Lauren tapped the final few words of her essay into her computer, ending with a satisfying full stop. She bounced Sam in her lap and carefully added her name and the date into the header. She had decided to finish her essay early to ensure she could enjoy the party tonight without worrying about it. Her Mom had also agreed to babysit Samson under the condition that all homework was completed before she went so there was that benefit too.
'You free? X' She stared at the text from Joey and wondered how she had ever had a life before him. Everything seemed to revolve around this boy now and whilst she wasn't sure if that was particularly healthy she found she didn't really care. He was obviously as interested in her as she was in him but that was only natural at the beginning of a... well, whatever this was.
'For you? X' she replied with a winking emoji and then followed it up with 'always x' to let him know she was joking.
'Come get coffee with me? I miss you and Sam x'
"Hear that bub? Dada misses you," she grinned at the gurgling baby in her lap and realised that this was her last full day with him. She would give him over to Joey at the end of the evening and then the next day they had to hand him back to Mr Hastings.
Lauren couldn't exactly say she was sad about not having a permanently crying baby at her house every other day but she would certainly miss his company and she would always be grateful to the plastic robot for bringing her and Joey together.
'Sure, Coffee #1? X'
'How do you know my favourite coffee shop? X' Joey replied with a laughing emoji.
'It's mine too x' Lauren grinned at her screen. She stood up and placed Samson on her bed whilst she got ready to meet Joey. She pulled out a flower-patterned romper and some Vans before sitting at her vanity and doing two very quick French plaits in her hair.
'I'll pick you guys up in 10? X'
'I'm ready now so whenever is good x' Lauren tapped back wondering if that was a bit too keen.
'On my way x' Nope, apparently not.
She smiled to herself and scooped Samson up to change his clothes too. Joey had left a few options at her house and she settled on a tiny pair of jeans, a t-shirt with a bird printed on the front and a very cute plaid shirt that she could totally imagine Joey wearing when he was little.
The doorbell rang moments later and barely able to keep the grin off her face, Lauren bounced down the stairs.
"Hi JoJo," She said as she threw open the door.
"There's my two favourite people," he smirked and stepped forward, pressing a kiss to Samson's head and then standing a little bit straighter to kiss Lauren hello. "You ready to go?" he murmured, his hand stroking Sam's head.
"Yes!" Lauren grinned excitedly, she pushed at his chest as he laughed until they were out the front door and on her porch instead.
"I don't think you need any more coffee!" Joey grinned, "Sam was good for you last night then?"
Lauren reached back into the house to grab Sam's bag and her keys before shutting the door behind them. Joey reached for the bag allowing Lauren to cradle their baby to her chest.
"Yeah, he was out for the count after you left. I think he woke up once? Best sleep I've had in ages!"
"We've got a good routine going on!" Joey exclaimed, shuffling until the bag was on his back comfortably. "Shame we have to hand him back tomorrow,"
It was a warm spring day, the sun beating down on them and a very slight breeze rustled through the trees keeping them cool. His statement immediately brought the tone down. Lauren kept Sam close to her chest as Joey reached for her hand as naturally and instinctively as breathing and she couldn't help but enjoy this new version of normal despite the mood dampener. She marvelled at how quickly they'd settled into their partnership, almost as if their coming together had been written in the stars. She felt so comfortable and safe in Joey's presence it was as if her life hadn't quite started before he entered her world.
Lauren wondered what the future held for them as they walked down her street hand in hand. Would this be them ten years down the line? Would they be holding a real baby? Would there be matching rings on their fingers? She had absolutely no doubt that they were going to last. But what she did doubt was whether Joey was ever going to ask her to be his girlfriend officially. She loved him like mad but she felt like there was still a divide between them, something that stopped her from being completely honest and truthful with him, something that halted her from saying just how madly in love with him she was. Was he keeping his options open? Or did he just assume they were in a relationship like Simba and Nala? Either way, she was determined to find out by the end of the day even if she had to corner him at the party.
