:D.

Chapter 9.

"Hey, Whit," Lauren whispered softly into the phone, being cautious of the noise she was making as her eyes flickered over Joey, who was fast asleep. She made her way to sit on the edge of the bed and began to ogle him aimlessly, a small smile curving at her lips. "Joey's asleep so I have to be quiet – I wouldn't wanna wake him up. He's been pretty much exhausted lately," she continued, running her free hand through her long, dark hair.

"And it sounds like you are too," Whitney replied in an equally as hushed tone. "You're so worried about what Joey thinks of you being back and all that you've forgotten about yourself. He's not the only one who's had to come to grips with things,"

Lauren let out a sigh and shook her head, readjusting the position of the phone pressed up against her ear, "I'm the one that left him in the first place," she pointed out, shrugging her shoulders and letting out a slight, humourless laugh. "And I can tell he hasn't fully forgiven me. I don't even know if I'll actually be staying for good yet," she added, wrinkling up her forehead and turning her gaze back to Joey. He looked so perfect, so carefree, with one hand tucked underneath his head and the other one splayed out against his chest, the clear, white sheets thrown lazily over his waist. How could she possibly ever leave him again?

"What?" Whitney murmured, the shock etching into her voice. "What do you mean you don't know if you're staying for good? You're not planning on leaving again, are you?" she questioned, her tone loudening and her disbelief evident.

"No, no, no," Lauren stopped her, pulling her bottom lip into her mouth to chew on it gently. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm not exactly planning to. It all depends on what my Mum's doing, really. She says she wasn't really looking to stay here for long anyway – things are so different over there, Whit," she explained, sighing heavily and taking a deep breath before opening her mouth to speak again, "If she goes back then I know that she'll want me to go with her. I got into enough trouble when I was on my own here before, and I'm pretty sure Abi won't be keen on staying here either,"

"Wait," Whitney interrupted, as Lauren put her head down and began to stare at the floor. "Lauren, I just can't get my head around this... what was the point of you coming back if you're just going to up and leave again? That's not fair on any of us, never mind Joey,"

"Yeah, but-"

"And what about your dad? I understand that you're not the biggest fan of Kirsty, but really? Have you even asked him about how he feels about this? In fact, have you even talked to him in the time you've been here? You've been so wrapped up in your cousin that you don't even seem to care about your mates or family anymore," Whitney interrupted her, the harshness of her voice making Lauren wince slightly. Sure, she may have been avoiding her Dad but that was taking it a little too far, wasn't it? "You know what, Lauren – whatever. Do whatever the hell you want. I don't really care anymore," she muttered, her voice cutting off abruptly as she ended the call.

Lauren swallowed hard as she got up and placed the phone back onto the bedside table, shaking her head as tears began to sting her eyes. She took in a sharp intake of breath in a weak attempt to keep herself from crying, making her way towards the bedroom door and opening it.

"Baby?" Joey's quiet, raspy voice came from behind her, making her whip her head around to look at him. He smiled at her a little before he studied her face closer and his expression dropped, "What's wrong, gorgeous?" he asked, his voice lapsed with worry as she let out a sigh and came back over to sit down onto the bed next to him.

She closed her eyes as his arms wrapped tightly around her, the protective side of him kicking in as he kept her in his comforting grip, "I'm fine, Joe," she got out quietly, rubbing her eyes before stuffing her face into his chest. "Me and Whitney just fell out over the phone – that's all," she reassured him, shrugging her shoulders a little.

"Alright," Joey whispered, his fingers tapping gently against her waist. "What were you arguing about this time, eh?" he questioned, a slight pang slicing it's way through Lauren's heart at his words.

"I don't want to talk about it, baby," she told him softly, letting out a breath. She kept her eyes shut as she slowly began to fall asleep...

-x-x-x-

"Hey, Lo," Alice's voice called out from the doorway, her arms folded over her chest as she watched her cousin quickly turn around to look at her and force a smile. "What's wrong? Are you alright?" she questioned, making her way into the living room and flopping down onto the sofa next to Lauren. She reached out to squeeze Lauren's hand reassuringly and raised her eyebrows, "What has my brother done now, Lo?"

