Chapter 54

"Oh God..." Charlie slumped backwards onto the sand as her breathing sped up slightly and tears formed in her eyes "No..." she clenched her hands into fists around the sand and clamped her eyes tightly "No..."

"Charlie?" Cameron questioned in concern as she observed the shaking girl "Are you okay? What did I say?" she glanced at Joey in confusion but noticed that her ex seemed just as confused as she was.

"Oh God..." Charlie repeated as she leaned forward trying to regulate her breathing "Not again...Not here"

"Charlie?!" Joey scrambled to her wife's side and placed a hand on her back "Calm down Honey. Just tell me what's wrong, okay?"

"It's him" Charlie said breathlessly as tears tracked rapidly down her cheeks "H...He said 'You're crying like a sukie little kid'"

"Who is he?" Joey asked in concern as she attempted to meet Charlie's downturned gaze but to no avail as the older girl refused to look up.

"He's going to take her away from me" Charlie sobbed quietly "It's him Joey!"

Joey pulled Charlie close and hugged her comfortingly as she shared a look of worried confusion with Cameron. She looked down at the woman in her arms and spoke in a soft voice "What do you mean Charlie?"

"His name's Grant" Charlie looked up and met Cameron's shocked blue eyes "Isn't it?"

Cameron nodded slowly "How did you know his name?"

"He's the guy who raped you?!" Joey pulled back fury blazing in her eyes when she finally realised how Charlie knew the man "He's Ruby's..."

"Biological Father" Charlie said tearfully as she looked at Joey.

"What?!" Cameron gasped in horror "You were raped? Ruby...This is the trouble you ran into when you were younger?!"

Charlie nodded and looked at the sand in shame "I didn't say anything...And now he's here" she tightened her grip on Joey and gazed at her in panic "What am I going to do Joey? He's here! What if he goes after Ruby? What if he hurts her?"

"Whoa..." Joey moved her hands to Charlie's shoulders and gazed into her eyes as the older girls breathing quickened dramatically "Calm down Babe. You're going to hyperventilate if you don't relax a little bit" her gaze remained locked on Charlie's panicked eyes for a moment before the other girls breathing slowed down to a reasonable pace "Okay. We'll talk about this at home. You'll feel less panicked when you see Ruby"

"I don't know what to do" Charlie admitted tearfully as she leaned into Joey and hugged her lightly "I can't believe he's here...I thought he was gone"

"We'll work it out" Joey said in an attempt to comfort the older woman. She stood up slowly, without releasing her hold on Charlie "It'll be okay" she took a step forward before she glanced back at Cam who was standing in the same position as before "Cam? You should come back to our place. Summer's already there with Ruby"

Cameron nodded and fell into step with the other two girls.

---

"Are you sure you're not mad at me?" Summer asked hesitantly from her position on the couch next to Ruby "Because if I was you I would be damn well pissed off with how I talked to you this morning"

"You were upset" Ruby said in a soft voice "That's completely understandable. I shouldn't have pushed so hard this morning. It was my fault really" they fell into a comfortable silence for a few moments before Summer spoke up again in a wistful voice.

"I wish I could tell you what's going on with me"

"But you can't?" Ruby asked quietly as she turned to look at her friend "Even if I swear not to tell anyone? Not even Charlie?"

"If I told you..." Summer shifted onto her side and gazed at Ruby knowingly "The first thing you would want to do would be to tell Charlie about it."

"You're not in trouble are you?" Ruby frowned in concern "Because if this is really serious Charlie can help you..."

"Nobody can help us right now" Summer managed a small sad smile "Not even Charlie"

"I'm worried about you" Ruby confessed softly as her hand dropped to the older girl's "When you say things like that...It really makes me worry that something's going to happen to you and Cameron"

Summer sighed as she looked down at their lightly touching hands "It's complicated Rubz"

"I hate when people say that" Ruby whispered "It usually means that it's something really bad that you don't want to tell me"

"You wouldn't unders..." Summer trailed off as the front door slammed and she jumped up from the couch.

