When they returned to the car none of them asked the other if it was alright to be close, they sat together, Ela's head resting on Cillian's shoulder, and him rubbing her right hand's knuckles.

-"Here we are Miss" the driver informed while parking in front of Ela's hotel and awakening his passengers from their daydreams.

-"Oh... thank you sir..." Ela said in a little voice, checking her phone she noticed it was way past 5 am "I'll see you soon? I mean, if you're still up for the tours" she said lifting her head to look into Cillian's eyes.

-"I wouldn't miss it" he said holding her gaze.

Ela got out of the car intending to enter her hotel without looking back, too cheesy, too risky, too ridiculous, but she didn't have to, Cillian took her wrist catching her off gourd and making her turn around to look at him.

-"I had the best time with you" he said while looking at her in a lovely manner.

-"Me too, thanks for the ride" She was truly thankful for the night they just had.

-"Send me your tour schedule, I'll review it and I'll text you" He said smiling at her, sparks in his eyes that made them look even prettier.

-"Okay, I will, uhm..." Ela wanted to point something out but she thought about the night being over and reality needing to kick in once and for all.

-"Yes?" Cillian asked curiously while caressing her wrist without him even noticing.

-"Nothing, be safe, please rest it was a long night" Ela replied without looking him in the eye but rather looking down dreading what she really meant to say.

-"Oh... thank you, you too" he said, knowing she was withholding something but choosing not to push her.

Ela softly removed her wrist from his sweet hold, took a step back, and closed the car door, but as soon as the driver was getting ready to take off she had a change of heart and moved to the door leaning down to face the semi-open window holding the glass a little; Cillian moved quickly to that side of the seat waiting for her to speak.

-"Don't only text me about the tours, text me" she said while her neck began getting reddish, and then Cillian realized it.

At the pub, every time she got deep red only happened whenever they interacted, first meeting, then direct conversation, while dancing together, and now; it only happened around him, she hadn't been angry or uncomfortable with him all evening long, she blushed around him, her skin just showing in it more deeply, she liked him.

-"I will, Ela" he said, her name rolling like velvet on his tongue, and looked at her with gleaming eyes while his heartbeat got faster in his chest, now he was the one getting red.

She let go of the car's window frame and the driver took off, she looked down a second staring at the pavement and letting out a long breath she didn't know she had been holding, then she went inside the hotel.

From the car, Cillian had practically turned over the backseat not wanting to get her out of his sight, not wanting to let go of the time they had shared, not wanting to let go of her.

Ela only had energy left to remove her makeup, then she crashed into the bed as soon as she touched it, fell into a deep sleep dreaming about blue eyes sparkling with sunlight but then the dream progressed into some particularly strong hands running on her low back, grabbing her firmly, she could feel kisses on the base of her neck working their way to her clavicle, she felt tightness in her core that was getting to be too much and woke up suddenly in a heavy sweat gasping a little not quite remembering the dream.

Ela looked around for her phone and noticed it was almost 2 pm, her belly grumbled; she felt pretty okay, not hungover, only hungry and her legs did feel tired from the dancing, so perhaps lunch would be a good idea, then she realized she had many unanswered texts since the day before, with all the excitement she barely pulled out her phone.

She texted her family back, told a couple of friends what she had been up to without revealing details about her companions or anything like that, it'd probably be too much too soon to start discussing any of the sorts, then she noticed a few unknown numbers had texted her.

-Hey Ela it's Sophie, Nat and I were wondering if you'd like to come over to her place for supper Sunday around 7:30 pm? Text me :)

That was so nice of them, of course, she'd join them.

-Hey Sophie, it'd be a pleasure, send me the location, and I'll see you there :3

-I hope you sleep well, I wanna take you to breakfast Sunday morning, I'll pick you up, does 9 am sound alright? - Cill

Ela's heart did a heavy backward flip, and she slammed into the bed again looking at the ceiling, holding the phone close to her chest, holding back pretty unsuccessfully a little excited cry, but standing up and pacing around the room to calm her nerves. The fact that he had sent the text about an hour after them departing also excited her, as if he had to do it before sleeping it off.

-Hey, I did get a lot of rest, did you?

Sounds good, I'll wait in the lobby for you :3

After the excitement she experienced, she thought a good long shower would do her good, so she did exactly that getting ready to get out, after getting dressed she noticed that in all UK fashion it was raining, so she went to get her raincoat and umbrella from the closet and she caught sight of the armchair near the bed where Cillian's coat sat, she held it close and it smelled like him, but also had impregnated with her perfume, both their smells matched beautifully, and without wanting to be too wrapped around the idea, but not wanting to let go she wore it instead of the raincoat and headed for the door, she almost felt hugged by him, it was heavy and warm, and it felt nice on her skin.

While having lunch Ela and Cillian kept texting each other the whole afternoon.

-Yes, oh god I had the greatest bath and slept like a baby when I got home, I was so tired after all that dancing

-Hahahahhaha same, it had been a veeeeeery long time since I partied until the early hours of the morning

-Is that right? I would have thought you go out more often than not, at least more than us

-No way, I wouldn't be able to keep up with that lifestyle, I'm so tired right now, my legs still hurt from all the dancing

-You're a great dancer by the way

-Thanks, it must be the Latina in me

-Hahaha most likely, everyone couldn't stop looking at you

-Really? I didn't notice, I was having such a good time

-Well, I'm glad you had an evening to remember, actually, I'm so glad you and Paul met, and we got to know you, it's been a treat

-Likewise, it was such a surprise when I met you all, felt like a dream since I've admired your work for such a long time, but then realizing you were all so normal and kind was even better

-Yeah, just your normal Pals, everyone is outstandingly calm, no primadonnas out here, we're actually pretty boring to tell you the truth

-Hahahahha that I can't believe, especially not after that night out

-Hahahahah Maybe you're right, we do have our moments, Hey I have a question about what you said

-What's that?

