A/N: At last this chapter will give you some proper interaction between the two. Let's see how they get on.

Chapter 7.

Lauren glanced at her watch and it had been forty minutes since she'd left him. She'd ended up breaking her promise to him again. As she pushed open the door to the ward she saw a nurse at his side, "Is he okay?"

"He woke up and got a little frantic."

"I should've been here." She bit her lip as she glanced at Joey.

"Are you Lauren?"

Lauren nodded, "He asked me not to leave but my parents made me go and get some food."

"He was asking for you when he woke up. He cares about you a great deal, I think."

Lauren blushed at her statement and moved to sit at his side again. "Did you have to give him more drugs?"

"No, he fell asleep again a couple of minutes before you came back in." The nurse smiled at her again, "I don't think he'll sleep for long this time. I'll leave the two of you in peace. Let me know if he needs anything, I'll be just outside."

"Did his dad come and see him again?"

"No. Sorry."

"Okay." She was alone with him just seconds later. "Hiya Joe. Sorry I had to leave. My parents weren't taking no for an answer. I came back as soon as I could but I broke my promise to you again. I'm really sorry." She paused speaking and found she was brushing her fingers through his hair. When did she start doing that? She shrugged her shoulders and decided she didn't care, she liked it. Again she took some time to look at his face and she could see a small scar on his jaw that she'd never noticed before. There was another that was slightly hidden by his eyebrow and another in his hairline. She frowned and moved her eye line lower. She held her breath when she saw a much larger scar on his shoulder and suddenly she was afraid to look any further. How did someone get scars like that? Just what had he gone through in his past? He'd hinted at something last night; was it only last night? It felt like years ago...

He stirred on the bed and she looked up at his face again. He turned his head and looked at her, "You were gone..."

Her eyes instantly filled with tears as she heard the sadness in his voice. "My parents dragged me away to get some food." She clutched his hand, like she'd done when she first came to see him "I'm so sorry..." she whispered, unable to look at his face, feeling guilty for breaking her promise to him.

"I forgive you." He told her, squeezing her hand tightly.

His three words caused her inner resolve to break completely and she began to sob, lowering her head to rest on his forearm; her body shaking as the tears fought to escape. She lost herself to her tears for several minutes and it was only when she felt his hand resting on her head and brushing across her hair it caused her to pause. She realised his actions must be causing him pain as he stretched across his body to reach her so she lifted her head and looked up at his face. His hand brushed down the side of her face and he pushed her hair behind her ear before moving back to rest on the bed. He smiled at her and she could swear she saw a glint of something in his eyes but chose to ignore it for the time being. She cleared her throat and then with a slightly croaky voice broke the tension that had built between them, "My dad thinks you should come and stay at ours when you get out of here."

"I'll be fine at the B&B..." he told her softly.

"Joe... there's something I need to tell you about my past. It might explain a few things about my dad."

"Okay."

"I'm guessing Uncle Derek never told you about our side of the family?" she asked him and he shook his head. "My mum is dad's second wife. He married his first wife when he was really young and they had a son. His name was Bradley." She paused briefly and he squeezed her hand in an offer of support, seeming to know she needed it, "My dad had an affair with my mum... that resulted in me and it broke up his marriage as he left his first wife to be with my mum and me." She paused, "After that time he didn't see Bradley for a very long time. Obviously the split wasn't a good one and for a long time Bradley wanted nothing to do with any of us. Then a few years ago Bradley moved to Walford to live with Dot and Granddad because he had a job in London. My dad moved to the Square a few months later and he met Bradley. They had a difficult relationship initially; there was a lot of resentment between the two of them and it took a lot for Bradley to forgive my dad for abandoning him," Lauren paused and caught Joey's eyes.

"Sounds familiar... It sounds like our dad's are more alike than I thought..."

Lauren shrugged, "In some ways I guess but dad did really make an effort with Bradley, he wanted to know his son and most of the time things between them were great. Towards the end they were really close to each other. He started the car lot business with Bradley and he would do anything for him." Lauren stopped talking again, "There are a lot of painful things between the beginning and the end and when you get out of here I'll tell you it all, I promise."

"The end?" he asked her gently.

She nodded, "Bradley was on the run from the police for the murder of Archie Mitchell, Roxy's dad. He didn't do it but the police didn't know that then. Somehow Bradley ended up on the roof of the Queen Vic and he slipped and fell when they were chasing after him. He died. It happened in front of the whole square, including my dad. It really affected him, seeing his son die like that." There was another squeeze of her hand that she appreciated, "After Bradley died, it affected all of us I guess. I spent a lot of time trying to forget some of the things I'd done. I guess I'm still trying to forget really."

"It's why you drink?" he asked her and she knew he understood.

She nodded, "It's not just that... there are a lot of things I want to forget but it's one of them."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"Seeing you this morning... it got dad and I both thinking about Bradley."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. It's part of the reason why dad wants to you to stay with us. We've already missed so much of your life. You're family and you should be staying with family not living in a B&B. We all want to get to know you, Joe."

"Okay."

"Does that mean you'll come and stay with us?"

"I guess so." He smirked at her.

"Good." Max said and they both turned and saw him standing in the doorway.

"Dad, I didn't hear you come in."

"I just got here. I saw your mum off and there were a few calls I had to make."

Lauren wondered briefly how much of her speech he'd heard but said nothing more about it. "Thanks for everything, Uncle Max." Joey said.

"Get some more rest, Joey. Alice should be back in a few hours. Lauren and I will probably head home when she gets back."

"But dad..."

"Your dad's right, Lauren. You can't stay here all the time..."

"But I promised..." Her eyes filled with tears again at the thought of letting him down once more.

"It's okay. We'll have plenty of time to get to know each other when I get out of here..."

TBC

A/N2: So now were finally at the point where the storyline will begin to develop more. Hope you're enjoying it - let me know what you think. Next chapter later today...