Hello! IJKW here with your next instalment. Two chapters left – one by IJKS and one by DnW.

And... the IJKS half of this little partnership got published in Inside Soap magazine again! Two weeks in a row. Woo! It reads... *clears throat and takes a deep breath*

Hu goes there

"Am I the only one confused by the morals in Home and Away? They've tried to make heroes out of Hugo – a murderous criminal – and Angelo, who's done nothing but lie ever since he got away with killing Jack Holden. It makes no sense!"

Their reply was a bit lame and I'm not entirely convinced by the title they gave...

"Hugo and Angelo are so good looking that I'd forgive them anything – even eating the last chocolate bicky!"

Yuck! I know I'm a raving lesbian and all but seriously... they're meant to be good looking? Angelo used to be... until he started looking constantly smug.

Oh, and they gave me a picture too! It's of Angelo in uniform and you can't see her properly but Charlie is facing him. And the caption reads "Smug Angelo knew that everyone loves a man in uniform." Well, I don't. A woman in uniform on the other hand...

Anyway! On with the story. We wanted to thank you for all the reading and reviewing. It's not the easiest story to write and we doubt it's the easiest story to read but thanks for going with it. We have another one in the making. It's a bit easier though! We hope you enjoy the chapter (and IJKS's little ramble, which is possibly the longest AN in history!). Love, IJKW xxx

Chapter Twelve

It was a week later. Angelo had denied his guilt but been refused bail. Today he was being shipped off to a jail cell that would hold him until his trial, set for three months time. He'd been in this place before and he had been just as guilty then. But he swore both times had been an accident. He'd fired into the dark and killed Jack. That was something that would always haunt him. And ever since that night where Watson had described exactly what he had done to Charlie. He didn't take all the blame. She shouldn't have led him on the way she did if she hadn't wanted to sleep with him. And if she'd been that traumatised, he was sure he would have noticed. But he now had an uncomfortable awareness that he had pushed himself on her and he hadn't really taken her into account. He'd been overcome with lust and a desperation to make her his. But it wasn't rape. He couldn't call it that. He couldn't equate himself as being that kind of man. How could rape exist where love did?

Joey arrived back into the bedroom and frowned to see that Charlie hadn't moved. She was still tucked up in bed in the dark. Sighing, Joey moved to the curtains.

"Oh, look! Sunshine! Who'd have thought it?"

She turned back to find Charlie cowering as if she was allergic to daylight. Moving to the side of the bed, she crouched down and gently tugged the blankets away.

"Charlie?" she coaxed.

Receiving nothing but a grunt of protest in response, Joey tugged at the edge of the blanket again.

"Do I have to go in there and get you?" Joey asked, a hint of teasing in her voice. "Because I will, you know."

Charlie snuggled deeper into obscurity. Grinning, Joey rolled her sleeves up.

"Right," she said.

She gently wrestled with the blanket in order to pull them from Charlie who put up a fight but eventually allowed her face to become visible.

"There you are," Joey said affectionately, moving to perch on the edge of the bed.

"I don't want to get up today," Charlie said.

She'd thought she would feel better once Angelo was safely away from her, awaiting trial. But now it just felt like one hurdle after another. Now all she could fixate on was the trial and she felt very little relief from being almost halfway to it. She wondered if she would ever break free from the chains currently binding her.

"That didn't work yesterday and it's not going to work today," Joey said firmly but kindly. "Hiding away and ceasing to exist isn't going to help. You have to break out of this and start living, Charlie."

Charlie had been about to say that it was easy for Joey to say but she knew it wasn't true. Joey knew exactly the pain that Charlie was enduring now. And she had been strong throughout. It had been almost impossible but Joey had forced herself to get up and dressed every day. With Charlie's encouragement, she'd managed to face each day with a smile, at least as best she can. And she supposed that was what Joey was trying to do for her now.

"It's just hard," she finally said.

"I know it's hard," Joey said.

She reached out and stroked Charlie's cheek before convincing her to sit up. Charlie managed a smile.

"I do know," Joey continued. "But I also know that you can't just hide away. You have to deal with this head on. Angelo can't hurt you now. He's in jail..."

"Only until..."

"Until the trial where he'll be sent down for a good number of years," Joey said, not losing her flow. "And if not, well, we'll deal. But right now, we've got three months of freedom. And you're going to build yourself back up. You're going to get strong again. You're going to survive. You're going to get ready for a trial and whatever comes after it. And you're not going to do it alone."

"How long are you going to stick around?" Charlie asked.

"I'm moving back here," Joey told her.

Charlie's eyes lit up.

"My tenancy is nearly up on my place so I'm going to give them notice and start looking for an apartment and a job here," Joey said.

