Chapter 31

Jealousy doesn’t sit well with Andrew. It made him want to kick the source that caused the seething churn at the pit of his stomach. Correction, it made him want to kick, punch, shove, drown, poison, iron on, break an arm, push off a cliff, cut into tiny pieces and fry in oil, the source of that annoying burn in his heart.

It has been almost two weeks since Angel first joined him for Astronomy lectures (he refused to use the word “them”, because that would include Daniel-the-current-bane-of-his-life-whom-he-very-much-wants- to-kick-punch-shove-etc-etc). And since that day, Daniel has been everywhere, clogging off his attempts at getting Angel to spend some quality time alone with him.

Even now, he felt extremely marginalized as he watched He-who-must-be-exterminated grab the full attention of his Angel with that oh-so-exciting story of how he bumped into Grace at a hospital.

Come on, what is so captivating about meeting in a chlorine-soaked place that Angel had to listen to it so intently? She was practically hanging on to his every word, what’s up with that?

And why was Angel always looking at Daniel like she’s captivated by an intriguing puzzle? Why didn’t she look at him like that?

He has had enough.

“Angel, I need to pass you something,” Andrew interrupted that infuriating conversation, “it’s in my locker, will you walk with me?”

“Erm… Sure,” Angel replied, slightly startled by the suppressed frustration in his voice. She grabbed her bag and said to Daniel, “We’ll talk another time okay?”

Daniel nodded with an amiable smile. Which Andrew found exceedingly aggravating.

He guided Angel away from the table with a gentle pressure on her shoulder, leaving the mess of plates and bowls for Daniel to take care of.

“You…… How long have you known Daniel?” he asked hesitantly. Now that he had her attention, he has no idea how to proceed. He very much wanted to confront her about why she’s all cozy with Daniel, but he wasn’t sure if he could go about this without coming off as a raving lunatic.

Who in hell was so utterly demented to have invented Jealousy?

Angel was surprised, but she answered evenly, “The first time I talked to him was at the Biodiversity Lab session, about two weeks ago. Why’d you ask?”

“I see,” Andrew said in a pseudo-passive tone, “no wonder you two seem to have a lot to talk about.”

“Yeah well, we mainly talk about Grace. And Emily. Obviously we can’t talk about you; you’re almost always there when I talk to him,” Angel chuckled.

Yeah, more like he’s almost always there when I want to talk to you. Andrew thought bitterly.

“I wasn’t paying much attention most of the time,” Andrew shrugged, “What’s so interesting? You always seem so…… attentive.”

More like enamored with his charm and wit. I have plenty of those, and I don’t see you this bewitched when talking with me.

They turned the corner and walked towards the lockers. The study tables there were unusually empty. It wasn’t surprising, because the lights there weren’t switched on to illuminate the hidden corridor.

Angel inclined her head to look at Andrew. Did she just imagine that repugnance when he said the word “attentive”?

“Erm… he is funny, sometimes even witty, when he talks about Grace,” Angel paused to wonder if there was an element of awe and fondness to the way Daniel recounted his bump-ins with Grace, for he does seem very enthused whenever he brought up the topic of Grace.

Which was suspiciously often. Angel amused within herself.

“I guess he is a decent guy, huh?” she asked mildly, “do you think he’s……”

Angel didn’t get to finish her sentence. She found herself jostled against the lockers and faced with a sullen Andrew. His palms rested on the cool metal, flanking either side of her shoulders, and his eyes held a stormy regard.

“Do you…” Andrew found it hard to verbalize his question through the thick obstruction in his throat, “Do you……like him?” he finished, with much difficulty.

Angel was stumped. Not because she didn’t know how to answer the question. She was speechless because of…… the overwhelming aura of a myriad of emotions that was just rolling off Andrew.

Apprehension. Anxiety. Fear. Anger. Resentment. Weariness.

Despair.

All because he thought she might like Daniel?

Does he…… like her?

But before she could delve into those eyes to search for her answer, he dropped his arms and backed off, hanging his head so low that his fringe obscured his eyes.

“I…… I got to go to the bathroom,” he said quietly, “see u at the library later.”

And Angel could only stare after the shadow of his retreating back, her heart pounding painfully against her chest.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 30

When the impact never came, he propped himself up and warily opened his eyes. Relief filled him when he saw Emily alive and lying comfortably on her bed. Miraculously, he had managed to get her there in time amidst all that tumble. But he didn’t have time to congratulate himself for this impossible feat.

