Modern Family: New Life-Chapter 106: Alex asks for advice

Andrew returned home after a long clothing shopping session, where Cam spent another twenty minutes making up his mind. In the end, he didn't choose between the gray or the blue shirt... he bought both.

And also a black one with silver details he found near the checkout counter.

And a wine-colored linen shirt because "I have nothing that matches those white pants buried at the back of the closet." freēnovelkiss.com

On the drive home, the silence was tense. Mitch and Cam hadn't fought, but something was unresolved: that awkward moment of the failed kiss.

Andrew, sitting in the back seat, noticed it.

He said nothing. He sat quietly, with Lily asleep beside him, her tiny hand loosely holding onto one of his fingers.

Andrew stared out the window in silence until they got home. As soon as he walked in, he headed straight to his room and plugged his phone into the charger.

Then he turned it on and sat down in the chair in front of his desk to start checking his messages.

One message was from Pippa. It said:

"Which of these two outfits do you think is better for tonight? I just tried them on. I don't know which one to wear."

It came with two photos.

Andrew raised an eyebrow as he looked at both pictures.

Pippa almost never asked for his opinion on these kinds of things. She usually made decisions quickly, on her own.

And besides... she tended to choose her clothes with a logic he didn't always understand.

But here she was. Asking for his opinion.

He looked carefully at both photos. He loved both outfits, and they both looked great on her.

For a moment, he thought about replying, "Everything looks good on you," but forced himself not to. With another girl, that might work as an easy compliment.

But Pippa wasn't like that. She had asked him a direct question and expected a decision, not an evasion.

He looked at the photos once more and replied that he liked the second one more.

Then, he noticed two missed calls from Alex.

Seeing them, he frowned slightly, curious, "What would Alex want?" he muttered to himself.

His cousin wasn't the type to call often, actually, she almost never did. And even less so twice in under an hour.

Without hesitation, he pressed the button and called her back, holding the phone to his ear.

On the second ring, he heard Alex's voice:

"Finally. Why didn't you answer earlier?" she said in her usual critical, serious tone.

"Hi, Alex. I'm fine, thanks for asking," Andrew replied sarcastically, leaning back in his chair.

Alex huffed on the other end.

"What's up? Did one of your experiments explode and now you need my help to keep your mom from punishing you?" Andrew said with a slight smile.

"Of course not. Unlike Haley and you, I'll never get grounded," Alex replied immediately.

"Remember when you got me drunk little by little? Your mom grounded you when she found out," Andrew pointed out, and Alex went silent, unable to counter it.

"Touché," Alex muttered, resigned.

"I need... Pippa's help," she added.

Andrew raised an eyebrow, "You want me to act as a middleman and tell her you need her help? I thought you had her number."

"Yes, I have it. But I'm a little... embarrassed to ask her for help," Alex replied, in a tone very unusual for her. Almost shy.

"Embarrassed? You? The girl who turned down a guy in front of the whole school even though he got down on one knee holding a romantic sign?" said Andrew, half incredulous, half amused.

"Shut up! It's partially your fault I had to do that," Alex exclaimed, losing her patience.

"Whatever... Is it a math problem? Your ego can't handle asking for help because you feel like your IQ will collapse?" Andrew asked.

"No!" she answered quickly, almost offended.

"Chemistry? Language arts? A group project where you need Pippa's help because your teammates are useless?"

Alex sighed in frustration, "It's not academic, okay? It's... personal."

Andrew shifted in his chair, intrigued, "Personal? What do you mean?"

There was a short silence. Then, as if it cost her to say it, Alex blurted it out:

"It's about a boy. Jeremy Reed. He's in my grade."

"Oh..." said Andrew, not expecting that twist, "And what about this Jeremy Reed?"

"I think I like him..." Alex said in a low voice. "We've been talking on the text message."

"I see... You're finally nervous about something other than a final exam," Andrew said solemnly, which made Alex angry.

"Shut up! Are you going to be useful or not?"

"Alright, alright. I just... didn't see this coming. So you want Pippa to give you romantic advice?" Andrew asked.

"Yes... She's smart, sensible, and has good judgment," Alex nodded.

"And why not talk to Haley about it? She has experience in—"

"I already talked to Haley," Alex interrupted before Andrew could finish.

"And what did she say? She should have more experience in these things than anyone you know," said Andrew.

