Chapter Six

That evening, Charlie wasn't quite sure what mood she was in. She, Ruby, Leah, VJ, Aden and Xavier had dinner together and everyone was aware that Joey was missing. Charlie hated not having her there. She had been so hopeful that morning that perhaps they could patch things up. She supposed at least they had got somewhere. It wasn't as far down the line as Charlie had hoped it would be but on the positive side, at least Joey hadn't rejected her completely. She had started to and then she had followed her, offering to see her the next day. At least that was something. Maybe if she and Joey could start having fun together, maybe they could relax, remember how good things could be and maybe then they would have a chance to start again.

"So, what happened?" Ruby asked quietly, nudging her sister.

She'd asked a couple of times but Charlie had changed the subject. She hadn't been ready to talk about it. She still hadn't processed her own feelings.

"We're going running tomorrow," she revealed.

"Well, that's a good sign. Are you back together yet?"

Charlie shook her head sadly.

"I don't know if we ever will be," she admitted.

She clenched her jaw, fighting her emotions that were threatening to spill all over the table. Ruby reached for her hand.

"Give it time," she said.

Joey sat in Joshua's bedroom eating a microwave meal with him and two of her other colleagues, Katie and Luke. It was a regular evening ritual. She was seriously lacking in vegetables but they were hard to prepare in a bed and breakfast facility and eating out every day was getting too expensive.

"Okay, we've been in ten minutes already and you haven't mentioned your date," Luke finally said, directing his question at Joey.

"It wasn't a date," Joey said. "You enjoy a date."

"No smoochies?" he persisted.

"No smoochies," Joey confirmed.

Luke frowned.

"I don't get it," he said. "You love her; she's told you she loves you. Why don't you just get back together?"

"Because this Charlie girl cheated on Joey with some guy," Katie reminded him.

She for one did not want any smoochies to happen between Joey and Charlie. Luke hung his head.

"Oh yeah," he said, realising it wasn't as simple as he knew Joey wanted it to be.

"So, have you ended it?" Katie asked, trying not to sound hopeful, although it was no secret that she wanted Joey for herself.

Even Joey knew that.

"No," Joey said. "Not exactly. I tried to say goodbye but I ended up asking her to come for a run with me tomorrow."

"Joey!" Katie scolded.

"Stop interfering," Joshua warned quietly.

"But she hurt you," Katie said, ignoring her friend.

"I know."

"And you told us the whole point of coming away was to forget about her because if you were around her, you knew you'd end up slipping back into a relationship."

"I know."

"So, why are you hanging out with her?"

"Because she wants to slip back into a relationship," Joshua said.

Joey sighed. He was completely right.

"I just thought if we could spend some time together, perhaps we could see how it fits, you know? I'm hoping I'll be able to figure out pretty quickly whether I can be with her again," she said.

"I hope you can," Luke said.

He loved Katie and knew that Joey being with someone else would hurt her. But he also knew, just from the way Joey spoke about her ex-girlfriend, that Charlie was the only one for her.

The following morning, Charlie was up and out early, although she had tried not to be at their meeting place too far in advance. She was five minutes previous and commended herself for not getting so over excited that she had hurried and hadn't slept. The prospect of seeing Joey again was exciting and nerve wracking. If she couldn't prove herself this week then it was unlikely she'd ever be able to prove herself at all. Joey was no help in letting her know whether anything would happen between them again. One minute she was saying no and the next, she was asking to spend time together. It was very confusing. Charlie looked around and felt a thrill go through her when the woman in question approached. She was in shorts and a skimpy running vest. She battled with inappropriate thoughts as Joey smiled at her. It didn't go unnoticed that Joey had checked her out either. She felt a surge of hope rush through her. If they still loved each other, if they still found each other attractive and they both wanted to try and make it work somehow, surely they could succeed.

"Did you sleep well?" the younger girl asked, attempting to be cheerful.

"Yes, thanks," Charlie said.

