hey my sexual cupcakes. ;)

i'm not exactly the best at updating on time so i am extremely grateful to everybody who is sticking with this story. as you may know, it's hard to keep up with homework and write this at the same time, but i do sincerely apologize for my lack of chapters.

anyway, i hope you enjoy this chapter.

sorry they haven't been as exciting as they could be. there still is a lot more to come for this story in time.

-x-x-x-

Chapter 8.

"Fuck," Joey muttered, bringing a hand up to rub the side of his face tiredly before dropping it back to his side and gazing down at the shattered pieces of glass scattered over the floor. He swallowed hard and bent down slightly, beginning to pick up a few of the pieces until he eventually let out a groan and let them fall back to the floor. "Fuck, fuck, fuck..." Joey went on in frustration, straightening himself up as he inspected his cut-covered fingers closely as smooth droplets of blood began to drip into his palms.

"Everything alright, Joe?" Sharon, his boss, questioned as she made her way into the doorway, taking one glance at him before wincing in horror. "Oh, God. Are you okay?" she asked, walking over to him quickly and looking down at the glass at the floor in panic. "What happened?"

"Uh," Joey began somewhat pathetically, his eyes darting around frantically before they settled back on Sharon. "I dropped a few glasses. I'm so sorry, Sharon. I promise I'll pay for new ones. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and I just have a lot on my mind right now and I'm finding it hard to concentrate on work but I don't want to take a break because I need the money and-"

She shook her head and let out a light laugh, "Calm down, Joe. Go to the bathroom and get yourself cleaned up – I'll sort this out," she murmured, squeezing him gently on the shoulder and urging him towards the bathroom door.

"Alright," he agreed, nodding his head a few times and forcing a small smile. He carefully held his hand in front of his face, narrowing his eyes as he looked closer at his cuts. Slowly, he shuffled into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him, going up the sink and staring at his dull reflection in the mirror. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand before turning on the tap and holding his bruised hand under the cold water, closing his eyes and swallowing hard.

What the hell was wrong with him today?

After a few minutes he opened his eyes again and wrapped his hand in tissue, breathing deeply and biting down on his bottom lip. He turned off the tap and made his way out of the bathroom, looking at Sharon hesitantly and watching her offer him a smile in which he gratefully returned, "I'm so sorry," he mumbled quietly, wrinkling up his forehead.

"It's alright," she told him, shrugging her shoulders merely as she made sure all the glass was cleaned up safely. She ran a hand through her hair, looking back up at Joey with her gaze softening a little, "You won't need to pay for replacements. I can tell you've got a lot on your mind, with Lauren and everything," she continued, folding her arms over her chest and leaning up against the office wall as she watched him. "Although, I do think it would be a good idea if you took some time off. Y'know, just to get yourself together. If this sort of thing happens whilst the club is busy you know there will be issues with safety policies. We don't want that happening."

He nodded his head a few times although he wasn't really listening, his thoughts a complete blur. He couldn't fully comprehend anything at the moment. "Yeah," he managed to get out simply, coughing once to clear his throat. "I'm sorry,"

"I will pay you for just this week, Joey. Just make sure that this doesn't happen again, okay?" she went on, grabbing his coat from the side and tossing it towards him. "And remember, if you need somebody to talk to I'll be here. I know I'm not the most preferred person for you to tell, being your boss and all,"

Joey smiled a little and nodded his head, "Yeah. I'll keep that in mind. Thank you," he replied, zipping up his coat and readjusting his sleeves. "I'm not sure what's wrong with me lately. I'm probably just tired," he went on, shrugging his shoulders and shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Alright," Sharon agreed, nodding her head, although not fully believing him. "Get home safely, Joe,"

"I will. See you later," he called back, holding his hand up to give her a slight wave before pushing open the door of the R&R and stepping outside. He took a deep breath of the fresh, cold air that overwhelmed him and swallowed hard, taking a few minutes to compose himself again. Rubbing the back of his neck, he let his eyes scan around for a brief second before beginning to make his way towards No.23.

-x-x-x-

"Hey, Joe!" Lauren called out cheerfully, after hearing the front door slam shut and footsteps come through the hallway. "I thought you'd still be at work. What time do you have to go back for your shift later?" she questioned, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as her pencil glided delicately against the paper she kept in position with the side of her arm, adding a couple of details to the picture she had drawn of him.

"Hey," he greeted her quietly, a small grin creeping up onto his lips. "I'm not going back today. There was a bit of an incident," he continued, his tone soft, holding up his injured hand and letting out a slight laugh.

Lauren whipped her head around, her eyes widening, before she jumped off of the sofa and quickly made her way over to him, taking his hand in hers and studying it carefully, "Oh, baby. What happened? Are you alright?" she asked, rubbing the side of his arm comfortingly.

"Yeah, don't worry, babe. I'm fine," he answered, nodding his head a few times. "I just dropped a few glasses. I seemingly tried to clean them up in the wrong way, though. Sharon suggested that I take a few days off so I can 'get myself together'," he muttered, rolling his eyes merely before bringing them back to Lauren. "I'm pretty sure I was close to losing my job, Lo," he added, letting out a heavy sigh and shaking his head.

Lauren gave him a small smile, "Well, you didn't," she pointed out, shrugging her shoulders. "Although, I do agree that you need to get yourself together. You haven't really been yourself lately and the amount of shifts you're doing aren't exactly helping. You look exhausted, baby."

"Oh, welllllll," Joey chimed out, wrapping his arms around Lauren's waist and pulling her into his chest. He stuffed his face into her long, dark hair and closed his eyes, "I would be able to sleep if somebody didn't manage to keep me up all night," he carried on, pulling his head back and raising an eyebrow, his signature smirk dancing up onto his lips.

Lauren rolled her eyes and let out a quiet giggle, looking up at him and smiling, "It's not my fault you're horny 24/7. I can only imagine how you must've been before you were with me," she mumbled, wrinkling up her forehead in disgust at the thought.

He let out a laugh and pressed a kiss to her lips, "I love you, baby."

"And I love you too."

-x-x-x-

a/n:

and there it is. :)

i hope you enjoyed this chapter - don't forget to tell me what you think!

next chapter will be better and longer. it's hard to get back into writing when you haven't been able to in a while.

thank you for reading, beautifuls x