"Happily Never After"

Again thank you to everyone who reveiwed the last chapter! I can't believe we're up to 300+ reviews already! I never expected this response from this fic when I originally came up with the idea and appreciate all your thoughts!

JSCO81 - I think we're all hoping Joey realizes what she's got before it's too late...more on that next chapter... :P

Fili - Magic 8 Ball could get it done!

AJ1978 - I feel another 'poor Charlie' coming up...but no egg on Charlie's face promise!

DNW - Gotta love eBay! Joey might start to see her errors next chapter...but will she have what it takes to fix things?

Kim - We're all praying soon! These things just take some time - remember this fic is only about two weeks in timeline since it started so they've made quite some changes but there's a lot more to come...

AuthorW - How'd you know those were my fave lines from the previous chapter too lol?

Vix - Aww poor lil softie Alf who loves a lil CJ flashback. Don't worry Alf, I've got a few more CJ flashbacks up my sleeve during this fic. Joey...the damsel in distress...are you sure that's what most people would call her at this point lol?!

CJ4Eva - Joey getting her self confidence back - check! Might take some time what it's what she needs to do.

Amelia Louisa - Rubbish chapters - harsh! Lol! Well thank you for the compliments, I'm glad you appreciate this fic's originalness (that's probably not a word and I've just lost all respect for my writing ability huh lol?!) And I'm sorry...monkey?! Where the heck did that come from lol!?

D*ream - Joey's trying...or she might soon enough...

Oniz197 - There might be some family stuff coming up again a lil bit later on so keep an eye on that :P

Zzaap Committee - You're back! Oh how I didn't miss you lol! Something tells me you won't be appreciating the Kaitlyn heavy-ish chapter...but maybe...just maybe you'll find it in that CJ lovin' heart of yours to feel just a lil sad for the gal... No...okay it was worth a try...but I won't stop trying again :P

And on with the story!

Enjoy readin' and reviewin'!

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Charlie sat in her car outside the hospital fidgeting with her nails. She'd been sitting there for the last ten minutes and sighed heavily for the hundredth time. And about the thousandth time that day. Charlie had spent the entire morning at Aden's apartment with Joey and Riley, keeping a careful eye on Joey. Just hoping and waiting for Joey to speak up and tell her that she'd decided to tell Kaitlyn about their night together. But she didn't. Joey just ignored her every time she looked at her, and every time Charlie tried broaching the subject again... Joey just kept hoping Charlie would give up. But she didn't.

Eventually Charlie got sick of Joey's in-action, and leaving Riley with Joey, she told her former lover she was going out for a drive. Joey knew exactly where Charlie was going, and couldn't stop her. She'd spent the entire morning, along with a sleepless night, trying to work up the courage to be honest with Kaitlyn about her infidelity...God I can't call it that! 'Infidelity' makes it sound so...dirty and wrong. Yes technically it was because I still cheated even though it was with my...wife...probably soon to be ex-wife...the way I've been acting. My night with Charlie was anything but an infidelity...it was beautiful and perfect and...we were Joey and Charlie again...before the problems. It didn't matter that we'd been apart for so long...having her in my arms, kissing her passionately, making love to her tenderly all night long...why couldn't that just be the start for us again?

Why am I so scared to just tell Kaitlyn about our night together? Why am I more scared...of letting Charlie back into my life and heart again completely? Why can't things just work out the way they're meant to? Are things meant to work out between me and Charlie? Or are they already working out the way they're supposed to? Why am I so terrified to trust her again? Am I taking the easy way out? Of course I am...I'm leaving it up to Charlie to tell Kaitlyn 'cause I'm too afraid to face up to what we've done. I don't want Kaitlyn to leave me...'cause I'm afraid if she does I could end up back in an emotionally charged embrace and...back in Charlie's arms for comfort.

I don't want that. I can't give her false hope by making her think I'm ready to be with her completely again and...hurt Charlie like that again. Why can't I be ready? Why can't I be the person she deserves and put my family back together? I hate the person I've become, and making Charlie do this when I should have the guts to...she's only gonna hate me too. I don't deserve her forgiveness...either of their forgiveness for what I've done. All I ever do is screw everything up...because I just can't find it in my heart to trust Charlie completely...or myself. Will I ever find a way to? Joey closed her eyes, and curled up on the couch alone, her thoughts drowning her consciousness, as she watched Riley sitting peacefully on the ground playing video games.

