Out Of Control - Chapter 10

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**The following is a work of fiction. No offense intended to anyone, it’s all meant in good fun. Strong language, semi-adult themes

Chapter Ten

Much to her surprise, the show was even better than the ones Alyx had already seen. That was, in no small way, due to the audience. She’d had no idea how popular they were in America. The reception they had received would’ve suited a much bigger band, but Bono ate it up and the rest of the band handled it with such a cool, calm demeanor that a person might’ve thought they’d been greeted that way all their lives.

In the first day since she’d hired on, she’d already gone through ridiculous amounts of film. She hoped she would have a lot of good candids, at least. She would have to learn to watch for the good shots, rather than taking the photos en masse. She didn’t have the largest budget in the world, after all. Her enthusiasm greatly overreached the boundaries of her pocketbook.

Now, there was a party in some suite the record company had rented for after the show, where several moderately important music industry people were already halfway to drunk. Not Alyx’s favorite part of the business, but she had signed on for everything, good and bad. Carrying her smallest 35mm camera for the sake of not being conspicuous, she was slowly making her way there.

Part of her wanted to wait for Holly; it was always awkward to go into a room full of people you hardly knew. Being alone made her feel as if every eye was on her, as if everyone was judging her at first glance. Holly’s job had just started, though. She had the most physically demanding and thankless of the jobs in the tour crew, really. That was a fact which made Alyx like her all the more.

Suddenly, the door to her left swung open and Bono came barreling out, plowing straight into her and knocking her flat on her arse.

“Oh, fuck! Sorry, sorry!” He exclaimed, grabbing her hands with his and hoisting her back up onto her own two feet. She hadn’t doubted that it was an accident, but the hint of laughter in his voice made her wonder about the sincerity of his apology.

“Fine, it’s fine.” She told him, slapping his hands away from trying to help her any further.

“Why aren’t you at the party?” He asked, and she scowled at him.

“I could ask you the same thing.” She replied, making him flash her a lopsided grin.

“Right. I was just heading that way. Had to make myself presentable.” He told her with a rakish wink, spreading his arms and stepping back so that she could look at him. She fought the urge to smile and arched an eyebrow at him.

“I think you’ll pass for a rock star.” She told him dryly, and he beamed at her.

“Aw, go on, now. You say that to all the guys.” He teased, shocking her senseless with a bear hug that lifted her feet off the floor. She laughed despite her surprise; or perhaps because of it. She wasn’t usually taken in by this sort of flirtatious charm, but somehow it just suited Bono so well that she couldn’t help but enjoy it.

“I thought maybe you were here to meet Larry.” He informed her, setting her down and reaching to pull the door shut behind himself.

“He’s not there yet?” She asked, her heart sinking a bit in disappointment. Seeing Larry was the one thing she’d had to look forward to at the party.

“No, not yet. He’s still in the shower.” Bono informed her, pausing just before the door latched and glancing at her thoughtfully. “He won’t be much longer, if you want to wait for him.”

“Oh, I don’t know…” she said, but he could see the glimmer of desire in her eyes.

“I have a couple of places I have to stop, before I go on myself.” He informed her. “I just thought maybe, if you didn’t want to walk in alone…” He let his voice trail off and gave her a shrug to indicate that he thought it was no big deal. Alyx cracked her knuckles nervously as she considered her options.

“You don’t think he’d mind?” She asked, nervously shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

“No, not at all.” Bono replied, opening the door for her and gesturing for her to enter. “I’ll catch up with you both in awhile.” He told her with a wave, and then he was gone as fast as the door could swing shut behind him.

She could hear the sound of the shower running in the bathroom and so she sat down on the foot of one bed to wait. There was a notebook on top of the bed, in a pile of clothes and other belongings which had been dumped out unceremoniously. She carefully picked it up and started leafing through the pages, scanning over the doodles and hand drawn music staffs. The thought process of it’s owner was clearly very scattered, but creative to no end. *Bono* she thought with a smile.