"Yes, she has experience... but that doesn't mean she's reliable," Alex said.

"Experience and reliability don't go hand in hand now?" Andrew asked.

"Not in Haley's case. I don't even know how many boyfriends she's had. Dylan was the one she lasted with the longest, but they broke up more than five times. Her relationships are volatile, chaotic, and highly dependent on her mood. Basically, the perfect example of what I don't want," Alex answered bluntly.

"Valid point," Andrew said, smiling slightly. "What advice did she give you?"

"That if I don't kiss him soon, Jeremy will think I'm a lesbian," Alex replied, making a brief pause, as if she were debating whether to say it or not.

Andrew was speechless for a few seconds, "That was the whole advice?"

"Yes. And she added that she suspects I am a lesbian because of the sandals I wear..."

Andrew covered his face with his hand, shaking his head, "I want to believe you didn't actually take that advice seriously, right?"

Alex stayed silent.

Her silence made Andrew sigh lightly, "You did take Haley's advice seriously..." he stated.

"It's not something I'm particularly proud of. But her stupid advice made me so nervous that I started thinking maybe I was being too slow, and I didn't want Jeremy to think I was a lesbian. Luckily, while I was on my way to his house, I stopped and realized it didn't make any sense and that I needed the opinion of someone reliable," Alex said.

'You actually ran toward the guy's house planning to kiss him just because of Haley's advice?' Andrew thought, struggling to believe what he was hearing. Thankfully, Alex had come to her senses halfway there.

"Alright, I'll tell Pippa that you want to talk to her about this," Andrew said, agreeing. He knew Pippa would give Alex solid, sane advice, nothing crazy, and would help calm her anxiety about this whole thing.

"But don't mention the sandals. Or the fact that I was running to Jeremy's house," Alex warned.

Andrew smiled and agreed without teasing her.

"Thanks, Andrew..." Alex said in a softer tone, feeling more relieved.

"Don't thank me, I'm just acting as a middleman... Speaking of that, why don't you ever ask me for advice? I know I'm a guy and maybe you feel more comfortable talking about this stuff with girls, but I do have experience, you know," Andrew said, sounding a little offended at not being considered.

"Experience in what?" Alex asked.

"You know, relationships. Pippa and I have been together for over six months, we've only had one fight, and we got through it easily. Plus, I have a pretty solid track record of giving good love advice," Andrew replied with a slight confident smile.

"Good love advice? Like what?" Alex asked doubtfully.

Andrew began listing what, in his view, were his successful moments: helping Manny regain his confidence on Valentine's Day so he could get his date, and that same day helping Haley reunite with Dylan so they could spend Valentine's Day together.

And finally, the advice he gave Archie just yesterday, although it didn't turn out to be effective, was still good advice.

Archie had a better chance of winning Willa over by using basic flirting rather than trying to impress her through nerdy hobbies, something he wasn't an expert in and would only make him look ridiculous.

Alex let him finish telling everything and then spoke up, going straight for the attack, dismantling what Andrew believed made him a good love advisor.

"First, you helped Haley get back together with Dylan in exchange for something. You didn't do it for free, and besides, that doesn't even count as romantic advice," Alex said bluntly.

Before Andrew could defend himself, she continued,

"Second, you did help Manny get his Valentine's date, but you didn't give him any romantic advice that helped with the girl. In fact, Manny did everything by himself with the letter he wrote. You only helped him regain his confidence, retrieve the letter, and face his bully."

"Third, the advice you gave your friend didn't help at all. From conversations I overheard from Haley, Willa completely ignored him. So whether he went with the nerdy hobbies angle or the basic flirting approach, both were failures," Alex declared.

"And about your first fight with Pippa—"

Before Alex could continue, Andrew interrupted, "Do you want my help or not?"

Alex bit back what she was about to say and replied, "Yes, please."

After a few more words, they ended the call.

'Am I not a good love advisor?' Andrew thought, as he sent a message to Pippa asking her to help Alex.

Pippa agreed immediately, and after that, seeing the time, Andrew got to work editing a video for his gaming channel. There were still a few hours left before he had to head over to Jay's house.

And just then, his phone started ringing again. This time, the call was from Jay, which was also unusual.

Jay and Alex, both calling him on the same day?

What the hell is going on?

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