Chapter 21.

Max decided to strike while the iron was hot and call Joey, not wanting to leave it too late… and maybe try to encourage Joey to come back to Walford.

"Uncle Max? Is it Lauren? Has something happened to her?" Joey said, answering the call on the first ring.

"Yes and no..." Max said, "She called a couple of hours ago... we told her we were going to go and see her on the 27th and she asked if you could go in with us." Max told him. Joey said nothing. "She's really missing you, Joey... and I know you're missing her too. We can pick you up from your mum's if that's easier…"

"Okay…" Joey said.

"Any idea when you're coming back to Walford?" Max asked, hesitantly raising the issue. "We'd both really like you to be here tomorrow…"

"I'm not ready to come back yet." Joey said shortly. There was silence between them both, "I hope it goes alright tomorrow though…" he asked.

"Thank you, I'm sure it will be a great day… we're going to miss you and Lauren not being there though… It won't the same without you both being there."

"I'd better go, Uncle Max…" Joey said.

"Lauren's really missing you, Joey… you know that, right?"

"I know." More silence after his reply, "Text me what time you'll pick me up. See in a few days then…"

He ended the call as suddenly as Lauren had that morning but this time Max wasn't as surprised. He hadn't expected him to answer in the first place.

*JL*JL*

Joey walked through the door and made his way across the room, sitting down beside her on the sofa she was sitting on. Neither of them said anything for a couple of minutes and then Joey reached across and put his hand on top of hers. "Merry Christmas, babe…" he whispered, turning his head and looking into Lauren's eyes.

"Merry Christmas… for tomorrow," she whispered back, turning her hand and lacing their fingers together, squeezing them gently. She let her eyes run over his face, growing more concerned by the second as she saw the strain in his eyes and on his face. "You look really tired, Joey…" She was stunned when he broke down in front of her, tears rolling down his face, "Joey… what's wrong?" she asked him softly, "Joey?" He turned away from her and she knew he was ashamed of how he was behaving. It'd been instilled in him since he was a small boy that it wasn't right to cry. She wasn't having any of that though, "Joey, come here…" she said, pulling her hand from his and putting her arm around his shoulders, pulling him towards her and hugging him tightly. She'd never seen Joey like this… he was always the strong one. She was the drama queen in this relationship, not him and she was growing more and more worried about him as he continued to stay silent. She'd known, when she'd spoken to her dad the day before that there was more to Joey not being at the house with them and having gone back to his mum's but she hadn't asked. Now she wished she had because she couldn't think of anything that could make him react like this. He was crying so hard now and she just held him, her hand running up and down his back and she kissed the top of his head tenderly as he cried into her chest. They sat like this for several minutes and eventually he began to calm down.

"Sorry…" he said, his voice hoarse.

"Talk to me, Joe…" she whispered. Her hand lifted and she ran her fingers through his hair, kissing his head softly again.

"It's Derek… dad…" he admitted, sounding exhausted.

Lauren tensed slightly, her uncle wasn't her favourite person at the moment. "What about him, Joe…?" she breathed into his hair.

"He's dead." He whispered.

"What?" She gasped, that was the last thing she'd expected him to say.

"He had a heart attack in his cell a couple of days after he went back to prison… they found him the next morning. He was already dead."

"I hadn't realised he was even back in prison…" she whispered. None of her visitors had mentioned any of this since she'd been here. She wondered why they hid it from her and she wondered what else they were hiding from her.

"I don't think they wanted to upset you, babe."

"I don't understand, Joe… You didn't even like the man… why are you so upset by this?"

"I don't understand it myself, babe… Everything just seems strange at the moment, Alice took the news as if I'd told her it was forecast to rain… she barely reacted… and then… I…"

Lauren saw the emotions on his face and reached up with her hand, brushing it down the side of his cheek. "It's okay to be sad, Joe," she told him softly.

"Is it?" he whispered.

"Whatever kind of relationship you did or didn't have with him, he was still your dad…" she shrugged.

"Who made my mum's life a misery… who hurt her… and me... and you..." He looked at her and she could see he was getting upset again, "It's because of him you ended up here…"

"No, it isn't, Joe… You know this is all my fault." She breathed, "He didn't make me drink the vodka and he didn't make me get in the car and drive it away, did he?"

"No, that bit was me…" He said and Lauren kissed him softly.

"My being in here isn't your fault either, Joe. I should've told you I'd been drinking, Joe… stop blaming yourself for something you couldn't have done anything about. It's time I started taking responsibility for the mistakes I've made." She told him gently, "That's why I couldn't let you take the blame for me… I couldn't live with you being punished for something I did."

"I would've taken the blame, Lauren…"

"I know you would've…" She said. She pulled him into a hug and kissed the side of his face, breathing in his scent… trying to remember it for when he left again. "I love you, Joey."

"I know," he murmured. "I've missed this…" he sighed, his arms wrapping around her body and holding her tightly against him.

"Me too, Joe." She breathed in his ear.

Joey pulled away from Lauren and he could see she was the one who was now getting upset. He pulled her against his body, "It's nearly time for me to go, babe… and I can't leave you like this…"

"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I just miss you… so much…"

"I miss you too…" he told her. "We can do this, babe. I've not given up on this relationship and I hope you're not going to either. I'll come and see you as often as I can and you can call me whenever you want."

"Will you be going back to Walford?" she whispered.

"Soon…"

"Please Joe… What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Not much…"

"It'll be nice for you to see your mum though… spend some time with her…"

"She's not there…" he admitted quietly.

Lauren pulled away from him, "What do you mean she's not there?" she asked, staring at his face.

"She's gone to my aunt's… her sister's… for Christmas…"

"So you're on your own?"

He lowered his gaze, "I'm not really feeling much like company at the moment, babe." He said gently.

"I don't like thinking of you sitting there alone on Christmas Day…" she said gently.

"And I don't like thinking of you in here…" he said, staring at her intently.

"Please… go back to mum and dad's… they'd love to have you there… and Alice is there."

"I'll think about it… for you…" He stared at her, taking in her appearance and seeing the changes in her since that night at the supermarket. The bell rang indicating the end of visiting and they both tensed. Joey slowly moved forward, placing his lips on hers, losing himself in the kiss for as long as he could. Finally they could delay it no more and Lauren got up from the sofa. Joey stood too and hugged her tightly. She left the room, Joey's eyes watching her every move. Then she was gone and a little part of him vanished with her.

A/N: I bet none of you expected that, right? Poor Joey... clearly Derek's death has had a bigger impact on him that we'd realised... Will he go back to Walford? What do you think? Lauren seems to be coping alright though, doesn't she? And she's done nearly a month of her sentence now... time will fly past... Send me a review and let me know what you think. Back tomorrow...