"No, it's not Joey," Lauren told her with a light laugh, shaking her head. "I'm just a little pissed off at Whitney. We fell out earlier this morning and now she's not returning any of my calls or texts. She's not normally like this," she explained, rolling her eyes as she flicked through a few more options on her phone. "Although, it's not like she's the only person that's been acting weird lately. Joey hasn't been himself and all," she continued, flickering her eyes up from her phone screen to look up at her similarly-aged cousin, who seemed to be deep in thought.

"Yeah, I know," Alice agreed, nodding a little. "It's like something's seriously bothering him. But, hey, I wouldn't worry. We always end up getting it out of him eventually," she added with a small grin. She began to get up and slightly readjusted the bag that was hung loosely over her shoulder, "Anyway, I better be going now. Janine needs me to look after Scarlet - late business, apparently."

Lauren got up as well and ran a hand through her hair, "Yeah, I better be out too. See if I can get Whitney to forgive me or something," she mumbled, walking towards the hallway and slipping on her shoes. She threw on her signature leather jacket and smoothed down her skirt, opening the front door and stepping aside as Alice followed out behind her. "Alright, then. See you later, I guess..." she trailed off, waving a little as Alice set off down the steps of No.23.

"Yeah. See you later," Alice shouted back, before she made her way towards Janine's.

Lauren nodded and slammed the door shut behind her, locking it firmly and taking a deep breath. She jogged down the steps and made her way towards the cafe, her heart speeding away in her chest as she stood in the cafe's doorway, her gaze flickering around the filled tables and chairs of the usual afternoon rush. She wrinkled up her forehead and looked towards the counter, where Lucy was in her usual spot, serving the usual customers, as if everything was still completely normal.

But Lauren knew better than that.

Sure, they may not have been friends now but they definitely had been close in the past; even with all the times they'd fallen out. She knew her ex-best friend better than anybody and on the most part, knew exactly how she was feeling or what she was thinking.

And she also knew for a fact it had to be something to do with Joey.

And maybe even Whitney.

Wait-

"Out for a drink, are we?" Lucy's voice snarled from besides her, her eyes narrowed and flaming up into a venomous glare. "Joey's not here, if that's who you were looking for. He's probably down at the R&R," she muttered, rolling her eyes briefly before turning to the next costumer in line with her usual, fake smile.

Lauren rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest, marching over to the front of the queue and slamming her fists onto the counter, "We need to talk," she put it bluntly, raising her eyebrows. Lucy simply stared at her blankly and continued to fill the coffee cup she had in one hand, the other hand placed on the side of her hip. "Now, Luce," Lauren added, her tone sharp. She rolled her eyes again and straightened herself up, "Are you deaf or something? I fucking said now."

"Alright, whatever," Lucy muttered, shoving the coffee cup into the hands of the customer before pulling off her blue apron and chucking it to the side, "Marie - cover for me, yeah? I'm not sure how long I'll be," she called over her shoulder, throwing on her jacket and wincing as Lauren took a tight grip of her wrist and began to pull her out towards the door, outside and across the street. "What the hell is this, Lauren?" she mumbled quietly, her jaw clenched as they came to a sudden hault in the alleyway between two tall buildings.

"Lucy," Lauren interrupted her softly, shaking her head a little. "I'm not here to punch you again, I promise. I just want to talk to you," she told her, her tone remaining calm despite the anger that was flaming up to the surface inside her. She took a hold of Lucy's arms to keep her from moving away and offered her a small smile, "I'm really sorry, y'know," she quickly added, craning her neck forward some to study the slightly fading bruise that overtook the side of her ex-best friend's face. "Damn - that must've hurt."

"You were the one that did it," Lucy pointed out, shaking off Lauren's grip on her arms and staring at her in disbelief. Lauren just smirked. "What exactly did you want to talk about, then?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll find out," Lauren put it simply, shrugging her shoulders, before swinging her arm through Lucy's and pulling her out of the alleyway. "We're going to mine," she finished softly, setting off towards No.23 once again with Lucy dragged behind her.

-x-x-x-

a/n:

hey.

thanks for reading. i hope you enjoyed this chapter ;)

i'd just like to point out that i find it pretty damn disturbing to watch joey & janine straight up kissing in the last few episodes... i'm not exactly sure how this was going to benefit getting his little sister out of prison... xD

so anyway, i'd also just like to apologize to all the times i've been inactive or haven't updated. please remember that even when i'm not posting new chapters i am still reading every review I get and seeing who's read my stories. i'm extremely grateful to everybody who's reading ;).

and again, thank you x

-charlotte. x