Kicking her feet in the sand, she looked up to see Joey, Joey and Tracey, she couldn't believe it! She was jealous, she was green with envy. She longed for that to be her. As she just stared at them, Joey caught her eye. Joey pulled her head away from Tracey's and muttered something to her before running up the beach to try and catch up to Charlie who had started running along the beach.
She desperately wanted Joey to just leave her alone. She didn't want to break down in front of Joey. "Charlie, Charlie… wait!" Joey called from 20 paces away form her. Charlie stopped running but she couldn't turn around and face Joey, tears were prickling in her eyes, she tried to blink them back. "What Joey?" Joey didn't know what to say. Charlie started to walk away but Joey grabbed her arm. "Charlie, please don't leave things like this. You just saw me with Tracey, didn't you?"
Joey looked in to Charlie's eyes she could see the hurt and betrayal she felt. "Please Joey, I'm fine. Honest, you've moved on. I'm happy for you." Joey knew this wasn't the truth. She looked deep into Charlie's eyes. "Tell me what you feel, Charlie. Please don't lie to me." Charlie looked at Joey then set her focus on the ocean. "You know that I can't. You know how I feel. I thought getting over you, Joey would be easy but it's not. Whenever I see you with her I get jealous. I feel weak at the knees." Charlie's words brought Joey to tears. "Charlie you know how I feel about you but you've strung me along for too long. I'm sorry Charlie. I can't be with you anymore." Charlie couldn't hold the tears in any longer and as they rolled down her cheeks, Joey leaned in and kissed her cheek. Then she turned around and walked away.
----xoxo----
Charlie stumbled home. She was drunk, really drunk. After her encounter with Joey she went straight to the Surf Club and lost count of the amount of drinks she'd downed. Leah came to her aid as she collapsed on the floor in a flood of tears. "Joey… Joey…. Joey. She stuttered. Leah tried to calm her down and keep her quiet. It was nearing 3 am.
----xoxo----
Joey woke to the sounds of Charlie calling to her. She hesitated as she got up to check on Charlie, she sounded drunk. As she entered the living room, she saw a very drunk Charlie; she was in tears on the floor as Leah tried to comfort her. Leah looked at Joey, her eyes pleading for help. "Leah you go back to bed, I'll deal with this." Leah nodded and headed back to bed. Joey helped Charlie too her feet and opened the door to Ruby's room where Charlie had been sleeping for the past months but her bed had been stripped and there were no sheets or pillows in sight. She knew that she wouldn't be able to make Charlie's bed without waking Ruby up. Charlie started giggling hysterically, Joey shut the door to block the noise from a sleeping Ruby. What was she meant to do now? She looked into her room and helped Charlie to her bed. She started to sing;
"You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You'll never know dear
How much I love you
Please don't take my sunsh…."
----xoxo----
Joey let out a little laugh as Charlie collapsed on the bed, fast asleep. She tucked her into bed but she didn't want to give Charlie the wrong idea but there was nothing else that could be done.
----xoxo----
Joey woke up the next morning and rolled over to see the figure of a beautiful woman lying next to her. She just stared at Charlie, taking in her beauty. Could she really just let her go? Charlie began to murmur, slowly waking up. Joey pretended to be asleep wondering what she would do.
----xoxo----
Waking up with a massive headache wasn't Charlie's only problem. As she opened her eyes she was shocked to be lying next to Joey. Fast asleep. She couldn't remember much about the night after her talk with Joey. She lay there just looking at her. Could she ever forgive herself for not following her heart and telling the world she was in love with Joey? Would Joey ever forgive her? Charlie leaned in and kissed Joey lightly, following her heart. The contact sent shivers through both their bodies. Charlie began to stir, Charlie quickly began getting up. She didn't know how Joey would react if she knew that Charlie had just kissed her.
----xoxo----
Charlie opened her eyes, "ughh… hi Charlie," Charlie looked as though she was going to faint. "Arghh! I'm really sorry about last night… what was last night?" Joey didn't know what to say, "Umm…well… nothing happened between us if that's what you mean" A look of relief crossed Charlie's face, Joey looked hurt. "Joey, I'm really sorry, about everything. I'm not a very good drunk. Please tell me I didn't do anything stupid." Joey wasn't sure what to say. "Arghh no not really. I mean you came home at 3 shouting for me, probably waking the whole house in the process and sung to me before passing out on the bed." Charlie looked mortified. "oh no, I'd better go apologise to Leah. What did I sing to you?" Not sure if she really wanted to hear the answer, "You're my sunshine." They both cracked up in laughter.