Chapter 5
A/N: Yay! Another chapter! (: Enjoy loves!<3
~Becca<3
Lauren’s POV
Breathlessly, I arrived at the apartment buildings and hurried up to the one I shared with Julia and Jaime. Being in a hurry, I opened the door, threw the clothes in, and closed it again. I looked at my phone. 2:58. I ran back down and hurriedly walked over to the Starbucks. Bursting into the door, I looked around and saw him already waiting for me. He got up and walked over.
“Clark!” I smiled as he wrapped his arms around me.
“Hey Lo,” he laughed slightly. We walked over to the line to order our drinks.
“What have you been up to since you haven’t gone back to New York yet?” I asked him after we ordered and were waiting.
“Oh just kind of hanging out. Nothing really,” he answered. “What about you?”
“Well, I’ve just been home lately…” I trailed off not really wanting to talk about what happened until we were sitting down. He nodded slightly and grabbed his finished drink. Mine came out shortly after.
“Hey, do you just want to take a walk?” Clark asked me as we walked away from the pickup counter. I nodded and we stepped outside. The brisk Chicago air hit my face as we began our walk. “So, what was it you needed to talk about?”
“Well,” I began, “Last night was kind of… the worst night of my life. And I just needed a friend to talk to, who isn’t Jaime, Denise, Julia, or Meredith.” He smiled and laughed.
“Not the girls? What kind of alternate universe are we in?” I smiled but lightly smacked his arm.
“I’m serious! I just wanted my best guy friend to be able to talk to. As much as I love the girls, they don’t really help most of the time.” I looked up at Clark to see his lips pursed and him nodding his head.
“Yeah, I understand.” By this time we reached a park. Quietly, he led me over to a park bench and we both sat down. “So why was it the worst night of your life?”
I looked down at my drink and then back up at Clark. His eyes showed a level of concern that I’d never seen before. I took a deep breath before I could feel the tears behind my eyes. He must have seen this because he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and I buried my face into his shoulder. The tears began to spill and all I could do was sit there. Small comforting circles were rubbed into my back. I finally sniffled and wiped my eyes.
“Well, last night, Joey and I were watching a movie when, he said he loves me…” I trailed off thinking about it.
“And what did you say?” Clark asked softly.
“I said it back of course. And that was the first time he has ever said it. Then he said it before we went to bed. Now I’m not complaining, but it was really weird because he’s never THAT lovey dovey.” Clark’s face twisted in confusion.
“So exactly how was this a terrible night?”
“Oh just wait, it gets worse. So anyways, I fell asleep but in the middle of the night I woke up again. And Joey wasn’t there. I noticed his stuff missing and I got up to find him. When I walked into the living room I…” My throat began to swell up and I choked. I couldn’t say anything until I finally swallowed hard. “I found him walking out on me.”
“Oh. Lo, I’m so sorry… That really is terrible.” He wrapped both arms carefully around me and I leaned back against his chest. The tears were there but they wouldn’t fall. “You don’t deserve that.”
“Thanks Clark. But then he stood there and had the nerve to say he could explain. And then say it again. Clark, he really walked out on me. He chose LA.” I still couldn’t believe it. It felt too surreal. “But he said he would be here tomorrow at 9:30… What am I supposed to do?”
“You do what feels right. What you know you can handle.” Clark’s voice was soft and understanding. He always knew exactly what to say. “Now come on! Let’s go back up to your apartment and watch a movie or two okay?”
I nodded and stood up. I took a sip of my now cold drink before discarding what was left. Clark stood up and grabbed my hand. Silently we walked back to my apartment and right then I knew that everything might just be okay.
Joey’s POV
My eyes fluttered open softly and I sat up rubbing my eyes. How long had I slept for? Looking over at the clock, I began to freak. 11 pm it read. Had I really just napped for eleven hours?! Jumping out of bed, I began throwing things into a small bag to take with me. I needed to leave the house by 12:30 to make sure I made it on time. When I finally finished speed packing, I walked out into the kitchen to see Brian popping popcorn.
“Hello there Sleeping Beauty!” he winked as I walked over to the fridge.
“Ha ha. Really funny Brian. Now why didn’t you wake me up hours ago?” I snapped.
“Because you were out cold! And besides, it passed the time right?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” I said grabbing a bottle of something out of the fridge.
“There’s some left over pizza in there too if you want some!” Brian called as he walked back to the couch with his popcorn.
“Thanks,” I mumbled inaudibly. I popped the top off the bottle and grabbed a slice of pizza before joining Brian again. I kind of spaced out as we watched LOST and focused on what would happen in a little over ten hours. What would I say to Lauren? What if she didn’t answer? What if she never took me back? I absentmindedly took a bite of the pizza in my hand. I was so caught up in my thoughts I didn’t hear Brian.
“Huh?” I asked through a mouthful of food.
“I said, how was your nap?” he smirked.
“Oh just splendid,” I replied sarcastically.
“Good! Are you ready to head out? Like have you packed?” I nodded and took a swig of whatever I had. The alcohol stung as it hit the back of my throat. I definitely wasn’t prepared for that and ended up in a coughing fit. “Woah, careful there man. You can’t die before you even get back to her!”
I glared at Brian but finished my food and drink as slow as I allowed myself to do so. By the time I was finished, it was already 12:25.
“Shit, come on Brian. We need to leave now. I’ll call Jordan.” He got up and went back to grab his suitcase as I dialed one of my other best friend’s number.
“Hello?” the voice on the other end of the line said.
“Hey Jordan, it’s time to head to the airport,” I told him quickly.
“Okay, I’ll be right over!” he said and hung up. I went back and got my suitcase as Brian was coming back. It was finally time to head to Chicago. And I was determined to get my little LoLo back.