“I met my love by the gasworks wall! I dreamed the dreeeeaaam by the old canal!” Alyx’s head snapped up and she glanced at the door in surprise at the sound of someone singing. A laugh had escaped her lips before she knew it, and she dropped the notebook to cover her mouth. “I kissed my girl by the factory gates. Dirty old town! Dirty o-old town!”

She smiled so hard despite herself that her cheeks began to ache, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter. She told herself she should leave, but she wanted to hear more. He had a lovely voice, really. It was not a trained voice, by any means, but lovely all the same. He sounded more like he belonged in some small pub, holding down the bar stools and entertaining the tourists. As she tried to force herself to get up and leave so that he wouldn’t know she had over heard, she didn’t notice the static noise of water through the pipes had vanished.

“I heard a si-ren from the docks! I saw a traaain set the night on fire!” He sang as the door swung open much to Alyx’s surprise. “I smelled the smoke on a ---” His voice caught in his throat and he stopped in his tracks as their eyes met. The silence was heavy and ominous, the tension like static in the air around them. Then, completely to her surprise, Alyx laughed out loud.

“I’m sorry.” She told him, trying to hide her smile behind her hand and averting her eyes. The sight of him, standing there in the doorway with steam and light from the bathroom framing him, his hair and skin both still wet was certainly appealing enough. The knot in the towel which hung from his slender hips, however, didn’t look as if it would hold up much longer, and things were already awkward enough.

“What… How did you… why are you…?” He stammered, and out of the corner of her eye she could tell his skin was flushing bright red.

“I ran into Bono on his way out…” She started trying to explain.

“Bono!” Larry growled, making her laugh again.

“It’s not his fault.” She defended the young singer, even though she suspected this was more or less what he had expected would happen. “I didn’t want to go into the party alone, and he said he wasn’t going right there. He didn’t think it would be a problem if I waited for you, though.” She finished, stealing another quick glance at him.

*Beautiful.* she thought. *Absolutely beautiful.*

“I’m sure he didn’t.” Larry grumbled, now clutching the towel to hold it in place as he tossed his hair out of his eyes. “It’s not your fault.” He said with a sigh, seeing how nervous she was. “Just, um… I need to get my clothes.” He said as he edged nervously around her to grab the handle of a duffel bag on the floor beside the bed.

He turned and disappeared into the bathroom again, the door slamming between them. Alyx sank back onto the bed and covered her eyes with the back of her hand. She let out a deep breath and tried to slow her racing heart, but the image of him standing in the doorway came back to her and she didn’t know whether to laugh or… sigh.

At least now she could take the time to consider what she had seen, without being afraid of offending him by staring. The lines and contours of his muscular arms (the only part of him which was shaped as a result of the drumming) were defined, powerful. She thought about the slender gold chain around his neck, drawing her attention to the v of his neck. Then, the little gold cross, falling mid chest. He had the kind of body only a boy his age could have; it wasn’t polished by hours of working out, no hard effort was put into shaping his musculature. It was natural, smooth and slender at the same time.

The lack of hair on his chest was no real surprise, considering how youthful his face still was. He wasn’t the burly, hairy chested brute of a man which was considered to be so appealing at the moment, at least if TV and movies were to be believed. He reminded her more of Michaelangelo’s ‘David’. A living, breathing work of art.

“Ready?” She heard his voice and jolted up from where she lay, taken completely by surprise. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t heard the door open and Larry return to the room at all.

“Yeah. Sure.” She agreed, running a hand through her hair nervously. They left the room and started off down the hallway in an awkward silence, and Alyx wondered if the evening was still salvageable or if she would be better off not going to the party after all. Suddenly, she realized Larry was staring at her, those silvery blue eyes peering at her from beneath a furrowed brow.

“What?” She asked, her eyes widening in trepidation.

“You were humming.” He told her, a smile tugging at one corner of his mouth.

