Always On My Mind

Part 12

December 20th, 1957

Elvis had been gone for almost an hour as you sat on the steps of Graceland, bundled in your long pants, boots, and a beige mink coat. It was starting to become colder, a sure sign another year was coming to an end. You could hardly believe that it had already been over four years since starting this crazy adventure. You sat reminiscing of the past, always enjoying looking back to a time less complicated when Elvis wasn't well known by the entire world. To a time where it had only been you, him, and a select few. Now it seemed like anyone would recognize him. Your thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Elvis zoomed up the hill towards the house in his white Cadillac. His face usually said it all before he could even talk. His eyebrows were furrowed as he clutched an envelope on the steering wheel, his knuckles white as he gripped both. He pulled up right to the steps and hopped out. "Hey E! Everything okay?" You ask as he took a seat beside you. "You tell me..." He thrusted the envelope to you. You take it and open it, the big red letters immediately catching your eye and your face now matched Elvis's expression. "Elvis no!" You said, desperately wanting to deny what the letter said, but he shrugged and took the letter back. "I guess I need to tell the Colonel and mama and daddy." He said and sighed, going inside. You stayed outside still in shock. The thought of having Elvis gone that long tore you apart on the inside. The longest you had been away from one another was probably the first three years of your life before meeting Elvis on the playground at school. Elvis returned shortly after holding your camera with a tear stained face. Telling his mama was probably what broke him. His mama was his whole world and vice versa. He handed you the camera, taking a seat next to you once more. "Colonel said to get a shot of me with the letter...always gotta document my life." He said with a slight annoyance to his tone. You took the camera, for once hating the fact that you had to do this job. You hated having to document Elvis's more intimate moments for the Colonel to just send off to newspapers but you both received a decent chunk of change so you cut it up to be apart of the job. You stood away from him as he opened the letter again and snapped the picture.

"Welp y/n. One good thing. We get to have one more adventure before I go off." Elvis said with a slight smile. "Oh?" You question. "I have one more movie I get to do before they ship me off." He finally smiles. "That sounds perfect! I'm ready when you are." You say smiling and lean against Elvis, happy to have a little longer with him

March 4th, 1958

As usual you got to take all the behind the scenes photos on set of his new movie, King Creole, but much to your dissatisfaction, Colonel was always on set, so what usually would have been a time filled with shenanigans and alone time stolen between filming was halted due to the watchful eye of Colonel. As you snapped one photo in particular, he must have caught Elvis's usual wink, earning a stern look from Parker.

You were growing tired of the constant eyes and decided to take a break while Elvis was filming another scene. You walked off behind the set, but Parker follows you. "Y/n. I see you're still kept around." He said, his accent making you uneasy. "Yeah, I'm his best friend." You say, confidently. "You really think your friendship will last while he's away?" He asks. "Of course. It's been through worse." You say knowing full well that Elvis being overseas was to be your biggest challenge yet. "Lots can happen while someone's in the army. I should know. I served as well." Parker gave a sly smile and lit up a cigar. "Sometimes being close to someone is worse for them than if you just let them be." He said, puffing smoke and then walked off. You coughed slightly at the stench that went unwelcomed up your nose and quickly left the contaminated area, walking back to set. What could he have meant by that? You didn't think Elvis would be better off without you. You both needed each other and made it clear to one another. Shoot, you were sure that you were both even happier when around one another, so why would Colonel want you out of the picture if Elvis was happier? You shrug off your thoughts as the Director called for you. "Take this shot real quick hun." He ordered and you held up your camera. Carolyn Jones was draped over Elvis as you held up the camera and off to the side you saw the Colonel smile mischievously, as if to make you jealous with Elvis's intimate photo with his costar, but joke was on Parker. Carolyn had become your closest friend from the first day. They both give you a wink and you snap the picture, smiling to yourself. You won this battle, but this was only the beginning of a longer war.

That night Elvis crashed hard on the motel bed. You were staying right off the French Quarter where you could hear the echos of the soft jazz music played around you. You took your place by Elvis, the exhaustion overtaking you, dreading the long walk to your room on the bottom floor surely Colonel's doing. "Just another week and a half." Elvis sighed and wrapped you in his arms, his body soap enveloping you as if it wrapped you up as well. Your feelings and desire grew every day with him, but he was always a gentleman and never let anything escalate, despite hoe much you wanted to give in. You can easily spend minutes to hours just kissing one another. A brief moment between kisses had you stop thoughbas you pulled back, your thoughrs overtaking you. "E, do I make you happy?" You ask as you remember Colonel's words that day. "Of course. You're my best friend! Now why would you ask something stupid like that wittle?" He asked and kissed your forehead lightly. "I just heard that distance can ruin things sometimes.." You say not wanting to say anything damaging and about the man Elvis looked up to. "Y/n, I'm sure if we can handle people telling us we can't be together and still are, then we can handle this. I'll call you and write you all the time." He said and stroked your hair. It was true, despite all the obstacles...the girls Elvis would keep as company, you were the one he seemed to constantly need. He never once complained that Anita wasn't with him. The closest he got to that with another woman so far was June, so really you had nothing to worry about. You were his number one and as far as you knew, he wouldnt let anything come between either of you. "Wittle satnin, trust me." He said softly against your forehead before giving it a peck, then your nose, and then softly kissed your lips before sleep overtook him. You laid though in his arms as he slept, haunted by the endless possibilities of how things could end up.