Well Sharon is as popular as Tanya is then... Oh well... she's gone now... It seems you all wanted to have a second chapter tonight... let's see if this one gets as many reviews... I hope it does...

Chapter 17.

Lauren opened her eyes and she realised she'd slept through the rest of the morning and it was now early afternoon. Her stomach rumbled as if to confirm she'd missed lunch so she got up and went to see if she could find something to eat. Jack was sitting at the table in the kitchen, working on some paperwork for the gym by the looks of it. He glanced up as he heard her moving around. "Hello sleepyhead..." he teased her softly.

"Sorry..." she whispered.

"Don't be silly, babe... I was only teasing you..." He said, putting down his pen. "Do you want something to eat?"

"No, it's fine... I can wait until tea time..." she said, although she was starving she didn't want to put her uncle out. Any more than she already had anyway…

"It's fine, I've been waiting for you to wake up before I had my lunch..."

"You should've woke me up, Uncle Jack..." she said as she walked into the kitchen to help him get something.

"Hey..." Jack said, turning to face his niece. He tilted her chin up so she was looking at him, "You needed the sleep and I was perfectly fine waiting for you... now stop apologising for everything, babe." He told her.

"Sorry..." she whispered, both of them laughing a couple of seconds after she'd said it. They made their lunch together, "Where's Sharon and Denny?" Lauren asked.

"They've left..." he told her, "We've split up."

"I'm sorry, Uncle Jack... I didn't mean to cause this much drama coming back..." she told him softly.

"What did I say, Lauren?" he reminded her.

"I know... but she wouldn't have left if it wasn't for me..."

"Things weren't working, darling... and they hadn't been for a long time." He said, telling her the same thing he had told her when he'd brought her home that morning. "Now, I spoke to your sister and she and Oscar are going to come over here for tea... I've even managed to convince your dad to let Oscar stay the night so you can read him his bedtime story."

"Won't we be in your way?" Lauren asked him.

"Of course not... and I thought it will give your parents a chance to talk about things... I also told your dad what I thought about what your mum said to you..." He looked at Lauren, seeing tears start to well in her eyes, "I'm sorry, darling... I didn't think she would be like that with you... they'd both said they were missing you and wanted you to come home so I thought it would be alright this morning..." he pulled her into a hug and she hugged him back.

"Thanks Uncle Jack," she told him softly.

*JL*JL*

Lauren was waiting for her siblings when the doorbell rang and she ran to open it, hugging them both tightly in the doorway. "Come in guys." She said. Lauren helped Oscar take his jacket off and she took off the backpack of toys and clothes he had brought with him. "What would you like to do, Oscar?" she asked.

"Can we play a game?" he asked, suddenly looking a little shy.

"Did you bring one or shall we see if Uncle Jack has one we can play...?"

Oscar shook his head, "I forgotted to pick it up, Lolly... shall I go and get it?" he whispered.

"It's fine, Oscar... I'm sure Uncle Jack has something we can play..." Lauren said. She picked her brother up in her arms and they went over to the cupboard. Lauren soon found a pile of games she guessed were left from when Penny visited. Inside was a snakes and ladders game which Oscar chose so Abi set it up for the three of them to play at the table. They started to play the game and for several minutes there was silence apart from the roll of the dice and Oscar cheering every time he threw a six or landed on the bottom of a ladder (which he did quite a lot).

"Lolly...?" Oscar whispered as they were waiting for Abi to pick up the dice from under the table.

"Yes, little man," she said gently.

"Why were you crying earlier?" he asked, looking at her in concern.

"It's complicated, Oscar," Lauren said, glancing at Abi as she returned to a sitting position.

"I told you earlier, Oscar... mummy, daddy and Lolly has a disagreement and Lolly got upset... it'll be sorted out soon..." Abi reminded him.

Oscar stared at his big sister, his chin resting on his hands as he leant on the table and he stared at her, "Are mummy and daddy angry with you, Lolly? Is that why you're not at home?" he asked.