“I was?” she asked, and he eyed her suspiciously before nodding. He turned and started to lead the way again, and she followed, falling behind slightly. This time she caught herself as she started to hum. She chuckled as he turned to look at her over his shoulder.

“Dirty old town…” she half sung, half laughed, making him smile self-consciously, trying to hide his smile with a hand as he rubbed his nose. She couldn’t help but smile when he did; it was like the sun coming out from behind a rain cloud.

She fell into step beside him again as she realized he wasn’t angry at her, he was just embarrassed.

“You should hear my rendition of ‘Roxanne’ sometime. I only sing in the shower, though.” She told him, and He smirked at her, rubbing his nose as he considered this. His mouth twisted up into a devilish smile, his silver blue eyes twinkling.

“Are you trying to get me to take a shower with you?” He asked, and Alyx gasped as the implication of her own words registered. Her cheeks flushed hot, and she knew they must be bright red. He nudged her on the shoulder and winked at her to make sure she knew he was only playing, and they walked into the party still chuckling.

*********************************************************************

It was later than usual when Holly finally made it to the party, and Edge knew why the minute he saw her. She’d gone back to her room to fix herself up. His heart nearly stopped at the sight of her. She was in a red, off-the-shoulder top and a black suede skirt; her blonde hair hung loose around her face to brush at her bare shoulders.

She stepped into the room and every head turned to look at her, although she didn’t seem to notice. She was looking around for someone in particular. She smiled and waved when her eyes found Edge, but she continued to scan the crowd for a moment before approaching him.

“Hey. You look… gorgeous.” He told her honestly, making room for her to sit on the sofa beside him.

“Thanks.” She replied softly, her attention still on the other party goers. “Have you seen Adam?” She asked, standing rather than taking the seat he offered.

“Um, no. Not in awhile.” He replied, taking a long drink out of the bottle in his hand. The whiskey burned its way down his throat and into his belly, mirroring the pain in his chest.

“I’m going to see if I can find him.” Holly said, excusing herself and disappearing into the crowd without looking back.

“Sure. Fine. It’s nice to see you, too.” He muttered, lighting a smoke. One of these days, he promised himself, he would understand women. Anything Edge put his mind to, he had mastered. If he couldn’t learn it from a book, he had learned it through trial and error. He was constantly seeking out knowledge, new information. He was an eternal student, of sorts. Women, though? They were the world’s biggest mystery to him.

Larry and Alyx were sitting not far away, engaged in a rather animated conversation. Bono was regaling a group of industry VIP’s with one of his many stories, a girl under each arm. On the radio he could hear the latest Pat Benatar song ending. He swallowed the last of the whiskey as another song started to play.

“Jessie is a friend, yeah, I know he's been a good friend of mine. But lately something's changed that ain't hard to define; Jesse’s got himself a girl and I want to make her mine! And she's watching him with those eyes… And she's lovin' him with that body, I just know it! Yeah 'n' he's holding her in his arms late, late at night…”

Edge’s gut twisted at the thought of Adam and Holly, and he decided to give up and just go to bed. The night was a total loss; his mind was too occupied with his heartache to carry on much of a conversation with anyone. He stood and paused a moment to let the room stop spinning, looking at the empty bottle in his hand and wondering how much of it he had been the one to drink.

He waved at Larry as he passed, thankful that he didn’t stop him and ask if he was alright. The only thing he hated as much as the thought of Adam and Holly together was when Bono or Larry looked at him with pity in their eyes.

“Where are you going, The Edge?” He heard Bono ask as he was pulled into a brotherly squeeze, Bono wrapping one arm around his shoulders and pulling him in close enough to smell the Guinness on his breath.

“Bed.” He replied.

“Already?” Bono asked, looking at his watch and blinking as he tried to force his eyes to focus. Before Edge could reply, though, their attention was drawn to the sight of Holly hurriedly pushing her way through the crowded room, practically running for the door. Without a word to Bono, Edge pulled away from Bono and hurried after her.