He pushed open the door to Coffee #1 and ushered her through; she made a beeline for her favourite table in the back and Joey followed, taking a seat opposite her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring the mood down," he said, the second they were settled.
"What?" Lauren asked, bouncing Sam on her knee gently.
"The whole having to hand Sam back tomorrow thing," he said, gesturing to the baby on her leg.
"Oh," she had been so in her own head about Joey she'd forgotten he'd even said that, "it's okay, I'm gonna miss him but I think we got something much better out of the experience," Lauren smiled softly at him, hoping he'd pick up on her hint and just confirm, out loud, that they were together.
"And what's that?" He asked oblivious. She narrowed her eyes at him waiting for him to click.
"Are you serious?"
"Well without Sam we don't have a reason to spend so much time together do we?" Joey asked, tilting his head to the side to look at her confused.
"I," Lauren started before stopping, completely out of her depth.
"Baby I'm joking," He grinned and she leaned across the table to slap him on the arm, a shaky laugh escaping her throat.
"You're not funny," she warned but she was smiling and so was he. He took her hand from across the table and squeezed it.
"I'm gonna miss him too," he said, lifting her palm to his lips and pressing a kiss there, "but I think we're going to be just fine without him," Joey grinned, interlacing their fingers. Lauren cocked her head, smiling at him adoringly. "Iced cold brew?" he asked.
"With a-"
"Shot of vanilla and almond milk, I know," Joey rolled his eyes fondly and slid from the table.
Lauren watched him stand in the queue frustrated. He had had the perfect opportunity to say something like 'I'm glad I got you out of this whole experience' something that would let her know that he truly thought of her as his girlfriend. Whilst what he had actually said was very sweet it wasn't what she wanted. Why wouldn't he just ask her damn it? She watched him place their order and pay, a smile on his face the entire time, oblivious to the torment Lauren was going through. Sam let out a small cry which Lauren had come to learn meant he was hungry so she reached for her bag, pulling out his bottle and held it to his lips.
Joey placed the coffee in front of her on the table and smiled at the tableau.
"Aren't you guys just the cutest?" He asked, pulling out his phone and taking a picture.
"And just what do you think you're going to do with that?" She asked indignantly. Joey laughed and slid the phone across the table. Lauren lit up the home screen and smiled softly when she realised he'd set it as his background.
"That okay with you?" He asked, it sounded like he was joking but she knew him better than that.
"I think we should get one of all three of us," she replied. Joey grinned at her and shuffled his chair around to her side quickly. He propped his phone up against his coffee cup and set the timer. He wrapped his arm around Lauren and they both grinned at the camera as it went off.
"One more for luck," Joey winked at her as he quickly reset the timer. Lauren rolled her eyes but was secretly incredibly pleased. Sam let out a burp causing both parents to look down in surprise at their baby. They shared a smile before remembering they were supposed to be taking a picture.
"Can you send me those?" She asked as Joey picked up his phone.
"Of course," he said, already sending the files across. "Oh," he said quietly, "this one's my favourite," he held the phone up for her and Lauren felt her eyes fill with tears as she looked at the image. They looked like the perfect family, smiling down kindly at their, albeit fake, baby. Joey squeezed her shoulder and pressed a kiss to her temple. "I'm so lucky," he said, wistfully staring at her.
-
Later that evening Joey met Lauren at her front door, a bunch of white gerberas in his hand. She looked down at her completely white romper and then back up at the boy who was now full out laughing.
"Can you see me from your window or something? Should I be worried you have an informant in the house?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"You look beautiful Lo," Joey grinned, ducking down to kiss her quickly as her Mom appeared in the hall behind her.
"You two off?" She asked, bouncing a gurgling Samson in her arms.
"Yeah," Lauren nodded, twisting around to face her Mom, flowers in her hand.
"Beautiful flowers Joey, although we're gonna run out of vases if you keep bringing them," She grinned as Joey scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Sorry Mrs Lopez,"
"Don't be silly JoJo," Lauren said, turning back around to face him, "I love them,"
"Back by midnight yeah?"
