Chapter Forty Two

Charlie paused when she saw Brax strolling across campus between classes. It was Monday morning and she and Joey had had a somewhat stilted weekend. Neither quite knew how to fix the situation.

"Hi," Brax said.

"Hi," Charlie said a little cautiously.

From day one, they hadn't got along very well. And for months now, they had squabbled over who got to love Joey the most.

"How are you?"

"Do you care?"

"Not really," Brax admitted with a lazy smile. "I just haven't heard all that much from Joey. Is she okay?"

"What, after your drunken night out?" Charlie remarked.

"Yeah," Brax said. "I haven't seen her since then."

"Didn't you wake up before she left in the morning?"

Brax looked genuinely confused. Charlie felt her heart lurch.

"She spent the night on your floor..." she said, desperate for him to confirm it.

Brax shook his head.

"She didn't sleep on my floor," he said. "She probably didn't sleep on any floor. I mean, it would be kind of rude to screw someone and then kick them out of bed."

Charlie's heart sank and she didn't even care that Brax knew it.

"I take it she didn't tell you that she hooked up with a barmaid on Friday night?" Brax said, clearly getting pleasure out of yet more holes and Charlie and Joey's fractured relationship.

"No," Charlie said quietly. "No, she didn't."

With that, she hurried off to her next class.

With Ruby's 'help', Joey was making dinner for three when Charlie came home.

"Hi," Joey greeted warmly. "We've cooked your favourite."

"Really?" Charlie asked cautiously.

Ruby nodded eagerly and pointed to the lasagne they were preparing as proof.

"How come?"

"Because we love you very much and if one of us has upset you then she's really, really sorry," Joey said sincerely, meeting Charlie's gaze.

Charlie tried to smile but her brain was invaded by images of what had probably happened between Joey and the barmaid.

"That's very nice of you," she said stiffly. "Will it be ready soon? I kind of made plans."

Joey visibly deflated and wondered if that's how Charlie had felt when she'd gone off on Friday night.

"Plans?" she asked, her voice rather high pitched.

"Rubes, why don't you go and get changed out of your uniform?" Charlie suggested.

Ruby eyed her quizzically before nodding and hurrying into the bedroom she shared with her mother.

"Plans?" Joey asked again, distracting herself with chopping vegetables.

"Yeah," Charlie said awkwardly. "I've got a date actually."

Joey yelped when her knife slipped and she cut her finger. Instinctively, Charlie rushed over to help but Joey jerked away, not wanting to be touched. She wrapped her finger in some kitchen roll, careful to hold the digit above her heart so that she could stem the bleeding more easily.

"Who's your date with?" she asked, not caring about how jealous she sounded.

"A girl from my course," Charlie said. "Are you okay to babysit?"

"Do I get a choice?" Joey snapped.

Charlie looked anxious. Joey sighed heavily and forced a smile.

"Of course I'll babysit," she said. "Of course."

Charlie studied her face, trying to read her expression.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

Joey nodded and struggled to maintain her smile.

"I hope you have a good time."

"Me too," Charlie said. "She's a nice girl."

Joey felt like her heart was about to combust.

"Good," she said. "You deserve a nice girl."

Charlie nodded.

"If you're going out for dinner, you don't have to eat this," Joey said, gesturing to the lasagne. "We should have asked instead of assuming."

"Well, with my dating history, it's usually a safe assumption that I'll be home," Charlie pointed out.

Joey nodded again.

"But we're just going for a drink so I can happily eat with you," Charlie said. "If I'm still welcome."

"Of course you're welcome," Joey said. "Why wouldn't you be welcome?"

"Well, if you were annoyed or...?"

"I'm not annoyed," Joey told her. "I'm happy for you. I think it's great that you've met someone. You deserve some fun. I just hope she's good enough for you."

Charlie smiled anxiously and nodded. She and Joey gazed at each other for several moments before Ruby bounded back into the room, changed and ready to continue cooking.