Belatedly, he realized he was now holding himself directly above the girl, who was, just a few moments ago, feeling him up. Her face was, literally, just an arm’s length away from his, so close, that he couldn’t look anywhere else but at her.

It was a peculiar feeling, having this girl underneath him, so utterly entrapped in his territory; so utterly……... his. Perhaps she too felt the vulnerability of her position, for the black of her eyes has almost fully eclipsed the lighter brown of her iris.

Her lips parted in a barely audible gasp, drawing his attention to their trembling fullness. When she licked her bottom lip, he gulped nervously, and flitted his eyes back to Emily’s.

But… she wasn’t looking into his eyes anymore! She was…. Is she?? Is she staring at his lips?! Gabriel could only stare back at her in hopeful astonishment.

Emily internally berated herself for that display of…… wanton curiosity when she noticed the physical distance Gabriel has thrust between them. What has gotten into her? Why had she reached out to touch Gabriel like that? What if he thinks she’s weird? What if he freaks out? What if he didn’t want her near him anymore?

Oh God, what has she done?

But Emily didn’t have time for further irrational lamentations before her world swirled violently. Instinctively, she knew she was falling, and so she reached out to grab the only form of support she could lay hands on, her eyes shut tight.

She had prepared herself for a hard landing, but all she felt was a soft, cushioned crash. She glanced up to see what happened. But she couldn’t find anything conclusive, for she could barely see anything else other than Gabriel’s face.

Which is mere centimeters away from hers.

Where she could look right into the depths of his eyes and delineate the edge between black and white. Where she could see the texture of his sharp nose and wonder what it would feel like against her own. Where she could trace the curve of his lips and imagine what they would taste like.

What they would feel like.

Would it be sweet but intoxicating? Soft yet demanding? Would it be passionate, or gentle? What ever it might be, she knew kissing Gabriel would be perfect and…... highly inappropriate!!!

Emily jarred her senses back. What the hell was she thinking?! Or rather, why the hell was she thinking about kissing Gabriel? What will he do if he knew she was having such unseemly thoughts? She diverted her gaze away from his lips before he realized something was amiss.

But the look in his eyes…. the subtle hick in his breath….

Oh God, he knows!!

She reflexively reached out to push him away, but stalled suddenly, feeling terrified of touching him. She looked away.

“Can I get up now?” she winced. There was just no way of phrasing that to prevent drawing attention to their current positions.

“Oh! I’m sorry,” Gabriel bounced up immediately, “I tripped on your carpet just now. Are you alright? Er… your leg, is it alright? did I crush it in the fall? Are u in any discomfort? I mean, is your leg painful? Do I need to….”

“No, I’m fine.” She interrupted his tirade, concentrating on that accursed bump in the carpet.

For a long moment, no one spoke. And no one dared to look at the other.

Then, Gabriel glanced discreetly at Emily. Her shoulders were tensed. Her cheeks were a burning red. Her bottom lip was caught in a nervous nibble. And, her eyes were forcefully averted away every time they drifted towards him.

He hadn’t imagined it.

She had been staring at his lips.

She had wanted to kiss him.

He couldn’t stop the grin that was making its way across his face.

On hindsight, perhaps the lack of foresight and the resulting series of events weren’t that unfortunate after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 29

He couldn’t stop that unidentifiable feeling from expanding in his chest. The feeling that surged through him every time Emily’s friends accosted them with a sly, knowing smile and a “are you two together?” It would have been more wonderful if Emily hadn’t denied all those claims with such vehemence.

Still, his efforts have paid off. Those guy friends of hers have been sufficiently “informed” of the “new” status quo between him and Emily, and would probably keep their hands off his property from thence forth.

Save for one remarkably thick individual. While earnestly wishing Emily to get well soon, he had the guts to run his abominable fingers along the seam between bandage and leg, completely dismissing the hard look Gabriel was sending him.

When they parted, Gabriel had accidentally stepped on his foot and carelessly placed all of his weight, combined with that of Emily’s, on that point of contact. Perhaps now, he could stroke the seam between bandage and toe at his own leisure and to his heart content.

Besides the aforementioned benefits of serving as Emily’s crutches, there was of course, the ultimate gift – an armful of Emily.

