"The Truth Hurts"
Well, well, well I can't believe we're here at Chapter 50 of this fic!
I had absolutely no idea when I started writing this fic that I'd get anywhere close to 50 chapters! When I first came up with the idea of this fic it was while watching Charlie getting hit by Brett's car and the following hospital scenes that should've been Joey's re-entrance to the show - the only thing I knew for sure was that it would be revealed that Ruby was Charlie's daughter.
I didn't know how it would be revealed, anyone's reactions, the fact that Charlie was raped, and most certainly had no idea that said rapist Grant would turn up in the Bay only to get murdered creating a mystery about who killed him.
I've followed the bulk of the way H&A did this storyline with the added bonus - of course - Joey! This murder mystery I've had cooking has now taken nearly half the fic and I have loved every second of playing the mystery my way. I'll be sad when the murder mystery ends but there's still a lot more to come from this fic so I hope you stick around for what I've got in store for you.
So on behalf of this massive milestone I want to thank everyone who continues to read this fic - and most importantly I want to give major shout-outs to the reviewers who take the time to give me their thoughts and comments! You're all the reason why this story is still going and why I haven't given up on it.
Moving on from that and back to the story - a lil birdy named Movie249 insisted I absolutely had to post this update ASAP and I decided I couldn't leave you hanging too long so gave in to her persistance :P
And in celebration of hitting the 50th chapter of this fic I have something for all of you which you're just gonna love...
From the 'Cliffhanger Queen' comes not one but TWO all-mighty cliffhangers this time!
I'm only warning you all now so you don't go and throw your computers out the window at the first one...please don't do that.
Instead please continue to read on, review this awesome chapter and then if you feel the need you can throw your computers out the window while you wait for the next update - that's fair right?
Okay enough yammering from me - thanks again everyone! Oh and PS AuthorW you and your catch-up reviews rock!- and on with the story...
This first part with CJ - probably the hardest thing I've ever had to write...so heartbreaking :)
Chapter Fifty
Several minutes later and Charlie was still a broken mess on the floor of her office. Angelo had politely excused himself, feeling awkward that he couldn't help as all he wanted was to wrap his arms around Charlie until she forgot Joey ever existed. Ruby still had her arms around Charlie, trying her best to support her mother, while dealing with her own confusion over Joey's betrayal.
Detective Robert Robertson was still standing next to them, feeling responsible for destroying the women. In reality he knew it wasn't him who had destroyed them, Joey had, but maybe if he had done things differently, not being so keen to accuse them, Charlie wouldn't be sitting there on the floor, crying her heart out.
Ruby looked up at the Detective, "Isn't there anything you can do? Charlie needs to talk to Joey...it'll destroy her unless she hears the truth from Joey herself." Detective Robert Robertson bent down gently so he was level with Ruby, "And what if Joey tells her the truth...? It'll destroy her more." "Please...just convince Joey that Charlie is desperate to see her...tell her what this is doing to Charlie...if she really loves Charlie...she can't just leave her like this...she can't leave either of us like this," Ruby pleaded.
Detective Robert Robertson nodded, "I don't think I can convince Joey that Charlie needs this..." then he paused gently before suggesting, "But I could always...look the other way. Joey's still in the interview room, and the rooms not locked 'cause of all the staff here and Joey's not the kind of suspect who'll run so...if Charlie wanted to slip in and see her for a few minutes...while I make some important phone calls...I could look the other way."
"Did you hear that Charlie?" Ruby asked the broken woman. Charlie nodded uncertainly, "She still doesn't want to see me." "Doesn't matter," Ruby insisted, "You need to see her and find out...how this nightmare is real. Do you...want me to come with you?" "No," Charlie answered, her sobbing lessening, "I have to do this alone."
A minute later, Charlie took a deep breath as she stood outside the interview room. She had given up on the idea of trying to wipe away her tears or stop herself from crying as it just didn't work. The idea that her soul mate had been responsible for this heinous crime didn't make any sense to Charlie. Though she knew she would fall apart even further if Joey told her that she had killed Grant, effectively ending the future they had between them, Charlie refused to take Detective Robert Robertson's word for it that Joey had confessed even though she had been there to bear-witness to Joey's first confession.
