Chapter Thirty-Five

Lauren was the first to wake up the next morning and it took her a few moments to remember where she was. She smiled as she remembered the best night of her life she'd just spent with Joey. Turning her head her smile widened as she saw his head on the pillow next to her. What started out to be a pretty shitty day had ended being the best day ever. She glanced at the clock, it was 7:30am. The café would be open now. She climbed out of bed and pulled on her clothes and grabbed her purse deciding she would get coffee and bagels for them both. Then when they'd eaten that, maybe they'd have sex again, then they could talk about what happens next with their relationship. Talk about how they would make their relationship work with her being in Walford and Joey being in Hawaii. She would never ask him to give up his life there, she knew how much he loved it. She would give up her life here for him though, to be with him if he asked her to. But would he ask her? Would that even be what he wanted? Was that moving too fast? She didn't have all the answers but between them she was certain they'd figure it all out. She bent over the sleeping Adonis and kissed him softly on the lips, careful not to wake him. She snuck out of the room, crept along the corridor and let herself out of the B&B, making sure she'd put the latch on so she could get back in with their breakfast.

*XX*XX*XX*XX*

She was surprised to see Lucy serving behind the counter as she walked into the Café. 'Oh, there you are. Don't tell anyone you're leaving will you, we'd hate to spend over an hour looking for you' Lucy frowned at her friend. 'We'd hate to be worried about where the fuck you got to!'

'Sorry. Last minute decision' Lauren told her 'I text you' she lied.

'A likely story' Lucy said knowingly, narrowing her eyes at her friend 'wait…why are you wearing last night's clothes? Are you doing the walk of shame Lauren Branning?' she teased her.

'No. I'm not' Lauren hissed at her, glancing around to see who else was in the café. 'Can I get two coffees and two toasted bagels with cream cheese and bacon please?' she asked her.

'Two?' Lucy said, looking out of the window to see if there was someone outside waiting for Lauren.

'Yes, two please' Lauren nodded her head with a smile. Lucy turned and checked on the bacon she already had frying and put some bagels in the toaster, she turned back to Lauren.

'So, where did you go last night?' she leant on the counter with her head in her hands as she waited for Lauren to answer. She stared at her friend and then narrowed her eyes at her 'you had sex last night!' she exclaimed loudly.

'Lucy Beale! Will you please keep your voice down!?' Lauren glared at her. 'Yes, if you must know I did have sex last night, the best sex of my life'

'Well come on, don't leave me in suspense. Tell me everything, who is he? Do I know him? How good was the sex?'

'Those are three very good questions, Lucy. Two of which I would like to know the answers to, the third not so much…' Max said from the doorway looking unimpressed.

Lauren turned to look at him 'Morning dad' she smiled at him.

'Don't morning me, young lady' he frowned at her. 'Where the hell have you been?' he asked her 'your mother has been worried sick about you'

'I'm sorry…' Lauren said 'I can explain everything I promise' she told him.

'I'm all ears' he said gesturing to a table.

'Not now, later' she said 'Right now I have some place to be' she grinned at him as Lucy put her order on the table. Lauren reached for her purse.

'It's on the house' Lucy grinned at her.

'Thanks Luce' she picked everything up and turned to look at her dad 'Later, dad okay? I promise' she told him as she reached up and kissed him on the cheek. He sighed and opened the café door for her and she headed back towards the B&B.

*XX*XX*XX*XX*

She'd almost made it back to the B&B when she heard Marcus call her name. She pretended she didn't hear him and increased her pace a little in a futile attempt to lose him. 'Lauren!' he shouted out again, loud enough to wake anyone in the nearby houses. She stopped and spun round to face him.

'What?' she hissed at him 'I'm kind of in a hurry'

'I thought we could talk?' he asked her.

'About?' she raised her eyebrows questioningly.

'Us' he looked at her expectantly.

'There is no us. We're over remember?' Lauren said and turned to go, but Marcus caught her arm.

'Please, it'll only take five minutes' he told her.

'Lauren closed her eyes, letting out an annoyed sigh. 'If it's about us getting back together then I'll save you the trouble. There's not a chance in Hell I will go out with you again'

'It's not about that' he shook his head. 'I wanted to say I was sorry' he told her.

'You just said it' Lauren said turning to go again.

