Chapter 4.

"This... man... he slept with Lucy!"

Alice glared at her cousin in anger then stared at her brother in shock; she simply didn't believe the words that left Lauren's mouth. "What, when? How do you even know?" she questioned in confusion, folding her arms over her chest. Lauren watched as Joey's eyes widened, firing flames dancing in his eyes - to say he was angry was an understatement.

"Mm, yeah; this one, knocks up a different one every night!" Lauren snapped in anger, sweeping her eyes over her boyfriend up and down in disgust. "Deny it, go on!" she continued to shout, Joey taking in a long, deep breath, his face reddening in fury, Lauren's choice of words only working him up even more this not going unnoticed by his sister. Alice gently put her hand on her cousin's shoulder and sighed, guiding her quickly into the living room and shutting the door to give Joey the chance to calm himself down.

She pulled her onto the sofa, leaning forward to look into Lauren's eyes, seeing them quickly filling with angered tears. "Why would you think that?" she whispered gently, squeezing her hand and giving her a sympathetic smile.

"Lucy," Lauren replied quietly, instantly feeling guilty as Alice rolled her eyes before staring at her in disgust.

"What, so you believed Joey's crazy ex? Are you out of your fucking mind?" she hissed, injecting as much venom into her words as possible. "Is your opinion of him really that low?" she spat again, letting go of her cousin's hand and looking away from her. Tears spilled down from Lauren's brown orbs, as she furiously rubbed her eyes.

Lauren shook her head slowly and swallowed audibly. "I'm sorry," she whispered, nothing but guilt clear as the day in her eyes as she heard the door slam shut. Alice saw the look on her cousin's face and nodded gently.

"What did Lucy say?" Alice asked, wrapping an arm round Lauren's shoulders and pulled her into a side hug.

"She said that... Joey slept with her and she didn't want to, she said she thought it might have been rape..." she trailed off, a sob escaping her lips; why did she even believe her in the first place?

Alice sighed, nodding again before speaking. "Listen, Lo. I know Joey used to be a player but that changed when he met you. Whenever someone has come onto him he pushed them away, in hope that you were doing the same - he'd never betray you like that," she explained quietly. "You need to start trusting him, when will you see that? He cares so much for you, why would he want to hurt you?"

She needed to make things right.

A good few hours later, Lauren and her Mum were sitting at the dining room table, nursing hot cups of tea. Her Mum took a sip of her drink and sighed, giving a small smile to her daughter. "Why don't you go and talk to him, darling?" she asked, placing her cup down in front of her. Lauren looked up at her, shaking her head at the sympathetic look Mum had in her eyes; she didn't want her sympathy, she wanted her disappointment and shame.

"You know what? I will, thanks for everything, Mum," she suddenly piped up, shrugging on her leather jacket and heading out the door. She took a few seconds to scan the market when her dark orbs suddenly settled on the café, spotting Joey walking out, his hands shoved in his coat pockets.

She started to run over to him. "Joey!" she shouted, managing to grab his arm before he pulled away. Joey looked at her, swallowed and nodded. "What?" Lauren asked, confused, just as Joey took hold of her hand and lead her up to No.23, unlocking the door. He tugged her into the kitchen and forced her gently to sit down, Lauren's confusion growing more than ever. She sighed, looking down, an uncomfortable silence lapsing over the pair.

"I didn't sleep with her..." Joey whispered after a few seconds, Lauren looking up and opening her mouth to speak when Joey put a finger to her lips. "At least I don't think I did..." he murmured, his voice barely audible, Lauren's face washing with more confusion and a smidgen of anger.

"What do you mean?" she questioned, desperately trying to keep her tone calm for both of their sanity.

Joey took a deep breath, looking up at her, his fingers tapping nervously on the table. "One day, March, it was your birthday. I remembered, I couldn't stop thinking about you, I wouldn't talk to anyone, all my focus on you..." he explained quietly, before scratching the back of his neck, something he sometimes did when he was nervous.

Lauren noticed this, looking back up at him, her gaze locking into a stare. "Go on," she urged gently.

Joey swallowed before speaking again. "Sharon had given me the night off, so I wasn't working. Tyler, Whit, Lucy, Poppy, Fats; they all suggested we go to R&R, take my mind off things. I tried to protest but I came anyway, figuring we needed a night out," he continued, staring at the table, Lauren nodding again, signalling him to carry on. "Fast forward say a couple hours, it was fair I'd had a bit to drink, I was pretty drunk so Lucy suggested we went outside to get some air. I agreed,"

"What's this got to do with it?" Lauren interrupted, her eyebrows furrowed.

"It's all relevant, trust me, Lo," he whispered, before continuing. "So, the next thing I know is that I woke up, sprawled out on the Beale's sofa, a few shirt buttons undone. When Lucy came down, I asked her if we, well... y'know, and she said no. And that's it, I can't remember anything else..." he trailed off, exhaling a long breath.

She nodded, reaching forward and squeezing his hand. "Thank you for not lying to me," she whispered quietly, smiling small at him.

"I'd never lie to you, baby, why do you doubt me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as Lauren shrugged her shoulders; she didn't even know herself.

"I don't," she started, taking his position of staring at the table before looking back up at him. "I think," she added slowly, a little hesitation in her tone; how were they meant to trust each other now?

After a few more uncomfortable minutes of silence, Joey suddenly slid his chair out from under the table and shuffled over to Lauren, kneeling down and softly cupping her face. "Am I forgiven?" he questioned, stroking the sides of her cheeks. Joey already knew her answer as she leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips, him responding immediately.

A couple hours later, Joey and Lauren were curled up in each others arms, Lauren's nails gently scraping through the short hairs at the back of his head, earning deep, muffled groans from time to time. Lauren smiled at this; she loved the way she could feel in control around him by the way he was affected by her.

Lauren's thoughts were broken as Joey's hot breath tickled her ear. "Sorry, baby." he whispered slowly, his hands resting on the sides of her waist, keeping her firmly in position. She looked up to see a tortured expression in his hazel orbs, reaching up to stroke her hands up and down the side of his face in an attempt to reassure him.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," she replied, putting her hand at the back of his head and crushing his lips onto hers. Their lips danced together in sync, before finally, gasping for breath, they pulled apart, taking a huge gulp of air. "I love you, Joey."

"I love you, Lauren; my Lauren." he murmured quietly, engulfing her into another hug and resting his chin on the top of her head. "Things will get better, won't they baby?"

Lauren paused for a second before nodding, looking up at him. "Of course they will, Joey."

R&Rx

A/N: Sorry for the longer wait, I've been writing other things and I found this chapter more difficult to write anyway. Make sure you tell me what you think, I can't promise you daily updates but I'll try my best! - Charlotte x