*FLASHBACK*

It was Halloween and Lauren and Joey were at a party being thrown by Lauren's boyfriend, Ryan. She had been seeing him on and off for the last year, currently they were in an on again phase. Lauren had turned 18 on the 14th of September. She was now allowed to drink legally. And since the 14th September she had taken full advantage of that fact and Joey had told her parents so many lies in the past few weeks about where she was and what she was doing, when most of the time she was throwing up in his bathroom, or sleeping off her latest bingeing session in his bed.

He hadn't really felt up to going to this party, he had broken up with his girlfriend Sarah a few days before and what he really wanted to do was mope and be miserable.

He was trying to be mad at Lauren, Sarah had broken up with him because of Lauren.

Apparently Sarah was sick and tired of Lauren always coming before her. What made it worse was that Joey knew that Sarah was right, whenever Lauren called him he would drop everything go to her, whatever her latest crisis would be. Lauren was important to him, her happiness meant the world to him and he would do whatever it took to make her happy.

She'd had him wrapped around her little finger ever since she was a child. They were inseparable and that was the way that he liked it. But he had liked Sarah, a lot. And he was annoyed that Lauren had ruined things, even if she didn't know that she had.

So Joey had told her categorically, that under no uncertain terms was he going to a Halloween party with her. But all Lauren had to do was pout and his resolve broke. And here he was. Standing in the corner of the room whilst he watched Lauren in her costume dancing with Ryan, she was laughing and giggling, she was happy.

Joey sighed shaking his head and he down his glass of vodka and went into the kitchen to get some more. Lauren had tried to get Joey to dress up but he refused. He was wearing blue jeans, his favourite pair of black cowboy boots (Lauren had brought them for him for his 18th birthday) and a green shirt.

He still couldn't get over the costume that Lauren was wearing. Her parents would have thrown a fit if they ever saw her in it. He was in half a mind what to do when she appeared in his bedroom doorway wearing it. He didn't know whether he should demand that she take it off and put something else on, or throw her down on the bed and have his way with her. Obviously he did neither, because here they were at the party. She was dressed as a sexy nun, the skirt was so short that you could see her very shapely bottom if she even leant forward a fraction when she was standing up. She was wearing stocking and suspenders that were on full display, she had a wimple on her head when she arrive but had since discarded that somewhere as she claimed she was too hot. The tunic of the outfit was so low cut there was hardly any point in it being attached to the costume. Lauren was a sexy girl, unfortunately she knew it and she flaunted it and used it to her full advantage. Even with him.

When he had gone back to the party Lauren was gone. He frowned wondering what kind of mess that she had gotten herself into this time and then he realised that Ryan was gone too. He could just imagine what they were doing in one of the upstairs bedrooms. He frowned. He didn't like the idea of someone touching her that way. In truth Joey had held a bit of a torch for his best friend since he was 15 years old, not that he would ever dream of telling her.

Suddenly Joey could hear a commotion on the stairs, he would learn later that Lauren had caught Ryan upstairs in one of the bedroom with a girl called Yvonne or Rebecca, Joey couldn't quite remember her name. No doubt if he asked Lauren she would be able to tell him. Lauren had picked up the first thing that she laid her hands on in the room, which happened to be an antique lamp and she had launched it across the room with full force and it shattered on the wall above the bed and showered the occupants with glass and crystal. She had then fled down the stairs, followed by Ryan who was hastily getting dressed and ignoring the protests of Yvonne or Rebecca. He was yelling at Lauren telling her that he could explain and then when his pleas went ignored he had started to call her a tease and a frigid bitch. Joey was quite pleased by this titbit of information. Lauren obviously wasn't sleeping with Ryan.

Unfortunately, however, Lauren had then wanted to prove to Ryan that she wasn't a tease or a frigid bitch and had sought out and then dragged Joey onto the dance floor and she was dancing with him, well dancing was a pretty loose term, she was grinding and writhing against him, and what made things worse was that she knew exactly the effect that she was having on Joey and how jealous she was making Ryan and she seemed to find it highly amusing. She had pressed and wriggled her bottom against him one more time and giggled when she felt his erection. Joey had got angry with her, pushed her roughly away and told her that he was going home, which he did, but not until he had told her that Ryan was right that she was being a cock tease. Lauren was left open mouthed, mortified and on the brink of tears on the dance floor.

Joey had never shouted at her before.

Half an hour after Joey had got home to his flat, he heard a timid knock on the door and he got up to open it. He saw Lauren standing there, still in her sexy nun's outfit.

