Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After a year you'd think she was used to it, having developed an attachment to her handy blue clipboard over the twelve months she had been working at Focus Creeps, but that was just wishful thinking. Ella couldn't deny finding comfort in the routine of going to work and helping everyone at the production company achieve their best, even if it was just by getting a cup of dark coffee, no creamer and just two spoonfuls of sugar.

Focus Creeps was the brainchild of Ben Chappell and Aaron Brown, and being part of their crew was something she'd forever be grateful for. In the past year, she'd learned a lot more than she thought she could about production, directing and everything that goes behind different media productions like those fifteen second adverts one sees on tv while walking on the treadmill at the gym.

So far, there was a small variety of productions she had participated in as part of the crew: ads for Target or Mountain Dew, even a few for her favorite beer brand Budweiser, skits that ended up being ads for certain brands and some music videos for indie bands, which she ended up adding to her playlists afterwards.

With a smile she made her way through the door, saying "Good morning" to each of her coworkers. That day was yet another sunny day in Los Angeles—sunglasses perched on her nose were part of her usual attire. Despite it not being hot enough for it to be summer, the sun there was always deadly.

Echoes of greetings got to her ears while she set her stuff down at her desk. Immediately after she'd put her phone in the back pocket of her jeans and left her eyewear right by her family portrait, she turned on her heels and went straight to Aaron's office.

"Hey, Ella. How was the drive?" Aaron asked, giving her a small smile while he checked some list he had just printed out— it was a long one so she couldn't help thinking how tired she'd be after they wrapped up for the day.

"It was alright, very glad I didn't catch the traffic. Waking up twenty minutes earlier than usual really did the trick", knowing Los Angeles dreadful traffic for over a year now, Ella had made it a habit to wake up early, and though it was hard to be a morning person, she was proud to say she was never late and in a good mood despite it being well before eight in the morning.

Sometimes it was a hit or miss, that's why Aaron had given her the 20-minutes-earlier advice, the one she had put on practice that very morning and seemed to work like a charm, she had gotten there with half an hour to spare before everyone got to the office and ruckus begun.

"Lovely." He muttered while reaching for a highlighter behind him, "Today is going to be very busy, we have a music video to shoot," Ella celebrated on the inside, music videos were worth every bit of trouble and stress. It was so much fun to work with all the ideas everyone would throw around, added to the good music and everyone's good energy, it made the end result so much more fulfilling. "I'm just checking on some last things we need for today but I'd like you to go through this list and check if we have everything, please?"

"Of course, I'll have everything checked for you." She received the list with excitement but couldn't help but ask, "Who are we working with for this video?" Curiosity was seeping through her pores, and in her mind finding out a little bit about the artist they were going to work with was a bonus for the process of filming to feel more familiar and less awkward.

"Don't know if you've heard of them but it's this British band called Arctic Monkeys." Aaron took a sip of his coffee cup and raised his eyebrows to show that he actually approved of them and their art, "They are really good."

A little hum came from her after the band name was dropped, she couldn't say she had heard of them before but if Aaron said they were good then she'd trust him. Plus, if they had the budget to come all the way from the UK to Los Angeles just to record a music video, that had to mean they weren't just another small band—the musicians they'd worked with before were either locals or came from somewhere in the States.

"Well, I'll check them out after taking care of the list." Ella turned around after getting a smile from Aaron and making a promise of telling him how she found their tunes.

The list was long but not bad, she'd just have to make sure the different departments of production had everything to make the day go smoothly for everyone.

After making sure the venue they were recording at was scheduled for the day, the model/actress knew of where and when to go, makeup artists and costume design people had everything they needed for the shoot, and filming crew had their gear ready, she went back to her desk and placed the crossed over and highlighted list on the side.

Logged into her laptop, Ella opened her search engine and typed 'Arctic Monkeys'. A really weird name for a band she thought, but that's what musicians did: they were over the top and weird in their own ways, she really couldn't complain much about that.

Apparently they were very well known in their home country, Ella was quite impressed by them having historical debut album sales so she did what everyone would do after seeing that much impact for an LP—and of course, it's pretty sarcastic name—, she listened to it and to say she wasn't immediately drawn in to their sound was a lie.

Aware of how she had to check back in with Aaron before it got too late, she played the last track of the album when the first one was done. She loved the two tracks and she made a mental note to listen to the whole record on her drive back home, after going to the record store and getting the cd that was.

This time she went into Ben's office, seeing that Aaron was already in there. "Hi guys, list is all checked up and we're all good to go for the day."

"Thank you so much, we're all leaving in fifteen minutes so gather whatever you need before we head out." Aaron picked up the list and gave her a smile seeing everything handled, she for sure was one of the best PA's they'd worked with.

"Great, see you in a bit." Ella smiled and with that she left the room, making way to her desk where she just checked some emails to kill time.

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Everything was going great. The model had gotten there right in time and it didn't take much time to get her ready since her face wasn't going to be shown on camera. As they got her dressed and ready to film, the crew started arranging the room for the shoot: it was a simple living room, with a couple of pieces of colorful furniture including a little table with a vinyl collection on the bottom of it and a record player on top.

They'd had to cover the rest of the windows in the little apartment so the sun just came from the window in front of the table, just the center of the shot would be covered by natural lightning all enclosed by the shadows of the rest of the room.

It made it look cozy, the proper setting for a casual music video, which was the main idea of it. So after two hours of shooting, getting multiple takes of the same scenes and some backups, they wrapped up filming.

The lingering smell of tobacco in the air was making Ella crave going outside for a cigarette but they had to get back to the office and leave again for the studio in Hollywood, where they would finally meet the band so she really had no time to excuse herself and smoke for a bit.

And after another hour, the now smaller crew was ten minutes away from the location. Ella had been listening to their music on the way there, finding out that they had three records out and that she had been underestimating how good they actually were. She was sure she would have to wait weeks until her brain played another song on loop other than 'Teddy Picker'.

Don't be surprised when you get bent over

They told you, but you were gagging for it

With the end of that line, the van stopped right in front of Sunset Sound Recorders, the iconic recording studio. Ella had to leave the fangirling very deep inside her, but who wouldn't freak out? After all, not only were Disney movies and other legendary classics recorded there but artists like Prince, The Doors, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin had recorded here as well.

She bent forward to grab her blue clipboard, in which she had yet another list and a bunch of little post-its full with little notes on what she should double or triple check to make sure this music video ended up being just like the artists wanted it to be, and then paused her music, put her earbuds away and her phone in the back pocket of her jeans.

Aaron gave them all a little encouraging speech, like every time before a shoot. She appreciated this aspect of her work: everyone looking out for everyone, making sure they all enjoyed their jobs and giving their all for the best results.

Right behind the two directors, Ella made her way through the hallways, looking around marveled by the amount of tour posters and framed vinyl. She wanted so badly to detour and make her way through the studio on her own just to appreciate the history of the place, but she would leave that for another day.

Ben made another left and they went through a door right into a big recording studio, a console with far too many buttons and a glass window separating the crew from the room the whole band was in.

"Good morning, I'm Ben Chappell, this is Aaron Brown." Her bosses shook hands with the person sitting in front of the console, who she would only think was a producer, "We're here to film the music video."

"Oh yes. Hello, James Ford." The man introduced himself as he got up from his seat. The producer then turned around, pressed a button and leaned into the mic in the middle to say, "Lads, they're here for the music video."

With that the musicians turned around and walked from the far corner of the room they had been in, and the closer they got the more intimidated Ella was. With musicians it was always known to go two ways: they either are lovely to work with or they are so full of themselves that they act like complete assholes.

For the sake of the crew and her own, she wanted them to be the first option. She had loved their music, so it would be a pity having to know the people who made such good records were jerks.

They came through the side door, "Nice to meet you, I'm Alex. Alex Turner." The one with the leather jacket and the grown out shaggy hair said. He exuded rockstar energy and one could see it from miles away. After shaking hands he pointed to his bandmates and gave out each of their names "this is Jamie Cook, Matt Helders and Nick O'Malley".

As the formalities were done, she was standing at the door with the rest of the crew. After a year being in this job, she knew it was better for a PA to make herself useful and productive than to try and interact with the talent. The only times she'd ever really interact with them was to ask if they needed something else or if they wanted things done in another way. This time it would be no different.

So as the crew went into the room where the band had been and set up for the shoot, Ella went to her bosses to go over their bullet points on the video. The guys had asked to just be filmed playing the song and maybe film around the studio they were in.

She turned around to go back into the booth when Ben called her, "Ella, have them start filming around the booth, just some details from inside to show them and see if they like those shots."

She smiled and nodded, "On it." and with that she retreated back in the room, doing as she was told to, not noticing how Alex's eyes had followed her trail and were still stuck on her.

He had seen her right as they had walked out of the booth, intrigued by the fact that she didn't come forward and introduced herself along with Ben and Aaron. She was really pretty, and even having a girlfriend couldn't keep him from appreciating that. Ella, he thought, her name oddly fits her perfectly.

Ten minutes later she was back at the director's side, along with a cameraman who showed the clips first to Aaron and Ben and got the green light to show it to the band. Ella looked intricately at the band's reaction while Aaron explained how they would record the same shots but when they were performing the song inside so they could show the different devices working on the music video.

"Sounds good, shall we head inside and start?" Alex said as he looked up to the men standing in front of him, without missing the chance to steal another glance at Ella.

Tyler, the cameraman, went in first back to the booth with the band following behind. She stood there waiting on the side for everyone to go in before her, Nick let Aaron and Ben go in front of him, right after Matt and Jamie, and followed right after the directors, leaving only Alex and Ella left to go in.

The British musician turned to her when he reached the door, "Go ahead." He signaled to her with his hand, a tight lip smile on his face.

Heat coating her cheeks made her take a quick glance at the floor only to look up after a fraction of a second, smile back and say, "Oh, thank you."

Alex took great satisfaction in how easily it had been to make her blush so with the smile growing on his face, he grabbed his guitar and went over to the microphone. She watched his smooth movements from afar, how he put on the headphones that had been hanging on the microphone stand and the way his fingers enclosed swiftly around the neck of his guitar.

Just like that, after a minute of making sure their instruments were tuned and a confirmation from James that everything sounded great, they started playing.

Cameras were rolling, one focused on them and the second on their surroundings. Aaron giving silent instructions on how to record the band, Ben making sure every inch of the booth was being filmed, making Tyler take more time in some details from different devices.

Ella was almost hidden in a corner of the booth, half aware of the work the crew was doing and half hypnotized by the way the four guys made what sounded like the same five verses sound so good. Her gaze particularly stuck on the lead singer, his poise so encaptivating she just couldn't look away, and his voice filling her head the same as he had been on the drive to the studio just this time it didn't come from her earbuds.

And of course he had to look up, right when she was staring, but she had to own it so it was less embarrassing. She kept up her gaze on him and him on hers. Alex smirked as he sang and then looked back down to his fingers making his way through the strings of his guitar.

She was sure that the moment hadn't been more than four seconds, but the feeling of a lifetime going by she got from that look had her slightly dizzy. So much for being professional, Ella she thought. It had just been a stare though and whatever it was that it made her feel, was short and one sided, nothing she couldn't come back from.

Just another good looking guy, like any other model they had worked with once or twice to never see again, and it was going to be the same thing this time—if she hadn't seen a local model ever again, then she for sure wouldn't see the British band more times after this.

They did three takes of the song, each filmed in a different style to have them choose which they liked best. So far it had been an easy job, lovely people to work with and no complaints. In fact, she had enjoyed seeing the band's dynamic and how they didn't care to show how playful they could be in front of others.

Their laughs were very contagious, she had found herself biting her tongue not to laugh out loud at their jokes and teasing. Alex had noticed though, his head turning when he heard a short snort after Matt had said something, she tried to cover it up with a cough and a tilt of her head but the way her eyes were crinkled and her hand covering up her smile gave it away.

Adorable he had thought.

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After making sure the band liked the takes and it would be enough to work with when editing later, Aaron and Ben decided to wrap up and take a quick lunch break. The crew made a short walk to a food chain a couple of blocks away where they had lunch together and rested a bit before heading to the beach.

An hour long drive later they were facing the coastline of California. It was approaching sunset time now, which the directors drooled over, for it would give the music video a much stronger Californian aesthetic.

They had purposefully avoided any area close to Santa Monica because it would be overflowing with people and that would only mean that the possibility of the filming being interrupted, ruined or elongated was high, so they settled for a quiet almost empty beach twenty minutes north from the iconic pier.

The band had gotten there a few minutes after they did, Aaron talking to Alex about an idea he and Ben had come up with including shots of the California coastline during the sunset and to make it match, they would be just recording them walking along the beach during it as well.

With the band's approval, he had Ella direct half of the crew to film that scenery. Once they left, Ella made her way back to her bosses "Okay, that's all set, they're going to drive and film for an hour to make sure they get enough footage."

Aaron said a quick thank you before turning to the brits, "Okay guys, we'll start rolling in a few minutes, we are going to set everything up and do a few practice shots and then check if that's alright with you, sounds good?"

A chorus of 'yes' and its variations was heard and Ella once again left to make sure everyone was getting ready. The stylist made her way to the guys to touch up their hair and check if they wanted any outfit changes.

Ten minutes later, they had started filming. The sun wasn't setting just yet, only just making its slow way down towards the water and she swore it was out of a painting. The four men were glowing under the sun's rays and it would be a lie to say they all didn't look stunning.

They were called over to check the videos that had been captured and said it looked really good, so everyone sat down for a bit, waiting for the sun to set.

Ella was sat by the greenery that had made its way through a rock, splashes of yellow flowers on top, hoping the earthy warmth cured the way she was starting to shake from the wind.

"Are you alright?" the question made its way to her ears, words coated in a thick English accent.

An 'oh' left her lips when she looked up to find Alex Turner looking down at her, she cleared her throat. "Yeah, just a little bit cold," she looked at the sea and then back up when she felt his gaze not leaving her, "Are you all enjoying the shoot?"

He sat down beside her on the massive rock, taking his hands out of the pockets of his jeans, "It's been fun, yeah." He turned to look at her, he was a little bit taller than her when sitting down.

"Have you been to California before?" Ella hugged herself when a strong wind blew past her, she shouldn't have trusted California weather and brought a jacket.

"We have a few times. This is the second time we've come to record though," he was looking ahead, but didn't miss the way she was shaking so he turned to her, "Do you wanna change places? I can block the wind from hitting you." and he was right, if he sat where she was, he could cover her from the wind hitting her left side.

She shook one last time before letting a pathetic "Yes, please" out, Alex just smiled at her and took her place. A few seconds must've gone by when a hard breeze flew by, their new seating arrangement working just as planned, "That's better, thank you." she said blushing.

Taking a deep breath she continued, "Uhm... I hope you all are liking your stay here, ever-not-so-very-sunny-right-now California"

He chuckled at that, "It has been good to us, yeah." They looked at each other and she just gave him a tiny nod.

She wasn't sure what to do next so she just closed her mouth to not say something she might regret, not because it would be bad but because he intimidated her and she feared saying something dumb or embarrassing out of pressure.

So they sat there in silence, one that was surprisingly comfortable as if they were just two lifelong friends enjoying each other's company relishing the old days in their minds, staring out into the deep sea and admiring the reflection of the dying sun on it.

That was until Ben called her, she turned immediately and stood up quicker than she would've liked. She opened her mouth to say something to the man sitting down but nothing came out while she struggled to pick the right words in her mind. She settled for a "I'll see you around," she leaned down to get her clipboard, dusting off some sand from it and left with a quick pace.

Alex watched her leave, noticing how she listened thoughtfully at the directors and nodded every few seconds, her brows furrowed and writing down a few notes. Mindful of his staring, he fished for his cigarettes in the pocket of his jeans, taking one into his mouth and covering it with his hand while lighting it, due to the still strong wind going around. He blew a cloud of smoke into the air, head slightly tilted back, loving the way he relaxed instantly with just the first drag.

A few minutes must've gone by when he was almost done with his cigarette, noticing Ella going around talking to the crew, all of them setting up and getting ready to film. Matt came to where he was at, following the direction of his eyes and landing on Ella's figure, he laughed a little and shook his head "Alright player, need I remind you you have a girlfriend?".

Rolling his eyes, Alex settled for not entertaining the teasing, after decades of friendship he knew better than that. "Shall we go where we're supposed to be now?" He put out the last of his cigarette on top of the rock and threw it somewhere behind it.

"Yeah, we're all ready." The drummer replied and he nodded. Calling the rest of the bandmates, they started walking towards the ocean.

Just as they were about to reach the start of the wet sand, they heard Ella calling out for them, she was approaching them with quick steps. "Hey guys, Aaron told me to give this to you" She handed Matt a small digital camera, "Just have fun with it, record yourselves and whatnot. Aaron thinks it would be fun to have some shots from your perspective."

Matt inspected the camera, turning it on and zooming in and out, "Sure, that should be fun."

Ella smiled at that and asked, "You know how to use it right?"

The drummer faked being offended, "I'm not that old, you know." making Alex laugh hard.

And with that laugh reaching her ears, she couldn't help but laugh as well, "Okay, okay, just making sure. I'll leave you to it, enjoy." She turned around with a smile on her face and started walking away but she turned back slightly to add, "Oh, and please don't break it?"

"Won't make any promises" replied Matt, making her smile grow a bit bigger.

Shaking her head and holding back a laugh, she resumed her walk back to the crew, "Okay, bye guys."

Twenty minutes later and the sun seemed to not want to fully go to bed, which was good for them considering they could get more footage. They had let them walk around now with the camera she had given Matt rolling, and five minutes later they were back where the production crew was at.

Ella was watching the horizon, enjoying the relaxing moment and the stunning views when Matt waved at her and she looked at him with a smile, giving him a slight chin tilt up as a 'hey'. But then her jaw dropped when the drummer sent the camera flying at least ten feet into the air, her right hand went straight over her heart in relief when he caught it effortlessly in his two hands.

The whole band turned to look at her and exploded in laughter at her facial expression. Ella shook her head at Matt as he was laughing like it was the greatest prank in history, she had to hold back from laughing along with them but she let her smile reach her eyes.

Once their laughter died down, the band was called over by Aaron and Ben, they explained and showed the footage they had gotten and as they confirmed it all was well with them, the directors called out "It's a wrap everyone!" The crew clapped and started packing right away, dreaming of the coziness of their own homes already after the long day.

She was grateful, getting to experience the filming of another music video, the day going smoothly and the artists being nicer than she had ever expected. Ella made her way to her bosses and had a little chat with them regarding the plans for the next day, writing down on her post-its, reminders of emails she needed to send out and things she had to check for future productions.

Once she was done, she walked back to the van. Turning around when she reached the asphalt of the parking lot, she took her phone out to take a picture of the still alive sunset, stunning deep blue on the bottom and orange and pink ombre coating the sky.

"Sorry about Helders, he wanted to take the piss out of you with the camera." Alex was standing by the car they had come in, smoking another cigarette, watching as she took the picture and noted how he'd made her jump.

"It's alright, it was funny." Ella put her phone back in the back pocket of her jeans, "Glad he didn't break it or I would've killed him."

He let the smoke come out of the side of his mouth and smiled, "That would've been an interesting end to the day."

"From music video to crime scene, that would be a twist of events." She smiled back at him, liking how it was easy to joke and not be shy around him. Her usual shyness probably wasn't showing because she knew this was the first and last time they'd see each other. "But yes, thankfully he caught it and we have more time to appreciate the pretty view."

"Yeah..." Alex agreed with her but he kept staring at her and how the orange lighting was hitting the side of her face, making her glow. "Pretty indeed."

Ella looked down at her shoes trying to distract herself from looking too deep into the way he had just said that, shaking her head at herself for twisting the situation. "Well, it was nice to meet you guys. I guess I'll see ya'." She added, just a polite thing to say because she now knew it was gonna be one of the situations where she'd grow appreciative of their art and only be left with the memory of working with them once upon a time.

"See you around." He replied, giving her a final grin, watching as she climbed into the van and closed the door behind her.

Ella sat down in the van with a sigh, turning to the window and watched Alex take one last drag of his cigarette to then toss it to the ground and step on it when Aaron and Ben went over to him to say goodbye. She grabbed her earbuds and put them on, playing the rest of 'Favorite Worst Nightmare'—well, playing 'Teddy Picker' again and starting from there.

And a few minutes later,—once the directors jumped in and everyone pointed they were ready to go—with the van starting to move and hearing 'D is for dangerous' for the first time, she watched Alex's figure get smaller until he was gone and all she could see was the sun's last half disappearing and the sea growing darker under it.

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Chapter Text

One thing she wasn’t expecting to hear from Aaron today was that they would be filming another music video. But it wasn’t the fact that it was a music video, it was whose music video they were filming.

Arctic Monkeys were back. And Focus Creeps were producing their new music video. Again.

After filming ‘Brick by Brick’, she had started listening to them religiously, and that was a fact she would keep quiet now that she knew she was going to see the band again. Their latest single, ‘Don’t Sit Down Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair’, was so good—she listened to it at least twice on any drive she made.

Another list was handed over by Aaron, this time with days of anticipation and not as long as the first one. She’d just need to make some calls to a couple of models to see who could make it to the shoot and just make sure the costume design department was ready to work with the model once they managed to get her.

Their job shouldn’t be too hard as all the girls that were written down as an option had similar measurements, if anything they’d just have to do a little cinching at the waist or shorten the sleeves of the black bodysuit she’d have to wear.

After multiple calls, they finally had a model. Scarlett would be their hellcat and she’d be coming in for fittings later in the day. With that news and everything else checked out, she made her way over to Aaron’s office.

“We have our girl: Scarlett Kapella. She’ll be coming by at eleven for her fittings and the makeup rehearsal, everything else I’ve checked out twice and if anything comes up I’ll just let you or Ben know.” The director received the now crossed out and annotated list with a nod and a smile.

“Great, after the fittings and all that, please have the costume design department bring me the pictures to show the clients.” Aaron tapped his hands on the table and then put the list to the side.

With a smile she said, “Of course, I'll call Margaret to let her know.”

“Thanks Ella.” Aaron said and continued to do whatever he was doing on his computer.

With a nod she left the office, making her way to her desk and gave Margaret, the costume designer department manager, a quick call about Aaron’s wishes after the fittings.

As Ella went through her emails, she found herself pondering how this time would be, surely she didn’t really know what the plan for the video was other than the model being filmed at the venue they were playing at and catching some of the gig on camera, but she kept wondering what it would be like to hang around them for a second time.

Thinking back to when they were filming their music video always brought a smile to her face because it had been just one of those experiences that get stuck in your mind. And that memory was just as stuck in her mind as they way she had felt talking to them, even if it had been brief, they were so friendly that they’d made her feel incredibly at ease from the very second they spoke to her.

Not to mention the way she had felt under Alex’s gaze and attention. It was weird really, she couldn’t quite put her finger on it and she felt the slightest bit pathetic when she got nervous thinking about seeing Alex again.

Realizing she had been typing an email reply that made absolutely no sense, she forced herself to focus on work and leave the questions for another day, specifically for the day the band was supposed to be in town. You can focus for three more days, right?

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Three torturous days had passed, through which Ella had to force herself to focus on work every minute of the day, only really allowing herself to think about the future encounter during her lunch break.

She had once been staring too long at the wall while eating her favorite chicken salad, thinking and thinking, that she didn’t hear the constant questioning of her coworkers.

“Earth to Ella?” Tyler’s hands were waving in front of her eyes.

It took her six blinks to come back from reality, she swallowed the bite of chicken she had in her mouth and cleared her throat, “What? Sorry, I was just… erm…” another six consecutive blinks, “I was just thinking about the upcoming music video we have to film.” She dug her fork back into her plate to get another bite.

“Oh yeah, well that’s going to be fun, we get to see a concert for free.” Diana, the head of their makeup team, said.

Ella let a hum in agreement, holding back from talking with her mouth full.

“It’s going to be a long day though.” Tyler replied, and rubbed his face with his hands, “I need a nap just from thinking about it.”

She chuckled, “Same.” and sighed thinking about the endless ways that day could unfold.

But now all that was in her head was how tired she was. It had been an early call to work to start shooting as soon as possible and, of course, she had had to wake up at five in the morning to be in the office ready to leave by six.

Once again, they would capture them around LA so Ben had suggested going on a hike next to the beach, that way they could get them in different scenery and they could capture their surroundings to fulfill the California aesthetic they were looking for.

So there they were, being hit by the early morning wind. This time she had brought a jacket, not that it made much difference though, she had her hold tight on her clipboard, having to press it hard to her chest to avoid the papers on it flying everywhere. She was grateful for her decision to put her hair up in a ponytail before leaving the van.

They had parked right beside the blue vintage convertible the band had arrived in. All of them were smoking and chatting. Matt and Jamie were facing them, Nick and Alex with their backs to the van. When Aaron and Ben approached them to say hello, they started tossing the buds to the floor, putting them out quickly before shaking hands with the two americans.

Ella took Alex’s smile and Matt’s nod as a queue to get closer and wave at them, “Hi guys, good morning.” She smiled and covered her face from the rising sun hitting her face.

They all returned her greeting and she felt warm inside from how nice they were to her, even if she was well aware it was bare minimum.

Ben then decided to get things started out, “Okay guys, long day ahead. Are you ready?”

Four yeah’s were heard and with that Aaron turned to get the whole crew ready. Today they were using four video cameras and she felt bad for the cameramen, their arms would be giving out by the end of the day.

The stylist made her way towards the band, only Jamie asking for a hair touch up after the wind had messed it up on the drive and he couldn’t get it just right with his fingers.

Ella made her way to the crew where a short speech from Aaron was being heard, and right when it finished they all scrambled to get their things ready. She made sure to ask everyone if they needed anything else, and when she got full confirmation that they didn’t, she made her way back to Ben.

“I think having you guys walk around, catching some of the scenery and eventually you posing in front of the landscape would be good.” He waved his hands around pointing to the areas he was thinking of having them, to make sure the lads were following his vision, “We would get most of the footage for the video later at the venue so just enjoy the walk and we’ll capture it all.” A smile came to his face as a silent ‘is that alright and understood?’

The four British men agreed, and with that Aaron came over with the cameramen ready to film. Them all taking different positions: three taking different angles on the band and the other one recording the beach and the rest of the place they were at.

“You guys ready? Cameras ready? … Action!”

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“You’re as bad in the barely cold as I remember.” Alex said, approaching Ella with a playful smile minutes into the break everyone had just decided to take.

An hour had gone by of them recording the band walking around the coast, making their way to the beach and then coming back up to the hiking trail. Up there the wind was strong and, even though the sun had already come up and she was wearing a jean jacket, she was still shivering slightly.

She chuckled and turned to him, hugging herself a little bit tighter, “So easy for you to say, Mr. England.”

He fully laughed this time, her smile getting bigger after the sound left his lips, “Fair enough, Ms. California.”

At that she looked at him, a slight smirk on her face and shook her head, “Ms. Tennessee actually.”

Pulling his cigarettes out of his pocket, Alex nodded, “Doesn’t it snow there though?” He genuinely asked, putting a cigarette between his lips and offered the pack up to her.

He was surprised when Ella took one out, of course he was going to offer one but he didn’t take her for a smoker. “It does, but after living in LA for almost two years, you get used to it being always sunny, warm and rainless.” As soon as she finished her sentence, she quickly put it between her lips, craving the warmth the nicotine would bring her.

Alex lit up both of their cigarettes, enjoying the way she looked when she slightly bent down towards the flame and looked up into his eyes, a faint hollow of her cheeks to take a long drag. Fucking hell, he cursed in his mind.

He took a drag himself while staring at her now very exposed throat from the way she was looking up to the sky and blowing the smoke upwards. She was so effortlessly stunning, completely enthralling.

Aware of the answer he was supposed to give to her statement, he cleared his throat and continued the conversation, “Two years huh? What was that change like?”

“Quite harsh I’d say but nothing ventured, nothing gained right?” Ella held her cigarette between her fingers, smiling at him, knowing damn well she was starting the thing she always does, that only leads up to oversharing to people she just met. Maybe this time she wouldn’t be met with an awkward smile and an apology from a girl wanting to leave the club’s bathroom.

“Right,” Alex matched her smile, “You look like you really like your job though, so I’d say the risk was worth it.”

“It really was,” She started sharing with a smile on her face, “Thinking back to all those first months I was homesick and wanted to go back home to my family…” She filled her lungs with smoke once more before continuing, “I just wish I could tell my past self, everything would get better eventually.”

He nodded, understanding perfectly the feeling of wanting to be back home more than anything else even while doing something to fulfill your dreams, “Homesickness is hard.” He agreed, “After the novelty of touring wore off, it was quite hard for me to leave.” A cloud of smoke made its way past his lips, “Time and having my mates with me helped the feeling pass.”

A low hum came from her, both of their smokes halfway done. She was lost in her head for a few seconds and then she lightly chuckled.

Alex let out a chuckle as well, face showing how intrigued he was in her thoughts, “What?” He tilted his head, smiling at her with a soft questioning frown.

Ella shook her head, “Nothing.” She replied but the little laugh that slipped out betrayed her and she felt the need to explain her amusement then, “It’s just I could picture you all cuddling and crying to each other in a tour bus, quite endearing I’d say.”

With his lips pressed and a slight raise of his eyebrows, he answered that with a vague “I will neither confirm nor deny that scenario.” and with that she exploded in laughter. The sound was so contagious he joined her, chuckling loudly himself.

“Oh God.” Ella said, taking a deep breath to recover from the laughter. She took a last drag of her cigarette, putting it out on the ground, “Thanks for that one, I really needed it.” She tilted her head looking at him with a sincere smile.

Alex turned to look at her and reciprocated the grin, “The laugh or the smoke?” He mimicked her and got rid of the cig too.

“Both.” She replied, her smile stuck on her face.

“You’re welcome.” He noted how he really liked the way her smile reached her eyes.

From afar they heard Jamie calling out the singer's name and instinctively they both turned to where the call came from, only Ella looked back ahead right after, blushing from being caught around Alex. It wasn’t a bad thing per se but she’d rather not be caught by several people talking to him when she was there to do her job and she knew that it would be seen as the opposite of her being professional.

“Excuse me.” Alex said quietly, starting to walk past her.

“It’s alright.” Ella assured shyly, barely audible since her words lost volume when he touched her arm when leaving. Not only just a touch, he had given her arm a little squeeze, as if promising he’d be back.

And she was selfishly hoping he would live up to his silent word because she was starting to really enjoy his company.

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Time hadn’t been on their side, neither the crew or the band.

When they resumed the filming, she was beside the directors watching the musicians pose and move around but after fifty more minutes they decided they had gotten enough footage at the place and to move onto the venue. There the model and costume design crew would be arriving in approximately an hour and a half, giving them enough time to pack, make the drive and settle down at the new place.

So without having a chance to speak again during the hike, Ella followed the crew and got back inside the van.

Ben went over to the left side of the van, and asked for them to open the window. Tyler was informed he had to film the guys drive back, taking advantage of how cool the vintage car would look in the video driving down the west coast highway.

She was beside Tyler the whole drive, watching how the takes were looking like—pretty fucking cool, she’d say if she was asked. With fifteen more minutes of footage, Tyler was given the confirmation that he could stop.

The rest of the drive was quiet and calm, she was glad she could find relaxation in the middle of an already long day.

After a forty five minute drive, they had parked in the first sublevel parking lot. Everyone carried something back up to the room they had been instructed they could use, which turned out to be a ten minute walk in a maze of hallways. She’d make sure not to leave without someone else beside her or else she knew she would get lost.

It took the whole crew about five minutes to settle around the room, and they still had time to rest before the model and other members of the crew arrived so they occupied the sofas and chairs that were there.

She decided to go to the bathroom and freshen up, taking some girls from the crew with her. When they came back, she recognized Alex and Matt talking outside a door all the way down the hall.

“Hey, Ella!” Alex greeted her, waving her over with his left hand, right hand holding a beer.

Blushing slightly, Ella looked at her coworkers telling them she was going over to him and they nodded as if to say it was fine by them.

For fucks sake, was all that went through her head. She was really afraid of people getting the idea that she’d broken the first and most important rule in a production company just from the way he’d called her over. But at the same time she couldn’t help but think maybe it was fine, maybe she was just overthinking it.

Putting some hair behind her ear she made her way to them, “Hey, how is it going?” She asked quite shyly from seeing the room the musicians had been in, full of people she’d never seen before.

“Do you want a beer?” This time Matt asked, holding up his half-empty bottle to show it to her, as if that would help her make her decision.

She thought about it for a hot second, then decided she could use one to relax for a bit, “Sure, thanks.”

Going into the room to get her a bottle, the drummer left Ella by the door standing opposite to Alex.

“Are you guys tired of us following you around with cameras yet?” Playfulness coated Ella’s features as she slightly leaned against the doorframe.

With the bottle stopping midway to his lips, Alex replied in the same playful manner, “I think we have another hour in ourselves before we reach that point.”

She chuckled at that, her eyes wondering over the amount of people inside the room, everyone chatting, sharing drinks and laughing with each other. She thought of how fun it would be to be part of this industry and go on tour, be surrounded by friends and have your job not really feel like one. After all, these people, who she could only think were part of the tour production crew, were drinking a few hours before the show. How she wished she could have a beer while checking emails, or maybe some mimosas.

After Alex swallowed the drink he had taken, he continued, “No but actually, we liked working with Aaron and Ben, that’s why we’re doing the rest of this record’s music videos with you lot.”

She couldn’t help her eyes going wide at that, Aaron and Ben never mentioning it to her, this news made her feel a lot and she couldn’t really point out what everything that she felt meant. So of course a curious “Oh really?” was what came from her.

Alex nodded, “Yeah, or did you really want us out of your hair?”

Ella laughed, shaking her head, “Of course not, shooting music videos is my favorite part of the job. It’s a plus that you’re all so lovely to work with.” He didn’t miss the way her cheeks slightly blushed, smirking at her words.

“Well I hope we are your favorites.” The singer used the bottle in his hands to point at her, giving her a quick wink.

She felt her cheeks burning up from that so she turned her gaze to the inside of the room for him not to see, “I’ll consider it when Matt comes back with that beer he promised me” She pushed herself off the doorframe, her back vaguely aching from resting there.

And as if summoned, the drummer made his way back to the two of them. “Sorry Nick distracted me for a second there.” He apologized and handed Ella a beer bottle.

“Thank you.” She felt the condensation dripping through her fingers as she clutched it.

Alex noticed her bottle still had the cap on and was about to offer to open it for her, when she used the ring on her middle finger to take it off in one swift movement. She put the cap in her back pocket to throw it away later and took a swig of the drink, cold going down her throat.

“Nice trick.” Matt complimented, fairly impressed as well.

Ella looked confused for a second until she realized what he meant, “Oh yeah, people love it when I do that.” She lightly laughed, “Not that impressive really, it’s easier than it looks.” She cleared her throat lightly and started conversation with Matt, “So Alex just told me you’re recording more videos with us…” Another swig of her beer was the cue for them to continue with the conversation.

“Ah that’d be true, yes. It would be the next date we are back here during this tour. August, I reckon.” He turned to Alex to make sure his timeline was correct, to which his best mate nodded.

Ella nodded, a smile forming on her face, “Oh that’s great, California is stunning in August. Are you going to keep the American vibes going for the rest of the videos?”

Helders turned to Alex again, realizing that what Ella had said was true, “We have been doing that, haven’t we?”

Alex nodded, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down after he took the last gulp of his beer, “I guess we’re embracing the fact that this one has an american west coast feeling to it, us recording it here must have played a part on it.”

She hummed against her bottle, hiding the fact that she was really looking forward to that new album, “Does it have a name yet?” curiosity got the best of her and she just couldn’t hold back from keeping that question inside.

“Suck it and See'', replied Matt, an amused expression on his face when he saw Ella frowning immediately after the words reached her ears.

She took a few seconds to find a meaning for it in her head, but never would she say out loud what the first thing that came to her mind was. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Her frown only loosened up a bit.

Matt chuckled at her reaction, “It’s kind of like ‘bite the bullet’, although… not really, it’s more like ‘take the risk’”.

Alex and Ella exchanged looks then, the ghost of their conversation back at the hiking trail passing through both their minds. So she smiled and he smiled back at her. She couldn’t believe how comfortable she could feel with a person she’d barely met but it made her feel warm inside and she really quite liked it.

With a tight lip smile she nodded, “Huh, I really like that. It’s a great name.” Her eyes went from Matt to Alex’s figure for a quick second.

“Thanks Ella.” Matt smiled at her, not missing her fleeting glance to the singer standing beside him. “So, what about you? How long have you been working with Ben and Aaron?”

She hesitated for a second before starting to talk, “A little bit over a year now, but I’ve been a PA for two years, I just worked in another company before.” Ella felt so weird talking about her normal slightly boring job to the critically acclaimed musicians, but they were looking at her waiting for her to continue so she cleared her throat and felt her cheeks start to burn.

“Guys I’m not that interesting, I check emails most of the time at work and oversee people filming commercials, I’d rather hear about your tour stories.” Alex chuckled at that, shaking his head, “C’mon, I know there’s some good stories.” She insisted, trying to get the conversation’s topic back to them.

Matt took advantage of the moment to embarrass his friend, “Well there’s always the time when this dickhead decided to have a smoke backstage right under a smoke detector, in a room we were not allowed to smoke. We almost got kicked out of the venue for it.”

Alex shook his head at the story, not even trying to defend himself because he knew he should’ve listened to the sign that said no smoking right at the entrance of the room.

Ella snorted, her hand flying to cover her mouth, “Oh my god Alex,” She said between chuckles, “Didn’t you see it?”

“Not really,” replied the singer with a slight grin on his face.

Matt was quick to counter attack his statement, “But he did see the massive no smoking sign outside the room”, his eyebrows raised.

Her eyes filled with humor looked at Alex and she shook her head, biting her lip to not laugh again but a smile creeping through, “You’re just full of bright ideas aren’t you?” Her rhetorical question was heavily sarcastic.

Alex shrugged then and smirked, “People would say so yeah”.

With the bottle resting on his lips, Matt chuckled, “Dickhead” and took a sip of his drink.

With his mind set on getting payback, Alex started, “Well, Ella I think you’d love to hear about the first time we went to a club in America and Matt went over to flirt with this bird who turned around and thought he worked there so she gave him her empty glass and asked him for another vodka cranberry.”

Ella burst out laughing, head thrown back as she did. Alex liked learning that this meant she was genuinely laughing, she seemed to always show what she felt very clearly through her body language.

“Oh no Matt,” her voice filled with humored sympathy and her hand over her heart.

The drummer shook his head, “That’s what I get for trying to dress nice I suppose.”

A big smirk tugged at the corner of her lips and she just needed to ask, “What were you wearing?”

Matt mumbled his answer, “Black trousers, a white button up and a black tie”, downing the rest of the beer he had left to avoid her glance.

Alex couldn’t help but laugh out loud remembering the moment once again and Ella did the same just imagining the situation in her head. Matt tried to keep his composure but ended up laughing with them.

“Oh nooooo,” She elongated her words trying to get some air back to her lungs, “Wait… what did you do afterwards?”

“I just nodded and turned around.” Another round of laughter came from Alex and Ella, “What was I supposed to do?!”

Alex turned to her and kept adding to the story, “He came back, put her glass down on our table and started taking his tie off.” the words struggling out of his mouth between giggles.

When Ella kept laughing Matt threw his arms up, trying to keep his argument strong, “Once again, what was I supposed to do?!”

The singer let his head hang as he continued laughing and then he took a deep breath, “I dunno mate but I’ll never let you forget that one.” He grinned with satisfaction at his best mate who looked only the slightest bit amused.

She was fanning her face, red now after so much laughter, “I’m sorry Matt but that’s so sad, it’s hilarious.”

Matt turned to look at her and gave her a fake smile, “I’m glad my misfortunes amuse you.”

The shaggy haired man turned to her then, “So, what do you have for us Ella?”

With confusion so clear on her face she looked at both guys who looked at her expectantly, “What do you mean?” Was she meant to bring them something? Did she forget about something in the list? Oh no, I should’ve had a little debrief with Ben or Aaron before leaving our room, she thought, starting to slightly panic.

Panic that was cut off by Alex saying, “It’s your turn to tell us a story.” like it was obvious.

She was relieved but only for a mere second before she started to stress again, “Oh no, you don’t really wanna know” She stated, hoping they would just suddenly change their minds and agree that indeed they didn’t want to know.

But to her dismay, they both nodded with big grins as if already holding back the laughter her story was going to bring.

An embarrassing enough story came to her mind, and she dreaded telling it but she knew they’d eat this one up so she wouldn’t have to tell her most embarrassing one.

“Ugh fine.” Ella sighed, “When I first started in Focus Creeps, I would always try to volunteer to help in anything I could, from helping the makeup department practice on me during my lunch break, get everyone lunch when they were all to busy to think about eating, and even drive a vintage car to a place thirty minutes from the office.” One of her hands was around her empty bottle, tapping her fingers on the glass and the other was waving around the air as she talked.

Well here goes nothing. “A vintage car…which of course was manual,” She paused for a few seconds, Matt and Alex already looking amused expecting just what she was going to continue to say, “And I don’t know how to drive stick.” Another sigh left her lips.

Matt saw her hesitating, “Okay, go on.” He chuckled when she rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.

“Okay, I’m just going to say that I didn't know what car it was. Ben just asked if someone could drive the rental to the studio we were filming at and I said I could.” She explained herself and her two person audience snickered at that. “Anyway, when we got outside and I saw the transmission, it was too late to back down. I just remember thinking, how hard can this be right?”

“Oh Ellie.” Alex managed between small giggles that were coming prematurely to the punchline since he could imagine how the story would end and she just shook her head remembering the embarrassment. Yet, her stomach fluttered at hearing her nickname come from him.

“Ben was going to be on calls, that’s why he asked for someone to drive in the first place, but that’s also the only reason why he didn’t notice me struggling to turn on the car and start driving into the road. When we hit our first red light, two minutes into the drive, I had started feeling confident.” Her hands following her story, then went to rub her forehead cringing at the next part, “But when the light changed, the car wouldn’t move and I didn’t know what to do. I kept stepping on the clutch and then the brake and I just tried everything and it wouldn’t move.” Her eyes were closed now and her cheeks red.

Alex and Matt were fully cackling now, just picturing her panic and it all being in front of one of her bosses.

She looked back at them, flustered but continued, “The car turned off at one point and people kept honking at me so Ben said ‘can I call you in a bit?’ to whoever he was talking to and then turned to me super confused and said ‘why don’t you go?’” A light chuckle came from her at the end of her sentence. “I gave up then, and I just told him ‘so… I don’t know how to drive stick’ but since the honking from everyone was so loud he didn’t hear me at first so I had to say it louder. We ended up having to switch sides and he basically talked me through what I was supposed to do.”

Matt shook his head with a pitiful look on his face, “Well, that was nice of him.”

“Yeah well, we didn’t talk about it for the next few days until one day he sent me an email with just a link to a YouTube video on how to drive a manual car.” Ella’s face was red now and the musicians were still laughing.

Alex couldn’t help but ask, “Alright but the million dollar question is, can you drive manual now?”

Covering her face, Ella shook her head, “As much as I did then.” Her voice was barely audible with her hands hiding her face.

And with that laughter filled the hallway, she uncovered her face and joined them, glad the story time was over and dealt with. She could see Alex’s eyes creasing in the corners, his teeth showing in a perfect smile. He’s so pretty, she thought.

Ella did a curtsy jokingly, “I hope that story satisfied you both.”

The men nodded, Matt smirking at her, “Oh very much, yes.”

“I hate you two.” She tried to sound serious but she just snorted immediately after seeing their faces that didn’t buy her statement one bit. She cleared her throat and tried to dismiss the fact that she had let that sound out again in front of them, “Well let’s forget about that… uhm, big show tonight?”

“We shall never forget that actually,“ Alex said first and foremost, ending in her rolling her eyes playfully, “And maybe? It should be a couple thousand I think.”

Her eyes went wide, “A couple thousand? And that’s ‘maybe’ a big show?” Ella made air signs to emphasize the maybe. “How big are you guys that a couple thousand isn’t a lot to you?”

Matt took over then and completely blew her mind, “Well, we’ve done Glastonbury four years ago, and that was about a hundred thousand people.”

In complete shock she had to ask, “Wait, you’re joking right?” And when they shook their heads she gasped, “A hundred thousand people?! That’s insane! How do you even manage to keep cool and play for that many people?”

Alex’s face lit up with pride and nostalgia, “It was insane, and we were definitely shitting ourselves but that was our biggest moment so we just took it as it went.”

She was so impressed and blown away, she had definitely underrated how big they were but they seemed so cool about it at the same time.

Just when Ella was about to ask a bit more about their experience her phone pinged on her back pocket and when she took it out, she saw a text from Diana.

Diana: Model’s here and getting ready, can you tell Aaron for me please?

Putting the phone back in its place, she looked at her new… friends? acquaintances? and sighed, “Thank you so much for that guys but duty calls. Sorry.”

“S’Alright” Alex gave her a tight lip smile and then timidly suggested, “You can always come back and hang out here when you’re done.” He scratched the back of his neck, avoiding Matt’s not at all subtle glance.

Ella blushed slightly, “Oh— uhm, sure, yes.” was all she managed to say back. She didn’t expect him or well, them, to want to spend even more time with her after this.

She was about to turn around when she looked down at the bottle on her hand, “Where is the tra-”

“I’ll get it for you, don’t worry.” Alex interrupted her, taking it from her hand.

“Oh thanks,” Ella cleared her throat and hoped to god her cheeks weren’t as bright as she was thinking they were from just feeling them burning up. She needed to get a grip and stop blushing like a schoolgirl around the man. “See you later.”

With that she turned and made her way to the door on the other side of the hallway. Her black pants were tight on her and Alex was quite hypnotized by the sight.

Matt followed the trail of his eyes and smirked, “Alexa would get on with her quite nicely, don’t you think?”

Alex turned quickly at the mention of his girlfriend and then rolled his eyes at his friend’s antics, “Piss off, Helders.”

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It had been an hour since Ella left the musicians. She had gotten the message to her bosses and the whole crew had started getting everything ready for filming. Alongside Ben and Aaron she had gone to where Scarlett, the model, was getting ready and after fifteen minutes of the directors explaining what it was she had to do, they had gone back out to see which hallways and routes they were going to take for filming.

Clipboard on her hand, Ella kept writing stuff down that was going to be relayed to the editing team and minor things they should ask the band later to see if they needed reshoots or if the ideas were fine with them. After all, they still had tomorrow to film with them so there was time in case more footage was needed.

After almost twenty minutes they had finally started rolling. Scarlett strutting down the venue's backstage maze in her high heels and tight bodysuit. She’s an actual goddess, was all that went through Ella’s head since the model had come out of the dressing room.

The woman was so effortlessly seductive, flirting with the camera with just her eyes. She wished she had that confidence or even just that talent—because it surely had to be considered a talent to act like her.

The most flirty Ella could ever get was after a few shots of tequila and at least some thirty minutes on the dancefloor, a little liquid courage and the confidence that dancing brought her were her fuel to get with anyone on nights out. But of course most of the time it was hard: the guys mostly turned out to be assholes and the girls were so pretty, they intimidated her.

Needless to say she was feeling jealous, but in a good way, of how Scarlett made it seem so easy to be sexy and teasing—even more so considering how she was doing that to a camera, with a bunch of people behind as an audience. Wow.

She was entranced, the top of her pen resting between her slightly parted lips. Her eyes followed the model’s every move, so intently, that she didn’t notice a door opening a few feet behind the girl.

And out of it walked no one other than Alex Turner.

Scarlett, professional as ever, only turned for a second to see who had interrupted the shot and then went back to keeping her act going. Ella, trying to be professional, held back from doing more than tilting her chin up acknowledging his presence. Alex, definitely not professional, grinned at her and didn’t let his plan of spending more time with the PA be ruined by the fact that she was busy and wouldn’t take him up to going for a smoke with him outside.

So, seeing how the model turned to the camera and started playing with her hair, he mimicked the actions hoping it would make Ella laugh. Scarlett started to slide down the wall, playing with her hair; actions Alex mirrored and made everyone chuckle, even the model when she saw what he was doing in just the same enticing way. He was looking at Ella though, how she was covering her mouth but her grin was so obviously plastered on her face.

And as the hellcat kept going, he did too, with his eyes stuck on Ella and a big smirk playing on his lips. Even though that show only lasted for a minute, Ella couldn’t wash away the feeling of his burning gaze on her.

Ben had cut the scene, laughing at Alex’s actions. “Come here man, let me show you some shots we’ve got.” he waved the singer over, and obeying he walked up to the directors.

Walking past Ella he brushed his hand on her elbow and said a hey quite faintly. Warmth. That’s what she felt when he did those little things and she hated how she couldn’t fight it, very aware of how lame she was looking to herself and to anyone who noticed the way she blushed whenever he did or said something to her. Get a grip Ella, c’mon you can be professional.

For ten minutes Ben and Aaron had Alex slightly hunched over the camera’s monitor, pointing out the different angles and footage they had managed to take so far. They all laughed watching what he had just pulled a few minutes ago, Ella’s grin growing as she watched the footage from a few meters behind them.

“Does that look good?” Aaron asked him when the last clip came to a stop.

Nodding, Alex gave him the green light, “Yeah, it looks great mate.” He itched his chin and decided to share an idea he had come up with, “I was thinking maybe she could come side stage while we’re on, just having her dance along to some songs.”

Ben liked the idea, immediately agreeing with it, “Oh that would work very well in the video.”

Aaron then decided to joke around with him, “Have you considered being a director if the rockstar gig doesn't pay off?”

He laughed softly, stealing a quick glance at Ella who was grinning at him already. “Well I hadn't until now.”

After a wave of laughter from the crew, the directors ordered everyone to take a break. The filming would resume when the band was going on stage, meaning they had around forty to fifty minutes until then.

Before everyone could leave though, Alex made an invitation, “Ben, everyone is welcome to join us in our room. We have drinks and our tour crew is there as well so you can meet everyone and chat.”

Ben clapped the singer's shoulder, “Thanks dude, we’ll take you up on it. We can even record a little bit there, just you all hanging out backstage if that’s alright with the band and your crew.”

He gave the director a nod, “Of course, yeah. See you all there.” He turned around and left, not missing a chance to give Ella one final look, her eyes were on him and they shared a silent promise of seeing each other in a bit.

Of course it all was an excuse to chat with her again whilst they still had time. The band had already gone through soundcheck and the crew had set lighting and the stage up, so everything was ready for the show to start at its time and go smoothly.

He surely was getting tired of having to get filmed but he would bite his tongue for a little longer if it meant he could spend more time with the pretty girl. And yes, he had a girlfriend, but there was nothing wrong with being aware of another girl being pretty right? It’s not like he was going to kiss her or take her back to his hotel room, he was just going to share drinks and conversation with her. Friendly talk, just that.

Ten minutes later, they were being joined by the Focus Creeps crew. Introductions were thrown everywhere, especially from Ella who on her way to get a drink was making sure she had said hello to everyone.

Alex found that endearing but he couldn’t help growing impatient. He had been subtly looking around the room for her a handful of times now. Matt on the other side of the room noticed, and elbowed Jamie who was right beside him. The guitarist frowned at his friend, confused about the sudden aggression. The frown loosening when he saw him nod in Alex’s way, both of them watched him very obviously search for her and chuckled.

“He has been doing that all day, hasn’t he?” Jamie asked Matt.

Nodding, the drummer confirmed, “Yep. I’ve been giving him reminders of Alexa’s existence though, just so he doesn’t forget.” Both laughed into their red cups that were filled with beer.

After what felt much more than the five minutes she had taken, Alex saw her making her way to him. She beamed at him and he smirked at her, raising his cup to her.

She stopped right beside him, they were standing right in one of the corners of the room. “Well hello.”

“Hey Ella,” He greeted and took a sip of his bourbon, “What are you having?”

She showed him her cup, “Saw some red wine on the table and couldn’t resist.” Her faint smile breaking as she took a sip.

“You know… earlier you surprised me, I didn’t take you for a smoker.” He said, his eyebrows raised.

She frowned in curiosity, “Really?” He shrugged, nodding and she continued teasingly, “Well you’d be surprised with the things you could find out.”

He smirked at her flirting, “Like what? Got any secret talents?”

“Secret talent? You’ve got too much faith in me, I literally just told you I don’t even know how to drive stick.” Ella couldn’t help but cackle out loud.

It wasn’t only remembering the story that made him laugh, but how contagious her laughter was. His eyes were crinkled at the edges from his big grin, and she took a mental picture of it.

They continued to laugh, feeding off each other’s giggles and it was loud enough to catch the attention of a few people, including the rest of the band. Jamie pulled Matt with him and waved at Nick to join them on their quest to interrupt Alex’s interaction.

“Hey Ellie.” Matt greeted her as he threw his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to his side.

Ella blushed under the touch, not because of it making her feel something, but because she had been caught in a corner giggling and drinking with Alex. Of course the aforementioned didn’t know that was the reason behind her cheeks burning, so he was silently fuming at his friend's closeness with the girl, thinking she was blushing from their proximity. “Hi Matt.” She slightly leaned towards his side as a way to reciprocate his hug.

Alex needed a way to break the contact since it seemed Helders wasn’t thinking of getting his arm off of her, so he turned to his other two band mates.

“Ellie, this is Jamie and Nick.” He was relieved to see how she took a step forward to shake hands with the two of them, leaving Matt’s arm to fall back by his side.

She gave a shy smile and corrected the singer, “Ella, nice to meet you guys again.”

They reciprocated her grin and greeting, and she went back to standing in the middle of Alex and Matt. Their group now forming a small circle in the corner.

She was afraid of things becoming awkward now with everyone there but what Nick said next made her face drop. “Ella, you know, I can teach you how to drive manual. It isn't that hard.”

His offer was genuine, it was obvious from his facial expression but she turned to Alex and Matt with a look of betrayal, “I'm never telling you two anything ever again.” She took a swig of her drink as if that would make her embarrassment disappear.

All of them laughed, Matt being fast with his excuse. “Oh c'mon, it was too funny not to share.”

Alex immediately added, “We are kind people Ellie. Did you expect us to be selfish and keep that to ourselves?” She just rolled her eyes at their arguments, not annoyed but very embarrassed.

“I hate that I don’t even have anything to embarrass you back with, because they definitely already know the stories you told me.”

“Which ones?” Nick asked curious to know if they had told her something actually embarrassing.

She sighed, “The american girl who thought Matt worked at the club,” They all chuckle at the memory, Matt mumbling a quiet ‘for fucks sake’ at the mention of it, “and Alex smoking right under a smoke detector in a room he wasn’t allowed to smoke.”

“Oh yeah, the twat almost got us kicked out of the venue.” Jamie pointed at Alex accusingly.

He quickly talked back, “Jamie, do you wanna get thrown under the bus as well?” to which the guitarist shook his head frowning at him, thinking what on earth he could have on him. “Then shut up before I tell her about the ice cream shop bathroom.”

Jamie blushed then. “Don't you dare, Turner.” His threat seemed very serious which only made Ella more eager to find out.

She pouted at Alex, “No, I wanna hear it now.” She elongated the last word like it would get her some pity and they’d tell her but Jamie shook his head once more looking at Alex like he was going to knee him in the balls if he dared open his mouth. “It's only fair since you heard my nightmare of a story, without my permission may I add.” She pointed out.

Alex turned to Jamie and raised his eyebrows in support of her argument. Jamie let out a heavy sigh of defeat, “Fair enough, go ahead.”

Filled with satisfaction for winning the debate, Alex started talking, “So you see, we had just landed in London after a small tour around the States, and from the airport on the way home we went to an ice cream shop and sat down there to eat. Jamie here got some coconut ice cream, wasn’t it, Cook?” He teasingly asked his friend.

Jamie had an unamused face, he just rolled his eyes and replied, “Yes, it was.”

“Well after finishing… his ice cream,” The lads, except for Jamie, laughed at the way the singer had worded that and Ella was so confused. Alex just continued after a chuckle left his lips, “He went to the bathroom to wash his hands, he says, but he hadn’t noticed how he had spilled ice cream on himself, in a very particular area that didn’t make it look like just an accidental ice cream spill.”

The silence that Alex left by the end of it was long enough for her to connect the dots and cover her mouth with her right hand, hiding her hanging jaw behind it. “Jamie, no.” She said feeling the humiliation of the anecdote building up.

The singer resumed his narration, “Mind you, the ice cream was white so the stain was pretty much very realistic. He had also taken a while in the bathroom for some reason and when he came out he was sporting the biggest smile.”

“Oh my god, that’s mortifying.” Ella was shaking her head in disbelief.

Jamie took over then, “Well it got worse when someone recognized us and we took pictures with them. This dickhead here,” He pointed towards Matt, “Said ‘Did you have a special phone call with your girlfriend or summat? Couldn’t you wait until you got home?’ pointing to my crotch in front of the lad. The poor kid looked at me wide eyed, said thank you and left quickly. I was dead confused and then I saw it.”

“You took that long to realize?” She questioned the man.

“Yeah well, my mates are actually the worst so they didn't tell me.” He shrugged, face still very serious. Ella hoped he wasn’t mad.

Matt clapped his shoulder, “We’re the best of mates Jamie, what d’you mean?”

She saw how Jamie wasn’t the slightest bit amused so she turned the conversation into another direction. “Okay Nick, looks like it’s your turn.”

Poor Nick shook his head earnestly, “Oh no, Ella.”

“Please? You’re the only one left.” She insisted with the best puppy eyes she could make.

“Fine, but just because you didn't have a say in these two sharing yours.” He agreed and she stood straighter in excitement.

The bassist took some time to browse through his memories, “It probably has to be me losing my wallets all the time, so I gave up and never got a proper wallet again. And so conveniently in one interview, they asked us all to show what we had in our wallets and the only thing I had in my pockets was a mini harmonica.”

She was expecting something as bad as Jamie’s, “But that's not even embarrassing, that’s just cute and funny.”

Matt quickly cut in the exchange to play with her, “Ellie, are you flirting with O’Malley?”

She looked at the drummer and frowned, “No Matt, shut up, I’m just saying that’s cute and funny because it is!”

He kept going, nudging her hip with his. “Oh no, that sounds to me like you're definitely chatting him up.”

Ella couldn’t help the blush that reached her cheeks, making her roll her eyes and look at the ground for a few seconds.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”

“You’re annoying” she sighed, shaking her head.

“Yeah he is, but you get used to it.” Nick said to comfort her, his eyes friendly on her. He decided to bring the attention back to him so she wouldn’t feel overwhelmed by Matt’s teasing. “Wait– no. Actually, it’s probably that time I broke a huge ice sculpture at a posh event we went to.”

She gasped, “You’re joking…”

“I wish I was. It was so loud, it was impossible to just walk out and act like nothing had happened.”

She giggled then, “The cleaning people must've wanted to kill you.”

Nick’s eyes were big, remembering how distraught he was at the time. “Oh I'm sure they were. Everyone was giving me nasty looks for the rest of the night.”

Ella tried not to laugh, feeling bad for Nick who seemed to be the nicest guy she’d ever met. “I’m sorry but that’s so embarrassing.” She broke in a fit of giggles then, unable to hold it any longer.

They all started laughing with her, Nick smiling brightly at her. “It really was.” He added, feeling glad she enjoyed the brief story.

After that, it was clear she had grown more comfortable around the musicians, the conversation flowed with ease and laughter could be heard from their group every so often. They would take turns to bring everyone refills, Matt bringing the whole bottle of red wine to her at one point, telling her she should just take it seeing how fast she was going through her cups.

She refilled her cup three times in the span of fifteen minutes, the drummer teasing her about it some more. He took the cup from her hand after she finished with her third serving and started a game of building a pyramid of red cups with every cup she’d finish. Of course, everyone joined and started lining up their cups as well making it a game that now involved everyone in the room.

Tyler had started recording a few minutes ago, catching the fast growth of the stack of plastic on the table. One that ended up being punched and destroyed by its same creator.

It was a lovely time, she was enjoying herself in their presence. But, as time does when you’re having a good time, soon the crew started to scramble out of the room, and five minutes later the band was being called over to head to the stage.

She was suddenly feeling the generous amount of red she had drunk, so a slightly slurred “Break a leg guys!” was what she said before they parted ways.

“Thanks Ellie!” They all said to her. Alex left last, giving her wrist a little squeeze and a soft smile before following his best mates’ path.

She took advantage of the minutes she had while everyone from her crew went to get their stuff, to start drinking water and sobering up. A trip to the bathroom also helped her get her act together.

Twenty minutes later, they had started filming once more. Now the model was making her way from backstage to the side of the stage where the Monkeys were performing. In the background Ella could hear the quick start of ‘Pretty Visitors’, and as they went up the stairs, they felt the vibrations of the bass on their chests.

Scarlett was swiftly moving her hips, twirling on her place and looking back at the camera with those eyes of hers. They took various shots of it, and as that was done she recognized in an instant the starting chords of ‘Teddy Picker’.

She subtly scooted closer to the stage, a few feet away from the production. She looked over the band, seeing how Alex had his guitar clutched in his hands, the way his hips moved as his lips grazed the microphone with every word he sang.

The lyrics of the song came out of her naturally, she kept her voice low, to not get the attention of her bosses—not that they could hear her easily because of the crowd being so loud but she wanted to be careful still.

The filming took quite some time, Ben saying something about wanting to have the model dancing to different rhythms so that later the editing team would choose the clips that better matched the song the video was about.

When the encore came, the band came over and said a quick hello to everyone before going downstairs into the backstage area. She assumed they were gonna take this time to use the restrooms. A few minutes later, she confirmed her theory was correct and as they came back to the side of the stage, Alex approached the directors.

“We’re going to do the song now. Sorry about the late notice, we just decided it.” His voice sounded apologetic.

Aaron was quick to settle him, “It’s alright, it actually will be even better for the music video. I’m gonna send a camera to film the crowd and another one to film you from below, if that’s alright with you?”

“Sure mate, that sounds good.” Alex replied quickly before nodding and leaving to go back on stage with the rest of the guys.

Just like that, they were back on. Screams were drowning the venue, and they only got louder when Alex told them they were going to perform a new one from the album.

With one camera on them, another one on the crowd and the other two back with the directors, they went back to filming Scarlett swaying her hips to the music once more. Ella tried her best to keep some focus on her job but she was entranced by the performance and the way the band caught their audience with such ease.

The song came to an end, the people hollering was all that could be heard for a good twenty seconds. Aaron and Ben decided to wrap up the section of the video, meaning Scarlett was good to go, so Ella went over to her to thank her and send her back with Diana and the rest of the costume and makeup department.

When she was done with that, Ben sent her over to the cameramen that were in front of the stage still recording. “Make sure they record until the concert is done, stay with them. It shouldn’t be that long until then.” She just nodded, quickly following the instructions but her speed was mostly motivated by the fact that she could at least see the last of the show.

As she got to the front of the right side of the crowd, she could hear Alex singing the first verse of ‘The View From the Afternoon’. She looked up at him, smiling and singing back the lines to him. He found her and grinned, his gaze going back to his fingers on his guitar and back to her in a matter of seconds. He almost pointed at her, but realized how that would look and he didn’t want any bullshit being talked about him in the press.

He was enjoying the fact that she knew the song and so confidently was singing along with the crowd. Alex became more surprised when she also knew ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’, their last song, but he certainly would forever keep the image of her swaying hips to the song in his mind.

Once the show finished, she went over to the two cameramen and walked back into the backstage zone with them on her side. They spent the short trip back to their room talking about how crazy that was, how many people were there and how good the band was.

In the room, the crew gathered everything and some people started going over to their van with their equipment in hand. The directors and Ella went over to the band’s room to say goodbye.

“Guys, it was a pleasure seeing you today.” Ben said, shaking hands and clapping shoulders with the British men.

“We’ll see you tomorrow. Final day!” Continued Aaron, with far more energy than one would have after such a long day of work.

The bandmates said goodbye to both and then it was Ella’s turn to bid farewell. “Thank you so much for today guys. We had the best time.” She said as she went hugging each member.

They hugged her back, reciprocating her words. When she reached Alex, who was the last to embrace her, he said, “I’ll walk back with you.”

She let go and nodded, “Okay.”

He followed her as she made her way to retrieve her things and some equipment that was left, helping her with a case filled with camera chargers.

They were silent as they made their way through the hallway maze, only when they came out to the parking lot did Ella speak up, her voice glazed with nervousness. “I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow Ellie.” Alex gave her one last hug and she got the case from his hands.

He watched her as she walked over to the van and before she got in, she gave him a little wave and a shy smile to which he responded with a toothy grin.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Just like last time, the crew made the drive to the studio. Traffic had come down by the time they left the office so the trip was smooth and pretty calm.

The van’s atmosphere contrasted the nerves she was feeling, making her skin feel goosebumps when thinking of the day ahead.

She was glad the guys had taken her into the group so easily, making her comfortable and building enough trust to joke around with each other. What made her uneasy though was someone’s comment the night before: just before leaving the office, someone from costume design had teased her about how close she seemed with the band, and even though she knew they hadn’t meant it in a bad way, her stomach was in a knot and she couldn’t do much but shrug and brush it off.

“We were just chatting, they’re very nice.” Was what she said before saying goodbye to everyone and quickly making her way to her car.

That night she had taken longer doing her skin care routine, getting distracted by her thoughts and staring into her reflection for far longer than she realized.

Ella came back to reality when they parked outside the building, seeing the four guys sharing conversation while Jamie and Alex smoked.

Today the crew was smaller, only two cameras were going to be used and it was just four more people coming along the directors and Ella. The small group came out in little time, the band ending their chat in order to greet them.

“Ben, Aaron.” Alex said acknowledging the directors coming towards him, shaking their hands once they reached him. “Good morning everyone.” He waved at the rest of the crew behind the men.

A chorus of ‘good morning’ and ‘hello’ was heard then. Ella showed a shy grin which ended up in a full smile when the rest of the band looked at her and smiled at her presence.

“So, today’s a walk around Hollywood type of shoot right?” Ben asked Aaron for confirmation, Ella checking her clipboard and nodding at the same time as the director. “Well then, I think we could walk around these blocks, just catching you in the streets walking and we’ll see where the day takes us.”

The band nodded, somewhat tired of being recorded doing the most random things but what could they do. It was what came with the job. Their dream job.

And so they started making their way around the streets of Hollywood, California.

The sun hit them heavenly. Alex was wearing the leather jacket she had seen he had perched on the night before, with his usual sunglasses he had worn since they first met. Matt was also wearing sunglasses, while Jamie and Nick were facing the sunshine without any eyewear.

Their outfits were so simple but they wore them in such a way that just made them all look incredibly handsome. Anyone that laid eyes on them would be stuck in a trance for minutes just watching them do something as simple as cross the street.

Just like Ella was, completely and utterly enraptured by their presence. She tripped on a crack in the pavement and that was what brought her back to reality. She went red and only hoped no one had noticed.

Fifteen minutes they had been walking down Hollywood Boulevard, when Matt pointed excitedly at a building just a couple feet away from them. Arcade read the sign, in massive white letters. “Let’s go there, I’m sure we can film inside.”

Jamie sighed, just wanting to be done with the music video and rest. “Do we have to?”

Matt insisted, “C’mon mate, it’ll be fun.” Ella found it funny how much he sounded like a child trying to convince his parents to take him somewhere.

Ben then aided the drummer’s argument, “We can get the rest of the footage there while you all play, and we can have lunch as well.”

His suggestion had Nick and Alex shrugging, Matt nodded frantically and Jamie just closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Sure, let’s go.” Finally replied the guitarist, making Matt walk a bit faster, now leading the whole group into the establishment.

They found a table beside the bar where they settled down, placing a bunch of equipment on top of the table. The guys were quick to order beer bottles for each other, convincing the production team to order some drinks as well to cool down.

Their beverages arrived not that long after, the band only taking a couple sips before deciding to stand up and go over to the game machines.

Matt patted Ben on the shoulder, “Mate we’re gonna go off to play, that alright?”

“Yes, of course, don’t worry about us.” Ben assured them but giving it a second thought, he continued, “Actually,” he turned to his left side, reaching over a camcorder placed on top of the table and then directed his words towards Ella who was sitting in front of him, “Why don’t you go with them and record them playing? You know your way around working with cameras so it shouldn’t be a problem. Plus you seem to get on with them quite well.” He placed the device on her hands which she had hesitantly put forward.

Fuck! Ella yelled in her mind. To her this could only mean one thing: Ben had noticed how close she had gotten to the musicians and if he had then Aaron had noticed as well. Her freak out lasted a few seconds before she saw things in a new light since she realized her boss hadn’t made a big deal out of it or signaled it becoming an issue that got her in trouble at work. He had noticed, she guessed, but he hadn’t said a thing and maybe that meant it was alright. And if that was alright with the heads of the production company, then it should be alright with her.

Her internal debate felt like it went on for minutes but it had only been the longest five seconds she’d ever experienced. “Oh– sure, yes.” She stood up, taking the camera in one hand and her beer bottle on the other.

Matt nodded at her and started walking towards the guys who were waiting for him a few feet away from the table.

“Ellie! Are you joining us?” Asked Nick, glad to see her hanging out with them again. He found her a nice girl and very fun company.

She lifted the camera up, “It’s my job to torment you all now.” A smirk on her face to tease them, she could clearly see how bad they wanted the filming process to be over.

“Good that you’re getting this all on tape ‘cause yous are getting smoked today.” Matt cheekily said, claiming victory early.

She raised one of her eyebrows, “You think too highly of yourself, Helders.”

The drummer was quick to deny her statement, “No, I’m just aware of my skills.”

“I’d say your ego is going to be your worst enemy today, actually.” She taunted him.

He huffed trying to prove his point, and walked to the first machine that caught his attention, “Okay then, we shall start with this one.” He made his way to the boxing machine.

Nick grabbed Matt’s bottle from his hand so he could punch the bag, and said, “Ten quid Ella beats Helders on this one.”

“Thanks for the faith Nick.” Ella winked at him jokingly and Alex caught her expression, and whilst he found her even more attractive when she did it, he was the littlest bit disappointed it hadn’t been directed to him.

As if he was in the middle of a boxing match, Matt was on guard and moving his feet imitating a boxer’s moves. The camcorder in her hands was rolling, capturing the moment. “Ready?!” his question flying in the air a second before throwing a right hook to the tiny bag.

The red numbers automatically went up all the way until they hit 857. Matt turned around with a massive grin on his face, “Your turn now, Ellie.” He made a gesture for her to approach the game.

She turned to Alex and handed him her bottle, “Hold this for me please,” handing Jamie the camera right after. She made her way to the machine, and jumped a little on her spot letting her arms loose for a little to relax before getting on guard.

“Let’s go Ellie!” loudly cheered Nick, Jamie to his left had the camera in hand focused on her.

With that encouragement she threw a punch to the bag, the numbers climbing fast and reaching the 840s. They were all looking intently as they kept going up making it to 850, going up one more before it stopped.

Matt hollered loudly and anyone could think he had won the lottery not an arcade game against a friend—but hey, that’s men with their pride when it comes to games. He proceeded to take his beer from Nick's hand and down what he had left in celebration.

She clapped her hands, “Well done, Helders.”

“Glad to see you aren’t a sore loser, Ella.” he replied, throwing his arm around her shoulders.

She gave into his action, appreciating the friendly contact and leaning into him as they walked. “I would love to say the same about you but I have the feeling that would be a lie.” she teased, elbowing him on the ribs softly.

Alex walked up to Ella and gave her her drink back, hoping she would take it and leave Matt’s side. His best friend was getting more comfortable around the girl than he’d like to see, and for once Matt had the advantage of actually being single to do anything he’d like.

Fucking hell.

To his relief, Ella grabbed her glass back after giving him a small thank you and then walked to Jamie to retrieve the recording device.

Nick started walking ahead for a few seconds before he stopped and turned to the PA. “How about we race with our favorite driver?” He joked and everyone laughed, even her.

She faked hurt, a hand over her heart, “And here you were becoming my favorite.” She sniffled to seem more dramatic but chuckled right after.

Jamie and Matt went first against each other, leaving their glasses on top of the machines. Curses and insults were thrown all throughout the course of the race, making the laughter of the group loud and continuous. Ella hoped the footage wasn’t too shaky and it could be used in the video.

Just as the last lap was coming to its end, Jamie threw Matt off the road and won the race. The drummer went back on the road to finish the course, and once that was done, he shoved his friend, “You cheating bastard!” Jamie just kept laughing, getting off the seat.

Matt rolled his eyes, completely annoyed, and then said, “Right. Al, Ella, your turn now.”

Alex took a seat on the machine to the right, “Thank God this one isn’t manual right Ellie?” He teased, turning to see her with a smirk on his face.

The three other guys laughed hard at the comment and she looked at him fake offended, “Ha-ha, so funny Alex.” Ella rolled her eyes and turned back to the screen, a couple clicks later their race started.

Silence overcame the group as they watched how Ella had left Alex behind and got a good advantage, which he never at one point managed to overcome.

Nick chuckled into his bottle, “Fucking hell, Alex you do know winning means being first not fifth, right?”

“Shut up.” The singer muttered before going back into silence to focus on the game.

Not even a minute later she had won first place by far, turning to Alex with an amused face, taking a sip of her drink and then faking a yawn to tease him. He turned to her when she made the noise, crossing the finish line at the same time.

“Damn, finally. You were taking your sweet time.” She got up and left him there, sat and humbled.

The guys were doing the worst job at trying to stop their laughter from leaving their chests, it only took Alex taking a glance from Ella to the game’s screen and back for them all to explode.

She waved at them, walking away, “Let’s go before he starts crying.” The lads quickly joined her as she continued walking into the arcade.

Alex caught up with them, coming to walk beside her. “If you had raced Matt, he would’ve definitely cried.”

The mentioned turned around quickly to refute the statement his friend had made, “If she had raced me, she would’ve lost.”

“Sure, whatever you say mate.” Alex replied and then turned to Ella. They looked into each other's eyes and shared a good quiet laugh.

The group kept walking further into the place, stumbling into the basketball hoops. Matt, of course, stopped there and turned to challenge Ella once more.

“How about this one Ellie? You against me.” The brit proposed very confidently.

She only shrugged downplaying her excitement, “Sure, why not?” She gave Alex the camera this time and placed her almost empty bottle on the table behind them.

Matt stood in front of the machine on the right, “Ready to lose Ella?”

She cackled, cracking her knuckles, “You’d be surprised.”

Nick felt like something was going to happen so he said, “Again, ten quid Ella beats Matt.” and Alex accepted the bet, recording his hand shake with the bassist. Ella glared at him and shook her head.

Matt scoffed at his friends, “Mate you’re gonna lose all your money if you keep placing shit bets.”

Ignoring Matt’s comment, she turned around and said, “I won't let you down Nick, I promise.”

With that promise, they started the game. Ella wasn’t missing any hoops and when Matt realized he just yelled, “What the actual fuck?!”

Ella laughed and kept going, the time running out and when it briefly buzzed as they only had twenty seconds left, she felt the drummer leave his place to start blocking her shots. “Matthew! Move!” She said loudly in between laughs, trying to make more points but she could only manage three more as the man in front of her wouldn’t let her.

The buzzer loudly went off and the points on the board showed how poorly Matt had performed.

He turned shocked to look at her, “Did you even miss one?!”

She threw her hair over her shoulder, smiling proudly. “Of course not, I was the best shot at my middle and high school team, that would’ve been an insult to my younger self.”

The loser crossed his arms, “That's cheating then, you’re basically a professional.”

A loud cackle left her and shaking her head, Ella walked over to his side. “Oh c’mon Helders, you aren’t pulling excuses now, are you?” She nudged him with her hip and he smiled down at her playfully.

He shrugged, pressing his lips together to try and not smile at her teasing, “I'm just saying it's an unfair advantage.”

“Sure, sure.” She rolled her eyes before they both started laughing, Nick and Jamie joining.

Alex was still holding the camera in his hand, but looking at the floor, silently fuming at how close Matt and Ella looked. Growing jealous over how much she smiled from their banter or how she seemed to make contact with him out of her own will.

He of course knew he had no right to be jealous, he was in a relationship and they were barely even friends, but he couldn’t not feel unsettled by it. There was no denying he found her attractive, and if he was single maybe he would’ve tried to chat her up but he wasn’t, so he had to bite his tongue and deal with it. Well, put it away, more like.

Ella went towards Alex and got the camcorder from him, “Thanks Al.” She said and gave him a tight lip smile.

He was confused as to why she seemed easily flirty with Matt or Nick but not with him. And maybe she didn’t even notice that she was doing it but he thought maybe that meant she didn’t even see him that way. Yet all she did around him was go shy and blush and that was enough to confuse him.

What he didn’t know—because how could he know if he had just met her once before—, was that she could never flirt when she wanted to with whom she wanted to. Yes, she could seem flirty with Nick and Matt but she actually wanted to flirt with Alex, because she found him very attractive and there was something about him that just drew her in, but she couldn’t do it for the life of her. She just blushed and was a mess with words, she didn’t know what she should say to impress him or keep him in conversation, enough for him to be the slightest interested in her.

They didn’t know better. She was hoping with time, she could learn to read him and he was wishing for the same thing, not wanting to really let the pretty girl be a thing of the past anytime soon.

As they made their way back to the table they passed a Street Fighter machine and they all took turns going against each other. Alex and Matt went three times to settle a tie—which Alex ended up winning and Matt whining about.

When Jamie dared Ella to play, she accepted but had absolutely no clue what to do. The game started and she just kept pressing buttons randomly, moving the joystick everywhere. The group was a mess of laughter and she was obviously losing in the most pathetic way but she was enjoying herself so she didn’t mind making herself look like an idiot.

Jamie was laughing harder than she had ever heard him do, “You’re wank at this!”

“I know.” Ella managed between chuckles, her eyes watering and her stomach hurting from the laughter.

Once she lost, and they all caught their breaths again, they made their way back to where the crew was sitting.

The group settled around in the empty seats, Ella giving the camera back to the directors, who thanked her. Menus were now on the table, so they got tempted into ordering some lunch at the place.

Twenty minutes of chatter later, with their hot plates now in front of them, they all shared the appetizers.

In the middle of the conversation, Nick turned to the directors and Ella who was sitting beside them. “You should all come around the show later tonight.”

Ben swallowed his food and gave him a sad smile, “We would love to but we have a call to do and things to arrange for next week's projects.” He explained pointing to himself and Aaron.

Jamie turned to her then, “What about you Ella?” and Alex telepathically thanked his friend, because he had been wanting to ask her about it for almost an hour.

Covering her mouth with her hand as she swallowed, she nodded. “I’m free tonight so sure I’ll be there.”

“Great, it starts at 8 but come over earlier so you can hang out before we go on.” The guitarist told her with a soft smile.

She nodded, excitement bubbling up in her belly, and she tried not to let it shine through her face as the conversation around the table continued.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

She tried, she really tried getting there in time but traffic had ruined her plans. Despite leaving her house at six, she had only gotten to the venue a little over twenty minutes before the show was set to start.

Finding a parking spot had been a nightmare, and getting into the venue had given her a slight headache. That’s why she made her way through the now familiar venue, with a lit cigarette between her fingers—checking of course if there were any signs that prohibited it before going in.

When she reached the hallway their room was at, she could hear the chatter bouncing on the walls.

She took a long drag of her cigarette and reached the door, letting the smoke out of her lungs through the side of her mouth before saying, “Hi everyone.” Her tone was weaker than usual because she was there all alone, and not for work. She was there as a friend, or that’s what she’d like to consider herself to them now.

“Ella!” shouted Nick, throwing his hands up in the air.

She stepped into the room, waving at the people around, hugging the band members one by one—Jamie leaving for a quick few seconds to get her a cup of wine.

The guitarist gave her the red plastic cup, now half filled with liquid, “We don’t have red today but I hope you like rosé.”

She nodded, “I do, thanks Jamie.”

Alex tested his theories then, pulling Matt’s trick. “I almost thought you weren’t coming.” His leather clad arm came around her shoulders and pulled her into his side.

Ella took a gulp of her drink, hiding her burning cheeks and wide eyes behind the cup. “Oh yeah, uhm, sorry.” She cleared her throat before explaining, “I got stuck in traffic and getting a parking space was a nightmare, there’s still so many people outside.”

Nick looked at Alex, frowning slightly as if to demand an explanation for his behavior. The singer noticed his mate’s glare but decided to clearly ignore him, his arm still around Ella and not planning to move anytime soon.

But it seemed like tonight it wouldn’t be his friends reminding him of his girlfriend that cut his time short with Ella, a few beats of time later, people started scurrying out of the room and to the stairs that led to the stage.

“Let’s go lads, you’re on in ten.” yelled someone from outside the room, their steps echoing as they left.

Alex sighed and took his arm off her, “You can watch us from the side stage if you don’t want to get in the crowd.” His suggestion came accompanied by a soft smile.

She nodded, still dazed by his long contact with her. “Yeah, I’ll be there in a few.”

They started to leave the room, drinks in hand. “Enjoy the show!” said Nick before making his way through the doorway and out of her sight.

Ella downed the rest of her wine, being cheeky and pouring herself another glass before going to the bathroom to calm down. Her burnt out cigarette being tossed into the trash.

Her reflection stared back at her flushed. The kind of flushed that she couldn’t get from just a single serving of alcohol. Ugh, Ella snap out of it! She said to herself, annoyed at how easy it was for him to get a reaction out of her. Her face only grew redder thinking about how the other guys must’ve definitely also noticed it.

Opening the tab, she let the cold water wet her hands and then patted them on her cheeks, hoping it would bring down the color on her face. She shook her hands in the air when she noticed there weren't any paper towels in the dispenser. With a deep breath and a final look at herself in the mirror, she grabbed her cup and left.

The side of the stage was a place she knew she’d love to spend her time permanently on, even though she was afraid of tripping with the amount of wires and tape that were on the floor and the speakers bursting her eardrums. She loved it.

She was dancing and singing to every song, going harder to ‘Teddy Picker’, which Alex and Jamie noticed. Jamie stepped backwards and danced with her while playing the chords swiftly.

And as the gig went by, Alex kept stealing glances over to the side at her and how she knew every line to every song. Was she a fan before we met? He was impressed by how good she had been at keeping her cool when they met her then, if that was the case. He would look for answers after they were done.

When they reached the encore and the lads got off stage, Ella went over to them, “You guys are amazing! Holy shit!”

Matt chuckled, “Thanks.” he said out of breath before chugging down a new beer bottle.

“I’m gonna go down to the side when you guys get back on. I wanna see this madness up close.” She was excited, the crowd was amazing and she wanted to be a part of it.

Alex nodded, “Just be careful with the stairs over there.”

She smiled at him and turned to make her way to the side of the crowd, in front of the barrier. Everyone was chanting for them to come back and give them another song, herself joining to the demands.

The four of them came back on stage waving, and the screams were deafening. How can they even scream that loud? Her throat was hurting just from hearing them.

“Alright Los Angeles, we’ve got three more for you. Are you ready?” Alex asked into the microphone, brushing his hair back with his right hand, the left one holding the neck of his guitar.

The crowd didn’t miss the opportunity to rip their vocal chords once more and they started playing ‘The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala’.

There was no doubt every scream that filled the room was excused, Alex’s presence was immaculate with the stage light hitting him just right. And when he looked at her and sang ‘Makes me wanna blow the candles out, just to see if you glow in the dark’, she swore she melted. He had winked at her right after, a big smile breaking on her face and she joined the chorus singing ‘Shalala’s.

Ella’s trance was broken by an arm behind her tapping her shoulder, she looked behind her and saw someone waving a big piece of paper folded to her, signaling for her to throw it on stage. She grabbed it and did her best to throw it at Alex who was currently singing. Lucky for her and the owner of the sign, he noticed and crouched down to get it.

He unfolded it and laughed into the mic, turning it around and holding it over his head for the crowd to see, while he kept singing the verses.

Helders = God

She burst out laughing, the crowd screaming at the words on the paper. He put it down after a few seconds and, when the song was over, turned to show it to his bandmates. Matt loved the praise, so he laughed into his mic and said “Cheers”.

The setlist was the same, as she realized the last two songs were just like the ones she had managed to see the night before. She enjoyed them, nevertheless, absorbing the energy from the room and dreading the fact that the concert was approaching its end.

Alex said goodbye to the crowd when ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’ was done, thanking them for coming tonight. Matt threw his sticks to the crowd, for which Ella definitely saw people fighting over. Nick and Jamie waving goodbye after setting their instruments in their stands.

She made her way back into the backstage area with a giant grin and still feeling the bass vibrating on her chest. “If that was that crazy, I can’t even begin to imagine how Glastonbury was.”

They were all sweaty—Matt having gone straight to their greenroom to take a shower—standing in the middle of the hallway waiting for her to catch up to go to their room.

“Glastonbury was mad, but tonight was pretty good.” Jamie said before lighting up a cigarette.

Alex took his chance then to interrogate her, “So Ellie, I couldn’t help but notice how you knew all the lyrics to the songs…”

Ella rolled her eyes at him, blushing slightly but this time because she had been caught. “Well, after filming ‘Brick by Brick’ I started listening to your music. You aren’t that bad, I guess.” She smirked and shrugged, downplaying it.

He shook his head, puffing his chest out to say, “We are very far from bad, actually.”

She nodded and then sarcastically added, “And from humble too.”

Nick and Jamie laughed at the witty remark, Alex sticking to shaking his head and looking down to hide his grin.

“Smart-arse.” The singer said after picking his head up.

When they got back into the room, she went over to the trash to throw away her cup. Looking at the time on her phone and she found herself sad knowing she had to leave soon, she turned to them with a pout on her face, “Pains me to say this, but I gotta get going.”

“Awh, Ellie.” Nick pouted as well and went over to hug her.

She hugged him back, “Sorry guys, but I hope to see you soon.” She patted Nicks back twice before turning over to Jamie who had his arms out waiting for her embrace. “Thank you for having me tonight.”

“It’s no problem, we really appreciate you coming.” Jamie replied while rubbing circles on her back.

She started to walk over to Alex who was still standing near the door to hug him goodbye but he was quick to say, “I’ll walk you to your car.”

She waved her hand dismissing his idea, he didn’t have to go out of his way to do that, “No, don’t worry–”

But he insisted, “Yes, c’mon. I’ll go with you.” to which she gave him a playful roll of her eyes and a smile.

“Alright then.” She turned to wave back at the boys again, “Say bye to Matt for me?”

Both of them nodded and waved back at her, watching her and Alex disappear through the door.

Alex and Ella were walking in silence for a few seconds, their shoes thumping against the floor but she broke it very soon after she found herself thinking back to the gig and the songs she was growing obsessed with, “I’m actually really excited for Suck it and See.” She put some hair behind her ear, looking at him.

“Do you wanna get a copy and some merch?” He asked suddenly, she got confused at the offer.

Frowning all she could mutter was, “Huh?”

He just laughed at her reaction, “I can get you on the PR list so you can get it delivered when it comes out.”

Ella’s eyes lit up, an excited grin breaking on her face, “Oh my God, would you really?”

“Of course, it’s really no big deal. We’re mates now, gotta get the mates perks right?” Alex said, pulling his cigarette pack from his pocket.

“Oh I would love that, thank you.” she nodded as she accepted. Mates, that’s what we were, mates, and she was fine with it.

He lit up the stick between his lips and blew some smoke out, “It’s no problem, really.”

She kind of wished the walk could’ve been longer, but they reached her car faster than she expected. It was time to say goodbye and she didn’t really know how to act. She wasn’t going to see him until the next music video which still had no proper date, just an approximation of it being in August—two months from then.

“Well,” Ella started, fumbling with the keys in her hands, “Until the next music video I guess?”

Alex nodded, taking the cigarette out of his lips to talk, “Until the next music video.”

She unlocked her car, opening the door slightly and turned before getting inside to give him a brief hug, “See you soon then, Al.”

Her scent engulfed him as soon as she opened her car and even more when she wrapped her arms around him. He reciprocated the embrace and the contact was making him get stuck on his thoughts, taking a good five seconds before replying, “See you soon Ellie.”

She smiled as she let go of him, getting inside her car and closing the door. She ignited the engine of her car and started backing up, waving at him before changing gears and stepping on the gas, leaving him behind, with half a cigarette left to smoke and somehow her perfume overpowering the burning tobacco.

He was sure he would think of her for far longer than acceptable, and he would be counting down the days until the next music video was set to be done.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Chapter Text

It had been two months since their goodbye. June had been filled with work, mostly for commercials with a fourth of July theme. There were so many brands they'd worked with, that Ella had lost count of how many meetings she had attended in the last three weeks of the month.

True to his word, a week after their last talk, she got an email from their management asking for her name and address to be added to the PR list. Suck it and see had been out for a week already and she had bought it digitally, but her stomach fluttered as she typed in her information.

She just couldn't wait for when the next video was going to be recorded.

July seemed to go the slowest it could've ever gone. And by the time August came, she still had no news about the band's music video. The end of the first week of August was approaching, she was half tempted to go up to either Ben or Aaron and ask about it, but she was afraid of how that would make her look like.

Little did Ella know, she didn't have to wait any longer, since the following Monday she got a list that read Arctic Monkeys - Black Treacle, Evil Twin, Suck it and See with dates on the top of the page that said August 14th - 16th 2011.

She hid her slight freakout very deep inside herself and left it for when she finished getting the details on the list ready. Four days later, when she handed the list back to her bosses, she allowed herself to get showered in nerves.

Ella knew by then that they were going to see them at a festival they were playing at in San Francisco, and she was beyond excited for it but her stomach was turning just from thinking she would be seeing Alex again after two months. Sixty days since they last spoke and she realized far too late she had no way to even contact him during the wait for the next music video.

Well, not that she would've been brave enough to ask for his phone number and maybe he would've laughed at her if she had asked for his email, but she was wondering what it would've been like if somehow they could have a way to keep chatting despite the distance.

And as if someone had been stealing the sand from the hourglass, before she even had time to properly prepare herself for the encounter, it was August 14th and the production crew was parking their bus at the festival grounds. It was around three in the afternoon, they had made a stop for lunch that made them arrive an hour later than anticipated but they weren't late enough to have missed the band's set.

After a while of walking and trying to make their ways through the artists backstage, the group of fifteen people sporting 'Outside Lands' wristbands managed to make it to the spot the brits were standing at.

And Ella almost didn't recognize him.

Alex had a fresh new haircut, a quiff that just screamed greaser, and she fully had to force her jaw back up after seeing him. He had his leather jacket on, despite it not being cold, gold framed dark sunglasses that fit him perfectly, jeans and a black shirt on. A cigarette behind his ear that had an effect on her she couldn't quite describe, but she was sure her legs went a little weak when she saw it there.

Holy fuck.

It was around a drinks tent that they were standing by, all of them with plastic cups in their hands and laughing around. She smiled as they got closer, missing being around their banter.

Nick was the first to notice them approaching, turning around with a giant smile and waving at them. The rest of them turned to where the bassist was looking at and when they saw the crew they matched Nick's grin and gesture.

The directors were the first to approach them and shake hands. Ella followed closely behind, way too excited to greet them again to hide anymore. She hugged them tight, saying a small but high pitched "Hi" to each of them, Matt swaying her from side to side while embracing her.

Alex grinned brightly at her, feeling warmth from her presence. She didn't waste any time in pulling him in for a hug, her hold so tight on him that he started feeling dizzy from the way it was making him feel inside.

"Hi Ellie." His arms were around her waist, giving her a squeeze before she let go.

She was grinning from ear to ear, "Hi Al." Ella knew her greeting had been effusive but she couldn't care less what any of the crew members had to say, not when Alex was looking at her like that.

They were both slowly letting go off each other when Aaron spoke up, "Thank you so much for having us at the show today."

Ella took a step back, standing beside Ben. She made it seem like she was adjusting the camera strap on her shoulder, but she was hiding her blushed cheeks behind her hair.

Matt waved it off like it was no big deal, "It's great having you all here. Hope you didn't get lost trying to make it here."

Ben chuckled, "It was a whole quest but we made it."

Matt turned around then, getting some cups and pouring what seemed to be tequila in four of them and turned around with one on each hand, "Well, you're all about three shots behind so better catch up."

Aaron grabbed one of the shots Matt was offering, "Well, let's get to it then!" The director turned to all the crew, nodding with his head towards the drink table so they could all get tequila shots.

Matt was quick to pour everyone their shots and when they all had them in hand they took them at the same time, he hadn't been kidding about catching them up because he walked down the line of people filling their cups again so they could go back for a second one.

Alex took the opportunity to check Ella out more intently. She looked amazing under the sun, her tan long legs were out, she was wearing a pair of jean shorts held up by a black double buckle belt, a black bodysuit that showed every curve on her body perfectly and on her feet were a pair of black gator skin cowboy boots with silver detailing. She looked very western, and he loved it. From his spot he could see some tattoos littering her body like the red ink writing she had on her left thigh that was making him have thoughts he couldn't say out loud.

She wiped the drops of tequila that were falling from her chin to her neck, "Fuck." she mumbled, "Do we really gotta do a third one?" She was already feeling the warmth from the alcohol inside her buzzing all the way to the tips of her fingers.

Matt smirked, "Yes Ellie!" He poured her a third shot, filling her cup a bit more than the last time.

She narrowed her eyes at him and Alex chuckled at her expression. Matt proceeded to pour more tequila around and when the last person was served, he shouted, "Cheers everyone!"

The burn wasn't as bad for her anymore, but she felt like if she didn't have a chaser any time soon, she would be throwing her lunch up. Alex saw her struggling after she gulped it down, turning to the table and handing her a lime wedge.

"Ugh, thanks." She said in a pained voice, sticking the fruit in her mouth quickly after.

The sourness relaxed her and once she felt like it was enough, Ella took it off her mouth and threw it and the cup to the trash. "Matthew, I hate you."

Everyone laughed, some of her coworkers had reached out for lime as well and she didn't feel as bad anymore. She was now feeling more buzzed by the second. Oh, I'm already regretting this, she said in her head.

Alex then turned to their crew and said, "We're going on in about an hour or so, you all can go around the festival if you'd like. Those passes can take you about anywhere." He pointed to a guy's AAA wristband, hoping they would all take their ways and he could have some time to hang out with Ella.

With that, many of them turned to pour some drinks and make their way to the closest stage, the directors saying they were gonna check whoever was performing as well. About five minutes went by when they were all left alone with the PA by the drinks tent.

Ella smiled at them, grabbing the strap from her shoulder and taking her film camera in her hands, she turned it on before saying, "Let me take a picture of you all!" They all nodded and started taking position for the shot.

Alex ran his hand through his hair, as he smiled towards the camera. Matt and Nick were raising their drinks in the air and Jamie stood beside them with a cigarette between his lips. She captured her view, smiling at them as she lowered the device. "I'm going to be taking pictures all day so you better be good muses and pose for me."

Alex and Matt laughed at the way she was starting to slur her words, getting very obviously tipsy already. The singer decided to tease her, "You know... you're only missing your cowboy hat."

She snorted, "I always have it with me." and she lifted her left arm, showing off her little cowboy hat tattoo on the inside of her bicep.

He giggled in response, "Brilliant." and he took a sip of his drink, "How many tattoos do you have?" He ended up asking, curious to know what she would decide to print on her skin permanently.

She took some time to think and count, touching her rib by the end and lifting a total of six fingers, "About six at the moment:" she showed her cowboy hat again, "this one's for Tennessee," she then turned to her side showing him her right arm, "Lover here," she pointed to her right shoulder where the word could be read, she then proceeded to show her tricep on the same arm "The angel wings for LA," she turned back to her front, and lifted her shorts a bit over her left thigh, "Divine feminine," was the one on red ink Alex had first noticed, she then put her left arm up to show the outside of her forearm where three little butterflies adorned her skin "my butterflies," and she finished touching her left ribs over her bodysuit "And Selcouth here."

Jamie frowned as he let go of the smoke he was holding in his lungs, "Sorry, Sel– what?"

Her face softly blushed and her lips formed a shy smile, "Selcouth, uhm, it means unfamiliar or strange yet marvelous."

Jamie nodded while Nick tilted his cup towards her, "That's nice."

"Thank you Nick." She placed her hand over her chest, an exaggerated expression of her gratitude for the little compliment. "Anyway, how have you been? How's the tour going?"

Alex sighed, moving next to her and throwing his arm around her shoulders, "Well, other than the constant moving and therefore constant jetlag, it's been great."

Matt, who had been doing something on the table behind them, turned around then with a smirk on his face, "But nothing some margaritas cannot cure, right lads?" He had two glasses on his hands, raising them up as he walked towards Ella. "Here you go m'lady," and he waited until she hesitantly grabbed the glass from him to move on.

"Oh no Matt, I don't think–" She tried saying quickly, holding the glass as far away from her as possible for him to take back but was cut off by the man before she could finish her sentence.

The drummer handed the other one to Alex and made his way back to the table to hand Jamie and Nick theirs. Holding his own drink, he turned around to tut at her, "We're not thinking right now." He took a sip and let out an exaggerated sigh of pleasure, "We're having fun and getting pissed!"

She turned to her left where Alex was standing, still holding onto her. "I–" She started again but Alex looked at her expectantly, softly encouraging her to take a sip after he had taken one of his.

"It's really good Ellie, try it." Alex assured her, taking a second sip.

She rolled her eyes, "Okay fine, but you better not complain if you need to end up taking care of drunk Ella today." pointing at all of them, she took a swig of the beverage.

They all cheered, throwing their arms up in the air. Alex's arm left her shoulders for a moment and she just laughed at their enthusiasm. When his hold came back around her she approved of Matt's creation, "That's really good Helders, you're gonna have to teach me how to make it."

"Whenever you want, Ella." Matt replied, winking at her.

She let out a short laugh that died when Alex held her a tiny bit tighter to his side. The alcohol in her system was making her feel brave, so she let her head rest on his shoulder. She felt him tense for a quick second and she was about to curse herself mentally, when she felt him rest his head on top of hers, rubbing her shoulder with his thumb, over her lover tattoo.

She bit her lip to stop a massive smile from appearing on her face, not wanting to be too obvious in front of the rest of the band who were too preoccupied chatting amongst themselves to notice.

Ella let her eyes close for a second, getting lost in the feeling of his fingers on her skin and that's when Matt glanced at them, making eye contact with Alex who hid his smile behind his glass. The drummer didn't say anything, he just nodded and smiled at his friend, happy to see him smiling after weeks of sadness.

A few weeks ago, the singer had broken up with his girlfriend. It was a mutual accord, both of them too busy to even see each other as often as they could manage which made them come to take the decision. Decision that very obviously hurt them both. They had been together for over four years and he had been thinking of proposing one day, but shit happens and all he could do was move forward.

Tour had been distracting him, and he had been writing a lot to cope but there was something about the way he had felt when he saw the American girl again, and now he didn't want to let go of the feeling—therefore not letting go of her.

Ella lifted her head up, making him do the same. Alex looked down at her and she smiled at him before leaning into his ear and whispering, "I really like this new look." she pulled back a bit and checked him out very clearly, making him blush.

He smirked with pink cheeks, "You do?"

She nodded eagerly, "Very much." The green on her eyes, dusted with brown flakes that looked like gold under the sun, was hypnotizing him behind his sunglasses.

He let his arm fall from her shoulders to her waist, leaning into her ear and whispering, "Thanks Ella." in a tone that almost made her shiver.

The next fifty minutes they spent all together, drinking more margaritas—which Matt had taught her now how to make—, taking pictures and just talking about whatever came to their minds.

As the time for them to be on stage got closer, the people from her crew came back, equally or more tipsy than she was. Alex had counted her current glass to be her third and when she finished it, he grabbed it from her and threw it away, leaving her side to get her a cup of water.

When he came back he grabbed her arm softly to catch her attention, "I need you to start drinking some water now, Ellie." his voice mellow and coated with wariness over her state.

She rolled her eyes and laughed at his worried features, "Alex it's fine, I'm not drunk yet."

He nodded, grabbing her hand to have her fingers wrap around the cup, "Exactly, yet. We're gonna keep drinking after our set, I just don't want you to be sick while we're on."

Ella thought he looked so cute with his furrowed brows, taking care of her, "Hmm, you're cute," she said softly, giving him a toothy grin. "Okay, I'll have some water." she finally took the cup and brought it to her lips, relief washing over him.

He was blushing, really liking how she was being with him—all soft yet forward. "Great." he replied in a mumble, holding her close to him once again like they had been all afternoon.

Many had seen them, but no one said a word. Not to him, because he was genuinely smiling after Alexa. Not to her, because no one could question her and be nosy about it in front of the band.

Her cup of water was halfway done when someone from his sound crew made his way over to their group. "Let's go lads, we need you over by the stage. You're on in ten."

Alex nodded, downing the last of his drink. His mates did the same as he turned to her, "You're gonna keep having water yeah?" his eyebrows raised as he expected her to comply.

An amused sigh was what he got, "Yes, okay, I'll stick to water now." She rolled her eyes as he nodded, pleased with her answer.

"Alright, see you up there." He said before kissing her temple and making his way to the side of the stage, leaving her a statue under San Francisco's burning sun.

She was frozen and flushed, her temple felt hot like she had been branded. Branded with the shape of his lips and she was sure she had been. That little kiss would be pathetically engraved in her mind forever now.

Matt made her come out of her trance, asking her, "Would you like another one before we go?"

She knew she should've kept her promise of sticking to water, but she truly felt like she was sobering back up to a barely tipsy state so she nodded, "Please and thank you, Matt." She downed the last of the water she had and threw away her cup before going beside the drummer.

When she stood beside him he was quick to ask her, "Would you like another one so you have a refill for the show and don't have to come back here to make yourself one?"

She giggled, "You wanna see me black out, don't you?"

Matt laughed, shaking his head, "That would be hilarious to witness but no, I'm genuinely asking."

"Oh Matt, you're so kind, look at you!" She nudged his shoulder with her left hand, sarcasm so obvious in her tone. He just laughed as he poured some tequila in her glass.

A minute later her and Matt were making their ways to the side of the stage. Alex was lighting the end of a cigarette, Nick already smoking his and Jamie was telling them something. Ella thought it was the perfect opportunity to get another picture of them, so she set her glasses down on a table a few steps away from her and grabbed her film camera with her right hand.

Her feet took her to where the band was standing, and when she got close enough, she rested her hand on top of Jamie's shoulder. "Sorry to interrupt but, can I take a picture of you guys?" she asked shyly, a little bit embarrassed over having cut their conversation short.

They all reassure her though, giving her warm smiles and nods. "Sure Ellie, where do you want us?" Jamie asked while turning around, facing her.

She pulled the camera up to her eyes, "Just stand right there and give me a pose."

Nick kept his stance, smiling at the camera. Alex brought the cigarette from between his lips, and with it between his fingers, he put his hand out as if trying to reach for the camera. Jamie turned to him then, hugging him from behind like they were Rose and Jack from Titanic.

Ella laughed as she looked through the viewfinder, pressing the shutter once she got her lenses to focus. "Beautiful!" She exclaimed as she put the camera back down, turning it off and letting it rest on her stomach while the strap was around her neck.

"What the fuck? Why are you taking pictures of everyone but me?" Matt's voice got louder as he came closer to them.

She snorted and brought her hand to her chest, "No, I'm sorry Matt, I'll take another one with you! C'mon!" she waved for him to go stand beside his bandmates but the stubborn man just stood there shaking his head.

"No, I don't want to be in the picture anymore."

She pouted at him, "C'mon, before you have to go on stage." she elongated her words, whining for him to move.

The drummer just stood there shaking his head as he adjusted his in-ears, the reason why he wasn't around when they took the picture. "No."

She rolled her eyes at his obstination, "Helders, get in the picture."

He started playing with the drumsticks he had in his hands, shaking his head.

"I'm not going to drag you over here." She uttered in a tired tone.

He shrugged, acting uninterested. "Okay."

Ella threw her head back, and sighed, "Matt, please come here."

He once again shook his head, "Thank you, I'm good."

She deflated as the negative response reached her ears again, "Oh for fucks sake," she mumbled to herself before pouting once again, "Please?"

The band was watching the whole situation, entertained. Matt made eye contact with Alex who was standing a couple of steps behind her, the singer just shook his head with an amused smile and Matt lost his serious stance when he chuckled.

A grin broke on her face, "Will you let me take your picture now?"

The drummer kept laughing lightly and nodded, "Yeah but this is your second and last chance."

She rolled her eyes, bringing the camera up to her eyes. "Alright Helders, give me your best pose." watching him through the viewfinder and trying to get the shot to focus.

He made it seem like he was going to strike a big pose, she was excited to see what he would do but then he just flipped her off with his drumsticks sticking out of his hands.

The men behind her bursted out laughing, the shutter went off once and she let the camera back down, hanging from her neck. "How nice of you, Matthew."

He shrugged, smirking at her. "Well I really enjoyed hearing you beg, Ella."

She rolled her eyes and it was her turn to flip him off. Matt just laughed at her, waving the lads over to start walking with him.

Just before they disappeared behind a fence, she told them "Good luck!" to which they thanked and smiled at her.

Ella went back to retrieve her margaritas, hoping no one had taken them, and to her relief they were still sitting where she had left them. She was quick to take a sip of one of the glasses, joining the group her crew made and walking with them to the side of the stage.

The festival crowd was loud, making the anticipation for their set build up. Her stomach was in knots seeing that many people and she couldn't believe how the band didn't seem nervous at all. They were laughing amongst themselves, adjusting their in-ears and smoking cigarettes as if they weren't about to perform to a giant mass of people.

Ella had been staring at Alex so it was no surprise that he turned around and saw her. She kept her glance and gave him a bright grin, him matching it. He took a look at her hands and saw the cocktails she was holding onto. Alex raised his eyebrow in question, and she giggled before putting her cup up and mouthing 'cheers' to him to then take a long sip of the beverage.

He shook his head, smirking at her. He found everything she did so endearing, he was getting confused on what exactly was her effect on him. He couldn't help but compare it to how he felt when Alexa would look at him or talk about him to her friends. But that was love, he was in love with Alexa and she was his girlfriend. Surely what he felt for Ella wasn't love, he only was attracted to her; a crush, perhaps. Yet, it felt nice and he wanted to keep the feeling for as long as he could.

His thoughts were interrupted when they were instructed to get on stage. Walking up to hundreds of people who were screaming for their band and their music was something that he would never grow tired of. Not even in a narcissistic way, but a bloody-hell-I-can't-believe-this-is-my-job way.

He blew the audience a kiss and waved at them as he went over to retrieve his guitar from its stand, then making way to the microphone to greet them. "How you doing, everybody?" he strummed his guitar, pressing on a pedal so it sounded distorted.

Her and the crew were cheering along with the crowd, only getting louder when Matt started hitting the drums. With 'Library Pictures' they started their set, Ella knew the lyrics by heart so she was having the time of her life singing, dancing and drinking while she watched them play.

Their set lasted an hour long, and it went by so fast between the crowd going louder for their most recognized songs and the band feeding off their energy.

Soon enough, they were getting ready to play their last song, Alex said a few words before starting it. "Thank you very much everybody, thanks for coming out. You've been a terrific audience." He pointed out to the people as he talked, "We've gotta go now, which is sad... but, erm, you enjoy the rest of your day and we'll see you some other time." And with that he started playing the chords to 'When The Sun Goes Down', singing the starting verses.

Before he repeated the last line of the song's intro, he took a pause and the crowd yelled, cheering on the upcoming beat change. "Make some noise everybody, let me hear you." said Alex to the crowd, encouraging their screams.

Matt took the moment to turn to the side of the stage, seeing Ella in the center of the group, with her cup almost empty and holding a burning cigarette between her fingers. She was cheering just as loud, making the drummer laugh before he looked back to the front, at the sea of people standing before the stage.

"I said, he's a scumbag, don't you know." sang Alex, making the beat drop and the band joining with their own instruments.

He turned around while playing his guitar, going over to Matt to continue strumming the chords when his friend nodded over to the side, where Ella was standing. He turned to look at her, and a big smile made its way to his face.

She had a cigarette perched between her lips and a half empty cup on her right hand, bumping her head to the beat while she imitated Matt's beat of the drums with her hands. Alex laughed at how invested she was in the song, she was enjoying herself and that sight made him warm inside.

He turned back to the mic, singing the rest of the lyrics with the grin still stuck on his face. He looked over once again to the side of the stage, seeing her now imitating his fingers on the guitar. She smiled and pointed at him while singing the chorus with him.

Alex was so distracted by her actions that he almost sang the chorus once again, he stopped right away, mumbling an apology that was barely audible from the crowd's cheers.

As the song came to an end, everyone but Alex stopped playing their instruments. Jamie threw his pick to the crowd and set his guitar down to leave; Matt stood up and waved at the crowd, leaving after Jamie. Nick went over his bass stand to set it down and crouched to get the drumstick Matt had thrown in the middle of stage, he tossed it to the crowd and put his arms up in celebration of their cheering before leaving.

Alex sang the last verse, elongating the last chord, to then turn around and leave his guitar next to Jamie's. He grabbed his beer bottle and blew a kiss to the people before following the trail of his friends.

When he got to the side of the stage, he smirked and pointed at her, "You were the best dancer of the crowd."

Ella blushed but jumped up and down exclaiming, "That was amazing!" Which made the rest of her crew come up to the band to congratulate them. The brits thanked everyone as they were all making their ways back down to the festival grounds.

Alex stood by her side, taking sip after sip of his beer. And as they took the last step of the stairs to the grass, she leaned into him and with slurred words said, "You know... this haircut really goes well with the whole rockstar thing you've got going on. The leather jacket, sunglasses everywhere and all that, pairs really well."

He laughed at her drunken monologue, "How many margaritas have you had?"

She thought about it for a few seconds, frowning as she tapped her index finger on her lips, "Three, I think?" She thought back to how many times she'd left the side of the stage to make herself a drink and going back through her mind, she realized it had only been once while they were playing 'Brick by Brick'.

He hummed and nodded at her response, "Well enjoy your last few sips of this one because it's your last one."

Ella pouted but nodded, knowing it would be for the better, considering they had to shoot right after the festival. "Okay, I guess." She downed what was left of the drink, "Done!" she said with a smile, putting the now empty cup upside down in front of her, a single drop falling to the ground.

Alex chuckled at her, "You're something else." She was looking at him, squinting her eyes from the sun, so he grabbed his sunglasses and placed them on the bridge of her nose.

She adjusted them and softly nudged his hips with hers, "Thanks, the sun was about to make me cry."

"You're very welcome, they look good on you." He complimented, making her blush.

She shook her head and put some of her hair behind her ear, "Ever the flatterer, Turner."

They decided to go over the drinks tent to get Ella some water so she could sober up. She practically downed the first cup in less than thirty seconds, realizing how thirsty she had been for something non alcoholic or sweet. With a new cup of water for her, and a new beer bottle for Alex, they went up to their large group again.

Everyone decided to stay and watch The Black Keys, meaning they would leave at around seven thirty and they could reach their filming location to set everything up before it went fully dark out.

During the American band's set, she had started to shiver. The sun was coming down and the wind was picking up, her no sleeve bodysuit and shorts weren't helping her in the slightest and she had left her jacket on the bus.

When a particularly cold draft of air hit her back, the words automatically left her lips, "Shit, it's so cold." She was shivering despite Alex being beside her.

He of course took the opportunity to be cheeky, so he put his arm around her and hugged her to his side, "Is that better?"

"As much as I'd love to say yes, no." she honestly replied when the wind still made her shake even with his hold tight on her.

He nodded, taking his arm off her. She thought for a second that maybe he had taken it the wrong way. But he placed his beer bottle on the ground, and took his jacket off, picking his bottle back up when he had the leather coat on his left hand.

"Here you go." He offered his jacket to her, a shy smile on his face. He knew all about giving girls his jacket and how that looks to other people but he couldn't give a shit about others' opinions when he wanted her to be warm and to see how she'd look wearing something of his—other than his eyewear, that is.

She immediately looked to her sides at the crew scrambled around the main stage side area where they were standing. They were with the crowd but far away enough that no one would bother them, the people were too engrossed in the band playing on stage. The group she'd come with were all distracted as well and weren't looking at them but she still didn't want to draw more attention to them and she had a feeling that once they went to the hotel to sleep, she would be drowned in questions from her coworkers about her and Alex's proximity.

She waved her hand in front of her as if to say no, "Alex, it's fine I can bear it for a little longer until we leave."

He knew why she was saying no, as she kept glancing over to her bosses and coworkers, so he reassured her, "Everyone is distracted Ella, no one's going to see." He understood her distress since he didn't want her to get in trouble either or for people to talk about things that don't concern them, but it would be fine.

Blood rushed to her cheeks when he said that, knowing he knew exactly what her thoughts were on the situation, so she sighed and gave in. "You're annoying." she stated as she grabbed the coat from him.

With a smirk on his face, he was quick to bite back, "And you're very stubborn."

Ella felt the comfort engulf her as she put the jacket on, drowning in his scent. It was slightly big on her but she looked stunning nonetheless, the sleeves covering up her hands made him want to squeeze her cheeks and kiss her. He felt the sudden urge to kiss her.

But they just smiled at each other, enjoying each other's company far too much for this to be only a friend-through-work situation. His sunglasses were resting on top of her head now, so he stared at her hazel green eyes, getting lost in her gaze. She was staring right back at him with the hints of a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. They were engrossed in each other's features while 'Howlin' for You' played in the background, it was the claps and cheers that brought them back to where they were.

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About half an hour after The Black Keys set had finished, they had left the festival and arrived at the location they were filming. The production crew wasted no time and scrambled off their small bus to start setting everything up, taking advantage of the last minutes of light the sunset offered.

After what felt like another half an hour later, the empty field was now filled with light panels surrounding a black vintage car that was going to be the main attraction for this section of the music video.

Ella went into full work mode right as she stepped out of the bus. She was no longer wearing Alex's jacket, she changed it for hers as soon as she got in the bus to avoid any questioning, his sunglasses now hanging on the neck of her bodysuit.

She was running around checking on everyone, making calls to the actor who was on his way for the next section of the music video that they were recording tonight as well. The model, Cali, was getting her makeup done after having been put in a skin tight black latex dress with matching heeled boots.

There was so much to check up around that she was definitely sober now. She stood by the directors once the model was ready and she pointed her where to go.

As the directors were busy and everyone was focused on setting audio and cameras up properly, she went back to the bus to retrieve Alex's jacket.

He was standing on the left side of the production setup, far away in the shadows smoking a cigarette. The rest of the band stood looking as well, only closer to the directors' chairs. She made sure to make enough noise for him to realize she was there but not enough to disrupt the filming process.

When Ella reached his side, she lightly touched his arm and he turned to her smiling. "Thank you." she mouthed to him and he just nodded, scared of getting scolded for making any noise that could somehow ruin the shoot.

Knowing she had to leave and be present at her job, she pointed backwards so he got that she was going back to Ben and Aaron's side. He would've loved to have her beside him while they filmed but she couldn't and she wouldn't either, she was professional and he had seen that before. So he nodded once again and as he went to take the ashy stick out of his lips, he waved her goodbye.

The model was posing in front of the cameras, getting filmed by two of them when Ella made it back to her bosses' side. Only ten minutes later they announced they had enough footage of that and they could move on to the next frame which included Alex and Matt.

She had to call them over and the stylists made sure to have them looking good and ready before they stepped into the car. Alex took over the driver's seat, Matt in the backseat of the car along with Cali.

A speaker they had brought along blasted the song they were filming for, 'Black Treacle', and she had to bite her tongue not to sing along.

The directors wasted no time in recording the new shot. Alex mimicked driving while he sang the lines he had composed, acting very confident and collected as he stared up front like there weren't two big cameras up on his face.

In great comparison, Matt sat with Cali on his lap, acting like she was getting off with him; his hands wandering up and down her sides, one of them grazing her ass.

Ben called cut about five minutes later, making Cali take place beside Matt once again. Ella was instructed by Aaron to retrieve something from the production design table, a Lyle's black treacle can.

The main camera on Alex's face still rolling as the two behind him listened intently to the instructions. Alex took the time to mess around in front of the camera, lifting his hand up and showing the middle finger to it, to then raise his index finger and make it a peace sign. He put his hand down to, seconds later, bring the peace sign back up, this time slightly puckering his lips up to the lenses.

She came back with the item in hand and Aaron thanked her before swiftly placing it on top of the car's dashboard, perfectly subtle in the shot. Ben finished with his instructions and went back to Aaron's side, calling the other camera men to start rolling again. And after another fifteen minutes of Alex's fake driving and Matt's fake makeout, the scene was wrapped up.

The two musicians made it out of the car; Cali followed close behind, but walked over to the makeup team where she could sit. Alex spotted Jamie and Nick standing beside Ella, who had her usual blue clipboard held tight to her side.

Jamie smirked at his drummer friend and was quick to tease, "Look at you Helders, getting all the action."

Ella grinned at the comment before adding, "Yeah, isn't that meant for the lead singers?" her gaze playful on Alex now, seeing his smirk as reaction to her comment.

"Oh he would love that, just with someone else I'm sure." Matt trailed off, looking at Alex and then back to Ella.

Alex's grin faltered at his friend's statement, his face going slightly pale at the very obvious glance he had given the American girl, one that Ella hadn't even noticed since she was preoccupied at how he had reacted at the mention of that someone else, feeling a pitiful sinking of her stomach.

"Matt, I swear I'll kick you if you talk too much." Alex quickly threatened through his teeth, staring sternly at his friend missing her brief frown.

Ella was quick to clear her throat, bringing an act up and stupidly trying to pry information on who that someone else might be, to settle the fact that everything that had happened today had been nothing to get excited about. Or maybe he was just flirty and she felt dumb for feeling special about the way he acted with her.

She internally laughed at herself for being pathetic and getting her hopes up for getting his attention for a day, she had to remind herself of what was reality. He was a rockstar and she was just a PA. He was constantly touring the world and she stayed in California. He could have anyone he wanted and she was just another girl.

Cursing herself for feeling so down over the comment she forced out a chuckle, "Oh, who's the girl that has caught your eye? Is she a model as well?"

Alex whipped his head around to look at her, his features coated in confusion. He automatically saw through her, the way she was fiddling with her pen and the lack of authenticity behind her grin, her eyes showed the slightest bit of disappointment. He softly grinned at the thought of it meaning that she found him attractive and liked his company too, but his heart sank as he saw how Matt's comment had rubbed off the wrong way on her.

He turned back to Matt and scolded him, "Helders, just shut up."

His need to keep Matt quiet about the matter made her evening bitter, the thought of seeing herself as a fool only cutting deeper inside her. Jamie and Nick laughed, Matt pressed his lips together in amusement, all whilst Ella had to fake another laugh but failed at making it sound real.

Aaron called her up this time, her feet quickly taking her to her boss without even saying bye to the band since she just wanted to get away.

The crew had to put up a bonfire now, so a group of six people started gathering what they would need. The car was moved to the side by a crew member, getting the space free to make the brick circle in which they set the tinder and kindling wood, and then formed a teepee of firewood over it. Ella threw three matches and started the fire, the flames growing taller as the seconds went by, warming everyone around the site.

In fear of the fire burning out too quickly because of the wind, they started rolling the new scene soon after the flames came alive. The whole band was instructed to come in front of the burning wood, and they were filmed standing around it for only five minutes as they grew too hot, too soon.

With a few minutes to cool down, Matt was called in front of it again, to pose for the camera just to have those visually pleasing shots. And lastly it was Alex's turn. He looked angelic, contrasted to the hell-like heat that burned; his leather clad back facing the camera, all Ella could see was the way the flames outlined his body frame in a way she just had to capture. She placed her clipboard between her legs and was quick to pull her camera to her eyes after turning it on. She took the picture and after advancing the film, quickly turned the device back off, feeling the weight on her neck again but satisfied by immortalizing such a moment.

He was hypnotic to her. The way he moved, the way he talked, the way he looked. Everything he did was smooth and magnetic, and she couldn't peel her eyes off of him.

She was too enthralled by the singer that she didn't notice how Matt had caught her taking the picture. He smiled at the sight and at how her shoulders slumped after she had pressed the shutter as if relieved to have caught the perfect frame.

He wouldn't say anything to her about it but he wanted to make her know he'd seen it happen in a subtle way. So he approached her slowly and once beside her he asked, "Enjoy film photography much?"

Ella turned to see him, wide eyed and flushed but cleared her throat knowing there was nothing she could do if Matt had seen her actions. "A lot, yes. I started back in freshman year of university. Learned quite fast since I took a lot of pictures in frat parties," She chuckled at the memory, "You become quite popular and invited to each and every one of them when you are recognized as the photographer."

Matt hummed in response, "I got into photography in college at 16, around the same time I got into the drums. It was mainly because we just had access to cameras and we also had a dark room to develop our own pictures."

She was slightly surprised but her smile quickly made an appearance on her face. She hadn't genuinely smiled in a good fifteen minutes. "That's sick! I've always wanted to have a proper dark room to develop. What camera do you use?"

"A Canon Canonet and I love it but I think I might get a Leica next. It's just hard to let go of the first camera you fall in love with, isn't it?"

Ella giggled as she nodded, "It really is."

"Can I give yours a look?" Matt asked, genuinely curious about her gear and she nodded with enthusiasm.

She handed him her Minolta X-370, telling him how she had started in digital when she was in highschool before she saved up enough to get a second hand Olympus OM-10 in university and that was when she had fallen in love with analog photography, that had only led her into a massive spiral of film photography which was now one of her true passions along with videography.

Ella let him take a few shots, telling him how many shots she remembered to have left on the roll and she loved being able to bond with him over photography.

Alex was a few steps away from them when he saw them standing next to each other, sharing a high five. Her arm was on his shoulder while he held her camera in his hands and something inside Alex stung. His jaw tightened but seeing her smiling big after what had happened before made him loosen up again, stubbornly grateful for his friend for bringing back the sight.

