Serena Vox
ONE love, blood, life
Hello again ladies. 
I've finally got another chapter ready for you all.
My usual thank yous go out and I'd also like to give a special thanks to dragonfly_wolfe.
Disclaimer: Don't know/own U2, never happened, blah, blah.
Warnings: Language, violence.
---
The next morning, the day was shaping up to be very beautiful. The sun was shining, the birds tweeting, the sky a brilliant blue, so few clouds ever present. The pair was curled up together in bed. The events from the night had yet to be reviewed by either of the sleeping participants. Grace was sprawled out, half on top of Bono, who lay beneath her on his back. A sweet, sleeping embrace connected the two now. Sunlight soaked through her fluttering eyes, making them open immediately. Her blurred vision focused on the form beneath her. In an instant, her eyes widened. She saw Bono sleeping peacefully, tangled in the sheets with her. His eyes were closed and his lips slightly parted.
She sighed, realizing what had happened. Oh God. You’re joking.
Rubbing her eyes, she sat up, letting the thin blanket fall from her in doing so. She looked down at the floor, seeing the outfit she’d just gotten yesterday and wore for all of a good twenty minutes decorating it. Figuring she could just resume wearing it, she slipped out of the bed, carefully untangling herself from the singer to avoid waking him up and began to pick up her clothes. Garments in hand, she glanced back at him lying still on the bed, deep in sleep.
Her brain was incapable of forming an intelligent thought. She exited the bedroom promptly, leaning up against the door once clicked shut.
“What the fuck have I done?” She muttered to herself, the memories from the night before sweeping over her. It had all happened so quickly and unexpectedly. One moment they were in embrace and the next, they were in bed.
She looked down at the floor, lifting herself from the door and made her way into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She tossed her clothes next to the sink and her hands propped onto the counter as she looked into the mirror at her tired reflection. Her hair was mussed, her eyes so sleepy. She let out another sigh, bowing her head.
We didn’t seriously…did we?
Her hands went down against the cold counter again; tears began to well up in her eyes. She reached one hand up, wiping away the warmth trickling down her face. She had no idea why she was crying. Or perhaps…she did. It’d become obvious in all that time that he had wanted her. There was no doubt in her mind regarding this. The doubt came from his behavior. What did he want? Did he really want her? Or did he want the sex? Did he even know what he wanted?
All of the questions coming to mind and bombarding her only served to further confuse her. She turned and slid open the shower door, deciding a nice, hot shower was in order to clear her mind. A warm spray was started and she stepped in without another thought. She soon began to soap herself up, cleaning rather quickly, so as to be done before the singer woke up. Her hands soon only served to bring back the memories of his wandering hands. A shudder coursed through her and she set down the bar of soap, placing her hands on the tile wall. The water pelted down against her, rinsing her of the soap and the sweat, but not of the lingering heat of his touch.
A few minutes more and she turned off the water, promptly stepping out onto the mat by the door. She reached for the towel rack and dried herself off, picking up the clothes once more. She pulled each article on piece by piece, slowly. Once dressed, the sound of the bedroom door opening startled her. She straightened out her outfit, took the comb through her hair and peeked out of the room, seeing Bono off in the bedroom through the cracked door, gathering up clothes. She slipped out of the bathroom carefully, coming into the living area to sit down in the favourite chair. A sleepy singer soon made his way into the bathroom with a handful of clothing, presumably to get dressed. Some rustling and grunting sounded from him in the process.
Grace turned so that her back faced the hallway and pulled her legs up to her chest. He came back out, tossing the dirty clothes into the basket on his way out and into the living area.
“Grace?” His voice came from behind her. Soft and curious. He’d probably wondered why she slipped out of bed without a word to him.
With a short exhale, she rolled over on the chair, facing him, “Yeah?”
“Everything okay?” He asked, putting one hand down on the arm of the chair. That was one question she figured he’d ask. The one leading up to the anticipated question, at any rate.
“Yeah, why?” She answered quickly, sitting back up.
“Just wondering…you weren’t in there when I got up,” He replied looking a little bit nervous. His tone was very much less-than-surprised.
“Oh, sorry. Usually when I wake up, I’m up and I have to get up,” She explained and it wasn’t far from the truth either. “I showered, came in here and decided to lie down…didn’t want to wake you.”
“Can I get you anything?” He offered, pointing towards the kitchen.
“No thanks, I’m good.”
I think I could use a nice helping of some alone time.
