact of his tongue on her sensitive core, whimpers stubbornly leaving her as he went.

Her fingers had left his hair alone but her left hand cradled his head as he lapped up at everything she gave him and after a whole minute of him meticulously licking clean every inch of skin that had been wet with her arousal, he started a trail of kisses from her mound until he reached her belly button.

Flashing a smile up at her, George rested his chin on her lower stomach and she couldn't hold herself back from brushing his messy hair back almost adoringly, post orgasm haze making her extra appreciative of him and his skilled tongue work.

His fingers rubbed circles on the top of her thighs, "Feel good?" He asked before leaving more soft kisses on her lower stomach.

"Very." She answered with a smile, fingers brushing through his hair.

He hummed at the feeling of her touch, "Good to know, pretty."

Turning to see where she'd left it, Ella reached out to grab her discarded camera, melting into the duvet under George's gentle touch and his lips pressing on her skin leisurely. She went to lean on her forearms so that she could get a better look at him, and he looked up at her with a dizzying smirk that she managed to capture.

His lips tickled the skin of her lower stomach when he pointed out, "Didn't even have to tell you this time."

Putting the device back down on the bed, Ella shrugged, "You look good."

"Do I, now?" He teased, dropping his hands from her thighs and pressing them on the mattress so he could slowly push himself up and crawl his way up to hover over Ella again.

"You always do." Her words came laced with lust, his eyes darkening as he got closer and she just couldn't wait any longer to have him in more ways. "Come here." She instructed by wrapping a hand around his neck, fingers pressing on the sides of it until he groaned loudly in pleasure and when he let the sound leave his lips, she smirked and warned, "My turn."

Pulling him in by his neck meant that their tongues met instantly when they started the kiss, and when Ella tasted herself on his tongue, she moaned so loudly George groaned just as loud in response.

The kiss was all teeth clashing, spit dribbling down to their chins, noses bumping, deep exhales sounding loudly and trying to overpower the sounds of their swollen lips moving together.

It had been George the one to grow louder when Ella's hand dropped from his neck, down his naked torso to the button of his jeans, which she undid with quick fingers and pulled the zip down before she could palm him over the fabric of his boxers.

"F-fuck..." He let out when her nimble fingers squeezed him and stroked him up and down, he was so hard that her touch was making him shiver.

Ella could feel him so swollen under her hand, her mind already spinning about how big he was but she wanted to have him unravel under her so badly, she pushed any worries about his size to the back of her head.

His hips moved slowly, as if he was helping with her movements, clearly wanting to reach his high but she wanted to taste him and she wanted it now. So she left his cock alone to instruct him to, "Lay down, baby."

They switched positions, so George was laying on his back and Ella was kneeling between his legs. He panted as he watched Ella shamelessly gawk at him, her mouth going dry at the clear outline of his cock.

"Fucking hell, George." She cursed as she tugged on the top of his jeans so he could lift his hips up for her to take them off him.

He did as instructed and Ella just was too impatient to wait any more, she wanted to feel him heavy on her tongue already. His boxers came off quickly after his jeans, his hard cock springing up to touch right by his navel.

Ella gulped. He was thick, angry red tip already leaking from how aroused he was. Intimidating but so inviting. She dipped her head down to start kissing his hips, kisses that went from sweet to wet and messy the more he squirmed under her.

"Ella..." George pleaded, hand coming down to cradle her head. Not to push it towards where he wanted her but to have her look up at him and see just how fucking desperate he was for her.

Ella felt that look go down straight to her core, mewling at the feeling. "I know baby, I know." She said in a coo.

Her fingers wrapped around him, the pressure of them making George huff with his lips pressed together. He felt so heavy in her hand, veins popping for her to see how pained he was.

"You're so big." She trailed off, a bit of wander in her voice. She had no idea how he'd fit in her mouth, he was by far the biggest dick she had ever come across but she liked a challenge.

Her tongue licked a bold strip from base to tip, eyes rolling to the back of her head when she tasted the salty arousal that had already been leaking from him. He had cursed under his breath at the feeling, but the breathy words turned into a loud moan when she wrapped her lips around him and sank her mouth down onto him.

Barely able to fit half of him in her mouth until he hit the back of her throat, Ella pulled back to catch a breath, her hand taking over for a few seconds as she inhaled deeply and went back in. She gagged around him when she managed to get him deeper, George moaned loudly as she did so, trying his hardest not to buck his hips upwards.

His hand went back to hold her head but this time, his fingers tangled in her hair, only to pull her up so she could breathe. But she didn't want to have it easy, she wanted to see how much of him she could take and hear every one of his moans.

So she went against his hold, sinking her mouth further down and gagging around him again. Her hand stayed at the base of his cock, stroking the rest she couldn't get to, as she continued bobbing her head up and down on him.

George was a mess of groans and moans, gasping for air whenever she gagged and moaned around him, her throat tightening around him was driving him insane.

He lifted his head up slightly to look down at her, pulling her hair so she would come off him and meet his eyes. And George was met with a panting Ella, pink wet swollen lips, saliva dripping down her chin and neck, tears falling out of the corner of her eyes, hair disheveled but pupils dilated and a satisfied smirk at it all.

Her hand kept stroking him up and down, fingers applying the perfect amount of pressure and he moaned at the combination of her touch and his view of her, "Fuck, you're so perfect."

The praise only encouraged her more, for she leaned back down and licked a strip up his cock again, this time looking up at him through her lashes. An innocent look in her eyes as she lapped at the tip of his cock.

He exhaled in awe, "Look at you– Shit!" He cursed loudly when she sank slowly back down until again he reached her throat, his hips bucking upwards involuntarily and making her gag loudly.

She gasped out for air for a mere second before she did it again, until she managed to control her gagging a bit better and encouraged George to fuck her mouth with a simple squeeze to his hip.

"Oh fuck– Such a pretty filthy girl." He praised as he obeyed the silent instructions and rocked his hips forwards slowly and ever so slightly. "You like it when I fuck your throat?" His question was thrown out into the air in between groans.

She answered with a hum that vibrated around him and that was when he started feeling like he was losing control. His hips grew erratic and Ella noticed so she hummed and moaned around him even more, causing him to get closer to his high.

"Ellie m'gonna cum!" He warned her loudly, the wet squelching sounds of him going in and out of her mouth and their moans bounced off the walls.

And when her hand dropped from around the base of his cock to play with his balls, he was sent over the edge. He pushed his hips forwards and stilled as he came, dick twitching in her mouth and his cum coated the walls of her throat with a warmth she appreciated with another low moan.

His hips fell back on the bed but she didn't relent just yet, sucking him off for a little longer to take everything she could. But he pulled her off him by her hair when he couldn't take it anymore, cursing and calling out her name like he was scorning her.

"Fucking hell." He mumbled, still dizzy from his orgasm but completely entranced by the way she came off him with a whimper and a satisfied smirk.

She wiped the drool off her chin with the back of her hand and slowly crawled up until she was laying on her side right beside him, staring right into his eyes with hunger still flashing in hers.

"Feel good?" She asked just what he'd asked her but in a mocking manner.

It got her a chuckle in response before one of his big hands came to cup her jaw and crashed their lips together.

Kissing George had Ella dazed. His lips were soft but firm when moving along with hers, they were wet and swollen, warm exhales leaving his parted lips for her to swallow, tongue peeking through them to meet hers. He'd moaned so loud when he tasted himself on her tongue, fingers digging into her cheek and making her mewl in response.

Her skin grew hot the more they kissed. He didn't even let her get a proper breath whenever he pulled back for a brief second, because he was back on her mouth—lips smacking and tongues licking at each other.

Ella's hands had gone on a path from his face to his head, the back of his neck, his shoulders, and eventually to his back, fingers digging into it when he started nipping at her bottom lip, at the same time as his right hand dropped from her jaw down to pinch her nipples, eliciting gasps out of her.

"George..." She let out in a gasp when he had her nipple pinched and twisted between his thumb and index finger.

He was smirking right over her parted lips, amused at the way she shivered every time he went from one nipple to the other. Her nails clawed at his back when she felt the electric shocks that his touch gave her travel all the way down to her center, feeling herself growing wetter and that familiar knot in her lower stomach forming.

His lips slotted between hers again, distracting her from his missing touch from her tits and it going down to tease her cunt.

With his thumb, George started rubbing circles on her clit, making her pull back from the kiss with a loud gasp that turned into a cry of pleasure. She could feel herself throbbing already, and it got worse when he picked up his pace.

He wasn't going too fast but not slow either, the speed in which his thumb rubbed at her had her writhing her hips in response, subconsciously trying her best to get closer and closer to her high.

And Ella had felt herself start clenching around nothing when he slid a finger inside her. "George! Fuck!" His fingers were thick and long, curling inside her and making her see stars already, half lidded eyes catching him smirking at her and heavy breathing at her reaction.

"You like that?" He asked her teasingly, pecking her lips as her face scrunched up in pressure.

She hummed in response to him but he found that not good enough, so he added another finger, stretching her out easily and making her back arch as she moaned loudly. "Yes! Yes!" She encouraged, and when he curled his fingers again, knuckle deep inside her, she felt herself be completely overcome by pleasure and unable to grasp at her inhibitions, "Oh my– Fuck! Your fingers feel so good."

His fingers were slipping in and out of her easily, her hips erratically moving as he thrusted them inside her, "That's it, cum on them baby."

The praise had Ella completely fucked over, "George, I'm so– Fuckkkk!" She couldn't help but scream out when he pushed a third finger inside her, feeling completely stuffed with him.