Charlie ran her hand through her hair as she walked into the hospital entrance. Unsure of where Kaitlyn lived or whether she would be working at the hospital that day, Charlie figured it would be the best option to try there first. Disappointed in Joey for putting her in this situation, Charlie was still determined not to let her own guilt get the better of her and tell Kaitlyn the truth about Joey's betrayal. Wandering through the halls, it didn't take long for her to spot Kaitlyn and Rachel talking at the nurses' desk. Hesitating in the hallway a few metres away from them, Charlie stood there watching them, waiting for Rachel to leave.

How the hell am I meant to tell this woman that Joey cheated on her...with me the other night? This thought continued to plague Charlie's mind as she watched Kaitlyn standing there smiling and laughing with Rachel. Way to ruin someone's good mood, Charlie thought sourly. Charlie continued to watch as the two Doctors were interrupted by a patient of Rachel's. As Rachel walked the patient presumably back to their room, Kaitlyn made her way in the opposite direction.

Charlie chased after her, hoping to catch her alone so they could talk and not make a scene. Maybe this wasn't such a brilliant plan to tell her here at her work...well I guess I'm here now...and I can't put this off. As Charlie followed her quickly around a corner, she frowned as the Doctor was nowhere to be found in the hallway. Looking around the hallway, Charlie's eyes finally fell on some office doors opposite her, one of which was Kaitlyn's. Taking another deep breath Charlie walked up to the door.

The door was half-open and Charlie hesitantly peeked inside the room. Not finding Kaitlyn sitting at her desk, Charlie took a step into the office, and spotted the woman standing at a filing cabinet, pulling out some files and flipping them open. She had her pen tucked above her ear, which she hurriedly pulled down to write some notes in one of the files she had open. Taking another breath, Charlie knocked on the door softly. Kaitlyn's pen scrawled across the page as she jumped slightly. Turning around she looked surprised to see Charlie standing alone at the door.

"Hey," Kaitlyn greeted friendly. "Hey," Charlie replied, "Can I...ah come in?" "Sure," Kaitlyn agreed, still cheerful, as she closed the patient files she held and walked over to her desk. Dumping the files on her desk, she motioned for Charlie to take a seat opposite. Charlie paused but sat down opposite the woman, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you before and make you scrawl all over the papers." "Trust me with my handwriting, nobody'll think that huge squiggle isn't meant to be there," Kaitlyn grinned, "So what brings you here? Is this about Joey?"

"Ah...sort of yeah," Charlie stuttered. "Kinda figured, since she's who we have in common," Kaitlyn pointed out. Charlie paused as Kaitlyn's friendly nature kept haunting her for what she needed to tell her. Why can't she just act like she completely hates me? After what I've put Joey through...and now what I'm about to tell her...why does she gotta be so friendly and make this ten times harder? Kaitlyn stared at Charlie strangely sensing that the woman didn't want to be there, but knew that being arrogant to Joey's ex wouldn't solve anything, so she resolved to be as pleasant as possible.

"So what's up with Jo? Is this about the slightly distracted mood she was in yesterday?" Kaitlyn asked, tired of waiting for Charlie to speak. "Um yeah...well see the thing is...she's..." Charlie continued stumbling. "She's still worried about Riley isn't she?" Kaitlyn presumed, "Of course she is...but it's more than that. God she's not still angry with you is she? Because I tried to convince her that it was no one's fault if that's why you're here. If you want me to tell her that she needs to forgive you for Riley's accident."

Charlie bit her lip, "Well actually...yeah...I mean yeah she's still very worried about Riley...and well it's just that...Riley hasn't been sleeping too well the last night or two so I was thinking you could prescribe him something to help him." WTF? Where the hell did that come from and why...in God's name did I delay telling her? She needs to know... Kaitlyn eyed Charlie suspiciously for a moment, "Sorry that he's having such a hard time. Sure I should be able to arrange that. I'll need to check it with Rachel first as she was his Doctor for the accident and she might insist on seeing him for an appointment first. If not I should be able to get something together for him, and I can drop them off at the apartment tonight if you'd like before he goes to bed. Sound good?"

"Ah huh...sounds fine," Charlie replied weakly, still silently cursing herself for now delaying the inevitable. Kaitlyn nodded, "So...not that I mind or anything but how come you came to me? You could've gone straight to Rachel since she's the one who treated him." "Oh ah...she looked busy with another patient when I got here so...figured I could ask you for help," Charlie stuttered nervously. "No problems. Well I can give you a call when I speak to Rach and let you know if she'd prefer to see Riley first," Kaitlyn replied, then asked anxiously, "Was there anything else I can do or is there another reason you're here?"

