Lauren walked into the club later that night carrying one of her rucksacks, she walked over to the bar and took a seat. She watched as Joey worked his way along the bar, it was a busy night and she knew he would be a while. She picked up a beer mat and fiddled with it, and then began to pull it apart a layer at a time.

'We have to pay for those' Joey said.

She looked up at him and she put the bar mat down.

'Sorry' she said with a frown as she saw the mess she had made.

'It's alright they're only 1p a mat' he told her and he scooped it up and put it in the bin and replaced it with a fresh one. 'Do you want a drink?' he asked her, she shook her head. 'Okay well then clearly you've come to the wrong place, this is a bar and we serve drinks' he teased her

'Okay surprise me' she said without a smile

'Okay…' he frowned at her. He made her a cocktail and then poured it into a glass and he put in a red umbrella and he slid it towards her, she picked it up and took a tentative sip. 'Nice?'

'I guess' she shrugged 'How much?'

'It's on the house' he replied with a grin 'Perks of having a boyfriend who works behind the bar.'

'Thanks' she said. Joey frowned

'What's wrong?'

'Tyler's kicked me out of the flat for tonight. Romantic night in with Whitney' she explained

'Oh. So you didn't come here because you wanted to see me?' he asked her as he leant on the bar 'Do you want to stay at mine?' he asked her,

'Well it's not like I can go home is it?' she replied

'I'll take that as a yes' he glanced down the bar, 'I'll be back in a second'

Lauren watched him working, the way he charmed and flirted with the girls and laughed and joked with the lads. When he returned to her she had finished her cocktail. 'Do you want another?' he asked her

'Depends' she said

'On what?'

'If I have to pay for it. I forgot my purse'

Joey rolled his eyes 'You're lucky I fancy you' he said as he made her another and passed it to her.

'Won't you get into trouble with Sharon?' she asked him

'Nope' he grinned at her

'Are you on your own tonight?' she glanced at the bar

'Not anymore' he said 'You can keep me company'

'I meant you usually have someone helping you'

'Called in sick and Sharon and Jack's phones are off' Joey explained 'Why are you offering to help me?' he asked her half seriously.

'If you like' she said with a shrug.

'Come on then' he said and he nodded for her to come behind the bar.

The club closed and the last of the clubbers left and the bouncer gave Joey the all clear.

'Okay mate. Lock us in and I'll see you tomorrow' he said with a wave.

Lauren was clearing glasses from the tables and she picked up the crate Joey had given her and carried it back to the washer and she started to load the dirty glasses in as Joey had showed her.

'Leave them I can do it in the morning' he told her

'I've started it now' she said glancing at him. 'And there's not many left to clear'

Joey watched her as she went to fetch some more glasses. He poured her a large glass of wine and popped the lid of a beer for himself and he took them to one of the clean tables and sat down.

Lauren carried the crate back to the washer and put it down. 'Come and sit down' Joey said. She looked up at him and smiled and walked over to him, she slid onto the cushioned chair with a sigh 'Did you enjoy that?'

'Yeah it was kinda fun' she told him with a nod 'I thought I'd feel tired but I'm not'

'You're a natural. Good with the punters, a lot nicer to work with and look at than some of the other bar staff we've had working here'

She picked up her wine and took a long drink and then put the glass down on the table.

'There's something else bothering you' Joey said looking at her 'What is it?' when she didn't answer he put his beer down 'Lauren?'

She sighed 'I didn't mean to upset you earlier today' she said

'You didn't. I just…. It's not easy for me to talk about Derek' he told her

'Not even to me?' she asked him quietly.

'The washer's finished' he said and he got up and went behind the bar and emptied the clean glasses out and refilled it with the dirty ones and started it going again. 'We can go after this has finished' he said as he started to put the clean glasses away. Lauren nodded and she sat quietly.

Fifteen minutes later they arrived back at the house. It was dark and quiet, everyone had gone to bed. I followed Joey up to his room and he closed the door quietly and locked it. Lauren put her bag down on the bed and she pulled out her t-shirt and shorts. Joey sat down on the bed with his back to her. She quickly got changed.

