#eli hewson

"Hi, excuse me, are you Elijah Hewson?" Both of them turned to the excited voice near them. Facing a girl with a big smile on her lips as she held her phone ready. The bands' faces staring back at them on her tote bag.

Leaning forward, his back losing from the back of the bench and his hand slipping out of hers, Eli smiled kindly at the fan. Nodding his head before he said anything. "Yeah, you wanna get a picture?" he guessed from the way she clung her phone to the front of her chest.

"Yes, please. I really love your music. Inhaler's one of my favorite bands of all time."

"Thanks, we really appreciate it."

Watching the interaction with a smile on her face, she stood up with him. Offering to take the picture for them. Making sure to hold the phone at the right angle and taking more than one. As she handed it back over to the fan, Eli stood beside her again. His shoulder knocking against hers, silently thanking her for the action. He appreciated small gestures like that, even when he never said it. He liked knowing that she cared about the fans as much as he did.

The last thing she said before walking was a sweet, innocent, "You guys are so cute together. I love you as a couple," before walking off, waving at them and smiling like it hadn't made their breaths stuck in their throat.

They waited for her to be fully out of sight before turning to each other. A charged silence settling between them. Staring at each other with wide eyes before both burst out laughing, doubling over as she fell into his chest. Hearing the words from someone they didn't know didn't feel as scary as they thought they would.

Eli reached out again, taking her hand, kissing her knuckles before placing them intertwined back in to his pocket. "Guess the secret's out," he mumbled with a wide smile on his lips as he watched her cheeks burning red.

The blanket felt warm over your body and the room was completely dark, except for a slight glimmer of moonlight streaming in through the open window. It was pretty late on a July night and it was hot. Your boyfriend, Eli, and you, had booked a small countryside house in the north of Italy and were spending a few days there. So far, it had been a very relaxing holiday: going for walks around the fields, going to the beach nearby, taking care of the flowers in the small garden on the front of the house, reading, spending time together... You had even made your own jam! It was safe to say you had really been enjoying your romantic little nest. When the band was touring you didn’t get to see each other much, and when the tour ended, you had been pretty caught up in your own work, so this break really felt needed at this point.

You had been woken up in the middle of the night by the distant sound of Eli strumming his guitar. It was a gentle noise and you could clearly tell that he didn’t mean to wake you, he had probably gone as far from your bedroom as possible, but the house wasn’t that big after all. Despite how comfy you felt, almost melting on the mattress, you gathered your strength to get out, sliding out of the blanket and getting up, barefoot on the cold tiles. You silently made your way downstairs, wearing just your pyjama shorts and an old t-shirt. You could already see from the doorframe the shape of Eli, sitting down on the carpet, his back against the sofa, the guitar over his leg and a notebook on the floor where he scribbled chords and ideas. Before you could even take a step forward, he noticed your presence somehow and turned his head to look at you.

“Hey, honey. Did I wake you?” he asked, softly, his voice slightly raspy.

“No, no… It’s fine. I didn’t mean to interrupt either, play on” you replied, calmly, your words coming out in a sleepy tone that sounded angelic to him.

You walked over to him, sitting on the floor with your head resting on his shoulder. He stretched his neck to turn and give your head a gentle kiss before resuming his writing process. You tried to get a glimpse of the lyrics on his notebook, but you couldn’t really see from the distance and moving would have ruined your comfort.

The lamp cast a yellowy light over the both of you and the subtle sound of the strings along with Eli’s humming were lulling you into sleep again. Your eyes slowly closed, your eyelids feeling heavier than steel.

The next time you woke up, Eli was carrying you up the stairs, and from the way the light from the window reflected on the walls you guessed the sun was probably rising already, had he been up all this time? Or had he fallen asleep on the floor like yourself? You tried to ask him, but only a groggy mumble came out. When he heard you he kissed your lips very gently and whispered something about going back to sleep, you obliged.

After a few hours you woke up. Eli was lying next to you in bed, his face as peaceful as ever, you could barely resist leaning over and kissing him, but you suspected he had barely slept and decided to just watch his relaxed lips, how his body filled up with air and the soft snore that was heard when the air came back out, subtle spasms on his fingers, his lashes casting a soft shadow over his cheeks and his curls emanating from his head almost like Medusa’s snakes.