richpez for mae

14

Weeks had passed and they kept up with their weekly coffee dates, choosing different cafe's and coffee shops in the city to try and see which one was the best. Autumn had begun so their walks to and from the coffee shops had transitioned from leisurely strolls to who can walk the fastest to get into the warmth, Joey always winning since he had longer legs which Lauren loved to remind him about. Since the seasons had transitioned, their walks that had been full of green leaves and tall trees had moved to orange and amber leaves on the ground, crunching them under their feet as the wind blew the leaves onto the path they would walk on.

Outside of their coffee dates, they started to see each other more often in the corridors of the sports centres and the theatre building, subconsciously learning each other's timetables and knowing when their paths would cross throughout the day. Sometimes, Joey would purposely walk past the door of a lecture hall or dance studio that Lauren was in to see if he could spot her, one occasion Lauren spotting him and smiling at him through the glass. Lauren was no different, coincidentally needing to give his various lecturers essays or ask them questions or take things out of their rooms when Joey was there, giving him a quick wave and wink in the process.

-

It was a few days before Halloween, and Joey and Lauren were on their way back from Ann Arbour. Lauren had convinced Joey to go Halloween shopping with her. And for Joey, this just meant more time with Lauren so he was happy to oblige. The trip was mainly just Lauren trying on outfits and Joey ushering her compliments about how great she looked.

After hours of them shopping, Lauren ended up not buying any Halloween outfits, and spent most of the walk back sulking that everything that she tried on looked ugly on her. Joey laughed at her sulking and tried his best to comfort her, telling her how great she looked in them, but she just kept pouting and calling him a liar.

As Lauren carried on complaining, Joey's eyes scanned around the streets that they were walking down. As they turned a corner onto the main road next to their campus, he spotted a small independent shop that looked like it sold fancy dress costumes. Thinking on the spot, he quickly grabbed Lauren's wrist and pulled her towards the traffic lights to cross the road.

"Woah are you trying to kidnap me?" Lauren asked as she looked up at Joey. Joey didn't look down at her, instead, pulling her across the quiet road and into the fancy dress shop. It was already getting late so the shop was almost deserted.

"We are going to find you a Halloween outfit even if it kills me." Joey huffed. He walked towards the chair by the changing room and placed all their shopping bags on it.

"Jojo I'm really not in the mood anymore, I just want to go home." Lauren started but Joey cut her off.

"No, sorry Lopez, we're finding you one, right now." He narrowed his eyes towards her, and Joey walked towards the girls' outfit rack.

"Jay," Lauren warned.

"Lo." He replied in the same tone.

They were both pretty stubborn, so it was just a test of time to see who was going to crack first. Joey couldn't bear to look at Lauren that agitated and thought that he would have to give in. But after a few moments, Lauren's face softened slightly, and she silently complied. She walked over to the rack next to him and started to look through the clothes, and Joey smiled to himself. They both picked some outfits for her to try on and she disappeared behind the curtain of the dressing room.

-

"Okay, hows this?" Lauren asked as the curtain opened and she stepped out in her last outfit. Joey looked up from his phone and his jaw almost dropped to the ground.