L.W.T.B.B Copyright © 2012-2015 xXMopelXx All Rights Reserved.

Rewritten version of this chapter posted - September 4th 2015.

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{ Chapter 10 } : The Sherlock Holmes Feeling

This was by far one of the most awkward experiences ever.

Layla was all nerves and Joshua was fidgety. It must have something to do with mine and Gabby's scrutinizing gazes.

It wasn't our fault - Layla had wanted Joshua to meet her best friends. Now he was meeting them. Other than the last meeting where we unceremoniously bumped into each other at Layla's front porch, this was the first time we were all forced to carry out a conversation. Willingly.

"What are your plans regarding our best friend?" Right off the bat, Gabriela asked straight-up with no shame whatsoever.

Joshua choked on his drink and Layla straightened beside him, sucking in a sharp breath.

A couple of bystanders passed, then paused when they realized we were having lunch in the courtyard with Joshua freakin' Brown.

Girls stared at Layla with hate and jealousy, disappointed that Northwind's womanizer was settling down , while guys looked pure smug at the thought of having more ladies to themselves. Apparently no one wanted to share Joshua's leftovers.

We also made it clear to Joshua in the first two minutes of our meeting that if Layla became one of his leftovers... there one only be a leftover of his d*ick. Chopped remains that we'd feed to Gabriela's well-loved bulldog, Diego.

"I like her," Joshua burst out, and people stopped close to us. "I-I l-like Layla. Have liked her for awhile now."

Beside him, Layla's eyes lowered and she fought a smile. Joshua grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze underneath the table.

"You won't hurt her, right?" I whispered so quietly that I surprised myself. I don't know why I blurted that out.

At that moment, it felt like my next breath depended on his answer.

Josh's eyes sought mine and what I saw in them confirmed my thoughts. "Never."

Layla blushed and looked at her boyfriend with a mixture of awe and love-sick puppy.

"Good," Gabriela said for all of us. "And tell me how long you've been serious about her?"

He looked down at his girlfriend with adoration. Layla had all but wrapped herself against his huge arm.

"Since the first moment I laid eyes on her."

Gabby glanced at me and our mouths morphed into matching mush-filled grins.

Joshua was serious about her. The more we saw them interacting with each other, the more we realized that they honest-to-God cared for each other. The way he'd randomly brush aside a stray strand of hers, or the way she'd trace the pad of her fingertips over the veins of his forearms.

It would take me time to get used to seeing them together - like everything that was new in my life. I was adapting to a lot of things. But at least now I knew Joshua was in it for real.

I admired him a little more now because he answered every single one of our questions without batting a lash. He didn't waver under our purposely crazy-created demeanor. He was desperate to make a good impression.

Underneath the table, Gabby and I fist-bumped. He was passing the best-friend-boyfriend test.

"Enough of this intervention. Change of subject." Layla said with a soft smile playing on her lips. She leaned her chin on her fist and looked at Josh. "Baby, tell them about your college plans."

Gabby knocked my foot under the table when Layla referred to him with that specific term of endearment. I was turning red from holding my laugh.

"I'm going to major in law and maybe do a minor in psychology." Joshua said this proudly and with lots of pride.

"Wonderful." Gabriela clapped her hands once. "Never knew footballers were so smart."

Now I knocked her stupid foot and shared a glare with Layla at what she said. Gabby played the asswipe now, just to see how far he could bend.

"S-Sorry?" Joshua spluttered, eyebrows drawn together. "What d-do you mean?"

Great. He was stuttering. Awesome, Gabby.

"Gabby, what a silly thing to say!" Layla shrilled and forced a laugh as she kicked Gabby under the table. Discreetly. Or as discreetly as she could manage.

I tried to quickly change the subject. "So how's football going, Josh? I know a new season is coming up."

It failed. Realization sunk into Josh's features and he turned to Gabriela. "Oh. Because I'm a jock, you mean?"

Gabby was testing him, I knew. That's why she openly insulted him.

"Well." He scratched his head, not looking offended as I thought he would. "Contrary to popular beliefs, some of us are really smart. Like my friend Hunter. He's the quarterback of the Panthers and has a GPA that would really put some of the science enthusiasts at our school to shame."

Those words took the light out of Gabby. She stiffened and her face slowly drained of color, blanching.

Joshua did pass her test. A big part of being Gabby's friend meant that you had to be able to take her humor and attitude like a man. That also meant that if she insulted you - and she really didn't mean it - you'd have to be able to dish it back just as good. He passed with really great flying colors.

"Yeah," Layla interjected. "Hunter is awesome. You guys should meet him."

Joshua beamed at us. "Hey - next time we have lunch together, I'll make sure to invite him over. He's great."