"Yes Mom," she rolled her eyes and stepped back into the hallway to source a vase for her new flowers.
"I've got that Lauren, you guys go,"
"Oh, thanks," she smiled happily at her Mom and then pressed a kiss to Sam's forehead, "Be good for Grandma okay? We'll see you soon,"
"Bye Sammy!" Joey called from the doorway. Lauren laughed at him and reached for his hand.
"See you at midnight!" She called back as her Mom waved them off.
"Lo, you really do like amazing tonight," Joey said once they were out of earshot of her Mom.
"You look very handsome too JoJo," she smiled as he pulled her to a stop a little way down her street.
The sun was setting behind them casting a soft, warm glow over the pair and she no longer felt nervous as Joey reached forward to tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear. She was wearing it down and curly (Joey had told her once that was how he liked it best and Lauren had found a new appreciation for her natural hairstyle) he leaned forward and kissed her hard, tasting her lip balm as he threaded his fingers through her curls. Lauren gripped his baby blue shirt and kissed him back, wondering what had bought on this wave of affection.
They walked the rest of the way to Denise's house making idle small talk about how their days had been. As it turned out, Joey had also finished his essay and was ready to hand it in alongside Lauren's tomorrow morning. When they arrived, Denise had ushered them in squealing at their joined hands. There were already a fair few people at the party, either eating pizza or playing video games in the lounge. Lauren and Joey made the rounds, saying hi to everyone and then excused themselves to grab a drink from the kitchen.
"Lauren! Joey! We're playing spin the bottle!" Meredith cried a few hours later as she entered the kitchen for a refill.
"Cool?" Lauren replied, raising an eyebrow at her friend and wondering if she was drunk.
"But with a twist!" Meredith exclaimed, walking up to the pair and practically bouncing on the spot in front of them.
"What's the twist?" Joey asked, already dreading the answer.
"You have to do seven minutes in heaven with whoever it lands on," Mere giggled, she reached for Lauren's hand and began pulling her into the lounge and by association, Joey. "You have to play, I'll fix it so it lands on Joey," she threw a wink over her shoulder at Lauren. The boy in question laughed loudly as the small brunette flushed, embarrassed. "Sit," Meredith demanded.
"She's bossy today," Lauren remarked, taking a seat between Devin and Ashley. She watched as Meredith grabbed Joey's now free hand and marched him to the other side of the circle. She reached up and pushed on his shoulders until he sat down, hands up in surrender. He threw a 'help me' look to Lauren who just shrugged with a small smirk. She certainly wasn't going to say no to seven minutes in heaven with Joey.
"Okay, we have three respective closets for people to make out in," Denise declared as she entered the room and took a seat next to Meredith. She pointed in three different directions and carefully placed an empty wine bottle in the middle of their circle.
Immediately Lauren began to feel anxious. What if they got picked to make out with different people? She knew for a fact that she would decline outright but what would Joey do? Did he have the same allegiance to her as she did to him? Her heart was beating uncomfortably fast in her chest as her blonde friend stretched for the bottle. She could practically hear her pulse thrumming in fear. Denise spun the bottle and it landed, slowly, on Brian Holden, who shrugged and reached forward to spin the bottle for himself. It passed Lauren, and she let out a breath, feeling a bit calmer. When it eventually stopped on Meredith however, the feeling of dread returned. It was Meredith who had promised she'd fix it to land on Joey. She reminded herself to breathe as the pair stood up, already giggling and headed for the closet upstairs. As the host, Denise spun the bottle again cheering as it landed on Devin.
"Who's gonna be my lucky guy then?" Devin asked, reaching for the bottle. She spun it hard and it circled the group a few times before it passed Lauren, Ashley, Brian Rosenthal (was that a look of disappointment?), Dylan, Jaime before it finally came to a stop in front of Joey.
