𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 || 𝘈.𝘛

56

I left as soon as I woke up.

How I left? I gathered all of my things and tip-toed out of his annoyingly gorgeous apartment with no shoes on to pursue the walk of shame down the floor hallway. I only managed to get my shoes on in the lift, and by the time it'd reached the lobby, the doors opened to two cleaning ladies looking absolutely distraught at the sight of the straps of my unzipped yellow dress from last night hanging off of my arms.

I'm definitely a sight for sore eyes as I walk through the lobby of incredibly well-dressed people, smiling embarrassingly at the people who almost look sorry for me.

Thankfully enough, I make it out of the hotel without limping too much at the pain of the heels re-opening the sores of the blisters they created yesterday.

I woke up even angrier than I was last night, which is what stupidly tempted me to leave out of spite. I only now realize how stupid that actually is as the taxi drives me to the hotel that I was planning on staying at. I never thought about how I'm fully going to have to talk to Alex during my time in London, or about the fact that we were doing so well up until now.

Really, I have no excuse. I let it happen, and so did he, so of course, I'm partly to blame. However, I'd stressed how much I wasn't wanting to go through with what he's been asking about for days just yet.

Of course, I wanted it. I still do want it, badly, but I can not risk it just for the sake of being with him. Not just for myself, it's for those around us. If we do happen to get caught, it isn't just Alex and I who are targeted, it's the boys, the girls, Bowie and the other babies, and to a certain extreme, possibly our families.

''Rough night?'' The taxi driver speaks for the first time this ride and I look into the rearview mirror. I can only see his aged eyes but he looks like he has pure intentions.

''If you could call it that.'' I joke with a huff of a laugh and his shoulders twitch in a laugh.

''Too many sweets from Halloween?''

''Yep.'' I nod with a sigh, ''Unfortunately so.''

''We've all been there.'' He shrugs before taking the turn onto the road of my hotel. I glance at the rearview mirror, noticing that he's looking at me, but not in a way that makes me uncomfortable. I flash him a small smile before gazing towards the window again.

''If you don't mind me asking, and not to seem weird at all.'' His thick London accent is overpowering the humming of the quiet radio in the car as a cigarette dangles from the corner of his mouth. ''Are you Brielle Helders?''

What the fuck.

''I am..'' I smile confusedly as I slowly turn to look back at the rearview mirror to wide eyes.

I try to think of how he's possibly recognized me before I remember that I'm surrounded with the fucking Arctic Monkeys most of the time, the thought striking me all at once.

''My daughter won't bloody believe it!'' He gruffly laughs with a shake of his head and with his extremely contagious laugh, I begin to giggle along. ''She's a massive fan of the Monkeys, and you! She hasn't shut up about that magazine cover you did with all that paint on your body, I think she's pretty much in love with you.'' He goes on to explain and the more he says, the more shock shoots through me.

It takes me at least a few seconds to process just what he's saying, and the fact that someone's a fan of me. Since before I got back into contact with everyone, I was never recognized and as expected, the more I hang around with them, the more that people began to catch on and discover that I was Matt's sister. The praise I've had over this time has always come from being associated with the band and obviously, I have absolutely no problem with this whatsoever. I'm proud to be associated with people so incredible, but to hear that someone is a fan of the work I've done personally is a pure shocker.