Snapshots - Alex Turner

2 - Afterwards

Alex could still hear the festival noise rushing in his ears as he made his way to the tour bus with the band and Miles after a surprisingly good interview, all of them buzzing like live wires.

"That was mental!" Miles exclaimed, walking with his arm hung loosely around Alex's shoulder as they followed the twinkling fairy lights that hung along the paths around Glastonbury , towards where the bus was. Alex had texted Layla quickly before he was rushed to an interview for her to meet them there with his mum and the girlfriends.

"Fucking incredible night." Matt agreed, sipping a tequila soda that he had rushed to make backstage before they went on for the encore. 

As they turned a slight corner and their bus loomed into view, they very quickly caught sight of Kelly, Layla, Katie and Penny all waiting for them, craning their necks and looking around to try and spot them.

"We're over here losers!" Jamie shouted while waving his arm around wildly until they were all spotted by the girls.

Katie and Kelly ran up to their boyfriends while Layla hung back with Penny, waiting while the rest of the group made their way towards them. Alex went to his mum first who pulled him in for a hug before he even got the chance to say hello.

"Best 'Happy Birthday' ever, honey. Thank you." She said, her voice muffled from the hug.

"You're welcome Mum," He smiled as she pulled away.

"I'm getting a bit too old for late night festival partying but I'll see you tomorrow. You smashed it out the park tonight with your boys." She smiled back at her son with a look of pride twinkling in her eyes. 

"Get back safe okay?" 

"Don't worry about me, go and celebrate!" Penny shooed her son away and smiled at the rest of the group hugging and talking to each other before heading back towards the Glastonbury Hotel.

"Bye Penny, love you!" Miles shouted after her, blowing her a kiss when she turned around to wave. He waved back and went over to Layla to give her a hug as they hadn't seen each other in months either. 

"Perfectly played as always, Miles fucking Kane!" She exclaimed, smacking a kiss to Miles' cheek which earned her a cackle from the Scouser. 

"You know it Layla! I was hopin' you were gonna be 'ere tonight, me London drinking buddy!"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." She replied, looking from him to the band and back to him. 

"I'm goin' to find somewhere we can get drinks. Tell the boys I'll be back." He winked and set off down the muddy track towards a cluster of what looked like food and drink trucks.

She smiled to herself watching him basically skip down the road, the post-show adrenaline very much still coursing through him. She turned to see the rest of the boys laughing amongst themselves and she couldn't help but start smiling again. Tears of pride threatened to fall once again and she let a few stray ones go before wiping her eyes.

She couldn't help but keep her gaze fixed on Alex. He looked so unbelievably happy; his eyes were bright and he was smiling so much that she was sure his jaw must be hurting. It was an infectious smile and soon it had spread to her.

Alex turned to see Layla grinning at him and his face softened almost instantly at the sight. Her cheeks were flushed red and her eyes almost shimmered under the glow of the fairy lights. He could tell that she had been crying from her smudged mascara under her eyes and slightly red nose. 

He immediately closed the gap between them and pulled Layla into a tight hug, holding her head to the crook of his neck. A few seconds later he felt his shirt become slightly damp and he held his best friend tighter to him.