23rd April 2013. So here is the next chapter... and it's a big one in every sense of the word. There's a lot to absorb in here and it will impact the whole story arc of the remainder of this story.

Chapter 15.

Oscar was thrilled as they walked around the Sea Life centre. The look on his face as they saw the tropical fish and seahorses was amazing. He was particularly impressed with the Clown fish as they reminded him of Nemo from the Disney movie which was a favourite of his. There was only one exhibit left for them to look at. The Sharks. Lauren's hand tightened on Joey's as they got closer and he glanced at her in concern.

"Baby?"

"I'm not a huge fan of sharks," she whispered.

"You should've said. We could've skipped it."

"I did say but it's okay. Oscar wants to see them." She told him. "Just don't let go of me..." she added.

"No intention of ever doing so..." he breathed in her ear and it made her smile and she relaxed a little. Oscar was walking a little further ahead of them, staring in wonder at the huge fish as they swam by.

"Laur, look at them..." he said in wonder to his sister. "I bet they could eat even Joey up for their tea..." he added.

"Well, let's hope they don't take a liking to him, little man. I'm rather partial to him myself and I don't think I'm up to fighting a shark off." She said as she crouched next to him, looking through the glass. Joey's hand was cradling the back of her head as he stood right next to her and it was like his touch was keeping her calm, giving her the ability to focus on her brother and forget about the death traps the other side of the glass.

Eventually Oscar tired of the sharks and it was time to go, after a short visit to the gift shop where Joey brought Oscar his own Nemo-like clown fish cuddly toy. He also brought something else but wouldn't let Lauren see what it was. Once they were back out on the street Oscar turned to Joey and held his arms in the air. "Thank you Joey." He said. Joey bent down and hugged him, his eyes fixed on Lauren's face. Oscar leant his head on Joey's shoulder and sighed softly.

"Come on, little man." He said, lifting Oscar off the ground.

"Joe, be careful." Lauren whispered.

Joey shifted his little cousin onto his right, and stronger, side of his body. "I'm okay. It's not far to the car and he's exhausted." He held out the bag from the gift shop towards her. "Can you take this...? But no peeking!" he said.

"Okay." She said, taking the bag from him. He then took hold of her hand with his free one and they start the short walk back to the car. Oscar is asleep by the time they're at the car and between them they get him settled on the back seat without waking him. Joey takes the stuff from the boot and puts it on the back seat so they don't forget anything later and then they both get into the front. "I just need to give dad a call and let him know we're on our way home." She said, pulling her mobile from her bag and called home. She ended the call a couple of minutes later. "It's been a lovely day, Joe." Lauren says before she starts the engine.

"There'll be plenty more, baby girl, I promise."

"You look tired." She said, pulling the car out of the car park.

"I am."

"Get some sleep, baby."

"That's not fair to you."

"I'll be fine. I'd rather you slept on the journey home."

"Do you have plans for me tonight?" he asked with a smirk.

"Maybe," she said, "If you're lucky."

"In that case, I'm going to get some sleep. Want to be at my best for you, don't I?"

*JL*JL*

Both the boys were still asleep when Lauren stopped the car in Albert Square. She parked the car and turned her attention to Joey first. She leant over and kissed his forehead, brushing her hand down the side of his face. The door behind her swung open and she was dragged from the car, being pushed against the back door and looking into the furious face of her uncle. His hands were clutching her shoulders painfully and he pressed her into the metal behind her.

"Have you got no shame, Lauren?" he hissed at her. She struggled against him, trying to get him to release her. "I don't know what's wrong with you, Lauren. Maybe all that alcohol has affected something inside here," he said, tapping the side of her head. His arm moved to rest across her upper chest and with each word he spoke he seemed to press harder against her throat. "You must know that your relationship with Joseph is all kinds of wrong. Young Abi seems to agree with me too. She was round my house earlier, telling me all the things you've been letting your cousin do to you. It's disgraceful, that's what it is and I'll be taking it up with your father, telling him exactly what I think about this whole debacle."

