Joey woke with an empty space next to him. He threw off the covers and climbed out of bed, going over to the window and pulling the curtains back. He felt deflated when he saw that the snow was still thick on the ground, and falling from the sky more heavily even than it had been yesterday. He sighed, pulling on a sweatshirt and going downstairs.
When Lauren saw him she smiled, and Joey returned it. She seemed back to her usual self now, and Joey guessed she'd completely put the kiss behind her. He could do the same, he told himself. He was lucky not to have ruined their friendship completely, so he'd gladly take this.
She turned away from her parents to the cupboard to make him some toast, but a cursory glance around the almost bare shelf must have told her they were out of bread, because she spun back around to them. "I'll have to go to the store."
"The snow's still pretty bad, Lauren," her mom said, glancing out of the window.
"I'll go with her," Joey said, placing a hand on Lauren's lower back. Her mom looked between the two of them worriedly and then nodded. They pulled on coats and gloves, and Lauren wrapped a spare scarf around Joey's neck before putting on her own.
They trudged through the snow, Joey walking slower than usual so that Lauren could keep up easily. He took her hand after a while, telling himself it was too make sure she wouldn't slip in the ice. They reached the store without incident, picking up some bread and anything else Lauren could think of that they might need. Then they stopped in the coffee shop next door to get a hot drink before they headed back
Lauren sat down at a table while Joey went up to the counter to order. As he approached, he was surprised to see one of his friends from college working there.
"Sophie?" he said as he approached, his face breaking into a smile.
"Joey!" she said incredulously, leaning over the counter to hug him. "It's been, what, seven years?"
"Something like that," Joey said with a lopsided grin as he pulled away.
"What are you doing back in town?"
"I'm here with my friend, Lauren," he replied with a nod over his shoulder, stumbling a little over the word.
Sophie raised an eyebrow. "Friend?"
"What makes you think otherwise?"
"If looks could kill we'd both be dead right now," she laughed.
Joey resisted the temptation to turn and look over his shoulder, smiling to himself a little.
"It's complicated," he said. She gave him a sceptical look but let it go, turning to make their drinks as they made small talk about what they'd been up to since college.
"It was good to see you again," he said as she passed his and Lauren's drinks over.
"You too," she said with a smile.
Joey made his way back over to Lauren, who was looking steadfastly down at her lap. When he put her drink in front of her she muttered a barely audible 'thanks', pulling the mug towards her. They sat opposite each other, their knees just touching under the table, staring into space as they drank their coffees.
All of a sudden Lauren reached out a hand and laid it gently on top of Joey's. He turned his head to look at her in surprise. "Thank you for last night," she said hesitantly.
"No worries," Joey said awkwardly, remembering everything that he'd done last night.
She paused, tucking a strand of hair nervously behind her ear as she looked away from him again. "I don't want the kiss to make things weird between us."
