Chapter Twenty-Eight

The next morning Joey was up first. He showered, dressed and packed his bags. He made a coffee and sat on the bed looking at Lauren, she was still sound asleep. He picked up his phone and he called the airport, booking himself a seat on the flight out in the late afternoon. Once he was done he glanced at his watch. It was 8:00am. He knew he needed to wake her but she looked so peaceful sleeping there. He smiled as he watched her sleeping, something else he'd missed doing when she left Hawaii. He wondered if she would remember the events of last night. He hoped she wouldn't because then things could be awkward between them and he didn't want that. He wanted to leave with them being on good terms. He sighed, taking a sip of coffee. He'd let her sleep for a little bit longer.

*XX*XX*XX*XX*

Lauren woke half an hour later and rolled over in the bed. She found a glass of water, a coffee and some pain killers on the side, a note propped up against the coffee. She sat up and took the pain killers. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair, groaning as the memories of last night came back to her. She picked up the note and read it. Joey had gone out to get some more milk and a paper. She was grateful that Joey wasn't there, she felt rough and probably looked it too. She wanted to at least freshen up a little and look more presentable. She climbed out of bed and gathered up her clothes and headed to the bathroom.

Joey returned just as Lauren stepped out of the bathroom dressed in last night's clothes. Joey had a flashback of the dress of the lampshade and Lauren taking off her bra…he licked his lips and smiled at her, he wasn't going to mention it unless she did. 'Hey. Morning, how do you feel?' he asked her.

'Better now that I've showered' she told him 'and the painkillers and coffee helped, thanks'

'Any time' he said with a smile. 'Are you hungry?' he asked her. Lauren shook her head, turning a little green.

'I'm never going to eat or drink ever again' she told him. Joey laughed at her.

'Everyone says that' he told her softly 'you'll feel better later on today' he said to her. 'Promise'

Lauren smiled at him 'if you say so' she said walking back over to the bed and sitting down. She picked up her coffee and took a drink.

'What do you have planned for today?' he asked her 'are you working?'

'Nope' she shook her head 'Not back on shift until tomorrow, thank God. And I really don't have much planned for today' she put her cup down and stood up 'In fact I should probably go home' she told him 'leave you in peace' she said pulling her shoes onto her feet. 'Thanks for letting me stay here last night, I hope I didn't do or say anything embarrassing' she said to hi softly.

'Course not, babe. I'm all for saving damsel's in distress' he grinned at her 'are you sure you need to leave? I was sort of hoping we could spend my last day here together' he said to her as she walked to the door. Her hand froze on the door handle as she felt her heart sink.

'You're leaving?' she asked him, turning around to look at him. 'Today?'

'Yes, later on this afternoon' he nodded his head 'Sam called from Hawaii, there's a problem at the bar and I need to go back' he lied.

'I was hoping you'd be staying for longer. You've only been here for 7 days' the disappointment was clear in her voice, on her face and it made Joey feel bad.

'I know, I hoped so too, but the bar is my livelihood' he told her 'I have to go'

Lauren sighed, looking down at her feet, when she looked back up at him her eyes were swimming with tears. 'But I don't want you to go' she whispered.

'Hey, come on' he said to her 'we'll see each other again, and we can still write letters and call each other' he promised her. Lauren nodded and sniffed and she walked over to him and he hugged her tightly, closing his eyes. He hated doing this, but he knew he had to.

'What time is your flight?' she asked him.

'Five o'clock' he replied.

*XX*XX*XX*XX*

Lauren insisted on going to the airport with Joey, despite him telling her she didn't need to. He was, however, secretly pleased she was so stubborn as he wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to her just yet…even though they'd spent the day together. She had gotten hungry at lunch time so he nipped out and brought some sandwiches from the café and they ate lunch in his room. The day flew by and he found it more and more difficult as his departure time grew closer not to tell her what he really thought about her boyfriend, Marcus, or how he felt about her. He sighed as he checked the boards to see what gate he'd be leaving from.

Lauren followed him to the departure lounge, she'd been very quiet on the way to the airport in the cab and once again he felt guilty, knowing he was the cause of her silence. He could stay for longer, everything was fine in Hawaii. He didn't need to go back. He contemplated briefly changing his mind and staying in Walford for a bit longer, but he knew he was just making it more difficult for himself. The sooner he left the sooner he could start moving on and forgetting about Lauren. He licked his lips as he looked at her. And it would probably be better for her too…stop the friction between her and Marcus.

'Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for you to come and see me off' he told her softly, seeing how upset she was.

'I wanted to' she said with a small smile 'I don't know when I'm going to get to see you again. It's not as though either of us can just jump on a plane and spend a weekend together' she said to him 'the flights are really expensive' she told him.

'Well we both need to start saving then don't we, hey?' he asked her 'maybe we both save up enough for half the fare and you can come out and see me? You wouldn't need money for a hotel you can come and stay with me' he smiled.

'I'd like that' she nodded her head, her smile growing bigger, 'I'd like that a lot' she said.