Charlie quietly slipped into the room, closing the door behind her, she found Joey standing against the side of the room staring out of the window. Joey had her left arm wrapped tightly around her hips, and she was chewing nervously on her fingernails of her right hand. Joey was still sobbing silently when Charlie entered the room, and immediately turned around to face her when she noticed her presence.
Joey's face showed how truly scared she was, so Charlie whispered calmly, "I needed to see you...Robertson's making some calls so...we only have a few minutes." Joey shook her head and turned away from Charlie, "You shouldn't be here Charlie...you'll only make things harder." Charlie ignored her, and without thinking about it, she rushed forwards, wrapping her arms around Joey in a comforting hug. Charlie kissed Joey on the forehead, but noticed that Joey hadn't given into their embrace as her arms were still uncomfortably around her own waist.
Joey eased Charlie off her, pulling away from the hug, leaving Charlie devastated, then repeated, "You shouldn't be here." Charlie reached out her hands, stroking them gently across Joey's cheek, "I had to...hear the truth from you. Tell me this isn't true Jo...you did not kill Grant."
Joey once again shrugged out of Charlie's reach, refusing to let herself have any intimate contact with the woman she loved, "I can't tell you that...because I killed him." Charlie felt her knees buckle underneath her again and was surprised when she didn't collapse to the floor again in a mess. Instead she managed to collapse into one of the chairs at the desk next to her.
"Why?" Charlie asked desperately. Joey wanted to close up again, wanted to order Charlie away from her so she didn't have to see her sad soulful eyes. She relented slightly and sat back down in the chair on the opposite side of the table, "'Cause the bastard deserved it."
"I know he did but how could you...do that to him?" Charlie sobbed. "I snapped okay. I was confused...my nightmares seemed real and I thought that maybe he had…sexually attacked me...I just snapped and killed him," Joey whispered. Charlie stared at Joey, "I know you Joey...you are not a killer. There's no way you have that in your heart." "You don't know me as well as you thought. I told you last night Charlie..." Joey stared down at her feet anxiously before repeating, "We're from different worlds."
"That doesn't mean anything," Charlie insisted upset, "You're family's been in trouble with the law...you're not like them." "You're right...I'm worse than them because I killed the man that attacked you and destroyed our lives," Joey admitted. "Stop saying that! You didn't kill him!" Charlie shouted desperately.
Joey looked back up at Charlie, the guilt weighing heavy on her expression, "I did...and you need to accept it Charlie. It wasn't self-defence...I killed him on purpose." Charlie ran her hands through her tussled hair, "Why?! My life is ruined now!" Joey shook her head sadly, "No it's not. You have Ruby, you have your Dad, everyone that's important to you--"
"I don't have you!" Charlie shouted, "You're who's important to me." "No I'm not...all I ever did was cause you confusion and pain...you're better off without me," Joey whispered. "How can you think that?" Charlie whimpered, then crying, "You didn't even think about me when you did this."
"I did all this to protect you," Joey claimed. "How is us getting torn apart for the rest of our lives your way of protecting me?" Charlie demanded as she began crying uncontrollably again. "It just is," Joey whispered.
Charlie tried to wipe away her tears but they kept streaming down her cheeks, "Why didn't you come to me and tell me what you'd done? I could've protected you...we could've hidden this from everyone so you wouldn't get caught." Joey continued sobbing herself, "You couldn't have managed that...we both would've been caught and both ended up in jail cells. How could you have covered this up...? What by making us disappear? Running away together and spending the rest of our lives on the run...that's no life Charlie." "But we'd be together," Charlie whimpered.
"I did this Charlie...and I'm the one that has to pay," Joey cried. Charlie gazed into Joey's terrified eyes, her voice cracking heartbreakingly, "What about me...? I love you Joey...how am I meant to go on without you? How am I meant to live my life...knowing what we could've had...the life we could've had together?"
