"Where have you been, All my life? All my life?"
- Rihanna (Where Have You Been, 2011)
______________
Y/N's POV
I slept on the couch for the night. I didn't know if she wanted some space, but just to play it safe, I decided to leave her be. I barely got any sleep, and woke up earlier than usual. I went on a six mile run, and got back in time before either one of them woke up. I took a cold shower, and began making breakfast. Thinking about how last night ended hurt a little. Neither one of us was at fault. I couldn't exactly blame her for acting the way that she did.
I was way over my head that I overcooked the pancake on the pan, so I had to toss it out and make a new one. But, I couldn't help it. The image of the way she reacted with so much disgust and annoyance, it nearly broke my heart into pieces. I know it's one of her mood swings, but it still hurts me nonetheless.
"Good morning, Y/N." Maya greeted me. "What are you making?"
"Good morning, little bear." I gave her a quick smile before plopping another batter on the pan. "I'm making you some delicious pancakes."
"Oooh, I can't wait to eat them." She cheered excitedly as she grabbed herself a book to read.
"What time do you have to be at school today?"
"In an hour."
"Great, so, why don't you eat up, then I'll drop you at school right after." I said as I put her plate down. "Tell me if you want some more."
"Thank you."
I nodded with a smile on my face. I took a quick glance at the stairs, hoping to see her come down for some breakfast. But, I guess she's still sleeping. Even after I made breakfast, and I ate some with Maya, Lizzie's still sleeping. It's not her to be sleeping around this time of day.
"You have all your stuff?"
Maya nodded as we headed straight to the door, "Yep. Will you be picking me up at school later?"
I kneeled down to her level, "Hmm... I don't know yet. It might be Auntie MK again. Your mom and I might have plans."
She giggled, "Ooooh, are you two going on a date?"
I blush a little, "Yes, we are."
"Okay, well, in that case, take all the time you need." Maya walked ahead of me, skipping her way toward the car. "And most importantly, have fun!"
I buckled her in, "Of course. Can you promise me one thing?"
"What?"
"Don't cause too much trouble while MK watches you." I laughed. "Last time, she told me you pretended to fall down the stairs so you could get her to buy you ice cream. Clever, but scary."
"I promise I won't do it again."
"Okay, I trust you, little bear." I ruffled her hair before getting into the driver's seat and driving the little one to school.
• • •
When I came back home, I expected to find Lizzie in the kitchen, preferably eating the food I made. But, to my surprise, she's nowhere to be seen. I went upstairs to her room, quietly seeing myself in. And there she was. Still sleeping soundly, her soft adorable snores music to my ears. It's quite adorable if I do say so myself.
I went back downstairs and decided to heat up her food. I took the tray inside one of the cabinets before I carefully brought them upstairs, inside of her room. I placed it by her night stand as I took a seat at the edge of her bed, contemplating if I should even wake her up at all.
"Wake up, sleepy head." I said softly as she began to stir into consciousness. "I made you breakfast in bed."
Lizzie situated herself into a seated position, a faint smile appeared on her face, "Good morning."
"Good morning." I grinned widely. "Are you hungry?"
"A little, yeah."
"Good, because I made you breakfast." I carefully placed the tray of food in front of her. "Eat up."
"Thank you." She mumbled under her breath as she began to eat her food one by one. "What do you have planned for me today?"
I chuckled, "I'm glad you asked." I said. "I was thinking of taking you to the place we first met."
"Club Echo?"
I nod, "Yes, how'd you—"
"You told me." Lizzie chimed in. "
"Oh, I thought you remembered, somehow." I smiled, a hint of sadness evident in my voice.
Lizzie chuckled lightly, "No, but I wish." She stopped for a second. "But, I also read about them through our old text messages."
I looked up, "Text messages?"
"I was up all night, reading some of our conversations from years ago." Lizzie told me. "I was also watching a couple of videos of us on our NYC trip with Maya."
"Oh gosh, does this mean you saw the nudes I sent you?" I cracked a joke, immediately regretting ever saying it.
"I might've seen a couple, and a video." She played along. "Of us."
"Oh?" I pushed further. "Did you like what you see? Or do you need a refresher?"
Lizzie rolled her eyes, "I hate you."
I laughed at my victory, "Sure you do."
