It was later now, much later and Astrid was still in his house, in his bed, under his covers with his hand slowly rubbing circles on her waist.

Calm and tranquil, the day passed by and they hardly even noticed. People were out and about, whether it was to work or just to be out of the house for the day.

Astrid wished that could be them, she wanted so much more than the four walls of his London flat.

But they couldn't have that.

She knew this, they'd had this conversation before, a few times.

The first time she'd suggested they leave the warmth of his flat was simply to nip to the corner shop, she was in a sugary mood and just wanted some sweets to calm her over, but even at the small request, George suggested she went alone just in case there were fans about to spot them.

She hadn't liked the idea of walking through London alone at midnight, so he went for her, even messaging her photos of the sweet aisle so she could take her pick. It seemed ridiculously complicated for a pack of sweets, but if George thought that was the best way she'd go along with it, never wanting to make him uncomfortable.

The second time was just for lunch, it was a rare hot day in September, maybe the last of the year and Astrid would have rather walked to McDonald's for food than order in again, but George again denied, on the deliveroo app as he shook his head.

It started to get annoying when he wouldn't even offer anything more than her turning up at his house for a few hours at a time before leaving with a little less stress, but more to think about.

A little part of her wished they had met under normal standards. That they were two normal people in a world of normal people, to be able to walk through the streets holding hands and laughing without a worry of who would see them. Wished that he'd introduced her to his friends and show her off, let people know that she was his, that people could look but not touch.

But it had never been like that.

He would purposely hide her away, all but pull her into his flat and into his bed where nobody could see them, all the while mixing her mind with careful touches and sweet words that only she would ever know about.

Astrid didn't need to be shown off, she didn't need the whole internet knowing her business and putting their two cents into her relationship, but being able to tell her friends where she was going most nights would be better than nothing.

And now, the third time she asked him to leave the house for less than an hour to maybe walk her home rather than putting her in an Uber and not thinking about her till the next day, he still denied the offer.

"After Sapnaps stream I doubt anything I do for the next year won't trend on Twitter," he explained carefully, his voice quiet as he spoke close to her ear, her back feeling his chest rise and fall as they laid together, "everything I do will be scrutinised, just need to be more careful for a bit"

She wanted to scoff, 'careful' as if their whole situation wasn't careful.

"Yeah..." she whispered back, "I get that"

The conversation finished there, tension in the air, at least she could feel it.

It always seemed to be Astrid bringing up the conversation of going out, whereas George advocated for their secrecy, after all, it was his idea to not tell anybody about them.

Which was fine, she understood and that was okay with her, she was completely happy with their situation...

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Written: 13th July 2022

Published: 14th July 2022

I'm finally back, longest two weeks of my life wth