Joey broke down in another flood of tears, bringing her hands up to try and wipe them away, "It'll...get easier every day." "But it won't...how can you possibly think I'll survive this pain?" Charlie whimpered. "Cause you will...you're strong Charlie...I told you all I ever do is hurt you...you're better off without me," Joey whispered, struggling to control her emotions which kept telling her to reach out to Charlie.
"Why do you keep saying that? It's not true...my whole life has changed for the better since we first met," Charlie told her. "After everything you've been through since...I've done nothing but destroy your life. You just have to accept that," Joey insisted sadly.
"I can't," Charlie whined, "You're the best thing to ever happen to me...and that'll never change. So what happens now...I spend the next ten or twenty years visiting you in jail every week? A few conjugal visits for the next...is that what we've been reduced to?" As Charlie said this she reached her hand forward entangling it with Joey's, but Joey ripped her hand from Charlie's grasp, as she became desperate to separate herself from her girlfriend, "No Charlie...you're not going to do that. I'm sorry...after today...I never want to see you again."
"What?" Charlie cried disbelievingly, "How can you say that? Joey I will not...give up on you like that." Joey swallowed deeply, standing up and taking a few steps away from Charlie, "I'm sparing you the pain of it Charlie. I won't let you waste the rest of your life waiting for me. You need to accept I'm a lost cause Charlie...you need to move on."
Charlie blinked back another flood of tears threatening to release, "How...? How can I possibly move on from the love of my life? I can't even think about getting through the rest of today...and every other day without you." "You have to Charlie...you don't have a choice," Joey whispered, then sighing gently, "Tell Ruby I'm sorry...will you? Don't shut her out okay? Ruby's gonna need you to get through this. Just like you're gonna need her. You're gonna be okay Charlie...you have your Dad and everyone else to help you through this."
"What about you...? I'm not gonna have you to help me through this," Charlie wept. "You're better off without me," Joey repeated coldly, turning her back on Charlie and wrapped her arms around her own waist. Charlie stood up, using all her strength not to collapse in another heap on the floor, and quietly walked up behind Joey. Just as Charlie reached out to wrap her arms around Joey and beg her not to end things between them, Joey turned back to her, pulling back from Charlie's attempted embrace.
"Go home Charlie," Joey whimpered desperately, "Please just...forget about me. Move on with your life and don't waste your life wallowing over my mistakes. Find someone who can...give you the future you deserve." "You're my future," Charlie cried. Joey shook her head, refusing to look Charlie in the eyes, "No I'm not...I did this to protect you...you shouldn't have to live with the consequences I've set in motion."
Charlie let her tears flow down her face, "Joey I love you so much. How am I supposed to go on with my life alone?"
Charlie broke down completely, collapsing to the floor. Joey swallowed deeply, unable to keep watching Charlie in so much pain. She rushed forwards and wrapped her arms around the broken woman she loved no matter what. Charlie clung to Joey desperately as they both cried, feeling the love they were about to lose.
A few hours later, Charlie and Angelo walked silently into Charlie's house. Charlie wanted to tell him to leave once they got there but she was so broken she couldn't find the words. Leah was still at work and the house was empty.
Once Detective Robert Robertson had managed to pull Charlie and Joey apart, ordering several officers to take Joey to the jail cell where she would be spending the night before being transferred to the City jail the following afternoon, Angelo had decided to drive Ruby and Charlie back home.
Angelo was surprised and disappointed when Charlie had ordered that he take Ruby back to Irene's so Ruby could be looked after by Irene and her friends. Angelo tried to talk Charlie out of it but she insisted she just wanted to spend the night alone while she tried to cope with losing Joey. Before they left, Angelo rallied that Ruby needed Charlie's support through this but Charlie refused to let Ruby see just how broken she'd become.
Angelo regretted giving into Charlie's request to leave Ruby at Irene's, as he felt incapable of helping Charlie when the pair entered the house to the scene before them. Angelo swallowed hard as they walked into the living room of Charlie's place to find all the lights switched out. All but the flickering lights from a candle lit table.
Charlie felt sick inside as she noticed the dinner table was set out with dinner, champagne and several tea tree candles scattered in the middle. Charlie inched closer to the table, her heart stuck in her throat as she saw a card on the table titled 'Charlie & Joey.'
