richpez for mae

15

Lauren watched Joey exit the room, and once the door had closed, she fell backwards onto his bed.

What the hell was she doing? Teasing Joey as she had done was like walking on thin ice. Obviously, she had feelings for him, and judging by his reaction to the outfit she was wearing, he felt the same towards her. But coming to the realisation that she actually liked him and there was a big chance that he liked her back was something that she was having trouble processing. She definitely didn't want her feelings to affect their friendship, but she was scared that it might.

She did feel bad for laughing at Joey though. But Lauren knew that she was just laughing because she was secretly terrified at the prospect of what was to come from that interaction.

She was also scared of how easily she caved under Joey's watchful gaze. Looking into Joey's eyes and seeing him look up at her with such lust, but also like a deer in headlights made it even more thrilling yet terrifying for her. It wasn't a risk she wanted to take but she couldn't help herself from falling so hard for him.

Trying to focus on other things, she pulled herself off of his bed and got changed into the clothes Joey gave to her, pulling her hair up into a ponytail and grabbing his laptop off his bedside table. To calm her nerves, she started watching real housewives, wanting the show to entertain her and distract her from overthinking about Joey. But everything she was surrounded by was his. The bed she was sat on, the clothes she was wearing, the laptop she was using, the room she was sat in. But she took comfort in knowing that even though all those things were his, he was happy to share it all with her. 

She sighed uneasily. Of course, Lauren wanted to be with Joey, but she wanted it to be on his terms as well as hers. And she definitely didn't want to push Joey into being with her if he wasn't ready. She knew that if she told him she wanted to be with him, whether he was comfortable with it or not, he would oblige. He would never pass up the opportunity to be with her. And knowing that, she was willing to wait, no matter how long it would be.

She started to focus on what was happening on the screen, Joey still in her mind, but she was more at ease knowing that she was willing to wait for Joey if that's what he needed, and their friendship would be okay.

-

Walking back into his room from collecting their takeaway, Joey saw Lauren sat on his bed with her legs crossed and his laptop laying on her legs, the lights dimmed and he could see that she was watching a show on Netflix. Seeing Lauren sat on his bed, especially since she was sat wearing his clothes, was a sight that brought him so much joy. Even though his jumper hung off her tiny frame, he thought that it had never looked better than it did on her.

He wanted to take a photo of that moment, knowing his memory was good enough to remember, but he wanted to be able to see the tiny snapshot of Lauren looking so at home in his room every day for the rest of his life.

Lauren looked towards the door where Joey was stood, takeaway in hand, and she beamed up towards him, closing the laptop and placing it on his pillow. She pulled herself up off his bed and hurried over to the table where he placed the bag.

"Finally! I'm starving." She drooled as she pulled out the food and drinks from the bag.

Joey helped get their food ready and brought it over to his bed. They sat down, their backs leaning against the wall and their bodies pressed together, not an inch left between them. Joey placed the laptop on their knees with their food placed precariously on their other knee.

"Seriously?" Joey laughed as he tilted his head down to look at Lauren as he saw what was playing on the screen.

"What?" She asked, confused.