So this is a fanfic about Lauren and Joey Branning, it starts where the episode on the 2nd November left off and it's basically about all the drama they have to face over the next couple of months.

Chapter 1

Lauren wasn't quite sure what to do with herself for the rest of the evening, she felt so awkward around joey with her parents in the house but she felt so nervous when she was away from him. She knew that she still needed to give him a proper explanation about earlier but she just couldn't get him on his own.

It had been alright at the start after Max left to go back to work they both kind of jumped each other, as soon as they heard the front door slam shut they were up out of their chairs lips thrashing together. Joey led them over to the sofa where he carefully laid on Lauren as he peppered kisses down her neck. Her hands roamed, untucking his shirt so they would fit under it. She gasped when her hands met the toned flesh of his abdomen, she could feel Joey smirk into her shoulder at this and she was getting more and more worked up as she explored more of his body, then just as she was about to rip his shirt off, her dad entered the house making them jump apart from their rather heated make out session on the couch, then he sat in between them on the sofa to watch TV, somehow completely oblivious to the clear tension between the two cousins.

Then Tanya came back and asked Lauren to go and collect her brother from nursery whilst joey was stuck fixing a dripping tap, then Lauren was forced into helping prepare dinner. Throughout the meal Lauren tried to distract herself by joining into Abi's conversation about her latest argument with Jay but found that all she could concentrate on was the pair of eyes that were currently burning holes into the side of her head. So instead Lauren decided to stare back at joey, play him at his own game. However she found herself continuously distracted from staring at the side of his head, she couldn't help but notice how his shirt pulled across his chest, then she remembered what he felt like under that shirt, she had to cough to disguise the moan that escaped from her mouth, although Joey clearly knew what she had been thinking about as he emitted a slight chuckle. She excused herself so she could go to the kitchen to clear her head.

'Anyone want a drink?' she enquired, her cover story for her quick escape.

'Well I'll have another glass of wine since you're offering darling' came Tanya's reply.

'What do you want?' Max took a minute to asses Lauren before repeating his question, 'I said, what do you want?'

'What do you mean Dad' Lauren was slightly confused.

'You're offering to help out without being forced to or bribed; I know you have ulterior motives, what are they?'

'You know it's a sad day Dad when a girl can't get her family a drink without having to face the Spanish inquisition'

'Fine well I'll have another beer then, but just so you know you ain't getting anything off of me'

'What's the magic word?'

'Fruit shoot'

'What?'

'Can you get Oscar another fruit shoot too and Abi do you want anything'

'I'll have another coke please'

'And Joey?'

'Nah I'm good, but I will give you a hand to carry them Lauren' Lauren felt a chill run down her spine when he spoke, he didn't understand what he could do to her just by speaking.

As soon as they pair had shut themselves in the next room Lauren found herself pressed back on the kitchen counter trapped their by Joey's torso. They were just inches appart, they could practically hear the other's heart pounding. That closeness was all Lauren needed to be practically sent over the edge. She tried distracting herself with the calendar to avoid looking at Joey who was drawing closer to her, but when she felt his low, smooth voice tickle her ear, her legs turned to jelly and Joey was the only thing keeping her upright.

'See anything you like' Joey whispered.

'I, err, I don't ummm know what you mean' Lauren tried to reply.

'You know it's rude to stare'

'You should try taking your own advice sometime'

'So you're telling me that if I leaned in now you wouldn't dive forwards to kiss me, you would be able to pull back from my touch?' Lauren tried closing her eyes to block him out but her plan back fired when she felt a hand trailing up her thigh stopping just short of her centre. 'You want me to believe that you don't desperately want me to move my fingers just a little bit higher, I bet you can't even form full sentences in your mind at the minute, and all just from one little touch, imagine what a couple more touches in the right places would do.' Lauren's hip involuntarily bucked forwards. 'I knew it'

Lauren was red with embarrassment she wanted to get back at Joey, she wanted revenge, so just as he was about to walk away to prepare the drinks she grabbed his wrist and tugged him towards her but flipped their positions so it was now Lauren trapping Joey.

