And so the drama begins... Enjoy!

Chapter 9.

Lauren and Joey walked across the square. Both of them were watching for any sign of Derek but he appeared to not be around, fortunately. Joey was watching Lauren carefully. He knew the last hour or so had been difficult for her. "Where are we going?" he asked her softly.

"We can go to the park or the cafe?" she suggested.

"How about we start at the cafe and then maybe go to the park when we're done there?" he said.

She smiled at him and began to lead him towards Bridge Street. "I should warn you, none of my friends know about my drinking problem. I mean, they know I've had issues with drinking but I never told them about quitting the alcohol and facing up to it all a couple of years ago. I haven't seen much of them since I quit. I stopped going out to the pub or the club. To be honest, I'm surprised they're still friends with me, I've been an appalling friend."

"Hey, they came to see your show yesterday, didn't they? They wouldn't have come if they didn't care about you." He told her softly as they walked into the cafe. Joey went to sit at the table in the window while Lauren went to get them a drink. Lauren could see Lucy behind the counter and part of her was wondering if her friend would say anything about what happened the day before. "Hi, Luce." She started quietly, "A coffee and a tea, please?" she asked.

Lucy was looking at her, "How are you after yesterday?" she asked softly.

"Alright, I guess." Lauren replied.

Lucy stared at Joey for a few seconds then turned back to her. "We're all okay with everything, you know that right?"

"You are?" Lauren whispered.

"Course, we are, Lauren. You're our friend." Lucy looked at her in shock when she saw the tears pooling in her friend's eyes. "Why don't you go and sit down and I'll bring these over to you?" she suggested.

"You should come and sit with us?" Lauren asked.

"Okay, as long as I won't be disturbing anything..."

"It's fine, Luce." Lauren walked over to the table and sat down next to Joey. "Lucy's going to bring our drinks over and join us, if that's okay?" She said. Joey reached for her hand and squeezed it gently, threading his fingers through hers. He frowned slightly as he saw the evidence of the tears in her eyes.

Lucy got to their table a minute or so later and put their drinks in front of them. She returned a few seconds later with a mug for herself and a small jug of milk. "Hi, I'm Lucy..." she said, introducing herself to Joey.

"Sorry, Luce... I didn't even introduce Joey yesterday. It's just it was a surprise to see him there and then it was time for the show and well, you know the rest." Lauren looked flustered and Lucy giggled, "Lucy, this is Joey." Joey flashed a smile at Lucy and nodded his head.

"So, you're Derek's son?" Lucy asked cautiously, knowing she was treading on a difficult subject.

Lauren nodded, her eyes not quite meeting her friend's. "All of my life, unfortunately," Joey said, "Yesterday was the first time I'd really seen him since I was seven."

"Wow, that's a long time." Lucy said, "So I take it he wasn't supposed to be there yesterday?" she asked.

Lauren shook her head, "No. Dad managed to get him away from the square but Abi invited him behind everyone's back."

"Abi?" Lucy gasped. It was very atypical behaviour for the younger Branning daughter.

"Yeah." Lauren whispered. Joey leant over and kissed her softly, smiling when he saw her cheeks turn pink.

"Well, come on, Lauren. I want all the details. You've kept this guy hidden from us all for so long. Tell me about it? It's been so long since we've hung out."

"Why don't we organise an evening with you and Lauren's other friends and she can tell you everything all at the same time?" Joey suggested.

Lauren smiled widely, squeezing Joey's hand in thanks, "How about tonight?" Lauren said, glancing at Joey and seeing him nod in agreement, "We don't have to go home till later..."

"I'll ring round everyone and we'll see you later?" Lucy said, looking pretty excited, "I'd better get back to work. It was nice to finally meet you, Joey. Shall we meet tonight at Tyler's later?"

"Yeah, okay. Let me know what time later?" Lauren said.

"Nice to meet you too, Lucy." Joey said. Lauren felt exhausted and she leant against Joey, "You okay, babe?"

"Yeah." She glanced up at his handsome face, "When do you want to go and see your mum?"

"Why don't I give her a ring now and we can go and see her, if you're okay with that?" Lauren nodded and Joey pulled out his phone. "She's home all day," he said a couple of minutes later.

"Come on then..." she said. They walked out of the cafe and started down towards the tube station.

"Well, if it isn't the kissing cousins!"

The whole street seemed to stop as they all heard what he'd said. Lauren groaned softly and turned to face her uncle, Joey following suit. Lauren pulled her mobile from her pocket and made a call. Derek stalked down the street as Lauren whispered into her phone. "What do you want, Derek?" Joey said harshly.

"Not got a hug for your old man?" he sneered.

"No." Joey said shortly. His eyes moved from side of the street to the other and he could see they were the focus of the whole market. He saw that Lauren had finished calling her dad and he stepped closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Oh, isn't that sweet...?" Derek said mockingly.

"I asked you a question, Derek..." Joey said, his voice deepening as he felt the familiar threat from the man who'd plagued his early childhood.

"DEREK!" It was Max and he was jogging towards them. Jack wasn't far behind him. "Leave them alone, Del." Max said, moving to stand in front of Lauren and Joey, forming a barrier between them and Derek. Jack stood to one side, close enough that he could intervene if necessary.

"You can't tell me what to do with my son..." he scoffed to his younger brother.

"He hasn't been your son since he was seven," Max replied. "You didn't even tell us you had a family, Del. What does that say, eh?"

"What's wrong with you, Maxy? How can you let this happen?" Derek asked.

"They're in love with each other..." Max said. A murmur went around the market at his words.

