Things weren't as easy going with Joey at the next rehearsal. He still smiled at Lauren, but when they broke for lunch he joined Isaac, and he turned down her offer to get coffee the next morning on the way to the theatre.
She caught Isaac in between scenes, pulling him backstage so they could talk.
"Has Joey said anything about..." She didn't actually know what she wanted to say.
"You?" Isaac prompted.
"Something like that."
He shook his head. "And I did ask."
She swallowed her disappointment. "Okay. Well, thanks."
"Hey, Lauren?" he said before she could turn away.
"Yeah?"
He smiled, a rare sincere smile. "You two will figure it out."
She nodded numbly, wishing she knew exactly what there was to figure out.
Joey wasn't acting off with her in their scenes together, exactly, but she could still feel tension between them and it made her stomach twist in knots. She just hoped no one else could pick up on it, and it was almost a relief when he rushed straight out at the end of rehearsal and she didn't have to see him.
She'd almost started to believe she'd never hear from him outside of the show again, when she got a text from him out of the blue a few nights later.
'I think we should rehearse Act 5 Scene 4'
Lauren didn't need to check her script to know what scene he was talking about. The last scene. Specifically, the kiss scene. A matter of days before they opened, and the pair of them had still managed to avoid confronting it. Until now. She tapped her fingers against her phone, trying to figure out a diplomatic response.
'Are you sure that's a good idea? You have kind of been avoiding me'
'I haven't been avoiding you. I thought you wanted space' Then another one. 'But we can talk about it?'
'Tomorrow after rehearsal?' She wanted to try and move past this as soon as possible, even though the thought of it made her feel sick. It was so much easier to forget about how complicated her feelings towards Joey were when she didn't have to speak to him.
'Perfect' came his reply.
She put her phone down and stared up towards the ceiling. Had he really been trying to give her space, or was he just saying that to protect her feelings? It felt like she'd lost her best friend the last couple of days, right when she needed him the most, but she supposed she had pushed him away.
But the next time she saw him she'd be kissing him. Pretty much the last thing she wanted to do, what with how strongly she was having to fight her feelings for him as it was. But she also didn't want to get to opening night - less than a week away - still acting as though they didn't have to kiss.
"Fuck you, Joey Richter," she murmured into the darkness.
It didn't make her feel any better.
Lauren and Joey didn't particularly speak to each other throughout rehearsal that day, communicating only in their scenes together. The conversation - and everything else that they knew would follow - was weighing on their minds. They stayed behind as everyone else emptied out of the theatre, trying to ignore the acute awareness that that was what they were both waiting for.
The door swung shut behind Elise, and Joey crossed the room to Lauren.
"Hey," he said, his tone undecipherable.