The singer cleared his throat and they both brought their eyes up to him. "Hey mate. Was just telling Ellie how I've been into film photography since we were 16 and she let me give her camera a go. Can't say I've ever used a Minolta before." Matt explained, seeing the obvious unsettled feeling his friend was showing.

"Now that I know you take film, promise me you're gonna send me your scans." Ella pointed at him seriously, "The pictures you get while on tour must be stunning."

Matt chuckled and gave her back her camera, "They are. I'll send you some later."

A tiny shriek came from her as she hugged Matt briefly, "Okay, I'm going to check on Ben and Aaron now, see you in a bit." Her steps were fast, making her miss the sigh Alex left out after her abrupt goodbye.

A few minutes later, she had received a call from the actor telling her that he was at the place, so she met up with him and brought him over to get ready. It didn't take long for the man to be in his costume which consisted of some jeans and an orange flannel.

Taking advantage of the energy they all still had, they didn't waste more time and drove to a gas station that had allowed them to film, a mile away from them.

Once there, everyone took out their equipment and settled for the filming to resume. Matt had to act like he beat the man up in exchange for his clothes, since the drummer was playing a fugitive who still wore that typical inmate orange jumpsuit.

In the middle of the filming, Matt had started complaining about being hungry and not subtly commenting how good the food from the place crossing the street smelt like so Ella was sent over to the tiny restaurant and came back in record time with a big burrito in her hands.

Matt thanked her and went straight for it, the camera even catching him eating while he was supposed to be in character, driving Alex and Cali. She was sure the editing team would still use the shots though, since they looked so natural and weirdly accurate for the plot.

When the drummer came back out of the car, munching on his food, Ella took the chance of teasing him. "You know, you look like a proper southern dad. A farmer dad."

Jamie and Nick doubled over in laughter, "Oh my god, he does!" exclaimed the bassist in laughs.

"Mate never move to the south of the states and have kids, it isn't a good look." Alex added, struggling to keep the laughs inside.

"You're all jealous because I'm the main character now." stated Matt, which earned him multiple head shakes and sneers.

Ella snorted, "Trust me Matt, no one's jealous of that look." And with that, laughter rained up on the group.

Their amusement was interrupted by Ben wrapping the evening up, signaling everyone on the Focus Creeps crew to pack up and fit everything back in the bus.

They drove up to the hotel the band was staying at, Aaron having managed to get rooms at the same place for a night.

At the lobby, the crew separated into groups and made a line to retrieve their keycards. Everyone with a backpack on their sides and a tired look on their faces. The British men were far too tired to wait until they were done, deciding to just say goodbye right there and go to their rooms.

Alex went up to the directors, shaking their hands and saying goodnight. The rest of his mates doing the same, and despite wanting nothing more than to hug Ella goodnight, he had to settle for waving her goodbye just like he did everyone else.

She gave him a shy smile and a tiny goodnight that definitely didn't reach his ears. And with that he went to the elevators, eventually passing out in his bed with her on his mind.

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They had a good night of sleep, despite having to wake up early to have breakfast and check out as soon as possible. They should be arriving at Los Angeles before one in the afternoon, and with a six hour drive ahead of them, they needed to fight the clock.

Her brain had been swarmed by thoughts and she cursed her tendency to overthink for keeping her up longer than she had wanted to.

Ella knew people had noticed how close she was with Alex throughout the day and she knew questions were coming but the palms of her hands still clammed up when multiple people approached her in the lobby wanting to know details on the situation.

She had denied everything, swearing none of them felt any type of way towards the other—even though she knew she'd let her hopes rise up and it had ended up poorly for her. She denied having kissed him when they asked her, even if she'd been thinking about how that would feel all day.

She told them all how he was flirty with everyone, it was his personality so they shouldn't think anything else about it. She was glad half of them shut up after that, the other half smirking at her, calling her lucky or mocking her words as if to say she was full of shit.

Ella got ready and had breakfast quite early, pinching an Advil from one of her coworkers for the slight headache she'd woken up with this morning. Today was packed: they'd be driving back to Los Angeles and basically recording the whole day, for as long as the sun decided to stay up; so she really needed this headache to go away.

They ended up loading the bus and heading off back to LA before it hit eight, managing to arrive at their location a little bit over one in the afternoon.

It was good that the crew was quick and effective, setting everything up in less than twenty minutes, enough time to have Matt ready and Breana, the new model, getting her hair and makeup done as well.

They were propped up inside an abandoned police station in the middle of the desert. It had a couple of jail cells, a tiny medical wing and some offices for the staff that used to work there.

Right when the cameras were ready to go, Ben had Alex walk through hallways to be recorded like that. He was wearing his typical jeans and leather jacket, with a simple shirt but always loyal to his sunglasses, even indoors. Matt was in one of the cells wearing an inmate jumpsuit, being filmed by two people and guided by Aaron.

She was running everywhere, being needed for small things every five minutes, even having to leave the premises with one of her coworkers to retrieve the rental car they had gotten that was the same make and model from the one they had used in San Francisco the night before.

Ella smiled at Alex when they made eye contact as she made her way to Ben. "Rental is here, we have Breana ready in the wedding dress and Aaron is still over there with Matt, I don't really know how much he's got left." she informed her boss, to have him make the decision on what to do next.

Ben nodded and thought for a couple of seconds under the gaze of multiple people, "Let's go ahead and do Breana's shots outside while Aaron finishes up with Matt."

"Alright, I'm gonna let him know." just as fast as she said that, she left.

Alex knew that after Matt's comment on set, she had retrieved back into that shell of hers. He wanted to know why, not trusting himself to come up with his own answers. The one thing he knew is that he'd try to make her feel better today, in any way he could. He'd just have to trust he'd have his chances.

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His luck had run out, or that's what he thought had happened as he had no chance of talking to her at any moment throughout the day.

When she was free to talk, he was being filmed. When he was given the light to stand back behind the cameras, she was outside filming with Ben and Breana. When he could see her coming inside the building, she was way too busy for him to try and approach her. When they all went outside to join the other part of the crew, he had to go in the car to film with Matt and Breana.

Ella was on full work mode, it was hard to believe she was fighting a resilient headache that hadn't died down even after the pills she'd taken. She was constantly asking Breana if she was alright, knowing she had to be somehow uncomfortable in a big wedding dress, in the middle of the desert under the blazing sun. A total of four water bottles is what the model had gone through, and Ella was slightly concerned as she was on her fifth bottle herself and she wasn't the one running for the camera.

Ella trusted her though. Breana, or Bre—how she had told Ella she could call her—, was so nice to her. She had been making her laugh in between takes and she was grateful for the lovely distraction being the model and not Alex.

Maybe, she thought, I can get used to not being distracted by Alex and keeping it professional if I keep busy enough.

Now, after hours since Aaron and Ben had decided to wrap up on the desert scenes and they had all gone to a new hotel close to where they were filming the next day to shower, the whole group had followed someone's suggestion on a bar nearby and they were surrounded by very American decoration—too neon for her tired eyes—and the constant chatter and clinking of glasses against each other.

The thuds of balls hitting the pool table's wooden borders were surprisingly loud over the old juicebox machine that was playing some country song she could remember listening to on the radio when driving around the countryside at six years old in her dad's truck.

Places like this brought her back home, and she found herself rubbing her fingers over her little cowboy hat on her arm while she took sip after sip of her rum and coke, absentmindedly nodding along at her coworker's story from her sister's bachelorette party.

"Thank God her best friend didn't end up calling those strippers or my grandma would've fainted and made her kick her out before the evening was over."

Taking that as a cue, Ella straightened up and excused herself to go over to the bar for a refill. The place was fairly busy for a Sunday night, so instead of going back to her friends while she waited for the bartender to take her order, she leaned on the side of the bar's varnished wood countertop.

"Excuse me." She heard someone say softly to the couple talking to her right, they nodded towards the person and stepped aside to give him some space.

Of course she didn't need to turn to see who it was, Alex Turner himself was standing beside her, looking as handsome as ever and smirking down at her.

"Fancy seeing you here." he greeted, his smirk only growing when she rolled her eyes and blushed.

"Hey Alex," her voice was soft and if he wasn't right beside her, he could've missed her words. "You enjoying yourself?"

She was adorable, going all shy, and Alex felt slightly bad for coming over with the intention of being explicitly flirty with her but he also wanted to shoot his shot and see her reaction. "It's been good so far. I actually came here to tell you something." he left his words lingering in the air and she frowned at the mysteriousness of it all.

He was still smirking though, so it was confusing her a little, "What's up?"

"I think there must be something wrong with my eyes," he started and she got a tiny bit closer to see right into his eyes so she could see if he'd gotten anything in them, but he caught her off guard with what he said next, "I can't seem to take them off of you."

Ella could feel her cheeks burning up, her jaw had fallen slightly and she almost let out a scoff in disbelief. She ended up laughing as she shook her head, "How much have you had to drink?"

He shrugged and completely evaded her question, "I mean it." Truth is he had only had two pints of beer, he wasn't even drunk.

She was sure it was impossible for her cheeks to go redder but they had and she felt them hotter than ever, "Oh Alex, stop it." she stared at the ground and shook her head.

The bartender caught her attention then and she got another glass, filled almost to the rim. She tipped the man good for the generosity, she really needed the liquid courage if Alex was saying shit like that to her.

But before she could keep the conversation, he leaned into her ear and with his arm snaking around her waist and said "See you around Ella." and with a gentle squeeze of her side, he left her there, blushing and breathless.

Fucking hell, so much for keeping myself distracted from him.

Thirty minutes later, she felt like she was in those movies where you get stuck in the same day, over and over, because Alex was by her side once more while she waited for the bartender to make his way around to her.

She turned to her side to face him and before she even had the chance to say something he gave her another flirty line, "Serious question," she nodded at his fake appearance of curiosity, already feeling her cheeks turning crimson by whatever he was going to say, "How does it feel like to be the most gorgeous girl in the room?"

Ella was expecting a pick up line but not that pick up line and she definitely went bright red. She covered her face so he couldn't see her like that but he had been staring at her face, he hadn't missed the way she'd blushed even if he'd only seen it for a second before she'd use her hands to hide.

"Alexxxx" she whined, not knowing what else to say, because what could she say after that? She never had a clue of what she was supposed to respond to pick up lines and the fact that it was Alex saying them made it even harder to think. Not just a response, anything. Anything at all.

He hummed in satisfaction, smirking at her,"I like it when you say my name like that."

Something inside her flipped and she felt a tingling feeling travel all throughout her body, specially feeling those words between her legs. She wouldn't even dare to open her mouth, scared of the noise or whatever words that would come out so she stuck to shaking her head.

A few seconds later, she pulled her head back up from between her hands, "Do you always tell girls the same lines?"

He shook his head confidently, "No, I promise this is the first time I've ever told a girl that last one."

Ella narrowed her eyes at him, "I don't believe you." He's full of shit, there's no way he hasn't used that one before, she thought.

He grinned softly at her, as if to reassure her, "It's a promise and I don't break those Ellie."

In the same second her name had left his lips, the thud of a glass being put on the table was heard. She slapped some ten bills on the side for the man who served her to take and she turned around to the singer to lift her glass up and down her double rum on the rocks.

He chuckled at her, as she wiped a drop of alcohol from her chin and licked the finger she'd done it with. "Okay, easy there Ellie."

She was feeling a little bit braver by now, and still not believing him she dared him, "Don't you have any cheesier lines left, Turner?"

He smirked, "Yeah, this one," he cleared his throat and started, "Excuse me, I don't mean to intrude, but you owe me a drink..." he took a pause, his facial expression dramatic as he put up a character to deliver the line correctly. Ella was expectantly waiting for the next bit, slightly growing impatient even if it had only been a pause of five seconds, "Because when I saw you, I dropped mine."

She burst out laughing, not believing him for using that cringey line. "Has that one ever worked?" she asked between giggles.

He smiled amused at her laughter, "To be honest, I don't think so."

They both doubled over in laughter, the alcohol making the situation funnier than it was but she was laughing with him and that's all that mattered, and as she stayed the rest of the night with him, talking and sharing drinks, it made him feel even more pleased. It was a feeling that stuck with him even after the rest of the band and some of the members of her crew joined them for the rest of the night.

After the short walk back to the hotel from the bar that she'd done beside Diana and Tyler, she went up to her hotel room. The night was quiet, hallways echoed at the slightest step you took and it felt like you could startle everyone awake on your floor when you closed the door to your room, but her brain was in a frenzy.

As she dumped micellar water on a cotton pad to take off her makeup, continuing with every step of her nighttime routine, it seemed like her mind wouldn't shut up about the bar and Alex. Alex at the bar. Alex at the bar with her. Everything he had said at the bar. All the fleeting touches she could still feel on her skin.

Ella felt like screaming at herself, to shut it all up. She couldn't get her hopes up for some cheesy pick up lines he could've googled five minutes before approaching her, for some hugs that maybe were usual for him to give around, for the behavior that maybe was his normal way to be.

He could be flirty with everyone.

She didn't necessarily know him that well to tell if this was special treatment or if he was that way with every lady he got close with. And on top of it all, he had been drinking, and under the influence she was well aware people tended to turn more flirtatious than usual. Her older sister was living proof of that, and she shivered at the flash of memories that came to the front of her mind with that train of thought.

She pointed at herself in the mirror while brushing her teeth, her eyes stern and seemingly threatening. You either get a grip or you get someone to slap you into consciousness, she threatened herself and with a nod, she finished getting ready for bed. She only hoped that once she got in bed, sleep would get her as soon as her head touched the pillow.

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It hadn't been like that.

Her brain did her dirty once again, and she kept herself awake for way too long overthinking. Just like she always did. Her days were a cycle of constant overthinking, that's why she made sure to keep herself busy, or to keep a packet of cigarettes and her lighter always on her.

This new day was going to be just as exhausting as the one before it, only even harder due to the hangover she was sporting. She'd taken two ibuprofens first thing in the morning, chugged a bottle of water and put on some cheap black sunglasses she'd bought at a gas station on the last spring break she'd celebrated in Florida with her university friends that surprisingly had survived the wear of the years. Her film camera was hanging around her neck once again, making sure she'd have it with her since regretting leaving it in her backpack instead of taking it to the bar with her the night before.

They all drove to a house a couple of miles away from where they had stayed the night. Still out in the desert, the house was very rustic and had a giant backyard. There was a pool and outside of the fences that surrounded the property was an old stable, surrounded by old cars and a junkyard in which the owner seemed to like to play mechanic.

Bre was getting ready and her outfits for the shoot had Ella's jaw dropping every time. She couldn't deny how gorgeous Breana was, and to be honest she might even have a slight crush on the model but she wouldn't do anything about it.

The day was going by smoothly. Aaron and Ben stayed filming with Tyler inside the house, most of the time the crew was kept to a minimum to keep Bre comfortable when she had to film half naked or topless.

Breana was a good sport though, very professional and keeping a straight face and in character even when Ella thought she'd feel vulnerable, because god knows that if she even had to be in her underwear in front of one single camera she'd be blushing and shaking non stop. Ella was in awe of how easy it was for Bre to strip down in front of Matt—who she'd just met the day before—and the rest of the people standing behind the scenes, and basically act like she was having sex with the drummer.

So Ella was running around as per usual but most of the time it was to have Bre be at her most comfortable state, getting her water when she needed it, handing her a robe if she asked for it, asking if she wanted anything in particular or if she was comfortable with the shot they'd just done.

When everyone came outside and it was time for Matt and Breana to be filmed messing around in the pool, Alex finally saw her behavior towards the model and he couldn't help but silently laugh. Nick and Jamie confused as to what was the laughter for when Breana was topless diving into the pool now, they thought maybe it was funny because of Matt's reactions to the model and that was the only conclusion they could get at while watching everything unfold in front of them.

When Ella made her way by Alex's side and sighed, he chuckled under his breath. She turned to him and frowned, slightly confused at his reaction to her coming his way. "What?" she'd asked rather defensively but still lighthearted.

"I haven't seen someone act like this since I was in primary school and someone had a crush on a girl from their class." he smirked playfully at her.

She rolled her eyes, blushing at being caught for tending a lot to Breana. "Oh shut up, you can't blame me. Look at her, she's stunning."

He didn't take her eyes off of her though as he replied rather lazily, "Hmm, I guess she is."

She turned to him slightly offended, "You guess?"

He rolled his eyes playfully now, "Okay yes, she is stunning." He stated one more time but was still watching the American girl in front of him intently.

Ella hummed with a doubtful expression on her face while she frowned, "I thought so... Was starting to think you had some real trouble with your eyes then."

He took the opportunity to bring yesterday back up then, "I tried telling you yesterday, you wouldn't believe me."

Something in her went hot and flipped at the same time, "You're a tease, you know that Turner?" she nudged him with her hip, making him slightly sway to the side.

"I've been told that one too many times." Alex smirked at her, nudging her back with his hip.

Ella had to force her jaw to stay in place, unholy thoughts making way through her mind and she knew she would go bright red if she kept looking at him while thinking of all the ways she could make him prove that.

She looked back to her front, seeing Breana come back out of the water and hugging herself. She cleared her throat and pointed to her right side, "I'm gonna get her a towel." she muttered and a shit eating grin was plastered on his face from seeing her reaction to such a simple sentence.

As she left, with the slight sway of her hips and the sight of the high rise black shorts she had on and how they contrasted against her tan legs, he also had some unholy thoughts about how pretty she'd look in between his sheets.

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Before the trip had happened, and the list was handed to her at the start of the month, Ella had suggested bringing a biker gang to record with the Monkeys. Because what's more American than a biker gang.

Ben and Aaron had jumped on the idea straight away, and she made sure to find the friendliest group of bikers out there that were down to appear in the video posing as a dangerous outlaw gang.

An hour later since she had left Alex's side, she had made her way back to where the band—minus Matt—was standing. "Okay so I have a surprise..." she said in a high pitch tone and with her hands clutching her clipboard tightly to her chest as she rose up and down on her tippy toes as if she wanted to jump on her place but was holding back from doing it.

Nick automatically matched her enthusiasm, "What is it?" he asked effusively and Jamie raised an eyebrow and laughed at his mate's reaction.

"So I hired a biker gang for the video," she paused and her smile got even brighter when she saw the three men respond positively to her surprise, "and you're all joining them on the ride while we film."

Jamie nodded excitedly, "That's brilliant, thank you Ella."

She almost screeched, "I'm so glad you liked the idea, for a second before coming here I got scared you all hated bikes or something."

Alex shook his head, "We actually have ours at home."

She gasped, "Oh really?!? Oh my god– Okay, okay, let's go!" She turned around quickly, hoping they would follow her as she made her way to the big group of sixteen people on bikes that were waiting by the side of the big empty road.

The guys chuckled at her eagerness, and went behind her matching her quick pace. Once they reached the bikers, she made sure to introduce them all and thank them for coming and filming with the band.

She's adorable, thought Alex.

Ben had gotten four bikes for the band, which were standing a little further behind the large group of bikers. Ella made sure to guide them to the vehicles, Matt already sitting on his with Breana sat behind him. They seemed quite cozy for the camera's not to be rolling anymore.

As the guys chose their bikes, she turned on her camera. Alex was sitting on the bike he'd chosen, putting the helmet on and the leather gloves that were there as well.

Matt opened his mouth, seeing the perfect opportunity laid out in front of him so he asked in a tone that said he was up to no good, "Ella! Have you ever ridden a motorbike?"

She shook her head, "No, but they seem fun though."

The biggest, most satisfied grin appeared on the drummer's face then, "Oh I'm sure Alex would love to take you for a ride." His tone so suggestive, Breana laughed harder than she'd anticipated, having to hide in Matt's neck to lower the intensity of it.

Nick continued the teasing, "Alex likes a good ride, you're assured to have fun."

Jamie not even missing a beat before adding, "Or you could take her for a ride later if that's what you both want, privacy and all." The guitarist winked and she was as red as one could be, but she took her camera and used it as a prop to hide her blush.

In the viewfinder she found Alex flipping off Jamie and Nick who were standing on his right side by the bikes they had chosen. She focused the shot and pressed the shutter, rolling the film to have it ready for the next frame.

Alex turned to Helders then, taking his helmet off to talk. Instead of directing his words to his friend, he sent them to Breana, "I assure you Breana, it's not gonna be a good ride so don't waste your time."

Breana laughed even louder, making Ella do the same and the guys exploded in laughter when Matt copied Alex and flipped him off. "Don't listen to him Bre, I promise that's not true. He's just frustrated."

"Well that sounds desperate now, Matthew." Ella chatted back after gaining back some composure.

"No it doesn't, I'm just saying... It's not a veridic statement." The drummer continued pushing his argument.

Jamie snickered, "You're just making it worse there mate."

Matt huffed, the bandana covering his mouth blowing at his action. "You know what? See ya' later, dickheads!"

And with that and a shriek from Bre, he changed gears, pressed the pedal and went fast straight into the empty road.

Ella turned around after the cloud of dust had disappeared and looked at Alex who was squinting from the sun's intensity and his lack of sunglasses on his face. She still had her camera on and in between her hands, so she snapped one last shot of him with his hair all messy from taking the helmet off and sweaty from the desert's burning weather.

She advanced the film roll one last time before turning her camera back off and letting it hang on her neck. Nick and Jamie had put on their gloves already and were getting the helmets on their heads when Alex spoke up.

"So are you hopping on or not?" his hands were resting on his spread thighs and she had to force herself not to get distracted by those legs and look up to his face.

"I don't know... Ben and Aaron might need me and I–"

"They won't say anything if I explain how I'd refuse to get in the shot if you weren't riding with me." he shrugged nonchalantly while she was blushing once again. "C'mon, I wanna be the one that gives you your first ride." he said innocently, no suggestive undertone.

She raised her left eyebrow and replied, "You wouldn't be the first one."

"But you said–?" he continued, confused until he saw her face and realized what she meant. He smirked at her sudden boldness, "Well then, we shall see how well you ride."

And just like that her boldness was snapped away and she blushed harder. Keeping her stare at the ground as she took her steps over to him and the bike, she reached to grab the helmet Matt had left behind and she put it on carefully under Alex's gaze. Moving her camera to rest on her left side rather than on her stomach.

Carefully she sat behind the singer, not really knowing what to do with her arms. He saw her hesitating hugging him by the waist so he encouraged the action. "Just hold onto me alright? I promise I won't go too fast."

She hummed at his promise, scooting a bit closer to his back so she was pressed into him. Her hands clasping each other around his middle was a sight that made him smile hard under his helmet.

When he revved the engine of the bike, her hold got tighter and he laughed at the tiny shriek she let out. "Don't worry, I got you Ellie." He squeezed her right thigh briefly in reassurance, and with the thought of how natural it felt to do that with her, he changed gears and started driving.

They rode the bikes for about twenty minutes, mainly following the same path as the bikers. The cameras followed them and she was living for the thrill it gave her. The day hadn't finished, yet she couldn't wait for the next time she'd get to ride a bike.

Taking a break in a long dirt field, Matt and Alex stood up from the bikes, Ella still sat on Alex's but without her helmet now. Alex's helmet had taken over his seat and they were all smoking Ella's cigarettes.

Both musicians had teased her for her selection of cigarettes, "Really Ella? You couldn't get more American." Matt had said the second he saw the turquoise Natural American Spirit cigarette pack.

Alex giggled, "What does organic cigarettes even mean?"

She excused herself blushing like she always did. "It means the tobacco is organic," she rolled her eyes, "but okay, let me be, I just wanted to try them. A friend recommended them to me but I'm waiting to finish this pack to go back to my Marlboro reds. I miss them." she sighed letting the smoke out of her lungs.

Matt continued to tease, "Organic cigarettes..." he shook his head smiling, knowing that he was pushing Ella's buttons even more.

"Okay Helders, you know what? Just shut up, I'm never sharing smokes with you again." she scoffed, not annoyed entirely but she was teasing him as well.

"Good for me if I can avoid whatever this is." he said waving the half burned cigarette.

She rolled her eyes once more before taking a long drag of her cigarette and then tossing it on the ground and quickly stepping on top of it. "Whatever," she pulled her camera that was still resting on her side and turned it on, "pose for me idiots, lighting looks good here."

They stayed where they were, chuckling but turned to look at her. Alex took a drag of his cigarette and Matt just stood there with the bandana around his neck now rather than covering half of his face. After she pressed the shutter once, she used the lever to roll the film and took one last picture. She turned it back off and waited for the men to finish smoking.

And right there her thoughts were once again all taken by Alex. She knew smoking was bad—hell, her mom had given her a huge lecture when she'd first found her smoking on a picture in Facebook, telling her all about how your lungs would slowly die and she'd get cancer if she kept that up. She knew it was true but she still rolled her eyes, she'd grown with the smell of burning tobacco from how her dad would always have at least two a day, what did she expect?

But it truly seemed like smoking didn't do anything but good to Alex. He looked so especially hot to her when he was smoking. And she swore he could be the example of the arguments to fight the debate on smoking, in favor of the scientifically proven murderous addiction.

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The day had gone on, Ben and Aaron didn't say much about her riding in the back of Alex's bike. She'd been nervous when approaching her bosses to ask if there was anything she could help with, but she was surprised when they just told her that the bikers scenes had been amazing, they thanked her for the good idea and managing to get such a cool group of people to work with.

She was elated to say the least, a weight lifting off her shoulders at the lack of trouble. She still had had to deal with the curious looks from multiple people on her crew but she was getting used to them now and she had been learning how to ignore them.

One of the last scenes they filmed was of Matt and Breana getting off on top of a UK flag. A fire was burning on a metal barrel beside them, the flames contrasting perfectly against the pitch black surroundings and setting the mood for the couple being filmed.

She wasn't sure what she was feeling, she just knew Matt and Breana were hot together and she was holding her jaw closed with a bit of struggle. The band was standing with her, Nick and Jamie to her left and Alex to her right. The singer had told his two bandmates about her crush on Breana so that they would keep an eye on her behavior around her throughout the day, so while they were all watching the scene, they'd take turns to look at Ella and the poor job she was doing on trying to keep her reactions neutral.

After what felt like an hour but had only been half of one, Ben had wrapped up the production officially and everyone clapped to themselves and their hard work. Breana was called over by the costume and makeup department and after giving Matt a kiss on the cheek, she left him to get changed. The drummer spotted his friends and made his way to them with a satisfied smile.

But before he could say anything, Ella talked. "Helders, you did a good job... you lucky bitch." she added that last bit sounding jealous, leaving the man confused.

Alex laughed, "She is a bit too jealous of how close you got with Breana, she's got a slight crush on her."

Nick snorted, "Slight? Not at all."

Ella gasped, turning to Alex who was the only one who had caught her on her crush on Breana. "Alex Turner, you snitch!" she said through her teeth.

"C'mon you think no one would notice?" the singer said in defense.

Jamie aiding his friend and saying, "Yeah Ellie, you've been drooling." The smirk on his face made her roll her eyes embarrassed.

Matt put an arm around Ella's shoulders then, sighing in a fake defeated tone, "Well, who do I think I am stepping in the way of true love?"

She shrugged his arm off, "Piss off Helders." she mumbled.

The drummer raised his eyebrows at her then, "You hang out with Alex for a bit and you start sounding British? I'm impressed."

This time though, it was Alex who replied for her, "Helders... piss off, would ya'?"

Matt laughed, shaking his head and pointing towards Alex while looking at Jamie and Nick as if to say 'get a load of this guy'. Jamie and Nick gave him knowing smiles, it was painfully obvious that he liked Ella and they were wondering where it would lead to.

Ella had excused herself and gone to help the production team pack everything back up. Keeping the chats with her coworkers to a minimum so she could finish sooner and so she could also avoid any talk about the band—well, Alex in particular.

Since it was a Monday and they had had quite a busy weekend, no one even suggested going out for drinks to celebrate, too tired to think about anything else other than their own beds. Ella had been too, but looking back to everything that had happened in just this weekend alone, had her filling up with a surge of energy that she was struggling to keep down.

Matt and Breana seemed especially affectionate after the production, talking to each other for the hour and a half it had taken for the Focus Creeps crew to fit everything back up on their bus.

Before everyone got to bidding each other farewell, Matt and Breana approached the directors and Ella.

"Ben, Aaron. Was just thinking here with Breana, wouldn't it be fun if we went to Las Vegas for the day and filmed a bit there? We could get some good footage there." He sounded very convincing, really trying to sell his idea. Not because he wanted to be filmed more, he'd rather be done with it already but he wanted to spend more time with Bre and Alex to have Ella's presence for a little while longer too so if this idea would have them that, then so be it.

To Ella's surprise, Aaron declined on the idea, "I'm tempted to say yes, but we need to go back and start editing and look over the footage just to see if we need to do any reshoots."

Ben's addition though was the one that gave her whiplash. "But Ella could go, and film you guys around like she did in the arcade. I know you all get along with her so I'm sure you wouldn't mind just having her than the full crew." His suggestion lingered in the air and everyone turned to look at her for an answer.

She opened her mouth to respond but nothing came out of it. Matt looked at her encouragingly, Breana was resting her chin on his shoulder and kept nodding at her to incite her to say yes. Ella sighed and cleared her throat, "Uhm, yes of course I'd love to go." her voice sounded hesitant as she thought of how on earth she'd go to Vegas if her car was back at the office. "I'd need to go back to the office to get my car though..."

Matt clicked his tongue at her which made her blush, feeling silly. But what had been silly about her comment? How else was she going to go to Las Vegas? In a taxi? That would be worth at least half of her monthly income.

"You're going with us on the tour bus." the drummer replied, making her freeze.

"Are you sure?" she had to ask one more time, just to give him the opportunity to take back the offer but he didn't.

"I am sure." Matt said confidently, "Bre is coming with us on the bus as well."

An oh escaped her lips, "Okay, well, erm... Yes, that's fine by me then."

Breana let out an excited squeal that made a grin break out on her face. And a minute later she was getting a bag with the camera she'd used at the arcade and a couple more things she could need throughout the day in Vegas.

With her hand clutched on the backpack carrying the filming devices and accessories, and with her other little backpack she'd brought over for the weekend, she walked up to the Monkeys tour bus.

The couple of the hour were there waiting for her and Breana leaped forward to hug her and link her arm with hers to walk into the vehicle. Matt said she could drop her things inside wherever she wanted and that they had enough bunks for everyone so Ella needn't to worry about anything so she sighed a bit in relief.

The relief only lasted a few seconds since when Matt opened the door to the stairs of the bus, she realized she'd be spending the day with the band and in their environment. With Alex and in his environment. Fuck.

The nerves she had were overpowered by the loud cheering she heard when Breana and her stepped into the main lounge area of the bus. And when Matt opened one of the cupboards on top of the makeshift kitchen sink, grabbed a silver Patron tequila bottle and set it on the table in front of the band, she was weirdly excited and scared for what was going to happen on this trip.

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Chapter Text

Las Vegas, Nevada.

Only about three and a half hours away from the decadent city, they had departed a few minutes after Ella and Breana had received a vague tour around the band's temporary house on wheels.

Now they were doing shots of tequila in the main lounge, everyone spread around the round table and sat in the half circle couch that surrounded it. The table had their phones scattered around, lighters, cigarettes and some water bottles. Thank god, she thought because they didn't seem to have anything else she could use as a chaser.

"We should play something." suggested Breana, looking at Matt and then turning to everyone finishing off by Ella who was sitting on the opposite side to her.

Oh no.

Matt hummed in agreement, "Like what?" he asked, getting closer to her side and hugging her to him with his arm around her waist.

They were disgustingly cute, and even if they had only just met the day before, they had hit it off instantly and everyone could tell their personalities played too well with the other. It was endearing to see and they were all curious to see how that would unfold.

"Just nothing with dares please, I don't like those." Ella intervened before anyone could say the typical truth or dare. Most of those ended with her being left out because she didn't want to be dared into doing something with someone she didn't want to and be called a pussy afterwards. And though she was almost sure they wouldn't do that to her, she still would rather play anything else before that.

The model tapped her fingers on the table then, making it seem like she had just gotten a brilliant idea. "How does two truths and a lie sound then?" Bre finally proposed and with everyone's nods, they set down the rules.

Starting with Breana, everyone would take turns to share three statements and from then everyone else would have to guess which of them was the lie. Whoever got it wrong had to take a shot, and if everyone guessed what the lie was correctly, then the person who had given the statements would have to drink.

Ella trusted herself most of the time but, as it was with every drinking game she'd play, she knew she'd do awfully and probably be the drunkest one of the group.

And so with dread filling the PA up, she looked at Bre as the model started the game off, "I was adopted as a baby. I'm twenty eight. I've modeled for American Apparel."

Matt instantly turned to her, with a deep frown, "Wait, twenty eight?!"

Alex shook his head, thinking there was no way the baby-faced model was over twenty four years old and that was giving it a mean guess. "That's gotta be the lie." And to Breana's dismay, everyone agreed on that one being the lie.

Ella hadn't wanted to talk because she knew matter-of-factly what her age was but seeing that everyone was set on it, she added, "Yep, Bre drink up, I've seen your resume. You're not twenty eight."

The model sighed and lifting the glass off the table she cursed, "Fuck, I knew I wouldn't pull that one off." She shook her head for a second before gulping down the alcohol.

Once her glass was back on the table Matt continued with the game. "I almost crashed my car once while listening to a Radiohead album. I've never seen any of the Harry Potter movies. I used to have braces as a kid." His face stayed neutral so Ella was struggling to know which was the lie.

Her inner teenager self was hurt by the second sentence so she commented with a frown, "Please tell me you're joking about the Harry Potter one."

The drummer was quick to shrug, a neutral face still on, not giving away a single thing. "M'not saying anything, just pick your lie."

Ella chose the Harry Potter one, while Breana claimed the Radiohead one, resulting in only the two of them taking a shot. The girls complained about the easy win for the guys since they had grown up together.

The next person was Nick who clasped his hands in front of him and with a serious expression started with his statements, "I've never gotten a speeding ticket. I'm allergic to blueberries. I'm engaged." And at that last sentence all the guys snapped their heads to look at him.

Jamie had his eyes open wide and he yelled, "Engaged?!" Alex and Matt with the same look on their faces.

Nick nodded with a smile creeping on his face, he seemed relieved to share the news with his best mates.

Matt gasped and clapped the bassist's shoulder, "When?!?"

Nick was trying to keep his grin small, shrugging his shoulders as if the news weren't a big deal but he was beaming with happiness regardless. "Just before we left."

Alex shook his head at his friend for keeping it to himself for two weeks now. "Bloody hell, congratulations mate." He went to hug Nick and the rest of the guys followed, ending up in a group hug that echoed 'congratulations' all around.

Ella could remember that first time she'd ever talked to Alex and how she had teased him about a situation like this: all of them hugging each other in a tour bus, but, even though she had wanted it to be funny to prove her point, she had to stop herself from cooing at the endearing sight. Both her and Breana looking at each other for a quick second and then back to the men embracing and congratulating Nick, with a hand on top of their chests.

Alex pulled away from the group hug, reaching for his cellphone on the table. "We've gotta call Kelly to congratulate her as well." Jamie to his left nodded but before Alex could even find Kelly's number, Matt opened the Patron bottle and filled everyone's glasses to celebrate.

"To the soon-to-be O'Malley's!" he yelled and they all took the alcohol at the same time. Ella and Bre standing up to hug Nick over the table.

"Congratulations Nick, I'm so happy for you." Bre said as she embraced the bassist.

"Thank you Bre." Nick replied, giving the model two pats on her back before turning to Ella and accepting her hug.

"I'm so so happy for you Nick! Congratulations." Ella held him tightly, rubbing his back.

Nick smiled and mirrored her actions, "Thanks Ellie."

As they let go of each other, they heard the other three men hollering at Alex's phone, and on the screen Kelly flinched at the loud noise through the video call.

"Congratulations Miss Boss!" said Alex loudly before smiling at his phone, Jamie and Matt joined in the felicitations causing even more ruckus in the lounge.

"Thanks lads. I reckon Nick told you himself after all." Kelly's amused tone sounded clear through the phone's speakers.

Nick appeared on the video at that, "Sorry love, I just couldn't wait any longer."

His fiance chuckled, "It's okay. How did that music video go?"

Jamie took the chance to reply, "Went alright, Kels. We made some friends on set and we're all going to Vegas for a day before we leave for Europe."

Ella's smile faltered, she didn't know they were leaving the States so soon—as if that made any difference though, because what made it so much better if they were touring through America than another continent? It's not like she was going with them or anything.

She shook her head to herself and listened back up when she heard her name.

"Ella come here, this is Kelly." Nick waved her over to Alex's phone and she stood behind the singer to show her face to the bride-to-be.

"Hi Kelly, it's so nice to meet you!" Ella waved with a grin on her face and the British woman smiled back, especially at her American accent.

"You too, Ella! Hope you all have a blast in Vegas." Kelly said, wishing she wasn't getting ready to leave for work.

Before she had a chance to reply, Nick waved Breana over and introduced her to Kelly. Formalities were shared but, of course, Matt interrupted the conversation to tease the woman on the other side of the screen. "Well since we're on our way to Vegas already, I reckon the bachelor party is coming early."

"Oi Helders! Don't be corrupting my fiance now." scolded Kelly very quickly, holding a coffee mug close to her face.

"No worries Kelly, Breana here will distract him from his plans." Alex commented to tease the drummer back.

Bre winked at her through the camera and reassured her playfully that she would do so, "I promise I'll have him under control."

Kelly smirked, "Thanks Breana, you're a doll. Be careful with Matthew there though, he's a handful."

Bre hummed, looking up to meet Matt's eyes when she said, "Don't worry, I know how to make them behave." and to everyone's surprise, Matt blushed.

The call went on for another ten minutes before Kelly excused herself since she had to leave for work already. Goodbyes were heard from everyone in the lounge until Alex pressed the red button and set his phone back down on the table. They all went back to their previous seats and after remembering it was Jamie's turn, they resumed the game.

The guitarist cleared his throat, "I have never broken a bone. I learned how to play guitar when I was seven. I've had dinner with Julian Casablancas."

Breana decided to tease him then, "No new engagement news?"

Jamie just shrugged, "No, I mean I have a girlfriend and I know she's the one but haven't proposed yet."

Ella was shocked, I mean it's not like she had ever looked or asked about their personal lives but she couldn't believe how well these men could hide something like having a partner to everyone. She wondered for a second if Alex had one, but she stopped herself before she began to overthink. "You have a girlfriend?"

Jamie nodded, his face with the typical Jamie expression he always had. She stayed in shock but playfully said, "You've broken my heart right there."

Matt chuckled, "With how bad you've got it for Breana, I reckon when you meet Katie you'd wanna steal her from him, not the other way around." He pointed out, making Ella blush.

Breana was curious about the new information so she asked with a giggle, "Wait, what about me?"

Nick made Ella blush even harder saying, "Ella's got a crush on you." She glared at him with her eyes wide, mouth agape and bright red, shocked he had dared say it bluntly out loud.

The model gasped and turned to look at her, "Awh, come here Ellie." She stood up from her seat and walked over to her side to give her a loud and long kiss on the cheek and somehow Ella managed to go even redder.

Ella wouldn't admit she had briefly enjoyed the affection so she hid behind her hands and mumbled, "I hate y'all."

Matt egged her on a bit more saying, "Yeah, except for Bre. You wanna kiss her."

She just groaned like she was in pain, "Matthew shut up." she said but it sounded muffled as she was still shielding herself behind the palms of her hands.

The group laughed at how mortified she looked, and it got louder when she brought her hands back down and poured herself a shot. She swallowed it in record time and with no chaser, so it burned like hell despite this one being her third shot.

With her eyes closed as she dealt with the sensation of the tequila traveling down her throat, she said, "The bone one."

Everyone went silent for a second, confused about what she was talking about. Nick being the only one to speak up and ask, "What?"

She looked back up and explained, "I'm guessing the lie is he's never broken a bone. Sorry Jamie but you look like that kid that would wave his cast around to look badass for breaking his arm."

And with that the laughter resumed, she joined with a few low chuckles, Alex was right beside her so his laugh was almost in her ear and it was contagious.

Jamie smirked at her, "That's another shot for you 'cause I've never broken a bone and I was definitely not that kid. You're describing Matt just then."

She snorted at the dig, all of them but Matt laughing. The drummer flipped him off with a serious face and Breana covered the fist he was holding out while laughing.

"Well fuck me." Ella cursed as she poured herself a new glass. Matt subtly raised his eyebrows at Alex after the words left her lips, the singer mouthed a fuck off to his friend whilst Ella took another shot. She cringed at the taste, using the water as a chaser because it was just too much for her this time.

Oblivious to what was going on around her, Ella turned back to Jamie. "What's the lie then?"

"Having dinner with Julian, we met the whole band at an NME awards after party and took pictures and all but haven't had dinner with him. Alex wishes." The guitarist easily replied, Ella rolled her eyes at herself for not thinking further into it.

Ella knew she was somewhat of a lightweight but when she turned to Alex everyone realized how bad her alcohol resistance was. She pouted at him and patted the forearm that was closer to her, "One day, one day."

They all looked at her amused but she didn't even realize, too entertained closing her eyes for a second so her surroundings would stop spinning from turning to her left side so quickly after the two consecutive shots.

Alex silently laughed at her actions, and then started his turn. "I can say the alphabet backwards. I'm a cat person. I can speak some French."

"Bollocks. You don't know the alphabet backwards." Jamie was quick to chat back but Alex just shrugged and took a sip of his water bottle, waiting for everyone to say their guesses.

Jamie and Matt were too impatient to have everyone guess, daring Alex to say it. He agreed but only if they were sure that was the lie and when they nodded, the singer told them to take the shot. After they had groaned from the alcohol taste, Alex sighed and easily recited the alphabet backwards.

To his right, Ella had been staring at his mouth the whole time. He clocked on her gaze when he was done and stared back at her, a handful of seconds passed before she managed to snap out of her trance. "Well, that was impressive. The lie was the cat one though, right?"

Alex nodded and she smiled victoriously, turning to Matt and mouthing 'loser' to him.

Matt only shook his head, trying not to laugh at her demeanor. "Go ahead then, it's your turn."

Ella nodded and cleared her throat to start, "I used to play soccer for my school."

Matt interrupted her to correct her term, "Football."

She contradicted him, "Soccer."

But she was outvoted by the whole band correcting her at the same time saying, "Football."

She just rolled her eyes and kept going, "Anyway. I used to play soccer for my school. I'm left-handed. I learned how to ride a bike at twenty years old."

"If she still doesn't know how to drive manual, I wouldn't be surprised she didn't know how to ride a bike until fucking twenty." Matt teased with a defiant expression, staring right at Ella.

Scoffing at his take, she chose to ignore him and order them to "Take your guesses."

After everyone had told her their guesses, she instructed everyone but Alex to take a shot.

"What was the lie? I thought you played basketball in school." Nick queried after gulping the drink, remembering the day at the arcade when she won over Matt by a great difference

"Played both but I'm not left-handed." Ella shrugged as if it was obvious.

Matt frowned to argue his point, "But how are we supposed to know that?"

She shrugged and pointed to her left with her thumb, "I don't know, ask Alex. He got it."

Matt was quick to protest her argument, "That's different though, he's always–" He stopped talking when Alex kicked him particularly hard on the shin.

"What?" Ella asked, confused at the sudden pause and the face he was making at Alex.

The singer quickly dismissed it saying, "Nothing, Helders' just a sore loser."

And loving the chance to tease Ella cackled and agreed, "He sure is."

As the night grew older, they kept drinking and finding out multiple things. Like how Breana had starred in a short film, Jamie despised interviews, Matt had played for another band under the name of Rufus Black once, Nick loved sleeping naked—which earned him a "I hope not to be flashed tonight" from Ella—, Alex had rejected Kate Moss when she wanted to date him when he was twenty, and how Ella's parents found out she was liked girls because she snuck her girlfriend into her room and they knocked her lamp off the nightstand when they were making out.

When they got to Vegas, they were drunk but it was barely one in the morning so they decided to go to the casino. 'The night is young' and all that was their motto for the time being and with that they made their way to the Caesars Palace Casino.

Despite the lads' protests, Breana and Ella had put some cash into the group's spending money. They had decided to go big but still played it safe with the amount, so they could have fun without being too reckless.

Drinks flowed regularly around their table, not aiding to keeping Ella sober and pushing her more and more over the edge of being completely wasted. Several rounds of poker after, that Breana was really fucking good at, they were walking over to the machines with a bit over double the money they had started out with.

She could understand how people got addicted to gambling as they took turns to try almost every machine that caught their attention.

The group had made her sit at a slot machine with the cherries, the gold bars and other symbols that were typical of them. She was going to bet only a hundred dollars but as Matt and Jamie cheered her on to up the bet, she ended up betting two hundred and fifty that turned into the same amount of credits for the game.

Jokingly she put her right hand up and Breana gave it a kiss for luck, she laughed and blew her a kiss back before pulling down the handle of the machine. People around them could definitely hear the chorus of ooooo's that the guys were chanting, their volumes going up as the screen showed the symbols spinning.

First a double bar stopped, a second later the same symbol showed up and when the third one turned out to match the other two they all erupted in cheer. Ella got up from her seat with her arms up and Alex hugged her and picked her up from the floor in celebration. She didn't know how her laughter didn't get stuck in her throat when he left a loud wet kiss on her cheek and set her back down, rocking them both from side to side.

In the blink of an eye, she was suddenly completely surrounded by everyone. All of their arms around her and in the background, behind the chants of her name she could hear the machine making coin sounds.

After their two hundred and fifty dollars turned into seven thousand and five hundred dollars, they went to claim their money at the main office. They all agreed to equally divide the obscene amount of money, and after that—and Alex sneakily giving her almost half of his earnings—, they all left the casino satisfied.

It was three in the morning, and they were walking around the lit up city. The blinding colors of the buildings made the stars in the sky look opaque in comparison.

Ella was occasionally taking pictures, walking beside Alex and following Matt and Breana who were guiding the group, Nick and Jamie following closely behind. Her second to last picture was one of Bre in front of the oh-so-famous Chapel where people eloped, usually on sinful drunk nights that were solely based in 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas'.

Holding Bre's hand on his left hand, Matt used his right hand to point backwards to the iconic place. "So Nick, Jamie, are you gonna finally tie the knot?"

Jamie shrugged and meekly replied, "Nah, he's snores too much." To which Nick let his jaw drop and her brows furrow in offense.

Ella doubled over laughing at Jamie's tone and at Nick's expression, the alcohol in her system making it funnier than it actually was.

Nick scoffed, "Sure, I snore too much."

Jamie kept his cool, completely unbothered by Nick's annoyance, "You do."

Completely ignoring the squabbling between his two friends, Matt went to tease Ella, "What about you Ella? You up for a little impulsive wedding?" He was looking between her and Alex, his eyes explicitly suggesting the pair to go through with the plan.

But she sighed after the long laugh she'd just had and shook her head intently at the drummer's attempts, "Noooo, It's way too soon for me to consider marriage."

The drummer rolled his eyes, "Yous are boring." and with that he turned around to keep on walking straight ahead.

Nick and Jamie followed them, still bickering, as Ella used her last shot on the roll to take a picture of the chapel. She was sad she'd decided to only bring one roll with her and not put a second roll in her jacket pocket like she always did, but she knew that even if it only was twenty four frames that she captured, she'd love them when she had them developed.

Rolling the film back, just in case she forgot and opened the camera up the next day and ruined her pictures, she turned back around to find Alex standing there waiting for her with a cigarette between his fingers.

Ella started walking, turning her camera off and letting it hang on her neck, so when both her hands were free she pulled out her cigarettes and started smoking with him.

"No eloping for you tonight then?" Alex jokingly asked.

She smiled at him shyly, "Oh no, at least not for a while."

He took a long drag of his cigarette before questioning further, "Why's that?" He knew it wasn't his place to be asking about her personal life when she had been very respectful of his own despite his 'fame' status, but he was certainly curious by the way she seemed to be wary of it all.

"I'm not big on relationships really..." She let a cloud of smoke out of her lips and continued, "That sounds like I don't do relationships but no, I mean it's a lot for me to properly settle down in a relationship with someone."

Alex hummed in understanding, and trying his luck to find more answers on it, he asked another question, "A bad experience?"

Ella shrugged, "Just the average but it's just I only do relationships with people I truly know, you know?"

He nodded at her answer, now intrigued at what had caused her to think that way, the end of his cigarette burning orange as he took a drag of it, "I get what you mean."

"I can't understand how people jump from one relationship to another in months, isn't it insane?" She sighed, her experiences making her think of people who did that as too reckless, maybe even superficial but that was a mean take on it that she chose to keep to herself.

Alex agreed with her partially, "It depends on each case but, yeah sometimes it is quite bizarre."

"I just found it weird in high school when you heard them saying I love you to one person they'd been dating for less than a month, and not long after they'd broken up with that person they'd say the same thing to another." She had never found herself brave enough to pour her heart out to anyone, not after fully knowing they would reciprocate. Rejection was her biggest fear and after her ex, she knew there was no way in hell she wouldn't try her best to avoid feeling that hurt ever again.

"Well, yes, that was always weird, wasn't it? But I reckon it's just because they were kids, it's so easy for them to say things aloud and deal with the consequences later. When we grow up we think of our every move just to protect ourselves."

Ella smiled at him brightly then, happy he got exactly what she meant without having to say it. "That's exactly it." She inhaled another mouthful of smoke, "That's why I've only ever seriously been with one person." She admitted now a bit less enthusiastically.

He looked at her with his eyes a little wide, completely surprised about the fact so a "Really?" left his lips immediately.

And it was a weird sense of trust that had her nodding and sorting through her memories to recount her sad love story, "Mhm, that girl I snuck into my house," She started, recalling who she'd talked about in the game they were playing in the bus, "She was my first and only partner. We had met each other at a library when we were freshmen in high school, we were really close but I always knew I liked her—pretty much since I first saw her."

A tight lips smile appeared on her face at the memories, "So once, at a party about a year later, I drunkenly told her I wanted to kiss her and she let me do it. Then we admitted we'd liked each other for a while and she asked me to be her girlfriend after a few dates." But then she dismissed the cute love story with a wave of her hand like it wasn't important, like it hadn't been once her biggest happiness, but it was just because the ending of it all started filling her mouth with a bitter taste that overpowered the taste of the nicotine.

Alex stared at her intrigued, she seemed melancholic and if he wasn't wrong a little angry when thinking back to it. "So it ended badly?" He assumed, it wasn't hard to draw the conclusion when it seemed like it had been a situation to leave a mark on her.

Ella turned to him and frowned lightly, "Why'd you say so?" She didn't really want to say how it had ended out loud, because it always hurt no matter how long it had been. To have lost someone like that, to have been played in such a way, had left her scarred.

"Your face is very easy to read, you know? I reckon it's hard for you to hide your feelings because your face and your eyes always give you away."

She was impressed by him but she cursed he could see through her that easily, "Well you're quite the detective, aren't you?" She joked to lighten up the mood, trying to have a laugh so her heart felt less heavy.

"It's not for nothing that they call me Sherlock." Alex replied, looking smug.

She chuckled at the nickname, "Who does?"

He giggled before coming clean, "Absolutely nobody."

And she doubled over in laughter, clutching her stomach and her feet making her stumble on the sidewalk as they both laughed together. When she came back up, she had to move her hair away from her face and she sighed with a soft smile and a shake of her head at his antics.

Ella was grateful for the laugh, and she could see he had done that on purpose, to have her light up again so after a few seconds of comfortable silence that was really just the city noise and the thud of their steps on the asphalt, she gave him the answer he was looking for. "It did end badly for me... We were together up until the very end of high school, we made so many conservative parents angry when we went as each other's dates to senior prom and we graduated together. But I guess she met somebody else..."

She trailed off for half a minute and her sight got lost in the lights ahead of her, shining so bright she was seeing spots when she turned to see Alex again to finish the awful story. "She swore she didn't cheat but I suppose what she felt for the other girl was stronger than the love she swore she had for me, because we broke up before we were off to university and she ended up going with her."

Alex didn't miss the sad smile Ella gave him when she deemed the story time over and he hoped his smile was only one that felt the same way as a hug, but just to make sure she actually felt consoled, he threw his arm around her and hugged her into his side. "I'm sorry she did that to you."

And he truly meant it, because he knew how intense first love was, especially as a teenager, and to have been treated like that by someone who said they loved you for years was utterly heartbreaking.

Ella leaned her head on his shoulder for a few seconds before picking it back up and shrugging, "It's alright, it just further supports my argument: if I knew her that long and she did that to me, how can I trust my heart to someone who barely knows me?"

He felt like he had a needle stuck in his stomach when she said those words, and he hated knowing that someone was the reason for her to push love away. "That's true," He gave her that, after her experience he understood completely why that was her logic, "But don't close yourself off to the chances."

"Someday you'll meet that one person who'll change your mind about that and they will sweep you off your feet." Alex knew that was a promise that wasn't in his hands to fulfill but if his words could help in any way then he'd make sure to use them. "Often heartbreak is necessary along the way, it shows you what's the right way you deserve to be loved."

She hated that when he tightened his hold on her before letting her go, she felt a spark running down her spine that made her think he could be the one to do that, the one sweeping her off her feet and simultaneously causing that longing for his presence so deep that it ended being a mirror to heartbreak. But it was so foolish of her to even give that thought a minute of her time, she needed to remind herself what was reality.

He's famous, he's leaving tomorrow and the next times you see him will be on the screen of your computer.

She sighed letting the disappointment swallow her entirely, but she forced herself to let it go for the time being and enjoy the moments she had with him and the rest of the guys.

They continued talking, walking and smoking. Eventually running out of her awful organic cigarettes—saying "Oh thank God" up to the sky when she lit up the last one and disposed of the empty pack on a nearby garbage can—, so she ended up sharing Alex's pack of Marlboro reds.

Around four, anyone in the streets of Vegas could witness Ella slurring her words and giggling way too often to even try and fake being sober.

She had gotten everyone forty eight ounces of frozen daiquiris that Vegas was famous for, saying she was paying and that it definitely was a good use for the money they had won. She was almost done with hers, and even though she was struggling to keep her steps straight, she was sure that adding those additional shots to hers had been worth it.

The next day's hangover was promised to be a killer but as she drowned in the endless lights around every corner of the city, Ella knew she'd look back at this moment with the biggest smile, knowing she was truly content.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

The walk back to the tour bus was hectic to say the least.

Six drunk adults were trusting their hazy minds to remember which maze of streets to follow, and they had done their best. Their best being taking fifty minutes to get back rather than the twenty minutes it had originally taken them to get to the Strip.

Before getting on the massive vehicle she asked Alex to grab her a bottle of water but not before taking her coat and camera off and telling him to take them inside for her, getting something quickly from her jacket pocket and shoving it in the back pocket of her shorts. He was confused, but too intoxicated to even ask why she wanted to stay outside instead of coming inside like everyone had done.

The others were closing the bunk area's door when Alex told them he'd be back in a bit, he placed her jacket and the camera on the lounge table and was taking his time going over to the fridge to get the water when he heard loud gagging.

He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and slammed its door before sprinting outside to see what was happening. Soon enough, he saw her bent forward puking on the far corner of the deserted parking lot.

Alex felt like his drunken state had been scared away from him as he was quick to make his way over to her, leaving the bottle on the ground to then grab her hair for her in one hand and rub her back with the other.

A minute later, when she felt nothing coming back up, she stood back up straight, "Ugh nooooo, Alex why are you so fast?" Ella whined, using the back of her hand to clean anything on her chin or mouth area, which thankfully was nothing. "You weren't supposed to see that. I'm so sorry." she apologized, covering her eyes with her hands.

He took her hands away from her face, "Stop it, are you alright?" he asked genuinely concerned as he continued to rub her back.

Ella sighed, "Yes, I just had to make myself get sick so tomorrow's hangover is at least manageable."

He shook his head, "I'm not letting you drink next time I see you." He went over to where he had left the bottle and came back next to her.

Her eyes were red and closing against her will, and if he didn't know better, he'd say she had smoked a joint. "Lucky for you, I don't listen." Her words were slurred and completely mindless.

Chuckling, he noted, "That doesn't even make sense, Ellie."

Ella pouted and giggled, finishing off by nodding her head, "I know..." She laughed until he placed the open water bottle on her hand. "Thanks Al."

She took a big swig of the water and rinsed her mouth with it, walking away from him a few feet before spitting it out on the grass behind her. After doing the same thing three times, she relaxed, taking the water bottle now to start drinking the liquid and rehydrate. She took what she had put in her back pocket, which ended up being a piece of gum and popped it in her mouth, slowly chewing the minty candy as she made her way back to where Alex was standing.

Alex threw his arm around her shoulders, hugging her to his side and taking some steps forward to walk further away from her mess. They were completely alone, everyone else inside the bus probably already passed out on their bunks, so she turned into his embrace and with her free arm she hugged his waist.

Her head was to the side resting on top of his chest, he rested his chin on top of her head before giving it a kiss. A kiss that he couldn't help, one that completely melted her inside. She was sure that if they weren't holding each other tight, her legs would've failed to keep her standing.

She finished her water, bringing it down from her lips and using the now free arm to complete the embrace and fully cuddle into him so they stayed hugging outside the bus for five minutes, as if they were in some kind of romantic comedy with one of those forbidden love tropes that made them only have each other's presence on stolen time.

Ella was drifting away though, fully surrendering to the exhaustion of the days of work and the alcohol's effect on her body, so it was no surprise when Alex felt her stumble slightly in his arms.

He squeezed her to wake her up and whispered in her ear, "Ella, darling, let's go inside."

Humming, she gave him a lazy nod. "Five more minutes please," she mumbled against his chest before resting her chin on it to look up at him, and smiling softly with her eyes struggling to stay open.

He couldn't deny her five more minutes, not when he had the perfect angle to admire every single one of her features. The little freckles scattered around her nose, her long eyelashes, her high and full cheekbones, a tiny scar she had on top of her left eyebrow.

The minutes passed and he was trying his hardest to memorize his view as if he was supposed to draw her face from memory in the future. But aware that it was getting later—or earlier to the eyes of the early risers and workaholics—, Alex spoke up in a soft whisper, "Time's up Ellie." Bringing his right hand up to brush her hair back, away from her face.

She smiled, leaning into his touch, so warm compared to the cold breeze. "Okay." She quietly answered, slowly opening her eyes.

Ella's gaze found his, locked on her face and she couldn't help but take in every bit of the view she had. They wouldn't move, not even after the wind made her shiver, he just resorted to holding her tighter and she snuggled further into him.

"I don't wanna go." she admitted without wanting to, her mouth moving without her permission and saying her thoughts out loud.

Alex's eyes flicked to her mouth and back up twice, "Me neither." he agreed just as softly and her sight too went from his lips to his eyes, back down and up again.

The air felt heavy around them, it was suffocating and hot like the wind was suddenly gone. Their eyes kept going from their eyes to their lips and they were fully aware of it. Her fingers tingled with the need to tangle with the hair on the nape of his neck and his hands wanted nothing more than to cup her cheeks and bring her forward to his lips.

But the moment was gone when they heard Breana shriek from inside the bus, followed by Matt's laughter and it was like they had been hosed down with cold water on an autumn night when the drummer opened the door aggressively and yelled, "Oi! Time for bed!"

Letting go of each other slowly, they accepted that the opportunity had been missed. Ella shook her head at Matt and Alex, behind her, flipped him off with a stoic face. Matt walked away laughing as he chased Breana back to the bunk beds, the model giggles becoming quieter as they got lost further inside the bus.

"We should go inside." Ella finally said and yawned behind her hand.

"We should..." Alex replied defeated, but as he remembered they still had a full day with her tomorrow, he grinned sweetly at her and encouraged her to follow him. "Let's go."

He helped her inside and into their bunk area, Matt and Breana apparently in the next one that was divided by a door which was locked but they could see a hint of light coming through the gap under it.

"Is this one alright?" The singer asked her, just in case she preferred any other spot. "I'm right above you if you need anything."

Ella hummed and nodded with her eyes closed, honestly not caring to choose one specific bed, she just wanted to lay down now. "Yeah, this one's fine."

With a chuckle at her closed eyed decision, he helped her get into the bunk bed. Ella struggled and giggled but when she finally laid on her back, Alex smiled hard at her. "I'm not drinking ever again." She tried to promise.

"Famous last words." He took her shoes off and placed them on the floor beside where he generally put his, then he covered her with the blanket that was on every bed, getting it up to her chin like she was a kid.

She snorted, cozying up under the wool blanket, "I'd promise but I know I'll keep having my glass of red with dinner every other day."

He giggled at that, perfectly picturing that happening in his head. "Alright, Miss Red. Goodnight."

"Sweet dreams, Alex" she wished him tiredly before turning around and giving her back to the bunk's open curtain and him.

"Sweet dreams, Ellie."

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

There was only one thing she was grateful for in regards to what her past self had decided to do, and that was to force the alcohol she had ingested out of her system before going to sleep. That was one thing she'd forever swear by and it never failed her.

When Ella opened her eyes, her head was pounding but she didn't feel the urge to projectile vomit everywhere so that was a good sign. Her phone showed her it was past noon and she groaned at the ache on her back. Maybe being a rockstar wasn't worth the back pain after all.

She slowly got out of the narrow bed, grabbing her shoes from beside Alex's boots and on her tippy toes she went out into the main lounge. Nick was sitting there, with his head in between his hands. She softly laughed, "Good morning, sunshine."

"Morning Ella." The bassist replied painfully.

She went over to her backpack, taking her toothbrush and toothpaste out along with the ibuprofen bottle her coworker had lent her and she'd forgotten to give back. "Would you like some painkillers and water?"

"Please?"

She couldn't hold back her chuckle, but walked up to him and placed two pills in front of him to then retrieve a water bottle from the fridge. "There you go."

Nick looked up at her with a weak smile, "Thanks Ellie." He took the medicine and drank the water as quickly as he could.

In return he reminded her where the bathroom was and she got ready for the day in about fifteen minutes. She had been relieved from getting out of the shorts she'd been wearing, nothing was worse than sleeping with denim on.

When she came back out into the lounge she was met with Jamie and Alex. She blushed when she saw the singer, her state not being enough for her to forget what had almost happened only hours before.

"Morning." The three of them said at the same time, smiling at each other.

"We pinched some pills from you, hope you don't mind." informed Jamie and she shrugged it off to ease his mind.

"It's alright. I'm gonna be pestering you all later with the camera when we're out, so consider it my gift in return." Ella replied while she dropped her backpack in a corner of the lounge area. "So, what's the plan for today?"

Alex pointed behind his back towards the bunks with a playful smirk, "Once the lovebirds wake up, I reckon we should go get something to eat and then keep on walking around like yesterday."

She nodded and an excited grin broke out on her face, "I'm taking lots of pictures today so get pretty for me."

Nick groaned from the same spot she'd found him at, "How do you have so much energy? You were the drunkest one out of all of us."

Ella chuckled, sitting next to him and patting his back in comfort, "I have my tricks." That earned her another groan from the bassist as he let his forehead rest on the table, which resulted in everyone else laughing lightly.

Almost thirty minutes later, which they had spent in light conversation, Matt and Breana came into the room. They looked ready to go, both of them wearing black sunglasses and it made her laugh because she knew Matt would be easier to annoy if he was hungover.

"Well good morning to you two." Jamie smirked at them.

Matt held up his index finger in front of his face and shushed him, "Cook, don't. It's too early for this shit."

Ella decided to ignore his warning and asked suggestively, "Had a good night?"

Matt gave her a fake smile, "Amazing thanks to you and your frozen daiquiris, Ellie." Sarcasm was so clear in his voice, it just made Ella smile more from amusement.

"Sue me for wanting to do something nice for my friends, I guess." She replied playfully with a breathy laugh.

Matt just scoffed, rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses. "I don't even wanna know why you're so happy right now when you too were plastered yesterday." He looked at Alex to see if there was any hint of them doing anything, he vaguely remembered seeing them outside the bus, but his friend didn't even clock his look, too busy looking at Ella. "Anyway," The drummer said, dismissing the situation, "Shall we go get breakfast?"

With breakfast in mind—more like brunch because of the time—, they started walking towards Caesars Palace. The streets welcomed them as warmly as they had the night before, only more PG in comparison to the way it was past midnight.

Ella had noted to bring more rolls of film with her, determined to get all the views she hadn't gotten yesterday after she ran out of frames to shoot. She had already used half of her twenty four frames by the time they reached Cafe Americano, the restaurant they had opted to eat in.

Brunch was famous for its bottomless mimosas, and they had all been pushed to getting them by the troublesome pair that were Matt and Bre. "The best way to fight a hangover is to get even more pissed." had said Matt and Breana agreed, closing the drinks menu up and raising her hand to catch the attention of a server.

So after two hours of dining, chatting, laughing, taking pictures, filming for the music video, and teasing the lovebirds for the red marks on their skin; they were walking the iconic building's massive hallways on the way to the Forum Shops.

Everything was big and extravagant, the lights brighter than any light should be or ever has been. She could see her reflection in a golden shade everywhere they went, and when they reached the Fountain of the Gods, her jaw dropped and a gasp flew out of her mouth.

"Holy fuck..." She mumbled, frantically turning her camera on and walking closer to the stunning decoration.

She took her time walking around, appreciating every detail of each statue and the wonder grew with every step she'd take.

She eventually called Breana over. The model had become her favorite muse and subject of her pictures in the past few days. She had this natural glow on her and with the effortlessness that she moved her body to pose, Ella knew she'd have to keep in contact with her to finally photograph all those ideas for photoshoots she'd been wanting to take for a while.

Bre's fringe leather jacket contrasted with the fountain and its sculptures, but she loved it. It reminded her of a similar one she'd bought when she was thirteen in a vintage shop from some little town she'd visited with her sister and her mom. She'd grown obsessed with it. Always going out with her jeans, her cowboy boots and her fringe leather jacket. Her heart had broken when she outgrew it, and she'd forgotten about her attachment to the piece of clothing until the model came out of the bus wearing the similar piece.

Ella didn't remember when but she'd given Alex the camcorder when she saw the fountain, meaning that he had gotten the whole reaction on video and, when she came back and saw him with a toothy grin holding the camera in front of his face, she blushed and smiled wide.

"I hope the editing department cuts that out." She said, trying to grab the camera from him but he turned slightly to stop her from doing so.

"Keep on walking, I wanna record you." You look adorable, he had wanted to say as well but he didn't want someone else other than her to listen and he had a feeling not only the editing department would keep that clip to their knowledge.

Ella just laughed at him but gave into his request, walking back to the group and ending up between Nick and Jamie. That went on for about a minute until Alex didn't know how to stop recording and grabbed Ella's hand to have her do it.

Whenever they went into a store, she'd get blown away by the prices of the clothes and accessories, making it a game of quick math with herself trying to find out how many times her monthly income a bag or a coat could be.

When they came around to H&M she sighed, "Finally something in my budget." she joked and Alex chuckled.

It only took them twenty minutes to look around the store, finishing up by scouring the second floor but still empty handed, it's not like they wanted to buy anything but there was only so much they could do here and it was looking around the shops. They had grown bored of the stores so they all decided it'd be best to walk around the Strip and record some more before it got too late.

Walking towards the escalator, she turned the camcorder back on, loving the reflection of the lights that fell very low from the ceiling on the mirrored walls. She went first with Alex, facing their reflection. She could see the rest of the guys and Bre coming right behind them, Alex covering her entire body by being beside her.

Ending the recording, she almost tripped when getting off the electric stairs. "Shit." She cursed sternly under her breath when the point of her shoe caught in the metal teeth of the end of the steps.

If it wasn't for Alex holding her by the waist, she would've definitely fallen on her face. "You alright?" He checked after stepping out of the way for the rest of the group.

"Uh yes, thank you." She nodded, his arm still tight around her and giving her a squeeze before letting her go. She missed his touch already and it had only been a second. Get a fucking grip, she yelled to herself mentally.

By the time she'd lost the feeling of his fingers on her side, they were standing in front of the Caesars Palace fountain, watching the different ways the water would move and when the hourly show started, she turned the camcorder back on.

She'd received a message from Aaron saying to keep the main focus on Matt and Bre, since the whole storyline for the videos they had filmed were about them. So she did just that, recording the model watching the show and Matt walking beside her around the fountain.

They eventually reached a corner where they had shade and Matt grabbed the camera from Ella and had her join Breana in the shot. She started walking as Jamie and Nick left saying they were getting ice cream for everyone in a shop around the corner.

Breana had a mischievous smirk on her face when she made it to her side, "Would you like to give them a show?"

Her tone only could be translated to trouble so with curiosity Ella inquired, "What do you have in mind?"

"Well nobody can say shit to us in Vegas so how about we give them some good views..." Her words lingered in the air and she understood what she meant when she puffed her chest out and got her hair off from on top of her chest.

"Oh– " Ella said at first, "What? To the camera?" Her eyebrows shot up waiting for her answer and when Breana nodded excitedly she quickly said, "My coworkers will see this footage though, I'll do it but not for the camera..."

Bre completely understood, and she was still happy she'd do it with her afterwards. "How about you just show your bra to the camera? Just so I don't do it by myself" The model added softly and, with the face she was giving her, Ella couldn't say no.

She looked back at the camera in Matt's hand, who was standing next to Alex, both of them looking at the girls intently. And Ella blushed, thinking about what she had agreed to and how she'd do that in front of Alex but the other part of her, the one she's only shown to some people, was feeling excited that he'd see her like that and to see what reaction she'd get from him.

So without any more to do, Bre counted down from three and they lifted their shirts up and stuck their tongues out. Breana had her tits out while Ella was showing off her burgundy red lace bra. Despite it only being for a few seconds, Alex had grown hot with the sight of her chest being so perfectly cupped by the lace, he'd have that engraved in his mind and he had to force himself to think about something else for a few seconds because he knew if he kept his mind on it his jeans would start growing tighter around his cock.

Oxygen made it back to his lungs when Ella signaled Matt to stop recording, which he did, finding the button for it in a matter of seconds and once the drummer gave her a thumbs up, she turned around facing the fountain in an angle that made both men look at them from their side profiles. It was then that air was stolen from him once again, when her and Breana lifted their shirts back up but this time Ella's bra went up as well.

The girls yelled "Vegas, baby!" in unison, followed by their laughter.

He had a full show of her tits from the side and his mind swarmed with thoughts about her in the filthiest of ways. "Fuck me." Alex muttered under his breath, knowing he was starting to get hard.

Matt wasn't in better shape, but he could just go over to Breana and whisper the things going around his mind in her ear—which is exactly what he did—, whereas, Alex had to stick to smirking at Ella getting a wink from her in return, with her staple flushed cheeks.

In perfect timing, Jamie and Nick were back and holding three cups of ice cream each, giving the singer enough time to collect his thoughts and get his breath back—and try to sort himself out so the bulge in his jeans wasn't too noticeable.

"Thank you, Nick." The singer heard her say and when he finally turned around, she was there holding a cup out for him.

"Oh– erm," Alex cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair, "Thanks Ellie." He got the ice cream from her and it looked weird, like one of those complicated flavors ice cream companies came up with that had the corniest names. "What is it?" He was inspecting it to see what the chunks in it were.

Ella laughed at his face, and knew it would get funnier when she told him the name, "Chunky Monkey."

His frown grew deeper, and then he just sighed, rolling his eyes. "Of course it is." He let out a breathy laugh, Nick and Jamie could be such children sometimes, in cases like this he was amazed at how they were older than him.

She giggled at his reaction, "Well let's go! I wanna take pictures of you all by the Eiffel Tower."

Matt was using the camcorder with the lenses focused on Breana, they were playful as they walked the streets down before having to cross the road. Ella thought they were cute, and it warmed her heart seeing the start of something most likely special unfold in front of her.

Alex had to keep an eye on her and the road while they were crossing it, since Ella had the habit of putting a good picture first over her life. He'd had to step beside her to shield her from oncoming traffic multiple times when she stood in the middle of the road for a picture of the buildings or the people of Vegas.

The sunset was coming in a few hours time, and she couldn't wait to see which colors it would paint the horizon. But for now, she made sure to get as much as she could with the stunning lighting of the clear sky and bright sun.

Ella kept up to her word, taking pictures of them in front of the Eiffel Tower replica, walking around the fake piece of France and eventually going up the construction in the elevator.

They decided to go to one of the restaurants they had there, she still had money from what they had won the night before and this time she was set on at least paying for her food—the guys had purposely distracted her so she didn't pay for their breakfast when she had said she'd do so earlier.

Their group definitely stuck out, mostly everyone in the restaurant were couples, some tables had families of four or five dining.

A waitress didn't take long to sit them down in a corner, giving them the best view of the Strip. She hoped they could get to see the sun coming down while they were still there, imagining how those pictures would come out had her filling up with anticipation.

The lovely girl had smiled at them after they'd sat down and said, "It's a pleasure having you here." before leaving with a subtle skip on her walk.

Ella looked to her left, where Alex was, and they both chuckled softly, noticing how excited she seemed. She had definitely recognized the band.

The girl, whose name was Lisa, had brought them a big bottle of Pinot Noir, on the house. Making sure she served everyone half full glasses, she took the order and left assuring them they'd be getting served soon.

Soon meant a little over forty minutes, so by the time that the first few plates came in hot from the kitchen, the wine was halfway done and their chatter had only grown louder.

Alex and Ella were the last one's to get served, and when she saw her plate she leaned into Alex's shoulder, Alex leaning into her when he noticed she was going to say something. "I'm definitely not getting full from this."

Alex chuckled, nodding. "Should we get some dessert afterwards?"

"I was actually thinking about some McDonald's." Ella suggested, biting her lip so she wouldn't laugh but her growing smile gave it away.

Alex let out a chesty laugh, which made everyone at the table turn to look at them.

Matt was the first to ask, "Anything you want to share with the rest of the class?"

She cleared her throat, grabbing her fork and knife to start digging into her dish. "I was just saying how this is definitely not gonna fill me up." She explained quietly enough so only they would hear.

The drummer hummed and then straightened up smiling, "Should one of us fake propose to get free dessert?"

Ella snorted, "You know the waitress recognized you, right? Media would be talking about your upcoming wedding before you have even taken your flight back to Europe."

"Fuck, you're right." Matt acknowledged as his shoulders deflated.

"I always am, Helders." She shrugged before bringing a bite of meat to her mouth.

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Her predictions had been right, the sun had kissed the horizon while they were sharing their second bottle of wine and chatting away in the restaurant. The pictures she had taken of the lilac, pink and orange sky had taken up the rest of the roll she currently had, which also had captured their group throughout dinner.

When they came back out, she took more pictures of the Vegas' version of Paris with all the lights on. It was magical, she couldn't imagine how it would be in actual Paris.

On their way back to the bus they found a McDonald's and since they all agreed they were still hungry, they went in and ordered. Alex and Ella were the last ones to choose what they wanted and when it came to paying she quickly put out some cash before Alex could get his card.

"Ella, no–" He started saying but she interrupted him.

"It's only fifty bucks, let me pay for this one please." She pouted at him and he couldn't resist that face so he just sighed and nodded.

She smiled then, handing the cashier the bill while he put his wallet back in his pocket. "You're very stubborn, have I told you?" Alex quipped.

She nodded with a proud smirk on her face, "You have, but I liked to call it perseverance."

In comparison to the restaurant, they only waited about ten minutes for their food, grabbing the plastic trays to bring everything over to the table the rest of their group were sitting at.

The food didn't take long to disappear, and this time they fully took as much time as they wanted and were as loud as they wanted when chatting since the place was empty and they didn't have to keep their behavior in check every five minutes.

"So how long are you leaving for?" Asked Breana after their Europe tour had come up again.

Matt sighed, "We're touring for four months in Europe and then going to Australia for about two months."

Ella softly whistled, "Six more months on the road then?" And when they all nodded she continued, "How can you do it? That must be really tough."

Jamie was the one to answer this time, "It is but, the shows are good and we travel to so many places it's worth it."

She hummed, thinking about how she'd endure it just because of how many places she'd be able to visit. All the pictures I could take, she let herself dream for a second. "What's been your favorite place to play?"

"Japan has always been mad to us, Brazil was incredible as well but nothing beats playing in our hometown. Sheffield will always be our best crowd every time." Alex listed, playing with the straw on his cup.

"That's without counting festivals, though. The crowds are always mental, especially in the big ones like Glastonbury, T in the Park, Summersonic or Splendour." Nick added and both girls were intrigued about how it would feel to be on stage and have so many people scream and sing for you.

Ella sighed, "Well, I don't know how you do it."

And to that Matt smirked, "How about both of you join us someday on tour. You'll go in for the full rockstar experience."

Breana grinned brightly and rested her head on Matt's shoulder, "We'd love that!"

"Maybe... someday." Ella trailed off softly.

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It seemed like everyone had intentionally slowed down their steps to absorb the last minutes left of the little getaway. Ella used the last frames in the roll to photograph mundane scenes that contrasted so well against the endless array of lights from the city. The group left a trail of smoke as they got back to the bus and once everyone was inside, they departed back to Los Angeles.

The band had plenty of time to make it to their early morning flight, but they would only be able to squeeze a brief nap in between going to the Focus Creeps office to drop Ella and Bre off—she had offered to drive her home so the Monkeys went straight to the airport—and going to LAX.

When the bus stopped right in front of the office, it was like the bubble had burst. She had weirdly felt like she had been on holiday but it was a Tuesday night and she had to come into work the following day.

She was considering calling in sick for a second, to avoid all the questions from her coworkers, but she knew that would only fuel their curiosity and they'd start coming up with theories about why she was missing the day after she'd gone to Las Vegas with the band.

With a pout she'd turned over to Jamie and Nick to say bye. She didn't know how long it would be until she'd see them next, only knowing it would be a minimum of six months for them to be done with touring and from then on it probably would be the next time they would have a concert in California.

But she knew that in very little time the group had become genuine friends to her and she cared for them and, in true Eleanor Hayes fashion, once she cared deeply about someone it would be hard for her to stop thinking about them on the daily, somehow pushing herself more and more to that place where it physically aches to miss someone. Because that's how she always felt, deeply and effusively.

"Cookie! Come here," She said with her arms open and ready to engulf him in a tight embrace, "'M gonna miss you."

Jamie squished her back just as tight, "I'll miss you too Ellie. Hope to see you soon."

She let go and turned to Nick then who was waiting for his hug with a cute little smile, "Nick! Will miss you very much," The bassist was the one who took a step forward and hugged her tight, "Send all my love to Kelly alright?"

He nodded as he held her, "Thanks Ellie. Will miss you loads too."

They let go of each other and Bre hugged them goodbye as well, while she was picking her backpack and the camera gear up from the corner she'd left it at.

Alex and Matt would walk them both to Ella's car so she didn't say bye to them just yet, wanting to leave Alex until the last possible minute for selfish reasons. She wouldn't see him for god knows how long so she didn't even feel guilty for wanting to have him for as much as she was allowed to.

Once they rounded the building and got to the parking area, Ella spotted her car alone there in the middle of the spots. She sighed, she didn't really want to say goodbye but they all had shit to do and she couldn't even ask them to stay one more day when they had a flight to catch.

Her sadness was almost palpable, Alex knew it when he saw her slump her shoulders and her face lose brightness when she'd checked her phone and read that they'd only been twenty minutes away from the office.

The four of them slowed down and she unlocked her car to drop the bags inside of the trunk, Matt getting Bre's carry-on inside as well. With the loud thud of the trunk closing, she turned around and gave Matt a hug, the drummer squeezed her tight, making her do the same until they were apparently fighting to see who could squeeze the tightest and when Ella let out a breathy laugh and patted his back for him to stop, he said "Bye Ellie, truly hope to see you soon."

She let go of him and shrugged with a smile, "Don't be missing me too much now, Helders."

He clicked his tongue and shrugged, making it seem like he didn't really care, "I wouldn't dream of it."

Ella chuckled and Matt pulled her in once more, whispering in her ear, "I'll miss you."

She held back a coo and settled for smiling tightly with her eyes closed while still embracing him, "Will miss you too."

When she opened her eyes, she could see Alex also hugging Breana goodbye and when they let go, Ella let go of Matt too. "Alright, I'll leave you two alone now." She added quickly, winking at Bre before turning back around towards her car.

She felt Alex's steps behind her but she didn't turn until she was beside the driver's door and she leaned against it. Looking up to him he had his eyes already on her and none of them did anything for a few seconds, until Alex opened his arms to her and she picked herself up from her car door to step into his embrace.

Apparently not much needed to be said, they got lost in the feeling of having each other close which calmed each other down in a way they hadn't felt before from someone they'd known for such little time. They both knew their friendship was special and so without wanting to go all this time with no contact, he took his phone out of his pocket and letting go of her, he handed it to her.

"Save your contact so we can keep in touch." Alex's voice was soft and she felt like she was melting inside from the tenderness of it and the way he looked. He was so pretty, it actually hurt her that she'd be deprived from such a sight for so long.

Ella was quick to add her name in his contact book, making sure to add the plus one before her phone number so it worked. She sent herself a text message, a little :) that made her phone ping in the back pocket of her jeans.

She handed him his phone back, and she took hers out to save his contact. "Okay, I have you now."

He breathed in relief, thinking ahead to the window of time until they'd see each other and it didn't seem so bittersweet now that he knew he could text or call her anytime he wanted, which is exactly what she told her to do, "You can text or call me whenever you'd like alright? I know I'll be pestering you all the time."

Alex's shy smile after he said that made her purse her lips to avoid a giant grin appearing on her face but she knew she was failing when his own smile got bigger, so she resorted to bringing him back into a hug.

"I'm gonna miss you so much." Ella's words came muffled from having her face pressed against his collarbone.

His smile only continued to get bigger and matched the force in which she was holding him. "Gonna miss you loads too."

Knowing she had nothing to lose, she admitted, "I wish you all could stay a little longer."

Alex loosened his hold on her to look at her face and said, "I wish we could stay too, I don't really want to leave."

"I mean... you could always buy new tickets," Ella started but then she remembered the reason they had to leave so early, they had a festival the next day, "Oh shit, right, no– You can't." She giggled as her cheeks grew hot.

He puckered his lips slightly to the side, "Well... we could..." the singer started but she shook her head.

"Of course not! Imagine all of your fans hearing that you canceled because you wanted to spend another day in America." She tutted, "That'd be like treason."

He laughed and brought her back in between his arms, she was smiling with her left cheek pressed against his chest and when he let go she looked up at him. She felt like they were back outside of the bus in Vegas, only them alone in the middle of the night, holding each other as if they'd been doing it for ages before.

"I'll try to get another music video out of us soon, alright?" Alex broke her trance with the sudden promise.

Ella's grin only grew bigger at his words, "I'll be counting on it."

And for the fourth time, he hugged her close to his chest, kissing her head in the process.

She rested her chin on top of his chest, making him look down at her, "Take care alright?" She said softly looking directly into his eyes.

They kept their gazes on each other until Alex dropped it down to her lips, and she dropped hers to his lips. When she looked back up, she found his eyes already on hers and she knew she'd been caught but none of them moved, and it seemed like they'd finally gotten the courage to close the distance.

She could feel his breath hitting her mouth, his lips parted in anticipation. Ella looked down to his mouth and back up to his eyes again as if asking for permission and with Alex's almost missable nod, she knew this was the moment it all had been building up for.

That was until Bre's giggles startled them and she got flashbacks to the night before in Vegas, both their arms loosened around each other and fell by their sides with a thud. She looked down at her feet and let out a quiet sigh, Alex looked up at the sky mentally cursing his best mate for having such poor timing.

"They're cute." Ella shyly commented, trying to start a conversation back up.

Pulling his cigarettes out of his pocket, Alex nodded. "They are."

A beat of silence had never felt so agonizing to her so she decided that was it, it was time to go. "Well, I guess that's our cue." Was all that she could think to say with her hands clasping in front of her and resting on top of her thighs.

Alex didn't even get time to say a word when Ella called the model over, telling her it was time to go. Matt flipped Ella off while giving Bre a short kiss, which she laughed about while opening her car door up. "Yeah, yeah, I hate you too Matt."

Ella sat down in the driver's seat, putting her seatbelt on and while she waited on Breana to come in she rolled down the window and turned to Alex to say, "Get that music video for me, alright?"

She handed him a lighter which he gave back in a matter of seconds, "I will, I promise." With his words a cloud of smoke came out but the promise made her heart swell with hope and she knew it was dangerous to nurture the feeling but she'd let herself be stupid for once.

Breana almost threw herself in the passenger door, her seatbelt clicked to her right and Ella turned the car on, "See you soon."

"See you soon, Ella." And with that, he watched her switch gears. He took a step back, his eyes falling on a cute little mirrorball with a cowboy hat on top hanging off her rearview mirror, before she pressed the gas to leave the place.

Behind the engine's hum she heard one last thing that made her stomach flutter. "Fucking hate you mate. Always with the worst timing" Had said Alex and she wished she had stayed a few seconds longer to hear Matt's response but she could only imagine he'd be confused.

And with that replaying on her mind, she turned to Breana to ask her for directions, "Alright Bre, where are we going?"

The whole ride to Breana's house was fun, she was lovely and Ella adored her energy. They'd had the best time singing along to the songs on Ella's playlists and that's when she discovered Bre loved country music just as much as she did and she just knew they'd be the best of friends.

It was all good until she had dropped the model off, after they had exchanged numbers, because the whole road trip had been playing like a movie inside her brain and there were moments when she swore she could feel the ghost of Alex's touch on her body.

She didn't know how it happened, but somehow he'd made himself far too present in her thoughts and much more important than she'd expected.

It actually amazed her, like it was pure magic, the way he had managed to make her feel so calm and comfortable around him as if he was an old friend she was catching up with after a while of not seeing each other.

Not only that but the way her stomach would flip when he'd leave even the faintest touch on her skin, or when he looked at her with those eyes, she couldn't help but compare it to how she felt like that whenever her ex girlfriend was around.

She was beyond confused about it all, it refuted everything she had believed up until that point and that only made her thoughts tangle even more. Soon enough she was sighing away as she drove home, her thoughts making her fall in a loophole that was dangerously taking away her focus.

But what she didn't need to think about much was the fact that her feelings didn't change the way things were. He was still a musician traveling around the world, and she was a simple production assistant who stayed in California. A far too important, very busy guy and just another girl.

Nothing serious would ever happen, and she'd have to live with that.

When her front door opened, she greeted her house with a sigh. And those four walls would hear her sigh continuously for an hour until her eyes got heavy and she couldn't fight the sleep with overthinking anymore but not before sending him a quick text, one that got a response to which she woke up to.

(17/08/11 23:44) hope you have a good flight, see you soon :)

(17/08/11 23:52) thanks Ellie, see you soon xx

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Chapter Text

(17/09/11 10:28) Congrats on the suck it and see video, compliments the song brilliantly.

(17/09/11 10:31) Thank you for that and for helping us with it x

(17/09/11 10:39) Nothing to thank, that's my literal job Al hahaha

(17/09/11 10:40) Hahaha that's true. Well then thanks for making it such a great time for us.

(17/09/11 10:44) My pleasure :) Send my love to everyone over there, I hope tour is going smoothly x

(17/09/11 10:44) Will do x And it is! Kinda wish you were here to see the madness x

(17/09/11 10:45) We better hope America treats you just as well next time you come, I'll definitely be there :) x

•••

(27/10/11 13:16) I'm so glad Helders had the idea of going to Vegas and filming it.

(27/10/11 13:18) It was quite a lovely time, congrats on the music video Al!

(27/10/11 13:18) Even though most of it is just Bre and Matt, I'm happy to see that day after all this time x

(27/10/11 13:20) C'mon Turner, it's only been a couple months x

(27/10/11 13:21) Fair enough but, don't tell this to anyone, I miss America quite a bit.

(27/10/11 13:27) Any particular reasons?

(27/10/11 13:29) A couple come to mind...

(27/10/11 13:33) Any with first and last names?

(27/10/11 13:33) Are you trying to trick me into saying something?

(27/10/11 13:34) Maybe...

(27/10/11 13:48) I do miss you Ellie xx

(27/10/11 13:49) Well, that's good to hear xx

(27/10/11 13:49) I miss you following me around with your camera on my face x

(27/10/11 13:50) Anyone would think I'm a crazy pap from that sentence alone.

(27/10/11 13:50) Aren't you? x

(27/10/11 13:52) Alright Turner, I'm not saying i miss you too then.

(27/10/11 13:56) I joke, I joke x

(27/10/11 13:57) Hahaha I know, I do miss you xx

(27/10/11 14:02) Well, that's good to hear xx

•••

(05/11/11 02:22) Helders got a new film camera!

(05/11/11 02:22) No way?! Show me!!!

(05/11/11 02:24) *picture of Matt holding a Leica M6 to his face squinting his left eye*

(05/11/11 02:25) I'm so jealous! A Leica M6?! She's stunning!!!

(05/11/11 02:26) He's also been pestering me for your phone number, he might've stolen it from my contact book already.

(05/11/11 02:28) He did and texted me last night. Remind me again why you don't have a password? He's going to be the death of me.

(05/11/11 02:29) You said you missed the lads the other day, and I delivered the message. You didn't expect it to be that easy to escape him, did you?

(05/11/11 02:30) This is what I get for being a caring friend.

(05/11/11 02:31) It has its cons x

(05/11/11 02:46) It wasn't only Helders breaking into your phone, by the way.

(05/11/11 02:49) What do you mean?

(05/11/11 02:49) Nick and Jamie texted me earlier too hahaha

(05/11/11 02:49) Sorry? x

(05/11/11 02:50) Don't! I suppose you're gonna have a little rest from me now that I have more people to annoy x

(05/11/11 02:51) You're never annoying Ellie x

(05/11/11 02:51) I find that hard to believe x

(05/11/11 02:53) You really aren't x I actually think if you stop sending me your weekly film reviews and song recommendations I might go in a weird type of withdrawal xx

(05/11/11 02:53) I'll keep them coming for you then ;)

(05/11/11 02:54) I really hope you do xx

•••

(24/12/11 16:12) Just double checked and since it's already the 25th where you are, Merry Christmas Alex!!!

(24/12/11 16:17) Thank you Ellie, merry christmas to you too xx

(24/12/11 16:18) I hope Sinatra is playing on repeat all day today x

(24/12/11 16:21) You know he is. It's snowing later today as well, will send you pictures xx

(24/12/11 16:23) You're gonna make me miss home, I haven't had a white christmas in a while now :((

(24/12/11 16:24) We should do a video call then, make some hot chocolate and pretend you're here x

(24/12/11 16:25) Sounds lovely to me x See you later then, Al :)

(24/12/11 16:26) See ya Ellie xx

•••

(31/12/11 15:09) It feels weird having Bre here but not you, the group feels incomplete xx

(31/12/11 15:09) So sorry I said no, I had already planned on spending this one in Tennessee. And I would rather eat a cup of dirt than have you pay for my whole holiday in the uk!

(31/12/11 15:10) You don't have to be sorry, I know you missed your family x And you stubborn woman! Will you ever let me pay for anything for you without having to physically distract you when it comes to it?

(31/12/11 15:12) Never ;))) But you'll be pleased to know I have started saving up for my own trip, just give me some months and I'll be on your side of the pond x

(31/12/11 15:13) Can't wait to see how poorly you do in the cold once again, I'll have my coats ready for you to steal xx

(31/12/11 15:15) You're mean!

(31/12/11 15:16) I'm actually very kind, i'll be letting you take them all xx

(31/12/11 15:17) I think whatever you're having is getting to you already, go enjoy the party for me Turner! (I'm there in spirit x).

(31/12/11 15:17) I'm the most sober in here right now. Nick's pissed already and Matt is following very closely behind. (I can weirdly feel your presence in the room xx).

(31/12/11 15:18) Oh I would pay to see that!!

(31/12/11 15:18) Well lucky for you I won't charge you for the following videos x *video of Nick and Matt messily racing to chug down a pint of beer, video of Nick and Matt singing karaoke*

(31/12/11 15:19) You've just made my entire year with that HAHAHA

(31/12/11 15:22) Glad to hear it x

(31/12/11 16:00) Happy New Year from my side of the pond, Ellie xxxx

(31/12/11 16:03) Happy New Year Al xxxx Feels weird saying that at four in the afternoon haha

(31/12/11 16:04) Haha, time zones are mental, aren't they? Let me know when it's 2012 for you too xx

(01/01/2012 00:00) Happy New Year!!!! We just caught up to you hahah xx

(01/01/2012 00:00) Thank you, darling x How's it going with your family? xx

(01/01/2012 00:01) Absolutely insane but I had missed the madness that it was to spend the holidays with them :') Thinking about how crazy it would be if y'all were here to celebrate with us xx

(01/01/2012 00:04) Let's hope for 2013 xx

(01/01/2012 00:05) Yeah let's hope for that xx What about you? Starting the year with a hangover?

(01/01/2012 00:09) Thankfully no, but with a headache from inspiration and too much to write x

(01/01/2012 00:10) Don't stress yourself too much, it's always a perfect record x

(01/01/2012 00:11) Now you're just being nice x

(01/01/2012 00:12) Stop it, you know how good you are! I also have a feeling this one is gonna make history all around the world xx

(01/01/2012 00:15) We shall see about that xx

•••

(05/01/2012 12:21) I love how you regretted flipping the camera off and tried to cover it up with a peace sign.

(05/01/2012 12:34) I'm confused...

(05/01/2012 12:35) Black treacle just came out! Fill me in on Bre and Matt's fight after it.

(05/01/2012 12:36) You're still after Bre, I see x

(05/01/2012 12:38) Well if Matt fucks up then I need to be a good friend, don't I? x

(05/01/2012 12:39) Oh you think you're slick x

(05/01/2012 12:39) I'm smoother than you, that's for sure x

(05/01/2012 12:39) Hey what's that meant to mean?!

(05/01/2012 12:40) Hahaha nothing Turner, it means nothing.

(05/01/2012 12:41) How about I give you something? xx

(05/01/2012 12:41) And what would that be? xx

(05/01/2012 12:42) Remember how I promised you another music video? xx

Her jaw dropped at the same time her phone hit the kitchen counter, and in a delayed reaction she went to check if she'd cracked it but was relieved to see it intact. What the fuck?! was all that she could hear inside her brain, chanting to herself as she frantically opened her contact book to call Alex but, of course, the singer beat her to it. The room echoed with the ringing of his incoming call and she was quick to answer.

A loud "Are you serious?!" came out of her mouth like an instinct, not even giving him time to say hello.

His breathy laugh came through the speaker, "Do you think I'd be joking about that?"

She was screaming on the inside, her tummy fluttering as she thought about how the countdown to see him again would start right at that moment. "I don't– I just– When? Do Aaron and Ben know?"

He was lying on his settee, with his phone pressed to his ear and his ceiling was witnessing one of the brightest smiles he'd ever wore in his life. "I reckon our manager is getting in contact with them next monday, and possibly for the beginning of February. You know, we're doing a brief US west coast tour before we go back into the shadows to record the next one."

"Oh my god, really?! That's so soon!" Ella hadn't felt this much excitement since she got accepted in her first job in LA, everything felt light suddenly and she just couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

She's adorable, he thought with his cheeks aching. He could feel her happiness through the phone and she had this way of calming him down by just talking to him, that's why they had called each other so many times throughout the past months they hadn't seen each other.

"It is! And you're coming with..." Alex bit his lip trying especially hard to catch her reaction and when he got a tiny gasp, he freed his lip from his teeth and smirked, "Well, at least I was hoping you will– We, we were hoping you will." He cleared his throat, hoping the correction wasn't too noticeable.

Of course she noticed, her heart skipped a beat at that and her cheeks had warmed. Keep it cool, keep it cool, she reminded herself. "I would need to ask Ben and Aaron but I'd love to." She was giddy but then she realized what touring meant and her questions just came out in full force, "Wait... How many days would it be? Are we staying in hotels or just on the bus? We're not flying anywhere, are we? Who can I speak with from your team to pay for it?"

His chuckle was out before he could think of containing it, "It would just be a week of tour. No flying anywhere, no—we're moving on the tour bus like we did for Vegas. And as for the expenses you really don't have to worry, everything is paid for."

"But–"

He tutted, "No, Ella. I'll just let you pay for whatever you want to buy wherever we go but you're not paying for anything else if it's already covered."

She sighed feeling defeated but her excitement bubbled up again when she remembered what she had just accepted, "Oh I'm so excited!"

Alex decided to tease her and test the waters, "That eager to see me?"

She laughed at his advances, "Nope, just excited for the gigs and the free alcohol."

He laughed with her, "Glad to see where your loyalty lies."

Ella hummed and nodded, instantly feeling dumb when she saw her reaction reflected on the microwave realizing Alex was not seeing it. "And I'm glad you're understanding of my priorities."

"Talking about priorities, how come you're not at work? What have you been up to?" The thought of her casually picking up the phone at this time, when she'd normally pick up to whisper that she was at the office and that she'd have to keep whispering throughout the call, had been swirling around the back of his head and he was curious to know what had happened to change the situation.

She sighed, turning to rest her hips on the side of her kitchen counter and watching her guest bedroom door behind which her sister had been getting ready for almost twenty minutes. "Not much, just took the day off to pick my sister up from the airport."

He smiled at the news, thinking back to the many times Ella had mentioned her sister, the memories she shared with her and how many 'i miss her's he had heard after each anecdote. "Is she visiting?"

Her smile could be felt through the phone from the tone of her voice, and Alex couldn't help but count how many days it had been since he had witnessed that sight. "Yeah, she's staying for the week so I'm gonna show her every corner I love in LA."

A deep hum came from his side, "So she's getting a VIP Ella – Los Angeles tour..."

She let out a little chuckle, "Exactly that."

"Sort of jealous she gets one and I haven't gotten one yet."

With a smirk on her face Ella was quick to reply, "Well Mr. Rockstar, you haven't been here in a while and every time we've seen each other has been for filming."

He let out a breathy laugh that made her insides coat with warmth, "Fair enough. I'll be sure to get enough time in February to get a tour."

Her stomach flipped hearing him say he'd make time for her, even if it was just a joke she couldn't help the way it made her giddy and her cheeks light up. "Alright then...I'll give you a good discount, don't worry."

"You'll probably get a date before we even know of one, so I hope you have flexibility when it comes to changing reservation dates for those tours of yours." Alex kept the banter going, loving how most of the time her replies would surprise him and keep him thinking if she had really just said that.

"Of course I do! Mates rates, didn't you say it was?" She was about to continue when her guest bedroom door opened to reveal her sister all ready and putting her earrings on. "Speak of the devil... my lovely sister just finished getting ready so I'm gonna have to leave you Al, sorry." She sighed, sad that she had to cut the conversation short once again despite not being at work.

"Don't apologize Ellie, s'alright." His voice was soft and she hoped she could continue to listen to it for as long as life would allow her. "Hope you enjoy yourselves, send my regards to your sister."

She melted inside, her rational side yelling at her emotional counterpart that it was a simple thing to say and not something to swoon over but she was blind. Maybe that was his effect, pure blindness to everything else and only being able to see him. "Thanks Al, will tell her you said hi. Hope to hear from you soon."

"You definitely will," he promised, "Goodnight Ella."

Ella's eyes were on the ten in the morning sun coming through her windows and smiled to herself, "Goodnight Alex."

The room was filled with silence as she pressed the red button to end the call. A bright grin was set on her face with no intention to disappear, her cheeks were slightly pink but it was the tiny squeal that she accidentally let out that caused her older sister, Lily, to speak up.

"So you do have a crush!" Lily's index finger was pointing accusingly at Ella.

She turned her head so fast she was surprised she didn't get whiplash, "What?" She asked too defensive to make the situation seem casual.

Lily smirked at her, reading her face easily, "I was right, you do like him."

"Oh shut up, I do not." Ella's voice sounded annoyed but her sister knew that tone of hers, it was pure denial.

The older sister just sighed and rolled her eyes, "When are you ever gonna stop being so stubborn?"

"The day I die." Ella replied quickly and proceeded to grab her car keys from the counter and put her phone in the pocket of her jeans. "Let's go."

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Wednesday, the 8th of February had been the day Ben and Aaron had been informed the lads would touch down on American soil again and the day had rolled around fairly quickly.

It felt as if the countdown to the day of the band's arrival had been fast forwarded and for that she was grateful. She wasn't a fan of having to wake up early but she had woken up to a picture of the lads at the airport and several texts from all of them, and it made her grin like a mad woman as she got ready.

(08/02/2012 06:12) *picture of Matt flipping the camera off at the baggage claim area* Fair to say he's excited to see you.

(08/02/2012 06:26) Tell him I'm just as enthusiastic to see him, Cookie.

•••

(08/02/2012 06:20) My darling Ella, hope you're up and ready to see us. Alex said something about getting a tour from you...

(08/02/2012 06:27) Definitely up, and slowly getting ready. If there's one thing you should know, is that I need a good cup of coffee to properly function this early in the morning. And yes, I'm driving y'all and giving you a tour around LA.

(08/02/2012 06:28) Noted, gonna get you loads of coffee for the tour. Can't wait to see how poorly you drive xx

(08/02/2012 06:28) Alright O'Malley, rude.

•••

(08/02/2012 06:34) I bet you're celebrating I'm back in your land already.

(08/02/2012 06:35) You have the biggest head, has anyone told you that?

(08/02/2012 06:35) Been told something similar, if you know what I mean ;)

(08/02/2012 06:35) You're actually disgusting, Helders.

(08/02/2012 06:36) Yeah, yeah, you love me.

(08/02/2012 06:36) You certainly wish.

(08/02/2012 06:37) You're just in denial. We're about an hour away from the hotel by the way, you better be on your way missy x

(08/02/2012 06:38) I'm about to leave. Dreading seeing you though x

(08/02/2012 06:39) You keep telling yourself that x

•••

(08/02/2012 06:40) Can't wait to see you! We're an hour away xx

(08/02/2012 06:41) Give your friends a smack in the back of their heads for me please, haven't even seen you yet and I'm getting bullied already x

(08/02/2012 06:42) Will do. I'm guessing Helders gets double? x

(08/02/2012 06:43) Atta boy, you're so smart x I'm on my way, see you soon Al! x

To say she was giddy on the drive to their hotel was an understatement. Ella had been bouncing on her seat, not even minding having to sit in the traffic for longer than she would've liked to, singing her favorite songs a little bit louder than usual, with a bright grin permanently on her face throughout the whole drive.

She found a spot in the parking lot of the hotel quite easily and with a skip in her step, she made her way through the big window doors and into the lobby. The guys were all distracted on their phones, so many people were walking around the hotel lobby that the echo of her steps was lost in between the pattern.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Arctic Monkeys." Ella's voice was playful, a smirk on her face as she saw them turn their heads in her direction.

The four of them pocketed their phones and yelled her name, a little bit too loud for the hotel staff's liking. Ella was enveloped in a group hug and she swore she could cry when it hit her then just how much she'd missed them the past six months.

"Missed you guys." She said once the group hug was done and she went around giving them all hugs.

Alex was the last one, kissing the top of her head before he let go, "Missed you too."

She was melting, having missed the singer more than she would ever admit but the moment was cut short when Matt said, "Couldn't live without us huh?" A big smirk on his face, his eyes as playful as ever.

"Matthew, I will leave you here." She looked at the drummer with a serious expression, that was broken when she saw his film camera hanging from his neck.

Matt threw his arms up in defeat, "Alright, alright. But you couldn't though." He added the last bit quickly and quietly.

She chuckled and rolled her eyes, "If that helps you sleep at night."

After asking them if they were ready to go, and all of them nodding, she guided them to her car. It was big enough for all of them to fit comfortably so it didn't take them much time to get inside the vehicle and start driving. Alex was sitting on the passenger seat, while the rest took the backseats.

The little mirrorball was hanging from her rearview mirror with a tiny cowboy hat on top and it caught their attention. They all pointed at it with giggles whilst Alex could only think about how long it had been since the first time he saw it and how that day had been. Soon enough she turned on the car and started driving out of the parking lot.

Nick, who was in the middle, rested his arms on the front seats and looked around them all before saying, "Anyone want to share their last words before we get on the motorway?"

They all laughed hard, Ella looked through the rearview mirror at them and shook her head. She took her right hand and swatted at Nick's leg, leaving the steering wheel alone for a second which made Matt dramatically yell.

"Jesus Christ, I hate y'all." She sighed, placing her hand back where it was and focusing back on the road.

Jamie, who was sitting behind her, patted her arm. "Except you don't."

She opted to put her music on, letting the speakers drown the car with Ozzy Osbourne's voice. No one complained, which she was thankful for, they were just chatting over the music from time to time until they made it to Venice beach.

She took them walking through the Venice canals, the little suburb which was an American version of the Italian city. She had found it once while looking for a parking place when she was going to the beach with her friends, loving how quiet the place was and how pretty the scenery was. She had gone back multiple times to take pictures there, some of her favorite pictures were from the canals under the colors casted by the rising sun.

They had used the neighborhood as a backdrop to them walking around and catching up, them telling her tour anecdotes and how Nick's wedding plans were going, her telling them about the things they had been filming at Focus Creeps—which were now steering away from adverts and onto short films and artists trying to work with them after the Arctic Monkeys videos had been posted—and the shoots she'd been doing with Breana, which she promised Matt to show.

It was early, so the streets were rather empty, and it was February so it wasn't unbearably hot either.

Ella had her camera with her, constantly stopping to take pictures and it sent Alex back to Vegas. The way she would shiver despite having her jean jacket on sent him back to the day they had met. This time though, she would share her frames and exchange tips with Matt—he had her take pictures of certain places, she was helping him get the perfect shot—and Alex was melting inside. She was beyond adorable when her face lit up while sharing her passions.

After they gave the neighborhood a full walk-around, they went back to the car and she drove them over to the Old Los Angeles Zoo. The drive was long, over an hour, which was filled with her music and lots of chatter. She turned the volume down, the Talking Heads song fading to the background, so that she could give them a small preface of where it was that they were going.

"Okay so before you say anything about the LA Zoo signs, I'm actually taking you to the old abandoned one. It's very apocalyptic looking, but it has character."

Soon enough they were parking on the side of the road, and they could see an old rusty sign that read 'Picnic Area'. She guided them into the place, agile while scurrying and crouching down and through the stone ruins.

They were walking around and seeing every one of the forgotten cages, the lads getting inside of them and getting their pictures taken by Ella while they made weird faces or they tried to act like the animals they'd guess had lived in those cages.

Matt had trapped Ella into one of the cages, making her curse him through the metal bars as the band waved at her and faked leaving her behind. Alex taking a quick picture of her with his phone, she flipped him off and he smiled even harder.

Ella had gotten her payback when they were in a particularly claustrophobic cage that had a very steep staircase. Matt had been resting his palms against the graffitied walls at the top, as he slowly leaned his body forward to look down but he screeched when Ella had purposely nudged his hip and made his balance waver.

"You little–" The drummer had mumbled sternly before setting off to chase behind her, not hard to know where she went since she had run away giggling and they could still hear her.

Another thirty minutes of them messing about went by, before they were back in her car. She sighed as she settled in the driver's seat. Everyone shuffled into their seats but before she could start the engine, she had to make her mind up about where to take them next.

Her fingers drummed on the steering wheel as she looked through the rearview mirror at them. "Alright, so do you wanna go to the Hollywood sign or am I good to take you to the next place?"

They had already gone to the iconic landmark multiple times before so it wasn't hard for them to shrug and agree on moving onto the next place, which ended up being Los Feliz and they drove through the Shakespeare bridge on their way there, which she had pointed out enthusiastically.

Ella loved this part of the city of Los Angeles, she would visit it at least once a week to have some food at La Pergoletta and then go to the Los Feliz Theater which was just a couple blocks away. And that's exactly what they did. They sat at the Italian restaurant to have some early lunch—Ella giving them all recommendations of what they should get and fighting them to pay for the meal when the check arrived—, and then they went over to walk by the theater and the rest of Los Feliz Boulevard.

With their stomachs full and yet another roll of film gone, they went back to the car. Jamie walked ahead of the group as he claimed to remember exactly where they had parked, Nick and Matt talking as they followed closely behind, Alex and Ella on the very back of the group smoking.

"Are you excited to go on tour with us?" Alex inquired after he took a drag of his cigarette.

A puff of smoke left her lips, "I certainly am, though I can feel my back hurting already."

"Bunk beds are lovely, aren't they?" He looked at her with a playful smirk that made her chuckle.

"I bet you love going to the chiropractor." She sighed, exhaling the smoke and flicking some of the ashes to the floor.

"I've never been to one actually." the singer admitted after thinking for a second, trying to recount any visit to a chiropractor.

"Are you serious?" Ella asked with a gasp, and when he shook his head, she shrugged. "Well you should, it's the weirdest relief."

Alex thought about it but then frowned, "Doesn't the cracking noise freak you out?"

"Kind of? The first time he cracked my neck I fully thought I had died and was seeing the other side." She recalled, shuddering at the memory and the wind that had hit her.

He snorted, "That's exactly why I'll stick to massages, thanks very much."

"Are you gonna share your masseuse's number then?" She jokingly replied, but actually thinking of ways to alleviate her upcoming backache during the tour in the back of her mind.

Alex looked straight ahead towards his friends and pointed to the one in the front. "That would be Jamie actually, he knows his shit when it comes to a good back massage."

She hummed, looking at the man walking confidently ahead of the group. "Good to know." A few seconds of silence passed as they kept smoking and she thought of taking a picture of them, like that, in a mundane LA setting so she turned to the singer. "Alright Alex, c'mon go walk with them I wanna take a picture of y'all."

He nodded, smoking the last of his cigarette before tossing it to the pavement and stepping on it. "Tired of me, are you? The tour hasn't even started yet." He teased with a raised eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes, smiling at his behavior. "Shut up, idiot."

He smirked back, before starting to walk faster ahead of her. "How do you want me then?"

"Just keep walking and turn around when I call you." Ella instructed with a point of her finger.

Alex nodded and complied, walking right behind Nick and Matt who nodded at him in acknowledgement but kept talking between themselves. He was waiting for her voice to call out to him, watching his feet move, the sound of every step he took hitting his ears as the city noise became more background noise than anything.

When he heard a soft "Al" being called, he turned around with a soft smile—a smile that she captured, with the perfect focus and he looked stunning so the thought just escaped her.

"Stunning." Her voice was soft as she rolled the film with the lever, sticking it back into its place right after. Turning the device off since she wasn't taking any more pictures, she let it hit her upper stomach and when she looked up, she was met with his gaze.

"Is that so?" Alex nudged her hip with his and Ella blushed.

"Yes but don't let it get to your head," her cheeks stayed warm as she tried to play it cool, "Or else I'll have to take it upon myself to keep you humble."

He hummed as he pursed his lips trying not to grin, "I'm sure you'd enjoy that."

"You're right, I truly would." She nudged him this time and he tripped on his feet making her laugh out loud, the lads turned around to see him stumble and joined in her laughter. "Told you I would." She added smugly.

Alex looked at her mesmerized, Ella was just so hypnotizing to him. With everything she did, what she said and how she looked, he couldn't help but stare. She flushed under his gaze and was saved by the bell when Jamie indeed found her car and she had to speed her walk to unlock it for them.

Once inside, she ignited the engine and clapped her hands, "The next place I'm taking you is probably one of my favorite places in the whole world, I spend hours here every time I go and it's beautiful so..." she ranted before turning her music on, Stevie Nicks' voice now drowning the vehicle as they moved through the streets and back onto the highway.

It took them less than thirty minutes to get to the place, which had felt way faster after Matt decided to tease her about being born in the wrong generation as her playlist was filled with 70s and early 80s songs rather than more modern music; she hadn't gotten a chance to even fight their argument because when Alex started skipping through the songs, their point was backed. Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Talking Heads, The Cure, Pink Floyd, Bowie, Dolly Parton, Fleetwood Mac. Ella blushed as she slapped Alex's hand away from her phone, Bowie's voice lost in the background as everyone laughed.

When they stepped through the threshold of the bookstore, Ella's breath was taken from her by the views, as if she didn't frequent the place and she wasn't acquainted with the people who worked there.

Even Matt, who couldn't be arsed to be in a bookstore, was taken aback by the way the place looked. The way the books were arranged and the eccentric decor of each room was like nothing he'd ever seen before. It was like a Disneyland themed room, but it was just a bookstore.

"Just wait until you see the book tunnel." Ella's voice was giddy, her smile growing as she stepped further inside, with them following closely behind.

And soon enough, while she gave them a tour of the place—saying "Hi!" to people working there who greeted her back and knew her name—, they were met with a room which had a tunnel against a wall, entirely made with books. Further ahead a wall with what had been arranged to look like flying books, that reminded them of Harry Potter.

After agreeing to spend half an hour there, since they had to be at the hotel in about two hours and she had to pick her stuff up and Breana to meet them back again, they separated to look through the endless selection of books the store offered.

Of course they had left Alex and Ella by themselves, but she was too entranced by the worn out spines on the shelves to see Matt winking at his best mate before leaving with Jamie and Nick.

"You know, I found an annotated original copy of Pride and Prejudice here the first time I came. It was titled 'Elizabeth Bennet' rather than Pride and Prejudice and I found out that that was the title of some copies when they first got here in 1832. Have been coming here since then." Her smile was soft at the memory, her eyes glimmering under the dull yellow lights.

He hummed, mirroring her gentle grin, "That must be worth a fortune."

"Oh definitely, but that book is not leaving me ever. If I don't get buried with it, then I will pass it down to my kids." She laughed at herself by the end, shaking her head at her thoughts and started walking to turn into another aisle.

He giggled with her, eyes wondering from her figure to the books. Some old, some new but all equally hypnotizing to her as she picked them out and inspected them.

"I'm sure they'll appreciate it."

"They better," Ella said absentmindedly as she put the book back in its place, "Or else I will haunt them."

Alex let out a breathy laugh as he reached for a book on the top shelf that had caught his eye. "You'd be the worst ghost, if they even exist."

She clicked her tongue, turning to look at him, book left forgotten in his hands as he met her gaze. "C'mon Turner, you need to have some faith or else I won't be able to haunt Helders for the rest of his life."

His smirk grew playful, "You'll make him miserable?"

She winked, "You know it."

Time flew by like it always did, purposely forcing the needles on the clock to spin faster when it knew Alex was with her, wind blowing the sand from the hourglass so they ran out of minutes when they were together. And as if they had been the embodiment of an alarm clock, the other three members of the group appeared, precisely on the dot of the time they had agreed on.

Back in the car, she sighed as she saw them all take in their assigned seats. "So how was it class? Did you like your road trip?"

Nick shrugged in the middle, his lips pressed to avoid smiling. "Eh. Could've been better."

And before Ella could retaliate, Matt added, "I'm pretty sure the driver tried to kill us a fair few times." to which Alex and Jamie agreed with "'Yeah, yeah."

She just rolled her eyes through the rear view mirror, and took advantage of having the singer next to her so she could smack the back of his head. "I can't stand any of you." She muttered as the engine hummed alive, making them all erupt in laughter at the way Alex had jumped in his seat.

The drive back to their hotel had grown amusing when 'Still Take You Home' came on, and she turned the volume up after saying with a massive smirk "See? How's that for modern music boys?"

She started singing along, copying Alex's accent and exaggerating it to an obnoxious extent but they were loving it. She made a full show, playing an imaginary guitar, getting cheered on by the lads and when the song was over she did a little curtsy with her eyes on the road.

Jamie patted Alex's shoulder, making him turn around and see a smirk on his friend's face. "Sorry Al, you're being replaced."

The singer only sighed, keeping up with the charade, "Just like that, huh?"

"Sorry mate." added Matt, a faux-comforting grasp of his shoulder as he apologized.

Ella grabbed his hand and squeezed it, "Sorry Al, but it's clear who's better if the decision was that easy." A frown on her face as she acted on putting a face that exuded fake pity.

He only shook his head, grabbing the phone. Unlocking it easily with a swipe on the screen and he searched through her music. "But do you know..." He trailed off as he pressed on the track. The quick drum pattern of 'Pretty Visitors' coming through the speakers and her pout faltered.

"Won't even try because I can barely understand what you say in it." Her cheeks tinted pink as the other three hollered in the back of the car.

"Looks like you're back mate." said Nick, backtracking their previous statement.

Alex smirked at Ella, who caught the sight of him for a quick second before turning back around to look at the road. "That's what I thought."

In an hour, she had dropped them off at the hotel so they could get ready before the tour bus got there later and picked them all up. She rushed home to pick up her suitcase—which she had forced herself to keep light and small—and then went over Breana's to get her.

The sun was setting as they talked, laughed and sang, driving down the highway and on their way back to the hotel. The closer the hotel's exit got, the more nervous she felt. Bre noticed, but she kept making jokes that made her loosen up. After all, nothing bad would happen; the worst could be that however she felt about Alex got nowhere and she'd stay silently crushing over a man out of her reach. And she somehow was okay with that, as long as she still could have him as a friend.

It was muscle memory that made her find a parking spot and turn off the engine of her car at the hotel. With a blink, she realized just how dangerous that had been, because she couldn't recall those last five minutes of the drive. The thought of him was dangerous.

The tiny wheels on their suitcases scratched down the pavement as they met the band at the hotel's main entrance. She had to quickly reach for Bre's suitcase when she let go of it to run into Matt's arms, catching it right before it hit the ground.

Jamie sighed, "Thanks Bre, we missed you too." Sarcasm so clear in his words, Matt chuckled and only held his girlfriend tighter.

Eventually, the lovebirds let go of each other and Breana could properly greet everyone. They all lit cigarettes up as they waited for the bus, which according to the text Alex had gotten, would be there in about fifteen minutes.

It was all laughter and chatter, a taste of what the upcoming week was going to be like, and Ella found it refreshing. Yes she loved her job, but there was something about driving down the west coast along with her friends, who happened to be musicians, enjoying their art and whatever the cities had to offer.

She wished she could go on tour more often already but since she knew this was gonna be the first and last time she'd get to go on one, she'd make the best out of the experience and enjoy every second of it.

A few minutes earlier than anticipated, the bus arrived. Tall black coach with dark windows that made her wonder if you could even look through them at all. She found that she could, after they all left their luggage where they had been instructed to place it and they walked up the steps and into the vehicle.

"Holy shit," Ella could barely keep her jaw from falling at the size of it, "It's bigger than the last one."

Matt walked up to her, throwing an arm around her shoulder and his other arm hugged Breana tighter to his side. "Had to upgrade since we're taking on two very special guests."

"Awh, I knew I was special to you." Ella cooed playfully before jabbing the drummer in his ribs.

He flinched and tried to get her back but she moved faster, "Don't go pushing your luck now, Ellie."

She giggled before she was swept away by Breana, who grabbed her hand and took her to the next few steps that led into the rest of the bus. There were far too many bunks for just the six of them but they looked bigger and more comfortable than the ones in the tour bus they had taken to Las Vegas so she wouldn't go complaining about anything. She was sure she could go without a hotel throughout the week, seeing that they had a perfectly sized bathroom inside as well, with a small shower and all.

Nick walked into the hallway, standing by the door that separated the bunks from the rest of the bus. "Yous can choose your beds first."

Bre turned to her with a playful smirk, shrugging her shoulders mischievously. "Chivalry is not dead I see..." the model trailed off, getting a hold of Ella's hand again to bring her back down the hallway.

And after leaving their coats on top of the beds they had chosen, which were facing each other, they went back down to the lounge area. The driver was at the bottom of the stairs telling them they'd be setting off in five minutes and made sure there was nothing else they were missing.

Five minutes after the confirmation that they were good to go, the bus started moving. They felt the change of rhythm as they got off onto the highway whilst they chatted, scattered around the settees in the lounge area.

"So Ella, are you ready for the groupie lifestyle?" Matt's voice was teasing, a slight pitch higher as the anticipation of her reaction bubbled inside of him. Breana giggled against her boyfriend's side which she was pressed against.

As per usual, Ella was starting to blush. Her cheeks tinted a faint pink as her lips pursed, "Groupie? That's a big commitment."

"Well I know a few people that would love to come to an agreement with you." The drummer let his eyes wander to his best friend who was about to break his jaw with how hard he was clenching it.

Ella knew exactly who Matt was staring at so her cheeks turned a very obvious red now, even the tips of her ears matching the color on her face.

She sighed, letting her head drop just a little bit for a few seconds before looking to her left and staring at the other three musicians. "How long is this tour again?"

Matt snorted, Breana laughing just as hard as Nick was. "Eight days." Jamie ended up replying, holding back laughter.

Her eyes were still on the rest of the band and she gave them a pitiful shake of her head, "Can't believe you can stand months of this one on the road. I'd pull all of my hair out."

Alex agreed with her then, "I'm fairly close to that point every tour."

"Sure mate, I'd pay to see you bald." Dared the drummer to which he only received an eye roll and a lovely middle finger from the singer.

Ella could only think how unforgettable those eight days were going to be.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Ella had been right.

She had it all imprinted in her mind.

Every kiss to her cheek followed by a 'good morning', an arm snaking around her waist giving it a firm squeeze before letting go and leaving her breathless.

Every time an arm came around her shoulders and rubbed her arm up and down when she was shivering because of the strong winds outside the venues as the sky turned from lilac and orange to a velvety blue.

Every whiskey glass turned into a slurred 'you look stunning, darling', that somehow always led to shared cigarettes outside bars and his giggles in her ear as he leaned into her every time she'd make him laugh.

Every picture she had taken of their views and their surroundings, that turned into a plea to take a picture of her with whatever it was in her previous shot as a background.

Every late night chat they had as they were always the last ones to go to bed. It be on the tour bus' lounge or a hotel bar, the walls of these places being confidants to everything they'd shared: stories from their childhoods, a movie they never really got over, a hobby they always wanted to get into but never could, their already gone dreams that would forever stay as that, the intricacies of existence they'd come to terms with never really understanding.

She was sure she had never blushed more in her life compared to how she had been in the past five days. Her cheeks were sore from grinning after everything Alex did, whatever little things he'd say to her.

