No. 1 Party Anthem// Alex Turner

Epilogue

Arabella's pov
With the beginning of the year 2022, the fifth Major Mess' album was almost ready and we planned that by the start of summer, it would have been released; meanwhile the Arctic Monkeys had been working on another album, after the success of Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, who Alex decided to dedicate it to Ozzy, after his death not long before the release, writing "For Ozzy" right on the cover of the booklet of the record.

I was with Alex, in our house, as I was playing my acoustic guitar and Alex carefully listened to me.
Things between us worked perfectly, we went through behind apart for months due to concerts, stay together all the time and yet I was never bored of his presence.
After his mission in Italy, to find me flowers, Alex decided to study Italian, so that we could talk in Italian and fully understand me; I repeatedly told him that he didn't need to, but he was very keen about the idea. He started taking lessons and use every word he learnt; then he started reading the dictionary and as the time passed by, he could communicate in Italian.

A call from Chloe interrupted us. «We have to go,» I told him. The shake of my voice made him worry. «Jess is at the hospital.» I said.
He stood up and grasped the keys of his car, along with the keys of our house; I opened the door and let him go first, so that he could rush to his car, as I closed the door. «Didn't know he was doing it again.» he said, driving to the hospital.
I bit my lower lip. «He stopped when he met Chloe.» I said, energetically tapping my foot nervously.

We arrived at the hospital and I hugged Chloe, who was in tears; it was her first time experiencing something like that, but even if it was the millionth for me, I was still as worried as her.
Evie, William and their four-years-old daughter Sara (named after me) arrived after me and Alex, to then be followed by Chase and Rose, with her big pregnant belly.

During the first hour and a half, we stayed silent, worried for Jess, but when we realized it would have taken many hours, we tried to distract ourselves and started thinking of something else.
Sara was sitting on my legs, facing me, as she talked to me and Alex, who was sitting next to me. «I want chocolate.» she said.
«What did your mom say?» I asked her.
«I can.»
«Did she actually say it?»
She shook her head. «But I want it.» she insisted.
Everybody was tensed about Jess's situation, but she couldn't understand, to her eyes, we were just sitting in a room, with nothing fun to do. «We'll wait for the doctor to come out and tell us that uncle Jess is fine and then I'll buy you chocolate.» I said.
She smiled and so did Alex, who looked at her and Rose's stomach, in a way that only meant one thing.
«I told Mike that you're in a band.» Sara said to Alex.
He gently smiled. «And what did he say?» he asked her.
«He don't believe me.» she smiled.
Every time Sara talked to Alex, her cheeks would get red and she would start giggling. «I'm also in a band.» I reminded her.
«Really?» she asked me surprised.
Her big green eyes sparkled. I nodded and smiled. «With your mom, uncle Chase and uncle Jess.» I said.
«I have to tell Mike.» she smiled again.

Another two hours passed by and Sara fell asleep on a chair. «I feel guilty,» Evie said looking at her daughter. «I shouldn't have brought her here.»
«Where did you want to leave her then?» I asked her.
«I wanted Will to stay home with her,» she said. «but he wanted to come too.»
«Well, don't blame yourself, the doctor will come out in a matter of minutes.» I said.
It wasn't true, he actually came out after another hour; two doctors with a hospital social worker came into the room. «You're here for Jesse Anderson?» one of the doctor asked us.
We all stood up, except for Sara, who kept sleeping.
The doctor with white hair, dark skin and tired eyes spoke again. «We did a full assessment, a physical examination and we tried to use activated charcoal... we are sorry for all the time you waited.» he said. The other doctor just kept nodding at all the words he said.
«We tried everything we could,» the other doctor said. My heart missed a beat as I felt like I couldn't breathe; I tried to take a big breath through my nostrils, but my chest felt like stopping the breathing from happening, from how tight and inflamed was.
I placed my hand on Alex's chest, like to check if he was still alive and there, but without looking at him, my eyes were locked on the doctor. «Jesse Anderson died ten minutes ago, we are very sorry for your loss.»
I couldn't feel my legs and my sight got blurred by the tears accumulating on the edge of my eyes. I turned around to hug Alex, who was ready to hold me, tight and squeezing my waist to let our bodies merge. At first I didn't cry, I had to process everything, when then it hit me. I cried in his shoulder and he tried to play cool, for me.
Evie was crying harder than I ever saw her, Chase was crying too, but very quietly, with his eyes red and glossy, and considering that I have never seen him cry before, it was still a shock.
I instantly thought about Chloe, who was alone, crying for her husband's death, as no one comforted her since William was comforting Evie, Alex me and Rose Chase.
I sat next to her and held her hand, she just rested her head on my shoulder. «He is dead.» were the only words that came out of her mouth that night.

