On Monday, Arie Luyendyk Jr.’s journey to propose to woman a decade younger than himselfwill reportedly conclude in dramatic fashion — as he soul-searches in South America about choosing between Becca K., a publicist from Minnesota, and Lauren B., a salesperson from Texas. Both women seem kind, pleasant, and successful. However, as many Bachelor watchers have astutely pointed out, Lauren B. doesn’t like to talk. At all. As someone who’s made it to the finals in a competition that touts itself as the world’s leading dating reality-TV series, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher as to how she’s made it this far. (Or is it?)
“She’s pretty quiet. I just want it to work so badly that maybe I’m trying to will it to happen,” Luyendyk Jr. put it during the couple’s first one-on-one date, adding in the next episode, “I’m so attracted to her and I so want it to work.” To better understand Lauren and Arie’s “connection” ahead of the finale, Vulture combed through this season of The Bachelor to collect every line of dialogue she has said to him. (Of course, we’ll never exactly know what didn’t make it to air.) What did we learn? Lauren B. prefers very short sentences, is sensitive to rejection, and, yes, doesn’t talk too much.
Lauren B. appreciates simple vernacular.
“I’m Lauren.”
“Wow, look at that.”
“I know, you too.”
“Definitely.”
“Of course.”
“I really like that.”
“I’m freaking out.”
“Me too.”
“You’re so basic.”
“Wow.”
“This is so cute.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Here we are.”
“You lead the way.”
“What in the world!”
“It’s very Italian.”
“Abso-freakin’-lutley.”
“It’s so quiet.”
“Sorry, I’m taking it all in.”
“There’s a plane behind you.”
She is skeptical about loving Arie.
“I want you to know that I’m trying my best, but this isn’t really comfortable to me.”
“To be completely honest, I’m afraid I’m going to fall in love with you and you’ll choose someone else.”
“I’m, like, really nervous.”
“Yeah, that kind of freaked me out a little bit.”
“I felt like there was a ton of pressure on me.”
“I’m glad that you’re observant, because it’s not really easy for me to do that.”
“I can’t open up until I trust somebody.”
“I really appreciate you saying that, because I’ve been terrified to tell you anything.”
“It goes back to the trust thing.”
“I’m even more guarded now than I was before.”
“My biggest fear today, after our date, is being able to get to know another side of you and knowing how soft and sweet and kind and honest you are.”
“Since I did go through a breakup about a year ago, it does kind of freak me out that I’m putting myself in such a vulnerable position, because I’m afraid I’m going to go through that again.”
“I hate saying that I’m scared or terrified but I really am, and it’s hard for me to put myself in a place where I feel that I can get hurt again.”
Really skeptical!
“I have a really hard time connecting my emotions with what I say to you when I’m with you.”
“I feel like I’m good at reading people, and I feel right before you just walked away you felt something off, and you weren’t saying exactly how you were feeling.”
“When I have to be with the other girls, it makes me feel like I shouldn’t be doing that, because I could get hurt, and the odds are now a lot higher for that to happen.”
“I do this thing in my head where I’m battling myself all the time.”
“I’m scared to have my heart broken, and that comes from me being afraid to lose you.”
“The more I get to see you, the stronger I feel, and the more I have to lose.”
“I’ve considered, I don’t know if I can do it anymore.”
“I do see a future with you, but it’s hard for me to be hopeful about it.”
“I don’t know how you even do this, but I need to feel like I’m the only girl that you see.”
“It’s hard for me to know that you’re still dating two other girls.”
“I’ve been so in my head this week and I’ve been freaking out.”
“I have these deep-rooted trust issues.”
“I’m constantly battling myself.”
Until she isn’t.
“Why don’t you just kiss me.”
“I’m really excited that you opened that up.”
“After our first one-on-one, I feel very strongly about you, and I knew there was something different about you.”
“Thank you for taking me on this date.”
“I don’t feel that you’re anything like any other guy I’ve dated before.”
“As long as you’re open with me, I’m gonna be open with you, too.”
“I see a future with you, and the more time I spend with you, the easier it is for me to picture that.”
“I told you I was falling in love with you.”
“I love what we have and I love spending time with you and I know we really do have something.”
“Every time I’m with you, it’s very obvious to me that I’m starting to fall in love with you.”
“I couldn’t have done this without you, because you’ve been so supportive this entire time and have reassured me this entire time and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
“You honestly shocked me so much when I sat down here when you told me you loved me, and I was just so happy to hear that.”
“I just want you to know I love you too.”
“This is what I wanted with you for a long time.”
“Well, that’s why I’m still here, I don’t want to lose you either.”
Sometimes, she even asks questions.
“Do you?”
“I know you want someone who has a flexible schedule, but what else are you looking for?”
“How’s your night going?”
“What’s your favorite color?”
“How do you like your eggs in the morning?”
“How has everything been for you after everything that happened last week?”
“Did you practice this for this?”
“Oh, is that where we’re going?”
“Do you feel you left there in a good place?”
“Are you pretty good?”
She’s pretty funny.
“I just wanna have that fun relationship when we’re super old and gross looking and still spanking each other’s butts and telling dirty jokes.”
“I did want to play a game with you — 21 Questions.”
“All the girls are really jealous.”
“Break a leg tonight and I hope nobody’s crabby.”
“I’m amazed that it actually comes out looking like something.”
“It takes my breath away.”
“I don’t remember anything, it’s been so long.”
“This is honestly my happy place.”
She talks about her exes.
“Every single serious relationship I’ve been in I’ve pretty much put them in the friend-zone for, like, at least six months.”
“It didn’t help that my last relationship failed, and I thought that was really serious.”
“I was actually engaged to my last ex, I thought he was going to be my person for the rest of my life — and as soon as we got engaged, he was cool with not treating me well anymore.”
“I feel like I needed this day to know, because you are the first guy I’d been introducing to my parents since my ex-fiancé.”
But she mostly talks about her family.
“My parents have been together for over 30 years now, but they haven’t had an easy marriage and I’ve been put between them throughout their struggles — and that warped my view of men in general and relationships.”
“I don’t know if I told you this or not, but I was kind of nervous about introducing you to my family.”
“They’re going to be kind of protective, and I think they’re going to be skeptical of this whole situation and of you, too.”
She also talks about talking …
“I’d thought a lot about what you said last time we talked.”
“After our talk last week, I felt so much better.”
“I’m really happy that we finally got to talk about a lot of things that I definitely needed to get off my chest.”
… and talks about feelings.
“You want more of a partnership, rather than someone just there to support you.”
“I wanna toast to breaking down our walls and I hope we can do that a little bit more tonight.”
“You seem like you have something to say about that.”
“You were here, so you kind of know what I’m going through.”
“If, at the end of this, it’s me that you end up with, it should mean a lot and it would, but I want you to be confident in your decision not just the day you propose, but for the rest of your life.”
Related
Arie and Lauren’s 11 Most Sensual Moments on The Bachelor
Let’s block ads! (Why?)