#window film melbourne

[upthespiralstaircase]

- by _barb_ Via Flickr: See where this picture was taken. [?]

[sunsetkerr]

BEFORE A GAME WITH Y/N L/N | s.kerr

summary: netball australia releases a video with you (and sam) before a game. [1k words]

pairing: netball!reader x sam kerr

notes: another netball!reader because I love her

[OPENING SHOT OF Y/N'S HOME IN ADELAIDE. A MAGPIE SITS IN A TREE, CALLING OUT]

6:28AM, Y/N L/N'S HOME

THE MORNING OF ADELAIDE THUNDERBIRDS VS. MELBOURNE VIXENS

[SHOT OF Y/N'S BEDROOM WINDOW, THE SUN IS BEGINNING TO RISE. Y/N’S VOICEOVER BEGINS]

Y/N L/N: So, it's around 6:30 in the morning right now. Today is game day, we're playing melbourne and I have to be at the stadium by- (Y/N LOOKS DOWN AT HER PHONE, BLINKING A FEW TIMES) -9:30 for strat.

INTERVIEWER: Are you tired?

(Y/N LAUGHS, EXHALING THROUGH HER NOSE)

Y/N L/N: So tired.

Y/N L/N: I like to let sam sleep when I have to be up early.

[CLIP OF Y/N BRUSHING SAM'S HAIR OUT OF HER FACE AS SHE SLEEPS. SHORT CLIPS OF Y/N PULLING HER KIT OUT OF THE CUPBOARD, QUIETLY AS TO NOT WAKE HER GIRLFRIEND UP]

Y/N L/N: She flew in from Brisbane last night. (Y/N PAUSES TO MAKE SURE SAM IS STILL SLEEPING) Got in around midnight. So she needs a good sleep. (SMILES AT SAM)

[Y/N'S KITCHEN; Y/N SITTING AT THE KITCHEN BENCH, STILL IN HER PYJAMAS]

Y/N L/N: Game days I eat a big-ish breakfast. Some times we do team breakfasts if it's an earlier match, but we start at 6 tonight- so I'm eating here.

[CLIPS OF Y/N MAKING BREAKFAST; CEREAL AND YOGURT, MIXED NUTS ON TOP]

Y/N L/N: My grandad, well my Pa, used to have this cereal and when I was in juniors, I would eat it before my games. So now that I'm old (LAUGHING) and live out of home, he misses the cereal with the nuts and drops it off every month.

[PICTURES OF Y/N AND HER PA, OLD AND NEW]

Y/N L/N: He doesn't really like netball, but he watches it for me.

[Y/N EATING HER BREAKFAST QUIETLY AT THE BENCH, TRYING NOT TO LAUGH WITH HER MOUTH FULL]

Y/N L/N: (SWALLOWS BEFORE SPEAKING) I feel very strange with you all watching me eat.

[B-ROLL FOOTAGE; Y/N SAT EATING, PANS TO CREW FILMING HER. LAUGHTER FROM BEHIND THE CAMERA]

(SAM WALKS INTO THE KITCHEN, PAUSES WHEN SHE SEES THE CREW. LAUGHTER EMITS FROM Y/N AND FROM THE CREW]

SAM KERR: Um.. (PAUSES) What the *BEEP* is going on?

(MORE LAUGHTER)

[CUTS TO Y/N SITTING WITH SAM ON THE BENCH, SAM LEANING HER HEAD ON Y/N'S SHOULDER]

Y/N L/N: This is my girlfriend, her name is Sam.

(SAM WAVES TIREDLY AT THE CAMERA)

Y/N L/N: She should be asleep right now.

SAM KERR: I would be, but there's ten random people in our home right now (LAUGHS)

7:33AM

[CUTS TO Y/N IN THE BATHROOM, SKINCARE PRODUCTS SET UP BEHIND HER]

Y/N L/N: Before I go to the stadium, I shower and shave. I always try to remember to shave my armpits (LAUGHS) on the morning of games, but sometimes.. I forget. I keep my hair up and try not to get it wet, because I'll wash it later tonight after the game.

[CLOSE UP OF PRODUCTS BEHIND Y/N]

Y/N L/N: I get out all my stuff to wash my face with and everything before my shower so I don't forget anything.. because.. I will.

SAM KERR: *OFFSCREEN* She will.

Y/N L/N: Let's keep the heckling to a minimum, shall we?

8:19AM

SAM KERR: Y/N takes forever in the shower, so I usually, if I'm here, will try to make sure she's got everything.

(SAM PULLS A THUNDERBIRDS DUFFLE OUT FROM THE CUPBOARD, PLACING IT ON THE BED)

SAM KERR: This is her game bag, she needs her training gear and shoes. Her dress is at the stadium ready for her, which is good- because it would be all wrinkled, like the rest of her stuff (LAUGHS).

(SAM FOLDS AND PUTS Y/N'S CLOTHES INTO HER BAG)

SAM KERR: Uhh, clothes, shoes, deodorant. What else? Body wash. This is her little bag that she brings to shower after, has all her special, fancy stuff in it. And I'll- (SAM PULLS A HOODIE FROM THE CUPBOARD) put this in here, because it'll be cold when she comes home.

[Y/N PEERS AROUND THE CORNER, HER TOWEL WRAPPED AROUND HER. SHE TRIES TO KEEP HER BODY OUT OF SHOT]

Y/N L/N: Can I come in now?

8:36AM

[Y/N'S CAR; SAM IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT, Y/N IN THE PASSENGER]

SAM KERR: I feel like we're vloggers or something

Y/N L/N: No, I know (SMILES)

SAM KERR: Hey guys! Welcome back to our channel!

(Y/N LAUGHS WITH SAM)

Y/N L/N: So now I'm on my way to Netball SA to meet the girls, Sam's driving me because she's a good girlfriend.

SAM KERR: I didn't wanna be left alone.

Y/N L/N: That too. The stadium is in the city and my place is like forty-five-ish minutes away? Thirty-five with good traffic.

SAM KERR: Your phones going off bub

Y/N L/N: It's Georgie (CHUCKLES)

SAM KERR: (BANGING THE STEERING WHEEL PLAYFULLY WITH A SMILE) Georgie Horjus!

Y/N L/N: she wants to know if you're allowed to be driving with how much sleep you've had.

(SAM LAUGHS, ADJUSTING HER SUNGLASSES)

SAM KERR: Probably not, tell her to piss off.

9:17AM

[CLIP OF Y/N KISSING SAM GOODBYE THROUGH THE OPEN CAR WINDOW. SAM PULLS AWAY, BUT HOLDS Y/N'S HEAD CLOSE]

[SUBTITLES APPEAR AS SAM TALKS INAUDIBLY]

SAM KERR: *MUMBLED* I love you

[SAM QUICKLY KISSES Y/N ONCE MORE BEFORE TIGHTENING THE RIBBON IN Y/N'S PONYTAIL FOR HER]

[CLIP OF Y/N WALKING INTO THE STADIUM]

Y/N: So we're at the stadium, heading in to talk strategy with the girls for today's game. After that we'll do drills and warm ups, probably rewatch our last game again- boring stuff really (CHUCKLES). Oh, oh-

[CAMERA PANS TO TIPPAH DWAN, GOAL SHOOTER AND GOAL ATTACK FOR THE ADELAIDE THUNDERBIRDS. SHE SKIPS OVER TO Y/N, SUNGLASSES OVER HER EYES]

TIPPAH DWAN: Hey!

Y/N L/N: This is Tippah, my starting attacker.

TIPPAH DWAN: Dream-team here really (SHRUGS)

Y/N L/N: Thanks for spending my morning with me.

(TIPPAH PULLS Y/N IN FOR A TIGHT HUG AS Y/N LAUGHS, WAVING TO THE CAMERA)

TIPPAH DWAN: Now get outta here!

6:03PM

[CLIP OF Y/N TAKING TO COURT, TIGHTENING HER PONYTAIL UNDER THE GOAL RING. PANS OVER TO SAM KERR, WHO SITS WITH OTHER THUNDERBIRD PLAYERS PARTNERS. SHE IS CLAPPING, AND CHEERING FOR Y/N AS THE COUNTDOWN TO THE GAME BEGINS]

[THE SCREEN TURNS BLANK AS THE WHISTLE SOUNDS]

[pippin-katz]

Hey!

Why does Henry rebuff Alex during their first meeting? Like when Alex greets him, he walks away ignoring him.. What's the theory there?

I'm kinda new here and if this was already discussed or known, my apologies 😊

No prob! I like explaining things, even if it's obvious or everyone is like "we know already". My little neurodivergent brain gets happy when I make neat essays with GIFs and sections and whatnot lol

Post Writing Note: once again, this very simple question with a fairly simple answer turned into a fucking essay and I am so sorry lmfao, I know I said I like making them but I did not intend this to be a long one!! You have been warned!!

Foreword Regarding The Canon

I, and I assume most viewers who have also read the book, interpret the film's canon to be a combination of the film's events, and parts of the book that we didn't see, but could've happened anyway. Things like what was said in the emails, Bea's history with drug abuse, Pez' foundation, and whatnot are sort of meshed together with the film in my mind; just because the film didn't have the time to show it to us does not mean it did not happen in that version of their world. I say this cause I'm going to be discussing both the book and the film.

Also a key: Pink - internal dialogue from the book Red - Alex's dialogue in both versions Blue - Henry's dialogue in both versions

Establishing The Basics

I assume you’re referring to this moment during the greeting line:

Side note: Alex’s face at the end never fails to make me laugh 😂

While this is their first interaction in the film, it’s not their first meeting, as they explain that they met at the Melbourne Climate Conference a few years ago. In the book, they met in Rio at the Olympics when they were teenagers. The only difference this makes is that they're more mature in the film than the book, but it doesn't change much.

The beats for how their first meeting went are practically identical.

Alex approached Henry to introduce himself. Henry, who was dealing with his grief and depression after his father’s passing, was an ass.

He looks at him unkindly; in the film, Alex describes it as: “like he had head lice”, and in the book, Alex describes it as: “like I was the most offensive thing you had ever seen”. Either way, he looked at him in a way that visibly communicated a dislike or lack of respect for him.

Then he turns to Shaan and says he needs to leave, though the wording is different between book and film. In the film, he says, “I need to get out of here” -which Alex mishears as "get me out of here"- while in the book, he says, “Can you get rid of him?”.

Henry Meeting Alex

Admittedly, the line from the book is far more rude, but Henry does explain far later -after Alex storms Kensington Palace and they agree that they’re committed to being together- through an email what he was thinking during their first meeting. I see no reason for these thoughts to be any different in the film's context, as the reason for Henry's behavior is still rooted in his depression and trauma surrounding his father's death. They're also relevant to understanding Henry's behavior.

You might have seen edits or mentions of this email because it’s one of the most memorable.

Henry explains he had been dealing with his trauma by basically compartmentalizing the most impactful -mostly negative- events of his life into “rooms”. He puts those moments into “rooms” in his head, based on the layout of Buckingham Palace. He chooses which room based on how traumatic or impactful it was; two examples he mentions are losing his virginity in college, which he shoves it into “the smallest, most cramped little broom cupboard” he could find, and the night his father died, which he puts in “the biggest room, a ballroom, wide open and dark, windows drawn and covered”.

But when he saw Alex for the first time, he felt such a strong reaction that he took it “down to the gardens” and “pressed it into the leaves of a silver maple and recited it to the Waterloo Vase”. He quite memorably says, “It didn’t fit in any rooms.”

Then he describes what Alex looked like, and how he was talking to Nora and June, and how he was so animated, happy, and beautiful, and Henry was in a dark place, and felt like he couldn't experience life the same way.

Here's the most popular/remembered bit: "I thought, this is the most incredible thing I have ever seen, and I had better keep it a safe distance away from me. I thought, if someone like that ever loved me, it would set me on fire."

Henry basically pushed Alex away on purpose because on top of all the trauma he was experiencing, he was convinced he would ruin him, if you will, and that he didn't deserve someone like Alex.

Alex Meeting Henry

It's easy looking back with the knowledge we have now to wonder why Henry didn't just approach Alex, provide an explanation for his behavior (doesn't have to be his father, any justifiable reason would've worked), and apologize the very next time they saw each other.

But it's important to remember that this was their first ever interaction with each other. Henry was feeling a ton of different emotions, but so was Alex.

Alex is a smart, but stubborn, person. He develops very strong opinions fast, that may make sense, but sometimes fails to consider the alternatives. It's sort of like the two sides of his brain work at different speeds. He's very smart, but sometimes his emotional bias can blind him to fairly obvious things that would change his opinion.

For example, Alex sees Henry as rude, smug, entitled, and a snob, which are all inherently false notions. However, based on his one meeting with him, those aren't unfounded assumptions for him to make.

If you look at it purely from Alex's perspective, not knowing anything about Henry's depression and the depths of his struggle with grief, Henry does act and sound incredibly rude to Alex. Giving someone a nasty look when they introduce themselves to you and then immediately requesting to get out of the conversation, screams: "I don't care about your existence".

Couple that with the fact that Henry is a white, blue-eyed (in the book), blond who was born into royalty, and Alex is a working class person of color who has had to run himself into the ground to get to where he is.

That is the perfect set up for Henry's behavior to be interpreted worse than just rude. All of that information can logically add up to the assumption: Henry is an elitist, racist, asshole.

Before They Met

Alex also secretly admired Henry when he was younger. This wasn't translated to the screen, but like I mentioned, it's something I think of as happening in that universe anyway, just slightly differently.

June gets a teen magazine for her fifteenth birthday; since June isn't part of the film's canon, I can headcanon that this was Nora instead, since she's sort of a combination of the two characters for the movie. All the details don't really matter, but I know someone would be like "but that didn't happen in the movie-" and I just don't feel like explaining that to each comment I end up getting.

There's a teen magazine with a picture of Henry in it. It's a candid picture that captured his actual essence rather than the stuffy pictures Alex had seen on the news. He describes it, saying, "there was a happy, sun-bright confidence to him that couldn't be posed".

Alex definitely developed an unconscious crush on him, not realizing it until later. He would keep going back to the magazine and to the page with him on it. He would touch his hair in the picture, trying to imagine how it felt. He considered prying the stables apart and taking just that page to hide in his room.

As his parents started getting higher in the government, Henry also became his role model. He wanted to match the easy confidence he seemed to have.

But then he met him, and the fantasy he had of him was shattered by how rude Henry was.

The tabloids and news are always comparing Alex to him, which he mentions in the film to Nora in the car. He resents the fact that he's compared to Henry when he has every advantage, if you will, but he also resents that he ever wanted to be like Henry in the first place, having convinced himself now that he was a fake, boring, obnoxious prick.

Because Alex doesn't not know about Henry's dad, but its something he thought about more as a bullet point on his fact sheet rather than considering it any further.

Henry's depression is more explicitly explored in the book, since they have the time to go into all those details. He isolates himself, and has insomnia like he mentioned in the movie, but he also takes medication, and Alex makes a mention of a "tense little grimace Henry does in public" that he thought was him being aloof.

Once Henry mentions his father's passing during their conversation in the hospital closet, Alex's brain puts everything together very fast. He's not stupid, and in the book even says, "He's been aware for too long that most people don't navigate thoughts of whether they'll ever be good enough or if they're disappointing the entire world. He's never considered Henry might feel any of the same things."

Antagonizing Each Other

However, that is all information Alex doesn't have at the wedding. They don't say exactly how many times they've spoken in either version, just that they have met a few times since their first introduction.

Alex, on top of dealing with the comparisons, is convinced that Henry doesn't like him either. The quote from the books is: "The most annoying thing of all is Alex knows Henry hates him too-he must, they're naturally mutual antagonists-but he refuses to outright act like it."

He actively antagonizes him whenever they are at the same event. It's implied in the film when Henry describes him as "the world's most irritating person", but the book makes it clear that Alex is always the one to attack first, if you will.

As soon as Alex goes over to him at the wedding, we can see Henry visibly react in a way that implies he's bothered but has to pretend so they don't cause a scene. His expressions say, "oh here we go 🙄". Henry knows that Alex is going to pick a fight with him. It happens every time they run into each other.

