Disaster • Arctic Monkeys Fanfiction

[forty six]

Alex's POV

All I could feel as we powered through the last lines of the song was the burning heat of the stage lights and pure adrenaline.  

"Too busy being yours to fall.... ever thought of callin' darlin'...do you want me crawling back to you..."

We all pounded our instruments one more time and the crowd erupted.  David Letterman came jogging toward us from his desk with a smile. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, Arctic Monkeys!" He said.  "How are you all doing?  Thank you for being here."

He shook my hand, doing that fake shit every TV host does as the camera panned out and the program ended.  I glanced into the black lens of the camera, wondering how many people were watching me at the moment.  

"And CUT!" Someone called out.

"How have you been?" David asked again, pulling my attention away from he camera. "I haven't seen you guys since your last performance here.  What was that, three years ago?  Four?"

"Three," Matt said, standing up from behind the drum set.  

"I just have to say that I love the new album," David told us.  "But I think it's safe to say that everyone does.  The whole world is obsessed with you lads from Sheffield."

I turned to look at the crowd, deciding to ignore his poor attempt at our accent.  They were still cheering for us, even though we'd stopped playing.

He was right.  We'd never been bigger than we were right now, and I was still trying to convince myself that that was a good thing. 

• • • • • • • • • • • •

The city lights blurred around us as we sped down the black high way to the airport, and I felt like I could breathe for the first time in months.  

Letterman was our last performance for a few weeks, thank fucking God.

It wasn't that I didn't like all the performing, but I was exhausted after almost a full year of non stop shows and interviews and appearances.  

I had mixed feelings about our semi-newfound success.  We've always been big in the UK, but international success felt much, much different.  

I mean, it was a good feeling knowing that people liked our music.  A lot of people, in fact. But the lads and I had never been too keen about being in the spotlight.  And I don't think any of us expected AM to blow up so big.  

It was all bittersweet.  Especially considering it was an album written entirely about a girl I could never have.  

I leaned back in my seat, the leather of my jacket making noise as it rubbed against the seat and Matt's shoulder on my right.  I closed my eyes, ready to get a nap in before we made it to the airport because I could never fall asleep on the bloody plane, but Rose's voice shattered the peace.

"Hey, baby," she said.

Fuck.  I was not in the mood for this. 

I opened my eyes.  There she was on Matt's phone, smiling brightly at him.  I was surprised they hadn't gotten sick of each other yet.  They FaceTimed pretty much every single moment of the day. 

"What's up, babe?"

I resisted the urge to groan.