Chapter 37.

Joey walked back into the house a short while after leaving Grant, finding his parents in the kitchen. "Hi," he said as he walked into the room. Lauren wasn't there. "When did you get back?" he asked.

"About ten minutes ago." His mum said, "You been to the gym?"

"Yeah and then I went for a coffee with Uncle Grant..."

"Why don't you go and get rid of that stuff. Tea will be ready in half an hour. Can you let your sister know as well?" she asked him.

"Okay..." Joey said, turning and making his way up the stairs. He dumped his bag in his room, promising to sort it out later. He had more important things to sort out now. He approached her door slowly, tapping on it gently and poking his head around the door. Lauren was lying on her bed and she had her back to him. "Can we talk, Lo?" he said softly.

"Go away, JoJo..." she whispered.

Joey felt awful because he could hear the tears in her voice. He ignored her and walked over to the bed and crouched beside it. "Please LoLo..." he whispered. "I'm sorry for reacting the way I did..." he told her.

"You made me feel bad, JoJo... like I was something you'd trod in..." she murmured and Joey's guilt climbed higher.

"Look at me, LoLo..." he asked her softly. She shook her head, moving further away from him. She'd created enough space for him to lie on the bed too, so he did just that, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. "Don't you think we should talk about it, Lo?" he asked her softly.

"I think we should never talk about what happened ever again..." she whispered.

"LoLo... I'm really sorry I pushed you away... I was confused..." he told her. He turned his head so he could look at her, even though she still had her back to him.

"So am I, JoJo..." she admitted. "I don't understand the way I'm feeling..."

"Tell me, Lo..."

"I can't, JoJo... cause you'll hate me..." she murmured.

"LoLo, I could never hate you..." he said quickly.

"You promise?" she whispered.

"Absolutely..." he reassured her. The room was silent and after a slight pause Lauren turned over in the bed so she was facing him. She inched forward on the bed and Joey wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her the remainder of the way across the bed so she was lying with her head on his chest. He smiled as he saw Missybear in her arms. "I still remember the day I gave her to you..." he said softly. "I wanted you to like me... and I knew everyone needed a bear. My Bear always looked after me when I was small and I wanted you to have that too..." he whispered. "I never wanted anything to hurt you and yet, today, it was me that caused you pain." He turned his head to look at her face and he brushed her hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear. "I'm so sorry, LoLo..." he murmured, kissing the top of her head softly.

"I'm sorry for earlier, JoJo..." she whispered.

Joey was silent for a few seconds, "I'm not... well, for how it ended, maybe... but I don't regret what happened between us..."

"You don't?" she breathed, her body relaxing against his slightly.

"No, babe..." he murmured. His hand tilted her chin so she was looking up at him. He stared deeply into her eyes, "What made you kiss me, LoLo?" he asked her softly.

"Because you're you... and I love you..." she said softly.

"You love me... as a brother?" he asked her carefully.

"When I think of you, I don't think of you as my brother. I don't want you to be my brother... because how I feel about you..." she told him, bringing her hand up to her chest, "in here... it's not how a sister should feel for her brother."

"I feel the same, LoLo... I've always loved you..."

"Then why did you push me away?" she asked.

"Because I'm worried about mum and dad..." he told her. "I'm scared they would make me leave..." He admitted to her in a whisper.

"To them you are their son, JoJo... They would never make you leave."

"They might if they knew what I wanted to do..." he told them.

"What's that?" she asked him softly.

"This..." he whispered. He stared at her for several seconds and slowly he moved his face forward and pressed his lips softly against hers. The kiss was only brief but it held the promise of more. "Was that okay?" he asked her softly.

She nodded, "It was more than okay..." she admitted. "What now?"

"I think we need to talk things through and then decide if we're going to tell mum and dad..."

"If?" she asked, fear in her voice.

"When..." he amended with a smile. He kissed her again softly. "We'd better go downstairs, tea must be nearly ready..."

"I want to stay here..." she whispered, "with you..."

"LAUREN... JOEY..."

"See..." Joey said, a definite smirk on his face. Her bottom lip slipped out and Joey couldn't help but kiss her again, "You are going to get me in so much trouble, LoLo..." he breathed against her mouth.

*JL*JL*

Joey and Lauren sat at the table as their parents brought in their plates. The family ate in silence and neither of the children picked up on the tension between their parents. Tanya stood and cleared away the plates once they were done. Lauren and Joey went to get up but were stopped by Max, "Sit down for a minute, kids... there's something your mum and I need to tell you..."

Joey and Lauren glanced at each other as they both sat back down. Did they know?

A/N: Any ideas what it is you think Max and Tanya want to tell their children? Do they know about their blossoming relationship? Let me know if you have any ideas. Back tomorrow... maybe. I can't promise there will be an update tomorrow as I have a "date" in Leicester with a certain Mr Witts... if not, there will be two updates on Sunday instead.