Hi everyone! Thank you all so much for your patience and also your support. My Dad was taken into intensive care last week with pneumonia so I had to rush back to my family home to do the hospital visit and be with him and my family. It's been a really stressful week but he has made so much progress that he actually came home tonight and he's sitting in the room with me right now. I can't even express how happy I am right now. So I thought I would celebrate by posting a nice long chapter for you. I will be caring for my Dad at my parents house for at least a week, maybe two so please bear with me on the updates as they won't be regular for sometime but I will try and drop by with a chapter when I can. Thanks again so much for all your support. Lots of love, IJKS xxx

***

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Wednesday arrived and Joey eagerly headed to Charlie's classroom, armed with books and papers with some vague intention to study. She mostly just wanted to spend time with her. But knowing how much Charlie cared about her job and Joey's education, she supposed it wouldn't be all snuggles. Plus, their location meant they had to behave, at least in the most part. People would generally have vacated the building but there in the classroom, with a window in the door, it was entirely possible for someone to walk by and catch them. Joey was torn between quite enjoying the thrill of their secret and being terrified. It was all well and good conducting a naughty affair under people's noses but if they did get caught, there would be hell to pay. Charlie would lose her job and who knows what else would happen to her. And Joey doubted she'd get much support from her parents. It would be typical that the one time they paid attention, would be if they found out about her relationship with her teacher. They'd force them apart. The excitement was high but the real risk of what they were doing, made it too scary to be as enjoyable as it would appear on paper. Still, the moments they did share together were magical. Charlie made her happy beyond the telling of it and she wanted to spend as long with her as she was allowed. Another awful thing about them being found out would be the scandal. Their relationship would be reduced to gossip, some immoral, lesbian affair and that's not what it was. Their feelings were real and honest. She smiled warmly when she opened the door. Charlie was writing copious amounts of notes and didn't hear her enter. Closing the door very quietly, Joey crept up to her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Charlie jumped in fright and then took in Joey's scent and the wonderful familiarity of her embrace. She hugged her and smiled when she felt Joey kiss the top of her head.

"Busy little bee," Joey commented, pulling up a seat beside her girlfriend and nodding at Charlie's paperwork.

"Yeah, I had a free period so I thought I'd get stuck into marking."

Joey settled down beside her. Charlie put her files away and turned to look at Joey.

"And now I'm all yours," she said.

Joey smiled back. She glanced up at the corridor outside. Seeing that it appeared empty, she leant forward and stole a quick but sensual kiss.

"So, do I have to actually study or do I get to snuggle?"

Charlie leaned into her so that she was delightfully close.

"Both," she decided.

***

Half an hour later, Joey was thoroughly enjoying herself. Every time she made a good observation, she got a kiss. Suddenly, her joy of pastoral poetry had grown and she could see all kinds of beauty and insight into it that she hadn't seen before. It was an amazing what a reward system could achieve – especially when Charlie Buckton was the reward.

"Okay, what do you see here?" Charlie asked, pointing at the next verse.

Joey gazed longingly at Charlie's cleavage. She smirked a little at the question.

"Joey..." Charlie warned lightly.

"I see something very beautiful and inviting," Joey decided.

Charlie lifted Joey's chin. They gazed into each other's eyes.

"And still I see beauty," Joey breathed.

Their lips met in the silence of the classroom. Turned away from the door, they hoped that it wouldn't be easy to see them from a passing glance, although neither of them had heard anyone wander down the hall in at least ten minutes. Joey's lips brushed against Charlie before their mouths opened delicately to deepen the intensity of their kiss. Breathing heavily, they broke away briefly, only to come together again for several moments more. Resting their foreheads together, Charlie's hand found Joey's.

"I've been missing you so much," she said.

All school work had been completely forgotten. A pen dropped onto the floor but neither of them cared to retrieve it.

"I've missed you too," Joey replied, kissing her again.

Charlie reached out to brush a strand of hair from Joey's face. She then let her palm rest on her cheek. Joey tilted her head a little so that she could kiss Charlie's hand, making her smile.

"How are things at home?"

Charlie withdrew her hand and let it drop down onto Joey's palm. Joey squeezed her tight.

"Pretty awkward," Charlie said. "He's complaining a lot and I'm trying my best to be good to him. I know he's in a terrible position and he must have been so scared that night but I'm just so desperate for him to get better so I can leave him and be with you."

Joey kissed Charlie's hand.

"Me too," she said. "I'm so looking forward to being exclusively with you. I mean, I am exclusively with you but... you know what I mean."

She looked a little sad.

"I'm technically exclusive with you," Charlie said softly.

Joey looked up, hope in her expression.

