In Denial | Alex Turner

XXIX

Alex's POV:

"Nick, d'yer 'ave any idea 'ow I can get this thing off me face?" I yelled from inside the bathroom, where I was trying to take Monica's lipstick off my left cheek. It's not that I wanted to, I'd just look weird if I didn't wash it off.

"What?" Nick came in the bathroom wearing a graphic black t-shirt and a denim vest.

"How can I get this thing off me face?" I kept on rubbing my cheek with water. It was like it was waterproof or summat. Do these things even exist?

"What is it?" Nick squinted his eyes, trying to make out the material. My cheek was as red as the lipstick at that point and made it hard to make out which was which.

"Lipstick, Nicholas, how blind can yer be?" I rolled my eyes as I looked at my cheek in the mirror.

I am not going to lie, her gesture made it very hard for me to concentrate on the show. All I wanted to do was run backstage and-

"Who kissed yer?" he furrowed his eyebrows as he ran a finger on my cheek, still trying to find where the mark was.

"Does it even matter?" I sighed, taking the apple off his hands and taking a big bite.

"Monica did it, didn' she?" he took a step back and grinned from ear to ear.

"Yeh," I mumbled under my breath while I still chewed the bite off the green apple.

"What was that?" Nick teased, turning his head to his right and showing me his ear as he placed his palm around it.

"Yer so helpful, Nicholas, thanks," I rolled my eyes and walked out of the bathroom wearing just a pair of black jeans.

"Sorry, sorry," he mumbled between laughs as he took another bite off his apple. "But I'll need more than that, mate."

"The fuck d'yer mean?" I shot him a confused look as I was going through my suitcase, trying to find my black turtleneck

"I mean," he sat on the bed. "Are yer datin'?" he raised an eyebrow.

"It's just a kiss on the cheek, for fuck's sake," I exhaled, going back to searching for the shirt.

"So, no?" he questioned.

"No!" I replied defensively and pulled out the shirt from the suitcase. "Now, will yer tell me 'ow to get this off?"

"Just go over at Jamie's. Katie will 'ave those... What are they called? Makeup wipes, yeh," he stood up and threw the apple in the rubbish bin.

"Thanks," I mumbled, throwing the shirt over my head quickly before leaving the room.

I knocked on Jamie's room and waited for them to open. Katie soon opened the door and looked at my cheek.

"Just give me a fuckin' makeup wipe," I exhaled, pinching the bridge of my nose.

Katie tried her best not to laugh and excused herself to go get it. She came back some seconds later and I thanked her as I started walking away, rubbing my cheek.

"Ah, sorry, love," I bumped on someone as I was walking quickly back to my room. My hair was product-free and I refused to anyone see me like that, which was why I was practically running.

"Be more careful next time, Alexander," she turned around and faced me with a smile. My mouth's sides curling upwards unintentionally.

Her tall figure was standing in front of me and I took my time to observe her. She was wearing a black corset dress that hugged her figure in all the right places. A grey blazer on top and a pair of black knee-length boots that reached just a bit under the hem of her dress.

"What? Do I look bad?" she looked down at herself and then back up at me with a worried look on her face.

"No, no, the opposite, actually," I huffed a nervous laugh and scratched the back of my neck.

"I like this turtleneck on you," she smirked, taking a step closer to me and touching the hem of the shirt's neck.

"I'll be wearin' it more often then," I smirked back and looked at her red lips. The warm feeling of her lips on my cheek came back and sent some sense of satisfaction in my chest.

"I'll meet you downstairs, Turner," she took a step back and ran her fingers along my left arm before turning around to walk down the stairs with a smile.

Monica's POV:

"There she is! God, you look so hot!" Breana exclaimed as soon as she realised I was coming down the stairs.

"You look better," I blew a kiss at her and she pretended to catch it and place it on her right cheek.

"Where is everyone else?" I asked, looking around. 

"Matt, Nick, Jamie and Katie are outside waiting and Alex is still upstairs," she replied as she looked behind me. "Nevermind, Alex is also here," she nodded towards the stairs and I turned around.

He was walking down the stairs, looking at his phone and seemed to be  struggling. He was wearing a black turtleneck, a pair of black trousers, his black chelsea boots and a black coat.

"Grandpa Turner, if you could hurry?" Breana yelled and Alex shot his head up, looking at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"'Grandpa Turner'," I mumbled while laughing. Alex walked over to me and Breana walked outside.

"Summat wrong, Arabella?" he shoved his phone in his pocket and smirked at me.

"No, grandpa, everything is fine," I smiled as he pushed the door open for me.

We took two cabs to the pub. One with Nick, Elle, Katie and Jamie, and another one with Matt, Breana, Alex and I.

I had to squeeze between Alex and Matt the whole time. I was trying my best to focus on the conversation Matt and Breana were having with me about Paris as Alex's thigh kept rubbing on my bare one, making it very hard to pay attention to what Breana and Matt were ranting about.

We got to the pub and found Elle, Nick, Katie and Jamie waiting outside. Nick and Jamie were laughing rather loudly and Katie was pretending not to know them, standing some feet away with Elle.

"The children woke up, eh?" Matt chuckled as we got off the car.

"They never went to sleep, Matthew," Katie rolled her eyes and huffed, making us laugh. I walked up to her, leaving Alex's side, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She smelled like strawberry as I kissed her cheek.

"At least you also have the adults with you tonight," I chuckled and felt satisfied when everyone else laughed at my words.

I was going to have fun tonight.