And so, we have the chapter of finding out everyone's reactions to the news. Just a fun little chapter! If you liked it, please leave a review and let me know what you think!

Chapter 26:

"Lauren, what are you doing here?" My uncle asks me as soon as I walk in to Rocque Records. I had been putting off telling Gustavo about getting engaged to James because honestly I'm a little scared of what his reaction is going to be. I didn't want to be the reason Gustavo kicked James out of the band, although I think that is unlikely to happen.

Kelly glances up from the papers she is looking at and her faces scrunches in confusion immediately when she sees me. "Yeah why are you here when we don't start working again for another week?"

I smile at them as I walk over to the couch. I plop down and look at them, resting my head on my left hand, hoping they'll just see the ring and I won't have to say anything. "I know, but I had something exciting to tell you."

They both stare at me expectantly, waiting for me to tell them. I sigh when I realize they're not going to make this easy for me. "Well what is it…?" Kelly trails off when I start waving my hand at her. Her eyes start to widen and her mouth jumps open in shock, and I know she has seen the ring. "No way!" She squeals in excitement and runs over to me, grabbing my hand so that she can look at the ring. She twists me hand around, trying to get a good look at the ring as it shines from the lights in the studio. "I can't believe this. You know, I would have bet on Kendall being the first one to get married."

The word 'married' seems to get through to Gustavo who has been frozen ever since Kelly first saw the ring. "What? You're marrying the monkey dog?"

Kelly backs away slightly from me after my uncle's outburst, probably a little worried about getting in the middle of us potentially yelling at each other. And I can't really blame her, I would have done the same thing. "Yes, I am marrying James," I say as I look over at my uncle. I try reading his emotions but I can't tell if he's angry at me or something else.

Gustavo gets up from his chair and I start getting a little worried. He begins pacing in front of me and holds his hands in front of him. "Now Lauren," he says, oddly calm and that makes me even more concerned because his biggest outbursts happen after he's calm. "I've been working with the dogs for almost three years now. James is one of the most conceited, dumbest people I know."

"No he's not-" I start protesting right away because he really is wrong about that but he holds up a hand to stop me.

When my uncle knows I'm going to stay silent, he continues while still pacing in front of me. "But, ever since you two have started dating, I've seen a huge change in him. For once he cares about someone other than himself." He pauses to look over at me and he starts smiling at me. "I can tell that he truly loves you."

I raise my eyebrows at his response since it is the exact opposite of what I expected. "So you're not mad about us being engaged?" I ask him tentatively.

"No, I guess not," he sighs as he walks over to the couch and sits next to me. I hug him right away and he surprisingly returns it. "You always have been my favorite niece."

I scoff at this as I move away and look at him. "I'm your only niece."

"Exactly," he says and genuinely smiles at me. He starts chuckling and I raise an eyebrow at him. "Boy, the media is going to love this."

"When were you planning on announcing this?" Kelly asks as she looks down at her clipboard, back in business mode. Not really a surprise since it is her job to make sure that we look good and keep up our image.

I shrug as Kelly and Gustavo look at me. "We haven't really talked about it. In fact, we haven't even told all of our friends yet." I hadn't wanted to tell our friends before getting around to telling Kelly and Gustavo. But we were planning on having a small dinner party with everyone later so we could tell them.

Kelly raises her eyebrows at this. "But you have told your parents?" I can feel myself starting to cringe at this and Kelly rolls her eyes. "Lauren, you need to tell them before this gets out to the public. They're not going to be mad at you."

"Fine," I say defeated as I pull out my phone, sending a glare towards Kelly. I had been dreading calling my parents because I had no idea what their reactions are going to be. Yes they like James but that doesn't mean they will approve of getting engaged after not very long of dating.

I dial my mom's number and put the phone to my ear, listening to it ring and hoping that she wouldn't answer. But when it stops ringing, I start feeling a little bit of panic. "Hello, dear, how was your vacation?"

