Days passed, and it was becoming more and more risky for Joseph and me to sleep in each other's rooms. Before school started, the rest of the Moore's often slept in later, meaning either of us could sneak out early and no one knew a thing. But now that everyone was getting up earlier, it was harder to make it back to our own rooms before the rest of the house woke. But at the same time, being rebellious and risky felt so... exciting. It made me feel alive.

We still hadn't had had the house to ourselves, and it was getting extremely frustrating. Every suggestive glance Joseph sent my way when his family weren't looking had my heart beating faster and my toes curling. I was positive he was doing it on purpose, and it was pissing me off, so I'd made it my mission to tease him as much as possible. I'd been wearing some of my skimpier pyjamas to bed – which tormented him to no end – and I'd been subtly touching him a lot when others were around. All this and I was pretty sure the Moore family had no idea. At least, I really hoped they didn't.

I'd had the last weekend off of work at Melissa's due to the wedding, so I was working both Saturday and Sunday this week. Ever since that morning at the Moore's house, Millie had become a lot more tolerable, and she'd also become an unlikely friend-type person. She hadn't exactly apologised for being bitchy to me at first, but being apologetic wasn't really in her nature. Which was fine. I felt like I... understood her more now. Millie had known Joseph for a long time, and she was protective over him – while liking him at the same time. I guessed it was hard for her, liking him so much and him not returning the feelings. That would be hard for anybody.

My friend Grace at Melissa's was surprised by the change in dynamic, and she'd taken it upon herself to make more of an effort with Millie, seeing the improvement in our relationship. She'd even admitted to me that when you got to know Millie, she wasn't that bad. Blunt and a little outspoken maybe, but her honesty was refreshing. Most of the time.

It was a busy day at Melissa's. The sun was beating down despite it being the beginning of October, and customers were forming a queue that stretched to the outside of the building. We were all rushing around, shouting orders and brewing coffees, giving us no time to chat with each other as we worked. Although occasionally as she breezed past, Millie would make comments about the customers to me, or she would tell me brief snippets of the various boys in her life. Apparently crushing on Joseph didn't stop her from dating other guys – sometimes a few at once. I wasn't judging her, I was actually impressed.

When it began to quieten down as the afternoon wore on, Joseph appeared in Melissa's. He was with a couple of friends – two of them were Callum and the girl from the beach, whose name I couldn't remember, and Connor was with them. His friends went to sit down, Connor giving me a wave which I returned. Joseph came up to me at the till, the briefest of grimaces crossing his face at Connor's gesture. I held back a smile.

"Hey," he said, his expression relaxing. His bruise had faded to a yellow-brown colour. He'd told me that his parents had asked, but had accepted the vague fight explanation. "How's work?"

I shrugged. "It was busy earlier. Fine now. Me and Millie have been bonding."

Joseph made a face. "I don't quite know how I feel about that."

"Hey, Joey!" Millie appeared. Still using that nickname. "How are you?"

It was a genuine smile that Joseph gave Millie. "I'm okay, how are you?"

"I'm great. Did you want anything?" She beamed at him.

"Uh, yeah. Connor wanted an americano, Phoebe wanted a latte, and Callum wanted a cappuccino. I'll have an americano as well."

Millie looked over at Joseph's friends. "Oh! Let me go and say hi to everyone." She made her way over to them, calling back to me, "Can you do that?"

I shook my head but got going on making all the coffees.

"So," Joseph said, leaning his elbows on the counter. "I got a job."

I whipped my head around, a smile making its way onto my face. "You did? Joseph, that's so great!" I wanted to go and hug him, but... I couldn't. "What job?"

"Bartender at Red Sailor. I applied a while ago and didn't get it, but the person they gave it to got drunk on the job. So they fired him and gave it to me." Joseph was smiling.

I finished one coffee and put it down in front of Joseph. "Bartender, huh? Bet that'll be more fun than Melissa's."

