You, Again

London Bridge is Falling Down

Devin, Christian and the rest of their friends made it back to London in one piece. Christian had kept close to her the rest of the trip but she had been mindful to keep her distance once they got back to London. She needed space. Not necessarily from him but from everyone in order to process the new information she had learned. She couldn't risk Christian finding out about Joe. She also couldn't trust Joe to keep his mouth shut to Christian. She wasn't embarrassed about sleeping with him. She would tell Christian eventually. But she wanted it to be on her terms and only her terms. She hadn't decided how she felt about Christian yet and it would be unfair for Joe to push her into him just so he could have a clear conscience with Kiera.

Turning the key into her flat, Devin heard a noise coming from the kitchen. She had seen a few of her flat mates in briefly throughout the week but when she peaked her head into the kitchen, she saw someone she didn't recognize.

"Hi can I help you?" A tall handsome man, with dark skin and shining eyes turned to look at her.

"Sure, if you know how to fix the kettle." He deadpanned turning back to the outlet.

"It wasn't broken when I left." She was standoffish by nature. She had never been the "be warm and fuzzy to new people" type of person.

"Well, it was broken when I got up this morning so if when you left was before that, I can understand the misunderstanding."

Devin assumed this man had to be sleeping with one of her roommates. But then again, she hadn't really met many of them. She knew Wendy, the girl directly across the hall from her who seemed friend enough. They'd chatted briefly a few times but there hadn't been much time in either of their schedules to form a significant friendship.

"Right and you are?" Her tone came out harsher than she expected but she didn't like new people. She never had.

"I'm Nev and you must be the American girl I've heard almost nothing about." She watched as he pulled the kettle plug out and push it back in.

"That's not going to work you know. The outlet is broken. That's why the kettle was on the other side of the stove." She pointed to its original location and tried not to fall immediately in love with the smirk he gave her. It was playful and kind of sexy.

"Hm, maybe you are worth getting to know... but I'd need to know your name first."

"It's Devin. I'm at the end of the hallway."

"Ah that explains it." He had successfully turned the kettle on and turned back to face her fully. Getting a good look at him she could admit he was handsome. He had dark brown eyes and long lashes she could see even from across the room. He was slight in build but fairly tall, no more than 5'10" and an accent that made her swoon. But she wouldn't fall for this. She had enough trouble balances Joe and Christian. She did not want one handsome British man with a sarcastic sense of humor on the roster.

Or did she?

---

It took approximately three days for Devin to fall head over heels in love with Nev Kundar. On day one after she had left the kitchen, he knocked on her door and invited her out with their other flatmates. She had almost gotten hit by a car drunkenly crossing the street to the tube station and Nev had stepped in to stiff arm her to safety, grabbing her hand afterwards and not letting go of it until they needed to separate at the turnstiles.

On day two, she found him hungover in their kitchen in grey sweatpants and a ripped crew neck sweatshirt making scrambled eggs and coffee. When he made her some, her icy heart melted just a bit and she thought "I'd like to jump his bones" which made her smirk into her coffee, nearly spilling it. She couldn't help herself. He was hot and cute and seemed friendly. She found him intriguing and nothing like the guys she knew from school. Certainly nothing like Christian.

On day three, they went out again and when the entire flat got home everyone went to bed but she found herself sitting on the floor outside of his room finishing a conversation they had started on the cab ride home.

Nev sat inside of his room also on the floor propping the door open with his body and neither of them seemed inclined to move.

"You cannot tell me that Hugh Grant is not one of the most iconic British actors of this century. Notting Hill! Love Actually! You've Got Mail!" Devin was nearly shouting but that's how strongly she felt about Hugh Grant's contributions to romantic comedy.

"Hugh Grant is an old skeezy has-been who wasn't even in You've Got Mail so your argument is moot." Nev chuckled to himself and Devin watched as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Right, off to bed now." He paused at the door and Devin pulled herself to her feet. They stayed there for what seemed like ages. She hadn't been in this situation before. She didn't want to leave but she also didn't want to invite herself in.

"Yea, me too. Night Nev." He nodded to her and closed the door. She turned down the hallway and then heard the lock click open. He was leaning against the door jam.

"On second thought, we could finish this argument inside."

And that was all it took. By day 3 of knowing him, Devin had fallen quite quickly into love.