No doubt Gabriela knew how awesome and great he was.

I grinned wickedly towards Gabby. The sudden urge to mess with her poked at me. "Oh, yeah. That sounds great. I bet we all have so much in common, right? Gabby, you love science."

She delivered me a look that could easily freeze and shrivel my lady balls.

Josh seemed so happy now that we were including his friends. "I'll invite Sam, too. I'm sure you girls have heard of him. He's quite popular around here and plays on the football team, too."

The joke was on me. My grin slipped off my face. Gabby looked at me smugly.

"Of course," Gabby drawled darkly. "Samuel Adams, huh? Anna and him are well acquainted. They'll have no problem hitting it off."

I wanted to kill her. Murder her with the plastic knife that was sitting in front of me.

Joshua looked hopeful. "Really?"

"Yes," she continued evilly. "I believe they went out for drinks once. Was it... Pepsi?"

I gritted my teeth. Gabby nodded challengingly. "You've got the wrong guy, Gabriela."

"Do I?"

My eyes narrowed. "On second thought, I think you're a bigger fan of math, right?"

The corners of her mouth raised in victory. "Math it is. And you're right. I think I confused him for someone else. My bad."

The couple in front of was lost, but we didn't clarify anything to them. It would be pointless. Gabby didn't like being reminded of Hunter and I didn't like being reminded of Samuel.

Josh coughed in his fist then ran his fingers through his short-cropped muddy brown hair. "Anyways, I was telling Layla earlier today that a friend of mine was having a party this weekend... if you girls are interested. You can all come over and meet all my friends."

Ready to refuse his offer, because shit, I didn't want to meet any of his friends, Gabriela opened her mouth and beat me to it.

"You and your boys sure party a lot, huh?" she mussed at a flustered Josh. Then sent him a playful wink for good measures. "I'm just kidding. Text us the name and address, and we'll be there."

I gathered my books quickly and started shoving them in my bag. Over Josh's shoulder, I saw some of his friends entering the courtyard. If he was there, then I didn't want to be here to see him. "I think I'll pass, guys. I have so much work to do this weekend. Thanks for the offer though. I'll for sure come next time."

"Not all of his friends we'll be there, Anna," Layla murmured quietly and gave me a patronizing expression. She knew. Knew what a terrible experience I'd had at the last party. By his friends, she definitely meant beer boy. "You can still come."

My throat worked. "I-It's all right, Lay." But no one heard me. Joshua and Gabriela fell into a conversation that was about something irrelevant to me at the current moment.

Then my miracle from Friday night popped in front of me.

"Hey, man. Where you been? We searched everywhere for you." Hunter clapped Joshua behind the back and Sam stood next to him, arms crossed over that massive chest with a stoic look on his face. He didn't' once look at me.

My shoulders sagged. He called me a cold hearted bitch. He meant it. He was fucking right, too. I continued stuffing my books in my purse, but now my movements were angry and jerky.

"I'm having lunch with my girlfriend and her friends." Joshua smiled like a gentleman and motioned a hand in front of us. "Guys, meet Anna and Gabriela."

No one said a word. It got awkward. Really, really awkward.

I broke the silence and waved at Hunter. Only Hunter. "Hey. Nice to meet you."

He chin-jutted at me and gave me the dreamiest smile ever. Automatically I understood what Gabby saw in him. Cute guy with the perfect tan and even more perfect onyx unruly curls. His body looked like it was made of bricks but he had the sweetest vibe to him. That, and the fact that he looked like he needed to shave. The facial hair looked perfect on his squared jaw.

"Hey," Gabby mumbled so quietly that it was barely audible. She never once looked at Hunter. His face fell when she didn't acknowledged him.

The tension was so thick; like a cloud of smoke in the air. To spite me, I'm sure, Samuel stuck his hand out for only Gabby to shake. She gave him a real smile and he sat down on the bench next to her, quickly starting up a conversation with her. His move pissed me off. I sprang up.

"I've got to go," I said to no one in particular. Hunter stopped ruffling Layla's hair playfully to look at me. "I'll catch you guys around."

And I darted across the courtyard before anyone could realize the turmoil I was in. The entire time, I felt Sam's eyes burning holes in my back.

* * *

I wasn't babysitting tonight so I went home late.

Mom was at the stove-top, cooking dinner, and Michael was in the kitchen, finishing up his homework. Since I'd already gotten my assignments done in the extra hour I spent at the school library, I decided to go ahead and help him wrap up.

We ate dinner as a family and mom quietly broke the news.

"He moved in today, you know." Her forkful of pasta stayed poised in the air as she spoke.

