In Denial | Alex Turner

IV

People. People were all around you. People were screaming, yelling, judging, complaining and everything human beings do when they're excited, angry, unpleased and all that. People made me overwhelmed. I hated crowded places and most importantly, I hated all the annoying people that came with it. Although I loved concerts, this one wasn't exactly the most organised.

I walked up to the security guy with Elle holding onto my hand, like a child holding its mother. She was so excited to be there that we almost lost each other a couple of times. I had to hold onto her so we didn't seperate and she lost her 'VIP' seat.

Although it was winter and it was freezing cold, there were a lot of people there. More than the people that'd be there during summertime. Everyone was pushing through, trying to get closer to the stage, resulting a huge mess, but the security guys didn't seem to give a single fuck about it.

Elle and I were shown how to get to our reserved seats from a quiet corridor behind the stage. We would have to go through the backstage and all the dressing rooms where the band and staff were.

Before entering the backstage through a big and white door, Elle stopped to fix my shirt and hair before we walked in.

"Why?" I sighed as she adjusted the leather jacket on my shoulders.

"Because we are about to walk through the backstage, where everyone is at, and you have to look presentable," she rolled her eyes and brushed her fingers through my straightened caramel hair.

"Excuse me? I don't look presentable?" I squinted my eyes at her, making her laugh.

"I'm kidding," she rolled her eyes and took a step back, observing me. "You're great. How do I look?" she asked stressed. I ran my fingers through her loose curls and adjusted the white top on her shoulders before taking a step back to look at her in total.

"Amazing, now come on because we're already late," I grabbed the door knob and opened the big door, revealing all the chaos going on behind it. Staff running around with one of these organizers in their hands, speaking on the headphones they had on their heads and making sure everything worked perfectly for the band.

"Monica!" I heard a familiar voice coming from inside. Nick walked up to us with his black suit and opened his arms before pulling me in for a hug.

"Hi, Nick. It's nice to see you again. This is Elle," I laughed and pointed at Elle who couldn't believe in her eyes.

"Nick, but I guess you already know that," he gave her his hand for a handshake and she laughed.

"Elle. Oh my God, I can't believe I'm meeting you," she admitted and covered her mouth with her left hand, making Nick and I laugh.

"Nick, how many times do I have to tell you-" A slightly shorter man figure appeared, coming from his dressing room. "Oh?" he squinted his eyes and looked over to Nick.

"Monica and Elle," he pointed at us and we held our hands out for him to shake.

"Oh, you're the Monica," he nodded slowly and shook our hands. "Jamie, nice to meet you." Elle and I nodded and smiled.

"Anyways, we're out in five so better get ready. I'll go yell at Matt and Alex for being late again. I'll see you girls outside," Jamie winked at us and left.

"We should better head outside too," I looked at Elle who was looking around, full of curiosity.

"Yes, we'll see you outside."

"Good luck," Elle smiled at Nick and he did the same.

Elle and I walked outside through a small black door and down the wooden stairs that followed. Eventually, we reached the free space in front of all the people cheering and yelling. No one was there, only us. It was the space between the rest of the crowd and the stage. We were seperated from the others by big and wooden fences and it felt good. I felt special.

As soon as we sat down on the stools set for us, Matt started hitting the drums with his wooden sticks, making everyone scream, including Elle. Alex came out wearing a plain black t-shirt and a leather jacket on top of it. His hair was gelled back like usual and his smirk was playing on his lips.

"Good evening, New York," he greeted the crowd and everyone started cheering even louder, making him raise an arm to tell them to keep it down.

I'll have to admit, they were a pretty good band and their songs were all catchy. I didn't find one song I did not like.

Elle seemed to be enjoying it a lot as she kept screaming the lyrics on top of her lungs, with the rest of the crowd. She knew every word to all of their songs, which surprised me.

Around the end of the performance, Alex stepped in front of the microphone and cleared his throat while the lights were off. The lights came back on slowly, revealing his tall figure and his characteristic smirk. His eyes fell on me and he smiled, looking down at all the cables laying on the floor. The inside of me melted and I smiled back at him.

"Ladies!" he yelled in the microphone quickly before stepping back, strumming the guitar quickly and with pleasure. The 'ladies' in the crowd started screaming, along with Elle who grabbed my hand, squeezing it painfully.

The last song ended and it got stuck in my head. It went something like 'I bet that you look good on the dancefloor' and wasn't planning on leaving my head.

"Thank you very much," his strong accent filled my ears and made me smirk. He raised his arms, blowing a kiss at the crowd, while the rest of the guys waved at them.

-

We walked over at the backstage and waited for the guys on a red couch like Matt had told me to do. Elle couldn't stop thanking me and talking about how much she loved it, refering to certain parts of the performance. I just laughed and nodded.

"Thought we wouldn't see you here today," Matt smiled at us as he walked out of his dressing room with Alex. My eyes fell on him and his addicting smirk. He was eyeing me up and down, like usual, making me regret my outfit choices.

"You did, though," Elle had gained some confidence and was able to talk to them without stuttering or sweating. I was proud of her.

"And we're glad," Alex added, looking at Elle with a smirk.

"How would you feel about an afterparty at Jamie's?" Matt wondered, looking at us with his usual smile.

"Oh, uh," I started, thinking about the fact that we had to work the next morning.

"We'll get a day off, Monica. Enjoy life for once," she cut me off and rolled her eyes to what I responded with a laugh.

"Great, we can drive together there," Alex suggested excited.

"We came with a cub, so yeah, that'd be useful," Elle chuckled.

A/N:
Hi! I know it is kind of boring until now but I promise it'll get better.
Thank you so much for reading and remember to drink water and stay safe <3