"But, anyway, I do want my Winnie the Pooh socks back." Lizzie criss-crossed her arms. "They're mine."
I huffed, "Yours? Need I remind you that I gave those pairs of socks to you when we were little as a gift. So, technically it was mine."
"Yeah, was. Past tense." She argued back. "But, you gave it to me, so it's mine. Oh, and I'm also taking my black shirt back."
I sucked in my teeth, "Yeah, that's not happening. Keep on dreaming though."
Lizzie shook her head in disbelief. She continued to eat the remaining of her pancakes, "If you're not going to give any of my things back, can you at least sing to me while I eat?"
"That I can do." I grabbed the guitar that was in the closet. "Is there a song you want me to sing specifically?"
"Iris." Lizzie spoke softly.
"Your wish is my command, princess." I winked at her before strumming the first couple of chords.
(Iris by Go-Jo (Cover))
"And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
And sooner or later, it's over
I just don't wanna miss you tonight..."
After the song ended, I couldn't help but notice the look on Lizzie's face that I can't quite read. But, one thing's for sure, she's letting herself feel whatever it is that she's trying so hard to fight. An opening I needed, and something I didn't think I would get so soon despite what happened last night.
"I love—" Lizzie mumbled under her breath, but loud enough for me to hear. "H-how your voice sounds. It's mesmerizing."
I blush, "Thank you."
"Are you working today?"
"I am, unfortunately." I sighed. "You should come with me."
"Will that be okay? I don't want to be a bother."
"Yes, and it's impossible for you to be a bother." I insisted. "There's not much going on today. Just a couple of band sessions, and a quick team meeting, then I'm all yours."
"Okay!" She cheered excitedly. "I'll go get ready."
While she does her morning routine, I brought the used dishes back downstairs and washed them clean. I went inside the guess room where I had most of my clothes, and began to get ready for the day. I went with warm brown colors today for my outfit.
I waited for Lizzie downstairs. She joined me not long after I got ready. I decided to take my motorcycle today. Like usual, I put her helmet on, and assisted her to hop on before me. I revved the engine, catching her by surprise as her arms clutched on my waist for security. I smirked, feeling like I did something.
When we arrived at my studio, we were first greeted by Miles and Ronnie as they're preparing for the first session for the day. I left Lizzie with them, and immediately looked for Athena. Just as I thought, she's in her office, attending to some emails.
I knocked on her door, "Can I come in?" I asked before seeing myself in.
Athena nodded, and I carefully made my way in front of her desk. I took a seat, feeling a bit nervous about how I wanted to start my apology. Before I could get a word in, she spoke up.
"Oh, stop being awkward." Athena chuckled lightly. "You don't have to apologize or anything. I'm not mad anymore. So, please, don't make things awkward like you always do."
"I'm sorry, I can't help it." I matched her energy. "You know how I am with apologies."
"Yeah, I know." She scoffed. "But, I didn't think I'd see you today. You didn't need to come, you know. We don't have a lot going on but two sessions."
"I know, but I wanted to help out and make it up for being a dumbass the other day."
"Great choice." Athena nodded. "But, anyway, be honest with me, how do I look with this light green checkered dress? I don't know if it looks good on me."
(A/N: This is what Athena looks like)
"Green is totally your color." I said. "You look good and I like your outfit."
"Thank you." She curtsied. "My boyfriend, Derek, is flying in today all the way from London, so I have to look my best."
"You have nothing to worry about." I opened the door for us. "You'll have that man on his knees at the airport."
She laughed, "He better be. It took me hours to look this good."
"Definitely worth it though."
We joined the others, and they all talked amongst themselves. Athena got along with Lizzie, and included her in the conversation they all came up with. I had to excuse myself mid-conversation as I was getting a call from one of the clients about another session next week.
The first session started. Like usual, I took the lead, and Miles was my right hand man. He fixed what needed attention, and I merely listened in on the band's session, and took notes of what needed attention later on when I listened to them again. Athena and Ronnie were in charge of the background vocals and or any adlibs that the band chose to do.
During the session, I looked behind me, and found Lizzie admiring my every movement, clearly impressed at what I'm doing. I smiled at her, and she did the same for me. She gave me two big thumbs up, making me laugh. I diverted my attention back to the band when they stopped playing. The front man told me that his guitar was out of tune, so I went inside the booth and helped him out.
