Hey sorry it's been so long! I'll try get a few chapters up over the holidays. Thanks again for reading and I love hearing from you all so please review. x x x Enjoy and don't worry there'll be a bit more Darren in coming chapters. I'm also hoping to introduce a bit more Breredith and Joime too
Lauren tried not to make any noise as she tiptoed silently around a blind folded Brian Holden. "I'm coming for you Lopez, you count on it." So far Lauren had been the only one to escape capture in their game of blind man's bluff and she was determined to hold on to that record. They were waiting for Julia and Matt to arrive so they could get rehearsal underway and found that games involving blind-folds were always the best way to pass the time. Unfortunately for Lauren, Brian had a sixth sense when it came to this game and she suddenly found herself being herded into a corner by his swiftly advancing figure. She turned to dash in the other direction before he got too close but instead found herself running straight into a broad chest. She looked up to see Joe smiling mischievously down at her. "You wouldn't dare?" she gasped.
"Hey, this is payback for the unpleasant wakeup call this morning", he smirked. She grimaced guiltily as she recalled Joe falling out of bed after she had blasted "Get back up" in his ear. At the time it had been worth it, now she wasn't so sure. She spun around quickly in an attempt to escape but found herself held tight in Joe's arms. She squealed as he suddenly swung her up into his arms and carried her over to where Brian was still fumbling about. Brian grasped her foot and tore off the blindfold excitedly and started doing a victory dance around the rehearsal studio screaming at the top of his lungs "Brolden is the master". Lauren gritted her teeth and slowly turned her head to glare at her boyfriend but was instead met with Joe kissing her. She could feel him laughing softly into the kiss and she pulled back ready to scold him, only to see his blue eyes twinkling at her. "Joseph Walker, you better watch out because I'm gonna…I'm gonna…"
"What're you gonna do Lopez?" he responded cheekily. She cursed him silently to herself, how did he do it? How could he manage to annoy her and charm her all at the same time? "Aw Lo, you know I love it when you get angry, I can't help it." Lauren feigned a smile and wrapped her small arms around his neck and leant in to give him a kiss. Just before their lips met she stopped and whispered low enough so only he could hear, "It's ok Joseph, but you know I'm going to have to get you back for this, right?" "I would expect no less," he grinned.
"Good, now let me down so I can show Brolden how things are really done". Joe put her down gently and watched with amusement as Lauren stomped over to Brian and grabbed the blindfold from him. It still amazed him how lucky he was to have gotten a girl like Lauren. She was so beautiful and he had to constantly remind himself that all this wasn't just a dream. They'd only been going out two months and even though Lauren wanted to take things slow, he had to admit that they had been the best two months of his life. He promised himself that if he ever met Chord Overstreet again he must thank him for Lauren. Of course he was pretty sure that if he did run into Chord again that Joe would give him a black eye to match his dark intentions. Joe knew that Lauren, despite putting on a big smile and cracking jokes, still had nightmares about that night. She had asked Darren, Joey and himself not to say anything to the rest of the Team. They unwillingly agreed but promised each other to keep an eye on her.
*CRASH*
Joe was suddenly brought back to reality by a resounding noise and burst out laughing as he looked over to see a struggling Brian lying on the floor with Lauren sitting triumphantly on his back waving the blindfold in the air. She had managed to knock over an entire shelf of props in the process, which explained the loud crash. "Well I think we have established that I am still the champion of Blind man's bluff in this town." Lauren announced proudly.
Everyone whipped around as they heard the studio door being thrown open and they saw a flustered and stressed Julia storming in, closely followed by Matt. Julia stopped abruptly and stared in horror at the evident mess that had just been created. "WHAT HAPPENED IN HERE?" Lauren and Brian jumped up from the ground quickly, apologising and promising to clean it up immediately. Julia was under a lot of stress at the moment, with their new tour starting in a couple of weeks, and they all knew better than to get under her skin. Julia pursed her lips and just gave them her 'you better watch it' look, before swirling around to face the rest of the team and Matt, who had been standing behind her unsure of exactly what to do. "OK guys, from the top."
They all jumped into action, terrified of falling under the wrath of Julia. Joe went and took his place behind Joey and waited until it was his turn to go on. He looked across the studio and caught Lauren's eye. He winked and mouthed "I'm sorry" at her and gave her his puppy dog eyes. She tried to fake annoyance but the corner of her mouth twitched up slightly, telling Joe that she wasn't really annoyed. Saying that, he knew he'd still have to watch his back. Revenge was Lauren's middle name.
"Okay guys, remember rehearsal tomorrow at 12.00. Don't be late" Julia called. A collective response of "okay" echoed around the room. They quickly grabbed their bags and coats before heading out the door, glad to finally get some fresh air after the hours in the studio. Joe snuck up behind Lauren and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Hey gorgeous, wanna come back to my place and watch a movie? Joey's staying at your place with Jaime tonight, so we've the place to ourselves". "Sounds good," she responded with a smile, "but I'll have to collect some stuff from home first. I'll meet you there in about half an hour, kay?" he bent his head and said in a posh British accent, "till then my fair lady," before turning around and heading towards his car parked across the street. Lauren smiled and followed Julia over to her car. She sat in to the passenger seat and looked up from fastening her seatbelt to see Julia smirking at her. "What?" … "Oh nothing, nothing… just you and Joe being adorable. You know you still haven't told be how you two got together. We need to have a girl's night. Soon!" Lauren nodded silently and looked out the window as Julia started the engine. She knew Julia would want the full story of that night and she just wasn't ready to tell her yet.
They arrived back to their apartment minutes later and Lauren ran straight in to get her overnight stuff. "Bye Juls, see you at rehearsal tomorrow," Lauren called as she raced back out the door. She passed Joey and Jaime on her way out saying a brief hello and goodbye as she sped past them. "Tell Joe I said he better be good." Jaime called cheekily after her, "and the same goes for you Lo." Lauren turned and gave her a big grin before heading out into the night air.
Lucky for her she lived only minutes from Joe's apartment and she was soon pulling up outside. She pushed open the foyer door and headed for the lift. When she reached his door she began searching her bag for his key but she was interrupted by a familiar voice, "here, I've mine out already," he said reaching past her and placing the key in the door. "DARREN!" she squealed in surprise before launching herself into his arms.
Note: My representation of the characters in this story are purely for the story's purpose.