Granted, Emily proved to be very heavy in some areas, particularly those punches of hers. But generally, it had been a pleasant experience. He loved the way Emily just FITS in his arms, as though his arms were tailored for her and her for him. He loved the way Emily slung bonelessly against him in defeat, when he threatened to do something more inappropriate in public to silence her if she continued her verbal abuse on his eardrums.

Most of all, he loved the exciting discovery that Emily’s pulse actually speeds up every time he held her close.

Wait a minute; could that be due to over-exertion from all the punching and kicking?

No, that can’t be it. That wouldn’t explain why Emily’s heart is beating so…... excessively at the present moment, when she had been unusually pliant and complying throughout the whole course of the day’s “service”.

Gabriel was starting to get worried about the bizarre silence that had fallen upon Emily. Had he, perhaps, accidentally caused her bandaged leg to be bent in an uncomfortable position?

He was about to look down at the girl in his arms when he felt cool fingers glaze tantalizingly over his Adam’s apple. His inhalation got caught in his throat, and for a moment, his reflexes battled between gulping and aborting a gulp.

What is she doing?!

Gabriel tried to focus on something other than the feel of wandering fingers against the sensitive skin of his throat. He counted his footsteps, and measured his breathing. He calculated his BMI and mentally recited the Psalms. But damn! Those slender fingers have snaked their way up and were now toying with the hairs that caressed his ear lobe. Every unintentional brush against his lobe sent shivers down the side of his neck.

He determinedly switched his attention to the surroundings; and realized he had nearly walked past Emily’s apartment. He jerked to a stop, and backtracked a few steps.

The sudden jerk must have rocked Emily out of her trance, for she had withdrawn her arm awkwardly and is now spotting a lovely blush on her cheeks. Gabriel smiled indulgently and gently reminded her that the door will not open on its own. He has no idea what came over her, for she had never touched him like that before. But he fervently hoped that it was a good sign.

After a few moments of fumbling with keys, they stepped into her home, and Gabriel carried her towards her bedroom, like he did for the past few days.

This time, however, there seemed to be something intangibly intimate about carrying her to the bedroom, but Gabriel refused to dwell on that thought. Instead, he widened his gait, and held Emily a little distance away, so that they no longer connected at the thorax.

He didn’t think he could handle another lapse of unconstrained exploration of any part of his anatomy, no matter how enjoyable it was on hindsight.

And if his foresight had been as useful as his hindsights were, he would have known to pay more attention to where he puts his foot when walking. But seeing how his attention isn’t all in the right places now, he tripped on an unfortunate bump in the carpet on her bedroom floor.

And in his unfortunate attempt to ensure the girl in his arms landed safely in her bed and not the hard ground, he unfortunately held Emily further out, towards the bed. This, unfortunately, caused his equilibrium to experience an unfortunate tip that nothing obeying the Laws of Nature could ever correct.

He braced himself for an unfortunate, painful impact.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 28

Emily has never felt more resigned. For the past three days, Gabriel has successfully installed himself as her personal wheelchair. At the end of every lecture, he would scoop her out of her seat and, despite her extremely verbal protestations, carry her to her next destination cradled like a helpless baby in his arms. Oh! How embarrassing that was, to be seen in such a vulnerable position by hundreds of sniggering oh-my-look-at-them peeps. How did he even know when and where her lectures are held?

What had irritated her to no end was the annoying smug look he’s got plastered on his face every time they encountered her friends in campus. Friends who looked like they were about to congratulate the bride and groom after a wedding ceremony. What’s up with all that “Oh sure, you two aren’t attached, but where are you two heading for your honeymoon now?” look on all of their faces? Which part of “Gabriel and I are really just friends” did they not understand?

And it certainly is uncanny how you can find it difficult to meet friends for lunch but keep bumping into them when you least desired it. That accursed Murphy’s Law.

But that wasn’t the end of it. What was most aggravating was that she had grown accustomed to this free-of-charge translocation service before she even realized it. Oftentimes, Gabriel had already carried her halfway around the campus before she remembered to protest, only to find that her arms had somehow wound themselves around his neck and her head rested against his shoulder.

How did he do that? How did he turn her from that ball of unrelenting non-cooperation into the now compliant kitten?

That is not to say that she didn’t like being carried around princess-style. In fact, she quite liked the feeling of being so utterly taken cared of in the most gentle of ways. She liked the way she could feel his every heartbeat against her own. She liked the way his arms encompass around her, so strong yet so tender.

