A/N: So this chapter is the reason for the M rating but don't jump to any conclusions on what that means. However, you may want to have tissues handy as it's a bit emotional for one and all.

Chapter 14.

Tanya knocked softly on the door but didn't get any response. She pushed the door open quietly and poked her head around it. She spotted the two of them lying so closely entwined and she froze where she was stood.

"Tan?" Max said quietly as he walked out of their room. He could see her looking into Oscar's room.

"You didn't tell me she was going to be sleeping with him." She hissed, her voice a harsh whisper.

"She stayed with him because he's having nightmares. She didn't want him to be alone. She asked me if it was okay and I told her it was fine. She also promised me nothing would happen between them."

"And she always keeps her promises, doesn't she?"

"I trust her, Tan. She's grown up a lot in the last couple of days." He hugged her, "Don't make this more difficult for them, please."

Tanya sighed, "Okay. I just don't want her to rush into something she's not ready for. He's so much older than her."

"It's only just over five years. He's younger than I was when I met you." Max said gently.

His words threw her and she realised she was being unfair to her nephew. "You're right. We need to trust them both."

"Come on. Let's go downstairs."

"Should we wake them up?"

"Let's leave them. They'll come down when they're ready."

"I need to get to the salon anyway." She said as she walked down the stairs in front of him. "Are you going to the car lot?"

"No. Jack said he'd look after things there today. I want to speak to Joey and I think the police will want to speak to him too. I want to be here so I know what's happening with Derek."

"I'd better get to the salon then." She kissed him gently on the lips. "See you later?"

"I'll come and see you later. After I've spoken to Joey and Lauren. We need to sort out something with Alice as well."

"Okay." Tanya picked up her handbag and was gone out of the door within minutes.

Max went into the kitchen and began making some coffee. He knew today was going to be a long and emotional day for all of them still in the house. He grabbed his mobile and called the police station. "Can I speak to DCI Marsden, please?" He was put on hold for a couple of minutes then the call was forwarded to the correct extension. "Hi. This is Max Branning. I spoke to you yesterday regarding an assault on my nephew."

"How can I help you Mr Branning?"

"You arrested my brother yesterday, my nephew's father. I just wanted to get an update on what's going on."

"Your brother is still being held in police custody. We'd like to interview your nephew either today or tomorrow to get his statement. Given the statements from the security officers at the hospital and your statement, it's likely we'll be charging your brother with GBH."

"That's good." Max cleared his throat, "My daughter has been talking with my nephew and she told me last night that this wasn't the first time this has happened. I don't have any details yet but I'm going to be speaking to him later this morning."

"Would it be okay for me to send some officers round to hear what he has to say?"

"To be honest, I'd rather hear it first. I think it's going to be difficult for him to talk about it and I don't want him overwhelmed by too many people."

"Of course."

"I'll speak to him and ask him what he wants to do."

"The best course of action is if he reports everything. It's our best chance of getting a decent conviction."

"If he is charged, will Derek be released on bail?"

"Only if he can raise the bond money. I'm guessing your family won't be assisting in that?"

"Not if I have anything to do with it." Max muttered. "What if he's found not guilty... can we do anything to make sure this doesn't happen again?"

"That's quite a long way in the future, Mr. Branning... however, should that occur, there are steps we can take to ensure he doesn't get the opportunity."

Max looked to the door as he heard slight movement from upstairs. "Okay, well I'll speak to you later today. If there are any changes, please can you let me know?"

"Of course."

Max ended the call and sat at the kitchen table. The door opened and Lauren walked in, tugging Joey behind her. "Dad, I wasn't expecting you to be here." She said, surprised to see him.

"I thought we could have a talk; the three of us." Max didn't miss the way Joey tightened his grip on Lauren's hand. He was instantly tense. "Why don't you both take a seat?"

Lauren glanced at Joey, "Could we do this later?"

"I think it'd be better for Joey if we did this now?" he said. He stood and got them both a coffee, giving them both a chance to sit at the table. He plonked a mug in front of them both and then sat back down. "Joey?" His nephew was almost rigid as he sat in his chair. He sighed internally. He'd known this would be difficult but he hadn't expected this much resistance. "I just spoke to the police."

Joey looked at him sharply. "What did they say?"

"Once they have your statement they'll have enough evidence to charge Derek. He's unlikely to get out on bail, unless he's got a hidden stash of cash lying around. The detective said if you could give them as much information about everything as you could, there'd be a greater chance of him getting a longer conviction."

