𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 (𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐩𝐞𝐳)

part five

author's note: and here we are, the last part. i hope you guys like it. (slight tw for brief mentions of self harm and some smut).

Gradually, Lauren got better. She distracted herself with anything she could and left little positive notes around her apartment to pick up later and spent all the time she could with her friends, Joey in particular. The pair spent every day together which wasn't all that different from normal, only they greeted each other with a soft peck to the lips and they held hands at every opportunity they got.

Of course, their friends noticed a shift in the dynamic. The boys interrogated Joey whenever they could, pushing and pushing for answers, unfortunately to no avail. Joey still didn't feel comfortable confirming their relationship until Lauren was at least feeling 90% better. But Lauren took him up on his offer; she called him whenever she needed him, told him he had no obligation to rush over to her place and sighed when she heard him fumbling for his keys and slamming his apartment door shut, but allowing herself a small sense of relief and happiness knowing she didn't have to be alone. Lauren would fall asleep in his arms almost every night, and almost every night, similar to the first, Joey could only drift off once he knew she had.

By the time a month had gone by, Lauren hadn't hurt herself in weeks and was eating three meals a day pretty much consistently. She'd made leaps and bounds of progress, something her friends never seemed to stop taking pride in. Compliments were nonstop when the conversation turned to her journey, and every single time she'd blush and fiddle with her hair while everyone around her showered her with praise, as they should.

Another night of compliments awaited them as the group gathered at Lauren and Julia's place with a bottle of wine, soon empty pizza boxes and pop music playing quietly in the background.

"So Lauren," Julia smiled, a twinkle in her eye. "How long will it have been now?"

Lauren smiled back, a glass of wine in her hand. "About a month."

"I'll drink to that!" Joe beamed, raising his glass.

"How bout a toast?" Joey grinned, nudging Lauren's shoulder. She rolled her eyes but nodded at him to continue, smiling when he squeezed her hand. "I'd like to propose a toast, to Lauren. Over the past month, you've made so much progress and believe me there is not a single person alive prouder of you than I am. You're strong and brave and beautiful, of course, and I knew you could do this and you have. Things were tough but you got through it, you were right to believe it could get better. I'm so happy we're working through this and you've let us help you. I love- We love you. To Lauren."

"To Lauren." The group echoed, clinking glasses over the kitchen island.

Lauren grinned, her glass still raised. "To me." She giggled and took a sip, before setting the drink down. "Thank you guys, so so much. I couldn't have done this without you."

"Well as much as we'd like to take credit, and as much as we did help you," Jaime smirked, looking to the brunette boy by Lauren's side, lost in admiring the girl's beauty. "Joey is most deserving of your thanks, he helped the most, he was on standby 24/7 for you."

"I know, I still can't believe you've done so much for me, but thank you, honey, you mean the world to me," her eyes welled up a little as she spoke, pulling him into a tight hug. In a hushed voice only loud enough for the two of them to hear, she added, "You'll get your thank you present later, believe me."

Lauren winked as she pulled away, a deep red blush spreading across Joey's cheeks as he took a gulp of wine.

"How about we get this party started?" Brolden grinned, downing what was left of his drink.