They had grown closer, always next to each other. Their behavior had earned them plenty of eye rolls from the rest of the band, but they didn't truly care anymore.

That Tuesday she had woken up with a groan. They had been in Vegas the day before and, whilst their stay had been shorter and tamer than the last time they had been in the city, they still had had plenty to drink. A headache was all she felt, softer than she would've expected and she found a bit of hope in the fact that she could nurse it with a couple of painkillers.

Her phone screen flashed in front of her, a notification from the weather app telling her it would be a sunny but windy day in San Diego. Eyes going up to the time, nine in the morning and she took a deep breath but it got stuck in her throat when she realized the date. Fucking Valentine's Day.

Ella had grown to have good memories of the holiday, but they had all been tarnished by people's decisions and time. She didn't care much for it anymore, or she forced herself not to. Now all she could think was how she would hate the decision of having Breana sleep just across from her, she'd have to sleep blasting music in order not to hear anything. It had already worked for her the days before, so she would hold on tight to her earphones and her playlists to drown out whatever the lovebirds would get up to that night.

She shivered just thinking about it.

Slowly pushing the curtain aside, Ella slid out of the bunk. Landing with a thud on the floor, before she walked out to the lounge to make herself a cup of coffee on the fancy Keurig the tour bus had.

Nick had kept his promise of asking for loads of it. It had been an exaggerated amount but it was of a really really nice kind so she wouldn't complain.

Surprisingly everyone rose up not long after her, she thought it was probably the coffee's smell that had guided them out of bed and into the lounge. First came Jamie, who stood beside her, leaning against the makeshift kitchen counter as they sipped on their coffees.

Nick and Breana followed, the girl claiming Matt was still asleep but they'd be going out when he woke up, which meant the other four of the group were gonna be left alone without the lovers.

She had been teasing Breana along with Nick and Jamie—laughing as they managed to make the model blush and hide behind her hands—when Alex came out looking freshly changed, wearing a plain white shirt with a leather jacket, dark jeans and his usual chelsea boots. Gold chain around his neck and she had to pinch herself to stop her mind going places.

He took her breath away and it was shown in the way her exhale pushed the steam of her second coffee cup forwards.

"Morning everyone." The singer greeted in a low voice, morning's effect still over it as it sounded husky and slightly raspy.

They all said morning back, Ella turning around to pour him a mug of coffee. A spoonful and a half of sugar, the way she now knew he liked his coffee.

When she held it up for him to take he got closer, pressing a kiss to her cheek and whispering "Thank you, Ellie."

He took a long sip of the beverage before he cleared his throat, "You should get ready, we're going out in a little bit."

She frowned, cup slowly leaving her lips. "But–" she turned to Jamie then, who was still standing beside her, "Didn't we not have plans?"

Jamie smirked, looking from Ella to Alex, "We didn't."

"Just us, you deserve a break from these two idiots." He tried to downplay it, not wanting to say he was taking her on a date but he was.

Her hand was still frozen, the cup of coffee midair as she slowly broke out of her shocked state. "Alright..." she trailed off, her voice barely a whisper.

Nick got up, taking the mug from her hand. "Go on, I'll wash this for you."

Breathlessly she replied, "Thank you," before she, in panic, looked at Breana who had the biggest grin on her face.

The model jumped up onto her feet and ran away into the bunk beds with Ella's hand tightly clutched. They moved onto the empty bunk area, and closed the door behind them to not wake Matt up.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Breana whisper-yelled and it only made her more nervous.

Ella waved her hands to calm her down, "Stop! Stop!" She shouted back in a whisper.

Bre sighed, "He's totally asked you on a date."

"No he hasn't, it's just– We're just going out." Ella fought back, stuttering as she made her point.

"Going out. On a date." The model stated in a tone that said it was obvious.

"Fuck." She swore under her breath and Breana shrieked. "Shush! I don't want to get my hopes up."

The admission made Bre stop in her place, she grabbed Ella's arms and squeezed affectionately, "Everything will be okay, alright? Whatever happens, it will be a good day and you'll remember it as such."

She inhaled and exhaled, twice, long deep breaths to calm her down but they did nothing really. She needed a cigarette, desperately, but she needed to get ready first. "What do I even wear?! I have nothing date-appropriate to wear."

"Lucky you have me, babe." Breana wasted no time before she crouched down to pull her case towards herself, unzipping it and showing a mess of fabrics.

Ten minutes later, after she had been pushed into the bathroom to get ready and then change into the clothes Breana and her had chosen, she was putting some mascara on. Breana pushed one of her lip glosses into the pocket of the cheetah print coat she had lent Ella.

The coat had been decided into the outfit after Ella claimed she'd get too cold without one as she was just wearing a satin top, that looked like the top half of a slip-on dress, and her high waisted blue jeans. She fished her packet of Marlboro reds and her lighter after spraying some perfume on the way out, her camera already hanging on her shoulder and her phone in the back pocket of her jeans.

Her boots clicked as she walked down the few steps that led into the lounge. And Alex swallowed hard when she fully came in view. He didn't have it in him to feel shy or embarrassed to be heard by his mates when he went over to her, clutched her hand and told her, "You look beautiful, Ellie." followed by a kiss on her cheek.

His lips burned on the already heated skin of her cheeks. She just had it in her to say back a quiet, "Thank you, Al. So do you."

He quickly said goodbye to everyone before they could say anything, and he thanked his lucky stars that Matt wasn't there or else she would've shied away from it all with his teasing. She said bye too, quietly as the nerves bit away at her slowly with every step they took in direction to the bus door.

Once outside he decided to tease her, joke around to have her loosen up because he could feel just how stiff and nervous she was. "Beautiful am I then?"

She chuckled, blushing again. "Shut up." she replied with her head down, her voice directed at the floor. "Where are we going anyway?" She put a strand of hair behind her ear as she inquired.

Alex smiled softly at her, "We're renting a car and I'm taking you to this place I've always wanted to go but never had the chance to."

"Mysterious." She let her words hang in the air as they walked, she had no idea where they were going and that made her more nervous yet she was growing giddy too. The bus had stopped at the venue, so they took an exit through a door all the way around, where the fans weren't queuing up for later.

Just like he had been saying, there was a car rental place a few blocks away and it wasn't long before they were driving down San Diego's coast. About twenty minutes later, when she had asked many times where they were going and he was not telling her, Ella was able to see the outline of a rollercoaster beside the sea and it made her gasp.

"Are we going to Belmont Park?!" Her pitch was high as she couldn't contain her excitement, and Alex grinned hard when he took a quick glance at her and saw her practically beaming.

He hummed like he didn't want to let a pathetic happy squeal, "We are."

She couldn't stay still and she was aware that she probably looked like a child but she had always wanted to come to this place, and she was fairly sure she had mentioned it to him when they found themselves chatting over a few drinks at the bar of the hotel they had stayed in when they were in San Francisco.

It came back faintly to her mind then. Alex had mentioned that San Diego was the last place before they would drive back up to Los Angeles and Ella had gone on an alcohol-induced rant about how she'd been dying to go to Belmont Park but the few times she had gone down to San Diego, no one had wanted to go with her or something happened that kept her from going.

Her insides filled with a feeling she had been trying to ignore for the past few days, just thinking about how he had remembered all that when she had almost forgotten even mentioning it in between the cocktails.

Alex rolled the windows down, wind blowing their hair around. Not even her hair on her face could hide her grin and it only got bigger as they parked and got to the ticket booth.

The place was less crowded than she expected it to be, with kids back in school and it being winter, so they were walking freely and enjoying the controlled noise from the people already there.

The orange wristbands they had gotten allowed them to go on any ride they wanted so they went walking around the place, drinking in everything they could do throughout the day and seeing what caught their eyes first.

"We're definitely saving the roller coaster for last." She pointed out, her ears filling with the yells of people on the ride's trains as they came down the big slope.

He nodded, "Yep, but we're going in the first row." He was wearing dark sunglasses but she could see his teasing gaze behind them.

She smirked at him, "Okay, deal." putting her hand out for him to shake and that he did, firmly and matching her smirk.

A few minutes later they had found a mini golf course, safari themed that they deemed the best way to start the day. They picked up their score card, a pencil, their balls and putters and off they went into the course.

Ella turned to him as they approached the first hole, "Don't laugh at me," her finger threatening as it pointed straight at her face. "My dad tried to get me into golfing but I've always been shit at it."

His lips pressed hard against each other, trying to hide his smile. "Sure. Promise I won't laugh."

But when she hit the ball first and it awkwardly landed in the furthest spot from the hole, completely missing it by a foot, he snorted and she huffed as she turned around. "You said you wouldn't laugh!"

Her pout tugged at his heart strings, "Sorry darling," he pressed a kiss to her temple before placing his ball on the tee, "But you really are bad."

"I know." She whined, a soft chuckle leaving her lips seeing how far her ball was and how funny she found her own lack of golfing skills. Jesus, that's fucking embarrassing, she thought.

Ella didn't mind keeping the score, she was just a little embarrassed by the end when Alex won by having half her points. She blushed when he asked who had won, only wanting to tease her because he knew it was him.

Alex had compensated it by getting her ice cream, which they were eating away blissfully as they walked around.

The wind kept blowing her hair around, making her curse as she tried to keep it away from the ice cream. He stopped and handed her his cup, she was confused until he stood behind her and brushed her hair back to then start braiding it.

Her face was heating up, as she stared ahead of her, feeling his fingers on her hair. "What are you doing?" The words were so soft they almost sounded weak.

"A plait, so your hair doesn't blow on your face." Alex responded just as softly, his breath hitting the back of her neck. He could see the goosebumps erupting on her skin so he smirked, purposely brushing his finger against her neck soothingly.

He didn't take long to finish it, tying it with an elastic she had on her wrist. He squeezed her shoulders to indicate he was done and she turned around on her heels, "Thanks, Al."

"No worries." He smiled, getting his ice cream back from her.

"Where did you learn how to braid? I'm curious now."

Alex chuckled at her eyes clearly showing her curiosity. "I used to have long hair y'know."

She paused, "Wait– like long long? Longer than when we met?"

He nodded, "Way longer."

"Oh I'm gonna have a good time on google later." Ella elbowed him softly to tease him, cheeky smile breaking out despite the spoon between her teeth.

He rolled his eyes in faux annoyance, "Sure you will. Will have a good time chatting shit with Matt too, I bet."

She beamed and joked, "You know me so well."

Ella kept on walking then to taunt him some more, leaving him to keep up with her as her strides got faster. She got a playful shove when he caught up beside her which ended in her laughing.

Teenagers were running around with their friends, laughter came from all around the place, the sun was shining bright behind the clouds that stubbornly chased the star around. It was all perfect and it only got better as the day went by.

They had gone on the bumper cars twice, the drop tower, the beach blaster—which had gotten them so dizzy they ended up riding the carrousel afterwards, earning frowns from certain parents who were holding their toddlers up on the horses—, the go karts, the fun house and even a laser maze.

It was around lunch time when they were walking past a line of stands filled with food you could only find at a fair. Sweetness bold in the air, making their mouths water.

"What's that? Smells very nice." asked Alex when they passed a funnel cake kiosk.

Ella stopped in her tracks, grabbing his wrist to drag him to the back of the short line. "Funnel cake and we're getting some," she fished for her card to keep it in hand and pay before he could, like he had done all day. "Have you ever tried it?"

He hadn't even heard of the term before, "No, is it good?"

She sighed in delight just thinking about it, "It tastes like heaven."

Ten minutes later they were sitting on a little wooden table with two funnel cakes—that she proudly and quickly paid for—sitting on top of it. One had whipped cream and caramel drizzled all over, while the other had a scoop of vanilla ice cream, chopped strawberries and chocolate fudge.

"This is like asking for a diabetic coma." The singer joked, watching the dessert filling the plates.

She smiled at that, "Welcome to America baby," she quipped back with a playful tone on her voice.

The phrase came out of her mouth without her even having time to realize the pet name, but she played off her flushing cheeks as excitement as she moved one of the plates towards him and pulled the other in front of her.

Plastic forks dug into the fried batter and, just as Ella had described, it tasted amazing. She made him take bites out of hers, claiming he had to try it or else he'd regret it, so he did and she watched him take it in as she wiped some caramel from the corner of her mouth.

Alex savored the bite, thinking about how if he kissed her, she'd taste just as sweet and just that thought made his mouth water even more.

She had been taking pictures, and he thought about how he'd never grow tired of seeing her like that: so adamant on catching the perfect shot, sometimes slightly crouching down or standing on her tippy toes, nose scrunching as she closed one of her eyes to focus the frame, finger so delicate yet precise when pressing the shutter and that beaming grin after capturing it.

The same grin she was giving him now after she had taken a picture of him and the funnel cakes, the rest of the attendees so oblivious to her heart swelling up at his soft smile and the way his eyes crinkled.

Once they finished their food, they stood up and kept on walking until they stumbled on a photobooth on the left side of the boardwalk. He paid before she could notice, and when they were sitting on the flat red leather seat, she awkwardly smiled at the screen.

There was a five second countdown that made her internally freak out until she settled on just smiling, eyes closed from how big it was and he copied it as he also faced the camera.

Once the shutter sound went off she sighed, "I have no idea what to do, I'm usually the photographer!"

He chuckled and threw his arm around her shoulder to hug her into him, cheek pressed against her temple making her giggle. The sound of her bubbly laughter was interrupted by the shutter and she couldn't wait to see how that one had turned out.

She let out a small shriek, desperately trying to think of something to do. "Okay Mr. Rockstar, rock on." Ella said quickly before doing the rock 'n' roll sign with her right hand, tongue sticking out to the camera. He mirrored her actions, both of them bursting out with laughter right after. "Sorry I panicked, didn't know what to do."

Alex just shook his head and she scrunched up her nose looking at his blissed expression. "You're something else." He said almost breathlessly, getting lost in her pretty eyes.

"Is that a compliment?" Her voice was shy as her cheeks tinted pink for the hundredth time in the day.

He smirked, "Definitely."

And with that the shutter went off capturing the last picture. When they came out of the booth and saw the freshly printed pictures, they laughed. They laughed to hide how the strip of photos actually made them feel, her skin erupted in goosebumps at the sight of the last one: both of them just smiling wide at each other, eyes staring into the other's like nothing else mattered.

He held the little sleeve in which the two strips were now saved, and delicately placed it on the pocket inside of his jacket, so ironically over his heart.

Not long after, they were on the line for the roller coaster which they had agreed would be their last ride before they went out to eat at this Mexican restaurant she loved that wasn't too far away.

She had always hated the long queues at amusement parks, the wait making her body catch onto just how sore her feet were or how her back begged for a resting place but it was easy with Alex. They would get caught in conversations so quickly, effortlessly flowing through topics and stories, making the forty minutes of wait seem shorter.

He had asked for them to be seated in the front row, having to wait for five more minutes before they got the instruction to sit and when they did she wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans.

"Are you nervous?" Alex asked, half teasing and half worried.

Ella cleared her throat to begin explaining, "I love roller coasters but hate heights. Just a walking contradiction I am."

He squeezed her thigh to then pull on the black bar set firmly atop of their hips, "Don't worry, this won't budge."

And before she could nod the trains started moving and her eyes widened, a chesty laugh falling from his lips at her reaction. A few seconds later they were in complete darkness and then the light of day could be seen at the end of the tunnel.

Once the light hit them again, the trains started going up and she turned to him in warning. "Just so you know, I tend to laugh like a maniac when I'm scared on a ride."

"Very excited to see that." Alex was teasing her but not quite, he actually wanted to hear every version of her laugh.

Ella could see the drop coming up and suddenly she remembered the lack of protection her top provided, words spilling out of her mouth with no filter as the anticipation built up. "My fucking tits are gonna fall off this top!" She shouted through her teeth, just loud enough for only them both to hear.

In comparison, his laugh was loud, "Well I wouldn't mind seeing that either."

She scoffed, one hand on the bar on top of them and the other holding the fabric of her strappy top to her exposed chest. "Of course you wouldn't you cheeky– Fuck!"

The car dipped faster than she expected and she closed her eyes for a second after her curse flew out into the wind. He was laughing beside her, making her laugh with him and as the trains went up and down, a funny feeling on her stomach made her giggle away uncontrollably.

The ride ended after a brief minute of ups, downs and tilts to the sides, and as they came to a stop at the loading bay of the attraction, Alex turned to ask her, "You wanna go again?"

In all honesty, he didn't want to make another almost-hour-long line but the whole time he had been looking at her and hearing her in the ride, and he selfishly wanted to experience it all again.

"If the line wasn't as long, then I'd say yes. But maybe next time yeah?" Ella replied, patting his cheek before the worker lifted the security bar and they got out.

They had laughed at her reaction on the way back to the car, the sunset creeping on behind them. She gasped at the colors in the sky as she opened the car door so she stopped to take a picture before getting inside.

"Got it?" The singer asked softly with a small smile on his face.

"Mhm." She nodded, shy smile reciprocating his.

And then they drove as she sang to the songs from her phone. Smirking when 'Suck It And See' came on shuffle, "Oh what a lovely coincidence, isn't it Turner?" she had said before singing along to his voice booming through the speakers.

He had only shook his head as he looked at the road but whenever he turned to see her singing to her heart's content, with the pink and lilac casted behind her as the sun fell slowly to kiss the horizon, he took a mental picture of it all. Not because of nature's wonders but of her, in all her glory, she was far more captivating than any of the most stunning skies he had ever seen.

"A picture would last you longer, Turner." Ella played, feeling his burning gaze as she scrolled through her music on her phone.

His cheeks heated slightly from being caught, "It would. Quite gutted I'm driving right now."

She blushed but leaned into the console to get closer to him and kissed his cheek, "Your memory better do then."

When they stopped at the restaurant, she came out of the car with a bounce on her step. "Oh thank god! I was starving." she admitted, holding his hand as she rushed them into the place. When the tune of the bell greeted them inside, two heads turned and were quick to say 'hello' and sit them down.

"Alright so," she started, clasping her hands in front of her on top of the table, "My guilty pleasure is Mexican coke and I'm just so lucky that we always have it here in the south so we're getting some first. It's so much better than the American one, far sweeter."

He hummed at her, thinking back to remember if he'd ever had Mexican coke but barely even remembering the last instance he'd had a can of regular coke. So when someone came back to take their orders, the first thing she asked for was two bottles of Mexican coke along with carne asada tacos and chips with guacamole.

They ended up ordering another pair of Cokes to wash down the food. She desperately wanted one to nurse the numbness the hot chili sauce had left on her mouth and when the two new bottles were left on the table, she thanked the waitress and quickly enclosed her fingers around one of them.

Condensation dripped down her palm and wrist, as her swollen red lips found purchase around the tip of the bottle. She took a long sip, her throat bobbing up and down as she swallowed the carbonated liquid. Alex suddenly wanted to be the bottle, to feel her lips on his in any way he could, to feel them around him. There was nothing he wouldn't do to be in the place of that damn bottle.

It was about an hour, the time they had spent at the restaurant. They paid—he did, despite her arguing with him about it—, and they were on their way back to the venue shortly after. When they got to the theater, they parked by the back entrance and ran inside seeing they only had fifteen minutes left before Alex had to be on stage.

He got waved over by one of the sound guys, telling him they needed him to check his in-ears before it was show time and he promised he'd be over soon, the man leaving after telling him where they were gonna be waiting for him.

She blushed at the tension in the air, she felt it so thick over her like the humidity after a hot summer rainfall. So shyly she held his hand, rubbing her thumb on the back of it. "Thank you for today." her tone was so timid, it made his need to kiss her shyness away even bigger.

He gave her a soft smile, so genuine that it melted her. "I should be the one thanking you, darling. Had the best day."

Someone in the distance shouted his name, and she could've bet money on it being none other than Matt 'Cockblocker' Helders. But before the drummer could've come to completely ruin the moment, she took it in her own hands to seal the day with a golden ribbon.

With a tinge of courage she started, "Well, happy Valentine's day Al." and before he could say it back, she was standing on her tippy toes and pressing a chaste kiss on his lips.

For merely a few seconds he felt her plush pink lips on his, they were soft and hot, still a bit swollen from the hot sauce. They were seconds that felt like an eternity but way too short for his own liking. Just that moment felt like it had caused a domino effect that somehow provoked a new universe to be created in space, a new black hole to be born and suck everything around it.

She practically ran off before he could do anything else, following the signs that guided her towards the crowd where she knew Breana would be, like every other gig in the past days.

Matt yelled out his name once again but Alex was just standing in the middle of the hallway staring at the wall with the sensation of her lips still pressed against his.

"What the fuck are you doing just standing there like an absolute melt?" The drummer asked with a frown on his face, watching the clock ticking on the wall in front of him.

Alex sighed, wishing time would stop just so he could sit on the feeling and replay the moment over and over until it was permanently engraved in his mind, frame by frame. "Matt, would you just shut up?"

"What? Was the date bad or–?" Matt inquired, teasingly and ready to annoy his best mate.

The singer sighed and cut him off before he could continue with his taunting, "Shut up Matthew." To which the drummer frowned when he saw the big smile breaking out on Alex's face as he turned around.

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After the band got off stage, they all got back in the tour bus and when the lads had finished taking turns to shower, they suddenly decided it was a night worthy of some wine.

Four bottles of red wine later, Ella found herself giggling away as she rested her head on Alex's shoulder. Their cheeks were flushed due to the alcohol and she felt like she was about to start sweating but she couldn't find it in herself to peel away from his side.

Not that Alex wanted her to, that's why his arm was firmly stuck around her waist as he kept her cuddled into his side. He would pinch her side when she made a dig at him, and rub soothing circles on her stomach over the satin of her top when she would laugh or snuggle further into him.

It was nearly three in the morning when they all started to quiet down and he noticed how Ella seemed to have fallen asleep on his shoulder, face hidden on the crook of his neck.

He couldn't find it in himself to wake her up, that's why he stayed until the latest he could, watching everyone wave him goodnight before disappearing up the steps. Eventually, his eyes started closing as he felt the exhaustion catching up to him. He rubbed her arm, up and down until she started squirming under his touch.

"Darling, shall we go to bed now?"

She mumbled something, her lips brushing against the base of his throat, making him almost shiver.

"Should I carry you to bed?" He suggested, his fingers pinching her side softly as he continued, "Huh? Lazy."

She groaned, "I can walk Al. Just–" she paused to yawn behind her hand, "Gonna keep my eyes closed though, so just guide me yeah?"

He nodded, "Alright." So he did what she had asked, saying "Step, another step, last step." his hands around her waist as he walked behind her and guided her back into the bunk beds. When he slowly opened the door, he noticed Jamie and Nick inside their bunks, snoring away peacefully. Bre and Matt were nowhere to be found but he could bet they were on any of the other beds from the room that followed the one they all slept at. At least they are considerate today, he thought.

When they were in front of her bed, he brushed her hair back and away from her face. "We have arrived at your destination, darling."

She hummed slightly in annoyance as she now had to open her eyes to slide into her resting space. "Thank you," her eyes opened just a tiny bit, hissing at the light hitting her corneas. "Fuck, that's bright."

His chuckle made her smile, a loopy grin before she slid into her bunk. "You comfortable?" Alex asked as she slithered further inside the bunk.

She sighed content to finally be in bed, "Very much so," she poked her head out, squinting to see him and decided she was sleepy enough to not care about what she did anymore so she leaned into him to give him another kiss. A peck that ended up being delivered to the corner of his mouth but he wouldn't complain, not when her voice sounded so mellow when she said "Sweet dreams, Al."

And they were sweet dreams, the ones he had, as he fell asleep with the whole day playing on his mind in a never ending loop that he wasn't getting tired of, and the feeling of her lips on his haunting him.

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Ella woke up the next day with another headache and a long list of questions. The memories of the previous day helped lull the ache in her skull but it only added to every single one of her inquiries and worries. She had no idea if things would change or if it would stay all the same.

That was answered sooner than she expected when she went out to meet everyone after brushing her teeth. It seemed like it all was the same but different at the same time, because he still told her good morning followed by a kiss on her cheek but whatever she felt about the things he did before had grown exponentially, and it was like her stomach was flipping on its own over and over.

It happened throughout the whole day, her insides melting at every single embrace, the kisses on her cheek or her temple, the laughs in her ear. And Alex wasn't too far behind, feeling his insides coat with warmth when she would hug his waist every time he came beside her and threw an arm around her shoulders, the way she'd play with his fingers as she chatted with the guys, how she would brush his hair out of his face when the strands got in his eyes.

They had driven back to Los Angeles that morning, meaning they had arrived at the venue just in time for lunch and they weren't planning on doing anything else other than stay in the greenroom until showtime.

After their meal, the band had done a quick soundcheck before the show. Bre and Ella, cheering for them, playfully telling them they could do better and doing silly little dances that didn't match the songs at all.

Back in the greenroom, they had started drinking and playing truth or dare. Ella had rolled her eyes but agreed to participating, despite being nervous about what she'd be dared to do or say.

It was Nick's turn to choose someone and that person ended up being Ella. Her sigh was heard by the whole group, making them laugh.

"Ella, truth or dare?" The bassist's eyes indicated nothing but trouble.

She sipped on her margarita before choosing, "Truth."

Nick paused for a few seconds before he straightened up and smirked, "What was your worst sexual encounter?"

She blew the air out of her mouth dramatically, "You wanna know the worst worst one?"

Everyone nodded along with Nick, all curious to know.

"Okay, erm– Fuck, alright. Just be ready 'cause it's really bad." She started, putting her drink down on the closest table. "A little preface though, this was back when I was confused and seeing if I actually did like men or if I was just a lesbian so bear with me."

She cleared her throat before she could start and took a deep breath, "It was sophomore year in university, we were all in Florida for spring break and I took the chance to just... Y'know," her cheeks reddened at the thought of saying her motives to her friends, "Fuck around." she finished quietly and they all laughed making her face heat up even more.

"Anyway, so I found this guy at the beach who was really hot and he ended up buying me a drink and whatever. Long story short, he told me he had a room in this hotel across the street and we had both been pretty obvious about our intentions so we went up to his room." They all saw how she grew impossibly redder as she reminisced, "So we got down to it..."

Breana interrupted with a gasp, "He went down on you?"

Ella just shook her head, "I wish." The words left her lips before she could think about them and everyone chuckled at her bluntness. "We were just getting off for a while, you know, dry humping and whatnot until we got to bed." She sighed, grimacing at what was coming next. "We took our clothes off and all, he put a condom on after I asked him to and then he started going at it. Only that he never went inside me..." She trailed off, her voice rising in pitch as she got more embarrassed.

"He was on top and we were basically in missionary, but when he went to, erm– put it in, he just put it between my ass and the bed and started thrusting. Mind you, I wasn't making a single noise because I was genuinely confused while he was moaning like a mad man." She turned to grab her glass back up and take a swig of it, the tequila pushing her to finish the story. "He finished so quick and had the nerve to ask if I had finished, I just stood up, said 'no but probably the duvet did', put my shit back on and left him."

Jamie whistled, "Mental."

Matt had the deepest frown on his face, "How do you not notice it's not in?"

"He said something about that being the reason he doesn't wear condoms as I walked away." Ella shrugged, before taking another sip of her drink. "Thanks to him I almost entirely gave up on men."

Breana snickered then, "Oh, but do tell who gave you back hope."

"That's for you to find out if I choose truth in another turn." Ella winked at the model with rosy cheeks, bluffing as she definitely wasn't choosing truth then because one sex story was enough for the day.

Nick interrupted then, "Alright Ella, who are you choosing now?"

"Jamie." She decided after a few seconds of internal debate. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare." The guitarist uttered, taking a sip of his own drink.

"I dare you to reenact for us your favorite position." She had a smirk on her face, wanting to tease the man just for the laugh.

"Can't do it alone though." Jamie argued just to see if that would get him out of the dare.

But to Jamie's dismay, she pointed at the man standing right beside him, "Well you've got Alex right there don't you?"

When Jamie dragged Alex to the settee and pulled him on top of him as he laid on it, the rest of the group started hollering, Matt wolf whistling as Alex hovered above Jamie's lap in a cowgirl position, swinging an imaginary laso above his head.

"I see the vision, Ella." Bre approved playfully between giggles which got her giggling too as she went to retrieve her polaroid camera.

She pointed at the two guys on the sofa and ordered them, "Stay there, I'm taking a picture of this." as she turned the device on, and ten seconds later the shutter had gone off and the picture was getting printed out.

Matt took the opportunity, seeing as Jamie got off the sofa leaving Alex sat there alone, to dare Ella to do the same using Alex as her partner. "Go on then Ella, it's your turn to show us yours."

"Says who? It's Jamie's turn to choose." She chatted back knowing exactly what Matt was trying to do.

But before she could continue, Jamie clocked onto what the drummer was doing and egged her on. "I choose you and you're doing that same dare."

She rolled her eyes, cheeks growing more flushed despite them being already pink from the alcohol. Her legs hit the sofa and she laid on it just like Jamie had done, only she pressed her feet on the settee but before she lifted her hips up, she grabbed Alex's hand and guided him on top of her.

He was about to tease her, about to say 'Oh so you like being on the bottom?' when she knocked the breath out of his lungs by saying, "Hop on, you be me." loud enough for everyone to hear and gasp in shock.

Once Alex was on top of her, she pushed his hands to be just above her shoulders so his chest was almost pressed against her and his collarbone was straight on top of her face. She lifted her hips up and pressed them on his ass for a quick second, winking at him before dropping back down.

Matt was quick to comment, with a heavy smirk on his face. "Oh she is dirty."

Nick followed, "Naughty!"

And Jamie topped it all off by asking, "How long have you been thinking about that one? You worked that out with Alex really quick."

She hid behind her hands, her palms feeling the growing heat on her whole face. "I'm never drinking with y'all ever again."

Everyone laughed away, even Alex but he did it in her ear as he dropped further into her fully sitting on her lap.

"Uncover your face for me darling." He ordered with such a raspy voice she wanted to squeeze her thighs together but she couldn't so she just did as he said. He smirked, pulling back a few inches to see her from that angle, all flustered and with her hair disheveled over the settee. What a stunning view.

"That's it." His eyes looked at her adoringly and she felt like she was melting onto the settee under his gaze, but Ella completely froze and burnt over at the same time when Alex whispered to her, "Good girl."

As if he hadn't just said that, he got up and walked over to get another cup of whiskey. She was left gathering her thoughts on the sofa, head all scrambled and her very human needs screaming at her to do something about the man.

She got up eventually, Breana winking at her as she walked past her and to the table which had the bottle of tequila. She needed a shot, or two. So she poured them and downed them instantly, needing herself to calm down.

After that moment, it felt like everything had gotten even more intense. Maybe it was the sexual tension suffocating them whilst they were in the same room and she wondered if their friends around them could feel it too.

Alex would come up behind her and hug her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder as he rubbed circles on the skin that showed in between her black dress pants and her shirt. Ella would relax in his arms, drowning in his scent as she indulged in the sweetness of his touch.

He would press kisses to her face before he went anywhere, brushing his fingers on her arm or her waist as he walked past. She would turn over her shoulder to see him and scrunch her nose at him before leaving a peck on his cheek that made a toothy grin break out on his face.

She was drinking it all in, knowing that the next day, when her coworkers from the crew came over to the venue for the gig and later on they moved to the place they'd film at, she would force herself to distance herself from Alex just to appear professional and not have everyone talking and asking questions.

That's why that night, she was in front of the barricade beside Breana recording every single bit of the gig that her phone allowed her. He had noticed, of course he had, since he spent most of the time on stage looking at her so he decided to tease her for a bit.

"You ready? You recording?" Alex asked into the mic with his eyes on her and everyone in the crowd looked to their left to see her.

Her eyes went wide like a deer caught in headlights so she just lowered her phone down with her signature pink cheeks.

He wanted to coo at her, "No, no. Record this one, it's your favorite." The singer added before he put the mic back on its stand and started playing 'Teddy Picker'.

She had recorded it all and when she went back to see the videos before falling asleep, she found every glance he took at her forever captured, every point of his finger as he sang, every little dance of his that she knew where the one's she had made fun of him for. She had it all.

And just as she had predicted, the next and last day of the little tour had arrived, making her wake up melancholic. She savored every hug, every feel of his lips against her skin, every graze of his fingers on her body, before her bosses and coworkers got to the venue.

When the Focus Creep crew arrived, a few hours before the show, Alex instantly noticed the change in her behavior and he knew why that was, so he would respect it. He kept to stolen glances and fleeting touches, no constant kisses on her cheek or her temple, no hugging her every chance he got but definitely some embraces here and there.

The limited affection had already sparked questions and talks from her coworkers so he understood her position, which he had heard in echoes and passing comments, and on top of that was Ben who attentively was watching them and then smirking at Alex like he knew exactly what was happening.

Ella had decided to be a part of the crowd that night, standing almost in the middle of the crowd, about five rows from the barricade but she had a perfect view of the stage so she wasn't complaining. Some of her friends from work stood beside her and Breana did too, they all had a drink in hand, sipping absentmindedly as they waited for the show to start.

When they had all finished their drinks is when the band had gone on stage, causing the sea of people to push forward and make her stumble. He had found her in between all the faces fairly quickly, winking at her before greeting the audience and starting the gig.

She knew by then that the sixth song was always one he would sing looking at her since she loved it, so before they were due to start it she puckered up and blew a cheeky kiss to him when his eyes had landed on her.

He smiled before puckering up himself and blowing her multiple kisses. Bre shook her by her shoulders and shrieked in her ear very not subtly, making her wince inside but her smile couldn't be brighter and she couldn't care less if her work friends had seen, because she was incredibly happy.

She was sure by the end of the night she'd grow the courage to properly kiss him. Finally.

So with that goal set in her mind, she kept going about her night with a smile and a skip in her step. She had a beaming smile on her face even as she picked her blue clipboard and saw the massive list of things she had to make sure were in order for the shoot.

The location in which they were filming had only been ten minutes away, and they had come to it almost ready. There was a car which looked the exact same as the one on the Black Treacle music video and about twenty feet in front of it, by the end of a dirt trail, was a circular spinning platform that was homing a drum kit made to look exactly like Matt's on stage.

Around the place were tents in which Matt and Alex were being touched up to be ready for filming, and two tents down the row from the lads were the models getting their makeup done and changed into costume. Caroline and Arielle were the lovely models and Ella had just introduced herself to them before she got called away by one of the camera men.

When Ella went back to the tents to check up on the models, she walked past Alex and Arielle chatting away a few feet away from the tents and beside the big lights that were up around the site, soft smiles on both their faces as they dove into conversation. She felt a small pinch in her chest, one that she decided to ignore the best she could because Alex was a nice person, he was kind and welcoming and she had no reason to feel and react that way at the fact that he was only talking to someone else who she had heard was his friend.

Her feet took her to check up on Caroline who was almost ready, and Matt who was getting his hair fixed. She instructed both of them to go back into the filming area as soon as they were done so the filming could be started.

After that she left to go stand beside Nick, talking to him about random stuff like how long it usually took the crew to set up shoots like that or how Nick had been doing with the wedding planning as she'd heard him on the phone in the morning with Kelly.

When the four people who were gonna appear in the video were ready, Ella told them to follow her up to the directors. Ben and Aaron told them they would rehearse a few goes before properly filming the whole thing, since it was a single-shot video and it would be filmed by Alex and Matt at the start.

First went Alex and Matt, to get instructed exactly what they should do when they got in the car and how they got out, the musicians brainstorming the things they could do whilst they filmed themselves in the car.

As they went over and over again, for about six or seven times, Ella had been standing next to Arielle. They had been talking about lots of things: Arielle's modeling career, Ella's photography hobby, how Arielle had been auditioning for a few commercials and small acting gigs, how Ella had moved to LA and a year later landed a job with Ben and Aaron. The girls had gotten on fairly well, following each other on Instagram and laughing about the things Alex and Matt were doing in front of the camera.

After that, Ella got called over as the two brits got let off after almost half an hour. Matt had gotten off the car and gave her a smile, Alex side hugged her quickly before walking off with the drummer. She had smiled back at him when he let go but he missed it as his eyes were set on the model standing a few feet behind the PA, his smile being directed towards Arielle rather than her.

She had had to act cool, as if that minimal detail wasn't begging to claim her every thought, nodding as her bosses told her to stay close and annotate as they gave instructions to the crew on set.

Someone drove the car back down the dirt trail, Ben guiding the two cameramen on the angles he wanted to be captured and the setting on the light. Ella had helped move some of the lights, her eyes focused on Aaron as he moved his hands from side to side and sometimes rotating them.

Her eyes had slipped in Alex's direction a fair few times and she had noticed just how much closer Arielle and him looked, as they didn't leave each other's side even if she got called over by the makeup department or he was called over by Ben to ask if he was alright with that angle and the timing.

By the time she was done with the lights, Ella had gotten sent to check if the platform was spinning correctly, she pressed the button and as she heard it turn she also heard Alex's voice a tad louder than the creaks of the spinning object.

"So have you got a map?" He asked Arielle, his shoulder brushing the model's.

Arielle frowned with a smile on her face, "Of LA?" The singer nodded quickly, "No I don't, why?" she had asked back just as quickly.

"Just wanted one 'cause I keep getting lost in your eyes." Hiss tone was cheeky, and Arielle let out a bubbly laugh. Her perfect smile on full display as she nudged Alex's shoulder with hers.

"That was a nice one." Arielle had replied back, still smiling hard at him.

Ella had spun the platform back around by the time she had heard the end of the interaction and she rolled her eyes before walking back to the directors. She couldn't be annoyed though, she had no right to be, he was probably just being funny like he always was.

Breathe in, breathe out, she told herself.

As the directors went over to Nick to tell him exactly how he'd be sitting in the back between the two models, Matt came to stand beside Ella. Her eyes were glued to the scene in front of her as Arielle was still very much stuck beside the singer and he was leaning into her more and more making her laugh.

"Seems like you make a great matchmaker." lightheartedly joked the drummer, looking at the same thing she was.

She frowned, confused as she turned to Matt, "What do you mean?" Matt pointed at Alex and Arielle with a tilt of his chin and she frowned even deeper before adding, "It wasn't my decision to choose her."

It was Matt's turn to frown then, "Whose was it then?"

"Well I was told by your team she was selected by you because you already knew her."

Matt sighed, "We've seen her a couple times in artists sections in festivals, yes, but the only one who was a slight bit more of an acquaintance with her is Alex."

Ella hummed, "That answers the question then, doesn't it?" She finished up, a tight lip smile that was way too forced and Matt started to feel bad. It got worse when Arielle broke out in a very loud laugh that had Alex covering her mouth with his hand, fully hugging her as they swayed from her weak attempts to break from his hold.

Ella's heart was sinking, but she had to remind herself she had no leg to stand on to go and complain about his behavior, to be openly jealous about it because nothing serious had happened between her and Alex. At least not serious enough for him, if he was going around acting this way with Arielle after being so close with her the week before.

Ben called everyone to their places, meaning Ella saw Arielle and Alex separate for the first time in thirty minutes. She had no idea what to think anymore, the way he was acting with the model reminded her how he was with her and she hated it.

She tried to push it in her mind that he and Arielle were friends already, so maybe there was a trust to act that way with each other. She tried, but it did nothing to the way her guts twisted at the image of those two together like that.

They did one take but something had seemed off from the cameras, the settings seemed too different from the car to the outside shot so the directors got to fixing it up the quickest they could after they yelled cut.

Out of the corner of her eye she had caught Alex and Arielle leaving for the furthest tent and getting behind it, her giggles could be heard as they walked away from everyone and she slowly felt like she was going to be sick.

It took about ten minutes to get it all sorted out, Ben's voice called everyone up again to start filming again and everyone listened. Aaron called the models in first, giving them a second rundown of their duties and how they should get in frame. As the director talked, Alex had walked over to Ella and hugged her from behind like he had gotten used to throughout the tour.

Ella hadn't want anything more than that, as she had been deprived of his touch for a fair while since they had gotten to the set, but when she tried to relax into his chest and rest her head on his shoulder, she had smelt the model's perfume and it had make her freeze in her spot. Alex had felt her tense up but brushed it off, his mind too aware that he had the attention of two stunning women and it had gotten his ego boosted up a little too high.

She didn't reciprocate the embrace like before: only one of her hands on top of his, her back inches apart from his chest, her head not weighing down on his shoulder, no kisses on his cheek, no cheeky glances or nose scrunches. But he didn't really wonder about it since he was too busy staring at the other American girl that was dressed in costume right in front of him. A few seconds later, he got called over and he easily let go of Ella, leaving her with a faint squeeze of her waist.

She had noticed how enthusiastic he got every time he was able to get back beside the model, always a smirk on his face as he kept brushing shoulders with her or whispering things in her ear before he got in the car for each take.

Alex was looking amazing for the shoot as well, meaning Ella could see Arielle so painfully obvious checking Alex out and him doing the same to the model when she turned around.

It was probably the twelfth official take they had done, almost running off of the flares the models walked with to the drum kit as they kept repeating the video over and over. The new song that she had already learned the lyrics to, now completely engraved in her mind since they had it playing on loop with almost no breaks in between each play.

The question now replayed in her mind, bringing back memories. Are you mine? His gaze stuck on hers while singing the chorus. Are you mine? Her wink after she sang 'are you mine tomorrow? Or just mine tonight' that night at the very last gig, making his smirk grow and a tinge of blush show on his face. Are you mine? His eyes no longer on her now, but stuck on Arielle even when he had her in his arms. Are you mine? Ella just wanted to turn the song off to stop it all coming to the forefront of her mind.

They were about to start the thirteenth take, after the directors went over the last bit of footage the last take had given them, when she walked past the quiet place Arielle and Alex were cooped up in. It was near a corner, behind a line of four big lights and away enough from everyone from the crew. Ella had been walking around the site, the edges of it taking her straight behind them, and that's why she had heard them.

"I've got another question..." Alex had started with that tone that meant he was gonna say one of his cheesy flirt lines and Ella just had to stay and listen to what he'd say, she thought her head was cooler by then and she might find it funny but she had no idea what she was about to get. "How does it feel like being the most gorgeous girl in the room?"

Ella's blood ran cold then, the familiar words coming back to her like a bucket of ice cold water and as Arielle giggled and leaned into him touching his arm, she felt herself feeling faint.

She didn't even think about her following actions, as she scoffed much louder than she anticipated but still quiet enough for it to only be heard by her and the other two. Her feet took her faster than she was thinking, accidentally barging into Alex's shoulder as she made a beeline towards her bosses.

He whipped his head around so fast, forgetting about the model beside him and catching a glimpse of Ella's pale complexion. But his worry was brief as he turned back around to the model, who was now fully leaning into him to continue flirting with him. A smile broke out on his face, seeing Arielle's reaction.

Ella felt like those fifteen feet of walk had actually been a whole mile, her heart hammering in her chest as if trying to keep her up until she could finally break down. As soon as she got beside Ben, she tapped his shoulder. The man saw her worried face, the lack of color on it and he got preoccupied.

"Are you alright Ella?" Ben asked softly, his inquiry making Aaron pause what he was doing to check on their PA.

She sighed, feeling everything coming up her throat and wanting to leave her body. "I'm not feeling well guys, I– I, uhm, I think it would be better if I just go home."

Aaron nodded, they didn't have much left anyways and Ella was so dedicated to her job, they knew that if she was asking to leave, it was because of something serious. "Of course, you have a way to get home?"

She thought about her car, being parked at the hotel an hour away from home but she'd take a taxi. She didn't care anymore, she just didn't want to be there. "Yes, someone is coming to get me, don't worry."

And just like that they let her go. She practically ran to the Monkeys' tour bus to retrieve everything she had there, and she thanked the fact that Bre had to leave right after the show for having encouraged her to have her suitcase ready well before the gig.

Ella called a cab company and told them to pick her up at a McDonald's that was a block away. As she walked, she felt like she wanted to cry and it infuriated her even more. Because why would she cry? They weren't anything at all, a date didn't mean shit apparently and much less would the touches they shared.

She cursed herself for getting attached when she knew she shouldn't have. It all came back to who they were, even if he hadn't done what he had that night, by the end of it she'd be getting dropped off at her house and he'd be leaving to travel around the world. It would've never worked out.

When she remembered how she had strived to properly kiss him goodbye that night, before they parted ways once again, she allowed herself to let the tears fall. And she cried on the way back home, when she saw their photo booth pictures sticking out of the inside pocket of her purse.

She wanted to throw it away but she couldn't, that's what she did when somebody hurt her: cling onto every last beautiful thing they gave her even if the memory stung like a wound being sprayed with salt. She was half tempted to burn it as she lit the cigarette she had just placed between her lips before finding the pictures but when she flipped it, she found something written down.

'only the sweetest of dreams for you, miss tennessee xxxx'

It came over her how every sweet memory of him would taste bitter now, and how it would up until the moment she'd finally decide she was over it. And that's when it all started tasting more bitter, and then it turned sour and her sadness turned into anger.

The audacity he had had, to just drop her like a toy he had gotten bored of, and maybe he had had other intentions but seeing how shy she was and how he wasn't getting anywhere, he decided to change her the first chance he got.

And there it was, that feeling of being so easily replaceable dawning over her head like the darkest cloud in the sky that swore to bring the heaviest precipitation of the year. The heartache she had felt when she got cheated over by the one person she swore was the one, and it was insane to her how she could feel a similar way about someone she knew for so little doing her wrong too. But she couldn't downplay it either, not when it opened a wound back up that had taken so long to close.

In her head she was asking herself repeatedly, 'am I that easy to replace?' until each word lost its meaning but the feeling was still the same, if not worse.

She cried a little more when she got home, feeling the familiar walls like an embrace that she longed for. The tears were falling as she showered, slowly and without permission, making her wipe them with more force than necessary, leaving her cheeks red raw. But it had been slightly relieving to cry under the shower for she confused her tears with the water falling over her and it made her feel less pathetic.

By the time she was out of the shower and she slowly finished getting ready to sleep, the filming had been wrapped up. The crew were quick to pick everything up and load it into the production company's coach.

Matt walked over to Alex, who was too busy staring at Arielle's ass as she walked away to get out of costume that he didn't notice his presence until he cleared his throat.

"Y'Alright?" asked Matt, still confused about his friend's antics throughout the day.

Alex nodded with a tight lip smile, "You?"

"Wonderful." The drummer answered, a slight hint of irony in his voice that the singer decided to ignore.

The both of them had stayed quiet, watching the organized chaos going around. And it wasn't until Alex saw Ben with Ella's blue clipboard as he waved goodbye to them that he realized she was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Ella?" The singer seemed worried, it dawning on him then how he hadn't seen her since she barged into him.

Matt shrugged, "Dunno. She left running earlier and the driver said she got her case from the bus."

Alex's heart dropped, thinking about all the endless possibilities of something happening to her, "I'm gonna text her and see if she's okay."

"Well, she probably isn't after she's played cupid against herself." Matt sassily replied.

Alex frowned, "What do you mean?"

Matt sighed, almost annoyed at his best mate's lack of common sense, "Mate, there was something there between you two after Valentine's day, and tonight you've just gone and switched her for Arielle."

"No I haven't. Me and Arielle, that's just banter." He explained back like it was obvious.

The drummer didn't want to get deeper into the situation, he had already said what he had seen and all that was left was for his friend to realize so, "Whatever you say Al." was all he mustered before leaving him, going straight back to their tour bus.

Ten minutes Alex was left thinking, taking the first few minutes to text Ella and the rest to thoroughly think about what Matt had just said. He knew she must've heard him talking to Arielle and maybe it wasn't the best of things to listen to after everything that had happened during the past week but it was just lighthearted banter to him, a joke to keep them entertained during the filming process.

It was all a misunderstanding and he would tell her if that's what she had gotten upset over. Surely it has to be something else though, he thought.

(16/02/2012 23:13) Ellie, are you alright? Don't know what happened but I hope you're okay darling x

(16/02/2012 23:14) Matt said you left running and he saw you getting your stuff out of the tour bus, please let me know you're alright xx

(16/02/2012 23:15) We didn't even get to say goodbye properly but I hope to see you soon yeah? xx

(16/02/2012 23:17) As soon as you see this, please let me know you're okay xx

(16/02/2012 23:19) Maybe you're home and asleep already, if that's it then text me in the morning? Sweet dreams darling, see you soon xxx

•••

Their drive to LAX had been going fine. They were relatively quiet in comparison to how they usually were but it was because they were tired: the days of tour, driving and walking around plus the late night filming had caught up to them. Alex was mixing his concern about Ella with his exhaustion making it even worse, the sways of the tour bus not helping with the headache he could feel brewing in the back of his skull.

Alex's thoughts were interrupted then by Matt laughing at his phone, the light of his device reflecting on his eyes.

(16/02/2012 23:32) Is everything good Ella? Saw you running to leave the set.

(16/02/2012 23:48) Everything is good Matt! Sorry for leaving like that and not saying bye, I was feeling kinda sick and I couldn't keep it together any longer. (Feel like a bitch for not saying goodbye knowing I'm not going to see you for god knows how long :()

(16/02/2012 23:48) Yeah probably not the best to have you projectile vomiting in the middle of our music video!! (You don't have to feel like one, you're one already xxxx)

(16/02/2012 23:49) You're the absolute worst...

(16/02/2012 23:49) HAHA love you Ellie!! Hope to see you very soon xx

(16/02/2012 23:49) Love you too dickhead. See you soon xx

•••

Before Alex could complain about the unnecessary noise coming from Matt, he informed them all, "Ella's fine, she was just feeling ill." which made Alex snap his eyes open to look at him.

Jamie snorted then, cheekily suggesting, "Ask her if she's sure she isn't pregnant."

Leaning over Matt's shoulders, Nick and Jamie started laughing as the drummer's fingers started typing what the guitarist had said.

Alex frowned, not only at his friends acting like kids but at the fact that Ella had replied to Matt and not him. There wasn't a day she didn't reply to him within minutes if she was awake. He thought for a second then that he might've gotten a reply but hadn't noticed it, so to make sure he unlocked his phone.

But he hadn't expected what he saw, and he thought back to what Matt had said and just how bad of a confusion the end of the night had been when he was met with the proof that she had just plainly ignored him.

(16/02/2012 23:13) Ellie, are you alright? Don't know what happened but I hope you're okay darling x

(16/02/2012 23:14) Matt said you left running and he saw you getting your stuff out of the tour bus, please let me know you're alright xx

(16/02/2012 23:15) We didn't even get to say goodbye properly but I hope to see you soon yeah? xx

(16/02/2012 23:17) As soon as you see this, please let me know you're okay xx

(16/02/2012 23:19) Maybe you're home and asleep already, if that's it then text me in the morning? Sweet dreams darling, see you soon xxx

read at 23:41

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Chapter Text

(27/07/2012 16:10) Holy shit Alex! The Olympics opening ceremony?! Congratulations!! You and the guys did amazing!!!

Alex was on a high, his hands had been shaking ever since they had been told they were due on stage at the Olympic Stadium in fifteen minutes, his heartbeat thud in his ears even after having come back to the box they had been assigned to watch the rest of the ceremony; so when his phone buzzed and he saw Ella's name on his screen, he thought it was all a figment of his imagination.

But ten minutes later, when he ended the call with Andy Nicholson who had called to congratulate them, Alex had seen her name still swimming between the mass of messages he had gotten. He paused for a few seconds, his finger hovering over her name while he asked himself if he was actually seeing correctly.

When he went on her chat, he was met with the multiple texts he had sent back in February and she ignored, a bitterness came up his throat as it was still lingering even after it being months since it had happened, but just below those forgotten texts was the one she had sent him over twenty minutes before.

It was the first text he'd gotten from her after a little more than five months of no contact, no calls, no texts, no 'just watched this movie and you are gonna love it!', no 'the guitars in this song are something out of this world', not even a text when the 'R U Mine?' music video had come out just a week after she had run off set.

He missed her and he had thought of texting her every day for the first month but he was a coward and had no idea what would've been the best way to approach her since he really had no proper clue of what had happened and, if he was being honest, the blatant avoidance from her part had hurt his ego and a part of him was waiting to see if she'd be the one to reach out.

So, as his attention was taken over by Arielle, he let the days go by and waited for a chance in which they could talk again and maybe take the opportunity to clear the air. But one month turned into two and there was no effort from her side.

Arielle was a constant in his life by then, but the presence of the girl hadn't completely diminished the thought of Ella, not when he still wanted answers because the lack of clarity behind her complete switch of behavior was eating him up inside.

He had given Matt's comments that night a thought but in his mind it really didn't make sense, because to him it all had been just innocent banter with Arielle and, having experienced Ella's honesty the more they opened up to each other during that week-long tour, he knew Ella would've told him if it was that which had upset her.

Yet Ella hadn't and that led Alex to come to the conclusion that it must've just been too much for her. He had been too eager when showing his interest in her and, whilst she had been accepting of it at first, it must've built up until she just couldn't take it and reciprocate it.

There also was how she had dialed down her behavior towards him when his coworkers were there and, in a desperate attempt to think of answers on his own, Alex thought that maybe someone had commented something that just completely threw her off and made her cut it all off suddenly.

And as the weeks passed, and he gave his hypothesis a thought, he also reckoned it must've been something to save herself any heartache. Because, after all, they both knew Alex was going to leave and maybe cutting him off completely and ignoring whatever it was she felt towards him would be the best option in order to not get hurt by time and distance. Not everyone could take it and he knew just how cruel that could be.

So he didn't blame her for making that selfish decision, but he couldn't help feeling a bit disheartened about the sudden change of it all with no hint of a heads up, with no explanation at all. And there it went again, the pang in his chest when he thought of just how many things they had spoken about and how it felt so weird that she wouldn't speak to him about it.

In those months of radio silence, Alex had heard about her from the rest of the band, who got texts from her or would call her from time to time but it was not the same. So he wasted no more time, typing a response as fast as his shaky fingers could and ignoring the calls of his girlfriend to get in a picture with the lads.

(27/07/2012 16:22) Ellie! Thank you! xxxx How have you been?

(27/07/2012 16:23) Wonderful, Alex :) Say hi to the guys for me!

(27/07/2012 16:23) Will do xx They're pushing me over to get pictures, talk to you later alright? x

(27/07/2012 16:24) Sure! Talk to you soon.

He pocketed his phone as he walked towards his friends, everyone cheering as he stepped beside Matt.

Flashes had blinded him all night, the combination from the lights and the alcohol had made his head dizzy so as soon as he got home, he showered and fell right asleep. He'd had a busy night, he felt on cloud nine with his best mates and his parents beside him, his girlfriend there as well to witness one of their biggest accomplishments.

He was still elated the morning after, meaning that, after he kissed Arielle goodbye as she went to meet up with some of her friends, he remembered how he had gotten the chance to talk with Ella after so long so he took his free time to ring her up.

Of course, he was so distracted that he forgot it would be much earlier for her than for him. Her phone rang on her night table, waking her up. She only managed to grab it with her left arm, extended as far as she could and when she saw it was five in the morning, she slowly woke up from the fear that something might have happened.

Her eyes hadn't opened to see who it was before she picked up, "Hello?" her voice was groggy from sleep, and she cleared her throat right after the greeting left her lips.

"Bloody hell," Alex cursed quickly, wincing at his mistake. "I forgot it's still very early for you Ellie. Sorry." He whispered like that would help in any way.

Ella chuckled, amused at how mortified he sounded, "S'Alright. How are you? How crazy was yesterday?" A yawn escaped her lips at the end, so suddenly she didn't have time to conceal the sound of it.

A smile broke out on his face, he was eager to tell her all about it and stay on the phone with her for hours on end if she let him but just as he was going to start narrating how the night had gone, a deep groan from the other side of the call made the words get stuck in his throat.

Right after the groan came the shuffling of sheets and a question from someone he didn't know who it was that had him frozen in his place, "Who is it, babe?" Said the man who was with her, the pet name had felt like a slap across the face for Alex.

She had snorted, the way Alex had gotten used to hearing daily months before, and she replied playfully, "Just a friend who forgot about time zones, baby. Go back to sleep." Right after that, there was a faint sigh and a second or two of the sheets ruffling around before she talked back to the singer this time, "Are you still there?"

Alex could only clear his throat as he gathered his thoughts, "Yeah, erm, yes." He pinched himself to snap out of it, and to start his recount of the previous night's events, forcing himself to sound chipper. "It was mental! The stadium was packed and, bloody hell Ella, I swear I had come to terms with it and was not nervous about it when we were rehearsing but you should've seen me fifteen minutes before it was our time to perform, I was fucking shaking."

She cooed, "Oh Alex," She pouted to herself as she scratched her boyfriend's hair, smiling when the man resting on her chest hummed in satisfaction. "But you did amazing, I promise! We were just watching the ceremony, and when you guys were announced I was fully shocked. Bre told me she was in London but she never told me you were performing on the fucking Olympics!" She whisper-shouted the last part, making Alex chuckle.

"Yeah, sorry about that. We sort of couldn't tell anyone we were actually performing, Bre was surprised when Matt told her an hour before we got to the stadium."

She hummed, "Well I can forgive her then. You did The Beatles great justice as well, that cover was amazing and the whole show with the cyclists was just stunning."

"It was," Alex agreed, "Was shitting it because imagine if we butchered a Beatles song in the UK, in front of the Queen and the millions of people watching everywhere."

Ella laughed too loud, making her boyfriend flinch, "Sorry" she whispered to him and then continued, "Well, thankfully that didn't happen. You'd be exiled from your country." She continued giggling softly, "That would be just as bad as actual treason."

They both laughed for a little bit until the giggles died down to sighs. She wouldn't deny that she had missed talking to him, and she didn't like admitting it to herself but she was just very glad his voice wasn't making her feel like at the start of the year. It gave her the hope that maybe this time they could just be friends, now that she had finally let go of whatever she felt for him.

"We're going to LA next month," Alex broke the silence, his voice had a hint of doubt as if he was scared of what she would answer. "We're staying until mid-september 'cause we're gonna record the next album over there."

"Oh really?" Came from her, with just the right amount of excitement, "You're gonna start recording already?"

"We are. I have some stuff written down already and some chord progressions, I wanna see how we can complement it with the lads." He held his breath, not really knowing how it was that she'd continue to react.

Ella cooed and let out a small "Yay!" Even if at first it had been hard hearing their music after everything that had happened back in February, she hadn't been able to avoid it for that long. So she was actually excited to hear whatever they would come up with, knowing how good 'R U Mine?' already was.

"Well, Turner, you're gonna have to let me know when y'all get here so we can all catch up, I know just the place to take y'all." She warned, her voice teasing him as if he'd get in trouble if he didn't let her know like she was asking.

"Fair enough, I will let you know," the singer promised. "I'll let you go back to sleep now, sorry I woke you up so early, Ellie."

She just let out a faint giggle, just a polite one so he wouldn't feel bad about it, "It's all good, Alex, don't you worry."

"I'll talk to you later then, darling." Alex's breath caught in his throat instantly, upon realizing he had just called her by the pet name he hadn't used in so long.

But Ella didn't flinch, it was like it had flown right past her head, "Bye Alex, talk to you later." and with that she ended the call.

Ella blew air out in relief when her insides didn't flip at him calling her darling so, she dropped her phone back on the night table and turned to cuddle closer to her boyfriend, fully at peace knowing the singer's effect on her seemed to be long gone.

Alex, on the other hand, felt something bubbling inside of him because it all kept playing on his mind. He kept hearing the man calling her 'babe' and her calling him 'baby' and just the faint notion of her having a boyfriend made him feel uneasy.

The mystery man got a face when Arielle came back to his flat. Alex had mentioned to her how he had gotten to chat with Ella on the phone, throwing in his new discovery subtly to see if his girlfriend had any information about it.

He was taken aback when Arielle dropped her bag on the settee and turned around with a knowing smile. "Oh yeah, they are so cute! I thought you had her on Instagram?" she had a slight frown while pulling up Ella's page to show Alex.

He shook his head, "No, erm, I only got it a few months ago remember? You helped me open it."

She let out an elongated "Ohhhh," as she clicked on Ella's page, "Well you should've asked me for her page silly, I thought you already had her there since she's your and the guys' friend."

He pulled out his phone and handed it to her, Arielle gave him her phone so he could see Ella and her boyfriend together. But his eyes were met with a very different Ella, one he almost didn't recognize, and he felt goosebumps break on his skin at the same time his body lit up on fire.

On the bottom of her page he could see her typical analog shots, of bits and pieces of cities and artsy photoshoots with models taken by her, but as he slowly scrolled up her page there were tons of picture of her in motorcycles, wearing leather and, in a particular one, not much more than a bikini and her cowboy boots.

That picture was the first one that caught his eye but he wasn't going to start ogling Ella's Instagram and get all flustered about it in front of his girlfriend so he scrolled further up until he stumbled upon a picture of her and her boyfriend.

He knew what he felt was jealousy because how could he not? When she stood there with her back to the camera but her face turned to the side, and the man's hand was in the back pocket of her jeans as he kissed her cheek, which had ended with her scrunching up her nose in response. He missed that face much more than he'd ever let on.

Alex could feel Arielle's eyes on him so he forced himself to smile fondly, "Yeah, they're cute."

Arielle grabbed her phone back from him as she slid his phone towards him, "I know right? Have you told Ella we're coming next month?"

He nodded, locking his phone right after hitting 'follow' and then he walked towards the balcony that was in his room—he needed a cigarette. "I did," he nodded as he grabbed his Marlboro reds from the coffee table in his living room, "She said to let her know when we're there, she wants to take us to this cool pub she found."

A bright grin appeared on Arielle's face, "Oh I'm so excited to see her again, she's so lovely isn't she? You know she got me that big Coke campaign? The one that got me invited to that event that got me an agent?"

He paused in the middle of the hallway, "Oh really? Well, that's very nice of her."

"I have to buy her a few drinks as a thank you for it." Arielle finished while she turned on the TV, Alex took it as a sign to leave her to it.

Once he got to his room and out to the balcony, he wasted no time to unlock his phone and scroll through Ella's pictures.

Her hair was darker now, she'd dyed it fully black and she looked amazing with it. Her ears looked like they were now adorned with multiple piercings but it wasn't just her ears that had jewelry, she had a septum piercing now. The thin gold piece of jewelry subtly poking from the bottom of her nose. She looked so different but still as stunning as ever.

In about five minutes of scrolling he had also found out that she'd gotten a bike, and both she and her boyfriend seemed to drive around California in their free time. There were pictures of her driving in the back of her boyfriend's bike surrounded by a large group of bikers and she'd captioned it 'nothing better than driving down the coast with your biker friends and the sunset in the background.'

There were pictures of her and her boyfriend in Tennessee, one in particular that made him take the longest drag out of his cigarette. Her boyfriend was sitting on the grass by a wooden fence, his legs spread as she sat in between them. Her brown cowboy boots on and a little white dress, her boyfriend had a cowboy hat that was hiding them kissing in the picture. The caption read, 'he's a cowboy like me.'

Another picture that made his blood boil was one that had captured her ass being groped by one of her boyfriend's hands. She was wearing some really small high waisted shorts that hugged her bottom perfectly and he wanted nothing more than to be in the place of that man. He let out a long sigh when he read 'he says i'm a handful'.

But then he scrolled further up and he lost his breath again at the picture of her in a bikini he hadn't really gotten to properly see before. She was wearing a silver bikini and her black cowboy boots as she sat on her bike, one of her legs was up as she rested her heel on the seat. She had her hands set a little behind her ass so she was leaning backwards with her head slightly thrown back, her face was half covered by a cowboy hat but it couldn't fully hide her closed eyes and her open mouth. It looked like she was moaning and Alex was losing it.

Fuck.

He went to the bathroom then, his pants too tight after he'd seen the picture and he didn't know what to do. It was either a cold shower or a guilty wank.

He was quick to jump in the shower, the water cold as it hit his chest and his face, but as he closed his eyes he found the picture engraved in his mind, meaning he wasn't finding a solution in the cold shower.

He came rather fast, a few minutes it took him as he imagined the noises she would make. Replaying her voice saying 'baby' and imagining how she'd sound moaning that in his ear. But afterwards, as his consciousness came back to him, he started to feel bad. His girlfriend was right outside, while he fucked his fist to the thought of someone else.

This is the first and last time, he promised himself.

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Ella had gotten a call from Matt's phone about a week before the band was due back in California, they had started it by yelling out her name and she'd chuckled at their volume. The lads had told her that they were landing in Los Angeles on Saturday the 18th, meaning she had to wait a week to see them all again.

She had missed them quite a lot so it hadn't been a hardship to know she had little time to prepare herself for their arrival. She was mostly excited, getting to see them all again, as well as Breana who she hadn't seen in a month—and she was missing her best friend a lot—, and to see Arielle again too.

As soon as they had landed, Bre had given her a call and they had settled on meeting at the pub Ella had been talking about at around seven in the evening.

So there she was, shoving her boyfriend's bike keys in her purse before locking her fingers with his and walking through the establishment's doors. She was surprised to see them there already, as she was only five minutes late to their agreed time, but the excitement multiplied then.

It was a fairly loud place, but the ambience was spectacular. They always played the best music and the walls were filled with band posters, tour memorabilia and little trinkets that were framed on the walls to commemorate different big artists in history. She loved coming to the place, especially on karaoke nights, which unfortunately wasn't happening that day.

"Well, well, well, fancy seeing y'all here." Ella greeted as she approached the large booth and they all jumped to their feet, her name being cheered by them all.

The difference from her right then to the start of the year struck Alex harder in person. The gold on her ears and poking out the bottom of her nose contrasted beautifully against her tan skin, and her leather jacket was a fine new addition to her look. He was glad to see she was wearing a pair of cowboy boots, one he hadn't seen before but it made him smile seeing she hadn't left that behind.

She let go of her boyfriend's hand to go hug everyone. She went from Nick to Jamie, Alex, Arielle, Matt and finished with Breana who she clutched a tad tighter as she claimed, "I missed you so much!"

Breana replied, "Missed you more," before she went to Ella's boyfriend and gave him a friendly hug, "How have you been, Jules?" the nickname for him falling easily from her lips as she'd met him a handful of times before.

The man had smiled, hugging her back, "Amazing, Bre. How was your trip?"

"It was fucking lovely, you two have to come with me next." the model winked at Ella, making her roll her eyes as she blushed.

She hummed, "Maybe... We'll see." and before she could sit down beside Breana, she introduced her boyfriend to everyone. "Guys, this is Julian, my boyfriend. Julian, this is Nick, Jamie, Alex, Arielle, and Matt."

Of course his name is Julian, Alex though. Not being able to shit on his name because he shared it with one of his favorite musicians.

Julian had gone to shake everyone's hands as Ella sat down beside her best friend. Her cheeks hurt already at everyone being so nice to her boyfriend. Alex took a good look at him when he shook his hand: he was tall—about six feet he could say—, his shoulders were broad, and even if he didn't look extremely bulky, he seemed like he made it a habit to work out, his skin was tan and it complimented his wavy dirty blonde hair but it was Julian's green eyes, though, what made him want to roll his eyes. The man was good looking, and it made Alex want to punch him even more.

"Saw you guys playing at the Olympics opening ceremony, that's massive! Congratulations." He smiled at the musicians as he took a seat beside Ella, his arm snaking around her waist and she scooted the tiniest bit closer to him with a loopy smile on her face.

And he's nice too? Fucks sake. "Thanks man," said Alex with a tight lip smile, tilting his half empty glass towards him before gulping it down.

Matt wasted no time before he started teasing Ella, "So Ellie, been pretty busy then?"

She rolled her eyes playfully, "I actually have been. Focus Creeps have been doing lots of productions for artists and bands since your videos were posted and now we have another PA. I'm kind of mentoring her, which is still surreal to me that I am but yes."

Matt pouted in fake pity then, "Poor girl, she must be tired of you."

Ella scoffed and everyone laughed, including Julian. She turned to pinch her boyfriend's waist, "Why are you laughing?!" She scolded him and then turned back to call out the menace Matt was, "You are a bully, Helders." She shook her head with a frown on her face, which dissipated when Julian left a kiss on her cheek. Her face melted into one of pure bliss with a big tight lip smile.

Alex wanted to gag.

"You love me Ellie." The drummer stated with a shrug.

Ella ignored him and turned to Breana, "I really wonder how you can stand him."

"You and every one of us, Ellie." added Nick with a snort, making everyone laugh.

Ella asked them all what drinks they wanted, seeing as most of their glasses were almost empty on the table, the ice watering down whatever alcohol they were drinking. Julian and Breana had gone with her to get everyone's drinks and when they came back, it wasn't long before they fell back into conversation.

They had been including Julian, which made Ella very happy, and an hour later they had found out lots about him. He was Californian born and raised, a photographer that worked for a well acclaimed magazine, sometimes writing pieces for them as well. He also worked as a freelance photographer and videographer, he had been hired for a bunch of different jobs: from weddings that had made him travel to many places, to filming documentaries on crab fishing in Alaska.

Everyone was so entranced by that last story, that it made Ella all hot and bothered. Every time he would tell it, she always grew hypnotized by him and the way he would explain it all, especially by the way he would use his hands. So when he was done and the conversation had moved onto another topic, she leaned into his ear to have him subtly follow her to the bathroom.

Julian smirked, knowing exactly what she meant and what she wanted to happen. The girl stood up, excusing herself and made her way to the bathroom, and Julian stood up a few minutes after her.

They had been rather quickly, or at least that's what she thought as she walked back to the table with Julian following a few steps behind her. She had gone ahead and sat back on the booth whilst her boyfriend had gone to get her another drink, and that's when she was met with the fact that they hadn't been subtle at all.

The first and most obvious clue was that her red lipstick was gone and her lips were puffy. Matt had elbowed Breana softly, pointing his chin towards Ella and smirked.

"Had fun Ella?" Matt asked vaguely with a very suggestive tone.

She frowned and felt her cheeks heating up but tried to play dumb as she downed whatever was left of the vodka and sprite she'd left on the table. "Huh?"

Jamie had caught up exactly onto what Matt was saying so wanting her to just fully admit it, he pushed, "Oh c'mon Ella, your lipstick is gone."

She knew her cheeks were pink but she couldn't care that she'd been caught so she shrugged it off, "The heart wants what it wants."

"And it wanted to give a blowjob?" inquired Arielle this time with a knowing smirk on her face.

Ella nodded at her with a smug expression, "It did." She admitted, no longer giving a shit.

They all hollered and that made Ella laugh. Julian came back to the table right then, a smirk on his face as he sat down and put her drink in front of her. He didn't know what the ruckus was about but he didn't really care when he was on cloud nine and very satisfied in every meaning of the word.

"Thanks babe." Ella said to him and took a sip of her beverage, thankful that she had asked for a double vodka and sprite this time. "Oh they know, by the way." She let him know with a sheepish smile.

Julian laughed then, throwing his arm around her shoulder, "Told you to put your lipstick back on, didn't I honey?" They all laughed as Ella shook her head but found comfort in her boyfriend's hold and her drink.

Breana couldn't help but ask, "So did he return the favor?"

She took another sip of her drink, basking in the coolness of the liquid running down her throat. "We'll resume things when we get home." She winked at Breana who responded with a shriek and Julian squeezed her thigh under the table.

What the fuck? Who is this and where is Ella? Alex kept thinking. She didn't seem like her usual self, it was all so out of character that he wondered what had happened for her to be so blunt and open like this.

Jamie interrupted Alex's thoughts when he said, "Right let's change topics then, before they start shagging on top of the table."

They erupted in laughter, Alex faking it to not be obvious about his distaste on what was unfolding before him. And then a song came on that actually worked perfectly to change the subject. "Oh I love this place, their music is always on point." Julian commented.

'New York City Cops' by The Strokes was coming through the speakers, Julian Casablancas' voice mixing with the chatter around the place and the clinking of glasses.

Jamie smiled then, glad to see they were finding more things in common with the lad, "You like The Strokes?"

He nodded, "No band like The Strokes... no offense guys."

He has a good taste in music too? Alex had to try his hardest not to roll his eyes.

"None taken. There truly isn't any like them." Nick waved him off.

Ella tapped the table frantically with the pads of her fingers when she remembered something they had told her. "Oh my god! Tell him how you met them!"

"Wait, you have met them?!" Julian inquired with his eyes wide open.

Alex nodded, "Yeah man, they're amazing. We met them after the NME awards in 2006, they took pictures with us after we won Best British Band and Best New Band. I still can't believe we've met them, they were the reason we started this band—or well, the reason I wanted to start a band."

"That's fucking amazing! I'm jealous now, damn." He added with a chuckle, making everyone smile back at him.

Yeah well, not as jealous as I'm of you and whatever happened in the bathroom with your girlfriend, mate.

About thirty more minutes went by before Julian turned to whisper something in Ella's ear. She smiled fondly, gave him a kiss and whispered something back to him before giving him his keys. He stood up, saying he sadly had to go but he'd had the best time meeting them all, and telling Ella to phone him when she wanted him to pick her up right before he left the table.

Ella was all heart eyes as her eyes followed his steps towards the entrance, and when Julian turned back around to blow her a kiss and wave her goodbye, she mirrored his actions.

Breana cooed at them, "Aren't you two cute?'' She hugged Ella to her side and squished her cheeks with her free hand.

"Stop it." The PA whined with her eyes almost closed, her words barely audible as her cheeks were still being pressed by Bre's hand.

Nick settled his drink down before starting a conversation up, "Now that he's gone we can properly gossip."

That made Ella chuckle, "What do you want to know?" She rubbed her face as she was now free from her best friend's hold but still felt her fingers on her skin.

Arielle was quick to ask the first and most important question, "First of all, how did you two meet?" which everyone was really dying to ask.

Ella sighed, "Well that's half cute, half embarrassing." She finished her drink before narrating. "So it happened at this country pub I had driven past one day, I decided to just go alone one night to check it out. I was drinking some whiskey the bartender had told me was really good and wasting my time watching some college football they had on, when he sat down beside me and started talking to me. He's lucky he's cute or else I would've told him to fuck off because I just wanted to be alone." She chuckled as she reminisced.

"I was sad that day, I don't remember why though." She was lying, she remembered exactly why, as it had only been a week after whatever happened with Alex. "We must've been talking for about half an hour when they put on some music and people started swing dancing. He stood up and grabbed my hand saying we should dance too. I told him I had no idea how to and he said to just follow his lead."

She shook her head and her smile got brighter as she continued, "Fast forward five minutes later he had me in his arms, and told me to kick one of my legs up. Of course I did it wrong but he was so cute correcting me. Next thing I know he had thrown me up slightly and somehow my leg was around his neck and that's how he got me to completely turn to the other side, still in his arms."

Ella tilted her head for a second to point at Breana as she said, "The next half of the story involves her, and I'm still mortified about it."

Breana snorted at the memory, and the PA kept going, "So later that night, I was texting him and Bre at the same time. I had just gotten around telling Bre the bit with the leg when I accidentally sent him what I was going to send her..." Ella blushed hard and she paused, too embarrassed at the memory to even say it out loud.

At the cliffhanger, Jamie pushed her to continue, "Go on then, what did you say?"

"I don't even wanna say it out loud." Ella hid behind her hands, but Breana was quick to respond for her.

"She said 'One of my legs has been on his shoulders already, wouldn't mind having both legs up on them.' You're welcome Ella, now continue."

Ella gasped, letting her hands fall from her face, "I actually hate you."

Arielle had her hand covering her mouth, every single one of the lads were shocked as well. Matt was the first one to talk though, "Bloody hell, Ella! What did he say?!"

Her cheeks were red as she looked up to everyone, "He just said 'Well I wouldn't mind that either' and the rest is history. We went on a lot of dates, called each other every day if we were not hanging out together until one day we decided we already were acting like a couple so we might as well make it official."

Nick was the next one to go, "How long have you been together then?"

"It's been a little over four months." She replied quickly, knowing exactly the day off the top of her head.

Alex let his thoughts leave him before he could process them, "Not long after we left then?"

Ella avoided his gaze, playing with the straw in her empty glass, "Nope, not long after."

Alex nodded, taking the information in. It all seemed so unlike her, especially after what she'd told him about her relationships; she wasn't one for starting something with someone she'd just met and that's exactly what she was doing here.

Everyone at the table had felt the air shift around them at that last question and answer, but thankfully for everyone, Alex's girlfriend was none the wiser to the whole situation and she was a romantic so she felt like she had to know something else, "Have you said the L word yet?"

That loopy smile was brought back to Ella's face at the question, "Yes," she said shyly.

Breana gasped then and hit her arm, "What the fuck?! You haven't told me this!"

Ella turned to her, grabbing her best friend's hands, "I know, I know. It only happened a week ago so I was waiting for you to come back to tell you."

"Do tell then." Breana insisted, not really having the patience to wait until they left and she could call her so that Ella could finally tell her in private.

"Fucks sake." She cursed under her breath, seeing all eyes on her. "We were at his parents house and I had just met his sister, who has the cutest little baby. They had gone to buy dessert and left me and Julian with the baby. I was holding her and she kept blabbering on and on, and I kept acting as if I was talking with her when he just leaned into me and kissed my cheek and told me 'I love you so much'."

Breana shrieked, "Oh my god!!! Are you joking?!"

"I'm not," Ella's cheeks hurt from how big her smile was and Arielle was cooing at the story too, "I thank everything out there that we were sitting or else I swear I would've dropped the baby out of shock."

"Did you say it back?" asked Alex, sipping on his whiskey.

And curiosity killed the cat.

Ella nodded enthusiastically, "'Course I did, I adore that man." It was so easy for her to admit, and she would scream it out loud as many times as she could if she had the opportunity to.

Alex nodded in response, he was having an internal debate: he was happy that she was happy but he didn't like that it was someone else that got to be like that with her. And for that he felt so selfish.

Breana and Arielle let out long 'awh's in unison, Nick scrunching his nose at Ella before saying, "Look at you in love, it's disgusting." a fake tone of endearment on his voice.

"Right?" added Jamie in the same tone.

"You are about to get married," she pointed at the bassist first and then to the guitarist, "And you just got engaged, so don't talk shit when you're the same."

"Well I didn't just suck my boyfriend off in the bathroom, so I can definitely talk shit." Jamie was quick to reply back, making her roll her eyes.

"Can't you just let a girl have some fun? Jeez." She exclaimed before she got back up, "Anyone want a refill?" They took a fair few seconds to reply to her, she was much more straight forward now and it was leaving them stunned.

She went off with Breana again, this time Matt following right behind. But right when they got to the bar and she was waiting for the bartender to finish serving the three ladies beside her, Matt told her some news that almost made her heart stop.

"Have Ben and Aaron told you we're having you record a little documentary for us?"

She turned to the drummer faster than she realized she could, "What?" Her frown was deep, her eyes searching his to find any clue that he was just joking.

But Matt wasn't joking, "Yeah, you're gonna be at the studio with us for a few weeks during this month we're staying. I think we're coming back after the holidays to continue recording so you're joining us then as well." He explained the best he could with the little confirmed information he had.

Her mouth opened to talk but the words got stuck in her throat, "I–, erm. They hadn't told me anything, but um, yeah I'm gonna ask them on Monday."

"Brilliant!" The drummer replied before letting the bartender know what drinks they wanted.

Once they got back to the table and they had given everyone their respective drinks, their conversations resumed. They had pinballed from the Olympics to Nick's upcoming wedding planned for exactly a year from then, to some celebrity gossip they had heard around at the Olympics to the pictures taken that day and that's how Ella had ended up saying:

"You two are actually adorable," her gaze stuck on Alex and Arielle, the couple just smiled at her. "I've seen so many pictures of you everywhere, I'm so happy for you guys."

Arielle brought her hand to her chest and cooed, "Awh thank you, Ella."

Ella took a sip of her drink, really needing the liquid courage to ask her first question, "How long have you been together then?" Her tone made it seem lighthearted and like she was just making small talk but this was it for her, the last thing she wanted to know before fully putting the matter to rest.

Arielle turned to Alex, looking directly into his eyes for a few seconds like the answer was right there and then turned back to Ella, "So it started that night when we filmed 'R U Mine?' remember?" She asked Ella, and the PA could only fake a tender knowing smile as if that night hadn't been awful for her for that same thing.

"He left right after, but I was going to the UK with a friend a couple of weeks later so we met up over there and," She blushed slightly and grabbed the singer's hand on top of the table, rested her head on his shoulder and shrugged, "It all just happened, I suppose. So it's been about three months hasn't it?"

He hummed, squeezing her hand. "I reckon three, yes."

"Awh, adorable." Ella replied with a sweet smile, she felt relieved by the sense of closure. Yes it did sting a bit how fast he had changed her, not even 48 hours after they had gone on a date back then and how he had decided to make the girl he'd switched her for his girlfriend; but the hurt lasted for a few seconds, she felt free then. The whole situation had somehow brought her Julian, and she was very much grateful for that.

"You didn't tell me how that talent recruitment event went, Arielle. Was it good?"

Arielle gasped then, "Ellie, you're a godsend for that! After the Coke campaign I got the invitation for it and I'm signed now!"

Ella clapped her hands, "That's fucking amazing! Congratulations!"

And that's how they spent the next three hours, talking about everything that they'd missed in the past months they hadn't seen each other. Until Julian had called Ella to check up on her and tell her he was already done at his parents' house, and he could come by picking her up in the next twenty minutes.

She accepted her boyfriend's proposal, it was nearing midnight and she was spent. She promised to see them all soon again when she got a text from Julian saying he was outside, grabbing her purse from beside her and pocketing her phone before hugging everyone goodbye.

From the table they had the perfect view of the street, meaning they got to see how Ella basically threw herself onto Julian's arms, him catching her and clutching her tight as they swayed for a few seconds. He pulled back to shower her face in kisses, and ended it all with a chaste kiss on her lips. When Ella pulled back she grabbed the helmet from his hand and put it on to leave on his bike.

"Ugh, I love them." Bre was the first one to talk, making everyone nod in agreement as they watched them drive away.

"They're like one of those hot biker couples you see in movies." Arielle added and Breana hummed.

Nick nodded, "They are."

Alex rolled his eyes automatically because they actually were, and he hated it. But then his girlfriend's voice brought him back to where they were and after that, all he could recall was drinking the night away.

What he hadn't seen was that Bre caught his annoyed face and that only made the model want to fight the singer in the very spot. She was aware of what had happened, after she had managed to scoop it out of Ella many weeks after that eventful week in February, and she couldn't blame her for keeping her distance from the man. He had been an absolute asshole, so for him to be acting all bratty over Ella being happy and in love with someone else, like he didn't have his very own girlfriend sitting beside him, had Breana fuming.

The audacity this dickhead has, she thought.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

It had been true, what Matt said. Ben told her she'd be spending the following fortnight at the studio recording the band like she'd done twice before. Only this time, she'd have to permanently try to get footage of their time in the studio—whether it was them fucking about or actually making music.

She'd let out a big sigh when Ben left her sitting at her desk, emails to respond looking at her face as she made peace with what was coming. It's just gonna be like hanging out with them and having fun, she told herself to ease her nerves. There was something about being alone with them again—with Alex—that was making her feel uneasy, slightly scared of how awkward it may be or how uncomfortable it could feel.

Just breathe.

That's what she told herself as her boots scrunched on the dirt, her steps firmly taking her up to the front door and she knocked. A lovely man with a long gray beard, called David, let her in, showing her the way and she thanked him with a smile.

She was rather surprised by the look of it all, the studio seemed so laid back and much like a little southern cabin in the middle of the desert. It was a stark contrast to the studios she had visited before but the place being so casual made her feel more comfortable.

In her left hand, she was carrying a cup holder in which she had five cups of coffee. She was hoping the gesture would serve as a good sign that all was good by her and she planned to keep it that way. She would try her hardest not to make it awkward.

She took a deep breath before she opened the door and was greeted by the band and their confused expressions which only lasted a few seconds. When they realized it was Ella they erupted in cheer as if they hadn't seen her just last week.

She giggled, "Good morning guys, you're very energetic today." She let her bag drop from her shoulder onto a settee that was set next to the door. "Maybe I shouldn't have brought you coffee."

Nick sighed and went over to hug her, "No, you're actually a lifesaver. Planning a wedding through the phone is a nightmare."

Ella cooed but a chuckle cut it short, "Awh Nick," and after they hugged, she lifted the cup holder to read which one was Nick's. "Here you go." She handed the bassist his coffee and then turned to the rest of the band.

"I got them as I remembered you liked them. Hope your orders haven't changed much since February."

Maybe mentioning February hadn't been the best idea because the room fell silent for a few seconds, but they had felt like an eternity.

Fuck.

Thankfully, Matt decided to be the menace he always was and made the tension lift up from her shoulders by chatting back, "Not the best PA, are you?"

She rolled her eyes, "I haven't been here for five minutes yet and I already wanna strangle you."

He winced, "Sorry Ellie, not really into getting choked myself but nice try."

Her sigh was loud and it made them laugh. She just decided to hand Jamie and Alex their coffees, to which they thanked her for, before grabbing hers and taking a gulp of her now warm beverage.

"Well," she started, setting her cup down on a coffee table in the middle of the room, "Get on with what you were doing, act like I'm not here."

Matt was quick to tease her, "Brilliant, just what I wanted to do."

She scoffed, not impressed by his antics. She was regretting asking superior powers for a brother when she was a kid because Matt was definitely like an older brother to her now and he was more annoying than she'd expected one to actually be.

"I will actually fight you Matthew, so shut up."

Matt cackled, "Would love to see you try." And before she could bite back, he started playing a beat on the drums that drowned everyone else's voice.

She kept to doing her own thing, turning the camera on and recording them. It was interesting seeing it unfold before her eyes. The way Matt kept coming up with different drum patterns to which Nick jumped in with his bass.

There was a moment in which Nick came up with the start of quite a catchy bass line and Jamie was quick to tell him to keep going whilst he grabbed a guitar to add to it. Soon enough it felt like the instruments were playing with the other as if chasing each other's chords and melting into one lovely melody that had them all nodding like that was it.

Matt started forming a beat around them and Alex stood up to grab his guitar and tried with different chord combinations to jump into it. Alex kept writing down the bass tabs and the guitar chords they were using in a journal he had, which seemed to have songs he'd written as well because he was quick to flip through the pages and sing a few lines to see how they would fit in the song.

Ella could see him scribbling around the pages as he kept singing whatever came to mind and building up the song.

When the zeros line up on the 24-hour clock

When you know who's calling even though the number is blocked

When you walked around your house wearing my sky blue Lacoste

And your knee socks

They stopped for a few minutes, Alex still sitting in his chair bopping his head to what they had just created, still playing in his head. She kept the camera on him and his concentrated face, the way he would quickly write around the pages on his journal had her intrigued.

This was a moment that she knew she'd feel glad she caught on tape in a few years, just because she had a feeling that whatever they were starting in the studio was going to be bigger than they'd ever anticipate.

The band had grown somewhat infatuated by the origins of the song, stuck on different ways they could take the main melody. They had settled already that it sounded like a perfect chorus so they'd build the song around that.

When James Ford got to the studio, it was like he had stepped into a vortex since he got sucked into the process so quickly that he had barely been able to properly say hello to Ella.

After an hour and a half of non-stop brainstorming that Ella had been hearing as background noise while she read through some emails and scheduled calls with clients, they decided to take a break. Everyone left, or that's what she thought as she typed away, until she was startled by a sneeze.

"Jesus, fuck!" She lowered her macbook screen, her eyes wide from the scare. "Oh– Bless you, Alex."

He smiled at her, a shy one that seemed a little tense. "Thanks Ella."

Alex watched her as she nodded with a shy smile on her face as well, lifting her screen back up to continue working. He wasn't doing much more than sorting through his journal and making mental notes of which of the songs he'd written he wanted to try and bring alive in this record, but he was distracted now.

He was very aware of her presence and she was too. She could feel his gaze burning on her but she was too nervous to even look up, she knew she didn't know what to say or how to act so she'd rather avoid it.

But the tension grew thicker and he hated it, the only solution he could find for it was to try to make small talk.

"So... How was your week, Ellie?" The singer asked slowly, as if treading an unknown path.

Her fingers froze hovering over the keyboard, "It was good, erm, a little busy but good."

He felt the way she was starting quiet and close away and maybe staying quiet would've been better but the words just came out of his mouth to try and make the old days come back, when they could talk about everything and anything for hours.

"Bre told us she was doing a shoot with you on Wednesday, hope that went well."

She gave him a genuine smile then, because the shoot had actually been lovely and it had gone better than she had planned it. "It was perfect, the sun worked amazingly with us. I have to get them printed soon though, so I can send the scans to Bre and she can add them to her portfolio."

"Was it on film?" Alex asked before he could process, he just wanted to keep the conversation flowing but what a stupid question that was because he knew she only ever shot on film.

She let out a giggle to hide her disbelief. Had he really forgotten she only shot on film? "Yes, I only shoot on film, remember?" It came out sassy and she hadn't meant it but she couldn't take it back now.

He laughed nervously, "Yeah, I know. Sorry, very stupid question."

Ella only smiled reassuringly, "It's okay."

The beats of silence were almost as loud as their heartbeats. Alex felt his pumping heart sounding in his ears and Ella did too, both hoping the other couldn't hear it too.

He started fiddling with his pen, "Was it themed?"

She shook her head, "Not really, we just played with how well the sun was positioned and did some shadow photography."

Alex hummed, not really knowing what to say next. Ella bit her lip, seeing through the corner of her eye how he looked to be fighting within himself. She felt bad for not trying to make things better.

"Has the past week been too hectic?" Her question sounded shy, both of them were acting so sheepish and whereas Ella's behavior had always been that way, it was weird seeing Alex anything other than confident.

He hesitated before responding, "Not really? I mean we had to go 'round quite a lot but it's the typical occurrence when we come to the States. The second week and on is much easier."

"Well, thankfully that's over and done with. I suppose you're relieved to be in the studio, finally." She decided to just close her laptop and give him her full attention.

Her actions made him breathe in relief as it felt like she wasn't trying to hide behind the screen anymore.

"Yes, to be fair. Feel like it's been too long since we've made something new, properly. When we recorded 'R U Mine?' it went by so quickly 'cause it took us so little to get it done—so, erm, yes. We were itching to be back recording."

She smiled sweetly at him then, "You guys look very in your element here, I was keeping it cool for the sake of the process but I was blown away by how easily you just– well, the way you can just do all that."

Alex laughed softly. She's so cute, was all he thought and it only made his smile grow. "Thanks Ellie, it's a thing that just happens because of how long we've been making music together. We bounce off each other now."

She had run out of things to say, her eyes focused on him but her brain struggling to find anything else to talk about.

Why is this so hard now? She hated it.

Luckily, she was saved by the bell—or rather by the rest of the band and James coming back from the kitchen, their loud chatter filling the hallways as they walked back to the room.

"Ellie, you have to see what I've found in the other room by the keyboards." Matt pointed at her and she was slightly afraid. One was never safe when it came to his spontaneous ideas.

She stared at him unsure of what to do, "Erm..."

The drummer started making his way back out of the room, waving at her to join him. "C'mon! Bring the camera." He added from the hallway.

She had to quickly grab the camcorder, her steps fast to catch up with him. The screen flashed a red 'rec' on the corner right as she walked through the threshold of a room she was seeing for the first time.

He walked in first and then stopped in the corner where most of the keyboards met and pointed towards what he'd found.

She deflated as she saw a little vintage coin machine that read 'Check your sex appeal'. On the bottom it instructed one to put one's finger on the sensor, deposit a quarter and then they'd give the score. With an eye roll she turned to Matt, "I thought you were gonna show me a spider or something." She had seen multiple lying around the place, unbothered.

"If it was a spider, I would've caught it and thrown it over your head." Matt replied with a cynical smile on his face.

Ella scoffed, "Sometimes I think you hate me."

He chuckled, opening his arms and approaching the girl to hug her. "You know I love you, Ellie."

"Yeah, sure, sure." He was holding her tight on purpose, to bother her some more. He really was like her older brother. The camera shook in her hands as she struggled in his hold.

He let go of her with a kiss on the cheek, "Have you got 25 cents?" He asked, seeing that it was needed to make the machine work.

"Yeah, in my purse." The drummer didn't even waste a second before he quickly went back to the main room to retrieve it. He was back in about ten seconds and she fished for her wallet when he opened her purse for her. "Does it even work?" she asked, seeing as the machine looked old—the red light on the 'sensor' was very dim, it was hard to read the 00 on the corner.

He shrugged, holding up a quarter in his fingers. "Let's try."

"Yeah, we need everyone to be here though. This cannot go without witnesses." She was recording it all but she wanted everyone to be there just so they could all have a laugh.

"Oh yes, go ahead. I want everyone to see how you lose."

"We shall see about that Matthew." She walked back to where the rest of the group was and called them over.

When Matt saw everyone enter the room behind Ella, he smirked. "Yous ready?"

They all nodded, Jamie rolled his eyes at his friend's excitement over such a dumb thing but he wasn't expecting any less from the idiot that Matt Helders was.

For some reason, he paused before slotting the coin in. "No, actually..." he offered the coin to Ella, "Ellie please do us the honor."

The PA sighed, wanting to do anything but go first in the stupid thing but she wanted to get it over with sooner rather than later. She grabbed the quarter from him and he took the camera from her, making sure to catch what she was going to do.

She pressed her pointer finger on the supposed sensor, and slid the coin in. "If this thing doesn't work, I'm gonna laugh in your face, Helders."

It took a few seconds for the red light to glow, the drummer smirking at Ella as if to rub it in her face that it actually worked. Everyone was watching them amused, the bickering was quite entertaining to them all and they were happy to be around Ella again.

Another few seconds passed before the machine beeped, startling the girl. "Jesus!" She dropped her hand and when she saw the 62, she shrugged not even caring to see what that meant on the list below the sensor.

Matt cackled, getting another quarter from her wallet and giving her the camera back to walk up to the machine as well. "Okay Ellie, are you ready to lose?"

"Get on with it Matt." She made sure to capture him perfectly even though she wasn't sure they'd use that footage on the documentary.

Repeating the process, Matt waited for the beep to reveal his score and when he got 134, he cheered. His arms up in the air like he had just won the championship to something.

He walked over to Ella teasing her about her brutal loss when Jamie wandered over to the coin machine and burst out laughing.

Everyone turned as the guitarist laughed and Nick went over curious to see what was so funny. When he read the list below the sensor, he joined Jamie in laughter.

"Helders, mate, I'm not sure you won at all there." Nick managed between chuckles.

Ella quickly walked over to read the list, making sure the camera caught it too and she cackled. "134 you got, didn't you? Mr. Total couch potato."

That only made Nick laugh harder, Alex and James started chuckling at Matt's face. The drummer walked over to see the list and he scoffed. "What the fuck? That score system doesn't make fucking sense."

Total couch potato - over 130

Semi sexy couch potato - 115-129

Sexy couch potato - 100-114

Sexy but firm up your good body - 85-99

Great body and sexy - 70-84

Super body and sexy - 60-69

Fantastic body and sexy - below 60

"I got 62 by the way. Just in case you forgot." Ella made sure to rub it in and Helders waved his hand dismissing her.

He shook his head in disbelief, and went over to her wallet to get another quarter. "We're doing this again."

"But–" She went to argue but was cut by Matt grabbing her right hand and pressing her pointer finger on the sensor and dropping the coin in. "For fucks sake, Matt." She cursed, moving the camera to face Matt's annoyed facial expression and when the machine beeped, showing her a glorious 60, she burst out laughing.

"Now's my turn." He pressed his finger on the sensor and inserted the coin.

Everyone quieted down as they waited for the beep and when it rang in their ears, showing a 129, Jamie read "A slight glow up, semi sexy couch potato." making everyone erupt in laughter again.

"Okay, whatever." Matt said loudly and defeated in between everyone else's noise, "It's broken, obviously."

Ella sighed, after her fit of laughter, focusing the camera back on the drummer. "Told you Bre was doing charity work with you." Nick snorted at that, nodding his head just to add to the fire.

Matt gasped, throwing his hand over his heart, faking being wounded by her very words. "Bitch." He said as if he had just been betrayed.

She chuckled as he left the room, still shaking his head, "Oh I'm so glad I caught all that on camera."

Nick threw his arm over her shoulders and kissed her temple, "You are brilliant, Ellie."

She smiled so bright, her eyes closed, and leaned her head on the bassist's shoulder in contentment.

When she opened her eyes, she was instantly met by Alex grinning at her and she smiled back at him.

The two weeks she'd have to stay there would be long but she hoped they'd get easier. She could only hope for that.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

All of her hopes had drowned a week later. She thought she had made progress in that first week since when she left that Sunday, it felt like the tension was wearing thin. They could now joke around like everyone else and it wasn't met with brief silences that felt like cuts to their throats.

That was until the Monday of the second week arrived, and she was dropped off at the studio by Julian. As they got closer to the place, she was praying that whoever was standing outside wasn't Alex but the universe loved laughing at her face so Alex was exactly who was outside, smoking calmly with his eyes firmly on Ella.

She sighed under her helmet before she took it off and got off the bike. She gave Alex a tight lip smile, "Good morning, Alex." She could feel the awkwardness rising once again.

"Good morning, Ellie." He replied, grateful for how the cigarette was helping him relax even in the slightest.

Julian took his helmet off then, shaking his head to fix his hair, with a bright smile. "Hey Alex, good morning."

Alex lifted his hand up to greet him, "Morning, man."

Ella sighed and turned to her boyfriend, fixing his hair before she said bye. "You'll pick me up later yeah?" Her hand was cupping his jaw and Alex hated seeing the look of adoration in her eyes.

"'Course." Julian said with a smile, his right hand coming up to grab Ella's hand that was on his face and kissed the palm of it. "Love you, have fun okay?"

Ella smiled even harder and nodded as she leaned down to peck his lips. "Love you, see you later."

Ella turned to start walking towards the studio when she heard Julian calling out to Alex, "Turner! Take care of my girl, yeah?" His question was up in the air as he put his helmet back on.

She blushed as she turned back around to laugh at her boyfriend. Alex let out the smoke from his lungs and nodded, "Always."

Ella felt like someone had gut punched her then, Why does this have to happen to me?

Julian nodded and revved the engine, blowing Ella a kiss before driving away—leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.

They both watched as the bike got smaller in the horizon and once it disappeared from their sight, she cleared her throat. "You going in yet?"

He nodded, "I'm almost done." taking one last drag of his cigarette before tossing it to the ground.

As they walked up to the place, he couldn't hold his tongue back, "So is he gonna drop you off everyday now?"

There was a subtle tone in his voice that didn't settle well with her, "Just today." She answered quickly with a forced smile on her face, letting her feet take her faster up the steps and towards the door. She didn't wanna overthink about the way he'd ask but it was already planning to play on loop in her mind.

Maybe she was making it worse in her mind but the awkwardness was palpable at the moment, and she just couldn't brush it off and ignore it.

When she opened the door everyone was there at the kitchen by the entrance making breakfast, when they saw her they greeted her sweetly. She was so grateful for them all being there already, just so she didn't have to spend time alone with Alex after that.

Surprisingly though, after they had all had breakfast together, the day rolled off smoothly and she'd only interacted directly with Alex a handful of times. The band had gone fully back into finishing a song they'd named 'You're So Dark' and slowly rolled into the making of another one that they hadn't titled yet but the chorus kept on with the phrase 'i want it all' so she'd refer to it as such.

She ignored the way Alex sang the words 'space age country girl, stone cold miracle' and the not-so-subtle looks he took at her every time it rolled off his tongue.

By three in the afternoon, she'd excused herself to take a skype call with Ben, Aaron and a new client. She'd gone to the room furthest away from them and even though she knew the walls could keep her voice from getting to them and ruining any recording, she'd still tried to be as quiet as she could.

That's why she was surprised to see everyone gone when she left the call. She wandered around the place, really taking time to admire every corner of the one-of-a-kind recording studio. She could see Queens of the Stone Age memorabilia, a portrait of PJ Harvey smoking a cigarette perched on one of the sofas in the studio hanging on the wall.

The array of different kinds and brands of guitars drew her in like a magnet. She had no idea how to play one but they all looked stunning and she wished at that moment she knew how to play at least one simple song.

"I never asked you if you knew how to play." The sudden appearance of Alex's voice scared her. She jumped in her place, turning slowly with a hand over her heart.

"Alex, for fucks sake." She cursed through her teeth.

He smiled softly, "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

She sighed, "Where is everyone? I thought you'd all left."

He shrugged, "They said something about getting food. Left before I could put down the guitar."

"Oh that was probably Matt's idea." Leaving Alex behind had to be his brilliant idea, she rolled her eyes at how he'd completely missed how that would turn out for her.

Alex nodded, "Most likely, yeah."

They stood there quietly—Alex resting against the door frame, Ella's fingers dancing over the guitars' necks.

"Did they leave long ago?" She crossed her fingers mentally, hoping they'd be back soon.

He only shook his head and with that she deflated, "They left about fifteen minutes ago."

Ella let out a humorless chuckle, "Great."

It looked like he was trying not to open his mouth, and she almost just told him to spill it all but she truly didn't want it to happen. Whatever would come out of his mouth would only make the situation ten times worse and she was still feeling unsettled by the question he'd made before coming into the studio in the morning.

She decided to sit in one of the chairs, slumping forward as she cradled her head in her hands. A headache already bubbling in the back of her skull, she rubbed her temples with her fingers. In the background she heard as Alex took a seat on the big settee by the door, one that faced her directly.

Alex cracked his knuckles and cleared his throat, he was getting the courage to ask everything he wanted to know. "So how has it been then?" His question was so vague she hummed in confusion—she had been with them for a week straight, what could he mean by that?

And then he shuffled in his seat and tried again, "With him, I mean. How's everything been with, erm, Julian?" He said his name with a struggle, like it hurt his throat to let it out.

"Very good, thanks. We're doing great." She fake coughed, straightening in her seat uncomfortably.

Alex nodded his head continuously, "He seems like a good guy... Interesting lad."

"He is. Wonderful, very interesting too, yeah." Her smile was so forced and it pained him to see.

"He really likes traveling doesn't he?" At that point he didn't even know what he was doing, he was just talking out of his ass.

"Oh yes, a lot. He has the best stories from traveling around for work."

He hummed, "Do you ever travel together?"

Ella chewed on her bottom lip before answering. "Sometimes. We tend to stay in California for work but there's times we travel together whenever I have to go somewhere with Focus Creeps and he's free or we're both able to go on a little weekend holiday."

"Really? Where have you been?" Curiosity killed the cat, he reminded himself. He was very aware of that but his mouth was going faster than his brain.

"We went to Mexico for our first month. We've been to Alaska and New York, but most of the time we take trips around the west coast." She recounted her drives with Julian to the different states along the coast they called home. "He's actually gone to Tennessee with me quite a few times." She added quickly.

"Oh yeah, I sa—. I, erm, suppose that was nice." His tongue tangled when he realized he was about to expose himself, but she hummed.

She knew he had seen, his secret instagram account handle was very not subtle and she'd gotten surprised when he followed her right after that call about the Olympics. "It was. Lovely to see him in my hometown and with my family, really. He fits right in."

He hated how she said that, like it was something that was written in stone. "Right, yes."

She didn't know why, but her brain just wanted her to scream a little detail that knew would ruin things even more. It was probably the thought of it hurting him, the way it had all hurt her back at the start of the year and she felt weirdly in need of some revenge. "We actually go to Belmont Park quite often."

A surprised "Oh." escaped his lips. That fact stung him like alcohol on a fresh cut wound, and that's when Alex noticed the situation hadn't hurt him as much before as it had in that very moment. The fact that she went to a place that so vividly was him and her with someone else felt like the biggest type of betrayal.

"Do you?" The question sat bitterly on his tongue.

It had been a mistake even mentioning it. A double edged knife as it all came like an avalanche over her. "Yeah, it's a lovely place during summertime." It reminded her why she never did revenge, it would always hurt her right back like she was doomed with automatic karma.

He sighed, sorting through his memories. "I remember that place quite fondly."

Ella panicked then, the need to remind him where he stood was strong inside her just to keep him from saying anything stupid that might make her spiral. "How's Arielle?" She spat the question like the words were burning her tongue.

He froze in his place for a second, his brain stopping the reel of Ella and his time in the coastal amusement park to replace it for the American model who was his girlfriend. "She's alright." He shrugged, not really caring to think much for detail. "Busy with casting calls and modeling gigs, but good."

She hated how the first thing her brain did was compare herself to Arielle, making her chuckle dryly. "Good thing she's a model right? Can travel around the world with you." She wanted to slap herself then for exposing her very biggest insecurity when it had come to her and Alex back then.

But Alex was too distracted by the new batch of questions flooding his mind to even notice what she'd just said. "I guess, yes."

"Of course it is, you're always in the presence of your muse." She was trying her hardest to push him to plainly tell her how much he adored Arielle just so she'd kill the shadow of hurt creeping back onto her but he didn't.

His gaze stayed fixated on her for a long few seconds, her breath caught in her throat seeing him zoned out with his eyes firmly on her. Ella cleared her throat and that's when he came back to reality. "Sure, my muse, yes. Lucky to have her always by my side." His reply was so meek it made her want to scream at him.

What do you want from me? She wanted to ask, over and over, until he gave her a fully honest answer.

"I'm just curious..." He started again, after half a minute of silence with eyes fixed on the floor. "Isn't it weird?"

Again he went with the vague inquiries, she frowned looking at him. "What?"

Alex looked up, feeling her burning gaze on him. "I dunno, just how fast you started it all with Julian." His words were weak, almost like he knew it was a mistake to have even said that out loud.

She was ready to start getting defensive but she'd give him another opportunity to explain himself before she could explode if it was needed. "What do you mean?"

He sighed, trying to word his thoughts in the best way possible, "Well, you know, I remember you telling me about how falling for someone you'd just met wasn't your thing."

"I said and did lots of things then, didn't I?" Her words came out heated, Ella was growing tired and she kept wondering what the hell was he trying to get from her.

"Do you regret them?" He was quick to ask, like that sentence had been a direct attack towards him. The question was looking for a deeper answer.

"Maybe." She tried to sound determined but it came out more like a question. She truly didn't regret anything that had happened or that she'd said because it all ended in the growth of herself as a person but, fuck, she just wanted him to hurt so he could drop the subject and whatever he was trying to achieve.

He only hummed in acknowledgment, making her feel like she had to further prove herself.

"He changed everything I had ever thought in a matter of weeks, I just know I love him and he loves me so that's more than enough for me. Time doesn't mean much to me anymore."

"Right." Alex nodded, his gaze staying on her for just a fleeting moment before it dropped down to the floor.

Ella continued then, finding more things she wanted to say, "No matter how long you've known people for, they always turn out to be someone you don't expect so I wasn't gonna lose an amazing person because of my fear of getting hurt." She was trying to find his eyes, just so he knew she meant every word that left her lips but he wasn't brave enough to make eye contact as she said all that. He felt like he was getting poked in his chest with a sharp and pointy knife. "I mean, you said it, didn't you?"

That's what got him to look up instantly, "What?" the singer asked, confused.

Alex's voice as they walked around Las Vegas came back to her very clearly, like the moment was happening at that very second: 'That's true, but don't close yourself off to the chances. Someday you'll meet that one person who'll change your mind about that and they will sweep you off your feet. Often heartbreak is necessary along the way, it shows you what's the right way you deserve to be loved.'

"That someday I'd meet a person who'd change my mind about all that time bullshit I used to swear by, and how they'd sweep me off my feet. That's exactly what he did." Ella recited his words back to him.

And the very moment came back to him like an ice cold water bucket being poured over his head. His words had come back to bite him on the ass. "I guess I did." His voice sounded defeated. "Yeah, erm, that's good. Good." Alex had no idea what he had tried to achieve with all that but, fucking hell, he felt like he had ruined everything.

They stayed quiet for what felt like a century but it had only been a minute. Their breathing sounded too loud and the beating of their heavy hearts was very present in their ears.

When her phone rang, she couldn't help but sigh in relief but her shoulders slumped when the name 'Jules <3' shone bright on her screen.

"Guess we summoned him." The PA joked, trying to lighten up the mood but he gave her the most humorless laugh that made her internally cringe. What the fuck am I supposed to do now? She asked herself, as if the whole situation had been her fault and not Alex's.

She stood up and pointed at the door to tell him she'd pick up and talk by the kitchen, he nodded dully and watched her go in the reflection of the window. He had fucked it all up and he knew it.

He could hear her in the distance and he hated the isolated zone the studio was in because the lack of city bustle meant he could hear everything she said.

"Hi babe!" Her greeting was chipper, she sounded relieved. "Not yet, the guys have gone out to get some lunch and then I guess they'll stay a few more hours until they're done." She paused for a few seconds but he couldn't make out whatever her boyfriend was saying on the other side of the line. "Yeah, they're great. You'd love to see them recording, it truly is magical." Alex smiled, as he could hear the sincerity in her voice.

"Oh?" Ella sounded surprised and he wondered what Julian could've told her. "Jules, are you fucking kidding?" She sounded breathless and elated. "No baby, not nice to hear when we're more than an hour away." Alex hated hearing her calling someone else that pet name. "Well I cannot wait to be home then." There was a small pause before she let out a sweet little giggle that melted Alex's insides. "What did I do to deserve you huh?" Alex rolled his eyes thinking about how Julian didn't deserve her but he couldn't say much, because he didn't deserve Ella either.

"Something new to try?" Her voice had turned suggestive then, and he hated that his brain started going through the endless possibilities of what that could mean. "Fuck, Julian." That had come out like a choked up whimper and Alex had had to shut his eyes close hard to focus on his thoughts not going there but then she said, "Yes, you fucking tease." almost out of breath and just that made the singer's thoughts start going in a forbidden direction. "Well if you had a car maybe we could move it forward but unfortunately you don't, so..." That made him freeze though, as he instantly imagined them two together in the back of a car and it was a visual he absolutely loathed.

"I fucking love you, you know that?" Her words were determined and they hit him like a truck. "Okay babe, cannot fucking wait to be home already." Another giggle that made Alex want to die echoed through the place and just as he was about to start plugging his ears to not listen anymore, she ended the call with a "See you soon then, love you."

He had to hurriedly grab his journal, scribbling around a new page when he heard her steps coming back in his direction.

When Ella entered the room again, she gave him a side smile. She went straight to her purse and grabbed her lighter and cigarettes, "I'm gonna go for a smoke, be right back."

"Alright." Alex nodded as he kept his eyes frozen on the white page that was slowly filling up with words that seemed to be just flooding out of him. The sound of her boots mixing with the ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway replaying in his mind as the ink ruined the paper.

I wanna grab both your shoulders and shake

Snap out of it

Under a spell you're hypnotized

Darling, how could you be so blind?

If that watch don't continue to swing

Or the fat lady fancies having a sing

I'll be here, waiting ever so patiently for you to

Snap out of it

I've heard that you fell in love

Or near enough

It sounds like settling down or giving up

But it don't sound much like you

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

After that extremely awkward Monday, when she'd felt Alex's gaze burning on her back as she left the place in the back of Julian's bike, the week had gone by extremely slowly. She loved the band but she felt like she was suffocating under the heavy tension between her and Alex.

So when it reached Friday, the last day that she'd be recording them for the rest of the year, she felt like she could breathe more easily.

Matt had been an absolute nightmare though, ringing her at six in the morning so that she could be at the studio by half past seven.

"Matt, I will castrate you when I see you later," was the first thing she said when she picked up.

The man on the other line snorted, "Oh I'm so afraid." The heavy sarcasm in his voice only made her roll her eyes. "You have to be here early today, sweetheart. Last day and all." He sounded like he was hiding something but she was too tired to care.

She groaned, "Sure, I'll leave in a few. Bye." She didn't even give him time to reply because she instantly hung up the phone and sighed.

Her hair was damp when she'd gotten on her bike forty minutes after she'd ended the call, but it was dry from the wind by the time she got to the studio. She took off her helmet and brushed her hair with her fingers to then ruffle it. She checked on one of the mirrors of her bike and she shrugged, her lipstick still perfectly on and her hair just tamed enough.

She walked through the doors and made her way to the room they were always at. When she got there she didn't even look up before she dropped her bag and helmet on a chair. "Last day I have to see you idiots all day, thank fuck!" She joked but when she was met with an unusual silence, she turned around confused and that's when her jaw dropped.

Josh Homme was sitting right there in the middle of the room and everyone else was trying to hold in their laughs. Her cheeks tinted bright red, like her lipstick, and she wanted to disappear.

But the musician chuckled, making her feel slightly better. "Lucky." Josh started, continuing the joke, "This is my first day, have another week to go with them." He stood up with his hand out to greet Ella, "Lovely to meet you..."

She cleared her throat, blinking fast to try and come back down to reality but she was shocked. "Ella." She barely managed to say and Josh nodded, shaking her hand.

"Lovely to meet you Ella." He said again and her eyes went to all of the lads in search of answers.

When none of them gave her anything other than amused smiles, she looked back to the legendary musician in front of her and smiled brightly. "Very lovely to meet you, Mr. Homme."

The man waved her off, dropping her hand, "Oh please hun, just call me Josh. We're all friends here, no formalities."

She giggled, "Right, yes."

Ella tried to remain cool as she fell back into her usual routine, taking the camera out and capturing everything she could without disturbing their process. Matt sat next to her in the big settee twenty minutes later, watching Alex and Josh talking about 'Knee Socks' which was apparently the song Josh was gonna be in, and he elbowed her to tease her.

"Big fan of Queens of the Stone Age then?" The drummer whispered.

She turned to face him with an expression that screamed it was obvious, "Who isn't?"

Matt nodded, "Well, I did tell you to come early."

She scoffed, "Yes but you didn't mention Josh fucking Homme coming here today, idiot!" She whispered aggressively and she was grateful for Alex having started to play the guitar so the chords were louder than her voice.

"Details, details." Matt replied like it was nothing and she rolled her eyes.

"I cannot believe I'm actually gonna miss seeing y'all every day again." She admitted, fake defeated to keep up her act.

He clicked his tongue, "Of course you will, you love us."

"As I always say, unfortunately." She added in the same way, with a tight lip smile.

He opened his mouth to reply but Alex called him over and he could only get up quickly on his feet to see what they were gonna do then.

She had grown mesmerized by the creative process they had as they saw them work with Josh. James got there an hour later and it felt surreal, she truly felt like she was seeing actual magic happen and it hit her when she heard the brand new bridge for the song. It sounded heavenly and bold at the same time.

She knew when the album would come out, she'd have a different perspective on it for the sole reason that she was witnessing all those turning points in the making of it. And she was sure that just from the fact that she was experiencing all of it first hand, it would become her favorite album of theirs.

When they had all gotten hungry at around ten in the morning, Ella had ordered something for everyone and when the food had arrived, they all gathered around the wooden dinner table in the kitchen to chat shit and eat before resuming their work.

Josh was so easy to be around and Ella loved that one of the people she'd always admired as a musician was also a lovely person in real life. He had thanked her for the food and given her a side hug before they all cleaned up and went back to the recording room.

Ella made sure to record as much as she could but when the battery died and she had to wait for it to charge, she put her earphones on and started listening to some music.

Matt and Jamie sat chatting in a corner of a room while Alex, Nick and Josh hovered over Alex's journal to work through some lyrics. Ten minutes passed as she sorted through her emails when Alex sat beside her and she barely noticed.

He poked at her arm to not scare her again and she turned slowly to him, "Hey," she greeted timidly.

"Was Josh Homme a nice surprise?" He asked like her reaction hadn't been enough of an answer.

Her eyebrows rose on her face as she nodded enthusiastically, "Of course, yes. I still can't believe he's just–" she paused to find the perfect word but she failed so she just subtly pointed at him and finished by saying, "There."

Alex chuckled, "What are you listening to?" He had seen her bopping her head as she typed and he was curious to know.

"Black Sabbath." She showed him her phone screen, "War Pigs. Stunning guitar riff." She added, like it was one of those texts she used to send him of the songs she was obsessing over whoever week or day and which detail was her favorite of it.

He'd heard it before, of course, so he nodded but she took off one of her earphones so he could put it in and listen with her. Once the bud was in his ear, she played the song back from the beginning and he found himself trying to think of the chords in his head.

A song like it was one that he'd love to have on this album, it was the vibe he was going for when he pictured what the record would sound like in his head.

When the song finished he took off the earbud and handed it back to her. "Brilliant guitar riff. I wanna try and play it."

She thought he meant to play it maybe later but no, he got up immediately and grabbed his Gretsch duo jet, placed a pick between his teeth as he pulled the guitar strap over his shoulders and started playing with the chords until he started getting closer and closer to it.

Josh was quick to recognize the song, "War Pigs, classic."

Alex nodded as he stopped and then started it back up again. "I wanna use it in this record, I think."

"Domino won't hate you for having to get the licenses for it?" Asked the American singer, amused.

"Nah, I'll get it somehow even if they don't want to." Alex replied very confidently.

"Atta boy." Celebrated Josh, "You'll have to give it an Arctic Monkeys twist though, make it fresh." He advised, not only so that the song would be good but for the sake of the credits of the song he was trying to make.

Alex called to his bandmates then, "Oi, Nick, Jump in this one with me. Jamie, let's play it together first and then we can start changing the chords each at a time."

A few hours later, they had a wonderful take on the War Pigs guitar riff and the band seemed to be in love with it. They recorded it and labeled it the first demo, Ella had managed to catch that recording process and she was beaming as she saw it happen.

She'd felt like she had contributed there, it made her heart swell in a strange new way. She was about to scold herself for feeling so proud about it when it was so insignificant, when Alex went up to her and gave her a brief hug.

"Thanks for that Ellie. Good thing we have you here at the studio with us, isn't it?" His hand dropped after squeezing her right arm, her left side pressed against him.

She smiled brightly then, shrugging it off because she had only played him a song he already knew, it wasn't a massive contribution. "It literally was nothing Alex."

Alex clicked his tongue, "Yeah, don't really think so." disagreeing with her, making her smile bigger.

Right there and then, it felt like it was all falling back into place at least for a few seconds and they could both take a breath of fresh air.

"Would it help you feel better if I just said you're welcome?" Her smile could be heard in her voice and it made him unbelievably happy.

He nodded, "Definitely."

"You're welcome, Al." She replied easily and he beamed at her, it was the first time she called him Al in a long while, it made his stomach flip.

"Right," The singer started, still grinning. "It's your last day with us here until next year so just leave the camera, enjoy it."

Her brows furrowed, "But the documentary—"

He waved it off, "It would be a maximum of forty five minutes, Ellie and we still have January through June to record so don't worry. There'd be plenty of footage in the future."

She hummed, "Okay boss, whatever you say." She joked and he chuckled.

The day ended far quicker than she expected it and soon enough she was saying goodbye to the band, James and Josh. They all watched her drive away on her bike as the sun set in the horizon, the ends of her long black hair waving in the air.

In the third and last week that the band had spent in the studio, which Ella hadn't been there to record, the 'War Pigs' inspired song had been born and fully developed.

It only made sense that if the song had seen its creation because of Ella, it had to be the one to home all those lines Alex had written about her.

Alex sang into the microphone as the red light on top of the booth indicated it was recording. His eyes closed as he pictured her and himself walking around LA, Las Vegas and San Diego—all the pictures and the conversations, the drinks and the fleeting touches shared.

Arabella's got some interstellar-gator skin boots

And a Helter Skelter 'round her little finger

And I ride it endlessly

She's got a Barbarella silver swimsuit

And when she needs to shelter from reality

She takes a dip in my daydreams

My days end best when the sunset gets itself behind

That little lady sitting on the passenger side

It's much less picturesque without her catching the light

The horizon tries but it's just not as kind on the eyes

As Arabella, oh

As Arabella

Just might've tapped into your mind and soul

You can't be sure

Arabella's got a '70s head

But she's a modern lover

It's an exploration, she's made of outer space

And her lips are like the galaxy's edge

And her kiss the colour of a constellation

Falling into place

My days end best when the sunset gets itself behind

That little lady sitting on the passenger side

It's much less picturesque without her catching the light

The horizon tries but it's just not as kind on the eyes

As Arabella, oh

As Arabella

Just might've tapped into your mind and soul

You can't be sure

That's magic, in a cheetah print coat

Just a slip, underneath it, I hope

Asking if, I can have one of those

Organic, cigarettes that she smokes

Wraps her lips, 'round a Mexican Coke

Makes you wish, that you were the bottle

Takes a sip of your soul, and it sounds like...

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

The band's stay at the golden state had reached its end. The three weeks they had planned on staying were up but before it was time for them to leave Ella and Breana had planned a little farewell dinner. Breana would be staying in LA this time, so when she told Ella to help her organize it for the lads before they left, she just couldn't say no to her best friend.

It didn't take much organization, just a phone call to the restaurant to make a reservation and a text in the group chat to make sure the band knew where to be on Sunday the 9th at seven in the evening.

Ella was there ten minutes before the clock announced it was seven, she stood by the mural to the left side of the restaurant's door smoking a cigarette. She had just lit it, and absentmindedly took a drag out of it seeing as Julian took a few steps to stand in front of her and take the stick from her fingers.

The filter was stained with the red of her lipstick and it made her boyfriend groan, she laughed as she let the smoke out upwards, taking a peek at the moon. Julian left a trail of kisses up her throat all the way up to her chin, his lips hovered over hers but he left her breathless when he lifted the cigarette to take a drag of it and then place it back on her lips.

"Tease," she muttered with the burning stick between her lips.

The scruff of a car's brakes made them turn around, a yellow cab stopped a few feet right beside them. They were about to get back to what they were doing when one of the back doors opened and out came none other than Alex Turner.

He looked amazing under the dim street lights, the cream button up he was wearing contrasted perfectly with his black trousers and blazer. The small heels of his chelsea boots hit the pavement and composed the perfect background noise to his entrance.

Alex cleared his throat, hoping his frown wasn't as hard as it had been a minute earlier when he had seen from afar the show Ella and Julian were putting for everyone walking around the block.

