Chapter 8
"Ruby" Joey growled tightening her grip on the edge of the table "Give it back!"
"No" Ruby grinned shaking her head adamantly as she held the offending letter in her hand.
"Ruby!" Joey said calmly "Just give me the letter back"
"Okay" Ruby said. She held the letter out over the table but when Joey attempted to grab it she pulled it back quickly "Ha!"
"You're not funny" the older girl commented dryly.
"Sure I am" Ruby shrugged "You're just not seeing my humour right now"
"Ruuuuby!" Joey practically whined "Give it BACK!"
"No" The teenager responded "How do you know she wants you to read it?"
"It has my name on it" Joey stated "which means she wanted me to read it"
"Not really" Ruby persisted "Maybe it's one of those closure letters...y'know?"
Joey gazed back at her blankly and shook her head.
"She might have written it to you but she may not want you to read it"
"That doesn't make sense!" Joey exclaimed in exasperation.
"Anyway she doesn't remember" Ruby continued "Which means that she has no idea she wrote it...What if there's something in this letter..." she waved the letter around for emphasis "Which causes problems between you two?"
"There won't be!" Joey responded surely.
"Curiosity killed the cat" Ruby shrugged.
Joey exhaled heavily "Can I just have it back?"
"Nope" Ruby answered.
"But...What if she finds it and reads it?"
Ruby returned her gaze blankly "And...?"
"She'll find out what happened!" Joey exclaimed.
"She's going to find out anyway" Ruby responded "She'll remember eventually...What are you going to say then?!"
"Why are you so against me on this?!" Joey questioned in confusion "I just don't want to hurt her...If she knows what she did..."
"Lies aren't a healthy thing to build a relationship on" Ruby muttered "What if she finds out that you lied to her about it?"
Joey remained silent for a moment before she spoke up "And what if she finds out what I did?"
"What you did?" Ruby echoed perplexedly.
"Would she have been out that night if she hadn't been so upset?" Joey asked pointedly.
"That wasn't your fault"
"It was my fault!" Joey stressed "Now can I have the letter back?!"
"No" Ruby answered.
"Ruby!" The older girl exclaimed in annoyance.
Ruby shrugged "It could be private..."
"It has my name on it!" Joey stated motioning towards the letter in Ruby's hand "That means I should be able to read it!"
"Nope" Ruby smiled.
Joey sighed dramatically before her expression hardened in resolve and she tensed.
"Joey..." Ruby said as Joey moved slightly to the left "What are you..." she stopped and moved to the left away from Joey who had begun to advance around the table towards her.
"Ruby" Joey said in a low voice "Give it to me"
"No" Ruby shook her head "What if Charlie d..." she trailed off and squeaked in surprise when Joey moved unbelievably quickly towards her. She managed to move just in time to avoid being caught.
"Hey!" she stated "that was cheating!"
"I didn't mention rules" Joey grinned "Now how about you give me that back?!"
"How about..." Ruby pretended to think for a moment "not?"
"You're infuriating" Joey commented.
Ruby smirked at her "It must be catching"
Joey huffed disdainfully and crossed her arms in front of her.
"What are you two yelling about?" Charlie questioned as she entered the kitchen with her hand pressed to her side.
"Nothing" Ruby said innocently as she quickly tucked the letter into her back pocket. She moved to her sister's side and smirked at Joey.
"I get the impression that you two are hiding something from me" Charlie said softly as she sunk down on a chair wincing in pain as she did so.
Joey shook her head "No we're not...Nothing important anyway"
"Nothing important?" Charlie repeated "Does that mean you are definitely hiding something?"
"No" Joey answered. She glanced down at Charlie's hand which was still pressed to her side "What's wrong?"
"It just hurts a bit" Charlie shrugged as Joey kneeled down in front of her "Joey it's not..."
Joey moved Charlie's hand and frowned "You're bleeding"
"Bleeding?" Ruby questioned in slight panic as she moved to stand next to Joey. She glanced at the red mark on her sister's shirt and gestured to the door "I'll get the first aid..."
