Under My Thumb // Mick Jagger

011

I wake up to a group of people talking out in the main area of the bus. I roll over in the bunk and am faced with a sleeping Mick blocking my exit.

"Finally awake, are you, sleepyhead?" Mick mumbles in his morning voice. His eyes were still closed, but I guess he wasn't actually asleep.

"Mhm," I hum.

I remember last night so vividly. I only asked Mick to stay with me for a little while, but he clearly ended up with me the whole night. I wasn't upset with his decision to stay, of course, but I was a little surprised.

It felt like the first time in forever I slept through the whole night without waking up for some reason. Maybe I was just tired, but part of me believed it was because Mick was by my side.

"Why are so many people on the bus?" I ask. My hands grasp the blanket and I use it to cover my the bottom half of my face.

Mick looks me in the eyes, then down at the blanket covering my face, then back up at my eyes. I felt my face heat up at the attention, and I tried to further sink under the blanket.

"All I heard were mumbles. Take the covers off your face and ask me again, shy girl," Mick teases.

He just started using that nickname recently.

Shy girl.

I loved when he called me names like that, but I hate how they fill my stomach with butterflies and make me warm.

Hesitantly, I pull the blanket down a little lower so he can see my mouth. "Why are so many people here?" I ask my question once again.

"Well, it's already noon, don't you know?" he says. "And it's a festival; everyone's catching up with each other."

"Don't you want to catch up, too?" I ask. I didn't understand why he was still in the bunk if he wasn't even sleeping.

Mick nods his head. "Only once you're awake," he tells me, and I frown at his response.

"How long were you waiting for me to wake up?" I ask, a feeling of guilt washing over me. He shouldn't feel like he has to be around me, and he definitely shouldn't feel responsible for it.

Mick rolls his eyes and chuckles. "Christ, Mia. Don't start feeling bad. It was my choice." He pulls down the blanket that was slowly creeping back up to cover my mouth. "I only woke up a couple minutes before you," he comforts me, though I figured he was lying.

"Now, I'll leave you to get changed in the bathroom. You come meet me after, got it?" Mick says.

I nod my head. "I'm sorry I made you wait for me in bed," I tell him and he gets up. He just told me it was his choice, but I couldn't help but still feel bad.

"Oh, baby. It's only noon. Relax," Mick says as he turns around to face me. I could tell he had a smirk on his face even before he turned around by the tone of his voice. "I can make it so you can't walk for days. Is that what you'd like? Would you like to stay in this bed with me for a few days?"

I shake my head no and try to stay as still as possible when he places his hand on my thigh over the blanket.

"Oh, that is what you want?" Mick says, his brows furrowed. "You should've just said so."

I shake my head once again.

Mick leans closer to me, his face only a few inches from mine. I felt my heart beat faster as he got close.

"You should know by now, Ria," he starts. His pointer finger traces along my jawline. "I don't take those kinds of responses from you. You're going to use your words like the obedient girl I know you are. Understand?" His voice was a whisper, which, for some reason, felt more intimidating.