Julian stepped aside to let Ella greet Alex first. "Hello Ella," he hugged her briefly but tight, she reciprocated one handed as she kept the hand she was holding her cigarette with away from him. Alex shook Julian's hand, firmly. "Nice to see you again, Julian."

Julian nodded, "Nice to see you too, Alex. How was your time in LA? Everything sweet, everything nice?"

Alex gave him a forced side smile, Ella turned to rest against the mural again and continued smoking—she tried to relax but she was internally panicking, begging to any high power that the rest of their friends showed up soon so the three wouldn't have to wait too long alone.

"Everything was great, already can't wait to be back to keep recording." From his voice she could tell he was distracted, and Ella kept her eyes closed but she felt him staring.

But why wouldn't he? She looked dashing dressed in all black. A little black slip dress on with high heeled stilettos, a leather jacket on and a small prada purse hanging off her shoulder. The dress had a slit, showing off her 'Divine Feminine' tattoo perfectly.

He was too caught up to even notice Julian had caught him staring.

"She's stunning, isn't she?" Her boyfriend had asked proudly, and Alex had gone cold.

He tried to play it cool though, nodding as he took his cigarettes out and picked one to light up. "She's always been."

If Julian had gotten jealous from that, he didn't show it as he nonchalantly then proceeded to walk towards Ella. He dove his hand into Ella's jacket pockets and fished a cigarette for himself, placing it between his teeth and staring at his girlfriend silently asking her to light him up.

She did, her movements graceful and experienced and Alex caught the small 'thank you' Julian gave her before he started smoking.

The American man had waved him over, "C'mere man, we're not gonna bite."

Alex let out a bland chuckle that made a puff of smoke leave his mouth. His steps were slow as he moved closer to them, and he wished Arielle could've canceled that late night shoot so she'd be there with him. He didn't want to be a third wheel, much less to Ella and her fucking boyfriend.

It had been a painful eight minutes he had to endure of small talk that ended with Ella narrating how it had been to spend a whole day with Josh Homme and Julian watching her talk mesmerized. Their fingers were interlocked and Alex had had to watch Julian play with Ella's fingers as he listened to her.

Just as Alex was contemplating fishing his pockets for a third smoke, ruckus broke out behind him and he recognized it instantly. He could breathe now that Breana and Matt had arrived, and when Alex fully turned, he saw Jamie and Nick exiting the cab as well.

Everyone greeted each other and once that was done, Ella walked ahead of the group into Craig's. She'd chosen the place not only because it was gorgeous and the food was delicious but because loads of famous people tended to go there so they truly wouldn't be bothered if anyone recognized them.

It wasn't long before they were seated and, to Ella's incredible fortune, she ended up seated in the middle of Alex and Julian.

Before they ordered any food, they were asked for their drinks to which they'd all agreed on a nice bottle of cabernet. Their waiter had uncorked the bottle effortlessly and served everyone a perfect amount to start with.

Chatter rolled easily as they drank more wine, their orders then taken and underway in the fancy kitchen of the place.

Their flight was taking off at noon, meaning they had to be at LAX at around nine in the morning. The band was promising to be the most sober ones just to make their next morning easy for themselves.

When their plates got to their table, they all dove in. The variety of dishes was astounding and it impressed them even more how regardless of how different each one was, they all were remarkably delicious.

Alex watched through the corner of his eye as Julian gathered a forkful of his salmon dish to feed Ella.

"Babe, you gotta try this." He'd said after a blissful hum he let out when he got the first bite of it. His hand a few inches under the fork to avoid spilling anything.

Ella was quick to open her mouth to accept the food and once it reached her tongue, she let her red lips wrap around the fork. Julian pulled back the piece of silverware as he stared attentively at her reaction and when her eyes closed in delight at the taste, he smiled bright.

She waited until she was finished with her bite to speak, "That's really fucking good."

Alex wanted to roll his eyes, how was it that even surrounded by other four people he still felt like a third wheel. His fork screeched as he gathered his rigatoni alla vodka.

Conversations continued as everyone slowly worked through their food, not really minding it going cold because they were all just basking in each other's presence.

"Helders, you're giving me my best friend back, finally. Thank you very much." Ella teased as she remembered that Breana was planning on staying in LA the whole time they'd be gone.

The drummer sighed, squeezing his girlfriend's hand under the table. "Yeah, not really my choice to be honest. She'd always be by my side if it was for me."

"Awh look at you, maybe you are romantic after all." The PA cooed, a little pout on her face at the sight of them.

Matt let out a small giggle, "Of course I am, idiot."

"Well it's hard to picture with the stories I hear." Ella trailed off, making Jamie and Nick look at her curiously.

Matt smirked, "Like what you're told?"

"Pretty vanilla to me, honestly." She played, making Matt laugh a little too loud.

"Okay, kinky bastard." The teasing made Ella sit straighter as she flushed, Julian smiled proudly next to her. Alex just wanted to disappear, he would beg to hear anything else but what she got up to with Julian in the bedroom.

To Alex's relief, she wasn't in the mood to share any stories. "Guess your hand is gonna have to do for the next few months." The faux pity in her voice was so heavy it had Matt glaring at her.

"It will, and those scans you're meant to send me." He made sure to remind her as she'd promised him and he had really liked those previews she'd shown him on her phone.

Nick sighed, exasperated at the turn the conversation had taken. He really didn't want to think about his mate wanking to pictures of his girlfriend while he was eating the best scallops he'd ever had. "Can yous fucking stop? I'm trying to eat."

Ella laughed, "So very sorry, Nick."

The bassist huffed in exaggerated annoyance, "You better be."

Once everyone finished their food, the waiter had been fast to pick the plates up and ask if they fancied anything else. Soon enough, a new bottle of wine was on its way and, just as fast as it had arrived, they were finishing it.

They each had been drinking more red then than at the start of the night so the bottle didn't last more than twenty minutes.

Ella hummed then, seeing as most of their glasses were empty—Alex being the only one to have a sip of it left. "Anyone fancy a bottle of champers?" Her question was thrown in the air and they all slowly agreed.

She turned to Julian, mumbling something that only Alex got to properly hear. "Don't have any rings on me though..."

Alex's right hand reached over for his wine glass and just as his fingers rounded it, he heard Julian say something to him.

"That ring's sick man, mind if I have a look at it?"

Alex was confused but he nodded nonetheless, putting his glass back on the table to take the ring off and hand it to the videographer. He only took a look at it for a quick two seconds before he put it on his own pinky finger.

"Looks great doesn't it?" He lifted his hand up to show Ella and she nodded. Alex frowned, what the fuck is he doing putting my ring on?

Julian made him snap back to reality when he took it off and mumbled a quick, "Would look better on you though." And before Alex could even have time to process that, he got up and walked around his chair to kneel in front of Ella.

The singer's eyes almost popped out of his head and Breana's gasp was loud enough to grab the attention of not only their whole table but the ones around them. Suddenly, the restaurant started to quiet down as everyone's attention turned to the dirty blonde down on one knee in front of his girlfriend.

"Ella, honey, you are by far the sweetest most wonderful thing that has happened to me." His voice was so sweet as it reached her ears and she knew it was only the start but she was already swooning. "I wish time had been kinder to me and let me meet you before but the fact that you even are in my life now is enough to feel like life didn't cheat me. You take my breath away with everything you do, everything you say and everything you are. My heart bursts at its seams just by thinking of you and every time I get to see you." Her heart definitely felt like it was failing her from how much she loved the man kneeling in front of her.

"You are my perfect accomplice, I cannot imagine doing life with anybody else. Every night, I wish upon every star I'm able to see in this polluted city that I'll be able to be yours forever. And I can only hope I'm lucky enough to have you feel the same, to know that you want me to be yours until the end of times." A small sob escaped her, tears pooling in her eyes threatening to spill at any moment. "And I think about asking you to marry me every night when we go to sleep and I see that sweet little pout next to me, the way you cling to me is a feeling I don't ever wanna lose. I don't ever wanna lose you." The tears were falling, wetting her lips which were stuck in a beaming smile. "I want to witness you and what you become, worship every single bit of you and all you do. In this life and the next, if you'll have me. Ella, my love, would you marry me?" He finally asked and the giggles escaped her as more tears ran down her cheeks.

"Yes!" She exclaimed breathlessly, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes." She chanted as she cupped his face. Julian kissed the inside of her palm and then grabbed her left hand to put the ring on. It fit perfectly. Once it was on, they sealed the moment with a long kiss, Ella holding Julian's face with both her hands like she was afraid he'd disappear if she didn't have her hold on him.

Alex was so fucking confused, he felt like he was gonna puke everything he'd had that night. He felt himself sweating cold, and he was sure he was as pale as a white sheet of paper. Everyone around them was hollering, Nick and Jamie wolf whistling as Breana cried while she clapped and Matt had the brightest smile.

Their table neighbors cooed and clapped as Julian rose to sit back down, his lips red from Ella's lipstick. Alex looked around in shock but the only one who caught him was Matt, his smile faltered slightly at the sight of his friend but then he chuckled. The whole thing had fucked him over.

Soon their waiter came back, but with a bucket filled with ice homing a massive bottle of Champagne. Champagne flutes being carried by a waitress right behind him.

The young man smiled at the couple who'd just stolen the show and set the bottle in the middle of the table. "We're beyond happy to have witnessed this new step in your beautiful relationship so we wanted to give you this to celebrate." The lady behind him set the seven tall glasses on the table before they both proceeded to serve the beverage. "The chef wanted to congratulate you as well with some lovely dessert which I'll be bringing out in just a moment."

Ella cooed, her hand on her chest. "Thank you so much! You are all so sweet."

The pair nodded with a smile before they left and once everyone in the restaurant settled back again, Ella and Julian shared another quick kiss. She wiped on his bottom lip when she broke the kiss, leaning back slightly with the brightest smile on her face.

Alex was still malfunctioning so Matt took it upon himself to get an explanation out of the couple.

"So, what was that?" His question seemed amused, not really believing in the veracity of the proposal as they had literally used Alex's 'death ramps' ring. That detail only made him want to laugh harder.

Ella shrugged, whispering her answer. "Well y'all did say you wanted some champagne so mission accomplished."

Jamie cackled, "You cheeky bitch."

"That's me." Ella replied, winking at him. But then she sighed, absolutely elated. "We have done this many times before, must've gotten engaged at least half a dozen times in loads of places around the country but, oh my god, he went off with this one." She turned to Julian and scrunched up her nose to him. "I fucking adore you."

Alex's confusion then turned into anger. What the fuck? All he could think was how easy it was for them to make up such a deceiving situation but the thing that had him seething was the fact that they had just decided to do that with his ring. What the fuck are they on about? He kept asking himself over and over.

Julian stole a few pecks from her, tinting his lips redder than they already were. "Adore you even more."

Alex was about to lose it, he could only think about going for a smoke or two but he'd have to wait it out a little longer or he'd be way too obvious.

The champagne was heavenly, the bubbles running down their throats perfectly. They resumed their conversation like nothing had happened but then some nosey people started coming over to the table as they made their ways to leave the restaurant. Most of them were sweet, telling them 'congratulations' before they told them some cringe joke about the honeymoon and they'd leave with a wink; but the young couple that had just approached their table had asked to see the ring.

Ella had tried not to laugh, covering it up with a cough. She showed off her left hand, the 'death ramps' ring snuggled around her slender finger and matching perfectly with her red nails.

The unknown girl had frowned, confused at the ring choice and Ella giggled. "That's his most special ring. A family thing really, so it's very special he's proposed with it."

The strangers only nodded with a forced smile that had everyone at the table biting their tongues not to laugh—everyone except for Alex, who was growing angrier, because apparently it was Julian's family ring now.

He had to hold back a scoff, choosing to just down the champagne he had left and excuse himself to go to the bathroom.

No one really noticed the haste in which he left the table except for Matt, who followed his path with an attentive gaze. Everyone else at the table was too busy listening to the bullshit details of Ella's very much fake upcoming wedding.

"Bright pink flowers and a purple dress? You are insane." Nick shook his head at the deranged shit she was saying.

"Wait until you hear about our rainbow triple layer wedding cake." Ella added and the thought of it made everyone laugh harder. She only hoped no one was eavesdropping and taking what she was saying seriously because then they'd think she was insane.

Alex threw cold water on his face to get him to calm down. It was fake, they're not engaged, they did not get engaged with your ring. You have a stunning girlfriend that you love very much, you told her you loved her only two days ago. Ella is happy with someone else, you're just friends—that's all you'll ever be. He kept telling himself all that like he was a religious man reciting his favorite holy book verses.

Once Alex got back to the table, he found everyone taking bites of a big apple crumble with vanilla ice cream on top.

Ella waved him over excitedly, "Al, come here! You need to try this."

His ring on her finger flashed under the lights in the restaurant. How he wished he'd been the one to give it to her.

He sat down on his seat on her right side, and instantly was surprised by Ella feeding him a spoonful of dessert. He didn't know what he was expecting but she didn't take the spoon away for him, making Alex have to do the rest for himself. He set the utensil on top of his cloth napkin that was still on the table where he'd left it before running off.

He nodded, relishing in the sweetness of the dish. His brain took him back to the day they shared funnel cakes at Belmont Park and he smiled fondly. He remembered the excited smile on her face as she waited for his reaction to the food and he couldn't help but compare it to how she was looking at him at the moment.

"S'really good." Alex agreed and she nodded back.

"Right?!" She turned back to grab another bite with her own spoon, "You're very welcome guys, I will be expecting an award later."

Jamie smirked then, taking the opportunity to tease Ella. "We'll leave it to Julian to give you your prize, Ellie."

Her breath hitched making her cough and Julian laughed beside her, he brought a hand to her back to rub it soothingly whilst she kept coughing with a hand over her mouth. Alex wanted to die right there, why were his friends like that?

"Oh she will. Whatever she wants tonight, she gets it." Julian agreed, "Shall we try that leather thing you ordered the other day?" He suggested, making Ella's eyes widen. Next to her, Alex was staring at his lap with the same expression.

She pinched Julian's waist, "Fucks sake, shut up!" She shouted in a whisper, the last thing she needed was the lads finding out how she was in bed when she knew they'd just tease her endlessly about it.

Matt was quick to try and pry for more information, "Oh Julian, do tell us what that leather thing is."

Alex wanted to interfere before anything else was said, Please do not tell us, Julian.

He opened his mouth to start explaining but Ella's hand flew over his mouth to avoid anyone getting an explanation.

"Yeah, you're not getting anything from him," she started with a threatening voice, her eyes swimming around the table and then she turned to her boyfriend to finish her ultimatum, "If he wants to use it tonight."

Julian nodded obediently but licked the palm of her hand that was still covering his mouth just to get on her nerves. Ella scoffed and then used her napkin to clean her hand, Alex stole a glance at her and she looked so happy regardless of the teasing that it made him want to leave already.

Breana smirked at her best friend who was sitting right in front of her, "You're really hot Ellie, has anyone told you that?" Ella smirked back at her, if there was anyone who was her loyal cheerleader, it was Bre.

"Only you all the time, my love." She blew the model a kiss which she reciprocated.

Matt hugged Breana by the waist, bringing her to his side possessively and pointed a finger at Julian. "Oi, get your girlfriend to stop flirting with mine."

Everyone started laughing, the giggles filling the air around their table. Ella winked at Breana and then turned to Matt to bother him a bit more.

"You just know I could steal her from you easily."

Matt scoffed but when Breana agreed with a "She could." He rolled his eyes.

It was his turn to mortify Ella, "Can we get another round of applause for the soon-to-be married?" The drummer asked loudly to the rest of the restaurant and when the place erupted in claps and cheers, Ella hid in Julian's neck.

Her and Julian had to look around mouthing 'thank you's to the people around them. Minutes passed and when finally no one had their eyes on them, she glared at Matt. "You're a fucking menace, let's just get the check already."

Ten minutes later, they had paid and were outside waiting for their taxis. The head chef had gone out to personally congratulate Julian and Ella and she had started to feel bad for deceiving everyone at the restaurant like that. The champagne and dessert had been worth it though, but the guilt set in when before they left, one of the waitresses gave her a lovely bouquet of roses.

Once outside, Ella had felt like she could breathe again. She took one rose out of the arrangement she was holding in her right hand and gave it to Breana. She thanked her with a loud kiss on her cheek which made Matt get in the middle of them to keep Ella away from her, as he'd said.

The lads were all leaving in the same cab back to the hotel, meaning Bre would share the taxi with Julian and Ella.

"Are you staying over?" Julian asked his girlfriend's best friend, knowing he was gonna stay at Ella's.

Breana let out a sarcastic laugh, ""Yeah, absolutely not. I'd like to get a good night's sleep, thank you very much."

Ella rolled her eyes, "We're not that loud."

Bre disagreed instantly, "Yes you are. Don't even try to fight me on this one unless you want me to record a voice note of it next time as proof."

Alex was grateful he'd decided to light up a cigarette the second they stepped outside, he was lost in the nicotine filling his system and texting Arielle to avoid listening further into the conversation his friends were having.

He could hear the commotion behind him after Ella had finally whispered to Breana in her ear what it was that she'd ordered. Alex ignored the gasp the model let out, and how loud Matt had gotten as he was trying to find out too, to read whatever Arielle was saying about the video she was shooting.

Soon enough the cab that was taking the guys arrived and they all started hugging around. Bre wouldn't let go of Matt as Ella walked around hugging everyone goodbye. The PA was feeling weirdly nostalgic even if she knew they'd be back in LA in no time.

Jamie and Nick both squished her in a hug, she was gonna miss them so much. "Gonna wish on every star the months go by fast, I'm gonna miss you so much." They reciprocated her words, promising they'd be back as soon as the holidays were over.

Alex dropped his cigarette on the floor and stepped on it before opening his arms to her. They swayed with their holds tight on each other. "Gonna miss you." He said, kissing the top of her head.

"Me too." Ella replied and let go of him. She took his ring off her finger and gave it back to him, "Sorry for stealing it for so long, hope you enjoyed the champagne at least."

He chuckled, putting the ring back on his little finger. "I did, thanks Ellie." What he hadn't enjoyed was the way his heart dropped at the proposal, and the way his brain seemed to hold onto Julian's every word despite every try at forcing himself to think about anything else.

He was going to go insane.

Smiling brightly, "You're welcome," she said lastly before she left to walk towards Matt and Breana. When she got to them, she poked Bre on the ribs. "As much as I hate him, I wanna say goodbye." She joked.

The model left her boyfriend with a loud peck on his lips and proceeded to hug everyone else goodbye, following after Julian who was now saying bye to Nick with a typical bro hug.

Ella hugged Matt, "Don't take too long to come back yeah? She's gonna be insufferable if you're not back the second it turns 2013."

He laughed in her ear, giving her a squeeze before they both let go of each other. "I will, I promise."

They'd had to basically push Matt into the cab after that, because he could not stop kissing Breana goodbye. They could see the exasperated look on the driver's face but Alex promised him they'd give him a big tip for the inconvenience.

Julian, Ella and Breana waved them goodbye as the car left and then they sighed when it went out of their view.

Ella snaked her arm around Bre's waist and she started walking, "Let's go, my love."

Julian followed after them, chuckling. "I love how the second I'm alone with you two, I end up being the third wheel."

Bre giggled, "Get used to it Jules, she was mine first."

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Alex thought being back in the UK would be the cure for it all. Being away from LA, surrounded by his family and friends and walking through the familiar streets around the city of London would whisk away the thought of Ella.

How wrong had he been.

It had been almost two months since they'd left Los Angeles, the month of November just starting, the weather getting colder and colder on the way to the holiday season. But not cold enough for him to endure the actual madness the Halloween week had caused him.

He'd gone to a Halloween party he'd been invited to with his friends and his girlfriend but nothing interesting had happened there, everything that had gone wrong was purely Ella's fault.

Despite Halloween being on a Thursday, Ella had partied from Wednesday to Friday and Alex only knew because she'd posted pictures to her Instagram that had left him gasping for air.

On Wednesday she had posted multiple pictures of a photoshoot she seemed to have done with Breana. They were both dressed as witches only they only had lacey lingerie bodysuits under a black velvet cloak that barely covered them. They had pointy witch hats on their heads in some pictures and their fingers were halfway covered in some kind of black ink that tied it all together.

The pictures looked stunning, there was no denying Ella's amazing photography skills and creativity when it came to setting a perfect shoot, but the one that had fucked with him the most was one where Ella seemed to have Bre's hand around her neck.

In the picture Ella was laying on the grass, surrounded by black candles lit alive and pages that displayed weird imagery. She was staring at the camera whilst Breana's arm seemed to rest between her boobs so her hand came to wrap around Ella's neck—her pointer finger was lifted and pressing on Ella's bottom lip. The red lighting setting the mood even more.

When Alex saw that as he unlocked his phone and scrolled through instagram, he choked on his coffee. The liquid splattered all over the kitchen counter as he struggled to set the mug down before finding a napkin to clean everything up.

It was like something ignited inside of him, something that he'd tried so hard not to let catch a single spark after coming back from California.

He'd spent a good fifteen minutes staring at the pictures, his eyes stuck on Ella, making him wonder why she wasn't in front of the camera more often. She was meant to be the focus of the frames. He could prove it with that singular picture.

His mind obsessed over how much he wanted to take Breana's place in the pictures, especially that one. He wanted to have her underneath him like that, at his mercy with his hand around her throat—completely surrendered to him.

It was Nick's knock on his door that startled him back to reality, he quickly dropped his empty mug in the sink and locked his phone before opening the door and letting the bassist in. He told him he'd go for a quick piss before they left.

When he got to the bathroom he could only think of the pictures, he had to splash his face multiple times to get the thoughts out of his head. Get a fucking grip mate! He told himself as he tapped his cheeks repeatedly. He sighed, he was going to go mad.

Later that day, when he was too many tequila shots in after a football game they'd been watching had finished in a tense round of penalties, Alex found himself unconsciously scrolling through Instagram and looking for Ella's page.

He found a new picture posted: Breana and Ella dressed in the witch costumes and with cocktails in hand. Bre was helping Ella light up her cigarette with her own that was sticking out from between her teeth.

Alex groaned as he scrolled back down to find the picture he couldn't stop thinking about, only the alcohol loosening his senses up enough to feel his dick twitch in his pants the second he laid his eyes on it.

Fucking hell...

The next night, he remembered being in the kitchen making some popcorn for him and Arielle to snack on while watching movies when he stumbled across yet another picture of her halloween celebrations.

It was a mirror picture this time, taken by Breana who seemed to be dressed as the opposite to her best friend—a regular angel, dressed in all white. In comparison, Ella was wearing nothing but a black corset and a garter belt underneath holding up her sheer thigh high stockings, on her back were a pair of black angel wings that completed her costume. Her long black hair fell in waves over her shoulders but not hiding the swell of her breasts that were on full show thanks to the tightness of her corset.

He cursed under his breath feeling incredibly flustered at the sight, the insistent beeping of the microwave was disrupting his efforts to gather himself. He poured the popcorn in a bowl and hastily made his way back to his room. The movie wasn't even fifteen minutes in when he had pounced on his girlfriend in search of some relief, and he was glad to feel her reciprocation. He'd sighed when he had finished, relishing in the dissipation of his pent up frustration.

That only lasted for a day because he was once again drowning in filthy thoughts about Ella. He was tipsy, dressed as a bloody washing machine to match his girlfriend's costume as Florence—it had been his idea to make the pun work as a costume, Florence and the (washing) Machine—, when he'd gone out for a cigarette and scrolled through social media without even being focused on it. He'd just wanted to distract himself from the noise of the party he was in but the picture Ella had posted only ten minutes before shook his ground.

He hated it because Julian was in it dressed as Hugh Hefner, holding Ella's waist tightly and smiling brightly, yet he fucking loved it because she looked stunning. Playboy bunny, of course she had to dress up as one.

Her legs on full show, only covered by sheer black stockings, the bodice she was wearing hugged her curves perfectly, cuffs on her wrist, a tuxedo collar with a bow tie around her neck, and the bunny ears perched on top of her head. But what made him gasp for air was the fluffy tail on her ass, she just looked so fucking irresistible he almost ran to the bathroom to alleviate himself.

He'd left the party relatively early with Arielle, after she just couldn't wait any longer to get home from all the things he was whispering in her ear. He'd been eager to start it all the second they walked through the front door of his flat, hands working as fast as they could because he could feel the thought of Ella chasing him as he got off with Arielle.

It was like she was haunting his every thought.

Not even after their activities had he been able to catch sleep. Arielle was spent, softly snoring beside him but he just couldn't rest. He got up and hid in the bathroom, his phone clutched in his hand to succumb to temptation, to the thought of her.

He had taken a screenshot of the picture, cropping Julian fast before he could do anything else. He'd tried his hardest to stay as quiet as possible as his fist pumped his hard cock, shaky breaths leaving him with each stroke to the sight of Ella in that damn costume.

He thought how he'd not be able to wait much to fuck her in it, he was sure that if he was with her that night he'd have her bent over the kitchen counter the second they got home. His hand print would certainly be marked on her ass by the end of the night and her neck littered with love bites because there was nothing he wanted to do more than to mark that pretty neck up as he pounded into her from behind.

The thought of his hips rocking against hers was more than enough to tip him over the end, imagining he was letting his cum drip all over her ass and her lower back. What a sight that would be.

He felt calmer after that, but as he cleaned up he started to grow restless. What the fuck are you doing? He asked himself, looking at his reflection in the mirror, he was disappointed in himself for having just wanked to a picture of Ella for the second time, but mostly because the satisfaction was stronger than his disappointment. He made sure to delete the screenshot from his phone before he exited the bathroom, the last thing he needed was his girlfriend finding out he was cumming to the thought of somebody else.

He thought then, when Halloween week was over and November claimed its very first week, it would be back to normal for him, as normal as it could be. She had been posting her usual pictures: shots of different parts of the city of Los Angeles, candids of strangers around her, pictures from her usual photoshoots which mostly caught Breana front and center of the camera. His innocent scrolls through Instagram were just that, innocent and appreciating of her talent, but a fateful afternoon in the very middle of the month had him cursing into the air.

She looked drenched, head to toe, but only wearing a two-piece lingerie set that made his eyes roll back into his head. He groaned as he started getting hard in his sweatpants. She had suspenders that clasped on the top of her knickers and those thigh high stockings that looked marvelous on her. Her legs looked longer with the stilettos she had on and the oversized blazer that was hanging off her shoulders somehow made her look hotter. She had him in shambles.

'He says I'm his muse' she'd captioned it and Alex wished he could tell her she was his too. Despite wanting to punch Julian for having Ella, he mentally thanked him for such a stunning picture of her.

That had been the third time he'd made a mess in the bathroom to the thought of her, this time in the shower just like the first time and letting himself make as much noise as he wanted to since he was home alone. He was afraid of letting himself moan Ella's name, wary of the things that would unravel but when it fell from his lips as he came, he'd never felt something sound more right in his life.

He should've really listened to himself back then and stopped himself from moaning her name because by the last month of the year, he'd lost count of how many times he'd come undone while chanting her name. The walls echoing her name back to him every time he needed relief, which was almost every time she posted.

To a picture of her naked silhouette on the beach against the golden light casted by the dying sun. A picture Julian had taken of her naked in bed, the sheets barely covering her body. A picture Breana had taken of her sucking her middle finger staring at the camera, her hollowed cheeks on perfect show. A picture just centered on her tits which were barely covered by the two glasses of vodka cranberry she had, one on each hand and over her nipples.

He had lost count of how many times he had screenshotted and deleted pictures from his phone to not get caught. He found himself looking through her instagram more times than not. It was bad, he was down bad.

It had been Matt who had caught onto him, it only had taken him a few times to catch up onto his pattern.

The first time had been when they had all been over at Alex's to watch an American football match they had been anticipating, that's why it had been so weird to Matt when Alex stood up and left in the middle of a play that was gonna end up in a definite touchdown for the team they were rooting for.

Alex had gotten a notification on his phone, opened Instagram only to find a picture that had made him choke on the sip of beer he'd taken. He tried to put his phone down and watch the game but his eyes were almost glued to the picture Ella had just posted.

It was her in front of the camera with her boyfriend behind her, holding her bare tits for her. His hands covered her breasts from the camera as she glared at it with a threatening stare. Her red lips were enticing with a lit up cigarette hanging from them. 'Bras are overrated'. He was embarrassed of how fast he'd liked the picture, considering unliking it to maintain his reputation intact but it was too late, Ella probably had already gotten the notification about it.

He was quick to just up and leave, hearing the commentator's talk in the background about how that play was decisive for the future of the team in the season on the road to the Superbowl. He couldn't be arsed about the fucking game anymore, not when his jeans grew painfully constricting by the second, the longer that he stared at the picture.

He made sure to close both his bedroom door and his ensuite door, groaning in pleasure as his fingers closed around his cock. He thought about himself holding her that way, the way he would pinch her nipples, play with them, twist them around, knead her tits and mark them up until she was cuming underneath him. His thoughts only focused on how much he'd love to make her lose herself entirely just by him playing with her breasts.

His movements were fast, trying to picture her moaning—just like he always did. 'What a privilege must it be to hear those pretty sounds' that was a thought that permanently stayed in his head and that time it wasn't the exception. He'd want to explore every inch of her skin, see which spot in her neck would have her squirming around and whining for him not to stop.

He could almost hear her begging him to suck harder, to not stop.

"Fuck– Ella–" his words sounded strangled as he came.

Five minutes was the time he'd taken and the time it had taken the game to almost finish. There were only thirty seconds on the clock and it was the last quarter of the game. It was good that his team was winning by seven points or else he'd actually be disappointed to see them leave.

Matt frowned at him, "Where'd you go?"

"Had to use the toilet." The singer replied way too quickly and aggressively.

The drummer knew instantly he was lying, Nick and Jamie noticed too but they were too invested in the game to care. But Matt was nosey so he kept his gaze on his best mate as if that would give him the truth, but it didn't.

Alex ignored him completely, keeping his eyes on the television screen and not once reciprocating the stare. Matt hummed, intrigued. He was sure he'd find out what had happened eventually.

Matt's eyes went back to the end of the game and when it was over they celebrated their team's victory by four points. Alex offered to bring them all new bottles of beer and once he was gone, the drummer pulled out his phone to pass the time.

He had a few notifications piled up, the one about Ella's new picture having been posted only 7 minutes before was there below a few new texts he'd gotten from Breana. He was quick to answer to his girlfriend, not being able to connect the dots about Alex's behavior.

A few days later, when they were all at Nick's, Matt had caught Alex being weird again. Only this time he had a certain idea of what could be happening.

Kelly and Katie had been going on about the wedding planning and how they had found a lovely florist and now they needed to start looking for the bridesmaids dresses and Kelly's wedding dress. Matt had joked about how Nick would be getting a quick day to shop for his tux and then they'd put all of their focus on the stag party.

The sizzle of the wood burning on the fireplace was loud but not enough to overpower their laughter, Alex almost missed the buzzing in his pocket.

He had been talking to his girlfriend, as she was coming back to London to spend the holidays with him and his family. He was nervous but excited, mostly excited—to have her back and see if she could cure his fogged up brain which had been claimed by Ella in the past three months.

Not even their raunchy phone calls would take the multiple images of Ella he had in his head and he was starting to feel bad. He could only hope that being able to have Arielle back beside him would sweep the thoughts away.

She had been texting him her flight information, going on and on about how nervous she was to spend the holidays with Penny and David, to which he had been telling her it would be alright. His parents had always loved having his girlfriends over when it was holiday season, and they both really liked her. It would be alright.

He had expected another 'won't I be bothering you all?' or maybe a 'how many presents should I take?' when he pulled out his phone from his pocket but he'd gotten that notification, the one that was his doom and blessing at the same time.

'Ella Hayes just posted a picture'

He sighed, bringing the brightness down on his phone so no one around him could catch what he was seeing. It wasn't like they could, he was sitting in a chair in the corner of the living room, barely interacting with anyone other than the moments he'd join them all in laughter. They knew he was texting his girlfriend so they weren't asking about it, Matt had already teased the information out of him earlier.

Alex stood up and absentmindedly asked anyone if they wanted a refill, to which only Jamie and Matt asked for another bottle of beer.

He nodded before scurrying away to the hallway that would take him to the kitchen. When he was halfway through it, he opened the app and found himself at a loss of words at the sight.

He set his empty bottle on top of the kitchen island and looked up at the ceiling almost like asking someone up there for help. He rubbed his face with his left hand, knowing what was going to happen. There was not even time for him to double think it, or feel too embarrassed about it because with another look at what she had posted, he was gone down the rabbit hole she sent him to.

It was Ella's car—he could see the mirrorball with the cowboy hat hanging from the rearview mirror—and it had the door open. Ella was seated on the passenger seat, her long legs stretched so that her stiletto-clad feet were resting on the windowsill of the door.

All he could see was her legs, her long tan legs and he was gone. He couldn't not do it.

He didn't even hesitate to exit the kitchen and walk further down the hallway into the guest bathroom.

He cussed under his breath staring at the picture like it could come alive. He could see how the leather skirt she was wearing was barely covering her so the bottom of her ass was on show and pressed over the seat.

Feral. He felt like he was going feral.

He had thought about kissing up her legs, marking them up from her ankles all the way up to her inner thighs. If he thought hard enough, he could hear her panting as he got closer to her heat. He came so fast just thinking about the ways he'd edge her and how good she could sound begging him to help her like she needed to. She'd taste so sweet, he was sure and his mouth found itself dry at the thought of tasting her.

He'd had to bite his lip to not make noise, his insides hurt at the fact that he couldn't call out her name, but he'd rather not be caught. He didn't care if he had taken too long to make his friends wonder what he was doing, he could only think about how good that had felt.

He made sure to check himself so it wasn't obvious, the flush on his cheeks could be given to his drinking so he didn't think much about it.

The people in the living room finally heard the opening of the fridge and the clinking of the bottles as Alex made his way back to them.

"Took you long enough," joked Jamie as he was handed his bottle. "Cheers mate."

Matt was handed his and he couldn't help but interrogate his friend who had a pretty elated look on his face. "Where did you go?"

Alex panicked, shrugging his shoulders. "Erm... Arielle. I was talking to Arielle."

The singer's voice was trying to sound firm but he knew him like the back of his hand. So Matt just nodded, his brows still furrowed in confusion, "Arielle... Right." He knew that face, he had it himself every time after he'd call Breana late at night and she'd dirty talk him into orgasm. Alex had just gotten off. Dirty fucker, thought Matt.

A few minutes went by, when Matt's phone pinged. He unlocked it and cussed, "Jesus fucking Christ."

"What?" Nick asked with a chuckle.

Matt looked flustered and brought his beer bottle to his face for his cheeks to cool down. "Remind me to thank Ella tomorrow. Holy fuck."

Alex tensed, there was no way he was talking like that about Ella's picture surely.

His questions were answered when Kelly asked him further, "Why?"

The drummer stood up and handed her his phone, "She takes the best pictures of Bre, I swear."

Alex let go of the breath he had been holding, Fuck, that was close.

Kelly whistled lowly, "Lucky man, Helders. She's fucking fit."

Matt smiled proudly, "I know, I know."

The phone was passed around and Katie gasped, "When am I meeting Ella? I want my pictures taken like that, fucking hell."

When the phone reached Alex's hand, he nodded agreeing with everyone else. Bre was leaning back on a windowsill, her head thrown back so it wasn't captured on the frame; the room completely dark but the golden hour lighting bathing her body which was covered only by a white lingerie set. "You should go to LA with us next year, Ella takes the best pictures."

The rest of the lads agreed, and Jamie further suggested Katie joining them in LA as Alex handed Matt back his phone.

The singer's peace was interrupted when Matt, a few seconds later, coughed as he'd choked on the mouthful of beer he'd taken.

Everyone asked him if he was okay as he continued to cough, "Fucks sake." He cursed, trying to get oxygen back into his lungs. "I cannot believe it's the Ella we know that keeps posting these pictures."

Kelly had heard loads about Ella so she was intrigued to see, she asked to grab Matt's phone and he handed it to her easily. He looked at Alex, who caught his gaze but averted it quickly—Matt had clearly seen his like on the picture, a picture which had only been posted some minutes before when he was 'talking to Arielle'.

"That's hot," Kelly said quickly, making Nick laugh at her bluntness, "What? She is!" She then turned the phone to show Katie and Jamie, "Are you gonna tell me that's not hot?"

"Fuck yes, it is." Agreed Katie instantly.

Matt encouraged them to look at the rest of her pictures then, remembering she had posted some that had left him wondering if it was really the Ellie he knew. "You should look at some of her other pictures, they are insane considering how shy she used to always be."

And that's how Kelly and Katie had started scrolling through her pictures and marveling over them.

"This is Ella? The one that went to Vegas with yous and Bre?" Had asked Kelly, completely at loss for words.

She remembered how coy she had been when they talked on the phone during that trip, after the boys had found out about her and Nick's engagement.

Matt nodded with a smirk, "Yep, that's her."

Jamie quickly added, "She's gotten with this lad, and now she's just her filthy self in the open. Good for her actually, he's fit, nice lad."

"Oooo," wondered Katie, "Are there pictures of him?"

Matt cackled, "Yeah, he makes a few appearances on her page."

When they found one they gasped, "Fucking hell!" Katie grabbed Jamie's arm for him to see, he didn't have social media so she was sure he hadn't seen any of the pictures.

It was a picture of them on a bike by the beach, she was in a bikini and he was shirtless. They looked incredibly good together, like the protagonists of a movie. Jamie smiled at it, they looked so happy. He was so happy for Ella.

"They look good together, don't they?" the guitarist asked his girlfriend, who was almost drooling.

"They're both fucking fit! Are you joking?" Katie exclaimed.

Alex wanted to leave the room, he didn't want to start thinking about those two together once again. Not when he had just done that to her latest picture a few minutes before.

"Right, Al?" He only managed to hear from Matt.

He had gotten lost in the thought of Ella, again. "Sorry, what?"

"I said that they make a great couple." Matt wanted to push his buttons, just to see if he'd break.

Alex smiled, it was so forced that Katie and Kelly looked at Matt searching for answers about his distaste for them. The drummer only smirked harder and then turned back to stare at his friend, wanting to hear him say it.

"They are. Very good couple." The singer agreed, painfully.

And right then, Matt started narrating the fake proposal to Kelly and Katie. Alex rolled his eyes, letting his head hang, staring at his 'death ramps' ring as Matt's voice filled his ears.

But the moment that had fully confirmed Matt's suspicions was when they were over at Alex's a few days before New Year's Eve.

The lads were all sat in the living room, chatting about how Christmas had been. Everyone was really interrogating Alex about how it had gone for Arielle to spend Christmas over with him and his parents. The conversation had turned after about ten minutes, Jamie and Nick chatting loudly as Matt and Alex were caught up by their phones.

Alex was just distracted, his girlfriend was texting him from time to time as she'd gone out for the day with her friends. Matt was talking to Ella and Breana though, in the groupchat the three of them had.

Ellie - (28/12/2012 09:22) I have some scans that I just found and I've decided this will be my Christmas gift for you Matt.

Matt - (28/12/2012 09:24) You know where to send them, Ellie xx

Ellie - (28/12/2012 09:25) Please tell me you're not in public, i don't want to get blamed for your indecency.

Matt - (28/12/2012 09:25) I'm at Alex's. send them over x

Bre - (28/12/2012 09:26) He's gonna wank in his guest bathroom, how much do you wanna bet, Ellie?

Ellie - (28/12/2012 09:26) Not even gonna bet, he will do it. I'm 100% sure.

Matt - (28/12/2012 09:27) Am I really gonna be kept waiting? You've already talked Miss Hayes, email them.

Bre - (28/12/2012 09:28) Someone's eager...

Matt - (28/12/2012 09:28) Babe I miss you and Ella takes the best pictures of you, of course I am xxxx

Bre - (28/12/2012 09:29) Miss you more, honey. You're gonna love these, everything is red ;) xxxx

Ellie - (28/12/2012 09:31) Aw cute. Don't start sexting here please, I will like to not be traumatized x

Matt - (28/12/2012 09:32) Shut up, you're dirtier than me and Bre combined x

Ellie - (28/12/2012 09:34) And proud of it! (Just sent them, enjoy idiot xx)

Bre - (28/12/2012 09:34) Matt, don't leave yet, I'm trying to convince Ella to post at least one of the ones I took of her that day.

Matt - (28/12/2012 09:35) What are the options?

Bre - (28/12/2012 09:35) Just sent them to you.

Matt - (28/12/2012 09:37) Ellie, these are fucking amazing. At least post them to brag about Bre's photography skills. You're teaching her well xx

Bre - (28/12/2012 09:37) See!!!! That one where she's doing the strap of her heel is my favorite.

Ellie - (28/12/2012 09:38) But it's just been Christmas, maybe I should post something more festive?

Bre - (28/12/2012 09:38) Babe if you don't post it, I will go into your account and do it for you.

Matt - (28/12/2012 09:39) It'll be a christmas gift for people's wank banks. I'm sure julian will greatly appreciate it xx

Ellie - (28/12/2012 09:39) Wank banks?! Stop it.

Matt - (28/12/2012 09:39) Yeah your boyfriend's for a start. And I'm sure there's a long list after him.

Bre - (28/12/2012 09:40) Honey, I said convince her not keep her from it.

Ellie - (28/12/2012 09:42) Matt you're such an idiot, but okay I will post it only for you Bre. Any excuse to brag about my girl xxxxxx

Bre - (28/12/2012 09:42) Yay! love youuuu xxxxxxx

Matt - (28/12/2012 09:43) And for Julian???? Also stop trying to steal MY girlfriend.

Ellie - (28/12/2012 09:43) Hahaha sure for Julian too. And I will never xx

Bre - (28/12/2012 09:45) Okay Matt, you can go enjoy those pictures now xxxxx

Matt - (28/12/2012 09:45) Thanks hot stuff, talk to you later? xxxx

Bre - (28/12/2012 09:45) Definitely ;) xxx

Ellie - (28/12/2012 09:46) Disgusting, bye. Enjoy your wank.

Matt chuckled, he wanted to do nothing more than to leave and enjoy the scans Ella had sent him but he wanted to confirm his suspicions first.

He had joined Jamie and Nick's chat to appear distracted but he truly had all of his attention on Alex.

Five minutes later when both of their phones vibrated to the notification, Matt had to force himself to act as if he hadn't noticed.

Alex had frozen in his seat, his finger clicking on it and he sat up straighter when he opened the picture. He felt like Ella was purposely torturing him. A groan was stuck in his throat when the picture loaded.

Ella was leaning on the wall, wearing a red sheer robe. She was slightly bent down with her leg lifted upwards so she could do the strap of the heels she was wearing. Her hair was covering up her face, so her body was the main focus of the frame. The robe fell open on her legs so her 'Divine Feminine' tattoo was on full show and over it there was a garter band holding a dagger to her thigh.

'Femme fatale, taken by my favorite girl @breanamcdow xxxx'

He was trying to play it cool, Matt would give him that. But he only held up for two minutes before he excused himself saying, "Erm, I'm gonna go phone Arielle." He pointed behind him in the direction of his room as he stood up, he looked absolutely flustered.

The drummer wanted to laugh, and his other two friends noticed. They asked him what was happening, and he just dismissed them saying it was nothing. Internally he was laughing his ass off, Alex was still so fucked up over Ella—he found it comical.

He couldn't even let it go for the time being until Arielle would come back, because she was staying over at her friend's.

He was cursing as he moved around, locking both doors he'd gone through. It was like a routine by then, but it didn't feel like it. Lately, cumming to Ella's pictures felt more rewarding than fucking his girlfriend and it was killing him inside.

The fact that he couldn't even find pleasure in someone else, someone he should be, haunted him.

It was hard to recall ever being this bent out of shape by someone. He had never been this bewitched by a person he hadn't even gotten to properly kiss. He had loved before but whatever he was feeling now burnt.

He was branded by the thought of her.

When he'd come back, fifteen minutes later, Matt was elated. He knew it, he fucking knew it. The look on Alex's face was almost screaming it out loud for everyone to know.

Matt was intrigued, the question of how many times had he done that popping into the forefront of his brain. And if he wanted to know the answer, it was too many times. So many that Alex had lost count, so many that when he fucked his girlfriend saying her name felt utterly wrong—as if every bit of him belonged to Ella instead of Arielle.

He was frustrated to say the least. In not finding any comfort in the person he was supposed to, and he used to find it in Arielle but that was before he had seen Ella again.

She had come back into his life with a curse. He was sure she unknowingly had put him under a spell.

As the days passed, he had forced himself to try. To try really hard.

Try being the key word.

After New Year's day, when he'd woken up to a text from Ella wishing him a lovely new year and telling him she couldn't wait to have them all back, he had almost folded. Almost. And he was relieved by the fact that he could feel he could hold back a little bit longer, if he focused enough on not being affected by her.

But then as the first week of the year came to an end, and they only had a week left to go back to LA, Ella posted something that completely unleashed him.

She had gotten a new tattoo, a hand tattoo. 'Pure Desire' it read in big cursive letters in the middle of the top of her right hand.

The picture was what had made him let out a rough groan from the deepest pit of his chest.

She had her freshly tattooed hand around Julian's neck, her fingers tight around his throat and the tattoo on perfect focus in the middle of the frame.

'What a pretty little necklace'

Alex absolutely lost himself that night.

When Arielle came back, only twenty minutes later, he kissed her passionately. Arielle had moaned into his mouth filled with joy at the pleasant surprise. She'd dropped her bags on the floor and worked quickly on the buttons of his shirt, leaving his chest on show for her when the fabric dropped next to her purse.

They had moved fast to the bedroom, Alex kissing and bruising every bit of her neck and chest after they got on the bed. Arielle brought his face back up to kiss him fiercely before they could go on further, his hands worked on freeing her from her clothes trying his hardest to not interrupt the kiss, which was barely a proper one as their teeth clashed and their mouths hung open to let out their shaky breaths caused by the friction of their hips rocking against each others'.

Alex worked on automatic pilot, quickly undressing himself and putting a condom on. He grabbed his dick and teased her entrance, Arielle clung to his shoulders with her nails digging on his back while she moaned into his ear. He cursed, as he wasn't able to hold back any longer.

He filled her up completely in one swift motion, Arielle's head thrown back in pleasure as he bottomed out. He used to love seeing her falling apart under him from the very first moment he slid inside of her but now the view wasn't doing much for him. His brain kept asking for one person, one who was an ocean away.

He felt so disappointed that he gave into his thoughts so easily, letting his brain become clouded by the fantasy of it being Ella in his bed. He swore he opened his eyes back up and it was her. Ella, under him, cupping his jaw and begging him to go faster.

And who was he to deny her of anything?

Alex picked up the pace, grabbing one of Ella's thighs to lift her leg over his shoulder, and he felt himself grow harder inside her when a loud whine came out of her mouth.

She sounded so sweet, just like she always had. He left a trail of open mouth kisses from her chin down to the valley of her breasts, he used his tongue to tease her nipples. Sucking bruises around them, softly biting them to make her moan louder.

Ella lifted her hand to his mouth and made him suck her fingers, his saliva slowly dripping down her digits which were then quickly pressed to her clit. She started rubbing it in soft motions but when he brought his own hand up to make her rub harder on it, she started feeling herself nearing over the edge of her orgasm.

He felt her clenching harder as his pace sped up and to the sound of their skin slapping, their curses, their moans, joined the thud of the headboard hitting the wall. He groaned into her ear as he felt himself being milked by the tightness of her walls.

It only took his "Cum for me, darling." for Ella to give into the heavy pleasure and come undone. Her fingers tangled in his hair as her back arched and she trembled under him in a powerful orgasm, he felt himself spilling into the condom—his thrusts faltered and lost rhythm as he came.

He cursed into her ear, "Fucking hell," groaning as he rode out their orgasms. He sighed completely overcome in pleasure, "Ell–," he started but as he opened his eyes and saw Arielle looking completely blissed out under him, he felt himself wanting to be sick. "Arielle," he was quick to change and she giggled.

She fucking giggled under him, way too distracted by the euphoria of her orgasm to even catch his mortified expression.

Arielle opened her eyes, holding his face and pressing multiple kisses to his lips. "I love you," she said, and he felt his heart dropping. He only hummed and stood up.

He didn't feel anything at all when he pulled out of her. Not when he went to the bathroom and discarded the condom. He looked at himself in the mirror and wanted to scream. He could not do this to Arielle any longer, she deserved better than whatever the fuck the situation had turned into.

He grabbed a cloth to clean her up, at least he would be nice to her before letting her go. There was no way he could continue the relationship if he knew his heart was set on someone else. He just couldn't.

He let her cuddle into him, as if he wasn't dying inside from disappointment in himself. She was on cloud nine, that had been the best sex they'd had in a while. She'd thought, what a wonderful way to start the new year.

If she had only known.

The next morning he had felt compelled to make some breakfast, he wanted to let her down easy—as if it had been a one night stand and not a relationship that had gone on for seven months.

She was eating the omelet he'd made, sipping on her coffee happily when he'd turned back from the stove, and he'd looked at her with a frown. It was the second time he'd actually looked at her that whole morning.

"Arielle, I, erm–," he started, not even having the correct words to say what he wanted to say, "I don't think this is working anymore."

She had snorted, waiting for the punchline of his joke but when she was met with absolute silence, her eyes jumped back on him. "What?"

"I, erm, I don't think we should be together anymore."

A loud scoff came from her, what the fuck? "I don't get it..."

He frowned even harder, was there another way to interpret what he had just said? There was no way he couldn't have been clearer.

"I don't think we should keep this relationship going." Alex repeated and he felt so heartless, he could see the more he repeated it, the more her heart was taking a hit.

"Stop," Arielle pleaded. "I fucking get what you said, but why?" She sounded so desperate to find sense in what was happening. It all felt like a fever dream.

He had no clue what to say, "It's me." He plainly added, not wanting to use the cringe phrase that worked oh so perfectly well for the situation.

Arielle let out a humorless laugh, "What the fuck was last night then? Did you know you were doing this? You wanted to get one last fuck out of me?" Her words were poisonous, trying to cause him at least half of the hurt he was causing her.

But despite her pushing to get something out of him, the singer could only let his face fall. "No, I didn't. I–" He felt bad for her, it truly was entirely his fault but if he admitted what was truly happening, he knew Arielle could blame Ella and he couldn't have that happen. Not when Ella hadn't done anything wrong. "I'm so sorry, Arielle. I really am."

She groaned frustrated, the fork dropping on the middle of the plate made him wince, just as the screeching of the chair she was sitting on did.

She'd rushed to get dressed, pack all of her shit up and leave his place. She tried her hardest to do it all quickly but to not forget a thing, she didn't want to see him for a while.

When she was done, about an hour later, Alex was nowhere to be seen.

"Coward." The model muttered as she walked through the door.

When Arielle got outside, leaving the building in which he lived that she planned to never see again, she waited for a taxi she'd called. What she hadn't noticed was Alex walking back to his place, a couple blocks away, seeing her there standing under the gloomy sky.

He felt like such a shitty person, even more so when she dropped her case in the boot of the cab and got into the backseat with a haste. He saw her wiping her cheeks before closing the door. The car drove by and he didn't even look at it, he just walked back home with his gaze on the pavement and a cigarette in between his lips.

When Alex made it through his front door again, it felt like something in the air had changed. He felt free for a change, like his heart could leap in his chest without a trace of guilt.

But later that day, when Breana posted a picture of Julian and Ella to her own page, he felt the sharpness of a needle poke his chest. Seeing them happily dancing under the streetlights had his heart twisting with hurt.

The heartache he got from seeing her happy with somebody else was only stronger now that he was alone.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Chapter Text

It was the start of the second week of the year and Matt had just arrived in Los Angeles. Ella had picked Breana up early to go and pick him up from the airport, and she had acted like the couple's reunion hadn't made her tear up. She truly loved them both so much, even if they were a multiplied menace together.

The three went to have breakfast, with Julian joining them shortly after they had been seated. It was a cute little bakery that had some of the best pastries and coffee Ella had ever had, she went there so often that she was recognized by the staff.

"So how were the holidays?" Ella let her cup of tea rest on the table softly to give the drummer her whole attention, hoping to hear only wonderful things about the holiday season in his hometown.

Matt just shrugged, knowing it had been good but like usual, "Really good, nothing too interesting. Got to spend time with my mum and dad, the lads..." But he trailed off, remembering his grand discovery. "Well..." He started with bubbling excitement but when he realized Julian was there, and Ella was very much not single, he decided against telling her. It would only bring trouble. "No, yeah, nothing interesting."

Ella chuckled, sarcastically replying, "Don't sound so sure there."

"Sorry, I thought something worth telling had happened but it's nothing." It was something, but he just couldn't say it. It was a bad idea. "Hope you spoiled this one for me during the holidays." Matt was quick to change the subject, hugging his girlfriend into his side.

Ella smirked, "Surely, I did. I'm sure Julian got a bit jealous over how much time I was spending with her rather than with him."

"These two right?" Matt asked jokingly, with a facial expression that screamed 'can you believe them?'

Julian shook his head, "They're unbelievable."

"Don't go complaining much, most of the time we spend together is when we take those pictures you two love so much." Bre fought, raising her finger up in the air and pointing at both the men accusingly.

Matt lifted his hands up, "Right, right."

Ella wanted to taunt the drummer some more so she added, "Don't show him the pictures from the last session we had, make him beg for them."

"Jesus Christ," Matt scoffed playfully, "Does she always have you begging, mate?"

Ella turned her gaze to Julian, scowling at him. "You will not disclose that information."

"I won't," Julian agreed but then he turned to Matt and mouthed, "Sometimes."

Bre smirked and Matt laughed, Ella smacked Julian's hand which was resting on top of her thigh. The two boys were nothing but trouble.

The next seven days had been just like that, pure banter coming from the drummer, mainly targeted at Ella. He just couldn't hold himself back from teasing her, it was funny seeing her glaring at him all annoyed.

Ella had spent most of the days third wheeling for Bre and Matt, but she truly didn't mind. Julian had started the year with full force, work taking him away most of the week but she wouldn't complain, not when he enjoyed what he did so much and he still made sure to text her sweet things and updates about his whereabouts throughout the day. He had promised her to spend the weekends he had free with her and that's exactly what they had done the weekend before the rest of the band was due to arrive.

When Monday morning arrived, she was ecstatic to go back into the rhythm of things at the studio but much more excited to have her friends back. She was determined to start the year well, having fully let go of any grudges she had from her past with Alex and with her mind set on having things be the way they had been before, when they first had met.

She gave them all a tight hug when she had gotten to Rancho de la Luna.

"How's everything been?" Ella asked them all, and they all replied positively with smiles on their faces. They were brief at telling her how the holidays had been but it all sounded so nice, she was happy for them.

She'd smiled back at them and, once inside, they all rolled right back into the groove of things.

About three hours into the time they'd been there, James had gotten sent the final version of a song they'd done in their last week in LA. They had all agreed in wanting to hear it so James plugged his laptop to the audio system and played it.

The drums quickly drowned the room and then joined the bass which made the room vibrate, the guitar soon came after and Ella was already obsessed with the song.

She hadn't been prepared when Alex's sultry voice started singing, but hearing the first word be the name Arabella got her thinking about how this song was a love song for Arielle.

She cooed internally, thinking about how adorable Alex was for that.

When it got to the chorus, she'd gotten excited over hearing their own version of the 'War Pigs' guitar riff. She'd started beaming at the music she was listening to.

She was slightly confused about the first line of the second verse, feeling oddly personally addressed but it just had to be her brain trying to make shit about herself. She even ignored the fact that the chorus lyrics reminded her of when they were driving down San Diego's coast on the way to that restaurant they visited after Belmont Park.

But when the bridge started and it brought back those memories with each line, she couldn't help her smile faltering, falling down until it completely disappeared. She couldn't believe what she had just heard, her thoughts too scattered to even gush over the stunning guitar solo that was bouncing off the walls by the end.

Ella only snapped back to reality when the last chord of the guitar died inside the room and the lads started eagerly talking about the song and how it had ended up sounding. She was too stunned to speak, having trouble letting the words roll off her tongue when Jamie asked her if she'd liked it.

Forcing herself to smile, Ella nodded, "Oh, yeah, you absolutely killed that Black Sabbath guitar riff." Her gaze was swimming around the room but trying her hardest to keep it from falling on Alex's. "What's the name of this one?" She asked just to make sure.

"Arabella." Jamie replied with a soft grin and she could only nod.

She was so confused, her steps slow as she went back to the settee and focused again on replying to emails but as the minutes passed and the letters on the screen turned into one single blob of unreadable imagery, she decided she needed a breather.

She grabbed her cigarettes and lighter and exited the place. Her shaky legs were barely able to carry her up to where her bike was parked. She plopped down on it, sighing with her head still scrambled. What the fuck? The whiplash she'd gotten from that song was enough to make her want to take the day off.

So much for wanting things to go back to normal.

She sat there, with the sun keeping her warm despite the chilly winds of January, smoking until she felt better. It was on her third cigarette that she had tried to turn the situation around in her head—Maybe he just wrote it a long while ago, she convinced herself and the more she said it, the more it became more factual.

She nodded as she threw the dying bud and stepped on it—It will be the only one about me, he's happy and in love with Arielle.

That's the one thought she kept on loop as she walked back in, going to the kitchen and pouring herself a shot of the studio's brand of tequila. She fucking needed it.

Ella was startled when she left the shot glass with a thud on the kitchen counter and Matt had seen her swallow the gulp of alcohol, "Oi!" He'd exclaimed, "We starting the party early today?" The clock showed a pitiful 12:23pm which made her sigh heavily—it was gonna be such a long day for her.

"Be my guest." Her voice didn't sound inviting at all as she poured a shot for her friend.

Matt frowned at her, "Well if you're gonna be the one starting the party, you should come alive a bit. Damn."

"Piss off." She muttered, no energy left at all to deal with Matt's teasing.

He snorted, "You hated the song that much?"

She shook her head, "No. It was... it was good, just–" She started, but she had to bite her tongue not to spill it out to Matt. "When did you record that one? After I was gone?"

He downed the alcohol without much of a reaction to the taste, "Yeah, we made it pretty quickly actually. I think it might be one of the best and fastest songs we've done for this record so far."

Ella hummed, not knowing what to do with that information. She just turned to the sink to wash the glass and then followed Matt back to the recording room.

When she'd walked through the door, it was like no one had realized how much the song had affected her. Alex was sitting in a chair with a guitar in his hand, next to James and Nick who were also in their own chairs but in front of the massive mixing console.

Their backs were facing her, and she was grateful for that—she was sure her every thought was written all over her face.

She knew she wasn't brave enough to ask Alex about it, to confront him or get any reasoning from him, so she just decided to ignore the whole situation. She had wanted the whole recording period to go smoothly and drama free, but she now knew there was never gonna be a dull moment as long as she was around the band.

Taking a deep breath she reminded herself of her plan of action, just ignore it. And just like that she forced herself to resume sorting through emails, hearing Alex mumbling along a melody he was playing on the guitar.

Isn't it hard to make up your mind

When you're losing and your fuse is fireside?

She heard them celebrate at the sudden composition of the lines, encouraging Alex to go over it again and see if he could come up with anything else. His brain was going a thousand miles per hour, trying to find the perfect words to rhyme for the first part of the verse he was coming up with.

After a few tries he knew which configuration of lines he'd liked better, settling for:

I'm not sure if I should show you what I've found

Has it gone for good, or is it coming back around?

Isn't it hard to make up your mind

When you're losing and your fuse is fireside?

James nodded eagerly, "That's it. That's it mate." he patted Alex's shoulder proudly, "Sounds like a good chorus actually, we can make it one."

Alex and Nick nodded, having worked with James so many times before meant that the band trusted him fully to take out the full potential of whatever they'd come up with.

That's how that day, Ella had gotten back home humming the melody of the song. She dropped her bag on her sofa and ran to her room to call Breana.

She'd told her all about it, trying her hardest not to mess up the order of the lyrics she could remember and asked the model if she was overreacting, to which Bre firmly said no, agreeing that it was something she'd freak out over too.

Breana had helped her settle adding, "He's a musician though, honey, they all do that. Don't be surprised if there's another one there about you."

Ella groaned, "I rather not. I hope Arielle doesn't even notice about this one." She stayed quiet for a few seconds before she whined in dismay, "Why did he have to go and record a song about me when he has a fucking girlfriend?!"

Breana giggled on the other side, "'Cause he's a man, babe."

Ella sighed, "Fucks sake."

"He could've been more discreet though, don't you think?" Bre added, amused. "He literally has your name in the title of it."

Ella whined like she was in pain, "Why are you making it worse?"

A hard laugh was what she got as a response, "And there's also some of Arielle's name there but that's purely to fool everyone."

Ella rubbed her temples, tired. "I just hope they scrap it from the final record, they told me they had recorded some more songs in London back then along with 'R U Mine?' and 'Electricity' so I'm crossing my fingers they do the same for this one."

"Hopefully, yeah." Her best friend agreed, "Just, don't lose your mind about this okay? If there's any trouble with his girlfriend, it's all his fault."

"I will try my hardest. The worst part is that the song is good..." She was truly in dismay but then she heard the muffled sound of Breana's doorbell through the phone and she laughed, knowing exactly who that was meant to be, "Right, have a fun night hun."

Bre giggled, the sound filled with joy, "I will. Love you! Bye!"

"Love you too, bye!"

The line died, and Ella sighed. What had she done in her past life to deserve this? She was so stressed about the whole thing, she was close to start pulling her hair out.

But then her phone rang and when she saw it was her boyfriend, she felt like she could escape the situation for a bit. Hearing Julian's voice was a breath of fresh air, and him telling her he was coming over was like everything had lifted off her shoulders.

What would she do without him?

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Julian having four days free to spend with Ella was the cure to it all. The next few days at the studio had gone by like a breeze when she knew she would be coming back home to him.

But the day she'd come back home from the studio to kiss him goodbye, since he was leaving for a week to work in San Francisco, it had all gone to shit.

Every bit of calmness that Julian had given her after the 'Arabella' situation was thrown out the window when none other than Arielle called her in despair.

"Hi Arielle! How are you?" Ella had asked her in a chipper tone but her whole face fell when she heard the model sniffling on the other side of the call.

"Hi Ellie, not that well to be completely honest."

Ella was completely confused, she wasn't close enough to Arielle to receive a phone call from her during a low moment but that didn't mean she wasn't going to be kind to her and help in any way if she could. "I'm so sorry, is everything okay? Anything I can do for you?"

"I was wondering if you knew anything–" Arielle started but her voice broke and Ella's heart hurt for her, "I saw you were with the guys at the studio already," She remembered the picture she'd posted the day before of the lads just doing their thing, scattered around in the studio.

Ella had no idea what this all was about but what she didn't expect was the model suddenly asking, "How's Alex?"

Her frown got impossibly deeper after that, "Alex? What do you–"

"We broke up." Arielle was quick to say like the words were burning her tongue, "Well, he broke up with me."

Ella pouted to herself, feeling a wave of sadness for the model but the confusion was still very much there because Alex seemed so okay at the studio. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Arielle. I had no idea. I don't think anyone knows... No one mentioned a thing at the studio."

Arielle covered a sob with her hand, heart breaking a bit more at seeing that apparently he hadn't told a single person about it, Matt had texted her earlier asking her if she was joining them anytime soon and that had been a cruel reminder of what had happened, hence why she had decided to call Ella.

"Right." She replied defeated, "I had hoped he'd told you about it, just so I could get some answers."

"What do you mean?" Ella's confusion grew every time Arielle said something else.

"It's just– He broke up with me out of nowhere, Ella." The model took a deep shaky breath and continued, "Can I tell you something in confidence? It's gonna be TMI but I–"

Ella nodded despite knowing Arielle couldn't see her, "'Course you can, it's okay."

But Ella wasn't prepared for what she would get in return, "I'm so sorry, this is so TMI but I'm just baffled," She started again as if she was giving Ella the chance to take it back but at the silence, she sighed, "The night before, Ella, I swear we had the best sex we'd had in months. He fucked me dumb, telling me how gorgeous I was over and over. He called me darling! He's never used that for me before, I–. Fuck, I'm just going crazy trying to understand this."

Ella was shocked. Not only to have to be hearing this but she truly wouldn't have suspected a thing from Alex's behavior—and she was sure the lads didn't know either because only a few days ago Jamie had made a joke and teased him about the singer's girlfriend to which Alex only had replied with a short chuckle.

She decided to ignore the details Arielle had given her, which weren't many but the fact that Alex had called Arielle darling for the first time in that moment had Ella shifting in her place uncomfortably.

"Arielle, I'm so sorry. I genuinely had no idea, he seemed so normal." She sighed, biting on her thumb. "Jamie mentioned you a few days ago, to tease him and he didn't say a thing. He just laughed and kept doing whatever he was doing."

"It's okay Ellie, I guess I will always wonder what happened..." The model sounded so defeated but she continued telling Ella what had happened that last day, "The next morning he made me breakfast and everything, and in the middle of it he just said he couldn't keep our relationship going. Just like that." A curt chuckle came from Arielle, "He almost said that 'it's not you, it's me' bullshit."

Ella winced, "Oh fuck that..."

Arielle could only hum in agreement and then remembered her poor timing, "Sorry Ella, I probably just interrupted something."

"No, no. Was about to go to bed. Don't you worry Ari, truly." Ella consoled her, "We could go out this weekend? To drink and dance it all away? Julian just left for work and I'll be alone for a week, I'm sure Bre will be down for a girls night." Yes, Alex was her friend but Arielle was one as well so Ella wasn't choosing any sides and if there was anything she could do to help Arielle feel better then she'd do it.

Arielle smiled, silent tears rolling down her cheeks at Ella's kindness. "I would yeah, just send me a text and I'll go wherever."

"Sure. Now go dry those tears hun, he doesn't deserve them."

Arielle giggled, wiping her cheeks. "Thank you, Ellie. Have a goodnight."

"You too Arielle, can't wait to hug you soon. Goodnight."

Fucking hell.

Ella had no idea what the fuck had just happened but she'd decide to ignore it for as long as she could. She needed to relax.

So she rolled a joint, and started smoking out in her backyard. In between puffs, she decided to call Breana and quickly tell her everything, also make sure she was in on going out with Arielle two days from then.

Needless to say, retelling everything had left her even more confused and she ignored the silence on Breana's side when she mentioned his use of the pet name for Arielle. In the back of her mind, Ella knew just what her best friend was thinking but she didn't want to give that another thought.

The next day, Ella had been extra observant, her eyes on Alex at all times and by the end of the day, she was fully intrigued.

She'd bitten her tongue all day, waiting for the perfect moment to bring it up but when they were all leaving and she hadn't had a chance to talk to him alone, she basically baited him into staying a bit longer before they left.

Ella asked him for a cigarette, knowing damn well that would make him stay to have one with her. Two minutes had passed of them smoking as they watched the sun die on the horizon, when she gained the courage to ask.

"How's Arielle? Haven't seen her in a while." In her mind it made more sense to go straight to the point, like ripping a bandaid.

What she hadn't expected is for him to hide behind an inquiry of his own, "How's Julian?"

She chuckled quietly to herself, someone's defensive. "He went to San Francisco yesterday night, he's doing a weeklong shoot over there for some city event." And then she turned to him with an eyebrow raised, challenging him to respond to her question.

Alex barely looked at her then, he was afraid that if he told Ella about his new relationship status while looking her in the eye he might beg with them for her to have him.

"We broke up." His statement was simple, not heartfelt at all—it sounded more like he said it fast to get it over and done with.

"Oh," She muttered, trying to contort her face in the best way so he didn't notice she already knew.

But Alex didn't even turn to look at her, he kept his gaze straight ahead of him and took a long drag of his cigarette.

"I'm sorry." She added, hating the suffocating silence.

The singer only shrugged though, "It's okay, just wasn't right anymore."

Her hum was low and quiet, Ella had no idea what to say. "Are you okay?"

He offered her a half smile, "Yeah, why?"

"I don't know, you just seem so normal. Do the guys know?"

"No, don't tell them." Alex silently begged her, "Matt's gonna try and set me up with someone, or worse he's gonna force me to go out on the pull– I can't be arsed."

Ella giggled, fully convinced Matt would. She offered her pinky finger, and Alex locked it with his—the 'death ramps' ring on her skin once again. "Promise."

When she was done with her cigarette, she discarded it on the ground. They hugged each other goodbye and he watched her as she left on her bike.

He shook his head, now that she knew he had no idea what to do with himself. Especially not when he still felt her pinky finger intertwined with his and his skin craved her at all times.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Alex had seen Arielle's post that weekend, the three girls with tequila shots in hand and flipping the camera off.

He had no idea how that had happened, if it had been something planned before he'd told Ella about the breakup or if Ella had called Arielle and taken her out because of it. But he didn't care much, as long as they'd had fun then it would be fine by him—he thought it was kind of Ella and Bre to take Arielle out to distract her after everything.

Ella knew Alex had seen it, the look on his face was enough to know but she was glad to see he seemed completely fine about it. Maybe even happy, as the singer asked her subtly if she'd had fun, she nodded with a smile and added "Trying to power through the hangover though."

That day had been quite calm, the lads had focused on giving a few modifications to some of the songs they had been making and putting on a queue to finish later. Of course Ella was recording the whole process, she'd left the camera on the end of the table they were all sitting by so the angle had the camera catching perfectly what they were all doing.

They had gone back to 'Fireside', trying to make the verses work with the melody they'd been creating and she had been watching it all unfold from her usual place on the settee so she managed to catch Matt instantly when he went to disturb the footage she was getting.

"Oi! Matthew!" She called out after the drummer had stuck his face right in front of the lenses of the recording device, "Stop fucking with the footage."

Jamie had cackled loudly as he turned to point at Ella, "You've just said 'oi', you're officially spending too much time with us."

"Only because I'm getting paid for it." Ella joked with a straight face.

"Same here." added James, making Alex laugh beside him.

His chuckles were contagious, making the rest of the room erupt in laughter. Ella loved moments like these, it was just pure bliss for everyone around.

The hours were going by and the guys had reached the point where they had exhausted their brains too much over finding the perfect placements for the verses in the song, so they moved on to talking about random shit.

Ella had gotten a call from Julian in the middle of Matt telling his childhood antics and how he'd fake being ill to skip school, so she excused herself to go outside. It hadn't been a long call, just about ten minutes since it was all her boyfriend had gotten of free time while working.

When she'd gone back to the room, it was all a frenzy. They were arguing so loud, she grimaced at the change of volume compared to the crickets softly building up a choir outside as the night fell.

"What is going on?" She couldn't even make up what it was that they were talking about.

"Ella, how many instruments can you play?" Nick asked quickly.

The question was so sudden, she automatically let out a confused, "Huh?"

The bassist sighed, he wanted to prove a point, "How many instruments can you play?"

"None," She blushed as it was embarrassing to admit in a room full of musicians.

Matt turned fast to the bassist, "See! Told you."

Nick shook his head, "No, c'mon, you gotta at least know one. Even if it's simple."

The PA stayed quiet under their attentive stares, thinking about how she'd only really played one instrument consistently at a point in her life. "Xylophone." She mumbled to herself, somehow that was even more embarrassing to her than saying she didn't know how to play a single instrument.

"What?" Jamie asked since he was the closest to her and not even him had been able to hear correctly.

She raised her volume enough for them to hear her, "The damn xylophone."

Matt had laughed out loud, whereas the rest of the band had smiled amused at her. She rolled her eyes at their reactions, the only one she liked at the moment was James who was smiling at her understanding how annoying they could be.

Nick turned back to Matt and brought their argument back up, "See! At least one."

Matt refused to accept his defeat, "Not agreeing with you until she plays it. She can say she knows but she might not."

Ella sighed exasperated, "Why would I lie dumbass? That'd be even worse. If you find me a glockenspiel then I'll play it for you, dick."

Matt stood up and went to find the percussion instrument not before telling her, "You're on it." as he walked past her.

Five minutes later, she was sitting in front of a coffee table where the thirty note glockenspiel rested. She had two little wooden mallets, one on each hand, and she started getting nervous under the gaze of all the boys.

"I feel like I'm back on fucking eight grade about to perform for father's day, Jesus Christ."

Matt was ready to take the piss out of her so he encouraged her, "Go on then."

She'd rolled her eyes before thinking back to her last few years in middle school and how she'd been assigned band as extracurriculars. She'd chosen the xylophone because she really hadn't want much of a challenge, it was enough that she'd had to be in band to start with.

So Ella hit the first note and after that E note reached her ears, it was like memory had completely taken over. She played 'Für Elise' smoothly and when she was done she flipped Matt off, "Whatever it was, Nick won."

The drummer waved her off like one waves an annoying mosquito, "But everyone knows how to play that song in whichever instrument they know."

She didn't say anything back to him, just grabbed the mallets back up and with a C note she started playing 'Fly Me to the Moon' by Sinatra. Right after she'd finished with the chorus of it, she started playing 'Take On Me' by A-ha and just to shut him up she finished her repertoire with 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen.

Ella remembered the endless days she'd practice that last song until she got it to perfection, her middle school self was really hard on herself—she still remained the same in that aspect.

Everyone but Matt started clapping making Ella blush, "Thank you, thank you." She took a small bow, "I cannot believe I still remember how to play those songs, haven't played since I started high school."

"Well she can actually play an instrument, so your argument is fucked Matt." Concluded Nick with a victorious smirk on his face.

The drummer rolled his eyes and proceeded to stand up, "Whatever, Ella might be able to but I stand my ground."

She was confused but, honestly, she didn't want to bring the whole thing back up so she decided to just stay with the curiosity. "Where'd you get this? So I can put it away." She asked Matt but before he could answer, Alex interrupted.

"Actually, can you help me?"

Ella set the mallets back on the table, "With what?"

"I feel like we should try and make a soft song," He looked for words to describe what he wanted to do, "Like a lullaby of sorts."

Ella slowly nodded, not so sure if she'd be much help but agreeing nonetheless, "Sure, yeah. Just... I never really composed anything so I'm gonna be hitting notes like a dickhead for a while until I manage to find a melody that sounds right."

Alex shrugged, "That's fine. Would you like to go to another room so you can do it in peace?" He subtly nodded towards Matt and Ella chuckled.

"Yes, please."

A few minutes later, Ella and Alex were settled in the keyboard room. She set the glockenspiel on the small table she was sitting in front of and Alex sat beside her with a Gibson J-45 on his lap.

She had no idea what to do first so she laughed embarrassed, hiding her face in her hands. "Alex what do I do?" Her giggles kept going as she felt her cheeks grow hot.

He laughed with her and started playing random chords to distract her, "Whatever you'd like, just go at it and when you play something you like try to write down the notes so you don't forget."

His journal was open then, in front of her with the pen he always used to write resting in the crease of the middle of the open book. The pages were blank and intimidating, she was so nervous for some reason and she didn't want to disappoint him so the pressure was even greater.

But after an hour, Ella found that making music with Alex was truly an easy smooth ride. He'd played different melodies, sometimes along with the random notes she was playing and when they'd fallen on a pattern that sounded beautiful, she gasped.

"No fucking way." She was truly blown away by the fact that she had been able to help in the making of something that sounded actually pretty.

He smiled proudly at her, "That was stunning. You remember the notes?"

She nodded eagerly, grabbing the pen with her right hand to start writing it down as she played it with her left hand slowly.

It was a tiny part, but it was a start and Alex seemed to really like it. Soon, Alex was playing away on the guitar like a door had been opened and the inspiration had just flooded out.

Alex raised his eyebrows expectantly when he was done with all he was coming up with, "That sound good?"

"Beautiful." She confirmed with a beaming grin on her face.

They went over it again and again, Ella timidly adding a few notes here and there which he always smiled and nodded to. She had a good sense of timing where to put them.

Ella listened to him attentively as he played the chorus again, "I think the bass coming on after the second chorus would lift it all up, maybe everyone could come in after it."

He had a thought, "Change it all, maybe to start a bridge..."

Ella nodded excitedly, that sounded great.

They went over it again, he was racking his brain trying to find anything that he wanted to sing about to such a slow-tempo song.

She'd seen times before how he mumbled as he played, trying to find the perfect words that fit the song, and how like that, slowly, the lines came to life.

On this occasion it wasn't different, the chorus being played by him over and over again as he formed sentences. He seemed to have settled for 'Mad sounds, in your ear. Make you get up and dance' and it sounded beautiful.

"What is it about?" She asked as he wrote the lyric in the journal, his handwriting contrasting against hers on the bottom of the page.

"Dunno yet." He stared at the words he'd just written, what did he want to write about?

"Sounds like the start of an ode to music."

His eyes went over the words again, seeing it in that light made sense. Maybe he'd try and make it go in that direction. "You're right, it does."

Ella smiled once again, feeling very much overjoyed at the new experience she'd just gone through. She was sad about the fact that she hadn't caught at least something on camera, having left it in the other room after the battery died earlier.

When they went back to where the rest of the band and James were, sipping on beer bottles as they chatted, her cheeks hurt from smiling. They showed them all what they'd come up with and Alex made sure they heard Ella's idea.

Matt had stood up and crushed Ella in a hug, "That sounds fucking lovely, welcome to the band Ellie." Her giggles filled the room as Matt squeezed her tighter and she tried to get away from him.

"Thanks but I'll leave that to y'all, I'm not a rockstar." Matt let go of her, and ruffled her hair just to annoy her. She shrieked as her hair came all over her face, she poked him in the ribs making him yelp so loud, it got a chesty laugh out of her.

Alex couldn't wipe the smile out of his face, nothing would. Not only had he gotten Ella to be part of this experience but she had enjoyed it, and seeing her genuinely happy was all he wanted. He'd have to get used to not having her with him in the way he wanted, as long as he had her as a friend then that'd have to be enough.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

The days had gone by fast—between songs getting written on and wiped off the whiteboard they had on the room now, demos getting sent and returned, Ross Orton joining James Ford in the production of some of the songs, days they'd stayed well past the time they had planned, spending weekends at different places of the city. The year was going incredibly well so far.

One afternoon of the very last week of January, they had found themselves rather bored and stuck. They had gone to a pub the night before and they'd been absolutely plastered before it was even two in the morning.

Ella vaguely remembered holding Breana's hair back as she heaved in the pub's bathroom from her attempt at taking consecutive shots of tequila.

So they were all wearing sunglasses indoors, the curtains were closed—but it wasn't doing much because they were pretty much see-through—, sitting in the worst positions on the settees.

"Shouldn't we have just taken the day off?" Jamie wondered with a groan, he had drank just enough but having to basically carry Nick out of the pub to the cab and out of the cab and to the hotel was what had exhausted him completely. "Not even James, nor Ross are coming today."

"It was already booked for us, mate." Replied Alex, his head thrown back and resting on the back of the settee.

Ella grimaced as she sat back straighter and reached for her bag, she smiled seeing the ziplock bag she'd brought with her. She didn't even know why she'd thought it would be the best idea to bring them to the studio but if there was a possibility of nursing their hangovers then she'd take it.

"Would these help?" She lifted the plastic bag in the air, it said 'sandwich bag' and it made her chuckle because inside there could be seen five thick spliffs waiting to be smoked.

No one really cared to see what it was. Ten in the morning was too early for them to want to be there, but when she moved the bag around in the air and opened it, the smell of weed hit them so suddenly that they instantly perked up.

Alex straightened up beside her, taking his sunglasses off and squinting to adjust to the light coming from outside. "What the fuck?"

Nick cleared his throat, "Didn't know you smoked."

"Don't be too surprised." She shrugged, getting her lighter and resting the ziplock bag on her lap, "University parties get you started quite easily..." She trailed off trying to figure out how it would work out, "Should we just pass it around or do each of you want your own?"

"Let's pass it around, so we can smoke for longer." Jamie said logically, he'd rather smoke slowly and throughout the day than finish the weed in fifteen minutes and then have to endure the day being sleepy and still hungover.

Ella lit up the first one, taking a long drag of it and relishing in the familiar feeling of the smoke in her throat. She let the smoke out and passed the spliff to Alex, who mirrored her actions.

By the time the second spliff was done, they were chatting about stupid things. They'd gotten hungry and seeing that it was past noon, they all settled in ordering McDonald's—there had been an overall consensus on how it was the best food to have while high.

They had basically smoked the whole day and when they had smoked the last two, consecutively, it was already nighttime. They were all outside stargazing, the blue of the night so piercing that the spheres of plasma contrasted brightly against it and let their presence known to anyone who could catch it.

For some reason she had started going on and on about everything she knew about galaxies, space and celestial objects. Surprisingly, the lads encouraged her to keep going which ended up in all of them agreeing on how, as kids, they thought that by 2013 they'd be driving flying cars and being able to buy lightsabers at the shops—even admitting that they'd thought time traveling would've been a thing already.

That's how they had ended up back in the recording room, completely determined on how they had to make a song about it all. She'd sat beside Alex, reading the things they'd all come up with and nodding like it was the best line ever written. Jamie was playing the guitar and Nick his bass, Matt patting his thighs as he analyzed what his friends were composing.

She wasn't sure what had happened afterwards as she woke up and found herself sleeping on the biggest settee of their usual recording room. Alex was sleeping on the one adjacent and Matt was snoring away on the floor, with a cushion under his head.

Her groan made the two men stir in their slumber. She grabbed her phone that was thrown in a corner of the room and saw that it was five in the morning. Her back was killing her, why the fuck hadn't we just taken a cab home? she wondered as she walked out to the bathroom.

From afar she saw Jamie sleeping peacefully on the settee in the keyboards room and Nick sleeping on the one by the kitchen.

She was grateful she had been way too hungover to actually do her makeup the day before so the smudge of her mascara was very minimal and she got rid of it easily by washing her face.

Once she was done, she went to the kitchen to make some coffee for everyone. She was drinking a glass of water when Nick's voice startled her.

"Good morning, why the fuck did we sleep here?" Since he'd just woken up, his voice was so much deeper than usual and it actually surprised her.

"I have no idea, I don't even remember at what time we fell asleep."

Nick sighed, rubbing his eyes and stood up slowly. "What time is it?"

"Like five twenty" She cringed, it was still dark out but the birds could be heard singing softly.

The bassist cussed and left to use the toilet. She poured herself and Nick a cup of coffee, it was piping hot as it had just been made in the coffee maker the studio had.

It took about half an hour for everyone to wake up, Matt being the last and the one who complained the most.

"Why would yous let me sleep on the fucking floor?" He said through his teeth, making an appearance in the kitchen.

Jamie scoffed, "I tried to get you on one of the settees but you ran back to the main room saying you had to add something to the song."

Ella remembered then that they had all made a song, "Oh my god... We made a song, didn't we?" They all nodded, sipping on their coffees. "Fuck, I don't even know if I wanna listen to it."

But as soon as they finished with their drinks and they had washed and dried it all, they went to the recording room to hear the demo. The bass was prominent in it, and the guitars complimented it perfectly. Alex's voice was slurred and it made them all laugh, but they quieted down at the guitar solo by the end of the recording.

"The guitars are fucking sick in this one." Ella said in appreciation, she was not expecting something actually that good when they had all been in the worst state.

Nick agreed, looping it back to hear the guitar solo once more. "Has b-side potential, to be fair."

They played it once more, hearing the lyrics more closely this time.

It's two thousand and thirteen all across the galaxy

It's two thousand and thirteen

So, baby, take a walk with me

Past flying cars and time machines

There's magic like you won't believe

Ella let the song reach its end to comment, "We are aware that the galaxy is far older, right? Like..." She paused to clear her dry throat, "It was only Jesus who was supposedly born two thousand and thirteen years ago, not the galaxy..."

Matt let out a loud sigh, "Ellie, we're not high anymore so stop nerding out."

"That's just common knowledge–" She argued.

"Ella." He replied sternly.

"Matthew J Helders the third," She said back in the same tone. "Shut. Up."

"Yes Matt, fuck off." Nick sided with Ella and Jamie repeated the same phrase to support the motion.

The drummer scoffed, "Why am I being bullied right now?"

"Because you deserve it." Alex replied this time.

Matt frowned, "I do not."

"I still remember you slandering Bre's favorite Fleetwood Mac record so if you want to keep your stunning girlfriend then shut up."

That had been the only reason why Matt stood quiet for a good ten seconds, and then he told her. "I can't stand you."

Ella gave him a cynical smile, "The feeling is mutual."

Jamie cackled at them, "You two are like fucking siblings arguing, I swear."

Before they could continue bickering though, they heard the front door being opened and closed and by the time they went out to see who it was, they were greeted by the sight of David coming in.

"Good morning everyone," Dave greeted with a smile on his face. "Was coming to check on you, how are you feeling? Slept well?"

Alex nodded, "Yeah mate, thanks very much."

"I tried to get you all a ride home but you all agreed on staying so..." The bearded man added and they all nodded.

"Thank you for letting us stay, man." Matt patted his back in gratitude. "We're just gonna go pick everything up and then we'll leave."

They didn't have the studio booked for the next few days so they gathered all of their stuff up and tidied the rest of the things they had used. They left the place as the sun rose up, Ella waved them off as she took the opposite direction to where they were going. Alex saw the sun hitting the little mirrorball hanging from her rearview mirror, making the light reflect all over the inside of her car.

"Love you guys! Bye!" She yelled out her rolled down window, disappearing into the highway.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Things had been going normal. After those three days they'd had in a sense of a small break, they had gone back to the studio with fresh ideas and the energy buzzed in the room whenever they were all together.

Ella had been more and more invested in the whole process, sometimes asking each of the guys what different things did or how they managed to get an instrument to sound the way it did in their demos. James had gotten used to having Ella beside him in the days Ross wasn't at the studio.

She was usually there first, smoking away as she waited for them, greeting whoever arrived first with a lovely smile and her arms open and ready for a hug.

That's why at the start of the second week of February, Alex had been incredibly confused at not seeing her already there when he got to Rancho de la Luna at eight in the morning.

He greeted David, asking him if Ella was already inside and when he shook his head, the singer's confusion grew. Maybe she'll be late today, he'd told himself so he didn't worry but just in case, he'd left her a text.

(11/02/2013 08:13) Hi Ellie, good morning. Around what time are you coming today? Was surprised to not see you when I got here xx

Slowly, everyone started coming in and when James got to the studio at around ten in the morning, that's when Alex started worrying even more. They hadn't seen her as she usually didn't go to the studio on the weekends like them, where is she? She wasn't one to just miss a work day or be late and not say anything.

Around noon, Matt had gotten a call from Breana—who was currently out in New York for a modeling gig—and Alex would've teased him about how they truly couldn't live without the other if it wasn't for Matt's worried facial expression.

The call was rather quick and all of his replies were meek, it was strange for him to talk like that with Bre so he started to wonder if they had fought or something, but then Matt had told her "Alright, I love you" with a loopy grin on his face before he hung up that had Alex discarding the thought.

Everyone was looking at him expectantly because the call seemed to have had a negative effect on his mood and they wanted to know if everything was alright.

Matt sighed, "Ellie's not gonna make it today, maybe not even the rest of the week." Alex's heart sank at the thought of something having happened to her that could keep her from going to the studio. "She's not feeling very well apparently."

Alex felt his whole body grow cold and it was an instant reaction for him to pick up his phone and leave the room to call her.

He dialed her number over and over for about ten times but none were answered, so he went back to texting her in hopes that it was just that she was ill and had fallen asleep.

(11/02/2013 12:06) Ellie, is everything okay? Bre's just called saying you weren't feeling good and that you'll be missing the next few days here. Just let me know when you see this that you're fine xx

(11/02/2013 12:07) Did you catch a cold? I'll come over with some soup for you, I promise I make the best chicken noodle soup (either it is good or my mum lied) xx

(11/02/2013 12:08) You're probably asleep and I'm being an absolute knob making your phone ring over and over. I'll stop now but just let me know what's going on. Sending you loads of hugs xxxx

The more Alex stared at the clock, the slower time went by. He was too distracted to care about what was going on in the recording room, everyone having to bring him back to reality every five minutes.

By the time it was one thirty in the afternoon, he hadn't been able to take it any longer so he excused himself and ran outside to call Breana. He didn't even care if he'd be interrupting her photoshoot by calling her over and over, he had to know if Ella was okay.

When he rang her for the fifth time, he got his call answered. "Jesus Christ, Alex, is everything alright?"

He was so relieved the model finally picked up, "Yes. Everything's good. Just... Ella. What happened to Ella? Is she okay?"

Breana felt silent, only the shutter of the camera and the clicking of heels on the floor was heard for a few seconds, "Erm, yes. She's just not feeling well."

"Did she get ill? I've been trying to call her and she won't answer." His voice was laced with worry and that wasn't missed by Bre.

Silence again, "Yes..." Bre replied but it sounded like a question and that's when Alex knew she was full of shit.

"Bre, what happened? Is she okay?" His voice got firmer, he didn't understand why she'd be keeping quiet about anything happening to her best friend.

She sighed, "Alex, she's not feeling well and that's all that I can tell you. I promised her I wouldn't say anything else."

"So something did happen," The singer insisted, "Bre, at least let me know her address so I can go check up on her."

"Alex–" The model started in protest but he was quick to interrupt her.

"Bre, you're far away and not coming back until next week. At least let me be the one to check up on her. I just wanna know if she's okay." He heard her sigh and when the line stood silent he continued, "I don't care if she's just ill and you probably think I'm overreacting, I'd rather do that and find out she's okay than brush it off and find out afterwards that something worst has happened and she's been alone."

"Fucking hell, Alex," Breana cursed, giving into his point. "I'll send you it in a text, but just... let me know how she's doing when you get there okay? And hug her tightly for me, please."

He felt like he could finally breathe, "'Course. Cheers, Bre."

It was only seconds after hanging up that Breana sent him Ella's address through text. His hands were sweaty as he went back inside and told the lads he'd be leaving for the day. He didn't even give them time to ask why, because he was out the door as soon as he'd finished his sentence.

Ella's home was only an hour away from the studio but traffic had held him back forty minutes, he'd been fidgeting in his seat all the way to her medium sized one floor house which was painted a gorgeous light green color.

Alex was quick to park his rental-car on her driveway which only had her car present, he figured she had her bike inside her garage. Without missing a beat, he got out of the car and with long fast strides reached her white door and knocked on it.

A long minute went by and no one was opening the door, he knocked harder and rang the doorbell before knocking furiously again. He heard shuffling behind the door and he was relieved but when the door opened, he felt every bit of worry fall over him like a ton of bricks.

Ella was still in her pajamas—a big gray shirt almost covering her red flannel shorts—, her eyes were puffy and just as red as her nose, her hair was a mess in tangles on a bun atop of her head and she had a glass half full on her right hand.

The last person she'd expected was the singer to be standing outside her door, "Alex, what are you doing here?" She was so tired of everything, she just wanted to be alone and wallowing in self pity not having to worry about how she looked and how she was dealing with the shit show that had just unfolded in her life.

"Hey Ellie," His voice was so soft, she was surprised at how just hearing him had felt like a hug. "Are you okay?" He asked, very much worried but not really knowing what to do.

"How did you even find my address? Did Ben or Aaron give you it, I'll kill them." She ranted, on the brink of exploding in anger. Her emotions were a mess, she was a mess, she had no idea what the fuck to do anymore. Nothing made sense to her anymore.

"No, no, I had to beg Bre for it, but what's wrong?" He wanted to know why she looked so broken or, if anything, he just wanted to comfort her. "What are you even drinking?" He took a step towards her and into her house and she stepped back but with the sigh she'd let out, the alcohol in her breath hit him. "Ellie, it's only three in the afternoon."

She laughed, without a hint of humor, "Alex, I truly rather be drunk right now. I do not fucking care what time it is."

He shook his head, watching her leave so he closed the door behind him and followed her steps. "No, absolutely not." He stated and tried to get the glass from her.

"Yes Alex," She downed what was left on the glass before he could get to her, wincing at the whiskey burning her throat. "I've run out of cigarettes, have no weed, I look too crazy to even bother going out to get shit and all I have is whiskey and a few bottles of wine." She used her fingers to count all the misfortunes that had come after the blow she'd taken the night before.

She turned to the whiskey bottle and poured herself another glass, way too full, but it was what she needed. She took a gulp of it and whispered a curse after it struggled to go down her throat.

"Ella, you're gonna have to stop right now." His words were firm, he was trying to be patient but he didn't want her drinking her problems away.

She rolled her eyes, setting the glass down harshly so the alcohol splashed around it. "Alex– I truly don't need you to be logical right now." She took a deep shaky breath and continued, "Just leave okay? You've seen I'm alive. I'm just not feeling good so just go, you have shit to do much more important than me and my fucking mess of a life." The way her voice broke saying that last sentence had him frowning deeper, he wanted to do something, anything to stop feeling the hurt she clearly was was feeling.

"What's wrong, darling? Talk to me." Alex hadn't called her that in a long time, not after he'd caught his mistake in doing that after that call at the Olympics opening ceremony, but he just couldn't help it. He'd tried to reach for her hand but she'd flinched away at the pet name.

It had made her wince, thinking back to what Arielle had told her the month prior about how Alex had called her that as he'd fucked her dumb. She felt so fucking pathetic, so far from special. Am I the problem? She had wondered that all night, as she cried herself to sleep.

She was tired of crying but she couldn't stop it. She was tired of people making her cry, making her believe that she wasn't worthy of anything.

She slowly turned around, sighing heavily before admitting, "He fucking cheated, Al."

Alex felt a blow to his chest, "What?"

Ella's tears cascaded down automatically, breaking his heart in a million little pieces for her. "He's fucking cheated on me, I–" She started but she had to stop as a sob ripped through her. "And you wanna know how I found out? Because his parents caught him in a lie. He told them he'd be going out on dinner with me and when they went to surprise us, they found him with someone else." Her voice raised as she narrated everything, fury in her eyes and the heartbreak making her tremble.

"He fucking admitted to it to them, how he's been seeing this girl for over a month, but when they told him he had to tell me the truth, he fucking refused." A loud scoff came from her, "His mom has had to fucking call me and tell me because this fucking cunt didn't have the balls to say it." She was so baffled, sobbing in disbelief.

Why does it always happen to me? She'd asked herself so many times, she had given up on an answer.

She sniffled, wiping her nose, "So now I've had to break up with him over the fucking phone because I know I wouldn't have been able to do it in person."

Alex walked slowly to get closer to her, not wanting to startle her. "Ellie I'm–" His words were cut by Ella's words of desperation.

"I fucking wanted to marry him Alex! I thought he was it for me!" Pure agony was what was filling every inch of her body and soul. "We had started trying for a baby." She broke down in loud sobs that made her hiccup as she tried to get oxygen back in her lungs.

Alex had no idea what to say to that, he wanted to do nothing more than to murder Julian after torturing him in the most sadistic ways. But she was his priority, making her feel better was what he had to do. He was quick to envelope her in a tight hug, she cried harder hidden in his chest as she fisted his maroon shirt.

Her tears bleed through his shirt and it felt like her heartache was burning his skin. "I just want this hurt gone, I feel like my chest is caving in, Al. I want it gone. Please." Ella begged and her body trembled in his arms. In that moment, all he could think was how he'd do anything to be able to take away the pain from her—he'd carry all of her burdens if it meant she'd be eternally happy, like she deserved.

His left hand was rubbing up and down her back, his right hand holding her head to his chest. He softly shushed her trying to calm her down in the slightest, he had never been good at consoling crying women, but for Ella he'd try and excel at anything she needed from him. "It's gonna be alright Ellie, I promise. You are gonna be okay."

Alex had her walk to the settee with him, she just let him guide her as her cries did nothing but increase.

Pathetic, pitiful, worthless, meaningless, replaceable.

That's all she felt about herself and she hated it, with a deep burning passion.

Alex sat down with her and she scooted onto his side, needing the warmth of his touch around her. She needed someone even if she didn't want to admit it and Alex was determined on keeping his hold on her for as long as she wanted it to.

His fingers started scratching her head, making her relax in her arms. Her sobs started to quiet down after five minutes and her breath slowed down.

"I'm here okay? I'm not leaving." He assured her, looking down at her still shielding on his chest.

She nodded, and she whined softly at the waves of memories coming back to her trying to push her back into a breakdown.

It had been like that since she'd gotten the phone call the night before, she would cry for hours and eventually calm down finding some sleep which was interrupted by the situation being reflected in her dreams, making her start sobbing all over again. She'd only gotten a total of three hours of sleep the night before.

A thought flashed through her head, making her break the hug as her skin crawled in disgust for herself. "I hate this so much," She muttered, recoiling to the corner of the settee, the furthest she could from Alex. "I'm gonna have to go and get tested now, not only for pregnancy but for everything else 'cause I don't even know who he's been fucking. I feel so disgusting."

The singer scooted closer to her, rubbing her arms which were hugging her folded legs closely to her chest.

"He's an absolute prick. I'm so sorry, Ellie. I really truly am." His honesty was so clear but she couldn't take it.

She started crying again, shaking her head. "You have nothing to apologize for. He should be."

That made Alex scowl, "Did he not?"

Ella chuckled entirely unamused at the memory of her phone call to him that had happened earlier that day. "He did, over and over but it just made me sick. He said it so many times it started sounding weird. He didn't mean it at all. He's only sorry for himself, that he got caught."

"I want to kill him." Alex said simply.

Her face contorted in pity for herself, because she still felt how much she loved him. "I want this to be a sick and twisted joke." Her chin wobbled, and he knew exactly what it meant.

Of course she still loved him. That's the type of person she was, always a giver. And she never half assed anything so when she loved, she loved in the very best way: passionately and endlessly. He knew that from the way she talked about her family, her friends, her hobbies, her job.

She threw herself in his arms again and sobbed away, none of them noticing how she was basically straddling his lap and how her breasts were pressed against his chest. Her face was buried on his neck and his arms wrapped around her again, the same way they had been doing before. He could feel the erratic thumping of her heart on the other side of his.

It had been an hour that it had taken Ella to exhaust herself to sleep. When her breathing slowed down and he heard one of her soft snores in his ear, he felt relief flooding his system. He knew then that hated seeing her cry, he hated seeing her in despair, sleep deprived—her dark circles were prominent when she'd opened the door and the sunlight hit her face—, relying on alcohol to drown her sorrows.

She deserved so much better.

He stood up from the sofa with her still in his arms, slowly to not wake her up but not even if he had been more careless could she have startled awake. She was in a deep sleep, having found comfort after long hours of misery.

He set her down on her bed, which was still unmade but not that messy which confirmed to him that she hadn't slept well at all the previous night. The covers were soon over her and all the way up to her chin, she'd let out a sound of satisfaction as she snuggled her pillows.

Alex decided to kick his shoes off and sit beside her, watching her peacefully sleep. Sometimes she'd flinch and start crying, hot tears falling from her closed eyes and wetting the pillow under her head. He'd rub her back, whispering 'you're okay, you're okay' until she settled back down, but it hurt him having to see her like that in the first place.

He felt so helpless. 

After about three hours, seeing that she was in deep slumber, he thought it would be good for him to get some food. She had definitely not eaten at all that day so she'd be hungry when she woke up. He slowly put his shoes on and exited her house, grabbing her house keys and writing a little note before leaving.

Alex let himself smile fondly at the Tennessee keychain she had, a little silver cowboy boot it was and it reminded him of her mirrorball.

He had seen a few restaurants about ten minutes from her house so he settled for proximity rather than finding a restaurant he knew was good. The thing he least wanted was for her to wake up and see him gone, even if he had left a note.

The singer had decided to get some films from the redbox rental her neighborhood Walgreens had, wanting her to get distracted and enjoy herself for a little.

Despite him rushing to get back as soon as possible, and getting annoyed at himself for taking much longer than anticipated, when he got back she was still asleep. But it was eight in the evening then, so he had to wake her up to have her eat.

He dropped everything he'd gotten slowly on her kitchen counter and he walked carefully into her room. The bed dipping beside her had her stirring, so he felt less bad when he started brushing her hair back and softly whispered her name to have her wake up.

She'd hummed in response to hearing her name being called and he grinned at her pout, she was so effortlessly breathtaking—it was beyond his understanding.

"C'mon darling, I brought you some food." He finally said and she mumbled gibberish in response, "There's ice cream too and some films."

Her eyes slowly peeled open, her pout was replaced by a frown because she didn't remember much of how the hell Alex had ended up in her house.

Regardless, she rubbed her eyes awake and yawned. Slowly but surely she got up and threaded to the bathroom to freshen up, Alex told her he'd be serving their food in the kitchen and to join him when she was ready.

Twenty minutes later, she was out of the bathroom. Freshly showered, with her hair damp and wetting the back of her shirt. She'd changed her pjs for a 'Queens of the Stone Age' big shirt and some joggers.

Alex wanted to coo, seeing her hugging herself as she walked to the living room where he had set everything up. Italian food—her favorite—, a few bottles of Mexican coke he'd found in a bodega next to Walgreens, and 'Sherlock Holmes' ready to play on her TV.

Ella felt a knot tightening up in her throat, she was sure what she'd needed was to be miserable by herself until she'd cried all of her tears but seeing him there, sitting in her living room after having brought her food and shit that would make her feel better with the sweetest smile on his face, reminded her that she needed someone to help her during tough times.

Her pout grew on her face, and Alex was quick to stop her from getting herself worked out over nothing. "Hey, Ellie. It's okay, c'mere." She nodded and walked towards him, tears slowly filling her eyes and threatening to spill. He turned to her once she was sitting beside him and brushed his thumbs on the apples of her cheeks, "Don't cry okay? Let's watch a film and eat well so we can have a good sleep tonight, yeah?"

A tear slipped down and he was quick to wipe it, he pressed a kiss on her forehead to then turn and grab her plate for her. "Here," He handed her the plate, "Spinach ravioli bolognese, your favorite."

A pathetic little chuckle fell from her lips as she received the dish, it indeed was her favorite. "Oh, you remember."

He watched her as she placed the plate on her lap, sitting straight next to him. "Of course I do. I remember loads of things," But it wasn't about that in this situation, so he got her excited for the movie. "Have you seen this one? People say it's great."

Ella had been sure she wasn't hungry but at the smell of her favorite food reaching her nose, her stomach growled. She blushed, shaking her head at Alex's question, "I haven't, no."

Alex smiled at her, and pressed play but as the opening credits rolled, he pushed her softly to start eating. "I wanna know if you like it, try a little bit."

"Well, how different can it be from any other place? I'm sure it's good." Ella replied as she stirred some of the sauce around with her fork.

"Just a bite," He negotiated, "For me?"

The pout on his face seemed to twist her arm, she gave him a tight lip smile before she shoved a bite into her mouth. Her smile got bigger then, as she savored the food. "It's really good," He smiled, pleased to see that she liked it. "Thank you, Al."

He nodded before grabbing his own plate and they both ate slowly as the film played. It had gotten her giggling and quietly gasping at different moments, which made his heart swell inside of him. When the end credits rolled, he asked her if she'd liked it to which she gave him an excited nod of her head. She was smiling, small grins, but it was what he wanted to get from her.

Alex took the dishes to wash them and Ella followed after him with the empty coke bottles and complained about him doing the dishes in her house. He just stared at her right in the eyes as he quickly washed what they'd used and his smirk got bigger the more she complained.

"You're annoying." Ella simply stated when he was done.

Alex chuckled and walked over to her fridge, "Would some ice cream help you forgive me for being annoying?"

"Maybe..."

She took out two small bowls and two spoons, pointing him to where she had her ice cream scooper and thanked him when he filled her bowl with three big servings of the sweet dessert.

They went back to her living room, to play the next one. He'd changed the discs quickly in her DVD player and played the new movie in record time, "I've actually seen this one already, pretty good. You'll like it."

She saw Ryan Gosling on the cover of the DVD case and nodded, "Give me anything Ryan Gosling and I'll love it."

He laughed, and nodded, "Brilliant." and turned to watch the screen just as 'Drive' showed on the screen.

About thirty minutes into the movie, Alex's phone started going off so he excused himself to go outside and pick it up.

It was Breana, who had been texting him over and over because he hadn't given her an update on Ella like he'd promised. He cursed under his breath and closed the door behind him. He'd told Ella to keep watching but she was honestly just trying to please him by watching it with him. She'd been lost in her thoughts all through the start of it, seeing the main characters subtly flirt with one another had made her tragedies catch up to her again and made her silently crumble.

She'd left two of her windows open since the morning, when she'd been smoking her sorrows away until she ran out, so she could hear what Alex was saying.

"Hi, I'm so sorry," She knew he'd lit up a cigarette because she could smell the burning tobacco making its way inside her house. "Got caught up with everything and forgot about my phone." She heard nothing but silence for a few seconds until he started debriefing, "She's okay. I had her sleep for a few hours and got her food, we've been eating and watching some films." She was so confused as to who he was talking to but then he mentioned a name that had her in the brink of tears again. "Bre, I–. Yes, she was crying a lot but she's stopped for now." She wanted nothing more than for her best friend to be there but, alas, Ella's life seemed to be highlighted by always having the worst timing. "If she lets me then yes, I don't want her to be alone while she's going through this. Much less if there's a slight possibility of that cunt coming to bother her."

It didn't sound like jealousy in his voice, just plain anger at what Julian had done to her and in that moment she realized that maybe Alex and her were meant to be friends. Despite the direction things had taken when they'd first met, maybe they were meant to have a strong friendship so they could be there for each other, have each other's backs.

Ella realized how good it felt to have him there with her, because he understood her in a way that only a few people did and he made her feel calm. She needed that.

His voice could be heard further away as she went to her kitchen after pausing the movie and saw the other things that Alex had bought for her: two little bags of gummies, a dark chocolate bar, another Mexican coke, and a pack of Marlboro reds.

He was a life saver, truly.

She opened the pack and grabbed a cigarette, placed it on her mouth and, after closing her windows down, she joined him outside.

He'd gotten scared by the sudden movement at the door behind him, she laughed as she came to stand beside him and he lit her cigarette up at her silent question for it.

"Thank you." She muttered and he smiled in response.

Alex nodded and hummed at whatever Breana was saying, "Yes, Bre, I know and I won't. You have my word." A cloud of smoke left his lips when he chuckled, "I'll text you later, bye."

Ella watched through the corner of her eye as he hung up and placed his phone in the back pocket of his jeans.

"Thought I told you to keep watching without me." His gaze came over her, watching her relish in the bad habit they both had.

"You did, but I needed a breather." Ella admitted.

Alex nodded and they both fell to their tangled thoughts. She was lost trying to find answers to the one question echoing the most in her head, why? And he was stuck thinking about what he could do to switch her hurt for brief moments of joy.

"Are you feeling better?"

It took her a minute to answer, her eyes lost in the sky and the sight of the moon. So beautiful and unbothered, shining over every single person on Earth so effortlessly.

"It's a weird thing, honestly. I feel just... numb. Like I'm in shock and don't even know if what's happened is real but then I suddenly feel it all coming over me like I'm getting swallowed by fire and I'm burning alive, but somehow the emptiness I feel in my chest overpowers it all." Word vomit, that's what it had been and she shook her head at herself. "I'm talking out of my ass, aren't I?" Pathetic.

But when Alex instantly shook his head, she felt relieved. "No, you're not. He deserves hell, Ellie, not you. And he surely doesn't deserve your tears or your heartache." He threw the last of his cigarette on the floor and took two steps to be right beside her. He threw his arm around her shoulders and let it fall until he could hug her tightly to his side.

She let her head fall on his shoulder, "I've begged for hours that this is a nightmare but I've pinched myself enough times to know I'm unfortunately awake."

"I'm sorry, Ellie." He kissed the top of her head, and then rested his cheek on it. "But I know you, and I know you're gonna be okay. The shadow of his actions that's following you right now will wither away in time, but it will haunt him till the end of his days."

Tears had started falling again but this time in frustration when she explained, "I hate that my brain wants him to suffer but my heart is begging to spare him some mercy."

"Your heart will catch up, just be patient with it."

He was so good at just saying things like that, it blew her away really. "God, you're so poetic. No wonder you ended up a musician." She felt his chest tremble as he laughed, the cold breeze was a nice contrast to the warmth she felt by being held by Alex. "Thank you, by the way."

That had him lifting his head to look down at her, "What for?"

Ella was still pressed to his side but she tilted her head back slightly to look up at him. "The food, the movies, the candy, the cigarettes, letting me ruin your shirt with my tears, letting me ruin your day with my tragedies, begging Bre for my address, spending the day with me..." She was glad he was there, she was glad to have him. "You're a true friend, Alex Turner."

It hurt, 'friend', but he promised himself that that'd have to be enough for him so it would. He gave her the sweetest smile, "No need to thank me darling, I will always be here for you. No matter what." And he meant that—even if he was on the other side of the world, he was determined to always be there for her. "And you didn't ruin my day, if anything you saved me from Matt being insufferable since Bre is in New York."

She giggled, wiping her tears with her right hand. "Ugh, yeah. He must be unbearable."

Ella decided she was done with her cigarette, so she flicked it and watched it die in the ground of her driveway a couple of feet from her and Alex. She brought her arm to circle around Alex's waist and squeezed him softly, "Let's go back inside."

Alex nodded and dropped his arm from around her, Ella started walking ahead of him back to the front door but stopped in her steps when Alex spun her around by her wrist and crushed her in a hug.

"That one's from Bre," The singer said in her ear, "Forgot to deliver it until now, sorry."

She melted in laughter in his hold. He was such an idiot and she was so damn grateful he'd pestered Bre into giving him her address because she truly didn't know what it would've been of her if she'd spent the day completely alone.

They went back inside and finished the film, which ended up being really good and she'd be sure it would be one she'd watch more times in the future. It wasn't too late, barely midnight but she was falling asleep slowly, the exhaustion catching up to her.

Her yawn made him turn to her, he was gonna have her go to bed and then leave but she offered him to stay before she could even stand up from the settee.

Alex accepted, of course. If Ella hadn't offered, he knew he'd go back to the hotel and then be at her door in the morning to make sure she was alright.

She showed him the guest room and reminded him of where the bathroom was. She'd offered him clothes for him to sleep in but he kindly turned them down as he was fine just sleeping in his underwear.

He had managed to get some sleep for a few hours when he was suddenly woken up by her sobs at three in the morning. He wasn't sure what the noise was at first, too sleep drunk to grasp any logic but when he realized it was her crying, his heart broke.

Alex debated within himself if it would be good to just go and get her to calm down or if he should just let her cry it out but when he heard silence and then another heart ripping sob, he got up and walked to her room.

He knocked softly on her door twice before opening the door, his heart broke seeing her against her headboard hugging her legs. The brightness coming from her phone screen was the only thing keeping the room from being absolutely pitch black.

She saw him blurry through the tears, his hair ruffled and his clothes on his body messily. He hadn't had time to properly button his shirt up, too busy trying to check on her as soon as he could to put every button in its correct place.

"Ellie..." Alex cooed, approaching her as she sniffled, trying to calm herself down.

The second he reached her bed and sat beside her, he saw exactly what she'd been doing. She'd been looking at pictures of her and Julian, not the ones that she'd post but the random domestic ones like the one currently frozen in time on her phone. She looked to have been doing her makeup when he interrupted with a hug, their smiles so big on their faces it made her shiver—it felt like those two people in the picture were making fun of her.

Alex locked her phone and in a quick motion hugged her to his chest.Ella broke down all over again, clutching him like it was the only way she'd hold onto reality and not lose her mind altogether.

"Let's not do that, alright?" He suggested, rubbing her back.

She trembled under his touch from the force and continuity of her sobs, it had been such a stupid idea to go through her phone before going to sleep. Her nod was so small that he'd missed it but he continued on consoling her, pressing kisses to her head and talking in her ear.

"You're okay. He's a fucking idiot. He doesn't deserve your tears. He didn't and doesn't deserve you."

There was sweet conviction laced in his words, somehow Alex telling her helped more than if she tried to tell herself. It resonated more, it echoed louder inside her mind.

"I just don't understand it." Ella hated having to bring it all up again, but when it was all silence around her was when the questions would hunt her down. "A fucking month, he's been fucking someone else and sneaking off while I've been here like a love struck puppy stupidly waiting for him to come back. I feel so used and so stupid."

He lifted his head from where it had been resting on top of hers, so that she'd look at him. It was so dark but he could clearly see the soft sparkle of her eyes. "You're not stupid, Ella. You're the smartest one of us all."

She bit her lip trying not to cry again, chin wobbling at her naivety. "I'm clearly not. I didn't see it happening right in front of my eyes. Fuck knows if she was the only one." She let her head fall back, pressed against her headboard while she stared at the ceiling. The ceiling was the only part of her room she could see that didn't spark memories. "He's everywhere I look, Alex. Every inch of my house is tarnished with him and it's making me feel sick."

Her breath faltered, tears rolling down the corner of her eyes and falling down her temples. She'd started spiraling when she closed her door and suddenly her eyes seemed to only fall on bits that reminded of him. And she had tried her hardest to ignore it, to just think of anything else and let it pass but her heart ached to look back at every moment they'd spent together and she'd been too weak to say no.

Too weak, too naive. Stupid, stupid, stupid. All she felt was stupid.

The more her tears fell on his shoulder, the more Alex could hear her heart tearing apart. "I know, darling. But it will get better."

She straightened up, as her insides filled with anguish. She had no hope left. "I don't see how it can. He was everything. My everything."

He squeezed her tighter and she lifted her head up to rest on his shoulder again. His hand unwavering as it rubbed up and down her arm, warming the coldness in her. How could someone blatantly ruin someone like this? It was so insolent. "I know it's easier said than done, but you'll forget. You'll make new memories to replace the tarnished ones. And with time, the hurt will go and the beauty will remain." Because she seemed to glow so bright when was with Julian and he'd hate to see her dull away.

Ella started crying even more, "How stupid is it that I don't want to let the memories go though? I do this all the fucking time, I cling to every bit I have left of people until I just become numb to losing them one random day. But it's just an endless loop of torture until I get to that point, why can't I just skip this all?" It had only been a day, and she was already exhausted. "I don't even want to be in my own bedroom anymore."

"I know, I know." His hand left her arm to start scratching her head, he smiled slowly when he heard her sigh in content at the feeling. "But think about how this room could easily become your salvation if you ever accidentally let Matt and Breana stay over. And you know how shameless they can be—you'll have to start a new life just in here so you don't accidentally get flashed with Matt's arse. And believe me you really don't. Not a pretty sight at all." That was his awful attempt to lighten her mood up and it seemed to have worked when she snorted and her body shook with laughter.

In between chuckles she managed to respond, "You're an idiot."

Alex hummed a 'no', faux-defensive. "No, Breana is the idiot for going for someone like Matt. Me and you both saw him when we were high in the studio. That line about the galaxy being two thousand years old was definitely him."

"It definitely was." Ella agreed, why would he have gotten so offended by her correction if not.

"Yeah, we're not that stupid." He further backed his point.

But Ella was quick to scoff, "No, not at all Mr. 'Little tiny fruit coming after you'. How high did you get? Rude of you to not share your hallucinogens with me."

He let out a small gasp in fake disbelief, "I've never done such a thing, Miss Hayes."

"I don't believe you. No one writes such a shit song on just weed alone."

"Okay enough of your backchat." Alex argued, but he broke out in laughter at her chosen adjective to the song. "I know it's shit but it's still getting put out, it was a very monumental moment for us. New band member and all."

She moved her head up and tilted it back to look at him with an amused expression, "Yeah, very monumental with your new Glockenspiel player bandmate that doesn't even play a thing in it." The sarcasm making him giggle and the contagious sound had her giggling with him.

After their laughter died back down, Ella felt the ball move back up her throat. And maybe it was the way she held him that little bit tighter which gave her away, but Alex didn't hesitate to pull her the tiniest bit closer and continue to stroke her arm as he asked, "You don't have to stay in here if you don't want to, we can go in the other room?"

She wanted to accept, knowing at least that would make her feel better but the brief feeling of comfort would end up in something worse, "I won't come back in here if I do that... I can't let him take more from me. He's already chewed my heart up, he's not taking anything else."

"Atta girl, see? You're already in the right direction." He could only encourage her. After all, she was going to go about it at her own pace and he'd just be there with her through it.

"I just want the pain to go away. It's not fair." It really wasn't, she couldn't help but think how she was breaking down over and over while Julian could be enjoying his time with whoever it was he'd been seeing. "There's no way he's sobbing at god knows what hour in the morning like I am. How is that fair, Al?"

"It's not, darling." The whole situation infuriated him beyond belief, he wanted to seek revenge for her but not more than he wanted to strip her of the heartbreak. "I wish I could take it all away for you. I really wish I could."

"I just want it all to go away." Ella begged. It was a plea to life, to whoever was up there that thought it was fine to have her go through that.

"It'll pass I promise, and from here it will all just get better and better for you, Ellie. I cross my heart, darling." He'd find a way to pull the strings of the universe if it wasn't soon that it'll all look up for her.

Her hazy mind was able to grasp all that and it was the last thing she remembered before she'd succumbed to slumber, every atom of her being just giving up after the efforts of the past twenty four hours.

She hadn't felt Alex leaving her after he made sure she was truly asleep so she was the tiniest bit disappointed to find herself alone in bed in the morning, without his gentle touch on her to make her feel like all would be alright.

She reprimanded herself, it was just her being greedy at that point—he had been doing more than enough and she shouldn't be asking for more.

Her movements were quiet as she completed her morning routine, trying her best not to wake him up. He'd probably been up most of the night because of her cries, she felt so guilty.

She started making breakfast, finding comfort in the sizzle of the frying eggs and bacon on the pan and the drip of the coffee coming from her Keurig. The toasts were the perfect golden brown and, as she plated everything up for them, she found herself happy over the small victory it was for her to feel even the smallest amount of joy out of cooking a small meal.

Ella decided to move dirty utensils so she could wash them, carefully placing the hot pan in the sink when she saw Alex walking down the hallway and towards the kitchen. He looked to have just come out of the bathroom, she hadn't even heard him leave the guest room in the first place.

She didn't know if it was because of the fact that she was going through the worst heartache of her life, but the sight of him with his hair ruffled and wrinkled clothes shattered her.

Not in a negative way, not that it made her want to drop to the ground and cry, but in the way that she was already mourning the fact that she'd never be able to see him like that ever again. She'd always found him so breathtakingly pretty, but the image was so mundane that it added a layer to his general beauty.

He rubbed his eyes in the most childish way, she almost wanted to scream because of how adorable he looked, "Smells good." was all he said and she grinned like an idiot, filled with gratitude.

She slid the plate towards him on the kitchen counter, "This is the 'thanks for putting up with me yesterday and I'm so sorry for keeping you up all night', kind of like the most popular breakfast on the menu."

He chuckled, looking at the food and then at her. He shook his head with a smile and walked over to hug her, "You don't need to thank me or apologize for any of that. But thank you very much for this, it looks delicious." His arms held her tightly over her shoulders, she hid away on his neck with a smile and her arms around his waist.

They stayed like that for a minute and she tried backing away but he was reluctant to let her go. She pinched his waist and laughed, "It's gonna go cold, Al. Sit down and eat."

Alex left a kiss on her temple before letting go of her and sitting on one of the high chairs to dig into the food.

Ella watched him expectantly as he grabbed some of the food with the fork and placed it on the piece of toast, he lifted it up and took a big bite of it. It was good, really good but he exaggerated his reaction to entertain her.

His moan of satisfaction had her blushing and giving him a bright smile that reached her eyes. "That's really fucking good, Ellie."

She looked down at her own serving of food and timidly said, "Glad you like it."

They continued eating, settled in a comfortable silence and when they finished, he had beat her once again to washing the dishes.

She was leaning on her forearms, by the sink, sipping on her coffee while she watched Alex. The truth is that she wanted to ask for a favor but she was too shy to ask for something else from him. He noticed though, and it was so easy to read on her face that she was dying to say something.

"What's wrong?" His voice was so calm, inviting her to just use her words.

"I, um," Ella rose back up straight, leaving her coffee cup on the kitchen counter. "Could I skip this week at the studio? I would go but I'm sure I won't be the best company while I feel like this."

A sweet smile appeared on Alex's face, "Of course you can. But I have to ask for something in exchange..."

She got the tiniest bit more nervous with that, "Which is?"

"That you let me come over and disrupt your peace every day until you're back."

Ella didn't know what she was expecting but that made her let out a breathy chuckle, "Yeah, sure."

"I could take the camera and record for you as well, so you don't have to tell Ben and Aaron."

"You sure you can work a camera?" She teased, remembering how bad at checking his phone he could be. "A phone is enough of a nightmare for you."

Alex rolled his eyes jokingly, "Yes, I know how to work a camera. How hard can it be?"

She only shook her head, "Okay, I'll get everything ready for you. Are you leaving now?" She checked the time on her microwave and it flashed a 9:25 back at them.

He nodded, drying his hands with one of her kitchen towels. "Just so I can get over with the day as fast as I can and then I'll drive back."

Her eyes froze on his face after he said that. She truly was so glad he was there with her and so willing to stay around. She nodded, and when her gaze fell to his wrinkled and tear stained shirt she frowned.

"I'm gonna lend you a shirt so I can wash yours," She pointed at it, "I ruined it."

"No you didn't. It's fine." The singer spoke back, really not worrying about it but she was quick to shake her head and leave to get a shirt out of her closet.

He followed and when he walked through her door, she was looking through her shirts. "C'mere, choose whichever you'd like. Those are the biggest shirts I have." She waved him over and he complied.

He grabbed the first black shirt he saw and when he unfolded it, he laughed. It read 'Boot, Scoot, Boogie' and it had a pair of cowboy boots beside the big words.

"It's a good country classic, to be fair." She commented with a very amused grin on her face.

Alex lifted the shirt up in the air, "Thanks, Miss Tennessee."

She felt the squeeze in her chest, the last time he'd called her that was when he'd written it in the back of their photobooth pictures—one's that were hidden away in one of her drawers in between pages of her photo albums.

"You're welcome." Ella gave him a tight lip smile, "Now go get ready, before the guys start calling you non-stop"

He waved her off, "Already told them I'd be running late."

