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"Now that we're in the safety of your apartment," Ben said sarcastically, "Can you please tell us what's going on?"
"Yeah, what happened?" Rami asked.
Rami and Gwilym stood, watching Joe- who slouched down on the couch next to Ben- try to form his thoughts. Joe sighed, running his hand down his face before leaning forward, "Last night, Andie and I went out drinking. Nothing romantic or anything like that, just two friends hanging out. She asked what my first impression of her was and I told her," Joe furrowed his brow as he continued on, "And then she told me that she thought I was attractive. The next thing I know we're making out in the back of a cab."
"That's great!" Ben chuckled, "Where's the problem here?"
"I'm getting there," Joe sighed, "Anyway we get to her house and things get a little... intimate."
"And that's a problem because..." Gwilym trailed off, raising an eyebrow.
"The sex wasn't a problem, what was said afterward was," He leaned back into the couch again, covering his face with one hand.
Ben sighed, "What'd you say? Jesus, Joe I swear if you-"
"I told her I loved her and she said everything was a mistake," Joe shouted springing up, "There, that's what happened."
There was a moment of silence as they all just looked at each other. Joe could hear small droplets of rain begin to hit his window, "Oh," Ben sat back, "Jesus."
"No... no somethings not right," Gwilym thought aloud to himself, "She's in love with you."
"Obviously not," Joe's voice broke a little, licking his lips as his throat was suddenly dry. A crack of thunder sounded from outside.
Rami shook his head, "She is, Lucy told me that she and Andie were hanging out after you all got coffee together. She asked Lucy how you really know you're in love."
"She must still be processing everything that happened with Jefferson," Ben reasoned, "You can't expect someone who's gone through what she has just to jump up at the next relationship. She's probably still healing."
Joe wiped his face with his hands once again, "You're right, god, I should've let her explain. I'm a fucking idiot."
"You both owe each other an apology," Rami told him, "Go."
A knock sounded at the door, making all four of them look over in surprise, "Who could that be?" Joe asked.
"Maybe it's Lucy?" Ben suggested.
-
"Lucy you didn't have to come over, I'm fine. See?" Andie told her with as good of a fake smile that she could muster at the moment. Though her tears and red, puffy eyes told her otherwise.
Lucy brought her friend into a hug, "What happened, dear? I don't like seeing you this upset."
Andie began to explain everything to Lucy, them going out, hooking up, and fighting, "I didn't mean it, Luce, it just came out of my mouth. Now Joe hates me."
"Oh, honey, he could never hate you," Lucy soothed, "He's got to understand that you're scared. You've been through some rough shit these past few months. You're not just gonna bounce right back up."
"I love him," Andie sniffled, "God, I love him so much, but I'm terrified. I'm scared out of my mind, Lucy. What if he ends up like Jefferson?"
"I'm not going to tell you that there aren't more men like Jefferson out there," Lucy frowned, "But I can tell you that Joe isn't one of them. You need to tell him how you feel, he'll understand."
Andie nodded, "I'm going to tell him, right now. Thank you, Lucy, for everything."
"That's what friends are for," Lucy smiled, "Now go get your man!"
The blonde smiled, wiped away her tears, and began to walk out of the door when Lucy stopped her, "You might want to put some pants on first, dear."
"Oh, right," Andie turned quickly, rushing to her room to throw on a pair of jeans. Thanking Lucy once again, she ran out the door, hailing a cab as quickly as she could and telling them where to go.
She bit anxiously on her thumbnail as she recalled what happened the night before, in a cab just like this one, before she messed everything up. She shook the negative thoughts from her head, she was going to fix things. She was going to make things right again.
Paying the cabbie and exiting the cab, she was met with a downpour of rain. She grumbled, silently cursing London as she hurried into Joe's apartment building. Her efforts seemed to be of no help because she was standing drenched in the elevator. Her hair was stringy and dripping as she shivered.
Stopping at his floor, she swallowed hard as the door to his apartment came into view. She took a few careful steps, pushing all second guessings away. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her hand knocking softly on the wooden door. She waited for a moment, bouncing nervously on her heels amidst the shivers. Maybe he didn't hear the knock. She lifted her hand to knock again when the door suddenly opened.
Joe's astonished face stared back at her, swallowing deeply before saying a, "Hi," that was barely above a whisper.
"Hi," Andie responded in the same volume. The two just stared at each other for a moment, not knowing what to say.
"I'm-" Joe began but Andie cut him off.
"I'm in love with you," She confessed.
Joe opened the door slightly, revealing Ben, Gwilym, and Rami sitting in the living room. Shocked expressions etched on their faces. Andie's eyes widened, not realizing there was an audience.
Joe opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
All Andie could hear was Ben exclaim "What the fu-" before the door was shut in her face.
