To Have And To Hold

8 - Impassioned Invitation

When Lauren got in from work, she dropped her bag down by the door and then settled herself in Joey's lap, which he definitely had no complaints about. After asking her about her day and making sure she wasn't hungry, he carried on scrolling through his e-mails just has he had been before she got home, but now with one hand smoothing over her hair.

He was about to stop thinking about work and suggest a movie to watch with Lauren when his phone pinged with a text from Corey. He read it, and sighed deeply.

"What's up JuJu?" Lauren asked, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.

"We gotta go on location to shoot on Wednesday," he said deflatedly. "But you can come if you want?" he suggested, wanting her to do whatever she was happiest with but quietly hoping she'd say yes.

"How long would you be away?" she asked, a note of apprehension in her voice.

"A week," he said grimly. The thought of a week without Lauren was unbearable, but they both knew that sometimes this was an unfortunate consequence of their career choice.

"Will I be in the way if I come?"

Joey shook his head, taking her hand and holding it between both of his. "You could never be in the way."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Would Corey and Brian agree with that?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm sure they'd get over it. I want you there."

She smiled, nodding. "Then I want to be there."

He beamed at her, wrapping his arms round her waist in a hug. A week away involving all the usual stresses of their shoots was already looking better with Lauren's presence to make him feel calmer.

Joey debated whether or not to let the other boys know Lauren would be there, but he eventually decided he'd rather not have them mad at him if he brought her uninvited.

"Is it okay if Lauren comes with us next week?" he asked at their next meeting. It was a question of courtesy more than anything, because he and Lauren had already made their minds up and there was no way she wasn't coming with him, but he still hoped for the other boys' approval.

Brian and Corey exchanged a knowing look.

"As long as she knows there won't be much for her to do. And they'll be long days, we got a lot to shoot," Corey warned him.

Joey nodded. He wished that she could be more involved in all of their projects, but he had to admit that would be unrealistic. He knew Lauren would understand that he might not be around much, but they'd take any time with each other they could get.

Corey wasn't exaggerating when he said the days would be long. Joey was out the door no later than seven each morning to set up, and they were filming until ten each night, sometimes longer, with scarcely a break in between.

Most days he was gone before Lauren was even awake - although he always left a note behind on the pillow for her for when she woke up. He would try to free up half an hour to get lunch with her, but sometimes they were too busy even for that. At the end of every day he would practically fall into bed, managing to kiss her goodnight before he was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

On the last day Joey walked into the green room to find Lauren sprawled on a couch, her eyes closed. He walked over to her and leaned down to kiss her forehead. Her eyes opened and she gave him a tired smile, sitting up to make room for him. He hoped he might finally get a second to breathe as he slumped onto the couch.

"It still feels like I've hardly seen you this week," she said, leaning into him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I know babe," he said, sighing sadly. He rested his chin on top of her head. "I wish we weren't so busy all the time."

"Joey?" Corey called, sticking his head round the doorway. "Are you ready to film this next scene?"

Joey closed his eyes, and felt Lauren sigh.

"Yeah, can you just... give me a minute?"

Corey looked like he wanted to protest, but he must have seen something in Joey's expression because in the end he nodded sharply and vanished.

Joey wrapped his arms tighter around Lauren, not wanting to let her go. "I will have to go in a minute," he said, his heart heavy.

"I know," she replied, tilting her head up to press a kiss to his lips. "I'm proud of you, you know that?"

He allowed himself to smile, brushing her hair back from her forehead before he stood up. "You should go back to the room if you're tired," he said gently.

She smiled wryly. "I'll be here."

True to her word, Lauren was waiting for him when he came back to pick up his stuff. He enveloped her in a hug, unable to find the words but wanting to express his gratitude to her for waiting for him even though she'd had as long a day as he had. They went back to their room with their arms around each other, leaning on each other for support. As exhausted as they both were, they were back earlier than they had been the rest of the week, so they sat up in bed talking, Joey with his arm around Lauren's shoulder and Lauren holding his free hand.

"Thank you for coming with me," he said, dropping a kiss to the top of her head as his thumb massaged her shoulder.

She leaned her head on his shoulder, raising his hand to her lips to kiss the back of it. "I wouldn't be anywhere else."

A/N Hi everyone!! Sorry there wasn't an update yesterday (it's Sophie's fault she made me go to her house and forced me to watch starkid with her). It's a shame there weren't any major richpez developments in the meantime though, right? ........ Seriously, can I check in with everyone? Are we all still breathing?