In Denial | Alex Turner

XXXIII

"No way this kid just beat me at cards!" my dad exclaimed, throwing his hand in the air and pointing at Jamie who was laughing the entire time.

"If we played with money, I would have won," he pointed at Jamie with his index finger, making him scoff.

"Yeh, right," he rolled his eyes.

I was sat on the brown leather settee of my living room as everyone was still at the table, sipping wine and laughing. I was holding my second glass of wine while I went through my phone.

"'Ey," Matt softly said and came to sit next to me.

"Oh, hey," I smiled softly and turned my phone off, putting it aside.

"I'm sorry for earlier," he smiled as he sat more comfortably.

"What do you mean?" I furrowed my eyebrows and smiled nervously. Had he seen me with Alex?

"I didn't mean to interrupt yer with Al earlier," he shot me an apologetic look and made me huff a nervous laugh.

"You saw that," I mumbled looking down on my lap as I played with my glass.

"Yeh, I did," he chuckled and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees.

"He was nervous all day," he smiled, lowering his voice as my mum approached us, taking the trash out. We both shot her a small smile and she winked playfully, getting out of the house.

"He really cares about yer," he placed his hand on my shoulder. "Even if he keeps on denying it," he shot me a warm smile and left, leaving me smiling at myself.

My conversation with Alex kept roaming around my head, replaying over and over again and not leaving once. Did he mean what he said? I sure did, but did he feel the same?

"Hi," his low voice snapped me out of my thoughts as I shot my head back up and faced him.

"Hi," I smiled at him and patted the seat next to me, gesturing him to sit down.

My mum came back from outside and walked over to us, sitting on the armchair across the settee.

You're kidding.

"So how long have you two been together?" she smiled, leaning back on the chair.

Of course.

"Uh, we aren't..." I looked at Alex who was smiling widely

"We're not together," he spoke as he tried to keep himself for smiling too much.

"Aw, but you'd look great together!" my mum looked between us. "I've always imagined Mon with a musician," she admitted. I looked away before I sank in my seat and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"She's always had a thing for music, you know. She even had a small band with her friends back when she was 16!" she laughed and Alex looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Really? She never mentioned!" he placed his hand on my thigh and I buried my face in my hands. That was enough embarassment for today.

"They were called the... uhm..." she snapped her fingers as she squinted her eyes, trying to remember the name.

"Mum," I mumbled behind my palms and heard Alex chuckle as he started stroking my thigh up and down.

"It was an adorable name, really-"

"Alright, enough," I cut her off, laughing awkwardly.

My mum talked to Alex a bit and then soon joined everyone else at the table again. 

"A band?" he chuckled, looking at me as soon as my mum left.

"Shut up," I rolled my eyes, grabbing the glass of wine off the table.

"What was it called, really?" he teased and I punched his arm gently as I huffed a laugh.

"D'you want to come by the hotel after this?" he locked his gaze with mine and smiled widely.

"Only if you're getting me a drink," I raised my eyebrow teasingly and he nodded with a smirk.

-

"Did you have fun tonight?" I asked Alex as we approached his room that was located at the end of the corridor. We had left everyone else in their rooms as they'd decided to call it a night and decided to stay in his room since Nick was also going to be sleeping in Jamie's.

"I did, yeh, I love yer parents," he chuckled and put the key in the keyhole, twisting it gently.

"They loved you too," I smiled and placed my right hand on his back, leading him inside the room.

"They did?" he sounded surprised but also happy and excited.

"Yes!" I laughed as he closed the door behind us. "My mum told me when I went inside to grab my coat and my dad told me while you were at the bathroom," I walked up to the balcony doors and opened them, letting the cold breeze fill in the room.

His hotel room had yet another amazing view. It was at the centre of the city and the Eiffel Tower was just in the middle. Other small buildings around were lit up in bold colours and the city was still pretty alive.

I walked outside and touched the railing, feeling the fresh air fill in my lungs and, eventually, Alex's cologne. Two warm arms wrapped around my waist, making me shiver at the sudden change of temperature. His hot breath was soon on my skin as he pulled my hair behind my ear and started kissing my neck slowly. He kissed from my collarbone, up to my jaw as I let out a satisfied sigh quietly in response.

"You said summat some hours ago, am I right, love?" he whispered in my left ear. His voice was low and soft, like silk. 

"I did, yeah," I whispered back in response as I let my head rest on his.

We kept staring at the view laid in front of us, inspecting each detail and trying to savour the presence of each other. People beneath us were walking, laughing, crying, yelling, running, kissing, dancing and everything else alcohol could have possibly made them do.

"Alexander?" I whispered, breaking the silence taking place between the two of us for some minutes.

"Hm?" he hummed next to my ear. His head was resting on my shoulder.

I turned my face slightly and saw him already looking at me with a smirk painted on his lips. He took his face off my shoulder and stood behind me with his hands still wrapped around my waist and our bodies pressed together.

I looked inside his big brown eyes that were looking into mine already. Both of our gazes flickering from our eyes to our lips and then back up to our eyes.

I brought my cold palm up to his right cheek and stroked his warm cheek with my thumb. The tension was killing me, but I was also really enjoying being able to inspect him from this close.

I eventually gave in, pulling his face to mine and then having our lips meet. That was it. He tasted like cigarettes and liquor, just as I had imagined him to. Time paused for both of us. Nothing existed at that very moment but us.

The kiss was slow and passionate, hungry yet not aggressive. We both knew we had been waiting for this since the very first time we lay eyes on each other.

I turned my body fully around, facing him, as his hands were under my coat, rubbing my sides up and down. My hands found their way to his neck and locked behind him. Soon, we pulled away to breathe, both of us looking at each other with a smile.

"Fuck, Bella," he mumbled as he kept looking into my eyes.