It felt so good how much he was opening her up, and he was loving the way whenever he pulled his fingers back her walls pushing him off and having to slowly sink his fingers deep inside her again. "I know, I can feel you clenching hard around them." She was squeezing his fingers so tight, his throat went dry just thinking about her milking his cock, "Can't wait to fill you up and feel how tight you're around my cock baby."

She agreed, so drunk in pleasure she just wanted to feel even more of him, "I need you. George, I need–"

But he tutted, "You're cumming on my fingers first." She was about to cry out like a brat, about to beg for him to stuff her up but his words beat hers, "Come on baby, give it to me like the good girl you are."

His voice was low in her ear, so sultry and inviting she felt it deep in her core and she just couldn't say no. So she let go. Her toes curl as his fingers kept pumping in and out of her, hitting that spot perfectly for her to see stars as she came, white heat enveloping her and taking ahold of her body, "Fuck, fuck! Oh– George!"

"That's it, baby. So fucking stunning." He encouraged, watching his fingers continue to disappear inside her tightening cunt, her legs shaking and her hips moving clumsily to meet his hand.

She gushed all over him, slick drenching his hand and dripping down her cunt onto the duvet. He couldn't let it go to waste, so he pulled his fingers out and sucked them clean, moaning around them when he tasted her again. Soft and sweet. He wanted more.

Ella felt his fingers gathering her mess and she managed to peel her eyes open to watch him as he sucked it all off his fingers again.

Shamelessly, she just watched as he dipped down time and time again until he deemed his work of cleaning her up was done, the last one being offered out to her and Ella obeyed, wrapping her lips around his fingers and sinking her mouth on them to suck them clean. Her eyes stayed on his as she did so, moaning loudly around them while she batted her lashes at him.

The view made George's dick twitch. So he reached out behind her for the forgotten camera and when she was trying to catch her breath, eyes closed in bliss, he took a picture of her.

Her eyes snapped open at the sound of the shutter going off and she looked at him all startled like she needed an explanation. "You're so beautiful like this." He quickly justified, lifting the device back up to his eyes and adjusted the focus to take another one as he added, "All fucked out. Fucking gorgeous."

"Stop." She whined when the shutter went off again, hand coming up to grab at her lenses and force him to put it down, "I must look a mess."

His head shook, tongue swiping at his bottom lip with his eyes taking her in again, "You don't. You look hot." Skin glowing due to the thin layer of sweat their activities had caused, lips swollen and a hot pink color that matched the flush of her cheeks and chest, the gorgeous pattern of every bruise he'd sucked on her skin which were darkening more and more, hair disheveled and splayed over the pillows.

"I'm confiscating this." That was the brief ultimatum she gave him, grabbing the camera and turning the action on him instead.

She took just one picture of him and he allowed it, only to complain by saying, "You have enough of me." and taking the camera back.

She rolled her eyes, faking being annoyed and kissed him quickly before pushing herself up and off the bed, telling him, "Gonna go to the bathroom." making a beeline for her suitcase and getting herself a new pair of underwear first, adjusting the cups of her bra so they held her breasts again.

It wasn't longer than five minutes that she took, coming back to him wearing his boxers again and laying over the bedsheets—he'd discarded the duvet and left it a big crumpled knot on the floor by the foot of the bed—, a hand behind his head whilst the other was scrolling on his phone.

His position looked inviting, so she crawled on the bed and sat on his lap with a mischievous smile on her face. She reached out to get the camera he had placed on the bedside table at the same time as he dropped his phone there and his hands went up to hold her at her hips.

"Put your hands behind your head again." She instructed him softly, almost a mutter that sounded so shy, the corner of his lips tugged into a smirk.

She took a picture of him like that and another when he ran a hand through his hair but she stopped when his hands came back to grab at her skin, going from her waist until they softly came down to rest at her hips.

With a soft squeeze on her sides, he tilted his head to ask, "Am I allowed to smoke?" to which Ella nodded and got off him to open the balcony door and get him a cigarette and a lighter.

Getting back on top of him, she placed the cigarette between his lips but before she could give him the lighter, she grabbed the camera again just so she could capture the moment he lit it alive.

George looked so fucking hot lighting it up: cheeks hollowing ever so slightly, brows furrowing, long fingers that made the lighter look minuscule in his hand, lips pursed around the stick. She snapped away and captured the moment he blew out the smoke upwards, taking another drag and then blowing it in her direction.

The familiar scent of the tobacco and just how arousing she found it all, impulsed her to start moving her hips slowly on him. The sudden movement made his breath hitch in his throat, causing him to erupt in coughs when the smoke went up the wrong hole.

That's when she guided his hand to her mouth so he could place the cigarette in between her lips for her to take a drag. His mouth opened agape as she did so, the rolling of her hips only growing more intent and he started twitching and getting hard in his boxers.

He could feel her heat, the way she was wetting her underwear and starting to wet his own, the pulsing of her swollen clit. He could see how her nipples grew hard through the lace of her bra, and the way goosebumps rose in her skin as she went. Soft gasps that turned into hush whimpers that he wanted so badly to turn into those loud moans of hers that he was quite enjoying getting drunk on.

"Have you brought a condom?" She asked breathlessly, camera being once again forgotten somewhere on the bed for her to be able to rest her hands on his chest as leverage.

A flip switched inside George, the simple hint of him finally being able to sink himself deep in her making his blood rush down to his cock. "Yeah." He nodded eagerly and it was a relief when she quickly got off him so he could rush to get it, not without running out to the balcony so he could put out the cigarette on the ashtray outside and closing the balcony door behind him the second he stepped foot back into the room.

He had thought it was foolish of him to pocket a couple condoms before he left his flat earlier that day, fully scorning himself for being so ridiculous as to assume Ella would want to shag after their date but oh was he glad he had right then.

Condom in hand, George went back to the bed but not without shedding himself off his boxers first. Ella bit her bottom lip as she got her bra off to throw it on the floor behind her, seeing him wrap his hand around his length and pump it slowly as he watched her almost naked figure. Her hands went down to her hips so she could quickly tug down her underwear, eagerly taking it off and throwing it on the same spot on the floor she had dropped her bra.

Crawling up to the edge of the bed, she hummed as she watched him stroke himself up and down, her mouth watering for another taste of him. And when she got right in front of him, she dipped her head down until her mouth was right before his hardening cock and sticking her tongue out, she licked his head slowly.

He grew heavy on her tongue as she went, twitching in her mouth when she wrapped her lips around him again, his head thrown back at the feeling of her wet mouth enclosed around him and sucking him off patiently.

But he had to use an incredible amount of self restraint to pull her off him, a hand delicately coming around her neck to have her let go off his dick with a pop and pull her up to face him.

"I'm fucking you now."

George wasn't asking, he was simply informing her and that made her squirm under his gaze. Thighs pressing together and eyes drinking in the way lust made his behavior change. But Ella wanted a bit of control, even if it just was for him to ruin her.

"Can I ride you?" She asked innocently, puppy eyes that she prayed would get her a yes.

She took the way he pulled her in for a messy kiss as one.

In no time he was laying on his back with his head resting on the pillows, teeth ripping the condom wrapper open while Ella had her hand wrapped around him waiting for him to put the latex on. The anticipation grew and hung in the air like a heavy cloud as George rolled it down his length, sighing at the feeling of it around him.

She caught a glimpse of her camera through the corner of her eye and thought there wouldn't be a thing that was better than capturing his pure ecstasy in a picture so she grabbed it before she straddled him again.

Ella lifted the camera up to her eyes with one hand while the other got ahold of his cock to line him up, rubbing his head on her clit and making herself gasp at the feeling. She clenched around nothing as she did so, and she could feel herself drenched.

Even after he had stretched her out with his fingers, it was slightly challenging for her to take him when she started sinking into him. Her jaw dropped in a loud gasp when every inch of him started stretching her out, eyes watering at the feeling and trying to get her to shut them tightly but she did her best to not let her eyes close entirely so she could capture the way he groaned loudly with his head thrown back as she let her cunt swallow him.

Breath hitching in her throat, Ella sank down completely until she could feel him so deep it had a pathetic cry of pleasure slipping past her lips.

She drew her hips up and back down on him slowly, testing the waters on his size and what angle would be best for her to feel the best, and they both moaned loudly at the feeling. He was so big, he was filling her up in a way she'd never felt before so her walls were clenching hard around him which had his head spinning.

"Ella–" He breathed out, hands flying to her hips and clutching them tightly just to show how bad he was holding himself back from just thrusting up into her, or better yet just flipping them around and fucking her into the mattress.

"Fuck–, I know. I know." She said in a high pitch tone. One of her hands fell to rest flat on his chest and use as support, "I– oh, fuck..." She cursed as she rolled her hips forwards and then backwards this time, making her completely still at the insane sensory overdrive she was getting from it.

George knew she needed a second or two but she stayed frozen for longer than he could hold so he pleaded, "I need you to move baby, you're so tight."

"Just–" She tried to say, rolling her hips again and mewling loudly. George moaned back in response, his hands sliding down to her thighs as her head hung in pleasure.

Ella established a slow place, George's fingers digging into the flesh of her upper thighs grounded her into the moment and allowed her to take another picture. A picture that captured her legs on each sides of his toned chest, his fingers turning the skin under them white, his adam's apple bobbing as he gulped back a moan, the box tattoo on his thumb right next to the red ink of her 'Divine Feminine' tattoo on her thigh.

But after she pressed the shutter on that one, barely being able to clumsily roll the film, Ella just tossed the camera to the side mindlessly and used her new free hand to rest on his chest as well and the second hand of support helped her start moving her hips faster.

