Well, I wasn't going to update again today but I got all excited because Inside Soap put my email in their magazine. *Takes a deep breath and clears throat...*

"Why can't Home and away just break up Charlie and Angelo for good?"

*is proud*

I know! It's the stuff of great literature, hey? Anyway, here is the beginning of Charlie and Joey's meeting... cake will feature in the next chapter.

Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Six

Joey led Charlie into her humble apartment, along the corridor and into the lounge to the right. She dumped her keys on the table and set her bag down. Charlie hovered, silent and shy until Joey smiled at her. Charlie held her gaze, her heart racing as she prepared to spend an afternoon with the person she was deeply in love with.

"What would you like to drink?" Joey asked.

"Uh... coffee please," Charlie said.

Joey grinned.

"I should have guessed," she said. "You always were a caffeine demon."

Charlie laughed, feeling momentarily comfortable. She licked her lips, swallowing and hanging on Joey's every word and movement. She watched her head out of the room and wondered whether she ought to follow. In the doorway, Joey turned back to her.

"You can put the bags down, you know," she said gently. "They won't run away."

Blushing and offering a soft, embarrassed chuckle, Charlie obeyed and followed. She looked around the apartment. It was tidy and well kept. There were various pieces of artwork on the walls and lots of knickknacks that Charlie recognised. In the kitchen, Joey pulled out a chair at the head of the table and gestured for Charlie to sit down. Charlie followed the instruction and perched on the edge of the seat. She watched Joey turn to the countertop and begin to make coffee for both of them. Charlie chewed her lip as she took in the sight of Joey's slim physique and couldn't quite help herself checking out her bottom. She'd never been a bottom kind of girl before she'd met Joey. Well, there were a lot of things she hadn't been interested in before Joey, but this was definitely one of them.

"This is a lovely apartment," she said, desperate to make conversation.

If she carried on being so awkward then their afternoon might come to a premature end and she really didn't want that to happen. Now that she had her, Charlie wanted to keep her.

"Thanks," Joey said, not turning around. "I've been here a few months but I think I'm going to have to move out."

"How come?" Charlie asked.

"Just... circumstances," Joey told her vaguely.

It wasn't something she particularly wanted to talk about, at least not now. The idea of having Charlie Buckton in her apartment sent her into a spin. She just hoped she was playing it as cool as she wanted to. During their time together before, Joey had been the one to look up to Charlie. She had admired her, relied on her, needed her and made it clear every moment just how much she loved her. She'd approached as if she were inferior and she was determined to approach as an equal from now on. Unless this was a one-off. She hoped it wouldn't be a one-off. She turned back and offered Charlie a smile. Charlie smiled back and nodded. Joey finished making their drinks and came to sit at the table with her.

"How have you been?" she asked.

Charlie exhaled slowly. How on earth would she even begin?

"Okay," she finally said.

Explaining Ruby and Angelo and everything in between felt like far too much for a first meeting.

"You?"

Joey nodded. She couldn't help but be disappointed about Charlie's lack of interest in really talking to her.

"I've been okay too," she said. "I stayed out at sea for a while. I'm managing a trawler now."

Charlie smiled.

"That's really great," she said. "Getting closer to your dream, hey?"

Joey smiled back and nodded. It had been a hard road but over a year after being raped by her colleague and then getting her heart broken by Charlie, she felt like things were getting back on track. Silence fell between them for a few moments.

"How's work?" Joey finally asked.

"It's good. It's... I'm a Leading Senior Constable now and I've been thinking about taking my Detective exam."

"You should," Joey said. "I can see you being a great Detective."

They smiled at each other, both nervously twisting their hands together in their laps.

"And how's Ruby?" Joey asked, feeling uncomfortable in their lapses into silence.

She was starting to wonder if all of this was a good idea.

"She's doing well," Charlie said. "She's working hard at school and just finished performing in the school play. She and Xavier broke up but got back together."

"And Leah and VJ and... everyone?"

It had been a long time since Joey had seen anybody.

"Leah's seeing a new guy," Charlie said, starting to feel a little more comfortable. "He's a Reverend and he's just asked her to marry him."

"Wow!"

"Yeah," Charlie chuckled. "VJ went through a bit of a naughty phase not so long ago but he's doing really well now. Colleen's still the biggest gossip in history... Aden's moved away."

Joey flooded with disappointment.

"He's had a pretty tough year."

"What happened?" Joey asked, immediately feeling guilty for abandoning him when he had always been so good to her.

"Belle died."

Joey looked heartbroken.

"He was a mess for a long time but it looked like he was picking his life back up. He and Nicole started seeing each other but then his brother came to the Bay. They got caught up in... well, it's complicated. Justin... Aden's brother... it looked like he'd killed their Dad. But he hadn't. We dropped all the charges. Nicole broke up with Aden, although nobody seems to understand why and he took off with Justin."

She felt sad about it. Joey had bonded them and she'd found herself turning to him now and again, usually when she was having a romantic crisis, which was usually something to do with Angelo. She sighed, thinking of him. They were meant to be moving in together and yet here she was, talking with Joey and feeling all the same feelings. If anything, she was even more miserable about her decision to take him back than she had been before and that felt like quite a feat. She sighed. Joey gazed into her eyes.

"So, do you want to continue making polite chit-chat or do you want to talk about the obvious?" Joey finally asked.

Charlie sat up a little straighter. Images of their life together, the laughter they'd shared, the love they'd made, the secrets they'd told, the happiness they'd experienced... the heartbreak they'd endured. She licked her lips and swallowed, shifting in her seat a little. She'd learnt early to run away from her problems. She'd followed her father's example in keeping up appearances and pushing issues to one side. She'd run away from what happened with Grant and denied she had a daughter. She'd focussed on her job to the point that everything else was ignored. And now she'd taken the step to take back a relationship that made her unhappy and pretend that it was perfect. Before that, she had taken the perfect relationship and convinced herself that it was something to be ashamed of. She looked directly into Joey's eyes and took a deep breath.

"We should talk," she said.