This interaction in the book is pretty iconic and it does a great job of showing what I'm describing. Alex gets drunk and approaches Henry and while they're talking, Henry notices. He suggests Alex switch to water after he makes a lot of rude comments about him pretending to be more important than everyone and pretending to hate the attention the media gives him.

"Should I?" Alex says. He pushes aside the thought that maybe the wine is what gave him the nerve to stomp over to Henry in the first place and makes his eyes as coy and angelic as he knows how. "Am I offending you? Sorry I'm not obsessed with you like everyone else. I know that must be confusing for you."

"Do you know what?" Henry says. "I think you are."

Alex's mouth drops open, while the corner of Henry's turns smug and almost a little mean.

"Only a thought," Henry says, tone polite. "Have you ever noticed I have never once approached you and have been exhaustingly civil every time we've spoken? Yet here you are, seeking me out again." He takes a sip of his champagne. "Simply an observation."

"What? I'm not-" Alex stammers. "You're the-"

"Have a lovely evening, Alex," Henry says tersely, and turns to walk off.

It drives Alex nuts that Henry thinks he gets to have the last word, and without thinking, he reaches out and pulls Henry's shoulder back.

You know what happens from there.

Their conversation in the film is slightly different, but it carries the same beats as the book: Alex approaching Henry, he pretends to be nice while saying something rude, Henry starts retaliating against the comments, Henry tries to walk away, and Alex tries to stop him. In the book, Alex just stumbles when Henry turns back around really fast. He gets tripped up and starts falling, and just like in the movie, he grabs Henry to trying and keep himself upright. The icing on the jacket bit was added into the movie, which I have to say was a brilliant addition.

Back to their conversation, remember that Henry doesn't dislike Alex, rather he's had a crush on him since they met. But Alex has made his opinions very clear, and Henry is not a pushover. He doesn't engage him, but returns the energy he's given. When Alex is rude, he's rude back, but he doesn't start the fight.

I imagine that any attempt Henry could've made to explain or apologize for the Climate Conference/Olympics would have been squashed before he even had the chance by Alex's need to insult him. They also only ever see each other at very public events, so he can't ask why Alex doesn't like him; that's partly why he does it when they're stuck in the broom closet at the hospital.

They're completely alone and have nowhere to go, and it's probably been eating him alive every time he's thought about Alex for the last few years. Even if he doesn't like the answer, he knows that he will get an answer, so he asks.

Why Does Henry Walk Away?

This all being said, back to the moment in question:

The most common interpretation of this interaction is that Henry walks away because 1) he doesn't want to start anything, & 2) he has a raging crush on Alex, and he can't deal with it.

Now, Alex does start off playing nice here, being friendly and polite, but it's a reoccurring issue between them that even if things start off civil, Alex will end up antagonizing him.

They also both "know" that "the other hates them", so they both probably want to avoid each other.

Henry knows that Alex doesn't like him. He doesn't know why Alex doesn't like him, but he's well aware of the animosity. Therefore, he knows that Alex's politeness is a front.

He has a crush on him. He likes Alex, but he's gotten basically nothing but disdain from him since they met. That has to hurt, to have the person you like actively hate you. It also has to hurt knowing that they're pretending to be friendly.

Because Alex is pretending here. He's representing his mother, the President of the United States, at a massive foreign event. He knows better than to act up, so even if he doesn't like him, he is polite with his greeting.

After Henry brushes him off again, he's visibly pissed off, but he doesn't do anything. He avoids him. He stands off to the side, and sort wanders around alone, just drinking and feeling anxious. He has no intention of starting a conflict.

The only reason Alex approaches Henry is because he gets wasted drunk. This is the same in the book. While he was able to control himself before, once he's drunk, he just goes with his first impulses. One of those is to piss Henry the fuck off the second he sees him.

The book says, "[Henry] looks politely half-interested in that obnoxious way of his, like he has somewhere else to be. And Alex can't resist the urge to call his bluff."

This is to say that if Alex hadn't gotten as drunk as he did, he probably would've avoided Henry for the evening. Alex always seeks him out to provoke him, but like I said, he's aware of how important this event is. He does not want to start anything because it could reflect poorly on his mother. But Henry has no reason to think Alex will behave any differently than he has in the past, which he ends up being right about.

So to finally answer your question: Henry walking away was his attempt to avoid the conflict, as well as spare himself the emotional torture that would be watching the person you like be friendly with you, when you know it's fake and that they actually hate you.

Holy fuck, I could've told you that in two sentences but instead it turned into a whole fucking essay for NO REASON! Geez, just why? Why am I like this? lmfao 😭

Thanks for reading!! If you enjoyed this essay & would like to support me, you can give me a tip on my Ko-Fi! ☺️

[newsatsix1986]

Sam Reid as Dale Jennings (and a little bit of Stephen Peacocke as Rob Rickards) in The Newsreader’s S01E04 - A Step Closer To The Madness 🤴🏼🌟

.

.

I remember coming across this image on unit still photographer Ben King’s (now deleted) Newsreader page. He did much of the unit stills for this particular episode in Season One, and I was excited to download it. It was such a cool angle of this particular micro scene within this episode, and so it was a must have to save.

In this micro scene (what I call the small filler scenes between the longer ones - definitely not technical or industry-standard but that’s not what we do here), Dale, Rob, Tim and Ross park in this street so that they can head to the pub. Ross goes to pay for their parking in an old school parking meter, and asks Dale to chuck him some coins to pay.

As shared in the Rob and Helen posts over the past few days, this is another post to add to my The Newsreader On Location series, and like these posts, this photo was also taken in MacKenzie Street; just coming off Russell Street. You can see in the included screenshot of Google Maps roughly the exact spot where this photo of the two men were taken. The distinctive brick facade of the building with the round window is so distinctive, and so it was easy to pinpoint.

This scene was filmed on the 3rd February 2021, and was captured as a part of Nine News Melbourne’s coverage of the recreation; as seen in these screenshots from the news clip. You can see Dale/Sam and everyone else here in this shot. It’s so cool to have this angle from the scene to look back on.

I once again share this image from Russell Street that I took in March of 2024 which does include the white building which is on the corners of Russell and MacKenzie Streets; the closest I got to photographing the street in question. The next time I’m in Melbourne, I’m going to make sure I stroll into MacKenzie Street and take some photos for you all, but for now, Google Maps will have to do. We’ll make it work!

[marcelwrites]

I was about to shower but felt the urge to work out. So I did sets of close-grip push-ups, wide push-ups, dips, kettlebell raises, and then narrow-grip and standard curls with my e-z bar. Got the heart racing and the mind dialled in. Nothing better than an intense workout to narrow your vision into pinpricks; weapons of perception. I got to thinking about how all the self-proclaimed anarchists out there in during the lockdown were having book fairs, handing out masks (that were mandatory to those attending), and yet the "far-right" protestors were out there advocating for people to live as they wish whether they wanted to wear a mask or not. Now who're the real anarchists in that situation? The people labelling themselves as such and rigorously maintaining the the rules for a peaceful gathering, or is it the media-labelled "far-right" protestors out on the streets fighting for an end to the vaccine and mask mandates? Somewhere in the last decade (or thereabouts), the political poles shifted, thus the left became the right, and the right became the left. The names remained the same but the principles flipped. I stopped trusting in the traditional political paradigm—and how everything's ordered inside it)—a long time ago. None of it makes any conventional sense anymore when using the old ruleset, so now everything must be viewed through this new lens. A quick waltz around Melbourne and you'll see the people co-opting the Punk aesthetic (because I outright refuse to call them actual Punks, as Punks wouldn't fuck around with and/or antagonise the homeless) spitting on the homeless and filming their reactions—effectively rendering these people as objects to be exploited—and dude's in expensive business suits giving money to, defending, and assisting those same homeless people. Everything's been turned on its fucking head. The world us Millennials grew up in is unrecognisable now, the clothes and window dressing may all be the same, but the soul beneath it all is twisted and warped; a complete stranger in some overcrowded parking lot. How indicative of the modern experience!

[magicshopaholic]

Los Angeles pt. 2

Summary: Taehyung finds himself in the midst of a crisis, while Namjoon has a fight with his girlfriend an hour before the Grammys.

Pairing: Taehyung x OC, Namjoon x OC (different OCs)

Genre: Fluff, smut, angst

Word count: 13.8 K

Rating: 18+

Warnings: language, alcohol, making out, sex, blowjobs, dirty talk, jealousy

A/N: Hellooooo, wrote about some controversial but fan favourite couples after a while :D Set three months after New Year’s Eve Eve. Refers to events from Los Angeles, Weekend Story and Melbourne, but can be read standalone.

Tagging: @bbl32, @quarter-life-crisis2, @margopinkerton, @faearchives, @whoisbts, @purpleseoul7, @kflixnet (if you want to be added to the taglist, lmk)

Listen to: “gimme all your love” by alabama shakes

taehyung masterlist | namjoon masterlist | main masterlist

The morning is new, with the sun’s rays slanting in through the large windows. They’re blocked by the white sheets, giving the bed a warm, faint glow and making honey skin look golden. It’s fingers on hips, lips soft against muscle, intimate smiles between kisses and the quiet murmurs of nothing in particular for no one else to hear.

“It could be Kanye.” Dilara murmurs, her lips brushing against his ear. Her arms come around his neck and she sighs as his mouth moves gently along her jaw.

Taehyung groans quietly, kissing the skin along her neck and down to her shoulder. “Don’t even say that,” he complains softly, running a hand down the side of her body. “Are you wearing a new lotion?”

“Picked it up from the airport. What about -” She breaks off momentarily when he raises his head to face her, taken off guard by his eyes immediately locking on hers. “- um… Bruno. Mars. After that thing that went viral.”

He snickers softly and kisses her. “Unlikely,” he disagrees quietly against her lips. “It’ll probably be Kendrick,” he adds, pulling her closer, their naked bodies flush against each other.

“I can get behind that.” Dilara runs a hand through his thick hair and hooks a leg around his waist, flipping them over. Straddling him, she takes in his expression of surprise and arousal in equal measure. “I still think it’ll be Kanye, though. Record of the Year is always someone controversial,” she points out, flipping her long hair over one shoulder and straightening up.

Taehyung shakes his head slowly. “Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

He says it in Korean, but this Dilara can understand. She doesn’t bother suppressing her smile. “So you agree with me?”

He grins. “Sure. Unless you’re wrong.” He’s gone blond once again, for their comeback and upcoming tour. It’s a sunny golden, thick and brushing the tops of his ears and reaching the nape of his neck. He looks unbelievably handsome, like a work of art sculpted just for her.

She narrows her eyes playfully and adjusts herself on top of him, his erection brushing against her arse cheeks and making her toes curl automatically. “What do I get if I’m right?”

He holds her hips. “What do you want?”

“Write me a song.”

“I’ll write you a hundred,” he promises, just as she slides onto him, their sighs of pleasure occurring in unison. She moves slowly, rolling her hips into his and feeling his length inside her as he helps her along. It’s slow, soft and loving, the morning sun streaming in through the gaps in the curtains as she rides him, his fingers steady on her flesh and his gaze holding hers until the end.

“What time do we need to leave?” Dilara asks a little while later, flushed and on her back as she checks her phone. Her heart is still racing slightly, at a comfortable, post-coital pace.

“Hm, around four?” Taehyung answers, putting down his own phone and scooching over to her. He slides his arm around her waist and rests his chin comfortably on her shoulder. “But me and Jimin have to film something before that so you’ll have to come with the others. Unless you want to come with us?” he offers, squeezing her waist affectionately.

But Dilara shakes her head. “That’s okay. I don’t think I’ll be ready before that. I have to go pick up my dress and then Kaya and I have plans to go to lunch, get our hair done…” She places her phone back on the nightstand and turns to face him. 

“Wow. So you two are friends, then? If you’re getting your hair done together,” he points out seriously. He fingers a curl falling down her neck. “Your hair looks amazing like this - why do you even need to get it done?”

She chuckles. “Yeah? Should I just turn up to the Grammys afterparty with sex hair and messy curls?”

“Sounds perfect.”

She rolls her eyes and tucks her hair back self-consciously. “Not going to happen. We don’t have award-winning stylists to do our hair and make-up,” she reminds him, poking his shoulder. “And I like Kaya. She’s fun.”

“M-hm.” He kisses her but pulls away abruptly. “Are you sure you don’t mind watching the show from backstage, though?” 

“Absolutely,” she replies, shaking her head immediately. “I have no desire to sneak around the cameras and hope we don’t get spotted together. Kaya and I will chill backstage,” she tells him, wrapping her hands around his neck and sinking into his embrace, “cheer for you during your performance -” She kisses him slowly, slipping her tongue into his mouth, “- and meet you at the afterparty.”

Taehyung kisses her back and rolls on top of her, his blond hair brushing her cheeks. “I love you,” he murmurs before pulling away and frowning slightly. “Did you say you have to pick up your dress?”

“Yeah, it’s a Jenny Packham dress from her fall collection and it’s gorgeous. I have it on hold at a store here - shit, I should actually leave soon.” With an enormous effort, Dilara kisses him quickly and gently nudges him off, smirking at his dramatic groan. Swinging her legs off the bed, she begins searching for clothes.

“Can I see the dress?” he asks, still lying down as she pulls on his striped white button-down shirt from last night.

“Yeah, at the show.”

His jaw drops. “Seriously? It’s a secret?”

She gives him a look, now pulling on a pair of cotton shorts from her suitcase. “It wasn’t, but it can be. It’s a really nice dress and I want your reaction to the whole thing, with hair and shoes and all. It doesn’t work if I show you a picture of it beforehand,” she reasons.

“Huh.” Taehyung sits up on his knees and reaches for his joggers at the end of the bed. “Interesting. Sort of like a wedding dress.”

Dilara throws a t-shirt at him. “It’s not a wedding dress,” she states, her stomach fluttering without warning despite this being one of his favourite bits.

“Are you sure? Because I can roll with that,” he says seriously, pulling on the t-shirt and running his hands through his messy hair. “My outfit for today hasn’t been decided yet and I know there’s a white jacket that’s available -”

“Tae, I swear to God, don’t even joke about -”

“- but we should coordinate everything else, though, like a garter or -”

Dilara walks backwards with warm cheeks as Taehyung steps towards her, his forehead creased like he’s concentrating hard. “I’m going to kill you, I really am -” She turns around and opens the door of his room, hurrying outside and ignoring him as he continues. 

“- and if you’re wearing like a - how do you say it in English? That white cloth that comes over your face -”

“I’m not even listening, I’m just - oh, God!” She shrieks, partly in surprise and partly because of her heart skipping her beat when he grabs her around the waist and her feet leave the floor. 

“That really bothers you, doesn’t it?” Taehyung asks teasingly after he puts her down in the open kitchen of the shared suite. The doors to the other two rooms are still closed, leaving them alone in the expanse of the combined living room and kitchen area.

“No,” she disagrees automatically, popping two slices of bread into the toaster as she feels him come up behind her. “It’s just annoying. Like you,” she adds, poking him in the stomach.

He pokes her back. “You’re annoying.”

“You’re more annoying.”

“You’re -“

They jump slightly when the toaster dings and the bread pops up, dry and toasted. 

“Ooh, there’s jam,” he says, digressing and reaching behind her to pull a tray with small, pretty jars lined up on it. “Strawberry, obviously,” he decides, picking up a pink jar.

“Oh, no, try the blueberry…”

“Apricot? That doesn’t sound good at all…”

“I see your apricot and I raise you -“ She picks up a jar at the end and holds it up, wrinkling her nose. “- dates.”

Taehyung snickers, unscrewing the lid of the blueberry jam and lathering a generous amount on his toast with a butter knife. 

“Oh, I can’t have sugar,” she tells him when he offers her some, and bites into the plain toast. “What? I’m two weeks away from the first race. I can’t risk a single unwanted calorie.”

Taehyung frowns, dipping his finger into the jam. “Not even a taste?” he asks, waving a dollop of the sweet-smelling jelly in front of her.

She groans and leans back against the island. “Don’t tempt me,” she warns him, knocking his hand away.

“Just one.”

“No way. I’m already making an exception for later today where I intend to have one or many mimosas at lunch,” she points out.

“Fine.” He makes a big show of sucking it off his finger and smacking his lips while she narrows her eyes at him. “You said you didn’t want any,” he reminds her, stepping towards her and taking a large bite of his toast, leaving a smear of jam on the tip of his nose.