"Mummy is upset with me, Oscar... I'm not sure about daddy... he might be too, I guess." Lauren admitted softly, "but like Abs said... it'll be sorted out... there's no need for you to worry about it..."

"But I want you to come home, Lolly... I miss you..." he whispered. "I want to tell you what I did at school when I get home and then I member you aren't there..." he said, looking more upset with each word he spoke, "I can't go and get into bed with you when the monsters come in the night..."

"You can come to me, Oscar..." Abi said softly.

Lauren reached for her baby brother and pulled him into her arms. Lauren kissed his forehead, frowning at her sister in concern when Oscar broke down in tears, his whole body shaking in her arms. "Sshhh, little man..." she said softly, rubbing her hand up and down his back. A couple of minutes later he had calmed down a lot, just hiccupping every now and again as his head rested on her shoulder.

"Why did you leave us, Lolly?" he whispered, "Don't you love us no more?" he asked.

"Of course I love you, Oscar... I've missed you and Abi more than anything since I've been gone..."

"Then why did you go?" he asked.

"Because I needed to leave..."

"But why?" he asked again.

"You remember Joey who came to stay at the beginning of the summer?" she asked him softly.

"Alice's brother?" he asked.

"Yes, that's the one..."

"He was nice... he played football with me in the garden..." Oscar said.

"Well I love him very much, Oscar... like how mummy loves daddy..." she said.

"Do you have fights all the time like they do?" he whispered quietly.

"No, little man... we don't..." she said, looking at Abi in concern. Abi shook her head and Lauren knew it was a conversation for a later time. "Anyway, Joey went home after a few days, do you remember?"

"I member, Lolly..." Oscar said, nodding his head.

"Some bad things happened to Joey when he was home and he was quite upset about it so he came back here... wanting to see me... he needed my help... You remember when he was here again, right?" she asked.

"I do, Lolly... he saw the monsters too, didn't he? Cos he had bad dreams that night... he was shouting lots..." Oscar whispered.

"He did, Oscar... the monsters scared him quite a lot..." Lauren said, closing her eyes as she remembered that first night after he'd told her about the attack. "Well after that night, mummy and daddy thought it would be better if Joey went home to his own mummy... instead of staying at our house..."

"Why?" he asked, frowning at his sister.

"They were worried Joey's monsters would frighten you too much... and Joey's daddy was saying bad things about Joey as well... he was telling lies about Joey..."

"Lies are bad, right?" Oscar said.

"Yes, Oscar, they are... really bad..." She whispered, "So I went with Joey, Oscar... because he needed me and I wanted to be with him and help him..." She stared at him as she finished speaking, seeing he was thinking through what she'd said.

"But I need you too, Lolly..." he whispered, "Don't you want to be with me...?" he asked her softly, his bottom lip already quivering.

"Oh Oscar... it's not that I don't want to be with you... I do, very much... you're my special little man... why would I not want to be with you?" she asked him, hugging him against her. "It's just Joey needs me more than you do... there's no one else that can help him..."

"What about his mummy?" he asked, frowning at her.

"Joey can't talk to his mummy about stuff... not because she isn't nice, she really is... but he doesn't want to make her sad by telling her the bad things..." she explained gently.

"So he's going to make you sad and tell you instead?" he said.

"He doesn't tell me everything, he has a special lady he goes to talk to about the really bad things... and she helps him cope with them... but he tells me some of the bad things and I help him too."

"Can't you do that at our house?" he asked.

"No, Oscar... Joey doesn't want to be in Walford because his daddy isn't very nice to him and he's said some wicked things which are all big lies and now lots of people think those lies are the truth so he can't stay around here."

"He could tell everyone they're big fat lies... we could help him..."

"Maybe one day, Oscar... but now he's got other stuff to think about?"

"What other stuff?" Oscar asked innocently.

