A/N: Thank you all for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 5: The follies and vices of others

The moment they got home from Dave & Busters and Leila went off to her bedroom, Ana immediately went into Kate's room to tell her all about tonight. Namely, about Jack and the horrible thing Christian did to his supposed friend.

"Wow," Kate frowned as soon as Ana was finished telling her what Jack told her. Ana currently sat cross-legged on Kate's bed while Kate sat in her desk chair, her fractured ankle resting on a small cushion. "I can't believe it. Are you sure it's true?"

"How could it not be?" Ana asked, picking up a nearby stuffed animal and holding it to her chest. "Jack had no reason to lie to me. A lot of the facts he said about Christian were accurate, like how he had gone to Harvard before taking over his dad's company, and the fact that he has a little sister."

"But what Christian apparently did to Jack… it's such an awful thing to do to somebody," Kate said fairly. "I can't believe Christian would be so mean toward his friend for no reason."

"He did it because he was jealous," Ana explained. "If Christian felt that his own father liked Jack more, it would have made him angry and he would have lashed out by taking away something Carrick gave to Jack. It makes sense, and I can totally see Christian being that big of an asshole to someone."

"I don't know, Ana," Kate said doubtfully. "Elliot has always said really nice things about Christian. Maybe he's not as big of a jerk as you think he is."

"Or maybe Elliot is just a very kind and forgiving person who can easily overlook other people's faults despite how big they are," Ana smirked at her sister. "That's probably why you and Elliot like each other so much: you're both too nice for your own good."

Kate rolled her eyes with a smile and a blush. "Oh shut up."

"It's true," Ana insisted. " And I don't mean to be insulting to Elliot because I think he's a really nice guy, but I can more easily believe Elliot's kind nature would be manipulated by Christian than Jack's story being untrue."

"I think you just like Jack, Ana," Kate pointed out, giving her sister a knowing smile. Now it was Ana's turn to blush.

"I might," she glanced down at her hands, fighting a smile. "There's a lot to like about Jack, to be honest. But even if I didn't like him, I do believe he was telling the truth."

"Maybe he is," Kate shrugged. "I don't know what to think. I hope for Elliot's sake Jack's story is wrong, but even if it is true, I don't think we should be spreading this rumor around to people. Especially since it involves Christian's dead father."

"Fair enough," Ana sighed, tossing the stuffed animal aside and getting off the bed. "I still think Christian's a huge jerk, though."

"I know you do," Kate giggled sardonically. "You don't have to hang out with him if you don't want to."

"Speaking of people I don't want to hang out with," Ana said, suddenly remembering. "Did you hear that Mr. Rodriguez and Jose are visiting from Seattle tomorrow?"

Kate's face fell. "Seriously?"

"Yup," Ana grimaced. "They missed Dad's birthday party, so they're driving down for a visit tomorrow. They're apparently going to be in Portland all next week."

Kate looked utterly dejected, but didn't say anything more to that. Ana could understand her sister's reticence: Jose Rodriguez and his father had been family friends of the Steele's for many years now, and they were odd people. Jose was twenty-three years old and had been homeschooled all his life, and lacked a lot of basic social skills which made him kind of embarrassing to hang out with. The last time he visited Portland, he had asked Kate out on a date in front of everyone, clearly confident she would say yes. Kate was extremely embarrassed when she told him no, and it was an incident Ana was embarrassed to think about even now.

"Maybe you could stay up here in your room all week and I'll tell Jose you died in a tragic bike accident," Ana suggested with a grin, and Kate giggled wryly.

"Honestly, I'd consider doing that," she said seriously, and Ana laughed.

"Well, if we're lucky, Mom and Dad won't make us spend too much time with the Rodriguez boys while they're here," she said, moving toward the door. "I should probably go to bed now. I'll see you tomorrow morning, bright and early."

"Goodnight, Ana."

The next day, just as Ana had said, Mr. Rodriguez and Jose arrived at the Steele home. Mr. Rodriguez was a larger, balding man who had gone a little gray since they had last seen him, but Jose hadn't changed much at all. He wore his usual thick black-framed glasses with a striped polo shirt tucked into his khaki pants, which looked too short for him as they rode up his ankles.

"Come on in, guys," Carla smiled politely, gesturing for the two men to walk inside into the foyer, where the rest of the the Steele family were standing and waiting. "Please, make yourselves at home."

"Thank you Carla," Mr. Rodriguez smiled at her.

"It's great to see you again," Ray greeted his friend, giving him a hug. "How've you two been?"

"We've been great," Mr. Rodriguez said, smiling down at Jose. "Jose here just got a job at an art studio."

"It's a very prestigious job," Jose said proudly, puffing himself up with a grin. "A lot of people in Seattle's upper class go there to buy their pieces of art, and you usually need super important connections in order to get a job there."

"That's great, Jose," Ray said. "I look forward to hearing more about it."

"The place is called Lady de Bourgh," Jose went on loudly, unrelenting. "I doubt people here in Portland have ever heard of it. It's well-known in Seattle for being very exclusive, and it's pretty secretive about its clientele. I really shouldn't talk too much about it."

