Aria
"I can't get over how beautiful it was!" Lucy exclaims at the premiers afterparty. We quickly shuffled to the party to avoid the traffic coming out of the theater.
"You really think so?" I ask over the blaring music.
Lucy nods excitedly. "It was amazing,"
I'm giddy with excitement by the time the film ended. The crowd laughed, cheered, sang along, and cried. It was everything I imagined and more. And the fact that everyone close to me enjoyed it is something else. I don't even care right now what the journalists or reporters think.
A glass of champagne is shoved into my hand by Rami. This is my third glass of the stuff, but I'm not complaining. I love champagne.
As I raise the glass to my lips, I spot a familiar face in the crowd. A smile spreads on my lips.
"I'll be right back," I say. I push out of wear I am now to go greet my friend. "Luke Deacon," I say when I approach him.
"Aria Mercury," he says, his smile matching mine. He clinks his glass against mine.
"I didn't expect you to come," I say. "We hadn't hear back from you or John,"
"Dad wants to hold off on seeing the movie. He wants to wait until it comes out on DVD so he can watch it with the whole family,"
My heart.
"That's really sweet," I tell Luke. God, I love Deaky.
Luke shrugs. "I think it was just an excuse not to come," he tells me.
I swat his arm with my free hand. "Don't be rude,"
"I'm being honest,"
To that I don't reply, but I take a sip of my champagne.
"Rufus and Jimmy are here too," Luke says after a moment of silence. "I'm scared to hang out with them though,"
I furrow my eyebrows together. "Why?" I ask.
He gives me a look like I should know what he's talking about. "You know," he says. When I don't answer he leans in a little closer and whispers, "Heirs,"
"What does that have anything to do with it?" I ask him.
"If Taylor, May and Deacon are all chilling here together, people are probably going to joke 'Oh look Queen 2.0' and I'm awful with hiding things, Aria. Awful," he sighs. "So we take turns. I'm the solo one right now. Next is Jimmy's turn,"
I laugh. That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, yet his paranoia makes sense.
"You're insane," I tell him.
"Insanely smart," he tells me with a grin. He glances down at his watch. "I should go find Rufus now,"
"Alright," I say, a little disappointed. I was hoping he would stay around for a little while longer so I could introduce him to everyone. "Don't be a stranger. Come back to hang out,"
"I will. Oh and by the way, Tigerlily and I are going to the club after this if you would like to join,"
"Thanks," I say. Clubbing really isn't my thing and I am already exhausted. "We'll see,"
Luke and I exchange goodbyes, and then I head back over to where I was earlier. Only Ben and Rami remain. The others must have left to talk to other people or to get a drink.
"Ah Aria," Rami says when he sees me approach. "I was just telling Ben how we're going to miss him at the Japan promotional tour,"
I feel the familiar twang in my heart when I get sad.
"Don't even remind me," I groan.
Rami, Ben and I spend a little while talking before we again split up. I bounce around the room, Ben at my side for a majority of the night. I introduced him to Dad's sister, Kashmira. She loves him, thank goodness.
I've always been close to Kash in a weird sort of way. We get along great, but we also could go weeks without speaking because life gets so in the way. Sometimes I wonder how life would have been if she raised me instead of Brian. It would have made more sense, but then again I don't remember the specific reasons behind why it worked out that way. Plus I wouldn't want to change it for the world. Who knows where I would be now if it had been different.
The only time Ben wasn't at my side was when I ran into Rufus and Tigerlily. Jimmy must have been on his shift with Luke at the time. They too tried to get me to go clubbing with them but I just wasn't feeling it. I was more honest with them than with Luke. I told them another night and they were fine with it, not that they would have a reason not to be. I just appreciated the fact that they didn't pressure me.
"I'm tired," I tell Ben at some point while the party is winding down. The alcohol has worn off mostly, and I'm left with the after-buzz where I feel like I could sleep anywhere at anytime.
"Do you want to leave?" Ben asks.
We stand in the actual middle of the room, surrounded by all these bodies. I'm also starting to get a little warm. I've used all my energy for the day. I'll need to build up a tolerance to going out if this is how my life is going to go. It also has something to do with the fact I was so excited to see Ben that I barely slept the past couple days.
"Can we?" I ask.
He smiles. "Of course. There aren't any rules about when we can and cannot leave,"
I give him a cheeky smile, and in under a second he grabs my hand and the two of us dart through the loads of people and out through the back entrance where all the cars are. We don't bother saying goodbye to anyone as to not draw attention. I'll probably text Lucy once we are situated in a car just so that she doesn't have a panic.
"Ms. Mercury. Mr. Hardy. Can I take you somewhere?" One of the drivers asks. I recognize him as the one who we had previously.
"Could you please take us back to our hotel?" Ben asks. I smile.
Within minutes we are in a car and on our way back to the hotel. Technically I live close enough so we could just go home, but the hotel room is already paid for and who doesn't like a night out every once in a while?
Ben and I thank the driver once we get in. The two of us race up to our room in seconds. All the tiredness I was feeling before has vanished.
"Here, love," Ben says, handing me my phone from his jacket pocket. I immediately text Lucy a quick message, letting her know we left and are back at the hotel. I then set my phone down on one of the tables.
"You look so dashing in this suit," I tell Ben, grasping the edges of his jacket and pulling him closer to me.
He leans down and kisses me gently, but gently turns to thirst real quick.
We both stumble into the bedroom, our lips locked the whole time. I manage to get Ben's jacket off, as well as his tie and shirt leaving him just in his pants.
The only time our hunger subsides is when Ben gingerly slides the zipper down my back, my red dress pooling at my feet. I feel self conscious when Ben's scan my body, taking in every detail. But he pulls me to him once again and we continue where we left off.
We climb into bed, the rest of our clothes disappearing in the process. Ben hovers over me, carefully making his next move.
"Are you-" he starts to ask.
"Yes," I answer. He laughs lightly before carefully slipping inside of me.
My breath hitches from not doing this for months. I'm grateful Ben starts slowly, but once we are both comfortable his movements become faster.
"Ben," I groan. He looks at me like he's afraid he's hurt me. "Kiss me,"
Relieved, he leans down and our lips move in sync. I comb my fingers through his hair, looking for something to grab onto.
As Ben's movements get sloppy, I arch my hips to keep up. His lips attach to my neck and he leaves marks everywhere. At least I'm assuming. It feels like more than usual, so I return the favor as well.
"I love you," Ben breathes out when he's close.
"I love you," I tell him. "So much,"
Moments later his eyes screw shut and he comes undone, I following seconds after. We both lay in bed now, out of breath. God, I've missed him. It was as if both of us were trying to take in as much as we could to make up for the lost time.
"I love you, Ben," I tell my boyfriend again, just because I can.
He engulfs me in his arms, pulling me closer. He's exceptionally warm and a little sweaty, but I don't care. I am too.
"I love you more," he tells me.