'Good' Joey smiled back at her 'then we have a plan' His flight was announced over the PA system. 'Okay, that's me' he said standing up 'come and give me a hug' he held his arms open to her. She moved into them quickly, hugging him tightly. 'I'm glad I came' he told her softly 'I've had a great time, but I can't wait to get back to the warm weather and the golden sands and the blue seas' he said as he slipped a folded envelope in to her pocket.

'Stop! You're making me jealous' she pouted and she pulled away from him as they announced his flight again. 'You'd better go. You don't want to miss your flight do you?' she asked him.

'No' he said with a sigh, bending to pick his bags up. He gazed at her for a short time and Lauren thought he looked as though he wanted to say something to her, but he didn't. Instead he shifted the bags onto one hand and raised his hand and brushed her cheek gently with his fingers. 'Take care of yourself, okay?' he asked her.

'I will. You too' she smiled at him, catching his fingers in hers as he removed them, she squeezed them gently. 'You'll call me and let me know you got back safe right?' she questioned him.

'Of course I will, babe' he told her with a smile. She held onto his fingers until she had to let them go and she sighed, as she watched him walking away from her. She couldn't help the feeling that this was a goodbye and that she'd never see him again.

*XX*XX*XX*XX*

Joey forced himself to walk away from the girl he'd fallen in love with. She'd found someone else and seemed to be very happy with him. He was a fool for thinking there would be anything between them now. It wasn't as though he was going to stay in Walford, he had a life back in Hawaii…well not a life exactly. He had a bar…and that was it. That's all he had. That was all he'd wanted when he first went out there. But now…now he wanted more. He wanted Lauren, but she wasn't his…not anymore. He paused "bugger it" he thought to himself and he turned back to her, dropping his bags on the floor as he ran towards her. When he reached her his hands cupped her face and he kissed her. Not a peck on the cheek, a full blown lover's kiss. When the kiss ended he let her go and turned away without saying a word. He ran back to his bags, picked them up and disappeared through the gate to board the plane. Lauren blinked, her fingers touching her lips. They were tingling in much the same way they did when they first kissed so many months ago in Hawaii.

In that moment she knew that Joey had lied to her, he'd been expecting more from her when he came to Walford. She felt terrible, she wished he'd been honest with her, but understood why he hadn't been. It couldn't have been easy for him to see her with Marcus, or listen to her rave about how great he was. She should have waited for him, but she wasn't sure that he wanted to have more with her. Now Joey had gone and they couldn't talk about it…she's have to wait until he called her and then she'd ask him why he lied to her.

*XX*XX*XX*XX*

Joey sat on the plane as he headed home. He knew he shouldn't have kissed Lauren like that, but he couldn't help it. If he was never going to see her again he wanted to have one last kiss to remember her by. He'd written her a letter that morning, whilst she was sleeping and slipped it into her pocket as they'd hugged, he had a sudden unwelcome thought that Lauren might not be the one to find it. Maybe he shouldn't have slipped it into her pocket…well it was too late now. He'd have to wait to see if she said anything about it when he called her…if he called her.

*XX*XX*XX*XX*

Lauren put her hands in her pockets, feeling for her keys as she walked up the steps to the door to her house. She pulled out paper with her keys, frowning as she looked at it, she saw it was an envelope with Joey's writing on the front. Opening the door, she went inside, heading straight up the stairs and into her room, closing the door behind her. She climbed onto the bed and ripped open the envelope, not even bothering to take her coat off.

Dear Lauren

I'm writing this as you lie asleep in my bed at the B&B. And you're either reading this in the taxi on the way home, or you found it when you were searching in your pockets for your keys to get into the house. Lauren smiled as she read that. Joey knew her so well.

I made a mistake in coming here. You're happy with your life now and I feel as though me being here is pulling you away from that. If I kissed you at the airport, you're probably wondering why I kissed you like that just before I left. The only reason I can give you is that I wanted to. It's as simple as that. If I'm truthful kissing you is all I've thought about doing since you left Hawaii. I've missed you so much, Lauren.

I know you're with Marcus now and I know I shouldn't have kissed you…I'm sorry I did. No, that was a lie. I'm not sorry I kissed you. I lied to you…when I came here I'd hoped that you and I would pick up from where we left off, we were so good together…weren't we?

I'm sorry, Lauren. I probably shouldn't have told you that. I'd better go before I say more stupid things…if I didn't kiss you then I've probably already said stupid things.

Oh and one more thing? Marcus…I don't like him. I don't think he's the one for you. He's a dickhead and you could do so much better than him. You deserve so much better.

It was really great seeing you again, Lauren. Take care of yourself.

Love always

Joey xxx

Lauren frowned, she reread the letter. It sounded like Joey was saying goodbye. Even though he'd promised her they'd see each other again, the letter said otherwise. The feeling she'd had at the airport returned, heavier this time. She had a really bad feeling that she wouldn't hear from him again and that didn't make her feel great. Her eyes filled with tears.

AN: So Joey has left and Lauren is feeling sad about it. And he kissed her at the airport. Poor Lauren and Joey… let's hope that can talk about things soon….back tomorrow don't forget to leave me a review.