Luna was stressed beyond belief. Her bakery's grand opening was two days away and she was in complete professional work mode.
Her and Ingrid stood in the space while the people around them worked to get everything they instructed done. Luna was chewing her lip, nails and skin with nerves. She had never done anything like this before and the article written about her had brought so much attention and pressure.
"I think everything is great but I want this to be wider. I need there to be more space so maybe we could move that to over there." She expressed to Ingrid, who nodded seriously.
"We can definitely move it maybe to over there or we can instead of having a large table there have smaller ones to take up less space or we can get a smaller design." She suggested. Luna crossed her arms and nodded.
"If we can get that in the next two days, perfect, if not it's something we can play with in the future." She complied before looking around at the many men still building.
"Archie, tell me good news." She asked the lead man on the job.
"What times your opening?" He asked. Luna's heart clenched.
"Saturday, Eight pm." She answered. He tilted his head side to side as if he were weighing it up and nodded.
"Yeah we should be good but I'll let you know if anything changes." He squeezed her arm reassuringly and she gave him a polite smile.
Alex stood in the doorway and watched Luna, he loved doing that when she didn't know he was there. They were going out with Jen and her new man so he had come to pick her up. She had a stern face on as her and Ingrid discussed which made him smile slightly. He watched as Ingrid walked away to talk to someone about something interior and Luna was left alone to dwell on the situation around her.
His smile faded slightly as he saw the stressed and overwhelmed look on her face. She looked insecure and fragile in front of many people who needed to see her as strong and stable. He pushed himself from the doorway and put his arm around her. She didn't even question it, she just wrapped her arms around his middle and started to breathe heavily.
"Shh." He stroked her hair, leading her out of the way of all the people who were not allowed to see her like this.
"Oh wow, is it six already?" She asked as he pulled her into a dark corridor in the back of the kitchen.
"Just came to make sure it wasn't all getting on top of you." He smirked to try and make her feel better. She wiped a few tears that escaped. "What's wrong?" He asked, his heart aching at the sight of her so stressed. She sat on a stool and leant one arm against a metal table, facing away from everything while Alex stood in front of her.
"I just wanted this to be my bakery and now there's so much pressure for it to be this miraculous amazing thing." She used her hands to flail and express.
"It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks, do what you want and if they don't like it sod em, it's not their livelihood. You don't want to create something that's not you" he advised. She looked away with sad eyes and sighed.
"I don't know how you do it." She wondered. Alex bit his lip and nodded.
"Just take it full in the face" He advised. "Can I show you something?" He asked. She squinted her eyes.
"What is it?" She asked but she knew he wasn't going to tell her just yet. He held out his hand and she took it, wiping her eyes once more.
"Come on." He wrapped his arm around her and they walked together out of the bustling bakery. Luna tried not to look as the men around her made a mess in attempt to create her dream.
They walked in silence for a few minutes before Alex turned down a road full of colourful houses that Notting Hill was famous for. Luna looked at all the bright colours until Alex turned the corner to a place that read 'Ladbroke Gardens'. He squeezed her hand, catching her wandering eye that followed every house on the road.
"I just love Notting Hill." She beamed as he stopped and she bumped into his shoulder. "You okay?" She wondered. Alex looked slightly pale now.
"Luna, I've been a really shit boyfriend recently..." he started.
"Fiancé." She corrected, making him crack a small smile.
"Right, anyway I almost missed our anniversary and I've barely been in the country. I've missed the majority of your creation of your bakery and I know you needed that support." Luna stared at him, not understanding why he was giving a speech all of a sudden. She looked around for whatever Alex could be leading up to. "I got you an anniversary present, two months late I know and I'm sure you're going to decline because you're you-"
"Al, I told you being there was enough." She cut him off.
"It shouldn't be enough." He retaliated.
"But it is for me." She stared him in the eyes and watched as he tried to gather his thoughts. Every moment Alex was just wondering how she had settled for him and he was determined to prove he could be the man she deserves.
"Luna, I um..." he didn't know how to tell her what he had done. He looked to his right and held out his hand. She wouldn't look away from his eyes though so he had to look for her so she would look.
"I don't understand." She looked at his hand and followed to where it was pointing to but it was only pointing to a house. His hand returned to his side and slipped into his pocket to pull out something, it revealed a set of keys. "Alexander." She said in a low voice.
"So...I spoke to Matt and he said this was a very bad idea." He chuckled, staring at the keys. Luna's heart was racing. "It was meant to be an anniversary present but I was in LA and couldn't get all the paperwork and keys set up in time." He chewed his lip, looking back up at her. She was just staring at him.
"Alex." Was all she could say as she had just realised what was happening. "Did you buy this house?" Her heart was exploding, she didn't know what to do.
"I just thought...maybe...it could be ours. Since the house we live in now only belonged to me for such a long time. This ones much bigger as well..you know...for more people." He rambled.
Luna watched the man in front of her. It was her Alexander, the sixteen year old boy that pined over her, her Alex that turned up to her flat in Paris, who supported her through her dreams, who wrote countless songs devoted to her, who made her feel like the luckiest girl in the world at every possible moment but doubted his ability to do all of those things.
She crumbled.
Alex watched as her lips folded and her face crinkled, he panicked. He didn't know how she would respond but he didn't think it would be like this.
"Lu?" He needed some sort of response if he were to survive this conversation.
"Did you buy us a house, Alexander?" She sobbed. He looked terrified, his eyes were dark and uncertain.
"Yes." He answered, going all in.