Michael was making engine sounds as he drove his hot wheels car along the table. I forcefully shoveled two bites of spaghetti into his mouth.

"Who are you talking about?" I wasn't paying attention to her. I was concentrated on cleaning the tomato sauce off Michael's face; he'd gotten it all over his cheeks.

"Tiffany's son," she said. "He came in today right after school but you weren't home. I was going to give him the basement and the room downstairs but I decided to give him the guest room right across from yours. I want to keep an eye on him and make sure he feels welcomed."

"Oh." I took a sip of my iced water. "That was nice of you. Has he settled in; is Tiffany all right?"

She nodded and sighed deeply. "Her flight was in the morning. I hope everything works out for her."

"Why'd she leave anyway?"

"I don't know the full story but it has something to do with her ex-husband. They're quarreling over some kind of papers and properties. She's flying in today and will be in Florida for the next three weeks. Said she'd let me know if her trip was to get extended."

That sucked. I can only imagine what it would be like to face your ex for so long. "Let me know if I can do anything, mom."

Michael had run off into the living room because he 'wasn't hungry' anymore. Before I could get up and go after him, Mom stopped me.

She had a mischievous look on her face. "Well, for starters you can start by welcoming him, Anna."

I arched an eyebrow and sat back down, finishing the rest of my pasta. "What's his name?"

"Rafael." My mom sighed dreamily and twirled her fork in the air. "Anna, you need to see him. He's a sight. Boy, if I was younger..."

I cringed. "Ew, mom. Disguting. Grow up!"

Mom laughed, obviously teasing me. She raised her hands up defensively. "Once you see him, Anna, you'll understand what I mean. He's so tall and he has the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. I have no doubt you'll find him charming."

"Ha. Ha. Ha," I deadpanned. "You're so funny."

She sobered up once her laugh died. "No, but seriously, I do want you to welcome him home. He seems like a sweet guy and Tiffany is a wonderful woman. Something about him was sad today and I just want him to feel at home for the next few weeks. And if I'm not mistaken, his mom told me he goes to Northwind High. He's a senior. Chances are you've already seen him."

I tried to wrack my brain for any Rafael's and I came short. "Don't know of any Rafael's, mom. But I'll make sure to say hello to him later tonight."

She picked up the dishes and gathered them at the sink. "Oh, he's out right now. Said he had a few errands to run but he'd be back by tonight. You could always see him then."

"I guess I'll just have to do that." I picked up my dirty dishes and loaded them in the dishwasher with the rest of the things.

I wouldn't lie; something about this guy had piqued my curiosity.

* * *

For the rest of the night, I remained on the sofa watching TV. My plan was to stay awake while Michael and mom went to sleep, so I could welcome the new guy. Unfortunately I could barely keep my eyelids cracked open. I drifted off somewhere around eleven pm with the lights closed.

He must have had keys. I heard the jingle before the front door creaked open. There was no energy in my tired limbs to sit up so I remained sprawled, eyes barely open. I registered padding footsteps.

Then it was like someone hovered over me, watching me. For a long, long time.

I couldn't move. I think I mumbled an incoherent greeting but it sounded like gurgles.

I was immediately enveloped in warmness as the stranger draped the folded afghan resting on the couch over me. I felt the fabric being tucked around me, cocooning me, creating a safety net, before I completely knocked out.

In the morning, every muscle was stiff. I groaned as I sat up. When I went upstairs, the door to my mom and Michael's room was still closed, meaning they were still sleeping. It was only five-thirty am.

The door to the room across from mine was left ajar. I thought I'd wait a couple of hours before going in and saying hello... but if the door was open, then he had to be awake, right? There was also the fact that I was getting impatient. I wanted to see what he looked like.

I fixed my rattled appearance and ran my fingers a few times through my hair. Last night he came in and put that afghan on me. I'd use that as an excuse to go in and thank him.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked twice on the door, despite it being unlocked. There was no response so I lightly pushed open the door with my knuckles. I stepped inside.

There was a pillow on the guest bed and a disheleved tartan. A suitcase and a duffel bag - still unpacked - rested on the floor. I guess he didn't have the time to settle in yesterday.

I was going to leave when something blinking on the study desk caught my attention. It was an phone. Who even left their phone back home? He obviously wasn't in the house.

I neared and saw the phone light up numerous times. I felt uncomfortable the second I saw the beginning of a text from Joshua Brown illuminating the screen.

Maybe I did know the guy after all.

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A/N: So I'm updating fairly quickly I have no idea what's happening lol. Anyways, LEAVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS B/C I LOVE HEARING THEM! Who do you think is 'Rafael'? I feel like this can't get anymore obvious. And about Gabby and Hunter? Sam and Anna? Anything that caught your attention!