Warning: BellDom hints, how could they miss in last part? Lol
Epilogue
30 June 2006, somewhere in London
"Oh, no! He escaped even this time, I almost caught him," Jessica exclaimed on the threshold of the bathroom, wearing a red bra and grey hot pants.
"Don't worry, he's coming on my way, I'm going to catch him," Dominic assured her from the end of the corridor that separated them, he wearing blue boxers.
In the middle, Hendrix was running desperately, trying to save himself from their clutches because he understood what their goal was and he didn't agree at all. As a matter of fact, the bathtub was partially filled with warm water, the proper sponge and cleanser prepared as well. All those attentions weren't for the two humans, but for the lovely puppy that was almost three years old.
The first time Dom and Jessica managed to grab him and take him to the bathtub, determined to make him have a bath, Hendrix was so smart and fast that he set himself free, making the couple fall in the bathtub, between laughter.
That's why now they wore only underwear.
"End of the race, buddy!" Dom sneered, placing himself in front of his dog with a combative attitude.
All the other doors were closed, Jessica was waiting at the other end, so Hendrix realised it was over.
As he was busy realising it, his master had already lifted him, crossing the corridor towards the bathroom, holding him firmly.
"I don't know why your dog is so unwilling to have a bath," Jessica commented as she took the sponge.
"Well, not only my dog. You know, almost every dog hates to bathe," the blond justified, placing the dog in the bathtub.
"Yep, but your dog seems to hate it more than the others!" Jessica stuck back as she passed the sponge on Hendrix's fur and he growled his disappointment.
"Well, it's surely not something he has in common with me. If it was up to me, I'd live under the shower," Dom chuckled. "Especially, if you joined me," he murmured, caressing her back and kissing her shoulder.
"Mm... c'mon, Dom, behave. No flirting while I'm washing Hendrix," Jessica protested as she cleaned the dog's eyes, ears and muzzle and Dom came back to his main duty: hold his doggy still.
Jessica pulled out the plug, took Hendrix away and wrapped a towel around him, before placing him on a shelf. She rubbed him carefully as the dog seemed to like the attentions. Finally, some cuddles after that traumatic experience!
"Here we are, now you're ready," Jessica lifted him, pulling him closer to kiss his head as she held him against her chest. "Who's mummy's little darling?" she murmured with a sugary voice.
"Well, until proved the otherwise, it should be me!" Dominic grumbled, crossing his arms on his chest, insulted.
Jessica burst out laughing, pushing him away playfully.
"Oh, c'mon, big jealous guy, you can't compete with… a dog!" she made fun of him.
"Well, Hendrix is a male, after all," her boyfriend grumbled.
"OK, Hendrix, now you're free to go," she said, placing the doggy on the floor which ran away happily. "Mummy has got to assure Daddy," she added softly, as she got closer to Dom who was smiling at her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him tighter.
"Come here, little darling," she whispered, kissing him.
"That's better," he murmured among kisses. "Anyway, I was joking before, of curse, I can't be jealous of my Hendrix. I love him. After all, every girl finds him irresistible… just like his master!" he bragged.
"Hey!" she slapped his shoulder, not liking at all what he had said.
"Now who's the big, jealous girl?" he teased her, caressing her hair. "C'mon, honey, I was joking. That guy belonged to the past. Now you have a better man in front of you and it's only thanks to you," he smiled, entwining his fingers with hers.
"Aawww, Dom!" she squealed, hugging him tightly.
"Plus, don't forget that we owe a lot to Hendrix, after all it's thanks to him that now we're together," the blond added.
"Really?" she wondered, astonished.
"Well, think about it. If I hadn't walked to the animal store to buy something for him, I wouldn't have met you again," he explained.
"That's true. I still remember that night. When I saw you, I couldn't believe it was possible. Well, it's been a long time since that night!" she stated as she got lost in the memories.
"More than two years and a half. And soon it will be three years," he replied, following her example.
Truth was that after Jessica and Gaia had been at the two shows in London to which Dom and Matt had invited them to, it had become harder and harder for the two couples to split.
