"Okay" Lauren turned to Joey pulling herself off of his chest. She left her hand there patting him lightly. "I need to go meet with a student in like 10 minutes so if you would be so kind as to let me go, and avoid playing footsie with me from across the table today that would be phenomenal."
With that Lauren dragged herself out of bed yanking on a random sweatshirt from a drawer, at this point in time it's true owner indistinguishable between Joey and Lauren, and a pair of shorts Joey knew were for sure his.
"You absolutely cannot say it's all on me! You were playing back and you nearly tackled me to the ground once your lesson was completed yesterday." Joey replied defensively as he slid up the bed into a sitting position.
"In fact" he continued "I'm willing to make a no touch bet that you would break and touch me first." Joey said his voice dripping with snark but he regretted the words as soon as they happened. He knew Lauren was competitive and he didn't want to even want to find out how long she would be willing to hold out.
"Oh buddy. I am absolutely taking you up on that action!" Lauren laughed "When I win, you have to cancel a whole day and just stay in bed with me. No work; slack, emails, calls, texts, none of it. Take a day off and stick with it." She turned back to face Joey after sliding her earnings in. Joey rubbed his eyes.
"On second though this is a bad idea let's not do it."
Lauren smirked at how quick Joey was to beg out before swallowing his own words to bet on what happens when he is victor though he was fairly confident he wouldn't be.
"Okay and when I win, you come out out with me." Lauren looked at him confused. "Well I could have phrased that differently but we tell the public we are together. I know you're scared and i respect it, I have for so long, but I'm tired of pretending and we have been engaged for two weeks and dating for 8 years. I'm not longer so worried about this ending or them effecting our relationship."
Lauren walked over to his side of the bed and stuck out her hand. Joey shook her hand in response as they moved to lock pinkies, something they had done for years that meant they were being serious.
"This is the last time I'm going to touch you in a while so savor it." Lauren sauntered out of the room.
The day was spent with a ton of almost slip ups. They had always gotten comments about how close they are and how often the two touch but they always wrote those off. Here, staring them in the face were the facts. It was mind boggling juts how many times they truly touch, in any capacity, on any given day. On a normal day, Lauren would be high fiving Joey every time on her way into their bedroom and Joey would be rustling Lauren's hair every time he walked behind the couch. Not to mention the intentional touches, all of kisses, and absentmindedly playing with Diane, and couch cuddling. All of that gone and as the day dragged on, the two were becoming more agitated with the bet in the first place.
Then came bedtime. Joey and Lauren had danced around one another while getting ready for bed careful to not even bump elbows while brushing teeth, but going to sleep was a whole new challenge. While the duo almost never woke up in the same position, they always fell asleep in one another's arms or connected somehow. They were both aware without ever verbalizing it, that they juts slept better together and any sleep they had without one another was simply inadequate. But as per the bet they slept on opposite ends of the bed but felt worlds apart that night.
Joey woke up that morning exhausted. His subconscious was unsettled all night knowing that after a long day the only person who could calm down his brain and lull him to sleep was physically a few feet but emotionally a thousand miles away from him.
He rolled over to kiss Lauren good morning momentarily forgetting and hoping she had forgotten about the entire bet. Just before he reached her he heard her soft but groggy morning voice taunt him.
"Get ready baby we could have to stay here and do this all day!"
Joey groaned turning back, the back of his head falling onto his pillow as he covered his face in his hands. He had slept so poorly the night before he felt his resolve dissipating almost instantly and all he wanted was to wrap the girl beside him in his arm and smother her in a hundred kisses. Before he was ever able to get to decide if we was going to throw in the towel or continue on, she was already up, getting ready.
He followed her into the bathroom as she ran her fingers through her hair in a was he wished he could. She then lifted her chapstick applying it tantalizingly slow while making direct eye contact and all he could do was stare at her. She slipped out the doorway behind him and he let out a low groan as he hopped into a very cold shower.
By the third day, Lauren was finding the bet not as cute or lighthearted and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to resist him in general but even more so when she flirted. She had nearly stopped engaging in any conversation with Joey that might lead anywhere, quickly becoming easily annoyed.
Joey on the other hand, was beyond irritable to an angering degree, both to himself and all those around him. He was frustrated and exhausted from not sleeping properly, guessing he had slept for a total of about 5 hours over the last 55.
His final straw was Corey and Brian sending him home after he had been both spaced out and snappy for the entire morning they were writing. It's was decided amongst the trio that he would be more helpful after he rested.
'Jokes on them' he said said his clenched teeth to no one in the car "I'm never sleeping again."
He pulled up to the house realizing for the first time there were tears on his cheeks. He chalked it up to exhaustion but he knew he was just so unbelievably lonely. As he walked in the door he saw Lauren on the couch, the her back to him. He sighed loudly as he took off his shoes which made Lauren snap up to look at him. The sadness on both of their faces were unbearable but they were both too stubborn to give up.
"You can't just keep looking at me." Joey had snapped again practically unable to control his voice or thoughts. Knowing that Lauren was right in front of him and he was unable to touch her due to his own stubbornness.
He couldn't quite express it but he was hangry for Lauren's touch and with every passing minute it got stronger. He was so starved and weak at this point he might have relented but he was in too deep to lose it all right now. Although, he mentally wagered, a whole day just cuddling with Lauren was exactly what he needed right now.
Lauren watched the wheels in his head turn while his eyes were looking at her but his mind was clearly elsewhere. She herself was lonely and sad herself however she really began to take pity on him knowing how taxing this was for Joey. Her heart finally overtook her stubbornness and led the way as she slowly shuffled over to him dragging her feet along the rug before standing in front of him. Joey fell out of his trance to notice Lauren standing not even a arms length away. At the same moment they both gave in, connecting their hands which sent them both a shock, due to Lauren dragging along the rug, causing them both to jump back.
On any other day the two might have laughed and made a joke about how their relationship still had sparks after all these years, but the air was thick too with desperation to add levity to the room. They came back together almost as quickly as they fell apart, holding one another in the middle of the living room. Joey's subtle tears hadn't stopped but became those of overwhelming relief as Lauren joined him, her eyes wetting his tshirt. Silently, Lauren grabbed Joey's hand and they walked toward their bedroom.
Neither had the energy to do much other than simply lay in one another's arms. They were unable to look away from each other, every so often someone running a hand across a cheek to wipe a tear or running fingers through hair with no agenda and no rush. Lauren was the first to break the silence.
"So who won?"
"I can tell you with certainty I lost" Joey laughed running his hand along her jawline.
"So we spend the day in bed!?"
"Absolutely whatever you want Lo"
"I want to tell people if you think we're really ready and that's what you want and also to do a day so let's call an official truce and do both."
"That sounds like a fantastic idea."
Joey pulled Lauren closer into him, no room left between them, her legs automatically intertwined with his, and they settled in skin seeking contact where ever it could. Joey fell asleep almost instantly with the order of the world rebalanced and he had one of the best sleeps he could recall in his entire life.
A/N: ugh I had high hopes for this concept and I still really like it but I stared at this and reworked it for too long that no matter what I will never be proud of it. Anyway this is trash sorry but enjoy!