She leant closer.

"If you get up," she added.

Charlie laughed and hugged her before hauling herself out of bed.

Days turned into weeks and soon it was a month after Angelo had first been arrested. Charlie had taken a lot of sick leave and combined it with some annual leave in order to try and get her breath back. The whole station had been understanding and Watson had checked in with her almost every day to make sure she was alright. She was grateful not to have heard anything from her ex-boyfriend and Ruby had gone to great lengths to try and make things up to her. As much as her daughter's doubt had hurt her terribly, Charlie was just grateful now to have a relationship with her again. As promised, Joey had upped and moved back to Summer Bay. She'd got another trawler job and had stayed living with Charlie for a little while. Now, she was renting a place of her own, although she was hardly ever there. She and Charlie had become as inseparable as they had once been and rebuilding their friendship meant the world to both of them. And now, finally, Charlie was venturing out of the house with little protest. The community had rallied around her, the likes of Colleen had completely changed their tune and people such as Alf and Marilyn had sincerely apologised for believing Angelo over her. She understood. They had liked him, they had trusted him and, she realised now, he had been telling them all about the Charlie saga for a long time.

"Hey, are you ready to go?" Joey asked, poking her head round Charlie's door.

"Yep," Charlie said, standing up and grabbing her jacket.

They linked arms and headed out of the house together. They were only going to the Diner for lunch but Joey kept reminding Charlie that it was all about baby steps.

Xavier and Ruby were trawling through town together. Xavier was bored and Ruby was focussed.

"Rubes, I really don't think you buying Charlie a gift is going to make any difference," Xavier said. "She's already forgiven you."

Ruby stopped and looked at him.

"I called her a liar to the whole town," Ruby said. "I have to make it up to her."

"Honestly, Ruby, I think Charlie would just like to spend time with you," Xavier said. "Through everything... all the stuff from, you know, before... and this mess with Angelo now, I think all she wants to do is have a relationship with you. Spending your money on gifts... she'll be touched but it won't replace you. It's not what she's looking for."

Ruby sighed and found a bench to sit down on. Xavier sat beside her.

"I feel so guilty around her, Xave," Ruby admitted. "I just don't know how to make up for not believing her. I mean, to think of what she went through... I just abandoned her."

"Make it right with your time," Xavier insisted. "Hang out with her, maybe subtly let her know that you're totally okay if she and Joey get back together."

Ruby grinned.

"You think they're still into each other too?" she asked.

Xavier nodded.

"It's so obvious," he laughed. "I wonder when they're going to realise."

It was early evening by the time Charlie and Joey arrived back at Joey's apartment. She wasn't entirely unpacked yet, thanks to distractions from Charlie but she didn't mind. She was glad that Charlie was feeling strong enough to go out and about and she was more than happy to assist her. She felt surprised that nothing felt strange between them after all they had been through together. She supposed that events such as what Charlie had been through tended to override anxieties about love. And she did love her. She knew with uncomfortable clarity that she was still deeply in love with Charlie. But she knew how hard it was to cope with relationships after rape and there was no way she was going to push. If Charlie happened to feel the same and wanted to make things work between them, Joey would be only too willing but it was her call. Sometimes Joey wondered if she did feel the same. Sometimes, the way Charlie looked at her or held her hand was reminiscent of the way they had once been. But she was sure that Charlie was even less ready to be with her now than she had been before, although for different reasons. Right now, Joey was more than happy to be her best friend. That was, after all, how they had started out, although the attraction had been there from the beginning.

"How did it get so late?" Charlie wondered.

"I think it was the detour that someone decided to take," Joey said lightly, flopping onto the sofa and glaring at the boxes around her.

Charlie came to sit beside her.

"You really need to unpack properly, you know."

"You were meant to help me!" Joey pointed out. "But you keep distracting me with sunshine and beaches and food."

Charlie chuckled and held her hands up.

"Guilty as charged," she admitted. "Let's unpack properly tomorrow."

Joey nodded acceptance and closed her eyes.

"Oh, wait, we can't," Charlie said.

Joey opened her eyes and looked at her curiously, wondering if there was something she'd forgotten.

"I arranged a day out for us," Charlie admitted with a shy blush.

Joey's curiosity increased.

"Just be ready for ten o'clock," was all Charlie would reveal.

The following morning, Charlie drove over to Joey's apartment and collected her before driving down to the docks.

"Don't tell me we're going sailing!" Joey squeaked, looking almost giddy with excitement.

Charlie couldn't help but grin.

"Are we?" Joey asked.

"I thought it would be nice," Charlie replied. "Sunshine, picnic, you and your first love..."

Joey turned a little pale.

