I Wanna Sing You a Sunrise

Chapter 18: The Countdown

A/N: I really want to again thank everyone for sticking with this story, voting and commenting and I want to let you know how amazing it has been to "meet" all the wonderful people here on Wattpad - I haven't been here for that long yet but I really love this community and the support among writers and readers. So thank you.

All right, on with the story - we are very close to getting rid of Christian but not without some drama...

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December 2018

Stefani leaned against the windowpane of the living room in her Park MGM suite, watching down to the Las Vegas Strip; it was early morning, barely six and the last of the late-night revellers were still wandering the famous street. In the distance, some very early fireworks went off, colouring the black sky; it was December 31st, the last day of this incredible year. Her Enigma residency had just started three days earlier, to a sold-out audience that had welcomed her with open arms; it had been a truly wonderful experience and she had enjoyed being back on stage so much it had surprised even her.

Behind her, the door of the bedroom opened and Christian emerged, frowning at her. "Stef? What the hell are you doing awake this early?"

She gave a small smile, watched him make his way to the kitchen, fill a glass of water. "Just couldn't sleep. Too much on my mind, I guess."

"Hmm." He walked over, wrapped an arm around her shoulders; she tried not to flinch. "Well, I'm going back to bed. How about you join me and maybe we can see if there's anything that might help clear your head?"

He nuzzled her neck, lips grazing her skin and Stefani froze momentarily, then squirmed off his hold, walking to grab her phone. "You go ahead. I'm going to get started with my day."

Christian watched her for a moment, then sighed heavily and turned to make his way to the bedroom; the door closed behind him with a little too much force and she couldn't help a small sigh of relief. She reached for a soft blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, curling up into the corner of the plush couch and focusing on the phone; scrolling down to the list of her most commonly dialled numbers, she stared at the first name, really very tempted to press the call button, to hear the familiar voice.

The past few months had been a whirlwind of traveling round the world, filled with press conferences, interviews and premieres; it had been quite incredible, not to mention very interesting to delve into the world of Hollywood and cinema instead of music for a while. The movie had gotten such an incredible reception, reviews glowing, her performance and Bradley's directive work receiving such praise her head was spinning; without a fail every reviewer, every article also touched on their chemistry, their connection, the one thing that had helped to push the movie to even higher levels of success. Stefani sighed heavily, tugging the blanket tighter around herself; the true depth of their relationship was still hidden, in the eyes of the world he was still with Irina and she truly was still with Christian, was wearing his ring but her heart yearned for Bradley, yearned to be with him at every available opportunity.

Rubbing a hand across her face, she wondered how her life had come to this and how much longer she could let it go on like this; Christian was starting to become more and more possessive over her, checking up on her all the time, especially whenever she was somewhere with Bradley, even if it was on a completely public place. To placate him, to avoid any ugly confrontations and stress-induced fibromyalgia flareups in the middle of the long press tour, she had distanced herself from her co-star somewhat, had steered clear of any private time with him even though it was painful, it was so painful that she was becoming increasingly stressed and snappy. She had even had a blazing row about it with Natali who just couldn't understand why she was still hanging onto her engagement, all of her explanations about trying to protect the movie and Bradley's reputation falling on deaf ears; the vicious argument had led to a three-day silent treatment from her sister, the longest they had ever gone without speaking to each other until both had been at their wits' end, calling each other at the same time, apologizing profusely. Despite her efforts, she was having almost constant fights with Christian too, especially because she avoided any intimate situations with him as much as possible; it was driving her fiancé up to the wall, increasing his suspicions tenfold but she simply couldn't bear his touch anymore as it felt completely wrong, only making her long for another man more and more. God, she had to put an end to this; at this rate there would be nothing left of her soon, not physically and not mentally.