In Denial | Alex Turner

XX

"'Ey, wake up, I'm bored," I was woken up by a nudge on my left shoulder. 

I groaned rather loudly and instantly regretted it, sinking in my seat without opening my eyes. "Leave me alone, Alex, I want to sleep," I mumbled.

"Wow, no 'Alexander'?" he asked kind of disappointed.

"Just shut up," I shook his hand off my shoulder and turn my head to face my right side, without opening my eyes.

"Come on!" he nudged me again and yelled-whispered.

"Alexander, I swear to God, if you don't let me sleep.. " I warned him, still half-asleep.

"Bella," he dragged the word out as he kept nudging me.

"Fine, fine, fine," I dismissed with a wave of my left hand tiredly as I opened my eyes, facing a fresh Alex. His hair was messy and his usual smirk was painted across his face. 

 I rolled my eyes. "Alright, why did you wake me up?" I drank a little water off the plastic bottle the flight attendant had offered us.

"Let's play a game," he suggested like a little child. I hadn't seen this side of him, but it was adorable.

"Sure, what the hell," I sighed. "It's not like you get to babysit a 5 year-old anytime," I chuckled and earned an eye roll from him.

"I'm kind of 'aving writer's block at the moment so I need inspiration," he stated.

"And how am I supposed to help?" I giggled and turned my body slightly to my left so it'd be easier for me to face him.

"Just throw around random words or phrases," he shrugged and then gave me an excited smile.

"Okay, fine," I rolled my eyes and looked out the window. "Uh, mad sounds?" 

His face lit up. "Go on," he pulled out his brown notebook from his pocket.

"Erm, modern lover," I kept looking outside the window, trying to think.

Where was my 15-year-old self who would read the dictionary instead of a book every night when you needed her?

"Picturesque," I continued. "Exploration, satisfaction, memories," I kept on.

He kept writing quickly with his black pen. He looked up from it, gesturing me to continue.

My eyes fell on my phone, "Pause and rewind," I looked outside, "Galaxy?" I shrugged.

"You're actually good at this," he admitted with a smirk before shoving his notebook back in his pocket.

-

"Ladies and gentlemen, the plane has landed. You may now stand up from your seats," the blonde woman announced in the microphone. 

Alex had fallen asleep after our last conversation, two hours ago, so I had the pleasure of waking him up.

"Alexander!" I nudged him gently while yelling-whispering.

"Just five more minutes, mum," he mumbled and hugged my arm.

"Alexander!" I spoke in the same tone and nudged him again.

"No," he smirked and hugged my arm tighter. He was awake.

"Alexander, I know you're awake," I rolled my eyes. "Alexander!" I whispered-yelled in a louder voice. Everyone had started getting out of the plane.

"I swear to God, if you don't stand your ass up-" I paused, thinking of a good 'punishment'. My eyes fell on his hair. "I'll take your hair gel away for two weeks."

"I'm up, I'm up!" he dramatically gasped and let go off my arm. I rolled my eyes and practically dragged him out of the plane.

The others had already left the plane minutes before us, so they had already got their suitcases and waited for us in the entrance.

The LAX airport was way bigger than I had imagined it. It was hard for us to find the entrance — or exit.

"We're about to walk through paparazzi. Jus' warnin' you all," Matt stated like a father warning his children.

I looked over to Alex who was smirking. Memories of the last time we encountered paparazzi together flooded back, making us smile.

"Miss, tell us your name!"

"Alex, who is the woman?" 

"Guys, what is the name of your two new friends?"

The questions filled in my ears. I couldn't hear anything else. Just cameras clicking and reporters screaming ths guys' names. Elle and I kept having microphones pushed in our faces but we kept pushing them away annoyed.

Alex wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him as he saw a reporter grabbing my arm. I shook the reporter's hand off and mumbled a 'fuck off', not wanting to be heard.

We were finally able to reach the black van waiting for us in the parking lot. The guy that got out of the driver's seat took our suitcases and shoved them all in the van's trunk, opening the doors for us to squeeze in. I had to squeeze between Alex and Matt for the whole ride to the hotel.

The ride to the hotel was about an hour and a half since we would be staying in Beverly Hills. I was excited. I had never been to LA.

"How are we split into our rooms?" I finally asked Matt who was having a laugh at Nick and Jamie who were arguing about which perfume smells better.

"You and Elle, Breana and I, Jamie and Katie, Nick and Al," he explained, trying to steady his breath from laughing. I looked over to Elle who was smiling at me with a we're-going-to-have-a-lot-of-fun look.

-

"Shut the fuck up," I gasped as soon as we entered our room. It wasn't very big but not very small either. 

There was a king-sized bed in the middle of the room and then two wooden nightstands on either sides. The bed sheets were white and smelled like lavender.

In front of the bed, there was a big TV hanging from the ceiling by some steel poles. Next to the TV, there was one of those modern-looking bookshelves. The ones made out of thin steel and had weird shapes. On their shelves, there were random books and magazines.

On the nightstands, there were two identical, to each other, lamps on each. We looked through the drawers and found everything we could ask for. The hotel room had left us both speechless.

And as if all these weren't enough, as soon as Elle stepped out of the room and onto the balcony, she gasped, yelling at me to come out with her.

The view was breathtaking. The building stood the highest than all of the others, but was still surrounded by many tall buildings. The road beneath us was full, cars running up and down the street. At the distance, you could also see the Hollywood sign, which made Elle squeal.

"We owe the guys big time," I mumbled as I stayed watching the view.

"We really fucking do..." Elle agreed in the same tone.