-You said you admired the work for a long time, you meant only the show, or have you followed some of our careers too?

PANIC! passed over Ela's mind as a huge red banner set on fire at the question, she didn't want to answer that, or she'd have to cover up the truth for it to not sound as creepy as she potentially could.

Oh god, she didn't think he'd catch that, maybe he'd think she was speaking in general, but not ask directly about it. Oh god, she better answered fast before it got weird.

-Uhm yeah, to some of you I've followed career-wise more than others over the years

-Gotcha, so whose work are you more familiarized with Cillian was genuinely interested since Paul had told him that Ela not only had some pretty interesting ideas about the show itself but on film, she not only talked about story or plotlines, but she had also discussed a little with him about frames, photography, soundtracks, even lightning, which was interesting for someone who was not in the business or didn't seem to have any formal study or experience with it.

In the meantime, Ela believed she was gonna come out as a freak answering that question, she would have rather not to reveal that information, but there was no pretty way to cover it up, and in fact, honesty would be the best policy, she just hoped he didn't believe she had any ulterior motives talking to him, when in fact she didn't, so she'd just keep it real.

-Yours actually... I think I've seen most of the projects you've been in She sent the response and noticed he was taking more than usual to reply, she felt sad, she had screwed things up by being honest, and somehow she didn't regret it, he'd find out eventually that she had been a true fan of his for a really long time, and she hadn't done anything wrong, maybe coming clear was better, she didn't want to hide anything. She paid for lunch and made her way to the hotel walking slowly and putting the phone in the coat's inside pocket.

About 4 blocks from the hotel, she felt it vibrate and couldn't help the need to pull it out and see then and there what he had replied.

Yours actually...

Cillian had honestly been surprised by her answer, he for sure thought she'd say she had been following Hardy's work since it was a bit more known, he had been more famous and his presence in the States had helped with popularity, but the fact that she knew his work more was at least surprising. For a split second, he did wonder if that meant she was getting close to him for that reason, but he immediately disregarded it, she hadn't behaved in that way at all, and he was not about to get paranoid over something that had not happened.

Besides, if that was the reason she would have brought it up somehow earlier or she would have acted differently, but he had been the one to raise the subject, she hadn't asked about the work itself, hadn't asked any personal questions per se, actually it seemed she was careful trying not to ask those thinking along the same lines of not coming out as nosey, and didn't seem she was looking for anything in return other than getting to know him, and what if she knew him for his work? he had been in a few famous projects, it was normal she saw at least those or a bunch more if she was truly passionate about film and TV, their meeting had been unexpected and she was being honest from the beginning. He realized he had no problem with it.

-Cool, I'm curious, which one did you like the most? Paul told me you were familiarized with filmmaking terminology, maybe we can talk about it over breakfast😊

With that reply Ela's heavy heart came back to life, maybe he had been taken off guard by her honesty, but he seemed alright with it.

-Lol I'll let you know tomorrow, I hope we have better weather too, seems unlikely tho

-You're out right now with this rain on a Sunday afternoon? It's too wet!

Ela laughed at his statement, how could someone from the UK ever complain so much about the weather, wasn't he accustomed to it by now living there most of his life? and wasn't it a bit of a national treasure?

-Of course! I was hungry and not in the mood for room service, besides, I've got a great coat to protect me from the cold and she took a quick selfie winking where the coat and umbrella were visible.

Cillian stared lovingly at the picture, she looked beautiful, happy, spontaneous, joyful, and the coat did actually suit her.

-Hahahahahaha great coat, wherever did you get it?

-Oh, you know, a handsome fella lent it to me recently, such a gentlemanly thing to do really She did hesitate to send the text with the word handsome in it, but fuck it, it wasn't a big deal nor a lie.

Cillian blushed a little when he read her reply, of course, those words coming from Ela made him feel different. Excited.

-Well perhaps this chap thinks it suits you so well it shouldn't be a loan anymore, maybe he wants you to keep it

She smiled happily reading the text, he was amazing, but she wanted to be a bit playful.

-Those are a lot of assumptions, how did you come up with that?

She could be cocky, Cillian liked it, but he also liked her knowing he could break it up to her bluntly.

-Because you look happy and beautiful. If I were the chap, that's what I'd think Now Ela blushed, he could be direct and cocky too, she was getting to like that side a lot, but it takes two to tango and nobody could overthrow her in this game.

-Very well you might be right, in that case, I'll make sure to thank this man properly the next time I see him

After sending the text she got a bit worried she was getting into a bit much of a compromising situation, but in all honestly, she didn't care as much, no crime was being committed.

She is something else entirely, God she's great Cillian thought while texting back and knowing she had won that round.

-I'm sure he'll like it.

When Ela got back to her room, she was even happier than when she left a couple of hours earlier. It felt good and natural to flirt with Cillian, in all honesty, she felt a bit uncomfortable at times but it was because the whole wife subject ran in the back of her mind if they were gonna continue to be like this she'd definitely prepare her lady balls to ask him about that matter, but for now, she would just relish in her new found confidence and how nice her chest tingled with getting to know him, trifling with him a little, but since she was still pretty tired about last night's events she decided to take another long hot shower and get under the covers to watch a movie, by the end of it, she didn't even want to have dinner, so decided against it, set a timer for 7 am next morning and fell into a heavy sleep, dreaming once again of sparkling blue eyes illuminated beautifully by the early morning sky, without knowing that miles away that same man was dreaming of mixed lavender lights brightening her honey eyes while an inviting sweet fragrance washed over him passionately.