"Jumpy much?" Ruby frowned.

Summer was about to answer when Joey walked into the room, supporting a clearly shaken Charlie. Cameron followed obviously shocked and scared but more composed than the other girl.

"Charlie?" Ruby questioned in worry as Joey set a shaking Charlie down on the couch "What's wrong? Are you okay?" she shuffled close to her mother and placed a hand on her quivering shoulder. When she received no answer she looked at Joey in alarm "What happened Joey? What's wrong with her?"

"Um..." Joey appeared at a loss for what to say as she looked between Charlie and Cameron.

"What?!" Ruby asked urgently "What is it? Tell me..."

"Can I have a minute with Ruby?" Charlie straightened up slightly on the couch and wiped away her tears "I need to talk to her..."

"Sure" Cameron nodded and walked into the kitchen pulling a concerned Summer with her. Joey hesitated for a moment as she glanced between Charlie and Ruby.

"I need you to stay" Charlie whispered as she looked up at Joey "Will you?"

"Of course" Joey nodded and sat on the arm of the chair next to Charlie.

"What's wrong Charlie?" Ruby asked in concern as she looked between Joey and Charlie in pure worry "Has something happened? Are you sick or something?"

"No" Charlie smiled weakly at her daughter's obvious concern but shook her head "I'm not sick Rubz...I just need to talk to you about something. Something important. I..."

Ruby frowned as Charlie choked emotionally on her words and she reached out to take her mother's hand in her own "What is it Mum? You can tell me you know..."

Charlie closed her eyes for a moment before reopening them and looking into Ruby's eyes "It's about your father...Your Biological father"

"Um..." Ruby appeared shocked at the topic "what about him?"

"He's here" Charlie said softly "He's in Summer bay Rubz"

"Wait..." Ruby lifted her free hand to her forehead, still in shock "You're telling me that the guy who raped you is in Summer Bay?!"

Charlie paused for a moment before she spoke up again "Yeah...But that's not all..."

"It's not?!" Ruby asked in surprise "Than what...?"

Charlie glanced at Joey for reassurance and received a soft smile and nod in response. She turned back to Ruby and spoke again, in a softer tone of voice "A few months ago Cameron was attacked. By the same man. He was threatening her today on the beach...Telling her to stay quiet. He rushed off before we reached them but..."

"Then how do you know it was the guy who attacked you?" Ruby questioned hopefully.

"It was something he said" Charlie answered painstakingly.

"What did he say?" Ruby whispered.

"While he was..." Charlie blinked rapidly against approaching tears "Y'know...Doing it. I was...I was..." she trailed off as a whimper overtook her and she leaned forward placing her head in her hands "I was telling him to stop...I was begging him to let me go"

Joey bit her lip against her anger as she rubbed Charlie's back soothingly. She glanced at Ruby who was getting more tearful by the second as Charlie continued to explain what happened to her.

"He said something like..."You're crying like a sukie little kid"" Charlie continued tearfully "That's stayed with me ever since that night and...He said the same thing to Cam Rubz..."

"They're running from him" Ruby whispered in realisation "This is what's wrong with Summer...This is why she keeps saying that they're not safe here" she swallowed heavily and wrapped an arm lightly around Charlie's waist, leaning even closer to her "Charlie?"

"I don't want to talk to him" Ruby said softly "At all. I don't even want to see him because of what he did to you. I don't need him if you're worrying about me wanting to know him...I have all I need right here with me"

Charlie smiled tearfully and dropped a kiss on her daughters "Thanks Honey...You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah" Ruby said quietly "I love you too"

---

"I'm sorry about this Cam" Charlie said as she and Cameron walked slightly behind Joey, Ruby and Summer.

"What are you sorry for?" Cameron asked in confusion "You haven't done anything"

"What happened to you is partly my fault" Charlie muttered guiltily "If I had done something...If it had been reported..."

