So here is today's chapter... Hope you like it. It's one filled with tension and it's the longest chapter so far. Enjoy!

Chapter 16.

The next couple of days were quiet for the couple. They spent more time together, gently continuing to get closer and closer without rushing it too fast. Joey could see she was beginning to return to the Lauren she'd been before this all happened. That's not to say there weren't problems during this time. Joey could see she was still hiding away from everyone and while he understood why she was doing it he knew she needed to face her family, it was the last hurdle. It was time she faced them. They'd discussed this of course and up until the day before Joey hadn't thought she would agree to it but then that had changed the night before and although she wasn't looking forward to it she knew she couldn't avoid it forever.

She'd also heard from DI Trent again, confirming that all five of the men had been charged and at their bail hearings they'd been remanded in custody and were all going to plead guilty. The application to keep her identity protected at the trial had been made and the judge had approved it. She was relieved because although she knew her family would know and in all likelihood the rest of the square would probably realise as well, she wanted everyone to know as little as possible.

Since the previous day Lauren and Joey had discussed their plan for what they were going to do and also had talked a little about their plans for the future. Joey had proposed the possibility of them leaving Walford and this was something Lauren was still seriously considering. The idea of a fresh start was appealing to her but she was also scared of doing it too. It felt like running away and for the first time ever, Lauren wanted to face up to what had happened to her.

*JL*JL*

That evening Joey stopped at the door and turned back to Lauren, "We don't have to do this, you know?"

"I know Joe."

He stared at her still slightly bruised face, "Everyone's going to be there, babe. Are you sure you're ready to face them?" Sharon had informed them that the family were all gathering at the Vic for a meal. Obviously their invitation must have got lost in the post...

"I am. I'm more worried about how you're going to react when you see them." She smiled at him with her words, although it was something that had been worrying her. Joey leant forward to kiss her softly.

"Alright then. I'll try and keep it together but I can't promise anything." He told her. He took her hand in his and opened the front door, walking out onto the square, "Now remember, if you need me at all, I'm right there."

"I know."

"And you know they're all going to ask questions about what happened." He said to her.

Lauren stopped and pulled on his hand so he turned back to face her, "Joey, you're starting to freak me out." She said, biting her lip, "Please stop or I might as well go back to the flat now."

"Sorry." He whispered, kissing her softly and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Let's get this done." Lauren said, taking his hand in hers again. At the door to the Vic she paused slightly and Joey squeezed her hand, hoping to give her the strength she needed to do this. She took a deep breath and pulled open the door, slipping through it with Joey close behind her. She'd known as soon as one person saw her it would quickly spread around the pub. Sure enough the pub fell silent, everyone staring at her bruised face as they stood just inside the entrance.

Joey took charge and moved them over to the bar, Kat standing on the other side, "An orange juice and a beer please, Kat." He said quietly. Kat nodded and started to get their drinks for them, her eyes kept glancing at Lauren. Joey could feel Lauren shaking as she stood next to him and he wished he could do something to comfort her but they'd jointly agreed to keep their new relationship status quiet for tonight.

Kat put their drinks on the bar, "They're on the house." She said, smiling gently at Lauren.

The door to the pub opened behind them and the couple heard several people walk into the bar, recognising some of their voices and automatically guessing who they were. Any noise that had resumed in the last couple of minutes fell by the wayside again as the rest of the pub waited.

"Lauren, sweetheart, where have you been?" It was Tanya who spoke and the family fell quiet.

Lauren felt Joey squeeze her hand in comfort and she slowly turned to face her family behind her. "Mum." She whispered.

Tanya gasped when she saw her eldest daughter and rushed forward to hug her. However, Joey stepped in front of Lauren before she could reach her, "Let me through to my daughter, Joey." She said, frustrated at not being able to get close to her. Max stepped forward, a frown on his face as he stared at his nephew. The rest of the family were behind them, looking at Joey in surprise, a mixture of shock and anger written across their faces because he wasn't letting Lauren's parents see her.

"Joseph, let your uncle and aunt through to your cousin." Derek said, stepping closer to his son.

"No." Joey said firmly. Having seen how she'd reacted the other day when someone other than him touched her, he knew it would be a really bad idea to let any of them close.

"She's our daughter, Joey." Max said.

Unfortunately this was the wrong thing to say to Joey and in that second he lost his temper. "Don't make me laugh." Joey hissed, stepping closer to his uncle, Lauren moving with him, clutching Joey's hand.

