Chapter Twelve

Joey was confused and then heartbroken when she woke up alone. She and Charlie had had an amazing night together. There was no question that the spark between them had been reignited, brighter than ever before. Joey had no idea what the future held but in the moment, she and Charlie had only wanted each other.

But this morning, waking up alone, all she could think was that once again, Charlie had backed out and changed her mind. Once again, she felt used. Sitting up, she stretched, looking around for some clothes, which had been strewn all around the room the night before as she and Charlie had made their way amorously from the lounge to the bedroom.

She turned and smiled to herself, relieved to find a note on the pillow beside her:

Gone to get breakfast. C x

Joey sank back into the bed, opting not to get dressed after all. She closed her eyes, smiling to herself as she thought about the night before. It truly had been amazing, even more amazing than ten years ago. She wondered how long she would have before Charlie got back. Deciding to risk it, she got up and dived into the shower.

Charlie was just on her way back to the car with coffees and takeaway breakfast from the Diner for herself and Joey when she spotted Willow looking forlorn and hungover.

"Hey, what's up?" she called.

"Hey, Detective," Willow said, as cheerfully as she could muster.

She noted the coffees in her hands

"Breakfast for two, hey?" she remarked, raising her eyebrows.

Charlie blushed.

"I take it things are going well with Joey?"

Charlie blushed even more.

"Alex gave me a Brief History of Charlie, Joey and Alex," Willow explained.

"Oh," Charlie said. "Is she…?"

"She's fine," Willow assured her. "She just wants Joey to be happy. And judging by that breakfast, she is."

Charlie laughed.

"And what about you?" the Detective asked.

Willow looked stricken.

"What about me?" she asked.

"You look awful."

"Hey!"

"I mean you like you have stuff on your mind," Charlie corrected.

"Oh, just… I don't know…"

"What's up, Will?" Charlie asked kindly.

Willow sighed heavily.

"It doesn't matter," she decided. "You need to get back to your lady love."

"I've got time," Charlie said. "Well, I have until these drinks get lukewarm."

Willow chuckled.

"How did you know you liked women?"

"When I was attracted to one," Charlie replied bluntly.

Willow guffawed.

"Honestly," Charlie told her. "I literally had no idea before I met Joey. It completely blindsided me. And I tried so hard to ignore it but I couldn't. I just couldn't."

Willow sighed and shook her head.

"Are you… attracted to a woman?" Charlie asked curiously.

"Maybe," Willow admitted, refusing to look at her.

"Is she attracted to you?"

"Maybe."

"Well, if I can give you one piece of advice," Charlie ventured. "Then it's don't fight it. Don't mess it up the way I did. When Joey and I got together the first time, I was so worried about what other people thought. I was so busy thinking about everyone else. I got so caught up with labels that I forgot to think about us. And I certainly didn't think about her. I thought so much about her gender that I lost sight of the fact that she was a human being with feelings. I hurt her so badly, Willow. I let her down. And in the process, I hurt myself. The worst thing I ever did was lose Joey. My personal life has been an absolute mess since we broke up and that was ten years ago. I'm possibly being given a second chance now but I lost ten years. Don't make the same mistakes I did."

Willow gazed at her for a moment.

"You know, that's the most open you've ever been about your personal life in all the time I've know you, Detective," Willow said.

Charlie smiled at her.

"Well, it's important," she said.

Willow thanked her. Charlie headed back to Joey's hotel.

Joey was just stepping out of the shower when Charlie tapped on the door. Joey opened up, just in a towel. Charlie's eyes widened in delight. Boldly, she leant forward and kissed her but cowardly, she went for a cheek. Joey turned her face and caught her lips.

"I missed you this morning," Joey admitted, welcoming her into the room.

"Sorry," Charlie said. "I was awake and you were sleeping so peacefully. I thought it would be nice if I went to grab some food."

"It is nice," Joey said. "Thank you."

"The coffee might not be hot though," Charlie apologised. "I got talking to Willow."

