Sorry it has been a while since I updated. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Five Hundred and Sixty Five

Ruby wasn't feeling well and she didn't want to go to school. One of the things she had been enjoying the most about school this year was the time she spent with Romeo but now all that had gone to hell. Now everything felt absolutely hideous.

She padded out of her room in her pyjamas and threw herself into a chair at the kitchen table.

"You're running late," Charlie said.

"I'm sick," she said.

"You're not sick," Charlie told her. "You might be sad but you're not sick."

"I'm not going to school, Charlie!" she snapped.

"Yes, you are," Charlie replied. "You can't just avoid him. That's not how life works. If you hide away today, it won't make tomorrow any easier."

Ruby just glared at her.

"You can't make me go," she said.

"Do you want to challenge that theory?" Charlie said.

Ruby swallowed, looking at Charlie in her police uniform.

"I thought you cared about me, Charlie," she said.

Charlie sat down beside her.

"I do," she said. "I love you. But you've made a massive mistake. And now you need to live with the consequences. Okay?"

Ruby sighed heavily and stalked off to her room, nearly knocking Joey over on her way. Charlie jumped up, worriedly asking Joey if she was alright.

"I'm fine," Joey assured her.

"Your wrist though?"

"No damage," Joey promised.

Charlie sighed. She was worried about Ruby and she was worried about Joey. Her partner was starting her first counselling session today. And this afternoon, she was due to have her cast taken off. It was going to be a big day.

Charlie sat in the waiting room, waiting for Joey to finish her counselling session, much like she had when Ruby had gone back into counselling. She was frustrated with herself that she had believed her daughter when she said she felt in a better place. She should have made her persist with her sessions. She should have seen this situation with Romeo coming. She was angry with herself for being blindsided. But right now, she just needed to be there for Joey.

She closed her book and stood up when Joey exited the room she had disappeared into an hour ago. She was relieved when Joey smiled at her, although she noted that her eyes were red rimmed. She had definitely been crying.

"Hey," Charlie said, opening her arms.

Joey hugged her.

"How did it go?" Charlie asked.

"It was… worth going," Joey said, hugging her tighter. "Can we go for something with lots of calories now?"

Charlie chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

"Absolutely," she promised.

Romeo felt immediately awkward when he spotted Ruby in the hallway at school. She was a loose cannon. She was unpredictable. He didn't know what she was going to say and to who. He knew she'd told Nicole. His housemate had lectured him for over an hour last night. He'd taken it. He deserved it. All he was grateful for was that so far at least, nobody had told Indi.

Ruby headed for her locker. She couldn't help but look at Romeo. He looked beautiful still. Her heart was broken. But she grudgingly accepted that her parents were right. Running away wasn't going to help. She had to face things head on.

"Hey."

She turned to see Casey hovering beside her. She sighed. If only she had picked him the other night and not Romeo. She didn't think Casey would hurt her. He liked her too much. Why did she always choose the wrong guy?

"Hi," she said with a smile. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," he said. "I'm sorry I stormed out yesterday. I just… I was disappointed."

"It's fine," Ruby said. "I get it. I um… What I said was a little premature anyway."

He looked curious and cautious.

"I thought the guy I liked had chosen me," she said. "But he hadn't."

She glanced at Romeo. Casey followed her gaze.

"He's just a liar," Ruby concluded.

Suddenly a lot of things made sense to Casey. He was angry on Ruby's behalf.

"Well, I hope you're okay," he said. "I'm always here if you need to talk."

She thanked him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Charlie and Joey were sat in the Diner enjoying coffee and cake. Charlie was touched at how open Joey had been about her therapy session. It meant a lot to know just how much Joey trusted her. She reached across the table and squeezed Joey's hand.

"I am so proud of you," she said.

Joey smiled shyly and thanked her.

"And today we get your cast off too!" Charlie enthused. "Yay!"

Joey grinned.

"I cannot wait!" she admitted. "It's been so annoying. I think today is going to be a good day for taking a deep breath and drawing a line under all this crap. Starting again."

Charlie nodded.

"I think that's a good idea," she said.