Charlie blinked back tears as she picked up the card. Flipping it open, her heart sunk to a new level as she silently read the card:
'Hi girls! Popped back home during my break and thought I'd set this dinner up for you. Don't worry, you've got the house to yourselves tonight. Enjoy the dinner! Hope you have a fantastic night! Happy anniversary! Love Leah'
Charlie flicked the card back onto the table, devastated at the realization that she wouldn't be celebrating her anniversary with Joey that night…or any other night for quite possibly the rest of their lives.
Angelo watched on sadly, unable to do anything that would relieve Charlie of the pain she was experiencing as she had quite obviously not expected to be surprised by the dinner. How can one simple dinner make all this harder…? 'Cause Joey's never coming back…and Charlie doesn't need this kind of reminder of the life they'll never have.
Just as Angelo was about to offer to take Charlie away from the romantic setting, he stared on as Charlie suddenly leant down over the table and blew out the candles. Shrouded in darkness briefly, Angelo flicked on the light switch.
"Charlie," he whispered desperately, "Please why don't you sit down? Let me clear away this…dinner…so you don't have to be reminded of…" Charlie didn't respond to him, but instead stared down at the table as she took a step backwards. Angelo breathed a sigh of relief that Charlie was giving him a sign to take away the painful reminder.
But he was shaken when Charlie glanced up at the shelves just above the table and spotted a photograph of her and Joey hugging one another. Before he could stop her, Charlie took a step back beside the table and placed her hands gently on the edge of the table then aggressively flipped the table over.
The table fell on its side and all the contents toppled to the floor. Just as Charlie was about to collapse right along side them, Angelo stepped forwards and placed his hands on her shoulders holding her up.
Charlie burst into another round of tears as the remnants of her anniversary and relationship with Joey lay ruined before her. Shaking harshly, Charlie sobbed, "She did this. This is what she…did to us. I think…I think I hate her a little for it."
Angelo squeezed her shoulders, "No you don't…which is why…you did this. C'mon Charlie…let's just…leave the mess and…sit down on the couch for a little while." Charlie didn't budge, "How could she destroy all this?" Angelo gritted his teeth, "I doubt she even knows. C'mon…you need to sit down and try and calm down for a moment."
Charlie once again refused to move as she continued staring down at the food and plates broken on the floor by the tipped over table. The pain of losing Joey had now completely shattered her as she fought to understand how she could now live her life without the woman she loved.
Unable to let Charlie keep standing there, staring at the remains of what should have been a happy occasion for her and Joey, Angelo gently guided her away from the table towards the couch.
Charlie silently sat down on the couch in the living room, tears still flowing heavily down her cheeks. Her whole face had been soaked with them for hours and she knew they would keep flowing for days...weeks...maybe longer. It wasn't long until Charlie was nearly catatonic.
Angelo uncomfortably joined her, sitting down next to her on the couch. Angelo knew that he was probably one of the last people Charlie needed right now, but he refused to give up and abandon her unless he knew she would be okay. And her violent reaction to the anniversary dinner was not falling in her favour. Angelo cleared his throat, "I...ah called Morag. She was in the City with your father and she's going to drive up first thing tomorrow morning. I also called your father myself to tell him rather than let Morag do it. He was pretty shocked but said he'll stand by you. Morag promised she'd do everything to help Joey fight these charges...see if she can diminish them so her...punishment is lessened."
Charlie nodded silently, beginning to shake uncontrollably.
"I didn't want it to end this way," Angelo suddenly blurted out. Charlie frowned, her eyebrows creased, but she refused to look up at him. Angelo hung his head in shame, "I know you'll probably never believe me after the...crusade I went on trying to condemn Joey but...I never thought she was guilty. I just...I was selfish and wanted you back. I thought this investigation would break her...I thought if she felt too much pressure...she'd take off. I never thought she'd confess to killing Grant."
Charlie stared down at the ground, unable to stop crying, but desperately felt the need to avoid breaking down in front of her ex.