It had been a long evening and Joey was more than a little anxious. After washing the dishes, reading Ruby three stories and eventually putting her to bed, she had been pretending to watch TV. Mostly, she had just been watching the clock on the wall, wondering when the woman she loved would come home. She couldn't help but wonder if Charlie had done the same thing on Friday. For a moment, she wondered if this was some kind of revenge. No, she thought to herself. Charlie's not that kind of girl. You just want her to be because you don't want her to move on without you.

"Thanks for a great evening," Charlie said when Emma walked her to the door.

It hadn't even nearly been a date. They'd just been told to partner up for a project in class and so arranged to study together. On the back of feeling hurt over Joey hooking up with another girl, Charlie hadn't quite been above lashing out as subtly as she could.

"It was nice," Emma said pleasantly. "We should do it again sometime."

Joey jumped as if she'd been caught doing something wrong when she heard the front door open. She glued her eyes to the TV and pretended to be absorbed.

"Oh, hey," she greeted casually. "I didn't hear you come in."

She was alarmed by how easy she found it to lie. That's what had got her into this position in the first place.

"How was your evening?" Charlie asked, hovering by the sofa.

"It was okay," Joey said. "We read a lot of stories, did a little homework, the usual..."

She shrugged and flicked off the TV.

"How was your date?" Joey asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Charlie wondered.

Joey sighed heavily. Something seemed to break inside her.

"No," she admitted. "No, I really don't. So I'll leave you to swoon and go to bed."

Charlie watched her stand up and head towards her room.

"Are you upset?" she asked quickly.

Joey spun back around and looked Charlie up and down, folding her arms across her body.

"Of course I'm upset," she replied. "How could I not be? I just spent the night looking after your daughter while you made out with some girl."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Charlie wanted to know.

"Because I'm trying to be a good person," Joey explained. "A better person. I'm trying to accept that you don't want me anymore and I'm trying to let us both move on."

"Well, I gather you did plenty of that on Friday night," Charlie remarked.

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Joey stared at her in sheer bewilderment.

"What am I meant to have done now?" she asked.

"You lied to me," Charlie said. "You told me you crashed at Brax's on Friday night but you hooked up with some girl."

Joey sighed heavily and sat on the arm of the nearest chair.

"I didn't hook up with anyone," she said.

Charlie offered her full attention, hoping for an explanation that wouldn't hurt.

"I was absolutely wasted and all I could think about was how much I was missing you," Joey explained. "I did kiss her. I admit that. And I did go back to her place. But I threw up and passed out on her couch. It was nothing more than a big embarrassment."

"Why did you lie?" Charlie asked.

She moved to sit opposite Joey, studying her beautiful face.

"Because of the embarrassment," Joey said.

Charlie nodded thoughtfully. Joey gazed at her before sighing heavily, standing up and heading towards her bedroom again.

"It wasn't a date," Charlie called out.

Joey immediately turned back.

"Sorry?"

"I lied," Charlie admitted. "We got paired up in class today – Emma and I. I went to her place to study."

"Then why did you tell me it was a date?" Joey wanted to know.

"Because I was hurt about Friday," Charlie said. "And because I wanted to see if it would hurt you."

"It did," Joey said honestly.

Charlie managed a small smile. Joey took a breath and moved to sit beside her on the couch. Their thighs touched and their hearts raced.

"What's the matter with us?" Joey wondered.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why is everything so damn difficult all the time?"

"Because we have an inability to communicate," Charlie suggested. "And we love throwing obstacles in the way of every path we try to take."

Joey nodded, wondering why they behaved in this way so regularly.

"I love you, Charlie," she said sincerely. "I feel like I've always loved you and I know I always will. I want to be your girlfriend. I want to be a parent to Ruby if you'll let me. I want the three of us to be a family. The only obstacle is whether you want the same thing."

"Of course I want the same thing," Charlie said.

"Then do you think you could trust me enough to give it a try?"

Charlie gazed at the love her life. She looked at her hair and into her eyes. She studied her smooth skin and the curve of her lips. She thought about the moment she'd found out that Joey had intended to sleep with her for a bet. She thought about the way she had been there for her when Ruby was sick. She recalled the love and the laughter and how happy they made each other when they weren't messing things up. Then she leant in and kissed her.

Next time… Charlie and Joey settle into their new relationship…