It was fucking delicious the way he kept hitting her g-spot from that angle, and when he started bucking his hips upwards, meeting her in the middle, she couldn't hold back the noises she let out. "George, fuck!" She cried out, clit feeling a bit of pressure every time she rolled down and he hit her pelvis.

His hands ran up from her thighs to mercilessly grab her ass, fingers harshly digging into her skin and stinging just in the best way. "Just like that baby. You feel so fucking good." He praised her with a groan, helping her sink down harder into him.

"You're so– Oh fuck–" She was cock drunk, her thoughts stupid and leaving her without even being able to finish a sentence.

"Tight little cunt, can barely fit inside you." George could feel himself meeting the hilt inside her every time, her cries growing in volume the faster the pace got. "You love it huh, being filled to the brim?"

"Yes, fuck! Yes, I love it, love your cock." She was dripping all over him, the noise of the wetness and their skin slapping every time they met bounced off the walls and, combined with their moans, made for a pornographic symphony.

"I know you can go faster. Can you do that for me baby?" He genuinely could feel himself not lasting any longer with how tight she was squeezing him.

"I can, I can." She promised almost desperately, wanting to be good for him. So she picked up her pace, her hands moving ever so slightly so she could straighten up a bit and when she did so she cursed out loud at the new angle, "Ah fuck!"

Her hips grew erratic, her knees helping now when she bounced up and down his cock ever so slightly, enough for her to incessantly gasp in a high pitch every time he hit that spot.

"Such a good girl for me." His hands stopped groping her ass to spank her, making her jolt forward with a loud gasp that turned into a mewl and a whine that tried to pass as a 'yes'. His dick twitched inside her at that reaction so he did it again and again, feeling her walls flutter around him with every hit, "You're squeezing me so tight baby, you gonna cum all over my cock?"

"Yeah, yes..." She gasped, and if she hadn't been so adamant on chasing her high, she would've noticed George quickly getting the camera and snapping a picture of her riding him. Hair a mess covering up her face but her mouth wide open in a moan, tits bouncing as she rode him, hands on his chest as support.

He'd just about managed to put the camera back down when he felt her squeezing him the tightest and that was when she came. "George! George! Ge–" She cried out, his name breaking down into a loud moan that tipped him over the edge along with her cunt milking him into the condom as she sloppily continued to ride him.

"Fuck! Ella!" He moaned loudly back, his hands going to her ass again to help her continue as he came, his dick twitching the more he spurt out into the condom, sweet relief making him see stars.

Unable to uphold herself any longer, she collapsed over him, chests heaving in sync as they came down from their highs. It was hard catching their breaths when their skin burned from the heat and stuck together from the sweat. And George knew she was rather uncomfortable from the way she groaned into him, her fingers lazily trying to brush the hair out of her face but huffing as it stuck to her sweaty forehead.

He brushed her hair back for her, fingers delicately grazing her face and earning a soft smile and a sigh from her. But then his hold went down to her hips so he could lift her up and off himself, to set her beside him, she whined at the loss of him.

Ella didn't even try to open her eyes, completely spent from their activities and snuggling into the pillows to find some comfort in the post orgasm haze.

George shed himself off the condom and tied it so he could throw it away, groaning as he pushed himself up and off the bed to make way to the bathroom.

He took about five minutes there and when he came back into the room, he smiled, finding a sleepy Ella struggling to keep her eyes open and smirking at him. He giggled as he walked up to bed and after taking her camera and placing it on one of the bedside tables, he carried her bridal style to take her to the bathroom.

Yes she was still on cloud nine but she had a bit of sense in her then so, after thanking him with a kiss, Ella told George she was alright from there and he could wait for her in bed.

She had realized what she'd said as she was washing her hands after peeing and she was cringing just thinking about him being gone once she went back into the room, but she found that he hadn't left and instead he had gone under the bedsheets and was waiting for her to cuddle up to him so they could get some rest.

Ella giggled when she got under the sheets and he hooked his arm around her waist to push her flush into him, her back pressed to his chest and he nuzzled into her neck from behind. Their legs tangled together and their breaths synced and slowed down as the minutes went by until they succumbed to their slumber.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

They got startled awake around ten in the morning when someone knocked on her door horrendously loud.

For a few seconds they stared at the door as if they were waiting for that person to knock it down and come into the room but then they announced who they were with a "Hello! Housekeeping!" and Ella sighed in relief.

Ella had to spring up from bed, calling out "Coming!" so that the staff member wouldn't come into the room, and after hastily grabbing her robe from the hanger and putting it on, she opened the door just enough to poke her head out and apologized.

"Sorry, can't come in yet." She said with an embarrassed flush on her cheeks.

But the lady outside her door waved her off and offered, "I can come back in around an hour or so."

The American nodded with a smile, "Sure, that'd be great. Thank you!" To that, the woman nodded and started walking up to the next door, so Ella closed the door and locked it again, her soul coming back to her body.

George laughed at her mortified expression which she scowled at him for but then she confidently shed herself off her robe and walked back to get in bed and she was met with a smirking George just taking in every inch of her body.

"Come here gorgeous." He invited her back into his arms and she didn't have to be told twice for her to go back being the little spoon for him. She'd had such good sleep being completely enveloped in him, heavy limbs acting like a weighted blanket and it was utter bliss.

But after seeing her naked again, skin littered with love bites he had left all over her, hair messy and tits perky and bouncing as she walked, George felt the need to show her a bit more of the appreciation he had shown her the day before.

His hand brushed her hair to the side so he could have access to the skin on the back of her neck. Goosebumps breaking on the skin there when he started pressing open mouthed kisses on it, fingers ghostly running down her back and stopping right on her lower back that had her back arching into him. Her ass grazed his dick every time, making it twitch and start to harden.

In search of friction, he pushed his hips forward and she reciprocated by pressing her ass against him. She couldn't help the passing thought of this being how it could've gone the morning after the wedding with Alex, if they wouldn't have freaked out and just let it happen. But all thoughts of the singer went out the window when George pressed himself against her again and had her mewling out loud at the feeling, "Hmm, George."

"Yes, baby?" His lips brushed against her skin, a shiver running down her spine and making her shudder, "You're so fucking beautiful, please let me make you feel good."

"Yeah..." Ella nodded quickly, it was a no-brainer. Her breath caught in her throat when she pushed his hips forwards again at the same time as she did and the tip of his cock grazed her entrance.

"Yes?" He moaned in her ear, hand coming around her front to play with her tits, "Can I make you cum again, sweetheart?"

She nodded eagerly, swallowing a moan as he pinched her nipple and when he cupped her whole tit with one hand, kneading it harshly, her "Please." came out in the form of a whine.

"Good girl. M'gonna make you feel so good baby, I promise." His hand continued playing with her tits as they kept grinding on each other, and when his cock was hard enough it had come up to rest heavily on his lower stomach, he let his fingers trail down until they hovered over her mound and he breathlessly asked, "D'you trust me?"

"Yeah, George..." She was basically pleading him to continue, hand coming to clutch his and guide his fingers down to her soaked cunt and when he felt just how wet she was, he groaned and pulled away.

"Wait." George instructed her, leaving her alone on the bed to get a condom. Ella heard the wrapper rip and him moaning as he put the condom on, stroking himself up and down a few times before he tugged the sheets off her and turned her from her side to her front so she was facedown and he could hover over her from behind.

His knees were on either side of her hips, forearms pressed on the mattress next to her shoulders and he kissed and sucked all over her back as he praised her for how gorgeous she was over and over. He kept bruising her up until Ella pushed her ass up and begged him to do something, the ache in her cunt too unbearable.

So George let go of the patch of skin he was bruising and did as she asked for, spreading her legs open as he knelt in between them and rubbed his tip up and down her slit.

"Don't tease, please." She cried into the mattress, her cunt fluttering around nothing and it was painful knowing just how good he felt inside her but he wasn't allowing her to feel it yet.

But then he just let himself slowly slip inside her and his jaw fell at her tightness in that angle, "Oh Ellie... Fuck–" He felt like he could barely fit in, but she was dripping with slick so it made it a bit easier for him to bottom out.

"George–" Ella choked out, head turning to the side to catch a glimpse of him. Her hands clawed at the sheets beside her head for dear life.

"I know. You're so tight." He cried out in pleasure, barely able to move an inch out of her because she was so snug it felt like she was pushing him out.

"Move baby, please." She begged again and he started going then, a slow pace at first that grew in speed rather quickly and had her cursing out loud, "Fuckkkkk!"

He gasped into her ear with every thrust, and it was soon that the sound of their skin slapping drowned the room along with their moans. "Gonna miss this tight little cunt so much." He said into her neck, sucking a bruise on the back of it before asking, "Gonna miss me too?"

"Ye– Yes! Oh!" She gasped when he hooked his left arm under her leg, pulling it upwards slowly and allowing her to stretch a bit more so she felt him deeper, "Gonna miss you so much!"

He chuckled smugly, "I know you will."

"Oh fuck!" She cursed as he hit her g-spot perfectly from that angle, his hips hitting her ass and reminding her of how sore the skin there was from the spanking he gave her the night before. "Yes, yes! Don't stop, please!"

"If you could only see yourself right now!" He cursed under his breath when he looked down to see himself disappear into her, over and over. If he kept looking at how he kept sliding in and out of her so easily, he would burst right then so he looked back up to her face and praised her once more, "Taking me so well baby."

"Harder, please." She asked for and stilling for just a second to get a better standing on his knees, George did as she asked, making her instantly get even louder when he hit that spot with more intensity, "Oh my– Fuck! Right there, yes!"

"Just like that, yeah?" His smirk grew on his face, feeling how it kept getting easier to slide inside her which meant she was fucking drenched and dripping all over him, her walls fluttering around him already making him see stars.