While I'm at it, I gave him some pointers about some minor things that he and the rest of his team could improve on. They all agreed with me, and did what I told them to do. By the end of it, their session was a success, and they were grateful for all the help that they got out of me.
With the little time we had left for a break until the next session, I took a seat right next to Lizzie while my team did another run through on the checklist to make sure everything was up and running.
"Are you sure you're okay with you just sitting here?" I asked. "I don't want to bore you with—"
"Bore me?" Lizzie scoffed. "I'm far from being bored. I'm having so much fun watching you do all of this music stuff. It's very fascinating to me. I'm intrigued."
I chuckled nervously, "Okay, good. Well, it looks like the other band just got here, so I'll greet them and start the session. We should be out of here within an hour or two."
"It's okay, take your time." She squeezed my shoulder.
I smiled before leaving her alone on the couch. I greeted the band, and introduced myself and my team. We did the usual mic-check, going through each and one of them as they played their respective instruments to make sure they're all hooked up and ready to go.
The second session was a lot more work than the first one. They're clearly an amateur band, probably started not too long ago. They weren't bad, they just needed extra help, and that's exactly what I'm doing by going in and out of the booth more than a couple of times to show them how to get in sync with one another.
During the second session, while I'm helping the band in the booth, Grace showed up out of nowhere. She pulled me aside, talking about how she needed to tell me something. It looked serious, so I let Miles take the main control and continued the session.
Outside the booth, Grace slowly, and not at all being subtle at how close she's getting to me, "It's nothing serious, but I'm having a party thrown for a grand opening in one of my restaurants. You should come. It's next month."
"I don't—"
Grace's hand ran across my chest, "I would really enjoy seeing you there. It will be a lot of fun. I'll make sure of it."
I took the invitation card, and shoved it in my pocket. I want nothing more than to leave this instant. Grace gave me a smirk-like smile, as she leaned toward my way, to whisper something in my ear, "I really hope you come." She winked at me and left.
I stood there, dumbfounded. I shook my head in disbelief before going back inside the room. I took a quick glance at Lizzie, who seemed like she's way in over her head. I wanted to go and ask what's wrong, but the band needed me again, so I couldn't.
An hour and a half later, their session is finally done. I bid them my goodbye, and they left. Right after was the team meeting. It didn't last longer than ten minutes considering that everyone had plans for the rest of the day. After the meeting, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
"Is everything okay?" I asked carefully. "You didn't really say much earli—"
"Who were you talking to earlier?" Lizzie interjected, her arms criss-crossed.
"Grace Westmore. My biggest invest—"
"What did she want with you?"
"She invited me to a party she's throwing next month, and I—"
"Are you thinking of going?" She asked rhetorically, walking a bit ahead of me. "You can go if you want. It seems like you want to go if you're letting her get that close to you."
I tried masking my smile, but I'm failing to do so, "Are you jealous of her?"
Lizzie turned around rather quickly, almost breaking her neck just to look at me, "Me? Jealous? Never." She huffed, grabbing the helmet on the handle bar.
I grabbed her by her arm, "You have nothing to worry about." I tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, slowly closing the distance between us to a point where we might as well be kissing each other. "I only have my eye on one person."
"That's, uh, that's good." Lizzie muttered under her breath.
"It is." I smirked. "Ready to go?" I asked with a smile on my face when she's still in the same position I left her.
Lizzie cleared her throat, and shook her head, "Uh, yes."
I helped her get on, and I drove us back to the main road. We went back to her house, per her request because she wanted to change her outfit. In the meantime, I attended some emails, and made sure that I actually SEND them this time around. I also made a few calls regarding future sessions.
I called Rosie in advance and let her know that I'll be stopping by a little bit, and practically begged her to let me do at least a couple of hours of deejaying. She caved in and gave me a go.
"Ready to go?"
I turned around and my heart stopped. I couldn't bring myself to move any of my limbs. I'm frozen in place, incapable of doing anything but let a single tear roll down my cheek. I couldn't help but feel something. Not when she's wearing an outfit that tugged at my heartstrings.