Joey's face turned in Lauren's direction. "I had to tell him, Joe. He needed to know and I needed to talk to someone." Joey frowned. "This is new for me, Joe. I don't know what I'm doing and I needed dad's advice." She told him quietly. Joey was silent and Max could see Lauren was getting more upset the longer he remained that way. She moved her hand over to his, tremors running through it. She left it facing palm up on the surface and very slowly Joey moved one of his hands to cover it, their fingers lacing together.

Again the room fell into silence. "The first time I remember Derek hitting me was on my fourth birthday. It was not long before Alice was born."

"What had you done wrong?" Lauren asked him.

"I knocked over a cup of juice. He backhanded me, knocking me off my chair onto the floor." Joey bit his lip as he seemed to fall back into his memories. "Mum had to cancel my birthday party. We couldn't have anyone spotting the bruises."

"How regularly did it happen?" Max asked.

"When I was young, it was a lot. Two reasons really. Firstly he was around more, it was before he'd split from mum and secondly I did a lot of things that pissed him off. I couldn't seem to do anything right as far as he was concerned."

"Was it just you he hit?"

"Sometimes mum would get a slap but usually it was just me. Just before he left us I'd learnt he would choose to hit me instead of mum if I did the wrong thing. If I could see he was getting angry I'd do something to draw his focus on me instead of her."

"Why would you do that?" Lauren asked.

Joey shrugged. "He usually didn't hurt me too bad. I knew it would hurt mum more than it would me. And I was scared he'd move on to Alice if I didn't."

"Did he still do it after he left your mum?" Max asked.

"Yeah. He still had access to us both. Alice wanted to see him so I had to go with her. I couldn't let her go and see him on her own. He'd wait until Alice was out of the way and then invent a reason to hit me."

"Is that where the scars come from?" Lauren asked. Joey looked at her startled. "I've noticed them a lot over the last couple of days."

"What scars?" Max asked.

"There's one on his jaw..." His daughter said.

"His ring cut open my jaw when I was six." Joey spoke as if he was in a daze.

"There's another just above his eyebrow." Lauren said softly.

"He pushed me up against a wall when I was ten. I tried to fight him off so he grabbed me by my T-shirt and threw me face first against the wall. There was a pipe that was sticking out of the wall and it broke when my face hit it."

A tear ran down Lauren's face and she wiped it away before speaking again. "There's one on his head, just in the hairline."

Joey smiled bitterly, "That was not long after my fourth birthday but it started the week after. I was upset about angering him and I didn't understand what was happening. I thought I could make it up to him; make up for whatever it was I'd done wrong in the first place. I didn't realise there was no making it better. That I was only going to make it worse by trying."

"What did he do?" Max asked quietly, already dreading the answer.

"When he got home for the day I got him a drink. I wanted him to love me and be proud of me. So I tried to get him a beer from the fridge. I ran to take the bottle to him but I tripped over my own feet and fell, smashing the bottle and creating an even bigger mess than I did on my birthday." His voice sounded almost clinical as he spoke. There was little emotion in his voice until he started talking again. "He was furious and I was so scared." Lauren stood from her chair and moved to stand beside him, leaning down and kissing the top of his head as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "I wet myself and that just made it even worse because then I began to cry. He said that only girls and babies cried. He told me I was too old to be a baby so I must be a little girl. He told me to tidy up the mess and he'd be back soon. He locked me in the house alone and I picked up the glass I'd broken. I cut my fingers open... there are more scars on my fingers and I didn't know what to do to stop the blood. I think you can probably guess the house was in a worse state when he got home. He dragged me into my room and ripped off the clothes I was wearing. He pulled this bag out of his jacket and inside was a dress that he made me wear." He stopped speaking, lifting the now cold mug of coffee to his mouth and taking a large gulp of it. "That day was the end of my childhood. It was the first time I hated Derek. It was the last time I called him daddy. He made me wear that dress every day for a month. Mum would leave with Alice in the morning and Derek would look after me. I hated him and everything he did made me hate him more. I was confused and I couldn't understand why he didn't love me; what I'd done to deserve the way he treated me. On the last day of that last week mum came home early and I went and changed back into my regular clothes. Derek was furious and when mum was putting Alice to bed he came up to my room and made me bend over his knee. He hit me with his belt. He told me I couldn't cry. If I cried he'd hit me for longer. I had to bite my tongue to stop from crying out but I managed it. He left me in my room and a little while later mum called me downstairs for tea. I blacked out as I was walking down the stairs and caught my head on the banister. I had to spend the night in the hospital. Derek stayed with me while mum was at home with Alice. I just wanted to be at home. I hated every minute of him being there because he made my life a misery."