He walked into the guest room to gather his things and put them in his pockets, changing his shirt for Ella's and he knew he'd be in the best mood all day because the second the piece of clothing was on, he was drowning in her scent.

Flowers, sweetness and that small hint of tender woods.

He was already drunk on it when he came out, maroon shirt in hand and with a beaming grin on his face.

Ella smiled seeing him with the new shirt, "Suits you well."

"Thank you, darling." Bet it looks better on you. "I'll be back later, alright?"

She nodded, exchanging the shirt in his hand for the camera bag. "You take care of that like a child, Turner."

"I will, I promise." Alex let his arm drop dramatically making it seem like he was gonna drop the bag on the floor causing her to gasp loudly.

He started cackling, her face tinting pink at how easily she'd fallen for his prank. "You dick!"

She pushed him lightly and he started walking towards the front door, "Alright, alright. I'm leaving now." He stopped as she opened the door and right before exiting he opened his arms to hug her.

Ella gracefully walked into them, he wrapped them around her and made them both sway in the embrace. "See you later, Al."

"See you soon, darling." A kiss was left on her temple before he left.

She watched as he carefully placed the bag on the floor of the passenger side and, when he backed out into the road, he waved at her before leaving.

Her chest started feeling heavy again, those hours without Alex there would be hard but she had to power through them.

She remembered his words, 'the hurt will go and the beauty will remain'. She couldn't wait for that day to come.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Chapter Text

Just like Alex had promised, he was over at Ella's house right after he'd left the studio—only he wasn't staying over like he did that first day.

He saw her lighten up more and more throughout the week and she told him she'd started feeling better so she'd definitely be coming back to the studio by Monday and that was the best news he'd heard.

The band had spent the week changing some details on 'Snap Out of It'. Alex had taken the opportunity that she wasn't there to change the things he'd been itching to but didn't want to in front of her.

He would usually come back at around six in the afternoon and stay until she was yawning. He'd drive back to his hotel room and sleep as peacefully as he could knowing he'd left her alright but alone nonetheless.

Alex hadn't wanted more than to stay with her all throughout that week but he understood that Ella also needed her privacy and he didn't want to intrude. The last thing he'd like is to burden her when there was so much going on around her already.

They had spent a second Valentine's day together but it was a stark contrast to how it had been the year before. It had been her worst day that one, falling to the heartbreak again and the memories—only Alex didn't know the memories of him had started burning in her head too and she'd been way too overwhelmed by it all.

It had been the day they'd smoked weed again or, well, she did for the most part as he watched her. Her eyes had been so red that day, mainly because of the tears. But on Friday she'd bounced back, like the day before hadn't happened and he did nothing but be in awe of her strength.

On Saturday, he'd gone to the studio quite early—it was the last day he could finish up everything he wanted on the song they'd been working on all week. It would be very nasty to do that in front of Ella so he'd just have to have it done by the end of the day.

Alex sent her a text right when he walked into the place, still missing seeing her there by the guitars on her usual spot in the settee.

(16/02/2013 08:52) Good morning, darling. Hope you aren't having too much fun without me. It's a lovely day today, maybe we should go out and get some ice cream? I'll be over around lunch time xx

She hadn't replied, but he didn't worry because she'd been sleeping in longer than usual and she needed the sleep.

The day rolled around and by one in the afternoon, when she wasn't replying back yet, he started to worry.

He and the lads had taken a small break that he'd used to call Ella, disguising it with the excuse of going for a smoke. No one really knew what had happened, only that the girl wasn't feeling her best and she needed a small break. Ella had cried to Alex when she'd gotten the first round of texts from the guys wishing her to get well soon the day after Alex had found her heartbroken.

Alex called and called, texted over and over but there was still no answer. He wanted nothing more than to jet off and fuck the song off but the guys were already very much enthusiastic over the changes they'd talked about and he couldn't just bin it all off because he wanted to leave, and he knew he wouldn't go back and work on it again.

He could easily say he had to go and see Ella but the round of questions after he'd gone back to the studio on Tuesday, wearing Ella's shirt—which they had noticed instantly wasn't his—, had already been too much and it wasn't his place to tell what had happened.

It probably had been good that he was so desperate to leave, because his inspiration had popped off and they had deemed the song done by five in the afternoon.

Too many hours late, that's all Alex thought as he drove away as fast as he could in the direction of Ella's house.

When he knocked on Ella's door, he had expected anything but what he saw.

She was standing there with her eyes puffy and red, her nose looking just the same, her cheeks stained with tears and her breath reeking of alcohol. It looked like a tornado had gone inside her house because her living room was a complete mess and he could see from afar through the halfway open door of her bedroom that it looked even worse.

Her eyes were lost, rolling them as she turned back around to resume whatever it was that she was doing.

There were three boxes on the floor, one filled with stuff and two empty. He reckoned it was Julian's things she was putting away, because of the amount of men's clothing that there was in one of the boxes alone.

He wished he had come over earlier, because she was drinking wine straight from the bottle and it seemed to be her second one.

"Ella," Alex started in a very serious tone, "I need you to stop."

She completely ignored his petition and with slurred words asked, "Am I that easy to replace?"

He ignored her question and tried again, "Ellie–"

But she cut him off, "No. Am I truly that easy to replace?" She was so gone, her eyes couldn't even stay on his eyes, they were wandering all over his face as if the answer was written somewhere.

"Ella, darling, c'mon I nee–"

"Am I that fucking replaceable?" She asked quickly, taking a gulp of wine and then continuing, "It's all I keep coming back to because, what the fuck?" She started giggling uncontrollably like it was the funniest joke she'd ever heard.

"It just keeps happening doesn't it? Wow, am I really that easy to replace?" This time she asked herself as she looked around the room, clumsy steps taking her further down her house.

Alex shook his head, walking a few steps to try and grab the bottle from her hand. "Ellie, you're not, I pro–"

The interruption was now a loud and short laugh, like she was making fun of his attempt of an answer. "Don't even lie, Alex. You did the same thing." Her words left her in a tired sigh, like it was a burden for her to even say that out loud.

He scowled, completely overcome by confusion. "What?"

"Arielle." Ella said simply with a shrug and then turned to walk slowly into the kitchen.

Alex's heart dropped, the realization dawning at him and a heavy wave of self hatred overcame him. The fact that he'd made her feel disposable like Julian had, made him feel sick, and it made him even angrier the fact that her admission had punctured his heart a little.

Every hypothesis he'd come up with during those months of radio silence which had soothed down his worries in a way were now weighing on him like a bag of bricks. And now all he wished was that he had texted her to clear things up, to even just ask her if she was doing alright days after that day. He hadn't though, and in retrospective, that had been probably the biggest mistake. It certainly was his biggest regret now. So many things could've been different if he hadn't let his ego get hurt at her leaving his messages on read or if he had explained his behavior with Arielle that night.

He felt so fucking stupid, like such a fucking twat. He had to do her better, he had to be better.

When he snapped back to reality, and he followed her steps to the kitchen, he found her just gulping down every drop of wine she could get.

She stopped for a second, when she felt herself wanting to heave. She brought her hand up to her mouth and closed her eyes as she swallowed a gag. That's when Alex had enough, he couldn't bear to see her do that to herself, he already knew she'd be miserable the next morning.

"Ella, set it down." The singer finally got in front of her and slowly reached out to grab the bottle.

She shook her head in a childish manner, her face flashing anger at his attempts to stop her. "No, Alex."

Ella pulled the bottle back to press against her front which made the singer grasp it tighter and try to take it away again. Just like that, they started struggling to get ahold of it until both their hands slipped and it fell to the floor in a loud crash that made her flinch and break down sobbing.

Alex quickly stepped around the broken glass and the wine spilled so he could get closer to her, enough to carry her away from the mess. Guiding her away from the shards so she wouldn't step on them with her bare feet and then his arms swiftly carried her bridal-style over to her settee in the living room as she held onto his neck and cried in his ear.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Ella apologized like a broken record when he set her down. She hugged her legs and he kneeled in front of her, rubbing her calves up and down. "I'm such a fucking mess. No wonder he found someone better." The slurring of her words got worse combined with her crying.

"Ellie, don't. Stop talking like that." She looked down at him, her chest heaving as she tried hard not to sob. "You're not a mess, you're fine okay? You're gonna get through this. But first, please try and breathe for me, yeah? Let's breathe together." He started inhaling and exhaling in a slow pace and she copied him, feeling herself calm down a few minutes after mirroring his actions.

"I will go clean up, okay?" She nodded, they had their eyes set firm on each other and he was still rubbing up and down the bottom of her legs to settle her, her eyes were still flooding with tears and she was biting her bottom lip to stop it from quivering. "Could you go take a warm shower? So you can relax, darling. Would you?"

Her nod was shy, and she replied in a small voice, "Okay."

Her head was pounding from crying all day, drinking way too much and the physical effort from cleaning her house from Julian's belongings.

So Alex walked with her into her room, watched her getting her stuff to change after the shower and only left when Ella closed the bathroom door. He heard the patter of the water falling from the shower head as he meticulously picked up every bit of glass on the floor, his thoughts were still being haunted by her words.

'Don't even lie, Alex. You did the same thing. Arielle.'

His mouth tasted bitter the more it played and echoed in the walls of his brain. He was such a fucking idiot.

When she got out of the bathroom, wet hair clipped up so it didn't wet her back, he offered to dry it for her. She didn't have the energy to say no, so she walked to her room with him following behind and pulled out the hair dryer. She sat on the end of her bed and lost the sense of every single thing at the noise of the tool.

Alex was gentle, very aware of the heat of the air to not burn her scalp and careful with the brush of his fingers to not tangle her hair.

Ella had felt so numb by the time he said he was done, and she absentmindedly watched him as he put the dryer away. He got on his knees again, in front of her and stared at her with a worried look in those big doe eyes of his.

"Darling, what happened? What's wrong?"

The tenderness of his words made her start pouting, and within seconds her chin started wobbling as the tears filled her eyes. "He called me," She started recalling but soon, nothing else could be understood because of how hard she was trying not to sob.

It hadn't worked though. Her sobs ripped out her throat and had her letting her head fall, too embarrassed of having Alex seeing her crumble down again.

He grabbed both her hands and started rubbing his thumbs on the back of them, "Hey, hey, hey." He encouraged her warmly, "Look at me, darling. Let's breathe together again."

Ella lifted her head up and watched his breathing pace through teary eyes. She went along with him but no matter how hard she tried to start telling him again, she found herself sobbing again at what had happened that morning.

Her chest felt so constricted which made her eventually want to puke, she ran to her bathroom suddenly and Alex didn't miss a beat to follow behind. She dropped to her knees in front of the toilet bowl and let it all out. He rubbed her back with his right hand as he held all of her hair in a makeshift ponytail in his left hand.

They stayed there for about five minutes, until she felt sure that she wasn't gonna be sick again. She took her time rinsing her mouth and brushing her teeth meticulously before they headed back to her room.

She sat on her bed, letting her back rest against the headboard and he did the same. His presence was warm next to her, soothing her slowly. She took a few deep breaths to try and not get too worked up by remembering that morning's events.

"He called me in the morning, begging to talk to me. I told him no, because I don't have the strength to keep it together in front of him. I didn't say that to him of course, just said no. But that's when he got all demanding of at least having his shit back before he left for wherever he has to go on Monday." She took a shaky deep breath and continued, "I agreed to it, wanting nothing more than to just throw his shit away and I'd thought it would be easier now but turns out it wasn't."

Alex straightened up to hug her tightly, "He's such a fucking prick."

She nodded, her insides slowly filling with peace in the embrace. "Can you help me pack it all up? I cannot do it alone." Her head was still spinning though, from it all and the alcohol. That had been a poor decision but just remembering made her want another drink.

Ella hated having to ask for more of him but she certainly couldn't do it by herself. If she only knew Alex would do absolutely anything for her, no matter how big or small. And it was simple, really, she'd never have to beg to get anything from him.

"'Course I can, darling." It sounded too simple like that. How he would've liked to be able to spill it all out to her.

That's how they'd ended packing three boxes of things that Julian would take the next morning. Filled with clothes, letters, pictures, jewelry and many other trinkets that had been scattered all around her house.

They'd had to stop multiple times because she had broken down at the sight of something, and Alex had heard so many stories behind the things that were being packed away that had his heart being stomped over and over.

He couldn't imagine the hurt she was going through.

He stayed over that night, and had kept himself awake all night thinking about everything that had happened. Tormenting himself with his mistakes, cursing himself for having been so careless when it came to her. Seeing her so broken now had him praying she hadn't been as despaired in February of the past year. The prospect of himself causing that much pain to her made him lose every bit of sleep.

He had barely slept all night, waking up every thirty minutes and his racing thoughts keeping him awake for a while before he surrendered to a brief slumber before he woke back up not long after. The awful sleep was why he had been the one to make breakfast for her that morning.

Alex waltzed around her kitchen, making some simple pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs when he heard her wake up. It was a string of curses that had him turn, she was holding her head like it weighed a ton and half lidded eyes at the brightness of the daylight.

"Fuck. Morning, Al."

The singer gave her a smile, turning a golden pancake upside down. "Good morning, darling. Sleep well?"

"My head's fucking killing me." Her voice was hoarse, her throat hurt and she was barely able to open her eyes, they were too swollen after crying so much.

He hummed, "You should take some ibuprofen. Had two bottles of wine yesterday."

"Oh my... What the fuck?" She didn't remember much, only the call and how she'd decided to drink as she'd packed Julian's things away, but after that everything was a blur.

She turned and looked out to the living room, seeing the boxes filled to the brim on the floor. "Did I finish that?"

He froze, "Do you not remember?"

"Not really, barely even remember you coming over." She leaned against the kitchen counter, "I'm not drinking in a fucking while. Fuck."

Of course she didn't remember. He would be the one with the whole afternoon playing in his brain on loop and maybe that's what he needed, maybe that was his karma and he could only accept it.

"I helped you finish it all up and then we just went to sleep." Alex explained to try and get her memory to refresh but when she shook her head in confusion, he deflated.

She was slightly mortified at her lack of recollection, it was such a vulnerable state he'd found her in not only from the consequences of the call but also because she'd drank way too much. She only hoped she hadn't done anything stupid. "Thank you, Alex. You really didn't have to help me with that."

"It's okay, Ellie. It was not a problem at all."

They eventually sat down to eat, he was telling her some of the things that had happened in the studio while she was away and that got her excited to be coming back the next day.

Ella had enjoyed his cooking very much, the pancakes fluffy and soft, she'd finished them fast. The bacon was just crispy enough and the eggs were perfect. Alex had thanked her for her compliments and she offered to wash the dishes. He was an organized cook though, there wasn't much more to wash other than the plates and forks they had used and the pan and spatula he had used to make and flip the pancakes.

They had been talking about how much footage he'd gotten and she'd laughed when he admitted he had even struggled to take out the battery of the camera to charge it.

Their laughter had been interrupted by the ring of her doorbell. Alex watched her freeze, the color completely draining from her face. They both knew who it was behind the door so he ushered her to change so that she could go outside and give her ex his stuff.

Three impatient knocks on the door startled her into action, Ella pleaded Alex with her eyes to handle Julian for a little while she mentally prepared for the interaction.

He nodded and she exhaled heavily, her heart getting heavier as the seconds passed.

When she disappeared behind her bedroom door, he moved onto opening the door to get Julian to stop knocking incessantly.

Alex opened the door harshly and he watched as Julian's fist fell, along with his face.

"Oh... Alex." Julian only managed to mutter under his breath.

The singer looked him up and down, not stepping aside because he didn't want him to come inside her place. "Julian." He grumbled and, despite the American man being taller than him, that was enough to make him take a step back.

The air thickened around them, Julian's brain was coming up with multiple scenarios that would explain why Alex was at Ella's house so early in the morning. He would've expected Breana to be there, not him.

Alex saw him about to start speaking but he truly couldn't care less about what he had to say so he interrupted him quickly with, "She'll be out in a second."

Alex's gaze stayed firmly on Julian's figure, only wavering when a minute later Ella tapped his shoulder, "Can you help me get these outside?" She pointed down to the boxes, "Just right here by the door, he can carry them." She talked as if Julian wasn't right there, and that only made her ex scoff and shake his head in disbelief.

The singer nodded and carried a box, following her as she left the first one there: three feet away from her door, right beside Julian's feet. When the three boxes were all resting on the pavement, Ella turned to Alex and smiled at him as a thank you, "I'll come back inside in a few, won't take that long."

He knew the words were mostly for Julian, for him to know that she wasn't giving him her time anymore, an ultimatum that she'd had enough from him. Alex smiled at her, holding back from kissing her forehead.

Once he walked back inside and the door was closed, Ella walked two steps forward with folded arms and raised her chin up. She was wearing sunglasses to hide her puffy eyes, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction to know how bad he affected her.

Julian watched her stance, freezing at the sight of Ella being so distant. She rolled her eyes seeing him so devastated, as if it wasn't all his doing that they were in such a situation.

"There's all your things." She pointed around with no interest at all, "Put some things there that I don't want, you decide what to do with them."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, baby." Julian started, stepping around the boxes on the floor.

She took a step back, holding her hand out to make him stop. "Yeah, you're very sorry, I know. I don't care, though. Grab your shit and go."

It pained her having to be so harsh towards him, but he had been the one to fuck everything up and she had to remind herself of that. She had to fake being fed up with him until it became absolutely real. Yet that thought didn't stop the tears welling up in her eyes.

Julian took a deep breath and desperately looked around, "What do I have to do for you to forgive me? I'll beg Ella, I swear I will." He dropped to his knees, tears pooling his eyes but his gaze never leaving her.

She wanted to be sick at the sight, "Get up." She could barely say, trying to swallow the knot forming in her throat.

"Baby, please. I love you." His hands tried to reach for her but she took another step back, shaking her head as she looked up to the sky.

She lifted an accusatory finger and pointed it at his face, "Stop fucking calling me that, and stop fucking saying that."

Julian continued begging as he cried, "Ella, please baby. I will do anything, anything for you." His fingers graced her thigh which, even covered by a pair of jeans, had her skin erupting in goosebumps.

A chill ran down her spine, but she refused to acknowledge her reaction to his touch. "No. Get. The. Fuck. Up." She hissed through her teeth. "You fucking did this. You made your bed now go fucking lie in it."

He stood up so fast, grabbing her face in both his hands, too fast for her to react in time. His thumbs started rubbing on her cheeks and she hated that she wanted to stay in his hold, "Get away," Her voice was weak and she hated that he noticed because he smiled softly at her and shook his head.

"But you don't want me to." He confirmed, reading it on her face. "We can get over this, baby. I can be better, that was just a stupid mistake. You're the only one, you're the one for me."

It was his diminishing of the situation that had her blood boiling, "Just a stupid mistake?" She repeated his words, filled with rage. Her hands finally reacted and pushed at his chest which made him take a step back and drop his hands from her face.

"Just a stupid mistake, yeah right. A fucking month long stupid mistake. You're a fucking joke, you know that? You've been fucking some other girl for over a month, and that's only the one I know of because you only told your parents when they caught you. Were you fucking other girls before? Huh?"

His face fell, and he shook his head frantically, "Baby, no. It was a mistake, I–"

Ella scoffed, "No. Fuck you!" She walked up to him and stabbed her finger into his chest, "You promised me forever, you painted this picture of us becoming a family while you had someone else on the fucking side. You fucking used me and for what? What did you fucking get from that?" Each time she said 'you', she'd push him backwards and every step he had to take back was just filling her up with more anger that was threatening to explode.

Julian was panicked, not knowing what to respond and his ego had taken a hit, so he used his last resort to make her flinch. "What is he doing here then? Have you been seeing him since he got back last August?"

Her face contorted in incredulity, "What the fuck are you on about?"

"Why is he here? What is Alex doing here?" He demanded to know.

She laughed humorlessly, "I've missed the past week of work, he's been coming here to check on me because he's a good fucking friend." But at the realization of how he was getting explanations he didn't deserve, she started going off on him again, "Who the fuck do you think you are? You fuck up and then you try and flip it around on me?" She scoffed, she'd had enough. "Just grab your shit and leave, I'm fucking done with you."

Julian stood there frozen, just staring at her like he couldn't believe her words.

"What are you fucking waiting for? Leave. I don't want to see you ever again. Don't you even fucking dare come near me or to my house, because I will call the fucking police on you." Her voice lowered to threaten him.

Ella didn't even stay to see him go away, she turned and went back inside, slamming the door to further set her warning.

Alex watched her make her way towards him, her brows furrowing as the tears silently started falling down her cheeks. He opened his arms for her and she basically let herself fall in his embrace.

He hadn't been able to hear a thing so he got worried seeing her coming back in that state. He managed to take the sunglasses off her face so she could properly hide on his neck without being uncomfortable.

"What happened? Did he do something to you?" The singer asked in a hurry. If Julian had done anything to her, he would run out and knock him out before he could even think of leaving.

She shook her head, "He's just a fucking asshole."

He felt her lips move on his neck, goosebumps raising all over his skin. He held her a bit tighter then and left multiple kisses on her head.

"Is he gone?"

Ella shrugged with the small amount of energy she had left, "He better be in the next five minutes or I'll call the cops."

Her tears were silent that time, which filled him with hope. He knew she was strong and he loved seeing her proving it.

"How about we drive to Los Feliz, grab some lunch and go watch a film at the cinema?"

The simple suggestion had her squeezing him tighter in gratitude, a short chuckle that turned into a little sob. She pulled back slowly and nodded with a sweet smile that had his heart melting.

Alex wiped her tears, "Let's go." He said against her temple and left a final kiss there before she stood up to get a coat and her shoes on.

That day Alex had found out many things about her. She didn't get scared watching horror movies, she'd remained completely calm throughout the whole screening of 'Poltergeist'—giggling when he would flinch at the jumpscares.

Her comfort album was 'L.A. Woman' by The Doors, which she'd played start to finish on the way to Los Feliz, she'd told him just how it had basically been the soundtrack to her move to the west coast and she found herself craving that feeling when times were tough.

She loved something sweet right after lunch, claiming a dessert was always needed after a meal. She'd always been inclined towards photography and videography because her parents used to document every single thing they could, and looking through their photo albums and VHS tapes was her favorite thing to do growing up.

Ella had almost cried again when they were walking back to the car, so incredibly grateful for Alex and his unwavering efforts at getting her to feel better. She felt like she could let go of absolutely everything, forgive him for what he'd fucked up before and just focus on how she could trust him again. She was relieved to see they could be real friends. It meant so much more than he could imagine and she didn't even know if thank you was enough.

Alex had hugged her, telling her it was all gonna be fine and that she didn't need to thank him because she truly didn't have to. It was a personal goal of his now to keep a smile on her face, no matter what, so it was just that that he was gonna do—whatever it took.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

That Monday in which she'd come back to the studio had been filled with Alex glaring at the lads so they didn't pester Ella with questions, but that of course had only worked for so long.

Matt hadn't been able to keep his tongue bitten for any longer. He, along with Nick and Jamie, saw the way she was acting now that she was back and how it was a stark contrast to the way she'd been since they'd seen her when they came back to LA in August.

She was quiet, her eyes seemed to get lost staring at nothing at random times throughout the day, her laugh was shy and it struggled to fall from her lips.

The guys had tried so many times to make her laugh but not even embarrassing Matt was working on getting her to snort or throw her head back in a loud cackle.

They had already managed to conclude she hadn't been sick, something else had to have happened. It was like they had switched Ella for someone else, not even the Ella they'd met in 2011 had been that recoiled.

"Ellie, what's wrong? Is everything okay?" Matt sat beside her on the settee, genuine worry written on his face which managed to get her out of the trance she'd been in. He knew then that Breana hadn't told him the truth that day.

Her gaze went from the drummer to Jamie and Nick who were sitting on the adjacent settee also watching her with a worried expression. Their worried faces were tugging at her heartstrings. Ella sighed and looked at Alex with a sad frown. The singer smiled at her softly, trying to tell her with his eyes that it was okay if she lied her way out of the situation, but she decided to just get it over with.

Ripping the bandaid off in one quick tug.

"Julian and I broke up." It was a simple statement, said slowly like she was dipping her toes in the water, trying to check if she was ready to jump back into the lake of hurt that was assured when she thought back to it all.

Instantly, they all frowned hard. It was such a sudden turn of events that they had definitely not seen coming.

It wasn't even like they wanted an explanation but it was the shock that had Nick saying, "Why?"

She didn't blame them, not at all, but how she wanted to not have heard that question because it was one that haunted her every second of the day.

"He cheated on me."

It surprised her seeing how they'd all frozen at the same time and then, beside her, watch Matt fill with burning anger.

"What the fuck?" The drummer asked heavily, grabbing Ella's hand and squeezing it to comfort her. "What the fuck did he do...?"

Alex sighed, he didn't want her to relive it all, it was the last thing she needed so he scorned him by saying, "Matt." sternly.

But Ella shook her head and gave Alex a tight lip smile, "It's fine," she turned to the guys, biting the inside of her cheek. "He'd been cheating on me for a while and when his parents caught him, they called to tell me. He hadn't wanted to tell me himself." She cleared her throat, feeling herself starting to get choked up. "Broke up with him that same night."

Jamie's face had gotten red from the anger, "I'll kill him." He hissed through his teeth and that had Ella smiling in amusement.

"It's okay." She assured, like it wasn't still killing her inside.

Matt dropped her hand to envelope her in a hug which she accepted without complaint, "No it's not. I'm so sorry he did that to you."

She felt Nick holding her hand and rubbing his thumb over it, "I truly don't mind burying a body." His mission of trying to get her to laugh worked, she let out a giggle and shook her head lightly.

"I don't think I'd like you going to jail for me."

Jamie stood up and sat on the free space on Ella's right side, he let his arm fall over her shoulders and joined the hug Matt was already giving her, "But we would love to."

She let her eyes fall close with a grin on her face, her body filled with warmth and she had to allow herself a few seconds to slowly exhale and inhale so she didn't break down in tears.

Alex wanted to join the affection shower but he decided to just stand back and watch his best mates comfort her. He was so glad it had ended like this and not with her wanting to leave.

The three men kept holding her until she opened her eyes and nodded filled with appreciation. "Thank you guys, I love y'all very much."

They all left sweet kisses on Ella, telling her they loved her back, Jamie and Matt on her temples while Nick kissed her hand before slowly resting it back on her lap and letting go. The other two squeezed her one last time before standing up and giving her space.

Matt pointed out something that had her giggling in amusement, "Bre lied to me about this though, I can't believe her."

Ella waved him off, "I told her not to tell anyone so you can't blame her. That's all on me."

The drummer didn't miss the way her lips dipped at the last bit of her sentence and his heart broke. Shaking his head he grabbed her hand again, "Could you maybe give me his address? I wanna have a long talk with him."

She shook her head, trying to grin at his attempts but all she managed was a sad little smile. "We're just gonna forget about him and completely ignore his existence, okay? That sound alright for y'all?"

The four men hesitated but eventually nodded at her pleading eyes.

"Sure, darling. Anything you want." Alex said, walking a step towards her and leaning down to leave a heavy kiss on her head.

Even amidst the shock of the bad news Ella had delivered, the lads hadn't missed the sudden return of the nickname. Alex hadn't used it in so long, so hearing him bring it back had them all confused.

"Well, right now I kinda need to check the footage you got while I was away, so could you hand me the camera bag please?"

Just like it seemed to be now, her wish was Alex's command and he'd fulfill it as fast as he could. He handed it to her in no time.

Matt smirked, knowing what they had recorded and how it was pure chaos. "You're gonna love those clips we got."

She narrowed her eyes at the drummer and then watched all of the other guys for an answer, "What did you do?"

Nick waved her off, "Us? Nothing. Just being professionals. Like always."

They watched her as she connected the camera to her laptop with a usb cable. It took about seven minutes for all the videos to copy to her files and she was pleasantly surprised to see they had recorded far more than she'd expected.

The first video was only a minute long, and they looked to be in one of the backrooms that had arcade machines and some sound system that they had played isolated vocals on to hear better any details they missed. They'd shown her the new massive UK flag David had put up there for them one day as a joke, before they had moved it to their main recording room they were always at.

She clicked on the play button and watched, at first it just seemed like they were hanging out. Ross and Jamie on the NBA Jam arcade machine in the corner, Nick was sorting through some papers on the table in front of him and Davey—their drum tech—seemed to be listening to a track because he had headphones on and was dancing.

Ella smiled, watching as the seconds went by and they seemed to be having fun. "This looks good, did you set it up Nick?"

Nick nodded, "Yeah, it wasn't that good of a moment though."

Ella shook her head, "It's always good to have mundane moments in documentaries, this will work out great."

Her smile was still small but present when the video ended. When she moved onto the next, she watched almost the same frame—only this time Davey wasn't there and someone was holding the camera.

She watched as the camera moved around capturing the whole room, Nick still working on stuff on the table. Whoever was holding the camera sat on a chair with a sigh, she asked herself if she had recognized who it was and she had a guess but then she heard Nick talking in the video confirm her suspicions.

"Matt." Nick muttered, barely looking up.

He didn't get an answer for a couple seconds until a loud burp was heard. It almost sounded like a short scream.

Nick looked up then, "Fucking hell." He said before chuckling.

Her fingers fell on the space bar, pausing the video. "Matt Helders, you are disgusting." Ella commented, brows furrowed at what she'd just seen.

Matt shrugged, "That's going in, I don't care. Nick looks fit in it."

Ella burst out laughing, she'd always found that British expression so funny but in the context and seeing Nick's reaction, it was all the more funny.

Her eyes were closed from how hard she'd laughed which meant she missed the way all of their faces had lit up hearing her laughter again.

"Cheers, Matt." Nick replied, "It's definitely going in so people can see how mingin you are."

When Alex and Jamie agreed, Matt started trying to shut them up which only made the bickering continue on for longer.

She had to take it in her hands to have them stop, "Okay, okay. Stop it. Y'all are children. God."

Matt tried to defend himself but she lifted her hand up to keep him from talking. The only reason he didn't taunt her was because he wanted her to see one of the videos they had recorded. Well, Alex had recorded.

She clicked on the third one and got confused by the change of scenery. It was one of the other rooms, with Matt's drum kit in the middle of the room.

Matt sat down behind the kit and adjusted his headphones on his head. Drum sticks in hand, he was ready to start drumming along the song.

"You ready Al?" He asked loudly to the man behind the camera.

"It says rec." Alex shyly replied.

Matt started playing the drums, not really hearing his reply over the music coming in through the headphones.

Ella fully cackled at the clip, "Alex! You're such a grandpa!" The video continued playing on her laptop screen as her laughter died down as she took in the music. "This sounds good though, which one is it?"

"Snap out of it." Jamie enlightened her, "That's the name, right Al?"

Alex nodded, "Unfortunately, you're gonna have to wait to listen to that one, Ellie. We haven't been sent the finished version yet." He knew it wouldn't take long for them to get it back but he'd put off having her listen to it, it would be distasteful to have her listen to it just after she'd gone through all that with Julian.

She rolled her eyes playfully, "Whatever. You better let me listen the second you get it."

Alex laughed, "You will, darling. I promise."

And right then a lightbulb went off in Nick's head. He managed to notice the absence of Arielle mentions since they had gotten back to the States after the holidays, and considering how the model had spent that whole season with Alex, his family and closest friends, it was certainly intriguing to not see Arielle around at all when they were back in the place she lived in.

No Arielle and the darling was back. The bassist smirked at his own theories.

Nick made sure to ask Matt and Jamie later—after they had watched Ella approve with laughter of the videos they had recorded—and that ended up with an intervention outside the studio which had Alex finally spilling it all to his best mates.

Lo and behold, just like he had predicted, Alex was being constantly whispered different names of girls Matt knew could get along with the singer. Alex had turned him down after each try but by the time they were about to leave the place for the day, he was tired of it and made Matt completely stop.

"I'm perfectly good being single right now." Alex stated, his voice was stern and his eyes lacked any humor.

Matt tried to take the piss out of him, "You sure, mate? You've never been quite good at being single."

He rolled his eyes, "Yes, I'm perfectly fine. I have other things to focus on. Much more important."

Alex had been vague in order to shut him up and give him some type of answer but not a definite one that would have Matt on his arse about what exactly he was talking about.

But the singer's mistake had been staring at Ella's car when he had replied and Matt was not that dense to not join the dots.

The drummer chose not to say a thing, but he was so amused by the whole situation. He could paint a picture on why he had broken up with Arielle now and, god, did he want to confirm it just so he could laugh out loud at being right.

Regardless, he'd keep an eye out on what promised to unfold in front of him, because the last thing Ella deserved was to get fooled again by someone. Especially not by Alex, when in February of the past year it had felt like he had led her on.

"Important. I see... Hopefully you're talking about the record." Matt teased.

Alex forced his gaze to leave the mirrorball hanging from her rearview mirror, "Yeah, the record. Of course."

Ella. Ella. Ella.

All he could think about was Ella.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

The days went by painfully slowly but Ella was healing. She seemed to be easier on herself with time, letting herself laugh freely when she wanted to and pushing herself to enjoy everything happening around her so that she wasn't focusing on the loss of a person that didn't deserve more of her time.

But it wavered from time to time, like when Alex was over at hers after a particularly sad day. It had been one when she'd been really quiet throughout the day and he'd found out later when he walked through the door of her house that it was their monthly anniversary.

That day had only gotten worse when Julian's mom called her. Alex had managed to distract Ella by finding a film that was playing on some random channel, and they were giggling at some shit joke one of the characters had just said when he phone rang loudly and when she caught a glimpse of who was calling her, he felt the switch in her behavior.

Ella hesitated picking up, but deep inside there was that appreciation for the woman and her husband that she couldn't quite get rid off. It was frustrating that she was managing to get over her ex being fueled by the anger but having to push two people she'd grown to love was harder when they hadn't done anything wrong to her.

She ended up answering the call and Alex didn't miss the way her voice wavered as she greeted the woman. The singer had no idea who it was though, he was frowning softly watching Ella fiddle with her fingers and chewing on her bottom lip as she listened to what she was being told.

But then the PA mouthed to him that it was Julian's mother and the realization had anger bubbling up in him. It was beyond him that the woman would try to contact Ella on such a day. Even if there were no bad intentions behind it, it just wasn't appropriate timing.

Yet, he still paused the film and watched attentively as if trying to figure out what was being said.

Ella listened as her ex's mom apologized for calling but said she wanted to make sure she was doing alright, that she understood how it wouldn't necessarily be the case all things considered but deep in her heart she hoped Ella was moving forward because she was wonderful and didn't deserve to wallow in the hurt caused by the poor choices of her son.

She reluctantly said she was doing fine, that the days were looking better as time went by but the way she recoiled into herself and her chin wobbled as she softly spoke made Alex's heart break again.

Leaning into him, Ella seeked the comfort of Alex's touch—so familiar now and that's exactly what she needed in that moment. Alex opened his arms and rested his back on the settee so she could get comfortable. She ended up sitting between his legs, her side pressed to his chest and her head hidden in his neck.

He was rubbing circles on her arm, feeling the goosebumps on her skin under the pads of his fingers and it was after what he heard to be "Ella we love you so much and we will be forever proud of you and who you are. We're so sorry, you deserved so much better than this and trust me when I tell you I will never let him forget this mess he made. But we just want you to be happy, because you deserve that and the whole world. You're wonderful honey, so amazing." that she broke down in sobs.

What the woman said next he couldn't really make out because Ella's cries rang louder in his ear so he held her tighter and left kisses on her head, hoping that would somehow help her calm down in a way.

It made him even more angry when Ella sobbed as she tried to take a breath so she could say, "I'm sorry– It's just," A hiccup broke through her as she tried hard to stop her sobs, "S'hard to hear all that and know it just wasn't enough."

All Alex wanted to do was look for the bastard and knock him right out. He was seeing red after hearing that.

Ella covered her mouth with her hand so she could quiet down her crying as the woman replied to that and Alex managed to hear her saying, "No, honey. You were so much more than enough. He was just so damn stupid to not appreciate what he had."

Alex could find more words than stupid to describe that man but he'd have to bite his tongue and recite them in his mind.

The words were hitting her like a bunch of punches to the gut so she kept quiet, muffling her sobs with her hand meaning the woman tried something else to get her to stop crying.

"Would it help if you knew I slapped him so hard he got whiplash?"

But that only made Ella chuckle humorlessly before she dropped her hand and admitted a pathetic, "No." because that somehow only made her feel worse.

He deserved it, he did and she was secretly jealous she hadn't gotten to do that herself but she felt so guilty his own mother had done that to him for doing that to her.

As if that was her fault.

Ella knew the wrong in her logic but it was her heart interfering and being stubborn.

She also knew then that Alex had listened because he held her even tighter as he shook his head, like he had just read her thoughts and was disapproving of them.

Julian's mom apologized again, for calling and making her cry, for bringing it all up again but reminding Ella that she loved her and she just wanted to check up on her.

Alex caught her promising to text Ella, which he fucking hated because he knew just how much that would make Ella remember it all and therefore be stuck in that situation rather than getting better.

The American girl said a short okay and a quick goodbye before hanging up the phone, cutting the woman off as she told her "Love you." which had Ella feeling bad but she just couldn't bear hearing those words from her again.

When the call was done, Ella threw her phone on the other side of the settee and wrapped her arms around Alex's middle with a surprising force. He responded by cradling her head as she cried again, allowing her the time to let it all out.

"You're gonna be fine, darling. You are." He said as he rubbed her back, feeling her chest constricting under his touch from the force of her sobs.

He felt the need to add, "You need to tell her not to call you again, much less text you. That's not gonna help."

Ella sniffled and hiccuped as she nodded, "I know." She managed to say out loud, her lips moving against his skin.

But she hadn't had the heart to block her contact or ignore her texts and that was something Alex unfortunately found out later.

The arrival of March meant that Bre's and her birthday was coming up. The lads had asked Ella if she had plans for the eighth day of the month but she had shook her head saying she planned on staying at home not doing much. She had even suggested having them come over so they could all have a drink but they only agreed to it absentmindedly, looking between themselves with smirks and already planning to surprise her for her day.

But Breana wasn't missing out on properly celebrating her own birthday. So with a lot of begging and convincing from everyone, Ella had agreed to be part of the big celebration Breana was throwing.

It was a night out in a pub, karaoke was promised and lots of Bre's friends were invited along with the band and Ella.

Surprisingly, the new people surrounding her had been like a breath of fresh air as it felt like a brand new start. Like going back to square one, but it wasn't as hard as she had expected.

Of course, she hadn't talked with anyone with any intentions, it had all been friendly talk and lots of laughter encouraged by the alcohol she was responsibly and leisurely drinking but it helped her calm her doubts a bit. It helped her leave her shyness behind and feel comfortable in being around unknown people again.

She hadn't realized how much she'd been relying on the band and Bre to feel better until that night. And it wasn't bad but she also thought that maybe sometimes she must've been a bit of a burden to them all.

That had been one thing she'd said to Alex when they were outside, smoking together and he'd asked her if she wanted him to go with her on the cab home after she had suggested that she wanted to leave. He said he would go with her and drop her off and then leave to the hotel but she had shaken her head.

"It's okay, you don't have to leave early because of me," Not that it was early, it was around two in the morning and Breana had said the place closed at three but it felt like they had just gotten there regardless. "And I don't wanna be a burden. You can go back inside. I'll be fine, I promise."

"Darling, you're never a burden." Alex said, dropping the bud of the cigarette on the ground and stomping on it as he got closer to her.

He grabbed her right hand and intertwined their fingers and the delicate touch made her want to cry, "I'm actually knackered and would rather spend the next hour of the night chatting to you than having more drinks and witness Matt eating Breana's face."

That made Ella cackle out loud, throwing her head back as she did. That sight was heaven to Alex, how he loved when he got the lucky chance to see her laugh like that lately.

"Yeah, they're disgusting aren't they?" She grinned amused, taking one last drag before tossing the cigarette to the ground. "Okay, let's go but you're staying over. I'm not letting you take a taxi all the way to the hotel at three in the morning."

He smiled brightly at her, "Alright then, let's say bye."

And that's what they did, waving everyone goodbye on their way to Breana and the rest of the band.

When they got to the birthday girl, Ella chuckled at her loopy smile and her drunk flushed cheeks. Ella told her that she and Alex would be leaving but they'd see her the next studio day if she managed to power through the hangover.

In her drunk mind, Bre cupped Ella's face and pressed her lips on hers as a goodbye. Alex had laughed hard behind her and Ella had pinched the model's waist and shook her head at her with giggles falling from her lips.

Matt was also drunk so he had scoffed but laughed at what had just happened, engulfing Ella in a tight hug and telling her to take care and that they'd see her on Thursday. She made a quick round to hug Nick and Jamie and asked them to promise they'd make sure Matt and Breana got to her house safely. They both pinky promised and with that Ella and Alex left.

The ride back to hers had been alright, Ella resting her head on Alex's shoulder and him resting his head right on top of hers. Their eyes closed from time to time, they were knackered from the day at the studio and having to rush to get ready and leave to the pub as soon as possible. That had been hell because of the traffic, and adding alcohol to the long day had resulted in their exhaustion.

Ella couldn't wait to get home, take her makeup off and change her clothes for a baggy top and shorts to throw herself in bed and just completely pass out the second her head touched her pillows.

But that had been wishful thinking, since something else was waiting for her at home.

Someone, more like.

The both of them had been dealing with their eyes closing against their wishes for most of the journey back to Ella's, and they had been in the brink of sleep by the time they got there, that's why they hadn't noticed a presence standing by the windows on the front of the house when the driver startled them awake by saying they were there already.

Fortunately, Ella had been the one carrying cash that night so she had triumphantly paid the driver and giggled at Alex's huff at it.

Alex had muttered under his breath, "Not gonna happen next time."

To which Ella mockingly replied, "Sure, sure."

And the singer was going to start bickering by saying, "You got lucky." when a loud scoff made them turn and look all the way to the right corner of the house where a man stood.

In her haste to leave for the pub, Ella had only managed to turn on the lights by the front door but not the rest of them so, in the dark, they couldn't really see the man's face. But that wasn't needed, she could recognize that voice anywhere.

"What the fuck are you doing here Julian?!" Ella fiercely asked, too tired to deal with a situation like that at three in the morning.

Her ex completely ignored her question and stepped forward closer to her and the singer, and once he stepped into the faint light they could make out the state he was in. He looked all sweaty and face flushed red, eyes just as red and so wide they seemed like they were gonna pop off his head at any second.

That startled Ella enough to take a step back, Alex held his hand out in front of him to stop Julian from getting any closer while Ella took a hold of his other hand to calm her nerves. She knew she was going to start shaking at any moment.

And she did, when her ex started raising his voice as he said, "So this is it huh?! Can't come 'round to talk to you, to fucking fix things because you were waiting for the first opportunity I made a stupid little mistake for you to jump on his dick?! Is that fucking it?!"

He was roaring almost, the veins on his neck popping off and his face reddening as his anger built up. Ella couldn't trust her words, she was sweating cold and shaking and oxygen seemed to be failing to get to her lungs.

Alex had been shocked for a second before Julian tried to take another step towards them so he yelled back at him, "Don't you dare take another fucking step, you fucking cunt!"

Julian cackled loudly and humorlessly, "So what, you're now her fucking bodyguard? Or is she just letting you fuck her well enough that you want to fucking fight for her?"

His words slurred, and it was then that Alex and Ella noticed the bottle he was holding in his right hand. It was almost empty, and she noted that it was Hennessy. That didn't look like it was the only thing he was on though, so she was worried about what could happen. She couldn't see his bike anywhere either so she didn't have a clue about how he had ended up at her house.

Alex dropped her hand then, making Ella yell at him to not do anything but he was already taking long strides towards Julian to push him backwards aggressively.

Julian's footing faltered and as he tried to stabilize himself, he spilled some of the alcohol on the driveway.

"You better fucking leave before I knock you out mate." The singer threatened the American man but he turned a blind eye to Alex completely.

Pointing an accusatory finger at Ella, Julian then started again, "You changed the locks didn't you? What was it, you didn't want me walking in on you fucking him?!" He tried taking another step towards Ella but Alex got in his way before he could take a step, pushing him again. "You've been fucking him all along haven't you?! Ever since he got back! You fucking slut!"

Ella was crying by then, swallowing her sobs just so she didn't give him the satisfaction of seeing how much his words affected her. But she couldn't speak a word, because if she did, she knew she'd crumble.

So instead, Alex shut him up again, "You are the fucking cheating scum, not her. You fucking prick." Pushing him once more, this time with closed fists.

Julian had enough of Ella's silence and Alex jumping in to defend her so he puffed his chest out and bumped it into Alex's front, raising his chin as if to intimidate the singer.

But not even the height difference did that, Alex kept his glare on him and through his teeth he challenged her ex, "You wanna fight someone? Fight me but don't you fucking dare come near her."

"Al, please don't." Ella begged with her voice broken under the stress of the situation.

That made Julian frown even deeper, and in the silence, Alex pushed him again. The clumsiness in his moves due to the alcohol angered Julian more so, in a sudden move, he turned and threw the bottle at the front door.

The glass smashed against the white wood and it was so loud that it made Ella jump in her place. That was the last thing she needed, her heart sank the second she heard the glass break in a million pieces but then she heard Alex say, "Fucking had it with you." before he punched Julian in the face once and with enough strength to make him fall to the pavement.

With a sob ripping through her throat and shaky hands, Ella unlocked her phone and quickly called the police. She had never had to call 911 and she hoped she never would have to again because hearing the operator ask her what was her emergency made her feel sick.

It was a miracle she actually didn't throw up as she briefly told the lady on the emergency line what was going on and thankfully she stayed with her on the phone as she called the cops and they approached her home.

Alex was standing there, watching Julian cradling his head in his hands after the fist to the face he'd just gotten. The man had already tried to stand up but with Alex kicking him on the side so he stayed down, Julian did just that as he winced.

And Alex made sure he stayed on the floor until the police arrived not even five minutes later.

The two officers got out of their car and firstly asked Ella if she was alright to which she nodded to then tell the operator that they were there and she was going to hang up then. She did just that as the police approached Alex and he seemed to start narrating what had happened.

By then Ella noticed her surroundings and saw a couple neighbors peeking through their front doors and windows and she felt so embarrassed. She didn't even know how long they had been there.

But she let that go to the back of her head as then her other concern was getting Julian's parents to get him. There was no way the police would take him, at least not that she could think there could be any ground for them to take him with them, and she needed him gone.

Not that she would send him home in a cab either, so she dialed Julian's mom number quickly as one of the officers crouched down to check on her ex still complaining about his face sprawled on the floor.

It took two calls for her to pick up and once she did, Ella heard her frantically asking if she was alright. Ella said no and broke down again, only this time it was the frustration that got her to properly narrate what was going on and that she needed her to come get her fucked up son.

They didn't live that far away from her and, thankfully, there was no traffic around that time so it meant that they'd be there sooner rather than later.

The officer that was speaking to Julian stayed with him and the other one made Alex come with him up to where Ella was standing.

She was shaking still but from the stress and the nerves, she felt fully sober then and not tired anymore. Her body was in flight or fight mode and she couldn't really relax.

Alex went up to her and held out his hand for Ella to grab, hoping the touch would comfort her enough in front of the police but she pulled him towards her, engulfing him in a hug and inhaling his scent to ground herself for a moment.

When the cop cleared his throat, she didn't let go of Alex, she just turned slightly to the side still in his hold and kept her arms around his waist but looking at the officer who wanted to get her side of the story.

Ella told him all of it, giving him a short bit of context so that he could get the picture of how they had broken up and how long it had been since then.

After knowing all the facts, the cop suggested she should file a restraining order so she could have peace knowing that he wouldn't come near her again. She listened as he explained the whole process but her head already hurt even thinking about going through with that.

She nodded after he finished, promising that she'd look into that and he then told her that she'd need to let him file a report of the situation first if she wanted to take this to court. It would serve her as evidence about why she wanted to file a restraining order.

Ella gave him the approval to do that, somehow the night's events becoming an official police report calmed her down a bit. Alex's hold on her was also helping but the thing that helped her the most was when Julian's parents drove up her driveway and hurried down their car to check on her.

It wasn't them checking on her that filled her with peace though, that had been dreadful. In a way, it was like the phone calls she'd gotten from the woman and all the texts had been personified and it hurt like multiple stabs in the chest. It was the fact that when the police had spoken to Julian's parents and explained to them all that had happened, they had thrown Julian in the back of the car and promised her that they would do everything to keep him away from her.

Alex was no longer holding Ella, that had changed the second Julian's mom had rushed to hug her but he was staring at every move Julian's parents made just in case.

The cops asked Ella if she was fine with them leaving then, after it all had been sorted, and she'd told them it was, thanking them before they got back in their car and left. And that's when Julian's mom had hugged Ella once more and kissed her head as she consoled her.

Ella was silently crying, the whole scene catching up to her and the heaviness of her heart dragging her down. Thankfully, when the police left, her nosey neighbors went back inside—the scene no longer entertaining them after the blue and red lights weren't shining outside their homes anymore.

The singer was seething seeing the woman holding her tightly and telling her things, which he surely hoped were nice and not digging the dagger deeper in her heart.

What he wasn't hearing was Julian's mom apologizing over and over, telling her how much better she deserved and how poorly her son was fucking up. But Ella couldn't hear any longer, she wanted it all to stop. The hurt was too much and she wanted peace.

So once the woman quieted down to let her silently cry, Ella sniffled and stepped out of her hold, deciding on letting it all go for her own good.

"Thank you for having my back and thank you for coming tonight but I can't do this any longer." Ella started saying, it felt like she was holding her heart in her hand and watching it bleed all over the place.

Her ex's mom replied then, "I know honey, I know and I promise you we will not let him get close to you again."

Yet Ella had to make herself clearer on what her terms were, "And I thank you for that but I need a clean break. I need to cut it all off."

The woman stood quiet for a few seconds, processing Ella's words and what they meant. She had to swallow the knot in her throat as she nodded, "Okay honey. I completely understand." Julian's mom nodded to herself, tears running down her cheeks then, "It's the best decision for you."

Ella knew just how she was feeling, having to let go of her was painful. After all, she had also considered her a mother and having to push her away was the worst type of hurt she could feel.

The PA bit her bottom lip to stop herself from sobbing loudly, it broke her heart to see the woman so sad in front of her. And then Julian's mom looked up and her gaze fell on Alex, who was staring at them fiercely as though he was threatening her with his eyes that if she did anything wrong, he'd go and defend Ella without a second thought.

Her motherly instincts kicked in, and she flashed the singer a sweet smile, before she turned back to Ella and said, "You keep him close to you," She pointed at Alex behind Ella, "I can tell he's a good one. Don't let him break your heart though."

And then with one last hug, she went back to the car and left.

Ella's cries died down right after Julian's mom said that, her head so scrambled to even properly think about what she had just been told.

The second the car drove away, Alex was back beside her, hugging her to his chest and pressing soft kisses to her head.

"You're alright now, okay?" He said in a whisper, holding her tighter when he felt her struggle to breath as she hiccupped trying to hold back her sobs. "Let's just go inside and try to sleep. Alright darling?"

He knew that'd be hard but when she nodded, he took it as a sign that at least she'd try.

They had to walk around the smashed glass in the front door, the smallest shards cracking under their feet as they went inside.

Staring at her tidy and okay looking house, she sighed in relief. It had been such a good decision to get her locks changed as soon as possible, she mentally thanked her landlord for being responsible and attending to whatever she needed from him at the earliest convenience.

Yet seeing her house not brutally destroyed didn't bring her all the relief she needed. And Alex knew that, so he guided her through what she should do.

He started by telling her, "Take off your boots, darling." when they stood by the door and then telling her to have a glass of water, take her makeup off and wash her face, change into her pajamas.

She had asked him if he could stay with her for a bit and in no time, he was laying on her bed with her cuddled to his side. His arm was around her, rubbing circles on the skin of her arms. She was so cold, shaking still but now it was ever so slightly in comparison to how it had been an hour before.

"He's gone okay?" He consoled her when she started crying again, her tears wetting his collarbone, "Nothing's gonna happen darling, I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you."

Ella sniffled and nodded, "Thank you Al. I'm so sorry I dragged you into all of this."

"No you didn't." He reassured her, "This is none of your fault Ellie. He's the one causing all of this shit and he's the one that should apologize. But he's not coming near you anymore, alright? He's not fucking doing that ever again darling."

It was the way in which he said it that made her believe in every word, as if he could actually promise Julian wouldn't approach her anymore, But she didn't care because this was helping her breathe a little better and she thanked everything out there that Alex had insisted on coming with her.

She shuddered even thinking about what could've happened if he wasn't there with her. The sudden movement made Alex hold her tighter, kiss her temple and softly mutter against her skin, "It's all gonna be fine darling. You'll see."

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

That night had ended with Alex sneaking out of Ella's room when she finally managed to fall asleep, and going to find her broom and dustpan so he could clean up the mess of glass on the other side of her door.

He had been really quiet, picking up the glass, putting it in a bag and throwing it away in the bin in her kitchen.

The next day, Ella had woken up alone and with an awful headache. It wasn't because of a hangover she wished she had instead of the memory of the night playing over and over in her mind.

When she had gone out for a smoke, she realized the glass was gone and when Alex woke up, he told her he had been the one to clean it up.

Ella thanked him profusely again, hugging him tightly and making him breakfast as a means to say more thank yous.

Alex had gone to the hotel to get some clothes since Ella had asked him to please stay with her another night just in case. He had gone to his hotel room, showered and gotten a small bag ready to stay over again and got back to hers as soon as he could've.

That day had been rather slow and quiet, they had spoken through actions and reading each other's body language as she tried to find comfort and he tried to comfort her.

It was great to see how that had been helpful enough to make her feel better by Thursday when they had to go back to the studio. The first few hours there had been spent telling the band and Breana what had happened.

They were all fuming by the time she finished retelling it all, and Ella was too. Saying it all out loud again made her feel so fucking annoyed, Julian was fucking ridiculous and all she wanted to do then was push him out of her mind as fast as she could. She didn't want more of her thoughts or time to be wasted on such a disgusting person.

She couldn't believe she was spending the eve of her birthday seething at her ex but life happens and she had to deal with what she was handed. After all, she didn't even want to celebrate her birthday and she was fine with that. She would come in to work and have the best time watching the lads make music and recording them, drowning herself in emails to not think about anything else and just let it be another day.

But that night, when she had gotten the courage to tell Alex she was fine with being home alone, she had gotten a text from him right before she went to bed that said that they'd be coming in later to the studio so she didn't have to bother waking up early on her birthday.

She had laughed and thanked him for the gesture, attributing the suggestion to him helping her find comfort when he wasn't there with such a simple thing.

Ella woke up the day of her birthday with a smile from having been able to sleep in and feeling way better. Her smile stayed on as she got ready and left for the studio.

She got there at around noon, slightly worried at the silence from the lads who had not texted her at all despite having been almost jumping on their feet for her birthday to arrive the previous weeks.

When David opened the door for her, he greeted her with a lovely hug which made her smile brightly.

"Happy Birthday Ella." The bearded man said before letting go.

"Thank you Dave." She replied softly. She looked around the place and when she caught onto the silence inside the place, she frowned. "Where are they?"

He shrugged, trying to act like he didn't know but his little smile gave him away.

Ella stared at him intrigued, "Dave..."

He chuckled, "Just go look for them."

She started walking slowly, her eyes wandering around the whole place. When she reached their usual room, the door was closed which made her start to get nervous.

The second she opened the door, she saw them throw their arms up and yell "Happy birthday!" She laughed, seeing them wearing little cone birthday hats. There was a happy birthday banner hanging on the wall next to the UK flag, and some balloons in the corner of the room.

She couldn't even continue taking it all in because she was quickly overwhelmed by them all giving her a hug at the same time. She felt tiny in between them all, it made her laugh hard.

"Guys, I'm suffocating in here." Her voice struggled to come out because they had been squishing her a whole minute.

They let go and Nick was the first one to give her a proper hug, "Happy birthday Ellie." He left a loud wet kiss on her cheek which had her beaming.

She didn't even have time to say thank you because Matt all but crashed into her with a hug, "Happy birthday cowgirl." And that's when she felt a cowboy hat being placed on her head.

She laughed as she returned the hug, "Thank you Matthew."

"Right, enough." Jamie complained behind Matt. "My turn." He pushed the drummer away from Ella and moved to hug her. "Happy birthday Ella." The guitarist made them sway in the hug, it had her heart burst from happiness.

"Thank you Cookie." She left a kiss on his cheek before letting go.

Alex had been waiting for everyone to go, recording the whole moment with his phone. He pocketed the device quickly when he saw Jamie leaving Ella, steps fast to approach the girl.

His arms came around her in no time and they melted into each other. "Happy birthday, darling." He congratulated and pressed a bunch of kisses on her cheek.

She hummed and giggled, "Thank you, Al."

Matt had captured the moment with his camera, Ella only noticing when she managed to peel her eyes open as they had fallen closed at Alex's embrace. They smiled at each other before she let go of Alex and looked at him.

"Y'all are sneaky. Is this why you had me come in late?"

Alex nodded, "Yes. And I know it is very underwhelming considering we had you come four hours late but..." He trailed off as he went to retrieve something for the coffee table. "This took us the greatest amount of our time." He showed her a plain white envelope, signed with just a Ella x in the front. "We hope you like your present more."

She narrowed her eyes, "I told you guys to not get me anything."

Nick sighed a couple of feet behind Alex, "We know but we couldn't not get you something..."

Ella looked around the room, her gaze falling on every single one of them and they were all looking back at her with excited grins on their faces. Alex softly pushed the envelope towards her and she begrudgingly took it from him.

She hadn't known what to expect but when she opened it and found a folded printed page with plane tickets to Tennessee, she bursted out in happy tears.

"Oh my god!" Ella exclaimed as the tears fell down her cheeks. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She threw herself at Alex in gratitude.

"Don't cry darling," The singer cooed, rubbing her back up and down.

She chuckled, tears still falling from her eyes. "They're happy tears. I promise."

She let go of Alex to look back at the folded paper and when she found it looking the same, not being a figment of her imagination, she covered her mouth as she continued to cry.

"I love you guys so much." She stated before running to hug them all.

She had so many questions and after she was done hugging the lads, they all poured out of her. "How? Wait, when? Did you buy them today? How did you even get my information?"

They all nodded and Matt was quick to reveal what had happened. "So remember how last night Breana told you her agency had allowed her to fly someone out with her for Fashion Week?"

Ella gasped, "Oh you sneaky bastards! I knew that was weird considering how long it is until Fashion Week."

Matt shrugged, "You still fell for it though."

Ella tried to look annoyed but her massive smile would not leave her face, "How much was it? I'll pay you back when–"

Jamie tutted, "No you're not."

"Cookie, it mustn't have been much and I told you to not get me a thing for my birthday." She tried to fight but they weren't having it.

"It's our birthday gift to you, so you stop it." Jamie scolded her, making her cheeks tint a subtle pink.

"Yeah, Eleanor. Stop it." Nick teased, still overcome by the discovery they'd made in the morning.

She froze, of course they'd found out about her actual full name like that. "God, no. Don't start calling me by my full name now, it feels like I'm getting told off."

Matt teased her a bit more then, "We're not letting it go anytime soon Eleanor, so get used to it."

Ella rolled her eyes, her smile still too big to even try and fake being annoyed. "I'll just let that slide because I'm way too happy right now." And she really was until she realized she would have to ask for a week off work—another one, only this time Ben and Aaron would know—, "Oh fuck, I need to tell Ben and Aaron. I'll go give them a call real quick."

She started pacing around the room trying to look for her bag but she was interrupted when Jamie said, "Alex already called them and we told them about it. It's all fine."

"Are you joking?" That gave Ella such a big sense of relief and she really wanted to pinch herself.

Alex smiled down at her, seeing her grabbing her phone to put it in the back pocket of her jeans. "They were completely fine with it, even more so when we told them we'd be taking that week off to refresh our minds and come back to the studio after you're back home with more ideas."

They all watched as she looked around at them and then back down at the ticket once more. All of them matched the bright smile on her face. Matt took another picture and Ella looked up after the shutter went off, "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Was all she could say before she threw herself at the person closest to her which was Alex.

It all had been his plan really. He had seen her so heartbroken for weeks now and she would mention her family from time to time with such melancholy and longing that he knew she really needed them in a time like this. Especially after last night, she needed family time more than ever.

The rest of the guys had agreed, after finding out what had happened with Julian they knew nothing would be better than for her to visit her hometown at least for a week.

Ella let go of Alex, who left a kiss on her cheek, and hugged everyone again before she went to retrieve her phone. "I need to call my mom and my sister but, uhm, you guys go ahead and I'll come back to record you."

Nick chuckled, "It's your birthday Ellie, you're not working today."

Ella opened her mouth to argue that it didn't feel like work being with them and seeing them record but Matt got his own thoughts in before she could.

"Besides we aren't doing anything today either. We're taking your birthday as an excuse to take the day off."

"But–" She tried to argue again but it was pointless.

"No buts," Alex said with a smile, "Now go tell your family the good news, we'll be waiting here for you so we can leave."

Ella frowned, "Where are we going?"

"To yours." Matt replied sassily. "You said we could come over when we asked you, remember?"

Ella couldn't even panic about the possible mess in her house because she was feeling elated. "Okay, give me five minutes."

She walked so fast outside with a skip on her step, dialing her sister's number first and she was glad that she answered at the second try.

They had screeched to each other for almost the whole call, and she couldn't even feel sad at the mention of her latest breakup because she was just much more distracted and overjoyed by the prospect of going home.

The sisters had added their mom to the call and the screeching had resumed. Ella had broken the news about Julian to her mom not long ago and it had been a call filled with silent tears, she had tried to give her just enough details for her to understand but Ella couldn't wait to just be in her mom's arms and be comforted by her touch as she told her absolutely everything.

Ella remembered that night unfortunately too well. She had called Alex right after hanging up with her mom and he had stayed with her on the phone until she was yawning and her eyes were closing. Alex was really a sweetheart and she'd never forget his constant support when she was at her worst.

When she came back in, having taken longer than the five minutes she had promised, she was met with all of them chatting in the kitchen.

Alex smiled seeing her shiny pink cowboy hat that read 'Birthday Girl' still perched on her head and most importantly, her smile still stuck on her face.

"Are we all ready to leave?" They all nodded, Jamie handing her bag to her and Alex carrying the camera bag on his back. Matt was taking the 'Happy Birthday' banner and Nick the balloons.

But before they could leave, she went to say goodbye to Dave and he gave her two bottles of his family brand of tequila. 'Rancho de la Luna' it read, just like the studio.

Ella gasped at the sight of the two big bottles of alcohol, "Oh Dave, do you want me blacking out? I'm old now, it's not my 21st."

The bearded man laughed, "25 is young, honey. But if you do black out, please record her." His petition was directed at the lads, which earned him a choir of laughter from them all.

Ella cackled and hugged him, "Thank you, hun. See you in a week!"

They made their ways outside of the studio and stopped right in front of the cars parked there. Alex and Matt's rentals were there so she thought they would all follow her home rather than having her take them in her car.

"Alright, just follow me or Alex. He knows the route perfectly by now." She instructed them, not thinking much about the last statement.

Nick, Jamie and Matt just looked between each other, biting their tongues to not say a thing but they knew they'd be interrogating their best friend more in the future.

They all got in the cars, Matt and Jamie going together, while Alex had Nick as a passenger. It took them a little longer for them to get to Ella's. Traffic was awful and Matt had lost Ella and Alex a fair few times, but nothing a few directions through the phone didn't fix.

When they all arrived at hers, she was glad to see the only mess was a pack of cigarettes and a lighter thrown on her coffee table along with an empty wine glass.

Alex had given her a knowing look, one that silently asked if she had been okay and she gave him a nod and a smile, "It was only one glass while watching a movie, I promise."

She invited the lads to get comfortable as she went to drop the cowboy hat, which she had taken off to drive, on the kitchen counter and wash the wine glass.

Muffled by the sound of the water stream, she could faintly hear Matt on the phone with Breana and Ella got even more excited.

After what had happened in February, her birthday coming up had been something she was dreading. Maybe even more than she had been dreading Valentine's day. Because Julian and her had planned a weekend getaway to celebrate her, one that after having talked about starting a family, had sounded like she would have her birthday wishes come true before she even had to blow the candles out.

But after it all had gone down, thinking back to those plans had left a bitter taste on her tongue and brought the raging tears back to her eyes. And him showing up only a few days earlier to shout at her and call her names hadn't helped either. If she thought too much about it, the anger made her want to look for him just so she could shout back at him everything she wanted to say.

So she couldn't be happier to have these people now, who were so thoughtful and kind to her, when they truly didn't have to be. They had been the loveliest bunch and she knew that if she had them beside her, then she'd get to feel fine again soon.

When Bre got there, as everyone was watching a movie and sipping on tequila sunrises—Jamie had been the one to make the drinks since he had mentioned Katie showing him how to make them—, Matt had not let Ella stand up to get the door. Instead, Alex left his glass on the coffee table and covered her eyes for a minute.

Ella let out giggles of excitement, not knowing what was happening but then she heard steps coming her way and when Alex let his hands fall, she was met with a big chocolate cake with lots of lit up candles.

Everyone started singing happy birthday to her. Alex's voice was right in her ear as he was sitting beside her so her skin erupted in goosebumps. Matt, who was holding the cake, stopped right in front of her, Bre sat down to her right side and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

When everyone finished singing, they encouraged her to make a wish and she truly had no idea what to wish for other than keep her amazing friends beside her for as long as she could.

That seemed like more than enough, because they made her incredibly happy and she felt like she deserved that.

With one strong blow, the candles went out and everyone cheered around her.

Ella giggled at the ruckus, smiling harder when Bre left a loud kiss on her right cheek but her face went red when Alex leaned into her ear to whisper, "Happy birthday darling." before leaving a bunch of pecks on her cheeks and temple.

The rest of the day was filled with laughter, cake and drinks. Ella dusted out her karaoke machine and it ended up being the best night she would have imagined.

Her throat had ended up hurting from how loud they were singing and they had only had to stop because her neighbors complained about the noise not letting their kids sleep.

Sleeping arrangements were easily settled, as Bre was quick to throw herself on Ella's bed claiming she'd cuddle her tonight. Matt had tried to jump after Bre but Ella didn't let him, the lads helping Matt be pulled into the guest bedroom with Jamie.

Alex said he'd be fine with sleeping on the settee and Ella brought out a twin size air mattress that she had hidden away in one of her garage's cabinets, which was where Nick was going to sleep.

Ella was feeling overly emotional, and it was probably due to the tequila, because when she was checking that everyone was set and ready to sleep, she'd make sure to crush them in a hug before leaving.

Matt and Jamie had groaned when she threw herself on top of them with drunk giggles, leaving loud kisses on their cheeks before wishing them a goodnight. She did the same to Nick who once again wished her a happy birthday and she hugged him very tightly for it.

But when she went over to Alex, she just couldn't help herself to being extra clingy and affectionate. Ella jumped on top of him, making him groan at the sudden action but it ended with them both laughing as they relished in the embrace.

Silence overcame them as she nuzzled his neck and he rubbed up and down her back. Her legs had fallen to the sides of his so if she were to sit up, she'd be straddling him. "Are you cozy?"

Ella's lips moving on his neck had him stopping his movements to grip her waist tightly. "Very much, yeah." Their eyes were closing, far too comfortable in the position they had settled in.

"Thank you for everything Al." She said sweetly, he could feel her smile on his skin.

"There's nothing you need to thank me for, darling." Alex assured, resuming his touch going up and down her back. "Did you have a good day?" He asked in a whisper.

Ella hummed, "The best."

Alex leaned back slightly to look down at her and Ella looked up at him with her bright smile. He went to leave a kiss on her forehead, and it was when Ella let her eyes fall close at the gesture that they heard Breana yell from her room, "Ella! I want my cuddles!"

Even Nick who was on the air mattress on the living room's floor chuckled, "Someone's needy." Ella said between giggles.

"Wouldn't be surprised if you wake up to Matt in the middle of you both." Alex replied, holding her tighter to him which she welcomed and went back to getting comfortable on top of him.

"I wanna see him try." Alex heard her say but it sounded muffled as she hid away in his neck.

They lost track of time as their eyes had fallen close against their wishes, it had only been a couple of minutes but to their hazy minds it well could've been twenty.

Bre whined again for Ella's company, "Eleanor! Come hereee!" startling them both awake.

"Coming!" Ella replied back but she made no effort to stand up.

Not until Nick mumbled, "Eleanor if she yells one more time I will be picking you up and taking you into your room. Or, even worse, I will let Matt get in there."

At that she picked up her head with a frown, "No, you will not Nicholas."

Nick hummed, turning around on the mattress, "Don't try me."

Reluctantly, she moved her legs so she could stand up from her place. It had been more challenging doing that when Alex hadn't wanted to let go of her. He only let his arms fall from around her waist when she left a kiss on his neck.

Looking down at Alex on the settee, she smiled and before leaving him, Ella lifted the blanket up to his chin like he was a kid which made her chuckle to herself. "Sweet dreams Alex."

"Sweet dreams, darling." Alex replied, hearing her footsteps on her way to her room.

Alex's smile stayed on his face even when he was deep in sleep.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

The week Ella spent in Tennessee had been the thing she desperately needed.

Nothing compared to being held by her mom and sister as she let everything concerning Julian and the breakup out. Most importantly, nothing compared to seeing them in a time she hadn't planned, not only that week she annually spends at home for Bonnaroo Festival which she always attended with her sister and her childhood best friend, Jayne.

Jayne, who had a lengthy catchup with Ella about absolutely everything that had happened since they had last seen each other, which was June the year before for Bonnaroo, and she had gotten whiplash at the situation with Alex and how much it had changed.

Due to Jayne being a nurse, every time they had been able to fit in a chat in their schedules it hadn't been long enough to talk about everything. Now, when she heard that Ella was coming home unexpectedly, she asked for a day off at work to be able to see her best friend.

Jayne was there when Ella got a call from Alex, and she'd had to fight her so she wouldn't take her phone from her hand to have a chat with the singer she claimed she needed to have.

"Just to warn him of a few things." Jayne had whispered and Ella frantically shook her head with wide eyes as she tried to greet him through the phone.

"Is everything okay? Are you busy?" Alex asked as he heard shuffling on her side of the call, along with some gasps.

"Yes, not busy, just–" Ella's screech cut her sentence off and Alex frowned, only a little worried since he knew she was at her childhood house.

"Hello!" He heard a stranger voice say and he was hesitant on who it was.

He guessed it could be her sister, "Lily?"

But he wasn't lucky in his guess. "Jayne, actually. Nice to meet you through the phone." Jayne proceeded to turn the speaker on so Ella could hear but she was still keeping it away from her.

"Oh, hello." The British man said, "Sorry, I've only really heard about Lily and Ella's mom. It's nice to meet you."

There was silence before Ella yelled, "Ow, bitch!"

Satisfied with the smack she'd given Ella on her arm, Jayne stated nonchalantly, "Now that's rude, considering I've known this ungrateful bitch since she was shitting herself at kindergarten."

Alex laughed wholeheartedly at the gasp Ella let out and her, "Jayne! For fucks sake!"

"That is rude, Ella." The singer sided with her best friend just to tease her.

"Thank you." Jayne glared at Ella with a smirk before opening her mouth to continue, and Ella thought the worst was going to happen but her soul returned to her body when all Jayne added was, "Thank you for taking care of my Ellie after what that asshole did all that to her. I was planning a trip to LA in my mind just to handle him twenty minutes ago when she told me everything."

"No thank yous needed for that, I'm still regretting not fully battering him when I had the chance." He admitted which made Ella gasp.

"Alexander! No, you aren't!" She fought as if that would change his mind.

He laughed at her attempts, "I am, Eleanor."

Ella could see his smirk in the forefront of her mind and she felt her cheeks warming up.

Jayne hummed then, satisfied with the information and she nodded looking at Ella, "I like this one."

Ella wanted to die so she just went and snatched the phone from her hand to stop her best friend from saying anything else. "Okay. Right. That's enough from you, you menace." She pointed at the nurse, who only smirked back at her, "Alex?"

He had filled with pride at hearing someone in Ella's life approving of him that his smile was stuck on his face, "Yes darling?"

Jayne raised an eyebrow at Ella and she went bright red under her gaze, so she turned slightly to ignore her, "Thank you for calling, but mind if I call you later?"

"'Course not. Ring me up when you're free. Sorry for interrupting." He apologized quickly which made her coo internally.

"Don't worry, Al. I'll call you before going to bed okay?"

"Amazing darling. Talk to you later." He was missing her so their daily calls when she was away were helping him cope a little bit better. "Bye Jayne!"

"Bye Alex!" Was heard from both of them and then the line died.

Ella had missed telling him the failed scolding she gave Jayne afterwards, which had ended with both of them laughing until they couldn't breath and hugging each other tight, refusing to let go when it was time for Jayne to leave.

Ella was coming back in June for Bonnaroo though, so all of the goodbyes after the week was up hurt a little less.

That's what she was explaining to Alex who had just picked her up from the airport and was taking her home.

"I've been going to Bonnaroo with my family since I was a kid, and then with just my friends when we were old enough to get in without our parents having to go with us. So, ever since I moved out, I've been going back religiously to attend with my family and friends."

Alex took a quick glance at her, "That's cool. It's like us going to Leeds fest with all our mates when we were allowed in. We'd camp all weekend, crammed up in small tents but it was the best time of the year every time."

"Festivals are fucking amazing, aren't they?" She sighed, with a smile on her face.

"They are." He agreed without a second thought.

"I hope you book Bonnaroo at least once," Ella wished out loud, "Seeing you play in my hometown would be fucking incredible."

"I'll take a mental note of that and pass it to our manager." Alex winked at her, and her smile got impossibly bigger.

"Okay, Mr. Rockstar." She giggled as he kept stealing glances at her with a massive grin.

"Sorry Miss Tennessee, I was just trying to make sure your dream comes true."

"Idiot," She cackled, and he laughed with her. "Do you want to stay over? I'm sure I'll cry myself to sleep tonight if I'm alone, I'll get homesick like always."

He was slightly surprised by her proposition, he would imagine he'd offer those plans to Bre not him but he was glad to see that she wanted to have him beside her for long. He thought then that after everything with her ex, his presence helped her cope and that was the best news to him. Because he felt so much better when he was with her and it was certainly relieving to find out that could be reciprocal.

"Would love to, darling. Should we rent some films on our way to your house?" Alex suggested and by the way she scrunched her nose up at him, he knew that was exactly what she was thinking of doing on a Sunday night.

"You read my mind, Turner."

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Alex stayed at hers and they drove together in Alex's car to the studio.

Thankfully the excitement of having Ella back had made the lads dismiss the fact that the two had arrived together. However, Alex could see the massive smirk on Dave's face when they got out of the vehicle and they were walking together up to the door where everyone was standing.

Ella hugged everyone, even the bearded man she didn't know who was standing next to Matt.

"Nice to meet you," Ella smiled at him before giving him a short hug. "I'm Ella."

"Zackery," The man said back, an American accent a bit different to hers, "Nice to meet you Ella."

Alex smiled wide seeing his good friend there, taking his sunglasses off his face and perching them on top of his head. "Zackery Michael! I missed you, man!"

"Alex Turner, my man." His American friend said before sharing a hug.

"How was Europe? You enjoy it?" The singer asked, patting Zack's arms before letting go and taking a step back.

"It was brilliant, now I'm just struggling with jet lag."

They all laughed at this, Ella's little chuckle made Alex turn around and properly set a context for her to know Zack.

"Darling, Zack here is also a photographer." Alex pointed excitedly, "She's brilliant, you should see her pictures." He told Zack this time.

Zack smiled at Ella, "It's always lovely to meet a fellow photographer. Do you shoot DSLR, film, medium format...?"

Ella returned the gesture, "Always shoot on film. Fell in love with it and have never let it go. Sometimes use digital but only if it's needed at work."

"Same here. But I prefer medium format, it's so beautiful but I think it's just because I'm obsessed with the look of my medium format cameras." He dropped, knowing that if she loved film then maybe medium format could also be something she enjoyed. "Helders you still shoot on film, don't you?" The American man remembered.

"Yeah mate. Do you wanna use my camera today?" Matt's Leica was sitting on top of the coffee table inside and he didn't mind his friend using it.

But Zack waved him off, "Nah, I brought multiple of mine and have lots of rolls so don't worry."

"You're staying all day?" Ella asked in a shy voice, "Mind if I pester you about medium format? Have always wanted to get into it but my school never had a camera for us to use."

Zack looked at her, happy about her actually wanting to learn something new. He loved being able to introduce people to photography or teaching photographers different things he had learned from experience. "I can teach you if you want, it's not that different from film actually. Gonna be taking pictures of them for the next few weeks."

His kindness made Ella smile brightly, "That sounds lovely, thank you."

And with that, everyone went inside. Alex brought the camera bag in for Ella and she thanked him when he set it in their usual studio room.

She was quick to set everything up, while James and the band did their thing and talked about what they had been brainstorming during the week she was out of town and they were off the studio.

Alex grabbed his guitar and sat on the spare rolling chair, Jamie mirroring his actions but taking a seat on the settee next to the mixing console. That's when the singer started playing this beautiful melody that he claimed to have been stuck on for the whole week.

Jamie, being the genius he is, didn't need much time to fully grasp the pattern of chords and start trying to continue it to make it a proper song.

Alex felt all eyes on him but when he turned to his left, he could see Ella with the biggest smile just watching him. She was recording them in action, completely bemused by their talent. He gave her a big smile back, and she went to take a seat beside the mixing panel to have a good frame of him.

James started talking with Alex, making him turn his gaze from her to the producer but from time to time Alex would take a moment to look back at her, with the camera in her hand and raise her eyebrows or smirk at her.

The moment in which he blew her a kiss had Ella having to stand up so he didn't see her shifting in her place. She attributed it to feeling so much love and appreciation for him that her insides filled with warmth whenever he was being adorable.

She would even go as far as convincing herself that it was just knowing that he was becoming one of her best friends that made her act like this.

Fooling herself really.

Her feet took her right in the middle of the room, a few meters away from him and Jamie. Both of them played the melody, but Alex felt the need to give her his undivided attention so he found himself leaning back while looking up at her with the sweetest smile.

He was just so happy to have her back, and to see her slowly going back to her happy self. It was making his heart go fast and his insides flip under her gaze.

Ella found herself so calm throughout the day, the familiarity of the process was almost like a hug to her after having her reality shaken up in such little time.

There was a moment in which she had found herself to be lost in her thoughts and Alex was the one to notice in an instant from the way her smile seemed to have been wiped off her face. So he grabbed a pair of drumsticks and approached her.

"Darling, c'mere. I need to show you something."

She snapped out of her trance and followed him with a frown, camera firmly in her hand recording just in case it was something monumental. They stopped in front of a random spot in the studio room and she was about to ask what it was that he needed to show her in such a place when he lifted the sticks up.

"Look, I'm a rock drummer." And with that he started hitting the rocks on the wall with the drumsticks.

Ella tried hard not to but she ended up cackling behind the camera, only being able to keep the frame stable for so long until she brought the camera down in a struggle to catch her breath.

"Alex, that was so bad." She managed to say, still giggling.

He shrugged with a smirk on his face, "Made you laugh."

"Because it was such a dad joke! You're an idiot." Ella laughed again, making him join in her amusement.

He opened his arms and she walked straight into them to hug him. They both felt how much they had missed each other, there was no doubt after all that had happened in the past month, being in each other's presence was something that brought them peace and contentment.

And they both thought about how bad that could end up being but they chose to ignore it. The odds were something they didn't want to bother getting stressed about.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Alex had found it like needles pricking at his heart when he saw Zackery and Ella bonding over their photography.

The way they'd sometimes be heard trying to keep their laughter hushed in a corner while the band was concentrated in whichever song James was mixing in his laptop. How Zack showed her to use his precious Rolleiflex, the amazement on her face at the scans Zack would bring in days later and she saw the pictures she had taken. The way her face lit up when he praised her pictures, and how he promised to let her know if there were any jobs he'd get that she could jump on.

But at the end of the day, she would always be there to tell Alex how good what they were playing sounded, even going to spend some hours beside James like she used to do months before. She would hug Alex on her way in or out of the room, letting him do the same if she was away in a corner looking through her email and sorting stuff out with Ben and Aaron.

They would spend their nights either on the phone or texting each other. Alex would come over so they could drive to Los Feliz and catch a film at the theater, that was now a Sunday tradition of theirs, which from time to time would get canceled as they just stayed at Ella's trying to cure hangovers from going out to the pub and getting too plastered the night before with their friends.

When Alex heard one of his best friends was coming from London to visit them, he thought it would be fun. He missed Miles a lot so having him back, keeping them company at the studio, was something he was truly anticipating.

That was until he realized how Miles would be around Ella and how much it made him want to batter his best friend.

Ella had gotten to the studio a little bit later than usual, but when she opened the unlocked door and was met with Max, Dave's stunning black german shepherd, she dropped to her knees and cooed.

"Baby! How are you?" She asked the big dog which wagged its tail around, reacting happily to her petting.

But a voice startled her when they answered, "Really good, thanks for asking."

She looked up so fast, one of her hands going to her chest as she had gotten scared. Ella was met with a man she hadn't seen before, so she smiled shyly at them.

Standing up slowly, she offered her hand to shake and said, "Hi, I'm Ella."

"The famous Ella," The man smirked, making her lightly blush, "Miles. Nice to meet you." He finally introduced himself as he shook her hand.

Before she could even ask if she had mistaken the scheduled studio time, Alex walked out to the open kitchen area.

"Hello darling." The singer greeted, engulfing her in a hug.

She enjoyed the quick embrace with her eyes closed, "Hi Al."

When they let go, Alex introduced them to each other as if the scouse hadn't done that himself already. "Miles, this is Ella. Ella, this is Miles."

Miles smirked at her, and she was struggling to not react. "I've already had the pleasure mate."

"Yeah, he did beat you to it Al." She cleared her throat, avoiding looking at Miles so she wouldn't keep blushing.

Alex looked at Miles and rolled his eyes, "Whatever, come in. Jake is hanging out with us."

At the mention of Dave's dogs being there but not seeing him in the place, she had to ask, "Where's Dave?"

"He had to get some stuff but he'll be back. We just gotta babysit the boys." Alex smiled, knowing how happy the dogs had made Ella when they had first come into the studio a few weeks before.

Ella smiled brightly and looked down at Max, "C'mere Maxy. Let's go baby." She started walking ahead of the two men.

But Miles being Miles, quickly caught up to her and swung his arm over her shoulder, "I'm here, don't worry."

Ella laughed at his flirting, "You're worse than Matt, aren't you?"

"He is." She heard Alex say behind them.

"Only if you want me to be." Miles was quick to reply, raising his eyebrows, looking down at her.

Ella shook her head with an amused smile on her face. "I can already tell you're an absolute menace."

And Ella was right about that. Miles had been keeping her on her toes for the past month that he had been there, he would flirt with her and it made her laugh. Sometimes she would flirt back but quickly would shy away, not confident enough to keep the banter going.

He had been kind enough to honestly speak to her about it when she'd recoiled under his words and they had chatted about how it was all jokes, so if she ever felt uncomfortable she could tell him to stop and he would. Ella appreciated that a lot, and she assured him she would if that was ever the case.

A particular day in April, the group had decided to gather at Breana's house. The sun was glowing brighter by the day in Los Angeles and it seemed like that weekend would be the perfect weather for a barbecue and drinks, the pool was a maybe as the wind was still blowing cold and hard against them.

Bre's backyard smelled amazing from the cooking meat and chatter filled the air. Matt had just gone inside to get a bottle of Patron, listening to Miles and Breana's wishes to play a game. Ella dreaded drinking games but she was always willing to play if it was with them, they made them fun.

Only it wasn't fun when she was dared to choose between doing a body shot off of Alex or let Miles do one off of her.

Even though neither were ideal, the answer was obvious to her. She didn't even look up at Matt to answer, "Alex." came out of her in a mumble that died in between the loud cheers from everyone else.

Alex had been ready to want to gouge his eyes out at the sight of Miles doing a body shot off Ella so he was shocked to hear her say his name.

Gulping, he watched as Matt approached him to lift his shirt and expose his lower belly. "Here. Lift it up for her Al."

Alex couldn't help the massive smirk on his face when he watched her lick her lips looking down at where the drummer had pointed.

Ella went to grab the salt and a lime wedge, along with her overflowing shot glass. She looked at Alex for a quick second before averting her eyes, her cheeks were bright red already and his gaze burning on her was not helping.

She placed the lime between his lips, mumbling a quick, "Hold this for me."

He felt the oxygen leave his lungs when she dropped to her knees in front of him and looked up, like she was asking for permission. He could barely nod, completely overcome by the view. Everyone in the background was holding their breath while watching, and the tension building up was not helping Ella to calm down.

She took a quick breath and just decided to brave it. Her tongue ran flat against Alex's skin, his teeth biting into the lime but not being fazed by the sourness because all he could focus on was Ella.

She sprayed salt over the strip of wetness she had just left on him, and holding her shot glass in her hand, she went to lick the salt off him. Alex had to hold back a groan, this was far better than anything he had ever imagined before.

Alex was so preoccupied with his whole body going into overdrive that he didn't even notice Ella had already taken her shot and was coming back up, until he was met with her breathless expression.

He didn't even have time to get himself together because she leaned forward and bit the lime that was still between his lips, their lips brushing together and he wanted to do nothing more than to kiss her right then and there.

She knew how body shots were supposed to end but she wasn't necessarily brave enough to kiss Alex in front of everyone, not when they were all hollering and whistling at her actions.

Ella picked the lime from between them with her fingers, "Thanks," she softly said under her breath, flushed and gave Alex a kiss on the cheek before walking away from him.

"Matt, I dare you to royally fuck off." Was all she could say as she threw away the lime and got another beer. She could feel how warm she had gotten from that and she wanted to just disappear.

She was so grateful that everyone laughed and turned their attention to a very flustered Alex.

"You alright there mate?" Miles had the biggest smirk on his face as he inquired.

Alex couldn't even speak, he had to take a deep breath and clear his throat, "Yeah. Completely fine mate."

Jamie and Matt started pissing themselves at his flabbergasted expression. Nick was trying hard not to laugh as hard as his friends, "You fucking broke him Ellie."

But Ella couldn't answer a thing either so Matt added, "I think Ella is broken too."

She sighed heavily, turning around to face everyone. She didn't care anymore about her red face, "Bre can I please fight your boyfriend? I cannot fucking stand him."

"Be my guest." Her best friend replied and she beamed.

Matt watched as Ella rolled her sleeves up and walked up to him with her fists up, but she had no chance when he acted faster than her and trapped her with her arms crossed and unable to break his hold.

"Good try Ellie." The drummer said before he started walking towards the pool.

Ella struggled to get out of his hold, Matt laughing at her failed attempts. "Matthew don't you fucking dare!"

But it was too late, he threw her in the pool in a blink of an eye and she only realized when she was about to hit the cold water. She barely had time to hold her breath before the splash, the laughter of everyone was muffled by her being underwater.

She came back up with a gasp, "I'll murder you Helders!"

Matt rolled his eyes, facing her with his arms crossed as if challenging her. He was so distracted by Ella fuming at him inside the pool that he didn't see Miles running behind him.

Miles picked him up and ran the few feet that were separating the drummer from the pool, jumping into the pool with him in his arms.

Ella cackled when Matt came out of the water, coughing and looking around for the one to blame.

Miles swam until he was beside Ella and hugged her when she said, "Thank you Miles. My savior!"

Matt scoffed, "Miles you fucking wanker."

Miles laughed back, "Don't give it if you can't take it."

Ella raised her eyebrows at Matt, still in Miles embrace because she was cold and had started shivering, "That's right. Tell him Miles!"

Matt was muttering about Miles being a beg for Ella's attention which made her laugh and play further into Miles' hold. Alex had been laughing but now was annoyed at how the tables had turned in a matter of seconds.

Bre went back inside to get them towels, and when she came back out, Ella's bottom lip was quivering from the cold.

She all but ran to where the sun was falling harder which was exactly the spot where Alex was sitting. He was in a pool chair so if he sat further back and opened his legs, she could sit between them comfortably.

That's exactly what he did, patting the free spot between his legs for her to sit in. As soon as she sat, she hugged the towel tighter to herself but sighed at the warmth the spot was getting.

"You okay?" Alex asked in her ear and she took advantage of the position to rest her back into his chest.

Ella hummed while he fixed her wet hair since it had fallen all over her face, "Just cold."

"Get in here." He said, holding her closer into his chest. "That better?"

"Way better." She looked up at him and scrunched up her nose, "Thank you Al."

Alex pressed a kiss on her temple and then their attention went back to their friends, already getting up to something in front of them.

They weren't participating, just mere spectators as they were far more interested in staying like that for as long as they could.

And so they would chuckle from time to time, or simply stay silent. That was until Alex remembered something that she hadn't told her yet.

"You know I was speaking to Ben and Aaron last night." The singer started and his words caught her attention straight away.

Her curiosity sparked with that, "Yeah?"

"Mhm," Alex confirmed with a low hum, "Was saying how since we have to go back to London after we're done recording, that maybe we should shoot a video over there."

"Okay..." Ella trailed off, trying not to get too excited but the start of what he was trying to say sounded promising.

"Meaning you all would be coming to London to shoot." His grin grew on his face when he saw how she was failing at hiding her excited smile.

"Are you serious?" She wanted more confirmation just so she didn't get excited for nothing but she also knew that he would make it happen, she could see it in his eyes.

"Very serious." Alex nodded, watching her eyes glow under the sun. He'd never get tired of seeing those hazel eyes, the brown being adorned by flashes of green was a work of art to him.

"But what if it doesn't happen? I don't wanna get excited for nothing." She pouted just thinking about the chances of the plans falling through.

His eyes dropped to her lips, he wanted to kiss that pout away. When he looked back up at her eyes, he knew he had been caught but he couldn't care less. "I promise it will, I'll make sure of it darling."

Ella didn't utter a word, she could only smile and raise one of her pinkies up. He wasted no time to intertwine it with his, sealing a promise he knew he wasn't going to break.

He couldn't wait to have Ella back home. His home.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

The days went by between videos taken, lyrics written, melodies rearranged, vocals recorded, songs finished, songs scrapped.

She remembered the weeks having being filled with them coming up with a few songs, but the only ones that had been deemed good enough for the record were 'One For The Road', 'No. 1 Party Anthem'—which probably was Ella's favorite so far as she had been completely blown away by the beautiful storytelling ability Alex had— and 'Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?'

The last one had just been sent back to James, completely finished and they had just played it three times on the studio's sound system.

They had all clapped and cheered at the finished result, it sounded fucking amazing. Ella was so sure this one would be amongst fan favorites because all about it screamed timeless banger.

Ella had been so glad to catch their reactions on video, Alex and Miles had started dancing in the funniest way the second time James had played it and everyone's laughter was so loud over the song that it had to be played a third time.

"That's a fucking tune right there. Very relatable lyrics as well, people are gonna eat it up." Ella said in between everyone's comments, and of course someone picked up on what she said and twisted it to tease her.

It was Miles this time, "Oh Ellie, relatable? Who are you giving cheeky phone calls when you're high?"

She laughed, "I haven't in a while so don't start."

"Nah," Miles disagreed, smirking at her, "Come on now, who's getting a call from you when high and exactly with what intentions?"

"Well the intentions are obvious, aren't they?" The PA retorted, feeling herself on the brink of blushing.

Miles shook his head, "I reckon we're gonna need some more details. Right lads?"

And since all of them—except for James, bless his heart— loved to taunt Ella, they had all agreed to Miles' point.

Ella sighed, almost tired but she wasn't gonna back down, "Miles I think someone needs to teach you to put your mouth to a better use. I can think of a few things."

That made gasps and laughs break out inside the room, Ella giggled along because she was surprised those words had actually fallen from her lips.

Miles tried playing his cards then, "Wait– are you– are you offering? Because I'm down."

That made Ella laugh hard, but not loud enough to miss Alex's stern, "Fuck off, Miles."

Matt didn't help Alex's cause though, because he encouraged the conversation to keep going, "So you've been trying to get with Kane this whole time?"

She blushed at this, but she continued the joke, "For that Miles, you should at least take me out for dinner."

The wink she gave him, had Alex clenching his jaw so hard his head had started hurting. It got worse when Miles asked, "Do you like Italian?"

"It's my favorite." She stated with a smirk.

Ella couldn't keep up after that, because she broke down in laughter and everyone joined. Everyone but Alex, who was done with seeing Miles laying it on thick on Ella on a daily basis.

That's why, later, when Alex had gone out for a smoke and his best friend had followed, he had to say something.

"Mate, can you stop it with Ella?" Alex's frown was deep and it made Miles want to laugh hard.

"What?" The scouse cackled but when the singer's face stayed serious, he knew he meant it. "Me and Ella, it's just banter. She knows it, we've talked about it before."

Alex couldn't even think of an argument for him to validate his anger, so he just hummed annoyed in response. The smoke coming out of his nose seemed so fitting, he looked like an angry dragon.

"Look, Al," Miles started, taking one last drag of his cigarette before tossing the bud to the ground. "You never flirt with her so maybe if you tried, you'd get her to flirt back, dickhead." He chuckled by the end, fully entertained at his mate's frustration.

That left Alex thinking. It was true what Miles had said, ever since he broke up with Arielle and everything with Ella's ex had happened, he had felt guilty of explicitly flirting with her.

Yes he did act affectionate with her but that was because he couldn't help it and she seemed to reciprocate in that aspect but he had no idea how she would react if he was to flirt with her. Alex thought that if she were to have any problem with it, she would talk with him, the same way it seemed to have happened with Miles.

So he finished his cigarette with a new sense of clarity and motivation to try and see if he could somehow let his feelings be known to her.

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Alex thought, What better way to get the point across if not poetry?

So that's what he did the day both of them had gotten to the studio early and they were waiting for the rest to arrive as they ate their McDonalds breakfast he had bought on his way over.

He pulled out a printed copy of John Cooper Clarke's poem 'I Wanna Be Yours', resting it on the coffee table in front of them.

"Ever since I got back I've been thinking about this poem," He pointed out while she read, "I felt like it could make a lovely song, so I went and got in contact with John and I got his permission to do it."

"Shut up!" Ella looked at him excitedly, going back to finish reading right after, "This is so romantic, how did you find it?"

"Actually way back in the day. I was over at my best friend's house in Sheffield and she had it printed there. It's her favorite and, erm," The singer cleared his throat, smiling at the memory of that night, "I kind of forgot about it until I came back. It just came back up to the forefront of my mind." He said like it was just a random coincidence and not like it was the thought of Ella that had led him to think about the poem.

"Well, you're amazing so I'm sure Mr. Cooper Clarke will love the end result. Your best friend too, she has good literary taste." Ella assured him, giving him a sweet smile and going over the poem again.

Alex chuckled, "You're far too kind to me, darling. And you know, she would love you just because you've said that."

Ella was about to ask more about her but she was rudely interrupted by the loudest of the bunch arriving at the studio.

"Good morning!" Matt sang from the hallway and he kept the note going, flat but going, until he got into their room, "What– You got Maccies breakfast?!"

Ella was glad Alex had gotten everyone something, or else the drummer would've been insufferable all day.

The next few weeks had been centered on 'I Wanna Be Yours', all because they wanted it to be absolutely perfect. And when that one was sent off to master, they went over a few Alex had been writing for the past few weeks.

Since Miles had commented that to him, Alex had subtly started hinting things to her and it only had gotten better when they started sending songs to each other. Subliminal messages hidden behind the lyrics to many songs they'd send each other.

(27/04/2013 20:10) - Country Girl by Black Sabbath - I could put money on this being your favorite Sabbath song.

(27/04/2013 20:12) I wonder what makes you think that.

(27/04/2013 20:12) Just a gut feeling I would say x

(27/04/2013 20:13) Hahaha it's a close guess but no. The lyrics from that one are very factual though.

(27/04/2013 20:13) I would have to see about that xx

(27/04/2013 20:13) What, so you're gonna go get yourself a country girl? x

(27/04/2013 20:14) Might have to now, just to know if Dio was telling the truth x

(27/04/2013 20:14) Be wary of that last verse, I assure you we can get vicious ;)

•••

(02/05/2013 23:29) - I Know by Fiona Apple - I got so emotionally attached to this song last year, I've just stumbled into it again and bloody hell, can we talk about how amazing Fiona is? This is my favorite record of hers.

(02/05/2013 23:30) Heart wrenching song. Are you okay darling? I'll be there in no time, just say the word xxxx And yes, she's certainly an outstanding musician. Tidal might have to be my favorite though xx

(02/05/2013 23:30) Nothing to worry about haha but thank you for the offer. I'll just crush you in a hug tomorrow xx Tidal is a stunning record, I adore Fiona :'')

(02/05/2013 23:31) I'll remind you of that hug if I don't get it the second I see you xx

(02/05/2013 23:32) Has anyone ever told you you're very needy? x

(02/05/2013 23:32) Yes, but only for the right people xx

(02/05/2013 23:33) Glad to know i made the cut x

(02/05/2013 23:34) There's no way you wouldn't xx

•••

(05/05/2013 17:03) - Around My Head by Cage The Elephant - Have you ever heard about this band? They sound great. I've just heard this record and thought you'd like this one xx

(05/05/2013 17:06) Fucking loved it. I'll spend all day today listening to their discography. Definitely a bright future ahead of them x

(05/05/2013 17:07) Teenager me would've loved a tune like that. Kind of reminds me of The Libertines xx

(05/05/2013 17:08) That's it!!! I was wondering who I was catching a vibe from! Clever man you x

•••

(07/05/2013 19:32) - F**k The World Off by The Kooks - Where has this song been my whole life?!

(07/05/2013 19:33) This is what you get for being stuck in the 70s and 80s Ellie haha xx Also think I should just tell you, the lads from that band absolutely hate me for some reason x

(07/05/2013 19:33) Rude! And what the hell?! Why would they hate you?!

(07/05/2013 19:34) Fuck knows, they just started saying they had kicked me head in to the press and swearing it was a real story but I debunked that in an interview. Ever since then, they've loved to chat shit about us.

(07/05/2013 19:35) Well fuck them then, that's just plain stupid. Might ask you to put out a song like this one just so I can properly enjoy it, don't wanna hear them liars again x

(07/05/2013 19:36) Your wish is my command darling xx

•••

(11/05/2013 10:22) - 2 by Mac DeMarco - I reckon you might need to listen to this whole record x

(11/05/2013 10:58) I don't know which I'm more fucked over about, My Kind of Woman or Still Together. Why would you send me this at ten in the morning? I'm sobbing in bed :(

(11/05/2013 11:00) Sorry darling, didn't think it would make you upset x Wanna dust out your bike so I can drive us to the beach tomorrow? xx

(11/05/2013 11:01) Oh my god! Can we actually? Do you not have to go to the studio this time?

(11/05/2013 11:02) Nope, free all day xxx

(11/05/2013 11:02) Yay!!!! Cannot wait!!!!! xxxx

•••

Ella had let her bike gather dust inside her garage after Julian, and he remembered asking him where it was once when the breakup was still fresh and she had crumbled down when talking about it.

So he was relieved when she agreed to his proposition. He had driven them and they'd had a wonderful day at the beach. Driving down the coast, taking pictures of their surroundings, eating ice cream and sitting on the sand.

He found himself playing the songs they'd shared on her phone as they listened to music in her earphones while watching the sun setting on the horizon.

Ella had been lost inside her own mind, eyes entranced by the dying sun and the music in her ears sounded faint compared to her loud thoughts. But she didn't seem upset about them at all, if anything it seemed like she was making her mind up and slowly was reaching peace within herself.

A few minutes passed when she turned to Alex with a soft smile, determination in her eyes. That look sparked something inside him that was threatening to drive him insane, more than he already seemed to be.

"I'm done." Ella had said, nodding to herself and smiling even bigger when she heard 'So Long, Marianne' and it didn't hurt to hear that second verse, "It's over."

It was vague but he somehow knew, just from the absolute bliss written on her face after having been living under the weight of it all for so long. The salt in the air had worked some type of magic in her and he was so fucking grateful for it, he only hoped it acted quicker so he could forget every memory he had of her and her ex.

That beach day had been rather quiet—soft giggles, hush words, delicate touches and glimpses of smiles—but it had come to be such a turning point after the previous months.

Days later whenever Alex drove around the city of Angels, he would play those songs they shared and more that reminded him of her but was too much of a coward to send her. He would sing along with the image of Ella on the forefront of his mind.

That Kooks' song in particular had him grabbing his journal, needing to write. And half an hour later he had four pages filled with words. Another two full songs just for her.

They only had about three weeks left at the studio, meaning that fitting two more songs in could be a stretch considering how many songs they had on queue to give the last few tweaks. But it only took them a week and a half for them to finish both.

Alex remembered the day 'Stop The World I Wanna Get Off With You' had been sent for mastering, he had been talking to James as he properly exported everything to send away when he saw Ella and her camera approach him.

He had his chin resting on his hand which was propped up by resting his arm on top of the kitchen island on his elbow. He felt her presence which made him slowly turn towards her with a grin, one that she matched behind the recording device.

"You know those lyrics slightly reminded me a lot of 'Fuck The World Off'." Ella said cheekily, remembering what she had told him and how he had actually delivered.

He shrugged, "You did say you wanted one so that you didn't have to listen to them."

Ella bit her lip, trying not to smile harder. "So I just gotta ask and you'll write me more songs?"

"I told you: your wish is my command, darling." He winked, making her insides melt.

He watched her blush and roll her eyes, turning around to capture whatever the rest of the band was doing around the place.

It had been after they had managed to finish 'Do I Wanna Know' though, that he had gotten the courage to be more direct.

They had all stayed until late to finish it all off, they had another week left of studio time but they thought this one was a perfect single so they'd have to completely finish it by that night in order for it to be mastered and be sent to test pressing for the 7' vinyl.

That's why by eight in the evening, they were still at Rancho de la Luna, completely exhausted. Ella had been taking a little nap on the settee while the lads were in the recording booth so she didn't realize they were out until Alex laid on top of her.

She had woken up at the sudden weight on top of her but when she looked down and it was Alex, she just smiled and sighed in bliss. Ella's hand went up to his head, scratching his scalp and playing with his hair and he was loving it.

He fully fell asleep by the time the lads had agreed on where to eat, so when Ella and Alex were asked if they were going to come with, Ella was the only one conscious enough to ask if they could just bring them the food.

Once the door closed behind the group, they both were able to drift off to sleep. He felt like a weighted blanket over her and she loved it. He was resting on top of her chest, and even though it was certainly not a thing they had done before, they hadn't said or done anything to stop it.

Ella vaguely remembered waking up and asking Alex to switch, only because her legs had gone numb. Alex obliged quickly, not wanting to waste time away from the heavenly feeling that was sleeping in her hold.

So this time Alex was on the settee and Ella was on top of him. One of his arms went around her waist, while she had her face hidden in his neck. She breathed in his scent as she fell back into slumber and she prayed silently for this instance to occur again.

Alex woke up suddenly. His brain randomly becoming aware of where he was, made his eyes shoot open but when he was met with Ella's figure resting over him, he sighed in contentment.

If he looked down, he could somewhat get the image of her cute pout and the way her hand was clutching onto the neck of his black shirt.

He tried to stay as still as he could to not interrupt her sleep, but his fingers couldn't help but rub circles on her waist and the goosebumps that woke on her skin had her blinking awake in a matter of seconds.

Ella yawned, picking her head up slowly, "Hi Al." She greeted, loosening her hold on his shirt.

"Hi darling," He brushed her hair back, smiling at her slow blinks and her puffy eyes. "Sleep well?"

She hummed, slowly dropping back down but placing her hands on his chest to proper her chin on top of them. "Yeah, you're comfy."

He giggled, looking down at her, "You wanna stay there?"

"Can I?" She asked shyly, looking up at him through her lashes.

Those eyes she was giving him made him want to just tell her everything, to lay his heart bare for her. And in his mind, that song that he had found weeks ago that reminded him of her and he played on loop, started playing.

"Of course you can." Alex assured, receiving a smile back from her, so bright that it reached her eyes.

The hand that wasn't resting on her waist, started playing with her hair, and the longer he stared at the ceiling, the more he wanted to just tell her somehow.

And so he pulled out his phone from his back pocket, moving enough for Ella to look up at him expectantly to know what he was doing.

"I found this song a few weeks ago that I haven't been able to stop listening to," Alex started as he scrolled through his music library, "It reminded me of you." He didn't even notice what he had actually said until he felt her tense and not say anything back, so he felt the urge to correct himself. All courage to admit his feelings out the window now, "I mean– I'm– I thought you would like it. You know... Like the other songs I sent you before."

Ella had only tensed up and stayed quiet because she couldn't believe he had said that. In those two seconds they both were silent as he scrolled on his phone, she thought that was it, that was the moment Alex said he liked her and it sparked something inside of her.

Maybe she was falling for him again, and it was such a scary prospect but she felt like she could fully trust him now. That still made her nervous, though. She was so scared of things going wrong like they had with her exes and she didn't know if she could lose Alex like that too.

She trusted him, yes, but it seemed like it was her fate to have every relationship end with her being played about and she couldn't even bear the thought of that being something Alex would do.

Yet the hint of Alex liking her like she had wanted him the year before had a bubbling feeling rising up her chest.

That was until he said that last part and she completely deflated. Of course he doesn't like me, why would he? was all she could think but she put on a smile on her face and acted like her heart hadn't sunk in her chest.

"Right," She gave him a soft chuckle, short lived and almost unamused, "Which one is it?"

"Feels Like We Only Go Backwards by Tame Impala." He pressed on the song and it started playing before she could even process the title.

Straight away, Ella felt like maybe the correction had been him trying not to come off too forward because the lyrics to the song seemed to be speaking for him. And how ironically funny was it that deep down inside she felt the same way about him.

She didn't even feel like she could look him in the eye while listening, so her gaze stayed focused on his phone screen.

When the song faded away by the end, silence was quick to overcome them. Neither of them knew what exactly to say next and, in retrospect, that should've been the moment in which they should've spoken to each other, not wait to see who'd bite the bullet first.

Half a minute of silence went by and she couldn't do it anymore so she went for the first thing that came into her head that wouldn't ruin things. "Who was that again? That was gorgeous."

"Tame Impala." His voice low, making her want to leave the room to screech, "Told you you'd like it."

She nodded and brought back something to see if he could break and say something first, "I get why you've been playing it all the time. I'm sure I will too." And just to push him, she looked down at his lips, enough seconds for him to notice, and then looked back up into his eyes.

Alex couldn't keep biting his tongue any longer then, letting his brain think of the best way to approach the situation as he kept his burning gaze on her. But, like always, timing was not on their side, so they were interrupted by the lads coming back into the studio.

Ella and Alex both felt defeated. She let herself fall back onto Alex's chest and he sighed, letting his phone drop to the ground. There was nothing they could do now, the moment was ruined.

"Are you two still sleeping?" Nick poked his head into the room and asked.

Ella groaned while Alex responded, "Not anymore."

"Okay, come on, food's gonna go cold." The bassist warned before leaving the room.

Neither of them made efforts to move, staying in their places for another couple of minutes until Matt yelled, "Alexander, Eleanor, I will eat your food!"

Ella reluctantly stood up, sad from leaving Alex's touch and warmth, and offered a hand to help him up. He accepted it and stood up swiftly, wanting to press her against his chest again.

The food had definitely helped, not only their tired selves but for them to feel better about the whole situation.

There would be some other time. They still had time.

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In a flash, the days the band had left in the States had gone and it was shattering for her to be at Bre's house for a farewell dinner.

Toasting to the lads had felt so bittersweet. All of those days she spent with them at the studio, doing something so intimate as a group like creating music had rolled like a film in her mind as the night went.

And now every time Matt would tease her, she'd give him a little pout not a snarky comeback. She was feeling nostalgic over a moment that wasn't even over yet but she couldn't help it.

Time was torture and a joke, it was cruel.

"To the best band in the fucking world and a new stunning fucking record that will make history!" Breana toasted, her wine glass raised and accompanied by everyone's glasses in the air.

"Cheers!" Everyone said in unison and drank from their glasses.

Ella let her head fall on Alex's shoulder, looping her arm in his and pouted at everyone around her, "I'm gonna miss you lot so fucking much, I might just cry right now."

Alex rested his hand on her exposed thigh and rubbed circles onto it, "We're gonna miss you an incredible amount darling, but you'll be seeing us soon though." He squeezed her thigh then, making her screech.

"I cannot believe I'm actually going to the UK." Ella said breathlessly, covering her giant grin with her free hand.

Matt chuckled, "Ellie you're fucking seeing us at Glastonbury, it sounds cooler like that."

Ella laughed, "I know, I know. But if I just say it again I might explode from excitement."

Breana felt the same way, even though it was her fourth time going to the UK after officially being with Matt. "You're a lucky bitch though, every time I've gone over to London, I've frozen my tits off."

Jamie laughed hard at the memory of Bre's first visit to Matt's when it had been the coldest day of the year. "I would pay to see Ella on a day like that one where Bre went to Matt's for that football match."

"Love you too Cookie." Ella rolled her eyes at the guitarist, letting go of Alex's arm to drink the rest of her wine.

"Are you excited?" Alex asked her genuinely, his hand still resting on her thigh.

"Of course I am!" Ella replied, placing her hand over his, "I cannot fucking wait."

The next morning, when they followed the band to the airport to say goodbye, both Ella and Breana were devastated. The tears were silently falling down both of their faces, as if they weren't due to see the lads in a month.

The girls had hugged the lads so tight, over and over, until they saw the line for TSA getting longer and they realized they needed to go to make it to their flight in time.

Alex walked over to Ella once more, crushing her into a hug they both needed really badly.

"Stop crying, darling." He whispered, and he leaned back to wipe her tears with his thumbs. "I will see you soon, okay?"

She nodded, sniffling. She was so overly emotional that she didn't even realize what she said next, "Love you Al, see you soon."

Alex's heart did somersaults in his chest, so incredibly happy to hear those words even though she meant it as a friend. "Love you too, darling. Take care alright?"

"Okay." Ella choked up, letting go. He left a final kiss to her cheek and turned around to follow Jamie and Nick, Matt still kissing Breana goodbye.

Ella couldn't even tease them this one time, because she was gonna miss them all so much, she couldn't imagine how it was for Bre to kiss her boyfriend goodbye knowing they wouldn't see each other in a while.

The girls hugged each other as they watched Matt walk towards his three friends and more silent tears fell when they saw the lads walk away and blow them kisses as they left.

It would be a long month, but she would count down the days on the calendar with growing excitement and anticipation.

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Chapter Text

It was cruel how slow time had been going. A month had never felt longer, and days were specially slow as she was back at the Focus Creeps office everyday.

Organizing all the clips she had gotten from the recording had only kept her busy for the first week back, and after that it had just been torture to get back into routine.

The one good thing was that, since Aaron had a new PA, Ella was properly getting more into the videography aspect of it all and being mentored directly by Ben.

She had studied for that type of job, all she had ever wanted was to be behind the camera in any type of production and finally being able to do it, no matter how small the production was, was a dream come true.

However, it was a lot of work and, whilst she loved it, managing the crew and instructing a whole team for a production could get really stressful. She still had her PA brain in her so regardless of not needing to, she would take on more responsibilities just to ensure everything would end up perfect on shoot day.

Needless to say, just the thought of the holiday approaching made her incredibly giddy.

The day she had gotten to drop Breana off at LAX had been the day she had started getting nervous. The model had been able to get off work and fly over a week earlier than Ella, and even though she had offered to wait another week so they could fly together, Ella had encouraged her to go ahead.

Bre was already dying to see her boyfriend, so why would Ella want to keep her another week away from him?

The silver lining of the situation was that she'd get to be with everyone in only a week. Just seven more days to wait were nothing in comparison to the three endless weeks she had already waited so it'd be fine.

When she got home that afternoon, she went straight to get her suitcase which was hidden away in a corner of her closet. Ella laughed to herself as she packed away, the whole scene being soundtracked by Bowie. That was probably the first time since she moved out to college that she had packed her things with that much time in advance.

She had just rolled up a pair of black pants when 'Modern Love' was interrupted by a call. A call from the one and only, Alex Turner.

Beaming at the contact name, she swiped on her screen to answer and it wasn't even a fraction of a second later that she heard "Hello my darling!" being shouted by a very obviously drunk Alex.

Ella could hear chatter and music in the background, but his loud slurred greeting had been heard without difficulty. "Hi Al! Having fun?"

"Erm," The singer hesitated dramatically, "A bit, yeah."

"Sure sounds like a bit of fun." She replied sarcastically, making him giggle.

"Far less than it would be if you were here."

Ella tried hard not to laugh again, "Oh wow, I'm worried now I might not remember this trip."

"Oh it'll be memorable alright." Ella couldn't hold her laughter in any longer, giggling loudly at the slurred statement and he smiled to himself hearing that sound, "Remind me why aren't you already on your way with Bre now?"

She sighed, "Because I have a big shoot this week and I couldn't miss it because I'll be filling Aaron's place and working directly with Ben."

"You're so fucking amazing, darling." Alex started, completely amazed at her stories now that she was hands on working on the directing aspect of their productions, "I want you directing our music videos from now on." He demanded as seriously as a drunk man can.

"I think drunk you might not be making the best decisions." She quipped with an immense smile on her face.

"Yeah, no." He was quick to disagree, shaking his head profusely like Ella was there to see him. "That'd be the best decision actually. I'll give Ben a quick call."

"Alex, stop it you idiot." Her cheeks were already heating up so she took her phone away from her ear and put it on speaker to place it on her bed as she continued packing. "It's only one more week. Six days if you count this day as over."

He groaned loudly, "Six more days is too long. I can't wait to see you."

Ella was fully melting. It had been so excruciating to be away from the lads, especially from Alex that she kept thinking about what it would be to hug him again. To lean on him for support as she doubled over in laughter, to cuddle him again. She missed him loads, and she'd realized just how important he had become to her when he had left.

She tried to play it cool though, "Okay but you should be more excited about Glastonbury rather than me coming, Al."

"Well you are coming to see us at Glastonbury so it's basically the same thing." Alex defended himself, when in reality he really wasn't able to point out which of those two he was most excited for.

Ella could only shake her head and smile to herself, "You're funny."

"'Course I am." Alex chatted back with an almost offended tone.

She wanted to taunt him a bit more, he was always hilarious when drunk. "That wasn't necessarily literal."

"Yeah, yeah sure–" Alex started but was interrupted by Matt yelling, "Ellie!" out loud as he had come out looking for Alex and heard her through the speakers of the singer's phone.

"Jesus Christ, my eardrums just burst." Ella exaggerated as she folded a black top and rolled it to fit into her case.

Matt scoffed, "Why are you such a bitch, I was about to tell you how much I missed you."

Feeling accomplished by getting that reaction, she giggled but admitted, "I miss you too Helders."

"Did you drop Bre off today?" The drummer asked first and foremost. He was eager to see his girl, a month had been way too long already.

Ella was proud to announce, "Yes. Got back a few hours ago. She texted me she was boarding about twenty minutes ago so your girl is on her way."

"Thank fuck. That plane better speed here." The hours the flight took were always the worst wait for him, they had been every time.

"I'm sure Bre is making the pilot go as fast as they can to get to you as soon as possible." Ella joked, being able to picture the scenario so clearly. But as she picked up her favorite pair of high heeled boots, the leather slipped between her fingers and landed with a loud thud on the floor. "Oh shit!"

The silence from the lads' side was loud, but Ella's was louder so Alex inquired very quickly, "What are you breaking Eleanor?"

Whenever he used her full name, her insides twisted in a knot. Ella rolled her eyes at the feeling and sassily replied, "Nothing Alexander, just dropped a pair of shoes I was about to pack." She hoped he felt the same way when she called him by his full name.

If Ella had gotten an answer to that, it would've been yes but it was overcome by the giddiness Alex then felt over the fact that she was already packing for the trip. "You're packing already?"

"Yes. Apparently I can't stay still now thinking about this trip." And it was true, she probably took a look at her tickets at least twice a day just to check if they were still real.

"Well it is quite eventful, innit? Glasto, Nick's wedding, the music video..." Alex listed with a loopy smile on his face. It would be the perfect first stay in the UK for her, and he couldn't wait to make it even better.

But Ella was suffering through the wait so it just made her whine for him to stop. "Stop because I will cry from having to wait another week."

Alex flustered at the noise but he was reminded he wasn't alone when Matt laughed beside him. The singer sighed, really putting his drunk mind to work out a solution to the problem, "Why isn't teleporting a thing yet?"

Ella snorted in laughter, "It would make it all so much easier, wouldn't it?"

He really started going deep in thought, thinking about how if they were just grasping the logical ways of the concept then the government or whoever would already have something developed. Or they should, at least. "I'm sure there has to be something that–"

Alex's heavy rant was prematurely interrupted by the usual troublemaker in the friend group. "Ellie?"

"Yes, Matthew?"

"Don't forget to pack your skimpy underwear, you'll be going out on the pull here. We need to get you a rebound!" Matt was so drunk, he missed the amount of people walking past them and turning to see him after being so loud about his plans for the American girl.

Ella cackled, deciding between a few skirts she had laid out on the bed. "It will be noted."

But at the same time Alex cussed out his best mate, "Oh fuck off Helders."

Matt frowned at him, "What? I'm just looking out for her! She needs to get every faint memory of that dickhead fucked out of her brain."

Alex hated thinking about that being the situation, he wouldn't have it. "Jesus– Just, fucking shut up."

"I do actually," Ella agreed on Matt's logic, "But let's not talk about it." She sighed in slight melancholy.

"See?!" Matt fought Alex loudly, making Ella laugh loud at him.

Alex turned to the drummer about to threaten him, "Helders I will fucking–"

Ella stopped them before they could do anything, "Okay don't fight now. I'm not there to record."

"Don't worry, I'll ask Jamie to record as I kick his arse." Matt said confidently, almost ready to run back in and ask for Jamie's help.

But she was quick to kick the drummer's ego down a few notches, "I doubt that'll happen."

"Bitch!" Matt gasped out loud, completely offended.

"Thanks for the support, darling." Alex replied with a smirk, raising his eyebrows at his friend.

"Yeah, you just say that 'cause you want his–" Matt tried to say but it was all muffled what she heard next. Ella held her breath to try and listen but nothing could be heard other than shuffling.

About a minute later the line went clear again and someone cleared their throats, "Sorry 'bout that darling, he gets on my nerves."

Ella shook her head, only imagining what it was that they had just done. "He has that effect."

"Well I can't wait for you to get here, darling. It's gonna be fucking amazing I promise you." Alex would make sure of it like his life depended on it.

Her excitement bubbled up inside her once more, "I know it will, I'm so excited. Finally started watching Game of Thrones to practice my accent."

He remembered getting a picture of the three seasons on DVD she had gotten not long after they had gone back to London and how she said she'd watch it soon to prepare for her trip. "Oh darling, I cannot wait to see you miserably fail at that."

"Hey!" Ella warned him before switching to her very fake and forced british accent, "It's quite good actually." Alex couldn't not let out the loudest laugh at it though, which made her laugh back as she tried to say, "Don't laugh!"

He tried to stop but he couldn't so it was about half a minute later that he could properly say, "Sorry, that was just bad."

"You're mean." She pouted to herself, rolling a pair of jeans.

He hummed and sarcastically said, "Sure I am." Ella was about to call him out for it when they heard, "Alex!" being yelled out by Nick. "Okay, I gotta go now but, erm, I'll call you tomorrow alright?" He stumbled in his words, his tongue tangling because of being drunk and excited.

Ella smiled at that, "That's perfect. Enjoy the rest of your night, Al. Love you." She just couldn't help but add.

Alex swore he would never get over her saying that, even if she didn't mean it like he wanted her to. "Love you too, darling. Bye."

"Bye." She said almost breathless as his words hit her like she hadn't heard him say that before.

The line went dead and they both sighed before going back to their activities. The week needed to pass faster.

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Ella had been walking around LAX with a skip on her step. Her flight was due to leave California at seven in the afternoon and she'd be landing in Montreal at around three in the morning. She had a connecting flight, of course, but she had made sure to make her calculations well and she knew she'd get there in time.

She had made sure to leave her house and order herself a taxi with enough time to spare, taking LA's traffic very into consideration. The counter of the airline she was traveling with had been packed but she got her boarding pass about forty minutes later, with two hours left to go through TSA and then rush to her gate.

Being mindful of how long it would take, she had already taken everything that could beep off her body and placed it inside the big bag she was carrying with her. Though she shouldn't have needed to worry because being the time it was and the fact that it was LAX, the line for TSA moved specially slow, taking her about thirty minutes to get through.

And, of course, her gate was the one furthest away so she was power walking through the airport, not without making a quick stop at McDonald's first. When she finally found her gate, she'd sat in the waiting area with her laptop open in her lap to edit some pictures.

She'd had to do some shoots on digital for a brand that was working with Focus Creeps and despite it not being her favorite medium, they had turned out amazing. She had studied quite intently everything about photo editing in university, so really she was just putting old skills to use when editing them.

When she was almost done with the first batch of pictures, and eating the last of her chips now that her burger was gone, she noticed that the time in the top right corner of her laptop said 7:16PM and they hadn't been called yet, so she started to fidget in her seat.

There was just one person at the counter but they didn't have the airline's uniform. She could see a plane parked right at the gate though, and people driving the boarding bridge in place. Her legs bounced up and down as she watched her surroundings for any signs of them boarding soon.

Just when Ella was about to panic because the person who was at the counter left, her phone buzzed in her pocket, startling her. She pulled it out, grateful for a small distraction from her building anxiety and her face relaxed at the notification of Alex's text.

