ARABELLA • Alex Turner

TWENTY FOUR

~

"Mind if I join you?"

The sound of Matt's voice pulled Alex from his thoughts, the frontman turning to face the drummer with an indifferent shake of the head and an idle drag of the cigarette that had up until now been smouldering slowly between his fingers.

Matt stepped outside and let the door to the studio slam shut behind him, lighting his own cigarette. Alex went back to daydreaming and absentmindedly kicking at the stones on the ground. They stood in silence for a few moments, both blowing smoke into the warm September air, until Matt spoke again.

"What are you thinking about?"

Alex huffed out a sigh and cursed the fact that he was so easy to read.

"Portugal."

His friend huffed a laugh at the answer, tucking his left hand into his jeans pocket and leaning back against the brick wall behind them. He already knew all about the trip. "How's Arabella?"

They had been back in the UK for a week now, and Alex and the band had been so busy with photoshoots and interviews that he'd barely had the chance to breathe. He missed being in a warmer climate with his girlfriend and his mates and absolutely no responsibilities whatsoever.

"She's alreyt. Starting her Masters in a few weeks." He replied, exhaling another lungful of smoke.

Before he had the chance to ask after Breana or really check in with Matt, his phone rang. Balancing the cigarette between his lips, he fished the device out of his jeans pocket to see Arabella's name lighting up the screen.

"Speaking of." He held the phone up so that Matt could see and took the cigarette back out of his mouth. "I won't be a sec."

   Alex stepped away and accepted the call, his friend turning his back to give him a bit more privacy.

   "Hi, love. You alright?" He spoke into the receiver, expecting to hear his girlfriend ask something trivial like what time he would be finished in the studio.

   Instead, to his utter horror, her voice was thick with tears.

   "Al-Alex. I can't come round yours tonight, I–I'm getting the train home." She cried, and though she wasn't outright sobbing, he could hear her breathing shudder between words. "I–I don't know when I'll be back."

Alex froze, panic beginning to surge through him at the sound of his girl crying. The urge to hold her, to protect her from whatever was turning her world upside down and to kiss away the tears spilling from those umber eyes crashed over him in one big wave.

He didn't know whether she was sad or hurt or worse, and if he wasn't so focused on her well-being then he might have paid more attention to the fact that his heart seemed to be skipping about ten beats at once.

"Baby–hey, slow down. What's wrong? What happened?" He forced himself to remain calm, but he couldn't prevent the worry from slipping into his voice.

   Matt, who had until now been kicking stones around with the toe of his sneaker, looked up at the abrupt change in Alex's tone.

   Arabella was silent for an excruciating moment. Her boyfriend could hear muffled noises in the background, one of which sounded like a duffel bag being zipped up. Then, she spoke again, this time through even more tears.

   "It's my Mum–she–" The words came out fractured and punctuated by soft cries. "Lilly called me and said that–that she's had a fall. She's in the hospital."