Chapter Twenty-Six

November 2005

Sunlight began to peek in through the curtains, rousing Charlie who had clung onto Joey for dear life ever since she had arrived the night before. She shifted her body, which was wrapped around her, lifted her head that was nestled in her neck and glanced down at her hand, which she realised with a blush had come to rest on Joey's left breast. Jerking it away, she blushed further as Joey grinned, blinking awake.

"I didn't mind," the younger girl told her, her voice still thick with sleep.

Then Charlie noticed that Joey was sporting a severely bruised eye and a cut lip which could have easily needed stitches.

"Joey!" she said.

"I was joking!" Joey said defensively.

"Your face..."

"I can't help my face, Charlie."

Joey always cracked jokes when she was avoiding the issue but there was no way she was getting out of this one. Charlie drew away and watched Joey painfully pull herself into a sitting position.

"What's wrong with the rest of you?"
"I just have a few bruised ribs or something," Joey confirmed.

Charlie pulled the covers down and lifted Joey's pyjama top revealing a definite set of bruises.

"Joey! What the hell happened to you?"

She felt terrible. Here she was thinking about her own pain, having come over to be comforted by her best friend who had just done exactly what she needed and wanted, never once mentioning the fact that she was in agony.

"I had an altercation," Joey said vaguely. "It's no big deal. Stop fussing."

"Stop fussing? You have a black eye, a split lip and bruised ribs. Of course I'm fussing, Joey. Who did this to you?"

"It was kind of a team effort."

"Who?" Charlie demanded.

"Zoe and Robbo."

"Right," Charlie said, leaping off the bed.

Joey watched with horror as she put her shoes on, obviously about to charge over and give them a piece of her mind.

"Charlie!" Joey protested.

"You think I'm going to let them get away with that?" Charlie asked.

"Yes!" Joey told her. "Because I'm asking you to. Also, you're in your PJ's."

Charlie looked down and managed to crack a smile.

"I'm dealing with them later. I'll either scare the crap out of them when I'm in uniform or I'll beat the crap out of them when I'm not," she said, grumbling under her breath.

"I'd vote for neither," Joey said, lifting her arm and welcoming Charlie back into bed.

"So, what happened?" Charlie asked, still certain that she had to do something.

Nobody treated her Joey like that and got away with it. Joey sighed, barely able to relive it.

"After I left you I went for a walk. I got all teary and Zoe found me. I admit that I told her. Sorry."

"It's okay."

"She invited me in for a cup of tea," Joey explained. "And Robbo was in the lounge so we went upstairs. I was all sad. She kissed me. We started making out."

Charlie's heart sank. They had both been single for a while now. She didn't want Joey to be making out with her ex.

"I wasn't sure but Zoe said it could be a one night comfort kind of thing. Robbo walked in and the next thing I knew she was shouting about me assaulting her, forcing myself on her."

"What?" Charlie bellowed.

"My thoughts exactly. She's so paranoid about being found out that she'd try and turn me into some kind of sex offender. Nice, hey?"

"Please let me go and 'talk' to her?" Charlie begged.

"No."

Charlie sighed.

"Robbo lost the plot, which I guess I can't really blame him for if he thought I'd abused his little sister in some way," Joey said sadly. "But I didn't!"

"Joey, as if you need to tell me that! Obviously you didn't."

Joey frowned. Unnecessary guilt had been hurtling round in her mind ever since it happened.

"She really did that to you?" Charlie asked, barely able to believe it.

"Yep."

"Why didn't you say anything last night?"

"You had enough going on."

Charlie closed her eyes and snuggled in tighter, careful of her ribs this time.

"How are you anyway?" Joey asked.

"I'm okay," Charlie said. "I'm better than I would have been if I'd have slept alone. Thank you for being there, even though you were in such a state yourself. I can't believe you stayed quiet."

She tutted in such a disapproving fashion that Joey laughed.

"Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" Charlie asked.

"Well, you could put your hand back where it was!" Joey giggled.

Charlie began blushing again.

"You were making some amazing patterns in your sleep," Joey continued to tease.

"Shut up!" Charlie whined.

Joey continued to giggle, although it was becoming painful.

"Or, wait, this is better," she said, rolling over and burying her head in Charlie's cleavage.

