Stella, Karen, Graham, and Warren sat in the studio as they watched Daisy play the new song she wrote, "Regret Me."

Stella had a feeling it had been about Billy due to the lyrics and her suspicions were only confirmed when Billy walked into the room with his guitar, a less than happy expression on his face.

"Hey," Warren smiled once Daisy finished playing and Stella sent her a few claps while sending Billy a glare.

"I wrote one for you this time," Daisy told him as she got up and handed him a piece of paper with the lyrics on it.

Billy grabbed it and read some of the lyrics. "This isn't going on the album," he stated.

"Why?" Daisy asked, tilting her head to the side.

"We agreed to write everything together," Billy came up with an excuse.

"You wrote 'More Fun to Miss' without me, right? That's going on the album," Daisy pointed out.

"Yeah, well, this is different."

"Why?"

"'Cause I say it is, that's why."

"Show of hands. Who thinks this song should go on the album?" Daisy questioned as she backed up from Billy, holding her hand up while Warren chuckled awkwardly.

"I do," Stella immediately said, raising her hand. Billy rolled her eyes at her but she didn't care.

Karen then let out a scoff and raised her hand slowly, causing Billy to give her a look. "It's a good song, Billy." She let her hand drop. "Isn't that what we're all here for?" She reasoned.

Warren raised his hand. "She's right, man. It's-It's good," he agreed.

Teddy then raised his hand from inside the booth, making Billy place the piece of paper down and to put his guitar on the floor. "This is bullshit," he commented, walking away.

"See ya," Daisy wiggled her fingers at him, causing Stella to snort.

"Hey, where you going?" Warren called out.

"Oh, come on, Billy," Karen groaned, but Billy didn't listen as he walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.

"Should we run through it?" Daisy queried, a satisfied look on her face.

"Yeah. We need Eddie, though," Graham reminded her since he hadn't been in the room yet.

"I'll go find him," Stella quickly said for some reason before she left the room, shaking her head at herself. "I'll go find him? Stella, what the hell do you think you're—"

"Whoa!" Eddie yelped once the both of them rounded the corner at the same time, bumping into each other. "Oh, shit, Stella."

"Yeah, it's me," Stella dryly spoke as he pretended to play cool, smoothing down her clothes he had ruffled a bit. "You're needed in the recording room. Daisy has a new song."

"Okay, that's great, but I've been meaning to talk to you," he told her, sucking in a breath.

Stella let out a sigh. "Eddie, I don't—"

"Please," he cut her off desperately. "Just please hear me out."

Stella thought about it for a moment. She had been so conflicted ever since the two of them made out in the movie theater bathroom and she didn't know what to think or feel. Maybe this conversation will help me figure it out, she thought, thinking optimistically since she was getting a bit lonely without talking to Eddie as much anymore.

Sure, she had Karen, Warren, Graham, Daisy and Camila (whenever she was free from her child), but she just had a different bond with Eddie she couldn't name.

"Alright, fine," she let up and Eddie immediately grabbed her wrist. "Whoa!" She shouted, not expecting that as he tugged her toward the closet with the old records. He then turned the light on and shut the door behind them. "Is this necessary?"

"Yes," he replied and she sighed. "Just hear me out and let me finish what I'm about to say, okay?"

"Eddie," she began apprehensively, not sure if she wanted to hear what he was about to say for the sake of her own feelings.

"Please, Stell," he pleaded and Stella couldn't say no to the look on his face so she let up and nodded. "You've been my friend for a while now. Hell, you're probably my best friend apart from Warren, but don't tell him I said that." Stella chuckled, although it was more of a nervous chuckle. "But after spending so much time with you, I realized that maybe I haven't been liking you as just a friend."

✯✯✯

EDDIE: I thought I totally effed everything up by saying that (chuckles and shakes head). But I knew I needed to say what I said.

STELLA: I honestly didn't know what to say.

✯✯✯

He paused to see her reaction, expecting her to start talking even though he asked her not but she didn't speak anyway. She just didn't know what to say after hearing him say that out loud.

"And then when we kissed at the movie theater...it changed everything. And I know you said it wasn't a big deal and we should get over it, but I just can't," he admitted. "I don't think you have either," he added after a moment and Stella glanced away, knowing he was right. "I'm not trying to be a dick and force you to do anything, but I think you've been pushing the feeling away because we've only been friends. Do you think that may be true?"

Again, Stella didn't answer as she thought about what to say. He let out a sigh. "Look, if you just wanna be friends, I respect that. But I just thought I'd tell you to get all my feelings out there," he told her before he pursed his lips, getting ready to walk out the door.

"Why?" She ended up asking, making him stop to look at her in confusion. "Why the sudden urge to tell me all this?"

