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Lauren sank down in front of Joe and placed her hands on his shoulders. He turned his eyes away from her, scared of what she might say.

"Walks, why are so jealous? I love you… no one else… and I don't know what more I can do to get that message across to you…Please, just make up with Darren… because I don't want to have to choose sides between my boyfriend and my best friend." She wasn't crying but he could see the emotion in her eyes. Her words hit him like a brick wall and he stood up angrily,

"That's the thing Lauren, whose side would you choose?" he shouted at her. Her eyes widened in surprise at his sudden outburst, and the tears she'd been trying so hard to hold in finally began to fall. He'd never lost his cool around her before and as he looked down into her beautiful face he began to feel guilty. She picked herself off the ground and sniffed before speaking, her voice strong and steady,

"I love Darren… but as a friend, nothing more, and just because we dated years ago isn't reason enough for you to jump the gun and presume we're going to run back into each other's arms … why can't you trust us?"

"I do trust you," he whispered

"Do you Joe? Then why are you doing this to…"

"I trust YOU." Joe interjected, "its Darren..."

"Joe stop this, Darren was right earlier when he said I needed to talk to someone and I will, I know now that keeping it hidden from the others is what's making it impossible for me to move on. Why can't you see that Darren wasn't confronting you; he was only looking out for me as a friend."

"The thing is…I know that, but I still just can't help feeling jealous…. usually it isn't my best friend that makes me feel this way."

Joe closed his eyes, exhausted. Lauren took his hand and he squeezed it in acknowledgment. He still didn't fully agree with her but he didn't want to fight anymore, not with her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, resting his head on hers. She pulled back, with a smile on her face. Joe smiled back, hoping she couldn't see the truth on his face.

"C'mon, let's go out for breakfast before rehearsal."

Joe nodded in agreement, "Ya ya sure."

Joe left to get showered and dressed. Lauren grabbed her phone and dialled Darren's number. She listened to it ring until eventually it went to voicemail. She cut it off and tried again, however each time she got the same recording of Darren telling her to leave a message. Eventually she gave in:

"Hey Dar, stop ignoring my calls. I've talked to Joe and he knows he was out of place and that he's nothing to worry about. Ye need to make up… please. Bye… and I'm sorry."

Darren looked at his phone again – 6 missed calls from Lauren. He sighed, knowing he should answer. He'd talk to her at rehearsal… although Joe would be there too. He groaned. He'd been so excited to see everyone again and now… now he felt like crap. He'd already fought with his best friend, possibly damaging their relationship forever, and he'd only been here a day.

His phone buzzed again and he glanced at it, seeing it was a voicemail from Lo. He put the phone to his ear and listened. She sounded upset and there was desperate tone in her voice. Why was she saying sorry? It wasn't her fault. He regretted fighting with Joe, but he still thought he was right and on hearing the message from her, he promised himself that until she was ok he wouldn't leave.

Joe's words had hit him hard, and it made him wonder was there something still there between him and Lauren. However the more he thought about it, the more he realised that he hadn't done anything wrong and that he and Lauren really were nothing more than friends. He got up from the park bench he'd been sitting on and rubbed his hands together, suddenly realising how cold it was. Checking his watch he saw that rehearsal would be starting soon.

"Time to face the music, I guess," he muttered.

Darren opened the studio door slowly and heard the immediate scream of "DARREN" erupt in the room. He laughed as he was engulfed in a big group hug by all his Chicago friends. In all the drama, he'd forgotten that they didn't even know he was here yet. The group eventually untangled themselves, and looking past his friends, Darren saw that Joe hadn't joined in and was standing in the background fiddling on his phone awkwardly.

However the other Starkids demanded his attention and he was bombarded with questions of how long he'd be staying for and would he be doing the tour with them? He answered them all patiently until Julia interrupted, ordering that they all get started if they wanted any tour to happen at all. Darren looked around confused.

"Hey where's Lauren?" he asked turning to Meredith. She too looked around and seemed to realise Lauren was missing. "I don't know, actually now that you mention it, I haven't seen her at all today. Which is strange because Joe's here?"

"Hey Joe," Meredith called across the studio, "where's Lo?" Darren sighed, not quite sure if he was ready to face Joe yet. "She had to go back to her apartment, to check if her Mom sent her on some letter or something," He responded.

Meredith seemed satisfied with this answer and turned to Darren with a smile, "guess she'll be here soon so," before leaving to talk to Matt about something.

"She actually went to look for you." Darren jumped, hearing Joe's deep voice beside him. "Oh… I'll text her let her know I'm here." Darren responded in a hollow voice. Joe didn't say anything, and when Darren didn't say anything either he turned and left.

"Hey Lo, Where are you? Darren's here at rehearsal. Call me back when you get this… please," Joe left a voicemail for Lauren. She was now over two and a half hours late and he was worried. Darren was too, he could see it in his face. He watched as Jaime and Dylan ran through a duet together however he wasn't listening to their voices. He looked across the room and noticed Joey looking at him. Catching his eye, Joey mouthed, "any word from Lo?"

Joe shook his head in response. He twisted his head around to look at Darren who was slumped on the ground also on the phone. Joe sighed and went to sit next to him.

Darren didn't acknowledge him in any way what so ever. He knew that if Joe had heard anything from Lo he'd have heard and his worry for his small friend out-weighted his need to speak with Joe.

Joe opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he felt his phone vibrate in his hand. He pressed the answer button immediately, despite not recognising the number, "Hello?" he said getting up.

Darren watched Joe's face turn white and felt his stomach churn uncomfortably. Something was wrong and he had a feeling it had something to do with Lauren. Joe hung up the phone, his eyes wide and scared.

Darren leaped up after him and grabbed Joe's shoulders and shook him, "Joe, what is it…TELL ME!" he shouted, when Joe still didn't open his mouth. The room went silent and everyone turned, their faces a mixture of confusion and worry. Julia had her phone up to her ear. She had probably been trying to get through to Lauren as well and Darren just knew that her attempts were futile.

Finally Joe managed to get words out, "we've to go to the hospital… Lauren… she …she…"

Note: all representations of Starkid characters are purely for the story's purpose