"A boat," Charlie added, making her friend relax.

Joey grinned again and hoped she didn't look too embarrassed. Charlie had been her first love. She had been her only love. And neither could quite help but remember exactly what had happened the first and last time they had been out on the water together.

"I think the only day I've ever had a good time on a boat is with you," Charlie admitted.

"Really?" Joey asked. "How can you not have a good time on a boat?"

"Well, before you, boat trips were mildly entertaining. Then I refused to go on one again because being out sailing just kind of felt like our thing..."

Charlie blushed. Joey smiled and reached for her hand.

"I even went as far as getting hit by a car in order to not go out on a boat with..."

She trailed off and swallowed. Joey squeezed her hand.

"And then Hugo kidnapped me on a boat and nearly killed me so..."

She sighed.

"Okay, boats don't sound that fun from your description!" Joey admitted, still retaining contact with Charlie. "But I'll make it better."

Charlie parked and they climbed out of the car.

"I have no doubt," she said, heading to take their lunch out of the boot.

Later in the day, Charlie and Joey were having a lovely time. Joey had helped Charlie steer, like she had before and they'd enjoyed a lovely picnic courtesy of Leah and the Diner. Now out on the water and relaxing on cushions on deck, Joey rested her head and closed her eyes. She relished the sunshine on her and the gentle breeze that cooled her down. It really had been a perfect day. Every day with Charlie was perfect now. She hadn't believed it was possible to love her more than she had back then but she did. Charlie meant the world to her and Joey hoped that she could protect her, be her friend, keep her safe, well and happy for as long as possible. She dreaded the day that Charlie might find someone else to love and she was painfully aware that she had no claim over her. Beside her, Charlie settled down. She felt more relaxed now than she had for a long time. It felt good to feel safe and these days, she had such a lovely time with Joey that she could almost forget what had happened. Almost. Turning on her side, she faced Joey and watched her relax. She couldn't help but think how beautiful she was and she thought it was special that her inner beauty radiated through. Feeling suddenly sad, she wondered why she had ever let her go. How could she have been so foolish as to sleep with someone else behind her back? And with Hugo of all people. Just thinking of him made her skin crawl. And she couldn't help but wonder, if she had just told the truth, they might have got through it. Or perhaps, could she have tried harder to make Joey stay? The year between her departure and return to Summer Bay had been awful. Between Ruby, Grant, her father and Angelo, but mostly herself, things just hadn't been right. She felt lost without Joey and she was glad to have found each other again, even if so much pain had been the thing to finally bring Joey home.

"Why are you sad?" Joey asked, without opening her eyes.

Charlie blanched, wondering how she knew. Joey smiled and opened her eyes sleepily. She brushed Charlie's hair out of her face.

"Well?" she asked.

"Just thinking about the last year and the hell it's been," Charlie sighed.

Joey reached out to her and pulled her into her arms.

As night drew on, Charlie and Joey eventually headed back inland. Joey came back to Charlie's, not quite ready to go home yet. She worried about being a little addicted to Charlie's company. As they arrived, they found Leah, Elijah and VJ sitting at the dinner table.

"Did you have a good day?" Leah asked.

Charlie smiled brightly and it warmed Leah's heart. For a while there, she had wondered if Charlie would ever be able to pick the pieces of her life back up. But she seemed to be coping so well and Leah was very aware that Joey had a hell of a lot to do with that.

"It was awesome," Charlie said.

"I second that!" Joey said.

The girls headed through the house towards Charlie's rom. Joey immediately flopped onto the bed in exhaustion.

"Take up all the room, why don't you?" Charlie complained.

Joey moved over a little and Charlie came to lie beside her, also shattered.

"Thank you for such a lovely day," Charlie ventured.

Joey smiled and turned on her side, facing Charlie.

"You were the one who arranged it," she pointed out. "So, thank you."

"Well, you made it special," Charlie said sincerely. "I love your company."

"Well, I am pretty awesome," Joey giggled, trying to hide the way she was blushing at Charlie's compliment.

Charlie laughed too and gazed into Joey's eyes. Without thinking, Joey leant forward. She captured Charlie's lips with her own, kissing her tenderly. They drew apart slowly but both looked and felt shocked. Reading the anxiety in Charlie's face, Joey was immediately furious with herself. She leapt up off the bed and shoved her feet back in her shoes, feeling flustered. She apologised profusely. Charlie sat up, saying Joey's name and trying to stop her from panicking.

"Sorry," Joey repeated at the door before hurrying away.

Charlie called after her, prompting questioning looks from the threesome in the kitchen. Without speaking, but sighing loudly, Charlie headed back to her room and collapsed back onto the bed, wondering what to do.