Even now, she is vaguely aware of the lulling rise and fall of his chest with his every breath, compelling her to synchronize her own breathing in tune with his. His unique scent envelops her and seems to mark her as his own. It all seems so serene, so…… right.

But, how could this be right? They were just friends, right? Friends don’t feel uneasy yet anticipative when they touch. Friends don’t look forward to getting so close to each other that they could count the other’s pulse rate. And friends most definitely do not feel forlorn when rare moments of intimacy extinguish into incontrovertible friend-to-friend care and concern.

And then, there was also that irritating skipping of heartbeats and difficulty of breathing that she could not account for, in the name of friendship.

Emily frowned. She angled her head upwards and gazed at Gabriel. Exactly when did she start having such…… inappropriate sentiments towards the guy she had always thought of as a brother? Granted, Gabriel did do lots of sweet things for her that normal brothers would gladly die than to even think about doing. But still, he had never done anything that made her aware of his being a man and her a woman.

A man.

Gabriel.

Is a man.

Why hasn’t she seen that before? Those strong brows and piercing eyes; the determined curve of his lips, the pronounced jaw; the arms.

Why hasn’t she seen him before?

Entranced, she reached up, letting her fingers trace over the contour of his neck.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 27

As Daniel stepped out of the lift onto the empty void deck, he breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that his grandmother is doing rather well after suffering such a terrible fall. She is really getting too old to be left at home, unsupervised. Perhaps he should hire a care-giver for her soon.

He had just rounded the corner of the row of letterboxes when a throng of cats came bounding up to him. He smiled and squatted down to give each one a polite scratch under the chin.

“Hey there buddies! Missed me much?” he said adoringly, and tenderly scooped a young one into his arms, “let’s go sit at the playground, shall we?” he said, and led the cats in the direction of the playground.

As the playground came into view, so did a very familiar figure. Daniel felt a sudden, extremely heavy thud in his chest. He’d recognize that silhouette anywhere! He hadn’t expected to see her here again. Daniel unconsciously shifted to conceal himself in the shadow of a pillar and watched the girl from where he hid.

There was something peculiar about this girl. She intrigues him. Like, really intrigues him. Twenty years of his fraternizing with the female half of his species, and no one has ever sparked even the remotest interest in him. No one has ever made his head turn, or stopped him in his tracks like this girl has.

He would never admit this aloud, but sometimes he wondered if this wasn’t the fabled love-at-first-sight.

How incredulous! LAFS is about as reliable as a salesman trying to sell a palmistry guidebook. In fact, he used to think that LAFS is a laughable reflection of hormonal tendencies, something so irrefutably erratic that no sane person would pay it any amount of serious consideration. He, for one, would never trust his own hormones, save for their homeostatic capabilities.

But dang! Hormones or not, this girl makes LAFS feel like a chocolate buffet --- intrinsically wrong, but it hits you in all the right places.

A brush of a cat against his leg brought him out of his reverie. He focused his attention on the girl again.

She was sitting extremely still; and even though he couldn’t see her clearly from this distance, somehow he knew that she must have closed her eyes. He decided that this was probably the most opportune moment for him to approach.

He stepped bravely out of the shadows and walked towards her with a rather stiff gait and a train of cats trailing behind him. As he got closer, he saw that her eyes were indeed closed. He wondered if he could surprise her, and tried to walk as noiselessly as he could.

Abruptly, she opened her eyes. Daniel faltered slightly in his steps when he realized she had seen him. Would she walk away like before? Should he stop approaching? But before he could come to a conscious decision, he found that he was already standing before her.

At this moment, he must say he is truly at a loss for words. Or a suitable action. Perhaps he was truly stumped by the eeriness about the way she was unblinkingly staring up at him. Did he, perhaps, look like a vampire under the dim lights? Was she so shocked to see him that her body has grown all frozen from neck down?

He didn’t know how long he stood there, unmoving. He didn’t know how he could stand there unmoving while she looked at him in that unnerving way. But when he finally wanted to say something, she beat him to it.

“Daniel,” she said airily.

And he wondered if he’ll ever know a more potent aphrodisiac. Damn those LAFS hormones!

“Grace,” he replied a little hoarsely, and took a seat in the swing next to hers. He wondered if she will keep looking at him like that for rest of the evening, but her attention was averted away from him the very next moment.

Grace picked up the tiny orange fur ball that was curling around her ankle.