Ana glanced over at Kate, who was standing beside her leaning on a crutch, and the two of them tried not to laugh. Jose bragging about the inane things in his life was a pretty normal occurrence, and it was usually difficult to get a word in edgewise whenever he was talking. Leila let out a resigned sigh as she pulled out her phone, tuning out everyone else.

Jose blathered on a bit more about his art studio job, talking about all the important work he was expected to do, such as help oversee the shipments of art coming in or help dust the picture frames. Based on what he was saying, Ana suspected he was just someone's assistant or an intern, though he never explicitly said his job title. Ray and Carla at first were polite enough to ask Jose some questions about his new job, but after over ten minutes of him going on and on about it, they decided not to encourage him any further.

Carla had made a lunch of soup and sandwiches for everyone, so once Jose finally stopped talking, they all made their way into the dining room to eat. Ana helped Kate into her seat since she was struggling a bit, and Jose finally seemed to notice.

"Kate, what happened to your foot?" he asked, watching as she slowly lowered herself into her seat.

"I got in a bicycle accident in the park," Kate said simply.

"Oh really? I never ride my bike anymore," Jose stated. "It can be pretty dangerous riding around in the city, with all those cars around. Plus, when you work at the Lady de Bourgh, it's basically expected you come to work looking clean and professional. I mean, most of my coworkers there drive a Lexus or an Audi at least…"

And once again, he was off talking about his job. Ana couldn't help but feel bad for his coworkers, who likely had to constantly hear him blabbering about dumb things all day long. She decided to just tune him out.

Their lunch commenced, and when Jose wasn't dominating the conversation, Ray, Carla, and Mr. Rodriguez talked about work. Ana, Kate, and Leila didn't say much, and Ana was hoping their meal could end soon and Jose and his dad would leave.

Jose was in the middle of describing his work uniform when Carla suddenly turned to Ana, interrupting his monologue. "So Ana, how's Charlie doing?"

Ana was a bit surprised by her mother's question, but was happy to talk about something other than Jose's work. "She's doing well," she said. "It was nice getting to spend some time with her last night."

"And what about those cute boys you two were hanging out with?" Leila teased with a smirk. Ana glared at her sister before kicking her shin under the table.

"Leila, leave your sister alone," Carla said firmly to her youngest daughter.

"Charlie's going off to college soon, isn't she?" Ray asked, taking a bite of his chicken salad sandwich. "The fall semester is starting in a couple weeks."

"Yeah, she's going to the University of Seattle in a few days," Ana said, smiling sadly. "I'm really going to miss her. Her parents are throwing her a going-away party on Wednesday though, which should be pretty fun."

"Are you still in school, Anastasia?" Jose asked, gazing at her.

It was the first time Jose had acknowledged Ana all day, and she was a bit surprised. She gave him a perfunctory smile. "Yes. I'm taking online classes."

"And how do you like taking online classes?" he asked politely. "Would you say they're better than in-person classes?"

Ana exchanged a glance with Kate, who just shrugged. "Um… they're fine, I guess."

"I'm glad you enjoy them," Jose smiled at her. Ana didn't respond, unsure of what to say.

Everyone continued to eat their lunch, talking about various things, and eventually Mr. Rodriguez and Jose left to take their luggage to the hotel they were staying at. They were apparently coming by tomorrow for another visit, and while Ana was dreading their return, she was going to treasure the few hours she didn't have to spend in Jose's company.

The next morning, which was Sunday, Charlie came over to the Steele's house to spend the day with Ana, Kate, and Leila. Mr. Rodriguez and Jose came by once again, and the parents all suggested the kids go out to the mall or a movie or something. Ana was fine with that suggestion, though it did mean she was going to have to spend time with Jose again.

Jose, Ana, Leila, and Charlie all headed out to the mall, Kate staying at home due to her fractured ankle. Predictably, Jose started talking about his job at Lady de Bourgh - the Steele girls were all worn out with Jose's one-sided conversation, but Charlie was polite enough to listen to him prattle on about the prestigious art he worked with on a daily basis.

"I even got to meet a famous local artist a couple weeks ago," he said excitedly to Charlie as the four of them walked through the mall, passing by various shops and stores. "I mean, I didn't actually meet her. I saw her from across the room, but it was a fantastic moment that I got to experience…"

"So Charlie, are you excited to be heading off to college soon?" Ana asked her friend, who was starting to look tired by her conversation with Jose.

"Yeah, definitely," Charlie turned to Ana and smiled gratefully. "I mean, I'm nervous to go live in a new city obviously, but I'm glad I'll be within driving distance to home."

"You better come visit every weekend," Leila said to Charlie, who smiled.

"How about every other weekend?" she suggested, and the girls laughed.

"Hi Ana. Hi Leila."

Ana turned and saw Elliot and Christian walking toward them from one of the stores, Elliot holding a large shopping bag from Duluth Trading.

"Hi Elliot," Ana smiled. She decidedly didn't greet Christian, who she noticed was looking at her. He didn't say anything, but Ana couldn't quite decipher the expression on his face as he seemed to give her a onceover.