"Yes! Yes!" She chanted like a broken record, the coil in her lower stomach tightening by the second and threatening to snap at any moment, "I'm so close!"

His left arm lifted her leg even higher and then left it there to be able to bring his fingers down to rub at her clit and send her over the edge, "C'mon baby, cum for me sweetheart!" He encouraged her as he rubbed fast circles on her throbbing clit, which earned him choked out moans that turned into a throat ripping moan of, "F-fuckkkk! George!"

George felt her squeeze him so tightly as she came, making it so much harder for him to continue thrusting in and out of her which ended up with him stilling his hips as he came a few seconds after her with a loud, "Ah shit! Ella!"

His thrusts became sloppy and messy as she spasmed around him, whimpering as the aftershocks of her orgasm had her legs trembling under him and her white knuckle grip on the sheets faltered.

Letting his weight fall over Ella slightly, George sighed in complete bliss and he kissed the back of her head and her cheek multiple times to say, "Did so good for me sweetheart." He dropped a kiss on her lips for the first time that morning and praised her once more, "Pretty girl."

The way he spoke to her made Ella's stomach flutter, and he felt it when she clenched around him, "You like that huh?" He teasingly asked, to which she only mewled in response.

He pulled out, hearing her whine this time when she felt upsettingly empty again but her rubbed circles on her hips soothingly and asked, "Shall we go take a shower? Do you want me to help you up?"

Ella had barely managed to reply with a quiet, "Mhm..." when a loud ringing snapped them out of their bubble.

She didn't recognize the ringing so she figured it was George's. The drummer didn't do a thing to go and get it though, as he came to lay down beside her and shed himself off the condom they'd used.

He got up to discard it in the bathroom and just as he crossed the threshold of the room, he heard his phone start ringing again. He didn't listen to it, taking his time in the bathroom until he heard Ella call out for him.

A grunt left his lips when he came back to the room and picked up the phone and read his sister's name on the screen so he answered with a meek, "Y'alright?" to let her know he wasn't in the mood for constant ringing.

Ella heard pure silence surrounding them for a good half minute before George sighed a, "Fucks sake." The American opened her eyes to see him and moved onto her side to watch him as he spoke. "Right now? Really?" He asked, entirely unamused. "Yeah, really busy actually." He said sternly, looking at a naked Ella in front of him with wide eyes. That made Ella purse her lips not to laugh but what broke the giggles out of her was when he sighed loudly and muttered, "I hate you." to whoever it was. It was barely another half minute that he ended the call with an impatient, "Yeah, yeah. Sure. See ya'."

"What's wrong?" Ella asked curiously, her fingers playing with the ends of her hair.

George rolled his eyes at the situation, "My sister needs me for something. She says it's urgent but I doubt it." He shrugged then, ignoring the importance of whatever it was she needed him for, he had only been half listening really. "I can stay though, it wouldn't be the first time I ignore her."

That had Ella snorting in laughter, "Go, you idiot."

"But–" He tried to argue as he came to hover over her, head dipping to steal a kiss out of her which Ella broke after a few seconds by pushing his shoulders slightly so she could reassure him it was fine.

"It's okay. I had the best time with you, and that's all I wanted." Her hands came to the back of his head, fingers digging into the hair at the nape of his neck and scratched his scalp softly.

George clicked his tongue and he pouted to joke, "Knew you only wanted me for my body."

Ella cackled at his antics and told him to "Shut up." only to do it herself by pulling him into her so they could share one last kiss. It was sweet but it wasn't soft, their lips moving together with intent as if to prove they'd need to do it again because it was just too good.

But she had to stop it before it could turn into something more. She pulled on his hair so their lips separated with a smack and with the sweetest smile and looking at him with those gorgeous hazel green eyes of hers, she said, "Thank you George."

"I had the best time Ellie." He replied wholeheartedly then, agreeing with her previous point.

"Me too." She nodded softly to reiterate her point, hands coming back down to cup his jaw, thumbs rubbing circles on his skin.

One last short kiss was all they got in that bed before they both stood up and got dressed. Well, George did, in the same getup as the day before, while Ella put her robe back on and tied it around herself slowly as he finished getting his shoes on.

"I'll see you soon, yeah?" He said when they got to the door, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "When are you leaving again?"

"Friday."

He nodded, it was very soon but there was still time. "We have a week then." He winked right as he opened the door, stealing one last peck from her and leaving her with a stupid smile on her face that only got bigger when she closed the door behind her and she looked at the mess they had left the bed looking like.

And it got even bigger when she finally reached for her phone, which she had put on silent, for the first time since before the date and she found her most recent notification being a message from Florence which made her cackle.

When she opened that message conversation, she giggled loudly for she had messages from the day before and Flo hadn't taken the time that passed between the texts she sent lightly.

(13/07/2013 18:38) How did the date go? Hope he behaved for you x

(13/07/2013 18:52) No, I actually hope he didn't ;) xx

(13/07/2013 20:51) Okay, it's almost nine now... You better be ignoring me for the right reasons Miss Hayes x

(13/07/2013 23:46) I'm about to go to bed but I've driven Matty crazy tonight because I'm so intrigued about this. Answer woman! I'm going mad!!!!

(14/07/2013 08:22) Good fucking morning you lucky bitch! Still no response? You better tell me all about this later!!!! xx

(14/07/2013 09:35) Should I start getting worried?! If you don't answer in an hour, I'm texting him just to ask if he didn't fuck this whole thing massively x

That text had been sent almost an hour before, and Ella knew Flo was faithful to her promises so she typed an answer the quickest her fingers allowed her to.

(14/07/2013 10:18) Hello... Why does this text feel like a walk of shame? Hahah x I'm sorry for just now replying, I had my hands a bit full...

Ella laughed loudly when a minute later, when she had been choosing what to wear after taking a shower, Flo replied.

(14/07/2013 10:19) Eleanor Hayes!!!!!!!! Tell me every dirty little detail right now!!!!!

(14/07/2013 10:19) I'm gonna take a shower right now but I'll call you as soon as I'm out x

(14/07/2013 10:20) You're just now showering?! Did you go again this morning?!

(14/07/2013 10:21) Why do you want to spoil this story for yourself?

(14/07/2013 10:21) I'm actually so fucking jealous right now, it's an issue x

(14/07/2013 10:22) HAHAHA Give me five minutes and I'll call you as soon as I have dried my hair. Get your popcorn ready x

(14/07/2013 10:23) Will do you, lucky bitch! CAN'T WAIT!!!! xxxx

Ella took the quickest shower she could, just because she was actually dying to talk about it all with someone and who better than Flo.

So the second her hair had gone from wet to just damp under the hot blow of air of the hair dryer, she ran back to the room and ringed her up.

The call had been hilarious and had elongated to almost an hour because Flo asked for every little dirty detail and Ella had used the call as an opportunity to process what had happened so the artist had gotten things Ella wouldn't normally tell anyone.

But the end of it had been entirely mortifying because Ella had found out that Matty had been listening too when she was talking about what had taken place that morning. And just when Flo had been trying to tell her it was fine because Matty was George's best mate and he was her friend now too, Ella's phone started ringing with another incoming call from someone she'd tried not to think about yet.

"Erm, sorry Flo, Alex is ringing me." She apologized like she had too, her insides being coated by nervousness.

"Oh it's alright hun," Flo waved her off, and with a mischievous tone assured her, "We'll continue this later."

Ella's hands had started to sweat and she let a little nervous giggle before reminding Florence, "Next time warn me when your husband is there so I can keep a bit of dignity to myself."

Flo cackled at that but Matty was the one to reply with confidence, "No dignity lost here Ella, you're a fucking legend."

That answer made Ella snort in short laughter, "Thanks Matty, I doubt it." As soon as she let those words out, she felt Alex's call go to voicemail and here phone stopped vibrating in her hand, so she cursed, "Fuck, call went through. I'll go now." She sourly let them know, and Ella smiled softly when they assured her it was alright so with a sigh, she added, "Love you guys, bye!"

"Bye Ella!" She heard coming from the other side of the line and with that, she ended the call.

Her fingers hovered over her screen with doubt, debating whether or not to make the call back but Alex rang her up again, answering that for her.

"Hi Al, sorry, I was on the phone." She apologized first and foremost as soon as she picked up.

"S'alright." Alex reassured her, and he was about to ask how the previous day had gone because he had texted her a few times and he still hadn't gotten a response, when Ella interrupted him.

Her nerves made her sound breathless when the words came pouring out of her lips, "How are you? Did something happen?"

"No, I, erm..." He frowned a bit at her behavior but didn't really know if he should pry on anything yet, so he stuck to bringing up the topic of one of his texts, "Doesn't Ben and the crew arrive later today?"

"Oh, yes." One of her clammy hands came up to her forehead and she closed her eyes just to think of when that would be but her mind was a knot of thoughts. "I think I have Ben's itinerary here." She remembered in a lucky spark of logic so she took her laptop out of her suitcase and opened it quickly to find the ticket reservations somewhere on her desktop.

She hummed to herself as she looked for it and snapped her fingers when she found it, "Yes, they're landing around three."

"Are you going to get them?" Alex asked shyly, not really knowing what was the plan for the Focus Creeps crew when they got to London.

"No, they're actually staying here too so I'll meet them downstairs when they arrive."

Ella noticed how recoiled he was being when he softly inquired, "Do you think Ben would mind me intruding?"

"Absolutely not." She reassured him, though she had no idea why he'd want to come over to meet Ben when they had the shoot planned for the following day. But she got an idea as to how to make the day productive if he was to come over, "We could have a little meeting considering we're shooting two days in a row starting tomorrow. You know, run over the last few things and make sure everything's alright and meets your expectations."