'Please just five minutes' he pleaded with her. Lauren glanced over at the B&B and prayed that Joey was still sleeping and oblivious to her absence.

'Okay fine. Five minutes Marcus and that's it' she said. He led her to the gardens and pulled her to sit on the bench. She put the breakfast she'd brought for her and Joey down and turned to look at Marcus.

*XX*XX*XX*XX*

Lauren breathed a sigh of relief as she made it back to the B&B without any further interruptions. She'd been much longer that she'd intended to be. She wished she'd thought to leave Joey a note to tell him where she was going and that she was coming back. Actually in hindsight she wished she'd never left his bed. Well next time she wouldn't. She'd just have to make sure they had supplies in his room so they could make their own breakfast.

She let herself into the B&B and crept up the stairs, pausing when she heard movement in an adjacent room. Satisfied she wasn't going to get caught she crept up the rest of the stairs and snuck along the corridor to Joey's room. She let herself in and quietly turned the key in the door.

She toed off her shoes and turned to the bed. It was empty. She frowned and glanced towards the bathroom. The door was closed and she figured Joey was probably in there. She put their breakfast down on the bedside table and stripped off her clothes, keeping her underwear on and she got back into the bed. The bed she never should've left.

*XX*XX*XX*XX*

After five minutes, Joey hadn't come out of the bathroom. Lauren frowned, climbing out of the bed and walked to the door. She didn't want to interrupt him if he was busy in there. She'd just call out to let him know she was back.

'Joey? I'm back. I brought breakfast' she called through the door. She waited for a reply but none came. 'Joey?' she called out again. She was met with silence. She tried the handle and the door opened. She stepped into the bathroom and found it was empty. 'Joey?' she frowned. She stepped back into the room and noticed for the first time that his clothes were gone from the floor, as was his jacket and his bags. She realised he'd gone. But she didn't understand why. She thought he wanted to be with her. She walked to the bed and sat down, feeling her heart breaking again. How could he sleep with her and then leave her like that. Maybe he'd changed his mind about her, about them. Maybe all he wanted last night was sex. She frowned. No. He wanted more. He wanted them to be together, she knew he did. The only reason he'd leave without a word was if something had happened…maybe his mother was sicker than he'd let on. Of course if that were the case then he'd need to rush over to be by her side. She dressed quickly and ran out of the B&B and looked around the square, trying to see if she could spot him anywhere.

*XX*XX*XX*XX*

'Marcus! Marcus!' she shouted out as she ran towards him. 'Have you seen Joey?' she asked him.

'Joey? Your "friend" from Hawaii Joey?' he asked her using his fingers to make air quotes around the word friend.

'Yes. Joey from Hawaii. Have you seen him?'

'Is that who you brought breakfast for?' he asked her.

Lauren was beginning to lose her patience with him 'Yes if you must know it was. Now will you just answer the damned question?'

'Yep I've seen him. He was looking out of window at us in the gardens' he told her 'he didn't look very happy about something and then a couple of minutes later he came out of the B&B and headed towards the tube station'

'How long ago was that?' she asked him

'About ten minutes ago' he said with a shrug.

'Why didn't you say anything?'

'I didn't know that was where you were going did I?' he frowned at her. Lauren glared at him and ran back to the B&B she looked up at the window and then turned to look at the gardens. He would have been able to see Marcus's face but not hers. She would've had her back to him and the hug Marcus had insisted she give him to prove they were still friends could probably have looked like something else. She frowned. She could kill Marcus, she really could. But right now she could also kill Joey for just taking off like that. Again! She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialled his number as she ran towards the tube station.

'Joey?' Lauren cried out when he answered 'where are you….'

'This is Joey Matthews, leave me a message and I'll call you back, thanks' his answer phone message played in her ear.

'Joey, it's Lauren. Please call me back…what you saw in the gardens wasn't what you thought it was, I swear. I went out to get breakfast for us…Please Joey call me back…I want to be with you. I…I love you' she hung up the phone and prayed he would call her.

AN: Oh no! I wonder what's happened to make Joey leave? Was Lauren right, was his mother sicker than he was letting on and he needed to rush back to be with her? Let's hope he picks up the phone and calls her and lets her know what's happening. Don't forget to leave me a review!