'So I'm assuming I have no effect on you at all?' she breathed into his neck as she planted a trail of kisses down from his jaw bone. 'You're Joey Branning, always in control of every situation, right? Well I bet this is killing you then because you can't control how you feel around me or where I might put my hands next', at that she let her hands graze the top of his pants as she teased the button on them slightly. 'This is driving you insane because you aren't in charge and you can't handle the fact that you are desperate for me to touch you and to kiss you and to…' She couldn't say another word as Joey lost his control, bringing their bodies closer together, if that was possible, and let the passion take over. Their kiss contained so much power Lauren was surprised her parents hadn't overheard and walked in, however when they backed into the cupboard and sent pans flying everywhere they did hear, and Tanya began shouting to check if they were alright. The couple separated and began picking the pans up before someone came to check on them but they couldn't take their eyes off each other.

'Come on Lauren, how long does it take to pour a glass of wine and get a couple of drinks from the fridge, you know you don't need to argue about everything you do'. That's all it took to break the trance in the kitchen. The rest of the Branning family just assumed Lauren was biting Joey's ear off about something to do with Lucy and Whitney. They carried the drinks back into the dining room and sat in a very awkward silence until everyone had finished eating. Then as soon as they had been excused the pair raced off to their rooms to think about what had just happened.

A couple of hours later Lauren heard her mum announce form the bottom of the stairs that she, Max, Abi and Oscar were heading out to the cinema. With a few 'Lauren try not to burn the house down whilst we're gone's', and 'don't get too drunk' Lauren and Joey found themselves alone together in the house. Lauren was the first to emerge from her room. She went downstairs to watch some TV, and it didn't take long for Joey to follow now they were alone.

'So are you going to tell me why you changed your mind and let me stay earlier, was it my good looks or my wit' Joey inquired to break the awkward silence.

'Oh shut up and get over yourself or I will change it back' came Lauren's hasty reply.

'Okay, okay look I'm being serious why do you want me around?'

'I don't quite know. I feel safe when you are around , you annoy me so much it's like you know exactly which buttons to press to frustrate me, but when you smile or laugh with me or even just talk to me like a normal human being it's like it cancels all the bad stuff out'

'And the kiss?'

'well in my head I have this voice telling me how wrong it is but everything apart from that feels so right. What about you, you're leaving me to do a lot of the talking?'

'Just that well if you think about it we haven't been brought up together and we have only known each other for a couple of months so it doesn't feel like we are properly related so really what we are doing isn't that wrong. I know that I care for you more than family or a friend and I know that I can't stay away from you for much longer it's like you are a magnet pulling me towards you, you make me powerless. No girl has ever made me feel the way you do, you are vulnerable but so strong at the same time and I want to protect you and make you happy, it's just so confusing and new I don't know what to do'

'Well maybe we could take things slow, keep it just between ourselves for a bit and not give everyone else the chance to ruin what we have before it has even begun'

'Yeah we can tell people in time we will have to do it carefully though it could tear the family apart'

'God Lucy is going to hate me'

'Hey don't worry about her or anyone else; right now it's just you and me'

Joey joined Lauren on the sofa and they just sat looking at the TV but not really watching it. Lauren was curled up, her head on Joey's chest and he had his arm around her holding her close to him and stroking her hair. They felt oddly peaceful and relaxed compared to their outbursts before in the kitchen. As much as Lauren wanted to take things slow she wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to keep things PG 13 with Joey. After an hour or so Joey noticed Lauren had dozed off so he carried her up to her room and lay her down on her bed, he didn't know where she kept her pyjamas so once he'd helped her get out of her dress he put his top on her, it took all of his self-restraint to stop himself from getting into bed with her, when he saw her out of her dress, in just her underwear and now in his top she looked so hot but at the same time so innocent as she slept. He pressed his lips against her forehead then reluctantly pulling away.

'Night Lauren, sweet dreams, if only you knew what you do to me'