Pursing her lips in amusement, Dilara reaches up on the tips of her toes and licks it off. “Just made an exception.”

Taehyung’s face breaks out into a grin, but he visibly reins it in. Placing his hands on either side of her, he presses a sweet kiss to her cheek. “You know what you just did,” he says, taking another bite of his toast, “was a very married couple kind of thing to -“

“I hate you.”

“You really don’t.”

“Yes, I do…”

They’re kissing in between giggles and bites of toast when the front door opens. 

“Oh!” Jungkook immediately screws his eyes shut and halts in place, looking like he’s walked into an invisible wall. Jimin strolls in along with him, simply raising his eyebrows at them as they separate reluctantly.

“Told you they’ll have food,” says Jimin in Korean, dropping his gym bag on the floor. He comes over to examine the plate of jams and looks up in mild horror. “That’s it? Bread and jam?”

“Haven’t you lived on worse?” Dilara tosses him the wireless landline. “It’s technically your hotel suite. Feel free to order room service. JK, what about you? JK?” She turns to see him still standing in the same place with his eyes closed, his neck and ears red.

“Nothing for me, thanks.”

Taehyung frowns curiously at him as he chews his toast while Jimin reaches over and taps his hip with the phone. “I’m getting shakshuka,” he informs him. “They have eggs benedict, too.”

Jungkook finally peels his eyes open slowly and clears his throat, placing his gym bag next to Jimin’s and coming up next to him. “Uh, yeah, sure.” He looks up gingerly at Dilara and Taehyung across the island and his shoulders visibly relax, as though relieved to confirm that they’re no longer snogging. “What about you guys?”

“Just toast for me. But,” she adds, “may I tempt you to try the best jam offered by the Hilton?” She reaches across the island to where the tray of jams is next to Jimin’s elbow. “Hint: it contains dates.”

As she struggles to reach the tray while Jimin remains unbothered, the wide collar of Taehyung’s shirt falls open slightly. It takes her a moment to remember she isn’t wearing a bra and another to sense eyes on her. Before she can confirm, however, Taehyung’s arm appears in front of her.

“Or you can try the apricot,” he suggests, placing the bottle on the island. Dilara looks up to see his gaze on Jungkook, both knowing and just the slightest bit amused.

Jungkook’s face reddens again. “Apricot sounds good,” he mumbles, taking the bottle and sliding off the bar stool he was sitting on.

Taehyung snickers under his breath as he leaves while Dilara smacks his arm playfully, suppressing her own smile when the door opens for the second time. 

“Told you they’d have food,” says Namjoon with Kaya entering beside him. She’s already dressed in jeans and an off-shoulder top, looking fresh and glowing as she runs a hand through her long hair, the other interlaced loosely with her boyfriend’s fingers.

“Are you ready to go?” she asks Dilara, dropping his hand and taking Jungkook’s vacated seat. Meanwhile, Namjoon examines the lone packet of bread in disappointment.

“Yeah, just need to shower.”

Namjoon’s head snaps up. “You should hurry. We need to leave at four on the dot, so you guys should be back before then.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be ten minutes.” Dilara swallows the last of her toast and skips into Taehyung’s room, shutting the door behind her.

When she returns, showered and doused in sunscreen for a sunny day in Los Angeles, Taehyung, Jimin, Jungkook and Namjoon are sharing one plate of shakshuka, looking extremely tragic as they do. Kaya observes them with a frown, looking somewhat sympathetic but also mildly concerned.

“We’re performing today,” says Jimin defensively, giving Namjoon a sideways glare, before Dilara even opens her mouth.

“Hey, no judgement,” she replies. “We’re just going to leave you guys to… this.”

“Yeah,” agrees Kaya slowly, rubbing Namjoon’s shoulder and kissing him on the cheek. “Enjoy your… plate.”

“There’s no need to rub it in,” sniffs Taehyung. Namjoon gives her a forlorn look but doesn’t respond, while Jungkook nods sadly.

“We’ll bring you back a muffin or something,” suggests Dilara. “For after the performance.”

All of them mumble incoherently, scraping their forks on the ceramic plate as Kaya and Dilara leave them.

“Remember we need to leave at four!” Namjoon calls out at the last moment.

“Yes, love you!” Kaya replies and shuts the door behind her and raises her eyebrows. “Never a good idea to be around them when they’re hungry,” she mutters as they head down the carpeted hallway.

Dilara snickers, pressing the elevator button. “I didn’t want to say it in front of them, but I’m so glad we got a reservation at this place for lunch. They have the best sushi - and mimosas.”

“Thank God,” says Kaya as they head down. “I was afraid I was going to have to share that shakshuka with them.”

While Dilara could only take a handful of days away from training to visit Los Angeles, she’d jumped at the chance to do it anyway. She missed Taehyung, she missed the sun and although it was pleasantly unexpected, she was looking forward to hanging out with Kaya again.

It wasn’t a huge surprise to her - and even less to Namjoon, who had casually deduced that it was due to the extreme lack of female presence in her life that she had taken to Kaya so quickly. 

She’d been FaceTiming Taehyung and had asked if Kaya would be coming as well, when Namjoon had popped up in the background to confirm that she would and to additionally provide this insight. Dilara had been about to disagree out of habit when it occurred to her that outside of Lexie, she didn’t actually have a single female friend.

While Lexie is her closest friend, there is something entirely different about Kaya, something so mature and put together that it stirs something admiring in Dilara, almost intimidatingly so. It also helps that she looks like the consummate girl next door from a movie, all long hair and sweet perfume and gorgeous smiles and unknowing double takes from men they pass on the street.

“He’s cute.” Dilara gestures as subtly as she can to a guy walking a German Shepherd across the street.

Kaya turns to see him smile back at her and continues walking, shrugging awkwardly. “I guess. Not really my type, though.”

“Yeah? What’s your type?”

“Tall. Broad. Pretty basic.” She chuckles and gives Dilara a knowing look, sipping at the straw of the iced coffee in her hand. 

Dilara returns her smile and adjusts the shopping bags on her arm, glancing at the Jenny Packham box inside the biggest one. Mildly considering that she may have overhyped the dress to Taehyung, she winces and pushes the box down and looks up to see a flash.

Her heart skips an enormous beat for a moment. “Shit,” she mutters, side-eyeing the woman who’s just clicked a picture of her from inside the coffee shop they just passed. “I think I’m paranoid. Ever since Taehyung and I got back together, I just assume that someone’s taking my picture because they know.” She hears a couple of more clicks and winces. “Sorry… but your picture might end up on an obscure sports Instagram account somewhere”

Kaya clicks her tongue sympathetically. “Don’t worry about it. And, yeah, I used to feel that, too, in the beginning. No one was taking pictures of me,” she clarifies, “but if someone even looked at me funny, my mind went straight to the worst possible scenario. Does your PR team know, though?” she asks after a moment. “In case it ever does come out?”

“Oh.” This isn’t something that’s occurred to Dilara. “Do you think I need to? Actually, yeah,” she muses, frowning at the hypothetical possibilities. “Maybe I should tell Red Bull. They do have a brand to think of.”

“Yeah, and if it’s anything illegal, then they’ll have the power to shut it down,” she points out. “You should talk to Taehyung about it, too. There’s probably protocol at his end as well.”

Dilara bites her lip, a little overwhelmed and marvelling briefly at the depth of knowledge Kaya seems to have about this. “Yeah, probably. Does Namjoon have, like, legal plans in place, too?”

“M-hm.” She nods, taking another sip of her coffee. Her dark eyes are wide and earnest, as though she’s talking about dinner plans with him. “I mean, I’m not famous so I’m guessing it’s more along the lines of social media and tabloids and stuff as compared to, like -” She shrugs “- if I’m being stalked or something.”

“Wow.” Dilara raises her eyebrows. “Sorry, you just seem really calm about… the possibility of being stalked.”

Kaya waves a nonchalant hand. “It’s just him being overly-cautious. Namjoon is very protective.” She says it with a shake of the head, but Dilara can still detect a hint of pride at the statement.

They head to lunch after that and decide to take a table inside to protect their freshly-styled hair. The owner ends up being a Formula 1 fan, possibly one of the few that exists in America, and almost trips over himself when he comes over.

“I may have a restaurant in Los Angeles but I could never forget someone who represents my country,” he says emotionally before declaring them free drinks for the rest of the afternoon.

“Is this normal?” Kaya asks in a hushed voice after he leaves. She’s on her third drink and her skin is glowing more than ever. Her eyes are bright and her speech is slightly faster than it was before, but Dilara finds it ridiculously endearing.

“The free stuff? Kind of, not a lot.” Dilara shrugs, starting a fresh drink. “It mostly happens abroad. Nobody in England gives a fuck. I’m sure this happens to the guys in Korea, though,” she adds curiously.

But Kaya shakes her head. “Oh, no. Well, not in my experience at least. Namjoon usually calls the restaurant ahead and they make sure we get a table with privacy and everything, but it doesn’t involve free stuff unless they’re promoting it. I prefer it that way, though,” she says after a moment. “It makes our dates feel normal.” She shrugs in a shy, private way.

Dilara tries to picture Namjoon as she knows him - the leader, serious and focused for all their schedules during the Red Bull and BTS partnership last year - with the version Kaya seems to be referring to, the one that takes his girlfriend on dates and holds her hand out of habit. 

“Does the long distance thing get easier, though?” she asks after a moment, biting her lip. “Because the first time Tae and I tried, it… it sort of went up in flames,” she confesses, realising somewhere in the back of her mind that the alcohol is starting to get to her as well, if she’s uttering these thoughts out loud.

Surprisingly, Kaya nods. “It definitely does,” she answers. “You get used to it, actually. The work takes over, the in-person times get better.” She chuckles and finishes the last of her drink. “The fights get weirder.”

“Our fights are pretty weird already,” she mutters.

“They’ll get more so. Last week, Namjoon and I had this huge fight because I forgot to lock my front door again.” She rolls her eyes. “I mean - yeah, he wasn’t totally wrong and it was maybe careless of me but I live in a safe building, you know? I know all my neighbours.”

Dilara nods, sensing they might be nearing the venting stage of their day-drinking session. But just then, Kaya glances at her phone.

“We should probably head back, though. I’m going to need to sober up before we leave,” she admits, wincing theatrically.

They ask for the cheque and leave soon after, and it becomes apparent to Dilara as they reach the hotel that Kaya was not exaggerating her need to sober up. She can’t help but enjoy it, though; it’s been a long time since she’s enjoyed a normal day out with a girlfriend with whom she’s felt such an immediate kinship. Kaya is an adorable drunk, she discovers, one that seems to shed a layer of her maturity and grown-up aura after a few drinks.

“It’s… wow, we have forty-five minutes to go,” remarks Dilara as they enter the lobby.

“And that’s why I suggested doing the hair stuff in the beginning. I had a feeling I might go overboard with the drinks,” points out Kaya, rummaging in her bag. “Where is my phone, my phone… oh, it’s in my pocket…”

She’s slurring less than she was before, though, which Dilara takes as a good sign. The elevator door opens and they’re met with Namjoon standing inside, fully dressed in a designer suit and his dark blond hair styled, his head low over his phone. The moment he looks up, however, his deep frown fades and a relieved smile spreads across his face.

“Thank God, I thought you guys were -”

“Hey, babe!” Kaya hops in, wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him on the mouth. He takes a moment but his hands come up to rest on her waist when she pulls away and takes in his figure. “Shit, you look hot.”

Namjoon raises his eyebrows. “Um, I - thanks. You look…” He frowns at her as she moves to stand next to him. “Are you drunk?”

She groans and places her head on his shoulder, holding his arm, while Dilara suppresses a smile at how concerned he looks. “Just a little.” She straightens up and carefully brushes her hair off her face. “I just need a black coffee and I’ll be fine.”

Namjoon’s tongue pokes through his chin but he doesn’t say anything, simply holding her waist to steady her. Suddenly feeling awkward, Dilara clears her throat.

“Tae - has he left already?”

“About half an hour ago.”

She nods, taking another peek at her dress inside the bag. She may have overhyped it, but Taehyung loves hype, as she’s discovered. The elevator reaches the top floor and opens soundlessly and all three of them step out, Dilara going in the opposite direction as the other two.

“I’ll see you guys downstairs!” She looks back to see Namjoon nod once in response as he and Kaya walk back to the other shared room, tall and beautiful, holding hands. 

They reach the room and Kaya lets go of his hand, suddenly exhausted. She reaches the bed and falls backwards on it, welcoming the cool air conditioning and groaning again.

“How awesome would a nap be right now?” she mumbles, before rubbing her face and sitting up. “Could you order me a coffee? I’ll start getting ready.” She slides off the bed and heads into the bathroom, frowning when he doesn’t respond. “Joon?”

She steps outside and sees him in front of the full length mirror, strapping on a watch and notably silent. His jaw is hardened and Kaya’s heart skips an uncomfortable beat.

“What’s wrong?”

Namjoon doesn’t look up at her. “It’s…” He checks the watch. “... three twenty-five and you’re asking me this question?”

She frowns, wondering if she’s missing something. “You said we had to leave at four. That means I still have -”

“Yeah, I can do the math.” He cuts her off. “But you’re also drunk. Was that really necessary? Today?”

“I’m not drunk,” she clarifies. “I’m… a little buzzed, that’s all. And that’s why I asked for that coffee -”

“I don’t have time to order you a coffee, Kaya!”

“Fine! I’ll just have the one in the room -”

“That’s not the point!” Namjoon shakes his head as his phone pings and he picks it up. He sighs as he reads it before looking up at her. “This is an important night for me - and a stressful one. I don’t need to be worried about getting you sober or -”

“You don’t have to!” she exclaims. “I’ll make my own coffee and I’ll -”

“You’re going to drink a coffee, get dressed and everything in half an hour?”

“Yes, I will! Namjoon, I’m not going to ruin your night just because I had a couple of drinks at -”

But she’s cut off by his phone ringing, which he answers and speaks into in Korean, pinching the bridge of his nose and nodding. Kaya shakes her head but falls silent, her buzz having rapidly disappeared but her heart now feeling uncomfortably heavy. 

Namjoon nods and hangs up, taking a moment before looking up at her. “You know what? I can’t fight with you right now - we’re getting late. Will you meet me downstairs?” He waits for her to nod silently before striding over to the door. 

Kaya turns to go back to the bathroom, spotting her dress in its cover hanging on the clothes rack in the open closet. She stops in her tracks when she hears him speak again.

“I really needed you to have my back today, Kaya.” Before she can respond, the door closes shut.

—

The green room backstage at the Grammys is more spacious than Dilara would’ve predicted. She realises she may have been picturing her own changing rooms in the paddocks, but the backstage area allotted to BTS is huge; there are make-up chairs and vanity mirrors, comfortable couches, a table on the side with water and healthy snacks, and a row of private changing rooms at the end.

Dilara is engaged in a makeshift game of tossing corn nuts in the air for Jungkook to catch in his mouth, making each attempt a little more complicated than the last. Jimin shows up midway but gets annoyed when he doesn’t catch a single one, opting instead to sabotage Jungkook.

“Higher, higher - he has a weak left side!” Jimin shrieks as Dilara chucks another one in the air, both of them guffawing when Jungkook trips and falls to the floor in his attempt to catch it.

“I still got it!” Jungkook points out, chewing on the corn nut and getting to his feet. A stylist appears from seemingly nowhere and begins dusting off his trousers, giving Dilara a dirty look as she leaves.

Deciding to make the rest of the game simpler, she tosses another nut in the air, but it’s caught in the air halfway to Jungkook. Jimin cackles melodiously at Jungkook’s momentarily stumped face when the corn nut doesn’t reach him, but no one else pays attention.

“Can I borrow my girlfriend for a minute?” Taehyung asks, face smooth and impassive, looking right at Dilara.

Unable to suppress her smile this time, she nods, having expected this. She tosses the bag of corn nuts on the nearest dressing table and lets Taehyung lead her to the back of the green room, away from everyone’s view, until they’re alone and she turns and leans backwards against the wall, pulling him to her by the hand.

“This is the wedding dress?” He fingers the thin floor-length chiffon material before running his hand up slowly up her hip and stopping at her waist. “The one I couldn’t see?”

