A/N: So here's another small chapter. The story will start properly in the next chapter. This chapter will give you a little more information about the psyche of one Joey Branning.

Chapter 2.

When he finally finished work it was the early hours of the morning and Joey felt little better about the way the conversation had gone with his cousin. Especially how it ended and he could kick himself for letting his attitude towards his father affect the way he spoke to her. He left R&R, shrugging on his jacket and pulling it tightly around his body.

He walked up to the gardens in the centre of the square and sat on the bench. He really should be going back to the B&B but he needed to sit and think about things first. Tonight had been harder than he'd thought it would be. Why was he so caught up on a silly argument with someone he barely knew? This wasn't what he was usually like. He'd been in Walford about a month and it was difficult for him to feel settled. There was a large part of him that couldn't understand why he was still here but in his heart he knew his reason; Alice. He couldn't leave her here, at the mercy of their father. Even in his head that word was like a curse. Alice had been the reason he'd come to Walford in the first place; it certainly hadn't been his intention to hang around. And yet here he was, still here and sometimes it was hard to remember what it was that was keeping here. You see, recently there'd been something else keeping him in this location, keeping him in the last place he'd ever wanted to be and he'd been staring into her beautiful eyes for several minutes this evening... until he managed to piss her off. He shook his head as he sat on the bench and thought back to when he'd first arrived on the Square.

He'd taken great pleasure in punching Derek in the face and it had been that that sent a thrill through him. That had been something he'd wanted to do for such a long time. Then he'd seen her and that one glance had blown him away; shifting his priorities in a whole new direction. Of course she'd then introduced herself as his cousin, even worse another Branning and it was like a punch in the gut for him. How could someone like her be part of his father's family? He'd tried to pass off his reaction to her as if he was attracted to her friend, Lucy but really she'd paled in comparison to her. Lauren. It hurt to even think her name at times.

He hated to watch her drown herself in alcohol and at times he wondered if he could help her kick her dependence on the booze. He was sure her drinking was for another reason. Thinking back to her earlier words, he wondered if something had happened in her past that would explain why she drank so heavily. It was certainly something he could understand because there had been times in his life when he'd have done anything to try and forget some of his history.

*JL*JL*

"Joseph, Joseph, Joseph..."

It was his father's voice that broke him from his thoughts and when he looked up he saw the man standing not more than two feet in front of him. "What do you want, Derek?"

"Can a father not be concerned for why his son is sitting in the middle of the square in the early hours of the morning?"

"It'd be a first..." Joey said quietly, although not quietly enough.

"What did you say?" He growled at him, taking a step forward and getting in his son's face.

Joey stood up, his height giving him the ability to tower over the bigger built man. "I said it'd be the first time you were ever concerned about me, Derek." He spoke with such antagonism he almost spat his name.

"That is no way to speak to your father, Joseph."

"You're no father to me." He said softly. His head snapped back as Derek laid a punch on him, his heavy build enabling him to put some force behind the hit. Joey was seeing stars immediately but if the punch hadn't been followed by several more, he would've been able to stand his ground and give as good as he'd just got. It would've felt good to get another chance to get him back for the all the pain he'd caused over the years. Of course all this was supposition because he didn't get the chance to do any of this as the first punch was just one of many to make contact with his body and eventually he lost consciousness as the early morning dawn was lost to black.

TBC

A/N2: So was that what you were expecting? You now know how Joey feels. Does Lauren feel the same? May the angst begin... Send a review. You know you want to. :-) Next chapter soon.