Invisible String

Chapter 10 - Call It What You Want

He smiled proudly at me but I shook my head. He was right. It was a simple solution. However, red lipstick went really fantastic with my dress. I pouted as I turned back around and headed back into the bathroom.

"Don't take much longer, Han," he shouted after me.

I sighed as I sifted through the tons of tubes. Finally, I settled on a more natural red and applied it. I kissed the back of my hand in an attempt to see how much residue would be left behind and it wasn't too bad.

I wiped off my lips and decided to wait until we were almost there to apply it this time. That way, if Alex wanted to get intimate beforehand, I'd be ready.

When I exited the bathroom this time, Alex was standing again, arm extended towards me. "Come on, we have to go." He looked slightly more anxious now.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, it's just... it's getting close, and I don't want to be late. We're supposed to be there at 5:30 to exit and go down the carpet."

"Okay, well, let's go." I turned his face to me and kissed him. For the briefest of moments, I felt him relax. And I relaxed with him.

It wasn't until we pulled up to the Staples center that I started to twitch nervously. I'd been fine all day up until I saw the venue. It was so enormous and I hadn't been to an event this big in almost a year. Actually, it was briefly after Alex and I ended it the first time when I was dating this actor, Mark.

We waited impatiently in the back seat of the limo, kissing and squeezing each other's hands nervously until it was our time to exit. Alex stepped out of the limo first, then turned around and held out his hand to help me. I straightened my dress as I stood tall and the cameras flashed. The noise was deafening as thousands of paparazzi, television crews, and fans flanked the area. We were on the inner side of the rope that led us down the famous red carpet.

I stood still, and he put his hand on my back and whispered into my ear, "I have to go sign autographs and do quick interviews, okay?" He pointed towards the outer sides of the rope where crowds were crunched together. "I'm sure there's an usher here somewhere that will lead you away from all of this."

I looked up into his eyes and shook my head. What was I doing? I had an easy escape. But I didn't want it.

My fingers latched onto his arm and slid down to his hand. His eyes widened with joy, and he leaned in close to my ear and said, "This certainly isn't going to help with the 'waiting to make it official' thing."

"I know," I whispered back, and then pecked him on the cheek. He grabbed my back and pulled me against him and kissed me on the lips hard. It was intense and forceful, but still somehow managed to be romantic and utterly enjoyable. I smiled as we kissed, and the world seemed to fade away. For that moment, it was blissful and quiet, and we were the only people left.

But reality had to pull us back, as it always does. A man bumped into Alex and pushed us both, almost knocking me over, but Alex held on to me and kept me from tumbling to the ground. I grabbed onto his hand tightly as we stood up straight and he shouted something at the man, but it went unheard through all the noise. Alex turned back to me and shook his head, then slowly, we both started walking over to the side of the rope.

There were girls of all ages screaming his name, and he smiled politely and took selfies with many of them while signing autographs. I stood next to him silently, a fake smile plastered to my face. The girls gave me rude and dirty looks, but none of them said anything, I suppose out of respect for the man they were all infatuated with.

One of those girls did have the metaphorical balls, and went ahead and asked, "Is she your girlfriend?"

He smiled and started to nod but then turned and looked back at me. I nodded uncertainly while shrugging a shoulder. He turned around to the waiting girls and said, "Yes, she is."

He squeezed my hand tightly and kept signing autographs with his right hand and leaning in for pictures. He went on like this for twenty minutes before we even reached the interviewers and photographers. By that time, my hand was too clammy, and I pulled it back, but he barely noticed. Or so I thought, because not twenty seconds later, we walked away from the fans, and he put his arm around my back.

"You didn't have to let go. I would've held on all night."

He kissed me on the cheek and walked up to a group of reporters shouting his name.

"I've only got time for," he paused while looking his watch, then finished, "two interviews."

It took a moment for someone to win him over, but when they offered us suckers, he had to accept. It was one of Ellen DeGeneres' reporters, and he smiled happily as he told the woman about us, his new home out in New York, and his band, who were trailing behind us answering questions for other reporters and signing autographs still.

After he finished the second interview, we went over to the paparazzi area. This was where the magical, perfect-looking photos happened. He began to pull me along with him, but I stood back and removed his arm from around me. "Go, take your photos by yourself and with your band."

"Han, you can be in them, too. I want you in them."

"Fine, but you should get these ones out of the way."

He hesitated, but shrugged and straightened his suit jacket, then stood in front of the backdrop with Grammy awards pictures plastered all over it with the year underneath them. He smiled perfectly, gave his best broody look, and then did a few funny poses for the hell of it. His bandmates joined him, and they did the same type of shots; serious, broody, and funny. Then they all separated to take photos with their dates. Alex waved for me, and I walked over, breathing slowly and watching my feet, reminding myself not to trip in my high heels over the long dress.

He held out his arm and wrapped it around me as we smiled, and the flashing lights blinded me. At one point, I turned my face towards his chest, to look away from the lights for a moment, and he kissed me on the lips. Once again, the world melted away. It was only us, and I instantly relaxed. After a moment like this, he wrapped his other arm around me, then moved them down to my hands. He stopped kissing me and led me away.

We found a dark spot somewhere in the madness. It was quiet, and there weren't any bystanders. We took full advantage of this scarce opportunity. He pushed me up against a pillar and kissed me fervently, while his hands rubbed down my bare back and his, now hard, member pressed against my pelvis.

His lips moved down my neck, and when he came back up, he said into my ear, "I love you so much."

I grabbed his chin and looked him in the eyes. "You don't have to say that so much." He moved his head away from me, and I moved my hand over his heart. "I know you love me, Alex. I can feel it every time you touch me. And every time you look at me. Whenever you speak to me, I hear it in your voice, and I know it." I leaned forward and kissed him on the lips softly, and when I pulled back, I said, "And I do love you, too. Even after all of this time apart, that hasn't changed."

He ran his fingers through my hair and smiled. "You have no idea how happy that makes me, Hannah."

We kissed once more before leaving the beautifully secluded area and joining the masses as they filed inside the auditorium.