She slaps his shoulder, albeit with less force than this morning, her heart quickening at their proximity and his height towering over her. “This is the one,” she confirms, tugging him closer by the arms so he’s pressed up against her. “Tell me it wasn’t just a little better waiting to see it in person instead of a picture.”

“It was worth the wait,” he murmurs in agreement, kissing her and pulling her close. Dilara responds with enthusiasm, satisfied with his reaction. Long, backless and floral, she made sure to come into his sight only a few minutes ago when he’d been outside, talking to the producer and a couple more people. She’d stayed by the doorway, waiting for him to notice her before giving him a brief, slow twirl and backing into the green room until he excused himself to come to her. She knows it’s a nice dress, but she knows the build-up to it was even better.

They separate before they get carried away and Dilara leans back again, happy and tingly all over. “You look sexy,” she comments, stroking the lapels of his jacket before pointing to the row of doors next to her. “Do you know if these changing rooms are empty?”

He grins. “They better be after we’re done with the performance. How was your day?” he asks, shaking out his styled blond hair and adjusting the bangs so they fall effortlessly over his forehead. 

“Good. Haven’t had a girls’ day in a while. When do you go on stage?” 

Taehyung exhales. “About fifteen minutes.” He looks like he’s about to say something before shaking his head. “How was, uh… wait, so you had a nice girls’ day. That’s good. Kaya is always alone at these things but now she has you.” He punctuates his sentence with an affectionate pinch to her cheek. “Did you get here okay?”

“Yeah, it was fine. I think she and Namjoon are fighting, though,” she says, wincing slightly. “They didn’t say a word to each other in the car and now you guys are going on stage soon…” She frowns when Taehyung hums distractedly, his eyes on the floor. “Hey. Are you okay?”

He bites his lip and looks up, and Dilara is surprised to see him looking anxious. “Just… just nervous. A little.” He exhales deeply again.

“Wait, really? You still get nervous? I mean -” She realises this might not be the right thing to say. “Well… don’t be. You’ll be amazing. You guys always are.”

Taehyung nods, looking slightly better. “I know. It’s just… Grammys.” He runs a hand over his mouth and smooths his hair back again.

“Um…” Dilara wonders if this might be the right way to go about it. “Do you need help calming down? Maybe I can be of some assistance.” Hesitantly, she lowers a hand below his belt and gently runs her fingers over his crotch. “Might get your mind off it?”

It takes him a moment to realise what she’s offering and a smile flashes across his face. “I… I love you. But I think I might lose all focus if you get anywhere near that right now,” he confesses.

Dilara nods and moves her hand away, squeezing his shoulders comfortingly. “After the show, then.”

“After the show. Come here,” he murmurs, pulling her to him and kissing her again. It’s faster this time, a little more heated with his anxiety out in the open. She gasps into his mouth when his hand tightens on her hips and he pulls away, a little breathless. “Maybe we can still -”

But just then, there’s a shout in Korean and he squeezes his eyes shut. “Sorry,” he mutters, opening them slowly. “I have to -”

“Go. And don’t worry,” she tells him, kissing him quickly. “You’re going to crush it. I love you.”

He nods gratefully and they head back to the common area where the members are all gathering in a circle with Namjoon in the middle. Dilara squeezes Taehyung’s hand before they separate, and she joins Kaya by one of the couches where she’s sitting by herself, her eyes on her boyfriend before they flicker away.

“How are you doing?” Dilara asks her.

“Totally sober,” she replies shortly. 

Dilara is reasonably convinced that they’re definitely in a disagreement of some sort. They’ve been simply keeping their distance ever since they left the hotel, barely saying a word to each other but drawing no additional attention to themselves. It’s a departure from how happy she’d looked when she’d seen him in the elevator this afternoon - and how his eyes had lit up when he’d seen her.

Now, despite Kaya looking absolutely sensational in a simple red satin slip dress with nothing but straps at the back, Namjoon has been maintaining his distance, although Dilara has caught him glancing over at her every few minutes when she isn’t looking.

She turns her attention back to Taehyung, though, waving at him when he turns to glance back at her as they leave to go on stage.

“Good luck, guys!” she calls, and a few of them return it with a chorus of thank you Dilaras. She notices Namjoon and Kaya hold each other’s gaze for a couple of seconds, where she mouths a tentative good luck and he nods back after a moment.

—

Taehyung sees nothing but lights, his members and dozens of faces in the audience that blur into each other. It’s a new song they’re performing, one they’re nominated for, and they give it everything they have. After weeks of practice, it’s expected.

It ends with thunderous applause from the audience. There’s cheering and whistles and although his heart is racing from the choreography, the response only makes the blood flow even faster. Next to him, the members are holding their ending poses until the lights dim and black out and all of them relax, grinning silently at each other at a successful performance.

Out of instinct, he looks to his left at the wings of the stage to see a few assistants and stylists, but between them, looking unbelievably angelic in her long, flowing dress - Dilara. She’s clapping and smiling right back at him, proud, affectionate and - he knows he’s not imagining it - aroused. She bites her lip at him and he grins and smirks back at her, when her gaze shifts slightly and the eye-fucking disappears, to be replaced by a dramatic narrowing of the eyes and her middle finger flashing momentarily.

Taehyung glances to his left to see Jungkook grinning and winking in her direction. His heart stutters unexpectedly for a moment and he almost misses when the producer signals for them to get off stage.

“What was that?” he mutters to Jungkook, after tapping his mic to check that it’s switched off.

“What?” Jungkook turns to him, panting and similarly out of breath. “Oh. Nothing. We had a bet.”

He provides no further explanation as they get off stage and everyone in the wings scrambles to make room for them. Taehyung notices Dilara gliding back to the green room with Kaya and follows them with a mild uneasiness he can’t quite place. But once everyone reaches and the mics are taken off, he searches for her to see her with eyes for no one but him, smiling radiantly and holding out a hand for him to take.

“Are you still too nervous?” she murmurs against his lips as they stumble into a private changing room. It’s dim but empty, smelling vaguely of cologne and powder.

“Not for this.” Taehyung grabs her hips and walks her backwards until she feels a dressing table behind her. The adrenaline is still flowing in his veins with fervour and the feel of her fingers unbuttoning his shirt and running through his hair makes him instantly hard.

“You were so sexy on stage,” she sighs, her mouth hot against his skin, from his collarbone to his sternum. “I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. All I kept thinking about was -” She nips at his stomach right above his belt, making him gasp, “- that you’re mine -” She unbuckles his belt and unbuttons his trousers, lightly biting his erection, “- and that you’re going to come off stage -” She lowers his boxers with her teeth “- and fuck me until everyone at that afterparty knows what you’ve done to me.”

Taehyung’s mind feels like it’s on autopilot when her lips wrap around his cock. He groans quietly, closing his eyes and dipping his head back as she takes him in. His hand goes to cradle her head in place, burying his fingers in her loose curls and gently clutching them. He looks down to see her dress spread out around her like fallen flowers and he knows he can’t wait any longer.

“Come up,” he whispers, tugging her up by her shoulders. “We don’t have a lot of time until they call me back.” He pulls her close by the waist and kisses her again before nudging her to turn around.

Dilara does so immediately, sweeping her long hair over one shoulder and shivering when he strokes her bare spine with a finger. “That means you’re not going to make me wait?” she asks hopefully, sighing when he presses rapid, wet kisses to her shoulder blade and pulls her flush against him, his chest warm against her back.

“Lucky you,” he murmurs, squeezing her breast and feeling her nipples hard and erect through the thin material. “God, I love you, Lara…” He nips at her ear before pulling one strap of her dress down her shoulder. He thinks of her expression from the wings again; direct, flushed, turned on as she returned his gaze…

“What was the bet?” he mutters against her earlobe, his hands tightening on her hips and bunching the fabric of her dress in his hand.

Dilara sighs distractedly. “What?”

“The bet,” he repeats calmly, biting her skin softly between his teeth and his tongue. “With Jungkook.”

“I don’t…” She reaches backwards to hold his head in place, tilting her neck. “Oh… nothing. I bet him he couldn’t sneak a… a moonwalk into the performance somewhere,” she murmurs. “Fuck, that feels good…”

Taehyung frowns, his mouth on her neck. “Did he?” He pushes her erection against her arse, hearing her gasp. “Did he do the moonwalk?”

But Dilara seems to have lost track of their conversation entirely. She reaches behind her and feels for his erection, wrapping her fingers around it. “God, Tae, you said you wouldn’t make me wait,” she whines. “I want you…”

“I did say that,” he mutters in agreement, lifting up her dress and reaching under it for her underwear. She sighs in relief and helps him hastily with the fabric when a loud knock interrupts them.

“Fuck!” Dilara exclaims in shock, freezing and looking towards the door. “No, no, no…”

Taehyung drops his head on her shoulder in frustration, his erection throbbing in anticipation of what was about to happen. The voice outside, belonging to one of the producers, is dry and uncaring as it knocks on all the doors one by one to tell the members to assemble for a recording.

“Damn it.” Dilara’s shoulders deflate and she sighs, straightening up and fixing her dress. Taehyung pulls his trousers back up, wincing as he tucks his erection back in and hoping it’ll disappear soon.

“I’m sorry,” he says softly, turning her around to face him. She shrugs as she helps him button up his shirt, but he can tell she’s disappointed, mostly because he is, too. Finally, when they’re both presentable again, she looks up at him.

“You were really fantastic on stage today,” she says, straightening his blond bangs and giving him a small smile. “I prefer watching from the audience, though.”

He smiles back, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Really? It’s easier to sneak into a dressing room when you’re backstage, though.”

“Good point,” she agrees, reaching up to kiss him. They share a sweet, loving kiss and Taehyung squeezes her affectionately, suddenly so grateful that she was able to make it here this weekend. 

There’s a shout this time and the voice is unmistakable as Hoseok’s, calling Taehyung’s name in a very knowing tone.

Dilara pulls away and exhales sharply. “Tonight,” she says, and he nods. “Properly. Without interruptions. I didn’t spend a bunch of money on this dress so I could take it off myself,” she informs him and opens the door.

“Is that permission to rip it off?” he clarifies as they walk out. “Just in case I get carried away?”

“I will kill you if you rip it, Tae…”

The group films a quick clip against the backdrop of the green room, taking a few attempts until everyone makes it through the script without error. Jungkook is in the middle, twiddling his thumbs and nodding into the camera with gigantic eyes while Namjoon next to him does most of the talking, looking very tall and reassuring as he talks about their nomination.

Taehyung sneaks a look at Dilara behind the cameras and crew, leaning against one of the vanity mirrors next to Kaya. She catches his eye and gives him a gorgeous smile, and he feels his heart skip a beat. Her scent still feels like it’s lingering; something expensive and fragrant and he takes a deep breath on camera, trying to hang on to it.

He doesn’t get an opportunity to get near it again for nearly an hour, once everyone is segregated into different cars for the half-a-block ride to the afterparty. 

One of the male stylists suggests a couple of times to Kaya to take a jacket because it might get cold at night, until she politely and firmly declines. She and Dilara enter the party first, before any of the members arrive and make a beeline for the open bar.

“I think I’ve had enough alcohol for today.” Kaya purses her lips and asks for a lemon spritzer, using the plastic stirrer with a sigh. In the midst of the party, complete with celebrities only seen on TV wearing the most outrageous outfits, Kaya looks extremely out of place in a normal dress and heels.

“How long before we can officially start acknowledging the guys in public again?” Dilara asks, mostly in an effort to engage her, but also because she’d been a little taken aback by the categorical instructions that the producers had given her and Kaya just before they’d gotten into the car.

“Usually about an hour or so,” supplies Kaya, taking a deep breath and sipping her drink. “The photographers apparently only show up at the beginning to cover the event and after that it’s a private party. Or something,” she adds after a moment, sounding disgruntled. “Who cares, right? It’s not like we know anyone else here.”

Dilara is more convinced than ever that she and Namjoon are in a fight. She finds herself strangely invested in it; she imagines this might be what it feels like to watch one’s parents fight.

“Well,” she begins, taking a sip of her drink. “If it helps, I don’t know anyone else here either.” She throws a friendly arm around Kaya’s shoulders. “We can just not know anyone together.”

Kaya gives her a forced smile before spotting something over her shoulder. “Isn’t that Lewis Hamilton over there?”

Dilara’s face goes slack and her arm falls to her side as she whips around. “Holy shit. Holy - it is! What is he doing here?”

“Probably the same thing you are.” Kaya raises her eyebrows. “He’s probably someone’s date,” she explains. “He was at the show, though.”

“Yeah, that’s because he’s Lewis,” reasons Dilara, turning back around to spot him in polite conversation with someone, his dreadlocks pulled back and his deep purple suit sparkling dimly under the strobe lights. “I should go say hi - do you want to come?”

For the first time all evening, Kaya’s face breaks out into an actual smile. “Are you serious? I - Lewis?” She exhales shakily and immediately smooths down her short, satin dress. “Are you sure?”

Dilara grins. “Of course. He’s pretty nice.”

Kaya begins adjusting her hair, looking thoroughly starstruck. “Okay. Shit. He’s, like, my favourite driver. After - after you, of course,” she amends sheepishly, squeezing Dilara’s arm. “You really don’t mind?”

“Despite that, no. I don’t.” She grabs Kaya’s hand and begins walking in his direction. “Come on.” They head over to Lewis, who spots Dilara just as they reach.

There’s some general pleasantries; Dilara can tell Lewis feels just the tiniest bit more comfortable around someone from his territory as he introduces his date, a vaguely familiar singer she can’t place. She introduces Kaya, who blushes and stammers a bit but ends up coming across as awkward and charming all at once. 

Dilara clicks a picture of them, then poses with Lewis for one of the official photographers before they separate, at which point BTS finally arrives. She catches Hoseok’s eye first, followed by Taehyung who grins at her, cameras apparently be damned, while Namjoon seems to be very methodically scanning the party until he spots Kaya and his shoulders relax a bit.

While BTS’s producers had given both Dilara and Kaya a mild warning to stay away from the guys initially, no such intimation seems to have reached the group themselves. Jungkook joins them almost immediately, looking surprised but rather enamoured at meeting Lewis, who seems to be vaguely taken off guard at meeting so many new people all of a sudden.

“You’re here with a date, too?” he asks her during a brief moment when Jungkook has to answer his phone in the midst of interrogating Lewis about his gym routine.

“I’m here as a date,” she corrects him, feeling pleasantly tingly as she says it. “This may be totally anti-feminist of me or whatever, but there’s something kind of cool about being on someone’s arm in their… well, in their version of the paddock.” 

Lewis chuckles knowingly, glancing briefly at his date who’s speaking to someone else. “Yeah, I get it. It’s a nice change. I didn’t see you at the show, though.”

“Nope, I was watching the show from backstage,” she explains, spotting Taehyung and Hoseok reaching them. “Being a supportive girlfriend and all that,” she adds, smiling at Taehyung as he nears her.

“Oh, well, your boyfriend’s a lucky guy.” He pats Jungkook’s arm, who’s just finished his call, and it takes Dilara a moment to realise what he’s talking about.

“Oh, he’s not my boyfriend,” she clarifies immediately, snickering at Jungkook’s wide eyes and deer-in-headlights expression. “God, no. This is my boyfriend.” She links her arm with Taehyung’s, who’s just reached them, once again taken aback at how handsome he looks in his suit .

Lewis’s smile vanishes and he looks momentarily mortified. “Oh, damn. Sorry, man, I just assumed - but my mistake. Lewis,” he introduces himself, offering his hand. Taehyung shakes it and introduces himself, but Dilara can hear the slight clip in his words and after some awkward conversation, they disperse.

“I thought you guys couldn’t be seen with us.” Dilara takes care to keep her hands to herself as she and Taehyung head over to the bar, noticing the frequent and admiring glances he gets from other guests. She moves a little closer to him, their shoulders brushing.

“I don’t really care about that here,” he says dismissively, taking her hand but letting it go a moment later. “Unless you do? If you’re worried about the cameras, we can stay away,” he assures her. “Most of these photographers won’t be able to publish anything about us without the company going after them, but if you have a problem…”

“I don’t want to,” she admits, her shoulders slumping a little. “I thought I’d be invisible at this party but now that Lewis is here, this is going to make its way into the sports’ page somehow.” She shudders. “There’s nothing worse than an athlete’s love life being made public. Takes away from the sport entirely. Only playboy-Lewis can get away with it,” she adds, glancing in his direction a little resentfully.