Both girls laughed, although both were privately and secretly aware of the enjoyment they were getting out of it. Joey pulled back and rested against the pillow again still chuckling and reminding herself not to forget the feeling and scent of being crushed against Charlie's chest. She thought she must be delirious from the head injury to have the audacity to do such a thing. Whatever it was, she was glad.

"You are absolutely terrible," Charlie accused gently.

"But you love me."

"But I love you," Charlie confirmed.

"That was okay, right? I mean, I haven't um..." Joey suddenly asked worriedly. "I'm getting nervous about sexual propriety now."

Charlie put her arm around her.

"Joey, you have the sexual predatory prowess of a tiny puppy."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Joey asked.

"It's a good thing. It means you're totally incapable of sexual offences and you're really, really cute."

Joey grinned.

"I can live with that."

"Zoe, you need to report her," Robbo said urgently for the millionth time.

He had taken the morning off work and was determined to seek justice for his little sister in any way he could. Joey Collins was trouble. He had always known it and she was going to pay.

"I don't want to," Zoe said firmly. "Why aren't you listening to me?"

Zoe hadn't slept a wink all night. She was guilt ridden as she knew she should be. Ever since Joey had fled the house, betrayed by Zoe and battered by Robbo, she had turned her phone off and was unreachable. Robbo now had Zoe under constant guard so she couldn't creep over to see her and try and explain and really, how could she explain something like that anyway? She had left a few garbled voice mails and sent a couple of texts but after what she had done, she didn't think it would do any good. The whole thing had been an accident. The words had fallen out of her mouth and into the air in a matter of seconds, before she'd really managed to think them through and by then, it was too late. She had panicked when Robbo had appeared in her room. All she had been able to think was that he couldn't know that there was anything mutual going on and it was too developed for Joey to just be making a pass at her. But it had gone too far too quickly and now, for the second time, it seemed that she was going to lose the best thing that had ever happened to her.

"I want to protect you, Zo," Robbo insisted. "That bitch assaulted you. She attacked you. She put her lesbian hands all over you. Down your pants! It's disgusting, is what it is! Don't you want some justice for that? Don't you think we need to go to the police? Get that little girlfriend of hers to lock her up and throw away the key for what she's done?"

Zoe shuddered at the thought of what Charlie might do when Joey inevitably told her what happened.

"No, I don't. Look, I overreacted. It probably wasn't assault."

"Did you want her to touch you?"

"No! Of course not. I'm not gay."

"Well, of course you're not gay, Zoe. You're my sister. You're normal. So, if you didn't want it and she touched you anyway, she's a sex offender and she needs to be put in her place. And if you don't do it, I will."

The darkness of her brother's eyes frightened her. She feared what he would do and wondered if pressing charges would be the safest option.

"I don't want to go to the police and I want you to leave her alone, Robbo," Zoe begged. "Please?"

Charlie spent her day off with her mother. Facial injuries caused Joey to stay away. The last thing Elsie needed was something new to worry about. The girls pretended that Joey was going to work as normal, when actually she was taking the day off sick. Hard labour with bruised ribs didn't seem like such a good idea and she didn't particularly want to face Robbo. Joey promised that as soon as her black eye had gone down, she would come over. She could explain her cut lip as a work injury and hide her ribs easily enough and she desperately wanted to spend time with Elsie and Ruby. As day became evening, Charlie headed out to get take away. Elsie had typically wanted to cook but Charlie wanted to take the pressure off and treat them all. On her way out of Crumble, she spotted Zoe looking pale and forlorn. She charged up to her.

"I'm surprised you've got the guts you show your face around here after last night," she said, almost spitting her words.

Zoe blanched and tried to look for an escape.

"Charlie..."

"How could you do that to Joey? How could you just lie like that and accuse her of assaulting you?"

"I didn't mean..."

"Mean what? Mean to call her a sex offender? Mean to blatantly lie, get her beaten up by your brother, a bully she has to work with five days a week, charge her with a hideous crime when actually it was you trying to get her into bed after you dated and slept together for how many years?"

"Could you keep your voice down?" Zoe begged.

"No!" Charlie said louder. "How dare you do that to Joey? I have a good mind to charge right over to your scum of a brother and tell him exactly what I know about you, Zoe, to share all of your dirty little secrets. He thinks he knows you so well but he doesn't know that you're a raving lesbian, does he? He doesn't know that you had a girlfriend at a boarding school. He doesn't know that you were sleeping with Joey for years. He doesn't know that you were doing both of them at the same time. And he doesn't know that far from Joey forcing herself on you last night, you took a vulnerable woman and lured her into your bed."