Everyone made their best to make the two long distance relationships work, trying really hard.
As soon as Matt and Dom had some free days or ended a tour, each of them reached the respective official fiancée. In the same way, whenever Gaia and Jessica managed to get free from their business, they joined their boyfriends in the tour.
Sometimes the two girls managed to leave together, sometimes only one of them was free.
It wasn't easy to carry on those relationships. Sometimes they had so much business and they had to spend even whole months without seeing each other, trying to be satisfied with phone calls, even intercontinental ones, e-mails or the chat line Matt and Gaia were so fond of.
The best thing was when all of them managed to meet up again. Their double dates weren't rare, in London or in Como, and sometimes even Chris and Kelly joined them.
Year after year, the feeling between Dominic and Jessica did nothing, but grew stronger and stronger. Although Jessica moved to London, they didn't live together, but every time Dom came back home she packaged her stuff and joined him at his flat to spend as much time as possible with her boyfriend. They both saw that as a sort of living together.
Besides, Dom had decided to entrust his beloved Hendrix to Jessica only when he was touring with Muse. Jessica was crazy for the doggy, it was love at first sight… just like with his master!
"Anyway, even if we hadn't met in the animal store, sooner or later we'd meet anyway, since Gaia is Matt's girlfriend," Jessica stated. "You know what? Maybe one day Matt would decide to introduce you to Gaia's best friend…aka me," she explained.
"Yes, it could have been," Dom smiled, caressing her shoulders. "But that way it would be thanks to Matt and not thanks to Hendrix. At least I can thank Hendrix by taking good care of him, giving him the best food ever and his favourite croquettes, bathing him, caressing him, playing with him and taking him out," he explained. "You know, I don't think that Matt would appreciate this kind of attentions from me…well, maybe the last two things!" he added, chuckling and making Jessica laugh.
"You silly!" she exclaimed between laughter.
"It's one of the reasons why you love me," he smirked at her, placing his hands on her hips to pull her closer.
"That's true, I can't deny it," she admitted with a bright smile before kissing him.
The kiss became more ardent and in a few seconds Jessica realised that one of her undergarments was missing.
"Dom! Put it back on me, now!" she reproached him, pointing at her bra on the floor, but she wasn't so disappointed when he cupped her breasts, taking good care of them.
"Are you sure?" he sneered, kissing her again.
"Nope! I mean, yep! We don't have time for that. We have to get ready, we have an airplane to take and we're late," she protested, trying to grab her bra, but he blocked her.
"That's it. We're late, so the flight is lost. Trust me, we save us a useless run. Besides, there are plenty of other flights to Milan. We're going to stay in Italy for a week, so a couple of hours less doesn't change anything. It's fair if we're a little late, don't you think so?" the blond persuaded her.
"Damn you, Dom, why are you always so annoyingly convincing?" the brunette struck back, giving him a peck on his lips.
"Because I love you Jess, and if you follow me in the shower, I'm going to show you how much I do," he whispered in her ear, taking her hand to drag her with himself in the shower.
It's useless to say that she accepted his invitation.
****************************** (In the meantime)
Moltrasio (Como)
"Please, Mr. Bellamy, be patient; we're almost done, there are three questions more to go," the journalist informed him as he was having an interview for an Italian magazine.
Matthew would confine himself to nod, but he remembered that he was on the phone, so the journalist needed a verbal answer.
"OK," he agreed as he passed a frustrated hand through his jet black hair.
"Probably I did something that pissed Tom off, although I don't know what I've done. But this must be his revenge!" he thought as he was working on something on his laptop, but he was paying attention to the questions of the interviewer anyway.
He didn't like that woman at all. It wasn't her debatable pronunciation, so bad that the Englishman made her repeat the questions more than once. On the other hand, it was not that Matthew spoke a flawless Italian, quite the contrary; he rarely tried to speak Italian.
The thing he just couldn't stand about her was that every question of hers seemed to contain other ten little questions inside. Matthew had been at the phone for more than forty-five minutes by then.
