The Darling Boys (Rose Award Winner) (#Wattys2017)

Robbie and Sienna's Glorious Loss

I'd never seen the Darling Boys look so uncomfortable in the entire twelve years I'd known them.

Jai and Eliott's were perched on the arms of the couch, their eyes on the boy standing in the middle of the room, their faces expressionless. Their nervous tells were obvious, to me at the very least, since I had been studying the boys and their ways for years.

Eliott's was gnawing at the inside of his lip, his hand tapping the couch anxiously as he listened to whatever it was that Alexander was going on about. Jai, who I had always known as the strong, quiet, and michevious one, looked as freaked out as a cat that had just seen a dog. He would shift from side to side, his green eyes following the blonde boy's every move as his mouth moved to words that never actually left his mouth.

Robbie was the only one that seemed somewhat at ease. He was sitting on the other side of the couch, as far away from me as possible, making me feel like I had some sort of contagious virus.

"You guys never told me you had such a beautiful girl living next door." Alex said now, loud enough for all four of us on the couch to hear. I could feel myself starting to blush as every pair of eyes in the room darted toward me.

"I'm not beautiful." I responded, tugging at my braid nervously, "I mean, I'm cute, I guess. But I'm not beautiful." I saw Robbie roll his eyes at my response, or maybe it was at Alex, who had started to grin halfway through my answer.

"Nonsense." Alex waved my words off, "My boys must not understand how important telling a woman she's beautiful is." I blinked, making sure I had heard him right.

"My boys?"

"He calls us that." Eliott's said before anyone else could. I nodded slowly, still feeling a little taken back by the blonde boy's words.

"Sienna, can I see your hand for a moment." I frowned, feeling my eyebrows starting to furrow in confusion. Alex was crouched down in front of me now, the Darling Boys all staring at us intensly.

"Why?" I questioned, shaking my head.

"My dear, let me see." Was this guy from the mideval ages or something? Or maybe another counrty?

"Alex." Robbie said with a warning tone. The blonde boy glanced up, his eyes holding the same amount of anger as the middle Darling boy beside him.

"Look, I don't really know you and-" Before I could finish what I was saying, Alex took my hand and Robbie moved forward. I was still in too much shock, especially by the look that had crossed Alex's face as he held my hand in his own.

"Do you draw?" He asked, startling me.

"Y. . . yeah." How the hell could he possibly know that? Not even Kayla knew I drew.

"I can tell. You've got this beautiful aura, this wonderful sense of wonder."

Oh, so maybe the Darling's cousin was some sort of hipster.

"Thanks." I muttered, not knowing what else to say. He nodded, his boyish smile returning to his face.

"My cousin only spoke of you once before." Alex made a gesture toward Robbie, "That was the day you lost your competition, I believe."

I felt my face scrunch up in disgust at the memory. The only reason we had lost that, had lost our chance at the final debate, was because two of the girls on our team had dropped out because they couldn't stand each other and had drove each other to the verge of the insanity.

"Robbie and Sienna's Glorious Lost." I said, referring back to the school newspaper article about us.

"Alex, I think we should let Sienna get back home." Robbie stood up as he spoke, wiping his hands on his jeans. Alex frowned, turning back to me.