"I didn't... That's not what it was! Did Joey say that?" Zoe asked worriedly.

"No, because Joey only ever sees the good in people and she has no idea that you were taking advantage of her before you betrayed her. It was me who connected the dots."

"It's not what I mean to do," Zoe said. "And I didn't mean to say that to Robbo. It just came out."

"Well, you need to fix it or the truth will out. I'll make sure of it."

Charlie began to walk away.

"What about the truth about you?" Zoe challenged.

Charlie walked back to her, clutching her large bag of take away.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh come on, you're as in love with Joey as I am. It's obvious. Do you want the world to know that?" Zoe asked.

"I am not in love with her," Charlie denied. "But you can tell the world your theory if you like. As long as people know what kind of bitch you are, they can say whatever the hell they like about me. The difference between you and I is that I would do anything for Joey. I'd lay my life down for her. I certainly wouldn't sacrifice her to save my pride or escape my own stupid fears."

She marched away, her take away bag trembling in her arms as her limbs shook.

Two days later, Joey was preparing to go back to work and she was not looking forward to it in the slightest. Her eye had rapidly gone down and she had been able to see Elsie again the day before, explaining away her cut lip without trouble. She'd spent an agonising and surprising evening in with Brett, fretting over whether he knew anything over the altercation with Zoe and Robbo and Charlie had awkwardly confessed to a small but intense argument with Zoe in Crumble where she had warned her to tell the truth. As far as Joey knew at least, Zoe had done no such thing. She hadn't expected her to. Charlie was itching to do the job for her. Joey didn't think it would help. There also appeared to be a battle of wills between the girls as Joey wanted to ignore her situation and focus solely on supporting Charlie and Elsie and their family as they faced Elsie's cancer. Charlie did not want to ignore Joey's situation at all. Both were as stubborn as each other. Bickering had ensued.

Ruby and Xavier sat side by side at school. Xavier had been doing everything he could to cheer Ruby up but she was too sad. Her Mum was going into hospital to lie inside a gigantic tube to find out how sick she was. Ruby was terrified that she was going to be as sick as her Auntie Clara had been. She wondered why everybody kept leaving her and how she could make them stay.

Joey spotted Robbo already on deck. Taking a breath, she climbed on board.

"Hey, pervert," he snarled at her as she approached him, Gibsy and Aden.

She ignored him and said hello to the others.

"I was talking to you," Robbo said.

"And I'm not talking to you," Joey snapped.

"Joey, what happened?" Aden asked, noticing her lip.

"Walked into a wall, didn't you, sweetheart?" Robbo chipped in before she could answer.

Joey just glared at him.

"Did you do this to her?" Aden demanded, immediately feeling protective of his friend and first love.

"I don't know what you're talking about, mate," Robbo said, feigning innocence.

Aden clenched his fist. Joey put a hand on his arm to still him.

"Just leave it," she begged.

Gibsy watched them all interact for a few moments before snapping them all into work mode.

Elsie lay in the MRI scanner feeling claustrophobic and lost. Ross had taken the day off to be with her and was sitting in the waiting room. Her whole body was in a huge, shuddering, noisy tube. They were attempting to play calming, classical music but it wasn't quite loud enough so really she was just listening to the machine as it juddered over her, snapping photographs over the internals workings of her body. She was being firmly held in place and the whirring and faint music would occasionally be interrupted by the radiographer talking to her. She had a panic button in one hand, which was nervously clutching and fretting about holding too tightly and while she was still wearing her clothes, she'd had to remove her bra, belt and all her jewellery in case they interfered with the machine. That meant taking off her wedding ring but most importantly, it meant removing a ring that Clara had given her. She felt naked without it. She just hoped that the five days it would take to get her results would past quickly.