“It’s settled, then,” says Taehyung, stopping at the bar and asking for a whiskey with soda. “We’ll keep our distance tonight. No acting like a couple.”

Dilara nods, setting her empty glass on the bar and leaning against it. “No holding hands, no kissing.”

“No dancing. No matter the song,” he adds, rolling his eyes as one of their mutual favourite R&B tracks begins playing.

She makes a face and nudges his arm. “Nothing at all. Not until we get back to the hotel.”

“M-hm.” He nods, taking a sip from his drink. “Then I can get under that beautiful dress and eat you out until you’re begging for my cock,” he says nonchalantly, his deep voice low and still cutting through the loud music.

Dilara almost chokes, feeling a jolt low in her stomach that slowly spreads even lower. “I’m going to hold you to that,” she says weakly, exhaling shakily as a faint smirk spreads across his face. 

“Can’t wait.” He glances around them and quickly presses a chaste kiss to her cheek. “See you later, jagiya.” He walks past her and blends into the crowd, turning around and giving her a smile just before he disappears.

Her heart still racing, Dilara looks around for something to distract her. She spots a figure in shiny red, long blown-out black hair casually falling down one shoulder, standing alone with a glass and looking like a lonely, troubled protagonist from an R-rated indie movie about drugs and shady characters.

“Heyyy,” she says slowly, sidling up to Kaya. “How’s it going?”

“Fabulous.” Her excited demeanour while meeting Lewis seems to have disappeared entirely, to be replaced by a sarcastic, slightly put-out tone. She briefly glances diagonally across before scoffing quietly and turning away.

Dilara follows her gaze to see Namjoon, in conversation with a tall woman with purple hair whose back is to them, speaking animatedly over the music. As she watches, the woman laughs at something he says and flirtatiously pushes his shoulder. 

“Oh, shit,” mutters Dilara, wincing slightly.

“Do you think it’ll cause a scene if I kick something right now?” Kaya murmurs, looking deliberately into her glass.

“Possibly,” she replies, trying not to make it obvious to Namjoon that they’re talking about him. “If it helps, he’s not encouraging her. And he’s - oh, God - he’s looking over here,” she mutters quickly, her eyes snapping away.

“Yeah, he’s been doing that. It’s not helping.”

Dilara sneaks another look and wrinkles her nose a little. “I mean… he really doesn’t seem comfortable with it.”

It’s true, for Namjoon, while being polite and engaging, seems to be making every effort to maintain a professional distance. His hands are in his pockets and he subtly leans away every few seconds whenever the woman he’s talking to gets closer. His gaze darts furtively in Kaya’s direction again, who seems to be determined not to acknowledge him.

“Well, he’s still there, isn’t he?” Kaya snaps quietly, taking a large sip of her clear drink. “Sorry,” she murmurs after a moment. “It’s just annoying watching this every time, you know? They think he’s single and I have to keep my damn distance…” She shakes her head.

“Hey, I get it,” agrees Dilara sympathetically. “He’s looking over here again, though.”

Kaya raises her eyebrows, not turning around. “Yeah? You think I should walk away?”

“Oh, definitely. Sweep your hair back as you do; it’ll drive him crazy.”

“Okay, tell me when.”

“Okay…” Dilara glances at Namjoon as subtly as she can for confirmation. “I’m going to go this way now. Wait five seconds and go the opposite way.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

They nod shortly at each other before Dilara sweeps away, her long dress flowing behind her. 

Kaya waits the appropriate amount of time but unable to resist, looks back over her shoulder at Namjoon again, just to see him nod and smile at something the woman says, his dimple visible all the way from over her. The woman goes in to hug him and Namjoon instinctively hugs her back with one arm and winces slightly, his eyes darting right towards Kaya.

Irritated beyond belief, she scoffs quietly and walks away, certainly less attractive than Dilara had advised. It’s a crowded party, though, and everyone seems to be actively enjoying themselves which she finds thoroughly unfair right now. Finally, she reaches the entrance and takes a turn into a balcony, mercifully empty except for a couple of men smoking at the other corner.

She leans over the bannister and sighs in annoyance, unable to appreciate the beauty of the hotel gardens at all. She’ll stay here all night if she has to, she decides, if it means not having to watch her stupid boyfriend with his stupid attractiveness flirt with the stupid women who can’t seem to stay away from it.

The night is chilly, though, and once her chagrin starts to subside somewhat, she feels goosebumps erupt on her arm. She tries unsuccessfully to shake some of her hair over her shoulders to cover the bare skin, regretting not taking that stylist’s advice to bring a jacket.

Mind over matter, she tries to tell herself, braving the cold. Just as she exhales and sees her breath turn into light mist, the cold is suddenly blocked and she feels a jacket being placed over her shoulders. The comfortingly familiar cologne tells her who it is before he appears before her, leaning sideways against the bannister in a slightly sheer black shirt and slacks.

“What are you drinking?” he asks calmly.

“Don’t worry, it’s non-alcoholic,” she mutters, trying to not show her relief at having a jacket. She places her glass on the edge of the bannister and glares in the opposite direction.

After a moment, Namjoon speaks again. “Kaya, that was work.”

“Looked like it.”

He sighs. “I have to be nice or there’ll be an article tomorrow somewhere about how BTS is rude and standoffish. I wasn’t responding to her at all,” he points out gently.

This is irrefutably true, but Kaya is in no mood to agree with him right now. The image of that purple-haired singer grabbing his arm makes her grit her teeth.

“It was pathetic to watch,” she mutters, shaking her head. “What kind of self-respecting woman goes after a guy with a girlfriend?”

He touches her elbow. “Baby, she doesn’t know.”

“Fine, would you like me to go tell her?” she snaps, finally looking up at him. It’s dark but for the moon and the lights from inside the party, but Kaya can still see mouth twist before he purses his lips and a dimple appears on his left cheek. “Shut up,” she mutters, rolling her eyes.

Namjoon snickers quietly, moving closer to her. He looks so handsome - insanely handsome - that it only annoys her even more when his grin widens.

“Alright, you know what? How about I go in there,” she suggests tightly, shrugging off the jacket and slamming it in his chest, “and find some guy to flirt with and we’ll see how funny you find it then.” 

“Okay, okay, you’ve made your point,” laughs Namjoon, grabbing her wrist as she turns to leave and tugging her towards him. “You win. And I was not flirting with her.”

Kaya gives him a look but says nothing, folding her arms across her chest as he tenderly places the jacket back around her shoulders.

“I told one of the stylists to tell you to bring a jacket,” he says, his brow furrowing slightly. “I had a feeling it might get cold.”

“Oh,” she murmurs in surprise, as he smooths down the lapels. “Yeah, I - I guess I should’ve brought one.”

Namjoon drops his arms back to his side and tilts his head. “Was I too harsh?” he asks after a moment.

Kaya swallows, her gaze falling to the ground. “You mean back at the hotel or after that, when you abandoned me at a party where I don’t know anybody? Because if it’s the second, then, yes. If it’s the first… no,” she admits. “Not really.”

They’re quiet for a few seconds, the only sounds being from the party inside. Despite the less-than-perfect evening, Kaya can’t help but finally feel a bit relieved to be in his presence. There’s something instantly safer about it; it’s worth the risk of photographers prowling around.

“I know how important your job is to you,” she points out after a moment, looking up at him. “I know how important tonight was for you - do you really think I’d ruin it for you by showing up plastered?”

“I was on edge, okay?” Namjoon runs a hand through his hair. “I was coordinating with a bunch of different people, the company was calling from Korea and -” He gives her a look. “Forgive me, baby, but you… don’t have the best track record when it comes to alcohol.”

Kaya’s eyes automatically widen, despite the cold, hard truth in this statement. “That’s… I - I was nowhere near as bad as Barcelona. Or even that book launch in Seoul last year. I paced myself today.”

“No, I - I’m sure you did.” He nods. “I trust you. But I was… it’s been a crazy stressful day,” he blurts out, suddenly looking far more tired. “Honestly, it’s a miracle we pulled off that performance today. We got through it by the skin of our teeth,” he confesses in a low voice, shaking his head slightly as though he still can’t believe it.

Kaya frowns. “What are you talking about? You guys seemed fine backstage - I mean, from what I could understand.”

“Jin hyung strained his throat this morning during rehearsal and Jungkook pulled a muscle that he kept insisting was fine,” he mutters, rolling his eyes. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer - the entire performance, I just kept worrying he’d fall on stage or something. And then Bang PD called me this morning to tell me about a meeting with Snoop Dogg and his entire team, with, like, an hour of notice.” Namjoon leans back against the bannister and hunches over, resting his hands on his thighs. He exhales hugely, as though he’s been holding his breath all day. “And all this was before lunch.”

“But -” She frowns, feeling her heart ache a little at his little outburst. “Namjoon, why didn’t you tell me any of this?”

“Because you had plans and… and it’s not your job to worry about this, too,” he says vaguely, straightening up but not meeting her eyes. “You’re here for less than a week as it is.”

“Yeah, but I’m here for you!” Kaya shakes her head. “You are the reason I’m here. Walking around Los Angeles is way down in my list, and only because I didn’t want to get in your way.”

He looks away, and she knows it’s because they’re going down a familiar route. “I was afraid if I told you, you’d cancel your plans, okay?”

“So?” Unlike him, she looks right at him, raising her eyebrows questioningly. “If I want to cancel, I’ll cancel. That’s up to me. Namjoon…” She sighs and takes his hand, waiting until he looks at her. “We’ve had this conversation before. You don’t have to protect my morale, okay? I’m not in your group. You’re not my leader - you’re my partner. And I’m your partner. But I can only be that if you let me.”

“Kaya, of course you’re my -”

“Not if you don’t tell me about the bad stuff,” she interrupts, cutting him off. “And you were - you’d started telling me things after the last time this happened.” She strokes the back of his hand with her thumb. “Why didn’t you this time?”

Namjoon doesn’t say anything, staring at their hands. “It was a lot,” he murmurs finally.

“Doesn’t matter. Tell me anyway.”

He nods slowly, sighing and looking up at her. He squeezes her hand and she squeezes it back, hoping he understands.

“Especially if you’re going to snap at me because of it.”

“I didn’t -”

“Just -” She cuts him off again, shushing him and moving closer to him, wrapping her arms loosely around his waist. She rests her forehead against his neck and waits for him to slowly, slightly awkwardly hug her back, and tightens her arms around him. After a moment, she feels him relax slightly.

“I didn’t mean to snap at you,” he mumbles against her hair.

She nods and shifts to rest her chin on his shoulder. “I should’ve been back sooner.”

They stay like that for a few more seconds when she remembers something.

“Oh, God.” Kaya takes a step back. “Is this allowed?”

Namjoon raises his eyebrows. “Are we allowed to… hug?”

“Yeah. Because of the photographers…” She points vaguely to the party. “Your producers said we should keep a distance because of the photographers - are they still here?”

“Wait, they said what?” His expression changes from confused to one of disbelief. “Again? I told them last time that there was no need to -”

“That’s not the point - I was asking about photographers and if there’s -”

“No, this is not okay, you don’t need to -”

“Namjoon, they’re just doing their job. It’s okay.” She nudges him gently. “I don’t think they’re here anymore. Not outside, at least.”

He straightens the jacket around her. “You look incredible,” he murmurs. “Like, out of this world, driving me crazy every second of tonight… incredible.” His eyes flicker over her figure. “I haven’t been able to take my eyes off you.”

Kaya bites her lip, trying not to reveal how her heart zooms at his words even three years later. “Really? Not even long enough for Miss USA to drape herself all over you?”

“I think she’s Canadian.”

She stares at him, tongue in her cheek until he snorts and pulls her closer by the hand, tilting his head slightly to kiss her on the cheek.

“I hate fighting with you,” he murmurs, pressing his forehead to her temple.

Her eyes flutter shut and she breathes in his scent, nuzzling his neck lightly. “Then stop looking so hot while you do it,” she snaps softly, just before their heads turn together and they share a kiss. She can feel his smile as his hand comes up to rest against her face, the kiss soft and teasing and sinking.

A cold gust of wind blows and Kaya shivers, pulling away slightly. “Shit, I didn’t think it’d be this cold.”

“Yeah, I know,” he murmurs, his lips ghosting over her jaw. “I can see your nipples through the dress.”

“What?” She instinctively hunches her shoulders and pulls the jacket tighter around her. “Are you serious?”

“M-hm.” His eyes flicker down to her chest and a smirk spreads across his face. “They look really sexy.”

“Don’t try to sexy talk me right now, Kim Namjoon,” she whispers, slapping his shoulder lightly. “Especially when you can’t follow through.”

Namjoon grins. “Fair enough. Although if you find a place private enough, I could be persuaded to show just how much I love seeing your nipples through your dress.”

She gives him a warning look before frowning slightly. “Actually, it’s pretty secluded here. Quiet.”

He raises his eyebrows and looks around the balcony. “Here? You want to fool around where anyone could walk in?”

Kaya chuckles. “No,” she answers. “I want you to talk to me about why you were stressed today.”

Namjoon’s smile fades. “Kaya…” When her expression doesn’t change, he sighs. “Why does it matter now? Everything worked out.”

“That’s good. You can tell me knowing that everything worked out.” She gives him the best doe eyes she can muster, knowing that a sexy dress is nothing compared to that when it comes to Namjoon. “Please.”

His eyes flicker but a moment later, he nods. “Okay, then.” He leans back against the bannister again and shakes his head affectionately at her. “I’m powerless when you ask me anything like that.” Smiling at her proud grin, he begins.

—

“Ugh, my feet are killing me.” Dilara leans against the closed door of their room and takes off her heels one by one. “How women in the entertainment industry wear this every day and not die, I will never understand. But it was a fun party,” she adds, tilting her head up and shaking back her hair so the cold air of the AC can permeate through it.

A few steps ahead of her, Taehyung loosens his tie and unties it, chucking it on the couch and going towards the mini bar in the room, stocked with snacks and bottles of water. He unscrews one and takes a long sip from it, his profile sharp.

“Turns out it’s a good thing Lewis was there because I would’ve been completely alone otherwise. Especially once Kaya and Namjoon made up. Oh, I have to send her the pictures…” She slides her phone out of her clutch and begins AirDropping them to her, selecting pictures of she and Lewis, and she and Namjoon looking rightfully back in love for the second half of the party. 

“... never seen Lewis dance this much before,” she continues. “I mean, he did seem a bit awkward at first but he was a good sport. Oh, and then Jungkook turned up, of course, and then Lewis genuinely loosened up a bit. By the way, I think Jungkook has a crush on him or something - he kept looking for excuses to hang out with us and basically talked his ear off about the season…”

Dilara looks up to see Taehyung taking off his jacket in silence, deliberately not looking at her. It’s strange; she wonders briefly if he’s annoyed at their lack of interaction at the party, but as far as she remembers, that had been a mutual decision. She tries again.

“So, uh…” She leans on her arm against the doorway of the bathroom, flipping her hair over one shoulder. “If I recall, you’d promised me something at the party. Something about my dress and…” She rides out the pause, watching him intently “...begging?”

“What if I say no?”

It occurs to Dilara only when he says it, that she hasn’t actually heard him speak more than a couple of words here and there since they left the party. She’d chalked it down to the other people in the car and general tiredness, but now she’s not sure.

“What?”

“What if I say no to sex tonight?” he repeats, unbuttoning the cuffs of his dress shirt and still not looking at her.

“Then… we don’t have sex.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

Dilara raises her eyebrows, utterly confused. “Am I okay with not having sex if you don’t want to? Yes. What is going on?”

“What’s the point then?” His words are biting - but something about this seems familiar. “Why are you here?”

“Are you serious?” She drops her arm and stands straight, feeling ridiculous. “What the hell is going on with you?”

“We’re not having sex,” he says, finally turning to her and the suddenness of it takes her aback. “So why are you here?”

Dilara takes a deep breath. Less than a month ago, she had been in a mood, a bad mood. She’d taken it out on everything around her, including Taehyung halfway across the world - and he’d silently let her until she’d calmed down herself. 