The clicking of his tongue and his little scoff made her giggle, "Darling, it's you and Ben directing, I will definitely love it."

"You better boss." She said as she closed her laptop, putting it back in her suitcase.

"Shush." He said with a giggle managing its way out through his words. That wasn't why he had called her though, so he pushed with what he actually had been meaning to ask, "Have you got any plans for earlier today?"

In all honesty, Alex had spent the previous day wondering and wondering if everything was okay then. He hoped it was, and thinking back to the previous two days when they'd been in Sheffield and Manchester, it seemed like it. But he couldn't help but wonder, what if it isn't? So he had anxiously waited for the day to pass until it was late for him to text her and not interrupt her plans—eight in the evening had been decent enough for him—but he'd gotten no response and he'd tossed and turned all night overthinking.

He'd only managed to get some sleep around three in the morning and that was why he had woken up rather late and only been able to wait just another half hour after his eyes peeled open and he saw there was still no response, before calling her up.

His heart had sank with the worst feeling, his brain just telling him she was completely ignoring him but he was stubborn, so he decided to call again and thankfully she had picked up. He hadn't been more relieved to hear her voice before.

"Right now?" She asked, biting on her thumb and blushing when she looked up and was met with the mess her bed had been left as after George went away.

"Yeah."

She hesitated, not really remembering what it was that she was doing, a long "Ermmmmm," coming from her until her eyes fell on her camera which was propped up on her bedside table and it clicked, "Oh, just going to pick up my pictures I sent to develop. Might take the ones I took in Manchester and Sheffield to develop as well before I leave."

Alex tried his luck, carefully asking, "Mind if I intrude in those plans too?"

To his relief, she chuckled and replied with a relaxed, "'Course I don't." One that really contrasted the way her insides were churning at the fact of having to face him after what had happened merely an hour before. She turned her back to the bed, trying to will her memories of the day before and the morning out of the forefront of her mind.

Clearing her throat, she suggested, "Wanna get some breakfast first? Haven't eaten anything yet and I might faint if I go walking around London on an empty stomach."

"Absolutely." He smiled at the thought of going out for breakfast with her but in the back of his mind he wondered why she had yet to eat. Shrugging it off, he turned back to his room to get his sunglasses and a jacket so he could leave, "I'll be there in fifteen."

She hummed, slightly panicking about getting ready that quickly but not sounding it at all as she forced a smile that she knew he couldn't see, "Amazing. See you soon then, sweets."

"See ya' darling."

When Ella shed herself of the towel and saw her reflection in the mirror, she blushed instantly at the trace George had left on her. Love bites everywhere on her chest, neck, inner thighs and when she turned around she caught a few lingering around her back, along with the faint print of his hands on her ass. She started getting hot at the memory of it all, and she had to force herself to focus on the task of getting ready before Alex could arrive.

She'd ended up choosing a black turtleneck with long sleeves and some black jeans just to make sure nothing would peek through and cause any type of conversation that would end wrongly.

Not that she owed Alex anything, but she would rather avoid any arguments like the one at the pub if it had been sparked by him finding out she was messing about instead of spending time with them.

When Alex had arrived and knocked on the door of her hotel room, she'd been making sure if she'd gotten all the rolls she'd used with her. She was debating whether or not to take the roll she had in her camera as well as she tucked it back inside its case and placed a new roll inside her Minolta, when Alex knocked again and she just panicked, shoving her latest used roll inside her bag along with the rest.

"Coming!" She yelled as she grabbed her phone, wallet, cigarettes and lighter, the room keys and her leather jacket.

He had barely heard her but before he could knock again, the same housekeeping lady who had knocked the door earlier walked right by him and warned him, "She was busy."

Alex frowned quite confused, she had a brow raised at him and almost like a smirk on her face, but he didn't have much time to ask what the lady meant when Ella came out of her room, opening the door just enough for her to walk out and she froze when she saw the housekeeping lady right behind him.

"Hi sweets." Ella greeted him tensely, her eyes going warily from the lady to Alex as if she was a prey about to be pounced on.

Alex was still confused, his smile crooked as he greeted her back with a soft, "Hi darling." and not even sure if he should hug her when they had prying eyes over them.

But before they even tried to, the lady cleared her throat and asked, "May I come in now?"

"Oh yes, I– erm," Ella stuttered under Alex's intent gaze. He noticed the way her cheeks warmed and turned pink as she lowered her voice to apologize, "Sorry about the duvet, it's on the floor."

Ella didn't miss the way the lady looked from her to Alex and chuckled like she knew a secret, and nodded, "That's alright."

"Thanks!" Ella let out breathlessly, before grabbing Alex by the hand and pulled him to where the lifts were.

Before she went into Ella's hotel room though, the lady turned to look at the hold Ella had on Alex and shook her head. She'd seen George walking out of Ella's room earlier, and if the duvet was on the floor then she could imagine what had went on, but hearing Alex call her darling made the lady start making assumptions that made Ella look bad. She just laughed about it, turning the key in the lock so she could walk into the room and do her job.

Ella couldn't stay still while waiting for the lift and Alex was just dead silent, entirely confused about what had just happened. In his head, he was just hoping he was being too creative and driven entirely by jealousy when going on about his theories, silently praying it was anything but what he was thinking.

Entirely distracted by her own nerves and the lift doors opening in front of them, Ella didn't see the way Alex eyes her up and down for signs of anything that could prove what he was thinking of but he found nothing that could confirm his suspicions.

It wasn't like it was much he could see anyway, he frowned at how her clothes covered her almost entirely. Not even her neck on show with the turtleneck she had on.

He sighed when the doors opened again when they got down at the lobby and decided to just ignore it all so he could enjoy being in her presence like he had wished for all day yesterday. So he just intertwined their fingers as they walked through the lobby, giving the receptionist a quick smile and wave goodbye before leaving the hotel.

They missed the way the receptionist frowned, having seen that the guy Ella had brought in the day before had just walked out an hour before in the same clothes. The receptionist had laughed to herself and shook her head at what she imagined Ella had done, "Americans."

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Barely a few minutes had passed as they walked the busy London streets when Alex just couldn't bite his tongue any longer. The complete silence from her part the day before, her hesitation to answer when he asked about it, and what she'd said to the housekeeper. All of it was making his curiosity grow inside him until it became uncomfortable to keep it in any longer.

"How was yesterday? You had fun?" He started off easy, thinking that would be the best way to get anything out of her.

But all Alex got was a hurried and stuttery, "Oh, I'm– Yes, I did."

"What did you do?" The singer tried again, looking at her to try and see if she gave anything away with the look on her face.

But all he saw was her avoidant stare and her blushing cheeks, "Just, you know– Had lunch." She paused for a little bit until she eventually added the rest, "With a friend." almost with regret to have said it after a second of it slipping past her lips.

"Oh right." He nodded with a soft smile, confused as to why it was being so hard for her to say that. In another attempt to understand, or scratch that itch in his brain more like, he asked, "Where'd you go?"

She hummed as she thought about it, giving herself a bit more time to act put together, "This restaurant in Covent Garden. Think it was called Cora Pearl."

A surprised "Oh." came from him in response and just to give a chance to prove his theories wrong, he suggested, "Romantic, wasn't it?"

Ella stiffened and Alex noticed because he was still holding her hand. He frowned at her reaction and she giggled nervously, "What?"

"That place. It's a bit romantic innit?" From what he remembered, the last time he went to that restaurant, it had been a very cozy and romantic setting so it made him suspicious.

"No, not really. It was alright," She toned it down with a click of her tongue, only to shrug lazily as she added, "Food was good."

"Right, right." Alex let her have it that time, and switched topics to tell her, "I texted you yesterday."

Her hands had started getting sweaty and she hoped he wasn't noticing—he had—but she played it cool. "Did you?" She asked back, she'd barely glanced at her notifications that morning, the first one being from Flo and therefore the only one to grasp her eye so she'd fully put off checking the rest as she catched the artist up on what had happened.

"Yeah, but s'alright. Just wanted to know when Ben was coming." His fingers squeezed her hand softly as if to calm her clear nerves out and she sighed slightly before dropping his hand and reaching for her cigarettes and her lighter because she needed a smoke desperately.

"We have a bit of time until then, don't we?" Ella mumbled as she placed the cigarette between her lips and lit it up, taking a long drag and offering it to him. Alex took it from her and nodded, she watched as he took a drag and said, "Let's just go somewhere to eat, I'm starving."

Their shared cigarette had been stomped over on the asphalt when they stumbled into a cute little cafe five minutes later. It was small and cozy, the smell of coffee inviting and the look of the different flavored croissants and pastries made their mouths water.

Before Alex could continue asking about the previous day, like she knew he was dying to, Ella started asking him about the album release and tour. She'd kept him distracted by asking about the album rollout and which songs they had decided as singles along with 'R U Mine?', 'Do I Wanna Know?' and 'Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?'.

When he'd shown her the schedule they had so far for the tour, up until the end of the year, her heart sank at the sight of how after she left, she'd only have a couple chances to see him and it'd only be because they'd be having a gig in LA.

They'd left the cafe almost an hour later and made their way to the photolab. It was almost a half an hour walk but it had been spent smoking, talking and taking pictures.

Once they got to the photolab, Ella was greeted with two envelopes thick with pictures she'd printed out, a USB with all of her scans and the sleeves with her negatives inside.

"Oh thank you so much!" Ella said with a big grin on her face, she couldn't wait to see them all. "I have a few more I want to develop, if that's alright."

