Chapter Thirty-Seven

Later that night Lauren still hadn't heard anything from Joey. She'd been religiously checking her phone every hour to see if he'd called her or text her, but there was nothing.

She was now curled upon the sofa, with a blanket around her, holding a cup of hot chocolate with some little marshmallows floating on the top, her mum had made it for her as whenever Lauren was upset as a little girl it made her feel better. But it wasn't doing its job this time. Lauren doubted anything would make her feel better. Well there was only one thing that would make her feel better and that was hearing from Joey, but she'd given up on that actually happening. She reached for another tissue from the box which was lodged between the arm of the sofa and her and wiped away her tears. She sniffed and Tanya exchanged worried looks with Max. She hadn't been this upset when she'd broken up with Marcus. Tanya gave her husband a look and he got up and left the room, heading into the kitchen.

'Darling, I know you feel awful right now' Tanya said softly once Max was out of earshot 'but I promise you it won't last' she sat down beside her daughter, putting her arm around her, Lauren laid her head on her shoulder. 'You're not the first girl to feel crappy after having a one-night stand and you certainly won't be the last' she continued. 'Now not to make the same mistake again don't you, hey?' she asked her.

Lauren frowned, pulling away from her mother 'it wasn't a one-night stand, mum. He wanted to be with me, I know it. We're going to be together and work things out' she told her angrily 'I love him and I know he loves me!' she snapped and she slammed her cup down on the coffee table, slopping marshmallows and hot chocolate over the glass. She snatched up her phone and ran up the stairs. A few moments later Tanya and Max heard her bedroom door slam shut. Tanya sighed, closing her eyes as she realised she'd just made things worse not better.

*XX*XX*XX*XX*

Lauren dialled Joey's number again and as always it went through to his voicemail. She didn't leave a message. She'd already left 20. If he hadn't called her back after those why would one more make any difference? She sighed and dialled his number again, just needing to hear his voice.

*XX*XX*XX*XX*

Lauren woke up in the early hours of the morning and walked down stairs, made herself a coffee and carried it through to the lounge. She turned on the TV and started to skip through the channels to find something to watch. She settled on an old black and white movie she remembered watching with her Nan when she was little. She must have dozed off because the next thing she knew she was being shaken. She opened her eyes to see her dad there. 'There's a fresh coffee for you there' he told her with a smile. He grabbed the remote from her and flicked it over to the news. Lauren sighed and sat up, rubbing her eyes before reaching for the coffee.

'Thanks, dad' she said softly so she didn't wake anyone else.

'Anytime' he smiled at her.

*XX*XX*XX*XX*

Lauren wasn't really listening to the news. Abi had just got up and was making a fuss in the kitchen about someone not buying her favourite brand of cereal again and her mother was doing her best to placate her. Lauren sighed and she stood up. 'Going back to bed?' Max asked her.

'Yeah, this noise is doing my head in' she nodded towards the kitchen.

'Don't blame you' he smirked at her. She'd just stepped through the door when she heard the news reporter say something about an earthquake off the South American coast that was 8.5 magnitude on the Richter scale. It happened in the early hours of this morning, UK time. She paused in the doorway and turned back to the TV, moving back into the room. She looked at the map they were showing on the screen and frowned seeing Hawaii 'Lauren?' Max asked her worriedly when she sat down on the sofa.

'Ssh' she glanced at him briefly. Focusing her attention back on the news reader, but the report had already finished. She sighed and he frowned at her.

'It was off the coast Lauren, nowhere near Hawaii. There's nothing for you to worry about' her told her softly. She nodded her head.

'I'm heading up to bed' she told him.

'Alright darling' he smiled at her as she made her way up the stairs just as Tanya came into the room.

'Was that Lauren?' she frowned 'I hope she's going to get dressed. She's not moping around the house all day over some boy'

'Leave her Tan' Max asked her softly. 'She's tired. I found her on the sofa this morning when I got up' he looked at her 'I'll talk to her later tonight'

'You'd better' Tanya frowned and marched back into the kitchen and resumed shouting at Abi.

Max rolled his eyes with a sigh. There was nothing like the mornings in the Branning household.

*XX*XX*XX*XX*

Max came home for lunch and found Lauren on the sofa. 'Hello, sweetheart, fancy some lunch?' he asked her.

'Please' she nodded her head with a smile. Max smiled as he made his way into the kitchen, she was already starting to go back to being her old self. He heard the music signalling the news was on and then he heard a scream from the lounge, he dropped the glass he'd filled with water and rushed through, finding Lauren in tears with her face in her hands. He looked at the TV and saw aerial pictures of a tsunami.

'Where's that babe?' he asked her.

'Hilo Bay in Hawaii' she replied in a whisper. Max looked at Lauren and swallowed knowing what she was going to say next 'where Joey lives' a haunted expression on her face.

AN: So Tanya's trying to make Lauren feel better but not doing so well, with Abi throwing a tantrum about breakfast cereal and Lauren moping about the house she's near the end of her tether, but Max is being supportive. There's been an earthquake which has caused a tsunami off the coast of Hawaii…but is Joey there or is he with his mother in London? Don't forget to leave me a review… back tomorrow.