"Are you disappointed?" I turned from making another coffee to see Joseph looking at me with a twinkle in his eye. "That I'm not going to be working here?"

I put my finger to my chin and pretended to think about it. "Hmm... no. I'll be okay. Millie might be upset, though."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Whatever." I finished with the next coffee and put it on the counter. Joseph lowered his voice. "My parents and Alice are going out this evening."

My eyes snapped up to meet his. "Oh really?"

"Mm." Joseph's gaze darted to my lips. "A thing for Alice's dance. I don't know what exactly. All I heard was that they were going out and I stopped listening after that."

I bit on my lip to keep from smiling. "Sounds like selective hearing to me."

"Maybe. All your teasing has been killing me all week," he said quietly. "So my mind has become a little more... attentive, to certain things."

A slow blush started on my cheeks. "Has it now."

"Yes. And I completely blame you."

I gave Joseph an innocent smile over my shoulder as I made the final coffee. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't." He braced his hands on the edge of the counter and leaned forward. "You didn't know what you were doing in those tiny pyjamas of yours. Just like you didn't know what you were doing in your red underwear."

I set the last coffee down in front of him. "I think we should make that into a drinking game. You know, 'do a shot every time Joseph brings up the time Lily drunkenly ran around in her underwear'." I tapped on the screen of the till. "Thirteen pounds fifty."

Joseph tapped his card on the machine. "I'll stop bringing it up when you stop torturing me."

I shook my head at him. "So melodramatic."

He smirked at me and picked the coffees on a tray. "I'll see you tonight."

I watched him as he went back to sit with his friends. I guessed him and Callum were back being on good terms again – Joseph told me he'd been mad at him for a while, about Alice. He was laughing with his friends, so different to his demeanour when he was at home. It made me feel so sad for him – how miserable he always seemed around his parents. But it wasn't my business.

"Well, well, well," came Grace's voice as she appeared. "Glad I finished my break early so I could witness that." She gave me a pointed look.

I averted my eyes and began wiping down some surfaces while there were no customers. "Witness what?"

"That little... exchange." She gestured over to Joseph. "With the very attractive and mysterious Joseph Moore."

I carried on cleaning. "That was nothing. I was just having a chat with him."

"Oh sure you were." She pulled herself onto the edge of the counter, swinging her legs back and forth. "I know flirting when I see it, even if I can't hear what the people are saying. That? That was total bedroom eyes. From both of you."

Joseph and I clearly needed to work on being more subtle. "Honestly, Grace, I think you just want that to be the case."

She snorted. "Well, I would rather he was looking at me that way." I felt that twinge of annoyance whenever someone talked like that about Joseph. Grace pointed at me triumphantly. "There! I saw that. That was jealousy."

Damn it. My poker face clearly needed to be improved. "It was not."

"It was. Come on, Ana," she whined. "Just tell me. You know how much of a sucker I am for gossip."

She was – and that was exactly why I couldn't tell her about Joseph and me. If I did, it would probably spread to half the town by tomorrow. So I stood up straight and looked her in the eyes, saying firmly, "Grace. There is nothing going on between me and Joseph. I mean it."

Grace gave a loud sigh. "Fine. Be that way. I'll crack you eventually."

I just shook my head at her.

The day slowly went by, a few more customers coming and going. Joseph eventually left with his friends, and he met my eyes for just a second as he walked past.

Oh, yeah. Bedroom eyes. I quickly looked away.

It reached closing time, and Millie and I were left to close up together. After everything had been tidied and cleaned – mostly by me – Millie said suddenly, "You need to be careful, Ana."

I turned to look at her. "What?"

She was sitting down, feet propped up on another chair. "You heard me."

I frowned at her. "Careful about what?"

She rolled her eyes at me. "No need to play dumb. I know about you and Joseph."

Deny, deny, deny. "What about me and Joseph?"

"Ugh, stop." Millie's voice was full of irritation. "Look, we're cool now, you don't piss me off as much as you used to, but you're pissing me off now. I know you guys are... whatever you are."