"Of course." The man behind the counter said, "Do you want them scanned as well? So I can keep the USB and put the new ones in there."

Ella nodded, "That'd be perfect, yeah." She let her bag slide down her shoulder to hang on the crook of her elbow and rummaged around to see the used rolls she'd brought. "Erm..." She let out as she tried remembering which one was the George one, not knowing if she really wanted to leave it or just develop it when they got back home.

"How many are there?" The man asked intrigued by the way she was frowning.

"Only four I think." She really was trying to remember which one was from the day before but she couldn't for the life of her remember, so she just sighed and took them out of her bag and left it on the counter, "Just these."

"We could have these ready for you Wednesday afternoon, maybe?"

Ella waved him off as if not to worry him about rushing, "I'll be here Thursday morning, no need to rush."

The man flashed her a smile, "Thanks doll." He went on to click a few things on his computer to get her order ready, printing a spreadsheet with what she wanted for her order and turned back to her, "Are you paying in advance again?"

"Yeah, much easier that way." She instinctively dove into her jacket pockets for her small card holder but she only fished out the note Flo had sent her with George the day before. Ella blushed, leaving it on the counter mindlessly under the gaze of the man in charge of the photolab, and went to look through her bag again.

Whilst she went around looking for her credit card, Alex's attention was completely caught by the folded piece of paper. His eyes magnetized to the Ellie x written on top of it, he had to fight the urge to grab it and read it.

Alex's trance was broken when she snatched the note off the counter, shoving it inside her bag quickly and then turning to the man to offer her credit card up to him.

The transaction was fast, and with a promise to send her an email once they had her pictures ready, Alex and Ella left the place. Her bag was heavy with the weight of the photos she'd printed but it lit up this feeling inside her that she loved. There was nothing like picking up your prints and scans and just admiring every frame up close.

Ella knew what she had in there though, Alice's pictures were definitely in there somewhere and she wouldn't take her chances pulling the pictures out in front of Alex. But the singer wanted to see the pictures, taking her to a park that was a bit over five minutes away from the photolab and sitting down with her to encourage her to show the prints.

She took one of the envelopes out, opening it slowly and peeking through to see if anything she didn't want Alex seeing was there but she was thankfully greeted with the first batch of film she'd take when she'd arrived.

"Awh, these are from Glastonbury!" She exclaimed and pouted, taking a handful out of the envelope for them to see.

The first one was of Bre and Matt dancing around in the backstage area, right next to the drinks tent that was up for the artists to grab. There was one of Flo and Matty with Adam, George and Ross around them, all of them cheering after the 1975's set had finished. One of all the girls together, drinks in hand and big smiles on their faces during the Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds set. A few of everyone lounging around the tour bus, sunglasses on to not show their tired hungover eyes.

"Look at Jamie's face." Ella pointed out before a loud cackle managed its way out of her lips. It was a picture of Miles in his Union Jack tracksuit, jumping in the air and Jamie just so happened to be behind him with a terrified look on his face.

Alex's giggles joined hers when he caught a glimpse of the picture, "What was Miles doing?"

She barely managed through a new wave of giggles, "Dunno but this one's hilarious."

They continued flipping through the handful of pictures, tucking them back inside the envelope once they had seen them all and taking another handful out to see.

It was when they were flipping through the pictures Ella had gotten at the London Eye that her phone pinged with a new message and had interrupted their appreciation for Ella's photography.

With quick fingers, she unlocked her phone and read what Ben had just sent her, telling Alex what it was with a simple, "They've landed."

"Ben?" Alex asked pointlessly, there was no one else coming other than the Focus Creeps crew.

She nodded, putting her phone back inside the pocket of her jacket and then placing the pictures they had been looking at back in the envelope, "He just texted me that they're at baggage claim. They're probably getting to the hotel in an hour, shall we head back?"

"Sure." Alex nodded, watching as she placed the envelope inside her bag.

He stood up from the bench and offered her a hand. She took it with a smile and, hand in hand, they walked back to the hotel.

It probably took them around thirty minutes to get back and since they calculated they still had enough time until the crew arrived, Ella thought it would be good to book a conference room for a small meeting.

She walked up to the reception desk and sweetly asked, "Hi, sorry could I get a conference room?" She'd seen they had them back when she had booked her room but, if she wasn't mistaken, there were only three in total.

The girl behind the desk smiled back, "Of course, can I have your name please?"

"Eleanor Hayes."

"For when would you like to book it?"

She fiddled with her fingers, looking up at the big clock perched in the lobby's wall. It was almost half past three and she reckoned her co-workers wouldn't arrive until four so she ended up settling for five. "Is there any available around five?"

"Yes, I have one available then." The girl clicked away on the desktop and wrote something down in a spreadsheet to her left.

Ella gave her a grateful grin, "Oh amazing."

The typing away filled in the few seconds of silence and then the receptionist looked back up at her to say, "Alright Miss Hayes, you can just come around by then and I'll walk you over to the room."

"Thank you so much, see you then." Ella left her with a double tap of the desk.

She heard a faint "You're welcome." behind her as she turned back to the lobby's lounge area, where Alex was occupying half of a two seater settee.

Once she settled beside him, Ella let her bag fall in between the both of them and looking down at the envelopes peeking through the top of it, she asked him, "D'you wanna keep looking at the pictures?"

Alex nodded, wanting to see how the pictures he had taken of Ella had turned out, so she pulled out the envelopes and was about to open one of them to inspect it when ruckus coming from the hotel doors made them look up and they were surprised by the crew carrying multiple suitcases into the place.

"Oh my god! Hi!" Ella sprung up from her seat, shoving the envelopes quickly inside the bag and leaving it forgotten there as she walked over to help the crew.

She'd gotten two of the cases that looked to be carrying their filming gear whilst Alex came around to help Tyler, their camera man, with a bag he was struggling with along with a suitcase he clumsily was managing to roll around.

When they properly came inside the hotel and into the lobby, the crew left the cases alone to greet their missing co-worker. "Ella! We missed you!" Ben said before hugging her tightly and swaying her side to side.

Ella cooed and chuckled, because she felt the same. Ben had gone from being her boss to her mentor and he had been so incredibly supportive when she had gotten promoted to a director, their relationship had turned into one that felt like they were siblings.

They had started working as a duo since Ella had officially been promoted and that was why they shared a PA now, but that meant their creative brains were in sync and they spent more time together, therefore their trust in each other grew so much they had become almost inseparable and it hit Ella how much she missed having him around when he walked through the door. "Awh missed you too Ben! How was the flight?"

Ben let go and huffed in exhaustion, "Too long."

"I know." She said sympathetically, looking around the rest of the crew with a pout before going over to each one of them to greet them.

"Alex, hi man!" Ben said to the singer enthusiastically.

"Ben, nice seeing you again." Alex said with a genuine smile and pulled him in for a brief strong embrace, waving at everyone behind him briefly.

"How are you? Glastonbury was brilliant!" The director hadn't missed the chance to compliment him because he had thoroughly enjoyed their set a lot, it had been stunning.

Alex waved him off like it wasn't needed but he still appreciated the comment, "Thanks mate. I'm alright, how are you?"

"Tired but we're here." Ben sighed, the heaviness of the long flight now weighing down on him. But when Ben looked up at Alex, he found the singer to have his eyes stuck on Ella who was hugging her PA last with a soft smile. Just to tease, Ben cleared his throat and said, "Hope Ella's been behaving."

Ella had heard that as she turned back to him and Alex, rolling her eyes to call him out, "Oh shut up Benjamin."

But Alex didn't find it hard to admit, "She has been, she's a gooden."

"She is." Ben agreed, a slight smirk on his face which earned him another roll of Ella's eyes. He chuckled before turning his attention back on his crew and suggested, "Right, let's check in everyone, yeah?"

"You sound like a teacher on a school trip Ben." Ella pointed out with a raised eyebrow, almost like she was scolding him for it.

Tyler made it worse for the director when he added fuel to the fire by pointing out, "He was worse at the airport."

To which Ella winced and shook her head, "Oh god." She sighed as if the information pained her but let them move onto the reception desk and check into their rooms. They all got their respective room keys and once everyone had them in hand, Ella stood in front of them all and informed them, "I got us a conference room at five so we can go over everything and have it all ready for tomorrow, just so we don't have to cut your well needed rest short and run around in case something goes wrong."

Ben smiled at her with narrowed eyes, "Always thinking ahead. That sounds great."

Ella looked smug at Ben's reaction, flipping her hair exaggeratedly to make a point of how she always was right. Ben shoved her playfully out of her smugness and it made her giggle. But she turned serious again when Lydia yawned loudly behind her hand, "I'll let y'all settle then? I'll text the chat when I'm back down here so we can go."

The crew nodded, completely satisfied with the idea of at least a short rest before the meeting took place and Ben was the one to eventually accept, "Sure, yeah." His gaze fell on Alex though, and he asked, "You leaving Alex?" just to know if he had to say bye before going up to their rooms.

But Alex shook his head no, brows slightly furrowed, "No, no. I'm gonna intrude on your meeting. Ella said it was alright."

The choice of words made Ben chuckle but he nodded in agreement, "More than alright, that way we can double check everything."

"Brilliant." Alex said, slightly relieved at yet another confirmation that it was alright that he stayed for the meeting.

Ben was a bit nosy, and eventually let his curiosity win when after a few beats of silence, he inquired, "Are you leaving and then coming back?"

Before the singer could answer, Ella let out that, "No, he's coming upstairs with me." and that answer was enough for her co-workers to grow curious.

"Right." Ben replied with a smirk growing on his face, and he repeated another "Right." as if the first one hadn't been given in the best tone. It wasn't needed, because it was written on his face how he was enjoying hearing that for it gave him something to taunt Ella about.