“You sure? Edge’s fiancé sent me some killer brownies a few days ago. They’re really good.”
“No thanks,” She repeated and got up from her spot, shuffling about the living area.
Bono watched on curiously, seeing her walk back and forth, pacing almost nervously. She strode down the hall and back, picking up her coat. Her decision to leave was immediate, she had to go and think everything over. Without him.
“Look, um…I’m gonna go out for a walk. I just need to move. I’ll be back soon, okay?” She finally spoke up, pulling the jacket on as she made her way to the door.
“I’d really prefer it if you didn’t…” He replied slowly.
“I’m sorry, really. But I won’t be gone long. Promise,” She said, opening the door only to find Bono’s band mate, Edge, standing in the doorway with his arm up, posed to knock.
Bono stood straight up, looking past the young woman to his friend, both exchanging confused glances – for different reasons, undoubtedly. Grace moved aside to let the guitarist walk into the living area, not glancing back her way. He looked at the singer, motioning his thumb towards her with a questioning look.
“Um, Grace,” Bono spoke up, getting her attention, “Why don’t you just stick around here?”
“Sorry, I’ll be back,” She said, walking out of the apartment without another word.
Edge looked back to the hall, then to Bono. “What’s eating her?”
“I wouldn’t know,” He mumbled, giving a shrug. The last thing he wanted to do was tell Edge that he slept with her last night. A lie would suffice, even a piss poor one such as that as long as he didn’t give any hints.
“Eh, leave her be. She’ll be alright. Probably needs a breath of fresh air. Anyway, I brought over these tabs and such for you to look at. I was hoping we could review them,” The guitarist explained, handing a folder to the puzzled lead man.
“Right. Thanks,” He replied blankly, thumbing through them as he walked off into the kitchen without another word.
Edge followed him into the kitchen, noticing his peculiar behavior. Usually, he was eager to get this sort of thing over with and out of the way so that they could get on with photo shoots and the like, but something seemed off. “Is something wrong?”
“Hm?” Bono hummed, turning around to face him. “Oh, no. I just woke up not fifteen minutes ago.” He sat down at the kitchen table with the folder, taking a more thorough look as Edge took a seat across from him. It was going to be a long afternoon.
***
Hours later, Grace sat up on the hilltop, the same one she’d always gone to. It was her thinking spot, as she recalled telling Bono the first time she’d brought him up here, which was right after they’d met. They’d come a long way since then, or at least she had thought so. She pulled her knees up to her chest and looked up at the sky. It was going to be a long day, indeed. She moved a little, picking out her cell phone from her jacket pocket and thumbed through all of the texts and messages she’d never deleted. John had occupied ninety-nine percent of everything on her phone. Rolling her eyes skyward, she began to delete them all; read and unread. She didn’t need them anyway, not before Bono, not now. That chapter of her life was finally over.
She began to read texts Bono had sent her once she was done. The first one from the day she went on that date with him, to everything else afterwards like cute little flirting messages and things like that.
Her mind wandered back to the events from last night. It wasn’t something she should have been ashamed of, was it? She could have stopped him, she could have said no. His behavior in the morning hours only further proved that it wasn’t all he was after, didn’t it?
Thinking too much into it, as usual, She reprimanded herself.
What had happened last night was precisely what it was. She couldn’t very well say that she didn’t enjoy it, nor did she regret it.
A sigh escaped her lips and she looked down at her phone at the text from him that she’d received from before that afternoon when she was left with Adam for a little while. “Not gone an hour & I miss you.” Sap.
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth and she wiped the tears that began to well up in her eyes. She laughed at herself, staring down at the display. She decided once again that she had been putting way too much thought into this whole thing with the lead man. She knew what she had to do now.
Her peaceful thought was interrupted by an all too familiar voice.
“Fancy seeing you up here, sister.”
Oh no.
Startled, she scrambled to her feet, shoving the phone back into her pocket. Turning around promptly, a tall, rather skinny man in build was standing behind her, looking directly at her. A man she hadn’t seen much since her adolescence. Her brother. He wore a simple, black tee shirt and black jeans. His hair was a blonde, poofy mess. He resembled their father very well, except a tad younger.
“Gary, what’re you doing here?” She sputtered.
“I thought I’d come say hi to my little sis,” He replied, a grin breaking out on his face.
“Well, I’m sort of busy! So if you could bugger off, that’d be great.”
“Oh, I’m not going anywhere. I want to…catch up. Tell me about your man.”