She couldn't believe it, scrawny Alex Turner just bought her a house that looked like it was worth more than she had ever seen.
"Matt told me not to. He said that planning a wedding and the opening of the bakery was enough stress, to add moving to that would be too much but when I saw it I just had to. We can move in whenever, after the bakery, after the wedding, in ten or twenty years. I saw it and could just picture us there at some point." He explained. Luna shook her head, letting the tears fall. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held his face.
"Alex, there are not enough positive adjectives to describe you right now. I've never known such a thoughtful, genuine, kindhearted sweetheart as you. I'm just trying to wrap my head around how I'm marrying you and will be living down the road from a bakery I own. It's better than any life I could have ever imagined for myself and one I probably don't deserve" she spoke through the tears.
"Luna, I want to give you everything." He breathed with relief and love. She grinned so much it hurt.
"Okay don't get too soppy on me now, Turner." She teased, allowing him to wipe her tears.
"You got to promise to stop crying, Temple." He chuckled. She rolled her eyes.
"I think you're the one person that has seen me cry the most." She confessed. He beamed at that, feeling beyond honoured to be that for her.
"So, what do you say to the house?" He wondered. They both looked the grand building. He put his arm around her.
"It'll do." She teased, he laughed and kissed her cheek.
"Come on, we should get to dinner." He said to her. "If you want we can come and look inside whenever you want" he mentioned.
"Tomorrow?" She asked, he grinned at her eagerness but nodded nonetheless.
They got a taxi to the restaurant that wasn't that far away to begin with. Alex was slightly nervous as it was clear that he would have to talk to Jen's man. It had been a few weeks since they had agreed to dinner, they just had to find the time where both of them were free.
They reached the agreed restaurant and Alex opened the door for her. Luna had briefed him to be nice and be ready just in case Jen's new man was a fan.
"Luna!" Jen's voice beamed. Alex automatically grinned at the sight of her, she was so flamboyant. "Alex!" She burst as she saw him. Luna ran to her with open arms and Alex followed, noticing a tall man standing at the table she had ran from.
"Hey Jen." They both said as they hugged her. "Who's this then?" Luna added, approaching the table.
"Hi, I'm Josh." A tall dark and handsome man held out his hand. Alex looked him up and down as Luna shook his hand.
"Great to meet you, I'm Luna." She smiled. "This is, Alex." She nodded to him beside her and Josh shook his hand.
They all sat down at the table and looked at the menus, making small talk with one another about what they had done that day. Luna talked about her bakery at the request of Jen and gave context where needed for Josh. Alex warily watched every move he made in protection of Jen.
"So, how did you two meet?" Luna finally asked as their food came. Alex sat back in his chair and sipped his beer, ready for the answer.
"Tinder." Jen replied calmly.
"What's that?" Alex asked. They all looked at him weirdly except Luna who wasn't surprised that Alex had never heard of tinder considering he didn't even know how to send her a photo.
"Excuse my fiancé, he doesn't get out much." Luna chuckled, putting her hand in his hair at the back of his head. He leant his head backwards into her hand and grinned. "It's a dating app babe." She told him.
"And how would you know that?" He raised his eyebrows. Jen propped up her head on the palm of her hand and watched the two interact.
"There are many things you don't know about me, Alexander." She winked at him before putting a piece of chicken in her mouth. He chuckled because he knew that wasn't true.
"So, tinder...how long ago was that?" Alex wondered. Jen and Josh looked at each other.
"January?" He suggested, Jen nodded. "Hardly been apart since" he laughed. Luna raised her eyebrows at Jen, who was blushing. Alex was still hoping Jen would get with Miles deep down.
Josh asked Alex about his music, he seemed to have a few pre prepared questions which Jen mouthed an apology before he delved. Alex didn't mind though as the questions were smart, asking about production and the behind the scenes rather than how many girls he had shagged because of his fame. Alex even invited him to come to the studio to check it all out sometime which Josh seemed very excited about.
Luna squeezed Alex's thigh, he was not good around new people but he was being very friendly and confident today. It always brought a smile to her face to see him enjoy himself.
"Oh my god, guess what Alex just did?" Luna suddenly burst, realising she hadn't told Jen about the house. Jen pulled a face, suddenly scared.
"What did he do?" She looked panicked. Alex laughed at her reaction and pointed at Josh.
"Take notes, Joshua" he warned. Luna shook her head.
"Don't expect to have to do this, Josh. This is just Alex being Alex." She said more to Alex, who was thoroughly enjoying the way she was laying this out.
"What did he do?" Josh asked, intrigued.
"He bought us a house down the road from the bakery." She explained. Jen choked on her food.
"You did what? Why didn't you tell me this?" She was more angry at Alex than happy for them which Luna found hilarious.
"Because you would've told me to not do it!" He defended himself.
"That's crazy." Jen rubbed her temples trying to compute all of the information. "can I see it?" She wondered.
"Yeah, you're both coming to my opening right?" She asked. They nodded. "Come early and I'll show you the house."
After dessert and many extra drinks, the two couples split the bill and exited the establishment. Jen and Josh called a cab while Luna and Alex decided to walk home hand in hand. They always liked to do this when they were drunk.
Luna took Alex's hand and spun herself around, stumbling into the side of him and kissing him whenever she had the energy to reach upwards.
"Look, it's our house." He nodded across the road to their new home. Luna gasped dramatically and grabbed him to stop and look at it in the moonlight.
"It's so beautiful." She sighed, wrapping an arm around his torso while he rested his on her shoulders.