"I'm sorry it took so long for me to get ready." Lizzie chuckled. "You really hid my black shirt somewhere where you thought I couldn't find it. But I did, so HA!" She pointed out. "Oh, and I'm also wearing the Winnie the Pooh socks you gave me. The socks were a lot easier to find."
I couldn't bring myself to say anything. I'm completely in awe. Out of nowhere, not even knowing that I was going to do this, I pulled her into a warm embrace, another single tear escaped my eye. I buried my chin on top of her scent, and it nearly brought me to tears when I got a whiff of her scent. She smelled the exact same the night we met.
I pulled away rather quickly when I realized what I was doing, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, uh—"
"It's okay."
"It was just, uh, you're wearing the exact same outfit you wore the night we met." I sniffled my tears back, pulling myself together. Or at least I'm trying to.
"Oh, I am?" Lizzie looked at her outfit. "I didn't even realize."
"You look absolutely stunning." I said without a thought. "Breathtaking, even."
"Thank you." Lizzie said with a smile as she pulled my hand toward the door. "Let's go!" I laughed at her excitement and let her pull me outside further.
• • •
When we arrived at the club, we were instantly greeted by the loud music outside. Rosie let the bouncers know we were coming so we didn't have to wait in line. As soon as we're inside, the dance floor was packed with people dancing and singing along to No Hands. The probing lights hanging from above, and the vibe overall made me miss everything about being a DJ.
"How are you doing? Are you okay?" I asked, my voice louder than usual so she could hear me.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know. Last time you were around a lot of people with loud music, you didn't really like it." I chuckled.
"That was different, but this seemed like more of my style."
"Okay, good."
"We should go say hi to Rosie, though." Lizzie said through the loud music. "I think she's over there by the bar."
I looked over where she pointed, and found Rosie serving drinks to people. I smiled at the sight, and grabbed Lizzie by hand, leading her through the crowd of people.
"Hey, bitch!" I greeted her with so much excitement.
"Oh my god, Y/N!" Rosie matched my energy. "Oh, and I see that you brought Lizzie with you."
"That was the plan." I said. "I'm still good to deejay later, right?"
"Of course." She poured us a shot. "It's a patrón. I know you're a tequila girl, Liz, so bottoms up."
"Of course." Lizzie laughed, as she clinked glasses with us and we all downed the drink within the matter of seconds.
Rosie made some faces, as she's not much of a tequila drinker than any of us here. I laughed at it because she's still the same person. I thought that she would like them by now, considering that she's around them so frequently.
We took another shot after conversing about Rosie's plans for the club. When she gave me the big thumbs that I'm good to deejay for at least an hour, I took a sip of my Blue Hawaiian, bidding my goodbye to Lizzie before making my way through the crowd of people.
Maybe, I'm being dramatic, but I could've sworn, I almost cried when I got inside the booth, and I saw the amount of people on the dance floor. It brought me back to my days of deejaying and how much fun I had. I took it all in before grabbing the headphones, and playing along with the mixes that the previous guy had.
I decided to play a handful of throwback hip-hop songs as it seems that the crowd loves it so much. Songs like; Stanky Legg, Laffy Taffy, Bottoms Up, and Cyclone pumped them up, and it made me feel the same thrill I felt that night. With a drink in my hand, I took it all in. I love being up here because I can see and hear everything.
When my hour was up, I joined them back at the bar, where I found them talking and laughing about something. I watched as Lizzie took another shot of tequila.
"I don't know if you should be drinking this much." I chimed in.
"Oh, loosen up." Lizzie rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her mixed drink, sex on the beach. "If we are reliving that night, I might as well act the part. I need to at least be a little tipsy, you know?"
"I guess so." I caved in.
"Let's go dance!" Lizzie pulled my hand toward the dance floor, leading us in the middle. "I've been waiting for you to come back."
"You were?"
"Yes." She exclaimed. "You want me to be honest with you?"
"Of course."
"Earlier when you were up there in the booth, I decided to take a shot every time I would look at you." Lizzie chuckled. "I guess you could say some things never changed. I'm playing my part really well."
"Yes, you are." I shook my head in amusement, dancing to the beat of the music.
"Can you blame me? You were mesme—"
When the song changed to Where Have You Been, my heart dropped to my stomach. Everything went slow as the following lyrics played, bringing me to the night we met.