Fuck you.
“I don’t! Now get way from me!” She screamed, walking backwards, taking care not to trip.
“Aww, what’s the matter? Lil’ sis doesn’t wanna play with me?” He taunted, advancing on her.
“Look, I dunno what mom’s going around spouting off, but I’d appreciate it if you’d just stay out of my life.”
Please, just go away. Please.
“She hasn’t ‘spouted’ anything at all, my dear sister.”
Grace began to panic as memories of him tormenting her began to consume her. She grabbed at the weeds as she backed up; realizing she’d just backed herself into a corner. One that lead straight down into the shallow end of the river. She slid down the side, grabbing at some of the roots frantically to keep from falling. With an annoyed groan, she looked down and back up at her older brother, praying to whatever powers that be to make him go away. He knelt down at her hands, tracing his fingers along hers.
“Get the hell offa me!” She yelped, trying to fight back the urge to just let go.
“But I don’t want to. You’re so cute when you squirm.”
No…
She closed her eyes, trying to will back the tears. Her hands came loose and she fell off into the shallow water with a small splash, where he couldn’t reach her unless he jumped down there himself. Her back slammed into a large rock and her voice cracked as she cried out in pain. The water rippled over her as she lay there, cussing and sobbing. Looking up at the hill she saw her brother had retreated for now. Tears streamed down her face at what was most definitely going to become a nasty bruise if it not much worse. It hurt to breathe.
“Fuck,” She licked her lips, tasting metal. She had obviously bitten her lip in the landing. Quite hard.
She brought her hand up to her mouth, wiping her lip. Pulling her hand back, she saw a bit of blood and leaned her head back against the grassy ground. She wasn’t about to move right now, she was in too much pain. All over. Her eyes squeezed shut and she shoved her hand into her jacket pocket, finding that her cell was dry as a bone. She lifted it, opening her eyes and opened up a new text message to send to Bono. It was all she could do – all she really wanted to do. She knew Bono would have a total hissy fit if she were to text something like she was lying in the damn river, who the hell knows what she broke. This made her hesitant. Then again, he’d have one later. She shook it off and typed up her message before closing her eyes. Help.
I've finally got another chapter ready for you all.My usual thank yous go out and I'd also like to give a special thanks to dragonfly_wolfe.
Disclaimer: Don't know/own U2, never happened, blah, blah.
Warnings: Language, violence.
---
The next morning, the day was shaping up to be very beautiful. The sun was shining, the birds tweeting, the sky a brilliant blue, so few clouds ever present. The pair was curled up together in bed. The events from the night had yet to be reviewed by either of the sleeping participants. Grace was sprawled out, half on top of Bono, who lay beneath her on his back. A sweet, sleeping embrace connected the two now. Sunlight soaked through her fluttering eyes, making them open immediately. Her blurred vision focused on the form beneath her. In an instant, her eyes widened. She saw Bono sleeping peacefully, tangled in the sheets with her. His eyes were closed and his lips slightly parted.
She sighed, realizing what had happened. Oh God. You’re joking.
Rubbing her eyes, she sat up, letting the thin blanket fall from her in doing so. She looked down at the floor, seeing the outfit she’d just gotten yesterday and wore for all of a good twenty minutes decorating it. Figuring she could just resume wearing it, she slipped out of the bed, carefully untangling herself from the singer to avoid waking him up and began to pick up her clothes. Garments in hand, she glanced back at him lying still on the bed, deep in sleep.
Her brain was incapable of forming an intelligent thought. She exited the bedroom promptly, leaning up against the door once clicked shut.
“What the fuck have I done?” She muttered to herself, the memories from the night before sweeping over her. It had all happened so quickly and unexpectedly. One moment they were in embrace and the next, they were in bed.
She looked down at the floor, lifting herself from the door and made her way into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She tossed her clothes next to the sink and her hands propped onto the counter as she looked into the mirror at her tired reflection. Her hair was mussed, her eyes so sleepy. She let out another sigh, bowing her head.
We didn’t seriously…did we?
Her hands went down against the cold counter again; tears began to well up in her eyes. She reached one hand up, wiping away the warmth trickling down her face. She had no idea why she was crying. Or perhaps…she did. It’d become obvious in all that time that he had wanted her. There was no doubt in her mind regarding this. The doubt came from his behavior. What did he want? Did he really want her? Or did he want the sex? Did he even know what he wanted?