'Go home Lauren' he told her shaking his head and he started to close the door.

'I brought an apology' she said and she held up a full bottle of vodka that she had clearly swiped from the party.

'It's going to take more than that'

'I'm sorry Joey' she told him softly 'I didn't mean to tease you' she moved forward to come into the flat.

Joey pushed one hand into his pocket and slid one hand down the door blocking her entry.

'Not tonight Lauren' he shook his head again 'Go home, sleep it off'

'Joey…' she frowned at him. It took all his will power to shut the door on her.

She rapped lightly on the door again 'Joey please I really am sorry' she called through the door. 'Please don't be mad at me' he pleaded with him through the door 'Look I'll do whatever you want me to do, I'll do anything I swear, please Joey… you're my best friend in the whole wide world' Joey shook his head and with a sigh closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against the door. 'Please Joey I'm really really sorry' she told him 'I'll do all your laundry for a month, clean the flat top to bottom so that every single surface sparkles…. Please …. Don't be mad at me Joe' her voice was thick with tears. Joey groaned and he opened the door, letting her in.

'Thank you' she said and she reached up and kissed him softly on the cheek as she came into the flat. He closed his eyes and sucked in a sharp breath at the innocent gesture.

'What happened to your shoes?' he asked her seeing her dirty bare feet, he closed the door behind her.

'They hurt my feet and I couldn't walk in them so I tossed them in a garden on my way here' she told him

'You walked home from the party?' he asked her in amazement, she nodded her head and chewed on her bottom lip 'dressed like that?' she nodded again

'Oh my god Lauren!' he exclaimed throwing his arms up in the air 'Do you now have any common sense?' he asked her 'Jesus Lauren, anything could have happened to you. Look at the state of you? You're barely wearing any clothes…..'

Lauren looked down at herself 'I thought you liked my costume?' she asked him. 'I mean you seemed to like it at the party too'

Joey took a deep breath and let it out slowly, 'Lauren. What you did at the party wasn't a very nice thing to do'

'Do you really think that I am a cock tease?' she asked him in a small voice.

'I don't think. I know' he told her and he took the bottle of vodka from her and unscrewed the cap and poured a large amount down his throat. 'The way that you danced with me at the party? You knew exactly what you were doing and you know the reaction that you were going to get and you knew that you had no intention of…..' he trailed off

'No intention of what?' Lauren asked him

'Forget about it' he said shaking his head, he walked into his bedroom and came back with a shirt which he tossed at her 'For God's sake cover yourself up' he snapped at her as he sat down on the sofa

Lauren pulled the shirt on over her costume, but left the buttons undone and she walked to the sofa and sat down next to him 'Joey…'

'You are such a spoilt little brat Lauren and that's partly my fault, letting you get your own way all the time. Well not any more' he frowned at her shaking his head 'You don't get to call me at all times of the day and night and expect me to drop everything and come running after you. It stops Lauren. Do you hear me?!'

'Why are you being so nasty to me?' she asked him, her eyes filled with tears

'Oh no you don't Lauren, do not turn on the water works tonight; that is not going to work on me. Not anymore' he shook his head and he took another long drink.

'Tell me what I can do to make it up to you, to make you like me again'

'I do like you Lauren' he said leaning back against the sofa, 'That's kind of the problem' he muttered not loud enough for her to hear. 'You know what you need don't you?' Joey asked her turning to look at her

'What?' Lauren asked him

'You need to be fucked and hard' he told her.

Lauren's eyes widened. 'Joey!' she exclaimed shocked by his suggestion. He had never spoken to her like this before.

'And spanked! I bet Uncle Max never raised his hand to you once in your life did he?' he asked her 'I bet you've never had your arse beaten so hard that it hurt to sit down!'

'No' she shook her head 'Have… have you? I mean did Uncle Derek..?'

'On more than one occasion' he told her 'all of the times when you did something naughty when we were kids and I stood up and took the blame' he frowned at her. 'That's what you need' he told her and he laughed 'maybe then you wouldn't be such a brat' he took more vodka 'maybe that what's I should do. Spank you then fuck you'

'I think I should go' Lauren told him and she started to get up.

'Yeah that's what I'll do' he said, putting the vodka bottle down on the table, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her across his knee then and he had spanked her as hard as he could. She squirmed and squealed and cried out in pain, begged for him to stop but he held her still and spanked her harder. Neither of them knew how much time had passed or how long he had been hitting her, but when he was finished his hand was stinging and he was pretty sure her arse would be too. She sat on the floor by his feet crying softly. Joey picked up the vodka bottle and took a drink and then held the bottle out to her, she got up and snatched the bottle away from him.