Max walked forward, his arm rising as if he was going to hit Joey. Lauren, who'd been peeking over Joey's shoulder, gave a little shriek and cowered behind Joey, her hands gripping the back of his jacket. Joey reached behind him and pulled her in front of him, into his arms, whispering softly to her, "It's okay, babe." He stared sternly at the rest of the family over Lauren's head as he hugged her and comforted her. Their carefully prepared plan was currently lying in tatters at their feet. Now it was just a case of dealing with the situation in the best way they could.

"Is someone going to tell me what's going on with my daughter?" Tanya cried out and Lauren flinched in Joey's arms at her raised voice.

The original plan had been Lauren was going to speak to her family and tell them what had happened. Now she knew she would never be able to do it. It had been nearly two weeks and her parents were acting as if nothing had happened. "Tell them..." she whispered to Joey, feeling his hand brushing up and down her back. "Tell them everything..." she added with a sob.

Joey froze briefly before pulling himself up to his full height and staring his aunt and uncle down, "Do you remember the last time we spoke, uncle Max?"

"No." He said, confusion marring his features, as he stared at his daughter wrapped in his nephew's arms.

"Do you remember the last time you saw Lauren?" His voice hardened as he asked this question. He saw from their reactions to his question that they knew what he was referring to. "I see you do." Tanya moved to lean against Max's body, his arm wrapping round her. Joey glanced at the other members of the family and he saw they didn't understand the conversation at all. That realisation kind of made him feel better.

"What's he talking about, Max?" Jack asked and Joey looked at Sharon, seeing her nod at him and smile in encouragement.

"We had a row with Lauren. Just the usual thing about her drinking. You know what she's like." Max said, his voice slightly defensive. His eyes were still focused on Lauren, a sense of dread appearing on his face.

"When was that?" Carol asked.

"A couple of weeks ago." Max admitted.

"Two weeks!" Carol spluttered. "You've not seen her for two weeks and you weren't concerned at all?"

"Mum," Bianca said, her hand resting on Carol's coat sleeve.

"NO! I want to know why my brother and his wife weren't concerned that their eldest daughter had disappeared off the face of the earth for two weeks?"

"We just assumed she'd got drunk somewhere and would come home in her own time." Tanya said.

"Really?" Joey asked, laughing harshly at the stupidity of what Lauren's mother had just said.

"Look, I don't know who you think you are, Joey but I don't like the way you're speaking to me or my wife." Max said.

"Have you remembered the last time we spoke yet, uncle Max?" His last two words were said with a sneer, disdain barely hidden in his voice.

"Joseph..." his father growled.

"Don't you start, Derek." Joey said, pointing his finger at him as he shot him a dirty look.

"Respect your elders, son." Derek said sharply.

"You know what, when my elders start acting in a way that demands respect then maybe, just maybe, I will." Joey said heatedly.

"What is it you're trying to tell us, Joey?" Jack asked, interested in what his nephew was clearly so angry about.

"Two weeks ago I called uncle Max in the middle of the night." Joey said, his voice deceptively calm as he stared at his uncle Jack. "He moaned about the fact I was calling so late so I told him I was calling about Lauren." Joey turned his face towards Max, seeing his uncle's face pale as he appeared to have finally remembered. "Uncle Max said it could wait until the morning and then he hung up."

"You never called me back?" Max said.

"No I didn't."

"Why not?"

"Lauren asked me not to." He explained simply. The room fell silent, everyone waiting for the action to continue. "So are you going to ask?" Joey said harshly after a couple of minutes.

"What?" Tanya said.

"My god! Do you care that little about her?" His voice was incredulous. His hand came up and he cradled the back of Lauren's head as her sobs increased in volume. "I obviously called for a reason that night. You weren't interested then and to be perfectly honest, you don't seem that bothered about it now. I mean it wouldn't have been anything important for me to call you at almost four in the morning, would it?" His voice was shaking with barely controlled anger and it was clear for everyone to see how upset the youngsters both were as they stood in the centre of the pub, everyone staring at them.

Jack moved so he was standing next to Joey and Lauren. His hand came to rest on Joey's shoulder, in an effort to calm him. His other hand rested on Lauren's back and he stared at her when she flinched and yelped. "Joey, I'm interested." He told him gently as he quickly removed his hand from Lauren.

Joey kept his eyes on her parents when he answered Jack's question, "I found Lauren on the ground outside the station. She'd been badly beaten and we were on our way to the hospital when I phoned."