So the director nodded slowly and offered them a gallic shrug, "See you at five then." to then grab their stuff and start to walk up to the elevators.

"See ya'!" Alex said a bit loudly as they walked away, a giddiness bubbling up inside him when knowing this meant he could go upstairs with Ella sooner then.

Ella added to the short farewell with an enthusiastic, "Bye guys!"

Alex watched as the crew disappeared into the lifts and Ella went back to the lounge area. He turned to see her grabbing her bag and once she had it perched on her shoulder, she walked back to him.

With a "Let's go." and a pat on his back, she encouraged him to follow her upstairs. She'd slowly opened her door, peeking through the barely cracked open door to see if the room was no longer a mess of tangled sheets and thrown duvets and she was glad to see it all in place like that morning hadn't happened. Seeing the bed, even if it was tidy, made her cheeks heat up though.

She pursed her lips watching as Alex toed off his shoes by the door and went straight to lay down on the bed. Her mind played tricks on her that weren't doing more than quicken her heart beats and tinting the tips of her ears as red as her cheeks.

"You can turn on the TV if you want." She invited, giving him the remote after she'd gotten a cigarette out of the pocket of her now forgotten jacket she'd perched on the back of the settee in her room.

Opening the door to the balcony, she pointed out, "M'gonna go for a smoke." and once he nodded with a smile, she escaped to the small area.

Five minutes of mindlessly going through channels with shit programmes on was enough for Alex to get up from the bed and walk outside with her. He got a cigarette out from his pocket and lit it up, silently smoking beside her.

The newfound silence between them was giving them time to think. They'd had silence before, comfortable ones where they settled and somehow it felt like they could silently communicate through looks and lingering touches. But this one was strange, it was a silence that just emphasized the distance between them and how their eyes didn't meet to talk wordlessly anymore.

Alex looked at her as he took his first drag and she turned to him to give him a fleeting smile, turning back to watch the people walking the English streets and the cars driving past. Ella felt his gaze burning on the side of her head but she forced herself to pay it no mind, what could she do? She hated having to walk on eggshells around him but after realizing they had never been acting properly like just friends, she was trying to navigate what that meant for them from then on.

It was weird feeling how she just couldn't talk and talk to him like she usually did, scared she could say something that could give him the wrong impression or that could set him off like before. Yes, he had apologized and promised it wouldn't happen again but she didn't want something going wrong because of something she could've prevented.

"Are you alright?" Alex ended up asking her, noticing just how tense she was.

Ella was taken aback by the question, "Yeah, why?"

Alex shrugged, the corners of his lips tugged down in a soft pout that he ended up switching for pressed lips as he mustered the courage to say, "You're quiet."

"Oh, sorry." The smoke left her lips as she spoke, turning to look at him while leaning into the wall on her back, "Just thinking about the video and how I'm leaving on Friday."

"Don't remind me." He pouted before taking another drag of his cigarette. Having merely five days left with her was an actual cruel joke. "Is Breana leaving on the same flight?"

Ella nodded, "Yeah, eleven in the morning so we're gonna have to be early at Heathrow." At least she would have Bre with her on the way back to assure her of not going crazy on such a long flight. "Matt's taking us, by the way, so you don't have to drive us."

"But I'm coming with." Alex chatted back, eyebrows raised at her and offended at the fact she was even giving him an out.

"It's gonna be really early." She warned, not really wanting to bother him about waking up so early just to go to the airport.

But Alex would never not go, "Don't care." He stubbed out the remaining of his cigarette out on the ashtray that was placed over the coffee table and walked over to her.

Wrapping his fingers around her wrist, he pulled her off the wall for her to walk into his arms, which she did without a peep of complaint, melting in his hold like she was used to.

Alex's fingers clutched her tightly, keeping her close to his chest and Ella let her head rest in the crook of his neck, drowning in his scent and closing her eyes to relish in the feeling.

"Don't want you to leave." He admitted with nerves bubbling up inside of him. He just wanted to let his words run loose and slip past his lips easily but god was he scared of her not reciprocating.

Ella hummed, the noise making her chest vibrate against his, "Don't want to either." She admitted right back and those words were enough to spark something inside him.

Would it be selfish of him to just ask her to leave it all behind for him? Would that be what his confession end up meaning to her?

The fear of rejection turned into a fear of asking too much from her, enough to drive her away, and just because of how much he was overthinking that sudden train of thought, he bit his tongue and stayed silent.

Silence which ended up in Ella sighing at the lack of response and choosing to add, "But I have to." in the end.

Those words came like heavy bricks over his heart, a confirmation of his worries being valid and right. He couldn't do that to her. He couldn't just ask her to go with him because of his feelings, not when she had so much waiting back home for her.

How badly he wanted to be selfish, to have this go his way, but it would be cruel to even lay that down in front of her and put her in the difficult position of having to even make that decision—if it even was a possibility for that to be a debate within her because he was still struggling to wrap his head around the chances of her feeling the same way about him.

Why is everything so complicated? He hated how he just couldn't let the words slip without thinking of the consequences, but there was just too much to lose and he had to weigh down if it was even worth it to risk it.

Flo's words came back to him. The moment he had finally let out how he felt for Ella for the first time came back to him and how good it had felt to get that off his chest. He clutched her a bit tighter when that flashed in the forefront of his mind and he smiled to himself when he felt Ella wrap her arms around his waist.

He thought then, it wasn't that he felt like it was a weakness to let it out, no, it was just how who he was wouldn't allow him to give Ella what she deserved. Because in the best of outcomes, she reciprocated, but what could he give her if she was in California and he was traveling all over the globe with no rest until the end of the year. And he was sure the next year would be the same, a plane from one country to another, day in a tour bus touring all across continents and no stability to give her the time she deserved.

Alex wanted to pull his hair out. He had done distance before and it had only been so long until he moved all the way to New York for his then girlfriend. Would Ella drop everything to join him? Would Ella let go of her dream job to follow him around the world? Would Alex be able to ask that from her?

Ella felt him drop a kiss on top of her head and his lips stayed there for a minute, his breathing slowed and got heavy and eventually she had to look up at him because it felt like something in the air had shifted.

"Are you okay?" She was the one to ask this time, and he saw the soft furrow of her brows and her lips slightly pursed when she pulled back to see his face.

He nodded, but he looked full of sorrow so Ella had to make sure, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why?"

She took a step back, going to stub out the burnt out cigarette she had been holding and when that was done she stood back in front of him. "You're quiet." She repeated his words to him with a hint of a smile, like she was trying to cheer him up.

He caught onto it, offering a tight lip smile as he shook his head. The knot in his throat started tightening and it was like she had noticed without him even giving a sign of getting upset, so she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly.

"I'm gonna miss you so much, sweets." She promised him with a whisper in his ear, goosebumps breaking on his skin as his arms wrapped around her waist. "But we have this week left so let's not get ahead of ourselves okay?"

"You're right." Alex nodded again, Ella squeezed him a bit tighter and after a few seconds she broke the embrace, pulling back and smirking at him.

"I told you I always am."

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It had been almost five when Alex woke her up. She had fallen asleep with her head resting on his shoulder as they watched some British show on BBC, not long after they'd come back inside from the balcony. Ella apologized profusely when she'd gotten back into her senses, apologies which he didn't accept.

They had made their way down to the lobby after Ella got her laptop and a little journal, texting the crew's group chat with one hand to let them know she'd be waiting for them there.

Fortunately, the small group had made an appearance at the lobby not long after she'd sent the text and they had gone into the conference room they'd been assigned at merely a quarter past five.

Ella settled with Alex to her right and Ben to her left, across the table sat Lydia, the new PA, Tyler, the cameraman, Margaret, the sound recorder, and Cameron, the lighting specialist. It was a small crew but it would do, plus they were the ones to come all the way to London because they were the best they had, the heads of each of their departments back home.

Whilst she opened her laptop to pull up the list of things she needed done for this shoot, Ella felt a gaze burning on her and when she let her eyes up to see who it was, she found Lydia staring at her and then at Alex.

She didn't give it attention until she looked up again and she found Lydia still gawking at Alex shamelessly. Ella thought it might've been because she hadn't been properly introduced to the singer so she took the matter in her own hands.

Interrupting her clicking and typing on her laptop to do so, Ella startled Lydia out of her trance when she turned to Alex and said, "Alex, this is Lydia, our new PA."

Alex looked up at the new face and smiled softly, "Nice to meet you."

Lydia's face seemed to light up at the attention and Ella had to hold herself back from scowling. The new PA waved shyly at him and said, "Such a pleasure to meet you Alex. Big fan."

"Thank you." Alex said kindly, before dropping his gaze back to Ella's laptop screen.

"I'm sure you remember everyone else." Ella said before continuing, knowing everyone had met Alex already at the same time as Ella had so there was no need for new introductions.

And Alex confirmed that when he nodded, "I do. Great seeing you again."

Everyone reciprocated the kindness and once that was over, Ella smiled at everyone and asked, "Right, so let's dive right in then?" to which she got nods that gave her the green light to start going over every bullet point.

Firstly, she had noticed the gap in her checklist where it said Stylist/Hair and makeup and just to make sure that was covered before moving onto what was confirmed already, she turned to Alex to ask, "Is your stylist coming tomorrow?"

Alex hummed, "Yeah she is." They had let her know she was needed for the shoot since it had been arranged, but it probably slipped past someone's mind to confirm that.

"Is she also taking care of hair and makeup?" Ella asked for the full confirmation.

And to her relief, Alex replied positively, "She is."