"Oh?" Joey asked curiously. "She okay?"

"Crisis of confidence?" Charlie suggested

"She doesn't happen to have a crush on my ex-girlfriend, does she?"

Charlie stared at her for a second, mouth agape. Joey just chuckled and took the breakfast things from her. She sipped the coffee.

"Cold," she said. "Never mind. I'm sure we can find something else to do."

She wrapped her arms around Charlie's neck, pulling her closer.

"If you want to?" she checked.

"Oh, I want to," Charlie assured her.

Joey let her towel drop to the floor. All thoughts of Alex and Willow fell out of Charlie's head.

With Charlie's words of wisdom in mind, Willow headed over to see Alex. She was nervous as she knocked on her door. Alex was in skimpy shorts and a slightly rumpled t-shirt, which meant that Willow could see just a glimpse of her toned tummy underneath. Her hair was a mess and she looked tired and yet still so beautiful.

"Willow!" she said, suddenly self conscious. "What… what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk about last night," Willow told her.

"You couldn't have called?" Alex asked, suddenly aware that she was in un-sexy pyjamas, no bra and hadn't brushed her teeth or hair this morning, being that Willow had dragged her out of bed.

"Sorry," Willow said. "I just… I needed to see you."

She too had noticed that Alex was braless. And now that she had noticed, she couldn't stop noticing.

"Okay…" Alex said, folding her arms self consciously.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah… okay… sure."

She let Willow enter the house, asking for five minutes and inviting her to make herself at home. Alex dashed into her bedroom and threw some clothes on. She ran a brush through her hair and dived into the bathroom to brush her teeth, desperate to make herself appear halfway decent. She had hardly slept last night, turning over their kiss in her mind. The lack of sleep had not helped her process the alcohol.

"Sorry," she said. "I was still asleep."

She came to sit beside Willow on the couch.

"No, I'm sorry," Willow said. "I was up early and I didn't think about the time. Sorry."

"It's fine," Alex said.

"I just… I couldn't sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about last night," Willow explained.

"Me too," Alex admitted. "I didn't sleep that well. Just a few hours this morning. Hence looking so rough when I opened the door!"

She laughed anxiously.

"I didn't think you looked rough," Willow said sincerely.

"You don't have to be nice," Alex replied.

"I mean it," Willow told her. "That's what I want to talk to you about."

"How rough I look in the morning after a night on the town?" Alex joked.

"How much I care about you," Willow persisted. "I do care about you, Alex."

"Willow," Alex said seriously, touching her hand. "You really didn't need to come over here to let me down gently. It's fine. We were drunk. We got carried away. Forget about it, okay?"

"That's not what I'm doing," Willow tried to explain.

Alex was confused.

"I'm trying to tell you that I like you."

"But you're straight."

"Yeah."

Willow sighed heavily. She didn't know how to explain.

"Willow, I'm not up for being an experiment," Alex said as kindly as she could.

"I don't want you to be an experiment," Willow assured her. "I don't know what this is. All I know is that I've never felt this way about anyone before. I've never met someone that I just… connect with. It was like the second I met you we just clicked, like we were always meant to be in each other's lives."

She gazed at Alex and then looked away.

"You probably think I'm an idiot," she said, embarrassed.

"I don't think you're an idiot," Alex promised. "I feel the same about you. Like we just connected. And I think that sort of thing is really rare. I've liked you from the moment I met you. But I just… I feel very scared about getting my heart broken when I've only just put it back together."

"I understand," Willow said, nodding. "And I can't promise that you won't. Nobody can ever promise. But I can promise that I would never deliberately hurt you."

Alex smiled at her, knowing she was telling the truth.

"I spent all of last night so confused and then I got some advice this morning," Willow said. "I was told not to let my own fears get in the way of something that could be really special. Not to let labels overtake actual feelings. And my feelings for you are real. So I guess what it comes down to is how you feel?"

Alex leant over and kissed her.

Next time… Charlie and Joey make plans and Alex is made welcome…