Chapter Ten

"Oh, I can't believe you're leaving!" Leah said sadly, hugging Joey goodbye.

Joey shrugged sadly.

"Time to move on, I guess," she replied.

Ruby frowned, not wanting Joey to leave or wanting to put up with mess Charlie was going to be in for the next however long either.

"We'd better get a move on," Claire said, glancing at her watch.

Joey nodded and picked up her bags.

"Joey!" called a voice.

Joey spun round and dropped her bags when she saw a flushed looking Charlie standing at the entrance to the Diner. The other patrons of the crowded restaurant also turned round to look but Charlie didn't seem to have noticed them. Claire sighed. She wanted them to leave quickly. She wasn't in the mood to witness some emotional farewell scene. Ruby smiled and hoped that Charlie was here to do the right thing. Hugo and Martha exchanged curious glances.

"Charlie," Joey said, barely audibly.

Charlie had said she wasn't going to come and say goodbye with everyone else, that it was going to be too hard. They'd said their goodbyes at the house already and attempted to make their peace the night before on the beach.

"I love you," Charlie said.

Joey's mind buzzed with confusion. Why was she saying this now? Didn't she realise that she was only making the impossible even harder? Charlie stepped forward, ignoring the stares of Colleen and Trey. Joey was the only person in the room that she cared about right at that moment.

"I can be who you need me to be," she said.

Joey looked at her quizzically. Leah smiled. Joey's time away had left a hole in their home and she had not relished the idea of her leaving again. She hoped that Charlie could convince her to stay.

"What do you mean?" Joey asked.

Stepping so that she was close enough to reach out and hold Joey's hands, Charlie held her gaze intently.

"I've been such an idiot, Joey," she said. "I can't believe I even considered letting you walk out of my life just because I was afraid of a few people gossiping."

She cast a glance at her sister who smiled encouragingly. She returned her gaze to Joey who was looking utterly stunned. Claire shifted uncomfortably. Everyone else continued to watch.

"Joey, we have to go," Claire interrupted.

"Shut up," Charlie snapped.

"Charlie, do you even know what you're saying?" Joey asked, ignoring Claire.

"I'm saying that I want to be with you. I don't want to hide our relationship away from the world. When you reach for my hand, I won't pull it away. When it feels right to kiss each other, I won't say no because of where we might be. I want us to be a normal couple just like any other."

Charlie didn't think she'd ever been so bold before. The Diner was looking on as she confessed her love to another woman and she didn't even care. She hadn't even been drinking. Joey was flummoxed. It was everything she wanted to hear but she was almost too afraid to believe it.

"I never deserved you from the start," Charlie said. "And I've lost count of how many chances I've had with you but if you give me just one more, I swear I'll spend the rest of my life proving just how much you mean to me."

Joey just stared into Charlie's face. She felt Charlie's hands slip around her waist and pull her closer, urgently begging her to say yes.

"I'll love you," Charlie continued. "I'll hold you, I'll walk around hand in hand, I'll kiss you... Joey, I'll even have sex with you in public if that's what it takes!"

They both blushed and laughed.

"I'll do anything."

"Go down on her!" someone yelled.

Ruby, Leah, Charlie and several others shot Trey a disgusted looked.

"Would you shut up?" Charlie snapped. "I'm trying to win back my soul-mate here!"

She turned back to Joey.

"I'm your soul-mate?"

"Of course you are," Charlie replied matter-of-factly.

"Then kiss me," Joey said.

Charlie bent her head and captured Joey's lips with her own, not caring that everybody was still watching.

THE END

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read and/or review this story! I really appreciate it and I hope it ended how you wanted it to!