(27/06/2013 19:17) Hope the airport isn't too crazy at the minute, darling. How's everything going? Have you boarded yet? x

She bit on her thumb, looking around for anyone from the airline getting the counter ready for boarding but no one was there yet so she fully focused on texting the singer.

(27/06/2013 19:18) We were supposed to board twenty minutes ago, so I'm slowly getting nervous. Every minute counts, you know? I can't miss y'all at Glastonbury Al :(

(27/06/2013 19:19) Don't you worry darling, you'll make it just in time. And I'm sure you'll be boarding in no time, just listen to some music, yeah? Maybe some Beatles to set the mood x

(27/06/2013 19:20) I think it'd be better if I blast some Arctic Monkeys, wouldn't it?

(27/06/2013 19:20) I suppose that works too, they're overrated though x

(27/06/2013 19:21) Okay now, don't talk shit about them when I'm only traveling this long to see them.

(27/06/2013 19:21) Hahaha sorry darling x I cannot wait to see you, the lads can't wait either and Bre has been screeching about your first time over here since she got here.

(27/06/2013 19:22) You always know what to say, Al. I feel like I'm gonna puke from excitement now and not anxiety. Can't wait to see y'all.

(27/06/2013 19:23) Everyone's already planning so much shit for when you get here. Just a little heads up for you x

(27/06/2013 19:23) Jesus Christ... I'm scared of the hangovers to come already.

(27/06/2013 19:24) It'll be fun, that's all that matters. What Bre and Matt are planning though, I have no idea about.

(27/06/2013 19:25) Oh no, they're in charge of the parties before the wedding right?

(27/06/2013 19:26) Exactly, so we must be in for a wild night. Gutted we can't be together for those x

(27/06/2013 19:27) Who's gonna save me from Bre then?! She's gonna have me black out, I can't handle alcohol as well as she does.

(27/06/2013 19:27) You can't handle alcohol at all, darling xx

(27/06/2013 19:27) Thanks for the faith, Al. So sweet of you x

(27/06/2013 19:28) Won't apologize for the truth x But Katie and my best friend will be there, they'll take care of you x

(27/06/2013 19:29) Rude! :(( I'm so excited to meet everyone properly!!! x

(27/06/2013 19:29) Just stay away from tequila and you'll be fine darling x And everyone is excited to finally meet you too xx

(27/06/2013 19:30) Such good advice xx P.S. someone's just set things up for boarding! I'll text you when I get to Montreal xxx

(27/06/2013 19:30) Have a great flight, darling. Love you lots xxxx

(27/06/2013 19:30) Thank you Alex, love you too xxxx

Ella stood up from her place with a bright grin on her face. She'd never not react like that to his sweet words.

Once she got her thoughts together, she hung her bag on her shoulder, after stuffing her laptop back inside it, and walked to throw away her McDonald's bag.

As soon as she was able to, Ella boarded her flight. Feeling so elated as she walked to the plane's door and through the hallway up to her seat. She loved being in planes, even though going out of the country had never happened for her before.

She found herself unable to stay still when she got to her seat. There were so many things making her insides feel like jelly, she had a little silent cry in the plane as it took off. Ella was grateful nobody beside her could really see her as she had a window seat, her eyes glued to how everything was looking more minuscule by the minute outside until it was just clouds.

Eventually, she pulled out her laptop again and continued editing, she had a little bit over five hours to kill and since she had no other way to distract herself, she was going through the pictures faster than anticipated.

How she was going to brace the seven hour flight from Montreal to London, she had no idea. She probably would have to come up with concepts for future shoots, work with words rather than with reference pictures since she had no wifi.

Ella had been amazed, watching Montreal under the plane when they were about to land. The lights of the city lighting up everything for her to see, she felt like a child being amazed at such a simple thing, but it looked so beautiful she had to take a picture. She used her phone first but it did little to no justice to it so she pulled out her camera and took a few pictures just to see if it would show on film as beautiful as her eyes could see.

Even walking around the Canadian airport was fascinating to her, because all the signs were in French too, which made her think about just how amazing it would be to visit France.

Thankfully, walking through the airport and finding her gate had been a breeze so she could sit down calmly and just sort through some stuff that she had been procrastinating for long. Before starting to organize her scans though, she sent Alex a quick text.

(28/06/2013 04:20) Landed in Montreal a few minutes ago, and at the gate waiting for the next flight! Only an hour left to wait and then I'll be on my way. I cannot stay still!!! xx Also Canada is beautiful, I love it! xx

Due to the lack of wifi connection, she sent it as a regular SMS, not really caring about being charged. She just hoped it went through as she went back to her laptop screen to work the next hour away.

But her bubble of giddiness had burst when she and all the others who were waiting for their connecting flight, were surprised by someone from the airline crew going up to the gate's waiting area microphone and informing them all that their flight had been delayed six hours because of some issues with the plane that was supposed to take them to London.

Ella scoffed in disbelief. Of course this would happen to me, was all that came to her mind.

When they told them their luggage would have to be picked up from baggage claim and they'd have to check in once again, it hit her just how much time she'd be losing.

She started panicking as she walked out to baggage claim, spotting her flight number in the furthest conveyor belt.

She had debated texting Alex again to tell him about the whole situation, just to let him know, but when she properly made her calculations and realized how much later she'd get there, her whole attention was drawn to fixing the issue.

People saw her rolling her big suitcase around the airport in a haste, her bag continuously falling off her shoulder but it was the least of her concerns as she approached the counters of the airline. She saw the big line of people and was about to cry, but thankfully she spotted some people assisting at the very end of the queue that could help her.

Ella told them about her situation and they apologized profusely. They told her to wait as they saw what they could do and after twenty minutes in which she just watched them type away, call and speak with different people behind the counter, she was told she could get a ticket for another plane they had which was leaving in two hours.

When the time was very scarily going closer to six in the morning, she had been able to check in her suitcase and run to go through security once again. She was grateful everyone had been lovely in every checkpoint, because if she had been faced with another obstacle, she was sure she would've broken down in the middle of the airport.

Never in her life had she walked so fast, and it was only when she got to her gate did she allow herself to fully sit in the panic. On her way, she had been doing the math and she realized she'd be landing in London cutting it very close to their set. It was when she remembered she still needed to get driven to the place the festival was at, that she found she'd get there after the lads had gone on stage, probably in the middle of their set.

Without letting another minute go to waste, she called Alex and tried her hardest to keep herself composed. At least she had a ticket and it would be a minor setback, not six hours.

"Hello, darling!" He exclaimed and she could feel his smile through the phone, her shoulders slowly loosening up at the thought of being beside her best friend soon.

"Hiya, Alex." Ella greeted, trying to copy his enthusiasm but she failed incredibly and Alex knew her so well now that he immediately knew something was wrong.

He walked away from the noise around him, they'd gotten to the festival early and they were all drinking and watching the final touches to the stage setup. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Ella bit her lip, trying not to get too worked up and push herself to tears. "I am, I am. Just— My original flight got delayed six hours..."

Alex's heart dropped, "Oh darling." He muttered, filled with sadness.

"Okay but listen," She continued, trying to switch the situation around—more to try and calm herself than anything else—, "I managed to get a new ticket, but it leaves in about an hour. So, if my calculations aren't wrong, then I might be landing around eight in the evening."

He hummed, "The drive is about two hours and a half, it's okay darling. You're getting picked up by the driver we hired, you'll make it."

She sighed, "I hope I make it on time..." She knew she wouldn't be there from the start but just the knowledge of being a few minutes late to their set wouldn't make her weep at that very moment.

Alex just had to reassure her though, because anything could happen and it was out of everyone's hands so the last thing he wanted was for her to blame herself. "Even if you get here a little late, we just want you here. It's okay Ellie. I promise you, darling."

If Ella hadn't been in public, she would've let herself sob, but she had to inhale deeply to keep herself at bay and focus on the fact that she was on her way to them and that was all that mattered.

"Okay, Al. I'm just gonna distract myself as I wait and, uhm, yeah. I hope this one doesn't get delayed." She tried to joke but her heart sank at just the thought of it.

"Touching wood as we speak, Ellie." He truly was, knocking softly on the wooden table that was set beside him.

She laughed quietly, "I guess I'll see you soon then Al, but just in case I don't get there in time," her voice went a little quiet as she was getting sad at the thought, "Good luck okay? You're all gonna do so amazing, I have no doubt."

"Why don't you just wait until you're here to tell me?" Alex just wanted her to stop thinking like that, she was gonna make it regardless and that's what mattered to him.

"Alright." Ella agreed softly, trying to feed off his positivity.

"Have a great flight darling. Love you. It'll be alright okay?" That sweet conviction of his that he always showed when it came to her laced around his words had her melting and calming down in her seat.

She nodded, smiling tightly at his words. "Yeah, it will. Love you too Alex, see you soon."

They exchanged quiet goodbyes and just like that the call ended.

The panic had gone away and its place had been taken by excitement again. She just wished time would go faster because she had little patience left inside her and it had only been fifteen minutes she had been waiting at the gate.

Working on organizing her scans had been wonderful for her, not only because she had so many that she had forgotten about, but she had been able to see her growth as a photographer and it had made her a little bit proud of herself.

It had been a burden to see the ones with Julian in them, or the ones that she clearly remembered had been taken by him but they were good shots of her where she felt and looked beautiful so she would focus on that rather than give that man any more of her thoughts.

She'd known ever since that day at the beach that she was done with him, over the whole situation and, since she wrapped her mind around that realization, she'd only felt peace. He thankfully hadn't made any more appearances or tried to contact her—of course that also was because she'd made sure to block all contacts that could tie them together any longer.

That all had worked like a charm and surrounding herself with work and keeping in touch with her friends and family had helped her heal.

When she was sorting through the pictures she'd taken in March, that were mostly frames of her birthday party as Bre had been drunkenly taking many pictures of everyone, the crew had started to board.

Ella was glad to see they had started boarding earlier than anticipated and she was on her plane seat in almost no time. And to her luck, she had been seated beside a very lovely woman who had the most beautiful ginger hair Ella had ever seen. That had been the start of the conversation and the girl, who's name was Gabby, had thanked her and started conversation with her right then.

It seemed like the friendship had been sent from above as the two spent most of the flight talking about everything and anything: their jobs, their hobbies, why they were on that plane, the things they were most excited for when they landed.

"Rockstars..." Gabby has started after Ella told her she was on her way to visit her rockstar best friends, "Be careful, you never really know about them." She warned, based on past experiences that made a melancholic smile tug at the corner of her lips.

When the plane landed, they had gone through all of the checkpoints together up until the baggage claim area.

Ella and Gabby exchanged Instagram accounts and they promised each other to keep in touch and maybe plan something while Ella was in London.

It seemed like luck was on Gabby's side because her suitcase was one of the first ones to come out only 20 minutes later, leaving Ella with a long hug and a "Take care sweetheart."

Without the ginger beside her, Ella had been well aware of every minute that was passing and how if everything was going according to schedule then it would be less than two hours that the lads would go on stage.

Maybe if the driver just floored it, she'd be able to make it just in time. She prayed that was the case.

But time kept running and she watched people getting their baggage and leaving, everyone but her. It was a group of twenty people maybe that was waiting with her, and suddenly the conveyor belt stopped carrying cases which made Ella even more fidgety.

When she watched the clock go from nine o'clock to quarter past, she'd had enough. She sighed, fixing her bag on her shoulder to turn around and leave—after all, if her case was found, it had her information attached to it and they'd contact her so she couldn't care less about it—, but then cases started rolling in again and the third one was hers.

Ella practically ran towards it and pulled it up with a strength she didn't know she had in her. As soon as she had a hold on it, she walked fast towards the exit in search of the driver the lads had gotten her.

It took her a few glances around the crowd of people waiting for her to find her name on a small sign. 'Eleanor Hayes' read the sign in the man's hands and she approached him with a relieved smile on her face.

They exchanged pleasantries and he took the suitcase from her as they walked out to the car. It was outside that it hit her where she was. Seeing cars driving on the other side of the road and everyone talking in thick accents around her was enough for her to smile hard.

Even if she was two hours away from the guys, they were standing in the same soil and that was enough for her to breathe calmly for a while.

Ella got in the back seat of the car, and once again she felt like she couldn't sit still. The worst part was that she wasn't even able to call Alex or text him because her phone was basically useless.

So she put her earphones in and connected them to her phone to play some music. Something inside her knew exactly what she needed to hear then and so she scrolled all the way down until she found that song she hadn't been able to stop listening to since that day.

Her eyes watched out of the window, how they were driving on the left side of the road, how different it all was but something felt constant and growing inside her. But then 'Feels Like We Only Go Backwards' started and her thoughts drowned before she could even allow herself to point out what it was.

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Ella had made light conversation with the driver when they were walking up to the car and he had taken her petition to go as fast as he could to heart. He knew she needed to be there by ten in the evening so he had done the best he could.

Yet that hadn't been enough, because they got there at a little bit over eleven.

The driver had lent Ella his phone so she could call an assistant to the band's manager who was waiting for her to arrive.

The girl had been lovely and told Ella she'd be coming to get her and about thirty minutes later, with her heart leaping on her chest, Ella was walking up to the balcony at the side of the stage.

She was almost in tears seeing and hearing the massive crowd go incredibly insane at the sight of the lads coming back for the encore.

Ella had barely registered the manager's assistant telling Breana that Ella had arrived until Bre had jumped on her to hug her, and that was when the tears had started falling. Ella was so overwhelmed that she was just now processing the long day she'd had and it was hitting her like a ton of bricks.

She was so entranced by the guys getting their instruments and about to perform again that she had only been able to smile and wave at the girls around her. She recognized Kelly of course but she didn't know who out of the two other girls that were there was Katie and who was Alex's best friend.

Alex started strumming his guitar and teasing the crowd with the lyrics to 'Soul Love' by David Bowie, everyone at the balcony laughed as they sang it back to him but he was quick to cut them off when he said, "I'm only messing, I'm only kidding."

He walked backwards for a few seconds before going back to the mic and this time teasing them with 'Yellow' by Coldplay, which made the crowd sing it back to him even louder.

"I'm only messing, I'm only messing." He tried saying but the thousands of people ignored it so he laughed looking at Jamie and shaking his head, "I'm only kidding. Pipe down now, pipe down." And since they still didn't listen, he went ahead and started singing the next song which was 'Cornerstone'.

Ella hadn't even known that they had a string section playing with them until she heard them join the guys during the second verse and she swore she had ascended.

Nothing would ever compare to hearing Alex's stunning voice, accompanied by the violins and cellos, and the crowd so wholeheartedly singing along.

Alex was enthralling standing there just talking to the masses of people and getting them to cheer loudly at him when he suggested an old monkeys song that they didn't perform often. Ella was trying to guess which one it would be when the violins started the gorgeous melody of 'Mardy Bum' and it all sounded even better when the crowd sang along.

It was mesmerizing to say the least. Ella had thought seeing them perform Outside Lands in 2011 had been insane enough, but nothing compared to this. She had never witnessed something like it before and it was leaving her breathless.

A few tears fell down her cheeks and since Bre was holding her close, resting her face against hers, she noticed. The model turned to her best friend, cooing and gave her a loud kiss on the cheek.

Ella was sad she had only caught the end of their performance but so glad to at least have caught a bit of it. She wouldn't have forgiven herself if she had missed it completely.

She watched as Alex changed her acoustic guitar for his Fender jazzmaster when the song was done, and in no time he started playing the chords to 'When The Sun Goes Down'. The crowd was so loud almost completely drowning his voice, making everyone at the balcony sing along.

Just before the song fully kicked in after the first verse, Alex stopped and encouraged the crowd to get louder and louder. It was mental to see how much control he had over them, making them scream as loud as they could with a small movement of his hand.

Finally when they continued, Ella just fully let go of any inhibitions and started dancing with Bre, jumping on her spot and singing along loudly. The girls had done the same, all of them faking playing a guitar and headbanging.

One of the girls she didn't know had wolf whistled and yelled "That's my best friend!" which had Ella instantly knowing who she was. She was glad she had just spent most of the song with her arm swung over the girl's shoulder and both had danced together like they'd known each other their whole lives.

It all got even cuter when Alex asked the crowd if they could help him sing happy birthday to his mum. Ella had melted as she and everyone sang along, Alex had a permanent grin on his face loving the energy and how perfect the night was going.

Ella watched intently as Alex welcomed Miles on stage, whooping and clapping for her friend. She had only been able to see Miles playing 505 with them on video and caught glimpses of it in the studio when the guys were playing around and strummed along for a few seconds, but she was sure this one time would be life changing.

When Alex sang "I'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck", she felt Bre teasingly choke her which made her laugh. That made her almost miss Alex doing it to himself softly in front of the whole crowd. She had to keep herself from letting her eyes roll at that, not only because she was in public, surrounded by people but she had to not think about Alex like that.

She couldn't. They were just friends and no matter how attractive she could find him, she couldn't let herself and her thoughts wander beyond that point.

The song reached its climax and she was taken aback by the crowd's volume once again. It was nothing compared to how loud they got by the end of the song, when the lights grew intensely and lit the whole stage as the band waved them goodbye, blew them kisses and left.

Once the guys were out, that's when Ella properly turned and gave Bre the biggest hug to say hello.

"I missed you so much!" Ella had said hidden away in her neck, "Today was awful."

Bre let go to check if she was crying or not, she only found Ella's eyes pooling with tears, "I knew I should've gone with you." The model cooed and hugged her back again, "Let's go back down to their trailer and I'll introduce you to everyone."

Ella sniffled and followed Breana, who was keeping her fingers intertwined with hers as everyone walked out and back to the band's trailer.

She expected the lads to be out there already, but they told them that they had gone to be quickly interviewed at the BBC Radio area. So she took the brief moment of tranquility to properly take a moment and meet the girls officially.

Kelly was the one walking towards them so Ella was quick to meet her in the middle and give her a quick hug.

"Hi! It's so nice to finally meet you!" Ella said enthusiastically, and the bride-to-be hugged her back tightly.

They swayed a bit in their place before letting go of each other, Kelly was a little bit tipsy by then and the lads and Bre had been talking about how excited they were for Ella to get there that she was ecstatic to meet her.

"You too Ella!" Kelly agreed and then turned to see the other two ladies coming to them. Kelly waved them over for them to hurry and both of them started giggling as they quickened their pace.

When they caught up to where they stood, Ella smiled brightly at them, "Hi! I'm Ella, so nice to meet you."

She hadn't known exactly if she should hug them or shake their hands but the answer was given to her when the brunette one crushed her in a tight hug which surprised her.

"I'm so glad we can finally meet!" Ella had reciprocated the hug because she truly needed it and it's only when the girl let go that she said, "I'm Flo. Welcome to England, love."

"Oh! Alex's best friend, the artist! I've heard so much about you." Ella replied, looking at the pretty girl smiling even harder in front of her.

"I sure hope so. I've heard loads about you too, it was about time you came so I could properly meet you." Flo winked and it made her blush, she was intrigued by the amount of times Alex would mention her if his best friend had been so eager to have her here.

Ella giggled and then turned to give the blonde girl who, by process of elimination, would be Cookie's girlfriend. "You must be Katie then?"

"That's me. Hi Ella, so nice to meet you." Katie said with a sweet smile and a tender brief hug.

Ella reciprocated and held her with the same tenderness. "You too. Congratulations on the engagement, by the way. Lucky guy Cookie is."

Katie laughed and waved her off but before she could disagree on that, Flo jumped in saying, "Isn't he?"

Ella nodded, already feeling that Alex's best friend would be one she'd grow the closest with. Katie felt the need to say something about her then so he pointed at the things that they knew from the lads.

"We've seen your pictures Ella and, bloody hell, we might need to hire you for some shoots because you leave me astounded."

Ella smiled brightly at that, her cheeks tinting red as she watched them all throwing compliments around. Bre threw one of her arms around Ella's shoulders and said, "Think maybe we should just take a day away from the guys and play with the camera."

All the girls agreed on it and Ella was totally willing to do it. "I'm down if you guys are down, that'd be amazing. I came up with a few concepts on my way here, actually."

"It's settled then. Girls day will be a photoshoot day with Ella." Flo settled raising her cup in the air.

"You tell us Kelly if you want it before or after the wedding just so we don't interrupt with any plans." Ella was quick to say, remembering the big day coming up.

"Let's do it after. We have loads of time before we leave for our honeymoon."

Flo smirked at her, "Oooooo the honeymoon. Big anticipation for that Boss, make sure you're well rested beforehand. I speak from experience."

"Wait, you're married?" Ella asked in slight shock. Alex had failed to mention that big little detail.

Flo showed off her ring wiggling her eyebrows, "Very happily so." And then she turned to look around for her husband, "Where is he? Curly?!"

And as if it was magic, the lanky man with the long hair Ella had seen earlier at the balcony had popped out of nowhere with a cigarette in hand by the trailer.

"Sweetheart?" He asked and if it wasn't for the way they had kept quiet, they wouldn't have been able to hear him.

"Come here a second, say hi to Ella."

And like every one of her wishes was a command, he appeared right behind her with a smile on his face. He dropped the cigarette to the ground and stomped on it as he offered a hand out to Ella and introduced himself, "Nice to meet you, I'm Matty."

Ella gave him a kind smile, holding herself from cooing at the way he held Flo close to him. "Hi Matty, I'm Ella."

The man smirked, "Oh we know, famous Ella. You're quite the talk around here."

Breana laughed, knowing how much of Ella they had all heard and seen through the band, especially in the past week and earlier that very day.

Ella blushed at the information, "Jesus... Good talk, I hope."

Flo smirked looking at her, "Oh very good talk, especially from Alex. He's been like a broken record since he got back."

She had no idea what to say so she just blushed quietly for a few seconds until Breana pinched her waist and she jumped, "That's... good, I guess."

"Indeed it is." Katie added with a subtle smirk and a raise of eyebrows which only had Ella blushing even harder.

"Okay, yous stop it." Kelly said, finding it adorable how she reacted to everyone's teasing. "You're getting her all red, bless her."

"You know what you need?" Matty asked playfully and Ella shook her head as she lacked a response, "A drink."

"Oh yes. You're far behind." Informed Breana who had been drinking almost all day with the girls.

"What would you like?" Flo asked nicely, wanting to get her new friend going as the night had only just started.

Ella had a think about it but just shrugged when she couldn't decide on anything she particularly wanted at the moment, "Surprise me."

Flo smiled hard, "I love you already."

So Flo and Matty left to make her a drink and the other four girls stayed outside whilst they talked. It had been mostly about the wedding, Ella had managed to convince Kelly that it wasn't gonna be an issue for her to take pictures all day so Kelly allowed her to be another one of their photographers but only at the reception. Because "I don't want you feeling like you're at work during the ceremony, you're our friend.", was the reasoning she'd given her and Ella smiled at her and promised she'd only pull her camera out during the reception.

Miles had appeared then, interrupting the wedding chat to crush Ella in a tight hug, "Fucking finally! We've been waiting for you!" The scouse had made her giggle with the scoff he'd let out after that.

"Sorry, had to get a new flight and it was shit." Ella replied with a struggle from how tight he was holding her.

Miles left a wet kiss on her cheek and pulled back, "Don't apologize. You're here now."

Ella nodded with a sweet smile, letting herself indulge in Miles' side hug and starting up a conversation with him and the rest of the group.

About five minutes later, when they were trying to get information out of Breana about Kelly's bachelorette party or hen do—as the british girls called it—Matty and Flo finally came out of the band's trailer with multiple drinks in hand.

They were carefully coming down the stairs managing to grip onto two cups on each hand when behind them someone yelled, "Oi! What were those two doing alone in our trailer?" It was when they continued saying, "You nasty bastards!" that Ella recognized it was Matt walking back with the rest of the band following behind.

"Oh my god!" Ella yelled, letting go of Miles and completely missing whatever Matty had yelled back at them because she was too busy running towards them.

She had her guestlist wristband on so security didn't stop her when she jetted off to hug the first person she saw, which was the drummer.

Matt had barely even seen her when she threw herself at him, "Ellie! You're here!"

"I missed you so much, I'm so sorry I was late." She truly was sorry but he wasn't having it.

Matt held her tighter and shook his head, "No need to apologize Ellie, it's all fine. You're here!"

Before she could apologize once more, the rest of the band joined them in the hug. They all crushed Ella in between their bodies and said her name in unison which had her laughing.

By the time they'd all let go and given her space, she had shed a few tears. She turned around with a pout and hugged them one by one, apologizing again and again for being late, for which Alex had gone and hugged her again when she was done hugging everyone.

Alex held her tight and rubbed up and down her back, "I told you that all that mattered is that you'd be here darling, and you are."

"I caught the encore." She mumbled in his ear, sniffling.

He loosened his grip on her and made her look up at him, "Did you like it?"

"It was insane Al. The crowd was so loud! And the strings!" Ella fanned her face to gather herself, "I will cry just picturing how it was from the very start."

"Don't cry darling." Alex cooed, brushing some of her hair behind her ear and wiping a tear that had fallen down her cheek. "We'll catch a rerun of it on TV next week, it's okay."

She didn't have time to keep protesting because Alex started leaving kisses all over her face until she giggled. It was only when she couldn't breathe from laughter that he stopped, getting a hold of her hand and followed the lads walking back to where everyone was gathered.

When they got there though, Ella was met with someone she didn't know. Thankfully, Alex was quick to introduce them to her.

"Ella, this is Penny, my mum. Penny, this is Ella." He let go of her to let her freely hug his mum.

And that Ella did, holding Penny tighter when she'd said "Oh it's so lovely to meet you, sweetie."

"You too. Happy birthday, by the way. That was a lovely serenade you got just then."

Penny cooed, "Oh thank you. And it was, wasn't it?" She turned to her son to steal a hug from him, "Thanks to this one."

Alex relished in his mum's embrace, leaving a kiss on top of her head. "Love you mum." She saw as she was all ready to walk out, her friend waiting for her beside his manager by the entrance of the backstage area. "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah, so sorry to leave you lot but I can't be camping out anymore. I'm not fit for this lifestyle now." Penny joked, looking at everyone who was watching the interaction intently.

Ella scoffed, acting like Penny was saying just pure lies, "What are you on about? I was gonna take you out dancing to celebrate!"

Alex's mum laughed at that, gently grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. "Oh sweetie, that's a tempting offer, that."

Flo joined in Ella's antics, "We'll bring the party up north next week then Penny, get yourself ready."

"That better be a promise." She pointed at the girl she had seen grow up, and Flo blew her a kiss in response.

Alex left Ella with their friends to walk his mom back to her friend, making sure they were all set to leave. And as he went back, he couldn't believe his eyes.

He had been anxiously waiting all day for her to arrive, his heart beating a bit faster the closer it got to their set. He tried blaming it on headlining Glastonbury for a second time but he knew deep inside that really wasn't it. Yes it was making him nervous, but most of all it was because of Ella.

When he had walked on stage, he had anticipated that his thoughts would be fully taken over by the crowd and the place they were at, but he had been wrong—the thought of where Ella was, held a place in the back of his head throughout the whole set.

And when they had been taken to BBC Radio's lounge to get interviewed and saw the mirrorballs hanging from the ceiling, along with the cow print on the floor, he was taken back to Ella.

Ella, Ella, Ella.

He'd been so fucking glad to see her there as they came back. And now, walking back and seeing her laugh with his childhood best friend, it was a sight that had him grinning brightly to himself.

The group seemed to be talking very eagerly about something, and he was just beyond happy that Ella fit perfectly with them all. His smile only faltered when he was getting closer to them and Ella snapped her head in his direction with a deep frown and a gasp.

"Alex Turner, how could you keep this information from me?!" Ella asked loudly, as she had just been embarrassed for not knowing something that seemed like everyone knew.

Alex giggled, frowning back at her, "What?"

"You've never told me that your best friend's husband is in a band as well?" Matty had just said he was excited for the next day and Ella had asked what was happening, which Flo had laughed hard about when she realized Alex had failed to mention it to her.

"Oh," he cringed, "Sorry darling." He apologized to Ella first and then turned to Matty to make sure he hadn't taken offense by it, which he hadn't but just in case Alex said, "Sorry mate."

"S'alright." Matty waved off with an amused smile at Ella's bright red cheeks.

But Ella didn't agree, "Yeah, it's not for me but whatever."

Alex laughed, noting that she had a drink in hand and he guessed that would have to do a little bit with her current mood. "What are you drinking Eleanor?"

"It's called 'none of your business', isn't it Flo?" Ella asked the brunette seriously.

Flo tried to match her seriousness but her smile couldn't be held back, "That's right."

Alex took the drink from her, only to take a sip and when he did he realized what it was. "Angel, you gave her a jagerbomb? She can't handle alcohol, she's gonna be plastered by half past."

"Well, I'll blame this beautiful angel right here." Ella nodded towards his best friend, playing with the word he had just called her, and Flo did a small curtsy back at her.

Alex hadn't expected this duo to be such trouble. He feared them and Bre together would be even worse and he didn't know what to expect.

"Of course you will." Alex shook his head with a smile, and Flo winked at him. She knew him like the back of her hand, and she could just see it all written on Alex's face. He was whipped.

It had been a lovely night, slowly and with the help of the drinks, the buzz the lads had gotten from the night had gone down and by three in the morning, they were all ready to go to sleep. Especially Ella, who despite having multiple jagerbombs with Flo, had succumbed to her exhaustion from her long day traveling.

The lads had their tour bus parked somewhere in the fields, so after the group said bye to Matty and Flo who were staying with the rest of their group, they took on a long drunk walk back to the bus. It had been filled with giggles at the clumsy steps they'd take, especially Ella and Bre's who were holding onto Miles' arms and subsequently making him trip with them.

The walk back had been exhaustingly long to them all in their drunken states, so when they finally reached the massive vehicle, they jetted off up the stairs by the door and chose the first bunk they saw.

Thankfully no one had chosen their bunks yet so there wasn't any bickering about someone stealing someone else's bed but it was hilarious to Alex, who had been the last to go up, to see everyone lazily slump into the beds and groan in relief when they could finally rest their bodies.

Due to how drunk everyone was, they had passed out almost immediately and slept deep and uninterrupted all throughout the night, even through the choir of snores coming from Nick and Matt.

That was until the noise outside woke them up at around eleven and they all realized that if they didn't properly wake up soon and get ready for the day, they'd miss Matty's band.

So, like they had been shocked back alive, the girls started getting ready quickly. Ella was so thankful for the bathroom in the bus being a decent size and it hadn't been much of a burden getting ready in the enclosed space.

She was also grateful for the girls around her, who were going on and on about all that Ella was going to see and what she couldn't miss, warning her about different things around the field but making her more excited about it all by the second.

They all had a bite of food on their way to the stage The 1975 would perform on, and they got there just in time. Matty's band was due on stage in ten minutes, when the group walked up to where Matty and Flo were standing by the steps that would take them up the stage.

Ella was well aware she stood up like a sore thumb from how she was dressed, not that her black shorts and her The Doors shirt were strange but her black and silver cowboy boots were. She had earned herself quite a lot of glances as they paraded around the place, but she couldn't care less.

Matty pointed them out right away but with a compliment because he truly loved them, "Fucking love your boots Ella."

"Awh thanks Matty." She looked down at them, already muddy and dusty but she loved it, it reminded her of home.

His wife had taken the chance to tease him then, "Be careful, he might try to steal them. He's taken half my wardrobe."

Matty bit back saying, "We're married so what's yours is mine. Technically not stealing."

A very tall guy with a man bun walked behind Flo and clicked his tongue as he threw an arm around her shoulders, "He got you there baby."

"George, you're supposed to be on my side always." Flo complained, but leaned into George's touch.

"For that you've got your cousin." The tall guy argued with a smirk, which made Flo elbow him on the ribs.

Matty cackled watching George doubled over in pain and Flo took that moment to turn around and call over the two other members of the band to meet Ella.

Another very tall guy with a buzzcut came their way, along with a slightly shorter brunette, and when they stood beside her with soft smiles, Flo introduced them to Ella.

"Ella, this is George," She pointed to the tallest one who had just been hurt in the ribs, "This is Ross." She then signaled to the one with the buzzcut and finished by pointing at the brunette, "And this is my cousin, Adam."

Ella smiled at them, "Nice to meet y'all."

They all reciprocated the pleasantry with smiles of their own and they started small talk until they were called on stage.

The big Monkeys group stood on the side of the stage, watching The 1975 get cheered on as they grabbed their instruments.

As they played their first three songs, Ella made a mental note to listen to their music when she had the time because they were amazing live and they had this sound that she wasn't really used to listening but she'd just loved. They all had great stage presence, just by enjoying performing and dancing around, and it was funny to hear all the things Matty would just say in between lines.

Their little group had all cheered along with the crowd by the end of 'You' when Matty jumped on George's drumset and played the end of the song headbanging as he looked down towards George.

They all looked amazing on stage, and when the next song started and the crowd got even louder, they fed more off of their energy and somehow got even more hyper.

Ella was particularly entranced by George, seeing every single one of his facial expressions as he hit the drums had her just gawking at him.

She had leaned back a bit knowing that was the only way Flo and Bre would hear her say, "He's fucking hot." as she pointed at the drummer.

Alex's best friend laughed loudly at that, making Matt and Alex turn around to see what had happened and when she informed them of what Ella had just said, Matt joined the laughter while Alex only rolled his eyes in amusement.

"You fancy George then?" Matt asked loudly over the speakers.

"I mean look at him!" Ella had said, he truly looked amazing, "Oh, and Ross! Flo, even your cousin looks hot right now!"

"I'm glad we share opinions when it comes to George." Flo winked at her, "I'll make sure to relay the message."

Ella blushed just thinking about it and shook her head, mortified, "Oh god, no, don't."

"But you need a rebound!" Matt fought and Bre nodded intently.

"No, that'd be so messy!" Ella shook her head just thinking about how she wouldn't be able to act normal if she actually made a move on one of Flo's friends.

"That'd be messy alright. The nice kind of messy." Flo said and that just made Ella double over in laughter.

They kept listening to the rest of the song after that, and Ella was sure she'd have the chorus stuck in her head forever. 'Chocolate' was a hit, no wonder it had been their breakthrough.

She pouted when Matty said the next one will be their last, leaving her to wish to see a longer set of theirs in the future.

The strong riff of the guitar had her already hooked but it was the lyrics to it that made her slowly become obsessed with it.

When Matty turned around to point at Flo as he sang "She's got a boyfriend anyway", Ella gasped realizing this was about her. She screeched then when Matty turned back around to face the crowd and the lyrics got more interesting.

She couldn't help but become entranced by how proud Flo looked of Matty, it was so sweet to see the way she wholeheartedly sang along, her smile never leaving her face.

The end of the song was just heavy and perfect, made it erratic and Ella was absolutely loving it. Especially when the last line Matty sang was changed to "You've got a husband anyway" as he pointed at himself while looking straight at his wife.

Flo blew him a kiss and Matty turned around to play the outro of the song with all the energy he had, it was captivating. Ella was taken aback when it hit her that she was now friends with all these incredible musicians, it was truly a dream that had her pinching herself.

When the guys came off stage, it was pure adrenaline they were running on. Matty didn't take a second to kiss his wife earnestly, and Ella could almost cry from how adorable they were.

The rest of the day had been spent with them all running around the festival, sharing drinks as they tried to catch up to artists in different stages, bumping into friends like Zackery who had taken a few pictures of them—and introduced the band to a group of artists who had designed and hand painted a leather jacket for them at their request for a song in the upcoming album.

Ella had been loving how different yet similar the festival was when comparing it to Bonnaroo. The messy muddy fields, the loud chatter and laughter, the smell of good food in the air mixed with the good weed. She was on cloud nine and she didn't want to leave.

That night they watched The Rolling Stones and it had been absolutely insane seeing Mick Jagger on stage. She was sure she'd lose her voice from how loud she screamed when Mick Taylor was invited on stage and when they performed '2000 Light Years From Home'. She was sure she'd never be able to listen to The Rolling Stones the same ever again.

Sunday hadn't been any different. They had enjoyed every bit of the festival like it was the last they'd ever attend.

Ella had been so grateful to have experienced all of it, and she had made sure to tell Alex that multiple times. The group was so glad they had the massive bus to drive them back home and they needn't worry about a thing through the whole drive but be completely comfortable and enjoy the peace after the bustling weekend. It had ended up being almost three hours due to the traffic, but that had allowed them to rest longer so they didn't complain.

She'd asked to be dropped off at the hotel she was staying at and Alex had offered to go with her and then walk home as she wasn't staying too far away from his flat, but she declined because she knew he was exhausted and so was she so she walked in alone at four in the morning to check in.

It was amazing that it hadn't been a struggle to get checked in, she had been expecting something going wrong with that too after all that had happened at the airports when she was on her way there but it hadn't been, so with her keys in hand she made her merry way up to the fifth floor and to her room.

The little energy Ella had left in her was put into taking a shower, brushing her teeth and just plopping onto bed. The weekend had felt longer than just three days, it felt like it had already been a week since she'd had to run around Montreal's airport like a madwoman looking for a new ticket.

She sighed happily as she snuggled into the plush pillows in the dark, her eyes closed but behind her eyelids was the whole weekend playing like a film and she found herself filling up with warmth. She couldn't wait to see what else this trip would have in store for her, she only hoped it was all good.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

The greatness of the London Eye had Ella trying to gather herself in search of words. She had been struggling to truly believe where she was since she woke up to a view she wasn't used to, gloomy and no sun out, the sky teasing a rainfall later, a little chilly when she went out the balcony for a smoke and the bustling of a city she was yet to get to know.

Alex had called her—thankfully they had figured out the whole cell roaming situation during the weekend so she wasn't uncommunicated and alone—, telling her to get ready as he was coming to get her and they'd be walking around London so she could get her proper touristy stroll around the city.

She had personally asked him for one at Glastonbury, when they were eating as they walked between stages, and he had gladly agreed to it. He wanted to be the one to witness her reactions to one of the cities he held so close to his heart.

Ella's steps slowed as they got closer to the attraction, people already in a long line at eleven in the morning.

"Holy fuck, it's huge." She gasped, staring all around the giant metal structure.

Alex just watched her mesmerized expression with a smile, "D'you wanna get on it?"

"Erm, not really. But I might as well have to, right?" She was looking at the very top of it which was barely in her line of sight but she would have to bear it because why would she come all the way there to not get on it.

"Flying all the way here to not get on it would be regrettable." He said honestly, it looked scary but it was a great experience, one that he didn't want her to miss.

Ella sighed, her brows a little furrowed as she gathered some courage, "Alright let's go."

They quietly walked to the end of the line, which had resumed moving slowly, and Ella felt her heart racing in her chest. Not only because of how she was shitting it thinking about how high she'd be once inside but from the memories coming aggressively to the forefront of her mind.

Valentine's day, Belmont Park. With Alex beside her, just like at that very moment.

She smiled to herself, the thought of that day no longer bitter by any grudges she was holding. So she thought mentioning it might distract her and keep her from shaking. "At least it's a shorter wait than the one we did at Belmont Park, remember?"

Alex gave her a sweet smile, really enjoying the opportunity to think back to that day but he also wanted to take the moment to tease her as she was fidgeting in her place. "Still afraid of heights, darling?"

"Yes but don't remind me, or I'll make you take me to the next place to not get on." Ella smiled slightly embarrassed, her cheeks tinting a faint pink.

"You silly thing." Alex laughed breathlessly, reaching out to grab her wrist and pull her into his side to hug her, "Just think about all the stunning pictures you're gonna be able to take."

She melted into him, looking up and grinned brightly at him, "You just always know how to get me on your side, don't you?" It really did seem like it to her, how fast he could make her twist her arm into stepping out of her comfort zone so she'd enjoy herself.

He just stared down at her adoringly, counting every freckle on her cheeks and admiring how the makeup she had on just accentuated every little thing on her face. So he said sincerely, "I'm glad I do." because he was truly grateful he could.

About ten minutes passed, silence between them was comfortable but sometimes broken by small talk about random things they'd remember or things she was hoping to see and the possibilities of places they could visit.

They had stayed holding each other the whole time: Alex's arm around her shoulders, his fingers clutching her tightly, and Ella's arm around his waist, her thumb rubbing little circles over the fabric of his shirt.

That was until she had remembered about Alex and who he was and she had started overthinking and noticing more and more the glances the people in line were giving them, so she gently pushed herself away from him and he had to slowly let his arm drop from its place around her.

Alex gave her a questioning look and Ella recoiled into herself as she gave him an answer, "I just keep thinking people are looking at us– well, you. And I don't wanna get you in trouble."

"What do you mean?" The singer frowned, not really understanding in which way she'd do that.

"Well, I just feel like they keep glancing over here and I don't want you to get swarmed for being recognized." Her voice was small as she explained, scared of sounding stupid but in her head, it made sense.

He chuckled softly, brushing off his status. "Darling, I'm not that big of a deal."

But Ella wouldn't let him try to downplay it, "Sure you aren't Mr. Rockstar." She rolled her eyes with amusement, "This is your home country, and you're massive here."

Alex just shook his head to have her let go of her worries, "Not gonna get swarmed, darling." And then he further explained, "You know most—if not all—known people that do, is because they get their agents to put out their locations for paparazzi and media's attention right?"

"Oh?" Ella blushed, feeling oh so stupid, "Do they really?"

"Yeah, and it's bullshit. You'll never find me doing that so don't worry. We're safe." He assured, tucking her into his side once more and he smiled when he felt her arm snaking around his middle once again.

"It's just because you love the mysterious act, though, isn't it? Maintains the appeal." She pinched his waist to accentuate the teasing, making him laugh.

"Dickhead."

They laughed together then, falling back into a comfortable silence, just relishing in the warmth they got from each other. It wasn't awfully cold but it was chilly and it was how used she'd gotten to Californian weather that had her performing worse in weather that she used to be able to bear when she lived in Tennessee.

Alex kept her warm and cozy so Ella found herself really snuggling into him and he accepted it with a smirk on his face. Moments like this was all he wanted.

The minutes passed and Ella couldn't help but be hypnotized by the whole scene, especially when they moved further and further up the line until they ended up in a corner where they had the perfect backdrop of the Thames and the city of London.

He felt her get away from his hold again but when she saw her reaching down to grab the camera hanging from around her neck, he breathed calmly.

"Stay there, I wanna take a picture." She instructed, seeing that his position was perfect for a picture.

"Here?" Alex asked, not sure if she really wanted a picture of him right there and then.

But Ella showed him the prettiest smile and said, "Yep, just like that." and Alex couldn't say no, not that he'd really ever tell her no. "Smile for me, sweets." The pet name rolled off her tongue so easily when seeing him standing like that in front of her.

"Sweets?" A massive grin broke out on his face hearing her call him that, his insides melting at the simple word.

Ella pressed the shutter instantly, exhaling in relief at having caught that face in time. "Perfect."

"Sweets?" Alex asked again just to check he hadn't imagined that.

"Yeah..." She timidly confirmed, rolling the film and tucking the lever back in its place to turn off the camera and let it softly drop back over her chest.

He watched her take small steps towards him again and accepted her back in his arms with a "M'kay darling."

Ella poked his ribs making him jump before asking "You don't like it?"

Alex was quick to retort, "Who said that?"

"I don't know–" She tried to start but he was quick to dismiss the whole thing.

"I love it." He backtracked quickly and firmly with an honest smile on his face that had her biting her tongue and fighting back a smile just as big as his.

In no time, the line moved sporadically and it was sooner than expected that they were boarded into a capsule with a family of five.

Ella stepped inside with wobbly steps and Alex followed closely behind. "Oh my god..." Her words were breathless as she was taken aback by the view around her.

"That line was quicker than I expected." The singer thought out loud as he got beside her, both of them standing close to the windows.

But when she heard the glass doors closing and felt the capsule moving to the right, she took a big step back and reached back to hold his hand. "Al, you're gonna have to stay near me because this is freaking me out."

He squeezed her hand in his and giggled, "I'll stay right here."

"Okay..." Ella mumbled unsure but soon her whole attention was taken by how perfectly she could see it all in front of her. "This is so beautiful."

Alex could feel her hands growing sweaty and starting to shake so he took it upon himself to distract her. "You can see it all from here. Look," He pointed to their left, "That's Westminster bridge, the Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Parliament." He listed as his finger pointed at each of the landmarks, making sure she was correctly watching each as he talked, "We can see it a bit better now that it's going up, oh and there's Buckingham Palace as well."

It looked so small from there but it was still breathtaking, "Oh wow..." Her heart was swelling in her chest now, just from being able to experience this, "We can see the whole city, Al!" She whispered with such excitement that made Alex want to coo at her.

"It's quite the view, isn't it." He took the smallest step towards her until he was pressed softly against her back and he leaned in to watch her face.

She turned to him completely mesmerized, "I think New York has got some big competition in my book now."

"A tough one between them two." He agreed, resting his chin on her shoulder for a second before standing back up straight again and pointing to their right now, "Oh look, over there is St. Paul's Cathedral. We're going there later 'cause I know you'll love it. And way back over there is the Tower of London and Tower Bridge."

Her eyes swam around the panoramic view and it was all well until she made the mistake of looking down to her feet and her heart sank. With her eyes closed, her panicked words came out incredibly fast, "I'm loving this view but I just accidentally looked down and I feel like I'm gonna have a panic attack."

"You're okay darling, I'm here." Alex promised, taking his hand that was still intertwined with hers and wrapping that arm around her waist, "Just take your pictures, I won't move an inch."

She gulped and let her eyes open up again, feeling slightly better in his hold and slowly untangled her fingers from his to lift her camera, "Okay."

It certainly worked like magic. The second she started looking at the city through that viewfinder, it was like she had completely forgotten she was hundreds of feet above the ground in a spinning wheel, completely focused on capturing the panorama as best as she could.

Alex watched intently as she worked, noticing the little things she did like biting her lip as her finger hovered and seemed to hesitate for a few seconds over the shutter until she caught the perfect moment and it was just a triumphant smile as she turned the lever and then the cycle began again.

Ella counted the shots in her head and only stopped when she had only twelve frames left in the roll.

Letting her head fall on Alex's shoulder, she had to ask, "How long does this take again?" Only because she had felt like she'd lost track of time.

"Half an hour but it's already been fifteen minutes so we're halfway there." His fingers rubbed circles on her waist, sometimes the pads of his fingertips managing to get under her shirt and erupting goosebumps on her skin.

She felt like she was burning up so she let her camera drop back down on her chest and turned around to face him. "I'm just gonna stare at you now because if I look out I'm definitely gonna freak out." She giggled a bit, trying to trick herself into thinking that looking at Alex wouldn't have her chest tighten just as much.

"That's fine by me." He replied with a smirk.

But she didn't entertain his teasing, only giving him a sincere, "Thank you." in return.

His face fell into a sweet smile, "Nothing to thank me for, darling. I'm buzzing to have you here right now." He wasn't afraid to admit it at all, because he truly was beyond happy about the whole situation.

"See? Sweetness!" She softly exclaimed, bringing one of her hands up to cup his cheek but before Alex could get his hopes up on anything happening, she squished his cheeks with her hand, "You're just pure sweetness."

Ella felt his face go warm under her touch so with a giggle she let her hand fall back down. "Your hair looks great today." He looked great. In a pair of blue jeans, a white shirt and his brown leather jacket—he had changed the Chelsea boots for white high top converse and a pair of sunglasses had been tucked into one of the pockets of his jacket.

"You like it?" Alex asked innocently like the simple compliment hadn't made his heart rate stutter.

She nodded, "You know I do. It always looks amazing but whenever it's just like this, without gel..." Her fingers combed through the freshly cut greaser looking hairstyle, "It's so soft."

He nudged her hand with his nose softly and joked, "Are you messing it up?"

She chuckled, combing through it again and again to give it its perfect shape, "I'm fixing a few strands here." She used both her hands then to bring a few of the strands to fall on his forehead like she loved. "There you go."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Look good?"

Ella's answer was quick, "Beautiful." And she didn't waste a beat to ask, "Can I have another picture?"

"Of me?" Alex asked naively and she just hummed, so he shrugged and nodded, "I suppose."

"I wanna have one of this very moment. With you, my favorite tourist guide." She joked in the end to make it seem less like she was baring her heart out to him.

"Right." He chuckled, his eyes crinkling around the edges slightly.

But she wanted more, she wanted to see his grin fully reach his eyes. "C'mon sweets, show me that gorgeous smile."

Her teasing worked because he felt his cheeks warming again and he had to keep himself from averting his gaze from hers, "Stop." He only said, half a warning but mostly a plea for mercy on his heart.

"What?" Ella inquired like she had nothing to do with it, if she only knew all that she did to him. "Amazing, t'was perfect." She complimented once more.

Alex had to change the topic then because he felt like he could combust any second, "Are you taking them in black and white?"

She had mentioned it earlier when he'd called her, as she was debating whether or not it'd look better. "Decided against it last minute. I don't know, there's something about the atmosphere today that I just wanted to capture the closest to reality I could."

He hummed, understanding what she meant, "You can always take the black and white ones later, you're staying three weeks after all."

Ella smiled brightly at the reminder, that many days just sounded so promising and she couldn't ignore how this was one of the very few times she felt ecstatic thinking about the uncertainty of what the future had to hold.

"So glad I am. It's barely been three days and I already know this is one of the best trips of my life."

"It's only just getting started darling." Alex winked, making a giggle bubble up her throat again and what a lovely sound that was.

Just like that, they had done the full ride and they hadn't realized it was done until they heard the doors open back up, way too entranced in their own little bubble. It was lucky that the rest of the people inside their capsule were on holiday and no one from the family had interest in finding out who they were or interrupting what they were doing.

When they walked out, Alex let out a loud laugh when Ella thanked God for firm soil multiple times, said so devotedly like she wasn't a determined atheist.

From there, they walked through Westminster Bridge to get to Big Ben. Ella had gasped as their feet took them across the bridge and asked Alex to pinch her because she felt like she was dreaming.

She couldn't believe her eyes were actually seeing all of that for themselves in real life and not through stock pictures on Google.

Seeing her glowing from her excitement had Alex's heart breaking as he had to give her some bad news. "This actually has me fuming now because this is just one of those things everyone wants to see once in their life but, a few years back they closed all Big Ben and Parliament tours to people who aren't UK citizens or residents so unfortunately I won't be able to take you inside for a tour."

Ella clearly deflated but it was in an instant that she really turned the situation around in her head. She shook her head standing in her place, making Alex stop beside her on the sidewalk, and she pointed at the landmark right in front of them, "But I'm seeing it right now and that's what counts, Al. It's okay."

Alex hummed reluctantly, still disappointed at not being able to give her the best experience. "We can walk around it, I'm half sure there's some places you can manage to take a peek inside."

She giggled and grabbed his hand, fingers intertwining as she went ahead and dragged him behind her to finish their walk through the bridge. Alex didn't say a word, his smile permanently stuck on his face as he watched her walk enthusiastically in front of him.

She had changed her roll of film right when they got to the street across the monumental place. Alex chuckled as she made him help her by covering her device with his jacket so that her first roll didn't mess up as she put it away, and the new one didn't either as she locked it and rolled it inside before placing the lid back in its place.

They resumed their walk, Alex closely walking next to her with a hand hovering on her lower back as she kept her hands engulfed around her camera but he felt the need to keep his touch on her.

Ella had taken so many pictures already, and about fifteen minutes later she had grown worried she hadn't stuffed enough rolls in her bag before leaving her hotel room. Half the frames she had captured had been of him, either smiling at the camera or unaware as he walked beside her with a burning cigarette resting between his lips.

There was a particular one in which she had stopped without saying a word and he had kept walking a few paces before noticing she wasn't beside him anymore, and when he turned around to search for her, the shutter went off.

Her heart kicked in her chest at the memory of that one picture she had taken of him, back at the start of 2012 when the lads had just come back over to Los Angeles and she had taken them around the city, the one where he was looking back at her with the rest of the band walking in front of him.

Her throat ran a little dry as she placed her camera back down to rest on her chest and watched Alex walk back towards her.

"You've been taking so many pictures of me already, let me take yours." His voice sounded almost like a beg and her knees went a little weak.

Only because of the way he'd said that had made her feel, Ella sighed with a smile and pulled her camera back up, "Alright, I'll show you how to."

She showed him the basics around her in a simple manner and he seemed to catch it all quite quickly. After all, he had seen Matt taking pictures and had gotten ahold of the drummer's cameras throughout the years so it all came back to him when Ella had done her brief run down.

Alex listened to her instructions of having him take a few pictures of their surroundings just so he could get comfortable, and it only took two to have him nodding and reassuring he was ready to take her picture. Ella nodded with a shy smile and took two steps back to stand in front of the camera.

Truth be told, Ella had always preferred being behind the camera and not in front of the lens but it was just because she never thought she was interesting enough to be the constant subject of pictures.

Alex couldn't think of her more differently. Seeing her with a bright smile that had her eyes closing, her hands intertwined in front of her as she softly leaned her head to the side and her hair so perfectly falling over her shoulders had him thinking about how if she looked this breathtaking in front of the camera in such a normal setting, then she needed to be in front of it at all times.

That's why right after the shutter sound went off and she relaxed again, he rolled the film and took another picture without warning her.

That made her shriek and hide behind her hands, "Alex no! It's gonna look so bad!" Ella's words were muffled as her hands covered her face.

"I'm looking through the viewfinder and you look stunning, darling." He was quick to reassure her, "Now could you please drop your hands? I want to take another one." His skilled fingers rolled the film once more as he tried his best to convince her with his eyes.

That unfair look in his eyes made it so impossible to resist anything he could ever suggest. "Last one?" She made sure to ask him before giving in.

"Fine, last one." He agreed with a sigh, his stomach doing somersaults at having gotten away with it.

She slowly let her hands fall back by her sides and it wasn't until he said, "That's it. Beautiful, darling." that he took the picture as her face broke in another massive grin that made his heart skip a beat.

Ella ignored the way her tummy was fluttering as she reached out for her camera, "Alright sweets, that's enough." She wasted no time to push the lever back in its place and hook the camera strap around her neck again, the camera falling to rest on top of her chest.

"Only for now." He countered smoothly, making her scoff out a laugh.

After that they continued walking, leaving Big Ben and Parliament behind to make way to Westminster Abbey.

The massive church was breathtaking. Its structure was gothic architecture perfection inside and out, which accompanied by the stunning gardens and sculptures just made Ella be more in awe.

The gray sky tied everything together, the birds flying around and resting in the old walls and peaks, the tinted windows looking straight out of a painting.

Ella spent a full roll there, small gasps leaving her mouth every corner they turned. She had even been so entranced by the devotees kneeling on the seats and offering their prayers, unbothered by the rest of the people walking around them. Religion was a concept that fascinated her because of how much she just didn't get it like those people praying did.

Once out of that place, they walked to Buckingham Palace and it was a funny stroll since Ella couldn't stop bouncing on her feet like a little girl, asking loads of questions she could come up with about the Royal Family.

"You know," She started with a small smirk on her face, "Prince Harry is fit."

Alex cackled at the way she said it, listening to her try and incorporate British slang in her vocabulary had been endearing all weekend and he was glad she wasn't stopping it. "Oh really?"

Ella hummed eagerly, "I wonder if he'd give an American a chance."

"So you're aiming for the Royals now?" The singer inquired rhetorically with a cheeky smile.

She shrugged, smirking back at him, "Why not?"

Alex chuckled, "That's ambitious."

"Well I like to think of myself as an ambitious person."

With a nudge to her hip, he grabbed a hold of her hand so they could walk a little faster, "Alright Miss Ambitious, we're almost at your lover's place."

From afar Ella could see the palace behind the trees and she thought about the different instances a person could be allowed into the place. "I'm sure we could get in if you just said you're from the biggest British band in history."

"The Beatles are way older than me and half of them are dead so I don't think they'll believe me."

Ella snorted at how nonchalantly he'd just said that and turned her head to look at him as they kept on walking, "Oh you're being humble now."

Alex scoffed playfully, like her words had offended him, "When am I not?"

"I can list some instances." She shrugged again with a teasing smirk on her face.

His eyes narrowed at her as if challenging her to start talking, "Enlighten me then."

But all Alex was met with was silence as they finally got to the big black and gold arches and crossing the road from there was the monumental place standing there in all its glory. The Victoria Memorial was even bigger and more spectacular than she'd seen in pictures, the gold against the gloomy sky and the greenery around was leaving her breathless.

So Ella dropped Alex's hand and started snapping away, frame after frame until they walked closer to the gates of Buckingham Palace and she caught a glimpse of the beefeaters standing there like they were frozen in time and just that got her even more excited about it all.

"They look like little dolls! Oh my god, look at them!" She waved them hello so enthusiastically making Alex hold giggles back and when the guards just stood there without moving a single inch, she turned back to pout at Alex.

The shaking of his head and the "You're so painfully American," he gave her contrasted immensely against his growing smile.

"Hey!" Ella gasped and poked him in the ribs, "Don't call me out like that, I was blending in perfectly well." She joked but she was well aware she hadn't been.

"Yeah, sorry. You were, darling." Alex corrected, faking agreeing with her, "Everyone's a tourist here, so yes you were blending in perfectly well." He changed his words to tease her further and the way her jaw dropped a bit and she frowned at him made him laugh.

They were there for about twenty minutes, walking slowly and taking their time so Ella could capture the moment the best she could. She had taken a few of Alex when he wasn't noticing but at the third one she'd gotten caught, meaning she got pictures taken of her by Alex.

As they waited for some people to move around so they could get a better view from a different angle, they were playing a game that had started with Ella making funny guesses about members of the Royal Family and their hobbies, which had earned her multiple laughs from Alex as she really had no clue about anything to do with the Royals.

Eventually, when the place started getting more crowded, they decided to move onto the next place which Alex had said would be Piccadilly Circus so they could get some lunch and then continue on.

Trafalgar Square had been captured in multiple of her frames and she had finished her film roll as they walked up to the restaurant they were going to eat at. Once again Alex had helped her change her roll covering her camera with his jacket, giggling as she struggled to properly roll it as she couldn't see well what she was doing in the darkness they were making for the film to not get fucked.

Once Ella had managed to set everything up, Alex had asked her if he could have the camera for a bit and of course she said yes. The prospect of getting Alex into one of her passions had her smiling as he took pictures of a place he already knew so well and since she knew he was capturing the views for her, she took her own time to take everything in: the streets, the people, the chatter going on around her, the restlessness of the city, the smell of smoke and coffee every time they walked past a coffee shop, the memories in the making around her that she'd never get to know.

She loved it all.

Ella was so entranced by the scene and completely caught up by her thoughts that she'd missed the multiple times Alex had managed to sneak a picture of her. Only really catching him smiling proudly at her as he lowered the camera from his eyes when she had turned to point at a girl who was wearing an Arctic Monkeys shirt as she smoked outside a restaurant.

Alex chuckled, letting the camera hang around his neck and getting a hold of Ella's hand to then keep walking to the place that was not very far away from where they were then.

When they got there, Ella had been surprised by the fact that Alex had gotten a reservation for them and he had almost perfectly timed it all. They only showed up ten minutes early to their table and it wasn't a fuzz for them to wait.

He offered her a cigarette and, between chatter, they waited for their turn to come up. It had been relatively easy as they finally talked about the adventure it had been for Ella to fly over and it had ended with them hugging as Ella got a bit upset again over not being able to see their full set.

With a promise to find out when they'd be replaying their set on BBC, they went back to get seated as it finally had turned into the time they had the reservation for.

They didn't rush through their meal, enjoying every minute they could get in the lovely restaurant and talking about absolutely anything that came to their minds. And after a pouty Ella—since he hadn't let her pay for the meal—had let Alex take a picture of her with the English streets in the background, they had left the place to resume their stroll.

Their pace was slower then, Alex had suggested taking a cab to get to the next place so she didn't have to walk that much but Ella declined it saying it was alright plus she loved how they could just simply walk places around the city unlike in Los Angeles. It was only when they got to Covent Garden and walked past the underground station that she asked why they hadn't used it yet.

"This one has 193 steps to go up and down it. I was being kind not taking you through it to get here but we can take it to get to St. Paul's if you'd like."

Ella had gasped at the information, because who the fuck in their right minds would make a station have that many stairs. "193?!" She asked again and Alex nodded amused at her disbelief, "Why?"

He chuckled and shrugged, "Been asking the same question for far too many years."

"That's insane." She said under her breath as they continued walking, then remembering his suggestion, "And no, let's not do that. Can we take the bus? I've yet to get on one and I really want to be the cliché American being amazed on every type of your public transportation."

Alex's laughter reached her ears, making her grin brightly at him. "Of course we can." He assured her and Ella scrunched her nose at him for being adorable, but then he continued, "And you're being the best cliché American. Really off the charts performance, darling." making her roll her eyes in amusement.

Between teasing comments, giggles and playful nudges, it didn't take them long to get to the Apple Market and there Ella was instantly blown away by the amount of shops and market-type kiosks of trinkets, hand-made jewelry, souvenirs and art.

They took their time walking around, really ignoring the retail shops because Ella was far more interested in taking her time to look around the little stands in the middle of the place, and it was all so beautiful.

The variety of goods that were offered out for everyone was amazing, and she gasped when they made it to a stand that was offering analog cameras, leather and handmade camera straps, camera cases and lenses.

She had thought about getting one of the few medium format cameras that were there but decided against it after a good few minutes of internal debate. Alex had watched her amused the whole time and giggled when she went from staring between a Halina, a Rolleiflex and a Pentax to getting one of the leather camera cases along with a strap and bought it.

It was bad how indecisive she was because she had spent so much time in the first few shops that she felt the need to rush through her indecision which ended in her buying at least one thing from every shop she had purposely stopped by.

There was a little red bus in her bag, along with a few magnets, her new camera case and strap, a locket, a few pins, a set of coasters and the last kiosk they were looking at was full of rings, necklaces and more handmade jewelry.

Ella easily fell into conversation with the lovely old man who was the owner of the little store. She had complimented him after he told her it was him who made every piece by hand, and she took her time to look intently through it all.

A few minutes passed of her taking a closer look at the different accessories but since she couldn't make a proper choice, she turned to Alex for help.

With her lips pressed she grabbed his wrist to pull him closer and in a bit of panic, she looked up to him and asked, "Could you choose for me please?"

Alex bit his bottom lip not to chuckle at the soft frown on her face and nodded, "Anything in particular, darling?"

Ella looked back at the table, giving it a quick sweep and she found her attention mostly on the hand jewelry. "Maybe a ring?" She tried saying but it sounded more like a question, "They're all stunning." She added then in a quiet whine like it hurt her that everything was too pretty and she couldn't choose.

The singer hummed and stepped closer to the table under the gaze of the old man who had a small smile on his face seeing them two together. Alex took less than a minute, his decision being made when he found one which had a pretty green stone in the middle of the gold band of the ring. "This one." He grabbed it and it seemed to be just the right size, so grabbing her right hand in his, he slipped it on her ring finger. The sight of her Pure Desire tattoo sparking too many thoughts in his mind that he had to push aside.

Ella was breathless seeing him putting the ring on her but she fully felt like she had forgotten how to breathe when he added, "Matches your eyes." with the sweetest smile.

Her eyes didn't move from his for a few seconds that felt eternal to them, dropping to the ring and then back up at Alex to ask, "Does it?"

"Yes," He nodded, completely satisfied with his choice, "Stunning." He complimented, but he wasn't speaking about the piece of jewelry because his gaze was firm on Ella's gorgeous eyes.

She scrunched her nose at him, he was just too cute for her to handle so with rosy cheeks she turned back to the man in charge of the kiosk and deemed that being the last purchase of the day. The lovely man was smiling brightly at them and agreed with Alex when he noticed Ella's hazel green eyes.

Alex had puffed his chest out in pride of it, saying a smug "I know" to the old man and making Ella laugh as she paid. He practically had the color of her eyes permanently imprinted in his mind, he didn't ever have to think hard to remember them and how it felt to get lost in her eyes.

She left the old man with a long hug and Alex gave him a hand shake before the two moved onto the next stop which would be St. Paul's Cathedral. And just like Alex had promised her they would do, they took a bus to the church.

It had been hilarious capturing her smile with her camera as one of the red busses approached them and he had been hearing and seeing her little giddy noises and how she just couldn't really stay still in her seat.

The cathedral had been breathtaking and, again, Ella had snapped away multiple pictures as they walked around. She had been fairly wary of the lots of people worshiping their religious figures then so she tried not to take too many so the shutter going off wouldn't interrupt them.

When they left to go to the next place, they ticked off another thing off Ella's list as they rode the underground to go over to the Tower of London. The only thing she had been overly excited about was the way the stations looked because then being in the tube felt just like taking the train in New York, only cleaner.

Alex had managed to get a picture of her standing there waiting for their train to arrive, and he hoped the frame had captured the big grin that tugged at the corner of her lips making her eyes crinkle at the edges before she had hid her face behind her hands.

The Tower of London had been quite informative, at first she had walked in completely amazed by the structure and architecture of the castle so she was taking picture after picture of the inside and the greenery of the courtyards but then they started walking into the exhibitions and she had forgotten about her camera to read the signs around the rooms.

Going to see the crown jewels had been hilarious to Alex since Ella had been trying so hard to keep her cool as there were beefeaters guarding the exhibition. The White Tower had been rather concerning because of the torture chamber that was located there, and the Green Tower had been as well as it was where the execution memorial was held. And the last bit of the place they had visited was the Bloody Tower which had left Ella gasping as they found it was named that because of the murders of two princes which had been suspected to be done by their own uncle.

They talked about everything they had seen as they slowly walked out of the place and under the Tower Bridge, it was getting late and the sun seemed to be getting ready to set already. She yawned and hid it under her right hand, Alex getting a hold of her left hand and intertwining their fingers so she would walk with him at his pace.

"Where are we going?" Ella asked intrigued, they weren't going very fast but it was like he had the intent of getting somewhere on time.

"Just a bit further down here." He pointed forward with a tilt of his chin and continued walking.

Ella had no other option than to walk along him, and it had been the best day strolling around the city with him so there wasn't a bit in her that wanted to complain about a single thing.

They walked past a Starbucks and to her right she saw a little stand that sold boat tickets. They were walking right by the Thames after all so it wasn't rare to see all the people that were walking ahead of her and stopping by the railing along the short brick column.

As they walked closer to the people gathering for the view of the bridge, Ella finally saw the sculpture that stood there in a fountain and she let out a little gasp of awe.

"That's so cute! I'm gonna take a picture." She squeezed Alex's hand before slowly letting go of it and quickly turning on her camera and getting as close as she could between the people gathered there to get a good frame of the sculpture with the view of the bridge and the city behind it.

She snapped a pair and went back to Alex, excusing herself as she made her way through the people in the way.

"Are we not staying here?" She inquired when Alex grabbed her hand again and pulled her along with him, seeing as everyone seemed to stand next to the fountain to watch the sun go down.

Alex shook his head, "There's a few benches over there and way less people, so we can sit and watch the sunset quietly and alone."

Ella intertwined their fingers properly again with a grin and let him guide her to where he was referring to. It wasn't longer than another minute when they saw a lonely bench by a tree which had the perfect view of the bridge without it being spoiled by the people standing at the railing.

They sat down and sighed in relief, their backs and their feet aching after the long day, yet their smiles were stuck on their faces as they moved closer to each other and Ella let her head fall on his shoulder.

Alex left a kiss on her head before resting his head over hers, making Ella snuggle closer to him and inhaling deep in comfort.

"Thank you." Her voice was low and soft, with the echoes of the people chattering around them, he almost missed it.

His head turned slightly to be able to glance down at her, "What for?"

Ella kept her gaze on the city, being slowly bathed in orange and pink hues as the sun fell to bed down the horizon. "For today. It was lovely and you're the best tourist guide ever."

The last bit held such playfulness that earned her a snort from him, "I'm glad you liked it, darling." And Alex truly meant it, closing his eyes and relishing in the feeling of having her close to him.

"Absolutely loved it, sweetness." Her hand went to grab his—they had let go when they got comfortable on the bench—, intertwining their fingers and rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb. "You know if the rockstar gig doesn't work you can just take people around the city and make them pay you for your charm." He felt her move her head a bit and when he looked down at her, she had her eyes set on his face with a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Alex lifted his head to match her smirk and played along, "Charming am I?"

"You know you are." Ella rolled her eyes as if it annoyed her telling him the truth so she added, "Don't let it get to your head, it's already too big as it is."

The singer scoffed, straightening his back so he put a small distance between them, "Oh wow, thanks."

The American girl let out a small "Nooo," and hooked her arm through his to bring him back into her side. "I'm joking, I'm joking."

He hummed doubtfully but let her pull him closer. "You better be because you've got a bigger head than mine." He quipped back at her, making her gasp.

It was her turn to put some distance between them as she pulled herself off him with an offended frown, "Excuse me?"

But Alex looked at her completely disregarding her expression and teased her by saying, "Mhm, you're excused."

Ella gasped, "You're such a little shit." and poked him in the ribs, cackling when he jumped and let out a little yelp. She was so glad she got him back beside her after a whole month, "I missed you so much."

"Missed you more darling." He reciprocated, snaking his arm around her waist to pull her into his side. "We should go watch a film soon, I know it won't be the same but we haven't gone to the cinema together in far too long and I miss going to Los Feliz with you."

A bright grin broke out on her face, thinking back to the times they had been able to go to Los Feliz together. "Isn't it amazing? I'm so glad I got you obsessed with it too."

And without really thinking it through, Alex admitted something that had been making rounds in his mind for a while, "Making me consider moving to LA, you."

She rolled her eyes playfully, shaking her head looking at the view in front of them, "Yeah sure."

But, staring right at her and pinching her side so she'd look at him, he promised, "Swear down."

Narrowing her eyes at him, she chatted back, "Don't believe you, Turner."

His right hand came to clutch his chest like her lack of trust hurt his heart, "Rude. I thought you loved me and I was your best friend."

Her gaze stayed on his, unwavering and trying to gather her thoughts so she could answer but the only thing she came down to say was, "Touché."

She scooted back close to his side and rested her head on his shoulder, his fingers that were holding her waist had started rubbing circles on it over the fabric of her shirt. Ella was glad she had been able to control the shivers his touch gave her and took a deep breath as they watched the gorgeous sights in front of them.

The sky was turning lilac then and the dying sun was painting the cloud a beautiful pink and orange. It was breathtaking seeing the city coated by the colors, it was truly out of a painting and it somehow got even more beautiful as the minutes went by, the shades growing more intense and the urge of capturing it bubbled in her chest.

"This is stunning." Her words were breathless as she turned on her camera, trying to remember if it was four or five frames she had left in her current roll but only shooting three just to not mess up any of her previous pictures on the roll.

Alex watched her focusing as she watched the landscape through the viewfinder, her eye squinted and her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

"Can I get a picture of you?" He asked as soon as she brought her device back down to rest on her chest.

Ella hesitated for a second but before she could agree, she remembered the lack of proper lighting, "The flash is gonna ruin the sunset and if I don't use it, it will look too dark."

He thought of it only for a second, knowing she knew more about it than him but came to a different solution, "With my phone then."

She hummed like she was considering it, but her decision was taking longer than what he wanted so he bumped his head against hers softly and said, "C'mon darling."

When Ella turned to see him, Alex was grinning at her like he knew she was going to fold and she rolled her eyes when she finally agreed, "Okay just a quick one." She turned off her camera before she could move, purposely taking longer to do that.

Switching seats so he could take the picture properly, and taking her camera from her, Alex pulled up his camera on his phone and turned the flash on. "How does Bre get you to let her take your picture?" He wondered out loud as Ella shied behind her hands and took a few deep breaths.

Letting her hands drop, she shrugged and smiled, "Because it's Bre."

But before he could snap the moment away, Alex rolled his eyes and said, "Right, I forgot you're secretly in love with her still."

"Oh shut up." She hit his knee with hers, truly meaning it when she replied, "She's my best friend."

With that he smugly raised his phone back up, and with a, "And so am I, so smile for me darling." he waited for her to give him a big smile to take the picture.

He lowered his phone as he went to his camera roll to see how it had turned out, "That look alright?" Ella asked shyly, trying to see the product as he was grinning like an idiot at his screen.

Alex nodded intently, "Yes, I love it." And he wasn't lying, her eyes had closed from how big she had smiled, her cheeks rosy almost as much as the pink in the sky and once again he was brought back to that day they spent together in the west coast when he couldn't even begin to appreciate the sunset behind her as he drove because she looked so beautiful.

She demanded softly with a tug of his wrist, "Show it to me." And when she saw herself on his screen, she felt her cheeks heat up, "I look so..."

"Pretty?" He quickly finished the sentence for her.

But she shook her head, putting that to the side for the moment for her own good, "Blushy. My cheeks match the damn sky."

"You always are darling." He confirmed to her, "Don't think there's been many instances since 2011 when I've seen you and you've not been blushing."

She was properly embarrassed then, thinking about how dumb it was for her to always be blushing and for him to have noticed every time for the past two years, "Okay don't call me out now."

"Anyway, you look beautiful." The singer came back to see the picture once more and smiled to himself, "I'll send it to you now."

Her phone pinged with a notification of his text then and unlocking it to see it now on her screen, she sat comfortably again, shoulder to shoulder with him. "Thanks sweets."

His arm came around her shoulder and brought her into him, "You're welcome darling."

The minutes kept passing by and with it the sun lowered even more until it was completely gone and the sky went from orange, pink and lilac to a deep blue pierced by many stars which glistened as much as the lights of the city did.

Exhaustion was catching up to them, her eyes were closing and she was struggling to keep them open. Alex noticed when her hand started falling slowly from the top of her thigh where it was resting to the space between their legs.

So, softly getting a hold of her hand, he played with her fingers and asked in a low voice, "Should we head back to the hotel darling?"

Ella groaned but nodded, really wanting to get in bed and rest now. "Please?"

He pouted at her tired expression and slowly stood up after giving her a little squeeze, "'Course. Let's go."

Alex extended his hand out to her and she accepted it, letting him pull her up. "Thank you." She stumbled a bit, bumping into his chest where she rested her hand so she could stabilize herself.

He took advantage of how close he had her so he left a kiss on her temple and mumbled, "You're welcome." against it.

Turning around to leave, Alex grabbed her hand but she only moved an inch before she called out a "Wait." that he had barely managed to hear with the rumble of the city in the background.

"What's wrong?" He turned back to her with a small frown, he had her camera hanging from his neck and she had her bag hanging off her shoulder so he wasn't sure if there was anything she'd forgotten.

The bench was empty which confirmed she wasn't forgetting a thing but her frown softened up when she continued with a "Nothing just– c'mere," And she dropped his hand to open her arms up for him to walk into.

He of course obliged, taking a big stride her way and clutching her tight, her arms wrapped over his shoulders and his around her waist. She giggled when she felt her camera in the way of their chests pressing together, making for a rather awkward position but it was a hug from him so it was everything but. They swayed a bit in the embrace and he heard her say, "Love you Al, thank you for today." in his ear.

Filling up with warmth, the biggest smile showed on his face and he didn't waste another second to reciprocate, "Love you too Ellie." Kissing her cheek first, he pulled back to look into her eyes and make her understand that, "There's no need to thank me, darling. It was my absolute pleasure."

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Chapter Text

After spending the day before walking, it was obvious to Ella that she'd be sleeping in, but she had made sure to set at least three alarms in order to not miss breakfast time at the hotel restaurant. That hadn't worked though because she managed to sleep through them and wake up only thirty minutes before breakfast was over.

She'd rushed through the hallways to get there in time, barely having gotten presentable enough to show up at the place next to the lobby, but she made it regardless.

The lady who showed her to a table had been very obviously forcing a smile at Ella, making her wince and nervously promising that she wouldn't take long. And keep her promise she did, for she was done and back upstairs in her room getting ready for the day only twenty minutes later.

That day would have to be done without Alex, due to the band having a meeting at Domino Records in anticipation of the album coming out soon.

Ella had gotten a full update on it all from Flo, who had designed the cover art and the merch, and also helped the guys come up with a better name for the record than 'The New Black'. So 'AM' would be coming out in September, and only two months away from release day, things were busy for the lads.

When Alex suggested rescheduling the meeting, claiming they still had all of August to handle everything, Ella had turned him down with a laugh.

"Alex I won't have your label getting angry at you because you're pushing things back to hang out with me. I can spend the day with Bre and we'll see each other later—plus, didn't Jamie say we were all going to that pub tonight?"

Jamie had been adamant of going to this pub, somewhere Ella had no clue it was but looked pretty, and everyone would be following him to the place that night.

Just because of the plans the guitarist had already made for everyone, Ella had been conscious to take it easy that day. That's why she and Bre had walked around London, being mindful of not tiring themselves too much for the early afternoon, to then go back to Ella's hotel room and just chill about the place until they had to get ready to leave and meet up with the rest of the group.

Alex and Matt had picked them up from the hotel and taken them to the pub where Jamie, Katie, Nick and Kelly were already waiting.

Thankfully, the ride to the place was only fifteen minutes long so their friends weren't waiting for too long and when they got there, they could see they had bumped into a friend and been stuck in a lovely conversation with him.

Ella smiled at the sight of her friends, waving eagerly at Katie and Kelly who waved back just as enthusiastically when they spotted her by the door.

She walked over to the girls with Bre in tow and hugged them hello. She wasn't short in showering them with compliments since they looked stunning and they had done just the same to her.

Ella blushed and thanked them shyly, taking off her trench coat and placing it over the back of a chair to greet Jamie and Nick.

She silently made her way around the table and went to hug them, excusing herself when she interrupted the man she didn't know who was speaking with Jamie.

"So sorry to interrupt. I'm Ella, nice to meet you." She would've waited for Jamie to introduce her but the truth was that the lad was gorgeous and she had promised herself this trip would be the one to let go of the insecurities she'd been left with from her latest relationship and maybe put herself out there, even if it was just for some fun.

The guy waved her apology off with a smirk, one that fit his face so well it had Ella biting the inside of her cheek lightly, "Oscar. Nice to meet you Ella." He shook her hand delicately and let it drop slowly back down.

Everyone saw the way Ella had blushed, the girls had wanted to shriek at her reaction and the lads had wanted to giggle but they held themselves back. Alex, on the other hand, had wanted to pull Ella from Oscar's side because he only wanted to see her react like that to him, just like she had done many times the day before.

They all settled at the big table after Alex greeted everyone, Oscar included, Katie sitting beside Jamie, Nick and Kelly next to each other as well, Matt had his arm wrapped around Bre's waist as she sat on his lap despite having a free seat next to them, and Alex had Ella sat close next to him.

Soon enough, Ella found out Oscar was in a band called 'Pale Waves' and they'd been friends with the Monkeys for a few years. He had lazily pointed at the two other band members that had come with him and said that the third, who was their drummer called Zara, had stayed at home because she was ill.

Ella had barely caught that, because when Oscar had pointed towards the pool tables where his two other bandmates were, she swore her heart had skipped a beat.

There stood a man, waiting for his turn at the game but the one who had Ella hypnotized was this woman bent over trying to make a shot at a striped ball. Ella watched the smirk growing on her face when she made the shot with ease and watched as she stood back up straight, only losing her breath a little more.

Her black hair cut in a bob with the long bangs framed her face perfectly, and Ella appreciated her beauty deeply but what she was wearing had the American gulping at the sight. Her legs were on full show due to her short plaid skirt but covered in fishnets, her white crop top clearly showed the lack of a bra, she stood tall in her red heeled platform boots and her neck was adorned with a black leather collar that tied together with a metal A.

Suddenly, Ella felt so insignificant in her square neck green dress that covered up to her knees and her simple black chelsea boots.

But that feeling of inferiority died when the girl caught her staring and she had to make it seem like she was talking to Katie. It hadn't worked at all, because the girl's smirk grew bigger at the sight of Ella's flustered expression as she spoke to Jamie's fiance.

Alex had noticed her pink cheeks but had been in conversation with Nick and Matt, therefore missing what had happened, so he brought his hand to Ella's face and cupped her jaw just to feel how warm she was.

"Are you okay?" He asked with a tinge of worry. He knew she didn't do well in the cold and the last thing he wanted was for her to become ill whilst on holiday.

Ella gulped at the feeling of his hand on her face, so delicate and warm. "Yes, uhm–, who's that?" She shyly asked, pointing towards the woman with a slight raise of her chin.

Alex's gaze quickly fell on the other two members of Pale Waves and with a soft frown, he repeated what Oscar had said a few minutes before. "Oscar's bandmates."

She let out a small sigh, "I know– but, who's she?"

Alex missed the way Ella looked at the girl then, because he just had to roll his eyes as he was completely overcome with annoyance and anger towards the woman playing pool. He shook his head, not really wanting Ella to meet such an appalling person. "You don't wanna know."

That answer had Ella frowning, his face had completely fallen just at the sight of the girl and if that was Alex's reaction to just being in the same establishment as that woman, then she was intrigued about who she was and what her personality was like. She was curious to know about what had happened to make him react like that but she and Alex were brought back into conversation meaning she couldn't get answers just yet.

Matt and Bre came from the bar with drinks for everyone, placing a tray in the middle of the table. Breana had bought a round of shots for everyone along with their drinks, so that was the first thing they did to start off their night.

Ella winced at the burn of the vodka, quickly grabbing her old-fashioned to soothe her throat. Alex wrapped his arm around her waist, softly rubbing circles over her dress as he softly smiled in amusement at her reaction to the alcohol. The need to close her eyes so she could catch her breath again made Ella miss Oscar's bandmate making way to their table.

She opened her eyes and saw the lad waving at everyone and introducing himself to Bre and Ella.

"Hi, I'm Connor. Y'alright?"

Both of them greeted him sweetly and introduced themselves to him, falling into a quick small talk that was then interrupted as the mystery woman now came from the bar with two drinks in hand.

Ella felt her gaze burning on the side of her head from all the way there, that was the only reason she had noticed where she had disappeared to, and she'd had to turn back around slowly as she felt the blush creep on her cheeks again.

But then her platform boots hitting the wooden floors had Ella turning back around to watch her approach them. The girl took a sip of one of the drinks, the glass leaving her lips just a few seconds later and they formed a grin as she got to them.

"Well hello," The girl said but it wasn't to everyone, her gaze was stuck on Ella who grew hot under it and almost shifted in her seat. Alex's hold grew tighter by the second, and that was making her head spin too.

Ella was beyond herself at the way she was feeling about the woman so she could only mutter a quiet, "Hi." as she raised her eyes to return her stare, trying to smile at her without blushing but it was becoming difficult.

"I'm Alice." She said and offered her hand out for Ella to shake, "What's your name beautiful?"

That fully made Ella's cheeks heat up again—her voice was so sweet and her accent only made Ella's knees go weak—but Alice had barely a chance to see her flustered because Alex was quick to say through his teeth, "Fuck off Alice.", making Ella whip her head around to glare at him.

She had never seen him be anything but kind to everyone, and Alice had only said hello and introduced herself so there was no need for the defensive reaction.

Alice seemed to be used to it though, because she only raised her eyebrows at him, gave him an unimpressed, "Rude." and then turned back to Ella with a soft smile and asked again, "What's your name darling?"

Ella didn't know if it was the way Alex squeezed her waist after hearing Alice call her that, or if it was hearing Alice call her 'darling' that had made her squirm in her seat.

Nothing compared to the feeling in her tummy whenever Alex called her by that nickname but what she had just felt from being called it by Alice was the closest she could imagine it would feel from anyone else that wasn't the singer.

It was embarrassing how much of an effect a gorgeous woman could have on her but she would blame it on the lack of sex for the past six months and the instant attraction she felt for Alice.

"I'm Ella." The American finally answered, placing her hand on Alice's and praying she didn't feel how they had started to sweat.

"Well Ella..." Instead of shaking her hand, Alice turned it so she could lean down and kiss the back of it, "Lovely to meet you."

Ella wanted to say that it was a pleasure to meet her as well but after that, her words were completely stuck in her throat. Ella barely registered Alex's exasperated sigh at Alice's antics because she watched Alice notice her 'Pure Desire' tattoo on the back of her hand and how she seemed entranced by it, even if it was only for a mere few seconds.

Ella wouldn't lie and say that it didn't feel nice to see Alice acting like that towards her, especially when she seemed to really not want to let go of her hand and leaving her with a faint squeeze to it.

It had been so long since Ella felt anyone actually showed some genuine interest in her—she knew any flirting from Miles was a joke, and that the flirting from Alex wasn't something he actually meant—, that it had her feeling giddy and smiley.

"Oscar, wanna play the winner?" Alice offered her bandmate with the whole group watching her. "Hello everyone by the way. Looking gorgeous as usual ladies and I've missed you three." She added, only giving a smile to Nick, Jamie and Matt, completely excluding Alex from the greeting and even though Ella was still confused by it, she knew Alex had started it.

"Sure," Oscar stood up and then turned to his other bandmate, "Come on Connor."

"I didn't win." Connor hung his head a little, making Matt laugh at the bassist's defeat.

Ella's gaze was drawn onto Alice, she truly couldn't stop looking at her and when she let her gaze drop to scan her look again, she noticed her nipple piercings peaking through the thin fabric of her top. Ella almost groaned at the sight, her legs clenching together and biting her bottom lip.

Alice caught her looking again but this time Ella only gave her a big smile. However this might finish, I should go for it tonight, Ella thought then, with her mind made about Alice and what could happen. The night was young and she felt it was reciprocal so she could try to let go and have fun that night.

About an hour later, and after two more shots and a third old-fashioned in hand, Ella was well on her way to getting drunk. She was very tipsy, only a couple glasses left for her to fall over the edge of drunkenness so she made herself the promise of having a glass of water after she was done with her current cocktail.

Her eyes had been magnetized to Alice's figure, just like Alice's to hers because they had both caught each other staring a fair few times and the last one had ended with Ella blushing after Alice winked at her.

Ella went to the bar once she had finished her drink, promising Alex she was fine and was only going for some water so she could last a bit longer without getting absolutely shit-faced. Alex reluctantly nodded and turned back around to talk to Jamie and Katie once he saw her almost at the bar.

Alice had been waiting for the perfect moment to approach Ella so she could get to know her without being stared at by the rest of their friends and without Alex being an absolute prick to her.

So seeing Ella sweetly smile at the bartender and ask for a glass of water, Alice walked up beside her and greeted her again.

"What is the pretty lady drinking tonight?" Alice asked with a sultry voice that made Ella brightly smile.

"Got some water for now 'cause I refuse to get wasted and go back to my hotel room before midnight." Ella explained swiftly, playing with her fingers.

Alice hummed with a smirk on her face, "Awh baby, are you a lightweight?"

Ella giggled shyly, her already pink cheeks heating up even more at the pet name, "I have that reputation, yeah."

The Brit smirked at her, "Don't worry, I'll take care of you."

"Thank you, Alice." Ella replied with a faint blush on her cheeks.

Alice found it so adorable how easily she blushed but she didn't want her to stay quiet so she started to test the waters to see her chances. "You're not from here from what I can hear."

"The gossip or the accent?"

"The accent," Alice chuckled at her banter, "Quite like it, always been a sucker for an American accent."

Ella hummed softly and decided to just push through her shyness to flirt back with the stunning girl. "It's a British accent in my case."

"Is it?" Alice smirked, she wanted to keep talking to her just to see how she was once out of her shell. "Shall we go sit over there?" She pointed at a booth by a window, not too close to the bar but not too close to their friends either.

Ella nodded, "Sure. Let me get you a drink first though."

Alice just couldn't hold her tongue so she smirked to reply, "Spoiling me already? Was hoping you'd save that for later."

And she was pleasantly surprised when Ella flirted right back, "I'll have more left in me, don't worry."

Completely satisfied with her reply, Alice hummed and gave in, "In that case, I'd love a gin and tonic."

Ella quickly ordered and paid for Alice's drink, handing it to her once the bartender pushed it towards her and after a sweet 'thank you' from Alice, they made their way to the booth.

"Whereabouts in the States are you from?" Alice asked right after they'd taken their seats, sipping on her drink slowly as she waited for her to answer.

"Tennessee, but I live in Los Angeles."

"Ohhh," Alice let out in realization, "Is that how you know them then?"

Ella nodded with a soft smile, "I'm a production assistant in this company that has been working with them since 2011."

"Fucking hell. Two years dealing with them? I applaud you." Alice exaggerated a bit, knowing that they could be annoying but when it came to work they were professionals.

The American girl chuckled, "They're great. I love them, the four idiots."

"Yeah, but you know..." Alice pushed further, playfully. "Men."

"Ugh, don't even get me started." Ella groaned and that was enough to spark some curiosity in Alice.

"Oh no. Bad experience?"

Ella took a few seconds to think before answering, but even then she stumbled, "It's... complicated."

"Do you mind if I'm nosy and ask about it?" Alice was gentle, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

Ella was feeling very at ease with her though so she didn't find it hard to say, "I actually feel like a drunk rant about the whole thing will be great right now but I apologize in advance for oversharing."

"Nothing to apologize for, baby." Alice quickly reassured, smirking when Ella pressed her lips after being called by the pet name.

After taking a sip of water, Ella started, "So, my last boyfriend cheated on me. And I would love to say that the whole relationship was shit and it was the worst experience of my life but that'd be a lie."

That didn't make Alice feel better about the situation though, her frown deep as she commented on it with a stern, "What a fucking twat."

"Yeah..." Ella agreed, "Now, when I think back to it, I just get annoyed at how he played me. We had agreed on starting a family and trying for a baby at the start of the year and I was over the moon about it so imagine how shattered I was when his parents found him on a date with someone else when he'd told them he'd be out with me."

"You're joking..." Alice's jaw dropped at the brief story, for it sounded utterly devastating.

"He hadn't even wanted to tell me himself to start with so his parents called me to tell me themselves. Apparently they'd been together for a whole month by then." Ella winced as she thought back to it, still not believing that had happened to her.

"I'm so sorry, that's the worst fucking thing." Alice apologized like she needed to but then tried to bring her spirits back up joking with, "You should've fucked his dad. Or his mum, I don't discriminate."

Ella cackled and nodded, "Yeah, that threesome would've made him hate me."

Alice smirked, slightly satisfied by the subtle confirmation of the girl's sexuality. "Definitely."

The alcohol was already impulsing Ella to word vomit though, that's why she continued saying, "Now I have this awful feeling that every relationship I have will end up with me getting cheated on because the first one did it too."

And the British girl didn't miss a beat to reply, "I will batter him after I batter the last one."

"Oh it was a she." Ella felt the need to clear up, looking straight into Alice's eyes just to watch her reaction to the confirmation of her sexuality. "My first relationship. She was my best friend since we started high school but I'd always liked her, so we became girlfriends with two years left until graduation and we were gonna go to college together. Well, that was until she met someone else and fell in love with her, and then left me to go to college with that other girl."

Softly gasping at how cruel things had been to Ella, Alice said, "What the fuck? That is so unfair."

Ella could only nod, "I was left scarred from that one so I just didn't do relationships. Julian was my second official partner, everyone else in between was just a casual thing or a one night stand."

And that was enough for Alice to know that she'd make the night memorable for Ella, "You know what? Fuck them both. Tonight we're gonna have fun and we're gonna forget all about them, so let me change this," She grabbed Ella's glass of water and stood up from her seat, "For an actual drink. Tonight you're getting the treatment you deserve, baby."

Alice winked before leaving to the bar, leaving Ella to stay at the booth, fiddling with her fingers from how nervous she seemed to have gotten. It had been so long since she'd done something casual and she was so scared of fucking up.

No more than two minutes later, Alice was back with two gin and tonics. She left Ella's in front of her and sat back down across from her in the booth.

"Thanks very much." Ella's voice was shy, making Alice feel the need to relax her some more.

"It's nothing, Ella." Alice promised with that sweet voice of hers that had Ella already feeling some type of way.

"You can call me Ellie." She offered her quickly, it was weird to hear someone who wasn't from work call her Ella now.

Alice smirked and stood back up from the booth, grabbing her drink with her left hand and extending her right out to Ella so she could stand up too. "Ellie, let's go dance then."

But that had Ella hiding into herself, "M'not a great dancer."

"I seriously doubt that." Alice insisted, wiggling her fingers which finally made Ella take her hand and let her pull her up from her seat.

"We can dance when I have more alcohol in me." Ella negotiated, knowing she was too sober to dance in the middle of the pub.

"Should we get some shots then?" The singer suggested with that mischievous smirk of hers.

A smirk that Ella matched as she thought, "I probably shouldn't, 'cause it gets me quick but I'm feeling some tequila shots right now."

Alice hummed, amused at the information. "You're looking for trouble."

"Maybe I am." Ella flirted this time, before taking a sip of her drink with her eyes still on Alice's face.

"I like that." Alice winked at her, "How about some shots and playing pool to warm up?"

That sounded like a solid plan to Ella so she eagerly nodded, "Sounds wonderful."

"Alright, go get a table and I'll get us some shots."

Just like Alice had told her, Ella stood by the chosen table after setting it all up. She was leaning on the table as she watched Alice and Matt talking by the bar while they waited for their drinks, but it soon seemed to have turned bitter as Alice's smile changed to a frown that made Ella want to go over and fix whatever had happened.

"Was Matthew annoying you?" Ella had been quick to inquire once Alice was back beside her.

Handing her a shot glass, Alice shrugged with an eye roll, "He's being a dickhead."

"Typical Helders." Ellajoked before raising her glass and clinking it with Alice's to take it.

Ella winced at the taste, going straight back to her still half full gin and tonic to make the tequila burn subside a little bit.

"Do you know how to play?" Alice asked, grabbing her cue and already itching to start playing.

Ella scoffed playfully, "'Course I do."

Alice laughed and said, "Alright." letting her go first.

But halfway through the game, when Ella was missing shots consecutively, Alice had noted her poor form. "You're doing it wrong."

"Why?" Ella asked, slightly defensive.

Alice went to stand behind her, pushing her back down so she was still bent over the table and she could fix her stance. Alice had smirked at the position though, her brain going places already. "If you keep leaning like that then you're gonna mess up your shot."

The Brit leaned her cue on the side of the table and used both her hands to grab at Ella's hips and reposition them. "Keep your hips here, and don't slump over the table like that." Her hands softly fixed her shoulders, making Ella smile at the touch. "There we go. I thought you knew how to play." Alice teased with a smirk.

But Ella took the chance to flirt a little bit, "Maybe I needed a little help." wiggling her ass a little bit before hitting the white ball to shoot at a striped ball.

"Well, I don't mind helping some more." Alice's hands were still resting on her hips as Ella stood back up straight.

With her back pressed to Alice's front, Ella leaned back to say, "Sure you don't."

And Alice didn't let up when she squeezed her hips and whispered in Ella's ear. "I truly don't, but I'm still gonna win."

Ella laughed once Alice had left her with the ghost of her touch on her skin, and turn after turn, she was growing fonder of the singer's company.

Between giggles the game ended and just like Alice predicted, she had won and left Ella to play the next game with Oscar, making her way to the bar to get a new drink for herself.

Alice only let her eyes leave Ella's figure when she had to order her drink, turning back around to look at her bent over the pool table as she giggled over the things Oscar was saying. She wanted to hear exactly what the guitarist was telling her but the music was louder than the chatter.

Ella stood back up and met Alice's gaze with rosy cheeks and a soft smirk, mouthing "I'm winning" proudly to her.

Smiling brightly, Alice winked at her and mouthed a "Good job." back to her, before turning around when the man behind the bar handed her drink.

Alice thought she'd let Ella have some fun by herself, only so she didn't feel suffocated by her flirting because she truly couldn't be fucking it up with her.

So she walked to the booths on the other side of the room, to the one that gave her the best view of the place where Ella stood with Oscar, and it wasn't a surprise that a certain someone had beat her to the best seats in the house.

She smirked at the thought of pushing Alex's buttons, especially knowing that Ella seemed to be very important to him and how she had completely gotten her attention the whole night. Alice could see the fact eating away at Alex's insides.

"Your friend is fit as fuck," Alice sighed as she dropped herself into the space beside Alex, "Thank you for bringing her... Here, and to my attention."

"Stop flirting with her." Alex immediately scorned, "You're making her uncomfortable."

"If I'm making her uncomfortable then you're fucking Einstein." Alice shook her head, sarcasm thick in her voice, "She's flirting back or are you blind as a bat and can't see that woman blush?"

He scoffed, his patience wearing thin already, "She doesn't deserve to be played about by the likes of you."

"Christ Red, I'm already sick of the sound of your voice." The feeling is mutual, Alex thought but before he could even say it out loud, Alice continued, "And it's rude that you think I'm trying to play her about. I'm genuinely interested."

Alex didn't care to believe her words, still pushing for her to stop her behavior. "She's just had her heart broken and she doesn't need you to-"

But Alice had had enough, "To what, Alex? To break it again? To use her? Why do you automatically assume I'm going to be a bitch?"

"Because you are a bitch."

Alice let out a dry laugh at his attempts, "You can do better with your insults, Turner."

"She's only just herself again and I don't want you fucking that up." And truly he didn't want Ella to get hurt, he'd do anything in his power to avoid that but he was biased and in denial, not wanting to see how Ella was reciprocal to Alice's intentions.

"Very noble of you Red I've gotta say. But I have absolutely no intention to hurt that stunning woman." It was one of the very unusual times that Alice didn't use sarcasm when speaking to Alex, her words screaming honesty but the singer was seething seeing it all unfold in front of him.

"Stop trying to fuck her too," was the only thing he could say, completely ignoring Alice's tries to make him understand she wasn't playing the American girl.

She was completely fed up then, so she just said, "I think she wants to fuck me too, so why would I stop?" to mess with him a bit more, have him more angry at the fact that the night was simply not going how he'd expected.

Alex groaned in response, his hands coming up to rub his face in frustration. He desperately needed a smoke but if he went outside after this talk, he knew Alice would take Ella back to hers in a second and there'd be nothing he could do about it.

"I've never seen you so defensive. Not even over Arielle when I used to flirt with her." Alice was taking the opportunity to continue annoying him, but at the same time she was trying to find some answers, just so she could use the information to her advantage in the future.

Alex didn't give her the pleasure though, only glaring at her with murderous thoughts running through his mind. Alice brought the worst in him every time.

"What's that look for?" She teased, knowing she'd break him in no time. "Ohhh, you like her don't you?"

"Fuck off Loveless." He cursed through his teeth, really grasping tightly the last bits of patience he had left.

Alice rolled her eyes, truly amused at the fact that he kept trying to tell her what to do. "Oh Red, you've already told me and I didn't listen to you the first time so I definitely won't be now. Save your breath."

"Do you ever just get fucking tired?" His question was hostile, his gaze matching the tone.

"Not really." She purposely answered knowing that it would make him want to scream in frustration, "Do tell, how long has it been since you've liked her?"

"Shut up Alice." She truly didn't need to know, because the true answer was gonna be enough for Alice to laugh until the end of time over his 'lack of game'.

But she wouldn't budge, now she was just purely curious to know the real answer because it seemed like it'd be an entertaining story. "C'mon, let's try and be civil once." She kicked his feet under the table, only getting him to grumpily shift his legs away from her.

She laughed as Alex gave her an ultimatum for her to stop trying to get an answer. "We're not going to sit here talking about my feelings Alice. We're not friends."

"No we're not. But Christ, I'm jealous you've been her friend for so long. Since 2011 she said, you fucking lucky bastard." She really couldn't believe he had seen a girl like that for two years and not tried to make her his girlfriend.

"Please stop." He begged, making Alice's eyes widen.

"Damn you beg for this woman. You're down so bad." 'Please' was a word she never heard coming from Alex, so this meant it was very serious for him.

"Loveless, I'm being serious." His eyes narrowed as he glared at her once more.

That only had her trying not to laugh, "Don't threaten me with a good time Alex."

"Kill me now." Alex sighed, looking up to the ceiling as if begging for lightning to strike him down.

"Don't tempt me." Alice pushed further, fully just jumping on everything he said because he put it so easy for her to get him angry.

Alex was done with it so he just said what he wanted to say, not caring about what Alice may think, because he was finding her cruel—not just to him but to Ella—and he hated it. "Don't, because I know exactly what you're doing and you know it's working so just please stop."

Alice frowned, not really understanding what he meant. "What is it that I'm doing?"

"You're trying to fuck her to get one up on me for our little vendetta we have against each other. You're trying to get with her to annoy me. And yes, it's working." He stated like it was obvious, a patronizing look on his face that made Alice want to punch it right off.

Alex watched as the singer visibly deflated then, her eyes got less hard and some emotion he'd not seen in her before seeped through the cracks. But before he could comment on it, Alice's hard expression came back, "It pisses me off how you think I'm such a stone cold bitch. I have fucking feelings too, I just don't when I talk to you because you're always a cunt to me."

Her glass landed with a loud thud on the table in front of them but it wasn't loud enough to hide her scoff, "I'm not a monster Alex. I'm not trying to use her. Especially in any way to get back at you."

Alice's playful smirk had long left her face, making Alex start to panic inside thinking about what he should say to make it better, maybe even try to apologize. If Alice had paid attention to him, then she'd seen the cogs turning around in his brain, smoke coming out of his ears with how hard he was trying to make it up to the singer but when Matt came over to check on them—knowing they had a reputation to ruin each other's nights from their arguments—, he took it as he'd been saved by the bell.

Thankfully, Matt had been a sort of mediator between them because about five minutes later, when they were back alone, they stayed there in a comfortable silence rather than the awkward one before.

So they continued watching Ella playing. Their eyes followed her every move, which were ever the slightest bit calculated since Ella had caught them and could feel them staring at her.

So, with a mischievous mind very much induced by the alcohol in her bloodstream, she slowly leaned down to pick her glass from the floor, making a show of her barely covered ass and swaying it to the sides slightly, just enough for them to notice but for everyone else to take it as a normal thing.

And if that wasn't enough, when she came back up, she made sure to stroke up and down the cue she was using to play. Her fingers flexing around it, her tattoo stealing the spotlight and drawing their eyes in.

"Fucking hell." Alice hissed quietly before biting her lip and taking her own drink to have a long sip of it as she looked away from the American. Her brain was racing with thoughts that had her eager to get the night moving.

As Alex was the only one who could hear it, he looked at the singer and breathlessly asked, "What?" as if he hadn't seen that too, as if he hadn't had to bite his tongue and clench his fists to not groan.

"I want that Pure Desire tattoo wrapped around my neck like a pretty necklace." Alice said truthfully, not really wanting to keep it to herself because it was Ella and she knew now that he'd agree. "Take this choker off me and give me her hand."

Alex hated so badly that it was Alice saying it, he didn't want to share Ella with anyone, much less with the woman he hated. "Oh my fucking god Alice."

Alice rolled her eyes, "Oh don't tell me you've not pictured exactly the same thing. Just because I'm the only one ballsy enough to say it out loud."

"Come on," Alice nudged his shoulder with hers, "Admit it."

"Loveless." He told her like a warning.

Alice leaned in a little closer, prompting him again, "Admit it, Red." And only to see his reaction is that she allowed herself to think of a dirty scenario, "You've definitely thought about that hand around your throat, probably around your dick too, but knowing your lyrics, the throat one probably has you finishing in seconds when you think about her."

"You're being loud." He warned once more.

"And there was no denial in sight. Kinky bastard." She raised an eyebrow at him, challenging him to admit to having done that. But he was quick to avert his eyes and look back to the pool tables. "Don't go all shy, she's hot. Why wouldn't you want her? I know I do."

He still gave her silence as an answer and that was enough for Alice to know it all. Alex was so easy to read, and having received nothing but hostility, indifference and defensive comments from him, it was easy to know when he felt the complete opposite towards someone.

They watched as she made her last shot, making it perfectly and she jumped in her spot in celebration. Oscar laughed at her actions, his smile staying on his face because Ella was just so adorable to him. So he took a step towards her and in one swift motion pulled her in by the waist, making her crash into his chest and fling her arms around his neck for stability.

Oscar had seen the two staring at Ella for a while, so he found his friends' eyes and smirked at them in an attempt to tease them.

Oscar's smirk only grew bigger when Alice and Alex flipped him off at the same time, the jaws locked and their stern looks on him as he swayed with Ella in his arms and squeezed her tight before letting go.

"How you nearly fucked him I don't know." Alex quickly reminded Alice, trying to see if that'd push her away from trying anything else tonight.

"We were very drunk and my standards were lower."

"You sure?" He back chatted, without missing a beat and the way her face fell in annoyance.

"You're a dick." She sighed, her 'Alex Turner tolerance' levels were running very low, "I'm sorry but out of me or Oscar, who would you rather take your friend home?"

"Can't believe I'm saying this but you." He felt sick just admitting that aloud.

She hummed in satisfaction, "Exactly."

Ella moved to hang the cue she'd been using, hearing Breana call her over from the table the group was still at. So she walked in a slow pace over to her best friend, smirking at the attention of Alice and Alex she could still feel.

Alice sighed in content, watching Ella's legs peeking out from the fabric of her dress, her ass so perfectly hugged by it. "She's so perfect from every point of view... Just one look from her is more than enough for me to believe god is real and she's just as gay as me." She backtracked on her statement and felt the need to clarify, "God, I mean, not Ella. I know Ella is just as gay as me."

Alex shook his head, trying not to give her the pleasure of hearing him actually laugh because he'd found that funny, focusing on the way Ella got to Bre and hugged her from the back and over her shoulders.

They could see Breana had ordered some sort of dessert, but they weren't quite sure what it was. It didn't matter though, because watching Ella take the spoonful that the model was offering her was far more important, and it had them completely entranced when the whipped cream that was over it fell out of the corner of Ella's mouth and down her bare neck.

Ella laughed, struggling to swallow between the chuckles and Breana, who was trying to wipe the sweet from her neck with her finger, couldn't do it correctly due to how she couldn't stay still from the laughter.

A few seconds later, Bre had managed to wipe most of it with her index finger and offered it to Ella as a joke to lick clean but that was exactly what Ella needed to have the two people who were gawking at her, completely lose it.

So Ella stuck her tongue out to lick Breana's finger from base to tip and then wrapped her lips around it to sink her mouth on it. It got even filthier when Ella's eyes met theirs and she let them roll back in satisfaction.

Both Alice and Alex were struggling to breathe. In the middle of that Alice's head had fallen on Alex's shoulder and she'd fully groaned into his neck. Alex was going into overdrive, and Alice felt herself getting worked up from the whole thing.

"That was thigh-clenching-ly hot. Fuck me..." And Alice wasn't lying because when Alex distractedly dropped his gaze down, he saw her thighs pressed together and he had to hold himself back not to groan in response.

But Ella wasn't done, not when she'd just seen them react that way. She had made it seem like she'd gotten distracted by Jamie and Nick laughing at Matt's comment on Ella trying to steal his girlfriend, but she'd been watching the two out of the corner of her eye.

That's why, to seemingly keep the joke going in front of the lads, she asked Breana to lick the rest off her neck and her best friend did just that.

Alice wanted to be Breana so badly in that moment, to have Ella sit on her lap as she licked her neck. Alex tried not to moan when he saw Bre purposely start sucking on Ella's neck and Ella's mouth opened slightly in pleasure.

"They're gonna start shagging on the table!" They heard Nick yell, Matt was separating the American girls as everyone laughed their asses off, especially when they pointed at the small bruise already showing faintly on Ella's neck

Alice had been sure she'd be shagging Ella later, but that just made her a thousand percent sure that it'd be one of the best decisions she'd make. "I won't fuck her against the shared wall, don't worry." She stated, even though she certainly knew that'd happen, because all she wanted to do now was fuck Ella in every corner of her damn flat.

Alex stood up then, completely done with her, still breathless from the whole situation and just wanting to go home so he could properly get off to the thought of Ella. "Time for another drink."

"I'll have a Negroni Sbag–"

"Wasn't asking if you wanted one Loveless." Alex leaned down and whispered into her ear, "Especially if you fuck my Ellie."

Alice smirked up at him and whispered back, "I'm going to make your Ellie cum on my tongue."

Alex pretended the image hadn't made him want to burst right there. He was sure he'd hate Alice even more after that night because of how much he'd be thinking about them both. And it was awful of him, he knew, but how could he not. That made him also want to kick himself in the head because it wasn't only Ella involved, it was Alice of all people. Fucking Alice.

Alice downed whatever was left of her drink, taking the empty glass with her until she reached Ella's side and wrapped her arm around her waist.

"You're a tease, aren't you?" Alice whispered into her ear, making Ella shiver in her hold.

Ella played innocent, "Me? What makes you say that?"

But Alice could see straight through her and if she was right about her suspicions then it would be a very fun night. Alice hummed, letting her hand drop slowly and then grabbing a handful of Ella's ass and squeezing it, making Ella whimper softly only for her to hear. "I'm very observant."

Ella had enough alcohol in her to fully be blunt and not care that she was in public and in front of all their friends so, with her eyes filled with lust, she said, "And are you liking the view?"

"Very much." Alice replied looking at her hungrily and not being able to hold back any longer.

Alice quickly placed her glass on the table and grabbed Ella by the neck to pull her in and kiss her. It was a hungry kiss, and neither of the girls cared to be seen, if anything Alice thought it'd be better for everyone in the place to know she was the one taking Ella home. Alice believed she was the only one in the place that could treat her the way she deserved.

Ella's arms wrapped around Alice's shoulders, making sure to tangle her fingers on the singer's hair and pulling her in impossibly closer. Alice had one of her arms around Ella's waist, holding her tightly to her chest, and her right hand was still wrapped around Ella's neck just like she'd wanted to do all night.

Now, Alice wanted to test her theories, so she put some more pressure around Ella's neck to see if she was truly into it and when the girl moaned into her mouth, allowing their tongues to taste each other, Alice felt like the luckiest woman alive.

Their kiss went on until they ran out of breath, pulling away as they panted, not even caring about how their friends had all gone silent. All the girls could focus on was the big smirks on each other's faces, certainly satisfied by the kiss.

Somewhere in the background they heard Matt saying "Fucking hell, they were eating each other." but they couldn't be arsed to say anything back because Alice was now rubbing circles on Ella's neck and she was enjoying the touch way too much.

Ella's gaze fell on Alice's swollen lips and that only made her want to taste them again so, letting one of her arms drop from around her shoulders to her waist, Ella pulled Alice back in for another kiss.

Alice moaned as she felt Ella's tongue instantly teasing her lips so that she could open them up for her, making Ella grip her waist tighter and pushing her hips against Alice's. That only made the British girl tighten her hold around Ella's neck, and that's when Ella knew that if she didn't live in a different continent, then she'd do anything to feel Alice's lips on hers all the time.

This time they didn't kiss for long, because now their friends were causing ruckus and they'd rather not have them ruin the night for them by being loud and forcing them to leave early. Not that it would be bad for them, as they could get down to it sooner but they both knew they wanted to stay and enjoy each other's presence a little more at the pub they were in.

So Ella left a bunch of pecks on Alice's lips, which made Alice truly melt at how fucking adorable she was.

When Alice let her hand drop from Ella's neck, she noticed once again the bareness of it, so she undid her own choker and wrapped it around Ella's neck instead.

Ella bit her lip, feeling Alice's fingers brushing the skin on the back of her neck—it was such a simple touch but she was suffocating in the tension between them, it had her tummy fluttering.

Alice finished locking the leather piece, and leaned backwards to see it in all its glory around Ella's pretty neck. "Definitely suits you better." She said, her mouth watering as she thought of marking her up all over. "That feel alright?" She asked, just to make sure Ella was comfortable.

But Ella made her breath hitch in her throat when she whispered, "Kinda wish it could be tighter."

And once again, Alice just couldn't help herself. She deeply groaned as she hooked her finger on the A that tied the choker together and pulled Ella in to attack her lips again. Thankfully, seeing that the two girls had been ignoring them all, their friends had gone back to what they were doing and left them to it.

They were also thankful for the music in the place, loud enough so it could drown the moans they were letting out into each other's mouths.

Alice brought one of her hands to tangle in Ella's hair and pulled on it ever so roughly to make her whimper. Ella had left the hand that was on Alice's waist drop to grope her ass, fingers roughly kneading the barely covered flesh, and the singer stopped the kiss to let out a breathy moan that had Ella smirking.

Alex had come back from the bar right after Alice had put her choker on Ella and he found it a miracle that the glass he had in his hand didn't shatter from how tight he was holding it.

He knew Alice was determined but how he wished she'd set her eyes on someone else because seeing all that was just making his chest twist in a knot. He had imagined tonight going so differently: getting to have a drink with Ella and chat to their heart's content, dancing around with her, sharing smokes and maybe taking her back to his just so they could cuddle.

The longer he thought about it, the more his anger towards Alice bubbled inside him.

He got to the table right when the girls let go of each other, not before Ella gave Alice's ass another cheeky squeeze, making Alice laugh and leave a kiss on her neck. Rolling his eyes, he started gulping down his drink, making a mental note to make it a double next time he went to the bar.

Ella went to sit with Breana again, leaving Alice to chat with Oscar and both conversations seemed to be about the same topic.

Bre kept teasing Ella, and she could only blush as she said how much she was looking forward to later in the night. The model had hugged her tightly and shaken her in her arms, making Ella giggle away.

And Alice watched all that with a loopy smile on her face, matching the one on Alex's face who was looking at Ella's happy state with pure adoration. Yes he despised seeing it be because of someone else but her happiness was contagious and he couldn't help feeling warm inside whenever she smiled.

It was about ten minutes later that someone from the staff had pulled the projector screen down in the corner of the room and set everything up for karaoke. A handful of people ran to the book to pick a song to perform.

They all suffered three very drunkenly performed songs and a decent rendition of one of the best ABBA songs. And as a man very passionately sang an Adele song, a tipsy Ella who had been peer pressured into participating stood up to grab the song book.

If it wasn't for the alcohol and Alice's gaze on her, she would've done anything to avoid it, but then she found a song she loved by one of her new favorite artists that had her brightly grinning and quickly telling the man in charge of the songs what it was that she'd be singing.

When the man singing Adele was done and stepped out of the small stage, Ella grabbed the microphone with shaky hands. Everyone at the table whooped and cheered, wolf whistled and clapped seeing her walk onto the stage, making her blush.

The song started, she was deeply regretting agreeing to it until her eyes landed on Alex's and he nodded at her encouragingly, giving her thumbs up and smiling wide at seeing her on stage for a change.

Ella smiled back at him, scrunching her nose and in no time she started singing along.

She had a sweet, hush voice that sounded amazing even when she was drunk. People at the pub started cheering for her as she'd been so far the best to perform. But it was when she got to the chorus that her eyes met Alice's and she just had to put on a little show for her.

Fuck yeah,  give it to me , this is Heaven, what I truly want

Ella sang teasingly, making sure to get a little breathless to accentuate how she wanted to be chanting that line, Alice crossed her legs to aid the ache between them.

Alex had let out a groan, one that left his throat without him wanting to. If he closed his eyes every time she sang that line, he could paint a picture in his mind that was enough for him to cum in his pants at any second.

It was in the second verse that Ella leaned onto the railing that separated the stage and stared right into Alice's eyes as she sang.

In the land of gods and monsters

I was an angel  looking to get fucked hard

Ella sent a wink Alice's way and the singer bit her lip, eyeing her up and down with a hungry look on her face.

And after that look, Ella just filled up with this confidence that had her hips swaying and really feeling every line of the song.

Alex was quite literally dying in his seat. His heart was going a thousand miles per hour, every movement of Ella's body getting branded to the forefront of his mind. But all of Ella's attention was on Alice, making him want to scream.

Alice had made a point to be the loudest once Ella got off stage and she was pleased to see Ella go straight to sit on her lap and give her a quick kiss.

"That was so embarrassing." She'd said in Alice's ear.

Alice shook her head, "You did amazing, baby. T'was fucking hot."

Ella gave her no time to react when she cupped her jaw and kissed her hard. Ella's hands cupped her jaw eagerly and Alice's arms pulled her impossibly close, and because of how she'd forcefully pushed her hips into hers, Ella had moaned at the friction.

"God– Please, sit on my face." Alice said under her breath, already obsessed with the noises Ella made.

Ella's thighs clenched together, "Thought you'd never ask." was what she said back and Alice would've taken her right there if she could've.

Another hungry kiss started, their tongues meeting straight away making them dizzy from want but it was cut short because of the person who was now on stage quite literally screaming 'Living On A Prayer'. Ella rested her forehead on Alice's and they both started laughing into each other, absolutely loving the way the night was turning out to be.

Alex was forcing himself to focus on the butchering of the Bon Jovi song, just so he could keep the little sanity he had left.

He was sure it'd be worse once he'd go home and had to try to find sleep whilst he knew that the girls' would be shagging next door. He would just have to try and stay way longer just to avoid arriving at his flat.

A few more people went—including Katie and Breana who had sung 'Head Over Heels' by Tears for Fears—, and after a fair fifteen minutes, Ella had stood up from Alice's lap so she could go sing.

When Alice got on stage, Ella wolf whistled at her, earning her a wink and a blown kiss. Alex felt himself dying a little bit when he watched Ella's massive smile on her face at that. Jealousy was such a weird feeling, his chest tightening at the sight of her happiness and knowing someone else was the reason for that, was killing him.

And it only became worse when Alice's chosen song started and the people around the place started cheering for her as she sang straight to Ella.

So one, two, three

Take my hand and come with me

Because you look so fine

That I really wanna make you mine

I said, you look so fine

That I really wanna make you mine

He wanted to be the one making Ella blush as she giggled by having a song basically serenaded to her.

Well, I could see you home with me

But you were with another man, yeah

I know we ain't got much to say

Before I let you get away, yeah

I said, are you gonna be my girl?

Alex drowned his thoughts in whiskey, staring at a giddy Ella hypnotized by Alice. It was painful to see not only their group of friends enjoying the performance but everyone in the establishment cheering and singing along, clapping and hyping Alice up. That only had the singer more confident to lay it on thick on Ella as she sang to her.

Once Alice was done and off stage, seeing Ella so eagerly kiss her had Alex standing up from his seat and going to the bar.

He ordered himself a double whiskey on the rocks, downing it faster than he should've and ordering another one right away. He sat at the bar until the karaoke stopped and even though his ears hurt, he wished the obnoxious noise was still there so he could distract himself from his thoughts.

Once he was finished with his second drink, he made sure to get a third one and when he got it, he went back to sit at the booth he and Alice had been sitting at earlier when watching Ella.

Time had moved quicker than he could process as he wallowed in self pity in a corner and, in a moment when her attention wasn't completely taken by Alice or the rest of the group, Ella made her way to him.

She was truly elated, the night had turned out better than she'd ever expected and to find someone she actually wanted to fuck, who she felt so comfortable with already, was a massive win to her.

So Ella let herself drop beside Alex with a happy sigh. He turned around quickly, knowing it was her from just her scent, and smiled softly.

"You okay sweets?" She asked with a soft frown on her face, the last time she'd seen him was when she was on stage during karaoke and he'd been smiling so she wondered what had happened for his mood to fall down completely.

"Yes darling, I'm fine." He gave her a tight lip smile that she instantly knew was forced.

She shook her head, "You don't look it, sweetness. Come here." She opened her arms for him and Alex sighed.

He stared at the A around her neck, held by the leather band of the choker and he wished with everything he had that it was A for Alex instead of Alice. Ignoring the growing jealousy inside him, he accepted her embrace and relaxed instantly by nuzzling in the crook of her neck.

She giggled at the tickling feeling from his hair, which made him only do it more in order to hear her laugh louder. His hand managed to go around her side to tickle her there and that's when she dropped her arms to cackle as she tried to push him away from her.

"Stop, stop, stop. I'm too drunk for tickling." She pleaded, really feeling like she'd fully pee herself from laughing with her state.

Alex stopped, opting for properly wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer into his side.

"Are you having fun?" He asked softly, only she was able to hear him from how close she was to him.

Ella showed a loopy grin, her eyes closing at how wide it was, "Lots."

"I'm glad, darling. You deserve it." He was being honest, because despite how he hated everything that had gone on—except for this very moment—, he was so damn happy she was happy.

She cooed, letting her head fall on his shoulder. "Gonna make me cry, sweets. Remember I'm an emotional drunk."

He chuckled and left a kiss on top of her head, making her skin erupt in goosebumps. "You're a clingy one as well. You'll be asking for cuddles in a bit."

And he was about to suggest taking her back to his so they could cuddle all night, a last attempt to stop anything from happening between her and Alice, when aforementioned suddenly appeared beside her and pounced on Ella's lips.

Ella leaned back into Alex due to the force and the lack of space, and since the singer had his arm around her waist, he was stuck between the seat and Ella's body.

He tried his best to avert his eyes, not wanting to watch the way Alice's tongue disappeared into Ella's mouth but what he couldn't do was mute the noise so he fully froze when Ella let out a loud moan at the taste of Alice.

A moan that earned her one from Alice and soon enough both of them were whimpering messes which had Alex completely going insane.

Alex tried pulling his arm out slowly but Ella kept leaning back, meaning he was more trapped by the second. He watched around him in search of any type of help, he needed a way out, but everyone was still at the table, so engrossed in the conversations that he couldn't even catch anyone's attention from where he was.

He cursed in his head, fully panicking as Ella continued to lean back into him and now resting on his chest, Alice starting to bend over on top of her. And then the girls' hands started to wander and Ella's right hand disappeared under Alice's top. He could see her fingers inching closer to Alice's nipple and he knew that if he didn't get out of there soon, then he'd be in serious trouble.

So Alex cleared his throat loudly and continuously, enough times to have them separating with their chests heaving and cheeks flushed. Not as flushed as his, but definitely giving him competition.

Alice held her hand out for Ella to grab, which she accepted instantly and watching Alice go over to the table to grab her coat, Ella turned around slightly to apologize.

"Sorry sweets. I'll see you tomorrow?" Ella tried meeting his eyes to see if their plans still stood, but it was a failure.

Alex could barely meet her eyes as he nodded his head. "Yep. See you tomorrow, darling."

Ella gave him a tight lip smile that he missed but he was left with the picture of Alice helping Ella put her coat on and then intertwining her fingers with Ella's as they waved everyone goodbye.

