Until There Was You

Communication Breakdown

17. 

The rest of the day passed by pretty quickly. Joey and Lauren acted completely normal around each other despite the turmoil that was running through Joey's head. The four went for dinner at a restaurant on the beach front and before they knew it they were back at Joey's parent's house saying goodbye to Brian and Corey. Lauren and Joey had to get up early to get to the airport so Joey's Dad had offered to take the boys. They said a sad goodbye but they knew they'd be seeing each other in a week or so.

They were silent as they got ready for bed and Joey closed his eyes as he unzipped Lauren's romper. There was a lot going on his head at the minute and he didn't need the further distraction of her bare skin. This was the first time they'd been alone since the incident. He couldn't believe they had finally, finally, kissed and it had been exactly as he pictured, if not better, but what happened now? Were they just going to gloss over it and pretend nothing had happened or should they talk about it and try to clear the air?

"Do you think we should talk about it?" Lauren asked as she stepped out of the bottom half of her outfit as if reading his mind. Well that cleared that question up.

"Huh?" Joey asked tugging his t-shirt over his head from the other side of the room.

"The kiss, do you think we should talk about it?"

"Do we need to?" He asked already dreading her reply.

"You don't think we should?" Lauren replied slipping a pair of shorts on. Joey wished he could avoid this conversation – how on earth was he going to get through this without telling her that he wanted to kiss her again? He sighed.

"No, you're right, we should." There was a beat followed by silence before Lauren spoke again.

"Did you feel anything?" She asked deliberately not looking at him. He watched her fold her bikini and place it in her suitcase ready for her flight tomorrow.

"Did you feel anything?" Joey replied, she shot him a glare over her shoulder.

"Stop answering my questions with questions. I asked you first," there was a pause as Joey formulated his reply carefully and then, "Yeah, I did."

"Me too," Joey nodded his head at her as she resumed packing and chucked a clean t-shirt over his head. This was unexplored territory; they were admitting they had feelings for each other; well at least that's what Joey was doing anyway.

"What does that mean?" Lauren asked finally closing her suitcase and sitting down on the bed. Joey joined her making sure he left space between them.

"What do you want it to mean?" He countered and Lauren growled.

"Stop with the questions Joey, just be straight with me."

Figuring he was in for another argument Joey braced himself. He didn't want to fight with her but he was questioning her so much because this had to come from Lauren. He was determined to not tell her anything until he was certain that she wanted this too and that she was ready. He couldn't handle losing her because he couldn't stop himself from telling her how he felt. Lauren sighed from beside him.

"I'm gonna pitch this and feel free to shut it down if it's not what you want," Joey's eyes widened as he stared into his lap. Was this it? Was she going to suggest they start an actual relationship and see where it goes? He prayed to a God he didn't believe in that that was the case.

"Go ahead," he said quietly, wiping his palms on his pyjama pants.

"How would you feel about," her voice was shaky and Joey had the overwhelming urge to comfort her. He refrained as she took a deep breath, "a friends with benefits situation?"