"You should be putting a stop to it. It's disgusting, that's what it is." He spluttered.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Del. Don't judge something you know nothing about..." Max said.

"He's MY SON! And she's YOUR DAUGHTER. It's wrong..." He was getting more irate now; annoyed his brother wasn't following his instructions. "I know your Lauren doesn't have many morals but surely incest..."

Max stepped forward, grabbing his elder brother by his coat lapels, "What did you just say about my daughter?" he hissed. Joey was hugging Lauren now, as she cried into his shirt.

"You heard." Derek muttered.

"Firstly my daughter is a better person than you will ever be. She's changed her life so much in the last two years and a lot of that is due to your son. You... you've not changed since you were a child, Del. You were a bully then and you're a bully now." He said to him through gritted teeth. "As for your second half of that sentence, it isn't incest. It's not even illegal. Joey's mum, your ex-wife checked. You see, we all want the two of them to be happy. They're happier together than they are apart and that is all the three of us want for them. You don't have any say in the matter."

"Who says?"

"Me." Joey said, staring at his father.

"Me," Max said.

"And me." Jack added.

Max turned to his daughter and his nephew, "Why don't you go where you were going a minute ago?" he told them, staring in concern at Lauren.

"Thanks daddy." Lauren whispered. They both left the middle of the market, aware of people watching them go and headed once more for the tube station. They got their tickets and headed for the platform.

"You okay?" Joey whispered as they waited for the train to come in. She nodded against his chest. "No, you're not and it was a stupid question. I'm sorry." The tube pulled up and the two of them walked into a carriage. Joey leant against the side wall and pulled Lauren into his arms.

"Everyone knows now then." She whispered.

"Yeah, babe." His hands brushed over her back.

"Oh god..." she breathed.

"It'll be okay. Your dad and Uncle Jack will make sure you're okay. And I'm going to be there, babe. As much as I can be."

*JL*JL*

By the time Joey and Lauren arrived at his house Lauren was a little more relaxed. Joey pushed her into the lounge and told her to take a seat. He then went into the kitchen and found his mum. "Hi mum." He said softly, startling her slightly.

"Joe..." she said. She looked at her son, "You okay?"

He nodded although his face told her otherwise. "Where's Alice?"

"She's gone to see some friend's. She'll be back this evening."

"What's happening with her and dad?" Joey asked.

"Let's take this into the lounge... Lauren should hear it too." Lesley said. They walked into the lounge and Joey sat beside Lauren, pulling her into his arms. "Alice wants to see your dad..." Lesley whispered.

"You're not going to let her, are you?" Joey asked.

"I'm not sure I can stop her, Joey. She's an adult now and I don't have a right to stop her from seeing him. It's the last thing I want but I don't think I have a choice. And if I don't let her, I'm worried she'll do it anyway and I'll lose her completely."

"Maybe it's time you told her everything..." Lauren whispered. "I'm sure if she knew what he was really like she wouldn't be so keen." Both of them looked at her, "You've protected her from the truth all her life... I just thought you should tell her what it was really like for the both of you. Then she'll be able to make an informed decision. If she still chooses to see Derek after that, at least she'd be prepared. If she sees him now and, god forbid anything bad was to happen, she wouldn't be expecting it. That would be a horrible way to find out the kind of person your father really was."

"I think she's right, Joe." Lesley said, "You're a pretty smart girl, Lauren Branning."

"Well, she's going out with me..." Joey said, smiling at his girlfriend. Lauren slapped him but she was giggling. "Mum, Lauren and I wanted to talk to you about something..."

"Go on..." Lesley said with a smile.

Joey looked down and then quickly at Lauren, "How would you feel about Lauren moving in with us?"

"What about your parents, Lauren?" she asked, "Have you spoken to them about this? Are they okay with this?"

"Yeah, we have." Lauren sat forward in her seat, taking Joey's hand in hers, "Lesley, I can't stay at home anymore. I can't stay there with my sister in the house and I certainly can't share a room with her. And now everyone in the square knows about us. I won't be able to handle being around there. It'll be too much pressure." Joey leant over and kissed the side of her head, hearing the emotions in her voice, "Mum and dad aren't throwing a party about it but they understand and they want me to be happy and they know that won't be in Walford."

"How does everyone know about the two of you?"

It was Joey that answered her, "When the two of us were on our way here, we ran into Derek and he pretty much shouted it around the whole square."

"Then my dad and Uncle Jack turned up and Derek had an argument with them right there, surrounded by everyone. So even without the 'kissing cousins' comment, it became pretty clear we were together..." Lauren added.

"So is it okay, mum?" Joey asked tentatively.

"Of course, it is, Joey. I think it'll be great to have another female presence around for Alice too." Lesley smiled at them both, seeing the relief on both of their faces, "Did you really think I'd say no?" she asked.

"We hoped you wouldn't." Lauren said quietly.

"So when are you moving in?" Lesley asked.

"Is the weekend too soon?" Joey asked. "We're at Lauren's tonight. We're meeting up with her friends tonight so I'll stay there if that's okay."

"It's fine, Joe." Lesley said with a smile.

Lauren nudged Joey and he looked at her, frowning briefly. Lesley smiled as she watched them interact with each other. There was always so much silent communication between them, even since Joey could talk again. She went to walk out of the room but paused when Joey stood. She was stunned when he hugged her and she stared at Lauren over his shoulder, "Thanks." He whispered. "I love you, mum." Lesley had to close her eyes as she heard him say those words to her. He'd never said it to her before. Never actually said the words to her so to hear him say them now...

TBC

A/N: Kind of like the little bit between Joey and his mum at the end. Don't worry the drama isn't done yet... Back tomorrow.