I Wanna Sing You a Sunrise

Chapter 22: Strategies of Complete Control

A/N: Continuing events post-Oscars... This chapter is rated M.

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Bradley departed with Irina some time later to take his mother home and to relieve Lea's babysitter, giving her a tight hug and kissing her forehead; the house immediately felt a lot emptier without him there, and Stefani sighed, quite ready to leave too, both her body and her mind exhausted after all the recent events. She chatted with a few people halfheartedly for about an hour longer, then made her way to Natali.

"I think I'm going to go; do you want to come with me or...?"

Her sister nodded, grasped her arm. "Let's get you home; you need to get some rest. It's been a really long day and a pretty eventful evening, to put it mildly."

"No kidding." Stefani sighed, followed Natali out after they had said their goodbyes to the remaining cast members and Mark and his team; the night was warm, beautifully scented. "So, were the Oscars everything you thought they would be?"

"Definitely; I had an amazing time." The brunette glanced at the golden statue that her sister was still holding tightly. "Are you going to sleep with that? Bradley might get jealous."

Stefani snorted. "Yeah, right. Well, I won't see him until tomorrow, so I need something there to keep me warm, don't I?"

Natali chuckled, tapped at her phone, arching an eyebrow. "Uh-huh."

She frowned a little at her sister's mischievous expression, then let it slide, leaning her head back against the seat and closing her eyes, feeling herself starting to nod off to the car's comfortable hum and steady movement.

The next thing she registered was a soft touch to her cheek, then her name whispered quietly. "Stef?"

She opened her eyes, frowned as she encountered Bradley's blue gaze, feeling completely confused. "What... where are we?"

He chuckled, still caressing her cheek. "At your house; you fell asleep on the drive back."

"Oh." She got out of the car, shaking her head briefly, still a little confused. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to stay with Lea tonight."

"I was." He smiled at her, looked down. "But I really wanted to be with you after everything that happened, so I asked Natali to text me when you guys left the party. I just got here too."

She chuckled, glanced at her sister, met with a completely innocent expression.

"I had a feeling you were up to something."

"Well, I wanted to give him a chance to make amends privately." Natali sighed, looked at him. "I hope I never again have to see you behaving like you did tonight. She doesn't deserve any of that."

Stefani swallowed. "Nat..."

"She's right." He grasped her hand. "She is one hundred percent right. Tonight was not my finest hour."

"Can everyone just stop behaving like I'm not to blame at all?" She rubbed her forehead. "It was my freak-out that started this in the first place; you can't just put everything on Bradley, Natali. I'm hardly perfect."

"Oh, I know," Natali quipped, "which is why I'm going to leave you two to apologize to each other long and good and proper; make sure you do just that. I'm heading to Sarah's; I'll call you tomorrow, Stef."

She hugged them both and got back into the car, which departed a moment later, leaving them to stare after the backlights fading around the corner of the drive. Stefani shook her head, snorting slightly.