"He was in the kitchen getting a drink," Joey says. His eyes focus on Eleanor's reaction, which turned out to be quite dull.
"Oh," Eleanor says. She then takes a sip of orange juice.
"I think he likes you," Joey says, trying to sound chill at the topic.
Eleanor smiles shyly, her cheeks slowly starting to turn red. For her, it was kind of weird how she felt suddenly shy upon hearing Joey's statement. Yet, she knew that what made her felt this way wasn't because of the possibility of Fred to like her, but more likely because Joey seems to concern about it. She always loved when he was being concern of her, even in the simplest ways.
"Well, that doesn't really matter," Eleanor says, making Joey raise his right eyebrow upon hearing her statement.
"Why?" Joey ask.
"I'm not one to easily fall for a person I just met, Joe," Eleanor says.
"Oh," Joey says, slightly feeling relief that his best friend didn't seem to show interest in Fred. Somehow, it just worries him.
"I prefer emotional connection over physical attraction," Eleanor states. Slowly, she moves her head to face Joey, who just stood in silence upon hearing her statement. He was a bit surprised, since he thought that the "strong and tough looking" Eleanor was not a sensitive person, and would prefer looks over a decent personality.
"Oh, I see," Joey says, trying to sound casual.
Eleanor starts studying Joey's face from the side. His sharp jawlines was something she never get tired of staring at, and it was something quite private. Though she prefers emotional connection over physical attraction, she couldn't lie that always found Joey to be attractive.
Eleanor giggles, "Don't tell me you just found out."
"Found out about what?" Joey ask. He sounded clueless.
"That I am one who prefers emotional connection over a handsome face," Eleanor says, making Joey's cheeks suddenly turn red. He felt embarrassed that he just knew about this matter, after being friends since childhood.
Joey chuckles awkwardly, "You got that right."
"And you are honest enough to say that," Eleanor says. "I like it."
Eleanor's POV....
Joey's lips formed a small smile after hearing my statement. I notice his cheeks are again blushing a cute shade of red, making his cheeks look like tomatos. I have to admit, deep inside I always love to see him blush. I think it just makes him look way cuter.
But tonight, somehow there's something different with the way I feel when I stare at him. Usually I would just be satisfy enough with him noticing my gaze. Yet tonight, I actually wanted to do something more brave. I guess it happened after he showed concern towards me about Fred. Sure, I found Fred to look breath-takingly hot, but that wasn't enough. For me, the most attractive thing about a man is his attitude. And so far, the only guy who's attitude actually touched me was Joey. Only him, and I wanted him to always be that person. I could say, tonight I wanted him to know that what I feel for him now is more than what I felt for him during our childhood days.
"Joey," I say, my voice sounded a little low. The thought of confessing to him made the butterflies in me dance like crazy.
"Yes?" he answers as he turns his head to face me.
As our eyes, the butterflies inside of me starts dancing wilder. My heart starts to beat faster than the beat of the music now playing, as I feel his eyes enchanted mine. I wanted to escape this moment and save myself, but on the other hand, my heart didn't want me to do that despite the rush it's feeling. Slowly I move my vision to his lips, which I knew he noticed.
"I..li.."
"Damn it!"
A loud yet tipsy voice suddenly surprised both Joey and I. We turned our attention to see Taylor walking to us in a drunk manner. She then sits in between Joey and I as her hand touch her head.
"Damn, that was bad," Taylor says in a drunk tone.
"Taylor, are you drunk?" Joey ask with concern in his voice.
"Well obviously, Joe. I doubt she could even answer that," I say as I put my hands on my hips while staring at my drunk sister.
"I'm never drinking Tim's cocktails again," Taylor states.
"How many glass did you had anyway?" I ask.
"I lost count after Cheryl insisted me to join a drinking game," Taylor says.
"Damn, that sucks," I say, wondering why the hell would she even agree to join a drinking game with Tim's cocktails.
Joey then shifts his gaze from Taylor to me.
"Taylor's really drunk. Let me drive you girls back home," Joey says.
"Ok," I answer casually. Thinking that I haven't even confess to him about my feelings, I thought I could tell him later when we arrive home.
About 20 minutes later...
"We're here," Joey says. He unbuckled his seatbelts, in which I followed.
We got out of the car and open the door for Taylor, since she was sitting in the backseat. We slowly drag her out of the car together and walk over to the front door. Since my parents are probably in their room now since it's almost their bedtime, we walked slowly inside, not wanting to wake them up.
Upon arriving upstairs, I open the door of our room. We drag Taylor to her bed, in which she didn't bother to move another muscle. She's pretty drunk at the moment.
"Thanks for the ride," I say to Joey.
"No problem," he replies casually. "I better get home."
I smile, "Sure. Let me walk you out the door."
We walked downstairs and headed to the front door of the house. I then followed him out of the house, where we stop next to his car.
"Well, you should take some rest," Joey says.
"Yeah. Thanks for tonight, Joe," I say.
Our eyes locked with one another as I start to study his shinning eyes. Even under the night sky, he still looks charming. Over the years, I realized that he didn't change a bit, other than the fact that he only grew from a sweet boy to a fine man today. I didn't have to ask myself why did I grew to fall in love with him. He was the first boy who (other than my dad) who showed me pure affection as I grow up. Having to grow up with him being a brother-like figure had always been something special to me. But tonight, I knew that I didn't just want to keep seeing him as my "brother".
"Joey..."
To be continue...