She'd never been so nervous around someone before. Joey set her head and heart into a spin.

"And you?" she asked, remembering to be polite.

"Mostly," Joey said.

She still had the occasional nightmare, usually around everything that had happened with Robbo. They flared up again whenever she was anxious and seeing Charlie again definitely made her anxious.

"Shall we go?" Joey asked, not wanting Charlie to ask questions.

Charlie nodded, following Joey as she took off down the beach.

As they ran, Joey was slightly ahead. Charlie failed to concentrate properly. She was captivated by the sight of Joey's legs, bottom and back and the way her hair fanned out behind her, caught up in the breeze. She desperately wished she could touch her, be close to her again. Suddenly she fell, yelping as she landed on the sand. Joey heard her and turned round immediately, looking concerned. Charlie rubbed her ankle, mostly feeling embarrassed that her gazing had distracted her enough to make her stumble. Joey crouched down in front of her, asking if she was alright.

"Yeah, I wasn't paying attention," Charlie admitted.

Joey reached out to examine her ankle.

"It's fine," Charlie said, after a few moments of joyfully allowing Joey to touch her.

Joey smiled kindly and gently pulled her to her feet. Their bodies came together suddenly. Both of them pulled away abruptly, feeling shy.

"Can you still run or do you want to stop?" Joey asked.

"I can carry on," Charlie said.

Joey reached out for her hands and allowed herself to look into Charlie's eyes, just for a few seconds.

"Are you sure?"

Charlie nodded.

"Sure I'm sure," she said.

Joey reluctantly let go of Charlie and jogged off. Charlie set off too, making an effort to keep in line with Joey instead of behind her this time so she didn't get distracted again. Joey looked at her frequently, smiling. Charlie began to relax a little. It almost felt like the old days.

"You know we have to do it," Joey said, out of the blue.

"What?"

"Race!"

Charlie laughed. One of their favourite things to do together had been charging across the sand in competition.

"Beat you to the flag!" Joey called, shooting off ahead.

Charlie picked up pace, running as fast as she could. Joey reached their goal a fraction of a second earlier than Charlie, who collapsed onto the floor as soon as she could. Joey did a dance of triumph that made Charlie giggle.

"I won!" Joey declared, feeling jubilant.

"Well, you had an unfair advantage!" Charlie protested, waving her ankle in the air, although it didn't hurt at all now.

Joey sank down beside Charlie, still grinning.

"You're such a bad loser," she told her.

"I am not!" Charlie pouted.

"You so are!"

Charlie flopped back so she was lying on the beach, still giggling as she replayed Joey's happy dance in her head.

"You're a bad winner!" she insisted.

Joey leaned over her, smiling into her face. Her hair fell down, brushing Charlie's cheek. Charlie had a wonderful view of cleavage.

"Oh, am I?" Joey challenged.

"Mmm hmm," Charlie said, although the close proximity of Joey was making her lose the thread of the conversation.

"I think you just need to accept that I'm amazing," Joey teased.

They made eye contact. Both women could feel the heat between them and it was nothing to do with being hot and sweaty from their morning's exercise.

"You're amazing," Charlie breathed.

Their eyes lingered intensely. Joey felt her heart racing, knowing that it was the perfect moment to kiss. She so desperately wanted to take the moment, to allow herself to be with Charlie again. But her sensibilities returned to her and she reluctantly pulled away.

"Shall we get breakfast?" she asked, looking out to sea, trying to find anything to focus on aside from Charlie's beautiful face and toned body, sprawled out on the sand beside her. On a different day, in a different life, back when they'd had only each other in their perfect little world, Joey wouldn't have been able to keep her hands to herself. She would have kissed her for all she was worth. Her hands would have traced patterns on her skin right up until the moment Charlie realised she was making out with a girl in public. Then they would have hurried home as quickly as possible to continue their exploration of and desire for each other behind closed doors. Charlie sat up, feeling a little flustered.

"Sounds good to me," she said.