"Good morning," Joey said as Lauren walked into the cafeteria, looking disgruntled.
She had, despite her insistence, fallen asleep quickly when they got back to their cabin after the campfire. And that morning, Joey had woken up to her hand not on his chest, but on his cheek.
He had gotten out of bed as quickly as he could, while still careful not to disturb her sleep. Though he felt terrible for leaving her alone and going to breakfast without her, if he stayed in close proximity to her any longer he might have done something he shouldn't. He did leave her a note, though, and had her breakfast waiting at the table with him for when she arrived. A gesture she looked grateful for, as she pulled the tray towards her and began eating hungrily, checking her watch to see how much time they had.
"Sorry for letting you oversleep," he said softly.
"Not your fault," she said with a smile.
He didn't mention the hand to her, figuring both that it wasn't something she needed on top of an already stressful morning, and that it might make her uncomfortable or embarrassed to know. She wasn't aware of it in her sleep, so she didn't need to be aware of it at all.
"So what are we doing today?" she asked him through another mouthful of food.
"Team bonding activities all morning, then auditions for the end of camp show."
"Which is?"
"A modern day version of Romeo and Juliet."
Lauren looked up at him, grinning. "We do love a bit of Shakespeare."
He smiled back at her wistfully. That was the whole reason they met, and it was strange to think how much things had changed since then. Lauren had held a serious grudge against him for the first few days before she warmed up to him, and yet they'd quickly ended up best friends and then... something more. His heart ached for those blissful weeks spent together as a couple, before he returned to LA and didn't see her for a year and a half. Now they weren't quite back at square one, but there was only one place he really wanted to be with Lauren, and that was unreachable.
"You okay?"
Lauren's voice snapped him out of his daze. "I'm great," he said. "Are you done?"
"Mhm."
"I'll clear our trays."
"Oh, you don't have to-"
"I've got it," he said, taking both the trays before she could protest any more.
"Thank you," she said to him as he came back to their table.
"Of course," he smiled. "Ready to go, babe?"
Lauren was halfway out of her seat, but she froze, and it was only then that his brain registered what he had just said.
"Did you just call me 'babe'?" she asked slowly.
He could say no, but that would obviously be a lie. He cursed himself for speaking so unthinkingly. "Sorry, I, um... force of habit," he stammered.
She looked at him for a long moment where he wished the ground would just swallow him up. Then she patted his arm with a grin.
"Come on, babe, we don't want to keep the kids waiting."
He groaned inwardly. If he thought waking up to her curled up against him was bad, he'd just opened himself up to a whole new means of suffering.
They made their way outside to the meeting point where Victoria was trying to corral the kids into lines, to little effect. Joey and Lauren found their group huddled amid the rowdy mass of children and did roll call to make sure everyone was accounted for. Then, once Victoria gave her spiel about the importance of team bonding, they led them out to the field where the activities would take place.