Lauren was frozen against the side of the car, staring at her uncle, completely petrified. His words had stung. Knowledge of her health issues hadn't been mentioned to anyone outside of the immediate family, apart from Uncle Jack and Sharon... and now her friends. She doubted Abi would've said anything to him because she'd barely paid any attention when her parents had spoken to her about it so to have him make a reference about something being wrong with her hurt, almost more than anything he was physically doing to her now. "Let go of me, Uncle Derek..." she said softly, tears forming in her eyes.

"Not until I've talked some sense into you." He spat at her, "When I've managed to make you see the error of your ways."

"And how are you going to do that? Beat it into me like you did Joey last night." She fired back at him, not considering the repercussions of her words.

He paused but didn't deny what she'd just accused him of. "You can't tie yourself to someone like him. He's unreliable and a waste of space. You should dump him and find yourself a decent young man."

"You don't even know him so how would you know what he's like? He is a decent young man and nothing you say can convince me to stop seeing him, so you might as well give up now." Lauren stared at her uncle, "And he's not a waste of space... he part-owns and runs a successful business, which is more than you do! He's not unreliable either." She hated the way he'd put down his son and it made her angry rather than scared.

"He stood you up at Christmas..." he said with a certain amount of glee.

"Those were exceptional circumstances. Maybe you should get your facts straight before you berate him any further." Lauren said sharply. She could see her sister had been sticking her oar into the situation again and that was the final thing to add fire to the flames.

"DEREK!"

Neither of them moved, just staring at each other. Derek's hands tightened on her again and his arm pressed harder against her windpipe. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and then Derek was gone, pulled away from her as quickly as he'd arrived. Lauren wasn't even paying attention, she slumped to the ground, sitting on the kerb and trying to catch her breath and calm herself. She felt numb and finally her fear from what she'd just been though caught up with her and that was when the shaking began and the tears arrived. She felt like she was burning up but she was freezing at the same time. She was aware of noise surrounding her but it was all muffled and sounded as if it was miles from where she sat.

"Baby..." It was his voice and she wanted to grab at it and hug it close to her. Once he'd spoken she became aware of his arm around her shoulders and now she could feel his lips pressed against her hair.

"Joe..." she whispered. She kept her eyes tightly shut, unable to open them in case this was all a dream. She was scared she was going to see him in front of her if she risked it.

His hand coaxed her head to rest on his shoulders and he brushed his fingers soothingly through her hair. She could smell him around her and it was stabilising; it was another thing for her to grab hold of and tether her back to reality. "Come back to me, baby girl. I'm here now. There's nothing to be scared of anymore." He crooned to her softly, rocking her body backwards and forwards.

She took a chance and opened one eye, relieved to see the comforting sight of Joey's body inches from her face. She gasped as she became fully aware of everything again and clung to him tighter. "Where's Oscar?" she whispered.

"Your mum took him into the house a few minutes ago," he told her gently.

"Did he see?"

"Only a little bit... Your parents are talking to him. He's more worried about you than anything else." He said, "Are you ready to go inside now?" he whispered, pressing his lips to her forehead.

"I've made a mess," she said as she glanced down at herself.

"It's fine, baby. I've got you and I'm going to look after you. Don't worry about a thing." He lifted his hand and brushed some of the tears from her face, only for them to be replaced by fresh ones. "Come on, baby..." he said, getting to his feet and lifting her in his arms. He paused slightly, shifting her in his arms. He walked them slowly and carefully up the steps to number 5, the door was being held open by her father and Joey could see the concerned expression on his face. "I'm going to take her upstairs and get her cleaned up." He said quietly to his uncle.

Max nodded. "You okay getting her up the stairs?"

"I can do it, Uncle Max," He said sharply.

Max reached for him, putting his hand on Joey's shoulder, "I know you can, son. Let me help you, okay? Let me take her upstairs for you and then you can look after her up there?"

