Lauren found herself walking in the direction of the dance studio, the only place she could think of to clear her head. When she danced she could forget about everything except the count in her head. She did a routine she performed in a show years ago, before Joey, before the ex boyfriend, even before she thought that she'd be trying to make a career out of acting. She just danced, going through it again and again until she lost count of how many times she'd done it, only faltering once when her attention was pulled to movement in the corridor outside. She pushed herself harder than she had for a long time, knowing she'd regret not warming up properly later but needing to put all of her focus into this or else she'd spiral into her fears about Joey.
She finally stopped when her muscles felt like they were on fire, and took deep breaths as she picked up her bag from the edge of the room.
"You can stop staring now, Joey," she said, and turned round to see him with his mouth agape, too surprised to think about walking away.
He cleared his throat. "How long have you known I was here?"
"Since you got here. I saw your reflection in the mirror." The instinct in her wanted to smile, but she stopped herself, keeping her gaze blank and steady.
His face flushed. "You're really good at that."
"How did you know where to find me?" she asked, ignoring his compliment.
"Elise told me she saw you heading here." Which means he asked, Lauren noted.
"Where were you?" She hoped she didn't sound too needy.
"I was out of town."
"Joey."
"I... had an audition," he finally admitted, looking down at the floor.
"You didn't tell me," she said, confused now. She didn't understand why he wouldn't tell her something like that, and she was disappointed that she hadn't gotten to congratulate him.
He met her eyes. "It's for a show filming in LA," he explained.
Her heart plummeted, but she tried not to show it. "We knew you were moving back there," she smiled in an attempt to reassure him.
"Yeah," he breathed. He didn't sound very reassured, and her heart ached.
"How did it go?" she asked, hoping to put a positive spin on it.
"I really don't know." He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't even know if I want to book it."
"Joey!" she exclaimed, shocked that he'd say that. "It'd be an amazing opportunity for you."
"It would," he admitted.
"I've got a good feeling about this," she said, reaching out and squeezing his hand.
"Yeah?"
She nodded. "You're so talented, JoJo. I'm sure you were amazing."
He finally smiled at her, and pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her head. Just like that, all the fear melted away, and she knew this was still her Joey. "Thank you, Lauren."
"It's true," she mumbled into his chest.
He released her from the embrace, and without saying anything they both started walking towards the exit.
"You'll be at rehearsal tomorrow?" she asked when they reached her car.
"You bet," he winked, opening her door for her.
By the next day they were back to their normal joking around, as if both of them were pretending the whole audition thing had never happened. They'd have to deal with it one way or another eventually, Lauren supposed, but for now she was happy to have her best friend back.