Once I arrived home, with my eyes hurting and a weight on the chest, I checked my phone, which I completely forgot about for the last hours.
I had numerous notifications, but the ones that caught my attention the most, was a missed call from Jess and a message in the voicemail. I sat on the couch, with the phone on the coffee table; Alex joined me and held my hand.
"I should go out in a couple of minutes, but I wrote this song for you and I want you to listen to it. It goes like this:"
Just the sound of his voice made my heart beat faster, he started playing his acoustic guitar; I squeezed Alex's hand.
"You were riding your bike to the sound of "It's No Big Deal"
And you're trying to lift off the ground on those old two wheels
Nothing about the way that you were treated ever seemed especially alarming 'til now
So you tie up your hair and you smile like it's no big deal
You can let it go
You can throw a party full of everyone you know
And not invite your family, 'cause they never showed you love
You don't have to be sorry for leaving and growing up"

My eyes started burning and I bit my lower lip, to try and make the tears go back inside.
"Matilda, you talk of the pain like it's all alright
But I know that you feel like a piece of you's dead inside
You showed me a power that is strong enough to bring sun to the darkest days
It's none of my business, but it's just been on my mind"

Matilda, was the name I was about to be given instead of Sara and Jess knew it.
I was crying hard, for his voice, the lyrics and the way I missed him.
"You can let it go
You can throw a party full of everyone you know
And not invite your family, 'cause they never showed you love
You don't have to be sorry for leaving and growing up
You can see the world, following the seasons
Anywhere you go, you don't need a reason
'Cause they never showed you love
You don't have to be sorry for doing it on your own
You're just in time, make your tea and your toast
You framed all your posters and dyed your clothes, ooh
You don't have to go
You don't have to go home
Oh, there's a long way to go
I don't believe that time will change your mind
In other words
I know they won't hurt you anymore as long as you can let them go
You can let it go
You can throw a party full of everyone you know
You can start a family who will always show you love
You don't have to be sorry for doing it on your own"

The song ended with a soft strum and then, his voice again. "I hope you like it and if you wanna share it with the world you can, just let them know it's yours... I love you, I'll see you soon."
The message ended and a sense of emptiness grew in me.
That night, I cried harder than I ever did and Alex stayed with me throughout the whole time.

The hardest part of Jess's death, after his funeral and the song, was to talk about it in a video, that would have been a message for all of our listeners, who didn't see us for months.
Chase sat with Evie on his right, as I sat next to Evie. We had a camera in front of us and we prepared a speech, with the explanation we wanted to give to our fans. «Hi everybody,» Chase started. «it's Chase, Evie and Arabella,» It felt wrong to call ourselves Major Mess without Jess. «we are here to announce you, that after the concerts already planned, we'll take a little break.» he said.
I took a big breath, feeling my eyes burn. «We told you our new album was about to come out, and it is,» I said. Even by my voice people could tell I was about it cry. «for Jess.» I said.
«Thank you all for your kind messages.» Evie added.

Of course every magazine knew about Jess's death, and talked about it like it was just the week's gossip and I got very angry about it. My best friend, the person I considered like a brother for fifteen years, died and all I could see around was people talking about it carelessly.
"On June 30th, 2022, indie rocker's life cut tragically short, after the body of 33-year-old Jesse Anderson is found by his wife, Victoria's Secret model Chloe Anderson, on the floor of his house in Los Angeles.
Soon after the wife discovered Anderson's body, an ambulance arrived and doctors at the hospital were unable to revive him. Media speculation about his possible illegal drug use, until the New York City Medical Examiner's Office released the results of toxicology tests performed on Anderson's body. The report stated that he died of an "abuse of prescription medications" that is to say antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills. After memorial services in New York and Los Angeles, Anderson's family took his body back to their native Australia; he was cremated at a private funeral service attended by his family."

His death wasn't intentional, by an over use of stimulant drugs, he didn't even get to meet his friends, he took his last breath no longer after the message he sent me.
Chase and Rose called their son after him.
With the fear of loosing the people I loved, I got even closer with Alex; we didn't get married or have children, but we loved each other and that was the only thing that mattered.