"Okay..." he whispered. Max stepped forward to take her from him, "She's a bit of a mess..." he told him before handing her to him. Max looked down at his daughter, seeing the almost vacant expression on her face. His eyes ran down her body and his face hardened as he saw the evidence of how scared his daughter had been. He turned and walked slowly up the stairs, nudging the door to the bathroom open and taking her in there and placing her on the toilet seat.

"I'll be downstairs, Joey. Just yell if you want anything." He said.

"How's Oscar?" Joey asked him in a whisper, knowing Lauren was going to ask him again at sometime.

"He's a bit shaken but he's okay." Max said.

"Did he see anything? Did he say anything about what happened?"

"He's told us some bits and pieces... not much though. I don't think he saw a lot of it."

"I'm glad." Joey looked down at the floor, "I wish I'd been awake. I could've stopped it. She wouldn't have to go through this now."

"Don't blame yourself, Joey. There's only one person to blame for this and we both know who that is. Now why don't you go and look after my daughter and take care of her, like only you can."

"Thanks." He said softly. Max left the room. Joey followed behind him, shutting the door and going into Lauren's bedroom. He gathered some clean clothes for her, her hairbrush and comb before returning to the bathroom. She hadn't even moved from where she was sitting. He put down the items in his arms and then went to the bath, turning the water on and putting in the plug when the water began to warm. He poured in some of her favourite bubble bath and swished it through the water. He dried his hands and walked back over to Lauren. "Baby girl, can you hear me?" He asked her softly. He brushed her hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear as he stared at her face. She looked lost and he wished he could help her find her way back. He slowly started to undo her clothing, trying very hard to ignore the vibrant bruises that had already appeared on her shoulders, throat and chest, "You know this isn't quite how I imagined this going..." He kissed her forehead, "I had this big plan... I was going to sweep you away. And properly romance you. Tonight was going to be the first night of the rest our lives together." He knelt before her and removed her sodden skirt and knickers. She was now completely naked but she had barely reacted to anything he'd done, just moving with his urging as he removed her clothes. The tub was about three quarters full and he went to stop the water. She made a noise when he was back at the bath, a soft whimper that tore at his heart. He dashed back to her side, stroking her cheek gently, "It's okay, baby girl. I'm right here." He pulled her to her feet and then lifted her in his arms. Her hands gripped his T-shirt and he could feel her shaking against him. He walked her over to the bath and slowly lowered her into it, ignoring the fact he was now soaking wet. His main focus was Lauren and only Lauren, as it would always be as far as he was concerned. Everything else would come later. She'd released her hold on him now and sat in the bath, her legs pulled up to her chest. She was staring into the distance and he wondered if she was even aware he was there. He sat by the side of the bath, sitting cross-legged on the floor, watching her disintegrate before him. Tears were falling down her face again and she lowered her forehead to her knees. He reached for her, his hand caressing the back of her head. "Why don't you lie down, baby?" he said softly. She nodded and he eased her to lie down. "I'm going to look after you," He whispered. "Tilt your head back, baby. We'll wet your hair and then I'll wash it for you. Would you like that?" He worked in silence as he first shampooed and then conditioned her hair. "That's better, don't you think?" He retrieved her comb and then moved it gently through her hair, taking out all the tangles. "So that's your hair done, now for the rest of you..." he murmured, more to himself than to her now. He'd stopped expecting a response from her about twenty minutes ago. He started with her face, wiping away the streaks on her face left by her tears. He moved to her neck and shoulders. Gradually he worked all over her body. Finally there was only one place left to clean and Joey was a little reluctant to touch her there. It seemed wrong when she seemed barely aware of what he'd just done. He did though and she reacted. She pulled away the sponge he was using and moved his hand to her, pressing his fingers against her harder than he'd touched her originally. She looked at his face and her eyes looked almost hollow. He leant forward and kissed her softly, relieved to feel her mouth move against his. It was this that made him push a finger into her, sensing she needed this from him now. She stared at him wide-eyed as he brushed his finger in and out of her body. She peaked after only a minute or so but it wasn't about that anymore... it was about grounding her again and bringing her back to him.

