"You Call It Madness But I Call It Love"
HI CJers!
Sorry for the delay on this one - busy week! Hope you're still loving this fic! Anybody actually enjoying the way the Charlie/Brax relationship is playing out on H&A so far?
JCLuv - Glad you loved Ruby. As for her plan working - you'll just have to keep reading to find out!
B2T - Yes very true about their Dad's both being dead - it's the shock of the truth that hurts right now! Maybe with a bit of time for Joey she'll be able to get past it - with Charlie's help of course! Great idea with the tattoo - that was my original idea lol! But I don't think Charlie's ready for a tatt to prove her love for Joey - just yet! Hope you like the idea I decided to go with instead of the tatt!
Jensy - That's gotta be the only conclusion - Joey can't live without Charlie! With a bit of time let's hope that's the conclusion Joey comes to but yes the brothers could be a problem... I'm not surprised you weren't expecting Ruby to be so mature - she hardly is in H&A! I tend to like my versions of Ruby better lol! Time to uncross those fingers & toes!
Skippy - Yes to totally quote you 'Mission Bring Back Joey' is on! Glad you enjoy getting lost in the story!
JSCO - Well even though you can't make a guess I really hope you love how it does unfold!
Oniz - Glad you liked Ruby so much in the last couple chapters! Charlie really did need her support after everything she's been through! Thanks once more for your beautiful comments!
Love to hear your thoughts! Read and review!
Chapter Twenty-One
Joey headed down to the beach late that morning. Brax had been surprised when she'd returned home the previous night but seemed conflicted when she'd insisted that she would definitely be leaving the next afternoon. She knew deep down that her brother didn't want her to leave but they both knew that she couldn't be with Charlie and the only way to get over her was to leave town so they wouldn't be constantly crossing paths.
Knowing that it might be a while before she might return to the Bay, Joey decided she might as well make the most of her time in the coastal town. With her bags already packed, Joey thought she should get some extra surfing practice in before the competition the next day even though she already knew she was in a good position to win it.
Jogging lightly down the beach towards the end, Joey almost cursed herself for instinctively heading towards the spot where her and Charlie seemed to hang out in her several attempts to teach Charlie to surf.
Dumping her towel on the sand, along with her phone and keys, as she reached the end of the beach, Joey then jogged out to the ocean with her surf board.
Hitting the waves as soon as she was out far enough, Joey couldn't help but wonder if she was doing the right thing by leaving. She knew without a doubt that her feelings for Charlie wouldn't just disappear the moment she was out of town and she struggled to think how long it could take her to get over the woman.
Surfing the waves with ease, Joey felt a pang of guilt from telling Charlie the truth. She could only imagine the pain Charlie was going through knowing what her father had done to the Braxton family and wondered if she'd only made things worse for her lover by revealing the truth instead of simply leaving town without explanation.
Joey couldn't stand to imagine how hurt Charlie was but she also couldn't ignore her own pain. She was trying so hard not to blame Charlie for the pain her family had gone through with the death of her father, but she couldn't help but wish their family's had never crossed paths all those years ago.
More so now, Joey was regretting how her life had become entangled with Charlie's.
Letting one wave beat her and crashing herself off her surf board into the water so she could gear up for a better wave, Joey wondered if she would've done it all again and embarked on a passionate relationship with Charlie had she known their family's connection from the start.
Shaking her head and trying to forget every single feeling Charlie invoked in her for fear of being unable to move on, Joey groaned loudly as she spotted Charlie on the beach walking towards their spot at the edge of the beach.
Joey blushed as she realized how far away Charlie really was from her and she still recognized her body from just the way the woman walked. Or maybe it was her heart instinctively telling her that Charlie was around.
Joey hesitated in wanting to surf back into shore to see Charlie. Her heart was telling her that leaving the Bay and Charlie was a huge mistake that wouldn't see her feelings for Charlie disappear. But her mind kept reminding her that no matter how hard she tried she would always be reminded of her father's murder every time she was with Charlie and she struggled to comprehend how anybody could get past that despite knowing the feelings they shared for one another.
Knowing that Charlie wasn't about to let her leave that afternoon without talking to one another Joey gave in to her heart for a moment and surfed into shore with the hope that the pair could achieve some kind of closure before she left.
Charlie walked awkwardly across the beach towards the place she'd come to know as her and Joey's 'place.' They may have only met there several times but she felt safe there and she knew that Joey loved the waves at that end of the beach.
Sighing as she carried her newly bought item under her arm, Charlie couldn't believe that Ruby had talked her into this plan of hers. She didn't think that it would work for a moment and she only prayed the money she'd had to spend on it could show Joey that she was serious about being a part of her life.
Either that or she'd just found Ruby's birthday present for this year and was happy to pass it straight onto her daughter if it meant she didn't have to fork out more money for something expensive like a car. Charlie could only hope that Ruby wasn't expecting to get a car for her birthday this year because she wasn't quite sure she trusted Ruby with such a huge investment considering she'd been caught 'stealing' Sid's car with Dex only a few months earlier.
As she trudged along the sand, Charlie smiled shyly as she was happy to spend some time alone with her daughter that morning. Whilst she didn't want to advocate Ruby skipping half a day of class, after spending the drive to Yabbie Creek talking to one another, Charlie realized just how much she didn't know about what Ruby had been going through lately and felt guilty for not noticing her daughters emotions earlier.
Ruby had confessed to sleeping with Romeo and finding out that it didn't mean anything to him like it had to her because he had no intentions of leaving Indi for her. Although Charlie had voiced her strong opinion that Ruby had made an unbelievably bad decision to sleep with Romeo without thinking about what it would do to her friend Indi and that Ruby should've waited for Romeo to end things with Indi or even until the two of them were a real couple to sleep together, Charlie could tell the amount of pressure Ruby was under trying to hide her broken heart from her friends and family.