"Have fun Eleanor!" Oscar yelled suggestively as the couple of girls walked away.

Ella was gonna flip him off when Alice beat her to an answer, "Oh she most certainly will." She assured, to then make a V with her fingers and stuck her tongue out through it to flick up and down in a quick motion.

They heard their friends laugh behind them, Ella's cheeks bright red as they walked out but her heart leaped on her chest from anticipation. 

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

The walk back to Alice's was about fifteen minutes long which she'd find short in any other circumstance, but standing right there with the need to have Ella to herself had her deciding to just take a cab back to her place.

Only a few minutes later the girls were sitting inside a car, the red light on and the lights flashing as they drove the city's streets.

"So I hear you're in a band?" Ella started the conversation, feeling Alice rubbing her hand tattoo with her thumb.

She nodded, giving Ella her undivided attention, "I am."

"What do you do?" Ella asked, her words a little slurred, and she felt slightly bad for forgetting what Oscar had said she did earlier.

But Alice smiled amused, "I sing."

"Like Alex?" The American grinned, forgetting how both singers seemed to hate each other.

"Yes, but I'm better than him," Alice stated confidently and when Ella laughed a little she added, "I'm sexier too."

Ella hummed softly, not really knowing if she could fully agree on that because if she took a moment to think about it, then she'd greedily choose them both.

"Why does it seem like you two don't like each other?" She felt the need to ask.

"That's because we don't... At all." Alice didn't hesitate to tell her.

The information confused Ella because she truly couldn't understand why Alex couldn't stand such a sweet and funny girl like Alice.

"Can I ask why?" She asked curiously.

"I don't know why to be honest with you." Alice told her truthfully, "The first time I met him he was horrible to me for no reason. And then it progressed to what it is now... Always getting under each other's skin."

"He's not a bad person, I swear." Ella felt the sudden urge to defend her best friend, maybe even give Alice another view on him that could make her try to change her mind. "I've actually never met anyone nicer... He's the one who got me through all the shit my ex put me through, got me being myself again."

"I'm glad he's got a soft spot for someone. Nice to see some human qualities come through" Alice only smiled back, her eyes clearly wandering around Ella's face, which made her blush. "And it's really fine that it's not for me. We get under each other's skin, it's entertaining a lot of the time to be honest."

Ella got lost staring at Alice's features, half a minute going by before her brain caught up with what was said so she offered a solution, "Maybe if you spent time together then you both could-"

But Alice shook her head with a sad expression on her face. Only sad because of not being able to give Ella the outcome she wanted in the situation. "We're going on tour together the rest of the year and the next baby, and we've just done a festival run together. I can't see anything changing. And I've already tried with him and nothing's ever come of it. So I'll just have to learn to live with him."

"You're touring with them?" Ella asked with a sparkle of excitement in her eyes.

"Pale Waves supporting Arctic Monkeys across America and Europe and festivals in Australia. Can you believe it?" Alice smiled sweetly at her, really appreciating her obvious elation at the news.

"I feel bad that you're touring with them and I've never heard your music." Ella's voice sounded very apologetic then, as she played with Alice's fingers.

"Don't worry baby," Alice waved off, letting go of Ella's hand to let her own wander over her knee and slowly up her thigh. "You'll get the best seats to any and all shows. I'll be very pleased to see your pretty face there."

Ella blushed harder then, letting her head drop slightly. Feeling the urge to tease Alice back, she let her hand brush over her fishnet covered thigh, and let her fingertips ghost over the tattoo she had there. 'My Mind Makes Noises' it read, and if she focused enough, Ella could see the goosebumps breaking out on Alice's skin from the touch.

"It's the title of my first album." Alice told her with a small smile.

Ella's fingers kept tracing the words as she asked, "Your first?"

"Yes, I'm writing my second now." The singer nodded, trying not to react to the tingles that Ella's fingers were causing her to feel go up her thigh and reach her center.

"Nice." Ella smiled but she couldn't help but wonder, "Why 'My Mind Makes Noises'?"

"Mental illness, baby." Alice chuckled as a joke, but she went on to explain, "I'm okay now but I struggled with how I looked and what my body looked like when I was younger. Wrote the song Noises about it and 'my mind makes noises' is the first line of the song."

"Proud of you for getting through it." Ella smiled, fully resting her hand over her thigh then as she made a mental note to remind Alice as many times as she could just how fucking drop dead gorgeous she was.

"Thank you Ellie." Alice smiled back at her, her hand coming over Ella's and tracing her hand tattoo again.

For a brief second, Ella felt bad that she was flirting with the singer when she'd just told her about her personal trauma. So going a little shy, she withdrew her hand from the singer's thigh and put it back down on her own.

This however was written all across Ella's face and Alice could already read her like a book. So smirking a little, Alice picked Ella's hand up and placed it back on her thigh over her tattoo, then crossed her legs trapping the American's fingers so she could keep her there.

Ella's mouth opened up slightly, her breath shaky when she met Alice's gaze. The action made her lean back into the seat as she cursed under her breath. "Fucking hell."

Alice smirked at the effect and she was grateful to see they only had a few blocks left to get to their destination.

It was all a blur from the moment they got off the cab to when they made it upstairs and into her flat. Their minds were quickly shaken up by their lips clashing again as soon as the door to Alice's flat closed behind them.

"Fuck." Alice cursed on Ella's lips, "I can finally have you all to myself." She inhaled deeply through her nose, so glad to be in between four walls meaning that she could freely drop her hands to grab Ella by the ass and push her hips into hers.

Soon enough, after Ella's coat had been thrown onto the floor, they were on the settee. Ella's legs on each side of Alice's hips as she straddled her. They couldn't stop kissing each other, only when they were overcome by the friction of their hips meeting and they couldn't stop moaning into each others' mouths.

Ella was drenched already and Alice hadn't missed that, not when Ella's dress was bunched all the way up to her hips and she had a full view of her cute lacy thong already ruined. Alice let one of her hands in between their bodies to push Ella's underwear to the side and rub her clit with enough speed to have Ella whimper and stop kissing her.

"Alice–" Ella was barely able to say, breathless from the kiss and now her fingers.

And Alice had loved how she said her name so much that she went ahead and dipped two of her fingers into Ella, slipping so easily inside of her because of how wet she was.

"All this for me?" Alice asked teasingly as she slowly pumped her fingers in and out of her.

Ella could only softly moan at the stretch of Alice's fingers inside her, feeling so much better than her own after so long of having had to get herself off.

But since Alice didn't get an answer, she stopped her movements which made Ella whimper in despair. And in a desperate attempt to continue with what had been happening, Ella lifted her hips up and back down Alice's fingers, fucking herself on them.

Alice groaned as she watched her fingers disappearing inside Ella's cunt and when she looked back up, she noticed Ella's eyes rolling back in pleasure.

She didn't let her have fun for much long because she took her hand away and before Ella could even protest, Alice gave her left ass cheek a hard spank, leaving her to let out a gasp that turned into a moan.

"You need to answer." Alice scorned, a smirk on her face when she watched Ella's dilated pupils focus back on her.

Ella nodded desperately, missing the feeling of her fingers inside her, "Yes, baby, all for you." And in an attempt to get some mercy from Alice, she connected their lips again with need.

Alice knew exactly what she wanted Ella doing first, so without breaking the kiss, she guided Ella's right leg in between hers and forced her hips down onto her tattooed thigh. Alice's hands gripped at Ella's hips tightly, guiding her to move on her thigh, to ride it until she came.

Ella hummed in pleasure, biting Alice's bottom lip as she pulled back and letting it free after a few seconds. That had Alice squirming in her seat, her leg accidentally shifting in between Ella's legs, making the American girl cry out in pleasure.

Watching Ella ride her thigh was a picture Alice wouldn't forget in a while, her soft sounds echoing in her brain and making her want more from her. So when Ella fell forwards, caging Alice between her arms as she rested them on the back of the couch, Alice took advantage of the skin she had right there to bruise.

Her choker stood perfectly in place still and that only encouraged Alice more. She started kissing her way down her neck and started her attack on her chest. Alice sucked love bites on Ella's tits, biting her nipples softly over the fabric of her dress and that only made Ella move faster on her thigh.

Ella got increasingly louder with the more sucking Alice did, and it turned into desperate whimpers when Alice found that spot right over her collarbone at the base of her neck that made her go absolutely insane.

The rhythm of her hips grew erratic and messy, Ella's moans falling straight into Alice's ear and she couldn't do anything else other than encourage her to reach her climax.

"That's it, good girl." Alice said against her neck, leaving a trail of pecks as Ella got louder, "Come on, baby, I wanna hear how good you sound when you cum."

Alice's hands went to grab harshly at Ella's ass, helping her with her movements and it was her touch along with her words of encouragement that had Ella tipping over the edge and trembling as she orgasmed on top of Alice.

The singer watched her in awe, taking a mental picture of her pretty face scrunching up in pleasure, continuing to help her shaky hips as she came down from her high.

Ella let her forehead drop on Alice's shoulder, her shallow breaths loud as she tried to get oxygen back in her lungs, her legs still shaking slightly besides Alice's thigh.

"You look so fucking pretty when you cum, baby." Alice started, leaving open mouthed kisses on the side of Ella's neck which was on show to her.

When Alice licked a bold stripe up her neck and started sucking right under her ear, Ella's breath hitched on her throat and that had her coming out of her trance.

She sat back up straight, dipping her head to give Alice a brief messy kiss and then saying, "Let's go to your room, Allie." as she carefully stood back up on wobbly legs and offered her hand for Alice to take.

Alice wasted no time, intertwining their fingers and dragging Ella towards her room.

Once inside, Ella quickly pushed Alice onto bed and dropped to her knees right in front of her. Alice felt herself grow breathless in anticipation, her cunt dripping at the sight of Ella so innocently staring up at her through her lashes.

But Ella wanted to tease her, so she got a hold of one of her legs and slowly took one of her red boots off, making sure to kiss from her ankle up to a few inches above her knee, really making it feel like she was going to her inner thighs but leaving right when Alice got her hopes up.

She repeated the process with the other leg, this time teasing her a bit more and licking her inner thigh up until she was close to the edge of her underwear.

Alice watched as Ella's head disappeared under her skirt, but whined when all she got was a couple of open mouthed kisses over her clothed core.

Ella pulled back to take Alice's fishnets off, so painfully slow that almost had Alice wanting to complain—she only didn't because she was enjoying Ella's methods, it turned her on impossibly more.

The American got on the bed then, straddling Alice and slowly pushing her backwards so she was fully laying on the bed. Alice cupped her jaw and brought her in for a kiss, another steamy one that had their breaths shaky in no time.

Their hips met once again, over and over, the friction so good that it made them stop kissing just so they could moan into each others' mouths. But Ella wanted Alice to cum under her first, just so she could also fully see how she came undone without being distracted by chasing her own high.

Ella's lips trailed down Alice's neck, slowly starting her attack on the singer's neck, leaving open mouth kisses and softly sucking her skin which earned her soft moans from Alice.

It was when she got to her clothed chest that Alice got louder, as Ella licked over the fabric on her nipples and then blew on the wet spot, sending surprising shocks of pleasure down Alice's spine.

"Ella, fuck–" Alice could barely mutter.

Ella did that for a minute, Alice felt like she was agonizing already and she was surprised at the confidence Ella had to tease her like that.

Soon, she started lifting Alice's top until it was off her and forgotten somewhere on the floor of the room.

Seeing Alice's nipple piercings made Ella moan as she bit her lip, "So fucking stunning, baby." She complimented before leaning in to suck her tits, purposely leaving her nipples abandoned to her touch.

Alice squirmed under her, and when Ella's fingertips started to ghost over her inner thighs up until they got to her cunt but never touched her like she wanted, Alice started rolling her hips as if that'd help her.

Chuckling, Ella kept her teasing going, this time abandoning Alice's legs to softly touch all over her chest and abdomen as her mouth stayed busy marking her up. And Alice could feel herself going insane when Ella's fingertips faintly rubbed on her pebbled nipples, feeling all the heat going down in between her legs.

Her breaths grew shallow when Ella took it a step further and used her fingers to pinch her nipples. Alice was whining in a high pitch, feeling a new type of pleasure that had her head spinning. And it only got more intense when, after kissing up the side of her neck, Ella found Alice's sweet spot right under her ear.

Mixing the feeling she got as Ella intently sucked on that spot she loved so much and the way her fingers kept pinching and twisting her nipples, Alice felt herself fastly reaching her orgasm.

Ella knew it, from the way she sounded and how ragged her breath had gotten. The more obvious sign was Alice's hand dropping between her legs to help alleviate some of her frustration in that very spot.

But Ella was quick to stop her, letting her skin alone with a pop and taking the hand she'd been using to play with Alice's nipples under her skirt.

Her left hand went to pick up the work she'd been doing and her right one dipped right into her cunt, pushing Alice's underwear to the side.

"Needed me right here?" She teasingly asked her with a massive smirk on her face.

Alice's face contorted in pleasure at the feeling of Ella's fingers filling her up and curling inside her. "Yes– Ella, baby–"

She continued pumping her fingers in and out of her, her thumb rubbing her clit as well and her other hand still playing with her nipple.

"What is it Alice? What do you want, babe?" Ella's mouth opened slowly as she watched Alice quickly approaching her climax. So to help more, she changed her fingers for her mouth to suck on her nipple and that was enough to have Alice lose it.

"Oh fuck!" Alice cried in pleasure, "M'gonna cum, gonna cum!"

Ella hummed enthusiastically with her mouth still sucking Alice's tit, and the vibrations from that were the thing to push her to her orgasm.

Her fingers pumped in and out of her in a constant pace that she kept up until Alice couldn't take anymore and pushed her hand out and away from her cunt.

Ella let go of her tit with a pop, smiling down at a dazed Alice who was trying to get her breath back, and the little she had managed was taken away once more when Ella brought her hand up and licked her fingers clean.

Humming in pleasure, Ella felt herself clenching around nothing as the taste of Alice's arousal fell on her tongue, "You taste so damn good."

At that Alice wrapped her hand around Ella's neck and pulled her down to kiss her. She moaned, tasting herself on Ella's tongue, already thinking about the infinite ways she wanted to have her.

It was a brief kiss because of how breathless Alice was, but Ella took the chance to gather more of Alice's cum on her fingers and bring it up to her lips again. Once again she moaned as she wrapped her lips around her own fingers and tasted Alice on her tongue.

Alice watched it all in adoration, in complete awe of just how erotic it all was. Her mouth went dry when Ella dipped her fingers back down to gather more of her slick but this time telling her to, "Open up." so she could taste herself.

And how could she just not oblige when Ella was looking at her with those hungry eyes. So Alice wrapped her lips around her fingers and sucked them clean eagerly, moaning around them to then release them with a pop.

That made something in them unleash, desperately kissing again as they got rid of their other clothes. They both stood up from the bed and while Alice shed herself off her skirt and underwear, Ella took off her dress along with her bra and thong.

"Keep the collar on. I love seeing you branded as mine." Alice said, eye fucking Ella as she stood so perfectly naked in front of her.

The comment had gone straight in between Ella's legs so she basically threw herself at Alice, both of them falling back on the bed with shrieks that turned into giggles that they swallowed into a kiss.

Maybe if they hadn't laughed so loud, they could've caught the sound of the next door neighbor arriving home.

Alex had slammed his front door closed, dropped his keys on the little table he had by the entrance and toed his shoes off. He was drunk and knackered, already dreading the fact that he'd had to come home earlier than expected because his mind was too distracted to focus on the rest of the group, growing too bored of hearing their chatter and of mindlessly drinking so he felt the urge to leave.

In retrospect, he probably should've walked home just so he could waste more time and avoid hearing anything, but he had been truly just craving his bed and unfortunately his cab had taken way less than anticipated.

He was glad to hear absolute silence once he got to his room, wishfully thinking that Ella wasn't enjoying whatever Alice was doing and therefore it was all completely silent but, as he took his own clothes to get in bed, on the other side of the wall something completely different was happening.

"I meant it when I said I wanted you to ride my face." Alice reminded her, making Ella's ache between her legs grow.

The girls wasted no time going further up the bed and getting comfortable. Alice started a devastatingly slow trail of love bites on the insides of her thighs, making Ella breathe shallowly in a matter of half a minute.

Another excruciatingly long minute went by, Ella feeling every bruise that Alice was leaving in her wake, before she could finally ask her to go where she needed her. "Allie, baby, please– I need you."

The British woman smiled hearing her plead, "Come here then Ellie." She encouraged, and Ella didn't need to be told twice.

She slowly came down to have her cunt hover over Alice's mouth and a loud moan left her throat when Alice licked from her entrance to her clit and then sucked it harshly, making her see stars.

"Alice!"

That noise had made Alex freeze one foot away from his bed. He stayed there for a minute, trying to sharpen his hearing to see if it was real or he was imagining it but his questions were answered when he heard the unmistakable voice of the girl he fancied screaming the name of the girl he hated.

"Oh fuck! Alice!" Ella cried out, Alice fucking her with her tongue as she very quickly rubbed on her clit was making her go absolutely insane.

A minute later Alice changed her tongue for her fingers, seeing how Ella was practically dripping all over her face, being able to easily fit three inside Ella and then letting her mouth give her clit all the attention.

Ella's right hand quickly tangled in Alice's hair, pushing her closer to her center and tightly pulling at it encouragingly, her hips moving erratically on Alice's face and the whole thing had Alice humming in pleasure—Ella shaking over her as she got closer to her orgasm.

It only took Alice's fingers going faster and sucking harder on her clit for Ella to fall forward to grab a hold of the headboard as her legs trembled beside Alice's head.

Ella loudly moaned Alice's name like a chant, followed by profanities that were barely understandable as her orgasm left her completely breathless.

Alex's mouth and throat was dry, all he could feel was pure jealousy and himself growing hard in his boxers as he sat there on his bed with his back leant against his headboard.

He wished he could be the one hearing all that in his ear and not through the bloody walls. He wanted to be the one making Ella fall apart under him, yet he had to know it was Alice doing that.

His blood was boiling out of rage, his body extremely hot from how turned on he was thinking about the whole situation. But he'd have to be strong this time, so he let himself close his eyes and ignore the way he was dying for some release.

That didn't work though, not when his eyes stayed open as he stared at the darkness in his room and minutes later was startled by another round of moans from the girls.

Alice was already overly sensitive, only slowly recovering from her last orgasm, when Ella had cum all over her face. Watching Ella come undone on top of her had Alice clenching her thighs together, it had been such a pornographic view that had her wishing somehow she could replay it second by second, over and over in the future.

Not wanting to waste any of Ella's sweet taste, Alice had lapped at every bit of her arousal she could get, making an overstimulated Ella cry out as her tongue continued working on her cunt.

She only stopped when her whines got louder and Ella desperately shifted to go back down and straddle Alice again, "Jesus fucking Christ," She watched her slick all over Alice's chin and neck so she just couldn't help but lick it all up for her and then catch Alice's lips in a hot kiss.

It wasn't the long kiss Alice had wanted it to be, because Ella desperately wanted more of Alice and she just couldn't wait longer. So she kissed down Alice's body, making sure to suck more bruises on her skin and enjoying every sound the singer made under her.

But Ella just needed to have a taste of her again, so in no time she dove between Alice's legs and started eating her out.

Alice's back arched off the bed in pleasure. Her center had been aching from just watching Ella that the feeling of her tongue flicking at her clit and lapping at her entrance had Alice not able to control her whimpers.

"Ellie, oh my–" She shivered as she grabbed a hold of Ella's hair and pulled on it tightly as she fisted it to bring her closer to her cunt.

Feeling Alice so desperate already made Ella the more needy to make her cum hard so she went up to Alice's clit and wrapped her lips around it to suck on it as she moaned into her.

The sucking and the vibrations made Alice's legs shake and instinctively close around Ella's head.

That had Ella smirking to herself, changing her mouth to use two of her fingers to quickly rub at the singer's clit and making sure to lick all of the arousal that had wet the top of Alice's inner thighs.

Ella made sure to look up to see Alice's face, and that was just a portrait she wished she would have captured with her camera. Sweat was making her face shine and her makeup the slightest bit messy, her cheeks and chest were flushed, chest heaving and littered with bruises that were already darkening.

She was proud of her work so she went back to finish her task, but when she let her eyes drop again to Alice's cunt and saw how she was clenching around nothing, Ella groaned.

"Where are your toys Allie?" Ella asked, knowing there was no way she wouldn't have a wide variety of them.

Alice couldn't answer, not when Ella kept quickly rubbing on her clit so when Ella realized that and stopped, Alice whined in complaint before answering, "Second drawer, over there."

A satisfactory smirk appeared on Ella's face when she opened the drawer and she was met with being right about her suspicions. She tried making a quick decision but there were many toys to choose from and she was feeling indecisive.

That was until she heard Alice mewl in the background and when Ella turned to see her, she was playing with herself. Ella couldn't even find it in herself to warn Alice not to continue doing that because she just looked so fucking gorgeous desperately trying to reach her climax.

In a quick decision for a safe bet, Ella grabbed a dildo and made her way back to the bed.

Alice let her hand fall from her center and raised on her elbows to look at what Ella had chosen. Ella looked her right in the eye and brought the toy up to her lips, to spit on it and once it had dribbled down the length of it, she sank her mouth down on it.

Alice swore she died seeing her like that, as if she couldn't get any fucking hotter. And for a second a cursed thought ran through her mind, of how she'd love to watch her fuck someone else and if she was desperate enough for that show then she'd definitely choose her next door neighbor to be the third in the party.

Out of convenience, of course.

Ella broke her out of her trance when she kneeled on the bed between her legs and prompted them to open further. Bringing the toy to Alice's entrance and teasing the tip in and out of her.

"Baby, please–" Alice begged breathlessly, "Don't tease, Ellie, please."

Her wish was her command so Ella pushed it slowly inside Alice, letting her jaw drop as she watched it disappear inside her with ease. Alice moaned loudly at the stretch, which got easier when Ella's thumb came to rub soft circles on her clit.

"You always take it so well, don't you, gorgeous?" Ella started properly fucking her with the toy, slowly picking up the pace, "And here I thought you couldn't get more beautiful."

The 'thank you' Alice had wanted to say died down in her throat when Ella leaned back down and started sucking her clit again as she continued to use the dildo on her.

"Fuckkk– Ella!" Alice mewled as her back arched in pleasure. One of her hands went down to tangle on Ella's hair, while the other started playing with her own tits.

Alex tried his hardest to control himself but, at the end of the day, he was still human so his hand traveled down his boxers and he slowly started faintly touching himself.

He was well aware the one screaming was Alice but, as he closed his eyes, picturing what could be going on on the other side of the wall was driving him mad.

Alice bit her lip harshly, the pain feeling almost null compared to the heavy pleasure she was feeling, and the stronger the waves of pleasure came, the more she'd bite on her bottom lip.

Ella tutted when she noticed Alice going silent and stopped her sucking to scorn her, "Uh-uh, I want to hear you."

Alice was so focused on the tightening feeling in her belly that she barely heard her so Ella used her free hand to spank her clit, making her jump and drop her hand from Ella's head. Alice yelled from the sensation that pushed her closer to her orgasm and Ella smirked satisfied from it.

"You liked that? Yeah?" Teasingly asked Ella, rubbing slow circles on Alice's clit.

Alice hummed and it sounded almost like a purr, so Ella spanked her again and the gasp that Alice let out turned into such a sweet moan that had Ella needing to hear more of her like that.

Ella hoped the use of a choker meant more about Alice, so she brought up her right hand and wrapped it slowly around Alice's neck.

A massive smile broke on Ella's face when Alice made eye contact with her then only to let out a guttural moan and roll her eyes back in pleasure. So Ella tightened her hold, feeling Alice moan even more under her hand, and continued fucking her with the toy.

Wrapping his hand around his cock, Alex found himself already leaking precum and he groaned, applying a little more pressure around himself. Soft strokes was what he was relying on as he got harder in his hand to the sounds of the girls shagging. He was biting his lip, only letting out soft hums of satisfaction but when he heard Alice yell at Ella to go faster, he let himself moan out loud.

"I'm so close! Faster– faster, please!" Alice begged, feeling herself so close to reaching her high.

Ella listened to her straight away, letting her hand wrap even tighter around Alice's neck and picking up the pace with her left hand as she pounded into her with the dildo.

In no time, Alice's legs started shaking uncontrollably as she came with loud moans of Ella's name, 'baby' and pure gibberish. Ella had her seeing stars as she kept pumping the toy in and out of her with a slightly slower rhythm but kept her hand wrapped tight around her neck.

Alice was getting so overstimulated that she felt the tears pricking her eyes, her legs ached from how they wouldn't stop shaking and she felt like she was about to explode.

But that was exactly what Ella was looking for, so she took the dildo away to solely focus on her clit then, rubbing on it as fast as she could, wanting to see if she could do what Ella had in mind. Ella kept her relentless pace until Alice was cumming all over her again, squirting all over Ella and herself.

Alex died a little hearing how loud Alice had gotten, and thinking about what Ella could be doing for the singer to be almost screaming her name made him fail at trying to stay quiet. He picked up his pace, smearing the precum down to make it more comfortable for him and he fully just pictured them two in front of him, having fun as he watched.

He grew hotter hearing Alice's sounds continue until they ended in her choked up words asking Ella to stop.

"No more– Can't– Can't take more." Alice chanted over and over, making Ella loosen her hold on her neck and start rubbing Alice's thighs soothingly while leaving pecks on every inch of her skin.

Alice was gasping for air, absolutely mind blown by what had just happened and despite wanting to get rid of the mess as soon as possible, she had to show Ella the appreciation she deserved for all that.

"You..." She started, reaching out to get a hold of one of Ella's hands and pulling her up to her, "You are a fucking dream."

The singer attacked Ella's lips hungrily, and it was messy as she still was trying to catch her breath but that only made it better, because it was a clear sign that they were enjoying each other that much.

"That was so fucking hot, Allie." Ella said between kisses, having to hold herself back from going down on her again.

"You're skilled," Alice smirked, breaking the kiss and wrapping her hand around Ella's neck, "Only a few people have been able to make me do that."

Ella laughed, the noise vibrating under Alice's palm making her squeeze tighter and causing Ella to moan.

"As much as I love your hand around my neck, we need to clean this mess." Ella was quick to say, pecking Alice's lips in between words.

Alice agreed, trying to stand up along with Ella but she plopped back on bed when her legs were too weak to do it without help.

The American girl laughed as she offered her hand out for Alice to hold, which she appreciated and stood up slowly.

"I can take the duvet over to your washer while you clean up, if you want." Ella offered, pulling Alice in by the waist and rubbing circles on her lower back.

The singer leaned in to give her a soft kiss and nodded, "Okay. It's the last room at the end of the hallway." She pointed out the door and to the hallway on the other side of the flat.

With a kiss, Ella left Alice to get cleaned up in her ensuite whilst she balled up the duvet from the bed and walked to the laundry room.

It was good for Alex that they had left the room, because if they'd stayed then they would've definitely heard his grunts as he replayed all that he had heard like a broken record in his head as he continued to get himself off.

He was so close when he noticed the silence, and maybe it was that which had made him snap out of it. Realize what he was doing and just how wrong it was.

The next ten minutes were filled with an internal debate that had Alex wanting to pull his hair out of his head. One part of him told him that he'd done that before and why would it matter if he did now, so desperate for relief, and the other told him he should be a bigger person and learn to have better self control.

His inner monologue was rudely interrupted then, by a loud gasp and all Alex could do was let his head hang as the girls started back up again.

After going to the bathroom, Alice had made her way back into her room and seeing her drawer still open, she let herself choose what she was gonna use next on Ella.

The singer was tired but she needed one more from Ella, one more look at her face while she fell apart for her, one last taste of her sweetness.

So when Ella walked back into the bedroom, feeling so bare only wearing Alice's choker, and saw Alice standing there with a smirk and four things in her hand, she bit her lip already feeling herself getting flustered again.

"Thought we were going to bed." Ella blushed as she approached Alice, shy steps but eyes brave as they scanned her up and down with lust.

"I need you to cum for me one more time and then we can do whatever you want, baby." Alice raised her eyebrows, putting the things on the bed to turn around and pull Ella into her by her waist.

Ella hands came up to cup Alice's face, "How do you keep getting hotter by the fucking minute?"

Alice leaned in softly laughing, "I could ask you the same thing."

Kissing again, Alice walked Ella backwards until she was sitting on the edge of the bed and grabbed two of the items to start her plans.

Alice started making her way down, sucking down Ella's neck and chest—really enjoying her whines when she played harshly with her nipples—, leaving open mouthed kisses on her tummy and bruising more of her thighs.

By the time Alice came to where Ella wanted her most, she only got to feel the blow of her hot breath over her because Alice wanted to tease her this time, wanting to hear her truly desperate.

In her hands, the singer had two leather wrist to thigh cuffs, meaning that once they were on Ella, she'd have her legs up and wide open at Alice's mercy.

A few minutes later, that's how Ella ended up with her feet plated on the bed and her knees up, her wrists pressed on her thighs and her legs open to show her glistening cunt to Alice.

Her mouth watered at the sight, the need of having a taste of her before everything taking over and making her dip down to intently lick up and down her core.

The whole setting had Ella already whimpering, being so exposed to the singer made her shiver from lust and looking at the vibrator and the new dildo beside her was only making the ache between her legs grow.

The vibrator coming alive with its buzzing made Ella squirm in her place in anticipation, an action that Alice noticed, making her smirk.

"Are you ready, baby?" She crawled back to Ella with the white buzzing object in her hand.

"Mhm," Ella mewled, "Yes, Allie."

It was excruciatingly slow that Alice moved the vibrator down to Ella's cunt, so much so that when it finally came to meet her clit, Ella gasped loudly.

Like he'd come alive, Alex heard it and only was able to curse his poor luck for a few seconds, because when more moans that Ella was letting out came through the walls, he didn't have it in him to stop himself.

He fully spat on his hand this time, imagining Ella actually doing that to him and wrapped his hand around his length under his boxers.

He was getting harder the more he got to hear the sweet sounds Ella made and it was so much better than he could've ever pictured in his head all those times before. Nothing compared to the real thing. He couldn't imagine how fucking good they sounded falling in one's ear.

Alice had increased the intensity of the vibrator as she started sucking on the dildo she'd chosen for Ella. Getting it ready for her—not that she truly needed it though, because she was already dripping and messing the sheets.

When she pushed it inside her, Ella let out a chesty moan that was followed by the most earth delicious moans Alice had ever heard.

"Oh fuck! Al–!" She couldn't even finish Alice's name and that caused a reaction on the other side of the wall.

Alex would describe those moans as earth shattering. Hearing a clear moan of her saying his name had made him fully lose it. That 'Al' kept replaying in his head and in the background all the sounds she was letting out.

Without them knowing, the three of them were moaning almost in a harmony. If it wasn't for the loud buzz of the vibrator then they could've heard rather quietly Alex's low groans as he fucked his fist to the thought of Ella.

"Ella, darl– F–fuck–" He choked out, desperate to vividly picture her in bed with him.

But Ella's legs were trembling as Alice teased her by keeping the vibrator on her clit for a few seconds, taking the dildo away from her, and then taking the vibrator away to fuck her fast with the long toy.

It was agonizing, feeling so full one second with the ghost of the vibrations, to feeling empty and clenching around nothing as her clit got intensely stimulated.

"Baby I'm so fucking close!" Ella yelled desperately, a loud cry leaving her when Alice still took the dildo out and away from her.

Ella couldn't even touch herself to help, it was impossible for her to bring her hands up and tease her own nipples without pulling her legs all the way up—she was definitely not that flexible.

Alice was enjoying her desperation so much, it made her want to take it to another level. That's why she upped another level and dropped the dildo on the side to curl three fingers inside Ella, knowing that'd get her instantly.

"Fuck!" Ella screamed, feeling Alice hit that spot perfectly and her vision clouded because it was just too much along with the vibrator on its strongest level. "Right there! Right the– Al– Ah!"

And then it came crashing down on them.

Ella got whiplash from how strong her orgasm had reached her, her vision blinded as her legs shook and she squirted, feeling herself spasm around Alice's fingers.

Alex's quick motions pumped himself to an intense climax that had him cumming all over his chest. All he seemed to know was Ella's name, as that was the only thing that came out of his mouth as he came.

Alice was drenched in Ella's cum, as it had all splashed over her arm and chest and that was enough for her to match Ella's noises. She desperately reached for her face, to kiss her messily and feverishly.

After that, everyone disappeared into their bathrooms. Alice and Ella shared a shower while Alex stood alone under the waterfall.

Alex cleaned himself with the sounds replaying over and over in his mind. Alice and Ella got carried away and their shower ended with Alice cumming on Ella's fingers once more.

He had already been in bed for fifteen minutes trying to force himself to sleep when, on the other side, Ella and Alice came back into the room and discarded the dirty sheets for new ones to get some sleep.

The girls were giddy as they got under the fresh sheets and scooted closer until they were cuddled into each other. Alice's head nuzzled in Ella's neck with their legs tangled together and their arms wrapped around each other.

They were certainly aware of the next level of intimacy that meant but they couldn't be arsed, they were enjoying each other's company and they wouldn't keep themselves from it just because of how it may look like. Ella and Alice were both glad to be on the same page.

Alex, on the other hand, was dying inside just thinking about how he'd have to see Ella after all that and how he, no matter how hard he'd try, would never forget the night. 

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Alex thought he was dreaming when he heard Ella's soft moans reaching his ears. He squirmed in bed and continued to sleep when suddenly Alice's soft sounds came in to mix with Ella's.

He held his breath trying to gather his hazy mind, still attributing the noise to his imagination not having recovered yet from last night's events but then Alice loudly moaned Ella's name and Alex's eyes shot wide open.

Groaning in misery, Alex let his head fall back on the pillow and hid his face there begging in his head for it to be over soon.

His silent prayers weren't answered though, only a few minutes later—which had been painfully long, five minutes had felt like fifteen—the girls on the flat next door only seemed to be growing louder.

Alex stayed there sprawled over his bed with jealousy filling every cell of his body as he tried to focus on that awful poking in his chest to ignore how the noise was making his lower belly tingle and his dick to twitch in his boxers.

What had happened last night was a lapse of better judgment and he was trying now to hold onto every bit of self control he had left.

He had contemplated blasting music to drown it all but that'd give away the fact that he was in fact listening and he knew that if Ella found that out, she'd be mortified. So he suffered in silence for the next ten minutes, as they gasped for air and chanted each other's names accompanied by lots of profanities.

It was too painful, not only because his chest felt tight but he felt his body responding to it all subconsciously and he hated it, so once they got quiet he escaped to his ensuite.

The shower Alex took was freezing cold. He stood there, shivering under the waterfall for a while until he felt himself calm enough to be able to get out. His movements were slow as he got ready for the day, brushing his teeth and brushing his hair with his fingers, deciding to just let it air dry while he waited for Ella.

Choosing something from his wardrobe had been painfully slow because he was sure he could hear faint noises coming through the walls again and trying to find out if they weren't just the ghosts of what he'd heard earlier kept distracting him.

That was until the high pitch whines came loudly through the walls to knock all the air out of his lungs, like a punch to the gut.

Pulling up his trousers quickly, Alex almost ran out of his room and it seemed like the noise wanted to follow him as he heard all of it walking out of his bedroom.

The singer could breathe again when he got to the kitchen, the noises long lost in the hallway and it seemed like they had stopped because even if he'd left the door open, he couldn't listen to them anymore.

There was only so much Alex could take anymore so he decided to ignore it all despite one part of him begging to pay attention and give into his carnal desires.

This day was meant for him to accompany Ella to buy a dress for the wedding since she hadn't had the time for it back in LA, and not only that but she'd thought it'd be better to buy one in London rather than being worried about the gown being ruined from having to be cramped up inside her suitcase.

Alex had agreed with her when they videocalled a few days before her flight and he promised her that he'd be taking her to buy her dress. He was excited for it, the prospect of spending more time with her was always something that elated him but it being in a place he knew so well and she was so foreign to made it the more special.

Now, after last night, Alex wasn't sure when it would happen but like he had promised himself merely a minute ago, he would ignore it all and act like nothing had happened so with hope that she'd be coming over to his in a bit, he started making breakfast. For himself and for Ella.

He was softly singing under his breath as he cooked some sausage, serving two plates and then he moved onto making some scrambled eggs. The only thing that could be heard then was the sizzling of the eggs cooking on the pan, but after he finished them and served them, the silence that overcame him became dangerous for it gave way for the now loud again noises from the girls to creep up through the hall and softly reaching his ears.

Alex stopped as he turned with the two plates in hand, slowly bringing them down to place on the kitchen island, really unsure of how to feel anymore. He was just utterly confused at all the reactions his body was giving to the whole scenario.

Once again, he reminded himself to ignore it so he grabbed himself a fork and knife and started eating, his brain only trying to think about what was in front of him to not go absolutely insane.

But that only worked for so long because the girls, now getting closer to their climax, had started getting louder and more restless meaning their cries of pleasure were just filthy begs and it was making Alex's head short circuit.

Dropping the utensils on the countertop, Alex hunched over almost defeated. He was breathing heavily and in his mind praying for self control and patience. Since that wasn't working because the noises were making his breaths become more shallow, his hands came up to his head and his fingers tangled in his hair to pull on it with frustration.

He was going insane now, he really was.

And Alex thought it couldn't get worse than it already was, when he heard Ella clearly encourage Alice, "Cum for me, baby, c'mon." followed by a loud mewl.

He let his head drop on the cold surface of the kitchen island, fully defeated as his thoughts were spinning. A groan came from the deepest pit of his chest, one of pent up frustration that he knew he wouldn't pay attention to for his own sanity.

"Fuck my life." Alex muttered under his breath when he heard the girls clearly reaching her orgasms, hands holding onto the sides of the countertop like it was gonna ground him somehow.

He was almost scared to see Ella later, afraid that after all that he'd just ask to have her like he wanted to so badly. Every bit of his being was just aching to have her, and Alex didn't know if it would be the right time to play his chances.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

About an hour went by and it was surprisingly quiet after everything that had happened the night before and in the morning. That had been a relief to Alex who had gotten to finish his breakfast counting to a thousand multiple times to try and get his shit together again.

What he didn't know was that Ella and Alice had gone to make breakfast after that second round he had heard. They'd gotten decent first, going to the bathroom to freshen up and Alice lended Ella some clothes for her to leave with—Ella had shyly asked after seeing her chest and neck all marked up on show with the low neckline her dress had.

Ella walked through Alice's kitchen with gray joggers and a 'My Mind Makes Noises' jumper on. The singer watched her in awe through the corner of her eye as she grabbed some mugs to make some coffee for the both of them.

"You look amazing in that." Alice threw the compliment out as she focused on frying some eggs, pieces of bread toasting on the little oven by the stove.

Ella looked down at herself and her new outfit, "I'll give it a listen tonight."

Alice smirked at that promise, "Hope you enjoy it, baby."

Ella walked up behind the singer as the Keurig made their coffees, wrapping an arm around her waist and said into her ear, "It's you singing so I definitely will." Alice bit her lip at Ella's actions, a little harder when Ella left her with a squeeze of her ass and a kiss on her neck.

The British girl was fast making breakfast, almost done at the same time as Ella had placed the coffee on the counter and got utensils for them to use.

"Do you want me to drop you off at Alex's?" Alice asked Ella casually, placing a plate right in front of her as she sat on one of the tall chairs.

Ella was truly confused at the sudden question as she was completely unaware of Alice and Alex's housing situation. "Huh?"

"Are you going to Alex's?" Alice changed her inquiry slightly this time, walking over to sit next to her.

Ella watched as Alice took her seat and ripped a bit of her toast to dip on the runny yolk of the fried egg, "Not now... I'm going back to the hotel first."

"Oh well." The singer shrugged nonchalantly, "He lives next door, that's why I'm asking."

"What?" Ella's face went pale, looking at Alice with wide eyes like it was her worst nightmare come true.

Alice chuckled looking at her face, "He lives next door... I thought I told you."

And Ella shook her head with a frown to remark that Alice in fact hadn't told her, "Fucking hell." She cursed under her breath, flashbacks of the night before and this morning coming to the forefront of her mind and she felt herself burning up from head to toe.

"What's wrong baby? You've gone all red." Alice teased, one of her hands resting over Ella's thigh, where Alice now knew she had her 'Divine feminine' tattoo and squeezed slightly.

Ella squirmed a bit under her touch, her cheeks growing even hotter. "Do you think he heard us?" She genuinely felt like she'd die if he had, because it had already been embarrassing that he knew she'd gone home with someone but him hearing her was making her burn inside and out.

Will this ruin things? Will this make things awkward? She had no idea but now she was spiraling about it all and she just couldn't help but think about every little thing this situation would entail.

Alice being so calm about it was what brought her back from her thoughts, "I couldn't care less to be fair."

"Fuck..." Ella mumbled, staring at her plate with a shocked expression.

"I mean," Alice squeezed her thigh once more and when Ella turned to look at her, she brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "If he did, he's lucky 'cause I don't think I'll ever want to hear anybody else now."

Ella blushed under her gaze, still feeling so affected by the way the singer would smirk at her. "Stop." She brought one of her hands to cool down her cheeks, Alice's smirk getting bigger at that.

"I love it when you go all blushy on me." Alice remarked and then she leaned in to kiss Ella one more time, which the American girl welcomed with a smile.

After the brief soft kiss they shared, the girls went back to eating breakfast and they made small talk about what they were doing in their current jobs, getting to know each other a little bit better. Alice had heard all about Ella's aspirations and Ella had listened to everything Alice had been getting inspired from for her next record.

Without really noticing, an hour had gone by, and when Ella noticed it was about to be noon, she told Alice she had to leave.

They were both gutted to know this was the end of it but Alice a bit more, especially by knowing that Ella would be going to Alex and he'd be the one to spend time with her for the rest of her stay in the UK.

After having loaded everything in the dishwasher, Alice walked over to Ella and pulled her into her by her waist, "Remind me why you can't stay," The singer brushed a strand of hair behind Ella's ear and with her gaze taking in all of Ella's features, she bit her lip at the memories of all that had happened in the past twelve hours. "I wanna fuck you all day."

Ella grinned at Alice with her cheeks heating up, she could tell Alice was being completely honest and that was one of the things that she liked about her because it gave her the confidence to say "I would love that." back to her, which was exactly what she was feeling.

It was hard to compare how honest she could be with Alice than how cowardly she felt even admitting to herself anything to do with Alex, because with Alice it was something casual and it was always easy with girls, but Ella knew deep inside her that Alex wasn't meant to be a casual thing to her. It was either all in with Alex or nothing. But that would only happen in her dreams, she'd much rather keep him as her best friend than try to become more again and it ending poorly like it had before.

In another life, if Ella hadn't been hung up on Alex already, then she would've tried to pursue whatever had started with Alice, because Alice was lovely and funny, and she was the type of girl anyone would be lucky to have in their lives.

The American girl smiled, bringing one of her hands up to cup Alice's jaw softly, "But I need to get a dress for the wedding."

"Can't you do it some other day?" Alice pouted, it was playful as she tried to see if there was any chance Ella would change her plans.

But Ella didn't budge because she really needed to get the dress, "Wedding's in three days and today's the only day we've got no plans."

Seeing how Alice's pout stayed on her face, Ella brought her in for a kiss. A slow one that just felt like it settled it all, a silent thank you and a goodbye.

They savored every second of it, trying to enjoy the time they'd shared until the very last moment. Alice hummed against Ella's lips before pulling back. "Don't go back to the States without saying goodbye, alright?" Her thumb rubbed soft circles on Ella's cheek.

"Promise." Ella replied with a sweet smile and pecked Alice's lips one last time before stepping out of Alice's hold to get her things which were merely her phone and the dress she'd worn last night.

With the dress draped over her arm and her phone being pocketed in her coat she had just put on, she made her way to Alice's front door. Alice was already standing by the door, watching Ella's slow steps with a smirk. She was glad Ella also didn't want it all to end.

When Ella got beside her, Alice softly opened the door but stopped Ella with a hand on her wrist before she could go out to the hallway. "Don't forget I'm always a text or a phone call away." And this time now walking up to her and getting a look of the empty hallway that led to the rest of the flats, including Alex's, Alice added pointing at the door that was his, "A door away as well."

Ella blushed when Alice winked at her right after that and nodded, "Definitely noted."

"Bye Ella." Alice squeezed Ella's wrist softly and let go of her hold.

"Bye Allie." Ella said after one last look at Alice.

Ella walked into the hallway and walked over to what Alice had pointed to be Alex's door. She had expected Alice to close the door right after she left but, out of the corner of her eye, Ella could see Alice was there waiting to make sure she'd gotten inside Alex's flat.

Three knocks were left on the door and only a few seconds later, the door opened to reveal a smiley Alex.

"Hi, Al." Ella smiled brightly at him, hearing then the soft thud of Alice's door closing.

"Hi, darling." He greeted almost breathless, she looked stunning despite wearing Alice's merch and now it seemed like every time he'd look at her, the memories of the previous night and the early morning were going to haunt him. "How are you feeling?" He asked, letting her come in and closing the door behind him.

She sighed and very genuinely answered, "Tired and in a desperate need of another shower."

He tried biting his tongue about it all but his mouth played with him when he let out a "Reckon you enjoyed yourself then?" without meaning to.

Stopping in her tracks, she cursed through her teeth, "Oh, fuck–" And almost wincing, she turned to see him and ask, "Did you hear us?" She was begging he hadn't, because if he had then there was no way she could look him in the eye for at least a week.

"No, no." Alex shook his head and her soul came back to her body. He walked past her, and it was easier for him to lie when she wasn't seeing his face, "No– I, erm, I passed out right when I got home and only woke up a little ago."

"At what time did y'all leave?" Ella asked curiously, she didn't even know when it was that she had gotten to Alice's but the last time she'd seen the clock it had been a bit over three in the morning, and that had been before her and Alice got in the shower.

They got to the kitchen and she stood by the marble island, resting her belongings on one of his high chairs. Alex seemed entertained by what was on his kitchen stove, so she barely heard him recount very briefly the rest of the night, "Everyone left about fifteen minutes after you but I stayed for another hour or so."

She hummed trying to calculate at which point of the night that would've been and nodded once she gave up trying to come to a conclusion since all she was getting was flustered by the memories. "Right."

Wanting to change the subject as his brain was aggressively reminding him of the night before, he asked her, "Are you hungry?" turning to see her with a plate in his hand filled with the food he'd prepared.

Ella looked at him with her lips pressed together, hating having to turn him down by saying, "Alice made me some food actually..."

A small "Oh." fell from his lips, and he froze with the plate in hand before he could manage to form a proper sentence, "There's some more here if you want."

"That looks amazing," She admitted because it truly did and just because she felt bad for leaving him last night, she gave in and said, "Some more food is not gonna hurt anyone..."

Alex gave her a sweet smile when her words reached his ears and placed her plate right in front of her, quickly getting her utensils to eat with. As she had before, Ella enjoyed the meal he had prepared and wasn't shy to give him praise for it. It was really good so it wasn't long until she was done with it and she was calling Alex out for not letting her do the dishes.

"Stop it, I'll wash this quick and we can go to get the dress." were his last words on the matter and he took care of the task with a grin on his face seeing Ella let her arms fall by her sides in defeat.

"Okay but we need to go back to the hotel first though." She truly wanted to shower first, before she could even think of going out to try on clothes. "Can't go out shopping looking like this." Her hands waved briefly down her body to emphasize the state of her.

Drying the freshly washed dishes, he agreed, "Yeah, it screams 'walk of shame'." He quipped, snickering which earned him a roll of her eyes and an annoyed sigh.

Her response was a simple, "Idiot." as she shook her head. He laughed at her while he sorted his dishes back in the cabinets and once done, he dried his hands with a kitchen towel.

"Alright," He glanced around his kitchen to see where he'd left his phone, finding it and pocketing it, he looked back up at her and instructed, "Let's go then before the shops get too crowded and we don't find anything."

Alex had already been ready for the day so once Ella picked up her stuff from the high chair next to her, they left Alex's flat. And thankfully, his place wasn't far from her hotel so they got there in less than a fifteen minute walk.

Once inside her room, she left all that she was carrying sprawled over her bed, really not caring for the mess at the minute as she just wanted to freshen up. The singer found comfort in lying on the bed as well, his head resting on the pillows.

He watched her as she yawned behind her hands before letting him know she was "Gonna take a quick shower now." adding a "If you don't mind." just to check if he had any other plans he had to get to.

But Alex shook his head with a blissed expression at the soft pillows under his head and the silence in the room. "Absolutely not, go ahead." He replied with a soft smile on his face that she gave him back.

Before she left for the ensuite, she wanted his advice, "What should I wear?" Crouching down, she opened her suitcase and was met with multiple articles of clothing all rolled up, "Needs to be easy to put on and take off since I'm gonna be trying shit on all day."

His eyes were closing but his mind was still with her in conversation so trying to be helpful, he thought about it for a few seconds and came to the answer being, "A skirt?"

He hadn't sounded so sure but she nodded in agreement, "Oh, yes. And with a sweater so I'm not freezing to death." It had been quite cold as they walked back, and she was certainly grateful Alice's clothes were quite thick and cozy.

Alex only hummed in response and she took out the clothes from her case, trying to be the quickest she could be as it was already about to be eleven in the morning.

"Okay, I'll be right back." She informed and in his hazy mind, Alex managed to nod.

The water pattering on the floor of the shower lulled Alex to sleep, Ella took her time to shower and pamper herself after what certainly felt like a very long weekend, slowly putting her clothes on. And once she had dressed herself, despite the loud noise even with the door closed, the hair dryer she used didn't manage to wake him up.

When she left the wet room, she walked into the small hallway that connected it to the room which had a floor to ceiling mirror that showed her reflection back to her and the sight made her gasp.

That was enough to wake Alex up then, blinking multiple times he was able to get himself the slightest bit awake to ask, "What's wrong?"

The answer Ella gave flew straight past him as she let out a low whistle and said, "Fucking hell, it's gonna be really awkward trying on dresses today." and continued to watch herself in the mirror.

"What was that?" Alex inquired again, his brain not being able to process what she'd said just yet.

But when she walked back into the room and stood in front of him, she reiterated in a different sentence, "The skirt is not gonna do..." and that was what made him look down to her bottom half to see what she meant.

Her inner thighs were littered in purple marks and the view alone made his eyes shoot open, "Holy shit, Ella." He cursed loudly, his jaw dropping more the more she showed him the insides of her thighs a bit better.

She looked down at the love bites and chuckled to herself, feeling her cheeks heating up, "Yeah, I know."

"What the fuck?!" He cursed out loud again, his brows furrowed.

"She's a little vampire." Ella joked trying to make the situation a bit less awkward, because he seemed really taken aback by it.

What she wasn't expecting was for him to start saying, "I'll have a chat with her when I get ho–"

She stopped him before he could continue with a firm, "No, you're not."

"But she–" The singer tried to fight, yet Ella wouldn't have it.

Shaking her head and with her cheeks tinting up redder, she admitted, "Alex, I loved it when she was marking me up so there's absolutely nothing to complain about here."

Ignoring the way that statement had felt like a knife to the chest, he gave another argument to back himself, "Well she needs to learn to control herself."

Sighing, she pursed her lips and added, "I'm pretty sure I left her looking the same or maybe worse." so he could stop with his need to cause a fight between himself and the girl.

"Fuck." He cursed through his teeth, hiding his closed eyes behind his hands like he was in pain.

Ella tried to get answers then, ones that she hadn't managed out of Alice, "I still don't get why you don't like her, she's one of the sweetest girls I've ever met." And she truly meant it. In her head if she got along well with Alice then there was no reason for Alex not to get along with her.

Alex wasn't help at all for Ella to try to solve the mystery because he only shrugged and meekly answered with, "Maybe you're biased because you've fucked her."

Without missing a beat, Ella replied in the same tone, "In that case, maybe you need to fuck her too." She had been guilty of picturing the scenario of the three of them in bed the night before, when the thought of him flashed in the forefront of her mind in a moment of pure ecstasy.

"Eleanor." Alex warned with a firm voice, his face stoic as he stared at her like he was begging her to be joking.

"Alexander." Ella copied with the same tone but a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips as his anger was becoming amusing to her.

"Don't ever say that again." The singer warned, as if it had been the single worst most awful thing someone could've ever told him.

"What?" Ella threw her arms up defensively, "She's good." Her cheeks warmed again and the sight made Alex sigh exasperatedly.

"Just find something to wear and let's go already." He was growing impatient and he wanted the view of the love bites Alice had left gone for they made a bitter taste rise up his throat and coat his mouth with it.

She chuckled and playfully rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say boss."

He let out an involuntary snort at her remark, unable to not react to her, "Shush you dickhead."

Going back to her suitcase, Ella ended up picking up a long brown wool skirt that reached her ankles and went to the bathroom to change into it. Her white sweater stayed on and over it came her long brown trench coat.

After quickly tying her converse on, they left her hotel room and went straight to Harrods where Alex said he knew she would find something. 

She had scolded him when they stepped out of the taxi and the first store she saw was Valentino with a couple stunning dresses she could wish to buy on a random afternoon. He only laughed and reminded her that it was a dress for the wedding and that she was allowed to spend her money on it if she ended up loving it—not that he was going to let her buy it but she didn't need to know that—so with that mindset they began to look for it.

It was a hit or miss in the many stores they had visited, the first few she had been far too wary of the cost of the pieces and by the time she had convinced herself it was okay, she hadn't found anything she was completely set on for her to spend an obnoxious amount of money on.

That was until they stumbled into a boutique that gathered many designer clothes into one place and the dresses she had caught through the window looked to die for.

When they went in, a lovely woman called Rose greeted them by the door and took them inside while asking a bunch of questions so that she knew what the pair were looking for. Once Ella told her she was looking for a dress to wear to a friend's wedding, Rose effortlessly guided them to the ones she knew would be wedding appropriate and that Ella might like.

From the looks of them, Ella chose a few to try on and Rose guided her and Alex into a private changing room. Thankfully, inside was a curtain that separated the actual changing room with the small lounge area in which Alex would be waiting.

Taking her time as she slowly put the different pieces on, Ella tried on the first three dresses she had chosen but none of them had her swooning. Alex on the other hand found himself at a loss of words and oxygen every time she drew back the curtain and stepped out in a different gown.

The first one had been a champagne off the shoulder dress with a slit on the side that showed her right leg perfectly, but it was exactly that which made her discard it. The second was a strapless plum dress which had a beautiful mermaid silhouette but it was just that which made her struggle to walk, plus the top kept falling down so she had to hold it up when she walked out to keep it in place. The third was a black one shoulder dress made of tulle which made it puffy and she truly felt like a princess with it but it was far too big for her to be comfortable in it all day at the wedding, she had been already sweating figuring out how to put it on.

The fourth one was a deep red low v neck dress which cinched at the waist and from there draped down a lovely flowy train. It looked amazing on her, it was light and the shape of it was beautiful and flattering but she found herself pursing her lips at her reflection which showed her fully exposed and very marked chest. Her tits looked great hugged perfectly by the fabric but the love bites littering her skin had her trying not to laugh at herself for caring so little about it the night before when she had a wedding to go to in a few days.

At least she was grateful it didn't have a leg slit for her bruised thighs to show and with amusement clear on her face she walked out, "Well this is not gonna do, is it?"

It was a rhetorical question, she already had seen the annoyance in Alex's eyes that he knew Alice had left those and a part of her was hoping it was the product of jealousy, but thinking of it like that would hurt her if she found out that wasn't the reality so she had been pushing the thought away.

Before Alex could compliment her on how stunning she looked, there was a knock on the door of their private room that snapped Ella out of her thoughts. She was well aware of her marks so she tried to escape back behind the curtain before anyone could walk in but Rose beat her clumsy steps as she came into the room right when Ella was only managing to turn around.

"How are you liking them?" The woman asked enthusiastically and when she saw Ella's figure being hugged by the red fabric, she just had to say, "Oh let me see that one!"

Ella winced at her tone because it was so sweet and genuinely excited to see her wearing the dress so she just couldn't say no. Bad time to be a people pleaser, she scorned herself before slowly turning back around so she could face Alex and Rose.

The loud gasp Rose let out was enough for Ella to hide her face behind her hands, feeling her cheeks burning under her fingers, and Alex to laugh out loud. The singer watched as Rose all but counted the bruises on her skin and then switched her surprised expression for a teasing grin, "You're gonna have a good time covering all those up."

Hearing the smirk on Rose's voice, Ella shook her head still hiding behind her hands so the, "Oh my god, this is so embarrassing." she said came out muffled against the palms of her hands.

The woman directed her gaze to Alex then, completely unaware of the actual story behind them, "You went hard on her didn't you?"

Ella dropped her hands, ready to correct her but she only managed a, "He d–" when Alex interrupted, being a bit louder than her as he said, "I did but I'll help her get rid of them later." He looked so smug with a hand on his chin and a smirk on his face, it made Ella lock her jaw because if she didn't it would've dropped.

Rose giggled at the pair, "That's gonna be lots of ice you'll use." But once again, Ella's real explanation was stuck in her throat as the woman beat her to it, but luckily changed the topic of the conversation, "How did you like the ones you've already tried on?"

"This one was too big." She pointed at the second one she'd tried after clearing her throat, and very truthfully admitted her opinion about the other three, "And the other ones I just don't feel like I love them."

Rose hummed completely understanding her, "This one looks stunning on you though. But I feel like–" She cut herself off to have a small think and after a few seconds of staring at Ella's silhouette, a spark lit up in her brain, "Okay wait, I know just the one to bring you. I'll be right back."

Ella barely managed to say, "Thank you!" to her when Rose walked out of the room, but when the door closed behind her, she instantly turned to Alex to scold him.

"Why would you say that?!" Her mind was in a mush, she was so embarrassed but seeing him so proudly admit to that was making her head spin.

Her thoughts were stopped abruptly when the singer shrugged and raised a brow to set his argument down, "Would you prefer to explain how someone else did all that whilst you're out with me buying a dress for a wedding that you told her we're going to together?"

Ella didn't know why she felt so defeated and recognising that reaction from herself made her feel pathetic. She tried to hide it as best as she could, turning around to go back behind the curtain and look at herself in the mirror again, "Well if you put it that way." She replied, brushing her hands down the smooth fabric of the gown she had on.

"Saved you the awkwardness." Alex added proudly, eyebrows raised as if telling her he had been the one to make the situation better.

But Ella poked her head out the changing room and with a frown, she whisper-shouted, "It's still awkward!"

He giggled at how mortified she looked, it was so funny to him that she'd react like that when she had no need to. "You are making it awkward, she was joking about it."

"My face is burning." Her hands came up to cup her red cheeks, sighing at the cold of her fingers against her face.

"Wouldn't be the first time today, darling." He retorted playfully, and that earned him a lovely middle finger peeking through the side of the curtain which had him laughing out loud.

A few minutes later, in which Alex had been lost in his phone and Ella had been lost in her thoughts, Rose knocked on the door again with a stunning blue gown hanging on her arms.

"I think you'll like this one, but I'll keep looking for some more." The woman said handing Ella the piece of clothing and once the American girl had thanked her for it, she left the room again.

The dress was heavy in her arms but it felt fresh and it had the prettiest floral detailing embroidered with the same color of the gown so it looked more like texture than a pattern. It had spaghetti straps and a delicate scoop neck, what she wasn't sure about was the excess fabric on the back of it so without wasting more time, she went back behind the curtain.

A minute went by, Alex impatiently waiting for her to come out because she had gasped a few seconds before. He was about to ask what it was that she was gasping about when she let out an excited, "Oh sweets I think this one's it."

With his knee bouncing up and down, he bit his bottom lip before saying, "Let me see."

Alex was met with silence for another half minute and when he called her name, she only answered with a quiet, "Wait a second."

But he wasn't feeling that patience anymore, so very eager to see her, he instructed her, "Come on out already, you can't say that and then leave me hanging."

Ella's voice came out struggling as she replied, "It's only been less than a minute and I'm trying to fix the back but I can't reach it."

Knowing that he only itched more for her to come out, so he offered, "Come out and I'll help." Not without adding a "Hurry." at the end.

"You're really impatient." She sighed defeated as she couldn't get the extra fabric out when it was stuck right on her lower back where the zipper was. Taking him up on his words, she came out from behind the curtain, mindful of her every step to not step on the bottom of the dress, "What do you think?"

Alex choked on his words seeing her in that dress, his mouth opening and closing only letting out a "Wow." before he could gather his thoughts and finally say, "Darling you look gorgeous and that doesn't even cut it."

"Shut up." Ella rolled her eyes not wanting to take the compliment herself so she complimented the look of the gown, "It's pretty, isn't it?"

"It's beautiful." He agreed, nodding enthusiastically like a little kid, "You look stunning."

Ignoring the way his words made her stomach flip, she turned around to show him the back of it for it was her favorite part of the dress, "I'm obsessed with the back of it." And he was too, it was a backless dress so her back was on full show, the fabric sitting tightly on her lower back and the extra fabric draping lusciously around the low cut.

"Help me with this bit, it's stuck on the inside." She said and he knew exactly what she meant so reaching to untuck the fabric that had gotten stuck on her lower back, his fingers grazed her skin and she shivered under his touch.

A low, breathless, "There we go." fell from his lips, entirely satisfied by her reaction to his touch.

She hated that she had so obviously reacted so her "Thanks." came out choked.

Walking a few steps back to the changing room, she fully opened the curtain so she could see herself in the mirror without having to go back in and she turned slightly to see how the dress looked from different angles. "So... this one?"

"You're the one who decides that darling, you looked stunning in all of them but this one's just... wow." Alex was truly at a loss for words, she was effortlessly stunning. Her hair had been put up in a quick bun so there were many strands sticking out of it but she looked beautiful with her messy hair and she was walking around in her long gray socks which she had laughed about how they looked when she lifted the bottom of the dresses up to walk.

Alex grew mesmerized by her everyday it seemed like and it was something that surprised him. He didn't want to think too much about it, scared of messing something up and hurting her like he had in the past. He just had to live only being friends with her. Best friends. He'd rather have that than absolutely nothing, he loved her too much to let go of her that easily.

Rose's knuckles thudding against the wooden door interrupted his thoughts and when she came in and saw Ella practically beaming in the dress, she smiled and nodded in approval.

"I love this one." Ella confessed, giddy about having found the perfect dress for the wedding.

Rose was proud of her vision, "I knew it. That was just the right one."

So the American girl walked up to her and gave her a tight hug, "Thank you, it's truly perfect." She said into the woman's ear, letting her go after a soft squeeze.

Alex was entranced by her beauty and her kindness, but he was brought back when Rose turned to him and tauntingly asked him, "What do we think, Mr Dracula?"

"Think she looks absolutely breathtaking." He answered genuinely, the biggest smile on his face as his gaze went up and down Ella again.

"At least you didn't attack her back." Rose chatted back, seeing Ella's fortunately love bite free bare back in the reflection of the mirror.

The singer was feeling very smug about Rose thinking it was all him so playing more into the situation, he cheekily replied, "We shall see about that."

Which earned him a firm "Alex!" from Ella, one accompanied by her wide eyes at his confidence to just say that in front of the woman.

But Rose laughed hard at that, patting Alex's shoulder as she got some air back into her lungs, "Oh I love you two," she stated before inhaling deeply to completely regain her posture. When she straightened back, the woman turned to Alex and kindly inquired, "Want me to ring you up while she changes?"

Ella was about to say no because she wasn't going to allow Alex to buy her the dress but he practically jumped to his feet as he said, "Yes, I'll go with you and she can change."

Rose nodded and exited the room, completely unaware of the hard glare she was giving Alex who was pretty much ignoring it as he got his phone from the coffee table beside the loveseat he had been sitting on.

"Alexander." Ella started with her voice firm to try and get him to look at her.

But when he turned, a mischievous grin was adorning his face, and when he replied, "Eleanor." in a playful tone, she knew whatever she'd say would fly right over his head.

"Don't." She warned with a serious face, her hands already frantically trying to undo the zipper of the dress so she could quickly change and beat him to it.

He played dumb first, asking a silly, "What?"

She wasn't having it so trying to remind him of what they had talked about before she came, she said, "What did I tell you?"

There had been many occasions in which he had suggested taking her to many places and when she had jokingly said 'well you'll let me pay this time right?', he had swiftly averted the question and continued with listing his plans. So she had made sure to remind him every other time that when she came to visit, he wouldn't be allowed to spend money on her. That had been broken already when he showed her around London and she had been determined to not let it happen again.

But her reminder didn't work because Alex continued playing dumb about it, this time taunting her by saying, "I don't really remember right now darling, head's scrambled by the view." Giving her a wink before he stepped closer to the door.

She took a step forward to reach out to him, getting a hold of his wrist, "Told you I would–"

Alex interrupted her before she could repeat what he clearly remembered she had said many times before. "I really have to follow her 'cause it'd be rude to make her wait." He wasn't gonna listen to her in this one, not when he had the means to make her happy gifting her the dress she'd loved.

The singer took another step with her hand still clasped around his wrist and she quickly caught up right behind him. "Alexander David Turner." She said through her teeth when he didn't stop and had a foot out the room.

Knowing he had won already by being out of the private room, he smirked and pointed out with a tut, "Eleanor Hayes you can't leave the fitting room with the dress on."

Ella pursed her lips, exhaling through her nose completely frustrated, "I'm gonna fight you."

He was enjoying seeing her like this way too much. "Would love to see you try." He dared, taking advantage of her hold to pull her in by her forearm and leaving a quick peck on her temple.

"Have fun!" He said with exaggerated enthusiasm, leaving her all flustered and annoyed, still wearing the dress.

She had been huffing around while changing back to her clothes and when she came out of the changing room with a frown and the chosen dress in hand, Alex had the opposite expression on his face.

Rose took the garment from her with the sweetest smile which made Ella feel guilty for her lack of one so trying to make herself look at the positive outcome of it all, she smiled back as the woman packed it up in a perfect box with a bow tied around it and placed it in a bag.

Ella had been trying to keep up her act with Alex, thanking him reluctantly at first and biting her tongue to give him the cold shoulder as they walked out of the shop and back onto the streets of London.

But that had only lasted so long when he pulled her in by the waist and pressed a bunch of kisses on her cheek.

"Oh c'mon darling, don't be angry. I wanted to buy it for you." Alex defended himself quickly, his eyes trying to look for hers but she was forcing herself not to look at him.

Her gaze stayed ahead as they walked a few more steps but he wasn't gonna have her silence any longer so he stopped in his tracks, forcing her to stop with him and turning her around so her front was pressed against his.

"Are you not gonna talk to me now?" He pouted and when her eyes flew up to the sky, he cupped her jaw to make her look at him.

There was nothing aggressive about his touch, it was how delicate his fingers were on her skin and his gentle gaze on her that made her slowly melt in his arms.

"You just don't listen." She started with a defeated sigh, "I didn't want you to spend money on me again."

He thought about it then, something to say to twist her arm, "Can't this be your very late birthday gift?"

"You gave me a ticket back home." Ella reminded him with an eyebrow raised.

"That was from all of us, this one is just mine." He negotiated, a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips when he saw her face fall in slight amusement at the loophole he had managed to find.

"You're insufferable." She decided then, shaking her head at how proud he looked to have caught her with that.

"You love me." He fought back, the corner of his eyes crinkling the harder he smiled.

Humming, she gave in and agreed, "I unfortunately do." playfully trying to get that ego of his down.

He scoffed and it made her giggle, "I'm kidding." and throwing her arms around his shoulders, she added, "Thank you sweets, love you."

Leaning back, he looked down at her and left one last kiss on her cheek, squeezing her waist before letting go and once she was back beside him, they continued their walk back to the hotel.

A few minutes passed, people watching and talking about the upcoming big event. Their talk about Nick getting his tux with the lads brought him to pointing out a fact that made him warm inside.

"You know this is perfect." Alex vaguely started, trailing off long enough for Ella to ask what it was and with a tilt of his chin pointing to the bag which contained the dress she'd just gotten, he explained, "My suit is blue too."

Gasping, she turned to him, "Awh! We're gonna be matching!" Ella scrunched her nose at him, "How cringe, I love it."

Alex snorted at her response but agreed, "Matt's gonna take the piss out of us."

"Definitely, but I bet everyone will be matching with their plus one." She pointed out, wishfully thinking that it would be that easy to escape Matt's taunting.

He hoped that logic worked too and whilst they were on the subject of the wedding, he mentioned again the plans for that day, "I'm picking you up early that morning, by the way."

Ella groaned, already dreading having to wake up at an ungodly hour to start getting ready. "Yeah, don't remind me how early though."

"I know, weddings shouldn't be that early." Alex wholeheartedly agreed, almost every wedding he had attended would've been awful for him if he wasn't surrounded by his friends—only being in their presence made him able to look past how long they lasted and how unnecessarily stressful they were.

"It's an actual crime." And then she thought about how late the reception could be but found relief at the silver linings, "At least there's a free bar."

He chuckled and nodded, "I can already imagine the hangover."

She grimaced at the thought, "S'not gonna be pretty that's for sure."

"I'll take care of you, don't worry, darling." He promised, holding her closer by the arm she had hooked on his.

"I'll take you up on that, sweets." Ella replied with her eyebrows raised like challenging him to keep up to his words, which he definitely would.

But then the singer reminded her of the real trouble approaching them, "Tomorrow's what you gotta be worried about."

The next day would be the parties thrown for the bride and groom, she called them bachelor and bachelorette parties but she'd gotten cultured about them being called stag do and hen do over in that side of the pond.

"Matt and Bre being in charge of the parties is making me nervous." She admitted very honestly as she had tried many times to get something from Breana but miserably failed at it.

Alex hadn't been successful in getting information from the couple either so he felt the same way, "Haven't managed to get anything out of them so I share your worries."

Ella sighed, only being able to imagine the trouble the next night would bring but wishing aloud, "It better be fun."

He decided to tease her a bit and with a low voice said, "But at what cost?"

"Don't." She cut him off before he could set off more nerves in her and nudged his hip with hers, "That only makes me even more scared."

He giggled at her, noticing they were already close to the hotel she was staying at and wanting to spend the last few minutes they had together on a better note, he decided to settle her down a bit, "I know we won't be together but Florence will take care of you since I know Bre is gonna be too gone to do it herself."

"Awh I love Flo!" Ella almost jumped in her spot at the reminder of his childhood best friend's attendance, "I'm excited now, I can properly party with her."

They had been talking about properly going out at Glastonbury, trying to align their schedules so everyone could join and there had been a few dates thrown around but nothing confirmed, nothing that couldn't be solved when she would see her again then and the thought of making plans with her and the girls was making Ella excited.

She had been brainstorming more about that shoot she had in mind and she couldn't wait to properly set a day and a meeting place for them all to bring the vision to life. Ella was properly giddy about it for they were all stunning and the shoot was going to be in a style she had been waiting to try for a while.

Alex's memories came back to him of every time he'd partied with Flo since they were teenagers and he smiled at them, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that the girls would have the best night together. "She's amazing company, you're gonna have the best time."

Ella hummed, even more excitement bubbling up inside her and with hopes up to the ceiling, she replied, "I'm counting on it, Turner."

The girls all together and away from the lads, partying the night away in celebration of the bride sounded like a perfect night and, despite going into it blind, Ella just couldn't wait to see what that night would bring.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Chapter Text

Ella had thought that when Alex told her the group wouldn't be together, it meant at night when they were supposed to set off to their arranged nights out, but turns out it meant they wouldn't be in each other's presence at all throughout the whole day.

Breana had gathered them all to start the day at a lovely little coffee shop in which they spent over an hour chatting and enjoying the time away from the lads. The excitement was growing as Kelly told them how everything was confirmed, done and ready for the wedding in two days and they honestly found that they could've spent the whole morning having tea and pastries if it wasn't for Bre telling them they had to be somewhere in the next thirty minutes.

That next place had been a spa, which looked more like a full resort inside. They checked in and were welcomed kindly into the place, and once in the locker room, the model had gone above and beyond, gifting everyone swimsuits so they could head for the swimming pool first.

The area was huge and beautiful, very minimalistic so their eyes hadn't much to focus on other than relishing in the peace and quiet of the place. There was a cascade of water coming from the ceiling which made the room drown in the sound of the water raining down on one side of the pool.

They stayed in the pool for a bit, until they were informed their rooms were ready for their massages. Off they went, rinsing themselves off under the shower before drying off and wrapping themselves in robes to go to their private rooms.

A heavenly hour passed and they met back in the steam room, which after the relaxing massage, felt even better on their tender muscles. Bre told them they were in for facials right after they felt like they were done in the steam room, and all of them feeling like they were about to fall asleep sat inside the crystal walls of the room only after fifteen minutes, decided to go on and get them done.

The facials were another hour and when they walked out of them, only five minutes after the other, the girls felt like they'd already had the best day.

Sitting down on the plush loveseats to get their nails done was the cherry on top, and they all chatted between themselves and the lovely ladies taking care of them about how they had found the whole experience.

Only when they changed back into their clothes and got their belongings out of the lockers, did they realize just how long they had been at the place. When they walked out, they were met with a stunning sky that looked like a painting and Ella didn't waste more than a second to capture it with her camera.

Another thing that had flown past their heads until they walked back into the city was that they hadn't had any food other than the sweets in the morning so with growing hunger they walked around for a place in which Kelly wanted to eat.

They ended up in a gorgeous Mediterranean restaurant in which, between food, drinks and many pictures taken by Ella, they spent almost three hours. So by the time they were out, and Florence texted Alex to make sure the lads weren't at Nick's, they all took a cab to get to the bassist and his fiance's house.

Bre left the main room where Kelly had started getting ready, surrounded by the rest of the girls to bring the stuff Matt had left for them. She had been so mysterious about it that the girls had been almost holding their breaths while waiting for her.

She came back with a big bag hidden behind her, and after lots of pleas from the girls to know what was inside, Bre let the contents fall over the bed.

"It's a hoedown tonight ladies!" Bre exclaimed as the girls went over to get one of the cowboys hats with gasps falling from their lips, Flo getting the white sash that read 'bride to be' to place it on Kelly and Ella getting the last cowboy hat, which was white and had a veil on the back, on Kelly's head.

"Wait, where are we going?" Kelly inquired, fixing her hair under the hat, not really understanding what the props meant.

Breana raised her eyebrows and smirked at the expectant group of women, "We're riding some bulls and getting wasted."

That seemed to make it click for the British girls, humming in understanding and automatically grinning brightly in excitement as there were only a couple places where you could find a country themed pub with a mechanical bull in the city, but Ella was still confused as to where that meant they would go.

All Ella could understand then was that she was grateful she had worn her cowboy boots that day, which had been mostly hidden under her wide leg jeans, taking her best friend's words to mean that the night would be rodeo themed and if she had been born to love one thing, it was a good rodeo party.

Getting ready together had been fun and it reminded Ella of the times she'd get ready with her sister to go out with their friends or to a party, she hadn't realized just how much she missed those days.

Thankfully, Bre had advised them to bring a change of clothes for when they were going out that night so the girls all switched their clothes for better options to go out. Knowing then what the model had told them, Ella decided against switching her jeans for a skirt since if they were really gonna ride something then a skirt wouldn't be the best thing to wear. So she kept her jeans on and decided to switch her white turtleneck for a white vest top and over it the leather jacket she had brought to wear.

Katie and Ella went over to the kitchen to prepare some drinks for everyone to have as they finished getting ready. Music was playing loudly in the room they were occupying, makeup strewn in the dresser and clothes thrown around the bed.

Flo had come to help the girls bring the drinks over and, sip after sip, the group got louder and more excited to leave the house and go to where Breana was taking them. Ella had made sure to snap a bunch of pictures of the scene, and thanks to the refills of her glass, she had already spent a full roll taking frame after frame of them all having fun getting ready for the night.

Thirty minutes later, with 'Here You Come Again' by Dolly Parton playing loudly in the background, they cleaned up their clutter on the bed as quickly as possible to leave the house and make their way to the pub.

The cab they called only took ten minutes to pick them up and about twenty minutes later, they walked through the doors of a big western themed pub.

The place was huge, with loud country music booming through the speakers and strong red and blue lights illuminating every inch of the establishment. There were many tables around, a big bar straight down the middle of the room, a decent area on the left side of the room free of any furniture where people were dancing but what caught their eyes instantly was the mechanical bull on the other side of the room, in the middle of the big red inflatable bed that softened people's falls, and a scoreboard next to it which had the best records of all time—the highest one being of two minutes and nine seconds.

Kelly and Katie had screeched in excitement, Flo laughing at their reactions but the smile on her face let them know she was just as giddy, Bre was smiling proud at the choice she had made to end the day and Ella was just so happy because the place made her feel like she was home.

When they got to the bar, they all started with shots since the bartender saw the sash over Kelly's shoulder and gave them a free tray of tequila shots. They were growing buzzed then, or at least Ella was, as the drinks they'd had at the house were settling down and it made them want to dance.

They got a table near the dancefloor and the bar, where they placed their new drinks and their belongings, hanging their coats on the back of the high chairs and sitting down to finish their drinks first before they could go off to the dancefloor.

Joining the crowd in their hollers and their singing, they were watching the people riding the bull and laughing when they'd fall off it rather aggressively. All of them had already said they wanted to go but agreed that they'd wait a bit so they wouldn't get sick from the movement since they were just now finishing their cocktails.

Ella had been asked about tips and she had given them around, "Just keep your core tight and hang onto that handle for dear life, it's all about keeping your balance without getting too stiff or else it's gonna throw you off. Sway with it but keep your hold on the handle strong." Nodding, they had all mental notes of her words but after their glasses were empty, they had gone off to dance first.

Between dancing, more cocktails and cheering to the music and the people going on the bull, the girls were having the time of their lives. Whenever a song would come on that they all would know, their singing got louder and the people around joined them, everyone also affected by the alcohol in their bloodstreams and the contagious energy from the group of girls.

On the other hand, the lads were having it rough, the pub they had chosen to go was a good one, one of their favorites, but there had been a scrap that had broken out in the middle of the place which threw their moods down and, after the large group that had cause the trouble had been kicked out, the place had gotten rather empty and less energetic.

The billiard tables were empty afterwards, so they had spent a good hour playing, chatting and drinking but it had gotten boring. They were really debating whether or not to leave as they all had a smoke outside. Alex had suggested going back to Nick and Kelly's to drink there and watch UFC as he thought that would make a better end of the night, that was until Matt's phone started to ping continuously and when he checked it, it was all drunk texts from Bre.

The model had texted her boyfriend that the pub was a success and that they were having the best night—or that's what Matt could make out of the mess of letters and lack of spaces between them—along with a bunch of pictures of the group.

The drummer cackled and showed them the snaps of the girls' night: Kelly with her sash and her cowboy hat on doing shots with Flo and Katie, Flo dancing with Ella and a zoomed in one of Katie and Kelly queuing up to get on the bull.

The lads knew that they weren't supposed to do it but crashing into the girls' night seemed like the only good idea then and knowing that they wouldn't really mind, they did just that. Jamie called a taxi and it picked them up five minutes later, driving them up to where the girls were in less than thirty minutes.

When they got there, the place was a mess of cheers and music and once the lads came in, they found out why the people were being so loud. Ella and Bre were on the bull, holding onto the handle as they shook over the mechanical animal. And what made Alex's grin grow on his face was recognizing the song playing to be 'Country Girl' by Black Sabbath, which gave him all the confirmation that it had been Ella to request it.

Katie's gaze fell on the boys by the entrance and waved them over to where they were and once they approached their table, the girls greeted them excitedly. Alex was quick to say hello to everyone, his eyes barely leaving the girls on the bull and Matt was doing the same.

The drummer came to stand beside Alex and wolf whistled for the girls as the seconds ran closer to the ones on the scoreboard. A minute and twenty six seconds went by when Bre lost grip of the handle and fell to the right side, she'd had her left arm around Ella's waist so she took her best friend down with her and everyone cheered for them when they landed on the red inflatable mattress.

The lad working the bull had seen how Ella had been pulled off the machine so before she and Breana could fully leave, he encouraged Ella to get back on it. Bre nodded and pushed Ella back in the direction of it and she got on it with a giddy smile.

She was quite breathless but eager to see how long she could last because she knew she could definitely go over the first spot on the scoreboard. Before he could start the bull and the time, the guy changed the song and when 'Boot Scootin' Boogie' by Brooks & Dunn came on, Ella was absolutely ready.

A whole minute went on and everyone was staring at her, people loudly cheering, including the lads. Alex cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Yes Ella! Come on darling!" hopeful that she might hear him.

Flo came up to Alex then, standing beside him as she sipped on her gin and lemonade to hide her smirk, "She knows how to ride quite well, doesn't she?"

That made Alex's breath hitch in his throat, like his view had completely switched and looking at Ella shaking on top of the bull was now making him burn from head to toe.

But his best friend didn't stop there, not when she knew she'd get him with every little suggestive comment she could do about Ella, "If I wasn't married I would definitely be asking for a ride."

The singer's mouth opened agape then and Flo was barely able to hear his scoff over the music, "Stop that." He warned with pink cheeks, really not needing more of her taunting.

That wasn't going to stop her though, she shrugged like she was going to do as he had instructed but finishing off with, "I'm sure Matty would be open for a threesome, I'll make an offer on Saturday." and winked at Alex before she left him to continue watching Ella who had been on the bull for almost two minutes.

Alex watched her attently, trying hard to steer away from the thoughts Flo's comments had sparked but failing miserably. How couldn't he when she was shaking on that bull, her tits bouncing as she rode and her ass stretching her jeans.

The second she was over two minutes and nine seconds, the whole pub grew louder to encourage her to continue and to the surprise of all, she stayed over it—struggling by the last thirty seconds—for the remainder of the song, which meant Ella had broken the record and now she'd be placed first with a whopping three minutes and eighteen seconds.

Ella let herself fall off the bull when the song reached its end, and she did a little curtsy when she got back up as everyone was clapping and cheering for her.

Half a minute later, Ella arrived back at the table and when she saw the lads there, she gasped and ran to hug them all.

"What are you doing here?" She asked Matt, who she'd hugged last, completely breathless.

The drummer shrugged, "We got bored and yous looked like you were having the best time."

She clicked her tongue and dusted off her shoulder like she was proud of that statement, "It's 'cause we're doing it like in the south."

Jamie laughed at her half lidded gaze, "Jesus, you're drunk."

"Not that much, it's the shaking over there." Her thumb pointed behind her to where the bull was, making them laugh.

"Congratulations, by the way." Nick pointed out with a taunting smile and a raise of his eyebrows.

But Ella waved him off, "That's nothing."

Alex threw his arm around her shoulders, "You're being humble now." He knew if he'd been the one there, he would've lasted a minute on top of the bull and that was being generous.

Her eyes went up to watch his face, "Always am, unlike you." She said sassily, but snaked her arm around his waist to hug him closer.

He scoffed and jaw fell in faux offense, "Ouch."

Ella was going to continue humbling him when Nick commented, "This place looks great, though."

"It reminds me of home!" She let go of Alex to throw her arms up in the air, extremely excited over the familiarity the place exuded, "Y'all need to come down to Manchester at least once, I know just where to take you."

She knew exactly which place would have the whole group having the time of their lives, and especially a certain event which the place was famous for holding. Cowboy night would be so much fun with them all: country music, line dancing, Tennessee whiskey, cowboy hats to take. She'd had many memorable nights back home thanks to those parties and if having them all back at her hometown wasn't enough, spending one of those nights together would have her heart multiplying in size in her chest.

Jamie smirked, "Sounds like trouble." And he meant it because all that could be read on Ella's face was mischief.

"Isn't that the best part?" Ella replied with a wink, "You better book Bonnaroo in your next festival run." Her pointed finger was a warning that made sure to fall over the four of them.

"We will." Alex said, not even a second passing for him to assure her of it.

Ella turned to him with a sparkle in her eyes, "Promise?"

And the smile grew on her face when he nodded and added, "I promise."

Satisfied with that Ella hummed and turned back to the whole band again, "Right. Now let's get wasted and it's your turn to go on the bull."

Nick sucked air through his teeth like the idea of it wasn't gonna work for him, "I'm not sure that's a good idea." and unfortunately Jamie and Alex agreed with him.

She clicked her tongue, "Oh c'mon, not even you Helders?"

Matt shook his head, "No, thank you."

Without wasting time, Ella turned to call out for her best friend, "Breana, come fix this." At the shout for her help, the model was beside her in no time and after Ella told her how Matt had said no to going on the bull, she added, "I'm sure you can come up with something."

A smirk tugged at the corners of Breana's lips, the perfect idea popping up in her head and she made sure to whisper her conditions in her boyfriend's ear hoping it would work.

Ella knew Bre had managed it when Matt's jaw dropped and he narrowed his eyes at her, "You're cruel, woman." Everyone was watching expectantly to find out what it was but they only got his answer, "Okay, I'm in."

Bre clapped her hands and kissed his cheek under the group's intrigued gazes so after a few seconds of silence when the couple didn't get what everyone was trying to get from them, Ella asked, "What was it?"

Very proudly, the model puffed her chest out while she walked back to stand beside Ella, "No sex for a week."

Everyone laughed and Ella smirked at her, "That's my bitch."

"You're the worst influence." Matt ended up saying, rolling his eyes at Ella's amusement. To which Ella flipped him off and dragged Bre back to the table to drink some more before jetting off to the dance floor.

The night had ended going mostly like that. More drinks coming to the table, lots of dancing, a few more miserable attempts at the bull, running to the bathroom when someone felt like they were going to be sick. And repeat.

After two in the morning, it was all a blur. Ella didn't remember how and when she had made it to her hotel room. She only knew she'd had the worst time rushing to the bathroom when she felt the alcohol rising up her throat and interrupting the sleep she so desperately wanted.

She ended up missing breakfast time but it was fine because all she could really find appealing after she properly woke up was loads of water.

That was until a few hours into the afternoon, which she'd spent watching British programmes, she heard her tummy grumbling for food but just out of pure laziness she kept putting it off.

Her phone ringing interrupted her on the rabbit hole she'd fallen after starting to watch the rerun of Downton Abbey. She was growing intrigued by the drama so without really checking who it was, she answered with her focus still completely caught by the show.

"Hello?" Ella answered the call, almost disinterested.

But then she heard Alex's voice asking her, "Are you alive?" and she had paused the episode playing on the TV to give him her undivided attention.

She chuckled to herself, "Barely."

The singer hummed as a response and then inquired, "Wanna go watch a film?"

Ella smiled to herself knowing this was meant to be like one of their usual Los Feliz visits only way different. "Like a new one?" She asked, knowing she usually dragged him to watch classics or her favorite movies but she didn't know how that worked over there.

"I think they have many classics for you to choose from."

The fact that he knew her so well made her warm inside so she hummed to show her interest in the proposition, "You've caught me now."

"It's not far from us, I can pick you up in a bit and take a taxi there." Alex explained quickly so she'd have an idea of how the outing would go.

But she groaned at the thought of having to move right that moment, so she suggested a twist to it, "I'm half dead, come here and we'll head there later."

A little shy, he had to ask, "You sure I won't be disrupting your peace?"

"'Course not." Ella reassured him instantly, "Just come over, we can be zombies together. Was just thinking of getting food up now so come quick and you can get something too." She knew his presence would only help her settle so there wasn't a better idea than that.

Ella could hear his smile when he replied, "Right, I'm leaving in a minute."

"Okay, see you then sweets."

"What room are you in again? 326?" He made sure to ask just to make sure his memory wasn't playing with him.

"Yep, 326." She confirmed and with that Alex promised he'd be there as soon as possible.

It must've been fifteen minutes that it took him to get to the hotel, go on the lift and knock on her door. Ella opened it and Alex chuckled at her appearance. She was wearing gray joggers and a big Fleetwood Mac tee, almost drowning in it.

Ella pulled him into the room, making him trail behind her as her slow steps took them to bed. Alex was finding the silence around them so amusing, and the amusement grew when she got to the foot of the bed and dropped his hand to throw herself on it and groan.

To taunt her, he had copied her but instead of landing beside her, he landed on her back which made her squeal out in help. He fell beside her in laughter while she complained about how that had been his worst idea ever.

"I hate you, I feel like the last bit of energy I had has been squished out of me." She added, words falling on the bed as she hid her face on it.

Alex threw his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, leaving a kiss on the side of her head with a cackle. "Sorry darling, but you love me."

Ella refused to look at him just because she was actually knackered and she was too lazy to move. She only replied with a groan that sounded like a denial and it earned her another giggle from him.

They let themselves close their eyes for a bit, a few minutes passing before Ella's grumbling stomach startled them awake and she begrudgingly lifted herself up from bed to order some food as she'd been planning.

Reading the hotel's room service menu rather quickly, Ella gave it to Alex and dialed the extension to order as he chose what he wanted. Thankfully, the singer didn't take too long to find something that appealed to his appetite. After mouthing it to her, she asked for it followed by a 'please' and with a promise to have the food up in twenty minutes, she put the phone back in its place.

Time passed as they watched more Downton Abbey, and the show stayed on even as they ate but it was more of background noise then because they got lost in conversation.

After they were done with their food, they shuffled up the bed to rest their backs on the pillows against the headboard. They were sitting next to each other with their focus back on the British show and as the minutes passed, her head came to rest and his shoulder and his head on top of hers.

They fell asleep like that and it wasn't until an hour later that they woke up to a knock on the door.

Ella groaned at the sudden noise, Alex was startled but he went to see who it was. It turned out to be someone from the staff coming to pick the plates up and the rolling table the food had been brought on.

Noticing it was about to be half past six in the afternoon, they decided it would be time to leave so Ella changed as quickly as she could and they were out waiting for a taxi fifteen minutes later.

'BFI Southbank' it read when they got there, and she was rather suspicious of the place as she compared it to her usual Los Feliz theater in her mind. It was a lovely surprise to see the many classics Alex had promised up on the box office list, some titles catching her attention instantly.

"Have you ever seen Blue Velvet?" Her eyes kept wandering over the other films she was considering as options.

"Can't say I have." Alex replied nonchalantly since the name didn't ring any bells in his mind.

Her jaw dropped at his confession, "Oh my– Right, we're watching it then."

"Is it good?" He asked a little shyly, moving closer to the booth to get their tickets.

Ella nodded and eagerly stated, "One of the best films I've ever seen."

"You're bigging it up now darling." The singer teased with a mocking look.

She rolled her eyes playfully under his unserious gaze, "Promise it won't disappoint. It's a lot but it's really damn good."

Alex's reactions to the film had made Ella smile bright throughout the whole thing. Even when she winced at the gory scenes, she'd hear Alex mumbling something under his breath and she'd have to bite her tongue not to laugh out loud.

By the end of it, he was completely blown away by it and he knew he'd have to process it a bit but the film was insanely good and the cinematography reminded him of Kubrick.

"That was fucking mental." Was the first thing he uttered once the credits rolled.

"Right?" She chuckled out loud seeing his wide eyes, "God, what a fucking great film." Ella said in a content sigh.

They sat as the words flew up the screen, Ella pointing out some names she knew about and telling Alex facts she knew about the production of the movie. Alex heard it all with a smile, entirely blown away by the knowledge she seemed to have about the multiple movies they'd gone to see ever since he started joining her on her usual Los Feliz outings.

"You ready to head back?" The singer asked when she started shuffling in her seat.

She nodded, putting some strands of hair behind her ear and yawning, "Yeah I'm so tired, and we have to wake up super early tomorrow..."

The tone of her voice almost sounded like she was in pain and he chuckled at her as he stood up at the same time as her. "Darling, you could easily wake up thirty minutes before I come to pick you up."

"And look awful?" She quipped back as their feet took them out of the auditorium they'd been in, "Sorry, sweets but I need to make an effort. It's a wedding!"

He rolled his eyes and scoffed like she was chatting shit, "You don't need to do much at all to look stunning darling."

And Ella copied him and replied, "You're only saying because you're my best friend."

Alex shook his head and lifted his pinky for her to intertwine with his as he said, "I promise it's a very impartial statement."

"Oh shush." She pushed him to the side with her shoulder, eliciting a string of giggles out of him.

"What is it you're doing that's gonna take so long for you to be mourning your lack of sleep then?"

She sighed trying to recall her plan for the morning, "Was thinking of curling my hair and putting it up, so achieving a decent looking updo will take me enough time." She explained firstly, "And then just try and make an actual effort with my makeup."

Pursing his lips, trying to stop his laughter, he then replied, "Would be so funny if you slept in."

Ella let her jaw drop, "Turner, why are you hoping for my downfall?"

"M'not, just saying it'd be funny." She tried to poke him after he said that but he caught her hand before she could and intertwined their fingers as they walked. "What would you even do?" He wondered what would be her plan if she indeed ended up sleeping for longer than she planned to.

"Probably not go."

The seriousness in her voice had a scornful, "Eleanor." falling from his lips instantly.

"Okay that'd be a thirty percent chance." She corrected herself hastily after his reaction, "I'd go but hide so people don't look at me half ready."

"You're dramatic." He said, shaking his head with a smile.

With a hum of disagreement, she chatted back, "I'm being very truthful."

"You'd look stunning regardless, darling. I mean... Do I have to remind you how you look in that dress?" His eyebrows raised as if trying to prove a point and that was enough for her to press her lips and beg to herself not to let her cheeks redden.

"Stop it." She muttered quietly, poking his side once more and cutting the conversation short by walking faster towards the exit, basically dragging him beside her, "Let's go Alexander."

The drive back to the hotel was a bit longer than she'd liked. Yawning behind her hand far too many times and Alex softly cooing at her beside her.

When they finally got there, Alex told the driver to wait for him for a minute and the man begrudgingly agreed.

Alex hugged Ella tightly and said, "See you tomorrow darling." in her ear, leaving a kiss on her temple.

Ella hummed in bliss and kissed his cheek, "Night sweets."

When he let go, his gaze stayed on her and with a soft smile he wished her "Sweet dreams."

A toothy smile broke on Ella's face, "Sweet dreams Al."

He turned around to go back in the cab and waved Ella goodbye. She took a step back and waved back at him. A second later, the taxi was already moving and in less than half a minute Alex was completely gone from her sight.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

The next morning, Ella had actually managed to wake up at the sound of her first alarm. Mostly because she had been half awake all night worried about sleeping through them.

It had been good though, because she had enough time to get ready and not rush. The updo had been hard enough for her and she thanked everything out there she had a bit over an hour until Alex would come get her. Once she had deemed the hairdo decent enough, she did her makeup with a bit more intent than she usually would when she went out and it turned out better than she expected.

By the time Alex had called her to say he was on his way, she was putting her heels on and she told him she'd be waiting for him at the lobby.

She'd been texting Breana when Alex walked through the main doors, and since no one else was there other than the staff behind the desk and those running around the place, his eyes fell instantly on Ella. Perched on a loveseat with a small case by her feet and her shoulders shaking as if she was giggling quietly.

In the silence of the morning, Ella had been able to catch the thud of Alex's steps against the marble floors so she locked her phone and turned around as he walked up to her and stood up from her place.

She smiled brightly at him and threw her arms around his neck to hug him, his arms going around her waist and holding her tightly towards him. He couldn't help but let his fingers trail upwards and feel the soft skin of her back, Ella had felt warmth erupting under his touch and rushing to every bit of her body.

Slowly, he let go of her but made sure to get ahold of her right hand, thumb rubbing circles over her Pure Desire tattoo as he took a short step back to look her up and down, "You look absolutely stunning darling."

Her hair was up in a low bun with some strands of hair on the front, framing her face and loosely curled, her makeup was beautiful and the brown subtly shimmery eyeshadow was making her hazel green eyes pop even more than usual. Her lips tinted with a mauve lipstick which made them look full and plump. The dress looked unreal on her, just like it had the day she tried it on but seeing her fully ready made her look out of this world.

"Why, thank you sweets." She blushed a little under his attentive gaze, "You don't look too bad yourself."

He didn't look bad at all. The blue suit was the exact shade as her dress and the white button up he had under the blazer wasn't fully done so she could see his chest and a thin gold chain around his neck.

He was wearing sunglasses, his usual aviators that looked so good on him. They were propped up on his head, his hair looked to be left natural without any gel on it which made her grin get bigger.

Alex scoffed like what she'd said was a bad joke, "Definitely do next to you."

Rolling her eyes playfully, she muttered, "Oh shut it, you don't at all." before letting go of his hand to link her arm through his. He crouched down slightly to grab her case so they could go, it was light so it wasn't a struggle at all yet she still said, "Thank you sweetness."

They started walking towards the doors, but Alex couldn't stop taking glances at her rather than looking in front of him, "You look truly gorgeous Ellie."

Ella gave him a sweet smile, he could see her trying not to recoil into herself, "Thank you Al." So she got his attention away from her and into the situation, "Let's go before it gets too late."

The cold air hit them as soon as they walked through the door, goosebumps erupting on her skin. "We have time." Alex said as he unhooked his arm through hers and wrapped it around her lower back to shield her from the cool wind.

"You never know." She replied, saying thank you with her eyes and that smile of hers.

Her grin was contagious, Alex matching it and walking her to the passenger door. He opened it for her and she thanked him audibly this time, carefully sitting down and lifting the gown enough to not step on it as she got comfortable in the seat.

He waited for her confirmation to close the door and went to the boot of the car to put her case away, once it was placed next to his bag, he walked to the driver's door. Once inside, he told her she was in charge of the music and that was enough for her to cheer softly, not wasting much time to connect her phone to the aux and play some Blondie.

The drive was about an hour and a half long, the hotel in which it was being hosted was in the countryside and despite the gloomy morning, it all looked beautiful.

When they got there, someone took the car for Alex after they had gotten their stuff out of the boot. It was easy enough to check in since it was still quite early and it seemed like people were arriving a bit later.

Ella and Alex had been assigned rooms on the same floor but about 5 rooms away so they went their own ways to leave their stuff in their respective rooms and after that, they went down to where the groom was getting ready.

She followed the singer as he walked into the groom's room and she went a little shy under the gaze of the multiple men she didn't know who were there with Nick.

Waving at them just to be polite, she waited until Alex was done congratulating the bassist to give him a massive hug and congratulate him. She got a bit emotional seeing him in his suit and with a gorgeous white rose pinned on his lapel.

"Awh Nick, you've grown up too fast." She played, carefully wiping a rebel tear that managed to fall down the corner of her eye

Nick cackled at her, "You're such an idiot." He just said before hugging her again.

They laughed in their embrace before she let go of him and grabbed her camera which was hanging off her shoulder. "I need to take your pictures!" She exclaimed, turning around to leave her little purse on a table and encouraging the group of lads to get in the picture.

Jamie wasn't there yet, neither was Matt but she wanted to take some shots just in case she didn't get to later.

"Ella, we told you you weren't allowed to take pictures until the reception." Nick said as he got surrounded by his friends and cousins.

"Oh well I forgot." Ella waved him off, looking through the viewfinder to focus the shot, "Smile!"

Ella went around the room, letting the guys in the room go back to what they were doing as she snapped various shots of the room and candids of the group. She was glad she'd put a few rolls in her bag so she could do the same when she went to the bride's room.

Alex had introduced her to Andy Nicholson and they were chatting about the early band days and their childhood memories when Jamie, Matt and Miles got there so after that she snapped more pictures of everyone. Her favorite probably was the one she took of the band, all of them with massive smiles on their faces that exuded pride for their best mate.

When she saw that the lads were getting rowdy and she had enough pictures, she said a quick goodbye to the band and waved everyone else goodbye to run off to Kelly's room.

The second she opened the door to the room the bride was getting ready in, Ella screeched seeing Kelly's dress hanging behind her while she was getting her makeup and hair done.

Kelly smiled with her eyes closed, giggles falling from her lips and just as she was about to guess who it was, Ella put her camera up to take a picture as she loudly cooed and said, "What a gorgeous bride!"

The American accent gave Ella away instantly and Kelly called her out to come up to her.

Ella did just that, the makeup artist and the hair stylist both stopped their tasks when she got next to Kelly so they could hug. And apologizing for getting in the way of their job, Ella stepped back as soon as she had felt like she had squeezed Kelly long and tightly enough to silently say how happy she was for her.

She went around greeting everyone, Kelly's bridesmaids and the girls were there keeping her company as well. It had made her so happy to see them all again as if they hadn't seen each other only two days before.

Bre, Flo and Katie were just as excited as Ella though, all of them screeching when seeing each other and gushing over how stunning they all looked.

Just like she had done at the groom's room, Ella had gone around the room snapping shots of everything and everyone, planning already to get all those pictures printed and scanned so she could give the newlyweds them and maybe make them a cute wedding book when she was back in LA.

Kelly had been so distracted by everything else that she'd completely missed calling Ella out for not keeping to her promise of only taking pictures during the reception because when she saw the actual photographer come in and start taking her pictures getting ready, with her family and her bridesmaids, she felt a bit calmer knowing that if anything, Ella had also caught moments on her camera.

In between laughter and chatter, clicking of heels, shutters going off and many cute little speeches that threaten to make everyone in the room cry, the morning went by and soon enough they had all been instructed to go outside to the courtyard where the ceremony would be held.

Thankfully, the sky was no longer gray and most of the clouds had cleared out to show off the sun. It was still windy so the flowers were waving in the wind, some petals falling on the platform that had been placed in the middle of the rows of chairs where Kelly would walk up to Nick later.

There was a bigger platform right at the end with a lovely arch made of flowers which matched the ones decorating the sides of the chairs.

Soon everyone started filtering from the hotel to the courtyard and sitting down where they found best.

The girls met with the rest of the band by the back of the chair arrangement, each of them going to their dates and talking about which row they'd choose to sit at. Matty had appeared a few minutes later, coming down from his and Flo's room where he had been getting ready.

Alex grabbed Ella's hand to help her walk in the grass, her free hand pulling the skirt of her gown up a bit so she didn't trip with the long fabric of the dress.

Alex and Ella sat next to Bre and Matt, Jamie and Katie sat right behind them along with Matty and Flo, and Miles had gone off with Andy on the other side of the aisle. Not even ten minutes later, Nick appeared and walked up to the makeshift altar.

Everyone clapped and complimented him, wolf whistles coming from multiple people around and it was hilarious to see Nick shying away and blushing at the attention.

The bassist started thanking everyone for coming, trying to change the attention from him to everyone else and it had worked for a few minutes until the lads and his cousins started taunting him so everyone sitting around was laughing.

Everyone was shushed a little bit later, and when the string quartet started playing the Bridal Chorus, Kelly was the one who got everyone's attention.

She looked gorgeous as she walked beside her dad, and Ella was already tearing up at the scene. When she turned to look at Nick and saw that he was tearing up as well, she had to cover her mouth with her hand so she wouldn't cry out loud.

Alex's arm snaked around her waist, squeezing softly to comfort her and rubbing circles over the fabric of her dress. Ella leaned against him ever so slightly, letting her hand fall from her mouth so she could clap with everyone as Kelly got closer to where Nick was.

Kelly's dad's send off made everyone emotional seemed like because Bre turned to Ella and they found each other just as teary eyed.

The whole ceremony had been rather emotional, especially the vow exchange for which Ella had literally had to rest her head on Alex's shoulder and subtly hide her face in the crook of his neck because of how much she couldn't control the tears running down her face. She was so thankful she had decided against wearing eyeliner that day or else she would've looked like a racoon by the time the ceremony was over.

She was also thankful for Alex's presence and just how soothing it was to her. If there was someone she knew she could cry to and know that she'd feel so much better afterwards just from being in their presence, it was Alex.

Not that Breana wasn't that person too or her sister or Jayne or her own mom but there was something about how much more special it had become having Alex with her the past few months and she couldn't deny that.

Ella had taken a couple of pictures of the newlyweds walking down the aisle and being showered in flower petals, happiness lingered in the air as everyone waited to be called over to the big salon where the reception would be held.

The decoration there was stunning, so Ella went around the place to take some pictures as soon as she could before Nick and Kelly came into the room.

As soon as she was done with the roll she currently had in her camera, she went back to the table she and the lads had been assigned. It was Alex and Ella, Flo and Matty, Katie and Jamie, Bre and Matt, Andy and Miles all around a circular table.

She managed to change the film roll for a new one just in time for Nick and Kelly making their grand entrance and the cheering from everyone around the room was so deafening, the walls and floor felt like they were shaking.

The speeches started first and it had been again a reason to have Ella letting silent tears roll down her cheeks. This time though, Flo was hugging her since she was just as emotional. Matty and Alex had let soft chuckles out seeing them like that, acting like they weren't trying their hardest to not tear up themselves.

After all the sweet words about the husband and wife were shared, the first dance was announced and that's when Flo went off to the back of the room. She was doing a live painting of the moment as a cute little gift for Nick and Kelly. There was an easel there already, canvas perched on it and a little wooden table with loads of brushes and different coloured paint.

Ella also stood up, wanting to capture the first dance with her camera and the family's reactions as well. She walked slowly around the room, smiling to herself over how much the scene filled her with warmth and made her heart swell.

She captured the moment the song had ended and the couple had kissed sweetly to tie the moment with a golden ribbon, a tear running down her cheek as she pressed the shutter.

The feeling of eyes on her made her turn to look to the left of her and she found Alex there looking at her with that boyish smile of his. Ella gave him a toothy smile, finding herself feeling warmer exchanging looks with her best friend.

The clapping and hollering for the newlyweds broke out and made the walls shake once again, so Ella snapped back to reality, her eyes brought back to the happy couple who were waving and thanking everyone for the love.

Another gorgeous ballad started and Ella this time got her attention caught by a very focused Flo who moved very intently in her little space. Ella instantly grew curious about what the painting looked like so with quick steps she went over to her.

A gasp automatically fell from her lips when she walked up to Flo, the silhouette of Nick and Kelly dancing surrounded by the floral arrangements and the rest of the room's details was drawn in pencil on the white canvas and Flo was already painting Kelly's dress with an amazing precision.

"You're fucking amazing Flo." Ella complimented out loud, watching her swift but calculated strokes on the canvas making for a stunning painting already.

Flo smiled at her sweetly, "Thank you Ellie."

Ella told her she'd leave her to it after staring at her working for about five minutes, apologizing for disrupting her—which Flo completely dismissed—and went back over to the table to watch people starting to dance.

None of them were planning on hitting the dancefloor just yet. Alex, Jamie and Matty actually went to the bar first to get everyone drinks to start the night off and with that chatter had started flowing around the table.

Matty had gone straight to Flo to give her the drink he'd gotten her at the bar and after twenty minutes he was yet to come back so, with curiosity continuing to brew inside her, Ella got up to check on Flo and the painting.

As she walked, she could see Matty watching her in adoration as she worked. His hand grazed her waist as if he just wanted to touch her but not interrupt her, and that was enough for Ella's insides to melt.

When she got there, the painting was almost done, Flo was adding shadows and adding a few tiny details on the background but it looked stunning and Ella was completely blown away by the fact that she could make something like that in such little time.

Ella's jaw had dropped, "Holy shit, this is so impressive."

"Right?" Matty replied, smiling proudly and turning back to watch his wife working her magic.

Flo chuckled and put down the brush for a few seconds to admire what she'd done so far, "It's good, isn't it?"

"Good?" Ella scoffed, "It's perfect!" And because of the intense happiness she could feel showering over everyone in the room and the drink she'd already had, she was buzzing with so much excitement that she engulfed Flo in a tight hug from behind. "You're so so so incredible!"

Matty's and Flo's laughter filled the air, eliciting giggles out of Ella. She stayed with them for a bit longer until Breana called her over and she left them with a tight hug and more compliments for the artist.

Bre and Katie dragged her to the dancefloor then, dancing as best as they could in their dresses and their uncomfortable shoes. Beyonce was blasting through the speakers and Ella laughed when she noticed Alex singing along while he watched them from his seat.

She used her index finger to signal him to come to where they were but he was too sober to dance just yet so Ella rolled her eyes dramatically and flipped him off, mouthing "Boring." at him. Alex cackled loudly, a smirk pressed against the rim of his glass which ended up faltering slightly when she turned to call Miles up and the scouser didn't waste a moment to go up to her.

The dancefloor had been cleared out about an hour later, when the girls and Miles had all taken a break from the dancing—Flo and Matty had joined them and they had all celebrated and purposely said loudly how Matty was the only one who wasn't boring—, but they had all been called back because it was time for Kelly to throw the bouquet.

The girls were fine taking the second row of people, none of them too fussed about catching the bouquet as much as the girls in front of them were.

That's why it had been funny when Kelly turned her back to them and threw it with enough force for it to go further back and landing just in the raised hands of Katie.

Flo wolf whistled next to them, Bre and Ella hollered loudly along with the whole room and Katie's eyes went straight to look at Jamie. There the man had been watching it all with a massive smile and something had sparked inside him when his girlfriend got the flowers.

Kelly ran to hug Katie and then dragged her, followed by the girls, to the table so she could tell the guitarist it was a sign that they had to set a date already. He nodded, smirking and confirming, "I know." with such confidence that Katie sat on his lap and crashed her lips against his.

Ruckus broke on the table, everyone laughing loudly when Matt said in nine months not only would they be getting a little O'Malley but also a little Cook.

The more time passed, the more the night got blurry. The food had been good but small portions so the amount of alcohol they were all taking was going up to their heads faster and with the dancing, which they all were doing now, was not helping their dizzy heads.

So to try and calm down a bit, they all went outside to take some fresh air. Ella giggled loudly when she struggled to walk on the grass, holding onto Alex's forearm for dear life to not fall on her face.

Thankfully it wasn't that late so it wasn't that cold yet. The air was slightly chilly but there wasn't much wind which was good for them all.

Alex was about to take his cigarettes out and pass the pack around the group for anyone that wanted a smoke when Matty said he had a surprise for everyone.

He showed them the two spliffs he'd been keeping in his pocket and Ella gasped.

"Oh, I need one." She said, closing her eyes just imagining the soothing smoke going down her throat.

Flo clicked her tongue, thinking of a quick solution for everyone to enjoy the weed, "Well we can all share."

Ella clapped her hands in excitement, "You two are my favorites!"

To her left, she heard Breana scoffing, "My very own best friend."

And an offended Matt adding, "Fuck you."

Everyone giggled around them while Ella waved them off and blew them kisses, "Oh I love you two as well. Stop it."

Matty lit up the first spliff, taking a hit and passed it to Flo and that's how everyone around the circle got to take two hits of it until it was done. The weed was good but two hits were only doing so much for them so as soon as the first one was burnt down, he lit up the second one.

But this time, the curly headed brunette changed his actions for he took a hit and let the smoke out his mouth to inhale it back in but grabbing his wife by her neck and pulling her in, shotgunning the smoke into her mouth.

"Oh damn." Katie said, her jaw slightly agape as she wasn't expecting that to happen.

"Now that's hot." Ella giggled, making everyone around giggle as well while Flo let the smoke out upwards with a hint of an amused smile.

With a smirk, Matty handed Flo the spliff and she stole a quick peck before getting it. When the joint was between her fingers, Flo turned to face Ella and mischievously asked, "Wanna try Ellie?"

Ella chuckled at the proposition, finding it fun to be doing that with her new friends. She was brought back to her college days when she'd learned how to shotgun with her friends there and how entertaining it was.

Yet, Ella needed to make sure if her husband was okay with that happening so she looked at him and made sure to ask, "That alright with you Matty?"

The singer's curls bounced as he nodded, "Go ahead, we gotta share after all." He finished saying with a wink that had Ella subtly blushing. She'd only met Flo a few days before and now they were about to shotgun, plus she wouldn't deny she found Flo attractive so it was to be expected that she was getting flustered in anticipation.

Trying to act cool, the American girl shrugged and nodded to give Flo the green light. Flo took a drag, cheeks hollowing as she did, and cupped Ella's jaw delicately to pull her in.

Ella's eyes closed subconsciously when she felt Flo's parted lips on hers and then she expertly inhaled the smoke she was letting out. Keeping the smoke in her throat for a few seconds, she smiled with her lips pressed and then blew the smoke upwards with hints of laughter in between.

Laughter that only got louder when Flo pressed a cheeky wet kiss on her neck.

"Smells like there might be a threesome tonight." Miles said out loud, looking straight at Flo, Ella and Matty.

Flo cackled loudly and wrapped her arm around Ella to pull her in and play along, "Oh we would love to." She made sure to leave a loud kiss on Ella's cheek and the American girl covered her red face with her hands as she let out a squeak.

The group laughed at a flustered Ella, Matt saying, "Right Ellie, your turn now." and when the girl looked at him, he raised his eyebrows nodding to Alex.

She shook her head, knowing just what he was trying to do. Flo gave her the spliff and winked at her teasingly, making her roll her eyes playfully at her for joining Matt in his efforts to embarrass her out of it.

After that head shake, Alex fully expected Ella to take a drag and then hand him the joint but what a lovely surprise was he given when Ella took a drag and just as he put his hand out to grab it from her, she grabbed his tie and pulled him in by it.

The action had surprised him so much that his jaw fell at the perfect time and when he felt Ella's parted lips on his, he almost forgot what he was meant to do. His breath had hitched in his throat so his inhale was sloppy, which made Ella throw her head back in a laugh before he could even exhale the smoke.

Alex ended up chuckling as he let the smoke out, shaking his head as he looked at her. She looked at him completely amused, laughing again when she noticed a bit of her lipstick smudged on his lips.

Ella brought her thumb to his lips to clean them up, and as they were so entranced with each other, they missed everyone's knowing looks. It was so crystal clear to everyone that something was going on there, unspoken, but that night would be when something would unfold and hopefully turn into a thing.

"Okay, there." Ella mumbled when she found her cleaning task done on Alex's lips. Alex was still a bit stupefied by the feeling of her mouth and her touch on his face.

But realizing she still had the spliff in her hand, and seeing that Bre was next, Ella stepped in front of Alex to approach the model and with the smirk she had in her face, Matt knew exactly what she was trying to do.

So the drummer interrupted her steps, snatching the joint from Ella's fingers and taking a drag himself to pull Bre in by her waist and shotgun her.

Ella crossed her arms with a huff and a frown on her face, so childish, it had the group laughing. "Selfish bitch." She muttered with a pout on her face.

Matt rolled his eyes as he turned to Ella and mockingly reminded her, "We agreed to sharing the spliff, not my girlfriend."

But before Matt could sing victory at getting Ella, Breana took a step forward and pulled Ella in by her jaw to steal a quick kiss.

Wanting to wind Matt up, Ella hummed loudly in satisfaction and when she pulled away, she flipped him off with a toothy smile.

A jaw dropped Matt was the reason for the group's loud laughter then, and the way he reacted when Bre tried to hug him in an attempt to comfort him. His death glare on Ella and the lack of effort to reciprocate Breana's embraced got everyone the more amused.

The next ones to go were Jamie and Katie, who went about it far quicker than everyone which was ideal since the joint was burning out quicker due to everyone's delays. Next were Nick and Kelly, who also went perfectly quick and once the only two left were Andy and Miles, things got hilarious.

Andy got the spliff and jokingly turned to Miles, "Should we?" He suggested casually, making everyone around them laugh.

Miles simply shrugging in response made the laughter rumble louder, Andy cackling to Miles face as he shook his head.

Andy ended up just taking a hit of the joint and gave it to Miles. The scouser made it seem like it had hurt him deeply that Andy hadn't gone through with his suggestion, but then he stared ahead on him and saw Ella.

He raised his eyebrows at her and she did the same back like she was challenging him to actually do it. Miles didn't miss the glare Alex gave him when he realized what he was trying to do.

With a few strides, he walked up right in front of Ella and with her slight nod, he had the confirmation that he could do it. So Miles took a long drag of the last of the spliff and snaked his arm around Ella's waist to pull her in.

Her pupils were big and red already from the weed's effect, Miles smirked at her as he started pulling in and Ella stayed still since she wanted Miles to do the work.

But the situation was so funny to her that she couldn't help laughing aloud, throwing her head back just as Miles was about to reach her lips. The scouser broke out in laughter too, making himself end up coughing the smoke out.

The group, already feeling blissed out under the effect of the weed, laughed just as loud as them. Matt and Flo struggled to let their words out but everyone knew it was in means to taunt Miles more for the situation.

Squeezing Ella's waist, Miles shook his head as he still laughed. "You just pied me off." He called out lightheartedly.

Flo was almost crying from laughter, "She did!"

Ella's eyes prickled with tears as she continued to laugh, struggling to catch her breath. "Sorry Miles, love you." She managed out half a minute later, finishing off by giving him a kiss on the cheek and patting it right after as a little apology.

Being considerate, Matty put out the spliffs with a stomp and then picked up the burnt out buds to throw away in a trash bin that was close to them. After that, noticing the wind picking up, they all decided to go back inside.

Nick and Kelly went ahead of the group, everyone else following slowly behind. Alex and Ella fell last since she was struggling with her steps under the influence of the alcohol and the weed.

But even with her hazy mind, she didn't miss how Alex was clutching her waist tighter. The firmness of his hold burst something inside her which made her tummy flutter and that ended making her giggle.

"What are you giggling about?" He asked, amused.

"Nothing." She replied, holding back her laughter.

She smiled brightly at his frowning confused face but when she scrunched up her nose at him, his face fell into a soft expression.

"Alright darling." Alex trailed off, a hint of suspicion on his face.

Ella rolled her eyes and then switched the topics with a mischievous smirk, "You're dancing now."

Her statement made him chuckle to himself, "Am I?"

She hummed in confirmation, puffing her chest out as they walked—a bit faster now because she seemed eager to get to the dancefloor, "Damn right you are."

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

The rest of the evening was spent in between trips to the free bar and the dancefloor. Ella and the girls had managed to bring the rest of the lads to dance and they were all having a grand time together. Ella had brought her camera and taken many pictures of everyone enjoying themselves until she had forgotten to mentally count how many frames she had been using and she had to put her camera down at the table.

The next time their dancing and drinking had been interrupted was when Bre and Ella had to take their heels off and leave them on their seats on the table. Their feet were too sore to bother having the heels on any longer and the freedom of being barefoot had them jumping and dancing around more eagerly.

That meant that Ella had gotten dizzy and it had ended poorly when she had to run to the toilet to be sick. The shots of tequila and all the different cocktails they'd had caught up to her then and thankfully Bre had followed her so she could hold her hair back as she heaved on the toilet.

It was a miracle her dress hadn't gotten ruined and her energy wasn't completely gone after all that.

When she came back, Ella was asked if she was alright and with a very drunk smile, she nodded. A Destiny's Child song came on, making all the ladies holler in the room, and with that they went back to dancing to their heart's content.

Ella thought it was wiser to get a water bottle and stick to that for a while, so she did just that but she was barely halfway through it when Flo and Matty came over with a bunch of jager shots and Ella had trouble saying no.

The tiniest bit of sobriety she had gotten from the small amount of water she had was reversed for an incredibly quick boost of her drunken state after that shot. It had tasted like shit but it made her hyper and loving that, she went with Flo to get some more.

That time it was a jager bomb she had gotten and it wasn't an exaggeration to say that by that point Ella was completely gone. She wasn't a messy drinker but she was extremely clingy so after annoying Bre for a while—and Matt too from how much she was stealing his girlfriend—, Ella went over to Alex and hugged him tightly, making him sway with her along to the music.

"Dance with me." She'd yelled in his ear and, holding his hand, she dragged him backwards so they could dance alone.

Alex spinned her around as she sang, her clumsy steps making her trip and crash into his chest where he held her close as they laughed and continued to dance to a Mariah Carey song.

She recognized it to be 'Fantasy' so she sang the lyrics loudly and proudly while trying to dance to it in Alex's arms. He was having a hard time letting go of her, allowing her to take a few steps back as she danced freely but not letting her go too far away because he really needed her close.

More so when she sang, "Mmm, baby I'm so into you / Darling, if you only knew / All the things that flow through my mind / But it's just a sweet sweet fantasy baby / When I close my eyes / You come and you take me." looking up at him with those gorgeous eyes and that beautiful smile of hers.

The way she sang those words so convincingly had him filling with the temptation of properly pressing his lips to hers, kissing her like he truly had been wanting to for so long. He wanted to kiss her so badly. He was allowing himself to admit that, careful of treading any other confessions that were tickling his drunk mind.

He was smiling down at her with a knee-weakening smile, making her only belt out the lines to the song louder like that would help him notice what she was still trying to figure out inside her mind.

Some people from the group had noticed it, Jamie and Katie especially because they were right beside them and it was so painfully obvious they wanted to kiss, they were about to place bets on it.

But then a drunk Miles bumped into them making Alex and Ella laugh and break their holds so they could invite Miles in the middle of them to dance.

The scouser was making it up to be grinding against Alex, which made Ella laugh loudly and be heard over the music. Alex beaming at being able to hear her lovely sounds after so much pop music.

He couldn't really keep himself from putting his hand out for her to grab and pull her closer to him again, her arms flying around his neck automatically and his arm going around her waist.

She resumed singing again, leaving Miles to feel like a third wheel and since the lines to the song went, "I'm in heaven / With my boyfriend / My laughing boyfriend / There's no beginning / And there is no end / Feels like I'm dreaming / But I'm not sleeping." The scouser scoffed and shook his head at them.

Turning to his left, feeling eyes on him, Miles found an amused Jamie and Katie looking at them too.

The song ended shortly after, both Ella and Alex drunkenly giggling at the whole scene. Miles had gone up to Jamie and Katie and waved them over, so they did and when they got there, they laughed even harder at Miles' words.

"You should fuck already." The scouser said nonchalantly, with a knowing smirk on his face.

Jamie and Katie laughed at his bluntness but deep down agreed, yet they wouldn't say it out loud just to not make any of them uncomfortable.

Which is why the, "Yeah, when we go upstairs." that Ella let out had their jaws dropping.

Miles was just as drunk as Ella and Alex though, so instead of finding it a revelation, he just let out a loud, "Oi oi!" and threw his arms up.

