Three hours and a bottle and a half of wine later, and Lauren was having a better time with Joey than she ever could have had at the cast party, though that hardly came as a surprise.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked.
"Sure," she said, taking another swig from her glass.
"How good of a kisser am I actually?"
"Joey!" she protested. "You can't-" she gestured haphazardly at the empty bottle on the table in front of them, "-get me drunk and then ask me a question like that."
He smiled, only looking slightly disappointed, and put an arm around her. "Okay."
"But I guess if you're asking..." She could practically see Joey hanging onto her words. "You are a good kisser. A very, very good kisser."
Her eyes were slightly unfocused as she looked at him, but she could see the pleasant surprise on his face.
"So?" she asked him.
"So... what?"
"So am I a good kisser?"
He chuckled, the sound sending waves of warmth through her. "Yeah, Lo, I'd say you're a pretty damn good kisser."
His gaze dropped to her lips and she wanted desperately to pull him towards her and kiss him, but drunk Lauren was aware enough to know that while she may enjoy kissing Joey right now, she'd be mad at herself in the morning.
"And you're the nicest person I've ever kissed," she said. She had just meant to deflect off of her, but now all the hurt about her ex boyfriend - that had laid dormant while she'd been distracted recently - was rising to the surface. Not now, she thought. Not while she was having such a nice time with Joey.
He knew her too well. "Are you thinking about him?" he asked gently.
She didn't say anything, just leaned into him and put her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm even tighter around her and kissed her hair.
"You were too good for him, Lo."
She raised her head, giving him a half hearted smile. "How would you know?"
"Someone'd have to be pretty fucking incredible to be good enough for you," he said, his eyes burning wih sincerity, and she swallowed the lump in her throat. Then he gave her a sad smile. "And from the sounds of it this guy didn't even come close."
"Thank you," she whispered. She didn't deserve someone like Joey in her life, she knew, but she was intensely grateful for him.
"You don't have to thank me," he said, his voice almost as soft as hers. "I wish someone had told you that a long time ago."
She rested her head back on his shoulder, snuggling into his neck. The silence swallowed them up, but it wasn't a bad thing. It made Lauren feel the same way she did being surrounded by Joey's arms. Comfortable. Safe. She knew him going back to California at some point was inevitable, but she wasn't thinking about that yet. All she was thinking about right now was that she couldn't imagine the rest of her life without him in it.
"If I ever get married," she mumbled drowsily, "you'll be my best man."
She felt him exhale slowly. "And you'll be my best woman."
She smiled to herself, curling deeper into his side. The day had exhausted her, so she let her eyes fall closed. The last thing she was aware of before she fell asleep was Joey's fingertips stroking her arm, tracing nonsense shapes into her skin.
When she woke up, she was disoriented for a moment, not sure why she was on the couch as opposed to in her bed. Then she remembered falling asleep on Joey's shoulder. He was no longer beside her, and her heart rate accelerated, but then she heard sounds from out in the kitchen. She stood up, stretching, and wandered out to see Joey making breakfast.
