Even more richpez one shots

By my side

A/N imagine they are like 22 or 23 here okay?

They were way to old to be partying on that rooftop. It was 11PM in New York City which was honestly past their bed times. They both had work in the morning and they should have started to head home. Instead, Joey downed his 4th shot while Lauren stood by nursing the hard cider in her hand. They both peripherally knew the birthday girl via friends of friends, but it wasn't quite enough for them to be partying in the center of the dance floor either.

The air grew colder as night continued to fall on them and Lauren moved in to Joey's side for warmth. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her as he engaged in a heated debate with Ian, a friend of Joey's who had become a friend of both of theirs, about ideal party snacks.

"I'm telling you for a fact Tostitos are simply better for parties than popcorn." Joey stated with the confidence only someone multiple shots in can possess.

Lauren hit his chest lightly before adding her retort. "But neither of you idiots have considered pretzels and honestly that's criminal."

Joey groaned with a smile on his face and began chastising Lauren for suggesting pretzels at all.

"Lo you have made some bad calls in your life, remember-"

"Don't you even say it."

"The Guy Fieuri incident."

"To this very day, I believe with my whole soul, that we did meet him and the he simply was not in the mood to be recognized.

"The ONLY similarity was that the man was wearing a button up tee-Shirt with flames on it.

Ian chimed in "I gotta say Lauren, I saw the mans's picture because obviously Joey sent it to me and between that and the pretzels, your credibility is slipping away fast."

Lauren peeled herself off of Joey claiming "you fools don't deserve my time" and she bounced lightly to find some other friends on the far corner opposite them.

Joey and Ian both leaned up against the raised wall at the edge of the roof and wrapped up their snack debater and then allowed for the natural silence to envelope them.

Joey turned after a few moments and blurted out "I'm going to marry her."

Ian looked nonplussed before adding "dude I knew you were gonna marry her four years ago when you first met in that Residential Advisory initiation. I have a frantic eight minute voice note describing her in painstaking detail to prove it." Ian added while whipping out his phone slowly scrolling though their old text conversations.

"We were stupid and young then." Joey added chuckling slightly, leaning his hands behind him to steady himself beside the ledge. "I honestly think I could have been convinced pizza was a vegetable." He silenced again watching Ian hit happy 20th birthday texts knowing he was getting closer.

"Now," Joey added humorously "I know with confidence that pizza is in fact a vegetable and the I am going to spend the rest of my life with a woman who defended pretzels on purpose." He continued laughing with his nose slightly scrunched in disgust. However, the love in his eyes when talking about her flashed way brighter than any facial expression he could ever front.

"Aha!" Ian exclaimed, hitting play without giving Joey more than a second of notice.

Joey's voice poured out from the speakers. It was nearly intelligible from the noise in the background and Joey sounded twelve but his words came through nonetheless.

"Ian! I have met to many people bro. Like every one is super chill and fun and I can't wait for this year but OH MY GOD there is this girl. For starters, she is so hot that she makes me want to die. She has this like spunky attitude and her hair matches her perfectly. I literally can't describe it but trust me it's like curly and fun and I want to know what it's like to hold. Is that weird? It probably is. Shoot I shouldn't send this. Whatever it's too late now." Ian skipped ahead knowing the next four minutes were just Joey panicking if he was being really creepy. "Anyway she has these brown eyes but they are so warm and loving and I literally want to look at her for the next full half an hour. We have floor meeting drills in a bit and I will have an excuse to stare at her with out being weird. She's also pretty talented. I heard her sing in between sessions when she was working on her bulletin posters or something. I didn't mean to be creepy but she was just sitting there sketching and humming. It was all so peaceful and pleasant. I can imagine myself being old in a rocking chair beside her and she hums to me. Is it too soon to say I know I'm going to marry her? Because I am. I am going to marry this RA Lauren Lopez or I will die trying. Anyway I'll introduce you guys when you move in next week. See you in a bit man."

The blush on his face was fierce but Joey hoped he could blame the alcohol. He glanced around at the crowd only to spot Lauren staring back at him with a smile and a wave. He returned the gesture before looking back to Ian.

"Okay that's pretty rough to listen back to. God I was such a child how anyone listened to my voice is truly beyond me. But I meant every word and I still stand by each one of them nearly five years later."

At this point Lauren had taken the acknowledgment to mean it was time to return to Joey's side.

"You mean every word of what?" She asked nestling herself under his free arm.

"It's rude to insert yourself into conversations and ask what it's about without even trying to gain context. Did you know that?" Joey questioned placing a kiss on her head. "But if you must know, I mean that Tostitos are the best snack." Joey said kindly as he shot Ian a look.

Ian went to close the text messages but accidentally began the voice note again. Luckily he managed to end it before younger Joey had gotten to say anything embarrassing yet but it was enough to set panic in them both all the same.

Lauren eyeing the two suspiciously, decided it would be best to not start a conversation on their secrecy while all were under the influence. She simply shrugged her shoulders and melted back into Joey.

Joey on the other hand was turning redder by the second, making a mental note to play the voice note for her tomorrow. He knew she would appreciate it but not now. It wasn't that they had never discussed marriage but it was alway so hypothetically which starkly contrasted how sure he sounded the night he had recorded the message.

Instead, he reached down her arm and grabbed her hand. He then pulled her into his chest before spinning her back out. The two had smiles cracked across their faces as Joey goofily twirled Lauren around. They switched off between spinning and swaying before they finally settled holding one another. They managed to maintain matching grins the entire time but that wasn't a challenge for them and they were usually smiling when they were around one another.

The two of them looked into the other eyes as the song ended. Joey moved some hair behind Lauren ear and she snaked her fingers down his back and caught his hand. She glanced at his watch, grimaced, and made a head nod towards the door. Joey nodded leaving a kiss in her hair before seeking out the birthday girl to thank her. The two said their goodbyes to her, found Ian and a few other friends to say farewells too as well, before walking back down the building's stairs, side by side.

A/Npt2: Shout-out to my best friend and his boyfriend for being the inspiration for this story. We were at a rooftop party and they were just so cute it was gross. Okay have a fabulous day.