𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘌𝘔𝘗𝘛𝘠 𝘗𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘚 𝘖𝘍 𝘔𝘌 - HOZIER

XVI

SIXTEEN

The pictures from the mall had hit twitter almost immediately—of course— and Laney's shot of the two walking away was enough by itself to get Vivienne and Andrew whisked into the limelight yet again. It caused a flurry of mixed emotions for her, really; being so stuck between pleasing her friends who had begun to feel more like bosses and hating the idea of even being perceived outside of her own mirror.

Along with the discovery of how fast social media really worked, Vivienne had learned of the art of creepy candid pictures taken by fans. She avoided looking at any for as long as she could hold out, but eventually found herself spending hours in her bunk after the first show in Chicago scrolling through the many pictures taken and replies sent. It started with analyzing Andrew's hand placement as he guided her through the mall, then onto speculation that her stimming by tapping her sticks together was to distract her from looking at Andrew (admittedly, at times it was.), and then on came the mass confusion that ensued when an image of Gwen playfully kissing Vivienne's cheek in the food court had surfaced along with the talk.

"Christ, they clocked me immediately." Gwen giggled as she scrolled through the replies herself the morning after the Chicago show; her legs thrown over Ivy's lap in the crammed booth seat. Ivy seemed unfazed by the lack of space, instead she was too focused racing Ciarán from across the table on who could finish their bowl of Fruity Pebbles first (it would always be him, but she refused to admit it).

"Clocked you as what?" Vivienne questioned, scooping much slower bites of her bowl and taking the time to chew unlike the blonde man to her right. "A lesbian, or being madly in love with me?"

"Both, my love." Gwen blew a playful kiss, and Vivienne shook her head with a smile. "Everyone's really believing this whole 'band romance' thing; as completely unrealistic of a trope as it is..."

Vivienne shot a quick look to Gwen, who took a leg off of Ivy's lap to kick at the black haired woman's ankle. "Unnecessary." She hissed, bringing up her legs to sit criss crossed. "What's your plan for tonight to continue the momentum?"

"Hmm. Same stuff. A few pictures got out from barricade of you and Andy so maybe we can do that little stage act again." Gwen shrugged.

Vivienne pushed the cereal around her mouth with her tongue as her mind gave her bitter reflections of the night before. The memories clouded her vision; flashes of Andrew entering stage after she had sat down and approaching her set. The daring look in his eyes when he swiftly tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, his fingers tracing down her jaw for a half of a second before he quickly paced to his microphone. He knew the light was dim; that those at the barricade might not even see it, and surely he knew that Vivienne had realized that as well. Surely he knew the mental rot he had caused her over this "act". Surely he knew that Vivienne had grown to despise it by the way she couldn't dare to look in his eyes anymore.

And like the devil got the call, Andrew slid open the door, his lanky figure hovering behind Vivienne as he spoke. "You lot are up early,"

"I don't know how you slept through Gwen singing at the top of her lungs in the shower," Vivienne muttered, earning another attempted kick from Gwen. She couldn't help but laugh when Gwen stubbed her toe against the bottom of the booth, immediately pulling back with a wince.