All of the questions coming to mind and bombarding her only served to further confuse her. She turned and slid open the shower door, deciding a nice, hot shower was in order to clear her mind. A warm spray was started and she stepped in without another thought. She soon began to soap herself up, cleaning rather quickly, so as to be done before the singer woke up. Her hands soon only served to bring back the memories of his wandering hands. A shudder coursed through her and she set down the bar of soap, placing her hands on the tile wall. The water pelted down against her, rinsing her of the soap and the sweat, but not of the lingering heat of his touch.
A few minutes more and she turned off the water, promptly stepping out onto the mat by the door. She reached for the towel rack and dried herself off, picking up the clothes once more. She pulled each article on piece by piece, slowly. Once dressed, the sound of the bedroom door opening startled her. She straightened out her outfit, took the comb through her hair and peeked out of the room, seeing Bono off in the bedroom through the cracked door, gathering up clothes. She slipped out of the bathroom carefully, coming into the living area to sit down in the favourite chair. A sleepy singer soon made his way into the bathroom with a handful of clothing, presumably to get dressed. Some rustling and grunting sounded from him in the process.
Grace turned so that her back faced the hallway and pulled her legs up to her chest. He came back out, tossing the dirty clothes into the basket on his way out and into the living area.
“Grace?” His voice came from behind her. Soft and curious. He’d probably wondered why she slipped out of bed without a word to him.
With a short exhale, she rolled over on the chair, facing him, “Yeah?”
“Everything okay?” He asked, putting one hand down on the arm of the chair. That was one question she figured he’d ask. The one leading up to the anticipated question, at any rate.
“Yeah, why?” She answered quickly, sitting back up.
“Just wondering…you weren’t in there when I got up,” He replied looking a little bit nervous. His tone was very much less-than-surprised.
“Oh, sorry. Usually when I wake up, I’m up and I have to get up,” She explained and it wasn’t far from the truth either. “I showered, came in here and decided to lie down…didn’t want to wake you.”
“Can I get you anything?” He offered, pointing towards the kitchen.
“No thanks, I’m good.”
I think I could use a nice helping of some alone time.
“You sure? Edge’s fiancé sent me some killer brownies a few days ago. They’re really good.”
“No thanks,” She repeated and got up from her spot, shuffling about the living area.
Bono watched on curiously, seeing her walk back and forth, pacing almost nervously. She strode down the hall and back, picking up her coat. Her decision to leave was immediate, she had to go and think everything over. Without him.
“Look, um…I’m gonna go out for a walk. I just need to move. I’ll be back soon, okay?” She finally spoke up, pulling the jacket on as she made her way to the door.
“I’d really prefer it if you didn’t…” He replied slowly.
“I’m sorry, really. But I won’t be gone long. Promise,” She said, opening the door only to find Bono’s band mate, Edge, standing in the doorway with his arm up, posed to knock.
Bono stood straight up, looking past the young woman to his friend, both exchanging confused glances – for different reasons, undoubtedly. Grace moved aside to let the guitarist walk into the living area, not glancing back her way. He looked at the singer, motioning his thumb towards her with a questioning look.
“Um, Grace,” Bono spoke up, getting her attention, “Why don’t you just stick around here?”
“Sorry, I’ll be back,” She said, walking out of the apartment without another word.
Edge looked back to the hall, then to Bono. “What’s eating her?”
“I wouldn’t know,” He mumbled, giving a shrug. The last thing he wanted to do was tell Edge that he slept with her last night. A lie would suffice, even a piss poor one such as that as long as he didn’t give any hints.
“Eh, leave her be. She’ll be alright. Probably needs a breath of fresh air. Anyway, I brought over these tabs and such for you to look at. I was hoping we could review them,” The guitarist explained, handing a folder to the puzzled lead man.
“Right. Thanks,” He replied blankly, thumbing through them as he walked off into the kitchen without another word.
Edge followed him into the kitchen, noticing his peculiar behavior. Usually, he was eager to get this sort of thing over with and out of the way so that they could get on with photo shoots and the like, but something seemed off. “Is something wrong?”
“Hm?” Bono hummed, turning around to face him. “Oh, no. I just woke up not fifteen minutes ago.” He sat down at the kitchen table with the folder, taking a more thorough look as Edge took a seat across from him. It was going to be a long afternoon.
