Nothing To Worry About.
14.06.2013. AU
So I decided to write a one-shot based off tonight's episode (14.06.2013) because I thought the Joey punching Michael scenes were amazing but I didn't like the Lauren scenes obvs so I wanted to write it a little. Joey still punches Michael for sleeping with Alice but Lauren is fine & she & Joey are still together. Enjoy :)
Lauren groaned as she heard the alarm go off. She reached across, turning it off. She was stopping at Joey's but today was the last day to get her last project in her marking. She had to edit all the footage she had for her 'Day In My Life' project into a 5 minute video. This was the boring side of her course. She sighed, chucking the bed covers aside, seeing that Joey had already gone downstairs and went down herself and walked into the kitchen.
Alice was being quiet like she had been doing for the past day. Lauren walked off to Joey, looking at the other girl, confused before kissing him good morning.
"You alright, Alice?" Lauren asked, as she pulled a chair out opposite her, taking the coffee Joey was holding out for her.
"I'm fine" Alice replied, quietly, stirring the teaspoon in her own drink.
"Are you sure, Al? If you wanna talk you know I'm here don't you?" Lauren questioned, raising an eyebrow. Alice glanced at her brother before nodding.
"So what do you want for breakfast then, you two?" Joey asked, breaking the silence.
"I don't mind" Alice said, still in her own world. Lauren narrowed her eyes, knowing something was wrong.
"Alice, I just suggested I would make breakfast" He told her,worried about his sister.
"Yeah, Al, he would probably set the house on fire" Lauren added, laughing.
"Yeah, sounds good, I'll be in the living room" Alice mumbled, wrapping her dressing gown around herself, picking her cuppa and walked out.
"I'm worried about her" Joey sighed, sitting next to Lauren.
"Yeah, you and me both" She replied, standing up and getting some cereal out of the cupboard.
"Try and find out for me please?" He asked, sighing.
"Yeah but I can't break the girl code. I'll only tell you if it puts her life in danger. You do realise that?" She replied, as she poured herself some cereal and opened the fridge for some milk.
"This is my sister, Lauren. I've never seen her like this. She is usually the happy one" He told her.
"Yeah, you have a point. I'll try and find out but I'm sure she is fine" She said, smiling before sitting down again, eating her breakfast.
"I'm meeting some friends for lunch at the vic after the delivery and stock check at the vic. I should be home about 2" He then said, changing the subject.
"That's fine. I should of emailed my tutor my project by then" She replied, between then.
"Yeah. How are you gonna edit all that footage down of me? You are a little obsessed with me, ain't you, babe?" He questioned, smirking.
She laughed before kicking him under the table, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know, babe. The same day my best friend and ex boyfriend returned. Who knows, it could all be about him?" She replied, laughing.
"Do it I dare you and you'll see what will happen tonight" He told her, raising an eyebrow.
"Threatening me with sex? You know that will encourage me more" Lauren said, smiling widely.
"What about no sex?" Joey asked, smirking.
"You'll fail" She half sang, laughing.
"We'll see. Now I have to be boring and go to work. I will see you later" He said, standing up. She nodded, standing up to and walked over to him, hugging him before kissing him.
"See you. Try not to have too much fun without me" She replied, laughing.
"No possible. Love you" He told her, taking his jacket off the chair and putting it on.
"I love you too" She replied, kissing him before he left...
Lauren decided to take a break and made her and Alice a drink, walking into the living room.
"I finally know how to make a good coffee. Alice Branning's way. I think" She said, putting it down next to Alice.
"Thanks" Alice replied, quietly.
"So come on, no over protective big brother now. What's going on?" Lauren asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing I don't wanna talk about. Thanks for trying though" Alice replied, taking a drink of the coffee Lauren had made.
"Al, I'm your cousin. If you can't tell me, who can you tell? Think of me as the sister you never had" She told her, smiling.
"In the future, you could actually be" Alice proclaimed, cracking a smile. Lauren rolled her eyes, laughing.
"I'm gonna go back to my project. I'm here if you want me" She said, knowing she wasn't gonna get anywhere and walked out...
Lauren was sending a email to her tutor to get some notes for her videos when she heard Kat return who walked into the kitchen.
"Hey, Lauren. You okay?" She asked. Lauren nodded as Kat put the kettle on, making herself a drink and walked out again. Lauren heard Kat go into the living room, listening out, hearing chatter and then a few minutes later, Kat stormed out. Lauren stood up and walked back into the living room.
