Author's note - How much are you guys loving Joey & Lauren right now? But how much are they just breaking your heart?
"Sharon, I'm outta here." He spoke as he headed up the stairs, the blonde coming out of her office. He needed out of this club and fast. His usual attitude of punch first, think later wouldn't work with Carl and his head wasn't clear enough for another verbal confrontation. His mind still elsewhere.
"You'll be letting me down if you do Joey." She commented softly, as encouragement for him to change his mind. No. She's not the only person he's let down tonight and unlike Sharon, the idea of having let her down, again, was making him feel ill.
He stormed out of the club, glancing at his watch as he did. He highly doubted Max was going to let him in to see Lauren, especially if he'd been wary about letting her go out anyway. Joey still turned to head in the direction of number 5, when a choked out sob from the opposite direction got his attention.
He had no idea what made him change to walk in that direction, usually he'd have just ignored it. The sight though as he turned the corner, of her, of Lauren, made his heart clench.
Huddled over, sobbing, wiping at her mouth, she was struggling to pull herself together. He hated himself, hated Whitney for pushing her to this point, right to the edge. But seeing her next action, throwing a glass, full of what he was pretty sure wasn't lemonade, at the wall, he was proud of her, proud she'd pulled herself back from the edge. She would have regretted it.
"Babe" he murmured as he stepped closer, shocked when she lifted her head to meet his gaze. Other than the tears streaming down her face, her eyes looked blank.
"I'm fine." She spoke, wiping under her eyes, grabbing her handbag. He just rolled his eyes. "Seriously." She added, not meeting his gaze. He pulled a face, he didn't know what he should say to make this okay.
I'm sorry this is so complicated. I'm sorry I slept with your best friend, I was missing you and she was there but that's no excuse. I'm sorry I couldn't look after you even though I promised I would. No words came out though, not before she spoke anyway.
"I'm fine Joey." His gaze flickered from her face to the glass shattered on the floor, which she spotted. Good, she was meant to. "This..." she waved her hands. "was a blip, I'm fine."
He sighed. "Let me walk you home." She shook her head. "I'm not drunk Joey." He rolled his eyes again. "I know you're not. Come on." Her turn to roll her eyes this time. "I can walk myself you know?" He didn't answer. "You don't need to watch out for me. I don't need you to."
"I'm not doing it for you." He muttered. "Seriously my Dad won't care either." She spat out. "He thinks I'm happily out with the girls, so you can leave Joey." Max thought she was out still, which meant what she said earlier was bogus. Her reassurance that everything was okay was crap, just like he thought it had been.
"I want you to be okay Lauren." She groaned. "I know, I know. Got to take it slow, in case I end up like the way I was before." She span to face him. "I get it Joey. I'm not dumb. You don't want me. Me being like that made you go off me. I get it yeah."
He groaned, and ran his hand down his face before reaching out to grab her wrist when she went to take off. "You don't get it" She shook her head, but his look made her not respond. "It's not just you that needs us to go slow yeah babe" His tone had softened.
"I need it too." She was confused, he could tell but he could also tell he had her total attention. "I can't see you like that again Lauren." She went to speak "Yeah you're fine, you've said." He sighed. "Doesn't change anything that happened though does it?" Her gaze dropped, unable to meet his.
He felt bad for making her feel guilty but she needed to know that no matter who was at fault or how fine she was now, those images of her like that, he couldn't just shrug them off.
"I don't know how to be around you" she said so quietly, he almost didn't catch it. Before he could reply, she spoke more. "Around any of you really, without the drink. But it's you that it's the hardest."
"See this is what I mean Lauren" he dropped her wrist, having only just realised he still held it and had been rubbing circles with his thumb over her. "I can't be what makes you worse."
She shook her head, tears beginning to fall again as she stepped closer to him. "But you're not." He sighed out of frustration, why could she not see what he does to her. "You're the thing that makes me want to be better." She leaned into him; her head falling to rest on his shoulder, his arms automatically winding around her. "I want to be me again." She paused, and he felt her inhale before her next softly spoken comment "I want to be us again."
He sighed for a different reason this time, his hair smoothing her hair down her back. "I know babe, I know." He felt the half groan, half sigh that left her rather than heard it. "It's not that easy though is it?" her tone sounded disappointed and he hated it.
"No." She let out a small laugh, at his simple reply. "But easy would be boring wouldn't it?" He tried to make light of the situation, unable to speak freely to her. Not now anyway, not yet.
She lifted her head, having blinked away her tears and he smirked at her, making her smile. "And you like a challenge?" She threw a teasing comment at him, banter about their past, but there was a serious edge to her comment and he caught it.
"You know it." Stepping away from her but keeping one arm wound around her, he nudged her back in the direction they had come. "So can I walk you home?" Before she could complain, he added "Because I want to. Not because I think I have to." She sighed dramatically, but nodded.
She may be broken, and there's still a long way to go but she's strong and she's trying. And really that's all he ever wanted. They'll get there though. Back to being them, they just needed some time and no more complications.