Constant Repeat

Part 12.4

Make sure to read 12.3 first

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They had gotten back to London quite late, meaning Ella had to wait until the next morning to go to the photo lab Matt had told her was the best in his opinion.

She had woken up rather early, gathering all the rolls she knew she had used, placing them inside her bag along with her camera which had a new roll inside. Having breakfast before leaving had been a wonderful decision for she had time to walk around London without having to make a decision about where to eat if she'd been hungry.

The people at the film lab had been wonderful and Ella had been told she could come pick her pictures up any time from Sunday. She had asked to develop, print and scan everything so it was quite a big job but she was just so excited she could get to see it all soon.

The walk back to the hotel was quiet, she had lit a cigarette and gotten lost people watching through her viewfinder, stopping every other block when she saw something in particular that caught her eye.

Ella had taken her time, after all she had no plans and all that was in her mind was trying to relish in the bits of peace she could find during the day. She seemed to be achieving it by sheltering in her passion, until a sighting shattered her new sense of calmness and brought in a sudden strike of panic that rose goosebumps on her skin.

She had walked out of the elevator with her phone in hand, mindlessly scrolling through Instagram when she felt someone's presence in front of her, and when she looked up she was surprised to see Alex standing by her hotel room door, scrolling on his phone with his back leaning against the wall.

Her feet stopped her in her place, blinking fast to try and figure out if he was really there. It seemed like her gaze burned enough on him because he whipped his head up like he had gotten startled despite the silence that surrounded them and with a shy smile, he pocketed his phone and stood up straight.

A little, "Hi." was the only thing she managed to say, her throat constricted by the surprise and everything she had felt in the past few days coming like a hurricane to whisk away any sense she had left in her.

Her eyes looked around them, as if she was expecting a crew of cameras jumping out from the corners of the ends of the hallways to tell her she was being pranked.

But he reciprocated quite softly with a, "Hi Ellie." and her heart swelled at his tenderness being back.

Ella was having trouble trying to find out what she was meant to say, so she stuck to asking him, "Have you been waiting long?" since she knew she had been out for approximately two hours by then, despite the clock barely having hit ten in the morning.

Alex shook his head, "No, don't worry." He had been there half an hour but he wouldn't tell her that, she'd only feel guilty about it and that was the last thing he wanted.

The only one who needed to apologize was him.

He cleared his throat, fiddling with his fingers as he gained the courage to ask, "May I come in?"

A short, "Oh." slipped past her lips but she nodded regardless, looking through her bag for her room keys and slapping herself mentally for letting her mind go back to when she was in the same predicament, only drunk and when they had been talking. "Sure." She ended up saying, her eyes almost avoiding him because she just didn't know how to act yet.

If she had known he was going to be there, she would've prepared to act a bit tougher but he'd caught her off guard and the soft spot she had for him prevailed in her.

The singer walked into the room right after her, closing the door softly behind him as he took in his surroundings.

He hated that deep down he knew this was his way of stalling what he was meant to do for as long as he could. So he scorned himself mentally and looked at her as she put her stuff down by the coffee table on the left side of the room and slowly turned around to face him.