"Adult things, little man…" Lauren whispered, "Things that make him very sad…"

Oscar was quiet for a couple of minutes and the game continued. When it got to being Oscar's go again, he looked at Lauren, holding the dice in his hands, "If Joey needs you so much, Lolly... how come you're here?" he asked, "Does he not need you there no more and you're coming home?" he added, excitement washing over his face at the thought of her returning home.

"Oh little man..." Lauren breathed, "I'm just here for a few days... I wanted to see you and Abs, didn't I, eh?"

Oscar stared at her intently and Lauren wondered what he was going to ask next. She didn't have to wait long to find out. "Do you love Joey more than you love me?" he whispered.

"No, Oscar... it's a different kind of love that I have for you than how I love Joey..."

"I don't understand..." he said, his face scrunched up in confusion.

"Well, you know how mummy and daddy love each other, right?" she asked. Oscar nodded. "And how Grandma Dot and Granddad Jim love each other...?" she said. Another nod from her brother. "Okay... now you love me and Abi because we're your sisters, yeah?" she asked.

"Course I do, Lolly... don't be silly..." he said, giggling at the absurdity of her question. As if he wouldn't love his sisters...

"Do you see it's a different kind of love that we have for each other than how mummy and daddy love each other?" she asked him.

He thought about her question, "Is it cos they kiss each other? And cuddle and things...?" he asked.

"A little bit I guess..." Lauren said, glancing at her sister and see a smirk on her face. "The way I feel about Joey is the same as how mummy and daddy feel about each other... so it's different to how I feel about you... I still love you all though... just differently..." she tried to explain.

Oscar threw the dice across the table and then moved his piece, climbing up a final ladder and winning the game. Just as him and Abi were setting up for another game Lauren's mobile rang. She glanced at the screen after pulling it out of her pocket and she saw it was Joey calling her. She bit her lip, wondering if she should answer it or not. Again she glanced at her sister, who seemed to understand what she was thinking.

"Is it Joey?" she asked. Lauren nodded, still considering whether to answer it. "Talk to him, Lauren... Oscar and I will be fine here..." Abi encouraged her.

Decision made, Lauren shifted Oscar off her lap, answering the call as she stood, "Just a second, Joe..." she said as she headed towards Uncle Jack's bedroom. She shut the door and then sat on the edge of the bed, taking a deep breath, "Hi, Joe..." she said softly, her heart racing as she waited for him to speak.

"I didn't think you were going to answer..." he murmured into the phone.

"Nor did I to be honest..." she admitted.

"Why did you leave, babe?" Joey asked her.

"I just needed some space, Joe... my head was all over the place and I'm not going to be any help to you like that, am I?" she said.

"When are you coming back?" he asked.

"I'm not sure yet..." she whispered.

There was silence on either end of the phone but eventually Joey spoke, "but you are coming back, right?" he asked her.

Tears wells in Lauren's eyes and she wiped them away when they started to fall. "I think so..." she replied.

"But you're not sure...?" he said.

"No... not yet..." she told him, knowing she couldn't lie to him.

"Is it because... because we're not having sex?" he asked and his question made her cry as the vulnerability in his voice hit her hard.

"No, Joe... of course it isn't... I told you I could wait forever..." she reassured him, "So you do want me to come back?" she asked him.

"More than anything..." he whispered, "I miss you... I want to hold you in my arms... I want to sleep with you in my arms..." Lauren collapsed back on the bed, the tears falling faster now as his words brought out various emotions within her and soon she was sobbing into the phone. "Don't cry, babe..." Joey told her softly, "Please... don't cry..."

The emotions in his voice was making her pain worse and she pulled the phone from her ear, ending the call quickly before starting to cry harder. Her phone started to ring and she knew it was Joey without even looking at the screen. She ignored it... she was in no fit state to talk to him at the moment. The ringing stopped after about six rings but she knew he would try again. Sure enough within the space of two minutes he tried again. This time she rejected his call, the ringing stopping abruptly. The third time it rang the door to the bedroom opened and her brother and sister appeared in the doorway. Abi walked over and picked up the phone, answering it and explaining quietly to Joey why Lauren couldn't talk at the moment but she would get her to call Joey as soon as she could. She paused, listening to what Joey was saying on the other end and she promised him again that Lauren would call him. Meanwhile Oscar scrambled onto the bed and hugged his sister tightly, not liking the fact she was crying. Lauren clung to him, her sobbing increasing in strength and soon Abi was also lying with them; the two younger siblings hugging their elder sister tightly, trying to offer her comfort.