It was Lauren who instigated the next kiss and she whispered, "Thank you..." against his lips.

"Anything for you, baby girl." He told her. "Let's get you out of here. There's a little man downstairs who wants to see his big sister..."

"Oscar..." she whispered, her eyes darting towards the door.

"That's right." He pulled out the plug and helped Lauren to her feet. He pulled the bath towel from the floor and wrapped it around her body. Using another towel he brushed tenderly at her body, making sure she was completely dry. He took care over each of the newly formed, angry looking bruises and placed a tender kiss on each one, hoping he was doing something to help her. She stood naked in the middle of the room after a few minutes and he put the knickers, leggings, one of his T-shirts and his hooded top on her, doing up the front of the top so she would keep warm as she was still shaking and he wasn't sure if it was shock or because she was cold. His clothes swamped her a little but she hugged them to her body. He dried her hair with the towel then brushed and combed it again. She pulled her hair back into a messy bun then stepped closer to him and letting him wrap his arms around her.

"Thank you for taking care of me." She whispered into his neck.

"I wish I'd been able to do more for you earlier." He told her softly. "I woke up and it had already kicked off. My sole focus became you after I made sure Oscar was okay."

"I thought it was you..." she said, looking puzzled.

"When?"

"I thought was you who pushed him away from me."

Joey shook his head, "It was Uncle Jack..." he told her gently.

"Really?"

"Yeah. He was just going home from the car lot and saw what was happening."

"What happened?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. Like I said I was concentrating on you and Oscar. As soon as your mum took Oscar inside you were all I was interested in." He brushed his hand over her back. "Why don't we go downstairs and find out?"

She nodded, "Okay..."

He put her dirty clothes in the clothes hamper in her room and made sure the bathroom was completely tidy before taking her hand and pulling her slowly down the stairs. They walked into the lounge, Lauren close behind his body and the two of them sat on the couch. Oscar was sitting on his daddy's lap and he stared at her for several seconds. He pulled himself from his daddy's grasp and ran over to his big sister, almost throwing himself at her. Joey could see that Max was concerned about how Lauren would react to this but Joey knew this was what Lauren needed. She needed to know her little man was okay. And Oscar needed it too.

Lauren hugged her brother tightly, feeling his arms wrapping around her neck, catching the bruises she'd so recently acquired and she tried to hide her wince. "Are you okay, little man?" she asked him in a whisper. His head nodded against her bruised shoulder. "I'm so glad you're okay." She told him, "I don't know what I would've done if anything had happened to you..." Tears rolled down her face as she whispered the last part.

"Why was Uncle Derek being so nasty to you, Laur?" Oscar asked as he pulled away from her and sat on her lap, staring at her face.

"He thinks I'm messing up my life by being with Joey..." she told him softly, not wanting to lie to him but not going into everything either. She was just so tired of everything right now. She was fed up of the hurdles that kept being put in front of them. She just wanted to be happy with Joey.

"Did you not tell him how much you love Joey? Like you told me this morning... If he knew that he should know it's not a mistake. Does he not want you to be happy, Laur?"

"I don't think he does, little man..."

"Uncle Derek is a silly man," he proclaimed and the innocence in his voice made the rest of the room smile. "He's a bad man too." He added, "No one hurts my Laur..." he said finally, resting his head against her shoulder.

"You're right, Oscar. No one hurts, Lauren. No one hurts my children," Max said, a dark expression on his face.

"How are you feeling now, sweetheart?" Tanya asked their daughter gently.

"I don't know really." She whispered. She felt like an emotional wreck but she had to admit she felt better now than she had done just after. And it was all down to Joey.

The doorbell rang and Lauren tensed, glancing towards the hallway. Joey put his arm around her and pulled her against him, kissing the side of her face. Tanya got to her feet and went to answer the door, "Hi Jack. Come in." She said.