"I still have to hug and kiss him sometimes," Charlie explained awkwardly. "I can't get out of that but it stays as platonic as possible. I haven't gone near him... like that... since you and I... since we got together."

Joey looked relieved. She wasn't desperately happy about the hugging and kissing but it was better than wondering if Charlie was sleeping with the guy or not. To have confirmation that she wasn't, made her happy.

"Joey, you're all I think about," Charlie said. "And you're all I want."

They kissed gently and continued to stroke each other's fingers.

***

Hugo awkwardly made his way to the door, wincing in pain. He wondered yet again if he could have and should have handled this in a different, less agonising way. Charlie certainly wasn't fawning all over him like he'd expected her to. She'd tried to get away from him in the hospital and she'd disappeared at the first opportunity on Saturday morning. And now she was working late. He was furious about that last one. How dare she give extra time to some student when she should be at home looking after him? He pulled open the door and was surprised to see Angelo and a woman at his door, complete in uniform.

"Hey, Hugo," Angelo said cheerfully.

He may not appreciate the way that he treated his girlfriend but other than that, he seemed like an okay guy. And he felt bad for his trauma.

"This is my colleague, Constable Watson," he explained.

Hugo furrowed his brow, wondering what cops were doing at his door.

"We were just wondering if we could ask you about the shark attack," Angelo said, aware that Hugo had neither spoken, nor granted them entry to his house.

"Um... why?"

The last thing he wanted to do was talk about what had supposedly happened. Making a statement to the police would only make things worse. If anyone was going to catch him out in his story, it would be the cops.

"It's just routine," Angelo said. "Nothing to worry about. We just need to file a report on it. Is that okay?"

"Sure," Hugo said uncertainly. "I guess."

He hobbled to one side to let them in.

***

Charlie extended her time with Joey by driving her home. Surely that was alright? She'd driven her home several times when they'd just been student and teacher. Of course, they had both wanted each other back then but they hadn't acted on their feelings. And Tony had given Aden a lift after the dance at the end of the previous term. Teachers gave lifts all the time, it seemed. She couldn't get in trouble for that. Pulling up outside Joey's place, she leant over the seat to kiss her goodbye.

"See you in class on Friday," Joey said.

"Count on it," Charlie smiled.

***

Friday rolled around and Charlie and Shannon met up for a quick lunch. With Charlie so busy working and looking after Hugo, and Shannon disliking Hugo so much, the girls had barely seen each other. It felt like since the accident, Charlie's whole world had revolved around a man she didn't love anymore.

"So, how was your week?" the redhead asked.

"Pretty stressful. Hugo's really struggling."

"Being a pain?"

"Being in pain," Charlie corrected. "This whole thing has been really hard for him. He actually cried on Monday night. He just broke down in my arms and kept saying things like he didn't know if he'd cope without me. I felt terrible."

"You're not thinking of changing your mind, are you?" Shannon checked.

"What? No! No way. No, no, no."

"So, that's a 'no' then?" Shannon smirked, sipping her drink.

Charlie giggled. The idea of changing her mind and being with Hugo instead of Joey or even keeping them both going for longer than necessary, was absolutely abhorrent to her.

"I just..." Charlie said, lowering her voice. "All I want is to be with... her. I can't even think straight around her, no pun intended. She just makes me so happy. I didn't think it was possible to be this happy. Are you this happy? Really? Do people get this happy in relationships? Do they? Have I been missing out all this time?"

Shannon chuckled and rested her hand on Charlie's.

"Yes, sweetheart," she said. "People do feel that happy. And you have been missing out. And you do deserve to be in love with her."

"I never said I was..."

"You are so lame!" Shannon laughed.

Charlie blushed.

"Listen, there's a football game on TV tomorrow..." Shannon ventured.

"Observe my thrilled face," Charlie said, remaining completely blank.

"So why don't you suggest Hugo gets the boys round to watch it? Say it'll cheer him up and he'll have a nice, long afternoon and because it'll be a man's world in your living room, you could, say... come round to me and Mandy for lunch?"

"Sounds good."

"And say I happen to invite this really cool girl who happens to be one of your students along?"

Charlie grinned as Shannon laid her plan open.

"I know it's not ideal because you won't be alone but you'll still get to see her. Plus, I'd like to get to know her if she's going to be such a big part of your life."

"That sounds like a perfect plan."

***

Angelo and Watson arrived at the Diner for lunch. Angelo immediately noticed Charlie sitting at a table with her very attractive friend. His mind drifted to Hugo. His explanation of what had happened that night when he was out diving had been vague to say the least. He hadn't been clear on anything and had been very awkward in their presence. It was unsettling but Angelo supposed that even if things hadn't been quite as dramatic as the newspapers were declaring, it didn't really matter. Doctors reports had confirmed a shark bite and nobody had queried his story. He supposed there was no need for him to do it.

