Joey woke up before Lauren the next morning. At first he wasn't sure if he was dreaming, seeing Lauren's sleeping figure next to him, her expression peaceful. But then he remembered where he was, and what they were doing, and he started wishing it was just a dream. He ached to brush her hair back, to pull her close to him and press a kiss to her forehead. He was starting to think he might not be able to stop himself when Lauren's eyelids fluttered open and she gave him a sleepy smile.
"Good morning," she murmured.
Joey had to suppress his sigh. "Good morning."
She rolled over into his chest, and Joey's breath hitched even as he automatically put an arm around her.
"Do we have to get out of bed?" she asked him, clutching at the front of his t-shirt.
"We're here to see your family," he reminded her.
She rolled her eyes, then patted his cheek before pushing herself up and out of bed, disappearing into the bathroom across the hall. Joey heard the sound of water running, and tried not to think about her in the shower just a few metres away from him.
Soon enough she padded back across the hall wrapped in a towel, her wet curls dripping onto her bare shoulders. Joey gave her a faint smile and hurried into the bathroom himself. He let the hot water rush over him, easing the tension out of his muscles. He ran his hands over his face to wake himself up, although it surprised him to realise that he'd slept better last night than he could remember sleeping for a long time, although he supposed it wasn't necessarily to do with Lauren.
When he was done, he turned the water off and wrapped a towel around his waist, expecting Lauren to have gone downstairs already. However, when he walked into her bedroom he found her sitting on the edge of the bed in just her bra and underwear, looking down at her phone.
"Sorry, I'll-" he started, turning around as a flush crept up his neck.
"No!" he heard her exclaim. "I need your help."
He turned back around to see her standing up and tugging a dress off of a hanger on the back of the door. She stepped into the outfit, turning around to show him the gaping back.
"I can't reach the zip," she explained, pulling her hair over one shoulder.
Joey walked over to her, reaching for the zip with fumbling fingers and managing to pull it up. He swept her hair back from over her shoulder, and she turned around to him with a grateful smile. He took in the black form-fitting fabric, with long sleeves and a plunging neckline, and exhaled unsteadily, quickly tearing his eyes away and moving across the room to his suitcase, pulling on his own shirt. He looked over his shoulder as he did up the buttons, relieved to see that Lauren had disappeared, and breathed deeply to slow his heart rate.
He wandered back into the bathroom, forcing himself to stay calm as he saw Lauren already stood in front of the mirror. The pair of them ended up brushing their teeth together, stood hip to hip at the sink, nudging each other's elbows until Lauren suggested that they just switch sides.
She grinned at him in the mirror. "Much better." He let out a shaky laugh.
Joey went back into the bedroom when he was done to retrieve his watch, before making his way downstairs, finding Lauren, her parents, and her brother and sister-in-law all in the kitchen already. He pressed a kiss to Lauren's temple as he passed her on the way to the fridge, and then sat down next to her with a glass of orange juice.
"Remind me what we're doing after lunch," he said to her, a hand resting on the back of her chair. They had a restaurant reservation at half two for the six of them as well as Lauren's aunt and two cousins, which he was definitely not looking forward to, because that was practically an open invitation for interrogation. The upside was that he was spending time with Lauren, and he kept reminding himself of that.