Eddie glanced away, thinking back to last night's events that made him realize why he needed to do this. "Because I don't think I'd be able to live with myself or stay in this band if I wasn't able to talk to you the same way anymore," he answered, and it wasn't even a lie either. "I can't not talk to you, Stell. You're the only person here who...gets me."

Stella's mouth parted at his response, never hearing a man say anything like that to her before. She had her fair share of stupid boyfriends but she never felt the same way she did when she was around Eddie. He treated her like she was everything to him, and maybe she was.

He went to go leave again since she hadn't said anything but she grabbed his hand, pulling her toward him. "Eddie...I think I feel the same way about you," she finally said and a smile made its way up to his face, practically making her melt since he was one of the prettiest smiles she had ever seen.

"I just couldn't admit it to myself because I didn't want to ruin the band and-and our friendship," she continued, slowly letting go of his hand. "But if you feel the same, then maybe...maybe we could do something about us."

"So...you're saying you'd wanna be together?" He queried, not believing it to be true.

She began to nod and he let out a shocked laugh, immediately reaching up to her face and pulling her lips towards his. She didn't fight back and instead allowed herself to melt into the kiss, the same rush she felt when they first kissed at the theater.

But then she pulled away, realizing she had to set some boundaries. "Okay, wait. Before we go out there all giddy, I should probably tell you that I think it's a good idea if we keep our relationship a secret for now," she brought up, thinking back to what Karen had said about her and Graham.

✯✯✯

STELLA: I did tell Karen right after we finished recording, though (laughs).

KAREN: It was safe to say I wasn't surprised when Stella told me (smirks). I could see the sexual tension as if they were heat waves.

✯✯✯

Eddie's smile faltered ever so slightly. "What? Why?"

"It's just...if it ever gets out into the media, I don't want people calling me a whore or saying I'm only successful because of a man," she explained. "And I also don't want the band to look at us differently, you know?"

Eddie nodded. "I get that," he replied and she grinned, glad he didn't fight her on it. "Just as long as I'm able to spend time with you alone, I'll do whatever you say."

Stella tilted her head at his adoration for her, finding it incredibly cute. "Now...let's go face the music. Literally."

"Wait. Just one more kiss?" He begged and she laughed before nodding, allowing him to kiss her lips before the two exited the closet and back to the recording room.

When they walked in, everyone looked toward them. "There you guys are!" Daisy shouted, the most impatient out of all of them since she wanted to record her new song right away. "What took so long?"

Stella glanced over at Karen, who was wearing a knowing expression on her face. "I couldn't find him and he ended up being in the bathroom the whole time," she lied, sending Eddie a teasing look.

Eddie scoffed at her, unable to shove down the smile on his face. "Seriously, Stella? You gotta expose me like that?" He questioned, going along with the lie.

She shrugged, sending a wink in his direction that he could only see. "Okay, well, get your guitars because I wanna record the song ASAP!" Daisy directed.

Without Billy, the band started to run through playing the song with Daisy leading the way. "Great," she said to Graham as he played the lead guitar before turning to Eddie. "Um, do whatever the fuck you want," she told him and he nodded, pleased with that.

The whole band was able to do whatever they wanted apart from the actual music they had to play, but they loved it. It was nice to having Billy boss them around.

As Stella played her rhythm guitar and Eddie played bass, they couldn't stop themselves from practically staring at one another the whole time.

✯✯✯

STELLA: You know, I'm honestly surprised no one found out about us sooner.

INTERVIEWER: So this is you confirming the relationship?

EDDIE: Yeah. Guess so.

STELLA: Yes.

INTERVIEWER: Why did you want to keep it a secret for so long?

STELLA: (laughs out loud) There is so much more that no one knows. This isn't even the tip of the iceberg.

EDDIE: (stares downward guiltily).

✯✯✯

DAISY: And that's how we ended the "Aurora" sessions (smiles).

GRAHAM: We had a three-week break before rehearsals started.

WARREN: I-I charted a boat and I sailed down to Mexico with these, these two sets of identical twins...

EDDIE: I stayed around with Stella. Since we were keeping our relationship a secret for now, we'd wait until everyone had been out of the house to, you know, do our own thing (smiles nostalgically).

STELLA: Those three weeks were probably the happiest I'd been in a while. It was nice, just Eddie and I (sucks in a breath and purses lips).

KAREN: I don't think we did anything actually (raises eyebrows knowingly).

DAISY: I knew I should've been happy. I'd made something I was proud of. And we were about to head out on our first U.S. tour. But when the drugs wore off and the adrenaline faded, all I could hear was my mother's voice telling me I wasn't worth anything.

authors note
sorry this took so long!
i spent the whole week
studying for my apush exam
but i just had it yesterday
so that's why i had time to update
today!!! i hope you all enjoyed
this chapter and stella and
eddie r finally together yessss!
but ik a lot of people r gonna
be mad at me with the future
updates...