Forever.

Chapter 9: "Lovesick Idiots."

His eyes narrowed as he approached the closet, and Lay and Ver's eyes widened.

"See you in hell, bestie." Laylah whispered, and Ver whispered, frustrated, "Yupp, see you there. Though I do hope he doesn't fudging open the door."

Josh reached in front of the closet. He could see Laylah's eyes which were peeking up. He held eye contact, and a smirk was plastered on his face. Laylah knew that he knew that they had been there the entire time. She looked at him with puppy eyes. Then, closed her eyes and pleaded as if he could hear her, "Please don't tell them we're here, flirty Joshua." Then opened her eyes again to see him looking at her, the smirk still on.

Sebastian interrupted the staring contest that was going on, saying, "What are you doing, Josh?"

Josh looked back at a suspicious Sebastian and said, "This is the closet mom gave, right?" Sebastian nodded, and Josh continued, "So, what do you store in it? You have a walk-in closet, so what do you use this for?"

Josh looked back at the closet and smirked at Laylah. He knew she could see him; her eyes gave it all. Sebastian said, "Well, I haven't figured any use for it; I am just using it sometimes to clear the unwanted mess and like dumping things into it. Why are you being so weird, Joshua?" Josh looked back at Seb and shrugged, "Nothing, I was just curious, Sebastian."

Seb nodded and said, "Well, I have a bigger and more important thing to be curious about-"

Veronica and Laylah cut Sebastian off by whispering, "That's what she said." in unison, and then listened to him.

"which is my phone. So let's go and search for it. Maybe, Ver knows where it is."

"Yeah, she probably knows; after all, you both were being all cuddly and married-couply this morning," Theodore added, smirking. Joshua chuckled at him while Sebastian rolled his eyes.

As the boys left the room, Veronica sighed, and after listening keenly until she could not hear the footsteps and all she could hear was her and Laylah's deep breaths, she opened the door.

---

"If I don't find my phone in my bag once we reach there, Ver, I am using your phone," Sebastian said grumpily and folded his arms in front of his chest to Veronica, who sat beside him in Josh's SUV.

Veronica looked at him, then at those massive arms; controlling the urge to touch them, she said, "Seb, you are very cute right now. But, you are not getting my phone."

Sebastian hadn't found his phone even by 2 because obviously it was safely tucked by Veronica in her bag beneath all her beautiful clothes. She did feel bad for him, but it was fun seeing him like that. So she told him that he might have packed it with his clothes and then it was not the time to argue, so he shut his mouth and got in the car. Somewhere, even he knew that Ver had his phone, the confidence in her voice that the phone would be in his bag gave it all.

Sebastian quickly turned to her, smirking, "So you think I am cute?" Veronica rolled her eyes and looked back at him, smiling widely, "That was just to make you feel better," Theo and Laylah, who sat behind them, said, "Oh, come on!" in unison and looked at each other.

Laylah's eyes had widened, and she gasped; she quickly said, "Jinx!" and smiled at Theo, who admired her with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Ahem-ahem," Joshua interrupted the moments in the back of his car and continued when he was sure everybody was looking at him, "I am going to stay with y'all over there, so I'd be blessed if you don't do this couply shit 24/7."

Veronica and Laylah rolled their eyes at him, and Laylah mumbled, "He's such a single-flirty-pringle who misunderstands everything," Theo chuckled softly at the name. And as Josh had vampire-hearing, he said, "I heard that, shortcake," Laylah narrowed her eyes at the nickname while Ver, Seb, and Theo burst into laughter.

Joshua smirked at Laylah through the window, and she gave him a sarcastic smile before going on her phone to continue reading. As Laylah's hair was open, Theodore got back to playing with the hair on his side, and Veronica and Sebastian continued bickering and flirting.

To get away from the 'couply shit' like Josh liked calling it, he played the playlist through his phone and vibed to the songs while paying attention to the road. It was sunny but gloomy today like it could rain, but there was no clarity. Joshua always found couples and relationships cringey. He did have a fun-loving and flirty exterior, but there was a lot to him inside. A lot that none but he knew and that he couldn't even tell anybody in his dreams. Why he didn't believe in the idea of love and stuff? Why was he the way he was?

As he drove closer to the beach house, it was 6 now. They should have reached there by 5, but they arrived an hour late because his little brother apparently lost his phone. Joshua took the service road and slowed the speed down because the road was bumpy, and he didn't want to wake the couples because of a rough road drive. He drove slowly and steadily and reached the gates of the beach house.

Mr. Clinton, the main guard, who had worked for the Knights for many years and knew Josh and Seb very well, along with his subordinate, opened the gates and waved and beamed at Josh, who smiled genuinely at him and nodded knowingly. He parked the car and turned around to see Seb and Ver sleeping. Seb's hand was around Ver while her head rested on his shoulder and her arms around his torso. Behind them, he couldn't properly see Lay and Theo; it seemed like they were also sleeping, but Theo's head was on Laylah's chest, her chin rested on his head, her hand around him, and his arms were circled around her waist.

Josh quickly pulled his phone out and clicked a picture of Seb and Ver. They looked so cute. He was 17 when he saw the twinkle in his little brother's eyes which he'd never seen, in his eyes for a girl. He knew that both of them liked each other but never understood what made them be "just friends," as Veronica called it, till now. They literally did all the couply shit, never denied when teased about each other, and instead blushed when they thought about each other. Who blushes? Lovesick idiots, Josh thought, shaking his head and smiling to himself.

--x--

Thank you so much for the first 100 reads!<3

I hope you enjoyed!

Until next time!

-Estrel<3