"Where have you been
All my life? All my life?
Where have you been all my life?
Where have you been all my life?
Where have you been all my life?
Where have you been all my life?"
I couldn't look anywhere else but her. She's jumping around, singing on top of her lungs just like she did that night, but the only difference is that I could actually hear her voice. And I was right. It's angelic.
"You can have me all you want
Any way, any day
Just show me where you are tonight..."
Lizzie flung her arms around my neck, inching herself closer to me, the distance between us is almost non-existent. Our nose brushes up against each other, and I could feel it. I could feel my blood rushing through my veins, everything in me, and our surroundings that I should pull her in, and kiss her like never before.
The song changed, and Turn Me On played. Lizzie backed away before I could act on my feelings, "Oh my god, I love this song."
Lizzie pushed her back against my front, and began to dance all over me. It was like I'm having my own dance/show from her, and it's turning me on in ways I didn't think it would. She's dancing so enticingly, and she knows the effect it has on me. Fuck, she's so hot.
• • •
After both of us had calmed down from consuming so much alcohol, I took Lizzie to the alley where we officially met.
"Why are we in an alley?" Lizzie asked. "Is this the part where I find out you're not who you said you were and you're going to strangle me with my purse."
I laughed at her theory, "No, this alleyway, this spot right here, is where we officially met." I started my story. "I was getting ready to leave, but stopped when I heard you ask for help. Of course, me being a good person, I couldn't just leave, so I decided to help." I pointed at the alleyway and from where I was standing, "You were stumbling your way to me, mumbling about how shitty you felt."
"Wow, that's a little much, don't you think?"
"At the time, yes." I agreed, as I led her to the parking spot where I debated on what to do with her. "This is where I decided to carry you on my back to my apartment." I kneeled down, waiting for her to hop on my back.
"Wait, you're not seriously going to carry me for five miles—"
"I am." I said without a thought. "Now, hop on."
Lizzie eventually caved in, and got on my back. During the first mile, I told her what happened throughout the walk, and how knocked out she was. I also mentioned the countless times she would wake up, scaring me, only to mumble incoherent words that made me laugh, and entertained me during my long walk.
We eventually got to my apartment. I didn't let her off my back until we were inside my living room, where she took a seat on the couch. Lizzie looked up at me, intrigued.
"I can't believe you carried me for five miles." She stated. "Twice."
"I know, neither do I." I chuckled, joining her on the couch. "You obviously know what happened next. I changed you and you fell asleep on my bed while I slept here."
"Are we sleeping over here?" Lizzie asked.
"It's probably best if we do." I said.
"Well, in that case, let me go take a shower." Lizzie chuckled as she stood up. "I'm not going to bed like this."
"I didn't think you would." I smiled. "You still have some of your clothes in my closet, but feel free to wear whatever you want."
Lizzie nodded and disappeared into the void of my apartment. I threw my head back, letting myself rest because I did not plan on actually carrying her for five miles. I'm beat.
Eventually, Lizzie finished in the bathroom and I couldn't help but admire her in my clothes. It's a little big on her, but she still looks adorable, regardless.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You look so adorable." I squeezed her cheeks, making her scrunch her nose.
"You should go shower." Lizzie poke fun at me. "There's no way I'm letting you sleep right next to me all gross and sweaty."
"Meanie." I huffed, acting like it hurt me. "I was already going to do that." I gave her a smile headed straight to the bathroom where I took a shower.
Lizzie's POV
"Hey, I know I'm probably the last person you're expecting to be blowing up your phone, but I don't know. Maybe it was something you said a couple of days ago. How denying it doesn't change anything. I've been doing a lot of thinking and no matter how I look at it, I always end up thinking of you. Of us. Our future together and how much I still want that with you. And I realized that there was one deal breaker with Florence that I couldn't get past. It's love. She's not you, Lizzie. And the truth is, it's you. It's always been you. I love you. I've tried to stop, but I can't. And I don't want to anymore."
—————
A/N: A double update? Wow, I haven't done one of these in so long. And there it is! The long awaited Lizzie POV 🥳 now that she heard the voicemail that Y/N before the accident, how will she react? Is this going to affect their bond? Only one way to find out 😉
See y'all in the next chapter besties!