Joey nodded and watched Ruby leave.
"So are you?" Charlie questioned "Keeping something from me?"
"I'm not" Joey whispered "We were just...arguing about something stupid. Don't worry about it. We do that a lot"
Charlie smiled softly "Yeah, I noticed"
Joey shrugged "Can I..."
"Go for it" Charlie grinned "No peeking though, remember?"
Joey rolled her eyes at the older girl before pulling Charlie's shirt up gently "looks like you've reopened a cut...It should be fine though...It's not too deep..."
"Good" Charlie stated "Does that mean I can get up now?"
"No" Joey smiled "You have to wait until Ruby brings the f..."
"First aid!" Ruby exclaimed as she re-entered the room. She handed the box to Joey and stepped back.
"Thanks" Joey said as she pulled the antiseptic spray out of the box "This is going to hurt a bit but..." she smiled flirtatiously at Charlie "you can hold my hand if you want"
Charlie took Joey's hand in her own and winked "Is this just an excuse to hold my hand?"
"You caught me" Joey said in mock disappointment as she sprayed the antiseptic. Charlie winced slightly but didn't say anything.
"You two are sickeningly sweet" Ruby commented as she watched Joey apply a bandage to her sister's side "It's a good thing neither of you are diabetic"
Charlie stuck her tongue out at her sister.
"Real mature Charlie" Ruby grinned.
"There!" Joey exclaimed as she stood up "You're all done!"
"Thank you" Charlie smiled as she tugged Joey down and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
"And on that note..." Ruby mumbled.
Charlie pulled away from Joey and stood up "Meet me in the living room, Okay?"
"Okay" Joey grinned goofily as she watched Charlie walk from the room.
"So I'm going to go..." Ruby said gesturing to the door "Leave you guys to...Do whatever...".
As she turned around and started for the door Joey spotted a white pieceyu54e of paper half protruding from her back pocket. She moved forward as quickly and quietly as she could and pulled it out before the other girl had a chance to react.
"Hey"" Ruby exclaimed as she spun around "Do you...That's cheating!"
"As I said" Joey smiled smugly "There are no rules...Now if you don't mind..." she placed the letter securely in her pocket "I have to go see your sister" with that she turned around and walked away leaving Ruby gaping after her.
---
"Hey" Joey smiled warmly as she dropped onto the couch and wrapped an arm around Charlie.
"Hey" Charlie grinned pulling the other girl forward and kissing her passionately. Though she was slightly surprised Joey returned the kiss with equal enthusiasm.
"What was that for?" she asked breathlessly when she pulled away.
"I just wanted to kiss you" Charlie stated simply "Is that a crime?"
"Not at all" Joey answered "Feel free to do it again..." she kissed Charlie Chastely "And again..."
"So I was wondering..." Charlie said slightly nervously as she pulled away by a fraction to look at Joey.
"What?" The younger girl asked as she entwined her hand with Charlie's.
"Do you want to go out with me tonight?" Charlie asked.
"Are you asking me out on a date Senior Constable Buckton?" Joey teased.
"Yeah" Charlie answered apprehensively.
"Well than...I couldn't possibly say no to you"
"Good" Charlie smiled as she leaned her head on Joey's shoulder.
"Charlie?" Joey whispered after a moment.
"Mmhm?" Charlie mumbled.
"I was thinking..." Joey said quietly "Are you sure you're okay with all of this? With us?"
"Yeah" Charlie nodded "Why wouldn't I be?"
Joey shrugged "You weren't this okay with it before..."
"I wasn't?" Charlie frowned.
Joey shook her head "No..."
"I don't know why" Charlie sighed "I guess I just have a feeling that I shouldn't let anything get in the way of being with you..."
"Oh" Joey smiled "Okay" she shifted slightly, suddenly intensely aware of the letter in her pocket.
TBC