"Umm yeah," Charlie nodded, as she ran her hand through her hair, "There's another reason for my visit...it's just that Joey and I...or well Jo..." Charlie trailed off as she couldn't ignore the slight glint in Kaitlyn's eyes, she'd ignored it since she walked into the office, but she couldn't do so any longer. Every time either of them mentioned Joey, Kaitlyn's eyes lit up happily. She's happy to be with her and it shows...how quickly will that light in her eyes flicker out when I tell her? How will Joey look at me when she blames me for Kaitlyn finding out? "Well okay...the thing is Joey and I kinda...I mean we didn't 'kinda,' we actually did...it's just..." Charlie stumbled over all her words, then taking a deep breath, she whispered confidently, "Don't hurt her. She can't cope with anymore hurt...so don't hurt her...okay?"

Kaitlyn's eyebrow raised slightly, "You came here to tell me not to hurt Joey...ah something tells me that...wasn't what you were gonna say." Charlie chewed on her lip, "What else did you expect me to tell you?" Kaitlyn stared at Charlie, searching her eyes for any hint, "Not sure. But I guess that makes sense...you coming out here to...do the protective ex thing and tell me...not to hurt her. At least you're not here telling me to stop standing in your way because that would be... You still care about her enough to make sure she'll be okay?" "I'll always be there...looking out for her. One way or another," Charlie whispered, "I just wanted to make sure you knew...how much Joey...means to all of us and we don't want to see her hurting again."

"That's a fair call," Kaitlyn shrugged, "You don't know much about me except my family. And with a brother like...all you can assume is that I'll end up hurting her. Look I never came back here to Summer Bay intent on winning Joey back. I ah...was going through a hard time after how my last relationship ended...and I just needed a change...I needed my best friend. Someone I can trust. I know that Joey's told you she's taking it slow with me because she doesn't want to rush into anything but that goes for me too. Not that it's any of your business but I'm not ready for anything too serious right now. But that doesn't mean that I'm gonna hurt her. You don't need to worry about her. She's fine...and I think she's happy for the first time in a while."

Charlie smiled lightly, "Thank you." Charlie stood up, and made her way to leave. Kaitlyn returned to her paperwork. Charlie paused at the doorway, "I hope you really mean what you said about not hurting her. By the way...I'm sorry you had a hard time with your last relationship ending...I know what it's like to go through that." "No you don't," Kaitlyn suddenly replied angrily, "You've still got Joey in your life." Charlie sensed some sadness behind Kaitlyn's anger, "Well I'm sure if you wanted your last girlfriend back in your life you could--" "I can't have her back in my life...she's dead," Kaitlyn revealed desolately.

Charlie was taken aback by the sadness in Kaitlyn's voice, and the look of despair on the woman's face, and instantly felt bad for what she had originally came to tell the woman...she's right...I've still got Joey in my life...I couldn't bear it if I lost her like that..."I'm so sorry. I didn't mean..." "Yeah well...like I said...I just needed my best friend to help me cope with my grief," Kaitlyn told her. "When did she die?" Charlie asked quietly. "Nearly a year ago," Kaitlyn answered miserably, "It still hurts...and it's being hard imagining moving on...but I guess that's something Joey and I have in common with our relationship."

Charlie nodded sadly, still feeling a new level of respect for the woman to go through that grief and survive it, "If you don't mind me asking...how did she die?" "I don't really want to talk about that," Kaitlyn interrupted softly. "Fair enough," Charlie decided, "Once again...I'm sorry. I know that probably doesn't help...but I'm sorry you had to go through that. Nobody should have to go through that pain...I'll see you later on when you drop around later with Riley's prescription." Kaitlyn nodded, as Charlie walked out of the office.

Taking a few steps down the hallway, Charlie leant against the wall. Why the hell couldn't I tell her? She needs to know...and now I've just made things worse by not telling her the truth when I had the chance to. Why couldn't I tell her the truth about my night with Joey...what stopped me? Is it because I was so scared...that it'll end up hurting Joey? Is it because I'll do anything...not to hurt her again? Do I still love her...enough to do anything to protect her from any kind of pain...even though I'm now the one in pain because of it?