Lauren's POV.

"You left. So I had to come after you, didn't I?" Joey shrugs helplessly at me.

"And now that you have you can piss off back." I sigh, shaking my head.

"What am I supposed to have done? And do we have to have this discussion on the doorstep?"

"No, because there's no discussion. Thanks for stopping by." I slam the door shut and storm back into the living room. He continues hammering on the door and no matter how much I turn up the volume on the telly, I can't drown it out. The kitchen door opens and mum walks out to the hall, and a minute later he's in front of me.

"Can we please talk?" He asks, quietly.

"I have nothing to say to you." I reply, shaking my head firmly.

"Yeah, well I've got a lot to say. I just don't get it, the night you left, we had that chat and I thought we were okay. I told you how I felt." He looks at me, confused.

"I'm going to leave the two of you you to talk." Mum clears her throat.

"Why did you let him in, Mum?" I frown at her.

"You should talk to him."

"But you know why I left. Why are you on his side?"

"I called your Mum last night. I had to come and see you." Joey explains.

"That's who you were talking to last night. I thought it was Dad. And that's how you knew where we live because Dad wouldn't have told you." I realise.

"But that was last night. We hadn't spoken about the reason you had left then and if I had known I would have told Joey not to come." Mum tells me.

"So why are you on his side now?" I question.

"Because he's here now and you might as well speak to him and be honest about why you left." Mum reasons before leaving the room.

"So me ignoring your calls gave you the impression that you should call my Mum instead?" I shake my head at him, frowning.

"I had to see ya." Joey repeats.

"Why? You keep saying that but why did you have to see me?"

"Look, this past month you don't know what it's been like. I've been going mental."

"Aw, it must have been so tough you when I was in rehab."

"I told you the way I felt about you, I said all of this stuff I've never said before and then I didn't see you again. I haven't stopped thinking about you. I need you in my life, Lauren."

"You need me as well?"

"As well as what?"

"Or who."

"What you going on about, babe?"

"I'm talking about Blondie. You can't have forgotten already. She was wrapped around you yesterday."

"Shit. That's why you left. You saw us." Joey sighs in realisation.

"I can't play these games, Joey. My life doesn't revolve around you anymore."

"She's called Chloe."

"I really don't wanna know."

"She's my best friend. She came to see me, I told her all about you and I wanted you to meet her."

"Oh." My mouth fall opens and I'm at a loss for words.

"Yeah." He's smirking, slightly.

"So, you haven't moved on?" I frown.

"No." He laughs, shaking his head.

"And-?" I start then stop.

"And do I still mean everything I said? More than ever, babe." Joey assures me, earnestly.

"I feel like an idiot now."

"Well, you should." He sticks his tongue out at me.

"You can't really blame me though, can you?"

"You never trust me, you always assume the worst."

"Again, can you blame me?"

"You're my whole life."

"I don't wanna be your whole life. You have your own life and I have mine. Separately."

"Except it's together."

"Not anymore, Joe."

"I know you have to learn to trust me again. Trust that I won't leave. It's different this time, I swear."

"It all happened so fast last time, Joey. Too fast. We were running away and then you ran away on your own."

"It's not gonna be like that now."

"How do I know?"

"Because I know. I know now, without a shadow of a doubt that is where I need to be, where I have to be and where I want to be. With you."

"You can't stay here."

"I'm booked in some dingy BnB down the road. Just tell me if you still love me or not. This little bag contains everything I own so I just need to know if you've got room for us in your life." He nods at the bag in the doorway.

"We have to take it really slow. It can't be like last time."

"Nothing like last time."

"We should be friends."

"Okay. We'll be friends."

"Hello, friend."

"I've got something for you but I don't know if I can give it to you yet. You'll freak out."

"Don't give it to me then."

"But it would look so good on you."

"Please don't give it to me."

"So ungrateful."

"I didn't ask you to get me anything did I?" I pout, brushing my hair out of my face.

"You've got my watch on." Joey pouts, clocking my wrist.

"Couldn't bear to take it off." I admit, quietly.

"Good." He grins.

"So, friends. What do friends do?"

"They play twister." Joey laughs and I remember the last time we were together, playing twister.

"And watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians."

"Only boyfriends do that." Joey smirks.

"So you won't watch it with me?"

"I'm not your boyfriend, am I?"

"Friends don't waste 2 hours watching football matches they don't understand just so they can tell their friend the score whilst he's at work."

"Like that is it?"

I just giggle and stick my tongue out at him.

"If we're gonna be friends, you can't giggle like that."

"I'm not allowed to laugh?"

"Nope."

"You're an idiot." I laugh, shaking my head at him.

"I'm gonna have to kiss you now. You asked for it." Joey smirks.

"But we're friends. Just friends." I remind him.

"Shit." He groans, before tenderly holding my face in his hands and almost closing the gap between our mouths.

"Don't." I start to shake my head but nod instead.

"I've missed you, babe." He plants a soft kiss on my mouth and it's like the first time we kissed all over again. I have a million butterflies in my tummy and I seem to have forgotten how to breathe.

After a moment I pull away out of his arms and take a few steps back, clearing my throat, unable to meet his eyes:

"I missed you too."

A/N- Thanks for the reviews, glad you're enjoying it. As always, hope you liked this chapter and please do let me know what you think :)