Taehyung is in a mood now, but letting him be in one is the worst thing she can do. He needs confrontation, whether or not he responds to it. He needs an argument, an opportunity to sulk and to get on the defensive before he concedes to the real issue.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” she asks him clearly, placing a hand on her hip and frowning at him. “Or do you just want to start a fight?”

Taehyung holds her gaze for a few seconds, eyes impassive and dark eyebrows slanting upwards. Then he swallows and shakes his head, looking at the floor.

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” he mutters to her surprise. “I’m just… I’m just not in the mood, okay?” He shuffles up to her and hesitantly kisses her cheek, before moving past her and into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

It’s an unprecedented situation, and Dilara can feel the initial worry of not knowing how to handle this - or even what this is. She tucks her hands behind her head on the pillow and frowns at the ceiling when the bathroom door opens and Taehyung emerges, his face bare of the make-up and hair slightly damp at the roots.

He looks up at her and stops in his tracks, taking in her t-shirt and underwear. “You changed.”

“Yeah.” She nods, trying to keep her tone even. “You said you didn’t want to have sex.”

For a moment, she thinks he’s going to make a snarky comment but then he nods. “Okay.” He changes into the same pajamas from the morning and forgoes a shirt, not speaking till he’s done. “You want to watch a movie?”

“A movie?”

“Yeah,” he says, climbing onto the bed and half-lying down next to her but making no physical contact. “Look, they have Pride and Prejudice,” he adds, scrolling through the options.

Dilara can’t believe she’s actually wishing for a fight, for this… this strange effort to not start a fight is throwing her off completely. She knows she should look at this as a positive and yet, it troubles her more than she expected.

She gives him a sideways glance to see him watching the opening credits, the picture reflecting in his pupils but the rest of his face betraying nothing. In a sudden movement, she reaches over and snatches the remote from his hand, and turns the television off.

“Hey!”

But Dilara ignores him, chucking the remote to the side and blocking him from going after it by straddling him.

“What are you doing? Lara -”

“I let you manhandle me during sex because we both like it but we both also know I’m stronger than you,” she hisses, pinning his shoulders to the pillow. She waits for him to relax underneath her before she loosens her grip. “Now will you please tell me what’s wrong?” she demands.

Taehyung narrows his eyes. “Is it bothering you this much that I said I didn’t want to have sex?”

“Shut up.” She hears her voice tremble a bit. “You’re hiding something from me. Again.”

She sees the moment it dawns on him what she’s referring to and his face goes slack. “Oh, hey… it’s nothing like that,” he says immediately, his voice low and reassuring. “I promise.”

“Then tell me.”

Taehyung purses his lips and looks away, glaring at the curtains to the side. He swallows. “Why are you here?” he asks, so quietly that she’s unsure for a moment if he’s speaking to her at all.

“What does that mean?”

“Why are you here?” he repeats, a little louder this time and looks up at her again. “Here, in LA, with - with me?”

Dilara stares at him. “I don’t know. Because we’re dating?” she says sarcastically. “Because we haven’t seen each other in a month - because I missed you and flew across two continents to see you? Because I love -”

“But why do you love me?”

“Is this about last year?” she asks after a moment, her stomach already twisting at the reminder. “Because I told you, I - I’ve forgiven - I mean, we’re moving forward with our -”

“No, it’s not about last year,” he interrupts her. “Or it is - I guess everything will always be about last year, a little bit.” He licks his lips slowly, looking at her imploringly. “Do you… do you think we make sense?”

Her shoulders relax a bit, despite how unexpected the question is. “Doesn’t everyone say we do?”

“In a funny way, yeah,” he admits. “But… do you think we make sense?”

He’s looking for an actual answer, she realises. “Yes,” she says simply. “I do.”

“Really? You don’t think you’d make more sense with one of your driver friends or… I don’t know…” He shrugs. “... Jungkook or someone?”

Something clicks, something so obvious she feels she should’ve been expecting it all along.

“Oh. This is about Lewis,” she guesses. “About him thinking Jungkook was my boyfriend? Tae, Lewis is the biggest recluse on the grid, okay? He doesn’t know anything about anyone’s life - I’m surprised he even knew one of you was my boyfriend.”

“He’s not completely wrong.”

“No - what? Yes, he is. The only reason he thought it was Jungkook is because he started talking to him about racing.”

“Look, this isn’t about Lewis,” says Taehyung quickly. “Okay? Don’t you think sometimes that you and Jungkook might make more sense?”

“No. I don’t love him; I don’t even like him like that. He’s like my brother,” she adds, wrinkling her nose. “And you know this.”

He covers his face with his hands and sighs. “God, okay. Not Jungkook specifically, but, like… Chris or - or someone you haven’t met yet. Someone that a person like Lewis will look at and immediately guess is your boyfriend?”

“Why?” she asks instantly. “Because we both like sports? Because we go to the gym together sometimes? Tae, those are hobbies. I have something in common with all my friends. That’s why they’re my friends.”

“And we’re something more?”

“Yes. God, I can’t believe you’re having to ask me this. After everything that’s happened.” She shakes her head, feeling slightly offended but when Taehyung doesn’t respond and simply lowers his gaze to his hands, she realises this may just be bigger than her. 

“Oh, my God, you’re still not convinced.” She sighs. “What do you want - a list of why we make more sense? Why I shouldn’t be with… Jungkook or - God forbid - Chris Park or someone?”

“A list would be good.”

Dilara raises her eyebrows. “Fine. Jungkook wouldn’t have taken me to an underground jazz bar in Ischia. He probably wouldn’t have even taken me to Ischia, out of nowhere and to such a secluded island. Chris wouldn’t have rented that particular villa,” she counts, holding up a second finger, “the one that looked like a gothic Victorian mansion because his primary requirement anywhere is an indoor gym. And literally no one else I know would have drawn a stick figure of Van Gogh on a pebble from the beach, called it “Darwin” and pretended it was a real living pet for the entire trip.”

Taehyung’s mouth twitches and she feels a bubble of encouragement in her chest.

“None of them would have pretended to be Will Turner to my Elizabeth Swann in that thrift store, because everyone usually wants to be Jack Sparrow,” she points out. “Jungkook wouldn’t have taken me to that jazz club because he hates jazz, Chris wouldn’t have danced with me in the street because he’s too stuck-up for that… and Tae -” Dilara sighs, squeezing his shoulder. “No one could’ve put up with as much punishment as you did last year for me. I gave you a lot of crap. I’m not saying you didn’t deserve it, but… it was a lot of crap,” she admits. “And you stayed through all of it. I don’t think anyone else would’ve done that.”

He gives her a small shrug after a moment. “You’d be surprised. It was worth it.”

“Be that as it may… Tae, no one else would’ve told me, in thirty-six hours of knowing me, that they loved me,” she reminds him, the memory from a thousand years ago still making her heart soar. “I mean, a person would have to be insane to do something like that.”

“You said it back.”

“I did. That’s my point.”

Taehyung bites his lip, and she can see the tip of his nose start to redden. “Lara…”

“No one else would’ve fucked me on the roof of your concert stadium in this city two years ago,” she adds. “Or got so jealous of Charlie Puth kissing me that they broke a glass.”

He frowns. “Didn’t you get angry with me for that later that night?”

“That and other things,” she admits, shrugging. “Doesn’t mean I didn’t love how much you cared.”

He gives her a half-chuckle. “You’re sure you’re not here just because the sex is really good?”

“The sex is really good,” she agrees earnestly. “And no one else could do to me what you do. I didn’t even know it was possible to feel half the things I do with you.”

Taehyung is quiet. His nose is reddening and his gaze is lowered, and he’s biting his lip hard.

“It really, really sucked losing you last year,” he whispers, sniffing.

“I know. It really sucked to lose you, too.” Dilara reaches over to brush her thumb against his cheekbone. “Taehyung. Tell me you get it. Tell me you know why I’m here. Why I’m still here,” she adds, her voice cracking slightly on the word.

“I’m so sorry. For last year.”

“I know.”

“I promise I’ll do better.” He reaches for her hand and links his fingers with hers, finally looking up at her with wet eyes. “Just don’t leave me, okay? I think it’ll kill me.”

“Write me a song.”

“I’ll write you a hundred.”

Dilara gives him a watery smile and dabs at the corner of her eye with the heel of her palm before lowering herself to kiss him, feeling him wrap his arms around her instantly and pulling her down to his side. He kisses her deeply, with a soft desperation and gratitude for a second chance.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs after a few seconds, his forehead against hers. “That dress was beautiful and I know you were looking forward to tonight.”

“Forget it. I’d rather watch the movie.” She pulls away and shrugs. “And the dress isn’t going anywhere. It’s mine.”

He kisses her forehead and pulls her to his side, lying on his back to face the television again. “I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”

“Deal.”

—

In a different bedroom of the same suite, Jimin enters and kicks off his shoes. “Tell me you have make-up wipes here,” he says to Jungkook, sighing dramatically. “I can feel it burning through my skin.”

Jungkook points noncommittally to the bathroom from where he’s sitting next to Hoseok on the couch and peering into his laptop screen.

“By the way, hyung,” calls Jimin from inside the bathroom, and Hoseok and Yoongi both look up out of habit. “You called it. Chaeyoung’s moving into Sooah’s place. She just told me.”

“Thank God.” Hoseok closes his hands into a fist while Yoongi silently goes back to his phone. “I’ve been trying to incept the idea in their minds for a few days now. But that didn’t work so I just asked Sooah,” he adds after a moment, shrugging.

Just then, the door opens and Namjoon enters, in a hoodie and track pants. “Need to borrow lotion, if someone has any,” he says, cutting right to the chase.

“In the suitcase, hyung,” supplies Jungkook, pointing to an open suitcase with items inside it neatly tucked into pockets. “Where’s Kaya?”

“In the shower.” Namjoon rummages through and retrieves a travel-size bottle. Squeezing some into one palm and rubbing his hands together, he takes stock of the room. “Isn’t Jimin here?”

“I’m here!” Jimin emerges, dabbing a cotton pad over his bare face. “God, I just want one whole day of anonymity tomorrow. JK, you want to go to Hollywood Boulevard with me?”

Before Jungkook can answer, Namjoon raises his eyebrows. “Why? So you can forget about your faux pas from tonight?”

Jungkook suddenly looks far more interested. “What faux pas?” he asks excitedly. 

“Nothing,” snaps Jimin, glaring at Namjoon.

“He talked to The Weeknd at the party,” says Yoongi dryly, without looking up from his phone. “And he called him…” He looks up at Jimin slowly, a hint of a smirk on his face, “… The Weeknd.”

Hoseok and Jungkook guffaw, while Jimin goes red in the face. “How was I supposed to know?” he demands shrilly, his voice getting drowned in laughter. “He only ever uses his stage name! Does anyone actually know his real name?”

“It’s Abel,” says Namjoon, the same time Jungkook says “it’s Joel.”

“See?” Jimin huffs while Jungkook processes this new information. “It’s just my bad luck that he came up to me and not JK,” he mutters, throwing his used make-up wipe at him.

“He would’ve had to leave Lewis Hamilton alone for that to happen,” points out Yoongi.

“I wasn’t with him the whole time,” says Jungkook defensively. “But he looked so cool. And it wasn’t just him - Dilara was there most of the time, too.”

Hoseok chuckles. “You mean your girlfriend?”

Jungkook’s stomach jolts belatedly when Namjoon grins at his hands. “What?” he asks, wondering if he’s missed a joke.

“Oi, Jimin!” Hoseok calls out excitedly. “Jungkook had an embarrassing moment, too. He was fanboying about F1 so hard that Lewis Hamilton thought he was Dilara’s boyfriend.”

Jimin’s eyes widen, while even Yoongi snorts. “What?” he asks in a hushed voice, looking delighted at the news of Jungkook’s embarrassment. “Where was Taehyung?”

“Right there.” Hoseok pats Jungkook’s shoulder, still snickering. “If it helps, Lewis looked more embarrassed than you did,” he informs him.

Jungkook chuckles along with everyone else, trying not to reveal his mild confusion. It had been strange and awkward for a moment when Lewis had made that mistake, especially when Dilara had laughed it off and immediately corrected him, grabbing Taehyung’s arm and looking up proudly at him. 

But Jungkook hadn’t thought much of it, not until Hoseok just joked about it. You mean your girlfriend?

Jungkook is no stranger to awkwardness. He knows awkwardness; he lives and breathes it. Awkwardness is his roommate, when it truly comes down to it. Ergo, the strange jolt he’d felt in front of Lewis when he’d mistaken Jungkook for Dilara’s boyfriend was not awkwardness. It wasn’t even embarrassment, as his members and he himself presumed until now.

No, Jungkook realises now, with a looming dread he would acknowledge only later, that he liked it.

—

Thanks for reading. Don't forget to drop a review :)

[bm571158]

Free Now LN4 (Part 7)

To say Lando was jittery when he arrived at the track in Melbourne for media day ahead of the first race of the season was an understatement. He had barely slept the night before, tossing and turning for hours, and sending Lottie an endless number of TikTok videos that had been amusing to his sleep deprived brain, but probably weren't as funny to her. He half wondered if he needed to text her and apologise. He'd given very little thought as he was doing it to what time of day it might be for her.

He didn't have the brain power to think about it for long though. As the car slowed on the approach to the track, his knee bounced nervously, and he felt sick to his stomach. There were crowds of fans lining the approach to the entrance. This time last year he would've wound down the window, waved and stopped to take photos with them. This year though, he just kept his head down and hoped that the glass of the windows was a dark enough tint that they might not be able to see who was inside.

There was a twinge of guilt that hit him that he was ignoring these people who had made such an effort to come out and support him. It settled uneasily on top of the anxiety at the thought of facing the media, not helping the nauseous feeling he'd had all morning. Breakfast had been out of the question that day, and even knowing his stomach was completely empty he still felt like he might throw up any second.

Of course he was scheduled to be in the press conference with Max. He'd seen that one coming a mile off, when the McLaren press team had told him it had just been confirmation of what he'd already known was coming, and had been absolutely dreading. He could already hear the questions, different variations of the same ones he'd been asked at the end of the previous year. The world wanting to hear a detailed account, from Lando himself, of all the ways he'd managed to fuck up his own chances at the championship while having the faster car.

It had occurred to him that morning to stay in bed and try and claim he was sick, anything to avoid having to go there and face the media. He was starting to wonder if the McLaren team had some kind of sixth sense though, because just as he was contemplating making the call, one of the girls on the team had turned up and knocked on his hotel room door to tell him it was time to go. Having an escort to the waiting car meant there was no escape.

It didn't help that he hadn't seen Max since the end of the season either. The two of them were friends, and they had been for a long time. He wasn't sure why he felt quite so anxious about seeing his friend again, after all it wasn't like Max was the type to hold it over him that he'd beaten him. Their friendship had survived several incidents on the track during some rather heated battles last year and he'd never questioned it. But for whatever reason, Lando found himself desperately wishing he could avoid him for a bit longer. Even though Max would probably have nothing but kind words and some encouragement that maybe this year would be his year, Lando simply didn't want to hear it.

He was slow to get out of the car when they parked up at the entrance to the paddock, just sitting there and staring into space until someone from McLaren opened the door and looked at him expectantly. "Sorry, I'm coming." He mumbled, feeling his cheeks flush with embarrassment that they'd just caught him staring into space like an idiot.

"We want to film a few clips on the way in." The woman explained to him as he climbed out of the car. "Highlight from last year, what you're looking forward to this year. Same thing we do every year, you know the drill."

"Right." Lando nodded weakly, scouring his mind for something positive he could say about last year, or this year if he was being honest. Would it be a bad thing if he said he was just looking forward to getting to the summer break because that would mean he'd survived the first part of the season?

His eyes flickered uncertainly towards the crowd of fans gathered outside the entrance to the paddock. He could already see things being held out in the hope that he might sign them or perhaps stop for a photo. There was absolutely nothing he wanted to do less in that moment, what he really wanted to be able to do was teleport into the sanctuary of his drivers room. But, if he walked past them all without acknowledging them then it was just going to pour fuel on the fire of the internet hatred, people would be saying he was rude and ungrateful on top of all the other things they were already saying about him.