Jack walked into the room and looked at Lauren. He crouched down in front of her, "Are you okay?" he asked her softly, his hand brushing her cheek. She nodded, staring at him wide-eyed.

"Why don't you go and sit with daddy for a few minutes, little man," she whispered to Oscar. He nodded and climbed off her lap. Once he was gone Lauren moved to her uncle and hugged him tightly, "Thank you," she whispered.

"It's alright, darling," he said back to her, his arms wrapping around her. "I'm just glad you're okay. You are okay, right?"

"Just a few bruises, here and there." She said softly.

"Show me..." Max growled, making Lauren flinch in Jack's arms.

"Max..." Jack warned.

"Sorry babe..." Max said to his daughter, "Please show me what he did to you...?" he said gently. Lauren pulled away from her uncle and unzipped Joey's top. Everyone tried to ignore the fact her hands were shaking but it was really difficult. She shrugged it off her shoulders and she saw her dad flinch when he saw the bruises that showed over the top of the T-shirt she was wearing, the ones at the base of her throat. She glanced at Joey and carefully pulled the T-shirt off each of her shoulders in turn, revealing the dark bruises that circled them definitely resembling handprints. Tanya gasped and reached for her husband.

"What happened, Uncle Jack?" she asked as Joey helped her put the hooded top back on after almost two minutes silence. "I don't remember anything at all. I didn't even realise it was you that stopped him until Joey told me."

Tanya picked up Oscar from her husband's lap, "Let's go and get your things ready to take to Uncle Jack's, Oscar." She said, walking across the room with him. He didn't need to hear this.

"Thanks for a nice day, Laur." He said softly, smiling at his sister, "And thanks for playing in the sea with me, Joey."

"Wait a minute, little man..." Joey said. "Can I borrow your keys, Uncle Max? I need to get our stuff from the back of the car." Max handed over the keys and Joey dashed from the room, returning within a minute. He put the backpack down and found the carrier bag from the gift shop, "Here you go, Oscar." He said, passing the cuddly toy to him.

"Thanks Joey." He said, clutching it in his arm, "Can I take it with me mummy?" he asked.

"I think that'll be alright. Let's go and see if we've got room in your bag..." Tanya walked out of the room with him.

"I thought he was staying here tonight?" Lauren asked.

"We just thought it might be better for him to stay at mine tonight..." Jack said.

"So I won't see him before I go?" she whispered.

"I'll bring him over in the morning to say goodbye to you, Lauren. I promise." Jack told her.

Footsteps were coming back down the stairs shortly after that but before her mum and brother were back in the room the front door opened and Lauren knew that could mean only one person was home. She tensed immediately and as her sister walked into the room she saw the sly smile on her face. Lauren saw red in that moment and was on her feet and standing in front of her sister before anyone had time to stop her, "HOW COULD YOU!" she shouted.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Abi said but Lauren knew it was a lie, she could see the delight on her face as she stared at her.

"Do you know what he did?" Lauren said, stepping closer to Abi. "He did that in front of Oscar, Abi. He scared Oscar. He could've hurt our brother!" Her voice was increasing in volume with each word she spoke. "And it's because of you! You did this! You brought Derek into the equation... and I HATE you for it."

"This is no one else's fault apart your own, Lauren!" Abi said, crossing her arms. "Well, yours and your pathetic boyfriend's. If there was any justice, he wouldn't have recovered from his stroke."

It happened in a flash, the sound of flesh on flesh as Lauren slapped her sister hard across the face. Abi turned her eyes back to her sister, glaring at her. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK, ABIGAIL BRANNING!" Lauren screamed. Joey was behind Lauren and he pulled her into his arms, restraining her loosely when she tried to struggle. Burning tears were pouring down her face as she slumped against Joey, all strength disappearing from her as quickly as it had appeared.

