The Web I Spin for You ~ Richpez & Rosenwalker

Chapter 9

"I'll call him tomorrow, see if I can get an idea of how he's doing."

"Cool, I'm probably going to stop by his home in the morning." Darren added. "He'll definitely have a hangover. Maybe you call in the afternoon, and we can regroup and see what we get out of him?"

"Sounds like a plan." Lauren mumbled. Usually she enjoyed scheming, but the reason they were doing it took all of the fun out.

"Cool." Darren threw his pink sunglasses on, even though it was pitch black outside. "Joey, you need a ride home?"

"Ooh, actually if you c-"

"Don't worry, I'm driving him home later." Lauren answered. "He has to stay until we finish our puzzle."

Darren nudged his sunglasses down his nose enough so that he could glance back and forth between Joey and Lauren, raising his eyebrows at them. "Alright. Have fun lovebirds." He gave them a wave, heading out.

As soon as he was gone, Lauren turned excitedly to face him. "Come on, I need to get this shit done."

Joey nodded, following her back over to the living room table. "Couldn't wait until some other time?" Joey asked, amused that she'd stopped him from leaving with Darren.

"Don't hate on me for wanting to puzzle." Lauren said defensively, a slight blush spreading across her face. In truth—a truth that while obvious to Darren, Joey was oblivious to—she just didn't want Joey to leave. "I need the stress relief. I am beyond worked up right now."

"I know. Me too." Joey reassured her. "I just really don't get it. I don't get why things haven't gotten better."

Lauren scoffed. "I do. I was so fucking naive for thinking that things would be better once Joe broke up with her." She attempted to jam two more pieces together, failing. "Not that you're naive!" Lauren added, realizing that she most likely had come across as harsh. "I've just known Zoey forever. I know how she is. I should've known that him leaving her wouldn't be the end of things. If anything, it just has her even more obsessed with him."

"Dude, forget Zoey. I don't get why Brian and Joe aren't together." Joey told her honestly. "I mean, I sort of do, but I really feel like Joe would be better if he was in another relationship."

Lauren bit her lip. "I'm torn to be honest. I somewhat agree, but at the same time I totally see where Brian's coming from. He's right after all; Joe getting with him won't heal him." Lauren rested her head in the palm of her hand. "He wants them to get together when it's the right time."

"I get it. I just, I don't know. I mean, they like each other. They both openly admitted it to each other and made out in the middle of a show." Joey stated, running through the facts. "Life is difficult enough, like, why complicate what could be simple?"

Lauren glanced up at him, a slight blush spreading across her face. "Things aren't always that easy. Look at us for fucks sake." She broke eye contact, suddenly very interested in the puzzle.

Joey froze, puzzle pieces in hand, his heart aggressively pounding inside of his chest. "What, what do you mean?"

Lauren continued to stare down on the puzzle, wondering why the fuck she'd brought that up. She knew that there was no backing out, but she still used the puzzle to stall time before finally looking up at him. "I mean... we like each other. We kissed. We sat down and admitted our feelings. We did all of those things, but we're not together for that exact reason."

Joey furrowed his brow, copying Lauren in breaking eye contact and having a sudden interest in the puzzle. "And, what reason exactly are you referring to?"