It had been a long day at school. All Romeo wanted was to get home, get changed and go and spend the evening with Indi.

"Ruby!" he called, jogging to catch up with her as she left school.

Ruby paused abruptly. A couple of other students tutted as they bumped into her. She ducked out of the way so she could speak to her crush.

"Look, I know I hurt you," Romeo said.

Ruby was deflated. He was clearly angry with her, judging by his tone.

"But I don't appreciate you setting your guard dog on me," he said.

"What are you talking about?" Ruby asked, confused.

"Casey!" Romeo snapped. "He laid into me earlier. What the hell are you doing, telling everyone about us? How could you do that?"

"I didn't tell him," Ruby said honestly.

She left out the fact that she had definitely insinuated something.

"Well, he definitely knows something," Romeo said. "And you told Nicole. Ruby, this is serious. If Indi finds out, my whole life is over."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have done it," Ruby replied.

"I know I shouldn't have done it!" Romeo said desperately. "And you shouldn't have done it either! You knew I was in a relationship. You knew I was vulnerable. You should have said no too. It wasn't just me, Ruby."

"I did it because I wanted you," Ruby said. "I did it because I have deep feelings for you. You did it because you were lonely and horny. You used me."

Romeo swallowed. He didn't know how to argue.

"So I'm sorry if I'm not that bothered about keeping your secrets," she snapped.

"How does that feel?" the nurse asked.

"Weird," Joey said. "But good."

The cast was off and Joey was healed. It had been a long few weeks but Joey was relieved it was all finally over. Charlie sat quietly on a second chair, having taken the whole day off work to support her partner in all her appointments for the day. She was so relieved to see such a change in Joey's mood. She felt like they had reached a genuinely positive turning point.

Ruby had phoned Claire in floods of tears. Now, she and Ruby were sat on the beach together. Ruby was sobbing in her arms. Claire couldn't make out many of the words. She'd heard 'Romeo', 'Indi', 'slept together' and 'meant something'. She already knew the story. She probably didn't need to hear it a second time.

She felt guilty. She had made the decision to step back. But she had seen that Ruby had feelings for Romeo. She had been concerned about it, the same way she had been concerned about her crush on her driving instructor. But with Alex, Claire had helped. With Romeo, she had let it go and let her down. And now all this had happened. She felt terrible now. She should have at least referred it to Charlie and Joey. But really, she should have stepped in. She should have been Ruby's true friend and offered guidance. She had been selfish. She had broken her promise to always be there for Ruby. She felt terrible.

On the beach, Claire stroked Ruby's hair and kissed the top of her head. She held her close and promised her that everything would be alright. Ruby looked up at her with tear filled eyes.

"How will it?" she asked.

"Because you're strong, Ruby," she said. "You'll get through it. You can get through anything, Rubes. You know you can."

"I don't think I can…"

"I know you can," Claire said. "Think about when we met. Think about how lost we both were. We both came back from that. We did it together."

"But you got strong, Claire," Ruby said sadly. "Look at you. You got a job and you're happy and I'm just making the same mistakes over and over again."

More tears came.

"I'm only where I am because of you," Claire said sincerely. "You're the one who made me feel safe. You gave me a family. You are my family. And through that I got work. You helped me feel confident. But you'll get there Ruby. You have so much love and support around you. There's nothing you can't achieve."

"Apart from finding someone to love me," Ruby said sadly.

"You will," Claire said. "You just have to stop trying to force it. You have to wait and let the right person come along at the right time. The wrong person at the wrong time isn't worth it."

"I just thought Romeo was…"

"He was never going to be the right guy, Ruby," Claire said. "He's in a relationship."

"And unhappy one though," Ruby reminded her.

"And that's between them," Claire said. "It's not for you to interfere with."

Ruby nodded and sank against her.

"I wish I was gay," she said. "Then if you were single too, I could just fall in love with you. We'd be perfect together."

She sighed heavily, having no idea what she'd just said. Claire closed her eyes and continued to hold her.

"So, I've booked us a hotel for the weekend," Indi ventured.

