It's a few days later now and Lauren and Joey are in the theatre in New York, their final tour destination, getting ready for the show which starts in about an hour.
Joey's dressed and ready to go, so decides to go and find Lauren. Getting into this outfit is like second nature now, he's done it so many times, but it's a weird thought that this is the last time. It just doesn't feel like all of this is ending.
He reaches the girls dressing rooms and knocks on the door. "It's Joey, is Lauren in there?" He says, trying to listen through the wood for a response. Suddenly the door opens to reveal Lauren standing there. She's wearing her outfit as well and is currently brushing her hair.
She smiles at him. "Yeah come in, it's just me in here."
Joey steps into the dressing room and looks around. "It's a lot cleaner in here than in ours," He observes.
Lauren shakes her head in disgust. "I find that easy to believe." She replies and they both laugh.
As Lauren is leaning over the table to get a closer look in the mirror while she straightens her hair, Joey suddenly spots something. He winces and makes his way over to her. "Shit Lo, have you got like..makeup you could cover this up with?" He mumbles.
She turns to him with a frown. "Cover what up? What is it?" He turns her body back towards the mirror and then points out a small bruise at the bottom of her neck, near her collarbone.
Lauren's face changes to despair. She closes her eyes in annoyance. "Joey, for fucks sake!" She groans and then looks again and rubs at the mark with her fingers, as if that will get rid of it.
Joey tries not to smile. "I'm sorry! I got carried away!" He says in defence. Lauren continues to moan and stress as she tries to find different things that will cover up it up.
Suddenly Meredith comes into the dressing room. Lauren turns to her, her expression full of hope. "Mere! Oh my God please help me, do you have anything that could cover this up?" She angles her head so Meredith can see the hickey.
She looks at it closely for a moment and then laughs and shakes her head at Joey. "Joey Richter!" She exclaims, her tone accusing but she's still laughing. Joey grins sheepishly and turns a light shade of red.
The two girls get to work on using different makeup and ways to try and hide the mark, and it's about ten minutes later when it's finally invisible.
Lauren examines it in the mirror and then exhales in relief. "Thank God." She says under her breath. Meredith laughs again and grabs what she originally came into the room for before leaving again, giving the pair another pointed look on her way out. Lauren turns to Joey and shakes her head at him. "You're lucky we could cover this up." She says and folds her arms.
Joey laughs. "Don't act like you wouldn't want me to give you another one!" He says in protest and leans against the table.
Lauren rolls her eyes. "I mean, if you could do it somewhere a little less on display, that would be a big help." She says sarcastically and raises her eyebrows at him with a smirk.
Joey decides to wind her up a little bit and moves so he's standing right in front of her. Lauren looks up at him, her sassy attitude suddenly disappeared. He gently lowers the neck of her tank top to a part that couldn't originally be seen. He hears her breathing speed up a little. "What about here?" Joey bends down and leaves a light kiss on the top of her chest where her bra ends.
Lauren swallows nervously as he stands up straight again and looks at him through her lashes. "That could work I guess." She whispers. Joey smiles at her but doesn't go any further with it.
