Nothing Revealed In A Common Crisis

Somebody Else (18.1)

A/N: Hey! Sorry for the delay, but it's finally here! I've written almost 10k in the last 48 hours so my mind is fried. I can't express how much I appreciate all of you sticking with my long winded fic. I'll try and get updates out asap for you all. Really hope you enjoy this chapter despite the whiplash that you're going to get. Thank you a million for reading! x

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You know it's him before anything is said between you. He's been your best friend for so long that you can detect that it's Alex Turner from the sound of him walking across the wooden decking as the song you're listening to mellows.

You only know it's him because he's walked lightly towards you, obviously trying not to distract you as you sit on the edge of the short deck that keeps you above the water.

Alex sits down behind you and pulls you back into him while you both watch the sun set. You give him an earphone and listen to whatever Italian score you have on today and you're both just peacefully coexisting with each other.

You had your sketchbook out here with you and you'd been drawing on and off for a while. But after a particularly painful shooting pain running up your arm about ten minutes ago, you decided to sit and peacefully watch the sunset instead.

You can't help but marvel at the reflection in the water of the orange and red colours in the sky. And now leaning back against Alex, just means you relax even more.

You don't think you've felt peace like this since you last went to your hiding spot under your blossom tree in the park back at home. Lying under the stars with Alex a fortnight ago came close, but this just feels like bliss.

When the song that you're currently listening to hits it's final diminuendo, you feel Alex move slightly behind you and it's like he's trying to get something out of his back pocket that he's sitting on. As it turns out, that is exactly what he was doing - because a second later he brought a polaroid picture in front of you.

"I took this of you back up there before I came down, thought you might want it." Alex tells you, putting the picture in your hands. "Thought it was really pretty."

The picture is a silhouette of yourself sitting on the deck you're on now, but the sky around you is full of yellows, oranges, and reds, all blurring into a stunning sunset. The picture has also captured the reflection of the sky on the water in front of you too. It looks stunning.

It looks like the sort of scene that you would've painted into your box landscapes. Which reminded you that you needed to try and sell your old pieces of art when you got back home. Time to finally start planning your first gallery.

"Thank you." You can't help but smile at the picture.

You're genuinely left a little speechless, because everything he does is starting to take you aback. Your heart has definitely started beating a little faster for him and you're trying to think that that's a good thing.

You feel closer to him than you ever have been. Which is saying a lot when you consider your past with him, but he really knows you through and through. You trust him more than anyone else in the world.

After admiring the picture for a minute, you grab your leather bound poetry diary that was just beside your sketchbook and lean back into Alex a little more as you open your book full of private feelings that you've kept hidden away for the past decade. You stuffed pictures in the pages between your written feelings over the years, so this new addition would be safely stored away too.

You're glad that your Mum bought you this hefty book for your 16th birthday. It was clear that it was expensive, because it was real leather. The paper was also good quality, making it a thick book that you'd only just half-way filled. Most of the time you find yourself writing more poetry when you're sad and need to work through your feelings. But today's entry wasn't going to be anything like what the entries over the last year had been.