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Liam tiredly drags his hulking figure off the barstool and shouts. “Dax! Backroom, now!” He apologizes to Ellie and stalks over to the tiny back room of the DK, flinging open the shabby door.
Dax scowls, but puts down his guitar and dutifully follows his brother. In the Davies household, they look out for each other. That means Dax has loads of respect for his older brothers and pretty much asks how high when one of them says jump.
The door slams behind them with a resounding bang causing Ellie to flinch. She glances at me with worried eyes for a quick second then resumes eating her chips.
“I guess we’re taking a break guys.” I lift the strap over my head and put my guitar down on its stand.
“Cool.” Gavin pulls out his fancy mobile, climbing into a secluded booth to make a call.
“I’ll be right back,” Hawke calls out as he ducks outside.
I take the stool next to Ellie and sigh, rubbing my eyes tiredly. “No one told me you had to play referee to a bunch of fighting children in order to have a band.” I snatch one of her chips, devouring it before she can protest.
Ellie raises an eyebrow at my lack of manners. “Well,” she says thoughtfully, “you throw four big personalities into one room and you’re bound have a few disagreements here and there.” She shrugs and takes a sip of her Coke.
I swivel my stool in her direction and pull hers around until her knees are between mine. “How’d you get so smart?” I ask, tugging her in for a kiss.
She playfully ducks my kiss, reaching back to get a chip off her plate. “I study instead of playing rock and roll all day long,” she laughs, dangling the chip in front of me. I dart in to take it right from her hand using my mouth, laughing at her answer as I chew.
“That’s probably all too true, El.”
The door to the back room opens and Liam comes out looking no worse for the wear. He walks calmly over to the bar, taking his seat on the other side of Ellie. “No worries, you’re all good now. Dax just needed to vent.”
When Dax finally comes back into the main area of the pub, he seems to have gotten himself together. I know him well enough to see through it. His face is pale and stressed and his jaw is clenched to hide the physical pain. I want to ask him what’s going on, but he always gives me my privacy when it comes to the shit with my family, so I can’t bring myself to intrude.
Hawke comes back inside and seats himself behind the drums.
“Where’s Gavin?” Dax grunts, picking up his guitar. “Let’s finish this shit and go home.”
I exchange glances with Liam and he almost imperceptibly shakes his head, warning me to leave it alone.
“Alright.” I stand up and grab my guitar. “Gavin! We’re doing this!”
Gavin hangs up his call and hurries over to his bass. The next hour is awkward as hell, but we actually sound really great by the time we finish what we needed to get done.
Dax doesn’t say a word as he packs up his stuff and storms out of the DK.
There’s a loud sigh from Dax’s brother. “I guess I’m going as well.” Liam hops off of his stool, giving Ellie a crooked grin. “Don’t mind him, he’s just…” Liam cocks his head and shoots me a knowing look.
“I know, Liam. Not a problem.”
He nods and turns back to Ellie. “Ellie, I’ll see you some other time?”
“Of course. Thanks for keeping me company.” Ellie stands up, slid
ing her hand in mine. “I’m so used to being the fifth wheel, it’s nice to have someone to chat with every now and again.” I squeeze her hand appreciatively letting her know how glad I am that she’s always there, willing to support me.
“Anytime,” Liam says. He calls out his goodbyes to Hawke and Gavin and disappears out the door to catch up with his very grumpy younger brother.
“That was fun,” I say sarcastically. “Ready to get out of here?”
Ellie laughs and kisses my cheek. “I’m always ready.” Her eyes sparkle with mischief. I can’t help but grin at her giddiness.
“Let’s go then. Now that the rain has stopped, I know this great park where we can continue what we started in that capsule.”
She grins as I tug her towards the door. Jesus, is it possible that I love her? I have no idea what love feels like, having never received it before, but if it feels as good as this then I’m sure I’ve been missing out. If there’s one thing Ellie does to me, it’s that she makes me feel, sensations so confusing and at the same time so amazing that I don’t ever want them to end.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s love, and as I look at the gorgeous girl next to me I realize I’m the luckiest bastard in London.
