Now that Lauren was no longer working at the coffee shop, she and Joey found even more time to spend together. She managed to find a job teaching improvisation, so their schedules matched up more closely, and without the need for her to get up so early for a shift, they spent more and more nights together.
They still returned to the coffee shop every now and then, just to check in with Jaime. Lauren had a sneaking suspicion that the girl took personal pride in them being together, and she had to admit that her friend had played a pretty big part in it. The shop also had a special place in both hers and Joey's hearts, being the place they first met.
They were sat there one day, at a table in the corner, their drinks forgotten as they held hands across the table.
"Do you ever miss being a barista?" Joey asked her out of the blue.
Lauren tilted her head to the side, thinking for a moment. "Not really. We got some nice customers, but there were plenty of bad ones. And I didn't exactly see myself serving coffee and cold, shitty pastries once I left college either."
Joey nodded understandingly, smiling.
"I really enjoy teaching improv, so I definitely don't regret quitting."
"Do you miss the shorts?"
She rolled her eyes. "You miss the shorts."
He held his hands up in surrender. "What can I say?"
She laughed at his dorkiness.
Then, she said "I still have the shorts."
She laughed again at the expression on his face.
"I am really glad I worked here though," she said softly, and Joey took her hands again. "Because otherwise I never would have met you."
He grinned sappily, leaning across the table towards her. She let her eyes drift closed as she met him in the middle, her lips moving familiarly against his.
It was as if time passed more quickly the closer they got. She went to see Joey's Basement show a week before Christmas, the day he flew home to his parents, clapping louder than anyone and impressed to see that their dance lesson had paid off.
She wove her way through the crowds of people hanging around after the show, spotting him and running up to him to throw herself into his arms.
"You were amazing JoJo!" she said proudly.
He grinned at her, but the grin quickly fell from his face, and he must have had the same realisation Lauren herself did that she now had to take him to the airport. He wasn't going to be back until the middle of January, and she had tried not to think too much about what a long time that was, but the reality was beginning to sink in now.
They stopped by his apartment to pick up his stuff. She locked up as he carried his suitcase down to her car: he'd given her a copy of the key to his apartment two days ago, reasoning that she could stay in his bed if she ever felt like she was missing him too much. She'd wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug as he kissed the top of her head, feeling extremely touched that he'd been so thoughtful, knowing exactly what she would need even when she didn't.
He refused to let her come all the way into the terminal with him.
"If you do I'll never be able to leave," he said with a sad smile.
She threw herself across the console to hug him, clinging to him as tightly as she could. He held onto her for what felt like an eternity, and Lauren realised that he wasn't going to let go, so she forced herself to.
He cupped her face in his hands.
"I love you," he said.
She kissed him in response, trying to memorise the feel of his lips, soft and warm under hers.
He had been about to get out of the car when his eyes widened and he reached into his bag.
"I can't believe I almost forgot your present," he said, presenting her with a small jewellery box.
She opened it, staring open mouthed at the ring inside. "Joey, I can't-"
"It's not an engagement ring! I promise," he said hurriedly as he realised where she was going. "But I wanted you to have a part of me, so I got my initials inscribed on the inside," he continued, taking the ring out and pointing to the tiny letters. He slid the ring onto her middle finger.
"It's beautiful JoJo. Thank you," she said, almost speechless. "And you reminded me..."
She rifled through her purse, pulling something out but clenching her fist tightly around it so he couldn't see it.
"It's nowhere near as good as what you got me," she said shyly. After he had got her such a beautiful ring, she was very self conscious about her own gift.
"Lo, I wasn't even expecting a present. I'm sure I'll love it, whatever it is."
She took a deep breath, uncurling her fingers to reveal the key sat in her palm. He reached out and took it from her, staring at it as though he'd never seen a key before.
"You gave me a key to your place, so I wanted you to have this. So when you're back, you can come over whenever. I want you to know that it's your home too."
He stared at her for so long she started to get anxious that he was never going to say anything, and she was just about to tell him he didn't have to accept it when he leaned over to kiss her, his fingers sliding into her hair as he drew her closer to him.
"God, I love you," he said as he pulled away.
Lauren flushed.
He pulled the straps of his backpack over his shoulder, still looking longingly at Lauren.
"You know you have a flight to catch, right?" she said with a smirk.
He grinned at her, finally breaking his gaze to get his suitcase from the back of the car. He gave her one last kiss goodbye, and then she watched him disappear into the airport.
It was weird without Joey. She'd adjusted so much to his presence in just a couple of months that she hardly knew what to do with herself. Whenever she wasn't working she was texting him about how much she missed him, and he assured her that he was counting down the days until he was back.
She spent more nights in his bed than in her own. Joey could never hide his grin when she FaceTimed him in the morning and he saw his own bedsheets. She went to her parents' house for a few days over Christmas, but even that wasn't enough to stop her missing Joey.
A few days after New Year's she was asleep - in her own apartment, for once - when she woke up to feel the bed shift underneath her. She felt an arm go round her, and a warm body shuffle closer to her, but she assumed she must be dreaming and quickly fell back asleep.
She woke in the morning to Joey tracing his fingertips gently over her skin. She smiled sleepily at him until her brain started working, at which point she was suddenly overflowing with questions.
"When did you get here?"
"Good morning to you too," he said, laughing at her bewildered expression. "I got here last night."
"What're you doing back so early?"
He grinned sappily at her. "I couldn't stay away." She thought about him flying home almost two weeks early just to see her, and silently thanked whatever had brought Joey into her life.
"I guess that key was a good idea, huh?" she said, placing a hand on his chest.
"I guess so," he agreed, pulling her closer to him to kiss her. And just like that, it was as if he'd never been gone at all.