Before Alex could say anything back, Miles whisked Ella away with him when an ABBA song came on. She followed without complaints because she loved them and there wasn't a hint of exhaustion in her just yet, plus she'd found out Miles was great to party with and her new favorite dancing buddy.

The night continued with a couple of interruptions which were in the form of more shots and another run for the bathroom when Ella felt herself needing to be sick again.

It seemed like after that, her drunkenness had caught up to her because she truly needed to sit down for a bit. She had been sitting for a few minutes, her chin resting on her hand as she watched everyone enjoying themselves and smiling at the scene when she let her eyes close for a moment.

That moment had been a whole five minutes, Alex had only noticed after Miles let him go when the Strokes song that was playing was over and he was going over to the table to pick up his drink.

He tripped when going up to her, startling her awake. She clutched her chest as she gasped and he laughed a little before apologizing.

"It's okay." She waved him off with a tired smile, her eyes closing against her wishes.

Alex hummed, "Y'alright?"

Ella nodded, her eyes still closed, "Just a bit tired." Her words were slurred and slow, pinching her fingers as if to show just how little she meant but it was the exact opposite.

"Me too." He agreed with an amused smile, having wanted to rest for a bit now but having held back from leaving because he just didn't want to be the first to leave. "Shall we go upstairs?"

Her eyes peeled open slowly, "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm knackered darling." He admitted with a tight lip smile, "Let's go."

He intertwined their fingers together to help her up from her seat, he got his blazer which he had shed off hours earlier and helped her by getting her heels while she got her little bag and her camera.

The only ones they could wave goodbye to were Jamie and Katie who were coming back from the bar and noticed them getting ready to leave. Everyone else was too drunk and dancing to notice which was slightly good since Ella just couldn't keep her eyes open for longer.

Ella clutched the fabric of her dress with her free hand, along with her bag and her camera was hanging off her shoulder. She was being mindful of her steps and trying her best to keep staring ahead to see where she was going. Yes, Alex had his hold tight on her hand and was guiding her but she still didn't want to cause any more trouble when all she wanted was her bed.

Getting to the lift took them a whole minute when it shouldn't have but it was just how slow they were after the long day.

The sensation of the lift going up five floors had Ella's stomach flipping around and she knew she needed to get to her room soon because she could feel herself starting to feel sick again.

Alex walked her up to her room, both stopping in front of the closed wooden door which read 540 in a golden plaque. He watched as Ella fumbled around her little bag, trying to find the keys to her room but the way her hands started moving quicker was making it seem like they weren't there.

"Oh no." Ella mumbled, dropping her hands for a second and sighed exasperatedly.

Alex blinked twice and softly asked, "What?"

"Welp keys are gone." She chuckled to herself, her shoulders shaking in silent laughter.

"Eleanorrrrr!" He whined out loud. They needed to go back downstairs and figure out how to get replacement keys.

"I am so so–" She started but a hiccup cut her off, "Sorry." She finally managed, swallowing hard, "I will pay the penalty fee, swear down." Her hands raised like she was promising she would and added, "Cross my heart." whilst actually crossing over her heart to accentuate her intentions.

"You're such an idiot." He laughed aloud, her drunk behavior would never fail to make him laugh. She rolled her eyes at him and pulled him back towards the lifts but in a moment of laziness, he stood his ground and stated, "You're sleeping with me."

She had no idea why she'd found that so funny, cackling loudly which ended with her slapping a hand over her mouth. Only to drop it a few seconds later to reveal a smirk, "Gonna give up your bed for me?"

But she was pleasantly surprised when a tired Alex smiled and shook his head, "No, we're gonna cuddle."

She loved cuddling him, even if it had happened only a few times, so the reaction escaped her before she could even process it, "Yes! Cuddles!"

"Mhm, cuddles." He repeated with a hum, pulling her in the direction of his room.

But from the quick change of direction, she felt it all coming up her throat. It took them no more than ten seconds to get to his door, 535, but he was taking his time getting his key out of his blazer pocket, up until Ella desperately told him, "Hurry up Alex, I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Jesus–" Alex fumbled with the key and tried his best to put it in and unlock the door as soon as possible, taking a little longer than needed. But as soon as the door opened, he pushed it hard so she could hurriedly go first, "Right, bathroom, now."

All the rooms looked the same so Ella threw her things on the settee by the entrance, and ran to where she knew the bathroom was. She dropped to her knees the quickest she could and she made it just in time.

Alex came to rub her back and put the few strands of hair that were sticking out behind her ear so she could comfortably vomit. He winced hearing her gag, making a mental note to get her a bottle of water to soothe her throat and shutting his eyes tightly to focus on not puking himself.

She was probably done a minute later, catching her breath and cursing put loud, "Fuck." She tapped his knee to tell her she was done so he could give her space to stand up, "Don't let me drink ever again." She told him as she stood up and flushed the toilet.

Knowing her, he chuckled and raised his eyebrows at her just to tease her, "That's gonna be a hard one darling."

"I know." Ella whined, before going to the sink and rinsing her mouth, "At least Flo had good weed." She added when she was done, "Kinda want another joint now."

Snorting at her train of thought, Alex replied, "We can smoke one later. When you're not dying."

She waved him off, "Drama queen you are." But before the singer could chat back, she inquired, "Have you got a spare toothbrush?"

He had a thought about it and then remembered he had seen some earlier, "Think they had some here." So he looked through the little complimentary basket left in the corner of the bathroom and found one, "Here."

She got it from him and turned back to the sink. "Thank you sweetness." She said, smiling at him through the mirror, seeing how he reciprocated instantly with a wink.

After she was done brushing her teeth, Alex took her place and did the same while she was off to get the makeup wipes she had thankfully thought of putting in her bag just in case.

He watched her come back to the bathroom and stand beside him, pulling out a wipe and starting to clean her face while he continued brushing his teeth.

The scene was so mundane and domestic, it was making his stomach do somersaults and he had no idea how to keep himself from smiling about it. He rinsed his mouth with a smile, washed his face with a smile, dried his face with a smile.

Ella was humming a song to herself as she continued to wipe off the makeup and, after opening her eyes again, she found Alex staring at her adoringly.

She giggled under his gaze, confused as to why he was staring at her like that. "What?"

"Nothing." He answered drunkenly with a shrug.

She narrowed her eyes at him, not believing him at all but continuing to do her task. Under his intent gaze. She ended up washing her face simply with water and tapping her face dry with another towel, and then proceeding to start undoing her hair.

Through the mirror, she found Alex still watching her every move with that look on his face that was doing things to her so, taking another hair pin and placing it by the sink, she asked him, "Have you got some clothes you want to donate to poor drunk Ella who lost her keys?"

"Why are you talking about yourself in third person?" He raised an eyebrow at her, swallowing a chuckle.

"Adds to the dramatic effect." A tone in her voice that was almost a duh! And doing her best puppy eyes, she continued saying, "You don't want me going to bed uncomfortable in this dress do you?"

He rolled his eyes at how she knew exactly what to do to get him and sighed, "You're lucky I brought another pair of joggers."

Her triumphant smile was the last thing he saw before exiting the bathroom and going up to his bag. He got her a pair of joggers and a shirt he'd brought, he knew she'd love it because it was a 'A Clockwork Orange' shirt.

Ella thanked him when he gave them the clothing, complimenting the shirt like he knew she would and Alex left her to change, saying he was going to change as well.

Five minutes later, he was already in his own grey joggers and a simple white shirt, she stepped back into the room and did a very sloppy catwalk.

"Look at me, so stylish." She posed the look for him, making an exaggerated flip of her hair which had him cackling.

"Let's just go to bed, you dickhead." He quipped back, lifting the sheets of the bed for her to take the empty spot.

She walked quickly over to the empty side of the bed and got beneath the sheets with a hum, "You love me Alexander." She stated as though that eliminated anything he'd have to say against her.

That wasn't something he was going to argue about though, since he easily replied, "I do." like it was common knowledge. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him, yet that contrasted with the way he instructed her, "Now shush, close those pretty eyes of yours and sleep."

She scoffed, "But–"

"You were knackered ten minutes ago." Alex reminded her, his eyes already closed and ready to get some sleep, finding comfort in the heat created by them being so close. He held her a bit tighter which meant Ella's head was pressed against his chest and she nuzzled her face into it.

She yawned against the fabric of his shirt, "Yeah... I know. Think the jager has an after effect."

The snort he let out made his chest vibrate under her head and that had her giggling, "Okay darling, sweet dreams now."

Bringing a hand up to rest on his chest, she got impossibly closer to him and tangled their legs together. "Sweet dreams, Alex."

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Ella could feel a lot.

Her head pounding, her throat aching, her feet hurting, her hand numb after having slept with it under her head.

But she also could feel the sunshine peeking through the curtains, the warmth of the bed, an arm around her waist, someone pressed against her back, a leg in between hers.

Something hard against her ass.

The amount of alcohol she'd had the night before was making her waver on the tightrope between sleep and reality. Her brain was too fuzzy to be fully awake but the light peeking through was bright enough to have her know it was time to wake up.

Yet, she wanted to relish in the feeling of it all for a little longer.

So Ella pushed backwards enough to feel him even closer, humming at the warmth and the coziness. But in his sleep, Alex let the action go straight down south.

It was a subconscious act when he bucked his hips forwards, pressing his hard on against her ass and hummed in bliss at the feeling.

Ella wasn't conscious enough to know anything else other than she had enjoyed the feeling so she rolled her hips backwards to keep the friction going, a quiet mewl falling from her lips.

His arm held her tighter to him then, at the same time as he rolled his hips forwards and the movement was only making him grow harder in his joggers.

She whimpered in response, pushing her ass back so she could press herself against him once more. And that went on like a tennis match for over a minute, him bucking his hips forwards and her pressing her ass against him in response. Each second that passed caused Alex's cock to continue hardening and begging to be freed whilst Ella was getting more turned on by the second, getting wetter, hard nipples poking through her shirt.

That was until in a coincidental moment, they both moved at the same time. His cock ended up pressing deliciously against her core from behind which elicited a moan of her name falling from Alex's lips and a loud cry of pleasure from her.

Those noises were enough to jolt them both awake, both creating a giant space between them in bed.

"Shit, Ella. I'm so sorry." Alex apologized instantly, his hands coming up to his face so he could hide behind them.

She cleared her throat and sat up at the edge of the bed, closing her eyes to focus on calming herself down, "No, it's– uhm, it's okay."

"I'm so sorry." Alex said again, completely devastated. "Fuck." He cursed under his breath, frustrated at himself. "Fucking hell!" He whisper shouted to himself.

That reaction was enough to have her open her eyes and try to see him, "Alex..." She started, staring at him but he wouldn't budge, he stayed hidden behind his hands so she sighed, "It's ok– I'm just–" She had no idea what she was meant to do next so she thought of something quick, "I'm gonna go to my room."

She vaguely remembered losing her keys so she would need to run down to the lobby and get a new set of them.

Alex wasn't hearing her at all, completely drowning in thoughts of self disappointment, "Sorry, fucking hell, I'm so sorry."

Her heart sank at just how miserable he sounded, "It's okay, I'll just–" She wasn't sure why but she wanted to cry but she couldn't do it then. "We need to get ready for breakfast." She reminded him in an attempt to see if he'd look at her but he didn't.

All Alex did was drop his hands from his face whilst he still had his eyes closed, "Shit, right." She could see his red cheeks though and she was wondering if that was from his arousal or how mortified he was.

She wanted to be sick at his reaction, "I'm gonna get going." She had to leave the room as soon as possible, yet her body was stalling and trying to find any reason to stay.

"Okay." He nodded, but he didn't give her a single reason to stay since he, still avoiding her eyes, got up and started walking towards the bathroom. "I'll just–" He turned quickly and ever so slightly to glance at her while pointing to the bathroom but he turned right back with just as much speed, like even seeing her face made him want to die.

"Sure." She managed out after catching a glimpse of the outline of his hard on through his grey joggers. Her thoughts were one big knot and matched the knot she felt tying tighter in her throat, "See you downstairs in a bit."

She forced out a smile at him, hoping he would turn to see her or wave her goodbye but he didn't. He fully ignored her and disappeared behind the bathroom door.

Tears started flooding her eyes as she jumped up from the edge of the bed to get her things which were scattered around the room.

She picked up her dress, her heels, her camera and her small bag. The splatter of the water hitting the floor was heard faintly in the background as she was going through that last item once again just to make sure she didn't actually have her keys.

The discovery of the keys actually being inside the bag made her want to kick herself. They had been stored inside one of the little pockets of the bag, one that she had clearly missed the previous night and it somehow had ended up in the mess of a situation that it was.

She made sure to do one last walk around the room to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything and once she confirmed she wasn't, she walked up to the door.

Yet, she couldn't find it in herself to open it.

It was as if something wouldn't allow her to go. A nagging feeling in the back of her head, a little devil sitting on her shoulder whispering to her 'what could be so bad about dropping everything and knocking on that bathroom door?', 'what could be so bad about risking it all?'

She stood there staring at the door like the answer was written there somewhere for about five minutes.

But then she heard him loud and clear, a string of moans of her name that were so passionate and desperate that Ella was snapped out of her trance and she just knew she had to go.

If it had felt like that to only hear him moaning her name, then she wasn't sure she could ever go about sleeping with him and then acting like normal. She knew she couldn't after that. And all she could blame was her stupid heart.

Opening the door and closing it in what seemed like a second, she ran to her room like she was being chased and once she got inside her neat hotel room, she couldn't do anything else other than give into her desires.

Trying to convince herself that she was just going to get ready as quickly as she could because she was already going to be running late, Ella got in the shower.

She had never been good at handling cold showers so, once again, fooling herself she let the warm water engulf her and closed her eyes.

But when she did so, all she could imagine was him. Alex with his hand wrapped around his hard, swollen cock, pumping it to the thought of her. Stroking himself messily to the memory of her presence pressed hard against him. Alex calling out her name, thinking of her as he chased his orgasm.

It was only so long she could hold back for, and this time it had been a very short time.

She started by letting her hand go from her neck down to her collarbones to her chest, pinching her nipples and gasping at the bolts of electricity running through her body. Letting her fingertips trail ghostly down her stomach and further down until she reached her clit and just the faintest pressure on it was enough to have a moan coming out of her.

Imagining it was Alex in the shower with her, she kept teasing herself. Faster circles on her clit until her chest was heaving and she could feel that familiar knot tightening in her lower belly.

Ella pictured him there, telling her to get herself off as he got himself off, both thinking of each other whilst touching themselves, so close yet so far away from the other. That was enough to have her grow desperate and go even faster until a loud moan of Alex's name ripped through her throat and her legs trembled when her orgasm hit her.

Her imagination was killing her, letting her see it all crystal clear, making her continue with her intent teasing of herself to try and get a second climax out of herself.

The next thing she was picturing was what had happened in bed. If they had kept going until he filled her up from behind and lifted her leg up ever so slightly so he could hit that spot. She imagined what it would be like to feel him everywhere, full of him, his hips hitting her ass, his fingers playing with her tits, a hand around her throat as he picked up his pace and he went harder and faster until they both unraveled next to each other.

She had two fingers pumping in and out of her with that scene on replay in her mind, thinking how much better it would be to feel those skilled fingers of his inside her. She almost wanted to cry in frustration, knowing how much better his fingers would feel to be fucking her rather than her own.

And with her other hand coming to stimulate her clit, rubbing it fast and with enough pressure to have her clenching around her fingers, it wasn't long after she came hard and moaning Alex's name like a chant.

Clarity hit her once she came down from that one, standing there in the shower and staring at the wall whilst she cursed herself mentally for being so weak.

She had no idea what to do or how to act. She wasn't sure if she should ignore it or talk about it, but if they did, how would it even be brought up? If she should even bring it up because his reaction told her enough to know that it had been the worst thing to ever happen to him for some reason.

Her heart was breaking and she knew then that it was her fault for not shutting that bit of her heart who had been hopeful for something. Something unattainable. It was clear she should've told herself the truth a bit harsher so that it would've stuck better.

But the fact that he was moaning her name out loud not five minutes later was confusing her. She had no fucking idea what was meant to happen next.

Fuck my life.

The rest of the shower was incredibly quick since she realized she couldn't stay alone with her thoughts for longer, so she dried herself quickly and ran to get ready. Thanking herself for putting an outfit together before coming to the wedding so she only got changed into it and ran back to dry her hair with the hair dryer. She'd only used some concealer to hide her dark circles and a bit of mascara, hoping she looked less dead than she had when she woke up.

It was a joke how the second she tripled checked she had her keys in her pocket and closed the door behind her, Alex also appeared in the hallway.

They made a silent walk to the lift, the tension and awkwardness suffocating them the more time passed.

Inside the lift, the quiet continued except for the elevator music which was making it even more painful. That deafening silence walked with them until they got to the room where breakfast was being held and, once seeing there were only two seats left next to each other, Alex ironically muttered, "Brilliant."

Ella had been faking a smile since they walked through the door, but it faltered completely when she heard him say that. Her heart sank all the way down, and there was that feeling of wanting to cry again.

"Hi everyone. Good morning." She greeted the long table, waving to everyone with a tight lip smile. Her voice had sounded choked, earning a frown from Breana, which Ella ignored.

"Y'alright?" Matt asked with a hint of a smirk on his face.

She wasn't in the mood to participate in Matt's taunting though so she sighed heavily and said, "My head's killing me." It wasn't a lie, but the hangover had taken the second spot for concern after what had happened earlier. Her head was spinning, too many thoughts had her spiraling and she had no idea what to do.

Jamie snorted, "Yeah well, we can't trust you ladies together, can we?"

Ella actually smiled softly for the first time that morning then, "Oh you love us."

She felt worse when Kelly announced that since Ella and Alex were there, then everyone could start ordering. Her appetite was suddenly gone and that's why she only ended up getting a cup of black coffee and toast.

She couldn't trust herself eating a proper meal when she felt like her insides were churning constantly being sat next to Alex.

Thankfully for everyone, food had started arriving soon and that made Ella feel a bit better.

She was buttering her toast when Flo, who was sitting on the other side of Alex, started talking to her, "Right, Ellie, we need to plan that photoshoot we were having."

Flo sounded so excited, that cute smile of her shining on her face and it melted Ella a bit, enough for her to genuinely smile back. "Oh yes." She nodded and took a bite of her toast, trying to think of anything that might help knowing when and where to have it done, "I need to show y'all my ideas, but I want it to sort of be in the woods."

And Flo being amazing, gave her amazing news as an answer, "That'd be Katie's then. She's got a massive back garden."

"Oh really?" Ella asked with raised eyebrows, at least that was acting like a pick me up.

Flo nodded enthusiastically and started describing, "Yes, lots of trees and a few miles away there's a little creek."

She was going to continue describing Katie's massive gaff when Alex bluntly interrupted, "Don't you just want to sit beside her?"

That had been louder than needed so the table quieted down around them. Flo was frowning, confused and stared at the singer like he had grown another head. She had noticed he was acting off but that had just been too much.

"Well that's fucking rude." Flo called his best friend out, "What's up with you?"

Matty was frowning at him too, leaning forwards to see his face and with worry in his voice, he asked, "Y'alright mate?"

Alex sighed heavily, "Yes." But he sounded way too defensive, "All is fine."

That last bit sounded like he was trying to convince himself, Ella'd had to leave her toast on her plate since the lump in her throat reappeared. She just wanted to scream and cry, not understanding how things had gone so wrong in such little time.

So she looked at Flo with a slight frown, begging for her to understand that she wanted to speak to her and it seemed like she did because she gave her a small nod and that had Ella breathing a bit better from relief.

Everyone at the table was staring at him and consequently at her because she also looked like a deer caught in headlights. Ella knew just how bad it looked, but they were in the presence of Nick and Kelly's family so she didn't want to cause a scene.

The conversation picked up warily while they stared at the singer, it was like they were trying to see if their chatter would bother him enough for him to snap again. But he wasn't looking back at anyone, completely concentrated in playing with the scrambled eggs on his plate with the fork.

Feeling Breana's gaze burning into her, Ella looked at her and they shared a silent conversation. Bre knew something had to have happened the night before, and seeing how it was him and Ella acting this way, she knew something bad had to have happened between them. Needless to say, the model was extremely intrigued about what that could be.

But she'd have to wait for answers, because after having breakfast, everyone was meant to check out the hotel.

Everyone went up to their rooms and got their stuff ready to leave. Ella had spent about ten minutes at most putting all of her things back in her case and she was so relieved when she was alone in the hallway and in the lift.

That relief was brief since Alex was there already when she got to the lobby. She'd shielded herself by being on her phone, texting her mom and sister about how the trip was going.

More people got to the lobby in the next ten minutes and after ten more, Nick and Kelly showed up to bid everyone farewell.

Saying goodbye had been alright, slightly sentimental when it came to the newlyweds but it had turned extremely awkward when the only person left to say goodbye to was Alex.

She knew she couldn't drive back with him, she wouldn't be able to keep her tears at bay during the hour and a half long trip back to London, so she took it in her own hands to make the decision for him.

Ella wasn't even sure if he would've told her to go with him regardless and, in all honesty, she didn't want to know either just so her heart didn't break a little more.

"Bye, Al." She said with the hints of a smile on her face, trying to see if that would tease one out of him but he was completely serious. He only gave her a short hug in return and that had her next words coming out like a mumble, "See you soon."

All he said was, "See you soon, Ella." giving her a forced smile and a few seconds of eye contact before he was gone.

Hearing him call her Ella hurt the most. She could easily get over what had happened, they were human and they'd drank a lot the night before, smoked—shotgunned—, and they were more sleep than conscious. But the lack of 'darling' or even 'Ellie', had her heart twisting in a knot.

Alex was entirely aware he was being a dickhead, but he was so fucking disappointed in himself that he couldn't be arsed to even fake anything else anymore.

He hated to think he'd made her uncomfortable. He hated to think he had ruined things by letting his carnal thoughts take over. He hated to think that he had gone back to his stupid behavior when he was with Arielle, the haunting memory of being an absolute arsehole of a boyfriend coming back to punch him in the gut. He hated to think that after appreciating Ella for who she was and growing to feel so much for her, he had made her feel like she was just a means to get him pleasure.

Alex had no idea what to do other than kick himself mentally for being such a mess and an absolute idiot. His head was a mess, and all he wanted to do was go back home and wallow in self pity.

Either way, the fact that she had said bye to him had broken his heart a bit. Knowing she wasn't even gonna try to talk about it had him concluding that he had fucked it all up enough for them to create distance between them. Emotionally, and that hurt even more. Because now who was he gonna talk about this with? He couldn't speak about it with her but she was the only one he ever wanted to talk with and he was far too ashamed to tell anyone else about the situation.

Ella watched as he walked away, bag in hand and getting a cigarette out of his leather jacket pocket as soon as he was outside.

Florence suddenly asking, "What the fuck was that?" behind her, had her looking away from him to turn around.

She sighed tiredly, seeing all the girls standing there waiting for some sort of explanation, "Ugh, I don't even wanna talk about it."

"Are you okay, Ellie?" Katie asked with worry coating her features.

Ella had to press her lips together to keep herself from getting upset and nodded, "Yeah, I am. Nothing that bad happened, just..." She trailed off to take a deep shaky breath.

"Oh come here." Flo jumped to engulf her in a hug at the signs of her growing upset.

Ella wanted to hit herself for being so overly emotional and dramatic about it so she shook her head and cleared the situation up a bit, "No I promise I'm fine. It's just fucking with my mind."

"What happened?" Kelly asked with a frown, she vaguely remembered everything being fine the night before.

Ella opened her mouth as if she was about to explain but her words failed her and noticing just how many people were around them and watching her, she recoiled into herself. "Are you guys busy today? Don't want to talk about it here." She admitted quietly, cheeks tinting red from embarrassment, "Of course not you Kelly, honey, you go enjoy your day with your husband, I'll tell you next time I see you."

Kelly gave her a sweet smile, "You sure?"

And Ella nodded with one that attempted to be just as bright but she fell short, "'Course I am!"

Suddenly Katie remembered why she had been trying to stay as sober as she could the night before, "Fuck, I've got to go to a meeting."

The model was apologizing with her eyes and Ella dismissed it with a soft expression on her face, "That's okay. I'll tell you too next time I see you, don't worry Katie."

"But you're alright?" Katie had to make sure one last time before she had to leave, time was running and she couldn't miss the meeting.

"Yeah, I am. Don't worry, hun." Ella reassured her the best she could.

That seemed to settle Kelly as well, who knew she had to go around and say goodbye to more family members, so she ended up saying, "You can call me anytime, okay? Love you."

Ella was being crushed in a hug then, she relished in the warmth Kelly was giving her, "I know. Love you too. Now go get your husband."

With a chuckle, Kelly let go and blew kisses to the rest of the girls while saying a quick, "Bye!"

"Bye Kelly!" They all replied in unison, watching her run to Nick who was chatting with his cousins.

Katie sighed sadly, knowing she also had to leave her, "Gotta go too but call me or text me if anything, okay?"

Ella nodded and hugged her, "Will do. Bye Katie."

"Bye Ellie." Katie squeezed her tight before letting go and kissed the cheeks of Breana and Flo to say, "Bye ladies."

The three girls watched as Katie walked quickly up to Jamie who had been waiting for her. The guitarist waved them goodbye with his free hand, Katie turning back to blow kisses at them before walking through the main doors.

Turning back around and seeing Flo and Bre's worried faces, Ella sighed in despair and winced as she asked, "Are you guys free to hear me rant back in my hotel room?"

It was instantly that they both nodded and Flo replied, "Definitely. Let me just tell Matty I'm coming with you."

As soon as Flo was off looking for her husband, Bre reached out to grab Ella's hand, "I can't not ask you again if everything is okay."

The softness of her voice had Ella wanting to crumble in her arms, "My head's gonna explode Bre, and it's not because of how much I drank last night."

The model couldn't help her first thought so she let out an intrigued, "What the fuck did you two do?" And when her best friend's face fell, her mouth dropped open slightly, "Ella..."

"We didn't–" Ella tried to explain quickly but she couldn't even say the words so she kept to, "That didn't happen."

Breana was fully confused after that, "Then what–" But she couldn't finish since Matt appeared behind his girlfriend.

"Ellie, mind if I steal my girlfriend?" He asked politely, but the need for an answer to that flew out the window noticing Ella's complexion, "Are you okay? You look pale."

"Well fuck." Ella muttered with a humorless laugh, "Go ahead. But can you give me a ride? I sort of don't have one anymore."

He could see it in her eyes that she was pleading him to say yes, and whilst that wouldn't be an issue for him, he was frankly confused by why she wasn't leaving with Alex. "Where's–"

"He left" Ella cut him off before he could even finish the question.

"Why?" The drummer asked curiously.

His girlfriend stopped him before he could be more nosy with an effective scorn, "Matt."

"Okay, sorry." He apologized sincerely, not a hint of sarcasm in his voice because Ella genuinely looked faint, "But are you okay?" He asked her again, the mysteriousness of the situation making him concerned about Alex having done something.

Ella smiled softly at him, "Yeah, I am."

"Promise?" Matt pushed a bit more, just to make sure.

"Mhm." Was all Ella could give him in response because she wasn't but if she tried to lie then he'd notice.

With a doubtful nod, Matt intertwined his fingers with Breana's and encouraged them leaving with a quick, "Let's go."

Before he could take a step forward, Ella stopped him, "No, wait. Flo's coming too."

That sparked even more curiosity inside him, "Yous going somewhere?"

Ella nodded but was vague about their plans, "Back to my hotel room. I desperately need some girl time."

And it was exactly that which she needed in theory, she just hoped it would work to settle her somehow.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Matt dropped the three of them off at the hotel Ella was staying at, he'd told them to call him if they needed anything. Ella thanked him for the ride, he told her it was nothing and that he hoped she felt better soon.

She had given him a tight hug for that.

Ella walked rather slowly through the lobby and to the lifts, like she was trying her hardest to put off being in her room so she didn't have to talk about it just yet. Feeling like if she kept the storm of thoughts in her mind then she would have more time to deny the whole situation being real.

Yet, the second she started the recount of the past night's events, it all seemed to come flooding out of her mouth.

"I thought I had lost my room key last night." She started by saying, "I was that fucking drunk."

Bre chuckled softly, "Yeah, babe, we saw."

Remembering her stupid mistake made her angry at herself, "It was right there in the little inside pocket but my stupid drunk mind fully missed seeing it there–" She noticed herself rambling and stopped before she could continue, "Whatever, that's not the point." She took a deep breath to start properly telling the story then, "I remember we were too tired so we just went to his room. We changed, I took my makeup off, and we went to bed."

How she wished that had just been it. She sighed heavily and took a few seconds as a break before continuing, "But in the morning, I don't know what the fuck happened. I just felt him pressed against me and I was half asleep so I–"

A gasp fell from Bre's lips, Flo's eyes widening as she quietly said, "Ella..." like she was warning her to not joke about, but the look Ella gave them told them she was completely serious.

"I, erm, I subconsciously pressed my ass against him." She was fiddling with her fingers, the nerves making her guts churn and her face heated up, "And after that, it just progressively got out of hand and we started moaning as we went..."

"Oh my god..." Bre said behind her hand, her jaw had dropped as Ella continued talking.

Ella's face was bright red, hating how the faint memory of that moment made her feel. "That's not even the worst part."

Flo sat straighter on the bed, entirely intrigued by the rest of the story after she said that. "What do you mean?" The artist asked, almost breathless.

"Well he moaned my name and pulled me in closer because he was holding me by the waist and I just–" Her shoulders dropped, thinking back to it all and she frankly resented herself for not having more self control, "I moaned louder and that woke both of us fully up."

"Oh no..." Flo muttered, Breana's mind was fully blown. She didn't think things would unfold like that and end poorly for them two.

"And he was hard." Ella felt the need to point out, maybe so she didn't feel like it was all her fault, "I could feel him, hard against me and then he just pushed himself off and away from me, and started apologizing so much. I had no idea what to do but I kept saying it was okay because I kinda get it you know?"

Another sigh left her, her thoughts just spilling from her freely and it felt liberating after not knowing what to say the whole morning, "We were drunk, spooning—which we've never done before—and it's a natural thing that happens but he was so fucking mortified and..."

Remembering the look on his face, his actions and how he had acted afterwards, made her heart break all over again. Her eyes watered and her voice faltered as she continued, "He looked like he hated what had happened and started acting so weird when I was trying to downplay the situation."

Flo quickly caught onto her adjective for his behavior, "What do you mean weird?"

"He wouldn't look at me. And whilst I get it, I also hate how he seemed so disgusted..." She trailed off, all of it replaying in her mind like a fucking film that she honestly hated but for some reason couldn't forget. A tear managed to slip down but she brushed it off her cheek aggressively.

"Again, not the fucking point." She called herself out again, noticing the silence around her and the expectant looks from the girls, "I told him I'd be going and that I'd see him downstairs for breakfast, but all he did was say he was going to the bathroom and left me there."

It was crazy to her how it all felt like it had happened only five minutes before but also ages ago at the same time, "So I quickly grabbed my stuff and started looking again for my key, found it and mentally kicked myself so I started to walk to the door."

The long pause and the hesitation to continue her story made both Flo and Breana raise their eyebrows and ask, "But?"

She knew she'd been caught with that, so she continued with her head hanging, "When I got to the door and opened it to leave, I could hear him taking a shower but for some reason I–" It was like she needed to gain courage to even admit it out loud, "I stopped for a few seconds and then I heard him moaning my name again, and again, and again."

Flo exhaled heavily and muttered, "Bloody hell."

"I fucking ran out, got to my room and, uhm, got ready." Ella finished by saying, she wasn't going to admit what she had actually done when she was alone in her room after that, but she figured that they'd understand the story even with that being omitted.

In all honesty, she just wanted to forget she had even done that.

"That's messy." Was all Bre could say after a few beats of silence, she didn't even know what else to say or how she could advise her to fix that.

"My head a fucking mush." Ella admitted, completely defeated, "Because then we got downstairs and he was fully fucking avoiding me like I was the pest. He didn't even look at me when we said bye, barely even got a hug. I'm so fucking confused."

Ella brought her fingers to rub on her temples, her headache still very present and threatening to become worse.

Florence watched her in silence for a minute, thinking of any way she could help her and she thought the first step would be for Ella to answer honestly to a very important question.

"Ellie, do you like him?" Flo asked, as delicate as she could to not throw her off.

Yet, the question hit her with full force, making her sit straighter quickly as her brain tried to conjure a response to that but avoiding to even open that pandora box.

"I mean, he's my best friend." Ella ended up replying, fully diverting the inquiry.

Flo was about to push a bit further because she knew just what Ella was trying to do, when Breana scoffed out loud at her own thoughts.

"I'm sorry, he humps you in his sleep, moans your name, gets off to the thought of you in the shower and then he has the audacity to be rude to you during breakfast?" The model was starting to get angrier the more times she went over the situation, "I never thought I wanted to slap him more than after the Arielle incident."

"Arielle incident?" Flo asked automatically, not having heard a thing about something happening with Arielle other than Alex himself just telling her it didn't work out.

The last thing Ella wanted was to have to think back and retell that story all over again, her head was spinning enough and she didn't need to bring up the ghosts of the past to bother her again. So she stuck to saying, "That's a long story."

But Flo was very curious now, knowing it had to be something big if Ella's face had fallen like that at the mention of it and, even though the last thing Flo wanted was to make Ella feel worse, she couldn't keep herself from trying to get her to tell her.

So she reminded Ella, "We've got time."

And thankfully, Bre took it in her own hands to fix it for them, "I can tell that story if you don't wanna."

Ella's answer was throwing herself back so she fell over the pillows and groaned in despair, "Sure."

Breana quickly started telling Flo every detail of what had gotten down that February of 2012, merely a year and a half ago. From how she'd met the lads and Ella to all that she had witnessed and all that Ella had told her had happened.

And by the end of it, Flo was fucking fuming.

With a loud scoff, she said, "Can't believe he's done that shite again."

At that Ella was heavily confused, "What do you mean again?"

"He did that to me, twice." Flo shook her head as she stated, annoyed to even think he had the guts to do that again and seemingly get away with it, again.

Breana gasped, almost like in horror, "How are you still friends with him?!"

Flo let herself reminisce and the answer to that came pretty easily to her, "When you meet the right person, it's easy to forgive others."

It made Ella happy that Flo had found that person to be Matty and that they were happily married now, but she was drowning in curiosity so she ended up asking, "What did he do to you?"

"Well for starters, we lost it to each other back in college." Whatever Ella had expected was not that, but in retrospect it did make sense, "We were seventeen when it happened and right after that, it became us flirting. Until I had to go to Manchester for the summer—but we continued flirting over the phone. When I came back, all of our friends were meeting up at the park so I was excited to see him again, 'cause I really thought that what we had going on would only go further from then on."

Flo's pause and the regretful, "How wrong I was." she let out, had Breana and Ella dreading asking for more.

"Why?" Ella was the first one to let out this time.

"We had gone to another side of the park, alone, with the excuse of showing him the skateboard tricks I had learned throughout the summer I was gone. He almost kissed me, Ella. He fucking pulled me in by my necklace but right before we kiss, he lets go to take a step back and then this other girl from our class shows up, throws her arms around his neck and kisses him in front of me. Turns out they had been dating for a whole month by then."

Ella and Bre let their jaws drop and gasped out loud, "Fuck off."

Flo shook her head, brows furrowed at the memory, "My heart sank. I remember that feeling so vividly. And I just had to swallow my pride and be in their presence for the rest of the fucking night."

Breana asked, "What was the second time?" still intrigued over the fact that she'd said she had this done to her twice.

"They had me join the Favourite Worst Nightmare tour, and by this time Alex was single and we had again been flirting for a long while. I gave him another chance because he seemed to have changed and, after being cheated on by his girlfriend, I really thought he had. But apparently not."

Ella honestly said, "I'm scared to even ask." because she had a feeling it would be worse than she expected.

"We'd gotten very close during that tour and I mean very close. And then one day, we'd gone to buy some stuff over to the shops before the show and when we're back at the venue and get to the greenroom, there's Alexa."

"Alexa?" Ella asked, confused.

"Alexa Chung, his girlfriend at the time." Flo explained, a bit taken aback by the fact that Ella didn't know of her existence when she was pretty sure Alex had met Ella while they were together.

Bre let out an offended, "What the fuck?" Her face screwed up in utter anger for Flo.

The British girl clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes as she recalled, "They'd been dating for a while already, and the motherfucker hadn't said shit to any of the lads about it. They were all just as shocked as me."

"Did you leave?" Ella asked softly, treading carefully about the story just so she didn't intrude if there was stuff Flo wanted to keep to herself.

But Flo was long over it and she was willing to tell them anything they wanted to know, "Wanted to but the lads convinced me to stay. That was until I heard Alexa talking on the phone to a friend about this poem he had written to her, telling her he loved her and I felt sick. Left them that very night."

Ella winced at that ending, "That's fucking awful, I'm so sorry."

"It's alright." Flo shrugged entirely unbothered by it anymore, "That was how I found myself spending most of my time in Manchester and ending up going out with Matty. And since then, he's been it for me."

A toothy smile flashed on Ella's face at that, loving that it had ended up being good for Flo, "Well at least some good came out of that."

"Yes, I'm so grateful for that. But, I am just baffled that he still has the nerve to do shit like that. He takes you on a date during Valentine's Day of all days, and then fucking switches you for the first new girl he sees? What a fucking bitch."

Flo was truly seething, and it made Ella chuckle a little. She had such bad luck every time. The memories of her latest string of poor luck came back to her and the words left her lips without even thinking about them, "Got Julian out of that but unfortunately didn't turn out as good as Matty and you."

At the mention of a new guy, Flo rested her chin on her hands, "Who's Julian?"

"Her awful ex." Bre answered for Ella.

But before the model could give her the entire rundown of that shit show, she gave Flo the very brief summary of her love life, "He cheated on me. Same as my first partner, my high school girlfriend." Knowing that it seemed to happen every time had Ella chuckling humorlessly, "Apparently I'm just good to cheat on."

"No Ellie, don't say that." Flo cooed at her, laying down beside her and hugging her from the side.

Ella sighed, staring at the ceiling with a blank face which tried to hide every one of her emotions, "But how can I not? First one did it, and the second one did it too. Alex did it and we weren't even official. Am I cursed or something?"

Bre did the same as Flo, laying on the other side of Ella and hugging her as well so Ella was sandwiched in between the two girls. The affection was threatening to make her cry.

The model wasn't taking her best friend talking that way about herself, so she shook her head and left a kiss on her shoulder to say, "No, some people just have the audacity to play others like that."

That word, audacity. It reminded her of one of the things Alex had done which fucked with her brain the most, "Oh, and then he also has the audacity to write a fucking song about me."

Flo laughed a little, finding it the tiniest bit funny that Ella was now on that list, "Well, that's what he does best, let me tell you."

She said it in such a way that Ella and Bre knew exactly what it meant. "No..." Both Americans said in unison, looking at Flo with shock in their faces.

"Yes..." Flo replied almost mockingly because now the whole situation was just comedic to her.

Ella was too curious not to ask, "Which ones?"

And when Flo started listing them, their jaws continued to drop. "505, that's the number of my old house back in Sheffield. Red Light and Ritz from the first album are both about that night. Only Ones Who Know, that one's pretty self explanatory as we tried to keep this all a secret until I missed his birthday after that tour and I just exploded under all of the questions from everyone so it all came out." Bre winced just picturing that situation and Flo gave them a look that said 'I know'

"Too Much To Ask was the one that had me livid when he put it out—the fucking twat had me looking like a mean bitch when it was him the one who had cheated both me and Alexa." Flo sighed a bit annoyed, "And he told me a few songs on the Puppets' album were about me but," She shrugged, "Whatever."

Ella wished she could be so nonchalant about that but it was too fresh for her still.

Flo somehow knew what she was thinking so trying to soothe Ella, she warned her, "He loves letting it all out on paper and making songs to it rather than speak about it, so unfortunately you're gonna have to expect that."

Silence came from Ella, since she was trying to remember all the songs they'd recorded back in LA and trying to figure out if any other was about her when Breana smirked at Flo and asked her, "Have you heard their new album yet?"

Flo nodded, "Yes." She had designed the cover art and the merch, so she had gotten to listen to it as soon as it had been mastered.

And Breana's smirk grew bigger when she added, "Arabella is about her." knowing that Flo would know what that meant.

Having gotten the album way before, Flo found herself listening to it on the daily already so the lyrics were something she knew by heart, that's why the news of that song being about Ella had her jaw dropping and scoffing a "Fuck off..."

Flo turned to look at Ella with her mouth still agape and Ella nodded in confirmation with a pained face, "That's our Valentine's date in a nutshell."

Way too shocked to understand, Flo said, "I fully thought that was about Arielle." out loud.

Ella rubbed her face in frustration remembering how she'd thought just the same, "Yeah well I expected that too when they told me the name of it. My head was spinning after they played it at the studio."

"Bless you." Flo cooed, clutching Ella tighter to try and comfort her, but she knew she had to further warn her even if she would dread hearing it, "I'm so sorry to say this, but don't be surprised if there's more about you in there."

"I don't think so." Ella replied naively, recalling the others she'd heard and not feeling personally addressed by any of them, "I still am praying there isn't any more."

The next question Flo had for her was, "Have you ever spoken about the situation with him?" She was so sorry to have to torment her with questions she might've not had answers to but she needed to at least help her with any advice she could come up with.

Ella distractedly asked, "About this morning?"

"No, about the Arielle thing." Flo corrected her with a soft, amused smile.

Ella fiddled with her fingers then, "Erm... no."

Flo let out a little, "Oh Ellie." almost like she was delicately scorning her for it.

And she knew she should've but so much had happened. So she found herself explaining, "It's just I completely cut him off after that. And then they suddenly were back in LA, and I was with Julian so why would I even bother. Should've but..." She paused trying to express herself with the right words but she was too confused to even make a good attempt, "And then everything with Julian happened and I didn't have the mind to."

After that, Flo's inquiry changed to, "Would you ever speak to him about it now?"

But all she got was a shy shrug and a quiet, "I don't know." It took her a few seconds for her to properly think about it and come to the conclusion, "Don't even know if I should bother bringing it up after all this time."

Bre reminded her though, "He needs to apologize for it."

And Flo wholeheartedly agreed, "He does."

"I know but–" Ella cut herself off, not even knowing what she was going to say.

Bre let out a soft, "What?" to encourage her words out.

"The opportunity for it needs to come up. I don't wanna force it and risk something going wrong."

Flo hummed as a response to that, understanding where she was coming from but also feeling like they needed to talk about it properly the soonest they could.

A minute of silence went by, during which the girls enjoyed the affection they were giving each other. Ella found it so peaceful to just let it all out and being understood, she was so grateful for the two girls.

But then Bre opened her mouth again and that bubble had burst with the information that came after she rhetorically asked, "You know what I find so fucking funny?"

Ella had her eyes closed in bliss so she only hummed in response.

"He has the nerve to be rude to you after today when it's not even the first time he's gotten off to the thought of you?"

At that, Ella's eyes shot open and Flo sat up like she had been shocked back to life, "What?!"

Bre being the tease she was, smirked and hummed in confirmation but she didn't give them much more than that.

It elicited a choked and desperate, "H–how do you know?" out of Ella.

And Bre was almost enthusiastic to retell, "Remember that time around Christmas last year when you posted that picture I took of you, when we were texting Matt in the groupchat?"

Ella had to think hard but then the memory came back to her and she answered with a shy, "Yes..."

But before the model could continue, an intrigued Flo pleaded, "Right, please describe it to me, I want to know."

"I'll show you." Breana pulled Ella's instagram out and showed her the exact picture. Ella blushed when Flo gasped and turned to look at Ella in shock.

"Right so the lads were over at Alex's, Matt and I had just convinced Ella to post that and turns out Mr. Audacity ran off to his room the minute he got the notification of your post and came back a while later looking rather..." Bre paused to think of the best way to put it, settling for, "Blissed out."

"And how does Matt know that's what happened?" Ella pushed for that explanation, but silently she just wanted her best friend to say she was taking the piss.

Bre didn't give her what she wanted when she explained, "Because Alex had been acting suspicious before on different opportunities when you'd posted so that was the one time he finally connected the dots and put it all together."

"He's so fucking stupid." Flo sighed, almost like she wasn't even surprised.

The gears in Ella's brain turned and turned until a particular detail had her jaw dropping, "But he was still with Arielle during that..."

Her best friend shrugged as if that wasn't something to debunk Matt's observation over, "It isn't out of character for him is it?"

Ella let her hands fall on her face and groaned loudly, "Breana, why would you tell me this?" That information was only causing more of a frenzy inside her mind.

"Because you needed to find out eventually." Bre said honestly.

But Ella couldn't appreciate her honesty in a moment like that, "'Eventually' was clearly not now."

"Sorry babe." The model showed her a side smile, looking at Flo to wince just to check if she had made a mistake by saying that but Flo shook her head and mouthed a 'It's fine' to her.

"God, my head is gonna explode I swear." Ella let out, a noise coming out at the end that sounded like a choked out cry.

"Oh Ellie, come here." Flo said as she got closer to her to give her a hug, Bre wrapping an arm around her waist from behind and kissing the back of her head.

Flo continued to soothe her with her touch and her words, "You've done nothing wrong, he's a fucking arsehole for reacting like this."

"I just hate how he's pushed me away as if I'm not confused about it all too." Ella sniffled, a few tears falling down her cheeks, which she wiped off as quickly as she could.

"And he's the one I love to talk to– I'm grateful I have you two but after Julian he's been the one I always go to..." She explained, hoping they wouldn't take offense to it because she didn't mean it that way, "It just hurts."

"You're gonna be okay. He'll come back around." Flo reminded her, knowing first hand just how much Alex loved her and he wouldn't take her for granted, he wouldn't dare lose her. It was just a bit of a tantrum he was throwing.

"Yeah, Flo will definitely put him in his place babe." Bre said playfully, trying to lighten up her mood, "And I'm sure Matt has caught up on this shit too so he'll be getting scolded left, right and center."

Ella hummed unsure about that making her feel any better, but regardless, she said a quiet, "Thanks." after sniffling one last time.

"You should have fun tonight." Bre started suggesting, and Ella let her hands uncover her face to look at her unamused because going out was the last thing she wanted to do then, when she added, "Why don't you go over to Alice's?"

A loud gasp escaped her and she pushed her when she called her out by whisper yelling, "Breana!"

Flo felt out of track again, "Who's Alice?"

"Alice Gillespie. The singer from Pale Waves." Bre wiggled her eyebrows knowing Flo had to know them since both bands had a bit of history together.

A loud and curious, "Oh?!" fell from Flo's lips, who turned to look at Ella then.

Ella was already getting flushed at the thought of Alice, but it got worse when Bre added, "She took Ella home on Tuesday night. You should've seen Alex's face when they left, he was blowing smoke out of his nose, I swear."

"No, he wasn't." Ella chatted back so Bre would stop exaggerating the situation.

But Bre wouldn't have Ella try to downplay something she witnessed with her very own eyes, "How would you know Eleanor? You were gone by then, but I was there seeing him bright red and a bit green if I'm not wrong."

Both Ella and Flo knew what she meant by green, but Ella shook her head, not buying him being jealous at all. He just hated Alice, and she could imagine how angry he must've been when seeing someone he disliked so much take his best friend home.

"You know my soul left my body when Alice told me she was neighbors with him the morning after." Ella let the words come out because that thought was still haunting her days later.

"Fuck off!" Flo cursed loudly, "Did he hear you two?!"

Ella couldn't find the energy to even think about any theories about it so she just relayed what he had told her that morning, "He said he didn't."

Breana was the one to poke the bear with a stick though, "I could bet all my money he was lying."

"Breana..." Ella warned in a low voice.

"What? He went home not long after you left." Bre had to let her know all this so that he would stop getting away with his lies, "About twenty minutes passed and he was gone."

This time, Ella just couldn't take it anymore, so she pleaded with her best friend, "Stop giving me all this information please, I don't want to think anymore."

Flo had been in deep thought as Bre shared what she knew and all she could come back to was that, "He definitely heard."

"Flo! Not you too!" Ella called the artist out, a frustrated cry coming from deep in her chest.

Flo left a kiss on her cheek to apologize, "Sorry Ellie, this is just very interesting."

Interesting. Ella didn't agree. If anything, the situation was fucking frustrating, "Don't. I wanna turn my brain off."

"Sorry." Flo apologized wholeheartedly again and then suggested something else to keep Ella's mind from it all, "Do you wanna order some food up and just mess about?"

"Please?" She begged them both with her eyes, "Can you guys stay a bit longer?"

Flo nodded, "Of course!" and Bre agreed with a nod and a smile, leaving a bunch of kisses on Ella's temple before standing up so she could get the room service menu.

The girls stayed with her almost all afternoon. They had lunch together while Ella showed them what she had been planning for their photoshoot, which they ended up arranging for Wednesday which was a day none of them had any plans. The last few hours were spent watching British TV, which sparked many random conversations which perfectly distracted Ella from the whole situation.

By the time it was eight in the evening, both Bre and Flo were falling asleep so Ella, who hadn't been able to close her eyes and rest like they had, told them they could go. She promised them that she was feeling better—which wasn't entirely true but it wasn't a lie either—and that she'd text them in the morning just to tell them how she was feeling.

Reluctantly, they listened to her and had Matt come get them. Thirty minutes later, Bre and Flo had hugged her goodbye and Ella was left all alone in her hotel room.

Being on her own made her thoughts start spiraling again, so in a desperate attempt to try and distract herself, she started meticulously tidying up her things around the room.

It was unfortunate that she was done with all that after merely fifteen minutes and she didn't know what else to do. She was too tired to go out even for a stroll and so the only other option she could find was trying to find comfort in taking a shower.

That had ended up misfiring on her, because her thoughts went straight back to the morning and in her mind, Alex's moans were replaying on an agonizing loop that had her heating up from head to toe and a familiar ache growing in her lower belly.

She tried to control herself, not allowing herself to touch her body no matter how badly she wanted to but there was only so much she could hold back, and even the faintest graze of her fingers on her clit had her gasping out for Alex.

It had felt so good to just moan his name out loud that her mind was short circuiting and it was such an overdrive of every one of her senses that she had to stop herself abruptly.

Ella came out of the shower in a haste, her need for release suddenly too intense to bear so in her towel and dripping water all over the floor, she ran for her phone and dialed a number she hadn't actually been expecting to call.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my favorite girl..." Ella heard the girl say on the other side of the phone and her stomach flipped while her cheeks heated up.

"Hi Allie."

Alice noticed the shyness in her voice and it made her smirk, "To what do I owe the pleasure Ellie?"

Ella hadn't planned what to say at all so she opened her mouth to find the words tangled on the tip of her tongue. She cleared her throat after a few beats of silence and ended up saying, "Remembered you said you were a call away."

That made Alice chuckle, she found it funny how hard it was for Ella to be upfront about what she wanted when it came to sex yet she was so confident in bed, "This is a booty call then?"

The American girl hummed hesitantly and replied quietly with a, "Maybe."

"No shame in that baby." Alice told her just so she could settle her down, "Are you coming over?"

The sole idea of being in the same building as Alex made Ella shiver, so she bit on her thumb as she surprised Alice by suggesting, "Actually, I was thinking you should come over."

Alice bit her bottom lip as she squirmed in her seat, "Oh baby, just tell me where you are and I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I'll text you the address." Ella replied quite fast, the anticipation making her grow flustered.

"Any requests in particular? Something I should take you're in the mood for?"

The proposition was enough to have Ella's breath hitch in her throat but her mind went blank at the thought of knowing what could go down that night. She just shrugged to herself and said a teasing, "Surprise me baby."

"Fuck." Alice cursed under her breath, "I cannot wait to see you."

"Me too." Ella agreed and just so Alice knew how much she needed her there, she breathlessly added, "Don't take too long."

Alice stood up, turning off her TV and walking quickly to her bedroom to get her stuff ready, "Don't start without me."

Ella let her towel drop, nipples hardening from the cold of the room hitting her naked body, "That won't happen if you're fast."

"I'll be there yesterday." Alice promised, getting a bag and opening her drawer to get her toys out.

"Room 326." Ella said casually, dropping on the bed and closing her eyes trying to focus solely on Alice.

Alice nodded to herself and repeated, "326." Ella could hear her moving around and she was glad that meant she would soon be over, "See you in a bit."

"See you baby." Ella replied and with that she ended the call.

Ella didn't know why but she ended up changing into a cute outfit as if she was going out, it was pointless since she knew the clothes would be shed off her body as soon as Alice got there but she needed to do something whilst she waited for her to arrive.

She was intensely hoping that Alice would be able to push the thought of the morning out of her mind because Ella knew she'd drive herself insane if not.

The singer showed up fifteen minutes after they had ended the call, bag in hand and a hungry look on her face.

Ella was the one to pull her in by her neck to crash her lips against hers, closing the door and pushing Alice against it with desperation. That elicited a loud moan out of Alice, loving seeing Ella taking control of the situation, the sudden domination had her weak in the knees.

Without wasting much time, Ella had Alice on top of the bed already, she was on her knees and marking Alice's thighs up. The incessant noises she made at Ella's teasing touch over her clothed cunt and her wet mouth sucking bruises on her inner thighs helped Ella focus completely in the moment and that's what drove her to dedicate herself to giving Alice pleasure for most of the night.

After Alice had cum on Ella's tongue twice in a row, she had let Ella know that she'd brought many things for them to enjoy. And to Ella's delight, that didn't only mean the toys they could use but some weed.

Whilst Alice went to the bathroom, Ella took the task of grinding the weed and rolling the spliffs for them to smoke. She was glad she had a balcony since she had asked for a room that allowed smoking, she was just hoping no one would complain about the smell.

Alice came back from the bathroom looking a bit more put together, but her disheveled hair had Ella chuckling to herself as she lit up one of the joints.

"What?" Alice had asked whilst she took the spliff from Ella's fingers.

Ella shook her head amused and blowing the smoke out, she pointed out, "Your hair's a bit messy."

Alice rolled her eyes playfully as she took a drag, letting the smoke out and inhaling it back in, letting it out after letting it linger in her throat and quipped back, "Yours is just as messy, baby."

Before Ella could get the spliff back, Alice took another drag and pulled her in by her waist to shotgun her. The action brought a flash of memories of the wedding to the forefront of her mind, which made her pull back rather quickly to let the smoke out before attacking Alice's lips hungrily again.

The joint ended up mostly burning out since their attention had been completely captivated by tasting each other's mouths and once they realized there wasn't anything left to smoke of it, they stubbed it out and left it on the ashtray that rested on the coffee table of the balcony to go back inside and resume their activities.

When Ella got Alice in bed and went to her bag to see what they could use, Alice noticed Ella's camera resting on top of the bedside table and with pure mischief in her mind, she asked Ella to take pictures of her.

It started with Alice posing as she rested in bed, kisses being stolen between shots but then it progressed into Alice taking an article of clothing after every frame until she was naked and her next move was teasing herself.

Of course Ella kept the camera aimed at Alice's top half but with the way her face was screwing up in pleasure as she sank her fingers inside her cunt, anyone who saw the pictures would know what was going on.

Alice got louder the more she played with herself and it got to the point Ella just couldn't keep taking pictures and she took over.

In between pictures, teasing, kissing and fucking, the night progressed until they were too tired to keep going any longer and they fell asleep, cuddling in bed.

Ella was so glad when she woke up in the morning and she was just too exhausted to think about anything else other than the naked girl pressed against her chest. She thought it was a good sign despite being incredibly scared of somehow letting herself give more of a meaning to it in a moment of weakness when her heart couldn't take feeling more.

That was out of her mind when Alice woke up and kissed her, holding her so intently that Ella found herself needing a bit more of her attention and that's how they ended up fucking once again in the morning, cutting it off after they both came once though because Alice had a busy day ahead of her and she had to go back home before it got too late.

Once again, Alice made her promise to not leave without saying goodbye and Ella gave into it, knowing she truly wouldn't. How could she? When Alice had been more than lovely to her. It all was more than a casual fuck to Ella and she hoped that it was to Alice too but not in a romantic way, just in a way that she'd be forever grateful for her.

But after Alice was gone, all the relief she'd gotten from being able to forget about Alex and everything that had happened the previous morning was gone. Her mind being cruel to her and bringing it all back, along with the feeling of her heart sinking in every time she thought of his reaction. And with it also came the feeling of her heart breaking when thinking about the slightest possibility of losing him.

She knew just then how she couldn't risk it anymore, she couldn't lose him and she'd have to try harder to push everything away so she wouldn't ruin things again.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Chapter Text

The rest of that fateful Monday had been so weird to Ella.

She was still feeling the ghost of her hangover all over her, though she'd also have to attribute her exhaustion to the rather lively night she'd had and how it had continued briefly earlier in the morning.

All she had done was taken a shower, gone to have breakfast and ordered lunch from her place in the cozy bed.

And everything else was silence.

Not quite literally, for she had the TV on and was playing a film that she was half mindedly watching, texting Breana and Flo here and there—but after being used to talking to Alex on the daily for the past six months, his radio silence had her heart breaking.

She didn't even know if she should try to start a conversation or ring him up. What could she even say? She had absolutely no idea.

In a moment of utter desperation, Ella had called Bre and asked her "Is this all my fault?" as soon as her best friend picked up.

Bre had calmed her down and very honestly told her that she'd done nothing wrong and it all had gone that way because of him choosing to react the way he did.

That seemed to calm Ella down a bit more, as she thought and thought and ended up agreeing with Breana's point of view. Yet that didn't mean it hurt anything less.

Ultimately, Ella had fallen asleep after deciding that she'd just give him space and she would just silently hope that he would reach back out to her sooner than later.

Ella thought her wishes had come true when her phone woke her up from all the incessant buzzing of messages coming through.

She quickly leaped for it and unlocked it to see what the messages were saying but she deflated when it turned out to be everyone but Alex speaking in the groupchat the Monkeys had with her.

Jamie had started the conversation asking how everyone was feeling, having been the one to witness the rest of them absolutely drunk, to which Matt and Nick replied with a few jokes, Breana teasing her boyfriend by saying he was lying about his 'alright' state.

The three had teamed up against the drummer and she saw that a few minutes later Flo had joined in the taunting up until the conversation switched and Nick asked how Ella was feeling.

Bre—bless her—had spoken for Ella and told them she'd just been on the phone to her and she was a bit tired, to which Matt joked about her needing to catch up to their rhythm because they needed to take advantage of every day she had left in the UK.

Nick had suggested going out the next day, just to a pub that was at a centric point for everyone and hang out without needing to drink much or at all for that matter.

The lads had been throwing suggestions when Flo said she had work to do which she had to show at a meeting on Thursday so she wouldn't be able to make it, but gave them a few other places they could all try.

That was when Ella had joined the conversation, telling them she was alive and playfully exaggerating how they all couldn't live without her.

Breana had agreed with the statement and begged her to say yes to the plans. Not that Ella was going to decline, because she really needed the distraction.

(08/07/2013 21:35) Absolutely saying yes because I actually do need to spend as much time as I can with y'all before I leave and you go on tour xx

And that was how the plans for Tuesday night were finally settled.

With the word of everyone but Alex.

That was the reason why Ella had been entirely surprised to see him walk through the pub's door when the clock hit nine in the evening, indicating the group had been there for half an hour already.

He looked annoyed to even be there so Ella wondered if he had been convinced or forced to come with them.

Regardless, Ella had promised herself earlier that she'd try her best to make it better and hopefully have them go back to normal by the end of the night, so when he hugged everyone hello and it was her turn for an embrace, she made sure to squeeze him a bit tighter.

"Hi Al." She greeted with a big smile, looking for his eyes which he placed on hers but for merely a few seconds.

He only said a quiet, "Ellie." to her in acknowledgement and she had to sit back down and go back into the conversation like that hadn't happened.

She sighed and took a sip of her drink, catching Alex going to the bar with the corner of her eye. He looked good in his blue jeans, black shirt and a leather jacket, but she hated how her mind had blasted the memory of those last seconds in his hotel room at what felt like full volume.

Blushing slightly, she cleared her throat and took another sip of her cocktail after feeling her mouth suddenly go dry.

It took him a bit longer than expected to get his drink since the bar was rather busy at that time of the evening despite it being a Tuesday, and when he got back to the table, he found a bit of a predicament on where to sit.

All chairs were taken and the booth was full but Ella noticed that if she had everyone scoot over, he could sit beside her.

So she suggested that, waving her hand so he could come closer, "We can make some space for you here."

Ella patted the red leather next to her hip but before she could ask the girls to shuffle a bit to make some room, Alex shook his head.

"No, it's okay." He declined with his hand up and turned to a nearby table being occupied by some strangers to ask if he could grab a chair they weren't using.

They said yes with smiles and let the singer take it, and Ella watched as he placed it down in the narrow space between Matt and Nick. The furthest away from her.

Bre stared at Ella because she'd noticed and subtly blew her a kiss just to comfort her. It was written all over Ella's face how disappointed she was that the start of her efforts to get things back on track were being null and basically turned down by the one she was trying to do right by.

And that kept going on the whole night.

When she was going to the bar for a refill and asked everyone if they wanted anything, he ignored her, only to go get a refill himself as soon as she was back at the table. When they were talking about the upcoming album and she'd asked something that the rest of the lads didn't quite remember, Alex had acted deaf until Jamie turned to relay the inquiry to him and he answered rather nonchalantly, his attention completely caught by his phone.

The time that had been her last straw was when she'd wanted to go out for a smoke, she thought it might've been a good idea to have him go with her just to see if they could talk, so she'd looked straight at him and showed him the pack of Marlboro reds, shaking it slightly with an eyebrow raised but all he gave her was a forced tight lip smile and completely turned his head to the side like whatever modeling story Katie was telling was far more interesting.

The worst part of it all was that Matt and Nick had seen that unfold, meeting Ella's eyes after Alex's blatant indifference, and seeing how her face fell in embarrassment—cheeks tinting red, eyes falling and the corners of her lips dropping—made them give her sad smiles.

She hated it. So much.

When she got back, the nicotine had done a shit job at relaxing her so she let herself fall and drown in the anger that was bubbling up inside her. If he wanted to act that way then whatever.

She felt like she had tried enough.

Ignoring his attitude completely helped her continue enjoying her night. She laughed a little louder and got a couple more drinks, telling them stories that she hadn't told them yet about the new side of her job thanks to the promotion.

It was an hour later when she found herself in need of a refill, she was letting that much time go between drinks that she didn't even feel tipsy despite having had four drinks, which were enough to have her movements clumsy on any other day.

When Ella got to the bar, she had to wait for a few minutes for the bartender to come around to her. Few minutes which a guy who was standing close to her took advantage of to introduce himself to her.

He had been very nice when starting the conversation, his deep voice was soft as he spoke to her and his smile was just as warm. They had managed to find out the basic stuff about each other in those few minutes, the lad—whose name was Luca—raising his eyebrows with a curious smile when she told him she was from Tennessee and visiting some of her friends.

The bartender coming to ask them what they wanted interrupted their conversation about their jobs, but Ella found herself pleasantly surprised when Luca asked her what she was having and ordered it for her.

He had a tab open, so she couldn't even try to be the one beating him to paying for the drinks.

They continued talking while they waited for their drinks and Ella found herself quite enjoying Luca's presence.

She had been gone for almost ten minutes by then, so Alex frowned and looked around the place to find her, and when he finally saw her but standing next to that lad, he found himself clenching his jaw in anger.

Another ten minutes went by, and her loud laugh made Alex turn to see her again. She had a drink in hand, head thrown back in laughter and a hand clutching the lad's arm. He was laughing as well, watching her amusement through half lidded eyes. It was so clear they were flirting and Alex was fucking fuming, he was entirely convinced by then that she had no intention on coming back to their table.

His body acted before his mind could process it: he stood up from his seat, taking his empty pint with him and with long strides he walked up to the pair.

Everyone at the table had whipped their heads at the sudden movement coming from the singer and they found themselves cringing at the start of what promised to be a bad situation.

Alex had played his cards well though, leaving his empty pint on top of the bar and then turning to rest his hand on Ella's lower back, interrupting her conversation with a serious, "Darling, can you come outside with me? It's urgent."

Her giggles caught in her throat the second he touched her, brows furrowing at the sudden use of the pet name—hell, the sudden use of his words aimed towards her entirely.

She nodded and that was enough of an answer for Alex to leave towards the door. Ella had no idea what was wrong but it looked like he was completely serious and she couldn't ignore him even if she'd wanted to.

"Sorry Luca, I'll be right back." She promised the lad, hand over his forearm and a little squeeze to accentuate her promise.

He smiled and nodded, telling her to please go ahead and even telling her that he hoped everything was okay.

Everyone at the table watched as she took fast steps towards the entrance door, going right in the same direction Alex had gone and once she walked through those doors, they all stayed silent and tense about what could happen.

They had noticed the tension between them and it genuinely was confusing them all. Everyone but Breana, who was the only one who knew until that point—since the pub hadn't been the best place to tell the rest of the girls and Ella wasn't sure if she wanted the rest of the lads to know about it all. Matt was the only one of the lads who had a slight clue about it all, guessing from Bre's vague comments about what had happened with Ella the day before.

When Ella got outside, she found Alex resting his back against the brick wall next to the entrance of the place. He had pulled his cigarettes out and had one already perched between his lips.

Once he saw her, he offered one to her and she hesitantly took it from him. She was growing confused but mostly angry. Now he wants to smoke with me? She had to swallow a scoff.

She waited for him to speak but he didn't, he just slowly put his cigarettes away and took his lighter out of his pocket, taking his time to light up the stick.

It was like a clock was ticking away in her head, her foot tapping the floor in sync as the seconds went by but he was just there, completely unbothered—taking a drag of smoke and blowing it out slowly upwards.

Not even half a minute went by when Ella actually let a scoff out, "Are you joking?" She asked him very seriously, yet it seemed like he had gone back to letting each of her words fly over his head like she was invisible to him.

"What was urgent?" She pushed again, but she got another drag and exhale of smoke as a response and nothing more. She might as well have been talking to that damn brick wall he was resting against.

There were people around them also smoking and staring at them already, clearly hearing the one sided conversation—if it could even be called one—and wanting to try and catch whatever could go down.

But Ella wasn't gonna have him play her like that. She had gone out thinking something had happened or even hoping the talk they so desperately needed to have would happen but he was being an absolute twat and it was making her incredibly angry.

"I'm going back inside." She informed him after letting an exasperated sigh, pressing the cigarette he had offered her against his chest so he could take it.

But right as she took the first step and Alex caught the cigarette before it could fall to the ground, he finally decided to open his mouth.

"You came here and said it was to spend time with us but you've been gone the whole time." He spit out annoyed, the tone of his voice making her turn on her heels to see if it was really anger she was getting from him.

His face was blank but his eyes were dark, the usual brown hidden behind a shade of irritation. She had no idea where this was coming from, so she inquired about his original prompt for that very moment, "This was urgent?"

"Well you're putting us aside for someone else." Alex said matter-of-factly, causing her face to screw up in deep confusion.

"No, I'm not." She denied and then, with a voice like she was explaining something to a child, she added, "I was getting a drink, the guy bought it for me and we started chatting."

Quite frankly, he didn't want to know what had happened at all, he just wanted to forget about seeing her with somebody else. And so he ended up sighing, rubbing his face like he was tired of the situation with his free hand and letting out what he was thinking, "You just– You say one thing and then do another."

She needed to make sure once more, so she pressed the question again, "Alex, are you being serious right now?"

Raising his voice a bit, he reiterated with a harsh, "Do you think I'm joking?"

She raised her arms and opened her mouth, "Then what–"

But he interrupted before she could even ask him for further explanation about his words, "You said in the chat you needed to spend as much time as possible with us before you're gone and we're off on tour but then you go and ditch us."

Since he had decided to raise his voice, then she did too, "No, I'm fucking not."

Her anger got a humorless laugh out of her and a roll of his eyes, "Whatever you say then."

She knew she didn't owe him any explanations but she felt the need to point it out so he could get that she wasn't trying to ignore the group, "He's nice and we were just talking as you do when you meet someone you like, what the fuck are you on about?"

"Go back inside then." He dared her after taking a drag of smoke and shrugged, "It's fine, I guess we'll find some other time when you actually want to go out with us all."

He was being so condescending, it was actually upsetting her and what was worse is that she could feel the people around them listening and staring at them intently.

"You know what? Fuck off. I don't know why I'm here trying to explain myself to you when you're clearly not listening." She hissed with venom laced around her words, "And since you're so sure I'm ditching you guys then I'm fucking leaving, let's see if you can spot the difference there."

She was done with his bullshit, completely fed up and all of her social battery had been sucked out of her by that awful interaction.

In her anger, she walked quickly back inside and to the table. Under the expectant gaze of her friends, she grabbed her bag and her coat, and praying that they couldn't see the tears flooding her eyes, she let them know, "Sorry guys, I'm going. I can't be treated like a fucking teenager under house arrest, being told off as if I'm not a grown adult—I can do whatever the fuck I want and talk to whoever the fuck I like." Nick saw a tear running down her cheek which she wiped far too aggressively off her face, "Love y'all, I'll talk to you tomorrow okay?"

Ella started walking off, without waiting for any response from her friends and just when Bre was about to stand up and chase after her, and Ella was halfway to the door, they saw Luca approach her with a worried expression on his face.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked her, holding her forearm and trying to look at her in the eyes.

She didn't want him seeing her upset though, so she closed her eyes tightly and opened them back hoping that had cleared the tears, giving him a forced smile, "I'm so sorry, just not feeling so good anymore. You're so lovely though, I truly hope you have a good rest of your evening."

Luca seemed so taken aback by the sudden change in her behavior, and he had wanted to ask her what was wrong when her eyes started prickling with tears again and he knew he should just give her space. So he nodded and gave her a sweet smile, pulling her in to give her a hug which he hoped said 'I hope you feel better' and she gave him a kiss on the cheek as a thank you.

Alex walked right in time to see them like that and, taking that as more proof, he rolled his eyes in utter annoyance.

Ella let go of Luca and turned around, her face falling at seeing the singer taking slow steps back into the place. She couldn't stand seeing him any longer after that so she resumed her quick steps and didn't even care when she barged into his shoulder as she went towards the exit.

The second Alex got back to the table, Nick looked him up and down and interrogated him, "What the fuck was that?"

Alex shrugged innocently, like he had nothing to do with the sudden flip of Ella's character, "Nothing."

Jamie scoffed and intervened this time, "Sure. Nothing. So she just walks away almost crying because of nothing?"

Matt was getting flashbacks to the start of the previous year and that wasn't sitting right with him, so he took it in his own hands to remind Alex, "You need to get your act together mate. You're being a right fucking twat and the last thing Ella needs is you upsetting her."

The singer stood there in silence, acting like the words were going right through him but feeling everyone's eyes on him like daggers. And then Matt continued with a certain question that had Alex needing a quick escape.

"What has been going on with you two? What the fuck even happened the morning after the wedding?"

That sparked panic inside of Alex, thinking of the quickest solution to get out of there by saying, "I'm gonna get a drink."

He hastily turned and walked to the bar, and he prayed that the panic hadn't been obvious on his face.

When he got to the bar though, he felt a burning gaze on him and out of the corner of his eye, Alex could see that it was the lad throwing daggers at him with his eyes.

Alex wasn't that worried about him though, he wouldn't do anything—or at least he hoped—and so he waved the bartender over to ask for another pint of beer.

When he was done ordering, he felt a presence appear next to him. And when the person had asked to pay for his tab, Alex realized it was the lad who had hit on Ella.

A bit of alarm sparked inside him because he could practically feel the anger buzzing through the man's veins but luckily for Alex, all the lad did was bump into his shoulder harshly when he turned around to call him a "Fucking twat." right before he left.

Bre was desperately trying to call Ella but the call wouldn't go through, it sounded like she was on the phone to somebody else and so she figured she'd just text her enough times to assure she let her know where she was going and if she was alright. Though, she could imagine the answer to the last one.

The second Ella had walked through the door, she'd unlocked her phone and searched through her contacts for the one she felt like she should speak to at the moment.

Ella was so glad that she picked up instantly, despite how late it was, "Hiya Ellie! How's the night going?"

She wished she could give her something other than, "Awful Flo, I'm fuming."

It sounded like Florence had dropped whatever she had been holding and a worried "What happened?" fell from her lips.

Looking around her when she realized everyone outside kept staring at her, she started walking straight ahead, and lowered her voice, "He's fucking pulled some shit again and I'm done with it."

The stern tone in which Ella had said that made Flo rub her temples with her free hand, "Oh for fucks sake, what's the dickhead done now?"

At that point, Ella was letting her anger drive her body, so the words spilled out of her mouth quickly, just as fast as her feet took her along the streets of London, "This guy bought me a drink and we were flirting and then Alex comes up to us, saying there's something urgent he needs me for and has me walking out. Turns out the urgent thing was making a fucking argument out of fucking nowhere, saying how I don't do as I say because I'm leaving them aside for someone else!" Her voice broke slightly by the end, angry tears running down her face which were only making her angrier from how much his shitty attitude affected her.

To Flo, that sounded like he was throwing yet another tantrum and it pissed her off so much he was acting that way when he was the one in the wrong for Sunday, "He's such a fucking twat."

Ella nodded to herself and continued ranting, "And now I'm raging, half fucking crying on the street, I don't know where the fuck I'm going but I just hope it's the right way back to the hotel–" A frustrated sob ripped through her throat, making her stop her words.

"Ellie, breathe babe, okay?" Flo's heart broke in her chest for Ella, "I'm so sorry he's such a dick."

But Ella didn't want her to be the one saying sorry, "It's not your fault, Flo. You don't have to apologize for him."

"I know but, fuck, he's so annoying." Flo cursed under her breath and pleaded with her, "Firstly, can you check your maps please? Can't have you getting lost when you're alone."

"Okay." Ella nodded again, despite knowing Flo wouldn't be able to see her, "I'll have to hang up..." She trailed off, weighing the options in her head.

"Erm, just check quickly where you are and call me right back. I can guide you if I know which street you're on." Flo suggested, fiddling nervously with her fingers.

"Okay." Ella said again, "I'll call you in a second."

The call ended abruptly and Florence was left frozen in her seat, still nervously playing with her fingers while she waited for Ella to ring back.

It wasn't long until she did, the second Flo answered, she heard Ella sniffling, "Are you okay?" She asked her, but then she heard the recognizable sound of a lighter and she knew Ella had just lit up a cigarette.

"Sorry." She apologized for her silence first, earning an "S'alright." from Flo and then told her, "I know where I'm going now."

"You sure?" Flo needed to know for sure, she would hate if she got lost.

"Yeah, just have to head straight until I get to the Sainsburys and then make a left and head straight for a few more blocks."

"Alright." That seemed to convince the artist enough so sighing, she continued with how she felt about what had happened. "He can fuck right off, honestly. He's so full of himself sometimes, it's infuriating."

"I just don't fucking get it." Ella tried to make sense of it in her mind but it hurt when she just couldn't understand what was going on in his mind, "I've been trying so hard Flo, so hard, to make tonight feel as normal as it can be after Sunday—to which he's not been cooperating at all, mind you—and then he goes and fucking does this." The cigarette she was smoking was barely doing something to relax her and she hated that.

Bless her, Flo thought. She could imagine Ella's efforts because she was just that kind and she had seen that in the little time she knew her, "He's got some nerve."

"And he said all that shit outside where there were people Flo! All of them were staring at me like I was in the wrong, I felt so fucking humiliated." Another cry came from Ella. It truly hurt even more that he had willingly put on a whole show in front of strangers for her to look bad when he was the one overreacting.

"Oh but you weren't wrong, and fuck whatever those people think! Alex is just so stupidly..." Flo was going to say jealous but she didn't know if Ella would take it the right way in the mood she was so she settled for, "He's just so fucking stupid."

Ella nodded as she took a drag, "He is."

"And that's cutting him some slack." Flo added, turning around on her spinning chair and finding Matty watching her with a frown, she mouthed 'It's Ella' to him.

Getting only a hum from Ella, Flo started thinking about any solution to cheer her up. "When you get back, why don't you phone Alice again?" Ella had told her and Bre how she'd ended up calling the singer and she came over to her hotel room that Sunday night, "You know she'll be there to lift your spirits in a heartbeat." She tried to joke to lighten the mood whilst she went over to where Matty was sitting at the edge of the bed and sat on his lap, putting her phone on speaker so he could hear too.

"Oh Flo, third time's the charm." Ella replied rather deflated, "Don't want to be catching feelings when I shouldn't."

"Would you?" Flo asked curiously, Matty looked so confused about the conversation topic so he just wrapped his arms around his wife's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder to continue mindlessly listening.

Entirely honestly, Ella admitted, "I think a third time with her would spark some expectations in my mind that will only end up hurting me when I go back home."

And Flo understood Ella a bit better then after she said that. She smiled to herself and came up with a good idea, "Well then, I'm getting you a date."

"Flo–" Ella tried to stop the girl but it was a lost cause.

Because Florence instantly changed her words to, "No, in fact, it's official. I've got you a date."

Ella chuckled through the silent tears that were stubbornly still spilling from her eyes, "How'd that change in less than a second?"

And the answer she got from Flo was a vague "Because I know they'll say yes in a heartbeat when I say it's you."

Ella hummed and tried her luck with her next question, "And who'd that be?"

But she had no luck getting anything out of her since all Flo replied with was a sassy, "It's a blind date sweetheart, you'll find that out on..." She paused trying to think of the person's schedule, glancing at Matty to get the answer and as if he was reading her mind, he loudly said, "Saturday."

Ella giggled hearing Flo's husband being part of the conversation and especially during that part of the chat. "Saturday..." Ella repeated, entirely amused yet a bit nervous.

"Yes, Saturday." Flo confirmed, smiling down at Matty who had a smirk on his face knowing just who his wife was thinking of, "And I want you to promise me you'll have the best time."

She knew Flo meant it wholeheartedly but at the moment promising that seemed like a lot of pressure so Ella stuck to saying, "I will try." just to not fully commit to something she wasn't sure she was gonna do.

Fully pleased with what she had just arranged for Ella, Flo switched topics, "Right, now let's forget about that stupid man and talk about tomorrow."

Stubbing the cigarette bud on the side of a bin and throwing it away inside it, Ella squealed quietly, "I'm so excited, I cannot wait to have some girl time."

"Yeah, we're in desperate need of some girl time." Flo's agreement made Matty shake his head in disbelief at her and pinch her waist.

"Did you see the pictures I sent you?" Ella had asked whilst that had happened and Flo almost missed it.

Flo had jumped in Matty's arms, causing him to laugh as she replied, "Yes and they all look stunning."

Ella had sent a few pictures she'd taken before to a group chat she had with the girls so they could get an idea of how it would be like, "Right so we're going for something like that."

There was excitement bubbling up inside Flo's tummy, "Oh Ellie, you're gonna have us looking perfect. I already know that."

Clicking her tongue, Ella switched her words around to compliment them, "Y'all are perfect already so that won't be hard."

Raising her eyebrows at her phone, Flo giggled and playfully chatted back, "Stop sweet talking me or I'll be coming over and be the one to distract you."

Ella knew her husband was right there, so she teased with, "Matty would be doing anything to avoid that from happening."

Matty laughed loudly and then Ella joined the laughter when Flo replied, "Oh he could join if that's what you want hun."

The loud cackle that she got from Ella made Flo smile triumphantly. She was so glad she was hearing her laugh rather than crying like she had earlier.

"You're hilarious." Ella said after catching her breath.

"I know." Flo flipped her hair regardless of Ella not seeing her but Matty did and all he did was roll his eyes at his wife. She narrowed her eyes at him and flipped him off before saying, "Back to tomorrow, do you want me to pick you up?"

Ella hesitated on her answer, her words coming out as a question, "If it's on your way? Bre and I were gonna take a cab to Katie's actually."

Flo felt Matty pressing soft kisses on her shoulder, and she rested her head over his as she replied, "Nonsense, I'll be coming to pick you two up."

"Thank you, you really are an angel." She was so grateful for Flo and how lovely she was to her, she wanted to give her the biggest hug at that very moment.

Flo clicked her tongue to disagree with the grandiosity of the statement, "You're too kind Ellie."

But Ella didn't let her, "Everyone would agree that you are." She clearly remembered Alex calling her angel multiple times when they were all together and, whilst she didn't know the reason behind it, it did add up.

"Not me!" Matty interrupted loudly before Flo could say anything, "She's a little devil this one."

Another cackle came from Ella, "Don't be giving me any details now Matty or I'll consider that threesome."

Flo scoffed exaggeratedly to continue earning giggles from the girl, "Nasty that you aren't considering it already."

"Yeah, I'm offended." Matty agreed, smiling at his wife knowing what she was trying to do. His heart swelled in his chest at the sight of her and her kindness.

But Ella's thoughts turned suddenly sour and her voice sounded forlorn when she replied, "Sorry I just would like to not ruin my friendships anymore."

Flo's heart hurt at her despair so clearly woven in her words, so she tried once again to steer her into the joke by saying, "Oh but you wouldn't honey, we'd only be getting closer."

"Damn right we would." Ella let a few giggles struggle out from her lips and Flo grinned rejoiceful in having managed to get her back in a lighter mood.

What surprised both Matty and Flo though, was that Ella had sighed in relief and informed them, "Well, just got back to the hotel."

"How fast were you walking Ella? Bloody hell." Flo's eyes were wide despite seeing on her screen that the call had been going on for over ten minutes and she knew the pub had been rather close to her.

Still, making the walk that quickly and that late at night after having been drinking surprised even Ella herself who just answered with a breathless, "Don't even know, but I'm tired."

Flo cooed loudly, "Bless you honey."

She didn't even know why but she let herself rant to Flo about what she was thinking of doing once she got to her room, "I think I'm just gonna run myself a bath and read something, take the rest of the night for myself and go to sleep."

It wasn't a burden for the artist though, because she was glad she was doing all that instead of giving Alex more of her time, "As you rightly should, fuck the thought of what happened right off your head Ellie. He doesn't deserve any more of your thoughts right now."

"I know, I know." Ella agreed, a tired sigh coming from her end of the line and after a brief pause, she added, "I'm going on the elevator and will lose signal so I'm just gonna say bye now. Thank you for listening to me ranting Flo, you're the absolute best."

"No need to thank me Ellie, love you lots. I'm always here for you, alright?" The sweet words had made Ella almost want to cry, she was so relieved to hear tenderness after having received nothing but anger-filled words from one of the people she loved most.

And then, Matty got a "So am I!" in and it was that which broke her and made a little pathetic cry fall from her lips.

Pressing the buttons for the lift, she nodded to herself and fought the pout on her face and the lump on her throat to say, "Thanks guys, love you so much. Goodnight."

After a "Goodnight Ellie." said in unison, the call ended.

The second the lift doors opened on the third floor, she sighed in bittersweet relief and with the last bit of energy she had left, Ella walked fast to her room.

Once inside, she let her bag fall from her shoulder and onto the floor. She had her phone in hand only to make sure to reply to Bre who had texted her multiple times and the girls who had also asked if she was alright in the group chat they exclusively had for themselves.

Ella let them all know briefly that she was and she had just gotten back to her hotel room, that she was excited to see them the next day to take their pictures.

After a few minutes of texting them back and forth, Ella went through with her plans to relax. Taking her time to go around the room, running herself a bath and getting the book she'd brought with her just in case she needed any peaceful distractions at any time.

It had been hard to force herself to focus on the words printed on the pages and ignore every thought rushing through her head, but she had managed after a painful ten minutes, completely fueled by her anger and the refusal of letting Alex ruin her night any further.

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"Oi!" Flo shouted as soon as she caught sight of him once she walked through the doors of the pub.

She didn't give a flying fuck that everyone had turned to look at her. Since she'd gotten off the phone with Ella, she couldn't sit still next to Matty, she just kept ranting and pacing and she thought the person she was actually annoyed at deserved to hear it more than her husband did.

The Monkeys turned their attention to Flo at the same time everyone else did. Alex deflated as soon as he saw her and the rest of the lads either hold a laugh or cringe feeling her wrath already.

"Oh you're in trouble." Matt half whispered to his mate as she stalked over to them before he took a long drink. Breana was smirking beside him, entirely pleased with the prospect of what was about to happen.

Before Alex could say anything, Flo got to their table and stopped right beside him and demanded, "Get the fuck up."

"Angel, can we not?" Alex looked down and sighed.

He knew what it would be about and he felt bad enough as it was. He didn't need the lecture from Flo too when she was just going to tell him everything he already knew.

"Get the fuck up now before I drag you out of here. You pathetic excuse of a man." Her voice was like venom, absolutely seething, and it cut him deep.

His defenses were still up after the argument he'd had an hour ago though. So he just shook his head and grabbed his glass saying, "I'm finishing my pint."

Seeing him drink a few mouthfuls of the mostly full beer pissed her off even more. So instead of him getting his way, Flo pushed his hand up that he was holding his glass with and watched as most of it spilled all down him, soaking him and the table through.

"There," Flo said, pleased with his shocked and fuming expression. "It's finished. Get up now."

"What the fuck Florence!" Alex shouted, completely in shock at what she had just done, "Was that necessary?"

"I think you deserve a lot worse." She nodded, her dead eyed stare at him struck fear into the other Monkeys and they weren't even the target of it. "Get your jacket and stand the fuck up."

If the other Monkeys didn't know any better they would have laughed at the scene that had just taken place in front of them. But they knew what Flo's wrath felt like as they'd seen it many times before years ago.

It was almost a whiplash for them when she turned to the rest of them and smiled as Alex got up and grabbed his jacket like you instructed, "Was lovely to see you boys. Ladies, I'll see you tomorrow." All of them were smiling at her, knowing that meant she had spoken with Ella and she was now taking justice in her own hands. "I hope married life is treating you well, Nick and Kelly."

"Thanks Flo." The newlyweds smiled at her, and once seeing Alex annoyed and ready to leave Nick nodded, "See you soon."

"See ya'," Flo smiled politely, but that fell and her face went hard again when she turned back to Alex. "Start walking. You know what my car looks like."

She gestured for him to go ahead of her and at that point he knew it was an instruction so he just followed it. After he started walking she smiled one final, "Bye." to the group at the table before she followed the dickhead that was Alex Turner, outside.

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Alex was fuming in the passenger seat of Flo's car and she could feel his rage. But she was past the point of caring, letting him stew in his anger and his soggy clothes.

It wasn't a surprise when he broke the long silence that had been the last 10 minutes when he asked, "Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you home." Flo said shortly, not particularly wanting to talk to him until she was ready to let him have all her anger.

Another long minute passed and Alex asked again, hints of annoyance still in his voice, "Are you going to speak to me?"

"No." She told him.

Alex scoffed and shook his head, "Then why even bother coming?"

"I'll talk to you when we get back to yours." She gave it to him right back and treated him like a child on the naughty step, "Why don't you sit in silence and reflect on what you've done."

Alex asked what he already knew, "So this is about Ella?"

"No, it's about the fucking Pope." Flo scoffed, before shouting at him, "Of course it's about Ella, you twat!"

Alex shook his head, fuming even more when he realized who would be earwigging, "And you're taking me home so that bitch next door can eavesdrop."

Brilliant, is all Alex could think.

"Oh, so you'll cause a scene in a pub in public but God forbid your hot neighbor might hear through the wall." Flo scoffed loudly and shook her head, concentrating on the road instead of who was beside her.

It was another awkwardly silent minute before Alex spoke up again. That time he let the anger drop from his voice completely and only sorrow remained, "Just take me to Ella's hotel and let me apologize."

She shook her head, "No."

Ella needed to decompress and Flo wasn't letting him jump her like that. She needed her space and she wouldn't let him see her upset anyway.

Alex started to beg, "Flo."

"I said no." She replied sternly, and she was thankful when Alex dropped it.

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The door shutting in Alex's flat rang loudly in the heavy silence between him and his best friend. The only thing that broke the silence was when Alex sighed and looked at Flo waiting for the inevitable to begin.

"Right so..." Alex trailed off.

"Go and get out of those beer soaked clothes and have a shower." She laid off him slightly for the moment, and she was thankful when he didn't question her.

As he went and did that, Flo left for a minute to knock on Alice's door and see if she was in. Thankfully she wasn't so Flo and Alex could talk or more likely shout at each other.

About 5 minutes later, Alex came back out with his hair damp but now in fresh clothes and he walked over to the kitchen island where she was sitting on a bar stool.

They both looked at each other expectantly, ready to start and Alex said a slow "So..."

"So," Flo raised her eyebrows at him and began, "I would just love to know why you think it's okay to treat women like they are disposable pieces of shit."

Alex closed his eyes and looked down, gently shaking his head, "I don't."

"You do." She corrected him, "And you do it to the ones you claim to care about most."

She crossed her arms and looked him straight in the eye as she said, "You did it to me twice and you've done it to Ella a fair few times now."

It hurt Alex knowing what he did to Flo, how much it affected her and everyone around her. And the last thing he wanted to do was do that to Ella as well, he shook his head, "You and Ella aren't the same."

"No, we're not." Flo agreed, "Because we were kids when whatever happened between us, which is slightly more excusable. But you're a grown man now Alex, and you're pulling the same bullshit."

He shook his head again, "I haven't."

Flo scoffed loudly, her eyes going wide, "You took her on tour with you, then on a date, kissed her, and then the same fucking day you got with Arielle!"

Holding herself back from slapping him, Flo compared it all for him, "It sounds like a more fast paced and slightly more PG version of what happened on the Favourite Worst Nightmare tour!"

"Can you keep your voice down?" Alex pleaded, "The bitch next door will be taking notes and mocking me even more than she already can now."

It was mesmerizing to Flo how Alex couldn't get Alice out of his head. She really didn't know why he was so obsessed. Or why he was so bothered. It wasn't like he knew Ella went back to Alice for a second time.

And that's when it clicked.

Wait.

"Oh my god, so that's why you've done it?!" Flo gasped, linking the dots herself then, "You didn't gaslight her like that because that guy bought her a drink, you did it because you found out she fucked Alice again!"

And from the look on his face she knew it was the truth.

"I've actually had it up to here with you Alex." Flo stood up and raised her hand above your head. She was fuming when she pointed at him as she said, "Do you know how difficult it actually is to be friends with you?!"

"No, don't do that." Alex shook his head and he was sure his eyes were wet when he said that "Right before I went out this morning, Loveless walked up the stairs, clearly on the walk of shame and all I said was, 'You look rough' and she said, 'Yeah, Ella gave me a rough night.' And she smirks and goes home."

"You're an adult." Flo sighed but her voice was stern, "How you can't handle competition is beyond a joke."

"There's no competition Flo," Alex shook his head, "There's no prize."

"Oh," She fully gasped then, "We're not playing that game."

Alex looked at her like she was an idiot and Flo looked at him just the same. So she said it out loud.

"You're really trying to deny that you fancy Ella? That you like Ella as more than your friend?" Flo pleaded with her eyes in hopes he wasn't going to try and deny it.

Alex looked down at the ground, not able to say it. But the silence said it all.

"It's written all over your face Alex." Flo's voice was soft as she took a step closer to him, "Just admit it."

Once again she was met with nothing, but she was not quite surprised. Her best friend had had this sort of reaction to her before.

"It's not that difficult Alex." She took his hand and squeezed it a little, "Admitting that you like someone isn't the weakness you think it is."

"Do you like Ella Hayes?" Flo asked again simply, "Yes or no?"

"Yes." Alex quietly admitted, and it felt like a weight had lifted off his shoulders.

Flo pressed on, "As more than a friend?"

He nodded, "A lot more than a friend."

"See that was easy, wasn't it?" She smiled, and let his hand slip from hers as she went back to her seat and said, "Was afraid I'd have to bring up the fact that you don't tend to hump someone in your sleep if you don't fancy them."

The sigh Alex let out was deafening and Flo knew he would have never wanted that information to reach the light of day but she needed him to understand how all of this shit seemed to her.

"You're confusing her."

Alex's eyes went wide, "I'm confusing her? Flo, she's confusing me."

She looked at him like she didn't believe him because she really didn't. Ella was the easiest person to read, probably easier than herself, it wasn't difficult to see that she thought the world of Alex. But Flo entertained him and listened to his points.

"She flirts with me at the wedding." Alex continued, "That happens the next morning which mortifies me, makes me want to jump off the closest bridge but then she goes back to Alice again? What am I meant to do?"

"Not being a dickhead or gaslighting her would be a good start." Flo suggested, before telling him, "You're the worst jealous drunk Al."

Alex couldn't even deny it. Jealousy mixed with alcohol really wasn't the best look on him. He always accidentally went too far.

"I shouldn't have her crying on the phone to me because you're sending out all these signals that you never follow through with anything on and then you humiliate her in public." She looked at him like he'd grown another head because she didn't understand his behaviour at all, "What the fuck is up with that?"

"That's not the way to go to get her to pay attention to you." She lectured him then, "Have you ever thought that properly flirting with her might be the way to go? Make the other person jealous of you instead because she's your friend? She's more likely going to give you attention if you put it on her in a good way."

Of course Alex saw all that. He loved the way Ella reacted to him, but he was worried. He mumbled but then cut himself off, "I don't—"

"What?" Flo asked, grabbing his hand again because she needed to understand.

"She doesn't even like me like that." Alex looked down and shook his head.

She sighed, this time softly saying, "You're the biggest fucking idiot on this planet."

"Do you not see the way she looks at you? Do you not hear the way she talks to you?" His best friend asked in a hopeless way because she didn't understand how he could miss it, "How she blushes when you look at her? How she can't keep your eye contact but she also doesn't want to look away from you?"

"Me and Matty were watching you at the wedding and you know what he whispered in my ear?" She asked her best friend.

After the small shake of Alex's head, she told him, "He said, 'I hope you realize the way he's looking at her is the way I look at you'."

Flo squeezed his hand again as she continued, "And I said 'I hope you realize that the way she looks at him is the way I look at you'. And we've been together for five years and it's never changed."

She watched as Alex's eyes teared up then. She could see he was hurt by what he'd done and probably at the fact Ella slept with Alice again. But if he wasn't going to make a move, he only got himself to blame.

"You're both so obvious but yet so oblivious." Flo told him the hard truth, "But you're ruining it for yourself when frankly Alex you can't do any better than her because she is top of the range."

Alex chuckled at that as he was still a bit teary and he hugged Flo tightly. And she hugged him back because she did love him despite him being an idiot sometimes.

But she had to rub his nose in it.

"And if you'd just fucking admit to yourself that you fancy Alice too, Christ your life would be much easier." Flo smirked a little bit.

Immediately Alex got defensive, "I don't—"

"You do." She interrupted, pulling back to look at him, "You look at her like you want to fuck her all the time."

"I—"

She interrupted him again, "But it's nowhere near what you feel for Ella."

"That's a physical thing with Alice," Flo explained, "With Ella it's everything. You like Ella for everything she has to offer the world."

Alex nodded at that, his eyes were a little teary still. But he appreciated what she had done for him.

"Being vulnerable is not a weakness Alex." She told him, "It lets you be happy. Please let yourself be happy."

He broke down and hugged her a little bit harder than he did last time then. And she held him as he went through it. It was the least she could do when she had given him a lot to think about.

Once he eventually calmed down, she heard him whisper in her ear, "I should go and apologize."

"No." She shook her head, "You're going to leave her alone for a few days... We're out with her tomorrow and she's busy Saturday... Give her the weekend and then you can go about it again."

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Katie's house was massive. It was further out of the city, where the suburban areas looked more like cottages than a regular neighborhood. Ella's jaw had dropped when she'd seen the single floor house, it looked like it was out of a fairytale and the open back garden that led to what Ella would say a forest had her heart beating out of her chest.

It was just perfect.

The house was a bit over an hour away from London, so Ella understood why Katie spent most of her time over at Jamie's flat in the city, but it was such a gorgeous place, Ella just thought how the state was definitely one out of her dreams and it was just what she had envisioned for the photoshoot.

Getting the props they'd brought with them down made Ella even more excited about the day, and the spark of hope had lifted her spirits after feeling like utter shit the two previous days.

On the way to Katie's, they had talked about everything but the night before, which was a relief, but Ella knew she had to catch Kelly and Katie up sooner or later and that would inevitably happen that day.

Ella would try her best to put it off as long as she could though, her mind completely going to focus on the pictures and bringing her vision to life.

After greeting each other, and Katie showing them where to leave the props and everything else Ella had brought, the girls started getting ready. Ella had told them to keep their makeup light and minimal, and she had them all in white flowy dresses that were almost see through.

It didn't take them long to do their own makeup and hair, and get dressed, so after about forty minutes, they were outside and barefoot on the grass, waiting for Ella's instructions.

Ella had always found that when she had a trust established with her subjects, they would just come alive in front of her lenses with little instruction from her and that's exactly what had happened.

It had been so easy to capture them moving around, dresses dancing in the wind as they leapt or toes digging on the ground as they walked. Slender fingers trying to make them as tall as they could as if reaching for the sun, contrast between nature, skin and fabric feeding the frame perfectly.

The more they moved, the hotter they got and with a surprising appearance of the bright sun over them, the girls started getting comfortable letting Ella capture them showing more and more skin until they were fully nude.

There was something so fascinating to Ella about human anatomy and she truly loved capturing the movement on someone's body to make it art, because she considered it art. The way your body would do it all to keep you alive and well, and how you had to reciprocate for it to thrive, she loved to think that was where the first form of love ever came from, subconscious and merciful.

So Ella had them all posing together, letting them hide between each other or sometimes frame each other's body. Freckles, scars, hair, wrinkles, smiles. She was capturing it all with her soul filling up with bliss, feeling so in her element.

And then Breana asked her to give her the camera, claiming it was because she wanted to try to show her an angle that in her head would work wonders, but she asked her to please pose for her lay on the grass promising that's how she was going to pose for her.

Ella reluctantly did so, hair splayed over the grass and contrasting the green with her white button up and her blue jeans. She gave her best friend a shy smile when Bre praised her for posing perfectly: one hand on her side and the other teasingly over her chest, one leg extended with her toes pointed and the other leg slightly folded up.

When the shutter went off, Ella allowed herself a few seconds before standing up but then is when the rest of the girls started begging her to change into a dress so she could get her picture taken as well.

The American wasn't too convinced, telling them she had enough rolls for them only but the girls dragged her back inside the house to get her ready. Flo had gone to get everyone's dresses, so they could get in them again, as Katie showed Ella the dresses she had for her.

She settled for a rather see through long sleeve puffy dress that buttoned down all the way down to her belly button and it just flowed down to her ankles freely with the risk of the slit in the middle opening up to shower her entire lower body.

But that had been the beauty of it when Breana told her to pose just like she had before, only this time telling her to throw both her arms over her head and look up to the sky while she did. It had been one of the most beautiful shots of the evening, the sun shining perfectly over her and making her look ethereal.

The girls had managed to convince her to take a few more pictures, and with Katie's help on how to flow with her poses, Ella got her pictures taken multiple times.

The photographer went back inside to change the roll, pretty sure on the one she had currently in the camera full and she wouldn't risk accidentally double exposing her frames and fuck a good shot up so she changed the film roll and went back outside to continue.

Katie had suggested then, taking a little walk to the creek further down into the woods and they all did with caution on where they stepped since they were all barefoot on the ground.

The creek was hidden away in between the thick trees but the position of the sun allowed a few rays of light to peek through the branches and make the water gleam. It sparkled as the water rushed through the big rocks and the pebbles on the bottom of it.

Hands holdings water as drops slipped through fingers, toes dipping in water, heads resting in the water on the deepest end of the creek, the reflection of fingers on the water as they reached down to touch it, fabric getting wet, becoming entirely transparent and adhering to their bodies, goosebumps raising on their skins, bodies resting on the big rocks, contorting limbs on the water, everyone reaching for faint touches.

All of that was what Ella had managed to capture with her camera, completely taken by nature to inspire the movement of it all. Every angle dictated by where the sun wanted her to aim her lenses at, every moment of their bodies almost guided by the wind.

Breana had borrowed the device again, this time it had been easier to convince Ella to move for the camera, and thankfully she had allowed Bre to take turns with her to take more pictures as the rest of the afternoon rolled.

Walking back had been captured too, blurry movements of their bodies as they ran back and caring little about the broken branches and dirt sticking to the soles of their feet. Wet strands of hair moving everywhere as they sprinted and spinned around.

Back in Katie's back garden, they all shed their drenched clothes off themselves and Ella went on her tiptoes back inside her house to get the many white bed sheets she'd brought with her to play around with them.

Putting the sheet up and hiding behind so the sun only showed their shadow, dropping it on the ground and laying over them, rolling around until they were tangled in between them, glimpses of skin showing between the wrinkles of the white fabric, using them as a cover but teasing it off their bodies, bunching it up and covering up their fronts as they leapt around.

Up until they let them all go and decided to just pose around nude one last time, but all together at last. Fingers grazing each other's skin, lips brushing against shoulders and backs, eyes closing and mouths opening agape.

The subtle erotism of the connection between them in their most vulnerable state, all surrounded by the wonderful view of unbothered wild nature.

Ella felt so fulfilled when they deemed it done, smiles in everyone's face and the growing excitement in everyone to look at the final results. She would make sure to ask Matt where she could get her film developed in London and she hoped to be able to go as soon as she got back to the city.

Back inside, they all took turns to take showers in Katie's two bathrooms, meaning that by the time everyone was done, some of the girls had taken over the kitchen and were already preparing food for them all to share.

And whilst that had been fun and wholesome, all of them exploring the new sense of trust and comfort between them, Ella knew deep in her heart that the conversation she was putting off was coming up soon.

They gave Ella a bit of time by asking her about her photography and letting her rant about her passion for it and all that came with it, but that only lasted so long when the girls were itching to let Ella know what Flo had done for her the night before.

"You know, Ellie," Katie was the one to start the conversation as she played around with the stew in her plate, "Flo got Alex good last night."

The model's smirk in delight of the memory seemed to be contagious because when Ella froze in her seat and looked around for confirmation, the rest of the girls were matching it.

Letting her fork softly down beside her plate, she cleared her throat and asked a confused, "What?"

Bre smugly nodded and confirmed, "She got his ass in front of everyone at the pub."

Ella felt like she was being told a joke, a mumbled, "Wha– Why?" coming from her as if there was a need to even ask for a reason.

Flo turned to her and with a soft smile told her, "Honey, did you really think I would have you call me crying because of him and let him get away with it?"

Mixed feelings was what Ella could explain how she felt about that, on one hand she was so relieved to know Flo had her back but on the other she felt sad that she hadn't been the one to give him what he deserved.

"But–" She tried to argue that she hadn't needed to do that, because in all honesty Flo didn't need to. Ella hated to even think of Alex hurting over his childhood best friend choosing sides even though it was the right choice.

"No," Flo didn't even let her try it, because the last thing Alex deserved was Ella defending him. "If he didn't get shit after what happened with Arielle, then he deserved last night even more."

Kelly and Katie were confused by the mention of Alex's ex, both of them saying, "Arielle?" in unison.

To which Flo turned to them and smiled, "Oh girls, we have a lot to catch you up on."

Telling Kelly and Katie everything had been rather entertaining, their jaws dropping and gasps falling from their lips made Ella laugh despite her heart twisting in her chest as she told them it all.

She had gone all the way back to when she had first met the band, finding out then that Alex had been dating Alexa during that time and Ella had a hard time swallowing that information down.

The pattern was clear after she found that out, and she had no idea how to feel about it. She had thankfully gotten distracted from that can of worms when they all asked her to continue telling them about the next time she saw the band.

It probably took them a whole hour to hear it all, finishing off by telling them what exactly had happened outside the pub the night before. All of them fuming at the nerve Alex had to act the way he did with her.

Once that was done, Ella had Flo tell them all what she had done the night before. The artist did just that but she hid the singer's confession about his feelings for Ella for his own sake. It wasn't something Ella needed to find out from her, yet Flo was praying Alex would tell her soon.

The revelation of his attitude having been caused by Alice and her subtle admission to having shagged Ella that Monday had left them all jaw dropped.

And in Ella's pit of her stomach settled a heavy weight of guilt.

Bre saw right through her, taking Ella's hand in hers to reassure her she owed Alex nothing and him getting angry about it was on him. It was good the four girls all told her that it wasn't her fault, it echoed louder in her brain until she managed to come around it and believe it.

Full of honesty, Katie decided to say, "I think everyone reckoned something was going to happen between you at the wedding, just not this."

Ella frowned at her, in utter confusion, "What do you mean?"

And Katie had to bite her tongue so as not to laugh at her naivety, "Ella..."

The raised eyebrows of the model told her enough for her to realize so she sighed before replying, "Okay, look, I know what you're going to say but it's not like that."

"Isn't it?" Kelly was the one to ask her this time.

And Ella shook her head, looking at them both, "No. Alex is my best friend and I love him." They raised their eyebrows and smirked, making Ella hastily clear her words up, "I do but not like that."

Taking a sip of her wine, Kelly shrugged, "Well it's kinda hard to believe that when yous are the way you are together."

That made sense to Ella but at the same time, she didn't know how she and Alex could act any other way around each other, "We've always been that way."

"Always?" Kelly asked for confirmation on that, her curiosity getting the best of her. And with Ella's hum in agreement, she came to the conclusion that, "You've never been actual friends then, there's always been more."

"No, I–" Ella tried to chat back but her thoughts were tangling in her head, "There's nothing more. It might've started like that but I promise it's not like that anymore." She let her eyes wander around to see if they all believed her but she had a feeling they didn't so she pressed again, "I promise."

Bre giggled then, "Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself there babe."

To that Ella flipped her off and told Bre to, "Shush."

But no one was siding with her, and she knew it when Katie told them, "Yeah sorry Ellie but you did say you were shagging after the wedding."

The other four girls let out a loud, "What?!" that echoed inside the house.

"Am I really the only one who remembers that party?" Katie asked in disbelief and looking at everyone's confused faces, she resigned to just telling the story, "Christ. Okay, so you were dancing to this Mariah song," The model went silent trying to remember which one it was because the lyrics came to play in the story, "Fantasy, that one." She said louder when it came back to her, and with a smirk appearing on her face, she made sure to emphasize, "And you were singing it all to Alex."

To Ella's defense, her mom had always been a massive Mariah Carey fan and that was one of her absolute favorites so she shielded herself behind, "I was drunk and I really like that song."

Katie didn't really allow her to when she continued, "Then Miles came between you and started dancing with you two until Alex dragged you away from him to dance with you alone." Ella shrugged like that didn't mean a thing and Katie finished her story with, "And when the song was over, Miles told you two that you should fuck already and you said 'When we go upstairs' quite quickly I must point out."

The girls around the table giggled and looked at Ella waiting for her response, which ended up being a very not confident, "It was a joke."

Flo looked at Ella and raised her hands up like she didn't want to be called out for what she was about to say, which was, "Drunk words are sober thoughts."

Ella's jaw dropped like she was offended at Flo's insinuation but before Ella could go on denying everything, Bre put in her two cents, "Okay to be fair she did want to fuck him at the start of 2012."

The loud gasp that Ella let out made Breana laugh but Ella shook her head still mortified about her having said that and scorned her by hissing a "Breana!" through her teeth.

The British girls were laughing at Ella's face, and they only grew amused when Bre lifted her hands up and faked innocence, "It's the truth! I'm helping you here."

"No, you're not." Ella rubbed her face in frustration with her own thoughts. Why had she even said that at the party? She was so annoyed at herself and at the whole situation, "Let's just not talk about this anymore. It's pointless, I won't convince you."

"I wonder why that is." Flo mumbled under her breath, the weight of Alex's confession weighing heavy on her tongue and the want to just tell Ella about it burned her, but she wasn't the person that needed to relay that information.

Whilst Kelly had mercy on Ella's poor dizzy mind and changed topics of conversation, and Flo had her own internal debate, Ella's insides were filled with anguish.

She didn't regret sleeping with Alice again but she hated that it somehow misfired and made it all worse. There wasn't a point in dwelling on it because she couldn't change the past but she had no idea what to do to make it better with Alex.

And there was also that part of her that was angry at him for acting the way he had and making it so much harder to even try to fix the situation.

The only conclusion Ella could come to was that her best option was focusing on not ruining her friendship with Alex anymore.

His friendship was something so much more meaningful to her, so she would make sure to not entertain anything that would break that. She would keep to being his best friend, every word to preserve that, every touch to maintain it. Even if a bit of her heart ached for a little more, she wouldn't risk it because having a bit of him was better than not having him at all.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

They had gotten back to London quite late, meaning Ella had to wait until the next morning to go to the photo lab Matt had told her was the best in his opinion.

She had woken up rather early, gathering all the rolls she knew she had used, placing them inside her bag along with her camera which had a new roll inside. Having breakfast before leaving had been a wonderful decision for she had time to walk around London without having to make a decision about where to eat if she'd been hungry.

The people at the film lab had been wonderful and Ella had been told she could come pick her pictures up any time from Sunday. She had asked to develop, print and scan everything so it was quite a big job but she was just so excited she could get to see it all soon.

The walk back to the hotel was quiet, she had lit a cigarette and gotten lost people watching through her viewfinder, stopping every other block when she saw something in particular that caught her eye.

Ella had taken her time, after all she had no plans and all that was in her mind was trying to relish in the bits of peace she could find during the day. She seemed to be achieving it by sheltering in her passion, until a sighting shattered her new sense of calmness and brought in a sudden strike of panic that rose goosebumps on her skin.

She had walked out of the elevator with her phone in hand, mindlessly scrolling through Instagram when she felt someone's presence in front of her, and when she looked up she was surprised to see Alex standing by her hotel room door, scrolling on his phone with his back leaning against the wall.

Her feet stopped her in her place, blinking fast to try and figure out if he was really there. It seemed like her gaze burned enough on him because he whipped his head up like he had gotten startled despite the silence that surrounded them and with a shy smile, he pocketed his phone and stood up straight.

A little, "Hi." was the only thing she managed to say, her throat constricted by the surprise and everything she had felt in the past few days coming like a hurricane to whisk away any sense she had left in her.

Her eyes looked around them, as if she was expecting a crew of cameras jumping out from the corners of the ends of the hallways to tell her she was being pranked.

But he reciprocated quite softly with a, "Hi Ellie." and her heart swelled at his tenderness being back.

Ella was having trouble trying to find out what she was meant to say, so she stuck to asking him, "Have you been waiting long?" since she knew she had been out for approximately two hours by then, despite the clock barely having hit ten in the morning.

Alex shook his head, "No, don't worry." He had been there half an hour but he wouldn't tell her that, she'd only feel guilty about it and that was the last thing he wanted.

The only one who needed to apologize was him.

He cleared his throat, fiddling with his fingers as he gained the courage to ask, "May I come in?"

A short, "Oh." slipped past her lips but she nodded regardless, looking through her bag for her room keys and slapping herself mentally for letting her mind go back to when she was in the same predicament, only drunk and when they had been talking. "Sure." She ended up saying, her eyes almost avoiding him because she just didn't know how to act yet.

If she had known he was going to be there, she would've prepared to act a bit tougher but he'd caught her off guard and the soft spot she had for him prevailed in her.

The singer walked into the room right after her, closing the door softly behind him as he took in his surroundings.

He hated that deep down he knew this was his way of stalling what he was meant to do for as long as he could. So he scorned himself mentally and looked at her as she put her stuff down by the coffee table on the left side of the room and slowly turned around to face him.

The second Ella turned and looked straight into his eyes, she had to bite her tongue not to be the one to apologize. Because she knew she would, even if she knew she hadn't done wrong, but it was just because she was dying for it all to go back to how it was before.

Thankfully, Alex managed to gather himself and stop being nervous about saying, "I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry."

There was something laced around his words that tugged at Ella's heartstrings, making her brows furrow and her lips melt into a pout. Alex saw her about to open her mouth, and he knew what she was going to say so he stopped her before she could, "No, it's not okay Ella. I shouldn't have acted like that Tuesday night or Sunday morning. I was an absolute twat and I'm very fucking sorry."

She didn't know what exact words to use to respond to him, she wanted to say it was okay but she knew it wasn't and he wasn't going to accept that either so she kept quiet.

Her silence was deafening but Alex could see in her eyes it wasn't something she was doing on purpose so he continued apologizing for everything, "I, erm– What happened on Sunday morning shouldn't have happened and I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, even more when I acted the way I did before you left the room and I'm so fucking sorry for how I acted at breakfast."

At that, she let out a humorless giggle, "Yeah you better be."

Which made him giggle in response but he swallowed his laughter to agree, "I truly am. And I'm sorry again about what happened at the pub. I–, I don't know what I was thinking."

Taking a few steps forward, Ella walked up to him and tugged him by his right hand, she pulled him into a tight hug. "You're an idiot," She started saying, relishing in finally having him in her arms after so long, "Please never do that again."

In all honesty, Alex felt like he could cry from feeling her embrace again and seeing that she had actually accepted his apologies, "Never, I promise. I'm so sorry, darling."

The use of her pet name made her squeeze him a bit tighter, something that he did as well and they stayed like that for another minute.

When they pulled away, Ella made sure to take a step back so she could look at him and with tearful puppy eyes said, "You should've listened to me when I told you it was okay on Sunday morning. Do you know how many times I've seen my friends wake up with a boner? Way too many to count and it's something natural, why would I make a huge deal about it? We were drunk Alex, that shit happens."

Alex let his gaze drop, his own eyes filling up with tears, completely regretful of the attitude he had taken after that had happened, "I'm sorry. I should've listened to you."

Ella hummed, reaching out to grab his hand and rubbed her thumb on the back of it, making Alex look up at her and once he'd done that she nodded and quipped back, "You should, 'cause I'm always right."

Alex's shoulders shook as he chuckled, his tight lip smile turning into a toothy grin when she beamed at him. He knew he had promised Flo that he'd let Ella have the weekend for herself but he was desperate to make things right by her. And after experiencing a whole day go by without doing anything to get Ella back, he knew he couldn't afford letting more days pass.

They stood there softly grinning at each other for half a minute, which actually felt quite infinite until his smile dropped completely from his face, hers following right behind and a slight fear started weighing on her chest. What he was about to say, she didn't know, but it seemed like it was taking him some work to properly get the words to let it out.

Her consistent touch encouraged it out of him and Ella was fully taken aback when he said, "I also wanted to apologize for everything that happened at the start of last year. Everything with Arielle after that tour you joined us."

Ella's words failed her entirely then, her hand frozen in his as she tried to gather herself after the whiplash she'd gotten.

She was slightly mortified that he knew that had affected her, and she figured that the question 'How do you know?' was written on her face because he continued saying, "When you found out about Julian doing that to you... You told me I had done the same back then when I got with Arielle and ever since then I've hated myself for even making you feel like you're disposable." He pulled a stunned Ella closer to him, his left hand grabbing her other hand and squeezing them enough for her to understand that when he said, "I'm sorry Ella, I really am." he really meant it.

Ella was so shocked, she was stuck in a certain detail, "I told you that?" She was expecting him to say it had been Flo relaying that information.

The singer nodded, chewing on his bottom lip before recounting that afternoon, "You'd had two bottles of wine, so you were quite drunk. Not a surprise you don't remember at all."

Her cheeks grew bright red, completely embarrassed that she had let that out under the influence. She realized that must've been the time she'd had to pack her ex's stuff up, "Why didn't you tell me? I– I'm so sorry." She let out with a bit of a struggle, but Alex frowned at her apologizing to him for that.

"What are you apologizing for? None of that. I'm the one who was wrong there, you didn't do a thing." His hands pulled her in closer until she was almost pressed against his chest, and she had to fully drop her gaze because staring right into his eyes from that close in a moment like that was making her feel things she had already promised herself she would avoid for the sake of their friendship.

She shook her head, "I just– I don't know. It's embarrassing."

Her confession had his chest feeling a little heavy, "No darling, it isn't. If anything, you opened up my eyes with that."

At that, she let her eyes wander up to see him and her furrowed brows wobbled slightly as she hesitated to accept that statement.

"I'm sorry for ruining this past few days for you darling. This trip wasn't ever meant to upset you and I'm sorry for being selfish over you." He hesitated with his words next, having a think and being careful with what he chose to say just so he didn't say too much but he also didn't fuck up again. "You can do whatever you want, and as long as you're happy and having the best time here then, I'll cheer you on."

That look of doubt was still on her face so he pushed, "Please? Promise me you'll continue to have fun and enjoy every second of this holiday." Desperate to have her promise him that, he pulled her in for another hug, crushing her in his arms and whispering in her ear, "Please?"

Which ended up making her fold, he felt her nod in his arms and a shy, "Okay, promise." barely reached his ear.

They reveled in the warmth of their embrace, sniffling into each other's ears at the relief of having each other back like that. Both were silently agreeing to not let any other moment for granted, until Alex felt the heaviness of the clock on the wall ticking away and remembering time was still running—and there was somewhere he had to be later—, he pulled back and proposed something.

"Do you wanna go over to Sheffield with me?"

Ella's eyes went wide and she stared at him waiting for him to laugh, only his smile seemed entirely genuine and all she could ask was, "Like right now?"

A giggle managed its way through when he confirmed, "Yeah right now."

She seemed to hesitate and in a desperate attempt to get her to go with him, Alex asked her, "Have you got any plans today?"

Ella shook her head, knowing her weekend was going to be pretty tame, except for whatever Flo had planned for her on Saturday.

"Then come with me." His voice sounded like a beg, his hands still clutching hers with intent, "We can go to Manchester tomorrow as well, I'll give you the best walk around the city."

Biting the inside of her cheek, Alex saw Ella trying to make up her mind so he continued, "Remember how much you liked it when I took you around London? Best tourist guide ever, you said."

His smirk made her smile, biting her tongue not to laugh at his attempts.

"I'll have you back here by Saturday." He knew she was busy that day, he had been racking his brain to figure out what she could be doing that day after Flo told him about it but he wouldn't ask anymore, it wasn't his business and he just hoped that whatever it could be, she'd have the best time.

Ella slightly panicked, not knowing if Flo had told him about the date, scared of that causing another argument, but he seemed calm about it so she figured the date wasn't to his knowledge.

"Okay." She gave in, pressing her lips together not to smile hard like she wanted to, "But give me five minutes to get some stuff to take with me."

"'Course." The smile on his face was huge, impossible to wipe off.

He watched her as she went around her room gathering some clothes, a few toiletries and makeup and putting them all in the biggest bag she'd brought. She had no idea what they were doing or where they were going so she had to think ahead and pack whatever she'd think she'd need, that's why the zip of the bag struggled to close.

Due to her trying to not take too long, she hadn't had time to overthink about the silence that swelled in the room and Alex's eyes following her every move. And thankfully, once she got a smaller bag to put her camera inside, along with some film rolls, her phone, her wallet and her cigarettes, Alex opened the door for her so they could head out.

She triple checked that she had her keys inside her smaller bag and closed the door behind her, letting out a sigh.

They were a bit self conscious of their actions then: Alex's hand hovering close to hers but never getting ahold of it, Ella walking close to him but mindful of leaving some space between them.

She hated it, and he hated it too. But they knew it would take a little longer for them to figure out how to go back to how it was.

When they got to the lift, Alex let Ella walk in first and their words were swallowed as their ears were drowned by the classical music playing inside it.

It wasn't until they were in the car and Alex had started driving that one of them finally spoke out.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" The singer asked, turning to look at her for a quick second.

Ella hummed, "Yeah, why?"

"Just wanted to make sure because it's a three hour drive up to Sheffield." He'd had breakfast as well, and looking at the time, he reckoned they would get to his parents' house just in time to get the tube down to the city center and grab a bite before the match.

Like always, Alex had given Ella the aux cord and she'd been the one to play the music while he drove, but this time, music had been more of a background noise than something to entertain them for.

He'd asked her about how the day before had gone and she'd tried her best to explain all that she had managed to capture. She'd been gushing over Katie's house, and just how excited she was to pick her pictures up by the end of the weekend, and he listened to her with a smile on his face.

In return, she'd asked him what he had been up to and he told her all about the meetings he'd had about the press tour they were doing along with the AM tour.

They were leaving for Europe the very next day after Ella was going back to Los Angeles and after a month long Europe festival run, they were back in the States. Unfortunately, they weren't seeing each other until September which was when they'd be around the East Coast, yet that would be brief since right after the US tour was over, they were off back to the UK to tour.

Ella felt so bad for them, they were going to be flying all over the world without so much of a stop until mid December when they'd be back home for the holidays.

That talk sparked so many tour stories, ones that she managed to get out of him when she asked different things. She'd learned many of the logistics of tour, and just thinking about it made her sympathy for the band grow. Not only for them though, for their tour crew and the team in charge of working it all out as well.

It wasn't until they had about forty five minutes left to get there that she turned the music up and started singing, forcing him to sing with her. She always had to encourage him to join her because he kept quiet and smiled to himself whenever she sang along.

Ella had quieted down during a whole song but only because Bre had texted her asking if she wanted to go shopping with her and when Ella had told her she was on her way to Sheffield with Alex, Bre's flood of surprised messages made her bite her tongue not to cackle out loud.

Alex noticed Ella's quick fingers typing away on her screen, her shoulders shaking as she tried to hide her laughter.

Right after Bre had promised her to let her know if he did anything so she could fight him when they were back, Ella put her phone down and got her attention completely caught by the music again.

In between laughter and belting out verses, they got to the Turner's household. Ella was suddenly nervous as if this was something else, but she reminded herself she had already met Penny and she was lovely so Alex's dad would be just as wonderful.

Ella found that to be true, when David opened the door for them and engulfed her in a tight hug before Ella could even introduce herself. She'd giggled in David's ear out of surprise and elation from the sudden show of affection.

When he let go, she smiled brightly at him and offered her hand while she said, "I'm Ella, nice to meet you!"

David shook her hand briefly, "Oh Ella sweetheart, so nice meeting you." Alex was watching it all with a toothy grin and his heart was melting in his chest.