'Wouldn't it be better if I slept on the sofa?' she asked him in a whisper

'Everyone will be gone when we get up' he said 'They won't disturb me'

'Do you need the bathroom?' he asked her

'Nope' she shook her head, she looked at the bed and she climbed in and rolled onto her side facing way from Joey. She heard him undress, turn off the lamp and felt the bed dip as he got in beside her. He lay on his back staring at the ceiling.

In the darkness Lauren could hear him breathing, she knew he wasn't asleep.

'Look, my memories of Derek are very different to Alice's' he said quietly 'He was a vicious bully Lauren. You know that yourself.' he told her, she didn't reply, Joey liked his lips and he signed and he sat up and clicked on the lamp. Lauren remained still. 'He broke my mother's collarbone' he said 'He broke her wrist, her nose, her jaw…..' he told her 'and I saw it all, the bruises, the casts, the blood' he continued. 'Saw him come home after spending hours in the pub drinking with his mates and beat the crap out of her for no reason at all' he told me 'He split my lip open once' he said 'There was blood everywhere…. That was the one time he ever looked guilty'

'How old were you?' Lauren asked him softly

He turned to look at her noticing she had rolled to face him 'Six' he replied 'He stayed way for 2 days, when he came back he'd brought me a bike' Joey said 'Said he was sorry' he frowned and stared into the distance 'He taught me to ride without stabilisers on it' he added almost as an afterthought. 'He was shouting and cheering, trying to get all the neighbours to come and look at me.' Joey frowned 'I remember once that I got my finger trapped in a door, hard enough to split the skin and make it bleed, mum said that I didn't even cry, I didn't make a sound, but Derek…Derek was in bits….' Lauren liked her lips listening to him talk. 'He wasn't around much, I had to grown-up be the man in the house' he told her 'Take care of mum, of Alice. I never understood why mum never pressed charges, I mean he was in trouble with the Police all the time, one phone call from her would have meant him going back to Prison'

'She loved him' Lauren said her voice only barely above a whisper. Joey's eyes shot to hers in surprise.

Joey shook his head 'She was scared of him'

'She loved him, despite of everything that he had done to her, to you, she loved him' Lauren said 'You can't help who you love Joey, no matter how much you try not to feel something' she told him 'You can try and hide how you feel, you lie to everyone, to yourself, pretend that you don't feel what you feel but in the end you can't hide from it. It's always there …under the surface.' She sighed and she looked at Joey 'Derek was your dad' she told him 'It doesn't matter what he's done in the past, what he did to people you love…..because he's gone…. He can't hurt anyone anymore' she licked her lips 'I'm not saying that you need to forgive him, you may never be able to forgive him. But you can't keep hating him …there's nothing to hate…..just a memory' she said and she slowly sat up and she reached out and he she ran her fingers over his cheek 'And that means that in the end he's winning' she said 'He's gone Joey… and on Friday he's going to be cremated and all that will be left of him will be ash' she took a breath 'He's never going to be able to tell you that he was sorry, to be proud of you, to see you get married, to see you have children of your own, to play with his grandchildren. He's gone Joey'

'I know' Joey said and he looked down

'Don't spend any more time hating him, that's not going to help anyone' she said 'He may not have been the best father to you, you may not have many good memories of him, but he loved you, anyone could see that, the way his face lit up when you'd walk into a room, only for a moment and then the mask would slips back into place' she told him 'And he loved Alice…you can't deny that. You saw how he was with her' Joey raised his eyes to look at her again 'And Alice loved him, the Derek she knew, and she needs you at the funeral Joey because she can't do this on her own. And you need to say goodbye too, if you don't you'll regret it for the rest of your life' Joey swallowed and Lauren moved forward and she kissed him tenderly 'and I'll be there with you every step of the way, I promise'

Joey closed his eyes and he pulled her into his arms and he held her tightly. After a while he left he go and she lay down, Joey lay down with her, his head on her chest, she ran her fingers through his hair as she felt his tears seep through her t-shirt.

AN: Aw,,Upset Joey.

Well does this mean that he's going to the funeral. Read on and find out… back later….

R&R and thank you all for the reviews I am happy that you like it.