stories from the city; damon albarn

41-

It was around one in the morning and Chloe couldn't sleep. Ewan was passed out in her bed, all wrapped up in her comforter and sheets. But she was the exact opposite. Wide awake. It irked her.

To be more specific she was upset with Damon Albarn. That stupid idiot had been an absolute prick and yet she couldn't stop thinking about him. He was absolutely menacing. And yet, she was tempted to show up to his hotel room, just to see what he wanted.

She got out of bed quietly, slipping on Ewan's random tee shirt and a pair of shorts. Heading into her closet, she reluctantly pulled on a pair of boots that were at least two seasons old as well as grabbing Ewan's puffer jacket.

It was at this moment he started stirring in the bed, as if he could sense she'd gotten up, or maybe he could tell she'd turned her closet light on, despite it being at least ten feet away- and in a separate room.

"Chlo? Why're you up?" He asked "Christ, it's past midnight."

"I'm gonna go run an errand." She says, pulling his coat on and walking back into the bedroom.

"Where? What the hell is even open this late?" He mutters

"Pharmacy. Gotta pick up a prescription. My doctor had it sent here."

It made enough sense. Not really.

She leaned over the bed and kissed him gently and then said "I'll be back in a little. Then we can go be tourists for the day or some shit."

He laughs and leans back into the bed, waving her off.

She felt bad for lying as she left, clinging onto his jacket and exiting out into the night, easily finding a cab to take her to the Four Seasons. Her thoughts reeling.

It wasn't a bad lie. Besides nothing was going to happen between her and Damon. She just wanted to make sure he was okay after that shitshow. She just wanted to see that he was in one piece.

That felt wrong.

He'd just said all these terrible things about her, about her boyfriend, on TV and to her face- but she was still worried about whether he'd managed to make it to his hotel alright.

Luckily enough, the woman at the front desk was still there and directed her up to his room.

When she walked in and made her way over to the bedroom, she saw that he was in fact in bed and in one piece. However, he appeared to be more interested in his newspaper than the appearance of Chloe.

He finally looked up and it was as if he'd seen a ghost.

"I didn't think you would actually show up." He says cheekily. "Well come on then, hop on up."

She kicked her boots off and slowly climbed up on the bed, making sure to sit in the opposite side of the bed, nor next to him.

"Damon, what is this all about?" She says exasperatedly

"I told you earlier. You didn't seem to believe it though."

"You weren't being serious about that? Those were the rambling of a lunatic."

"Then a lunatic I am."

She scoffs "I wouldn't be proud of that."

"Chloe Lillian Frances Erlich, I miss you so much it's not even funny. My god I miss the days when you'd wake up in my apartment and I could just lay with you for hours."

"Damon-"

"It's not even difficult to lay with you. You don't want to talk in the mornings. We just stare at one another. It all makes sense. Like we've connected."

"Damon please cut it out."

He moves closer to her and slowly reaches out to takes her hand, which she frantically pulls away.

"Don't tell me that you didn't start dating that cunt just because you were mad about me and Justine." He mutters "Because I already know."

She rolls her eyes.

Sure maybe it had started that way, but she actually liked Ewan now. They'd emotionally connected. Much more than she'd managed to do with Damon in their short amount of time together.

"How is Justine? Is she enjoying being a rockstar?"

"She's not quite a rockstar." He says quickly. "But yes. She's enjoying Elastica a lot." He doesn't sound too enthusiastic about it all. Typical.

"Why aren't you happy for her?" She prods

"Because-"

"She's getting more attention than you now?"

"It's not that."

"Sure it's not."

"You're getting off topic. We were discussing us." Damon hisses, his nose inches away from bumping Chloe's

"There is no us. Never has been."

Damon tsks.

"Why'd you come?"

"To make sure you were in one piece! My god, the last time I saw you, you were tripping all over the floor and slurring your words."

"You didn't think my manager would get me here? Or the band? Sure."

"I wasn't sure." She admits

He pouts "so you were worried?"

Chloe scowls "Yes! That's all it is. And I think I've had enough. So I'll be leaving now."

She rushes to stand up, watching the change in Damon's expression and doesn't care to look back, pulling her boots back on and slipping out of the room just as quickly as she came. It was infuriating how Damon always seemed to do this shit.

Bounce back when he felt rejected.

And this time she was the one who'd reject him.

It was all she could think about as she got back into her bed with Ewan. It had only been an hour of her time wasted. And now she could just go back to sleep and pretend none of the other shit happened.

As she laid with Ewan, she moved closer to him, feeling more comforted than before. However she still felt mildly guilty about going off to visit Damon and claiming she had done it in the name of pills.

"Can we talk?" She said, sitting up.

"Now? It's like three in the morning. But sure. What's on your mind?"

"I didn't really go to get pills at the pharmacy." Chloe says trailing off

"Where'd you go?"

She sighed, slightly embarrassed by her own actions "I went to see Damon. He'd given me his hotel room and I felt guilty and just wanted to see if he'd made it back in one piece."

Ewan sits up, pulling the covers off, a puzzled expression across his face.

"We didn't hook up." She adds "I just felt guilty going and lying about it. Especially after today."

He still looks mildly puzzled.

"Chloe you don't have to be upset. It's not a big deal." He says tiredly. "Honestly. It's fine."

"Are you sure?"

He nods and leans in to kiss her, their foreheads touching for a brief moment. "You're allowed to make decisions." He jokes before laying down again. "Was that all?" Ewan asks

She nods her head, laying down again as well, her head on his chest. But while Chloe easily had sleep come to her, Ewan sat awake in the bed, just tiredly running over the chances that he wanted to ignore.