ARABELLA • Alex Turner

NINETEEN

~

Arabella was worried about Alex.

   He had become noticeably distant in the days leading up to the Olympic opening ceremony, and she could tell that he hadn't been sleeping properly. He looked exhausted every time he visited her house, and the scarce smiles she managed to draw out of him never quite seemed to reach his eyes.

   She knew how insanely stressed he was for the performance. It was the biggest Arctic Monkeys show to date in terms of live viewership, and they weren't just playing to fans this time, they were representing their country. On top of that, Alex still seemed bothered by the media and their constant speculation about his and Arabella's relationship.

   For those reasons, she had decided to hide the fact that some of his fans had found out where she lived.

   They were mainly students, people who had spotted Alex enter Arabella's house or who recognised her from the many news articles circulating and followed her home.

It started off with two girls who lived only a few doors down. When the brunette answered the door expecting to see the postman, she had been taken aback by a couple of strangers asking after Alex.

   Despite feeling a little freaked out by the incident, she had shaken it off. Of course her neighbours were going to be curious when they saw a world famous musician visit her house.

   From that point onwards, however, it had become incessant. It felt like every hour there was someone new at her door, wanting to know whether Alex was there. Sabrina had taken it upon herself to start answering on the brunette's behalf, for which she was more than grateful. The whole thing was beginning to scare her, especially when people started showing up throughout the night and stopping her in the street whenever she ventured out.

   It wasn't that she wanted to keep anything from Alex. She was feeling unsafe, and she wanted nothing more than to tell him and to have him assign one of those big scary security guards to watch her house twenty-four-seven. But she didn't want to concern him when he already had enough on his plate.

   She felt guilty about it, of course, but the reality was that she was moving out in September anyway. She only had to deal with the harassment for a few more months. And besides, a lack of privacy was the price to pay for fame. She didn't want him to think that she couldn't handle it.

It was almost 9PM when Alex came to visit the day before the ceremony.

   She greeted him at the door with her usual dimpled smile and pulled him into a big hug, making sure that no one had followed him from the gate. He looked drained, brown eyes weary and devoid of happiness, and it formed a lump in her throat.

   "Hi love." He greeted, voice hoarse and cracking. The embrace seemed much-needed, for he slumped into it and remained there as she rubbed his back.

   "Hi baby." Arabella replied gently, pulling him into the house and shutting the door behind him. "Have you eaten?"

   Alex shook his head with a lacklustre smile. She reached up to rake her fingers through his dark hair, noticing the rings around his eyes and the slight stubble on his cheeks.

"Well it's a good thing I've ordered takeaway then, isn't it?"

Alex laughed, and the sound was like a shot of serotonin. She tugged him upstairs with a slight smile on her face.

They collapsed onto the bed, Arabella grabbing her laptop and pressing play on an episode of Danger Mouse. It seemed to be Alex's comfort show, and he had managed to get her hooked over the weeks. They'd been watching it together whenever he stayed the night, and it made quite the tradition.