Thanks again for the reviews, keep em coming! Mush on it's way, soz for the delay. Xxxxxx Bye

Ruby hadn't gone to school like she should have done. She had walked up and down the beach all morning, searching for answers that would make everything bearable.

What have I done? Where do I go from here?

She knew she'd deeply hurt Charlie, throwing in her face that she knew, and that she'd gone behind her back and slept with Xavier. Charlie would surely think the worst of her now. She sat in the sand and buried her head in the arms, with her legs up to her chest.

*

Charlie had avoided work altogether, again. Her head was pounding with words Ruby had said. "I'M NOT YOUR PROBLEM, YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER!" She was sitting in her bedroom, staring into space.

How on earth did she find out? And how long has she known? She must think so much less of me. She's going to start asking questions, and I'm going to have to answer them. After all this time, I'll have to face my past that I've tried to hard to run away from.

There was a knock at the door. Charlie acknowledged it and wiped her face. "Come in." It was Joey. "Hey, sorry I called but no one answered, the door was open, I…" Joey examined the face in front of her. "Charlie? What's wrong?" She was taken aback by how upset she was. She had obviously been crying for a while, there were dried tear stains down her cheeks, her eyes were red, and the box of tissues were empty.

Charlie sighed. Things between them were still fresh, and she didn't want Joey to see her like this. It had only been a week. Joey sat beside her at the top of the bed, and put an arm around her, kissing her shoulder. "Tell me, what's wrong?" "Joey, I don't know what you see in me. I'm not the amazing person you think I am." Joey waited to hear more. "There are things about me I'm not proud of, and I can't change them." She sobbed. "Joey I'm a mess, and yet your still here." "Do you want me to go?" Charlie shook her head. "Charlie you protect this town everyday, but that doesn't make you invincible. If you were perfect, the sun would be shining out of your ass." Charlie let out a little smile. "You are human Charlie, you are allowed to mistakes and get upset over them, but mistakes can be a positive thing, it all depends on how you look at them."

Charlie wanted to hold her hands, feel her touch, but she held back. Everything was storming through her head 100m/hr. She didn't know what she wanted with Joey. All she knew was that she was attracted to her. There was a definite spark.

"Ruby……..is my daughter." She finished. Silence between them hung in the air. Any minute now she's going to get up and leave. Charlie thought. Minutes passed and she was in fact still there, holding her. "I was in school, and there was this guy a few years above. He would often pause and start chatting to me when I was alone. I didn't like him. He was cocky, arrogant, and manipulative. I would ignore he him and move on, but this only encouraged him to continue." She wiped another tear about to roll down. "I was walking back home one day and I took a short cut, through one of the sidewalks, he followed me. I told him to leave me alone, and that I'd tell my parents. He pushed me against the wall, and started shouting at me. I started screaming." She leaned forward and buried her head. She looked up at Joey "You're not going to run a million miles away?"

Joey shook her head, then leaned closer and kissed her forehead. "Joey I'm not this strong, confident woman you think I am. I'm weak." "Charlie don't even think that. If you were weak, Ruby wouldn't be here, would she?" Jo stroked her hair, Charlie leaned back in her arms and nuzzled her head in her neck. "How did she find out?" "I don't know! From what it appears, she's known for a while, and I didn't even know." "You mean you didn't tell her?" "No…..and if she knew why didn't she act differently around me? She was all happy and her usual self, I wonder why she suddenly got so upset about it, what triggered it?" "Maybe it all finally caught up with her." Jo suggested. "Ya." Charlie sighed. "I'm sorry I'm dumping this on you, I was so certain you'd leg it." Joey laughed and held her tighter.

*

After a few hours of comfort between them, and 2nd person was knocking at the door. Ruby peered through with caution. Both bounced up with surprise. "I'll leave you to be, I see you later." Joey scooted out. Ruby shut the door behind her and swallowed hard. She was in the same state Charlie was. "I'm so sorry." She mumbled. "Huh?" Was all Charlie could project. Hang on WHAT? She thought.

"Charlie I had no right, to throw that in your face. I tried to find a way out of my own mistakes through you. I'm ashamed of it, and I'm ashamed to going behind your back with Xavier. I really am sorry." She started fiddling with her fingers, waiting for Charlie to reply. "How….how long have you known?" Ruby looked down "I'm not suppose to tell you this but…..dad told me before, when he thought he didn't have long to live, he said he didn't want me finding out from the will. He told me everything. For dad's sake I dove into it all and accepted it, it wasn't easy. I will probably always see you as a sister, but we live together so really you are my guardian anyway. I still love you, I always have."

Charlie burst into tears and jumped into her arms. Both stood there holding on to what they were now so afraid of losing. "I just couldn't bring myself to let you go Rubz, you are mine." They hugged tighter. "I thought that if I told you, you'd be ashamed of me." Ruby pulled back. "The only time I've been ashamed of you, is when you couldn't finish the ice cream eating contest, remember that last summer?" Charlie burst into giggles at the flash backs running through her mind. "I was mortified to hell and back. But I still loved you." "I felt sick for weeks, I couldn't look at the stuff." "…..not to mention the kissing booth." "alright, alright, we'll save those for the great, great, grandkids!" Ruby smiled, as did Charlie.

"So I didn't disturb anything then…before….you and Joey….on the bed." "We were just talking." "Phhff! I've heard it all before. You're in luuuuuuuuuurve!" Ruby made googly eyes at her. "Listen about Xav" "Let's forget it ok. I think you're mature enough to make your own decisions, just make sure their within the law next time. It's only my job Rubz, I can't bend the rules." Ruby agreed.

"What do you want for lunch, sandwiches, salad,…..Joey?" Ruby said softly "Hey I heard that! I do have ears." Charlie pointed out. "Big ears!" Ruby corrected her, and stuck out her tongue.