richpez for mae

13

Joey met Lauren outside the sports centre on Friday and they left campus together, heading to the coffee shop and diving straight into a conversation. He had spoken to Lauren over text during the week, but being able to properly converse with her in person was something that he had missed. Lauren's real-time reactions to the things that he said spurred him on, watching her laugh and smile at his bad jokes or stories he told.

It was Lauren's turn to choose the destination of their date and she chose a coffee shop slightly closer to campus. Joey had a lecture later in the day, so choosing a coffee shop closer to campus meant that they wouldn't have to leave as early to get back on time.

When the pair arrived, Joey chose a place to sit and Lauren ordered their food and drinks at the counter. He watched her order, noticing how she could barely see over the counter and was stood on her tiptoes to speak to the barista. He laughed to himself, noting how cute she looked. But he already knew that.

He watched her for a while longer, and when Joey saw that their food and drinks were ready, he walked over to the counter and picked up their tray. He carried it back to their table as Lauren protested behind him.

"I'm strong enough to carry the tray myself you know," Lauren grumbled as they sat down at a table near the corner of the room.

"I know." He smiled down at her. "But you paid, so the least I could do is carry them back for you."

"So next week when you pay I'll be carrying the tray back, right?" Lauren raised an eyebrow at him as she grabbed her drink, taking a sip and humming contently at the taste.

"Who said we were doing this next week?" Joey teased, and Lauren rolled her eyes.

"Definitely not me. I hate free coffee." She winked, pursing her lips as a small smile tried to fight its way onto her face.

"Sure," Joey smirked. "Looks like you'll be paying for coffee next week then."

"Oh look at that! You've suddenly changed your tone from 10 seconds ago." Lauren laughed.

Joey took a sip of his drink, wiggling his eyebrows at Lauren and she giggled at him.

They sat quietly for a while, drinking and eating in comfortable silence. They exchanged the odd few glances towards each other, offering small smiles before Lauren's phone started buzzing on the table.

She picked it up and Joey saw the glimmer of panic in her eyes when she saw who was calling. Lauren declined the call and sent the person a quick text instead, shoving her phone in her pocket. Joey was waiting for her to say something, but she didn't. So he did.

"Who was that?" Joey asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Oh, just Darren," Lauren mumbled, and Joey almost choked on the cheese and ham in his mouth.

"Oh?" Joey swallowed the sandwich and continued. "So what's going on with you and Darren then? If you don't mind me asking." Joey tried to ask as nonchalantly as possible. But in reality, he didn't know if it would be better knowing than not.

Lauren paused for a few moments, taking a sip of her coffee and then finally looked up at Joey.

"We're best friends. If that's what you mean." Lauren shrugged, and Joey let out a sigh of relief internally. "I know what you've seen of mine and Darren's relationship has been mixed, and I don't know if he's said anything to you, but Darren and I are just like that sometimes. He's like my older brother."

Joey just hummed, agreeing with her statement and Lauren continued, looking down into her coffee.

"And from that, if I make friends who he doesn't deem good enough for me, he scares them away. Intimidates them. Excludes them. But everyone makes excuses for him. Saying he does it because he cares about me. But I think he's just scared of being replaced." Lauren stopped, unsure of what to say next. Joey noticed and jumped in.