Chapter 13
Charlie stirred sleepily and rolled over in bed, automatically reaching out for Joey. When she felt only a cold mattress under her hand she blinked her eyes open sleepily "Joey?"
A dull thud from outside of her room caused her to sit up in the bed abruptly. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness but when they did she glanced quickly around the room noticing she was alone. When she heard another soft thud she slid as quietly as she could from the bed hurriedly pulling on a pair of jeans and a white hoodie over her tank top and shorts. She quickly located her gun and gripped it tightly in her hand. Charlie opened her door silently and stepped out of the room.
"Jo?" she murmured hesitantly as she lifted her gun and tensed considerably. When no answer was forthcoming she moved stealthily forward into the kitchen. She sighed in relief when she noticed Ruby and Joey standing there.
"What are you guys doing?!"
"Jesus Charlie!" Ruby squeaked when she turned around to see Charlie still holding up her gun "Put that thing down!"
"Oh" Charlie bit her lip guiltily "Sorry. I have the Safety on though...Wait here" she disappeared from the kitchen only to return a moment later without the gun.
"Sorry Jo...Can't be too careful with a psycho running around" she said apologetically as she observed the obviously freaked out younger woman.
"It's okay" Joey shrugged. She smiled weakly at Ruby's slightly confused look "I don't like guns...Especially not after I went away on that 3 month trawl"
"Why?" Ruby questioned curiously as she leaned against the counter.
"There was this guy on board who kept hitting on me" Joey explained "I rejected his advances and he decided it would be a good idea to pull a gun on me"
"You didn't tell me that" Charlie gaped at her in shock "Why didn't you tell me?!"
Joey shrugged "I didn't think it was that big of a deal...Anyway he's long gone now"
"What happened?" Ruby asked in horrified curiosity "When he pulled the gun on you?"
Joey grinned at them "The other guys on the boat threatened to have him thrown overboard if he did it again" she glanced at Charlie who was gazing into space looking upset and her smile faded slightly "You okay Charlie?"
"Yeah" Charlie answered shaking her head to rid herself of her distracting thoughts "I'm just surprised you didn't tell me...that's all..."
Ruby glanced between them awkwardly before turning her gaze briefly towards the doorway, sensing an argument brewing.
"But anyway" Charlie changed the subject quickly "What are you both doing up at this time of night? Or should I say morning?"
"We couldn't sleep" Joey responded "So we decided to stay up for a while"
"Oh" Charlie said as she moved over to Joey and wrapped her arms around her from behind "Hmmn you're cold"
"Hey" Ruby grinned "I'm cold too...are you giving out free hugs?"
"It'll cost you" Charlie smiled at her sister. When Ruby merely pouted at her she shifted slightly and lifted her free arm "I'm kidding Rubz. Get over here"
The teenager raised an eyebrow at her and Charlie narrowed her eyes playfully in response "Seriously Ruby. Come here"
"I'd do what she says Rubz" Joey smiled "Your sister can be really badass sometimes"
"Sometimes?" Ruby questioned incredulously as she moved closer to them.
"She means all of the time" Charlie winked before she pulled Ruby into the hug. They stood like that for a moment before Ruby pulled away.
"Okay" she grinned cheekily "Enough mush...You guys can carry on..." she waved a hand at them before she dropped into a seat at the table.
"You're still cold" Charlie remarked quietly as she ran her hands up and down Joey's arms in an attempt to warm her up.
Joey shrugged "You're warm"
"Too warm?" Charlie smiled softly.
"No" Joey smiled shaking her head "Perfectly warm...It's comfortable" she snuggled further into the older girls arm causing her to tighten the embrace.
"Have I told you lately that you guys are sickeningly sweet?" Ruby asked from the table unable to help the smile which tugged at her lips.
"Shut up" Charlie responded light heartedly "What time is it anyway?"
"4:24am" the younger girl responded as she stood and yawned "So I should be going back to bed"
"'Night" Joey and Charlie said in unison.
"It's technically morning" Ruby grinned before she walked out of the door leaving Joey and Charlie alone together.
"You're shivering" Charlie observed, concern colouring her tone.
"And you worry too much" Joey smiled. She turned around and kissed the older girl gently "I'm fine"
"But cold" Charlie responded pulling Joey back into her arms and holding onto her tightly "Maybe you're getting sick or something..."
"I'm not" Joey mumbled shaking her head against Charlie's shoulder "Let's just go back to bed okay? I'll be fine...Honestly" she pulled back slightly to look into her girlfriend's eyes.
"Okay" Charlie conceded hesitantly as she allowed Joey to pull her back to the bedroom.
----
"I'm such an idiot" Charlie mumbled to herself as she kicked at the sand under her feet "Stupid boat...Stupid gun...Stupid argument" she released a sigh and sunk down onto the sand pulling her knees securely to her chest. She closed her eyes as her mind flashed back to the argument she had with Joey a mere hour ago.
"Charlie!" Joey said loudly crossing her arms defensively in front of her "I told you to drop it okay?! It was ages ago. He took off somewhere so why should that matter now?"
"I only asked why you didn't tell me!" Charlie exclaimed.
"And as I told you..." Joey spoke in annoyance "You didn't need to know and the conversation didn't arise...Which is why I didn't tell you, okay?!"
"You didn't think I would want to know that you had been threatened with a GUN?!"Charlie asked incredulously" Why didn't you get off the boat anyway? You could have been seriously hurt!"
"Why are you pushing this?!" Joey asked "It's not a big deal!"
"But..."