Another thing that annoyed him was that one of the previous questions involved his private life, but he knew how to face questions like that. Finally, after half an hour that seemed endless to him, the interview was over.
"Thank you for everything, Mr. Bellamy, you were so kind!" the journalist greeted him.
"I can't tell the same about you," he reckoned.
"It's my job, after all," was his real answer.
"Well, let's hope we have another interview soon. Bye!" she said.
"You bet," he replied, hanging up.
"I hope not to hear from you anymore, you, annoying, long-winded, nosey-parker!" he wished, worn out by all the questions.
After catching his breath, he came back to his main activity and updated the Muse message board page. He was glad to find a topic about their newest album with the listeners' opinions. He was reading it, skipping the less relevant part when his mobile rang again.
"No way, it can't be the journalist who forgot to ask me something, I don't know my D.N.A., my blood group? It would be the only thing she didn't ask me yet! " he thought, rolling his eyes, unwilling to answer.
As the mobile kept ringing, Matt jumped to other conclusions.
"It can't be her, she can't have my phone number. I called her from a private number," he reckoned and finally, he decided to look at the display.
He immediately changed his mood: finally, a pleasant phone call.
"Hey!" he chirped happily.
"Hey!" replied a voice happy as well.
"How are you?"
"I'm alright. And you?"
"I'm OK, saving the fact that I've just finished the longest and most tiring interview of my life!"
"Aawww, my poor Mattie. Tell me, you spoke kindly of me, right?"
"Of course I did, it's obvious. As always. Did you have any doubt?"
"Nope, I was just putting you to a test."
"I miss you so badly!"
"Me too, terribly."
"Anyway, let's cheer up. We're going to meet again today. I can't wait!"
"Me neither, I was keeping count of the days that separated us."
"Really? Dom, this is way too exaggerated!" Matt commented, bewildered.
"Nope, of course, I was just joking. It's just that our phone call was turning kind of insane…" Dom grumbled, bewildered as well.
"You're right," the other approved.
"Dammit, Matt! Why do we always sound so gay on the phone?" Dominic laughed.
"I have no idea, Dommie of my heart!" Matt joked, laughing with him. "So what are you doing? Are you at the airport?" he asked him.
"By the way, there's something I must tell you. Jess and I are going to be a tad late. We'll take the flight in two hours; there was a problem with the previous one," Dom informed him.
"Right, sure, I guess I can imagine what kind of problem it was, the kind of problem where you smoke satisfied in the end," Matthew chuckled.
"You do know me!" the other giggled.
"No problem. Gaia and I will catch you later," the first guy stated.
"So what are you doing? Wait, let me guess. Since today 'Black holes and revelations' is out, I bet that you're in front of your PC," the second guy commented.
"Touché. By the way, although it's out for nothing more than six hours, someone already left a comment," Matt informed him.
"Really? What comment?" Dom asked him curiously.
"Ah-ah. See? I contaminated you," the brunet observed.
"What can I say? Bells, you're contagious!" the blond recognised.
"Anyway, this person says that the whole album is not bad, but 'Take a Bow' seems a song for disco!" Matt said with his pride wounded.
Dominic burst out laughing.
"So we'll use it as a b-side somewhere with a proper remix and it will become a disco song for real!" he suggested.
"Do you really think so? I start to think that it's you who left that review," Matthew struck back, doubtful.
"No way, I have something better to do than to live in front of my PC, that would be you!" the other chuckled.
"Yep, I forgot that you're the fashion victim. Well, dandy, let me know what time you arrive here, so Gaia and I can take you home. And stop with the problems, OK?" Matt teased him.
"OK, see you later," Dom hung up.
Matt came back to his PC, but he changed his mind when he heard a key turning in the keyhole.
"Hi, honey, I'm back!" Gaia greeted him cheerfully, coming back from university.
Matt preferred gestures to words and ran up to her, holding her tight and kissing her breathtakingly.
"What a nice welcome!" she smiled.
"Is everything OK?" he asked.
"Yep, it was a fruitful exchange of notes, my friend knew the things I didn't know and vice versa. So now we're both more than ready for the exam," she explained, putting her bag on the sofa.
