Lauren was waiting for the knock on the door that morning. But when she opened the door, she wasn't greeted by the delivery person as she usually was.
"Joey?" she shouted, unable to believe her eyes. Because there he was, standing before her, holding a large bouquet of red roses, seeming even taller than she remembered, and definitely even more good looking.
"Hi," he said, smiling his gorgeous lopsided grin at her. "I didn't get a chance to write your letter, I hope that's okay?"
"You got me something much better," she said, throwing herself into his arms.
He kissed the top of her head. He'd almost forgotten just how small she was.
"I thought you weren't back until tonight?" she said incredulously. She still couldn't believe he was actually here.
"I couldn't stay away."
She nuzzled into his chest, inhaling his scent. She'd missed absolutely everything about him, from the way he smelled, to his chin resting on the top of her head when they hugged, to the sound of his voice, to the feeling of kissing him.
As if he'd read her mind, Joey held her away from him, taking just a moment to admire her. He could never forget it, but coming back to her after two weeks just reminded him how breathtakingly beautiful she was. Then he kissed her, and it was two weeks' worth of kisses that the pair were catching up on. She tugged him inside, and Diane immediately came running up to him, eager for attention. They broke the kiss with a laugh, and Joey went and sat on the couch with Diane while Lauren went to the kitchen to get a vase for the flowers.
She carried them into the living room, barely being able to see over the top of them. She set them down and turned to Joey with a smile.
Joey, who was down on one knee.
"I know I promised you a good proposal, Lo, but I was thinking about it on the drive back here and I knew I had to ask you now. I thought you'd prefer this anyway."
She smiled gratefully at him and took a few automatic steps closer.
"I love you. You make me happier than anyone else. I can't imagine my life without you. So I'd just really, really like it if you'd let me be your husband?" he asked hopefully.
"Of course I will JoJo," she said, falling into his arms as he stood up with a grin. He squeezed her tightly, almost lifting her off her feet.
He drew back, looking into her eyes with a soft smile, and Lauren hoped he saw the same happiness in her eyes that she did in his. Because she really couldn't be happier.
He kissed her quickly then told her "Wait here," and disappeared into the bedroom. She sat down on the couch, Diane jumping into her lap, and she wondered what Joey could be up to now.
He returned moments later and sat on the couch next to her, taking her left hand in his and sliding a ring onto it.
Lauren opened her mouth in surprise. If he'd only decided to propose today in the car on his way home then that meant...
"How long have you had this?" she asked him.
He grinned shyly at her. "I'd rather not say."
She shook her head at him with a fond smile.
Lauren held her hand out to look at the ring. It was a perfect fit, it was beautiful, it was everything she could have dreamed of.
Joey was looking at her anxiously, so she leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips.
"It's perfect, Joey. Thank you," she said.
"I should be thanking you for agreeing to marry me!" he said with a laugh.
She rolled her eyes and leaned into him. Joey's arm wrapped around her shoulder, the other stroking Diane.
"She missed you, you know," Lauren told him.
"Not as much as I missed her. And definitely not as much as I missed you." Joey hugged her to him tighter.
"Never leave me for that long again," she said.
"You promise you won't get sick of me?" he asked.
"As if I could. Besides, I'm stuck with you now," she said, holding up her ring hand.
His face scrunched up with happiness at the reminder that she really was marrying him, and he kissed her forehead. Lauren closed her eyes contentedly and rested her head on his shoulder, feeling for all the world that she could stay here forever with Joey and still be the happiest person alive. Because he was hers, and she was his, and all they really needed was each other.
A/N here's a lil explanation of this chapter. pazazzalil sent me a prediction for what was going to happen in this chapter and you were so almost spot on with your prediction about Joey showing up in the morning as a surprise when Lo was expecting him later on that I was very close to saying something, so congrats! To be fair I figured people probably would see the ending from a mile off.
But there was no proposal originally (you heard that right, I actually wrote a fic without a proposal). So here's where tillytytroyesivan comes in, and she tells me from like chapter 3 or something that there had better be a proposal. And with you guys influencing me, how could I not rewrite the ending into a proposal?
So anyway, that's it! Thank you so much to everyone that read this and voted and especially commented. Again, I'm sorry the chapters were very short but I didn't want people to hate me for publishing a 6000 word oneshot. I will see you again very soon with my next fic which I'm very excited for y'all to read because I loved writing it!