Angelo ran his hand through his hair, "Charlie...open up to me please. How are you coping with all this? You have to be feeling...destroyed, betrayed...like this is some kind of nightmare. You really love this girl don't you...? And she went and completely shattered you. Charlie you cannot just sit there. You need to talk about this. You can't shut down or else there's no coming back. You need to find a way to be strong. Ruby's gonna need you to be strong. And...there's a lot more to come. Joey's getting transferred tomorrow afternoon, and then she's gonna need you there for her through the trial and however this thing pans out...she's gonna need you through all of it."
Charlie shook her head, whimpering, "No...she won't. Joey...doesn't want me to help her. She says she never wants to see me again. She thinks she's protecting me. She wants me to forget about her...she wants me to stop loving her. She told me...she wants me to move on with my life and find someone new. How am I supposed to do that?"
Angelo wrapped his arm around Charlie's shoulders, and was surprised when he found her suddenly collapse against him, burying her head in his shoulder as she continued crying hysterically, "It might take some time...but you'll find a way. The way she's treated you...telling you to never see her again after what she's done. She's got some nerve thinking she's protecting you by doing this...you deserve so much better than that Charlie. You deserve..."
Charlie pulled her head up from Angelo's shoulder, realizing she shouldn't be taking advantage of his friendship in her time of need. Wiping her hand across her nose, she sniffled, "I deserve what?" Without thinking Angelo leant forwards, crashing his lips against Charlie's...
Constable Watson led Joey down to the jail cell. Joey refused Watson's offer to remove her hand cuffs, instead preferring to..."get used to them." As Watson shut the cell door and locked it behind Joey, Joey sat down on the bed. Joey stared straight ahead at the wall, her handcuffed hands behind her back.
Watson shook her head angrily, "You really destroyed her you know! Charlie's never gonna get over this!" Joey blinked back further tears, choking out, "I did all this to protect her." Watson gritted her teeth, "You got a bloody awful way of showing her if this is what you call protecting her. But don't you worry about how badly you've ruined Charlie's life...your life isn't gonna be easy as soon as we transfer you to the city jail tomorrow afternoon. Its lights out now so...guess we'll see you in the morning, killer."
Joey bit her tongue at Watson's last word, knowing it wasn't professional of the Constable but understood her anger. Watson flicked off the lights and stalked off down the hallway, leaving Joey alone, shrouded in darkness.
Tears flowed freely down Joey's cheeks again, and she whimpered to herself, "I did all this to protect her." Closing her eyes, Joey could barely erase the look on Charlie's face when she told the woman she loved that she needed to move on and forget about her. "I did this to protect you Charlie," Joey cried, trying to escape the guilt she felt from destroying Charlie.
Taking a deep breath, Joey stopped trying to fight all the guilt she felt. Instead she let it wash over her as her thoughts bought her little comfort. I did this to protect you. You'll understand Charlie...one day you'll thank me for doing this for you. No...no you won't understand and you're never going to get the chance to thank me. You're never going to realize just how much I love you to protect you from the truth Charlie. Because you're never going to know...I'll never tell you why I'm really doing all this...you're never going to find out the truth – you're never going to know that I love you enough to protect you from the truth and spend my life in jail ...for a crime I didn't commit...
So are you still with me or did I lose you all and your computers out windows at a certain kiss?? :)
And finally I can now say it - feels like I've been holding it in for months - JOEY'S INNOCENT!
Yes as most of you have guessed - damn you guys, you were meant to be shocked speechless lol! - Joey's been covering for someone this entire time.
Who has she been covering for? How did she find out? Why is she doing it? And oh yeah will anyone find out?
Oh and what about Charlie? Is she about to make the BIGGEST mistake of her life and betray the love of her life for a meaningless fling again!?
You'll have to wait to find out what Charlie's gonna do until Chapter 52 'cause Chapter 51 is all Joey - and I promise you - it is going to be EPIC!
At least I hope it will be... :)
After all the grief I've put you through with the past few chapters on whether of not Joey's guilty I'll give you all a small hint on what the next chapter involves...has anyone noticed that I've kind of neglected Joey's thoughts and internal feelings for an inordinate number of chapters now??
'Til next time - enjoying reviewing this one...nice reviews pretty please :P
