A/N: Sooo, I'm on skiing holiday and finally found some time to write again. This chap will be life-changing! No jk, but important things are gonna happen. I have no idea why I am doing this to myself, seeing I have LARGE and I mean VERY LARGE girl crush on Lauren. It's hard to write this story, especially the sad part, I find myself crying and having to stop for a while before continuing, but I will try to continue this story. Oh btw, just for the record, Lauren and Joe are indeed living together. We'll see what comes from that...
Lauren slowly opened her eyes. It was Christmas today. She smiled. Finally a normal day, she's be spending with her closest friends. Little did she know this day wouldn't be normal at all.
Joe waited until her heard Lauren coming downstairs. He knew this day meant much to her, so he had decided to make this day as perfect as possible. He had some nice surprises for her. When she finally walked into the living room. 'Morning sunshine' he said and he couldn't help but smiling at her. Her brown hair was hanging loose down her back, a little curly. Her beautiful brown eyes were still sleepy. She was so thin. Joe was worried about her. What's going on in that girls head? He wondered daily. When she looked at him, smiling sheepishly, he felt his stomach doing backflips. She was so beautiful and perfect. He didn't know how she felt about him, and it made him crazy. 'Hi' Lauren said with a voice thick of sleep. 'Want some coffee?' Joe offered as he followed Lauren who slowly made her way down to the kitchen, clutching the wall for support. It pained Joe to see her like this. She was always so active and energetic. He wanted her to get better as fast as possible. 'Yeah, that's ok' Lauren said, having arrived at the kitchen table. She slowly lowered herself down a chair. Joe put on the coffee machine and sat down on the chair opposite of the one Lauren was sitting on. 'Joe' Lauren said with a serious voice. 'Yes?' he asked and he looked into her big brown eyes.
Lauren looked into Joe's beautiful electrifying blue eyes. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She had to say it, it was driving her crazy not knowing where she stood. 'Er..How…What is our..relationship?' she asked. She looked at her hands. That sounded stupid. What she actually wanted to say was that she loved Joe. So much it hurt. She was in love with him from the moment she saw him at UofM. She just never had the guts to say anything. Why was she so bad with saying what she felt? Everyone always found her cute and dragged her around, she didn't mind. But when Joe touched her, she felt so safe and warm. Especially when they did Starship, and they danced and touched so much, she was so happy. But what if he didn't feel the same way about her? Had she just ruined their whole friendship?
Joe felt his heartbeat quicken. How should he respond? He had expected this question for a long time now. But he never thought how he would answer. Lauren stared at him. He had to say something. He opened his mouth, but closed it again. 'I mean, we are living together, but..does that mean..we're dating? Or are we even in a relationship?' Lauren asked, blushing. Joe slowly opened his mouth. 'Lauren…I..You don't remember this, but when you were shot, it felt like my whole world had collapsed. I couldn't live without you. But then you woke up. Everything fell in place. Lauren…I'm in love with you since the day I met you' he said slowly. He had done it. This could have ruined everything. He looked at Lauren. His eyes widened. Her eyes were filled with tears. He quickly stood up, his chair clattering to the ground. He wrapped his arms around her small body. 'Joe…I love you too. So much' Lauren said, sobbing softly on his shoulder. 'But, why are you crying?' Joe asked carefully. Lauren laughed, her body shook. 'I have no idea. Maybe it's just..I finally have an answer' she said. Joe hugged her tightly. Lauren wrapped her small hands around his shoulders. She slowly raised her head, and looked at him.
Joe slowly picked Lauren's head in his hands. She looked so little and breakable. He would protect her forever. He slowly brought his head towards hers and his lips slowly touched hers. Fireworks exploded where her lips touched his. They sat like this for what felt like an eternity.
Lauren slowly opened her eyes and their lips broke apart. She laid her head on his shoulder. 'How are we gonna explain this to everyone? I can't even think about how the fans would react' She mumbled. When the fans heard of what had happened to them, their fanbase literally exploded. But luckily, this was a happy thing. She was sure the fans could handle this. But the rest of the starkids? Ofcourse everyone was shocked when Brian and Meredith told them they were dating two weeks ago, but that was actually pretty clear. Lauren had never told anyone about her feelings for Joe, not even Julia. She was sure everyone would be so shocked. But for this moment, she didn't really care what anyone thought about her and Joe. She was happier than ever.
The same thought suddenly struck Joe. How would their friends react? He looked at the clock. It was 11 am, and they would be all coming over at 2 pm. 'Lo, I think we should tell them today. If we don't do it, it will only be harder later' Lauren nodded. Joe suddenly remembered the coffee machine. He slowly got up, putting Lauren back at her chair, as she had been sitting on his lap, and rushed over to it. 'Shit' he swore as the coffee had flooded the ground because he had forgotten to put a cup underneath. Lauren slowly walked up to him. 'Jeesh Joe, I don't know if I want to have a relationship with someone who can't even make coffee normally' she said, snickering. Joe quickly turned around and picked Lauren up from the floor. He swung her over his shoulder and ran toward the couch. 'What did you just say?' he said while tickling her. Lauren laughed and tried to push him away, but she was so weak that she could as well be trying to push away a solid wall. Joe snickered, but also worried. When he had picked her up, she almost hadn't weight nothing. 'Lauren, how much do you weigh?' he said, and he stopped tickling her. Lauren deliberately looked away. 'That's none of your business' she said stubbornly. 'Lo, I'm serious, you're much too thin. When I just picked you up, I almost felt nothing. You should eat more' Lauren looked at him. 'I know…It's just…' she looked away, deep in thought.
Lauren woke up panting and sweating. She had had the same nightmare again. A man in a black suit had bonded her to a chair and pointed a gun at her. She tried to scream, but she couldn't. Then he shot her, a pain shot through her hip. That was always when she woke up. She quickly got up, and threw up in the toilet. This happened almost every night. She couldn't go on like this. She had lost so much weight. She didn't eat well and slept badly. She felt horrible.
Joe looked at Lauren. She seemed to be deep in thought. He softly shook her shoulders and her eyes focused on him. 'Joe, I'm so scared' she suddenly whispered, her face terrified. Joe wrapped his arms around her. 'Tell me what's wrong, please Lauren' he said softly. Tears leaked from Lauren's eyes. 'I have a dream, no more a nightmare. Almost every night. I think it's about the accident. A man binds me and points a gun at me. I can't move or scream. Sometimes you come up too, he shoots you right before my eyes. When I wake up, I'm sick to my stomach and throw up. That's why I loose so much weight. It sound so childish, but I can't do anything about it. I tried to stay awake, but it's not working. I'm so scared Joe.' She said, sobbing loudly. Joe's face softened. 'That's terrible Lauren. Why didn't you tell me?' He asked. 'I was scared that you wouldn't take me serious' 'Ofcourse I will. Say Lo, you can…sleep with me if you'd like. Maybe that works?' he offered, blushing a little. Lauren chuckled. 'So, now you want to sleep with me, Walker?' Joe smiled at her joke. 'You know what I mean' Lauren nodded 'That would be nice' She stopped crying. 'So, am I ever getting my coffee, or should I just have a coffee-less life?'
Lauren looked in the mirror. She had put on her favorite unicorn t-shirt, and a nice jeans. She had put on some make-up, It seemed like ages ago that she did that. She normally walked around Joe's house like a zombie. She looked at her body. She really was thin, she could see her ribs. The jeans we're also a little big. She decided to really try and eat more. She brushed her hair. Tonight would be awesome.
