Set after Lauren and Janine go to find Whitney. I've changed it at a little: Janine never saw Whitney or visited the bedsit, Lauren did it all. I'm undecided as to whether I will continue this or not, so please let me know your thoughts.
"Whit, come on, let's go."
"No! I'm staying here with Rob. I love him."
Lauren begrudgingly left the dingy bedsit, without her friend in tow. She felt distraught, and partially guilty, that she was unable to save Whitney from the terrible life she'd fallen into. And what made matters worse, was that the traumatised teen was totally oblivious to Rob's evil ways. The elder Branning daughter took a last look up at the window, silently asking Whitney to change her mind, and was met by a blank stare. A look of a naive and vulnerable 18 year old who was being taken advantage of, exploited and used so horrifically.
As Lauren walked away from the make shift prison Whitney called 'home', she felt a few tears stinging her eyes. She had so desperately wanted to save the raven-haired girl from Rob's clutches, to return back to Walford with her best friend. She'd even pictured the scenes in her head: laughing and joking with Whitney throughout the journey home, her dad Max telling her how proud he was of his little girl, and little Tiff squeezing Whitney so tight she could hardly breathe. Lauren couldn't help but feel like a failure as she headed back towards the cafe to meet Janine, the last person she wanted to see right then, and make the journey back home. As she entered the greasy spoon where Janine was sat awkwardly sipping tea which looked more like dirty dishwater she fiercely rubbed her eyes, wiping away the evidence that she'd shed a tear. She couldn't, wouldn't, let smarmy Janine see her with her guard down.
"Well?" The bolshy bottle blonde asked expectantly.
"I found her." Lauren replied, avoiding eye contact.
"Where is she then?"
"She ain't coming." The brunette shifted uncomfortably.
"What do you mean she isn't coming? Come on, I'm going to get her." Janine burst out of the cafe before Lauren could answer.
"Janine, wait!" She turned around, a look of annoyance on her face.
"She won't listen to me, you, anyone. She can't see what he's like, what he's doing to her. He's using her to 'do favours' for him. She's practically a prostitute Janine but she can't see it."
The word 'prostitute' tasted bitter on her tongue. The realisation of just how much danger her best mate was in hit her like punch to the stomach. For the second time that night a few tears spilled down her pale cheeks, this time without warning, and this time Lauren made no attempt to hide her emotions. She was shocked to see that hard nut Janine had even let a lonesome tear slip down her face, a tear of guilt most likely the brunette thought. A couple of minutes of silence passed. Taking a deep breath and composing herself, Janine began to walk in the direction of the nearby tube station.
"Where are you going?" Lauren snapped out of the trance she had become locked in.
"Home." The usually larger than life blonde spoke quietly, as if she was accepting defeat.
"We can't just leave her with that monster!" The brunette Branning was horrified, thoughts of Whitney in all kinds of awful situations filling her head.
"We have no choice, Lauren."
She knew that Janine was unfortunately right. Lauren followed, keeping some distance between the pair so she could unashamedly let out a couple more tears that had been trying to escape from her eyes.
The journey back on the Underground was heartbreaking for Lauren. She'd pictured sitting with Whitney on the tube, gossiping like old times and receiving dirty looks from other passengers for laughing loudly. Instead, she was sandwiched between a bearded bloke who reeked of stale beer and was clearly intoxicated and a large businessman who gave her the creeps poring over some half naked blonde in the newspaper. The carriage rattled as the train sped through tunnels. The brunette became lost in her thoughts, a barrage of unanswerable questions whizzing through her mind: What if Whitney never realises what he's like? What if Rob forces her into drugs? Or she falls pregnant? Anything could happen to the impressionable girl whom Lauren had become very fond of, and she was absolutely powerless to stop it.
The announcement that they had reach Walford station forced the teenager to snap back to reality. Lauren realised that she hadn't even noticed that the two men either side of her on the tube had left long before the Walford stop. She exited the train after Janine, who had been standing throughout the journey, and made her way back to ground level. The two women walked side by side in silence, both of them aware that nothing that they said could change matters nor lift the mood.
Lauren and Janine shared a quick goodbye as they reached Albert Square and parted ways, back to their own homes. The brunette fumbled through her bag for her keys and lifted the front door key to the lock. She closed her eyes, pursed her lips and let out a deep sigh. She smoothed her hair and clothes and wiped away the remnants of her tears before turning the key in the lock.
She was greeted by her tired and worried looking father.
"Are you alright? You said you'd call me every hour, Lauren!"
The brunette felt a pang of guilt. She had completely forgotten her promise to her dad.
"I'm fine. I'm sorry, dad."
"Well the main thing is that you're ok." Vanessa smiled sympathetically at Lauren.
"So did you find her?" Max questioned.
The Branning brunette shifted position uncomfortably. She knew that question was going to be asked, it was inevitable, but she still hadn't prepared herself with an answer. How could she tell her father the truth about Whitney?
"No...no joy."
Lauren silently excused herself and went upstairs to the bedroom she shared with her younger sister. She was thankful that Abi was sound asleep as she couldn't deal with any more questions. The teen didn't even bother to change out of her clothes and into her nightwear. She simply climbed into bed, crawled under the covers and cried until she fell asleep.