"It was great," I reply absentmindedly, know that this would be a great transition into telling her. I look over at Kelly and she gives me a nod of encouragement. "Actually something really exciting happened on vacation."

"Oh really?" She asks me curiously and I feel my heart start racing as I get nervous. "Well what is it?"

"Well I want you to remember that I am an adult and can make my own decisions and I'm really happy right now," I start rambling and my mom clears her throat, getting me to stop. I take a deep breath as she waits patiently for me to continue. I blurt out what I need to tell her quickly, wanting to get it over with. "James and I are engaged."

There's a few seconds of silence and I start wondering if I should just hang up and not talk to her for a few days. She finally speaks up, "Wow. I guess- I mean- wow." We both sit in silence for a couple minutes, she's probably processing this and I just don't want to start talking again because I haven't gotten a good enough answer yet. "You're really getting married?"

I can't tell how she is feeling and give Kelly a look for help but she just shrugs her shoulders at me. "Yes mom, I'm getting married."

"Are you sure?" She asks tentatively and I still can't tell how she feels. "Didn't you just meet him and aren't you both young?"

I sigh at this and get up from the couch to start pacing around the room, needing to move before my anxiety about this conversation makes me have a panic attack. "I am very sure about marrying James. I have never felt something like this in my previous relationships and you know how devoted I was to Dan." She makes a sound like she doesn't like that I've made a good counter argument. "And didn't you always tell me when I was younger that when you find the person you're meant to be with, you just know? Besides, you and dad got married when you were eighteen too."

She pauses for a few seconds and I feel confident that I have made a good argument against the few things she was concerned about. "Damn you for taking after your dad and being good at making your point. Well, are you happy dear?"

I sit back down on the couch and start smiling as I think about being with James. "More than you could possibly know."

"Then I am happy for you, sweetheart. All I've ever wanted was for you to be happy," she says and I hear her sniffle a little. "Sorry, I just can't believe that my little girl is getting married already!"

"Please don't start crying now, you'll make me cry too," I say jokingly and she starts laughing about this.

"Alright, alright, I'll save the tears for your wedding," she laughs before clearing her throat. "Have you told your father yet?"

I cringe at this as I look over at my uncle who is back to working, probably trying to pretend for now that I'm not marrying James. "Can't you tell him?"

My mom sighs at this, knowing it's a typical response for me. While I have always been close to my dad, I always go through my mom when telling him important things. "I'll tell him to call you because you have something special to tell him. But then you're on your own. If you're old enough to get married, you can tell your father yourself."

"Fine," I say defeated as I lean back against the couch, already not looking forward to that conversation. "We're planning for having the wedding in September so make sure you're free."

"I will honey," she says happily to me. "I have to get going now but I'll tell your father to call you. And I really am happy for you, dear. I love you."

"Love you too, mom," I say before she hangs up the phone. I turn to Kelly who is waiting for me. "Well that went surprisingly well. Although I'm not looking forward to when my dad calls."

"Oh you'll be fine," she says reassuringly. "Your dad has always spoiled you and will go along with anything that makes you happy."

"She's right," Gustavo adds and I raise an eyebrow at him. "Sometimes I think Dave cares more about you than he does Scarlet."

I shrug at this as I look back over at Kelly. They are right but I'm still not ready to have that conversation. Kelly looks down at her phone before smiling at me. "Well good news, I just got a photoshoot booked with People for you and James. We can announce your engagement that way."

"That sounds great," I say to Kelly before standing up, grabbing my purse from the couch. "Now I would love to stay and chat but I have to make sure Rachel and the guys aren't burning down my apartment while getting ready to have dinner with our friends. Thanks for taking the news well, Uncle Gustavo."

"You haven't given me enough time to be completely angry about it so I suggest you leave before that happens," he responds and I chuckle as I start heading towards the elevators.

