Until There Was You

The Plan

13. 

Lauren awoke about five minutes from Joey's parent's house which he was incredibly grateful for. He didn't want to carry her upstairs and then come back down for her suitcase too.

"Do you think we're too dependent on each other?" She asked through a yawn.

"That's a deep thought for someone who's just woken up," Joey laughed as Lauren looked up at him apologetically.

"I've been thinking about it for a while," she mumbled, "Especially whilst we've been apart,"

"What makes you ask that?"

"I don't know," Lauren half shrugged staring at their joined hands, "I know our friendship is different to everyone else's, we're very touchy feely but I put that down to us being super passionate people." He watched her fight a blush that was rising up her neck.

"Okay..." Joey said encouraging her to continue.

"Do you care what people think about us?"

"No, do you?" He watched her shake her head and then turn to face him as he pulled up to the driveway.

"Is it weird how much we missed each other? Should we talk about it?"

Joey opened his mouth to reply, his heart rate increasing tenfold. Luckily the porch light turning on and his Mom walking out of the front door with a huge grin on her face caught his attention. He sighed and let go of her hand knowing Lauren had spotted her too.

"Later?" He suggested. Lauren nodded and opened her door only to be pulled into a hug by Joey's Mom.

"Oh Lauren! It's so nice to finally meet you!" Denise squeezed her hard as Joey pulled her luggage from the trunk.

"Alright Mom, let the poor girl get inside, her bed time was hours ago."

"It's okay!" Lauren replied hugging Denise back with equal fervour, "It's nice to finally meet you too!"

"Did you have a good flight?" She asked as they all walked up the drive and into Joey's house.

"It was delayed but other than that it was fine." Lauren replied with a shrug. They stepped inside and Joey watched her take a long look around his hallway. His house wasn't anything special but it was big. It boasted four bedrooms, a huge kitchen diner, two lounges and a pool.

"You want a tour?" Joey asked with a smirk.

"Maybe tomorrow," Lauren yawned, "I'm exhausted."

"Come on then, I'll show you the guest room,"

"Guestroom?" Denise asked curiously, "I didn't make up the guestroom,"

"What? Why?" Joey replied wondering where on earth Lauren was going to stay.

"You told me she's your girlfriend and I'm under no pretence that you don't stay together when you're at college Joey," His Mom smiled kindly.

"What? Why would you think that?" He asked feeling increasingly confused.

"It's only natural when in a relationship to want to spend all your time together! Whilst it might not be the way we did things back in my day it doesn't mean that I don't respect your right to," She paused, lifting her hands in air quotations as Joey stared back at her gobsmacked, "be together," she finished. Joey floundered for a moment before managing to choke out a sentence.

"That's nice Mom but Lauren and I,"

"Won't be doing anything like that under your roof," Lauren interrupted as Joey nodded vigorously. Denise flushed a brilliant red but recovered quickly and smiled at the couple before her. "We'll be respectful. Thank you Mrs Richter," Denise nodded at the pair and left for the lounge. Joey whipped around to stare at Lauren wide eyed, his mouth open in shock.

"What do you think you're doing?" He cried incredulously, "We'll be respectful?! You're going to make her think we're, y'know," Joey motioned between them animatedly, "together," He hissed.

"Oh relax," Lauren rolled her eyes, "it'll be easier this way. How awkward would it be if she walked in on us sharing a bed and wasn't expecting it?" Despite his shock Joey had to admit that that was quick thinking; he did not want to have to explain to his Mom that they tended to share a bed platonically. "We'll just let her think we're a couple for a few weeks and then tell her we broke up after I leave."

"Let her think we're a couple?" Joey reiterated in a hushed whisper as he picked up her suitcase to carry up the stairs.

"You were the one who told her I was your girlfriend!" Lauren exclaimed glaring at him.

"I have no idea where she got that from, I swear I didn't... oh," Joey paused thinking back to the conversation they had had in the car. His Mom had referred to Lauren as his girlfriend and he hadn't exactly corrected her.

"Anyway, it'll be easier than fielding questions about our relationship," she rationed, "it also means we can be ourselves too without the blatant staring at our hands or the scowling at the hugs,"

This idea was going to be the death of him. Pretending to be in a relationship with the person he actually wanted to be in a relationship with was just asking for trouble. Especially when she didn't feel the same way.

"Does it really bother you that much what people think?" Joey asked as he led them down the corridor to his bedroom.

"No, but it would be nice to take some of the heat off of us," at Joey's look of confusion she continued, "Do people really never ask you if there's something more between us?"

"No?" He replied. Where was all this coming from? In the space of a couple of hours he'd had more deep conversations with Lauren than they'd ever had before. He opened the door and parked her suitcase beside his wardrobe. Knowing that she'd be too tired to unpack her suitcase right now he grabbed a spare t-shirt from his chest of drawers and threw it at her. She caught it effortlessly and whilst he pulled the curtains closed she continued.

"I get it all the time. People literally stop me to ask when we got together or to tell me how cute we are," Her voice was muffled as she tugged the t-shirt over her head and replaced it with a clean one.

"They do?" He turned around just as she was taking her leggings off.

"I can't believe no-one's said the same thing to you," She replied, pulling her hair back from her face and tying it up with a hairband on her wrist.

"People used to make the odd passing comment but I just kinda ignored it," he shrugged, "It stopped when I was with Sophie." Was the past tense the right tense to use there? Technically they hadn't broken up, just agreed to not be exclusive. "You and me, we're just closer than average and it makes people automatically assume we're together I guess." He added remembering the conversation at hand.

Joey sat down on the edge of his bed and Lauren followed suit. She was very obviously tired, her eyes were heavy and her movements were slow. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"It's only two weeks, I'm not that repulsive am I?" She asked sleepily.

"Quite the opposite," Joey mumbled under his breath, hoping she hadn't heard. "We haven't got much choice since you already basically told my Mom we're together." He sighed, "We can talk about this tomorrow Lo, you're a dead weight right now." She laughed quietly as he removed his arm.

Joey stood up as Lauren made herself comfortable on his side of the bed. He removed his jeans in favour of a pair of jogging bottoms and slid in beside her. She shuffled backward into his chest and sighed as he wrapped his arm around her waist. His t-shirt had ridden up and he splayed his fingers over the bare skin of her stomach. Here, with her in his arms, her back pressed against his chest and his leg between hers was exactly where he wanted to be for the rest of his life.

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Shorter chapter but I hope you'll forgive me as now we're getting to the good bit... Also thanks for all the feedback, I've had a super crappy couple of days and reading your comments makes me happy. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! Yes I will be updating tomorrow as usual :)