She and Romeo were walking along the beach together, holding hands. Romeo stopped walking, surprised by the news.

"You did what?" he asked.

"I booked a hotel just down the coast for the weekend," she repeated. "I thought it would be nice if our first time together was a little bit special. What do you think?"

Romeo felt nervous but he smiled and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend.

"I think that sounds amazing," he said, pulling her in for a kiss.

Just ahead of them, Ruby and Claire watched them. Ruby went from tearful to seething. Claire physically restrained her from launching herself at them.

"Look at him, though," she said. "He looks like he doesn't have a care in the world!"

"I get it," Claire said. "It hurts."

"It pisses me off!" she half shouted. "One minute he's in bed with me and the next minute they're love's young dream. It's not fair!"

"I know," Claire said. "Look, let's go."

She stood up and pulled Ruby to her feet. Ruby threw one more glare at the oblivious couple and followed Claire away from the beach. They paused when they spotted Elijah shouting at VJ and Danny who was playing football with Thabo.

"Hey!" Ruby interrupted, feeling particularly protective of the little boy she had lived with for so many years. "What's going on?"

The pastor looked abashed.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's just that Thabo is very unwell and playing ball games could injure him."

"Well, that's not VJ and Danny's fault," Ruby said. "There's no need to shout at them. If Thabo wants to play, that's up to him, right?"

She nodded at the newcomer to the Bay.

"I wanted to play," he agreed.

"And don't you think it's nice that VJ and Danny are such lovely kids that they wanted to include someone who's new to this town?" Ruby added. "Not every kid would do that."

"You're right," Elijah said. "I'm sorry. I just panicked."

Ruby smiled at the three boys and continued towards home with Claire.

"Well, you used your mood for good!" Claire remarked.

Ruby looked rather proud of herself.

Joey lay back in the bath. Charlie always ran the water to the perfect temperature and got the bubbles just right. Her girlfriend was knelt beside the bath, carefully and rather naughtily soaping her body. She moaned, enjoying the feel of Charlie's hands on her wet body.

"I'm really not sure what I've done to deserve this," she said, leaning back in the tub, her eyes closed.

"I just… love you," Charlie said softly.

She ran her hands over Joey's breasts. Joey moaned louder. Her eyes pinged open when Charlie's hand sank lower in the water. Charlie raised an eyebrow. Joey grinned.

"I'm really, really enjoying this bath," Joey said.

Ruby had just about calmed down by the time she and Claire had arrived home. She was deeply grateful that her friend had been there for her. She was grateful that no matter what, she knew Claire would never let her down.

She was just opening the front door when she saw Joey scurry into the bedroom in a towel.

"Please do not tell me you've been at it," Ruby said, horrified.

"Okay!" Joey called back.

Ruby pulled a disgusted face, making Claire laugh.

"Why can't they just be normal, boring parents who just make dinner, watch TV and talk about crap they did that day?" she asked.

"I'd love to have your parents," Claire said honestly. "To have people who love you so much. To be around people who love each other so much."

She smiled sadly, thinking about her own family who were long gone from her life now. Ruby frowned. She felt bad for not appreciating what she had. They were interrupted by Charlie and Joey appearing in the lounge, both fully dressed and both with wet hair.

"You'd better have cleaned that bathroom," Ruby warned.

"We will," Charlie said. "Promise."

"You got your cast off!" Claire said, changing the subject.

Joey triumphantly waved her left hand around.

"Yep! Hey, do you want to stay for dinner, Claire? I feel like you haven't been round for ages."

"Oh, yeah, that would be lovely," Claire accepted.

"How are you doing, Ruby?" Charlie asked.

"Not great," Ruby admitted. "Claire rescued me."

Charlie looked worriedly between her daughter and the girl she thought of as a surrogate daughter. She asked what happened.

"I just… it was hard to see him," Ruby said.

She started to feel dizzy and strange. She held onto the back of the sofa for support.

"We had an argument," she explained. "He was horrible. And I feel so angry, Charlie. I just feel so…"

Everything went black.

Next time… Ruby is rushed to hospital, Brax crosses the line and Charlie and Joey have a misunderstanding…