Joey sat beside Morag and watched as Charlie sat behind her. She could help but want to make sure Charlie was still there. She knew this was going to one of the hardest mornings of her life. She was still unsure if she could handle it.

"You feeling better now?" Morag quizzed Joey; Morag had felt kind of useless this morning especially after she tried to calm and comfort Joey earlier but failed. Joey only relaxed when Charlie arrived. Morag was so glad to see her wrap her arms around Joey. It meant Charlie was also coping with her father's sudden turn.

"Yeah, much better" she shot a quick glance at Charlie and smiled. "Still worried about this though"

"It's ok you'll do fine, I'm pretty sure our case is sealed this is just mere formality. So don't worry, remember everything we talked about, and if it gets too hard stop and I'll ask the Judge for a break, ok?" Joey smiled at Morag; she had been so thoughtful and helpful over the past few days. "Thanks Morag." Morag smiled back.

"So does Joey know, is that why she called you back?" Ruby whispered to her sister sitting beside her.

"No" Charlie didn't want Joey to over hear the conversation and take it the wrong way so she tried to be short with her answers so as to end the conversation. "Then why?" Ruby couldn't help but be confused. "She wanted a kiss" Charlie smiled and Ruby giggled "must have been some kiss seeing as it took you like 8 minutes." "It was not 8 minutes, Rubes." "No really it was I was going to send out a search party." She giggled again. Charlie couldn't help but smile back. Charlie wanted to change the subject. "She could see you were upset when you were talking to Morag and Leah, she wanted to know if you were ok" Charlie grabbed her sisters hand. "I told her you hadn't heard from Xavier… how are you really though?" she squeezed Ruby's hand. "Freaking out to be honest, I don't know what I'm suppose to feel, I'm worried about dad and Jo, but Morag spoke to me about both of them so I'm not so bad now. I just want everything to be ok, char, you know?" Charlie placed her arm around her sister's shoulder and pulled her in for a hug, she could feel Ruby's pain and concern. "I know" it was all she could respond. The Judge entered the court and they had to stand up, this interrupted their embrace. So Charlie reached for Ruby's hand again and squeezed it.

Joey solemnly walked to the stand. She turned and faced the officer. He asked her name, address and date of birth. He then swore her in. Joey sat down in the chair. She had never been so thankful of a chair in her whole life her knees were going weak. She didn't know how long she could stand for. Her heart was starting to race and her body tensing with panic, her hands sweating. "Could you please in your own words tell us what happened on the night of Roberts first attack?" Morag voice was running through Joey's head but an answer was no where near her mind she had frozen. She tried to speak but nothing was coming out she wasn't sure if her lips had moved. "Miss Collins?" Morag looked at her again but this time with a concerned look. "Miss Collins, are you ok?" this time it was the judge who spoke. Still nothing she couldn't find any words. Their voices where just running through her head not even making sense to her. Her heart was beating faster and faster. She couldn't think straight. Nor could she see or hear properly. "Joey" the voice broke her from her trance. She looked up and seen Charlie standing with a concerned look on her face. "Charlie" she finally managed to get a word out. As she looked at Charlie she could feel her heart slowly starting to slow down. "Jo, its ok" Charlie just wanted to rush up to her and hug her and comfort her. "Miss Collins are you ok?" the Judge repeated also looking concerned. "I'm sorry" Joey finally replied her eyes still fixed at Charlie. "Would you like a ten minute break?" the judge directed his question at Morag. "No I'm ready" Joey responded to the Judges question. Her eyes still immovable from Charlie. Charlie smiled at her and nodded with support. She slowly sat back down. Joey's head readjusted so as she was still looking into Charlie's eyes.

"Could you please in your own words tell us what happened on the night of Roberts first attack?" Morag voice a little more cautious this time. Joey moved her head to look at the jury and then back to Charlie. Even the jury looked concerned for her. Back looking at Charlie's eyes Joey found the courage to tell what happened. As she spoke her heart was almost back to normal, she also became more relaxed. Looking at Charlie had a calming effect on her. Charlie was right. When she struggled she would be there for her and all she had to do was look down at her. She grew in confidence and moved her eyes away from Charlie to look at Morag, the Jury, the Judge and the rest of the people in the audience; she even at one point looked at Robbo. As she told how Robbo had raped her she used all of her strength to hold back the tears. She couldn't do the same as she told how he had taped her mouth and tied her up and tried to drown her. She tried drying off the tear that ran down her face. She looked up to see a juror also wiping a tear away from her face. She then glanced at Charlie who was sitting strong for her, but she could tell Charlie was holding back her tears. Her eyes were glazed. Ruby however couldn't hold in her tears and was being comforted by Leah who also had a tear running down her cheek.

Charlie sat listening to Joey. She didn't take her eyes off her once and she didn't want to. Hearing Joey tell of her awful ordeal made her hurt for Joey. Although she had been there for Joey from the start and she knew every inch of the events it still broke her heart. She could feel her eyes welling up but she refused to let herself cry. She watched as Joey dried the tears from her eyes wishing she could dry them for her. She was so proud of Joey. She was being so brave telling of how she was attacked. Charlie thought back to when Joey first took the stand and Morag asked her the first question. She could see Joey's body tense with panic. She could see Joey closing off. She didn't know what she could so to help but she knew she had to do something. She hadn't felt herself get up nor had she felt the word 'Joey' slip through her mouth. She just wanted to hold her and comfort her; most of all she wanted to protect her. It wasn't until Joey looked at her she realised she was standing and the voice she had heard saying Joey was her own. She was glad she could bring Joey back into concentration, she was relieved when she heard Joey say she was ready. She knew from that moment Joey could get through it and she would be there to help support her even if it was just returning a loving look.