Discovering the Truth - Chapter 2
As the news of their Mam's departure starts to travel around the square, both Lauren and Abi find themselves seeking comfort in different people. While Abi spends time with Jay at No5, Lauren finds herself remaining quiet as she wakes up on the couch in No 23. As Lauren wakes up from a sleepless night, Alice and Joey talk as they sit eat breakfast in the kitchen.
"Joe, Lauren needs your support more than ever, you know, try not to get too involved as it will look like she wants something more" comments Alice. Alice finds herself in two ways as she wants Joey to be happy but she doesn't want him to be upset. Seeing both her brother and her cousin so heartbroken over the last few weeks has been hard and Alice doesn't want them to see them like that again and she watches as Joey walks away from her and out of the House on the way to work.
After seeing Joey comfort Lauren the night before, Lucy finds herself struggling with her jealousy and as she starts the rush hour for breakfast at the Café, she ends up taking out her anger out on Jay's breakfast, confusing the teenager and she is forced to keep her anger in check as she notices Lauren coming into the café to sit with Abi and Jay.
"Where did you go last night? I thought we were going to stick together" states a concerned Abi. The last few months for Abi Branning has been dramatic to say the least, seeing her eldest sister go off the edge and almost die has hit her hard and it wasn't for her boyfriend, Jay Brown being there for her she doesn't know how she would have survived.
"Abi, you know where I've been and before, you ask nothing happened and nothing will happen, me and Joe are over, I'll see you later, I need to talk to Dad" states a frustrated Lauren. Abi watches her sister leaves the café and can't help but worry about her sister's clearly fragile state and is thankful as Jay grasps her hand for support and finds herself phoning the one person that can help.
"Alice, I need your help, its important, our siblings need our support" reveals a concerned Abi. Abi doesn't notice as she converses with her cousin, a jealousy Lucy hatches her plan to break Joey and Lauren further apart.
After having an emotional conversation with her dad, Lauren returns to No5 to find Joey spending time with Oscar in the living room and she walks into the kitchen and ends up breaking down as quietly as possible but that doesn't stop Joey as he walks in to see Lauren clearly upset.
" Babe, you need to open up to someone, keeping it all in doesn't help anyone, you should know this" comments Joey and both of them find themselves sitting at the kitchen table, thinking about how stressful and how drained they have felt after what has happened in the last few months.
For Joey, seeing Lauren in such a state almost destroyed him. Seeing the love of his life almost die in the Hospital ripped him apart but seeing her trying to get her life together made him proud and he finds himself questioning everyday whether he made the right decision letting her go.
"Joe, I know you're right, I just don't know whether I can do this without my Mam by my side, you know? She wasn't the perfect mother but at least, she has protected me in the best way possible, especially in the last few weeks." states a shaky Lauren.
"Babe, I am here for you, day or night, I know things haven't been easy between the two of us lately but I will support through this not just you but Abi and Oscar as well" states a worried Joey. Lauren grasps onto Joey's hand and just as they are about to kiss, Oscar comes into the kitchen, wanting his sister's attention, causing the former couple to feel awkward as Lauren plays with her brother.
After spending time with Oscar and Lauren, Joey finds himself feeling weird and finds himself struggling to concentrate as he starts his shift at R&R and doesn't seem to notice as Lucy, Tyler, Whitney and Alice come in for a night out and as a manipulative Lucy comes up to order their drinks, Joey is forced to get his head out of the clouds and is forced to remove his hand from the bar as Lucy tries to hold onto it.
"Joey, is something the matter?" asks a fake-concerned Lucy, as she notices Joey being off with her. In recent months, Lucy has struggled with the fact that her former best friend "stole" her boyfriend from her and even after showing Joey what Lauren is really like, her jealousy is coming back after seeing Joey comforting Lauren the night before.
"It's just Lauren, I just wish she would open up more. I know her Mam leaving was going to have an effect on her, I just open she doesn't go down the same path she has just go off" states a scared Joey. Joey has never been as vulnerable as he has concerning his feelings for Lauren which causes Lucy's jealousy to continue as Joey was never like that with her.
" Joey, she is going to go down that path again, Lauren is a drunk and she will always be a drunk , nothing will change that " states an annoyed Lucy and she tries to hide her frustration as Joey forces a fellow barman to take his friends orders as he tries to think things through in the office.
With Joey disappearing from her view, Lucy discreetly leaves her friends and sneakingly checks into the office to find an upset Joey trying to phone Lauren and as Joey hangs up on his ex-girlfriend, he isn't prepared for when Lucy makes a move on him and he si forced to push her away.
"Lucy, what the hell are you doing, eh? You should know that nothing will ever happen between the two of us ever again, yea? Lauren is who I love, it was never you" states Joey and he leaves Lucy frustrated, knowing that she is going to have to work harder to get Joey back to herself without Lauren in the way.