"Lo," Joey whispered, nudging Lauren's head with his shoulder.
"Hm?" she mumbled, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"We've landed."
He grabbed both their bags out of the overhead lockers, giving Lauren a chance to wake herself up a little bit. He placed a hand on her shoulder as they filed down the aisle and off the plane. Lauren was feeling more awake now and was chatting away to Joey as they went to baggage claim, but she abruptly fell silent as they walked towards the exit and spotted Lauren's parents waiting for them. She glanced up at Joey, and he gave her a reassuring smile. She managed to bring a smile to her own face as she embraced her parents.
Joey held out his hand to shake her dad's, and hugged her mom, feeling slightly awkward. It was strange meeting them as Lauren's 'boyfriend' after they'd known him for years already, and he wondered if it would affect his relationship with them. But her mom smiled warmly and started asking the pair of them how their flight was.
In the car, Lauren rested her head on Joey's shoulder again. Joey talked to her dad about football, the conversation strangely familial, keeping his voice low so as not to wake Lauren. She woke up anyway about five minutes before they got to her old home, sitting up and stretching. Joey laid his hand on her thigh, stroking over her leggings with his thumb absentmindedly; Joey accidentally caught her mom's eye in the mirror, and he quickly looked away, an irrational sense of guilt bubbling up inside of him.
When they got to the house, Joey grabbed his and Lauren's suitcases from the trunk, carrying them inside and setting them down in the hall.
"You can take your stuff up to your room," Lauren's mom said to her, while Joey glanced around at the house, taking particular note of the pictures of Lauren growing up, and failing to keep the smile off his face.
"Where's Joey going?" Lauren asked, ready to show him to his room before she went to her own.
"He's in your room too," her mom said over her shoulder, already walking away and leaving them to get settled.
Lauren started to protest. "Can't he sleep in the spare room?"
Her mom gave her a weird look. "No, your aunt's coming tomorrow."
Lauren groaned as her mom went into the kitchen, burying her head in Joey's chest.
"I don't know how I didn't think about that," she said, her voice muffled.
"It's okay," Joey said, trying to keep the tension out of his voice. He picked up the bags, and followed her up the stairs and down a short landing into her bedroom. Lauren looked around; and Joey guessed that even though she'd been home enough times, she still found it slightly strange coming back and seeing her room exactly as it used to be. He was glad she had moved out to LA, and he hoped she didn't regret it, but it was nice for her to be back. And he was glad he got to come back with her.
Joey looked around too, taking in the posters and playbills on the wall, the books stacked haphazardly on the shelves, and even, he noted with a warm heart, a picture of the two of them the first year they met framed on her bedside table.
Lauren sat down on the bed, her hands folded in her lap as she stared down forlornly. Joey sat down beside her, leaving a small gap between them, but Lauren shuffled closer until their thighs were pressed together.
"What's wrong?" he asked her gently when she kept looking at the floor.
She sighed. "I'm sorry."
"What for?"
"For getting you into this. I shouldn't have asked you."
Joey leaned back on his hands. "Don't worry about it Lo. I'm always happy to help you. Besides, it's only two nights, it'll be easy," he lied.