Lauren was sobbing by now and Max couldn't even say anything to offer his nephew any comfort. Joey was visibly upset and he pulled Lauren onto his lap, allowing her to wrap her arms around him. Max could see she was talking to him, her words whispered in his ear but he couldn't hear anything she said, all he could hear was the words Joey had just said whirling around his head. Lauren spoke, drawing his attention back to the young pair, "There's a large scar on his shoulder."

"He broke my collar bone when I was six years old, the bone broke through the skin." His voice sounded tired now.

"There are scars across his back," Lauren whispered, her eyes locked on Joey's.

"After he left, when I'd go there with Alice, we used to stay the night at the place he had. Alice and I had to share a room so I would stay up later than her. He was smoking his cigars by then and this became his new form of punishment. While Alice was awake he would count up the number of infractions I made and then when she was in bed he would hold the tip of his cigar against my skin while he counted slowly to whatever number he'd come up with during the day."

"He burnt you with his cigar?" Max said, disgusted with the behaviour of his brother, someone he'd looked up to for most of his life.

"Yes." Joey replied.

"Lauren, you said there are scars on his back... how many?" he asked her.

Lauren looked at him, tears streaming down her face. She bit her lip and shook her head. "There are twelve scars." Joey said.

"Are there any other scars we should know about?"

"There's one at the bottom of my back... Derek went a bit too far with his belt when I was ten. There's another scar on my hip. I tried to fight him off one day... I think I was twelve. It probably wasn't long before he went to prison. In fact it might've been one the last times I saw him before I came to Walford. He didn't like the fact I hit him and he came at me with a knife. He stabbed me in the hip and he did it with such force it nicked the edge of the bone and I was in agony for about three months."

"What happened the other night, Joey?" Max asked.

"I'd finished work and as I was walking back to the B&B I stopped in the gardens. Lauren and I had had a row so I sat on the bench to think about things."

"This is my fault?" she gasped.

"No, Lauren. This isn't your fault." Joey told her.

"It's not your fault either Joey." Max added.

"Maybe." He said, "Derek found me in the middle of the garden and tried to say he was concerned about me. Because he was my father and that's what father's do. I told him he was no father to me and he went berserk. His first punch caught me by surprise. It was the first time in such a long time I guess I wasn't looking for it and he put a lot of force behind it. It stunned me and I couldn't put up a fight so he was able to get many more in. I blacked out fairly early into it I think. The next time I was aware of anything it was when Lauren found me."

"Did he do anything at the hospital?" Max asked.

"Besides when he was arrested?" Max nodded. "He came to see me when I first woke up after the operation. He wanted to know if I remembered anything. I lied and told him I didn't." Max was relieved. For some reason he'd been expecting worse. "He came back that first night, while Alice was there. I woke up but she was asleep this time. He said she'd told him I was coming to stay here when I got out of the hospital. That infuriated him. He wanted us to project the perfect family image to the rest of the square and I wasn't helping with that. He came at me and I tried to get away. He was strangling me with his hands and I began to struggle again. The only reason he didn't do more was because Alice was there. I reminded him that she might hear and even if she didn't, would he want her to be the one who found me in the morning and how would the injuries be explained if they occurred when I was in hospital."

"He's the reason you didn't sleep well that night?" Max asked.

Joey nodded, "The nightmares that started when I was a child began again, after eleven years of not having them. I could barely sleep without hearing and seeing him in my dreams." Joey yawned.

"You're tired." Lauren said. She got to her feet, "Come on," she said, tugging on his hands.

"Joey, about the police? Would you be willing to tell them everything you've told us this morning?"

He stared at the floor and then glanced at Lauren. "I can if you're both there with me."

"I'll speak to them and get them to come round this afternoon."

"Uncle Max... can we not tell anyone else in the family. I especially don't want Alice to know."

"If this goes to trial, she'll find out then."

"If it goes that far, I'll tell her before the trial." He yawned again and Lauren dragged him from the room and up the stairs.

TBC

A/N2: Was that a shock? I'm sure some of you suspected where this story was heading but I hope I managed to surprise you a little bit. So that's it for today. Tomorrow we'll be dealing with the aftermath of what Joey's told Max and Lauren. How do you think they'll react? Send me a review with your thoughts.