Lauren was in a much brighter mood going into rehearsal the next day, and as soon as she spotted Joey she gave him a hug and passed him the coffee she'd picked up for him. He laughed, and produced the two coffees he'd bought for the two of them that morning. He leaned down to kiss her cheek, and when she looked up at him there wasn't a trace of tension in his smile. She instantly felt more relaxed.
Today was their first dress rehearsal, and for the first time they didn't skip over the kiss. Neither of them had talked about it beforehand, but they both leaned in at the same time and then it was over before Lauren had a chance to overthink it, and the thought ran through her head that it was already getting easier.
They got lunch together in the break, Joey making fun of Lauren's order of pickles.
"Hey, you can eat ice cream, and pizza with cheese, and-"
"Okay, okay, point taken," he laughed. "But... pickles?"
"Let me have this one thing, Joey," she whined.
He held his hands up in surrender. "Fine, order as many pickles as you want."
"Thank you." She rolled her eyes, then grinned at him, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tucking her into his side.
She took a sharp breath in, wanting to say something to him, something to tell him she was sorry about the kiss. "Joey?"
"Yeah?" he asked. He looked down at her with a smile so sincere and genuine that her breath caught, and she lost her nerve.
"Nothing, don't worry about it."
"You sure?" His forehead creased, and she wanted to reach out and smooth it away with her thumb.
"Positive. Come on, we should get back." She reached out for his hand and pulled him after her back towards the theatre. She could tell him later. Or tomorrow. Or wait for the kiss to fade from his memory altogether. Just not now.
"Hey, do you guys want to see a movie tonight?" Jason called after them a couple of hours later on their way out of rehearsal.
Lauren and Joey looked at each other, and nodded infinitesimally in agreement. Lauren couldn't help but think back to how they'd done anything to avoid spending time together when they first met, and now they didn't want to do anything without each other.
"Yeah, sure," Joey answered for them. "Text us the details?"
He nodded, and abruptly turned around, presumably to ask the others, leaving the two of them to carry on out of the theatre.
Lauren got the text from Jason as she walked in her front door, telling them the plan to meet at 7.30. Three minutes later it was followed by a text from Joey, offering her a ride, which she accepted.
When she climbed into his car a few hours later, he smiled widely at her and she leaned over to hug him. She was relieved that there was no awkwardness anymore, like there was an unspoken agreement not to mention the kiss, and she was no longer so concerned with apologising for it. They could just pretend it never happened. Like friends. Because that's what they were.
They arrived at the movie theatre a few minutes late, surprised to find no one else was there before them. When it was still a no show at 7.45, they sent out a few texts to their friends, all of whom replied that something had come up and they weren't going to make it.
"That's weird," Lauren said, a seed of suspicion planted in her head, but she wasn't quite sure what it was.
"Well, we're here now," Joey said. "We can still see the movie if you want?"