“My, who is this tiny fella?” Grace cooed at the tiny kitten on her lap. Then, she felt a larger warmth rub against her ankle and looked down.

“Nini!” she gasped when she saw the mosaic tabby she so sorely missed. She bent forward to stroke the tabby along the length of its back, feeling very relieved to see that Nini has that clear look in its eyes again. Then, something struck her. She looked away from Nini and at the kitten now pawing at the fabric of her shorts.

They have the same eyes!

“Oh my God!” Grace exclaimed, “You’re Nini’s kid!” she held the little kitten up to her eye level and watched lovingly as it meowed at her. She couldn’t resist giving it a peck on the top of its head, and set it down on her lap once more.

She looked around the area for the other kittens and saw three of them huddled together behind their mother. She was about to reach out for them when she heard a deep voice on her left.

“Hey! No stealing!” Daniel reprimanded the cats as he pushed away the prying heads and took the bowl of mackerel away.

Grace had to do a double-take, for she had cleanly forgotten that she wasn’t alone. When she saw Daniel point at the bowl of cat food, she merely nodded her permission and watched him distribute it to the greedy buggers. Then, he sat down again beside her.

They sat in silence, seemingly engrossed with watching the cats feed, when in truth, neither had any idea what to say or do next. It wasn’t a horrible silence; but it was the sort that preceded a first kiss in some dramas. As it was, both found themselves growing more and more unsettled by the indecipherable currents this silence seemed to be amplifying between them.

“Why are you here?” they spoke at the same time. An impressive pause ensued.

“I –” they began together, and then aborted the sentence in perfect synchrony.

Daniel chortled. The sound of his laugh melted through the stifling atmosphere.

“I was visiting my grandmother. She was discharged from the hospital a few days ago. We met at the hospital, remember?” Daniel said. He picked up a black and white kitten with one hand, and setting it onto Grace’s lap, he stroked the little thing with his long fingers. “How about you?” he asked.

Grace did not reply immediately. She looked disapprovingly at the big hand that had so innocently invaded her personal space. It wasn’t really touching her per se, but seeing it hover so...…. intimately over her lap made the hairs on her thighs tingle indubitably.

As if on cue, Daniel withdrew his hand frantically. “Sorry,” he said with a bashful smile. But the next moment, he wondered if he had over-reacted. What if his apology had tainted that innocent gesture? What if it made Grace notice an indecency he hasn’t intended? He should have withdrawn his hand more subtly, damn it!

That was cute, Grace thought fondly. Of course, she didn’t mean cute cute. In fact, she didn’t know what she meant at all, when she thought his antics were cute. But she supposed she could really get used to him.

It.

She could really get used to his antics.

Wait, is there really a difference between getting used to him and getting used to his antics? Never mind.

“I stay around here,” Grace finally spoke. She planted the kitten safely onto the ground and stood, “I’m going home now. Do you want to walk me there?” she said in a barely audible voice.

Without waiting for a reply, she began to walk away; wondering why she had asked him to walk her back.

Wondering if he would walk her back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 26

A soft breeze rustled through the trees and sent a few fallen, crumpled leaves rolling across the concrete ground with a dry crackle. A lone figure sat, rather forlornly, on a rusty swing, allowing the periodic creaking of its chains to lull her senses into a dull calm.

Grace felt totally alone at this particular coordinate in the space-time continuum. None of her cats had come out to meet her, despite the bowl of delicious mackerel she had brought with her, now set aside untouched and unneeded. To think she had really looked forward to discussing her recent lapse of emotional control with them. Sighing to nothing in particular, she decided that the dead-looking rain-tree seemed a marginally better conversation partner than the cold air that surrounded her.

What shall I think about first? Grace asked the tree with her mental voice. The tree merely swayed in companionable gentleness, and waited patiently for her to continue. She felt like she has much to think about tonight. She could think about her getting-from-bad-to-worse aversion to males in general. Or that inexplicable panic attack last night. And then, there was Daniel.

The name came unbidden, and stilled her restful rocking. The sudden cessation of the creaking broadcasted a silence that filled every tiny crevice in the area. That name seemed to echo all around her.

Daniel, she mouthed the name timidly, afraid that even the softest whisper of its syllables could be heard by the shadowy darkness.

Daniel. She wanted to know him. Like, really know him, short of the biblical way. She wanted to know how he laughed, and cried; how he slept, and woke; how he likes his coffee and eggs. She wanted to know his person, his being. Even his very soul.

