The Two of Us: A Richpez fanfic

Chapter 12

Joey's PoV

I nervously knocked on Lauren's door. When she answered I immediately said, "Lo I am so so so sorry please forgive me I don't know what I was thinking." She stared at me for a couple seconds until the corners of her mouth turned up into a faint smile and she walked out of the doorway and pulled me into a hug.

"I forgive you Joey, but if you ever act that way again you better watch out" she half joked. We stood hugging for a few seconds before going off to lunch.

Once we arrived at the restaurant I thought it necessary to explain myself. "Lo, I know you forgave me already but I still am so sorry. I was so drunk and I didn't know what I was doing, but that's no excuse. I never should have yelled you like that. I feel so bad about the whole thing."

She reassured me that she forgave me and continued, "I know you guys are all going to miss me. This was such a hard decision for me to make. It breaks my heart to be leaving all of you, but this job really is a great opportunity."

"I know it is, but we're going to miss you so much. I'm going to miss you so much." I could feel my cheeks getting a little red so I took a sip of water, hoping she wouldn't notice.

"I'm going to miss you too Joey" she said, "but there's really no specific reason for me to stay here, you know? I've got nothing tying me down."

I wanted to be the one tying her down, the reason to stay, but how could I do that to her. She clearly wanted this job and I couldn't help but feel she'd resent me if I asked her to stay. I gave up on her staying in Chicago and just nodded a little in agreement that there was nothing keeping her.

The rest of lunch we talked about all of the amazing memories we shared and how we were going to miss getting to make new ones. It was a bit depressing if I really thought about it, but we were still able to laugh about all the crazy stuff we had done.

Lauren's PoV

I heard a knock on the door and knew it must be Joey. As soon as I opened the door he apologized again. I waited a few seconds before smiling a little and pulling him into a hug. I was going to miss getting to do this when I was gone. His touch was so gentle and his scent so soothing. While hugging him I said, "I forgive you Joey, but if you ever act that way again you better watch out." We hugged a few second more and then went to lunch.

When we sat down he apologized again and said he felt so bad about how he had yelled at me.

"I promise it's okay Joey, I really do forgive you." I wanted to make sure he knew I wasn't mad.

"I know you guys are all going to miss me. This was such a hard decision for me to make. It breaks my heart to be leaving all of you, but this job really is a great opportunity" I said.

"I know it is," he replied, "but we're going to miss you so much. I'm going to miss you so much." His face got a little red when he said this and he drank some water to try to cover it. Was it red from holding back tears or was he blushing? I pushed on to try to find my answer. I said that I would miss him too, but there wasn't really a reason for me to stay.

All he did was nod in agreement. I guess he probably wasn't blushing before, then. That was it, he didn't ask me to stay so now there was absolutely no reason for me not to go. I would be moving to New York before I knew it.