Tanya stood in the doorway, hiding Oscar behind her as she peered in the room. Oscar had other ideas though. He could see his eldest sister was clearly upset as he peeked out from behind his mummy. He didn't like it at all and he ran to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Laur..." he said to her softly. "Don't cry, Laur..."

Joey lifted Lauren off the ground and she clung to him tightly, her legs winding around his waist. He looked down at Oscar and held his hand out towards him, "Come on, little man, let's look after your sister." Oscar took his hand and followed him back over to the couch. He sat down and Oscar climbed onto the couch beside him, snuggling into his side while Joey cradled Lauren on his lap. Joey moved his arm slightly to put it protectively around the little boy too. Lauren was still crying but she had significantly calmed since her initial outburst.

"What does she mean – this is your fault?" Max asked his younger daughter.

"I don't know... This is Lauren talking."

"Don't, Abi..." he warned her.

"Don't what?" Abi said, "Don't say what I think for a change? Don't stand up for myself? What don't you want me to do now, dad?" She asked him heatedly.

"Don't test my patience..." Max told her.

"Did you see what she just did to me? She slapped me!" Abi protested, "But I guess that's acceptable behaviour from her. After all she's Lauren and she can do no wrong!"

"Answer my question, Abigail!" Max asked.

"I DON'T KNOW!" She shouted.

"She was over at Derek's house this morning... mouthing off about me and Joey. Telling him things she has no right to tell him!" Lauren sobbed.

"Abi!" Tanya said, her voice filled with disappointment, "How many times do we have to tell you? You don't tell Derek anything about Lauren and Joey."

"Why not? I'm entitled to my opinion, aren't I? I think it's wrong them being together. He's Derek's son... she shouldn't be having sex with him." She turned her attention to her sister again, "I know what you were doing in our bedroom yesterday and it's disgusting. I heard you in the bathroom yesterday morning, going at it... It makes me want to puke. It's like you're in heat or something!"

"Abi... now is not the time to be having this conversation." Tanya said, glancing at Oscar.

"Why not?" She shouted, "When is there a good time to have this conversation? You never listen to anything I say anyway. So why does it matter what I say?" She started to walk towards the door, "I'm going to my room."

"Not until you've apologised to Lauren and Joey." Max demanded.

"You can't make me." She said, staring at her father.

"Yes, I can..." He shouted. The room fell silent after Max had said that, tempers were frayed all around the room.

Oscar had begun to get upset when Abi started shouting and he didn't understand what was going on anymore. He watched as his parents dragged Abi from the room and they disappeared into the kitchen. Once they were gone the tension lessened and he didn't feel quite as upset anymore. He felt safe with Laur and Joey beside him. Both of them were trying to comfort him, Laur was hugging him tightly and her hands were brushing through his hair in the way he liked and Joey was brushing his hand over his back and he was pulled against Joey's side. The last few minutes didn't really make any sense to him and he had lots of questions. He knew Laur would answer them for him. She was good like that. "Laur," he whispered, "What is sex...?"

Lauren tensed slightly and glanced at Joey and her uncle. They both shrugged at her. She decided to go for the child friendly approach. "It's a grownup thing, little man. It's a way for adults to express their love for one another with each other."

"Why would Abi say that was wrong, Laur? I don't understand."

"I don't either, little man." Lauren sighed.

He paused for a few seconds as he thought about what she'd said. "What did Abs mean when she said Joey is Uncle Derek's son?"

"Uncle Derek is Joey's daddy, little man." Lauren said, wondering what he would ask or say next.

"Does that mean he's our cousin like Amy is?"

"Yes, it does."

"Why does Abs think it's wrong for you to love Joey?" he whispered.

"Some people say that because our daddy is brothers with Joey's daddy that me and Joey being together is wrong."

"Is it wrong?" he whispered, biting his lip and tears filling his eyes. "I don't want you to be sad, Laur..."

"I really don't know, little man. It doesn't feel wrong. And mummy, daddy and Joey's mummy are all okay with us loving each other. So it can't be wrong if they say it isn't, right?" She said to him gently.

