Richpez - A Tale of Two StarKids

Chapter 14: Curtain Call

Sorry for the lapse between chapters! With the quarantine I thought I would have more time to write, but I was wrong. Hope everyone is staying safe and staying home!

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{Joey's POV}

And just like that it was over. I was taking my final bow of Firebringer. It seemed like just yesterday we had our first show and now I was saying goodbye to my character, Grunt, and the rest of the amazing cast. I looked over at Lauren as we were walking off the stage and I noticed she was crying. I quickly made my way over to her, weaving through Jaime and Meredith in the process.

When I reached her I tightly embraced her. "That was your best performance, Lo," I said as I stroked her hair. "You were amazing out there."

As soon as her breathing slowed down she responded, "Thank you, JoJo. You were perfect tonight. I just wish that wasn't our last show." 

She pulled away so I could see her face. Her mascara was smeared from being pressed against my chest and her eyes were puffy, but she was smiling.

"You're beautiful, even when you're crying. You know that?" I whispered, so low that only she could hear.

She laughed. Her laugh is my favorite sound in the world. I would do anything to make her laugh.

"JoJo, you are too good to me," Lauren whispered back. She linked her fingers in mine and said, "Let's change and then go back to Brian and Meredith's." She pulled me in the direction of the dressing rooms so we could get ready for the party.

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Meredith and Brian were kind enough to throw a wrap party for the whole cast and crew. It was awesome since we're staying there so we don't have to worry about driving anywhere afterwards so we can have a lot fun.

The four of us got back to the apartment and started to set up before the rest of the cast arrived. We put out snacks and drinks for everyone before changing into outfits that were more party appropriate. I slipped into a pair of grey pants and a blue button down. It didn't take me or Brian nearly as long to get ready as the girls, so we finished setting up before the first guests arrived.

Joe and his girlfriend Traci were the first to arrive, followed by Jamie Burns and Tiffany. As everyone else started to trickle in, Lauren finally came out of the bedroom.

My jaw was on the floor as soon as I saw her. She was wearing a tight red dress with tall black heels that I knew would only be on for 10 minutes before her feet started to hurt. She had her makeup done in a smokey eye and a red lip and she had her hair straight.

She made a beeline for me and I immediately swept her into a kiss when she reached me. When we finally parted, I nodded my hair towards the makeshift bar and asked, "Do you want a drink?"

She nodded in return and I proceeded to get her a drink. I gave her her drink and she said, "I'm gonna go talk to Jaime. You wanna come with?"

My eyes drifted over to where Joe was talking with Brian and I shook my head. "I think I'm gonna talk with the guys." I bent down and gave her a kiss on the forehead before I said, "I'll meet up with you later."

After a few hours and many drinks later, the party started to wind down. People started to leave and Lauren and I said goodbye to everyone as they left since we're going back to L.A. tomorrow.

There were some drunk tears from Lauren as we said goodbye to Denise and some of the other girls. It's hard to leave all of our friends after seeing them everyday for two months.

Eventually it was just myself, Lauren, Meredith, and Brian left sitting on the couch in our pajamas watching a movie. We were all exhausted, but we didn't want the night to end. We wanted to spend as much time together as possible. 

Lauren had her head in my lap during the movie and towards the middle I looked down to see that she was sound asleep. I leaned over to Brian and Meredith and whispered, "As much as I don't want to, we need to get some sleep before our flight in the morning."

After Brian and Meredith said goodnight, they got up from the couch and turned off the TV. I scooped up Lauren and brought her into the bedroom. She barely stirred as I laid her down on the bed. I got ready for bed and joined Lauren as I drifted off to sleep.

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{Lauren's POV}

I woke up to a kiss from Joey on my forehead. I looked over at the clock to see that it read 6:00 am. Our flight back to L.A. was at 10 and Joey and I still hadn't finished packing. I dragged myself out of bed to shower and pack up to leave Chicago. Once I had closed my suitcase, I walked out to the kitchen to find Meredith and Brian drinking coffee.

"How did you sleep?" Meredith asked me as she poured me a cup of coffee.

"I was out like a light," I explained. "I can't believe I fell asleep during the movie. I tried so hard to stay awake."

Joey came up behind me and said, "Not hard enough." He wrapped his arms around me. "You barely moved when I carried you to bed. I'm surprised you were able to wake up this early."

We chatted a little longer as we sipped our coffee, but soon it was time to leave for the airport. We loaded our bags into the car and started the drive to the airport. We laughed and joked all the way, but as soon as we pulled into the Departures terminal, I started to tear up. 

We unloaded the car and I walked over to Meredith. I wrapped her in a tight hug and said through tears, "Thank you for letting us stay with you. I'm so glad we had this time together. I'm gonna miss you so much. Please come visit. You know we'd love to have you."

Meredith, also crying, replied, "I'm gonna miss you too. We'll try to make the trip out there soon."

After hugging a minute longer, we broke apart so I could hug Brian and Meredith could hug Joey. We said our final goodbyes and Joey and I set off towards security. With tears in my eyes, I linked my fingers with Joey's and we walked off toward our flight back to L.A.

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I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! I'll try to get another one out sometime in the next couple weeks. I promise it wan't be as long of a gap this time!