Endless Nights // Jude Bellingham

32

Birthday

"Happy birthday Ellie." Jude whispers in my ear as I rub my eyes, adjusting to the sudden light that is presented in our room. I smile once I've adjusted to the light and lay my head on his chest.

"Thank you." I smile and kiss him on the forehead then walk into the bathroom to get ready. I do light makeup because we're going down to the beach later, so it'll just wash off, and I don't want my mascara to smudge under my eyes. I walk out of the bathroom and into the closet, where Jude is as well, and pick out an outfit for the market that we're going to. I decide on a small, light blue tank top and some white flowy pants. I pair them with some beige sandals and put my hair up into a loose ponytail. I say goodbye to Jude, then walk into the kitchen and wait for everyone else to meet in there. Natalie walks through the door just as my mom and Denise walk out from their rooms.

"Happy Birthday lovely." Denise brings me into a warm hug. I thank her as I smile into the hug, then move onto my mom and Natalie. Once we're done with talking about my birthday, we leave for the market which is just about a 5 minute walk.

Jude

"Okay, you hide behind the couch, and you can hide behind the counter. Just try to find a place where Ellie won't see you." I tell her friends from London. I knew how much Ellie had been missing her friends, so I secretly invited them on the trip so they could surprise her. They'll be staying with Natalie and Toby, and the only one who didn't know they were coming was Ellie. I had asked my mom to come up with an excuse to get Ellie out of the house while they snuck in. They all spent the night at Natalie's and Toby's villa, so Ellie has no reason to suspect that their coming.

"You're so thoughtful." Liz smiles to me, knowing that her friend will be overjoyed when she's surprised. I shrug my shoulder, not thinking it's that big of a deal, and then I hear my phone buzz.

"Hey mom." I answer the phone
"We're almost done here, but I'll text you when we're on our way back." She says from the other line.
"Okay sounds good. We're ready over here." I inform her, and she says bye then hangs up the phone.

I put my phone into my back pocket, and take deep breaths, telling myself to remain calm.

Ellie

I walk around the market, looking at all the jewelry at the stands, and holding the necklaces up to my neck to see if I want them. I'm just browsing around the shops, walking over to ones that intrigue me.

"Should I get this?" I ask Natalie, holding up a gold necklace with a clover on it. She gasps and nods her head aggressively, then begins looking at the other jewelry at the stand. I buy the necklace and put it in my bag that I brought, then I just look around some more until I decide I'm done shopping. I walk around with Natalie for a bit, while she looks at the clothes, and asks my opinion on whether she should buy it or not.

"Are you ladies ready to go?" My mom asks us once we all meet up where we first entered. I nod my head, with Natalie saying yes, and we begin walking up to the villa.

"Let me see what you got." My mom asks me when she sees me grabbing out the necklace that I bought. I show it to her with a smile on my face, giving it to her so she can hold it.

"This is beautiful. Do you want me to put it on for you?" She admires it, then asks me, to which I nod. She puts the cold metal on my bare neck, then clasps it together and walks to the front of me to see how it looks.

"Oh my gosh! That looks so good." She squeals, tapping Denise to show her my necklace. Denise compliments my necklace and smiles at me, saying how good it looks on me. I thank her as we're arriving to the door. They all step to the side and let me walk in first, the house being oddly empty.