"You can tell Kat but you can't tell your own cousin, I'm offended a little, Al" Lauren exclaimed, sighing. Alice exhaled deeply and burst out crying. Lauren sighed and hugged her.
"It's okay, Al, you can tell me" She told her, trying to calm her but Alice just carried on crying...
"You gonna tell me?" Lauren said a little while later, once Alice had stopped crying.
"I slept with Michael" Alice replied, wiping her eyes.
"What? You being serious?" Lauren questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah and he said it was just sex, nothing more. I thought he cared about me" Alice said, sniffing.
"They all do to be honest" Lauren proclaimed, sighing.
"What do you mean?" Alice asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Al, I know it hurts but someday, when you meet someone you truly love and they love you back, this will just be a bad memory" Lauren told her, smiling, handing her a tissue.
"Like you mean? With Joey?" Alice asked.
Lauren nodded "Exactly. I went through what your going through at 16. I thought my world had ended. 2 and half years later, I realised it just made me stronger"
"So what are you saying?" Alice asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm saying that yeah it's gonna hurt for a while but it will get better" Lauren replied, smiling.
"Yeah you're right" Alice sighed, standing up.
"Where are you going?" Lauren asked, also standing up.
"I'm going to bed. I didn't sleep last night" Alice replied, taking her jacket from the sofa.
"Do you want me to bring you a drink up?" Lauren then asked.
"You've been with my brother for too long. You're already taking care of me too much but a tea would be nice" Alice told her, smiling, appreciated. Lauren nodded and walked into the kitchen, making a drink and taking it upstairs to her, closing the door.
Upon walking downstairs, she decided to go and confront Michael. She swapped her slippers for her converse, grabbed her coat and the spare key before leaving.
"Hey Uncle Jack, have you seen Michael?" Lauren asked, as she walked through the square gardens, seeing her uncle.
"Michael? Why do you wanna see him?" He questioned, narrowing his eyes.
"It's for Alice. You seen him?" She asked.
"He's in the pub" Lauren walked past her Uncle and walked into the pub to see Joey punching Michael.
"I guess my first theory of Alice being a delusional cow is false" She sighed loudly, walking towards them.
"I think your boyfriend has it covered here, Lauren. No need to get involved" Michael replied, grinning.
"You're sick you really are" Lauren told him, scowling at him.
"I'm sick? A bit rich coming from you isn't it?" Michael said, knowing that it would wind Joey up more who punched him again. Lauren managed to step back in time before pulling him aside.
"What are you doing? You do realise what he has done?" He questioned. She nodded, taking his hands, trying to calm him.
"Punching him will feel good now yeah, but in the long run, living with himself is a worser punishment" She told him.
"Your right. As always" Joey replied, sighing. He turned to Michael.
"Make you feel good? Taking an advantage of a teenager?"
"That's a interesting question. Maybe" Michael shrugged.
"Especially the fact she was virgin" Lauren said, crossing her arms.
"Can we go back to a moment ago, please, babe when you were making it better?" Joey said to her, raising an eyebrow.
"Sorry. Come on, lets get you cleaned up. He's not even worth our time" She replied, taking his hand and they walked out of the pub back to Number 23.
"Where's Alice?" He asked, looking around.
"She's asleep. Come on, we need to clean up your hand" She told him, guiding him into the kitchen. He sat on one of the chairs as she pulled from the first aid kit from the cupboard and poured a bowl of water with antiseptic in.
"This is coming a habit, you cleaning me up" He said, as he put his hand in.
"When if you stopped getting in fights, I wouldn't have to" She replied but smiled as she sat on the table, taking his hand and dabbed his cuts from punching with cotton wool.
"You truly are amazing" He told her, smiling "How's your project going?"
"Good. You know. I have the best clip ever. I asked Poppy to hold my camera the other day when I hugged Peter. She caught your reaction. Jealous were we?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow, putting the cotton wool down and finished cleaning him up.
"I don't like it when other boys hug you. Especially an ex boyfriend" He replied, shrugging.
"You get jealous too easily. I mean you get jealous with Fats for crying out loud" She proclaimed, shaking her head.
"Can't you blame me? I mean, look at you" He said, his eyes trailing down her body. She pushed him lightly.
"Look at me? Look at you! I have more reason to be jealous" Lauren exclaimed but laughed a little.
"And I have told you have nothing to worry about" Joey replied, kissing her, both of them feeling at home with each other.