She noticed that the PC was switched on; she then recalled what day it was and jumped to the right conclusion, especially when she saw the screen.
"Gee, so Dom wasn't joking at all when he told me that you're obsessed with feedback whenever a new album is out," she chuckled.
"I'm not obsessed, it's just that I have the right to know it," he justified.
"If I told you that I adore it, it's brilliant, captivating, eclectic, brave and never banal and 'Starlight' is my favourite song, would you take it as a review?" she asked him, placing her head on his shoulder.
"Uhmm, I don't know…after all, let's not forget that the reviewer in question sleeps with the singer-pianist-guitarist-front man-main songwriter- of the band," he commented with a fake serious expression as he caressed her hair.
"Are you sure you didn't forget any other role? Gee, Matthew, you're so full of yourself that I wonder what you're waiting for to change the name of your band from 'Muse' to 'Matthew Bellamy... and the other two'!" she made fun of him.
"I'm not full of myself. I care a lot about Dom and Chris, without them I would be nothing. It's just that I like underlining my roles in the band I play in," the front man justified once again.
"You said 'I ' only five times in a sentence. You're right, you're not full of yourself at all," Gaia struck back sarcastically.
"That's what I get for having a psychologist as fiancée!" he snorted, rolling his eyes.
Gaia burst out laughing.
"C'mon, love, I was joking! Anyway, you know that I adore analysing you," she murmured, ruffling his hair.
"And I adore you analysing me," he murmured, kissing her.
"So, do you really think I'm so unbalanced in my opinions? You know better than me that when I don't like one of your songs, I simply tell you, even if I have to argue with the third occupant of this house," she struck back.
"Dom?" he wondered, puzzled.
"Nope, your ego!" she laughed.
"Gaia!" he snapped, insulted.
"C'mon, you, touchy boy, I was joking again Sorry, honey, it's just that I have too much fun teasing you," she stuck her tongue out towards him.
"OK, in my next interview I'm going to declare that my girlfriend's favourite hobby is to make fun of me. I could have said it today," he struck back.
"Oh, right, you had the interview today. How was it?" she asked him.
"Long. Bloody long. And exhausting," he snorted.
"And… did they ask you about me?" she hazarded.
"Yep, the nosey-parker tried to invade even my private area. And once again there was the usual question about how you and I met," he explained.
"So, tell me, what did you invent this time?" she asked him.
"In a fishing ground!" he giggled.
"Matthew! You're impossible," she pretended to reproach him, but she ended up laughing with him.
"Oh, c'mon, sweetie, you know that I have so much fun giving every time a different version, just like when people ask me about the name of the band," he justified as he took her hands in his. "Twuth is that the real story of our meeting is so particular that I don't want to spoil it by revealing it in an interview," he added.
"I totally agree," she approved, kissing him quickly. "You know, honey, it's so nice to have you back home," she smiled.
"And it's even nicer that I can finally call it home," he smiled.
Contrary to Jessica and Dominic, they already had some experience of living together. After the first months, Gaia decided to follow him to London and they lived together in his flat. But it didn't last for long because of Gaia's school duty and the pressure from her family, so she came back to Italy.
Matthew understood and respected her choice, but after eight months during which they lived apart, it was the guy who took his decision, joining her in Italy. Matt bought a house near his so beloved Lake of Como. It was a house that belonged to an old, famous musician and Gaia and he had been living there together for some months.
"Let me remind you that we have the concert in two weeks," she said.
"Honey, you're wrong. I'll start the shows with the guys on 18th July," he corrected her.
"Mr. Bellamy, have someone ever told you that the world does not turn around you alone?" she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms at her chest. "I meant the concert where you promised to take me to, Ligabue's show," she clarified.
"Me? When the bloody hell would I do such a thing?" he wondered.
"Probably I asked you when you were in your creative phase or when you were busy watching 'Lost', those are moments when you say yes to everything," she observed.
"But… I don't want to go there!" he protested.
"I don't care, you promised!" she made him notice.
"Even you admitted that you extracted that promise from me by deceiving me," he pointed out.