“Holly? Holly!” He called, breaking into a jog as they hit the empty hallway. He caught her by the elbow and she stopped, but she kept her face turned away. “What happened?” He asked, bending down to try and meet her eyes with his own.

“Nothing.” She replied softly, shaking her head. “I’m just tired.”

“Bull shit. What the fuck happened?” He demanded, though he already had his suspicions. Finally she looked up, her eyes welling with unspent tears, her lower lip quivering.

“It’s nothing.” She tried to lie again, but looking into Edge’s piercing green eyes, she couldn’t stand to. “I was hoping to see Adam tonight.” She informed him, her head bowing again, her eyes pointed at the floor.

“Yeah…”

“And it didn’t work out.” She said, turning and starting to walk away. Edge fell into pace beside her.

“Is he with another girl?” He asked, watching her closely. He was already certain that was exactly what had happened, and he didn’t know whether he wanted to comfort Holly or to tell Adam off for being a complete arse. How could he choose another girl over Holly?

“You want to say ‘I told you so’? Go ahead, say it!” Holly exploded suddenly, making him jump in surprise. “You warned me. Feel better?” She snapped, wiping away the tears in her eyes before they could streak down her face.

“No.” He told her seriously.

“I’m such a complete idiot about these things!” She ranted, all of her emotions spilling out at once now. “Seriously! I’m, like, deaf dumb and blind when it comes to men!”

“Yes, you are.” He told her, causing her to stop in her tracks and stare at him in shock.

These were not the words of comfort she had expected to hear from a friend.

“What?” She demanded, thoroughly baffled. Edge ran a hand over his messy hair as he took a second to consider how to answer her question.

“Fuck it.” He said, stepping forward, one hand under her chin as he pressed his mouth to hers. He felt her tense up in surprise, sliding one hand up into her soft hair and tilting his head more to the left until their mouths meshed perfectly.

With a sigh, he felt her relax against him, her lips parting slightly. He deepened the kiss, his lips moving over hers slowly, the tip of his tongue tracing her upper lip and inciting a shiver from her. He pulled away slightly, his lips still nearly touching her cheek as he tried to gain control over his breathing, and maybe let his racing heart slow down.

“Oh!” She moaned when their mouths parted, her hands sliding up along his arms. One continued, moving up to stroke the back of his neck, the other came to rest over his pounding heart.

“Edge…” she whispered, her eyes closed, turning her face so that her lips brushed his when she spoke. “I… I had no idea…” He wanted to tell her it was alright, that she didn’t have to say anything to let him down easy, but before the words had fully formed on his lips her mouth kissed them away.

She dipped her tongue into his mouth, stroking his own tongue and leading it into what turned into a slow, dizzyingly sensual dance. She made his head spin worse than any whiskey, everything about her taking over his senses. Her hair was soft and smelled flowery from her shampoo, and there was a soft musk perfume on her skin.

Her mouth was soft and wet and hot against his own. So hot, it was amazing she didn’t burn him. Her teeth bumped against his own, grazed his tongue, the contrasting sensations making each other be felt all the more acutely.

“Whoops!” they heard an all too familiar voice exclaim, both of them turning in response to see Adam moving to walk around them. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.” He said, averting his eyes.

“Adam!” She gasped, and at the sound of her voice he looked up at her with bleary eyes.

“Oh.” He said, blinking and looking back and forth at the pair. “Hey, this is obviously none of my business.” He told them, walking away slowly. “I’ll, uh… I’ll see if I can crash in Lar and Bono’s room.”

Holly stared after him, her mouth open in shock. Edge ran a hand over his face, sighing. He could see the hurt in her eyes. He gathered her up into his arms and held her close as she silently wept bitter tears against his shoulder.

“Edge?” She whispered after awhile.

