Joey opened the door and he smiled when he saw Lauren standing on the doorstep 'Hey' he said and he took her hand and he pulled her inside closing the door. He pulled towards him and he lips met hers.
'Joey!' she whispered 'What if someone sees us?'
'Kat is out and Alice is in the lounge behind closed doors' he murmured against her lips.
'Joey? Is that Lauren?' Alice called out. Joey growled softly
'Yeah it's Lauren' he called back, he sighed and let Lauren go and she opened the door and went to the lounge. Joey watched as the two girls hugged.
'How are you doing Alice?' Lauren asked her, Joey hovered in the doorway not sure whether or not to go in or leave the two girls to talk.
'I'm okay. Seeing mum helped' she said softly 'She wants to meet you. Apparently I didn't stop talking about you the whole trip'
Joey decided that Alice needed to talk to Lauren alone and he went into the kitchen.
'Well we'll meet at the funeral' she said as she sat down next to her
'She's not coming' Alice said looking down she glanced up at Joey shooting him an apologetic look.
'I'm sorry Alice. I'm sure that your mum has her reasons… at least Joey will be there'
'Joey says he's not coming either' Alice replied and she looked up at Lauren 'You'll be there won't you? You'll ride in the car with me?'
Lauren swallowed at the unexpected request and she nodded 'Yeah of course I will' she told her and she reached out and squeezed Alice's hand. 'Is there anything that you want me to do to help you with the arrangements?' she asked her
'Everything is done. There is one thing that you could do' Alice said
'Name it' Lauren replied
'I want to see him. Will you come to the funeral home with me tomorrow?' Alice asked her. Lauren felt the colour drain from her face at Alice's request, after everything that Derek had done to her the last thing she wanted to do was see him again, even if he was dead, when she didn't reply Alice looked up at her eyes filled with tears 'Please?' she asked her. 'I've asked Joey but he refused' Lauren's throat felt dry, she wasn't sure her voice would work so she nodded and forced a smile on her face. 'Thank you' Alice said and she hugged her cousin tightly.
'Okay Alice…. Too tight!' Lauren said and Alice let her go 'Okay so now I want you to do something for me'
'What? Alice blinked at her.
'Go upstairs, get cleaned up and get changed because sitting here in this house isn't doing you any good so you, me and Joey are going to the Vic' she told her
'No I don't…'
'Do you think Derek would want this hey? You sitting here like this not living your life?' Lauren asked her 'No you know he wouldn't. So get up those stairs Alice Branning and be back down in here in fifteen minutes. I'm not taking no for an answer' she told her firmly.
Alice smiled a little and she nodded and got up and went upstairs.
Lauren stood up and looked around the room, she felt her hands shaking and she frowned as she looked down at them. Even dead Derek still had the ability to terrify her. The thought of seeing him again filled her with dread, she felt bile rising and clasped her hand over her mouth, praying that she wasn't going to be sick. A few moments later the feeling subsided.
Joey came back into the lounge as Alice came down the stairs, he glanced at Lauren and saw she looked pale and worried. 'What's going on?' he asked his eyes fixed on her,
'We are going to the Vic to get Alice of out this house' Lauren told him 'Ready Alice?' Lauren asked her.
'Yeah' she nodded.
'Great. I'll get the first round' Lauren told them and she left the house first. Joey and Alice followed behind her.
Once inside the Vic Lauren headed straight for the bar as Joey and Alice went to find a table. 'Yes darling?' Alfie asked her
'Two cokes, one double vodka and coke and a double vodka neat' she told him
'Coming right up' he told her. He put the neat vodka down in front of her first and she picked up the glass and downed the liquid in one, closing her eyes as she felt the familiar, yet someone how comforting burn as the alcohol slid down her throat. She put the glass back down on the bar and Alfie put the rest of the drinks in front of her '£12.90 please' Alfie said, Lauren paid and picked up the drinks and glanced around looking for Alice and Joey, Alice waved at her and she carried the glasses over to the table and sat down.
'So Joey tells me that you are doing some designs for Sharon's club?' Alice asked her
'Yeah a few' she nodded, Joey watched she talked to his sister, he knew that something was bothering her and he hoped that he would have the opportunity to find out tonight.
Later, Whitney and Tyler joined them at their table. Lauren got up and went to the ladies room and Joey waited for her to come back. In the meantime Lucy came in and she looked at the group
'Oh did no one invite me?' she asked Whitney
'Actually we crashed Lauren, Joey and Alice' Whitney told her 'But the more the merrier' she grinned at her friend.
Lauren stood at the other side of the bar and she downed another neat double vodka, wiping her mouth she put the glass back down on the bar. She made her way back through the pub, bumping into someone's table just before she reached hers 'Oops sorry guys' she smiled the four blokes sitting at the table.
'It's alright darling' one of them smiled back at her. 'You can bump into us anytime' he flirted with her
'Well if you play your cards right boys …' she flirted back. Joey frowned as he heard the exchange.
Lauren sat down at the table next to Whitney seeing that Lucy had stolen her place next to Joey 'How much have you had?' Whitney asked her quietly as she sat down next to her
'A few' Lauren shrugged 'Empty stomach' she lied with a shrug.
'Is everything okay Lauren?' Tyler asked her, the only one at the table who know that Lauren only got drunk when there was something bothering her,
'Perfect' she replied 'I'm out with my friends having a good time' she said with a smile and she turned and looked at Lucy who was leaning as close to Joey as she possible could, 'And I have a ring side seat to watch Lucy attempt to seduce Joey' she said. The table went quiet and Lucy looked up at her friend, her cheeks going red.
'Lauren!' Whitney exclaimed in shock
'What?' Lauren looked at her 'Like you're not thinking it too?' she accused her friend 'It's pathetic really. I mean how many times does he need to tell her that he's not interested before she actually gets the message?' she said and she looked back at Lucy and then at Joey. She could see the confusion and shock in his eyes. Lauren picked up her drink and drank half of it in one go. 'You know what we all know how this is going to end. Lucy sending me and Whitney endless text messages and voice mails all about how much she loves Joey and she doesn't understand why he doesn't want her' she said 'I mean how more pathetic can she get?'
'Come one Lauren lets go for a walk hey?' Tyler said touching her hand 'Why don't you give me that?' She looked at him brushing his hand off hers.
'Because I'm drinking it' she replied and she finished it off and she put the glass down loudly on the table. 'Okay whose round is it?' she asked and she looked around the table expectantly. The look of disgust she saw on Joey's face stunned her, she licked her lips and she swallowed. 'Oh do you know what… I'm going go' she said and she stood up 'Stuff the lot of you' she said and she walked out of the pub.
'Okay….' Lucy said 'What the hell was that about?' she asked them all
Alice blinked and she frowned 'I think that was my fault' she said. Joey looked at her
'What do you mean?' he asked her confused
'I asked her to come with me tomorrow. We're going to the funeral parlour to see dad' she told him
Everything clicked into place for Joey and he frowned at his sister.
'Why can't you just leave it alone hey Al?' he frowned at her 'He's dead…. Good riddance as far as I am concerned' he said and he got up
'Where are you going?' she asked him
'I'm going after Lauren' he told her and he walked out of the Vic.
AN: So… Joey's seen the drunken version of Lauren.. will this put him off? Has she ruined her friendship with Lucy? Keep reading and find out…. R&R