So, he rearranged his face into what he sincerely hoped at least closely resembled a genuine smile, pulled his hat down a little bit further over his face and set off in the direction of the turnstiles, pass gripped firmly in his hand. He stopped at the far end and signed a couple of caps, trying to keep the smile on his face as he heard them tell him how disappointed they'd been that he'd missed out last year and they hoped that this year would be his year. He knew they were only trying to be nice, to offer some words of support and encouragement but he didn't want to hear it.

He picked up the pace after that, skipping his way along the line before splitting off in the direction of the turnstiles, keeping his head down as he heard people calling at him to come back. The only way he was going to survive this was to get his head down and make his way through the paddock and in to the safety of his drivers room as quickly as possible. He was so entirely focused on doing this, that he'd all but forgotten about the McLaren cameras that were trained expectantly on him once he got through the turnstiles.

"Lando?" They prompted, causing him to look up from where his gaze had been firmly fixed on the floor.

"Oh right... sorry." He mumbled, forcing another smile onto his face. "I uh... well, it's good to be back here for the start of another season. Last year obviously didn't work out the way I wanted it to in the end, but I'd say the highlight for me was getting my first win in Miami. I'm hoping I can do a better job this year and we'll have plenty more podiums to celebrate as a team."

He didn't hang around long enough for them to ask any more questions or tell him that it wasn't quite right. He just got his head back down, almost breaking into a run, as he headed for the McLaren hospitality. He'd actually ended up climbing through some bushes and taking a detour when he'd spotted sky sports in the middle of doing an interview stood in his path, unwilling to take the risk of walking by them in case they tried to talk to him.

Eventually though, even with the detour, he'd made it into McLaren. He'd mumbled his greetings to a few members of the team he hadn't seen for a while, then jogged up the stairs two at a time to get to his room, locking the door firmly behind himself in case anyone was tempted to come and find him. Then, he flopped down on the sofa in the corner of the room, throwing his head back with a groan.

It was going to be a very, very long day indeed for him.

*****

Lottie meanwhile, was tossing and turning in her bed at Flo's house, trying to get comfortable enough to get a couple of hours of sleep. Her leg was throbbing, an unwelcome reminder of how much more it was going to hurt in a few days when she had her surgery. She'd already taken another handful of painkillers, usually they knocked her right out and she'd then get to sleep, but on this occasion they didn't seem to be doing anything.

After another half an hour of trying to force herself to sleep and failing miserably, she gave up. She flicked on the bedside light and picked up her phone.

She couldn't help but smile as she saw a stack of TikTok notifications from Lando. One perk to him being on the other side of the world was that when she couldn't sleep, he was generally awake and willing to entertain her.

She scrolled through the videos, sending various reactions as the silly videos made her laugh. It was only a couple of minutes later that her phone started ringing, the notifications that she'd been replying to him obviously clueing him in that she was awake, despite the weird hour of the night.

"Hey." She yawned, answering the phone.

"What are you doing awake?" He asked. "Isn't it like the middle of the night there?"

"Yeah. I couldn't sleep. I was entertaining myself watching all this TikTok's that you sent me." She shrugged. "How's your day going?"

"Why can't you sleep?" He asked, and she could almost hear him frowning at her.

"My leg hurts and I can't get comfy." She told him, although she suspected he could've firghred the answer to that question out without having to ask her. It was the same reason she hadn't had a good nights sleep in months. "And now I don't have someone here who's willing to spend the whole night watching Netflix with me to keep me company."

"Trust me, I'd much rather be there with you doing that." Lando sighed.

"Where are you?" Lottie asked curiously.

"I uh... I'm at the track." He told her. "It's media day and then I've got some meetings with the team before tomorrow."

That more than accounted for the strange tone of his voice. "How are you finding it?" She asked softly.

"It uh... it's about what I expected." He told her. "I'll live, I'm sure."

"Tell me about it." She suggested.

"It's fine, I'm fine. You'll be bored. I'm making a problem out of nothing."

"I'm sure you're not." She told him. "And if you do bore me to sleep then that would be a win, maybe I'll finally get some sleep." She joked.

There was a faint laugh from Lando's end of the call but it didn't sound at all genuine, and she suddenly wished she could see his face. It was hard to get a read on it through the phone, but something was wrong.

"Oh it's fine." He said dismissively. "I'll be fine once I get back out there I'm sure. I might've just done a bit too much of a good job hiding from everyone over the break. I think I've forgotten how to do this, and then they're all just going to ask me questions about last year that I don't want to answer.... And yeah, it'll be the first time I've seen max and I just... I don't know, I'm being stupid I think. Ignore me."

"You're not being stupid." She reassured him. "I get it, it makes sense. I know he's your friend but it's always going to be a bit weird. You are allowed to be disappointed about last year, Lando. You don't have to keep trying to pretend that you aren't."

"I need to get over it and start thinking about this year." He sighed. "I think Zak must've told me that about one hundred times since the end of last season. I haven't seen him yet today but I can guarantee now that he says it at least three times before I can even get to the press conference."

"I know you don't want to hear it and it feels like people are saying stupid things that just make it worse, but they're only saying it because they care." She said softly, and she could hear him sighing on the other end of the phone.

"It doesn't make me feel any better though." He huffed. "I just want to forget about it. Pretend none of it ever happened."

"I don't know if we should really pretend that none of it happened." She disagreed. "If we did that then we'd have to forget about Miami too. Remember how happy you were? God Flo was crying when you won."

"Yeah." He sighed. "I was so happy, and then all of a sudden it went from 'he's never going to win a race' to 'he's going to win the diver's championship' in the space of a few weeks. I never even got to enjoy it really. The pressure was... is... it's ridiculous."

"I know." She agreed. "But neither of us can do anything to stop them. All I can do is say I'll be here if you want to call me up and rant about it after you're done?"

"God I wish you were here." He groaned, and then immediately felt embarrassed that he'd just said that out loud.

"I will come to a race as soon as this surgery is over and done with, I promise."

"When is the surgery again?" He asked, he'd been so wrapped up in his own stress and the thought of going racing again that he'd very nearly forgotten all about her rapidly approaching surgery.

"Wednesday." She told him. "So I'll still be here to watch you on tv and cheer you on this weekend. I think we're going over to have lunch with your mum and watch. I think she's missing your dad, she's been spending a lot of time here. It's really winding Flo up." She couldn't help but laugh at the memory of Flo and Cisca having an incredibly heated argument after Flo had come home from work to find her kitchen cupboards had all been rearranged into what Cisca had deemed a more logical order.

"I don't know why she didn't just come with him." Lando sighed. "Or he could've stayed home, they don't need to be here to watch me fuck it all up in person do they. It's there on tv for everyone to watch live."

"First of all, you're not going to fuck it up." Lottie told him firmly. "You've got absolutely no idea what's going to happen until you actually get out there. Secondly, they're your parents. Of course they want to be there to support you. We'd all be there if we could. Even Flo, as much as she jokes and moans and says she wouldn't, we all know she'd be there in a heartbeat if she thought it would help."

"I've been hiding from Dad." Lando confessed. "He's as bad as the rest of the team for the motivational speeches trying to convince me that this year will be my year. I just can't face it."

"Have you actually left your hotel room since you got there?" Lottie asked.

"Well, I was at Daniel's for a bit. It was okay there, he's been in my shoes and he gets it. He just sort of knew I didn't want to talk about it so we just talked about anything but racing and messed around on his farm..."

"And then?" Lottie prompted.

"Then I spent the rest of this week trying to hide from Carlos because he wants to play golf and that'll just turn into a whole day of him saying whatever he thinks will make me feel better and probably him complaining about the fact he had to leave Ferrari. I feel bad, he's my friend but I just... I don't know, I just sort of want to be on my own."

"You could just tell him that, instead of hiding from him." Lottie pointed out. "I don't think you're going to be able to hide from him all weekend, are you? And he's probably just worried about you. We all are."

"You don't need to worry about me." He mumbled. "I'll be fine."

"The minute you stop telling me you're fine every other sentence then maybe I'll start believing you." She rolled her eyes at him, not that he could see her.

"I don't think you can talk." He laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're just as bad as I am. Every other word out of your mouth is I'm fine, even though you're up in the middle of the night talking to me because you're in too much pain to sleep." He pointed out. "That hardly seems like something that someone who's absolutely fine would be doing."

"We aren't talking about me, we're talking about you." She tried to shake it off. "I am fine, it's a temporary thing, they're going to stick my leg back together properly this time and I'll be good as new."

"How do you stay so ridiculously positive about it? If that was me I'd..." he trailed off, because honestly he didn't know the answer. He had no idea what he'd do if he were in her shoes.

"I haven't really got a choice." She pointed out. "Just gotta keep going and try and trust it'll all work out for the best in the end. If not I'd probably end up actually driving myself mad."

It was the honest truth. She couldn't quite bring herself to tell him that actually, the only thing that was keeping her going was the slightly delusional hope she was going to come through this and beat all the odds to mean she'd get her life back the way it was. It didn't matter how many times the doctors tried to tell her it was never going to happen, she just ignored them in the hope that maybe they'd be wrong.

An insistent knocking on the door to Lando's drivers room stopped him before he could say anything else. "I have to go." He said quietly. "It must be time for the press conference if they've come looking for me."

"You can do it, you'll be fine." She reassured him, hearing the anxiety in his voice at even the thought of it. "I'll be right here watching on the tv, you can call me back straight after. I'll be awake."

"You need to get some sleep." He argued, and she could hear him shuffling around in the background as he got ready to go, the sound of the door being unlocked and him quietly telling someone he'd be two minutes.

"I haven't slept properly in months. One more night of broken sleep is not going to kill me." She joked. "You'll be doing me a favour really, providing me with something to watch."

"Do you think they'd notice if I didn't turn up?" Lando asked. "Or do you think maybe I can just ban every kind of question that's in anyway related to what went wrong last year?"

"You can try." She laughed. "You can do this though, I promise. I know it's easy for them all to say now that you could've and should've won, but remember this time last year it seemed absolutely ridiculous to anyone to even suggest that someone other than Max might win the championship. The fact that you gave him a bloody good run for his money and people actually thought you could win it is an achievement in itself. Don't you ever forget that."

"Maybe I should keep you on the phone and let you answer the questions for me." He joked. "You're very, very good at this."

"I know... but I haven't got that much of a filter. I'd be coming out with all kinds of things and you'd be doing so much community service you wouldn't even have time to race anymore, so I think it's probably best I just leave you to it. You'll be absolutely fine, I'm sure of it."

He was quiet for a long moment, as if he were carefully considering her words. "I've got to go, Lottie." He sighed, reaching the room the press conference was being held in. It looked like they were only waiting on him now before they could get started. "I'll call you back later."

"Yeah, okay." She agreed. "Good luck, Lando."

"Thanks." He sighed, hanging up the call. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and made his way to the front of the room to take his seat next to Max.

[bumblebeeappletree]

Millie has found a designer garden that is not only beautiful, but it has started a friendship.

When Jenny Cas and her family moved to Melbourne’s inner-city suburb of Northcote, she turned to landscape designer Fran Hale with the aim of turning their hot property into a very cool garden.

The modern home was light and airy but had a fairly empty garden and was incredibly hot in summer. They sought out Fran’s help to create a beautiful garden but also help shade and cool the house.

Fran was excited by the brief, which allowed her to include lots of different plants and find a way to design the space without a central lawn.

With two young children, Jenny also wanted to create some fun play areas.

Fran also focused on soft plantings to balance the bold lines of the home.

From the window the garden offers lots of interesting green layers that draw you outside, which is relaxing to come home to after work.

A perennial meadow of flowers creates interest through the summer and a shady entertaining area away from the house is quite immersive and feels separate; an escape area that both children and adults enjoy.

The process of working on the garden with Fran inspired Jenny to study garden design herself, and she now works on this as a side business – with Fran as a mentor.

Filmed on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country in Northcote, Vic

[artemisbarnowl]

My last role of film got very well bounced around in the camera so I've got work trips layered over reunion over wedding over Christmas. A couple worked out, and I've quickly become obsessed with the warm grainy quality of film (where's the post about a medium's flaws becoming the thing we miss about it?) but most pics do this honestly dream like collage. Everything fits together vaguely, you can't see clearly often but what you can see mostly means something.

My favourite might be the lily pond with a reflection that looks like a window to the backyard of the house. The lilypond is in the top end, I took the pic in August. The 'reflection' is a group photo I took at Christmas (January) in suburban Melbourne. I also love the top left where you get a small slice of sunset beach, a big gum in a cool temp rainforest, and then a sideways moonrise over palm trees. The first and third pics are separated by about 1 min and a 180 degree turn. In the middle you're transported to the future, and also 3000kms south.

Also below is one of my favourite Big Things. I love fibreglass boxing croc sooooo much. It just lives at a petrol station.

[banner123]

See-Through Window Film/One Way Vision Window Film !

One Way Vision Window Film to achieve a specific set of benefit such as privacy, solar control, advertising and branding, UV protection, security, decorative purposes and durability etc,

Banner House produces High-Quality Self-Adhesive One-Way Vision Films that are widely by businesses and individuals to advertise their brand on glass windows and still be able to see out .Select products from our Online Shop.

Banner House  is a top supplier of One Way Vision Window Film across Australia. We supply our products to all major cities including Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart, Darwin, Canberra and other regional towns.

[pomyred]

(Robertson-Swann 1980)

860 words

Yellow Peril

There has always been something about yellow that resonates with me. It was the colour in the box of crayons that I’d pick first and mum would say, “lots of yellow Karen.” I can remember the first new car my Dad bought, it was a Datsun 200B. He wanted the blue at first, but the salesman said he’d have to wait a few weeks but the yellow was available immediately, so Dad bought it. Dad loved that car, though people would say “but it’s yellow!” (Robertson 2024). In the late 70s a yellow car was an odd choice for a man in a society where real men smoked a packet a day and drove Holdens or Fords and Japanese Cars still smelt of war crimes. Melbourne was however heading into the 80s and a piece of public art as bright as morning sun glared into the greyness and dared us to change. (Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, 2021)

Back then Melbourne was a place that you travelled to for work by train, and at the end of the day, travelled back home by train. This was a time when Spencer St station had beige coloured tiles punctuated by the occasional DO NOT SPIT tile which as a child had me watching for spitters, though I never saw one. Bag ladies would wander through with shopping trolleys bursting with belongings and as I grew older, I realised they weren’t going to catch a train. People spent their lives rushing for trains, looking at their watches and running to opposite platforms in the hope of saving 5 minutes. At East Richmond station there was a large graffiti that said, HA HA HURRY YOUR LATE and as I gazed from the carriage I wondered if other people somewhere, were having more fun.

(Brown 2018)

Melbourne was drab, lots of grey buildings, lots of grey suits and men raised not to know any better would spend their working lives oblivious to the asbestos in the walls and the ashtrays full of dying butts on their desks. Fumes from photocopying machines would fill the air and windows were for lighting not breathing. After the workers disappeared the city was a barren landscape, and you could wander without seeing a soul and ponder the nature of existence whilst staring into empty streets. As a teenager the only thing to do was to see a new movie at Hoyt’s Mid City cinema, stare at boys in the foyer and gorge ourselves at the newly opened Pancake Parlour. I can remember my parents taking us to an art film and watching people walking out and a man yelling “pseudo artistic bullshit.” Art was flowing landscapes in muted colours that offended no one and idealised our country life as somehow similar to England, even though we all knew there was lies hidden in those sweeping plains. We were surrounded by statues of English gentry on horseback in frozen gallops leaping from the entrances of civic buildings in various shades of grey.