"Stop drooling," Watson smirked, sitting down.

"I'm not drooling!" Angelo hissed, anxiously wiping his mouth just in case.

Watson laughed and perused the menu.

"She's just so hot," Angelo said. "Don't you think she's hot?"

"She's stunning," Watson said. "Not really my type but hey, whatever floats your boat."

"She definitely floats my boat."

***

After a long afternoon with only a few snatched seconds with Joey, Charlie headed home, tired but looking forward to how she might be spending her Saturday. She hadn't mentioned anything to Joey just in case Hugo kicked off and rejected the plan. The last thing she wanted to do was give Joey false hope only to disappoint her like she'd done that night she was meant to leave him.

"Hey," she greeted, when she arrived home.

"Hi," Hugo said, appearing in the doorway.

He walked towards her, wincing a little less than usual. She smiled at him.

"You're better on your feet," she said, thrilled that he was getting better both because she hated to see him unwell and because it meant she was one step closer to being with Joey.

"Yeah, the pain was a little less today," he said. "I've been walking a little bit, hobbling less. I'm trying not to overdo it though."

He came and kissed her lips. She broke away as quickly but politely as she could, making it seem natural instead of because she could no longer bear to be near him. It just felt wrong to be physically close to anyone but Joey.

"That's great," Charlie enthused. "But yes, don't overdo it."

They moved to sit on the couch together.

"Hey, um, I was wondering if you might want to have the boys over tomorrow for that football... basketball... um... whatever sport thing is on in the afternoon."

Hugo laughed. Charlie had never been into sports like he was. He supposed, thinking about it, they didn't have a whole lot in common. But it didn't mean he wasn't still intent on keeping her.

"Yeah, maybe," he said. "But are you sure you want a load of guys round here?"

"Well, Shannon mentioned the game and I thought you'd be wanting to watch it so I thought I could go and spend some time with her and Mandy while you hung out with your friends. You've been trapped in this house all week. If you can't get out yet, it'll do you some good to have people come to you, right?"

"Yeah," he said.

He wasn't sure. Usually, the idea of spending an afternoon drinking beer, watching football and hanging out with his friends was heavenly but with his desperation to keep Charlie close, he wasn't quite so keen on sending her off to Shannon's.

"Come on, it'll be fun," she coaxed.

Finally, he nodded. An afternoon with boys did sound like a good time.

"Great," Charlie said brightly. "Well, I'll start making dinner and you can call your mates."

With that, she stood and headed into the bedroom to get into more comfortable clothes before she started cooking.

***

Joey and Aden were studying together in Joey's bedroom and for once they were actually getting work done instead of mucking around. Usually their study sessions descended into chaos but now they were concentrating hard.

"You've really started to like English, haven't you?" Joey commented.

It came out before she'd really thought it through. Aden's head shot up.

"Not as much as you!" he pointed out.

She poked her tongue out at him.

"Yeah," he conceded. "I guess I am. Miss Buckton... Charlie... your girlfriend, really helps make it accessible."

Joey smiled. Charlie would be pleased to hear that.

"She's a damn good teacher," Joey said. "I mean, I might be biased but..."

"No, she really is the best," Aden confirmed.

"I don't have competition, do I?" Joey smirked.

Aden blushed.

"Well, I won't deny that she's hot but I think you're safe," he said.

"Good!" Joey giggled.

"Do you love her?"

Joey stiffened.

"Well, um... I mean, I don't know," she said shyly. "I haven't really thought about it. We haven't said anything like that yet."

"You do, don't you?" he teased.

"I don't know! I mean, she's amazing. And I want to spend the next forever with her but... love's kind of a big deal. I mean, I've never been in love before. How would I know?" she wondered.

Her mobile rang, interrupting them. She smiled when she saw Charlie's name.

"Hi," she said happily.

"Hey."

Charlie's voice was low but happy.

"How are you?"

"Pretty good. Aside from the obvious. How are you?"

"Same."

"Are you free tomorrow afternoon?" Charlie asked.

"Tomorrow? Sure. Why?"

"Well, Shannon and Mandy have invited us over to lunch."

"Us as in me and you, us?"

"Well, yeah."

"Are we doing something unofficially coupley?"

"Seems like it," Charlie said, unable to stop grinning at Joey's cautious excitement.

"That's so awesome!" Joey enthused.

"I'll take that as a yes then," Charlie giggled.

"Definitely yes! It's exciting!"

"See you around one thirty? I'll text you the address."

"Great. I can't wait to see you."

"Me too," Charlie said. "I have to go but... tomorrow."

"Tomorrow."

They hung up. Joey turned to Aden still grinning inanely.

"You're in love," he decided.