"Just admit that you like him already," I shout over my shoulder as I press the button for the elevator. The doors open as I hear him start screaming. I shake my head at him as I start moving down, happy that so far their reactions have gone well. I can only hope that when my dad calls, things will go well too.

I step out in the lobby and make my way outside, walking back to the Palmwoods quickly. I only had a half hour before people started showing up at my apartment. I send Rachel a text letting her know I'm on my way back and as I go to put my phone away, it starts ringing. When I see it's my dad calling, I sigh before picking up, not expecting him to call this soon. "Hi dad."

"Hi Lauren, I only have five minutes and your mother said you have something important to tell me. So you'll have to make it quick," he says immediately in that cool and collected tone he always has.

I start rambling as I get close to the Palmwoods, not quite ready to tell him. "Well, I just went on vacation with James and we're really happy together and you have always told me to make my own decisions that make me happy."

"Four minutes and you're rambling," he interrupts and I hear him laugh lightly at me. "Just tell me, dear. I'm sure I'll be fine with it."

"Well, when we were on vacation, James proposed to me," I pause as I walk into the lobby and my dad is silent so I start rambling again once I'm in the elevator and away from people. "We're engaged. I'm going to marry James."

"I understand what being proposed to means," he replies a little sarcastically and once again I'm reminded of where I get that trait from. As I wait inside the elevator, I start shifting nervously as I wait for him to give his opinion on it. It's not until the elevator stops on my floor that he continues. "Well, I only have a minute left but when will I be walking you down the aisle?"

I start smiling at this as I step out on my floor. "So you're okay with this?"

"Of course," he replies immediately and I wait in the hallway to finish talking to him. "I raised you to make good decisions about yourself so I trust your judgment. I liked James a lot when I met him and he will make a great son-in-law."

"Thanks dad," I say and start smiling, happy that both parents are okay with me getting married. "You probably have to get going now but I love you and I'm happy you like James."

"I love you too, Lauren, and I'll try to visit you next month. Does the second weekend work for you?" He asks as James opens the door.

He leans against the doorway and I smile at him as I respond to my dad. "I'll make it work. Bye dad." I hang up the phone and turn to James who takes me in his arms immediately. "That went surprisingly well with everyone."

"Good," James says before kissing the top of my head. When he lets go of me, I look up to see him smiling down at me. He holds out a hand to me and I take it, letting him pull me up against him. He runs a hand over my hair as I lean against him, loving how I feel in his arms. "I also called my mom while you were gone."

"And?" I ask and look up at him, knowing that he's not telling me everything. He had been just as nervous about telling his mom, if not more than I had been.

"Well she didn't say if she approved or not," James replies and I start frowning at this. "I think she's waiting to decide how she feels after she meets you next month when she comes to visit."

"When will she be here?" I ask as he looks a little worried about seeing his mom. And from what he's told me, Brooke Diamond is an intimidating woman.

"Second weekend," he says and I must make a face at this because he raises an eyebrow at me. "Why is that a problem?"

"I just got done telling my dad that he can visit that weekend," I sigh as I step back and grab both of his hands. I don't know how this is going to go, having his mom and my dad together and discussing the wedding together.

James starts chuckling before kissing me on the cheek. "Well that's going to be an interesting weekend. It will be fun to see who gets intimidated by the other first." He continues laughing when I make a face at him, wondering if he is crazy for thinking that will be fun. He starts leading me into my apartment as he smiles at me. "Well don't worry about it now. We will get through it together. And we didn't burn your apartment down while you were gone."

"Well that's a good thing," I reply sarcastically as I let him lead me over to the kitchen. Rachel smiles at me as I sit down on one of the stools next to Carlos. I smile at the two of them as they finish getting food ready for dinner. I really am lucky to have friends like them that were so willing to help me out with this little dinner party. Looking around as James stands behind me and puts his arms around me, I see Kendall getting stuff ready in the living room and Logan is nowhere to be seen. "Hey, where's Logan?"

