No Oscar in this one (sorry) but don't worry, he'll be back.

Chapter 3.

Max and Tanya walked into the lounge a while later and found their daughter and her boyfriend on the couch. Joey was fast asleep. Lauren was watching him as he slept, her hand brushing through his hair every now and again. "You okay, babe?" Max asked.

"Yeah. Just thinking..." she said softly, her eyes still on Joey.

"We're really sorry for what happened earlier, Lauren." Tanya said.

"It's not you who needs to apologise, is it?" Lauren said quietly. She looked up at her parents, "Did she say why she did it?" she whispered.

Max and Tanya sat down, Tanya sitting on the arm of the chair Max sat in. "No, she didn't, sweetheart," her mother said.

Lauren bit her lip and looked back down at Joey. She could feel her emotions bubbling beneath the surface and she didn't want to have this meltdown here and now.

"She's gone to stay at your Uncle Jack's tonight." Max said, watching his daughter. He could sense she was struggling with this a lot more than she was showing. "Oscar's staying there too. Sharon offered to have them both stay with them for the night."

"Abs wasn't happy about that, I bet." Lauren said.

"After the words we had with her, I think she was relieved to get out of the house." Tanya said, her voice turning hard as she spoke of the argument they'd had with their younger daughter on the way home from the college. Lauren nodded and fell silent.

"Lauren, we didn't get to tell you earlier what we thought of your work." Max said. He saw his daughter glance up at him self-consciously before lowering her eyes again. "We're so very proud of you, babe. Each of those pictures was thought provoking and well, it broke my heart to see some of them." He told her softly. "I've seen pictures before and I've never really understood what the artist was trying to say but with yours... I knew and each one really touched me. I don't think it's just because I'm your dad and I know you, everyone was the same as we were."

"Yes, sweetheart, they were so good." Tanya confirmed. Lauren was blushing by this stage but she was pleased by what her parents had told her. "Your dad and I wanted to take you and Joey out tonight for dinner."

"To welcome Joey to the family and to congratulate you for all your hard work," Max said, "And if the ceremony goes well, we may have something extra to celebrate."

"Do you think Joey will be up to that?" Tanya asked, "We don't want to wear him out on his first day out of hospital." She said.

"He should be okay, mum. He was pretty tired from this morning, that's why he's resting now. But I don't think tonight is going to be lots of standing around so he should be okay." Lauren said. She bit her lip hesitantly but decided to ask, "Would it be okay for Joey to stay here tonight?" she asked them softly.

Max and Tanya shared a look, "It's fine, babe. Your mum and I had assumed you'd want that earlier. Joey's bag from the hospital is still in my car." Max said, smiling as he saw Lauren's blush deepen.

"I took your dress to the launderette this morning too and we collected it on the way home... They managed to get the mark out of it so you could wear it tonight if you want to?" Tanya said as both parents got to their feet.

"Thanks, both of you." Lauren told them.

"It's no problem, honey." They left the two of them again.

Lauren sat on the couch, watching Joey as he slept. Her emotions finally got the better of her and tears began to run down her face. She felt Joey stir and quickly wiped away her tears, hoping he wouldn't notice she'd been crying. He rolled onto his back and stared up at her, "What's wrong, baby girl?"

"It's nothing. I'm being silly..." she whispered.

He reached up and brushed his thumb across her cheek, "Tell me..." he asked her gently. "I won't think its silly... promise."

"I just... well, I wondered what I'd done to make Abi hate me so much..." she murmured.

"I don't think you've done anything, babe. She's obviously got an issue with us but I don't think it's something we're going to be able to fix easily." He pulled her head down softly and kissed her mouth, "Maybe she just doesn't trust me to not hurt you? I'll have to prove to her that I can be trusted." He pushed himself back into a seated position and dragged Lauren over to him so she was sitting on his lap, holding her in his arms, her head resting against his chest.

"I don't think it's you. This all began when I got drunk again... before she even knew you were involved and who you were. It's me she has the problem with and I don't know what I've done. I could understand it if I'd said something to her when I was drunk but I didn't."

"It will work itself out..." he told her softly.

"I'm not sure if I even want to see her. I'm so angry with her... for doing what she did. It was about the worst thing she could've done." Hot tears were rolling down her face again and Joey hugged her tighter, trying to comfort her.

"Lauren, you both need to start getting ready..." Max said, poking his head into the room. He paused when he saw his daughter was upset and he looked at Joey in concern. Joey shook his head and Max left the room again, although his worry for his daughter was still there.

"Babe, let's go upstairs and you can get yourself sorted for this evening. We can work this all out tomorrow. For tonight, let's forget about it." She pulled away from him and he could see the devastation in the depths of her eyes, "Don't let her spoil anymore of your special day, baby girl." He said softly.

"You're right," she whispered, "Thank you." She climbed off his lap and held both hands out towards him. Joey took them and she helped him to his feet. He kissed her softly then pushed her out of the room. Lauren saw his bag sitting in the hall and picked it up.

"Why are you taking that upstairs?" he asked.

"I thought you'd want to change..." she said, looking at him over her shoulder.

"I can carry it." He protested.

"You just concentrate on walking up the stairs, baby." She said softly. He stared at her face before realising she was right and silently following her.

TBC

A/N: Back tomorrow...