She didn't sound like she was guessing – not like Grace had been. "How?"

Millie paused. "Harry told me."

I looked at her incredulously. "Harry?"

"Yeah. I mean, that's why you stopped seeing him, right? Because of Joseph?"

"Uh..." That wasn't the reason I'd told Harry. But he had guessed it was part of it. "Not... exactly."

She raised her eyebrows at me. "Fine. Partially the reason, then."

I ignored that statement. "But... he didn't even know. Not really."

"Oh, he knew. Trust me." She gave me a look, and, twirling a strand of hair around her finger, continued, "You know, I used to date Harry."

I frowned at her. "Yeah. And I heard that it didn't end well between you guys."

"It didn't. God, everything gets around in this town." Her voice was bitter.

"So if it didn't end well, then why are you so... cosy with him now?"

Millie shrugged. "Because I started seeing him again at the beginning of summer. And he'd become a better guy." When she saw my expression, she waved a hand at me in annoyance. "Don't look at me like that. We broke up before you started seeing him. But it was... amicable that time. That's why I was happy to see him at the beach."

That answered that question, then.

"We're good friends, now. But mm, that boy is still attractive. I would go there again." Her eyes almost glazed over slightly. "Anyway. I had a point."

"And what's your point?" I questioned irritably.

"Getting there." She glared at me. "I'm assuming Joseph told you about his and Harry's little...run in."

I tensed up. "Yes. But Joseph never said what it was that made him punch Harry."

She rested her chin on her hand thoughtfully. "Interesting."

"What?" I all but snapped. "What's interesting?"

Millie held up her hands in defence. "Look, I don't know exactly what was said, and if Joseph didn't tell you, then I probably shouldn't."

I scowled at her. "Seriously?"

"Jeez, fine. It was just..." She looked away, her brow creasing. "I think Harry... kind of compared you to Joseph's ex-girlfriend." Her voice sounded bitter as she spoke.

The mysterious girl that Joseph used to date. "Why would he do that?"

Millie sighed. "I don't know, Ana. But Joseph's ex... they were a serious thing. They loved each other. They went through a lot of shit together. And she still left him."

I looked away for a second, and then glanced back at Millie. "But I'm not going to do that."

"That's what she said to him, too." Her voice was sharp, cold. "You know how I feel about Joseph. But more than anything, he's my friend. I've known him since I could walk. And I don't want to see him go through that again."

I met her frosty gaze and nodded. "I would never hurt him."

"I hope not." The resentment faded from her face. "He's been happier lately. And I think that's because of you. God, you have no idea how much saying that pisses me off, but it's true."

I didn't quite know what to say to that. "He's made me happier, too."

"I know. I've seen it." She slowly exhaled. "Ugh. This is making me feel uncomfortable. I think we can finish our bonding session, now." Millie got up and picked up her stuff. "Can you close up?" I gave her a look and she grimaced before adding reluctantly, "Please?"

I couldn't help but smile. "Fine."

As she left Melissa's with a wave, I heard her say to someone outside, "Sorry, sir, but we're closed now."

"Oh, um, I was actually just looking for someone. Do you know Liliana?"

I froze. I recognised that voice. His voice.

"Uh... Ana?" I slowly looked up to see Millie glance at me in confusion. "You know this guy?"

My eyes snapped to the man with her. He smiled at me. But there was sadness in that smile.

"Ana?" Millie repeated.

"Yes," I said stiffly. "It's fine. I know him."

She looked between us suspiciously. "Well, okay. If you're sure. Night." She walked away from Melissa's, glancing back one more time before she disappeared out of sight.

There was silence while we stared at each other. He looked different to the last time I saw him – older, more tired. His usually clean-shaven face had a layer of stubble, but he was dressed smartly in a suit. He searched my gaze and finally said, "Well? Aren't you going to give your brother a hug?"