"He had to run to the store real quick," James replies as he rests his head on my shoulder. Carlos nods in agreement as Rachel pulls a pizza out of the oven.

"Well, while we're waiting for the others to get here, James and I have something important to ask you two," I say to my two best friends and I can see them start getting curious.

Kendall walks over as Rachel sets the pizza down before crossing her arms at me. "Well what is it?"

"Rachel, will you be my maid of honor?" I smile at her, waiting to get her response even though I already know what it will be.

She stares at me for a couple seconds, not showing any emotion and I start wondering what is wrong with her before she cheers in excitement. She tries to grab my hands with the oven mitts on as she grins at me. "Of course I will! Oh I've been waiting for this day since we were five and I can't wait to be part of your wedding!"

As Rachel runs around the corner and pushes James out of the way so she can hug me, Carlos clears his throat at us. I can see him getting curious and I give James a nudge. "Well what did you want to ask me?"

James looks over at Kendall to make sure he doesn't have a problem with not getting asked. Kendall nods his head a little, a response I knew he would give since we had already had this conversation with Logan. Both of them know that James and Carlos are closer and figured this would happen. James turns back to Carlos and holds his arms out expectantly. "Hey buddy, will you be my best man?"

Carlos jumps up from the stool he's sitting on, knocking it over before running to James and squeezing him tightly in a hug. "Of course I will!" James starts awkwardly patting him on the back, barely able to move his arms because of Carlos. "Wow I didn't think you would ask me, I'm honored man!"

"Can't breathe," James wheezes, causing Carlos to let go of him while the rest of us laugh at the two of them. They really are such great friends and it makes me happy every time I see them together and I hope nothing changes between them. Once he can breathe again, he chuckles and pats Carlos on the back. "Did you really think I would pick anyone else? You've always been my closest friend."

Carlos shrugs at this as the door opens. I look over and see Logan carrying several bags of food and Camille standing behind them. I smile at them as they walk in and Logan heads over to us, sighing once he sets the food down. He pauses to look at us as Camille puts an arm around his waist. "So what have I missed?"

Carlos excitedly grabs on to Logan's arm and I can see Logan cringe at the grip. "James just ask me to – Ow!" Carlos glares over at James who just stepped on his foot, stopping him from continuing what he was saying. I look at them confused before realizing a second later that Carlos was about to give away our engagement news in front of Camille. When Carlos looks over at me, seeming to want me to do something about James hurting him, I subtly nod my head at Camille and when Carlos looks at her, he realizes what he almost did. He cringes slightly at almost giving away our secret before turning back to Camille who looks incredibly confused about what is going on right now. And I can't really blame her, but she should be used to these kinds of things with the guys. "Um, James just asked me if I want to, uh, go see that new superhero movie that I've been wanting to see for months. Super Mega Awesome Superhero Fighting…" He trails off when he realizes that no one is believing the lie he was trying to come up with.

Rachel sighs before grabbing Carlos' arm and picking up some grocery bags and dragging him away from us. "Come on, let's go make sure the table is all ready for people when they get here." As she starts dragging him to the dining room, she looks back at me and I smile at her, grateful that she is taking care of Carlos before he really does give away that James and I are engaged.

I turn back to Camille who is looking at me with an eyebrow raised, clearly questioning what is going on with all of us. I hold out my arms to get a hug from her and she starts relaxing before hugging me. I let out a sigh of relief that we avoided her knowing now because I would much rather tell everyone at once. When she lets go of me, I glance over at the clock and see that everyone should be arriving any minute now. "Camille, thanks for coming over tonight. Would you mind giving me a hand with getting the food on the table? I don't trust the guys to not eat everything."

"Hey!" The three guys near us all respond at that and I roll my eyes at them. They all know it's true and that's the only reason why they are offended at it.

I pick up plates of corndogs and French fries, rolling my eyes at the food choices they made while I was gone. I nod my head to the other piles of food, thankfully not just frozen food, and start heading to the dining room table. "Come on, Camille." She follows me over after grabbing stuff and as we set down the plates, there's a knock on the door.

