Here's today's effort. There are some Lauren/Joey moments in this one. Enjoy!

Chapter 10.

Joey was exhausted by the time he'd finished work. With the stressful events of the day and the previous twenty four hours before that he'd been pretty tired before he'd started work. Add in some overly friendly female customers and it had been enough to push him past breaking point.

He walked back to his flat and quietly let himself in. He walked through the hallway, trying to be quiet so he didn't disturb Lauren. He walked into his room and began to strip off his clothing, ending up in just his boxers. He walked over to his bed and lifted the covers, climbing in, almost on automatic pilot, so much so he hadn't even turned the light on. Just as he was resting his head on the pillow he realised he wasn't alone. Lauren was curled up in a tiny ball right next to him. Joey turned his head and looked at the tiny black lump lying next to him, staring into the darkness, surprised at seeing her there and yet, at the same time, not.

She stirred and turned to face him, "Joey?" she breathed as she moved towards him and wrapped her arm around his waist. It was in that second that Joey remembered his state of undress and he cursed himself internally. Why hadn't he anticipated her being here? She'd come to his bed the night before, he should've expected her to be there tonight as well. It was too late now. He couldn't do anything about it. He was just going to have to live with it and hope she was okay with it in the morning.

Despite the tiredness he was feeling, he was now almost fully awake. As he held Lauren in his arms he thought back over the conversation he'd had with Sharon. It wasn't until his chat with her that he'd even put a name to the feelings he had for the girl he now held in his arms. Now it was all he could think about. Unfortunately whatever way he looked at it, to him at least, it seemed a doomed relationship from the start but he wasn't going to give up on it completely. Not yet, anyway. Sharon's story of her and Dennis had given him some hope and it seemed that she, at least, might support them if they chose to go down that route.

Lauren breathed his name again, shifting even closer and he brushed his hand through her hair, pushing it away from her face and behind her ear. She smiled softly and it made him smile too. It was nice to see her so relaxed around him. He was glad she didn't find him threatening at all and given what she'd been through he would've understood if she had. He closed his eyes and tried to relax; hoping sleep would eventually come to him.

*JL*JL*

Lauren opened her eyes and found she was in what was becoming her favourite place to be; otherwise known as Joey's arms, her head resting on his chest and his arms around her body, holding her close to him. What was different today though, she found, was today Joey's chest was naked. She knew she should be disturbed by this; that lying in bed with her semi-naked cousin was not what you'd call normal behaviour. In fact she was pretty sure her parents would be pretty scathing if they were to see her now but she just couldn't bring herself to care. And anyway apparently most things she did seemed to disappoint her parents. Why should now be any different? Regardless of any of these issues, where she was lying now was a place she felt safe and secure. She knew Joey would protect her and look after her and she wasn't sure when that realisation had fallen into place. She guessed it was partly when she found him at the hospital with her. Was that really only two days earlier? It seemed like a lifetime ago. It had really sunk in though when she'd heard him talking to the police. She hadn't realised before that it was him who had found her. It never really occurred to her to ask how she'd ended up at the hospital before or why it was him that was there – she didn't question it in the slightest. In the scheme of things that had seemed pretty unimportant in comparison to everything else she'd been told. It made her feel warm inside though when she'd heard it was Joey that found her and he'd stayed with her almost all the time since then. She knew she didn't know him completely but she knew him enough to trust him and to know she could turn to him in a crisis. He'd proved that to her in the last couple of days.

The first night Lauren had been at his flat she'd slept restlessly in the spare room. Then she'd had the bad dream and she really didn't want to be in that room any more. She didn't want to be alone. She hadn't even thought about it she'd just gone into his room as if it was perfectly natural to do so. She needed him to hold her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay and he'd done just that. Once she was there she'd realised how safe he made her feel and she was able to sleep again without any disturbance from bad dreams.

Lauren had been hesitant the night before when she'd gone to sleep in his room rather than the spare room. She'd gone into the spare room first but in it she felt so alone and scared for that first half hour. So she'd gone to the place where she'd felt safest. And for her that was Joey's room. It was better when Joey was there but when she'd got into his bed she'd found she could faintly smell him in the room and it made her calmer somehow. She guessed Joey didn't have a problem with her being there or he would've gone into the spare room when he got home. Then again maybe he hadn't realised she was there.

