Chapter Ten

Charlie had had a sleepless night. Ruby had lain beside her most of the time, trying to calm her tears. She avoided breakfast and decided to go for a walk. She surprised herself by ending up on the cliff top where she and Joey had shared their reunion kiss. Happy memories suddenly became painful as she remembered the rejection in her room. They had come so close and now it felt like the world had ended. And she still had to live in the same town as her lost love for several more days. Overwrought with emotion, she climbed back down the cliff and headed to the beach. Wandering aimlessly along the sand, she remembered only the day before when they had gone running together. She remembered tripping and Joey coming to tend to her ankle. She also remembered that they had nearly shared a kiss then. Sighing, she wondered why Joey had kissed her at all, why she had agreed to spend time with her when she knew she didn't feel that way about her anymore. It didn't make sense that Joey would lead her on. That wasn't her nature. But surely she must have known that she didn't want to get back together. Looking up, her heart felt heavy as she saw Joey sitting on the beach with her friends, presumable Joshua, Luke and Katie from the trawler. She stopped a short distance back and observed the group. One of the guys was talking in an animated fashion. The other guy was listening intently. Joey looked as if she wasn't on the same planet as everyone else and the girl, Katie, was gazing at Joey. Charlie felt sick. Was there something between Joey and Katie? Was that why Joey had rejected her? But why would Joey had even toyed with her feelings if that was true? Charlie knew she had hurt Joey terribly but did she really deserve that kind of revenge? She hated to silently accuse Joey of such things but she couldn't figure it out any other way. Maybe Joey was trying to give her a taste of her own medicine. Maybe she'd wanted to hurt her. Charlie shook her head as she studied Joey's perfect form. She looked so sad and withdrawn. Katie might be undressing her with her eyes but Joey hadn't even noticed. Unless Joey was now feeling guilty about what she had done. Knowing she was about to fall apart, Charlie hurried away.

***

Later that afternoon, Joey had broken away from her friends and gone for a walk alone. She wound up on the cliff from the day before, seating herself in the exact location of her and Charlie's beautiful kisses. She started breathing painfully heavily as she wished with all her heart that she could change her feelings and make it work between them. Why did Charlie have to sleep with Hugo? Why did Ruby have to drag them together too soon? Why couldn't Joey just get over it like she wanted to? She sat looking out to sea for a while before dragging herself to her feet and walking back down. She walked along the coast aimlessly, looking up sharply when she heard someone call her name. Aden stood in front of her. He smiled cheerfully.

"What's up?" he asked.

She and Charlie had looked so happy at dinner the night before. They had seemed like they were making progress. What had changed? Joey tried and failed to smile. Her throat ached from the constant lump within it.

"Charlie?" Aden presumed.

Joey nodded.

"What happened?" he asked.

He sat down on a nearby bench, gesturing for Joey to do the same.

"I just can't forgive her," Joey said. "I want to. We were nearly back together but when it came down to it, I just couldn't let go of the past."

"Do you think you'll ever be able to?" Aden asked.

Joey shrugged.

"I don't see how."

"Why not?"

The question took Joey by surprise.

"I'm sorry, it's just… after everything Belle and I have been through, I'd still forgive her anything. My problem is that she won't be with me and it hurts so much," Aden explained. "If I had half a chance of getting back with her, I'd take it with both hands but she's not willing. I know Charlie hurt you. I know she broke your heart but if you love her and you want to be with her, don't you owe it to yourself to give it a chance if you can?"

Joey nodded, sighing heavily.

"I just can't seem to cope with what she did. What if she cheats again?"

"I can guess pretty firmly that she won't," Aden says.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I've just spent the last month watching her die."

Joey looked up sharply.

"She's been lost without you, Joey. All she does is work and try and tune out all her feelings. And I know from seeing her on her down time and everything Ruby told me when she was trying to convince me to help her arrange this trip, that she's been a wreck."

"Did you see much of her?" Joey asked.

"I saw her the morning after you left," Aden admitted. "She was sitting by the beach, staring off into the distance in tears. And she hasn't been fairing much better since then. She misses you so much. She loves you, Joey. She knows how badly she messed up. Losing you woke her up to realising just how much she needs you."

"We made out yesterday," Joey revealed. "But just as we were getting into it, I kept getting all these images of her with Hugo and I ran off. How can I be with her if I'm constantly thinking about that?"

Aden sighed. He didn't know the answer to her question.

"I guess you just do everything you can to make it work. If you think she's worth it."

***

The sky was dark and Charlie had been walking around for hours. The air had become a little chilly but she had no intention of going back to the hotel and warming up. She had texted Ruby to skip lunch and dinner. Looking up ahead, she spotted a group of young men. Wandering closer, she realised that they had circled a girl. They were poking at her and clearly being intimidating. Charlie leapt into action immediately, running forward, wanting to help. She gasped when she got close enough to recognise that the girl being hassled was Joey.

***

Joey turned round when she heard a woman shout 'hey' rather sharply. The boys looked up too. She came face to face with Charlie.

"Leave her alone," Charlie told the three men, who had followed Joey for five minutes before swooping in.

Panic had completely taken over. Last time Joey had been cornered by a man, he had wrecked her life. She trembled as she tried to find a way to flee. She couldn't let something like that happen again. It nearly destroyed her the first time and with her life in tatters already, she didn't know if she could survive anything else.

"What are you going to do about it?" the leader of the pack demanded, looking at Charlie.

"I'll arrest you," Charlie warned.

"Yeah, right!" the guy laughed, turning his attention back to Joey.

Joey felt hands on her arms. His cronies had hold of her. She attempted to fight them.

"Get the hell away from her!" Charlie yelled, rushing forward and attempting to pull the guy closest to her, away from Joey.

"Get rid of her," the leader told one of his friends.

The guy turned round and shoved Charlie backwards. Instinct took over. She threw a punch. The man clutched his face and fell out of the way. Charlie charged forward, adrenaline coursing through her body. There was no way she was going to let Joey get hurt. She'd rather die than allow her to go through pain like this, not after last time. The second in command turned to deal with her. They gripped each other, struggling to overpower the other person. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the leader grabbing Joey's wrists and pressing her roughly against the wall. She saw Joey's tears glisten in the moonlight. Shoving her attacker out of the way, Charlie threw herself between the leader and the love of her life. He continued to try and get to Joey but Charlie stood firm.

"Don't touch her!" she cried. "Do whatever the hell you want to me but don't touch her!"

She felt his rough hands grabbing her arms. It hurt. She struggled back, desperate to get Joey to safety. He shoved her into the wall. She wrenched one arm free and hit him in the face. Undeterred, he punched her back. She felt blood begin to pour from her nose and her head began to spin but she wasn't finished yet. She kneed him in the groin. He fell back, crying out. Charlie took the moment to grab Joey's trembling hand, wanting to drag her away but the man grabbed her roughly back. She hardly had time to register the flash of glass reflecting off a street lamp before she felt it slash her abdomen. She saw Joey rush out from behind her, pushing into their aggressor as hard as she could. Breathing heavily, the girls clung onto each other as they ran away.