Hi, guys. Far From Home is on a temporary break for a little while. But in its place, I thought I would post a short, four chapter fic based around the whole Shandi storyline. I still don't trust that Angelo was 'only tempted' by her so I thought I would play on that idea. Of course, Joey will never be far from Charlie's thoughts in this one... Far From Home should be back after this story is done but I hope that this is a suitable replacement for now. Love, IJKS xxx

Find Your Way Back

Chapter One

Charlie Buckton reluctantly agreed to go for a drink with her boyfriend, Angelo Rosetta. She still felt strange around him, knowing that he had kissed another girl behind her back. It hurt. She'd dumped him. But a couple of days ago, after an impassioned plea, she had taken him back. While she still wasn't sure it was the right decision, the overwhelming compulsion not to be alone took over. Since she'd lost her ex girlfriend, Joey Collins and broken her heart over it a thousand times, it was nice to know that she now had someone who would stay with her – even if she didn't want him to. It would never be the kind of love that she and Joey had shared but it had been nice enough. It had been, for the most part, pleasant. And it was the closest Charlie had ever come to a long term commitment. They had been dating now, on and off, for over a year. It was a record and she didn't want to throw it away.

In a lot of ways, Charlie felt like she needed him. He was a popular guy and she found him attractive. She knew that he loved her, despite his indiscretion. And she was grateful that he had at least been honest about it. Eventually. When she'd cheated on Joey, which had been much worse because she'd actually had sex with someone behind her back, she'd behaved in the worst way. She still wondered now if, had she been honest about it from the start, she might have been able to keep her. And if she had, she was sure that they would be together now. And she was sure that they would be happy – far happier than Charlie knew she could ever be with Angelo.

But Joey was gone and Angelo was all Charlie had. A voice in the back of her mind kept telling her to walk out for good, dust herself off and start again. Would her life really be that terrible without Angelo? She doubted it. While it wasn't something she liked to give voice to, she knew there were a lot of flaws in their relationship. He was self absorbed to say the least. But he loved her. And she needed to be loved.

Charlie looked up when Angelo approached with a beer for him and a glass of white wine for her. He sat down, still a little nervous after what had happened over the past few days. They'd talked at length about things and Charlie had stated clearly that she wanted things to change between them. She'd admitted that she felt like she'd been living in his shadow for a long time and that it seemed as if everything was always about him. She wanted him to spend more time with her and really listen to what she had to say and what mattered to her. She also wanted him to take the time to get to know Ruby properly and make more of an effort with her. And with these things in mind, Angelo had vowed to change and be a better boyfriend.

"How was your day?" he asked anxiously.

"It was good," Charlie said, happy to take advantage of him caring about her.

If she was honest, she wasn't entirely sure how long it would last.

"Watson and I caught a car-jacker in the act today," she said. "It was quite thrilling actually. Although, not for the person who owned the car."

Angelo smiled. As happy as he was running the restaurant now, he did miss being a police officer. He was just about to say so when he remembered Charlie's criticisms of his behaviour.

"I'm glad you enjoy your job so much," he said.

She smiled, knowing full well he had been about to turn the tables and make her statement about him. It was nice that he'd made the effort.

"How was your day?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was pretty..."

He trailed off. They both looked up as new girl, Shandi, the woman Angelo had kissed the week before, stood over them. She smiled cheerfully.

"Hey, guys," she said.

Charlie glared. Shandi shifted a little awkwardly.

"Hi," Angelo managed.

"I'm presuming I can't join you."

"You presumed right," Charlie said coldly.

"I uh... I told Charlie what happened," Angelo said, staring at Shandi intently. "You know, about us kissing."

Shandi eyed him curiously but then nodded, opting to keep quiet. She sat down. Charlie opened her mouth to object but Shandi was quick to apologise.

"I didn't mean to interfere in your relationship," she said.

"Why did you kiss my boyfriend then?" Charlie snapped.

Angelo was frozen in place, dreading Charlie's attack and its repercussions.

"It just kind of happened," Shandi said reasonably. "But for the record, Angelo talked about you a lot. And he loves you very much."

Charlie glanced at her boyfriend. She knew he loved her. She thought she loved him. But nothing quite seemed to make sense in her head right now.

"Hey, maybe it would make you feel better if you kissed someone else?" Shandi suggested.

Charlie looked disgusted and Angelo blanched in horror. He did not want his girlfriend going off with another person, regardless of his own infidelity.

"You're a beautiful woman," Shandi continued. "I'm sure you could have your pick of the boys... or girls, from what I hear..."

She smiled pleasantly. Charlie swallowed at the thought that people might still be talking about her one time lesbian romance. If people specifically asked, she said she was bisexual and it was something she didn't mind admitting anymore. However, she preferred people not to ask.

"Don't worry," Shandi said. "I'm bi too."

She smiled. Angelo studied both women, anxious about where this could be leading. One thing he was still insecure about was that Charlie might one day leave him for a woman. It was worse than the idea of her leaving him for a man. Sort of.

"I hear it's a bit of a big deal in this place," Shandi said. "Weird."

"Why are you even talking to me?" Charlie asked, wanting the girl to be as far away from her as possible.

And at this rate, she also wanted to get far away from Angelo.

"I'm just apologising," Shandi said. "I didn't mean to cause trouble for you."

"Well, you did."

"It takes two to tango," Shandi pointed out. "You're an intelligent girl. I would have thought you'd be above only blaming the person your boyfriend cheated with. It was Angelo's fault too."

"I'm aware of that," Charlie snapped.

"And yet you're sitting here having a drink with him and laying into me," Shandi said.

"I'm trying to get over what happened," Charlie told her.

She reached for her wine. Shandi worried for a moment she was going to end up wearing it but Charlie just gulped some of the liquid down instead.

"I still think getting some revenge will help," Shandi said.

"It won't," Angelo said quickly.

Charlie looked at him and saw the fright in his eyes. She remembered the lack of power she had had in all the time they had been together. She had never been a vengeful person, not really. The need to show Angelo that he couldn't get away with anything rose up within her. She looked Shandi up and down. She was definitely attractive.

"Fine," she said. "Are you game?"

Angelo looked horrified. Shandi looked intrigued. She grinned and shifted closer. Charlie met her, pressing her lips against hers and immediately letting things get passionate. Angelo stared, torn between finding the idea of two girls kissing quite hot and feeling awful that one of the girls was his girlfriend. Charlie pulled away. Shandi was a little breathless but Charlie looked extremely cool.

"Wow," the blonde said. "You kiss way better than your boyfriend."

Angelo looked offended. Charlie looked smug.

"And I've definitely had better," the police officer remarked.