"Oh perfect." It was relieving checking that off and having the list look complete, "Okay so we have Lamie Stewart, she did the casting with an agency here and we had the video sent over, she's brilliant you'll love her." The model had been so brilliant and professional, an absolute laugh when she'd gotten to do the video call with Ella and Ben and it had been very refreshing to have such an easy going person as their main talent.

Alex smiled and nodded softly, completely trusting Ella's judgment about the main girl for the video. And with that approval, Ella moved onto the main point, "Let's go over the video concept again." She drummed her fingers on the table before they opened up the journal she'd brought with her and flipped through the pages until it was opened on the video.

Her eyes went over the words written in the preface for the project swiftly and she cleared her throat to start reciting it back, "We're gonna have you drunk out of your mind walking out of the pub, texting 'Stephanie' for a booty call. And you're gonna be hallucinating she's getting, erm, fucked as you walk up to her house. But you end up in the wrong house just across her street."

Alex chuckled when she'd weirdly said the word fucked, amused by her shyness coming back in front of her co-workers. With a smirk, he nodded, "Yep. Just like we talked about back in May."

"Nothing you wanna add or take out of it?" She layed out the chance for him to do anything to it, just in case it would be needed to arrange something else before it was too late.

But he shook his head, nothing really coming to mind, "No, I trust your vision on it."

"Good." Ella smirked at him, entirely satisfied with his words, "Lydia could you please phone the pub for me to make sure they know we have the place booked out for tomorrow to shoot?"

"Yeah, sure." Lydia nodded gracefully as she pulled out her phone and looked through her own journal for the number of the place. But before she could actually dial the number, Ella asked for another task to be done, "And please give the agency a call as well so they can notify Lamie and the extras when and where the shoot will take place."

A nod of Lydia's head was enough for Ella to deem that done, so she turned to Alex, "The lads know when I want them there tomorrow right?"

Alex's honest, "I wouldn't trust them." made Ella sigh and nod in defeat.

"You're right." She replied, thinking maybe Jamie would be the only one to remember that, "I'll send them a text right now, then."

But Alex let his hand come over hers to ease her worry about it and took the task off her by offering, "I'll do it for you, don't worry."

A tight lip smile was what he got in exchange and a soft, "Thank you." since Lydia's phone had started ringing as she called the pub. "Tell them to be there at 5pm sharp." Ella whispered to Alex while she watched him start to type away on his phone.

"Ben, anything you wanna add?" She turned to the director, a bit shy after realizing she hadn't let him do a thing.

It wasn't like it bothered him though, because he smiled big at her and shook his head briefly, "No, you covered it all Ella. Good work."

She gave him a toothy smile and a quick "Thanks." before she fell silent when Lydia had started speaking on the phone, everyone looked at the new PA expectantly as they heard only one side of the call.

They watched as the call lasted a few minutes and she thanked them before ending the call, but before Lydia could debrief anything, she got a call from the agency.

About five minutes later, when the agency had let her go, she finally let them all know that, "Pub says we can head there around five and we have four hours to shoot and the agency is sending emails out and contacting everyone to confirm they're coming tomorrow and Tuesday if needed."

Ella frowned and hummed, thinking about how much four hours would give them, "Four hours, alright. We need to wrap everything at the pub first thing, the rest of the band will only be needed tomorrow then."

Whilst Ella continued thinking about which scenes to record first, Ben pointed out another checked item off the list that most definitely needed a double or triple check before the recording, "Make sure to double check the bikes, please."

"We're having bikes in there?" Alex's curiosity sparked, knowing Ella had come up with it back when they recorded the Suck It And See videos and having loved those clips.

"A little scene, yeah." Ella nodded, biting her bottom lip to hide the excited smile at the thought of her vision for it, so she timidly asked, "Is that alright?"

Any worry about it not being what Alex wanted was out the window when he gave her a big grin and a wink as he decided it was "Perfect."

A wink that only made her chuckle and quickly turn to look at Ben to inquire, "Okay so do we have all the gear we need?"

Ben's slow nods were accompanied by, "All we need and a bit more just in case." which completely settled her, knowing that the director had all that covered before they'd gotten there was another big breath of relief.

"Amazing." Ella muttered, glancing over the checklist again and finding it all talked about, "Well, perfect then, team. We shall have a good shoot tomorrow and the day after will be even better."

"Damn right." Ben agreed proudly, eliciting smiles from the rest of the crew. Ella let her laptop close and closed her journal, putting it over her closed electronic device and then looked at everyone else's tired expressions and pouted.

"Are y'all having lunch anytime soon?" She asked them, it was getting quite late and she was hungry so she could imagine the just arrived would be too.

"Yeah, definitely." Cameron answered, he was starving and tired after the flight but he would rather use the last of his energy to eat. "Any recommendations?"

Ella tilted her head to the side slightly as she tried to think but eventually settled for an easy and good answer for them, "The hotel restaurant is quite good actually."

Ben nodded, too exhausted to even think of making a decision of where to go to have a bite of food. "Think it'll be that today, we're too tired to go somewhere else." The last statement was one that everyone agreed on, Alex and Ella smiled sympathetically when they hummed and mumbled in agreement.

"Bless you, I'll come with you." Ella settled, having missed her familiar crew after a while away from home. But she didn't want Alex to feel left out so she offered, "Alex, wanna join?"

He hesitantly looked around the group as if to silently ask for permission to intrude but they were all neutral as they looked back at him so he used his words to ask, "If that's alright?"

Tyler clicked his tongue and smiled at him, "'Course man, the more the merrier." which got the same enthusiastic response from the rest of them so he gave in.

"Cheers mate." He thanked, and followed as they all rose from their seats.

Quickly going upstairs to leave her stuff in her room, Ella came back downstairs and walked into the restaurant to find them all sitting down at a big table. It didn't take them long to make a decision on what to eat, entirely driven by hunger and the need to just get back to their rooms as soon as they could.

And just as quick as they ordered their food, they ate it. With conversation in between bites, but regardless of it, they had only taken forty minutes to ask for the bill and get out of there.

"That was lovely." Margaret said kindly, after Alex had offered to pay for their meal and they had reluctantly agreed he could.

Ben agreed with a soft groan, "It was, but I'm exhausted now."

"Did you manage to get any sleep on the way here?" Alex seriously asked, Ben's undereye bags looked heavy and dark.

Cameron beat the director to an answer when he snorted in laughter, "Only think Tyler did, we were all pretty restless."

Tyler chuckled, a smug look on his face since he was the one who looked least like a zombie, "Knocked out most of it."

"Lucky Tyler." Ella shook her head in an attempt to taunt him and it got her a middle finger which made her laugh.

Soon enough, the waitress came back with Alex's card and receipt and they were all good to go. They slowly walked out and into the lobby and just as they got to the lifts, Alex turned to Ella and then Ben and decided he would go.

"I'll leave you guys to rest." He said softly, watching as everyone but Ella and Tyler looked at him through half lidded eyes, "See you lot tomorrow." He took his time to briefly hug everyone goodbye.

"Goodnight Alex." Ben said as he patted his back, letting go of him a few seconds later.

Alex wrapped his arms tightly around Ella then, and she did the same, savoring the feeling by closing her eyes, "Bye Alex."

"Goodnight darling." He dropped a kiss on her cheek before wishing her "Sweet dreams."

His words had a toothy smile breaking on her face and she just couldn't not say it back, so she pulled back and wished him, "Sweet dreams, Al. See you tomorrow." with a soft nose scrunch and a little squeeze of his shoulders.

That was enough for him to melt inside so he left feeling all warm and fuzzy, a grin stayed on his face as he walked away and turned to wave at them one last time in the middle of the lobby before he disappeared from their view as he went.

But then Ella was met with a bunch of intent looks, a few smirks and raised eyebrows. It was like she'd been caught red handed and she didn't like it.

"What?" She asked, annoyed at the silence and the unwavering looks on their faces, pressing aggressively on the button to call down the elevator.

"Nothing." Ben replied innocently, but his smirk grew bigger in contrast so Ella sighed exasperatedly.

"You know what? I didn't miss you, I take it back."

Ben took that as an opportunity to taunt her further though, so he teased, "Yeah, bet you're having the best time here aren't you?"

The crew laughed at the words and Ella let her mouth open and close as her confusion grew, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Ben said again and it made her roll her eyes harder.

The elevator's door opened and she was the first to go in, calling them out and scolding them with a stern "Y'all should go to bed." that made Tyler and Margaret snort out in laughter. Ella paid them no mind and asked, "Which floor are you on?"

"Fourth."

She was selfishly glad their taunting would be cut short by the fact that they weren't floor neighbors and she faked a pout as she said, "Awh, okay. I'm on the third."

The lift didn't take long to take them up to the third floor and when the door opened, she walked out quickly and wished them, "Goodnight guys!" with a blown kiss to follow with "Love y'all!"

The crew said, "Goodnight Ella!" in unison right as the door started closing and with a sigh she made way back to her hotel room.

It had been a very long day but at least she was glad that the two following days would be filled by her doing what she loved and it would serve as a great distraction to the looming ache of her homecoming approaching faster than she wanted it to.

Five more days was all she had, and she wasn't sure if she was even prepared for what they would bring.

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A/N: Ella's UK trip is coming to an end :'( How are we feeling about it? What do you think is gonna happen? Some of you actually guessed who the date was with and I fucking love that! Hope you enjoyed that, it was really fun writing it to be honest and I'm really excited to see your reactions. Thanks so so much from the bottom of my heart for reading and commenting and voting/liking, sending asks and messages about this story, it makes me so happy beyond words to see y'all enjoying it *cries* Love you lot and see you soon with the next one! x

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