Tanya began to cry in Max's arms and Joey found Max couldn't even look at him. "Lauren?" Abi said, stepping forward towards her sister.

"Abi, no..." Joey said gently, turning so he was facing the bar again and moving Lauren out of her sister's reach. Lauren was crying uncontrollably now and Joey's own emotions were beginning to fray around the edges.

Jack came to stand at the bar, his eyes meeting Joey's as he quietly asked, "Is Lauren okay?" Joey shook his head, looking Jack in the eye. "Talk to me Joey."

Joey couldn't do it. He needed to know Lauren was okay with him telling her favourite uncle. He leaned down, pressing his lips to her temple in a tender kiss, "Are you okay with me telling him, babe? Are you okay with everyone here finding out what they did...?" he whispered to her. She looked at him, her tears blurring what she could see and she nodded her head once. "Okay." He breathed, psyching himself up for what he was about to say. He turned his head to face their uncle, meeting his eyes and seeing sympathy pouring from them, "Lauren was raped and beaten by five men on the tube on the way back to the square." Jack's eyes widened and Joey could see anger wash over his face, "She managed to get herself back to the house to find she was locked out. I found her a short while later."

Jack moved quickly, grabbing the brother he'd always been close to by the collar of his jacket and shoving him back against the frame of the door. "Call yourself a father?" he growled.

"Jack!" Carol cried out, trying to pull her brother's apart.

"Did you hear what he just told me?" Jack hissed. Max shook his head. "Did you hear what they did to your daughter, Max?"

"Jack..." Max spluttered. "Give it a rest..."

"Give it a rest?" Jack shouted, "Your daughter was gang raped by five men, then left for dead. And when she tried to go home, when she tried to turn to her parents for the support and love she needed, you'd locked her out of the house!"

"We told her not to come home if she left..." Tanya said softly, trying to justify their actions.

"And you let her leave?" Carol gasped.

"We were at the end of our tether. We didn't know what to do. She's always drinking. She'd come home really late at night or not at all. We had to do something." Tanya said.

Max took advantage of Jack's distraction and pushed past him, striding over to where Joey and Lauren stood. "Get your hands off my daughter!" He said.

"No." Joey said firmly as he turned slightly to face his uncle.

"Joey, I'm her father and she's coming home with us, where we can look after her." Max tried again.

"Lauren is going nowhere with you." Joey said calmly.

Max moved quickly, his hand going to Joey's neck as he shoved him against the bar. Joey nudged Lauren out of the way just as quick. Max got in a couple of lucky punches and although he wanted to, Joey didn't react. His eyes kept flicking to where Lauren stood, ensuring she was okay at all times. He could see Sharon was standing near her, close but not too close. Max came back at him again, the anger on his face masking the pain at what he'd found out had happened to his daughter. Jack came up behind Max and pulled him of their nephew, seeing Joey also shove Max away from him. Derek stepped forward, deciding to interfere in the situation and restraining his son. It was unnecessary because Joey wasn't doing anything other than standing there but Derek got too close to Lauren for Joey's liking so he began to struggle against his father as he tried to get to the love of his life.

It was too much for her to handle. She could barely cope with what had just happened but seeing Joey suffer as a result of everything was more than she could bear to watch. "STOP!" Lauren screamed. The pub froze, all staring at Lauren. She was looking at Joey, his face the only thing she could focus on. "Let him go, uncle Derek." She whispered and despite her words having very little force behind them he did as she asked, seeing her face, the terror barely masked in her eyes. Lauren moved to Joey quickly her arms wrapping around his neck and hugging him tightly. "Are you okay?" she asked him softly.

"I'm fine, babe." He reassured her.

"Can we go home now?" she pleaded with him.

He brushed her hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ear then kissed her softly on the forehead, before tucking her under his arm and pulling her against his body. He led her out of the pub, ignoring the shocked faces of everyone surrounding them, ignoring the carnage they'd left behind. Joey, as he'd done for the last two weeks was putting Lauren first. Everyone else could look after themselves.

TBC

A/N: So there you go. This was a really difficult chapter for me to write - I really don't like nasty Max - but that was part of the challenge of writing this story. A challenge I set myself. What did you think? Did you like the way Joey stood up for his girl? Let me know in a review.

Three more chapters left... but I've nearly finished writing my next story and it's my longest EE one yet. Still needs editing and breaking into chapters (as well as finishing...) but I hope to get it to the stage where I can start posting this next week some time. So back tomorrow.