With Every Strike Of Lightning.

“What are you smiling at?” Joe smiled at me, not once removing his arms from Claire.

“Well, two of my best friends are in looveee. Anddd, I’m engaged and Simon’s agreed we can tell people about it.” I grinned.

“Time for a trip to England then I guess.” Claire laughed.

“ROAD TRIP TIME.” I shouted, grinning at them both as Kevin walked in and wrapped his arms around me tightly.

“I’ll take it we’re going to England then.” Kevin laughed, resting his chin on my head.

“We are indeed.” I smiled, pulling my phone out of my pocket.

“Cool.” Kevin smiled down at me before going to talk to Joe and Claire while I walked out of the room to ring my parents.

Sitting down on the stairs, I rang my parent’s home phone number without having to think.

“Hey mum.” I said after she’d said her greeting.

“Shouldn’t you be on a flight now?” She asked confused.

“Well, yeah and no at the same time.” I said, twirling my hair around my finger.

“You’ve got something to tell me right?” she said amused.

“Right.” I said, nodding my head.

“Well...?”

“Well, I’m gunna come home in a couple of days to explain it to you with some friends?” I said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Lauren Stephanie Friend, tell me what’s going on now!” My mum demanded.

“Well, Kevin kinda stopped me from leaving, with some, Uhm, good news.”

“Ok, so Kevin stopped you from leaving. You two are obviously together now then.”

“Yeah we are. There’s kind of more to it though. So I’m coming home with Kevin.”

“Alright. Tell me when you get home.” My mum laughed, probably knowing what I needed to tell her.

“Ok, thanks Mum. Love you.” I smiled before ending the call.

I made my way back into my room, going straight to the window and looking out. Claire, Joe and Kevin could be heard chatting away in the next room while I concentrated on forgetting the past few months. As I hummed to myself, Kevin came in and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Are you ok?” He asked me quietly.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I said, resting my arms over his.

“Sure?”

“Yeah I’m sure. Just trying to forget the past few months.”

“I still need to apologise to you for everything that I’ve done. I’m sorry; I guess I’ve never been able to tell what I’ve known all along.” He said I could hear the hurt in his voice.

I turned in his arms, looking him in the eye, I smiled, “Its fine Kev. We’ve all had a few problems lately, but we’ll get over them. Trust me.”

“You’re too nice.” He smiled, kissing my nose.

“Well, the surname explains it all.” I laughed, resting my head on his chest.

“Id rather it be Jonas though. Oh wait, it will be soon.” He smirked down at me while I rolled my eyes.

“Who said I’m changing my name? Maybe I’ll stay Friend or I might change it to Friend hyphen Jonas.” I smirked back up at him; it was his turn to roll his eyes this time.

“I don’t care what your surname is, as long as you never leave my side.”

“Aww cute.” Claire cooed from the door, Joe’s arms wrapped around his waist.

“Shut up.” I laughed, grinning at her over Kevin’s shoulder.

“Oh my god, Jordan and Nick still don’t know about this.” Claire squealed suddenly, jumping away from Joe and pulling out her phone.

“No! Not yet, they would have not long got on their honeymoon, leave it until they get back in a few days.” I said pulling away from Kevin and jumping on Claire’s back.

“Fine, but you have to promise to tell them the second they walk through the door.”

“Fine.” I smiled, jumping off her back and hugging her.

A squeal of excitement escaped my lips as I pulled away from Claire and spun around in my room. The walls had been left the same, hoping that it would throw everyone off the scent of me leaving as I left in a rush.

“Lauren, what are you doing?” Joe laughed as I ran around my room, jumping on the bed.

“Getting rid of my hyperness.” I grinned, still jumping.

Before I could bounce again, Kevin’s arms wrapped around me and pulled me from the bed into his arms. Pressing his forehead against mine, he grinned at me.

“Well, Miss Friend, I think it’s time to go see my parents.” He grinned, kissing my nose gently.

“Do you?” I smiled, playing with one of his many curls.

“I do.” He grinned, pulling away from me but grabbing my hand as he ran down the stairs.

I laughed, “Your parents are in New Jersey, remember.”

“Oh yeah.” He laughed, stopping just by the door and turning to me.

“Silly boy.” I smiled, looking up at him.

“Well they get back the same day as Jordan and Nick do so we’ll tell them all then.” He grinned at me, his eyes lighting up at his idea.

“Alright.” I grinned, smiling at the way his eyes had lit up.

“I can’t believe I nearly lost you.” He whispered after a moment of silence.

“Well you didn’t, so you should be happy.” I laughed, trying to turn the moment into a joke and not wanting to have to think about the past.

“Lauren, seriously, I could have lost you. I should have seen through Danielle, listened to what you and Joe were telling me and Claire all along, but I didn’t.” He said, resting his head on my own.

“Look, don’t worry ok. We need to forget about her, the past and just live for the future.”

“You’re right, but I can’t believe...”

“Stop! Don’t worry about it, it’s forgotten, in the past, we don’t ever need to think of it again.”

“Sorry.” He smiled sheepishly at me.

“That’s ok.” I smiled before pulling him down onto the sofa with me.

“Look at the love birds Joe.” Claire shouted as she skipped into the living room.

“You can’t say much.” I laughed, looking at Claire’s and Joe’s entwined hands.

Claire poked her tongue out at me as she and Joe sat down on the sofa together. I just smiled. In the space of 24 hours, my life had gone back to how it was before, no worries, no fears, my best friends around me and the person I love stood behind me one hundred percent.