sorry...

Chapter 6.

Early the next morning, Lauren stretched her body out lazily and gazed to the side of her. She bit down on her lip to hold in a grin as she ogled Joey's naked chest, rising and falling in a peaceful, steady rhythm. Smiling softly to herself, she wrapped her arms around his waist and brought herself nearer to him, snuggling up to the familiar warmth that radiated from his body. She lay the side of her head against the pillow and sighed softly, watching him intently.

Feeling Joey's breathing starting to uneven a little and him slowly rolling onto his side to face her, she removed her arms from him and took some time to just watch him. He looked so carefree, like nothing was ever wrong. She was thrilled she had (hopefully) given him a night to remember after all he'd done to help her. She leaned forwards, pressing a tiny, lingering kiss to his lips, smirking as they twitched slightly at the contact. She knew she'd never be able to properly repay him for what he'd done, but she was still desperate to show him how much he honestly meant to her, even though he'd told her multiple times that she did not need to do anything. That wasn't convincing enough for Lauren, though. She knew how much she had hurt him during the time she was hurting. She felt like she'd never forgive herself for that.

Gently, she traced her fingers over his jawline, taking in the perfection of his defined features. She suddenly backed off, spotting his eyelids beginning to flicker before they opened fully, squinting to adjust to the light illuminating through the window. Pressing another kiss to his lips, she felt him smiling against her and she pulled her head back, "Morning, baby," she whispered. She smiled as she felt Joey's fingers slowly brushing through her long, dark hair which was currently in a tangled mess, fanned out against the pillow. "I think we slept a little late," she added quietly, a shiver slicing down her spine as Joey wrapped her arms securely round her waist and stuffed his face into the crook of her neck, mumbling something inaudibly against her skin. She let out a small giggle and shifted herself a little closer to him, "What, baby?" she asked with another teasing grin.

"What time's it?" he asked her, bringing a hand up to rub the side of his face tiredly.

Lauren shrugged her shoulders merely, before rolling onto her back and reaching over to get her phone off the drawer besides her. She flinched slightly as her eyes adjusted to the bright light exploding from her phone screen. She dragged a hand through her hair and placed the phone back onto the side, propping herself up to look at him, "It's only ten," she told him, throwing her legs over the edge of the bed and standing up.

She smiled to herself as she felt his hands lightly grip the sides of her waist, "Where are you going?" he questioned, a small frown creasing his forehead as he watched her swiftly turn to face him. He couldn't help the grin that broke his usual serious exterior as his eyes sneakily traveled their way up and down her body, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Babe," he choked out, watching in amusement as she performed the signature Branning eye roll and turned away from him.

"Yes, Joey. I am fully aware that I am currently completely naked," she muttered as she grabbed her plain, white towels which hung loosely off the end of the bed. "But I definitely want to make sure you are fully aware that you are not joining me in the shower you fucking pervert," she continued with a smirk, flicking her hair over her shoulder before shuffling into the bathroom.

He exhaled a breath and took a hard swallow, reaching out to to pick up his own phone and unlock the screen. A few seconds later he heard the shower turn on, chewing gently on his bottom lip and pressing a few buttons until he slowly started to scroll down his contacts. He tapped his fingers rhythmically against the edge of the screen, his heart sinking in his chest as he came to the name that he'd never wished to have seen again. Finally bringing together all the courage he possessed, he selected her name and quickly put the phone to his ear, his breathing quickening slightly and his heartbeat beginning to pick up it's pace.

After the second ring, the soft voice echoed down the phone, making him jump a little in his surprise, "Joey-I- Well w-what, uh... what do you want?"

"Hi, Lucy," he replied, swallowing down the slightest bit of coldness edging further into his tone. "Are you alright?" he asked after a few moments hesitation, hearing her breathe heavily down the speaker. He took another hard swallow and thwacked off the covers that lay on his waist, forcing himself to get out of bed. He balanced the phone between his ear and shoulder blade, bending down slightly to pull on some boxers and a pair of darkly coloured jeans. "Luce, you still there?" he questioned, fastening up the buttons of his light blue, quarter-length sleeved shirt.

He heard her simply sigh in response as he sat down on the edge of the bed and put his head down, dropping his gaze towards the floor, "What do you mean?" she finally got out, his forehead wrinkling up in confusion. "What exactly do you want from me, Joey?" she continued, a tinge of guilt pulsing it's way through him at the desperate tone in her voice. The trouble was, he didn't even know the answer to that himself. He really didn't understand what he was even doing at the moment.

"I don't know," he finally concluded, raising his eyes to stare at the plain, wooden wardrobe stood in front of him. "I really don't know anymore," he muttered, unable to stop the words that were about to leave his lips. "It's just Lauren, I guess, Luce. It's all damn Lauren," he went on, not caring what the hell she thought of her at this point. "I don't understand what's happening right now. She just doesn't trust me and to be fucking honest she has complete right not to," he murmured more to himself, his jaw tensing slightly at the thought.

"Joey..." she tried to soothe him softly, only making more anger boil up inside of him.

"Cut the bullshit, Luce. This is all your fucking fault and you know it," he snapped, hoping his voice lived up to the grueling hatred he currently had towards her. "If it wasn't for you, Derek and everybody's fucking games around here then she wouldn't have fucking left in the first place and none of this would have bloody happened," he continued to rant, injecting as much venom into his words as he possibly could. He knew his words would have hurt her, to say the slightest, but he honestly could not care less. She deserved to feel the pain she had made him and Lauren feel for so long; too long, in fact.

He took a deep breath and licked his dry lips, bringing up a hand to scratch the back of his neck, something he often did when he was nervous or uncomfortable. "...Joe-"

"No," he cut her off abruptly, the guilt hitting him now more than ever. "I'm... I'm really sorry," he whispered almost inaudibly. What the hell was wrong with him?

"No, Joey. Please, please just stop doing this," she said through a shaky breath, his words hitting her like a slap in the face. "Just tell her I'm sorry. I know it doesn't mean anything to either of you but know that I am fucking genuinely sorry, and you don't need to be." she mumbled. "I'll, uh, be getting off now. Bye, Joey," she finished, the call ending only a couple seconds later.

If Joey could automatically lock himself away from the world, even if it was just for a few minutes, then he definitely would.

He was in some deep shit right now.

Some real, deep shit.

Fuck.

;).