Chapter Twenty Nine

By the time Ross and Morag arrived in order to attend Belle and Aden's wedding, Charlie was in a permanent bad mood. She felt utterly devastated that Joey had dumped her and she wasn't entirely sure what she had done wrong. Ruby had put up with her weeping for most of the night and she was now frustrated that no amount of makeup seemed to be able to cover her red, sore eyes.

"So, update us then," Ross encouraged as he, Morag, Charlie and Ruby sat in the lounge together. "We haven't seen you in so long. What's been going on?"

"Everything's going well for me," Ruby said when Charlie refused to speak. "I'm doing well at school and things with Xave are great."

"And Xavier is Martha's boyfriend's brother, yes?" Morag asked.

"Hugo's brother," Ruby confirmed. "Jack's cousin. Martha's sort of brother in law, yes."

Morag nodded slowly. She still had to vet him after all. She had to make sure that the person Martha was willing to give her heart to less than a year since she'd lost her husband, was good enough.

"What do you think of this Hugo man?" Morag probed. "Is he good enough for Martha?"

Charlie and Ruby exchanged anxious glances.

"He seems okay," Ruby finally said. "Nice enough. They seem very sweet together."

"And how about you, Charlie?" Ross asked. "How's everything?"

"Fine," Charlie said quietly.

Her father looked sceptical.

"I'm fine," Charlie lied. "Everything's perfect."

"Sit still!" Joey scolded as she tried to put Aden's tie around his neck.

"I hate wearing this kind of thing," he complained, still fidgeting.

"You're the fool that wanted to get married," she teased.

He poked his tongue out.

"Done," she said, standing back to admire her handiwork. "You almost pass for handsome."

"You don't scrub up too badly yourself," he commented.

She had opted for a smart trouser suit, having never felt particularly comfortable in skirts and dresses.

"Are you sure?" she asked, giving a dainty twirl.

"If your smile reached your eyes then you'd be perfect," he said with a twinge of sadness.

Joey shrugged and bowed her head. Standing up, Aden pulled his friend into a hug, kissing the top of her head.

"Joey, I know you're hurting," he said. "But when you thought you and Charlie were going to make it, you were so happy. Can't you put the Angelo thing behind you and move on? Together?"

"I don't know how," Joey admitted.

"Maybe if you just talked to her?" Aden suggested but Joey shook her head.

He pulled back, gazing into her eyes.

"If Belle and I had let the world get on top of us then we wouldn't be here now," he said. "We'd be sad and alone and missing each other. If you and Charlie love each other even half as much as I know you do then I think you owe it to yourselves to try. Okay?"

Joey merely hugged him and continued getting ready for the wedding.

Ruby followed Charlie into the kitchen, wanting to know why she hadn't told Ross and Morag about Joey.

"I thought you weren't ashamed of being with her anymore," she said.

"I'm not," Charlie replied. "I'm ashamed of losing her. Twice."

Ruby reached out and hugged her, certain that they would work things out.

"But I do think Dad genuinely wants to know how you are," she added. "So I think you should tell them. And you never know, coming out to your Dad and step-mother might make Joey realise how much you love her."

All through the wedding, Charlie couldn't stop looking at Joey. She looked even more beautiful than normal but she struggled with her smile. Beside her, Ruby wiped away her tears, moved by Aden and Belle's vows.

"It's so romantic," she mumbled.

"Yeah," Charlie sighed.

She had followed Ruby's advice and told her father and Morag about her relationship with Joey. They were less shocked than she had expected them to be and neither of them had raised any objection to the idea that Charlie could be bisexual. Mostly, Ross had just wanted to know if 'this Joey girl' was good enough for his daughter. Ruby had said she was. Charlie had said that she was the one who wasn't good enough. Now, sitting in the congregation, she felt desperately sad. She had expected to be sitting here beside Joey, holding her hand and maybe even imaging the day when they might get married themselves. But now they were worlds apart and looked set to stay that way. It broke Charlie's heart.

At the reception, Charlie sat, drinking champagne in the corner and not feeling celebratory in the slightest, which in turn made her feel guilty for not being more supportive of the happy couple. Across the room, Joey was chatting with Leah and looked like she was having a nice time, although the amount of times she looked over at her was unmistakable. At the announcement of the DJ, Aden and Belle took to the floor for their first dance as husband and wife. A few minutes later, Aden signalled for other couples to join in.

"Why don't you ask her to dance?" said a voice.

Charlie turned to find her father sitting beside her.

"I presume that's her – the beautiful, dark haired girl you keep gazing so longingly at?"

Charlie nodded.

"She is beautiful, isn't she?"

"Very," Charlie said. "What kind of fool of would actually let her go? Twice?"

"You'd be a fool if you didn't try to make it work," Ross said. "So why don't you go over and ask her to dance?"

"Go on," Ruby said, sitting beside her. "You know you want to."

Taking a deep breath, Charlie stood and crossed the room. She stopped in front of Joey who gazed at her with sad, brown eyes.

"Would you dance with me?" Charlie asked, hoping the answer would be yes.

Next time... Charlie and Joey finally reach a decision about their relationship...