Chapter Thirty Four

It was just past 4:00am when Lauren let herself into her house, she leant up against the door and smiled at the events which had played out at Joey's.

After he'd cleaned himself up in the bathroom, changing his pants and boxers, he returned to the bedroom and he lay down beside Lauren and gathered her into his arms. He kissed her softly. 'You're a pretty amazing girl, Lauren' he told her.

As she replayed the evening in her head Lauren walked into the kitchen and put some milk onto boil. She made herself a hot chocolate and took it into the lounge and sat down on the sofa, pulling her legs beneath her.

Joey had set an alarm on his bedside clock and they both fell asleep. Just before 4:00am he'd kissed her soundly before walking her to her house and making sure she got inside safely. She smiled at how sweet he was. For the first time since Jake found her, she felt happy.

She'd also experienced her very first orgasm…whilst being fully clothed! Which left her somewhat in awe of Joey. If he could do that without taking any of her clothes off what could he do when she was naked? And yes she was imagining Joey naked too. Lauren grinned and then giggled. She glanced at the stairs in case the noise had woken Jake, holding her breath for a few minutes but she heard no movement from him. She smiled again, taking a sip of her drink and then put it down on the table.

*JB*JB*JB*JB*

Jake woke up the next morning, rolling over in the bed he found Lauren's side was empty. He got up, pulling on his robe as he walked down the stairs. He peered into the lounge and found Lauren asleep on the sofa, her right arm dangling off the edge. He sighed and walked in, staring down at her. An unexpected feeling of sentimentality blossomed inside him and he pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa and covering her with it and brushing her hair away from her face gently.

*JB*JB*JB*JB*

Joey was whistling as he walked into the Minute Mart to get some milk and a paper. 'Someone's happy' he heard his father's voice from behind him.

'Mmm? Yeah I am' he nodded his head with a grin 'Hey, is Al around later?' he asked him.

'Yes, she should be' Derek nodded his head 'she has a day off today so she's having a bed day apparently'

Joey smiled 'she still has those? I thought she stopped doing those after she left school'

'Nope' Derek smiled shaking his head. 'So what's put a spring in your step?' he asked his son suspiciously.

'Can't I just be in a good mood?' Joey asked as he paid for his things and followed his dad out of the Minute Mart.

'Yes, of course' Derek nodded his head feeling guilty for thinking the worst 'fancy a coffee?'

'Yeah, if you're paying' Joey grinned at him.

*JB*JB*JB*JB*

Lauren woke up and groaned as she discovered she was a little stiff from spending the night on the sofa. She swung round to sit up, putting her feet in the floor. Her half-drunk hot chocolate had gone, which meant only one thing, Jake had been in the lounge and left her sleeping. This realisation was confirmed when she noticed the blanket he'd draped over her body as she slept. Taking a deep breath, she got up and walked through to the kitchen. Looking in the fridge she discovered there was no milk. Groaning she went upstairs and took a quick shower and dressed. She grabbed her purse and peered inside. She had just enough to buy herself a coffee at the café.

Lauren walked into the café and saw the prices had gone up since she'd last been in, now she didn't have enough for a coffee. She felt her face flame with embarrassment as she realised she was going to have to walk out again. Empty handed. Still in need of come coffee.

'I'll get it' Joey's voice came from behind her. She turned to look at him.

'Thank you' she said 'Can I just have a coffee please?' she asked Marie.

'Come join me and dad' Joey said to her 'Marie will you bring that over and some scrambled eggs and toast' Joey handed her some money.

'Joey…' Lauren started to protest but he took her hand and led her over to the table.

'Sit' he told her.

Lauren rolled her eyes but sat down 'been in the wars have you?' Derek asked her gesturing to her arm with his cup.

'Yeah something like that' Lauren nodded her head 'but don't worry…Joey swooped in to save the damsel in distress' Lauren replied with a smile at Joey 'it's a small fracture, should be healed in no time.' Maria brought Lauren's coffee over 'thank you' Lauren smiled at her.

'We haven't seen you at ours for a while' Derek continued.

'I've been kind of busy' Lauren told him vaguely, taking a sip of her coffee.

'Well you'll have to come round for dinner Thursday' Derek said 'I know Alice would love to see you and me for that matter' he smiled at her 'we miss you' he told her with a small pout that reminded her of Joey.

'Oh I don't know...I think Jake has plans' she said trying to think of an excuse.

'He does' Joey said 'with me, we're going up the West End to have a few drinks' he told Lauren with a wink 'So you can spend time with Alice and dad' he grinned at her.

'Sounds good to me' Lauren replied as Maria brought over her eggs and toast.

'Well that's settled then' Derek said with a smile 'on that note I best be getting to work' he said and looked at Joey 'do not annoy your sister when she's having a bed day' Derek reminded him seriously.

'I won't, I promise' Joey grinned at him 'Scouts honour'. Derek shook his head with a laugh.

'You got kicked out of the scouts after two hours' he reminded his son as left the café. Lauren looked at Joey.

'How did you manage to get kicked out of scouts in two hours?' she asked him curiously.

'I blocked the toilets with toilet paper and flooded the building' he said with a shrug. Her mouth dropped open in shock 'I don't like organised group activity' he told her with a smirk.

Lauren shook her head with a smile. 'So are you really going out with Jake?' she asked him.

'Yep, he doesn't know it yet…but it'll give you a chance to catch up with Al'

Lauren smiled at him 'thank you' she said softly taking a big mouthful of coffee.

'You don't know what I expect back in return yet' he told her seriously taking a sip of his coffee. Lauren's eyes widened and Joey chuckled 'we'll talk about it after breakfast' he winked at her.

AN: Thanks for all your reviews. Lauren seems to be quite giddy with the events of last night. And Jake was nice to her again! Albeit when she was asleep, but he was sweet nonetheless. How sweet it was of Joey to but Lauren breakfast although I wonder what he wants in return!...Leave me a review