Disaster • Arctic Monkeys Fanfiction

[fifty eight]

Alex's POV

The first thing I saw when Indi and I busted through her door lugging armfulls of groceries was Jude sitting on the couch.  

I resisted the urge to groan.  I'd only known this bloke for a day and I'd already seen way too much of him. 

"You're home," he said, standing up.  "Finally."

Indi stopped, the word 'fuck' written all over her face.

Jude's face fell slightly.  "You forgot, didn't you?"

She set the groceries down and began to tear them out of the bags and throw them onto the counter quickly.

"Forget is a strong word," she rushed.  "It may have slipped my mind for a bit.   Just... just give me like two minutes to put these away."

"We've had this planned for at least two months now," Jude said.  "I seriously can't believe you forgot."

"Well, considering the circumstances," she said, looking over to me.  "It wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind."

I was about to ask what the hell they were talking about when cigarette girl from the club (Alice, I think?) came bouncing into the living room.

"Alex!" she said, smiling brightly.  "It's so nice to see you again."

I hadn't remembered her voice being so squeaky.

"Likewise."

"Are you going to the pumpkin patch with us?" she asked.  

I looked over to Indi, who was still rushing to put all the groceries away.  "What in fuck's sake is a pumpkin patch?"

"You'd hate it," Indi said, banging around in the pantry.  "It's just this autumn thing that's big in the midwest.  They have haunted hayrack rides and pumpkin picking and a corn maze.  I used to love it as a kid but now it's plagued with couples and it's very country so I doubt you'll-"

"I'd love to go," I said, cutting her off.  "Sounds brilliant."

I still didn't have a clue what it was, but if she was going, then I would be there.  

And maybe that was fucking moronic.  Because I was still unsure of my feelings for her and her feelings for me.  Fuck, I wasn't even sure if we could be considered friends.

But that urge to follow her wherever she went was still in me.  In a non-stalkerish way, of course.

If I hadn't of been working on the new album and playing shows for the last 18 months, something told me that I would have been wherever she was.  

And I was still trying to figure out why that was.

She turned over her shoulder to look at me, her eyes narrowed and confused. 

"Great," Alice said, smiling at me.  "Indi, go get dressed.  I'll finish putting the groceries up."

"What, are my sweats not good enough for the pumpkin patch?" Indi challenged.

"No," Alice laughed.  "Now go."

Disaster girl huffed and stalked to her bedroom.  She came out a few minutes later, wearing black jeans, a black shirt, and a red scarf.  She looked like she'd at least attempted to brush her hair, which I guess was a step in the right direction, and she appeared to have finally washed her face.

There was something different about her since Colorado.  Maybe it was that her hair was longer.  Or maybe she just looked more mature.  I couldn't put my finger on it, exactly, but she looked different.  

She was still a mess, though.  I don't think she'd ever get rid of that.  

Her eyes landed on me.  "Do I have something on my face?"

I'd been staring.  I cleared my throat and looked away.  "Er, no."

"You guys ready to go?" Alice asked us.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Indi said.  "Let's just get this over with."

• • • • • • • • • • 

The pumpkin patch was an hour drive through pure prairie land, which I wouldn't have minded had Indi sat in the back seat with me.  Instead, she sat in the passenger's seat and I was stuck in the back with Alice, who I'm convinced didn't stop talking for more than a minute and a half.

She asked me about everything and anything- the band, my music, my hometown.  But it wasn't until she asked her final question as we parked in a massive field filled with cars (which I'm assuming was the pumpkin patch's midwestern style parking lot) that things got interesting.  

"So who did you write Arabella about?" Alice asked me, staring at me like I was some kind of god.  "It's my favorite song on the album."

Indi turned around, her eyes saying, "You have to be kidding me."  

So she really hadn't listened to AM yet.  I'd originally written "Arabella" as "Indiana", but decided to use her middle name because I was afraid the media would go after her if I used her first name.  

And I was almost positive she would burn my house down if I used her first name.

"I wrote it about this girl I used to know," I told Alice, keeping my eyes on Indi.  "She was all over the place and completely insane, this girl, but she was interesting.  And I liked her a lot."

"Were you dating her, or something?  Was she a model?  I read somewhere that you only date models."

I laughed.  "No.  Didn't date her, and not a model.  Definitely not a model."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Indi shot at me.  She seemed to realize then that Alice and Jude were still in the car with us.   

"I mean," she said, trying to regain her composure.  "I'm sure she could have been a model if she wanted to."

Alice's looked at Indi inquisitively.  "Did you ever meet her, Indi?"

"Sure did," Indi said.  "And she was way too good for Alex."

"So what happened?" Alice questioned.  

Indi and I stared silently at each other for a few moments before she turned back around, her eyebrows pushing together. 

I thought about my answer carefully, but it almost felt like I'd been pondering that same question for the last year and half.  

What exactly happened to us?  How did things end up like this?

"I tried to save her from my storm of a life," I said after a moment.  "But I'm not sure if that was the right decision or not."

"That's so poetic," Alice said, dreamily.

Indi laughed at that.  I don't know why she did, and I'm not sure I wanted to know, but she laughed like she'd never heard anything funnier in her whole life. 

We all got out of the car and headed into the pumpkin patch, which Indi was right about being plagued with couples.  It seemed that everywhere I turned there were people holding hands.   

Jude seemed to notice this, because while we were stopped at the concessions to get apple ciders, he grabbed Indi by the hand. 

She looked down at their connected hands and then up to him in surprise.  I almost felt bad for the guy.  He could never seem to take a hint.  

Indi looked more and more uncomfortable as we started walking toward the hayrack ride, and Alice wouldn't stop talking about me about how music is "literally the air she breathes" and it was clear that both disaster girl and I wanted out.

So I did what I had to do.