How's this for irony, considering the title of this fic? Back in October, I sent Home and Away a strongly worded letter condemning their misrepresentation of homosexuality, women and their interpretation of a positive relationship. I got a Return to Sender this week! They didn't even open it! How rude! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the reunion. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Ten
It was early the following morning when Joey docked. With some anxiety, she stepped off the boat and looked around. Her heart leapt into her throat when she saw Charlie, looking as beautiful as she ever had, standing and waiting for her with a large bouquet of roses in her arms. The two women smiled at each other before breaking into a run. Charlie just about managed to move the roses out of the way before she swept Joey up and into her arms. She tried not to cry but the feeling of having Joey back with her was overwhelming. Squeezing her eyes shut, she held on tight and took several deep breaths, inhaling Joey's scent and falling more deeply in love with her as the seconds passed. Reluctantly, Joey withdrew and gazed longingly into Charlie's eyes, wanting to memorise her every feature and take all of her in. She reached out with one hand and stroked Charlie's smooth skin before moving in and brushing her lips ever so gently against hers. Charlie smiled into the kiss, pulling Joey in a little closer. They kissed for several long minutes, forgetting about the world around them and only caring about each other. Finally breaking apart, both women blushed and smiled.
"I um... I bought you some flowers," Charlie said, waving the bouquet.
Joey grinned.
"So I see," she said. "Thank you."
"Shall we um...? I booked a hotel room..."
"Oh really?" Joey teased.
Charlie cringed.
"I didn't mean it like that!" she said. "I just thought... privacy and... oh, shit."
Seeing how stressed she looked, Joey stroked her face and guided her until she was looking into her eyes.
"I'm teasing," she said. "Privacy sounds like a good idea. I guess we've got a lot to talk about."
Charlie nodded. She handed Joey the flowers and politely picked up her bags. Joey thanked her and together, they walked towards the car.
Back at Charlie's hotel room, she and Joey were again feeling shy. Sitting on the bed, face to face with their legs crossed, they held hands. Joey had regaled Charlie with stories of her time at sea and Charlie had caught Joey up on Ruby's decision to take the next step with Xavier and telling her about Aden and Belle getting married. She still, however, had no idea how to tell her about Angelo.
"So, you really didn't get my letter?" Joey finally asked.
Charlie shook her head.
"The first one I got was this one," she said, pulling a folded envelope from her pocket. "I thought you'd just decided not to come home. I thought... I thought you didn't love me anymore. I thought you'd decided you couldn't forgive me."
"I do forgive you," Joey said sincerely. "I missed you so much that after a few weeks, I was pretty much counting the days until I got to see you again. And I thought, well, if I miss you this much and if I'm still so in love with you after all those weeks and everything that happened... I knew I must have forgiven you. I was desperate to get home and start again. But I was scared too, just in case you didn't want me and... and I wrote to you to tell you how I felt. But I got a return to sender and..."
She sighed heavily. Standing up, she delved into one of her bags and pulled out the precious note. Resuming her position on the bed, she handed it over. Charlie licked her lips and turned it over in her hands a couple of times.
"Can I read it?" she asked.
"I was hoping to go for a shower in a sec," Joey said. "The facilities on a fishing trawler really aren't a dream! It'd be nice to clean up properly. I feel like I've stunk to high heaven for four months."
"You smell good," Charlie said.
Joey smiled.
"Who do you think would have interfered and sent the letter back?" she asked.
Charlie's face fell with realisation. Angelo's words during their break up echoed in her mind.
"He wouldn't have..." she said unhappily.
"Who?" Joey asked.
Charlie looked immediately guilty. Joey was uncomfortable.
"When you didn't come home," Charlie ventured. "I was so upset and I ended up..."
She sighed heavily.
"Did you sleep with someone?" Joey asked anxiously.
Charlie nodded.
"I dated a guy called Angelo for a few weeks. As soon as I got your letter, I broke up with him but... I was with him a couple of weeks and I... well, I slept with him the night you didn't come home."
"You really missed me!" Joey remarked, hurt, despite herself.
Charlie looked crestfallen and quickly apologised.
"I thought we were over, Joey," she said desperately. "I thought I'd lost you forever and..."
She closed her eyes, feeling her one last chance slip away from him.
"It's okay," Joey said gently.
She reached out and held her hands again. They managed to smile at each other.
"Nothing, um... nothing happened while you were waiting for me, did it?" Joey asked.
Charlie blanched. Joey dropped her hands, feeling her heart breaking all over again.
"It was just a kiss," Charlie said.
Joey's expression was set and she didn't quite know what to say.
"I didn't mean to. It just happened..."
"Like it just happened with Hugo?" Joey asked quietly.
Charlie looked devastated. Joey matched her expression.
"Charlie, I have forgiven you but I need to know... is this going to happen again?"
"No!" Charlie exclaimed. "No! Joey, I swear... All that happened with Angelo when I was waiting for you was that he kissed me and I pulled away. And then I burst into tears and told him all about you but... I guess his lips were on mine for like a second or something, so technically I did kiss him. But it wasn't like that. I promise you it wasn't like that. I..."
"Charlie, breathe," Joey said gently, squeezing her hands.
Charlie obeyed, tears stinging her eyes. She'd always intended to tell Joey everything. She just hadn't meant for it to all tumble out this way.
"It's okay," Joey said. "It's okay."
"But you were so upset with me..."
"And then you explained," Joey replied. "It's okay."
Charlie took a few more deep breaths and wiped her eyes. Her heart was racing with the fear that she might still lose Joey after all.
"Do you think this Angelo guy stole my letter then?" Joey asked.
"Well, I have no evidence but when I broke up with him, he mentioned something about interfering. I didn't think about it at the time but... maybe. When did you send it?"
"Two weeks before I was due back," Joey said, pointing at the postmark on the envelope.
"That makes sense," Charlie said. "That's when he kissed me and I said nothing could happen. And now I think about it, he did bring our post in for us one of those days."
She and Joey both sighed.
"Well, let's draw a line under everything now," Joey said. "Regardless of who did what, we're together now. We're here, in the same place and we both want to move on with our lives."
Charlie nodded.
"Do you mind if I take a shower?" Joey asked.
"Sure," Charlie said. "There's shower gel and shampoo and everything in there from home."
Joey nodded and thanked her. She leant over and pressed her lips softly against Charlie's cheek.
"I don't know where you stand exactly," she said. "But everything I wrote in the first message, I still feel."
Charlie watched her head into the bathroom and close the door. Sinking back against the pillows, she eagerly opened up.