“Hmm?” He pulled back slightly to look at her, only to be surprised with a demanding kiss. He was nearly swept away from reason, but managed to keep his wits somehow.

“Holly… this isn’t right. Not tonight.” He told her, kissing her temple. He wasn’t about to take advantage of her when she was broken hearted and vulnerable. Her lower lips quivered as she looked at him with watery eyes.

“I don’t want to be alone.” She admitted softly. He looked into her eyes for a long moment before nodding his head and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned heavily against him as he led the way back to his room.

*************************************************************

Natalie was awakened by the sound of someone fumbling with a key in the lock. She rolled over to glance at the clock. 4:20 a.m. She sighed as the evening rushed back to her, irritation brewing at the memory. She lay there in the dark and listened as he got the key to work, only to have the door open just a few inches before it was stopped by the chain lock.

“Wot the bloody …?” she heard him mumble to himself. “Nat?” he called. She was tempted not to reply at all, but he called her name again, his voice growing significantly louder. He would wake up the entire floor of the hotel if she didn’t stop him. She rolled out of bed and wrapped a terrycloth robe around her shoulders, covering the silky nightie she had put on earlier.

“What are you doing?” She hissed at him through the crack in the door.

“Hi!” he greeted her enthusiastically, a crooked smile creeping across his face. “You locked me out!” He informed her, as if she had no idea about it. From the look of his eyes, she thought, he was so intoxicated that it was a wonder he’d found the right room.

“No shit.” She told him, rolling her eyes.

“Are you going to let me in?” He asked, leaning first his shoulder and then his head against the door jamb. He looked like he might fall asleep right then and there if she let him.

“No.” she informed him coolly. She had given him the key to her room earlier and he had promised to meet her there. Of course he had to stay at the party a bit longer than her so it didn’t look suspicious. He never left early, and certainly not at the same time as Natalie did. She had been anxious at first, pacing the floor once she’d slipped into the new nightgown she’d bought in anticipation of their rendezvous.

The anxiety had turned into impatience as she rested on the bed and tried to read a paperback novel to pass the time. She became annoyed as the hours slipped by, and finally had given up at three a.m. and went to bed.

“No?” He asked, genuinely surprised and dismayed.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” She asked, and he lifted his wrist until his watch was nearly touching his face as he blinked at it as if trying to decipher an ancient, foreign language.

“This was a bad idea.” She told him dryly.

“Nat! C’mon, I didn’t mean to be late…” He told her, running his thick hand through his hair and making a mess of it.

“I’m sure you didn’t.” She replied. “All the same, you are late. Too late.”

“Nat…”

“Go to bed, Bono.” She sighed. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” She closed the door in his face, unwilling to argue any more. He would try to negotiate his way in until after sunrise, if she’d let him. She slipped into bed with a heavy heart. This evening had gone almost the exact opposite of what she had planned. She didn’t even want to think about tomorrow.
 
I made this wallpaper that went along with the story and I thought I would share. :wink: click the thumbnail for the full size; it's 1024 x 768

 
Wow, SG!
Ok, first, when I'm done here, I just have to dig that sing up. I love hearing Larry singing Dirty Old Town! I have it here on CD somewhere...
Second, I love Edge. Then again, everyone knows that. What I mean is, I love YOUR Edge! :drool:
And I have to say that if I met all these guys back in those days, and they were really like this, I would have a hard time deciding who to fall for! :lol: Except that I was barely born...
Now I'm done rambling! Great chapter! :applaud:
 
Wonderful read as always SG.

Larry and Alyx are so cute:cute:
Bono being late to his own rendevous -is SO Bono:giggle:
The love triangle between Adam, Holly and Edge is to intense for words!!! OMG...
:combust:


:up:
 
Awesome chapter, SG! :bow: :combust:

Can't wait to see where the Holly/Edge/Adam story is going to go!!

I could totally picture Larry singing Dirty Old Town. :giggle: Must go dig that up and have a listen. :drool:
 
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