Lauren felt his hand start to brush across her back and she knew that meant he was awake. The sensations his touch was sending through her body were confusing but she pushed that to one side; there were other things she needed to think about now. She opened her eyes and found him staring at her; much like he had been the day before. "Is this okay?" she asked softly, hoping he understood her question.

"You being here?" he asked, his hands pausing slightly as they brushed over her back. She nodded, her face heating as she watched his face for some reaction. "I don't mind if you don't," he said carefully.

For some reason his response left her disappointed and she wasn't sure why that was. He was still staring at her and she could see his eyes were almost smouldering in the dimness of the room. His hand reached up and he pushed some of her hair behind her ear, his fingers gently caressing her cheek as he lowered it again. She longed for him to do that again, wanting to feel his hands against her face. She remembered when he'd done it that first night. Just after he'd given her some of his clothes and she'd started to freak out about what life meant for her now. Now as she thought about it she realised what it was she wanted but she wasn't sure if she had the confidence in herself to ask him. "How was work?" she asked him, skipping to a safe neutral topic instead.

"Tiring, busy. I got quite a bit of hassle from some of the party goers."

"Anyone nice?" she asked, hoping her voice wasn't tinged with a hint of green. He shook his head. "What type of girl do you usually go for?" she asked and if you asked her what she was thinking asking a question like that in her current position, she wouldn't have been able to answer it. It kind of slipped out without her thinking about it.

"I don't know, Lauren," Joey hedged, unsure how to tell her his real answer.

"Come on, you must have a type. Everyone does." She pushed.

"Well, all of my past girlfriends have been blonde, skinny and very girly." He said, watching her face as he answered her. It wasn't a lie. What he'd told her was the truth. He just hadn't told her everything.

"Oh," she whispered, unable to meet his eyes. Neither of them spoke for several seconds until Lauren scrambled from the bed, making a run for the bathroom. Joey watched her leave, rolling onto his back once she was gone and trying not to imagine what she would look like in the shower.

*JL*JL*

There was a bit of an atmosphere between Joey and Lauren throughout the morning and the start of the afternoon, although both would deny there was anything wrong if asked. Joey ordered a taxi for after lunch and they managed to sneak out of the flat and into it without anyone they knew seeing Lauren. They sat about a foot apart in the back of the cab and Joey was itching to pull her closer to him but he was scared she would push him away. He'd written off the tension between them being down to her being nervous about going to the police station. What he didn't realise was Lauren was desperate for him to hold her in his arms, needing to feel safe and calm before she went to do this. She wanted to ask him but after what he'd said to her earlier she was already feeling pretty low, knowing that she wasn't even on his radar when it came to looking for a girl and she didn't want to be rejected again. She already knew the chances of her finding someone she could trust enough to get involved with them were sketchy at best. And for her, Joey was that person. However, from his response earlier the chances of Joey being that person had also been dashed, if they hadn't already been pretty non-existent anyway because he was her cousin. Lauren was losing hope fast.

*JL*JL*

Lauren and Joey sat in the waiting room of the police station, sitting in silence and the distance between them just as far as it had been all morning, even though they were now physically closer. Lauren's leg was twitching as the nerves built within her, bouncing up and down with increasing speed and Joey reached for her, his hand settling on her knee, stopping it and making Lauren look at him. Joey could see the tears in her eyes and he knew she wasn't coping well with the pressure of the situation. He couldn't imagine how he would feel in her place; being forced to remember the faces of her attackers in the vague hope they might be able to catch them. Joey's thumb brushed the side of her knee and Lauren had to force herself not to moan at the sensations this created. Who even knew that was an erogenous zone?

"Lauren Branning?" A female officer said after coming through a door drawing both their attention.

Lauren got to her feet and held her hand out to Joey, needing him in that moment. She couldn't do this alone and he'd promised he'd be there for her. She was pleased when she felt him take her hand and he squeezed her fingers gently as they followed the officer deeper into the police station.

TBC

A/N: So two steps forward and then one back... We now know what Lauren is thinking too. The thing is - will either of them do anything about it?