*JL*JL*

It was at least half an hour before Lauren stopped crying by which time she was exhausted. Abi was lying behind her and Lauren could feel her running her fingers through her hair. Oscar was curled up in front of her, his head buried in her chest and he was clutching one of her hands.

"Does Joey make you sad, Lolly?" he asked her softly once she was no longer crying.

"No, little man... he doesn't..."

"Then why were you just crying?" he murmured.

"He was telling me how much he's missing me, how much he loves me and he wants me to go home..."

"You are home..." Oscar interrupted her.

"I'm not, Oscar... not anymore... My home is with Joey now..."

"Oh..." he said and Lauren knew her words had just hurt him so she hugged him a little tighter. None of them spoke for several minutes but eventually it was Oscar who broke the silence. "If it makes you so sad being apart from him, Lolly... you should go back... home..." he told her, stumbling slightly over the last word. "I don't want to see you sad..." he added. "I'll miss you very much though..." he added in a whisper.

"I'll miss you too, little man..." Lauren whispered. She kissed the top of Oscar's head softly. "I won't go back for a couple of days yet, I promise..." she said. "Maybe we could spend the day together tomorrow...?" She suggested.

"That would be nice..." Oscar told her. He pulled away from her slightly and looked up at her face, "Do you think Joey would like to spend the day with us too? Maybe it would make him feel better as well..." he said.

"Maybe Lolly can ask Joey when she calls him in a minute..." Abi suggested.

"I will ask him," Lauren said, "but he might not be up to it..." she warned them.

"I'll be a good boy..." Oscar said, "I pwomise..."

"Why don't we go and wash our hands and faces, Oscar and Lolly can call Joey and ask him..." Abi said. Oscar kissed Lauren on the cheek and then clambered off the bed and went with Abi to the bathroom.

Lauren took a deep breath and called Joey back quickly, before she could chicken out. He answered on the first ring. "Babe?" he said softly.

"It's me..." she confirmed, "Sorry... hearing your voice made me realise how much I missed you..." she said.

"You scared me... I thought you weren't going to come back..." he admitted. "And you were too afraid to tell me…"

"I will be home... in a couple of days. I want to spend some time with Abs and Oscar... Oscar's upset about me leaving and he's been missing me too and I get the feeling there's some drama going on between mum and dad too so I want to speak to Abs about it... make sure she's okay..."

"How are things with your parents?" he asked, knowing it had been a key reason for her return to Walford.

"Not great... mum tore into me this morning when I went over there to talk to them both. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to fix it to be honest but I need to give it another try..." she told him. "Anyway, me, Abs and Oscar are spending the day together tomorrow and Oscar wondered if you'd like to spend it with us too... he thinks it might make you feel better..." she said softly. "You don't have to if you think it'll be too much but I do think he's right... a day away from the house, having fun could be just what you need..."

"What would we do?" he asked.

"I hadn't got that far in the thought process really... something that will keep an active four year old occupied for a few hours..."

"I think I'd like to do that..." Joey said softly and Lauren smiled.

"I'll speak to Uncle Jack tonight and see if we can come up with something and I'll text you to let you know. We can come over to yours in the morning and then make our way there..." she said.

"I'm looking forward to it already..." he told her and Lauren could hear he was smiling.

"We'll see you tomorrow then..." she said.

A/N: So that was an emotional chapter, wasn't it? I think this was a step forward in Joey's recovery and of course Oscar was just adorable again… I wonder what they'll decide to do on their day out. Any ideas? SEND ME A REVIEW. Back tomorrow…