Please Don't Try and Turn On the Lights

4. Call It a Night

I had no idea for how long Alex and I stood there. I hadn't even noticed that The National had stopped playing and that people were erupting all around us. The only thing ripping me out of the perfect moment with Alex was when I heard Miles voice behind me:

"There you are, you wankers. We've been all over the place looking for you," he said in a hoarse voice.

"Yeah, sorry about that," I said sheepishly, but Alex just laughed, not a care in the world.

"Come on," Miles said and gestured to us that we should follow him.

Alex and I must've kissed for quite a while because when I took ahold of my Gin and Tonic, it was no longer cold.

-

I really didn't want the night to end! I had had the most fun day and the thought of missing out of it all tomorrow made my eyes sting.

"What's wrong, love?" Alex asked me as we had entered the backstage area once more.

"Just tired is all," I said.

"Wanna go home?"

"Not really," I said, yawning.

"Come on, lass," he said laughing, "I'll take you home".

"Nooo," I said like a child, "I don't want to leave you guys."

Alex laughed, "Come on," he pulled me up from my seat, "I'm guessing that it won't be long before these guys leave too," he gestured to his friends; Jamie was half-asleep in an upright sitting position, Nick and Miles were both hooking up with some girls and Matt was chatting up some bird he had met earlier.

"I wish I was coming tomorrow..." I said, yawning in to Alex' shoulder.

"Me too. I'll see what I can do.."

-

Jamie, Alex, and I ended up sharing taxi back to their hotel.

Alex had asked me if I wanted to have a nightcap with him in his room and I just couldn't refuse those big brown eyes even though I was tired as hell.

"Goodnight, Jamie. Thank you for helping me out with the water earlier today," I said as Alex and I stopped in front of the door to his hotel room on the 15th floor.

"You're welcome, Rhea," Jaime said without looking at us. He just threw his hand in the air as a greeting and kept walking towards his room.

As the door closed behind Alex and I, Alex went straight to the minibar. I sat down on a sofa in the middle of the room. I could hear him muttering something about the minibar only consisting of shit and he soon sat down next to me, bringing us whiskey and cola with an apologetic smile.

"Considering the amount of money I spent on this room, you'd think they'd at least stock up on some of the good stuff in the fridge," he said. As the night had progressed and Alex had become more and more drunk, his Sheffield dialect had become more and more prominent.

"Why don't you talk like that all the time?" I asked him.

"Like what?"

"Like you're actually from Sheffield!"

He shrugged, "I used to get a lot of shit from people because they couldn't understand me in interviews. Even the guys were having a hard time sometimes...so I adjusted," Alex said, "and even though I live in London, I'm still in L.A. all the time so I guess my accent is in a bit of limbo."

"What about when you sing?" I asked him.

Alex really opened up to me. We talked about his music, how he felt leaving Sheffield all those years ago, what it was like being up on stage, flying back and forth all the time, and just about his life in general.

At some point, I looked at the time: 4.57. I couldn't help but yawn.

Alex noticed, "Look at me! I'm rambling on like a tosser."

"Yeah, you are," I laughed at him.

"Oi, you started it," he said and held out a finger, pointing it at me.

I shot him a smile that soon turned to a yarn.

"Come on, Rhea. Let's get you to bed, " he pulled me up from the sofa.

"Yeah, it was nice meeting you, Alex!"

He looked at me with a confused face, "You're...you're not staying?"

I bit my lip, thinking it over. I really wanted to stay but I didn't want him to think that we were going to have sex.

As if he could read my mind, he said: "We can just....sleep. I'm tired too."

I gave him a small smile and nodded, "I would love to stay".