Lauren swallowed hard, there was nothing she could do, she had to let him go. She met his eyes worriedly and he threw her a sympathetic smile. Time seemed to slow down as Devin stood up and held her hand out for Joey. Of all the people he could've been paired with, it had to be one of the very few girls who knew nothing about Lauren's and his... thing. Devin had no loyalty to her and it was no secret that Joey was one of the most attractive boys in their year. Well, if you asked Lauren he was the most attractive boy in their year. The boy in question sighed heavily and stood up, moving straight towards her. He crouched beside Lauren and pressed a kiss to her temple.
"It's just a game Lo," he whispered, squeezing her hands that were folded in her lap.
She tried to look nonplussed.
"I know," she smiled although she realised later it probably looked more like a grimace.
Lauren found she couldn't watch as Joey followed her into the closet opposite the kitchen; she didn't even bother paying attention to who was picked next, too worried about what was happening only a few feet from her. Every few seconds she'd glance at her watch wishing that these seven minutes would just hurry up and be over. She felt Denise sit down beside her and finally realised that the circle had upped and left whilst the three couples were in their closets.
"You okay Lauren?" The blonde asked, placing a hand on her thigh to get her attention.
"Huh?" She replied, her eyes finally focusing on her friend, "Oh yeah, just he's my... y'know," she trailed off.
"You trust him, right?"
"Of course I do,"
"Then what are you worried about?" Denise asked, tilting her head and looking confused.
Lauren paused. It wasn't that she didn't trust Joey, of course she did, he'd done absolutely nothing to imply that she shouldn't. So what was it? Was it the official thing? Was it Devin she didn't trust? Did she just not like him being out of her line of sight? No. She decided the girlfriend/boyfriend status made her sound less insane so she said,
"We're not official yet, he's not asked me and-"
"You feel like you might like him more than he likes you?" Denise finished questioningly.
Well she hadn't thought that...
"Do you think that's true?" Lauren asked, a whole new problem added to her anxiety.
"I don't know, I've not seen much of your interaction with each other, but I do know if I were seeing someone, I sure as hell wouldn't have gone off with someone else for seven minutes in heaven." Denise replied, tapping out a text on her phone. Lauren felt sick to her stomach. "But you trust him so I'm sure they're just having a debate about fast lap techniques or something – they're both swimmers, right?"
Oh God, they had something in common and right now they were locked in a closet probably making out and forgetting that she existed, this was a disaster. The short brunette could feel her eyes welling with tears, she brushed them away angrily and looked up at her friend.
"I feel sick," she whispered. Denise looked up alarmed. She lifted her hand to rub her arm as all the colour drained from Lauren's face.
"Lauren, Joey would never do anything to hurt you, I'm so sure of that, I don't know why I said any of the other stuff, I'm projecting. Please forgive me," The blonde rambled.
"It's okay," she replied shakily. Lauren pulled herself to her feet in desperate need of some air. "I've gotta stand outside for a bit okay?"
"You want me to come?" Denise asked, already knowing the answer. Lauren shook her head and aimed for the back yard. She bypassed a few of her friends who offered her a smile but she couldn't summon up the strength to return any of them. When she finally made it outside she sunk down almost immediately on the edge of the pool, sliding her shoes off and letting her feet dip into the water.
Was it fair to say she liked Joey more than he liked her? Logically, yes. She had already admitted, albeit in her head, that she loved him and he hadn't even asked her to be his girlfriend. But then he had taken her on three dates, cherished their fake son and kissed her at every opportunity they had. On the other hand, he was the one that had said they should stop during their one and only heavy make-out session. Lauren felt another tear slide down her cheek but before she could brush it away, a set of familiar fingertips did it for her.
"I've been looking everywhere for you," Joey said, taking a seat beside her as he pulled his shoes and socks off, submerging his feet in the water. "Are you okay?" When Lauren didn't reply, Joey sighed and placed a hand on her lower back. "Is this about Devin?"
"Maybe," Lauren shrugged petulantly.
"I didn't kiss her if that's what you're wondering," Lauren felt the tension dissolve from her body and she realised she had absolutely nothing to worry about with Joey. Denise was right, he'd never do anything to hurt her.