"No!" Joey yelled "Just BACK OFF CHARLIE!"
"Fine!" Charlie replied just as loudly "I will!" with that last parting remark she turned and walked out of the door, ignoring Joey's calls for her to wait.
"Charlie!" Charlie's thoughts were interrupted by a masculine voice yelling to her. She looked up to see Hugo running towards her and barely resisted the urge to run in the opposite direction. Instead she merely sighed and turned back to watch the waves.
"Hey" Hugo grinned as he plopped down beside her on the ground rather too close for her liking. She shuffled subtly away from him.
"What's wrong?" Hugo asked her when she didn't respond "Been arguing with Joey?"
"Shut up Hugo" Charlie mumbled irritably "I'm really not in the mood right now, okay?!"
"Fine, whatever" Hugo shrugged as he too returned his gaze to the ocean "But hey, I'm here if you want to talk okay?"
"Seriously?!" Charlie laughed bitterly "You think I would want to talk to you after what happened with us?!"
"Oh" the man said in realisation "So Joey finally decided to tell you about that did she?"
"Clearly" Charlie sighed "Now can you just leave me alone?"
"You know..." Hugo said thoughtfully "I've always liked you Charlie..."
"Oh No. No way" Charlie shook her head determinedly "We're not going there"
"Why not?" Hugo questioned "You did it once"
"And it's something I would really prefer not to repeat" Charlie winced as she caught the scent of alcohol on his breath "Now could you le..." she turned to him and squeaked in surprise when he leaned forward and kissed her somewhat roughly. She quickly pulled away and scrambled to her feet wiping her mouth as she did so.
"What the hell Hugo?!" she yelled in outrage "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"
"I thought that was obvious" Hugo grinned sleazily up at her and staggered to his feet, almost falling over in the process.
"Just back off. I'm with Joey. I love Joey and I'm not going to let you screw that up for me. Not again"
Hugo's face darkened at her rejection "You'd better go...Wouldn't want her to find out about this would we? Even though she might eventually"
"Joey..." Charlie muttered under her breath. She glanced at Hugo "You're a prick Hugo...You need to sort yourself out..." she left him glaring after her as she took off running.
---
"JOEY!" Charlie gasped as she burst through the door and into the house "JOEY?!"
"Hey" Joey walked through the door. Upon seeing the panic on Charlie's face she rushed over to her "What's wrong?! Is it Ruby? Did something happen to her?"
Charlie shook her head "No...No. Joey I have to tell you something..."
"Come on" Joey said quietly as she pulled her through the house and into their bedroom. She set her lightly on the bed before sitting next to her "What is it? You're not breaking up with me are you?" she attempted to smile but it came out as nervous and shaky.
"No" Charlie shook her head "No, it's not that..." she reached for Joey's hand and squeezed it tightly "I was down at the beach..."
"And...?" Joey prodded gently though worry was creeping into her voice "Charlie you're kind of scaring me"
"Hugo kissed me" Charlie blurted out. At the crushed look on Joey's face she continued quickly "But I pushed him away. I swear to God I didn't kiss him back Joey. I told him that I'm in love with you and I'm not going to let him screw it up for me. You have to believe me Jo, I would never..."
"Shh" Joey interrupted her by pressing a finger to her lips "its okay. I believe you"
"You do?" The older girl asked slightly breathless from her rant.
"I do" Joey smiled softly. She glanced away before looking back at Charlie sincerely "I'm sorry about yelling at you earlier. I know you were just worried..."
"It's fine" Charlie shrugged "I shouldn't have overreacted"
"Are we okay now?" Joey asked hesitantly "I really don't like arguing with you"
"I know" Charlie sighed "I hate it too. But we're fine now. Really"
"Good" Joey murmured as she leaned forward and pressed an almost chaste kiss to Charlie's lips "because I missed you" she tugged the other girl forward and kissed her passionately.
"I missed you too" Charlie gasped when they pulled away for breath "I guess we'll just have to make up for it..." she pulled Joey back into the kiss and pressed her gently backwards onto the bed.
---
"Shit..." Ruby murmured as she glanced around the dark road "This is just great...Why the hell must I be running late? Charlie's going to kill me..." she continued walking nervously "And now I'm talking to myself. Brilliant!"
A noise which sounded very much like a rock being kick sounded from her left causing her to stop and look around. She released a nervous laugh when she saw nobody there "You're paranoid Ruby" she continued walking again but stopped short when she heard footsteps from behind her. She turned around and released a sigh of relief when once again she saw no one. She began to walk at a faster pace and almost instantly heard the footsteps behind her again.
"Oh fuck..." she pulled her phone out of her pocket and searched quickly for Charlie's number. She glanced over her shoulder as she ran only now able to see the silhouette of a man and raised the phone to her ear.
"Come on..." she whimpered softly "Pick up Charlie!" the phone rang until she was put through to the answering machine "Damn it!" she looked over her shoulder and stopped when she didn't see the man "Phew...That was kind of close" she turned back to the direction she was heading in and released a scream when she saw the man standing right in front of her. He grabbed at her quickly and placed his hand over her mouth. Ruby struggled but to no avail as she breathed in the chloroform from the cloth he was holding against her mouth.
"Charlie..." she managed to mumble before she slumped limply into her captives arms.
"That was easier than expected" the man leered down at her as her carried her over to his car parked just a short walk away. He placed her in the car and shut the door before getting in himself "You should be out for a while..." he started the engine "Sooner or later she will pay..." with one last glance towards the back seat he turned to the road and began to drive...
TBC
