So here is the next chapter... sorry, another one with time jumps in it! Enjoy.

Chapter 10.

Lauren had gained a new confidence with the completion of the first year of her course. Her parents had been thrilled to hear how well she'd done and she spoke excitedly to them about the five courses she was signed up for in the Autumn. Lauren was pleased that for once it was her that her parents were proud of. So often in the last few years it had been Abi and Lauren had been the one that let them down. It felt good for her to be doing something right for a change. Lauren spent a lot of time during the summer working on her artwork. By the time classes began again she had already completed four pieces for her exhibition. She was looking forward to her first meeting with her tutor so she could get some feedback.

*JL*JL*

Lauren also spent plenty of time with Joey over the summer. They even managed to go away together for a weekend. They'd gone to Brighton and stayed at a B&B. It was lovely to be able to wake up in Joey's arm each morning they were there. Lauren was falling deeper and deeper in love with him as time went by. The weekend away had coincided with Joey's birthday and although he protested about it for several weeks beforehand, the whole weekend was paid for by Lauren, using cash she'd received from her parents for doing so well at college. For the day of his birthday Lauren had planned a day of things for them to do, again paying for it all with the cash she had. Joey's birthday had been a sunny but slightly windy day. They'd started with a trip on the Brighton Wheel, then gone to the pier and messed around in the arcades. They'd ate chips while sitting huddled together on a bench at the end of the pier before heading back to the B&B and spending the rest of the day in bed, 'warming up'. Joey had certainly seemed to enjoy the whole weekend and when he saw how much it meant to Lauren for her to be able to treat him, he hadn't mentioned about her paying for everything once. The weekend was all he could talk about on the train back to London and Lauren had smiled all the way home.

*JL*JL*

Things became a little more complicated when Lauren returned to college in September. She was doing more classes now than she'd been doing in the summer and the workload was bigger too, not even counting the exhibition she was preparing for. Something had to give and for the first few weeks, without her even noticing, it had been Joey. Lauren soon realised she was neglecting him and she'd gone round to see him one afternoon when she couldn't concentrate on her art because her thoughts were on her boyfriend. Joey had been there and understandably things were a little strained between the pair.

"I'm sorry, Joe." She said softly. "I didn't mean to push you away. College has been manic and I've been working really hard to make sure I don't fall behind right from the start."

"It's fine, Lauren."

"No, it's not, Joey. I've not seen you in over a week and we haven't spoken since the weekend. All we've done is exchange text messages. I miss you." Her last sentence was whispered to him.

"I miss you too, babe." He admitted.

Lauren climbed onto his lap and leant against his chest, "I've got ahead of myself now and my tutor is pleased with how my showpieces are progressing. Now I want to spend more time with you, if you'll forgive me and take me back."

"It's okay, Lauren, I know your art course is important to you."

"Not as important as you are." She told him softly, staring into his eyes and hoping he'll see the sincerity in her words within their depths.

"What time do you have to be home?" he asked her softly.

"About seven." She said.

"Well, the house is free, why don't we take advantage of that?" Joey suggested with a sly smile on his face. Lauren nodded at him and then got to her feet, holding out her hand towards him and squeezing it when he took it. Lauren walked him slowly up to his room and she spent the next few hours relearning all the bits of Joey's body that she loved.

*JL*JL*

After that slight stumbling block Lauren managed to find a happy balance between Joey and college. She'd finally told her parents that she was seeing someone which made it easier to spend time with him, no longer having to hide it. Although seeing him was then easier, the family knowing meant there were many subtle (and not-so-subtle) hints from her mum to invite him over so they could meet him, Lauren hadn't yet taken her up on that invitation. As the weeks dragged by though it got more difficult to avoid the weekly requests and Lauren began to wonder why she was so reluctant for Joey to meet them. It wasn't like she was ashamed of him nor was she worried about her family not liking him. There was very little to dislike about her boyfriend Lauren had discovered, although she might be slightly biased with that conclusion. So the upshot of it was she'd decided she needed to bite the bullet and invite Joey over to meet her family. She was planning on doing it much earlier but her parents had gone away for a second honeymoon at the end of October and when they came back they were both busy with work so it ended up being December before the invitation was made again. The invitation came from Tanya one morning early in the second week of December and it had caused Lauren to pause slightly, needing to take a deep breath before answering her with a brief 'I'll speak to him and let you know.'

Lauren had done just that and so it transpired that Joey was going to be attending the family dinner on Christmas Day. She had wondered if he would say no, thinking he might rather spend the day with his mother and sister but when she'd mentioned it hesitantly he'd been really eager. Apparently they never really did anything on Christmas Day at his home and his mother hadn't minded when he'd said he was going out for the day. So the plan was made. Everything was in place and on Christmas Eve Lauren had been on tenterhooks, equally excited and nervous about the next day.

Her family teased her mercilessly about the excitement she was showing, for it was most certainly not the way she usually acted. About anything but especially not about a boy. Inside though Max and Tanya were pleased to see their daughter so happy.

Lauren took all their jokes light-heartedly, knowing they wouldn't understand how she felt until they met Joey. Then they'd realise he was special. They'd know he was the person who completed Lauren in a way no other could. That they were perfect together.

Christmas Eve had started slowly with most of the family in final preparations for the next day. Lauren had been helping until her mother sent her away because she was in too much of a dream world to be able to function productively and was much more likely to harm herself. So Lauren had returned to her room and had spent an hour or so lovingly wrapping her presents for Joey. Once she was done she carried them down to the lounge and stacked them beneath the tree. She stared at the tree and her eyes kept getting caught on the small pile she'd just put under it. She was nervous about Joey opening those gifts from her. She hoped he wouldn't think she was being silly.

"You alright, babe?" Her dad said, putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling her against him.

"Yeah. Just thinking about tomorrow."

"We finally get to meet this boy of yours, do we?"

"Yeah. Try not to kill him, dad. Please." Lauren said, looking at her dad and hoping he would realise how important this was to her.

"I've got to check he's good enough for my princess, ain't I?" he asked her with a smile.

Lauren smiled when she heard her dad call her the nickname he'd given her when she was a toddler. This began when she'd got a fairy costume to wear to a party. It came with a tiara and once she wore it to the party there was seldom a day when it wasn't on her head. Her father had started calling her his little princess and it had stuck for several years, up until Lauren was about ten and she'd decided it was no longer cool for her to be her daddy's princess. "He's more than good enough, dad. He's amazing." She said, leaning against her father.

"It's good to see you so happy, babe." He told her, kissing the top of her head gently. In the last two years the changes in his daughter had been astronomic. Even in the last twelve months there had been some major changes in her and Max could see she was almost glowing. Lauren had become much happier in the last few months and it made Max happy to see, even if it was due to this mystery boy she'd been seeing. And because of that he was going to give him a chance. He liked his daughter being happy and it wasn't going to be him that ruined it. Lauren's phone beeped and Max saw her eyes shining as she read the message. "Is that him?" he asked.

She nodded. "He's just confirming he's coming tomorrow. He should be here just before midday. He says he's looking forward to it." Her face was flushed now. "I'm going to go and call him, dad. I'll be down for tea." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him softly on the cheek before walking into the hall and running up to the room she shared with her sister.

TBC

A/N: Ahh... bless. Let me know what you think. Back tomorrow... for a Branning Christmas... what could possibly go wrong.