"But you did go off with her," she pointed out, knowing it was needlessly childish of her.
"Okay, I'll give you that," He said slowly, "but you're the one who doesn't want people to know about us, so what was I supposed to say?" Joey retorted, his hand slipping from her back to support himself.
"What? When did I say that?" The brunette replied, twisting to face him, outraged.
"Well you didn't say it in so many words, but when Meredith and Denise were giving you the third degree right at the beginning of," he gestured between them, "us, you said, and I quote, 'I just want this to be ours', so what am I supposed to take from that?"
Huh, Lauren thought. He did have a point there. She had forgotten entirely that she had said that but she could totally see how he would get that she wanted to keep them secret from that conversation.
"I'd forgotten about that," she admitted truthfully, looking down at the tiles at the bottom of the pool. Carefully she lifted her head, eyes wide and scared as she decided it was better to be open with him, "can I be honest with you?"
"That's all I ever want you to be Lo," Joey replied, covering her hand with his.
"I feel like, maybe I like you more than you like me especially because we've been on like five dates now and you still haven't asked me to be your girlfriend and I'm absolutely terrified that once we hand Sam back tomorrow, we're going to go back to having nothing in common and not even being friends"
Joey tipped his head back to look at the sky and let out a small chuckle.
"You're crazy, you know that?" He paused turning to face Lauren who frowned, preparing herself to rant, "Having Sam or not having Sam has changed nothing for me. And there is absolutely no way you like me more than I like you. Hell, I'm in love with you, you idiot, have been for as long as I can remember and I am never letting us go back to how it used to be." Joey tilted his head, a small smile on his face. "I'm sorry if I'm coming on too strong, but you wanted to be honest so here it is," he was cut off by an insistent pair of lips on his own. She pulled back to look him in the eyes as his arms encircled her waist.
"I'm in love with you too, you asshole," She laughed, her voice still shaky with tears as Joey pulled her onto his lap gently. "I don't know how, but I am and I just want, more than anything in the world, to be your girlfriend okay?"
"Absolutely," Joey nodded fervently, "Although you may have ruined my girlfriend proposal that's planned for Monday," he tightened his hold on her and laughed, clearly incredibly happy with the new direction his life was taking.
"You were gonna ask?" she paused, surprised, "Actually, screw that question, how long have you been in love with me?" Lauren replied, her arms around his neck. She lifted a hand to push his hair behind his ear, overwhelmed by the amount of love she felt for this man.
"Of course I was going to ask!" Joey laughed incredulously. He closed the gap between them and kissed her softly, exploring every inch of her as slowly as he could. He pulled back and rested his forehead on hers. "And, I don't know, like three years?"
"Three years?" Lauren yelped, pulling back to look at him properly. Joey hummed in thought.
"I even had to stop being your friend when you started dating Darren because it hurt too much to see you together,"
"Joey, what the hell? Why did you not say anything after we broke up?"
"I didn't want you to feel like I was pursuing you, I wanted it to be natural if it was ever gonna happen." He shrugged self-deprecatingly "And now you've quashed my plans to make you officially mine that have been forever in the making," Joey laughed softly to himself and then groaned, "I had it all planned out and everything,"
"You did?" Lauren murmured, leaning in to kiss him again. This was a lot to take in but it felt right and she wouldn't change it for the world. She felt him hum the affirmative against her lips.
"But you just had to ruin it with your impatience," he squeezed her to let her know he was joking, his lips brushing hers, kissing her tantalisingly shortly with every word.
"Would you just shut up and kiss me properly already?"
Joey grinned at his girlfriend.
"Gladly."
--
Guys... Can you believe we're all done?!
I just want to take a sec to dedicate this to my wonderful friend @lauren-lopez-fangirl she is my richpez twin, my absolute muse and the reason this fic exists.
I hope it met all your expectations and that you enjoyed the tiny journey we went on this week! Hopefully I'll be back with some more stuff soon - thanks for sticking with me!!