But no matter how disappointed in Ruby she was about her mistake to sleep with Romeo, Charlie knew she couldn't turn her back on her daughter. Especially since Ruby had been fully supportive of her feelings for Joey.
Charlie knew that it was a shock for Ruby to find out that her mother was in love with another woman. It had come out of nowhere for the both of them since Charlie's only romances had been with men but Ruby showed a maturity in knowing that Charlie was already struggling to accept that she wanted nothing more than an open relationship with Joey when she knew deep down that it was now their family's history that was preventing them from being together.
On the drive to and from Yabbie Creek, Charlie had opened up to Ruby about her feelings for the tattooed woman and Ruby had no doubt that her mother had never felt this way before about anyone else.
Ruby even ventured the idea of having Joey around for dinner one night with the pair of them so she could get to know the woman Charlie had fallen head over heels for. Charlie couldn't help but be relieved of Ruby's acceptance of her love for Joey and wished that her and Joey would ever have that chance to let Ruby get to know them as a couple.
Knowing that might never happen due to the forbidden love between them now, Charlie only hoped she could find a way to convince Joey that the pair of them could be friends so that Joey could forgive her for her father's mistakes.
Charlie watched as Joey surfed into the shore and without hesitating she strode over to meet the woman.
Joey couldn't help but eye Charlie curiously as she noticed what Charlie had with her when she reached the shore and jumped off her surf board, carrying it gently with her as she walked over to Charlie.
Charlie smiled shyly but was disappointed when they stood in front of one another and Joey simply said, "You shouldn't be here Charlie...don't make this harder on me to leave you."
Charlie looked down at the woman, prepared to lay her heart on the line, "I had to come...letting you leave is what will make things harder for the both of us. I don't know what you're going through...I imagine a part of you hates me for what my father's done...I don't blame you for feeling that way."
Joey didn't disagree or agree with Charlie's statement, unsure of which one she was really feeling about their situation. Instead she simply stared into Charlie's eyes, hoping all her pain would disappear.
Charlie took a small step closer to Joey, "I'm not here to...tell you that you and Brax are wrong...that there's no way my father could've made such a mistake...I've done my own research since I saw you last night...I can't plead with you that my father's innocent...'cause I don't think he is. I just wanted you to know that...I believe you...I believe my father's mistake led to..."
Joey swallowed hard, "So if you're not here to try and get me to believe that this...nightmare of our family connection isn't true...in a bid to get me to stay...why are you here?"
"I won't lie and say that I'm not here to get you to stay...'cause I am," Charlie revealed softly, "Joey I know how I feel about you...and I know that despite your feelings for me...we can't be together."
Joey nodded gently, unable to deny to herself how much it hurt knowing that her and Charlie couldn't be together.
Charlie bit her lip, hurt that Joey agreed with her even though she knew it was impossible for them to have a relationship, "But just because we can't be together...it doesn't mean you have to leave. Running away isn't the answer. You need to stay in the Bay to be close to your family after everything you've found out. We might struggle to ignore what's between us at first but we both know we can't let anything happen so...I think with a bit of time...we can be friends."
Joey eyed Charlie gently, "You're right about me staying here for my family and that I can't just run away. But do you really think we can be friends?"
Charlie nodded positively, "I'm not saying it'll be easy but yeah...I still want to be a part of your life and if being your friend is all you want from me and you don't think anything more between us is an option...then we can be friends."
"Didn't we try the...friends thing...before? Didn't it kinda lead to us being together?" Joey pointed out.
"Yes," Charlie admitted, then showing her confidence though deep down wondering if any of it was really the truth, "But this time we know that nothing can ever happen between us. We no longer have to worry what the other is thinking or that maybe our feelings aren't one sided...we know we'll never be anything more than friends. We both know you can't give into any feelings you have for me...and I'll have you know that I'm very disciplined in being able to control my actions...so you can trust that unless you decide otherwise...I won't act on any feelings for you and I'll be nothing more than your friend."
Joey couldn't help but read through Charlie's emotions, knowing just how hard it would be for the two of them to deny their love for one another. But realizing that it would only cause her more pain not to be around Charlie at all and that what she needed was a friend to help her get past her pain of finding out what had really happened to her father, Joey decided to accept Charlie's offer of friendship.
Smirking gently up at Charlie, Joey couldn't help but ask, "And how will we even spend our time together as friends? What exactly do the pair of us have in common that makes you think we'll be good friends?"
"That's kinda where this comes in," Charlie announced as she took the surf board out from under her arm and placed it standing upwards in the sand.
Joey stared at Charlie curiously, unable to deny she'd been wondering why Charlie was carrying a surf board since she'd first spotted her walking towards her.
"I went to Yabbie Creek this morning and bought myself a surf board," Charlie beamed proudly at Ruby's idea, "And since we're friends and all...I was hoping you'd...teach me to surf!"
Unable to turn down Charlie's offer Joey gave in to Charlie and agreed that she would take the time to teach Charlie to surf. Once the words were out of her mouth, Joey blushed deeply as she tried to deny that teaching Charlie to surf could possibly lead them back into one another's arms...
A little sun, a little surf - what could possibly end up happening between these two with some surfing lessons?
Are Charlie & Joey simply right back to the beginning? Flirting, tension and a whole lot of undeniable chemistry?
Will they give into their love for each other? Or will they remain firm in their stance as only being friends?
Next Time - Charlie & Joey find a place to themselves to enjoy their surfing lessons so Brax won't find out they're spending time together
Charlie asks Joey to have dinner with her - just dinner between two friends nothing more - 'cause it absolutely couldn't be a date! They can't give in this quickly can they?
Will Joey say yes?