But most bewilderedly, she wanted him to know her.

How did it come to that? Two weeks ago, she barely even knew he existed. Was she really so starved of comforting human contact to be imprinted on the first being who offered her a reassuring embrace? No. Surely, that doesn’t explain why she had felt safe in those arms in the first place.

Why then, was this man…… different?

Grace closed her eyes and let herself feel the air chill her even more. She inhaled the scent of moist earth, mingled with a tint of iron. She listened intently to every hiss and whistle the winds uttered. Suddenly, she heard it. The answer she was looking for rang clear as a bell in her ears. Her eyes shot open in surprise at that hallucination.

Just then, her eyes widened in wonderment at what she saw. There, right ahead of her, a man was striding purposefully towards her; and she found she could not look away.

It was Daniel. The same man she was just thinking about. But how?

“Dessstiny,” the winds whispered again. And she felt like she would never breathe properly again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 25

Andrew spotted Angel from the moment she appeared through the lecture theatre door. He smiled to himself, feeling an unexplainable nervousness at the prospect of sitting with Angel for a lecture. He was about to wave at her when Daniel stood suddenly and stole Angel’s attention with a full-arm wave. Andrew watched bitterly as Angel made her way towards them, after having smiled sweetly at Daniel. That smile should have been his, he grumbled mentally.

“Hey,” Angel greeted the two guys unsurely. It was the first time she is attending a lecture with guys, and the fact that Andrew was one of them made her quiver even more with apprehensive anticipation. She just stood there morosely, uncertain of where she should sit. Would it be weird if she moved in to sit next to Andrew? She thought, and smiled shyly when she saw Andrew watching her keenly.

But Daniel did not notice this subtle exchange as he cleared the seat next to him and directed Angel to it. Angel looked from the seat to Daniel, and then to Andrew, who she noticed seem slightly irritated. She decided she wasn’t bold enough to express her preference for the seat next to Andrew, so she obliged and sat down beside Daniel. Daniel beamed at her, utterly unaware that Andrew was not pleased with that seating arrangement, what with that blob of oblivion separating his Angel from him.

Before Andrew could call Angel’s attention to himself, she began speaking to Daniel, “what happened to Grace yesterday? Is she alright?”

“I think she had a mild panic attack,” Daniel replied, totally missing the way Andrew was glaring at him, “some guys just don’t know when to quit,” he said that through gritted teeth.

“Oh,” Angel said pensively. Grace has always been weary about guys, but a panic attack is a little too extreme. Something just doesn’t add up. “So what happened after you took Grace outside?” Angel asked again.

“Erm,” Daniel began, but feeling really uncomfortable recounting the entire encounter, he merely said, “I took her to the bus stop outside, and waited until she stopped crying.”

“She cried?” in front of you?! Angel mentally exclaimed. But why? Grace never cried in front of anyone! She looked Daniel over from head to toe, wondering just what kind of relationship exists between him and Grace.

Andrew didn’t like the way Angel was now looking at Daniel and interrupted, “Angel, what are we doing for lecture today?” he slapped his notes onto his writing desk.

Daniel answered immediately, “We’re continuing with Novas and Supernovas today,” and turned back to Angel, earning a dirty look from Andrew which grew progressively more vicious each passing moment.

“Can I borrow your notes for last week’s lecture?” Andrew addressed Angel again with an amiable expression totally disparate from the one he was looking at Daniel with.

“But you didn’t miss last week’s lecture, why would you need the notes for?” Daniel asked benignly.

Andrew resisted the urge to kick his wonderful-friend-cum-brother in the shin. His smile began to appear a little forced as he sent a piercing look at Daniel, who seemed exceptionally thick today; for Daniel merely blinked in puzzlement at Andrew’s antics.

Angel, while she wasn’t entirely sure what Andrew was upset about, felt like she had to do something to smooth out the crease between his brows. She took out last week’s notes, wrote a small note in pencil at the front, and handed it to Andrew.

Then, she resumed the conversation with Daniel, paying close attention to the way he spoke about Grace. If this man could get past Grace’s defenses so easily, then it is up to her to assess his trust-worthiness.

At this point, Andrew seemed less disturbed with the conversation that he was so conveniently excluded from. After all, he looked fondly at the pencil note written in her neat handwriting; Angel has just asked him out for lunch.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*