anyo(Joey's POV)
I take a deep breath before knocking on the door of no. 5. Abi opens it, giving me a strange look.
"You alright? You look weird." She frowns.
"Thanks babe. Your sister about?" I sigh, heavily, dreading what I'm about to do.
"Yeah, come in." I follow her through to the living room to see Lauren talking on the phone with a huge grin on her face; pure happiness. The way she used to smile when she was with me. It must be him; my replacement. He has my whole world. I had her and I walked away but I'd give anything to do this year over again. Better still, I'd go back to last November and I would drive instead. We could have been anywhere by now; just me and Lauren. She stops smiling when I walk in.
"Er, I've gotta go." She mutters, and then starts to laugh. So he's a regular funny man as well.
"No! Stop it! She giggles coyly. Fuck. I clear my throat, not knowing where to look.
"Yeah, can't wait. Talk to you later. Haha. Okay." She giggles some more before eventually ending the call, then turns to me.
"No, that wasn't Peter Beale." She rolls her eyes.
"I need to talk to you." I tell her.
"Ooh, sounds serious." She laughs.
"Not everything's a joke, Lauren."
"Jesus, sorry. What's got your knickers in a twist?"
"Are you happy with this bloke? Does he make you happy?"
"Yes. Yeah, he does."
"More than me?"
"Joey, please. That's not why you came round, is it?"
"I need to tell you something."
"Yeah, we've already established that."
"Shit. This is hard."
"What is it? Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry about everything. The way it ended; Whitney; not fighting for you. I'm sorry. You know that, yeah?"
"Yeah, I know. What's wrong, Joe?"
"The thing is, I'm off."
"Off? Where?"
"I don't know. Anywhere. Probably Mum's. At first, anyway."
"At first? Well, how long are you going for?" She frowns and I don't say anything.
"Joey? How long?" She asks again, slightly louder this time. I open my mouth but then clamp it shut.
"Oh. You're not coming back are you?" She whispers, as it hits her. I shake my head, and feel a lump rising in my throat at the thought of never seeing her again.
"Why?" She breathes, not looking at me.
"There's nothing left for me here."
"So you were only here cos of Alice?"
"You've moved on. And now your Dad's back, it's not like you need me."
"Okay." She shrugs, looking at me coldly.
"I just thought I should tell you."
"Well now you have so you can fuck off can't ya?"
"You're angry. Why are you angry?"
"I'm not. I could give a shit. Have a nice life."
"You could come with me." I whisper, before I can stop myself.
"You what?"
"Come with me."
"Why would I do that?"
"Cos I love you. And you still love me."
"No, I don't."
"What and you love him?"
"That's none of your business."
"It'd just be me and you, forever. Like we were going to, remember?"
"That was a long time ago."
"Right. Back when you loved me."
"I'm with someone else."
"Yeah, but he's not me."
"How very arrogant of you."
"You know it's true. He's not me and no other bird on the planet is you. We'll never have what we had with each other, with anyone else."
"Maybe that's a good thing."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"What we had was destructive and painful."
"You don't mean that."
"Maybe it's better to move on; have healthier relationships with other people."
"Is that what you want?"
"Yes, it is." She walks out to the door and wrenches it open.
"But I know you still love me." I try, one last time.
"I'm not sure I ever loved you." And with that she slams the door shut in my face.
"I nearly downed a bottle of vodka after you left." Lauren marches up to me in the car lot.
"What stopped you?" I frown.
"Fuck if I know."
"I'm sorry. That's the last thing I want, for you to be drinking again cos of me. Look, I came here for Alice. And I stayed for you. But she's gone and now I've lost you too."
"If you think I don't need you anymore then you're thicker than you look." She sniffs and I realise she's been crying.
"You don't need me."
"Why do you think I stopped drinking?"
"Your mum and dad. Abi. Oscar."
"You! I couldn't bear the way you looked at me, all disappointed. I wanted you to love me again; I wanted us back."
"But these past few months you've barely looked at me, let alone spoken to me."
"Because I thought you didn't want to get back together. That's what you told me. Not yet, you said."
"I never stopped loving you."
"Now he tells me."
"You didn't mean what you said did ya? That you never loved me?"
"Course I didn't. How could I not have loved you?"
"I'm sorry for going about everything the wrong way. Let's have a fresh start, away from here."
"My family's here. My Dad's only just got back."
"I know, babe. But there's too many bad memories here."
"I can't leave, Joe. I'm sorry."
"It was a long shot anyway."
"When are you going?"
"Tomorrow night."
"I can't do goodbyes so, take care." Lauren leans up to kiss my cheek, then quickly turns away and rushes cross the street and into her house, without looking back.
As I walk out of the square for good, my heart begins to pound triple fast. What was I thinking?! I can't do this. I can't leave her. I turn back, running till I'm at no 5, I hurry up the steps, but just as I'm about to knock, the door opens. Lauren.
"What are you doing here?" She asks. I don't reply and instead, hold her face gently in my hands and kiss her, urgently.
"I forgot to do that before." I tell her, after she pulls away.
"You're not supposed to be here."
"Sorry, where you on your way out?"
"I was coming to find you, praying you hadn't left." She whispers, then opens the door wide, to reveal a packed bag. She shrugs, smiling but with tears streaming down her face:
"Room for a little one?"
A.N- I couldn't bear to write it with Joey leaving without Laurne- I had to give them a happy ending. Let me know what you think. Gutted that David Witts is leaving, I really thought they'd get back together eventually :( Also, I don't think there's any point continuing my other stories, but what do yous all think? I could as I've already finished writing one. If anyone wants to read, let me know and I'll upload.