"Little man, I promise you, until the day I die, I will never let your sister be sad again." Joey told him, "I love your Laur more than I've ever loved anyone." He said, his cheeks colouring slightly at the admission. "You should never be ashamed of loving someone, Oscar. Even if other people think it is wrong or they're angry about it. Two people loving each other is the best thing to ever happen to them. Does that make sense, little man?"

Oscar nodded. He pulled himself from Lauren's arms and hugged Joey tightly. "Why don't we go to my house, Oscar?" Jack said from the other side of the room, having watched the interaction between the three with interest.

"Okay..." Oscar said. He hugged Joey and Lauren again. "Will I see you tomorrow? Before you go..."

"Uncle Jack is going to bring you over so we can say goodbye..." Lauren told him.

"And were mummy and daddy okay with me staying with you sometimes?"

"I spoke to daddy about it earlier and he was fine but because of everything that's happened, I haven't had a chance to speak to them both about it. I don't think it'll be a problem though, little man." She kissed him softly, smiling when he screwed his face up, "Don't be like that..." she said softly. "I'll speak to them and let you know tomorrow and if they're okay, we'll sort out a date so you know when we'll be spending some time together."

He nodded his head eagerly. "See you tomorrow, Joey!" Oscar said as he climbed down from the couch, waving back at them both.

"I'll let mum and dad know, Uncle Jack." Lauren said. "Thanks again, for everything."

"It was no trouble, Lauren." He smiled at her, "Anything to keep my favourite uncle status." She giggled for the first time in what seemed like forever. The uncle and nephew left the room and walked out of the house.

"Come here..." Joey whispered, pulling her back against him. Those two words brought back so many memories for Lauren and she smiled against his chest as they sat in silence. "What do you think is happening in there?" he eventually asked.

"I don't know." She sighed. "Part of me doesn't really care... I'm past the point of being able to forgive her now."

"It's still kind of hot seeing you standing up for me like that." He whispered to her and she reached up and kissed his throat.

"Love you." She breathed against his skin.

"I know. I love you too." He kissed her forehead and traced his hand softly up and down her back. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you earlier." He whispered.

"I'm glad you weren't..." she admitted. "I was scared he'd hurt you and that would've just about killed me. That's one of the reasons I didn't look to see what was happening. I was convinced it was you who'd pulled him from me and I couldn't bear to watch him hurt you."

"The feelings very much the same, baby." He whispered. "When I saw those bruises on you earlier, it was all I could do not to go and find him and teach him all about how to treat a woman. I shouldn't be surprised after what he did to my mum but for him to do that to you, it seems worse somehow and it makes me hate him even more."

"Let's not talk about this now, Joe. I don't want to let him ruin our lives anymore than he already has. I'm tired of it. I want to look forward to the next part of our lives and forget about the past. Forget about Abi and your dad. They don't exist to me anymore."

"I think I can live with that." He said. "Why don't we go up to your room? I think we could both do with getting some rest?" he suggested. She arched her eyebrow at him. "I really mean it. I don't think either of us is up for anything else tonight."

"I am tired but I want to speak to mum and dad before we go up. Anyway she needs to get stuff out of the room. She's staying in Oscar's room tonight."

"That's a shame. If she'd been there, I'd probably have forced myself to do something with you just to piss her off." He said with a smirk. She chuckled again.

"Let's watch some TV..." she said and they settled down to watch some inane reality show that neither of them were interested in but it passed the time. Tanya appeared in the doorway for a few seconds and Lauren glanced at her, seeing she was upset. "You okay, mum?"

"Fine sweetheart." She replied with a watery smile but Lauren knew she was lying.

"What's happening?"

"Your dad is going to take Abs over to Grandma Dot's for the night."

"Uncle Jack took Oscar home with him. About half an hour ago, I guess."