So what is it about yellow? In nature yellow stripes on the backs of bees signal a warning to us not to touch. Yellow flowers make us think of young love sitting in a meadow. Yellow is a symbol of joy and energy, it’s the colour I’d rather be, a person who doesn’t notice the grey, or at least not so much of it. Melbourne CBD in the 1970s was a workplace and the working class worked. There was little time for frivolity, and colour, especially dour colours, symbolised an unconscious oppression and a regimented workplace. There was nothing but the chill of a never ending winter of conformity. So they put the yellow sculpture in the heart of the city and our hearts moaned with an existential rage so fierce it revealed how effective our imprisonment to the workplace had become (museumoflost 2023). We circled the sculpture like an angry mob of mindless subjects imprisoned in homes with beige painted walls and houses with cream brick veneer and architecture whose invisibility was so comforting we could walk past without a glance. Sunday church was full of warnings about Yoga and the Devil, resisting dog ownership and our responsibility to pay the Tithe which had priests bellowing from the pulpits with an enthusiasm that made their eyes pop and their cheeks burst and Dad would tell us, “I think he’s been tucking into the blood of Christ again”. Yellow made our souls stir, it was that colour I picked from my crayon box that was fun and childish. It was my fathers yellow 200B (a Jap car) that was thumbing its nose at the men who drove the Fords and Holdens as dad waited at the lights and took off with his automatic transmission whilst the ‘He Men’ strained over their clunking gears. It was going to the National Gallery for the Picasso Exhibition to see the Weeping Woman and hearing my Nana wearing an old dead fox on her shoulders and batwing glasses say, “I like the frame.” It was teenagers playing electric guitar at the school eisteddfod and watching parents lead their children out in outrage. Yellow reminds us of something seen but not remembered. (Coleman 2019)

Author’s note

My story is about the way a public sculpture was received by Victorians when it was revealed in the 1980s. Vault was dubbed “Yellow Peril” by the media, and it has been known by this since the early days. It was removed to a more suitable location away from the City Square because it was viewed as unsuitable i.e. it was unpopular / hated. This name calling suggests how xenophobic society was in the 1970s and early 80s. I’ve used the sculpture and its colour as a memory cue, an attempt to take the reader back to my life as a teenager.

REFERENCES

Australian centre for Contemporary Art, (2021). Vault,

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/vault-aka-the-yellow-peril

Brown, L. (2018). ‘Do not spit' signs at Flinders St Station to survive $100 million new-millennium makeover. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-20/do-not-spit-signs-to-stay-at-flinders-st-station/9461510

Coleman, C. (2019). Boodjar ngan djoorla: Country, my bones. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.186316784427328

Robertson, R. (2024). PWP210 Narrative Nonfiction - PWP210 (OpenUnis SP 1)

Curtin OUA / Writing about art (week 3)

https://www.open.edu.au/

Robertson- Swann, R. (1980). Vault . Painted Steel Dimensions (H x W x D)

615 x 1184 x 1003 cm. Reproduced from https://citycollection.melbourne.vic.gov.au/vault/

The museum of lost things. (2024). The Great Vault Sculpture Controversy, https://www.museumoflost.com/the-great-vault-sculpture-controversy/

[pacifichire]

Scissor Lift Hire in Melbourne: The Ultimate Solution for Height Access and Safety

When it comes to working at height, whether it's for construction, maintenance, or event setup, safety and efficiency are paramount. In Melbourne, scissor lift hire has become the go-to solution for accessing elevated areas securely and efficiently. This versatile piece of equipment allows workers to reach heights that would otherwise be difficult or dangerous with traditional ladders or scaffolding. In this blog, we’ll explore why scissor lift hire in Melbourne is an excellent option for your next project, its benefits, types, and how to choose the right one for your needs.

What is a Scissor Lift?

A scissor lift is a mobile elevated work platform (MEWP) that allows operators to access high areas safely. The lift operates on a hydraulic or mechanical system, which uses a crisscross "scissor" mechanism to extend and retract the platform vertically. This design makes scissor lifts highly stable, offering a reliable way to reach great heights. They come in a variety of sizes, and some models even offer extended ranges, making them ideal for both indoor and outdoor use.

Why Hire a Scissor Lift in Melbourne?

Safety First

Working at height comes with inherent risks, especially when using ladders or makeshift scaffolding. Scissor lifts, however, provide a stable platform that is much safer. Equipped with guardrails and non-slip surfaces, they reduce the risk of falls and provide workers with a secure space to carry out tasks such as repairs, painting, or installations. Additionally, scissor lifts are designed to support multiple workers and tools, enabling them to complete tasks more effectively without compromising safety.

Cost-Effective Solution

Scissor lifts are an expensive investment for most businesses. Instead of purchasing a scissor lift that might only be used for a few projects per year, hiring one can be a much more cost-effective solution. Rental companies in Melbourne offer competitive rates, which means you only pay for the equipment when you need it. This can help businesses and contractors save money while ensuring access to high-quality equipment that is well-maintained and serviced.

Increased Productivity

Using a scissor lift allows workers to access elevated areas quickly and efficiently, reducing the amount of time spent on setup and takedown. The platform can be positioned precisely where it's needed, and it’s easier to move around than scaffolding, which can be cumbersome. This means tasks can be completed faster, boosting productivity and keeping projects on track.

Wide Range of Applications

Scissor lifts are highly versatile and can be used in a variety of industries. Whether you're in construction, electrical work, maintenance, event setup, or warehousing, there is a scissor lift that fits your needs. They’re ideal for tasks such as cleaning high windows, installing lighting or signage, stocktaking in high shelves, and even filming from elevated angles. Their ability to lift to varying heights makes them a flexible choice for projects of all sizes.

Types of Scissor Lifts for Hire in Melbourne

Scissor lifts come in different types, each suited for specific tasks. Here's a look at some of the most common ones available for hire in Melbourne:

Electric Scissor Lifts

Electric scissor lifts are designed for indoor use and are known for their quiet operation and low emissions. These lifts are ideal for tasks in warehouses, factories, and shopping centres. They are often compact and can fit through narrow doorways, making them perfect for indoor projects. Additionally, their electric motors ensure that they are environmentally friendly and suitable for use in enclosed spaces.

Rough Terrain Scissor Lifts

For outdoor tasks, especially on construction sites or uneven ground, rough terrain scissor lifts are the best option. These lifts are designed with heavy-duty tyres and a sturdy frame, allowing them to move across gravel, dirt, and other rough surfaces. They are equipped with enhanced stability features to ensure safe operation even on sloped or uneven terrain.

Diesel Scissor Lifts

Diesel-powered scissor lifts are typically used for larger-scale projects or in outdoor environments where power needs exceed what an electric lift can provide. Diesel scissor lifts offer high lifting capacities and longer operational durations, making them suitable for large construction projects or maintenance tasks that require constant lifting throughout the day.

How to Choose the Right Scissor Lift for Your Project

Selecting the right scissor lift for your job depends on several factors, including the height you need to reach, the surface you will be working on, and the weight capacity required. Here are some tips to help you make the right choice:

Consider the Maximum Working Height

Scissor lifts vary in height, with models that can extend from a few metres to over 20 metres. Assess the height you need to reach and choose a model that will provide adequate clearance for your work. Keep in mind that the maximum working height will be different from the platform height, so check both specifications before hiring.

Check the Weight Capacity

Each scissor lift has a specific weight capacity, which can range from 300 kg to over 700 kg, depending on the model. Consider how many workers and tools will be on the platform at once. Be sure to select a scissor lift with a capacity that accommodates the total weight without risking overloading.

Assess the Terrain

If you’re working outdoors or on uneven surfaces, a rough terrain scissor lift is essential. For indoor tasks on smooth, flat floors, an electric scissor lift will suffice. Make sure to evaluate the site conditions to choose the most appropriate lift for your project.

Choose the Right Rental Company

When hiring a scissor lift in Melbourne, choose a reputable rental company with a proven track record. Look for a company that offers well-maintained, up-to-date equipment, and provides safety training and delivery services. A trusted supplier will ensure your lift is delivered in top condition and meet all necessary safety regulations.

Conclusion

Scissor lift hire in Melbourne is an essential service for any project requiring height access. Whether you’re involved in construction, maintenance, or other tasks that involve working at height, scissor lifts provide a safer, more efficient, and cost-effective alternative to traditional methods. By selecting the right type of scissor lift and working with a reliable hire company, you can ensure your project runs smoothly and safely, allowing your team to reach new heights—literally and figuratively.

[gopdrpaintless]

Affordable Hail Damage Repair Cost: Restore Your Car Without Breaking the Bank!

Do not leave your car with hail damage—it can impact its functionality and appearance. In Melbourne, finding an affordable hail damage repair cost is easy with renowned service providers. Trusted mobile car repair services offer exceptional workmanship and competitive pricing to restore your car to its original look.

The experts can fix bumpers and panels without damaging the paint job, in addition to repairing car dents, scratches, and premium tinting in Ringwood. In this manner, anyone can restore their vehicle to its original state without spending a fortune.

Importance of Paintless Hail Damage and Dent Repair:

Paintless hail damage and dent repair ensure the integrity and value of the vehicle while saving time and money only when they are repaired by experts. Experienced Paintless Dent Repair or PDR service providers focus on removing dents without affecting the car’s original paint finish, to preserve its original appearance, and maintain its functionality and market value.

Skilled technicians apply the PDR method particularly for hail damage, as it eliminates the need for costly replacements or repainting, keeping repair costs low.

Expert technicians use specialized tools to restore the car’s body seamlessly, maintaining its aesthetic appeal and structural quality. They also cover insurance and warranty on workmanship to deliver a cost-effective and efficient solution to their clients.

In addition to dent repairs, many renowned services provide professional tinting services for car windows. They apply high-quality tinting films that are water and weather-proof, last for longer periods, enhance vehicle aesthetics, improve safety, reduce glare, and maintain comfortable interior temperatures.

Visit their website and contact them to check whether they ensure precise workmanship, helping to retain the car's value and making it road-ready in no time.

Check their services on business forums and social media marketplaces online and read reviews from their clients to gauge their service quality.

Ask friends, relatives, colleagues, or neighbours to check whether they have any experience with these service providers.

Contact them to ask whether they provide a warranty on their workmanship and products like tinting films, and check whether they maintain transparency in communication and pricing.

Lastly, ask for a detailed quotation and compare all these factors to find a renowned service provider for reliable, efficient, and customer-focused automotive solutions.

Source: https://gopdr-doncaster.blogspot.com/2025/01/affordable-hail-damage-repair-cost.html

[eclipsetint]

Enhance Privacy and Safety with Window Frosting and Safety Films in Melbourne.

Windows play a crucial role in allowing natural light into a room while offering beautiful views. However, there are times when additional privacy, safety, or comfort is needed. This is where Window Frosting Melbourne and Window Safety Film come into play. These solutions not only enhance the aesthetic appeal of your home or office but also provide functional benefits. If you're looking for an effective way to improve your property, read on to discover how these films can benefit your space.

What is Window Frosting?

Window frosting is a process that involves applying a translucent film to your windows, which gives them a frosted, etched, or opaque look. This is perfect for places where privacy is essential, such as bathrooms, offices, or any other space where you don't want outsiders to see inside. The beauty of window frosting is that it lets in natural light while obscuring the view, making it an ideal solution for homeowners and businesses alike.

Benefits of Window Frosting:

Privacy: Window frosting ensures that prying eyes cannot easily see inside your space, enhancing privacy in rooms like bathrooms or offices.

Aesthetic Appeal: With a variety of designs and textures available, window frosting can complement any décor, giving your windows an elegant or modern touch.

Natural Light: Unlike traditional blinds or curtains, frosted windows allow natural light to fill the room while still offering protection from outside views.

What is Window Safety Film?

Window safety film is a protective film designed to enhance the durability of your windows. When applied to glass, it makes the window much stronger and more resistant to shattering. In case of an impact or breakage, the film helps hold the shards together, reducing the risk of injury from flying glass. It’s an excellent safety feature for homes, offices, and businesses.

Benefits of Window Safety Film:

Increased Durability: Window safety film makes glass much more resistant to shattering, protecting both the glass and the people around it.

Security: Adding this film to your windows makes them harder to break, thus offering an additional layer of security against break-ins.

UV Protection: Many window safety films come with UV-blocking properties, which helps protect your furniture, flooring, and artwork from sun damage.

Why Choose Window Frosting and Safety Film in Melbourne?

Melbourne’s climate can vary, with some periods experiencing intense sunlight or storms. Both Window Frosting and Window Safety Film are practical solutions that protect your home or office while improving your space's overall comfort. Whether you're looking to reduce glare, enhance privacy, or improve safety, these window films offer versatile benefits.

Additionally, with the added focus on security and safety, these window films can provide peace of mind. For example, if you have young children or pets, window safety film is a proactive way to ensure their safety.

Professional Installation for Best Results

For the best results, it's crucial to have window frosting and safety films professionally installed. At Eclipse Tint, we offer expert installation services that ensure the films are applied correctly, providing long-lasting benefits. Whether you're looking to enhance privacy with window frosting or safeguard your space with window safety film, our team is here to help.

Get Started Today!

Don't wait for your windows to let in too much heat, glare, or for accidents to happen. Enhance your space's privacy, safety, and aesthetics today with Window Frosting and Window Safety Film. For more information or to schedule a consultation, contact us at 611300864703 or email us at info@eclipsetint.com. Let us help you transform your windows with high-quality, professional solutions that suit your needs.

[influencermagazineuk]

Taylor Swift has broken the incredible record, setting a new precedent in the music industry with her Eras tour. The 149-date global spectacle, which ended Sunday in Vancouver, has officially entered the books as the highest-grossing tour of all time, raking in an unprecedented $2,077,618,725 or £1.62 billion at the ticket windows. Confirmed by Taylor Swift Touring, this figure more than doubles the previous record for a completed tour. The previous titleholder was Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which grossed $939 million, but Swift achieved her historic revenue with much fewer shows—149 compared to Elton John's 330. This is a staggering accomplishment and puts Swift in the position of being an international phenomenon. Meanwhile, Coldplay's touring Music of the Spheres has already earned more than $1 billion and is still an option for future records. Being scheduled until mid-2025 and with the possibility of extra shows, it may compete with Swift. https://www.flickr.com/photos/el_ave/, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Critical Acclaim and Unprecedented Demand The Eras tour was also highly acclaimed for its artistic merit beyond its commercial success. It received critical acclaim, with four five-star reviews from The Guardian. Swift performed over three and a half hours of material, including all songs from her albums. Between legs of the tour, she managed to write and record her latest studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, released in April 2024. Tracks from the album were part of her setlist for the final stages of the tour. Tickets for the tour cost, on average, $204 each, which was a reflection of her devoted fans' willingness to shell out big money to feel part of the experience. So it was no surprise that when Ticketmaster opened ticket sales in November 2022, the response was so overwhelming that the company's systems crashed, with 3.5 billion requests flooding in. The controversy led to a US Senate hearing investigating Live Nation, Ticketmaster's parent company, for alleged monopoly practices. Global Highlights and Attendance Records Swift's world tour managed to bring the highest numbers of crowds all around the world, with London's Wembley Stadium featuring the biggest aggregate audience, 753,112, of eight shows. Melbourne Cricket Ground also reported the biggest attendance of 96,006 for one of the three concerts there. The $2 billion figure does not factor in all the revenue from merchandise sales. Other venues, huge pop-up shops had on offer for fans such things as hoodies and friendship bracelets, which have become a sort of cultural icon of the tour. Concert Film and Streaming Success Further additions to the tour's haul were its own concert film in October 2023 that grossed around $261 million at the theatres breaking the records then held by Justin Bieber's Never Say Never, with a 2011 intake of $99 million; it became Disney+ streaming several months after, with industry types reporting this sale deal valued $75 million. Taylor Swift's Eras tour is a seismic moment in the entertainment world. Its unprecedented success reflects not only Swift's artistry and influence but also the deep connection that she shares with her global fanbase. Whether measured by ticket sales, critical acclaim, or cultural impact, the tour has undoubtedly set a new gold standard for live performances. Read the full article

[myranker01]

Best Car Signage, Vehicle Signage in Pakenham Vic | Proven

Signage Gallery

Pakenham Signs & Design is a Melbourne based Signage & Design company specialising in corporate branding and signage production.

VIEW OUR WORK.

Pakenham Signs & Design has helped hundreds of businesses with their signage throughout Victoria. Below are images of just some of our jobs. Click the images to view larger.

car signage Pakenham

WE ALSO SUPPLY

Graphic Design, Printing, Router/Laser cut, 3D fabrication, Illuminated letters, Vehicle Signage, Car Wraps, Shopfront Signage, POS Signage, Event Signage, Window Film, Wall Graphics, Signage Installation, Wayfinding Signage, Structural Signage, Architectural Cladding.