On Friday afternoon, Joey walked into the coffee shop for the second time that day. He'd spoken to Lauren as usual that morning, and had even invited her to see the Basement show he was performing in that weekend, although she'd had to decline because she was visiting her parents, which he tried not to be too disappointed by.
He couldn't really say why he brought Charlotte - his cousin who was over from California for the weekend - here instead of going to Starbucks. Maybe because it had come to feel like a sort of home, or maybe just because it didn't feel right to go anywhere else.
Whatever it was, he definitely wasn't expecting to see Lauren behind the till when he walked in. He told Charlotte to take a seat and then made his way up to the counter.
Lauren's face lit up in a surprised smile as he walked up to her.
"Hi!" she said.
"Okay, now it's my turn to ask what you're doing here," he said with a laugh.
"I picked up a shift for Jaime so she could go to an audition."
"That's sweet of you."
"Too sweet," she said, rolling her eyes.
At that moment, Charlotte came up to Joey to remind him of her order.
"A caramel frappuccino with-"
"A shot of vanilla, I know," Joey finished for her, laughing. She wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug and then returned to the table.
He saw Lauren's eyes following her the whole way back, and he'd become familiar enough with her expressions to know that there was something up. He glanced from Charlotte back to Lauren, swiftly realising what this looked like, and barked out a laugh.
"What?" Lauren asked, in the middle of making their order.
"Nothing," he said, shaking his head with an amused smile.
She looked at him suspiciously but said nothing, handing the two drinks over with a smile that was slightly fainter than usual.
As he caught up with Charlotte, she kept looking over his shoulder.
"Why does that barista keep staring at us?" she asked him irritably at a break in the conversation.
He resisted the urge to turn around and wave childishly at Lauren.
"Because she thinks you're my girlfriend," he said.
"Ew," Charlotte said, wrinkling her nose. Joey laughed.
"So is there something going on between you two then?" she asked him.
He sighed, his cheeks turning pink. "Not exactly."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I really like her," Joey confessed. "But I'm in school, she's two years out of college. It's not gonna work out. If we got together then what'd happen when I go back to California at the end of this year? I might never see her again. Plus, I don't even know if she likes me, I mean, we're friends now but we did get off to a pretty bad start-"
Joey realised he'd been rambling and pulled his coffee towards him while Charlotte gaped at him.
"Joey, from the way she's been giving me death stares this whole time I'd say there's a pretty decent chance she likes you."
"She's just being protective," Joey said, waving his hand.
Charlotte raised an eyebrow at him.
"Not like that!" he tried to protest. "Protective of me as a friend."
"Sure," Charlotte said, raising her cup to her lips.
