We're Just Friends

Chapter 3

Lauren's POV

I had just put my bag down in the hallway when there was a knock at the door. Joey went to answer it and I made it look as though I had just arrived.

"Hey guys, come on in," Joey said as he opened the door to Brian and Meredith.

"Hey Joey," they said, hugging him.

"Lauren!" Meredith cheered as she caught sight of me.

I smiled, "Hey, Mere," I replied, going over to hug her.

I greeted Brian and we all started talking about how excited we were about the upcoming trip.

It wasn't long before everyone had arrived. We all stood in Joey's apartment, the level of excitement increasing with every minute that passed.

"So, who wants to go in which car?" Joey asked, quieting everyone down.

"I'm happy to take my car, it's one of the biggest," Brian suggested.

Joey nodded, "Ok, great. So Brian, Meredith, Dylan and Jaime, do you guys want to go together? And then Joe, Julia, Lo and I can all go in my car," he suggested. I nodded, noticing he'd put the two couples in one car, and the two non-couples in the other. I reckoned it was a safe option.

We all started packing everything into the cars, and agreed we should stop off at the shops to get some snacks and drinks for the journey. Once everything was packed and ready to go, we took our seats in the car and started the journey. Joey pulled into the car park and we all climbed out and headed in, everyone darting off in different directions to get what they wanted.

"What do you want, Lo? My treat," Joey said as he grabbed a bag of chips from the shelf.

"Oh you don't have to do that. You paid for the pizza last night," I said and Joey smiled.

"I want to. Now choose what you want," he said, pointing to the shelves.

I grabbed a bag of chips and some sweets, and also a sprite as I had brought a bottle of water with me. Joey took them from my hands as we went up to the counter to pay. He handed me back my items and we headed back to the car where everyone was waiting.

"What took you guys so long?" Jaime asked with a raised eye brow.

Joey smiled, "Lo couldn't decide on what she waned," he replied.

I laughed along with the others. Joey checked Brian knew where he was going before we resumed our seats in the cars and began the journey to the campsite.

A couple of hours into the drive, and Julia and Joe had both fallen asleep in the back of the car, their hands intertwined.

"Hey, JoJo, what do you reckon's going on with those two?" I asked Joey quietly.

He briefly turned around before focusing his eyes back on the road again. "They're 100% together. Joe never takes his eyes off her," Joey said, smirking.

I smiled at him, "so are we gonna try and catch them out?" I asked and Joey nodded.

"Great minds think alike, Lo. Can I talk to you about something?" he said, briefly glancing at me.

I nodded, "You can talk to me about anything," I replied, slightly nervous about what was going to say.

"You don't have to answer, but what's going on with you and Will? I know you didn't want to talk about it last night, but I care about you, Lo. You're my best friend," he said. I could tell he was worried about me. His brow was furrowed, and his tone was very serious.

I sighed, "you really wanna know?" I asked and Joey nodded. "I think we're over. I just don't feel the way I should when I'm with him. It's not like being with you where I can just be myself. And the other night, he was an hour late for dinner and proceeded to tell me I had got the timings wrong. He tried to stop me from coming here because he didn't want me spending time with you. He doesn't like our relationship."

I wiped a stray tear that had fallen from my face. "Lo, I'm really sorry. I had no idea. Are you ok?" he asked, his hand stretching across to rest on my knee.

"I'm fine. I just need to think about what I want, and chances are I'll break it off with him when I get back," I said, offering Joey a weak smile. It was the first time I'd admitted it to myself, but I wasn't happy with Will. And I needed to break it off for everyone's sakes.

There was so much going on in my head that this week away would hopefully really help me out. I needed to figure out what was going on with Will and I, and I also needed to work out what was going on with Joey and I. He'd been so sweet these past few days. I felt so comfortable around him and often found myself wondering what it would be like if we were together. I'd noticed looks from our friends, and they often made the comment about us being together. But Joey would never think of me that way. I'm so tiny, I'm no where near as pretty as the girls he's gone out with before, and he would never even look at me in that way. Whatever feelings I thought I may have had for him were gone. Besides, we were just friends.

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I hope you enjoyed chapter 3!

Please let me know what you guys think - I would love to get some feedback!

E xo