Asshole

"So what are you guys doing here?" Elliot smiled, glancing at the four of them. "Is Kate with you?"

"She stayed home because of her ankle," Leila said.

"Oh," Elliot said, his face falling slightly.

"She's been doing a lot better lately," Ana said. "The doctors say she could probably have her brace off by the end of next week."

Elliot smiled again, looking happy at that prospect. "That's awesome! Tell her I hope she's feeling better, and I'll try to come visit her tomorrow morning."

"Will do," Ana nodded before turning to Charlie. "By the way, have you met our friend and neighbor, Charlie?"

"No I haven't," Elliot smiled at Charlie and stuck out his hand. "I'm Elliot, and this is my buddy Christian."

"Nice to meet you," Charlie smiled, shaking his hand before shaking Christian's.

"And I'm Jose," Jose suddenly said, knocking into Ana as he moved past her to shake Elliot's hand. "I'm a close personal friend of the Steele family."

Elliot looked a bit surprised, but greeted him kindly all the same. "Nice to meet you."

"So what are you two doing at the mall?" Ana asked Elliot. She glanced over at Christian and noticed he was still looking at her for some reason.

"Oh, I just needed a new pair of workboots," Elliot said, gesturing to the bag in his hand. "Christian was bored, so he decided to tag along."

"No, I told you I needed a new tie for my meeting tomorrow," Christian countered.

"Oh, you wear ties to work too?" Jose asked, perking up. "Because I have a dress code for the art studio I work at. It's the Lady de Bourgh, I don't know if you've ever heard of it…"

"Charlie's actually going to be leaving for college in Seattle next week," Ana said, overriding Jose. "Her parents are throwing her a going-away party on Wednesday."

"You guys are free to come if you like," Charlie added, smiling brightly. "It'll be over at The Evergreen, and I know Kate will be there too. There'll be good food and music and dancing… it should be a lot of fun."

"We'd love to come," Elliot grinned happily, glancing over at Christian. "Wouldn't we, Christian?"

"Yeah, definitely," Christian said politely.

"Well, I for one am really looking forward to it," Jose said adamantly.

The girls were silent, too uncomfortable to point out Jose hadn't technically been invited. "Um… yeah, it should be fun," Charlie said politely. "I hope you all can make it."

They said their goodbyes before going their separate ways, Leila and Ana trying not to laugh at how oblivious Jose was as they walked in the direction of the food court.

"Does anybody want to get a soft pretzel?" Leila asked, gazing at the nearby Auntie Anne's.

"Sure, I'll buy one," Charlie grinned.

"You guys go ahead," Jose said. "Anastasia, can I have a word with you?"

Ana stared at Jose in confusion before glancing over at Charlie and Leila, who looked just as confused as her. "Um… yeah sure. I'll meet you guys over by the pretzel place, okay?"

Charlie and Leila agreed before walking away, and Jose led Ana about thirty yards in the opposite direction toward a Victoria's Secret. He stopped near the doorway before turning to her.

"I suppose I should just come right out and say it," Jose said in a rather formal tone, clasping his hands in front of him. "I didn't want to ask you in front of the others for fear of embarrassing you, but I was wondering if perhaps you wanted to go to Charlie's going-away party with me?"

Ana felt extremely uncomfortable now, and she was torn between wanting to punch Jose in the mouth or run away from him. "Jose…" she began awkwardly.

"I feel that since we were both going anyway, it might be a good opportunity for us to get to know each other better," Jose went on, his tone still unrelentingly formal. "I would hate for either of us to go alone, and I feel that, as far as options go, a date with me wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. I mean, I am working at one of the most prestigious art studios in Seattle…"

"Jose," Ana said firmly, overriding him. "Please stop talking, and let me be perfectly clear: I don't want to go to Charlie's party with you. Okay?"

Jose blinked, looking only slightly surprised. "But I figured since this was a party, guests ought to bring along a date. Do you already have one?"

"No, but that doesn't change the fact that I won't go to the party with you," Ana stated.

"Oh," Jose said, looking a bit confused for a moment before suddenly smiling in realization. "Oh, I see. Is this because I live all the way up in Seattle and you live here in Portland? Because I agree, a relationship between the two of us could get a bit complicated due to the distance, but I had honestly weighed the pros and cons of a long-distance relationship with you before asking…"

"Jose, I promise it's not the distance," Ana said quickly, anger and humiliation still raging through her. "I just don't feel that way about you, alright?"

"Ana, if you're embarrassed about the fact that our families are close, you don't have to be," Jose smiled at her, still not picking up on Ana's feelings. "It might be a little strange at first, I know, but I'm sure our parents would be thrilled to find out that you and I are together…"

"Jose, please learn to take a hint," Ana snapped, her impatience throwing her manners out the window. "I don't like you, I don't want to go out with you, and I'm not going to Charlie's party with you as my date. Understand?"

Ana didn't wait for his response as she turned around and stalked back over to Charlie and Leila, her heart still pounding with embarrassment.

A/N: Oh that poor clueless Jose lol :)

Hope you all enjoyed that! Next chapter, Charlie's going-away party puts Ana and Christian in the same room together once again.

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