Hey, guys! So, here's chapter 9. it may be a bit boring, but it was kinda uninspired, and i just want to get to the upcoming cliffhangers (oooo). So this is a little bit of a filler chapter, except for a couple of things :)

But anyway, here's chapter 9. ENJOY :):)


Chapter 9- Surprises

Denise led Jeff by the hand to the front doorstep of the giant holiday house.

"Are you sure this is the right place? It looks a bit big and expensive…" Jeff asked, reluctantly trudging along behind his girlfriend.

"Yes, I'm positive, I wrote it down twice" she re-assured, stopping outside the door and excitedly ringing the doorbell. The door opened not long afterwards , to reveal a smiling Meredith. The two girls squealed in joy and leapt onto each other in a tight hug. Jeff rolled his eyes and shoved past the two hugging girls to meet his other friends. Everyone was happy, hugging and laughing and exchanging stories.

"Oh my god, what happened to your leg, LoLo?!" Denise gasped, pointing at the large, baseball sized, dark purple bruise on Lauren's leg.

"Oh, Brian" Lauren answered. Brian just mocked her voice and nudged her as hard as he could on the shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Denise asked, still staring at the bruise.

"We went to a water park yesterday, and everyone was throwing me around and Brian dropped me" Lauren explained.

"You know, Lauren, yesterday you told me that it wasn't my fault" Brian protested.

"I lie" Lauren put up her hands in surrender, walking over to the kitchen to get a drink. Brian shook his head at her, watching the petite girl as she walked, her ponytail swaying from side to side as she walked.

"So, what have we missed over the past few days?" Jeff asked.

"Nothing much" Joe.W replied "Just the normal, goofing around and stuff"

"Of course" Denise replied, smiling.

Just then, Lauren came back into the room, smiling widely. She curled up next to Brian, who put his arms around her and kissed her on the nose. Denise's eyes widened, as she watched them talk to each other in hushed voices.

"Joey" Deeds whispered, tapping him on the shoulder. When Denise had his attention, she asked " Did Lauren and Brian get together?" she still kept her voice in a low whisper.

"No" he replied "Not that we know of. They've been really close lately"

Denise nodded, staring at the two talking and snuggling. She shook her head before looking up to her won boyfriend and kissing him on the cheek.


The StarKids were huddled in a circle, the smell of warm hot chocolate lingering in the air.

"How about we play Truth or Dare?" Jeff suggested

Everyone else, except Denise, disagreed, shaking their heads. Before Jeff could get the chance to ask why, Lauren piped up,

"Why don't we play Scrabble?"

"No way, Lauren"

"Uh-uh"

"Nope"

Voices overlapped, causing Lauren to slump her shoulders and mumble,

"But you guys never let me play it"

"Because you always cheat and make up words"

"I do not!" she countered.

"Yes, you do. Remember last year, you came up with the word fbujgor?"

Lauren giggled at Jeff's comment, but still persisted.

"Come on, guys, just this once!' she pleaded.

Everyone shook their heads. But then, interrupting their conversation, came a rapping knock on the door. Julia, along with most others, cocked her head in confusion.

"Who could that be?" she wondered aloud, standing up and walking over to the door. Everyone watched as she answered, and when they saw who was standing in the door way, happy gasps rippled around the room.

"Oh my god!" Julia exclaimed, jumping onto Darren Criss in a hug. Lauren immediately stood up and ran over to hug Devin Lytle. A big boost of excitement began. The StarKids were up and jumping and hugging and laughing. But until everyone had settled down, it was when the question was finally asked.

"So, what the fuck are you guys doing here?" Jeff asked, in the most jokingly-polite voice he could.

"We thought we might surprise you" Devin smiled evilly.

"Well, you surprised us, alright. So run along home, now" Lauren replied in a british accent, earning her bouts of laughter "No seriously, go home, we don't have enough beds"

"But, anyway, what were you guys doing?" Darren asked, next to Julia.

"We were trying to figure out what to do" Meredith replied, blowing hair out of her eyes.

"Well, why don't we just chat?" Devin suggested "I'll get the snacks, Lo, Bri, Darren, Mere and Dylan get the mattresses, Joey, Jaime, Jules get pillows and Denise, Jeff, and the Joes can get the blankets?"

"Sounds like a plan" Joe W replied, and they all rushed off to get the things.

By the time they were finished, there was a circle of mattresses and snacks. This was going to be the best night ever.


Brian looked around at his peacefully sleeping friends. He found that he was always the last to fall asleep whenever his group of friends did something like this. Sighing, he rolled over, his eyes falling on Lauren. He smiled, moving a strand of hair away from his face. It was then that he decided,

I have to tell her he thought. But how? Although he didn't want to avert his eyes from the beautiful girl, he rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling above him.

It'll be easy, right? Just say it. I love you. See, it isn't so hard. Sighing, Brian ran his fingers through his hair. It'll be a lot harder than that. What if she doesn't feel the same way? It would ruin everything. He brought his vision back to the girl, a mistake; it just made things harder.

"It'll be fine" he told himself, in hardly a whisper, and rolled over, closing his eyes and falling asleep.

(line)

Lauren's eyes opened, and her vision was blurred. But only for a second, and once she had adjusted to the darkness around her, she shifted her position. The first thing she saw was Brian. He was laying on his back, staring up at the ceiling, eyes wide. She frowned, rolling over and looking at him. He looked nervous, anxious even. That was strange…. Brian never got nervous. He rolled over to face her, and she quickly closed her eyes. She listened intently, until his breathing became steady and even, before opening her eyes. She could tell he was asleep. Smiling, she snuggled in close to him, her head resting on his chest. This caused him to stir, and look down at the girl resting against him. He kissed her on the head and she opened her eyes, looking up at him.

"Go to sleep, Brian" she giggled in a whisper, kissing him on the cheek and curling up against him ,closing her eyes.

Brian thought for a second and smiled.

Maybe it won't be so bad…