"Of course, otherwise you would never say yes. I've already bought the tickets, so I don't want to miss it. Besides, you always tell me that you would like to get to know some Italian music," she insisted.
"Yep, but... why do I have to start with the gorilla guitar-killer?" her boyfriend complained.
"Matthew!" she warned him, very touchy about that topic.
"Sorry," he apologised sincerely.
"So you don't want to take me there, do you? No problem, I'm going to ask Paolo if he can," she decided.
"Wait a minute. Do you mean Paolo, our awesome neighbour, blond, muscle-head and always tanned or Paolo, your friend at university, the skinny, clumsy, nerd?" he asked her.
"The first Paolo. He will be very happy to take me there," she challenged him with her look.
"No way! I'm going to take you to the stupid, damn, bloody concert!" he grumbled resolutely.
"Jealousy. A sneaky weapon that always works. And you don't have to be a psychologist to know it," she thought.
"But you'll come to me at the RHCP show!" Matt suggested.
"Deal!" she agreed, not very excited about the idea.
"Compromise is such a good thing," the Englishman smiled.
"As soon as Jess and Dom leave, we'll have a dinner at my parent's house," she informed him.
"Again? But we did it… last year!" he snorted.
"Yep, it's been a long time since then!" she made him notice.
"Besides, let me warn you that my parents are learning English, so forget saying things like you did the last time we went there, when you said that you would like to make love to me on the table, in front of them!" the Italian girl said.
"It was fun," Matthew sneered, sitting in front of the PC.
"They didn't understand, but I did. And I was holding the trash, you almost made me drop it down. The worst thing is that my father managed to understand 'table' so I had to invent something quickly. I said that you appreciated the tablecloth a lot!" she added, smiling at the memory.
Matthew was right: it had been fun.
"Now turn off the damn PC. Tell me, you are trying to molest another stranger, aren't you? I recall very well what happened the last time you did," she giggled.
"Exaggerated! I didn't molest you," he corrected her.
"That's true," she smiled. "Anyway, Matt, please, be good and turn it off. In the meantime, I'm sure that people will write tons of comments," she tried to persuade him.
"Do you think so?" Matt looked at her in disbelief.
"Of course. While you're waiting, I guess we could do a lot of interesting things," she suggested.
"Uh! Yeah, I like it," he murmured, getting up and walking towards her sensually.
"No, Matt, not that! I meant that we have still so many chores to do, such as clean the rooms, set the table. You know that we have guests tonight," she clarified.
Matt seemed upset, but he didn't give in.
"By the way, Gaia, we have more time than you think to clean and set everything," he informed her.
"Why?" she frowned.
"Dom called me an hour ago. He said that they're going to take the next flight because of some problems. Do I have to tell you what kind of problems? C'mon, you know Dom," Matt explained.
"And I know Jess. They're so perfect for each other!" she giggled.
"Well, we have nothing to envy," Matthew whispered, lifting her up and placing her on the sofa, before starting to kiss her.
"Mm… Matthew, not here, not now. We still have so much stuff to do," she protested, attempting to go upstairs.
She was already on the stairs, but Matt had an ace upon his sleeve.
"Oh, c'mon," he started to whimper, begging her. "Joyful," he added, in a singsong.
Funny that firstly Gaia couldn't stand to be called like that, but after all those years it had become one of her favourite nicknames, along with Missed or her whole username.
As if under a spell, Gaia immediately came back into her lover's embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"You know I can't resist when you call me that, Matteo!" she murmured as she took off his green and yellow t-shirt, throwing it on the floor.
"That's why I do it," he sneered, unbuttoning her white shirt that joined his t-shirt on the floor.
Their kisses turned more passionate and their caresses more demanding.
"I love you, end_of_the_world!"
"I love you, eternally-missed!"
THE END
That' it, girls, this is the end.
Well, I'm not going to ever write another het fic about Muse, because, c'mon, we all know the twuth : Dom and Matt belong to each other … awww 3
However, hope you liked this story, after all I had fun writing it, too. ^^