Before I can even start walking over, James runs to the door and opens it, revealing Lucy standing there with a plate of cookies. "Lucy, do come in," he says dramatically as he steps to the side and waves his arm towards us. She rolls her eyes at this as she walks in.

I head towards her, smiling at seeing my friend and happy that she was able to come over. The past few weeks have been so crazy that I really haven't had time to see any of my friends other than the guys. As I take the plate from her, I put my left hand in my pocket, just checking that the ring is still in there. It's weird to not be wearing it right now but that would definitely ruin the surprise of telling everyone. I smile at Lucy and she returns it, not feeling the need to keep up the bad girl persona she has around me. "Thanks for coming, Lucy. It's great to see you again."

"You know I will never turn down food," she responds as she looks at the other guys around my apartment. "What's up dorks?"

"That's not nice," Kendall says, chuckling as he walks over to us. He kisses Lucy on the cheek and I see her start to blush a little as he puts an arm around her waist. I start smiling at her reaction, happy to see her having genuine feelings for Kendall and knowing that they have been great for each other ever since we helped set them up. "Keep that up and I might not give you anymore kisses."

"Oh you know you won't stop doing that," Lucy replies sarcastically and Kendall grins at this, both of them knowing she is right. I start smiling at this and look over at James, feeling lucky that I have someone I can be like that with. He starts returning the smile before Carlos sighs dramatically.

I roll my eyes before looking over at him sitting on the couch now, knowing he is not happy about having a girlfriend because of the rest of us being in relationships. "Carlos, you're not the only one single here. Rachel isn't dating anyone." I look over at her and notice that she's looking at the ground before finally looking at me. When she does, there's the faintest hint of pink on her cheeks and I start questioning what is going on with her lately that she hasn't been telling me. Turning back to Carlos, I wonder when Rachel will tell me what's going on and I see him looking not as upset as he usually gets when one of us brings up not being in a relationship. I raise an eyebrow at this before looking over at James who shrugs at me, clearly not picking up on the same things that I am. Before I can respond, there's several knocks on the door and I hold up my hand to James as I start walking over, wanting him to let me answer it. I open the door and start smiling when I see the three Jennifers standing there. "Hey girls, great to see you! Please come in!"

I stand aside and let them walk in. After closing the door, I take a deep breath and turn around to look at everyone in my apartment, knowing everyone is here now and that means having to tell them soon. "Alright everyone is here so let's have dinner."

The guys cheer at this before running over to the table, excited like always to eat food. I roll my eyes at these but start smiling a little at their craziness, knowing I wouldn't want them to be any other way. I start heading over and the other girls do as well, leaving a spot open for me next to James which I appreciate. Everyone starts grabbing food and I try to start eating some, starting to feel anxious about telling everyone, even though I know they will all be okay with it. James seems to notice this as the others talk around us and he grabs my hand and squeezes it. I look over at him and he smiles encouragingly. I smile back at him before turning back to my food, feeling a little better knowing that I have him beside me. And that's the way I always want it to be.

After letting everyone eat for a few minutes, James starts talking and I feel my stomach drop, knowing it is time to tell them. "So thanks everyone for coming to have dinner with us. While we always enjoy spending time with you, getting caught up was not the only reason for inviting you over."

The girls look a bit intrigued by this as James lightly nudges my arm, wanting me to take over telling them. I take a deep breath as I grab the ring out of my pocket and slip it on under the table. I hold my left hand up in front of me, letting them see the rings as I look at them. "James and I are engaged."

There's silence for a few seconds as they take in this news and I start wondering if I shouldn't have told them. I look at all of their faces, trying to figure out what they're thinking as we sit in silence, anxiety starting to creep in. Finally, Camille grabs my hand and pulls it closer to her, almost dragging me out of my chair so she can look at the ring. "Oh my god, that's amazing!"

