Yes, this is it. A third story in the Joey/Amy series! I couldn't resist really XD Apart from "Angel", the Joey/Amy series has to be my favourite fanfiction and I think this fic will be the perfect conclusion to their story. It may be a little slow to begin with, and updates won't be very frequent (I'm on work experience as a waitress for two weeks), so bear with me :D

Chapter One

I used to pretend.

I used to pretend that everything was normal.

I used to pretend that nothing had happened.

I used to pretend that life could go on as normal.

But it never did.

What was the point in pretending?

Nothing was going to normal again. Not now, probably not ever.

How could I pretend it happened happened when I had nightmares about it every night, the sheer memory of it haunting me?

Life was never going to be normal.

No matter how hard I pretended.

I woke up too early, as usual, my heart racing and my head pounding. Groaning, I fell back onto the soft mattress and rolled over to pick up my water bottle I had put at the side of my bed.

Rubbing my eyes with one hand, I unscrewed the lid and took a long drink using the other. I felt sick.

Hurridely screwing the lid back on, I dropped the water bottle and scrambled up. Not bothering to grab my slippers or a jumper, I ran to the bathroom.

I made it just in time.

There wasn't anything much worse than retching over a toilet seat first thing in the morning, and if there was, I hoped to never experience it.

I lay on the bathroom floor for a few minutes, a cold flannel pressed against my forehead.

I felt so ill.

There was no point in going to the doctors; we stopped long ago. Me being sick was considered almost normal now.

"Amy?"

Well, for me anyway.

Reluctantly getting up, I crossed the bathroom and unlocked the door. Afterwards, I resumed my position of lying on the floor with a flannel on my forehead.

"Amy, have you been sick?"

I nodded once.

"Oh, darling!"

Y'know, ever since Nellie left for University, Mum's been kinda...

"Do you want to have a bath or anything? I'll make you a nice breakfast, yeah?"

Babying me.

"No, it's alright," I said weakly, sitting up. "I'll get a jumper and be downstairs in a minute."

Mum gave me that look. You know the one. The one where they frown and raise their eyebrows as if to say are-you-sure-that's-a-good-idea-because-I-don't-think-it-is-and-my-word-is-law-in-this-house.

But I ignored her.

I could understand why she did it; Ben had left to live with his new girlfriend Stella and Nellie had gone to University. It was just me and her.

And it was driving me crazy.

I love my Mum. I love her with all my heart and I never want to be without her. But she was driving me crazy.

Running a hand through my hair, I shuffled into my bedroom. As I shut the door, a flash of light caught my attention. My mobile was charging on my bedroom table.

Grabbing my slippers on the way, I crossed the room and fell onto my bed. Pulling my slippers on, I unplugged the charger and saw I had a new message. Curious, I opened it.

HEY AMZ! TOTALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE CINEMA! DON'T BE LATE!

Hannah. Who else?

I smiled to myself before rereading the text.

Totally excited about the cinema.

I had forgotten all about that.

I let out a low moan as I flopped down onto my bed, pulling my pillow over my head. Maybe I could just suffocate...

"Amy, do you want cereal?"

Yeah, no chance of that happening.

Throwing the pillow off my face and across the room, I shouted back, "Yes please!" before scrambling up and searching for a jumper.

After a quick breakfast, responding to Mum's babble with monosyllabic words and grunts. Amazingly, she didn't get annoyed. Instead, she simply kissed the top of my head and laughed because I reminded her so much of Ben.

Yeah, I was confused as well.

So after breakfast, I hurridely washed my bowl and spoon up before running upstairs.

Like I said, Mum was driving me crazy.

I knew I was being unfair and, well, a little bit selfish, but it was just...irritating!

Not to mention I was dreading today.

It wasn't that kind of dread you have before an injection. It was the kind of dread you have before you watch the series of Saw even though you know you're terrified of blood and horror movies.

I had that kind of dread.

I dressed with slow, automatic movements, barely listening to the music I had playing in the background.

I had already planned my outfit the night before (a plain long sleeved red top that clung to me, a black waistcoat that used to be Nellie's, a pair of denim jeans and my multicoloured converses) so I dressed fairly quickly.

Checking my reflection in the mirror, a small smile played on my lips before I turned away to curl my hair.

I couldn't believe I was going to do this.

I didn't bother putting on any make up. Why should I? I didn't wear it before, and I didn't see any point now.

I paused to look at my reflection again.

To anyone that didn't really know me, I suppose I looked like a normal girl. A normal, run of the mill teenage girl that was meeting up with two friends to have a fun day.

But you never judge a book by it's cover, do you?

I felt quite sick all of a sudden. Taking in a deep breath, I sat down on my beanbag and buried my face into my hands.

It just had to be today, didn't it? It had to be today that the cinema decided it was going to do a special summer event where they would replay some of the best films.

No, that wasn't fair. Not really.

But since when life fair?

Hannah only meant well. Her heart was definately in the right place, even if she did forget that I hated blood and that was one of the main focuses in the film.

And she invited Matt, who I had a totally crazy mad crush on, so that was even better.

But I still felt like crap.

Finally feeling like I could keep the contents of my stomach in, I stood up and picked up my hoodie. Pulling it on, I also picked up my messenger bag and left my room.

"I'm off, Mum." I called, bounding down the stairs. I just reached the front door when -

"Don't you want to open your presents, Amy?"

"Can I do it later? I'm already a little late. Hannah keeps bugging me."

Mum frowned for a moment, but then quickly smiled at me. "Of course, darling. I'll get something nice for dinner, yeah?"

I smiled back. "Yeah, ok."

Still smiling, Mum walked forwards and kissed my forehead.

"Are you going to be ok?" She asked softly, looking me straight in the eyes with her hands on my cheeks. Ugh, I hated it when she did that; I couldn't look away.

"Yep."

"You don't have to do this."

I sighed as I gently pulled Mum's hands off my face and took a step back.

"Yes Mum, I do."

Mum stared at me sadly, but then nodded. "Ok. Text me when it's done."

"Will do. Bye, Mum."

"Bye, Amy."

Giving her a quick smile, I left the house, shutting the door behind me. Once I was round the corner and out of sight, I leaned against the wall and let out a heavy sigh.

Today was going to be a long day.

And what was so special about today?

It was my fifteenth birthday.