***
Hours later, Grace sat up on the hilltop, the same one she’d always gone to. It was her thinking spot, as she recalled telling Bono the first time she’d brought him up here, which was right after they’d met. They’d come a long way since then, or at least she had thought so. She pulled her knees up to her chest and looked up at the sky. It was going to be a long day, indeed. She moved a little, picking out her cell phone from her jacket pocket and thumbed through all of the texts and messages she’d never deleted. John had occupied ninety-nine percent of everything on her phone. Rolling her eyes skyward, she began to delete them all; read and unread. She didn’t need them anyway, not before Bono, not now. That chapter of her life was finally over.
She began to read texts Bono had sent her once she was done. The first one from the day she went on that date with him, to everything else afterwards like cute little flirting messages and things like that.
Her mind wandered back to the events from last night. It wasn’t something she should have been ashamed of, was it? She could have stopped him, she could have said no. His behavior in the morning hours only further proved that it wasn’t all he was after, didn’t it?
Thinking too much into it, as usual, She reprimanded herself.
What had happened last night was precisely what it was. She couldn’t very well say that she didn’t enjoy it, nor did she regret it.
A sigh escaped her lips and she looked down at her phone at the text from him that she’d received from before that afternoon when she was left with Adam for a little while. “Not gone an hour & I miss you.” Sap.
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth and she wiped the tears that began to well up in her eyes. She laughed at herself, staring down at the display. She decided once again that she had been putting way too much thought into this whole thing with the lead man. She knew what she had to do now.
Her peaceful thought was interrupted by an all too familiar voice.
“Fancy seeing you up here, sister.”
Oh no.
Startled, she scrambled to her feet, shoving the phone back into her pocket. Turning around promptly, a tall, rather skinny man in build was standing behind her, looking directly at her. A man she hadn’t seen much since her adolescence. Her brother. He wore a simple, black tee shirt and black jeans. His hair was a blonde, poofy mess. He resembled their father very well, except a tad younger.
“Gary, what’re you doing here?” She sputtered.
“I thought I’d come say hi to my little sis,” He replied, a grin breaking out on his face.
“Well, I’m sort of busy! So if you could bugger off, that’d be great.”
“Oh, I’m not going anywhere. I want to…catch up. Tell me about your man.”
Fuck you.
“I don’t! Now get way from me!” She screamed, walking backwards, taking care not to trip.
“Aww, what’s the matter? Lil’ sis doesn’t wanna play with me?” He taunted, advancing on her.
“Look, I dunno what mom’s going around spouting off, but I’d appreciate it if you’d just stay out of my life.”
Please, just go away. Please.
“She hasn’t ‘spouted’ anything at all, my dear sister.”
Grace began to panic as memories of him tormenting her began to consume her. She grabbed at the weeds as she backed up; realizing she’d just backed herself into a corner. One that lead straight down into the shallow end of the river. She slid down the side, grabbing at some of the roots frantically to keep from falling. With an annoyed groan, she looked down and back up at her older brother, praying to whatever powers that be to make him go away. He knelt down at her hands, tracing his fingers along hers.
“Get the hell offa me!” She yelped, trying to fight back the urge to just let go.
“But I don’t want to. You’re so cute when you squirm.”
No…
She closed her eyes, trying to will back the tears. Her hands came loose and she fell off into the shallow water with a small splash, where he couldn’t reach her unless he jumped down there himself. Her back slammed into a large rock and her voice cracked as she cried out in pain. The water rippled over her as she lay there, cussing and sobbing. Looking up at the hill she saw her brother had retreated for now. Tears streamed down her face at what was most definitely going to become a nasty bruise if it not much worse. It hurt to breathe.
“Fuck,” She licked her lips, tasting metal. She had obviously bitten her lip in the landing. Quite hard.
She brought her hand up to her mouth, wiping her lip. Pulling her hand back, she saw a bit of blood and leaned her head back against the grassy ground. She wasn’t about to move right now, she was in too much pain. All over. Her eyes squeezed shut and she shoved her hand into her jacket pocket, finding that her cell was dry as a bone. She lifted it, opening her eyes and opened up a new text message to send to Bono. It was all she could do – all she really wanted to do. She knew Bono would have a total hissy fit if she were to text something like she was lying in the damn river, who the hell knows what she broke. This made her hesitant. Then again, he’d have one later. She shook it off and typed up her message before closing her eyes. Help.
this chapter! This story just keeps getting more and more interesting.
DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING!!
why does a woman's heart always have to call itself into question?? stay and enjoy his love, you silly girl 
serena...is she still there? 
please, I can't wait any longer!!! 
