Sorry for the longer wait but here it is! Working on my other story, you may get another chapter later ;).

Chapter 5.

After Lauren's little uncalled-for assumption, both Joey and Lauren had been walking on eggshells and soon one of them was bound to crack. Lauren was full of shame, and guilt filled her every time the situation was brought up in her thoughts; she wasn't sure she could ever trust him. Meanwhile, Joey was devastated at Lauren's recent low opinion of him. Could they no longer trust each other?

Lauren knew she needed to get back at Lucy for ripping their relationship apart. She got it, she was jealous; but that didn't give her any excuse to play with their feelings, did it? She understood that she thought she'd stolen Joey off her, although the truth was she hadn't. Joey had clearly broken up with Lucy before their first drunken kiss, and Lucy seemed to think just because she left that she could shatter the pair and slowly drag them apart. They weren't going to let that happen.

But Lauren also knew she needed to make it up to Joey, for treating him like shit for the past few days. They hadn't confided in each other recently, they seemed to start a conversation then disappear into their own worlds. She wanted that to change. She wanted things back to how they were before.

Or else she didn't know what she would do.

So the next morning, Lauren decided the first thing she needed to do was get Joey's belief in her back. She wanted to do something good for him, she wanted something to work out for a change. As she got up, seeing that Joey had already got up and gone to work, she pulled on her leggins and pulled on one of his shirts and made her way downstairs, greeting Alice in the kitchen. "Lauren! Do you want a coffee?" she asked her cheerily, opening the cupboard halfway to get another cup.

"Thanks, Alice. Don't you have to babysit?" she questioned, pulling out a chair and sitting at the table.

Alice furrowed her eyebrows for a second before smirking and turning round to look at me. "Not till later, no. Why the sudden interest?" she quipped in, catching Lauren slightly off guard; her cousin wasn't so oblivious after all.

"I was thinking of doing something nice for Joey, y'know, to make up for the things I said and did to him," Lauren explained quickly, taking her cup from Alice's hands and sipping her drink, Alice sitting opposite her and raising an eyebrow in amusement; Lauren figured it was better not to lie to her cousin, she'd always work it out eventually.

"I would ask what you were thinking of doing but I think it's best if I don't know," she giggled, Lauren smirking and shaking her head; she was glad that her and Alice were still fine after this, she knew she would always be protective over her brother as he was with her. "Don't worry, Lo. Thanks for doing this. You really mean a great deal to my brother, he really missed you in the time you were gone." she added quietly, Lauren's guilt being tipped over her once again.

"I missed him too..." she whispered gently, seeing Alice smiling at her gratefully. "I'm sorry to you as well actually, I shouldn't have just left," she continued, looking away slightly as Alice reached over to squeeze her hand in reassurance.

"It's fine, you did what you had to do." Alice replied, finishing the last of her drink and getting up. "I'm going to the shops, anything you want me to get you?" she asked, shrugging on her coat and pulling on her boots.

Lauren looked up for a second, thinking through her reply before answering. "Could I come with you? I'd like to get some things separately, also I'd like to see a certain somebody in the café..." she trailed off, both her and Alice giggling once again as she pulled on her leather jacket.

"Of course, now come on!" she smiled, linking her cousin's arm through hers and heading off out the door, slamming it shut behind them...

Meanwhile, Joey was busy stacking crates of booze as Sharon had been making him do for the past week. "All done, Sharon. Could I get off now though?" he questioned, putting his jacket on and waiting for her approval.

"Sure, babe. I'll see you tomorrow, not sure if I'll need you later unless we get busy," she shouted through the office, Joey passing her the keys and heading out, the cold air hitting him as he scanned the square, spotting his girlfriend and sister walking towards the café. He couldn't hide the smirk coming over him as the craziest of scenarios pictured in his thoughts, as he shook his head to clear his mind.

His slow pace then turned into a run, quickly making his way over following the path they took and stood in the doorway, watching the scenes unfold before his very eyes...

Lauren was walking up to the counter, Alice firmly by her side, as they stopped, narrowing their eyes at the beast before them. Lucy greeted them with a warm, yet forced smile as they approached her. "Lauren! Alice! What can I get you?"

"I think we need to get you something, Luce..." she sneered, Alice giggling at her side as she knew what was coming, it all clicking in Joey's head. He smirked; Lucy really was none the wiser.

She suddenly furrowed her eyebrows in confusion before giving them another forced smile. "What do you mean?" she questioned in curiosity, staggering back as her face was met by a harsh slap on the cheek. She turned round, her mouth agape before her hand came up to ease the sting on her cheek. Fury rose inside her. "What the hell, Lauren?" she screeched, gaining the whole café's attention.

"How dare you! How fucking dare you!" Alice screamed unexpectedly, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at Lucy, seeing pure red. Joey's arms curled around his girlfriends waist, pulling her to the side of the café and sitting her down, inspecting her bruised knuckles further. They both looked up, awaiting the rest of Alice's outburst.

"How dare me? Alice, she just slapped me!" Lucy muttered, receiving an eye roll from Alice.

"Yeah, and you'll get another one from me if you don't fucking listen!" Alice roared, Lauren looking at her cousin in surprise; who knew her usually timid, quiet cousin had such a dark side? Crazy. "You, you made my brother's life hell, not to mention Lauren's. And you think you didn't deserve that slap? Where the fuck have you been in the last few months?" she continued venomously, Lauren looking up to Joey to see him smirking slightly at his sister's behaviour.

Lucy winced at Alice's words, finally someone was knocking some sense into her, even if it was the last person you'd expect. "So, I expect you to apologize, not now, I don't want you to embarrass yourself even further but you better say sorry at the least. If not, just stay the fuck away from us, that's all you owe." she continued, flicking her hair over her shoulder and walking out the door, Joey and Lauren not far behind her.

"Fuck off, Lucy," Joey muttered, taking Lauren's hand in his and leading her outside, slightly surprised as both Lauren and Alice burst into laughter. "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that." he smirked, wrapping his arms around the waist of his girlfriend.

"Yeah, Alice. Where did all that come from?" she giggled, a somewhat serious expression washing over Alice's face before she answered.

"I couldn't see her getting away with hurting you two again. You're my brother and you're my cousin, you both mean loads to me," she replied, shoving her hands into her pockets and laughing awkwardly. "Guess it all hit boiling point."

"Thank you, Alice. Means a lot," Lauren whispered, wrapping her arms round her cousin and pulling her into an engulfing hug.

Alice smiled, pulling away as she raised her eyebrows and linked her arm through her brothers. "Can you come with me? It's err, I need your opnion on something," she quickly explained, pulling her brother away into the park and grinning at Lauren, as she made her way back to the house.

Atleast they'd got one thing sorted.

Once she'd gotten home, she ran upstairs and sorted through her clothes, picking out a short black dress with some red, laced underwear she put on underneath, straightening her hair and adding some natural make-up with smokey eye make-up to finish the look. She studied her self in the mirror, running downstairs and grabbing her phone, ordering the usual of their takeaway before stifling a giggle and turning a few of the lights off. She sat on the bottom step and smiled as she watched the door slowly unlock.

Her face lit up as she saw Joey make an appearance, him looking around, obviously confused the lights were off. "Lo?" he called, as a light was switched on in the hall and his eyes widened...

R&R.

A/N: So, will Joey enjoy his little 'surprise'? Looking forward to Lucy getting a slap this week, time for that bitch to get what she deserves. I'm alright with Lauren hitting breaking point as long as J&L get back together in the end. Tell me what you think!