No. 1 Party Anthem// Alex Turner

54 Is It a Date?

Arabella's pov
"The ceremony has been moved to tomorrow" was the message I saw from Chase, instead of anything from Alex, since it was already twenty minutes from the time we planned to meet at. I asked Chase the reason of the date change, and he told me about Jess's cousin Clarence, who had to be back in Perth on Monday, so they changed the ceremony date to Friday.

After another ten minutes, I left the lobby to smoke a cigarette outside; if it wasn't Alex, I would have already left, but I still hoped for him to arrive.
Whilst I crushed the cigarette under my boot, I heard heavy and fast steps approaching. I looked up to see Alex out of breath, wearing a white shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and black trousers; the shirt wasn't particularly elegant, with just its last button not buttoned. His hair was a bit messy, falling on his face and he was holding a bouquet of yellow daffodils. I instantly smiled. «Sorry I'm late,» he said letting out a big breath. «'ad troubles being understood.»
He andes me the bouquet, that I held with great care. «You didn't have to.» I said.
«Oh that was the least I could do,» he said. «after all... you know...» I slowly nodded, not knowing what to say and clearly, he didn't too. «Shall we go?» he said, changing the topic.
I nodded again and walked to his side, so that he could guide me. «Where are we going?» I asked him, as we started walking.
«Just a pizza place,» he said. «but it's in a up point, so that we can see the sea.» he smiled.
His smile still filled my heart with happiness and joy, making my body shake with electricity; all that, just with a simple smile.

Alex's pov
Arabella was looking amazing, wearing the same outfit she wore when we were dating, and she felt uncomfortable with the skirt, but that night, she seem to not care if it was too short.
I haven't told her before where we were going because I didn't know, I asked around right after she agreed to come; I discovered the best place and for the whole day, I repeated in my head the directions to get there, in order to not get lost and making a fool of myself.
As always, me and Arabella had plenty of topics to talk about and we haven't spent a single minute without talking.

Arabella's pov
It took us twenty minutes to get to the restaurant, that chatting seemed like a couple of seconds. Alex reserved a table and we got to sit on the edge of the terrace, where we could see all the city, and behind it, we saw the exact point in which the skyline touched the sea, where the water rippled.

It was around nine, therefore the sky was tinted in pink, yellow and purple; I stayed there and stared at the view for a moment. Alex just watched me and when I turned my face to look at him in the eyes, he smiled again, and I couldn't help it, but smile too. Looking at his brown eyes, sparkling under the sunset light, I felt the same way I used to feel, every time my eyes met his: the heartbeat rushing, the adrenaline and the tingling in the stomach.

A waitress took our orders and drinking wine while waiting, we started talking. «I didn't know you were in another band,» I said. «I heard your song on the radio.»
«It's just a small project with my pal Miles.» he said, drawing imaginary circles on the wet glass containing the beer.
«Well the song was great... you were great.» I said.
He smiled and tried to hide it by pushing the edges of his mouth downwards.

Once the food was under our noses, we filled the conversation with the usual "place is great" or "food is delicious", with the aim to eradicate the awkwardness.
«'eard you've got an album coming up.» he said.
I scrunched my nose. «Kinda,» I said. «we just have three songs... what about you? You planning anything?»
«We didn't even finished the tour with the Puppets, but I never stopped writing.» he said.
«Hope to hear something of it.» I smiled.
«I hope it too.» he smiled back.

After dinner, the sun went down and we were walking through the streets, side by side.
Going back to the hotel seemed like something fun, as the conversation kept going, keeping the two of us both entertained: we felt as comfortable as we were when we dated.
He insisted to walk me to my door room, like it was so far from his; once we got there, everything seemed more awkward. I looked at him, waiting for him to do something, but he did the same. After what felt like an endless silence, I spoke. «We better go to sleep,» I said in the most causal way. «tomorrow is the big day.»
He nodded. «Yeah,» he said. «of course.»
«Thanks for the amazing night.» I said.
He just nodded. I smiled for the last time and entered my room.

The room was completely silent, filled with the moonlight coming from the wide widows.
I felt serene, but empty inside, like something was missing, making my stomach a void.
I left my purse on the settee and looked around, lost in my thoughts.
My legs moved before my brain and in a matter of seconds, I was knocking at his door. He didn't take much to open it and with his shirt unbuttoned of another button, he looked at me surprised. He probably thought I was crazy.
I looked at his eyes and then at his lips, for two times, to then get on my tiptoes and reach his face, merging my lips with his. He waited a moment before placing his hands on my back, to make sure it was actually happening.

We slowly got inside and he closed the door by pushing it, without stopping the kissing. We headed to the bed, heavily breathing as the kisses became hungrier and harder.
My lips started to consume, so I started unbuttoning his shirt, taking a break for my burning lips. «Are you sure you wanna do this?» he asked me.
I nodded. «You're not?» I asked him confused.
He smirked looking at me. «You never have to ask me this.»
I smiled kissing him and felt his warm lips covering my collar, after I took off the top I was wearing; he pulled me closer and kept kissing my chest and neck, whilst I unbuttoned his shirt, to then go to his pants.
Our noses touched and he smiled as he slipped his hands behind my back and turned down the zip that closed my skirt, letting it fall on the floor. He then pulled me as he moved backwards to the bed, but before I could straddle him as he payed on the bed sheets, I walked to the wooden forniture right in front of the bed. «What's wrong?» he instantly asked me.
«I'm setting an alarm,» I said. «tomorrow is the big day for Jess, can't miss it.»
I turned around and he had his head rested on his hands, cupping his nape and a smile lightening his face.