"Charlie, stop!" Cameron exclaimed as she placed her hand on Charlie's arm "That's ridiculous. You were only a kid. You couldn't have been expected to do all of that by yourself. What happened to me was not your fault, got it?!"

Charlie nodded slowly as they entered the station "Got it" she moved to Joey's hand and gripped her hand tightly as Watson walked over to them.

"Charlie?" the other police officer asked in confusion "What's going on? Is something wrong? Why are you here on your day off?"

"Georgie this is Cameron" Charlie nodded towards Cameron "We need a restraining order on Grant Bredcloe on the grounds of assault"

"Oh...Okay" Georgie glanced at Cameron and paused for a moment, her jaw dropping slightly "Um...Hey. I'm Constable Watson or well...Georgie as you probably know because Charlie just told you that...Kind of. Erm..." she glanced at Charlie with a look that said 'Help me!'

Charlie shrugged and smirked at Watson's babbling "You're on your own Watson"

Georgie blushed at Charlie's statement and glanced back at Cameron trying to stay as professional as possible "Erm...Right. Well I'll have that restraining order ready for you as soon as possible Cameron"

"Thanks" Cameron offered the police officer a small smile. Despite the situation Joey and Charlie were barely able to contain their amusement at Watson's glowing reaction to the smile.

"Right" her blush deepening, Watson turned and walked back to her desk.

"What was that about?" Cameron wondered out loud as she watched the constable walk away. She glanced at Joey and Charlie questioningly.

"That sis is what you call fatal attraction" Summer smirked as she nudged Cameron playfully.

"Huh?"

"She fancies you" Ruby informed her with a soft giggle.

"She what?" Cameron questioned in surprise "She likes me? Why? I mean..." she trailed off as her eyes shifted back to the police officer across the room.

Joey rolled her eyes at Cameron's lack of self confidence "Why do you think?"

Cameron shrugged.

"Because you're hot" Ruby stated.

"Ruby!" Summer exclaimed as she shoved her friend lightly "That's my sister you're talking about you know"

"Huh?" Ruby appeared confused for a moment before she noticed they were all gazing at her in surprise "Oh...I didn't mean it like that. But you are...I'm just y'know...Stating fact?" she looked at the others for support "right?"

"My sister, remember?" Summer stepped back slightly "You can't ask me that question Rubz"

Joey and Charlie nodded in agreement with Ruby's statement causing Cameron to blush brightly and look away.

---

"What are we going to do?" Charlie questioned in a whisper as she snuggled closer to Charlie in bed "About...Him?"

"I don't know" Joey answered honestly as she dropped a soft kiss on Charlie's forehead "I'm not going to let anything happen to you or Ruby though...You know that right? I would do absolutely anything to protect you. Anything at all" she shifted slightly and looked down at Charlie sincerely "You and Ruby mean everything to me. There's nothing I wouldn't do to protect you both"

"I know" Charlie whispered as she leaned up and pressed a tender kiss to Joey's lips "Thanks Jo...It's just that I keep thinking about what happened that night...."

"He won't hurt you again" Joey said in a hushed voice as she smoothed a hand comfortingly over Charlie's dark hair "I won't let him"

"I love you" Charlie whispered.

"I love you too" Joey responded just as softly. She leaned down and kissed the older girl slowly, allowing her lips to linger. Charlie clutched Joey's shirt gently and pulled her closer deepening the soft caress. She moaned softly at the first touch of Joey's tongue to her own.

"Charlie" Joey gasped and pulled back when Charlie slipped a hand under her shirt. She shivered slightly as the older girls hand ghosted a trail across her ribs "What are you doing?"

"I need you" Charlie whispered into the stillness "I need you to help me forget. You're the only person who can take it away...Please Jo?"

Joey hesitated for a moment before she nodded and recaptured Charlie's lips with her own, pressing her slowly back onto the bed.

TBC