one (lewis capaldi)

Salvation in the form of your grace

Belle watched him perform for the rest of the night. She had managed to calm down thanks to Lewis, and was now able to fully appreciate his incredible voice. Her mind sometimes wandered back to Lucas and her heart started to ache but Lewis seemed to notice each time and gave her an encouraging smile, unable to take his eyes off her until he could tell she was okay.

Belle had forgotten Grace was there with her until she felt a tap on her shoulder. "What the hell happened back there? What did he say to you? You've completely changed since you came back out here."
"Um not much" Belle whispered back, she didn't want to talk about it now. She wanted to listen to Lewis's voice for as long as she could.
But unfortunately his set was coming to an end.
"Okay everyone this is going to be my last song. If you enjoyed it tell everyone you know and if not you keep it to your fucking selves!" The bar erupted into laughter, and as Lewis laughed along with the crowd, his eyes caught Belle's once again as he sang his final song, which was her favourite by far. As the song was ending Lewis shouted: "I've been Lewis Capaldi thank you so fucking much Aberdeen!" Belle and Grace gave the loudest cheers of all. "He was amazing oh my God! He's got to make it big hasn't he?" Grace shouted over the tumultuous applause. Belle nodded, he was so talented and from their conversation earlier she could tell he deserved every single success possible.

"Okay so now you can tell me what he said to you back there! You've been smiling all evening!"
"It was nothing really. He just calmed me down and made me laugh and told me to stay until the end of the show." she said while blushing.
"Nothing? I haven't been able to cheer you up in a week and he managed to in five minutes!"
Before Belle could reply a familiar voice came from behind: "Well what can I say? I just happen to have a way with words."

She turned her head around and saw Lewis standing there awkwardly, smiling at the ground. "Are you feeling better now?" He asked with genuine concern.
"I really am thank you. A lot better since I met you." The last part she whispered nervously under her breath, but it was loud enough for Lewis to hear, causing his smile to grow bigger and bigger. Grace, noticing that she was no longer welcome, announced "I'm just going to the bar I'll see you in a bit." As she left she gestured towards Lewis to sit in her vacant seat, winking at Belle as she walked past. "You were amazing tonight!" Belle said as Lewis sat beside her. "Don't say that! I'll get too big-headed!" He smirked. He swivelled his stool to focus his gaze on Belle. As he did so, his legs brushed against hers, causing her heart to beat faster.

Suddenly, Lewis softened his voice so much so that it became a whisper: "You were so brave for coming back out here Belle. I could tell it was hard for you."
"Well when you were stood next to me I felt like everything was gonna to be okay" she replied even more softly, briefly pulling away from his gaze to look down nervously. After a momentary pause, Lewis filled the silence.
"Fuck Belle what have you done to me? I couldn't take my eyes off you the whole night."
"Well what can I say, I just happen to have that effect on people!" She joked, mimicking Lewis's words from earlier. He chuckled, sweeping his hand through his messy hair.

Perhaps it was the amount of  alcohol she had drunk that made her reach across to his hand or his eyes that somehow seemed to sparkle brightly in the darkness, it could have even been both, but as soon as her hand brushed against his, it felt right, it felt like everything was slowly falling back into place. Lewis grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly causing butterflies to float all throughout Belle's body.
"I'm glad you stayed."
"I'm glad you convinced me to Capaldi."

As she said this, his smile lit up the room, he lit up the darkness that was surrounding her both physically and mentally and for the first time in perhaps her whole life, she felt completely safe.

Before Belle knew it, she and Lewis had talked for hours. It was approaching 2am but with Lewis all this had felt like just minutes. She'd told him all about her move from Cornwall to Aberdeen to study journalism at uni, while he told her everything about his music career and his plans for the future. He had tried to ask her about why she had felt so upset during that particular song but she avoided the question, diverting the attention to the first topic that came to mind.
"Ummm if you could only bring three things with you to a desert island what would you bring and why?"
Lewis, understanding her urge to change the conversation, played along.
"Well first I would bring my guitar because maybe I'd actually have time to fucking finish my first album." He laughed before continuing. "A lifetime supply of chicken parm because everything is better with chicken parm around and socks because feet are just fucking disgusting." Belle raised an eyebrow at him, "Out of everything in the world you chose chicken parm?"
"Belle don't you dare tell me you dislike chicken parm. If you do that is most certainly a deal breaker." he said, squeezing her hand even tighter to let her know he was just joking.

It was at this point that Belle remembered they were still holding hands. She wanted to stay in this moment forever, just her and Lewis, she didn't want to leave this bar, not now, not ever. Here she was safe, able to escape the outside world. Her thoughts were interrupted by Grace shouting across the room: "Belle! Come on! We've been here hours! I've almost drunk the entire bar!" Shit. She had completely forgot that Grace was still here. She felt terrible that she had abandoned her best friend for so long and abruptly stood up, causing Lewis do the same.
"I'm so so sorry Lewis I have to go." She saw the desperation in his face as she turned towards Grace, who was struggling to walk in a straight line.
"No! Belle wait!" Lewis cried, startling himself at how loud he had just spoken.
"This can't be it?" He hurriedly scrawled his number onto a piece of paper and handed it to her, his eyes looking around frantically waiting for her response.
"I suppose I can find some time to see you again Capaldi." She joked playfully, staring  into his welcoming eyes.
Upon hearing her reply, he regained his composure, unable to believe the way he had just acted. "I can't believe you've done this to me Belle. I'm a whole new man!"
"Text me soon?" He pleaded, pulling her into an embrace. She lay her head against his chest, listening carefully for his heartbeat. After a few moments she pulled away, grabbed his hands and whilst looking one last time into his eyes, whispered "Of course."

She walked towards the door, lending her arm to Grace so she could steady herself and as she drove home in the dusky twilight, grinning from ear to ear, she couldn't help but feel that 
for now, everything was going to be okay.