The day had been hell. Robbo had told Joey that he wouldn't tell Brett but he had made it obvious that life wasn't going to be easy from now on. Just when Joey hadn't thought his jibes, comments and little shoves couldn't get worse, they had and he was playing a dangerous game with outing her in front of Gibsy, which would quickly get back to Brett. She considered just telling her brother herself. She had wanted to come out for a long time. It had only ever been Zoe that had held her back. Charlie, Elsie, Watson, Carol, Aden, Belle, Zoe and Robbo already knew. Where was the harm in telling the rest of the town? She risked falling out with Brett. They'd had conversations on the topic before and he had made his feelings quite clear but if he was going to find out anyway, then it was surely better coming from her. She and Aden headed off the boat for lunch.

"Right, Missy," Aden said. "What the hell is going on?"

Joey chased after Aden, desperately calling his name as he hurtled back towards the boat. He launched himself at Robbo who was eating his sandwiches on deck in the sunshine. Robbo automatically hit back and before Joey or Gibsy could intervene, there was an all out brawl.

"You fucking keep your hands off my Joey!" Aden yelled between punches.

"She's not yours!" Robbo shouted back. "Don't you know what she is?"

"She's amazing!"

"She's dirty!"

"Aden!" Joey pleaded, nearing tears.

Gibsy tried one more time to intervene. Aden's errant elbow hit him in the face. Neither Aden nor Robbo noticed.

"I'm calling the cops," Gibsy told Joey.

Charlie and Watson arrived at the boat just as Aden and Robbo had begun to exhaust themselves and calm down. Aden's shirt was ripped, his nose was bloody, he had a cut eyebrow, umpteen bruises and was breathing heavily. Robbo was not faring much better. Gibsy also had a cut lip and Joey was still recovering from her previous injuries. They were a motley crew if ever there was one.

"Okay, guys, do you want to tell us what happened here?" Charlie asked.

Joey could never help but admire her professionalism, or how hot she was in uniform.

"I was having my lunch and this moron attacked me," Robbo accused.

"Because he attacked Joey," Aden said. "You know he did."

Charlie glared at Robbo.

"Yeah, I do know," she said. "But unfortunately seeking your own justice isn't a good idea, as tempting as it is."

She continued glaring at him.

"You don't know that I did that," Robbo said.

"Yes, I do!" Charlie snapped.

"Sorry, is this Constable Buckton or Charlie talking?"

"Anyway, let's just call it a fight and move on, shall we?" Charlie suggested.

She did not want to have to arrest Aden.

"You both look like you gave as good as you got."

She turned to Watson who readily agreed. She and Charlie were both secretly proud of Aden for going for Robbo. Reprimanding him even a little did not feel good.

"So, everyone happy?" Watson asked.

"She deserved it," Robbo said darkly.

Aden, Charlie and Watson all tensed, willing themselves not to get into any kind of dispute with him. Finally, Charlie couldn't help herself.

"I'm sorry, what?" she demanded.

He stared stonily back at her.

"Are you really going to try and justify beating the shit out of an innocent woman?"

"Does an innocent woman sexually assault my little sister?"

Gibsy took a sharp intake of breath. Joey blanched and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, Charlie was looking at her. Realising what Charlie was going to do, Joey shook her head.

"I have to," Charlie said quietly.

She turned back to Robbo.

"You mean your sister who was dating Joey for three years?" she asked. "The sister who was sleeping with some girl at boarding school? Your sister the lesbian? That one?"

Watson couldn't help but grin. Traditionally, it was mean to out someone before they were ready but this girl deserved it after what she had put Joey through. Robbo looked taken aback.

"You're lying," he said.

"Um... we all knew about it. Me, Watson Aden, Angelo, all her friends at boarding school. She's kept it a secret because she thinks a jerk like you will disown her but yeah, she's a dyke, Robbo. She's never been near a man in her life. What you walked in on the other night wasn't Joey assaulting your innocent little sis; it was your innocent little sis seducing Joey when Joey was cut up over my mother being sick."

Joey just stared between Charlie and Robbo, watching the interaction closely.

"Zoe isn't gay."

"She really is," Aden said.

"Most definitely," Watson added.

"We had anniversaries and Valentine's Days and everything," Joey told him, finally finding her voice and feeling she really ought to be part of this.

Robbo swallowed. He turned to Gibsy who looked stunned and amused in equal measure.

"I'm going home," he said, taking off.

Charlie turned back to Joey.

"Please don't be mad at me," she said. "I had to. He needed to know. I couldn't let him think that you were..."

Sensing a ramble, Joey cut her off by holding her hands.

"I'm not mad at you," she promised. "I'm grateful."