"Okay, darling." She said, "I'm going to shut the door for a few minutes, okay?" Lauren nodded and Tanya moved back into the hall and shut the door to the room. Lauren looked at Joey, her eyebrows raised in shock. Joey shrugged at her, pulling her as close to him as he could.

They continued watching TV for about ten minutes, hearing the slamming of several doors in the house before silence fell again. "It'll be okay, baby girl..." Joey whispered, having felt the tension climb within her.

The door opened and they both looked at it quickly, seeing both her parents standing in the doorway. "I'm sorry mum, dad. I shouldn't have hit her." Tears pooled in her eyes and she gripped Joey's hand tightly.

"Babe, to be honest I think you've done well to last this long." Max said, sitting next to the pair on the couch. "Why didn't you tell us how bad things were between you? We could've probably dealt with this then."

"I don't think she's ever going to change her mind, dad and to be honest, I'm past the point of caring now. Today changed everything for me."

"Well she's staying there until you've gone tomorrow. I'm not having another row like that again."

"I'm sorry, daddy." She whispered.

"And I'm so sorry for what Derek did to you, babe." Max whispered.

"It's okay dad. It's not your fault."

"I just wish your sister would give you a break. You've both been through so much," Tanya said, sitting on the arm of the couch.

"I've resigned myself to accepting that isn't going to happen. There's nothing I can do to change her mind... so I'm done trying." She leant against Joey, her fingers tracing the front of his shirt. "What happened between Uncle Jack and Derek?" she whispered.

"I called the police..." Max said. "I saw what was happening between them and then I realised what it was that had started it. I couldn't let him get away with it, so I called the police and told them what he'd done. Jack restrained him and the police arrested him when they arrived."

"I didn't see the police..." Joey admitted.

"You were with Lauren," Tanya explained.

"I spoke to Oscar... he had a few questions so I answered them for him," Lauren said shyly.

"What questions?" Tanya asked.

"They stemmed from what Abi said... he wanted to know what sex was," she whispered, seeing her parents blanch at it.

"What did you say?"

"Well I didn't go into too many details with him, I just said it was a grownup thing that people do when they really love each other as a way of expressing their love. He seemed to be okay with that answer." She glanced at Joey, "He also asked about Derek being Joey's dad. He understands that Joey is our cousin. He didn't understand why that was wrong and I'm not sure I really explained it well."

"You did good, baby..." Joey whispered. He turned to his aunt and uncle, "She tried to explain to him why people might not agree with our relationship and he got upset by what she'd said. He asked her if she thought it was wrong and he said he didn't want her to be sad. She said she didn't know but it didn't feel wrong and you all were okay with us being together so it couldn't be wrong. He seemed happy with what we said to him but he might still have questions, I don't know. Jack was there when we were talking to him, he didn't say anything about it."

"It sounds like you handled it well." Max said, squeezing Lauren's hand. "I spoke to your mum before you got home about what you asked regarding Oscar. Neither of us have a problem with you taking Oscar out for days. Just because you won't be living here anymore, doesn't mean we're going to cut your brother out of your life. We know how close you are to him, Lauren and he adores you. He worships the ground you walk on. As for him staying with you overnight, as long as Lesley is happy with this arrangement, we'd have no problem with him staying at yours."

"I said I didn't think it would be a problem and we'd arrange a date with you for the first time so he'd know when we'd see him again." She paused, "I'm sorry he got dragged into this. When I spoke to him at the beach I kept the issues with Abi out of it, I didn't want him to feel like he was in the middle of it." She yawned and her face heated slightly.

"Let's go to bed, baby..." Joey said softly, "We're both really tired and tomorrow's going to be a long day." They walked up to Lauren's room and it was only a matter of minutes before they were asleep in her bed, their bodies entwined with each other.

TBC

A/N: Well that was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster wasn't it? So much happened - aren't you pleased I didn't I leave you with a cliffhanger part way through? Anyway, I hope you liked it and it hasn't scarred you too badly. I'll be back tomorrow and there might be two chapters... I haven't decided yet.