SERENDIPITY ━ SUGG. ✓

XV. REAL LIFE

EVER SINCE HIS CONVERSATION WITH ALEX, Joe had been dreading this day. Sure, the boy wanted to see Isabela Brooks again but knowing that Alex was in love with her made him uneasy for he was falling for the girl as well.

It was a ludicrous thing to say, especially since he barely knew Izzy, but it was something that he felt in his chest. The sudden hope that it was her when his phone went off, the flutter of his heart when she double tapped his photos or liked his tweets, but more recently, the image that was imprinted in his mind of her.

After the day he had met her, Joe wished he could go back and do it a million times over. To forever be in that moment with the girl would be a blessing and something that he would enjoy over and over.

Joe sighed, looking at himself in the mirror, before grabbing his phone only to see that there was a message from Conor telling him that he and the rest of the boys were downstairs, waiting for him. The brown-haired boy looked at his appearance on more time and once he was satisfied, he walked out of the room and out into the hallway, where he would go downstairs to meet the boys.

As soon as he approached the car, his friends were already hounding him about Isabela Brooks. It happened frequently now, whether it was when they were filming or just going out for dinner, but the fact that Joe was going to see her now brought the comments up a notch. He didn't mind them, but he also knew that if they knew what he felt for her, it would never end.

Caspar was the one to get out of the car, his eyes slightly bloodshot and puffy. As soon as Joe saw this however, he looked at the boy sideways before stopping a few metres in front of him and motioning to the South African's display.

"We broke up," his voice was quiet, but it was all that Joe needed to hear. He pulled the boy into a tight hug, frowning as he did because once again, he had seen Caspar Lee's heart broken. "There's no hard feelings but it still stings like a bitch."

"I'm sorry, Casp," Joe whispered, before looking over at the car and at the boys who had all grown solemnly quiet for they as well knew what had happened. "Is she coming today?"

"No, but Izzy-"

"Izzy's going to be happy to see you, it's your first time meeting her, right?"

"Yeah."

"Come on then, let's go to this party and see her."

When Joe got in the car, there was nothing but silence. He looked around, noticing that Mikey was missing and that it was rather cramped in the back seat. He would've graciously offered to sit in the trunk to be comfortable but after what Caspar had just told him, he wanted to stick close by just in case anything happened. After all, Caspar Lee was his best friend.

However, this didn't stop Jack from piping up from the front seat. "You get to see your girl today, don't you Joe?"

"She's not my girl, Jack."

"Get enough alcohol in her and I'm sure she'll be," Josh responded this time instead of Jack, earning a friendly hit from him.

"Piss off, all of you."

"You heard the man," Oli smiled, earning one from him as well, for Oli White was always on his side. The rest of the car ride was silent and Joe enjoyed it that way for his thoughts, once jumbled was now clear.

He knew that Isabela Brooks didn't feel the same way about Alex, who had told him that she had feelings for someone else and he couldn't help but wonder if that someone else was in fact, him. If it was, he would be overjoyed of course, but at the same time, he knew that if Izzy ever found out that she was unknowingly hurting his best friend, she would end things in a heartbeat. Which was why Joe wanted to test the waters today, for if Izzy felt the same way, he would be the bad guy and he desperately wanted to spare Alexander Scott's feelings.