Right Place, Wrong Time

61. Warmly Invited

Even with the evenings now much lighter, it was dark when Joey came back from his study session at the library, the caffeine he'd drunk that day well and truly worn off, as had his motivation. He almost fell asleep on the bus and missed his stop, but he jerked awake just in time to get off. His feet dragged as he walked back to his house, already looking forward to a conversation with Lauren before he curled up in bed and slept. In the thick of finals, it had been harder to find time to talk to her beyond a good morning and goodnight text, but today that took priority over sleep.

Most other people were shut up in their rooms too, slogging through the seemingly endless mountain of work. But Brian had moved his studying to the kitchen table and was devouring a pizza as he worked.

"Want a slice?" he asked Joey.

"Thanks, Bri," Joey said. He was starving, and he tore off a piece and sunk his teeth into it.

"You got mail, by the way," Brian said, gesturing to the envelope on the table with the hand holding his own slice of pizza. He smiled. "From New York."

Joey smiled too. He wiped his hands on his jeans before tearing open the envelope, sliding out a Good Luck card. He flipped it open to find an entire essay written inside it, Lauren's handwriting after all this time a warm comfort. He read about how proud she was of him, how much she believed in him, how grateful she was to be his partner. Signed at the end with her name, an xo, and a heart. He held it to his chest like he could transfer the love she had put into it directly into his heart.

"Thanks for the pizza," he said to Brian, who he had momentarily forgotten was there, and bounded up the stairs.

Shutting his door behind him, he propped the card up on his bedside table before flopping down on his bed, kicking his shoes across the room. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, opened up his recent calls, and was about to click on Lauren's name when his phone screen was taken over by an incoming call. He grinned, and answered instantly.

"Hi, Lo."

"Hi," she said, just the sound of her voice an instant balm.

"You have great timing. I was just about to call you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I just got home." He fluffed his pillows underneath his head, settling in for what he hoped would be a long conversation.

"Oh, well Julia just went out."

"So it's just you?"

"Mhm," she said. "Come over?"

The flirtation in her voice even over the phone sent chills through him, and he longed to actually be close enough so he didn't have to hear the sadness behind it too. "I wish I could," he said. He had a plan to remedy that, but first, thanks were in order. "I got your card. You didn't have to."

"Well, you're my boyfriend."

They both kept trying that word out like they'd newly discovered it. Joey would put it on a nametag if he could. 'Lauren's boyfriend'.

"I really needed that today," he said.

"I love you," she said softly.

"I love you too." For a moment they just listened to each other's breaths. "So," he said finally. "I have a proposal."

"A proposal?" He could hear the wariness in her voice.

"Not like that," he said, and she laughed. "It's just that... I have a family wedding coming up. In July. And I thought maybe... you'd want to come with me?"

Her reply didn't come immediately. "You don't think that would be weird? I don't want to intrude. And we have only been together for a couple of weeks, even if..."

She didn't finish that sentence, but he knew what she meant. Even if it already felt like forever. Even if they knew this was the rest of their lives.

"They won't mind," he assured her. It wasn't just his parents who were obsessed with her, even if most of his family hadn't met her yet. "But if you would feel weird about it-"

"No, I think it would be nice," she said, and he could hear the tiny smile in her voice.

"You could make a little trip of it. I know my parents really want to see you."

"Yeah," she said softly. "That sounds really good. I just have to find a dress to wear. How fancy do I have to be?"

He laughed. "They're not that fancy. But you could wear that green one."

She laughed. "And scandalise your parents? That's the kind of impression I'm going for as their son's girlfriend."

"They already love you," he smiled, but his mind was already wandering, visualising her in that dress.

"You should have taken a picture, it would have lasted longer," she said.

He laughed at the fact that she knew exactly what he'd been thinking about, but he wished he had taken a picture that night. Many, many pictures.

"So you're really happy to come with me?"

"Of course," she said.

He beamed, even though she couldn't see it. "It is only a week before my birthday."

"I think you dropped something."

"What?" he asked, frowning.

"Oh, it's a hint," she said, and he laughed again. "I'll be there," she said softly.

He sighed contentedly. "I can't wait. It's gonna be great."

Her voice went quiet. "I wish it was sooner."

"Me too." It hurt not being able to hug her right now, knowing she was sad. It hurt being back to imagining the feeling of kissing her, worse now that he'd had a taste of the real thing. It hurt that they were limited to brief phone calls and FaceTimes around their different schedules, that when he did have a day to himself he couldn't simply go across the street to hang out with her.

But he would take this, a million times over, for how good it felt to finally express his true feelings for her.

Not wanting to dwell on it any more than she did, he changed the subject, and by the time they racked up another two hours on the call she was laughing hard, like he always wanted to make her do. He could have kept going, but his body was fighting back for the sleep he'd been stealing from it, and he had to be up early in the morning.

"I really wish we could keep talking-" he said.

"It's okay," she said, her voice soft. "It's late."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow. And I'll let you know when I've booked your ticket."

"Who said anything about you booking it?"

"I did," he said. "And you can't argue, because if my parents found out you bought it yourself they'd try to pay you back anyway." She sighed, and he smiled to himself. "I'm just really happy you want to come."

"Of course I do," she said.

"I love you."

"I love you too. Sleep well, JoJo."

"You too, Lolo. Goodnight."

He hung up the phone, rolling over and staring at the card on his bedside table until his eyes couldn't stay open any longer, thinking about when he got to see Lauren again. He dreamed of a wedding, and dancing with her until the sun came up.