'You're a pig and I hate you Joseph Branning!' she sobbed and she fled into his bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

He left her alone for a little while and then he got up and went into the bedroom. Lauren was lying on his bed with her back to the door.

'I'm sorry' Joey said quietly. Lauren didn't answer him. 'Babe please I am so sorry. I shouldn't have done that' he told her and he sat down on the bed and he looked at her, he touched her shoulder 'I feel terrible'

'My arse feels worse' she replied

Joey nodded 'I can imagine, my hand is red and it stings… a lot'

'Good' she sniffed and took a deep breath

'I'm sorry Lauren. I really am' he told her 'Please say that you forgive me' he whispered softly 'I don't want you to hate me'

'You hate me so…..'

'I don't hate you. I could never hate you' he told her

'That's not what you said earlier'

'I never said that I hated you'

'Not in so many words. And you called me a cock tease'

'I'm not taking that back because it was true' he told her 'I may be your best friend Lauren but I am a red blooded male and you are an incredibly sexy girl and the way you … danced really isn't the right term, but the way you danced with me…. It turned me on' he told her 'A lot. But knowing that the whole reason you were being that way was to make Ryan jealous and that had it nothing to do with me …. It got me mad' he told her

Lauren swallowed and she rolled over to look at him. 'I'm sorry' she told him softly 'I didn't mean to make you mad'

'That's what you're sorry for? For me getting mad at you?' he asked her with a frown and then he laughed at her 'Only you…' he trailed off and he sighed 'Look, why don't you let me run you a bath hey?' he asked her 'It might help the soreness'

'You not spanking me would have helped with me not being sore' she said and she gingerly got off the bed and made sure the shirt covered her sore bottom as she got up. 'I think I'm going to go home' she told him

'Don't leave' Joey said to her 'Not like this' he said and he caught her hand and she walked passed him. She sighed and she looked at him

'How do you want me to leave?' she asked him

Joey stood up 'Can I have a hug?' he asked her

'No' she said

'Please?' he asked her

'You called me a brat too'

'I'm sorry you are not a brat' he told her. He licked his lips 'Lauren look at me please' he asked her. Lauren closed her eyes and took a deep breath, turned to him and opened her eyes to look into his. 'I am sorry babe' he told her softly 'I am so sorry, please forgive me for what I did. I promise that it will never ever happen again' he told her sincerely.

'It better not' she told him

'It won't' he promised

'Okay' she said. Joey smiled at her and he pulled her gently into his arms and he held her tightly. He felt her clinging to him too. 'I don't want to fight with you Joey'

'I know me either' he said softly 'And you can call me anytime, day or night and I will be there. Whenever you need me'

'Promise?' Lauren asked him and she pulled back to look at him, Joey nodded and he stroked her cheek softly with his fingers

'I promise babe' he said softly, his hand cupped her cheek and he closed the distance between them and he kissed her.

And once again, like they had 4 years ago, Joey and Lauren ended up naked in bed together and they had sex together for the second time. Years later Lauren would call it make up sex when she talked about it, which was a very rare occurrence.

That night Joey had fallen asleep with Lauren wrapped securely in his arms after they had taken comfort and pleasure from each other, as he fell asleep he had smiled as he felt another sliver of hope that this time, things would work out the way that he wanted them to. That Lauren would be his.

Unfortunately that wasn't to be, as the next morning, Lauren had once again feigned memory loss due to consuming too much alcohol and as a result they had both avoided each other for the next two weeks. They both missed each other like crazy, but they were both more than a little confused by the evening's turn of events and too afraid to voice their questions and feelings.

And so they did what they did the first time they slept together, they buried it, forgot about and didn't talk about it. Not for a long time at least.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Lauren mumbled in her sleep, Joey turned to look at her, she mumbled incoherently again and then rolled over and snuggled up against him. Joey sighed and he kissed the top of her head and he closed his eyes.

'I love you Joey' Lauren murmured against his chest, but he didn't hear her, he had fallen asleep.

AN: So there you have it another flashback from Joey's point of view of what happened when she was 18 and the spanking incident.

Thank you for all the reviews. Hi to all the guest reviewers too, thank you for reviewing, sadly I can't reply to you but I do read them all.

What are you all thinking so far?

As always R&R

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