Nothing You've Come To Expect - Alex Turner

1. the here and now so suddenly became a different world

A ray of sunlight glimmering on my face wakes me up. It's sunrise, but still a little dark. Unfamiliar place. For a moment I don't know where I am. I'm disoriented. The confusion gradually dissipates and then, all at once, I remember everything. Night out, got a little drunk, ended up in bed together.
I blush violently and I cover my mouth with my hand, still in disbelief. Did that really happen?

I turn around and see Alex, next to me, still asleep, with an angel face and his hair all over the place. His arm is bent to almost hug the pillow and the curve of his flexed bicep gives me flashes of the night before and shivers run down my spine.
Fuck, yes, it happened. He's right there and I'm in his bed. Me, an ordinary girl, in Alex's bed.

I need to use the bathroom. I get up slowly and quietly because I don't want to wake His Handsomeness up. I'm completely naked and it feels a little chilly outside the blanket, so I look for something to put on, but I can't see shit in this light. I see something on the floor that may be my dress but when I pick it up I realize it's actually Alex's dress shirt, from last night. I put it on and I get pervaded by a warm feeling; it smells like him, I can still pick up the hint of his cologne. I wrap it tightly around me.
It's dark and I don't remember the setting of the room. I try a door.
Ok. I'm in Alex Turner's bathroom. This is so fucking weird. I bet he has like a shelf full of hair products.

I find a switch, feeling the wall alongside the door, and turn on the light. I almost scream when I see my image in the mirror: I look like a raccoon, with the eyeliner all smudged around my eyes. My lipstick is almost all gone but it managed to spread around my lips. Oh my God!! I look like a clown. A raccoon clown. A scary one.
I wash my face violently, in order to fix the mess.

I lean against the wall, for a moment, with my eyes closed, thinking about last night, biting my lip. All my insides flutter at the tought. Will I ever forget that? Probably not.
I look up in front of me and there it is, a hanging shelf full of hair products. I put a hand to my mouth, suffocating a laugh.

I go back to bed and, as I'm climbing back in, Alex wakes up for a second. "Hey," he mumbles.
"Hey!" I feel an idiot smile forming on my face.
He puts his arm around me and pulls me closer. And then falls back asleep. I stroke his arm until I feel my eyes heavy and I fall back asleep as well.

I wake up to his touch as he gently brushes my thigh with the back of his hand.
"Good morning beautiful..." he says when I open my eyes.
I look at him in awe. His hair is all scruffy and he looks painfully cute.
"Buongiorno bellissimo..." he likes when I say little things in my language.
"Did you sleep ok?" he asks.
"Oh yeah. I passed out completely, I guess I was very tired..." I reply slightly playfully.
"It was nice." Seeing his smile first thing in the morning it's like getting up, opening the blinds and let the sunshine in.
"What was?"
"Last night." He plays a little with a lock of my hair and then sets it behind my ear.
"Oh, so you remember it."
"'Course I do!"
"All of it?" I look at him suspiciously.
"All of it."
"You were drunk, you said."
"Not that drunk."
"So, d'you also remember...after..?"
"Yeah." He looks down, and fidgets with the rim of the sheet.
"Are you feeling better now?"
"Considerably. Thank you for that."
"Of course." I fix his hair. "By the way, to get back in topic...it was the best I've ever had." I feel my face burning. Shit, my face.
I hide my face in my hands. "Argh! don't look at me." He has never seen me without make up and I'm feeling terribly self conscious. This guy makes me a little insecure and it bothers me a bit. I haven't cared about these things in ages; I feel 16 again. But he's no ordinary guy and he dated models, for fucks sake. I have to cut myself some slack.
"But why?"
"I must look horrible this morning!"
Alex laughs. "Pfft! Well, let me see again." he takes my hands off. "If you always wake up like this, darling, I would like to be there every day when it happens."
I don't know what to say. I just look at him with a grin that hasn't let my face since last night. Hell, what am I saying? Since I've met him.
"I need a shower." Alex gets up. I follow him with my eyes as he walks around the bed. He's only wearing boxers. He stretches an arm out towards me. "Care to join me?"
"Would I ever say no to you?" I get up and take his hand.

I can't help admiring his beautiful rear, right in front of me, as he guides me to the bathroom. Then his small waist, his muscular shoulders. "Oh my god" I mutter, when I see the scratches.
"What's wrong love?"
"Your back..."
Alex turns around in a contortion to look at his back in the bathroom mirror. "Wow. Would you look at that!"
"I'm so sorry!"
"Bloody hell..."
My face is in a cringe. "Does it hurt?"
"Nah. Not really." He turns around and laughs seeing my worried expression. "You mad kitten" he says with an oblique smile. He comes close and we kiss slow.
"You made me do that." I whisper in his ear.
He opens the shirt I am wearing and makes it slide down my arms.
We get in the shower and when we kiss under the hot water, and I feel our wet bodies slide against each other, I lose all control.

****

He wraps a towel around me and holds me from behind, his wet hair tickling my neck. Our breathing hasn't settled at a normal pace yet.

"Coffee?" Alex asks.
"Oh my God. Yes please."
He chuckles. "It's a necessity, at this point."
I nod dramatically.
"Here, come." he takes my hand and leads me out the bathroom, with a towel wrapped around his waist. "Why don't you go check out the terrace on the roof. I'll be right back, darling."

I get rid of the wet towel, I put on a change of clothes and then I follow Alex's directions to the terrace. It's nice out here. I can see the L.A. skyline at a distance, looking lazily at me. There's a sitting area in the corner and I sit on one of the couches, finding instant pleasure in the warmth of the Californian sun. I feel a light breeze against my hair, still wet.
I sit there, listening to the birds chirping in the trees nearby, feeling surreal: I'm thinking about everything that happened in the last few weeks that made my boring life do a 180 degrees turn.

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