This seems to break the silence and the Jennifers all start talking at once about planning a wedding and what colors we should have. Rachel immediately joins in with them, clearly not giving me any say in what my wedding will be like because she loves planning out weddings that won't happen. Lucy also starts looking at the ring with Camille and I can see her girly side starting to come out as she looks at the ring. I look over at James and can see him getting overwhelmed by the craziness that is six girls getting excited about talking about a wedding. As I start feeling relaxed again now that they all know, I lean over a whisper to him. "If you need to go outside with the guys, go right ahead." He nods at this and immediately jumps out of his seat, looking a little panicked as he runs to the door. The other guys look at each other before following after him and I laugh at their reactions. I can't really blame them for feeling overwhelmed by all this talk of what type of flowers to have or what style of dress I should wear.

When the door is closed behind them, I turn back to the girls as start getting bombarded with questions. "So when did this happen?" Lucy asks as she takes my hand from Camille to get a better look at the ring.

"Did he ask you in a really cute way?" Camille asks before sighing wistfully at the thought of a proposal.

Blonde Jennifer looks at the other two before speaking for all of them. "We need to take you dress shopping."

"Kleinfeld's is definitely the best place to go," the curly haired Jennifer adds and the third nods her head in agreement.

"Oh we should make a whole trip to New York City!" Rachel says excitedly and the others respond agreeing. I sit back and start to understand how James was starting to feel as they all continue talking excitedly about the plans.

"Are you okay Lauren?" Lucy asks me and the others all stop talking to look over at me.

I take a sip of water as I nod my head at them. "Just feeling a little overwhelmed at all of the questions." I pause as I try to relax a little. "But to answer some of your questions, it happened while we were on vacation, he proposed on the beach when the sun was setting," I pause again as they 'aww' at this. "And I am always up for going to New York."

"This is so exciting!" Rachel says as she claps her hands. "I've always wanted to help plan a wedding and now I get to do it for my best friend!"

I stand up, wanting to go check on James and also take a break from the craziness that is my friends. "Excuse me for a second, I'm going to go check on James." They all nod at this before turning back to talking about my wedding as I head towards the door. I let out a sigh once I'm out of my apartment, feeling like I can finally take a breather.

Kendall laughs at my reaction and I turn to see him, Carlos, and Logan standing to the right of my door. I start frowning when I don't see James with them and they all start pointing towards the elevator as Kendall answers my silent question. "Over there."

I take off walking quickly towards the elevator, not wanting James to be in a full out panic at this. When I round the corner and see him pacing by the elevator, I pause as I see the worried look on his face. He sees me and immediately relaxes before walking over to me and wrapping his arms around me immediately. I do the same and can feel his body start to relax as he holds on to me. "Sorry I had to run off. It just got a little too crazy in there and I started panicking at the idea of getting this wedding together."

"We'll get through it together," I say as I rest my head against his chest, wanting him to feel relaxed and not worry any more. We stay in each other's arms for a few seconds as I think about planning the wedding and start chuckling. He pulls back a little so that he can look at me confused. "Don't worry about planning a wedding, I'm sure Rachel already has most of it planned out."

James starts laughing at this and I feel relieved when I can see him starting to relax. "You're probably right." He pulls me closer again and rests his chin on the top of my head. "But we will handle this together, right?"

"I promise," I reply immediately, knowing that I want to have him involved with all of the planning so that I can have his support and not go crazy. I step back from him, smiling as I take both of his hands and start walking backwards towards my apartment. "Come on, we should probably get back to the dinner party that we're hosting."

He chuckles at this as I let go of one of his hands and turn around to watch where I'm going. "Once again, you're probably right."

I look back at him and can see him starting to get worried again and I squeeze his hand. When he looks down at me, I smile at him before kissing him for a few seconds. We part and he smiles down at me, the worry now gone. "Don't worry about this, James. We'll get through this just like we get through everything. Together."