This is the penultimate chapter and I'm being a bad girl...! Read the chapter and you'll see how! But anyway, once I have posted the final chapter, I will also begin to post my new story. It's called 'Standing in the Way of Control' and is based six months from when Angelo lost his job with the police. He and Charlie are together and everything is perfect... or is it! And of course, it will be CJ centred. As if I could betray the cause...! Love, IJKS xx

Chapter Thirty

It was Saturday morning. Angelo arrived back in Summer Bay by bus. He found public transport irritating but it was all he had now that he had had his license taken away from him. He'd left town for a couple of weeks and clung onto his phone, hoping that Charlie would text or call him and tell him that she missed him and wanted him to come home so that they could work things out. However, he hadn't heard from her at all and now he wanted to make one last ditch attempt to try and salvage their relationship. And he had the perfect plan of how to make it happen.

Charlie, Joey and Ruby all piled into the car to go and look at three apartments that Charlie had found in the paper.

"This is exciting," Charlie admitted.

Ruby chuckled in the backseat. Charlie eyed her in the mirror.

"What are you giggling about, Missy?" she asked.

"Just that commitment-phobe Charlie is giddy over the prospect of moving in with her girlfriend!" Ruby remarked.

Charlie blushed. She reached out and held Joey's hand.

"Well, what can I say except that Joey's changed my life? And this time around, I'm more than happy to let her," she said.

Joey squeezed Charlie's hand and lifted it to her lips.

"I love you," she said affectionately.

"I love you too," Charlie replied.

Ruby sighed dramatically, wishing that she also had someone to love.

Angelo entered the Surf Club but wasn't met with the friendly atmosphere he was used to.

"Don't even think of asking me to serve you alcohol," Alf warned.

He looked annoyed before Angelo had even said anything and the former cop supposed that everyone must have learnt of his drink driving disaster. He pulled up a stool and sat at the bar.

"Just an orange juice, please," he said politely.

Alf eyed him with some scepticism and poured his drink.

"We all thought you'd skipped town," the Summer Bay stalwart said.

"I did for a bit," Angelo said. "I needed some space to clear my head. But now I'm back and I want to try and make the best of things again."

"I'm glad to hear it," Alf said. "I consider you a good mate of mine, Angelo, but the way you've been behaving lately..."

"Don't worry," Angelo said confidently. "Today, everything is going to change for good."

"I think I'm in love," Joey said as they left the third apartment, the one right by the sea.

Charlie laughed and put an arm around her.

"I should hope so!" she said.

Joey leant in and kissed her cheek.

"I'm newly in love with the apartment," she said.

Charlie stopped and pouted, putting her hands on her hips. Joey kissed her on the mouth and grinned.

"I'm more in love with you," she said. "And I have been forever."

Charlie smiled and they continued walking. Ruby fell into step beside the couple.

"So, what did you think Rubes?" Charlie asked her daughter.

The teenager smiled and nodded her approval.

"I've already picked out the bedroom I want," she said.

Charlie and Joey exchanged glances and pointed out that if it was the one they wanted, she would lose out. Ruby pretended to sulk but in reality, she would be happy to have any room. They were all nicely sized and the apartment as a whole was beautiful. And she was not so secretly looking forward to moving house and setting up home with Charlie and Joey. It was wonderful to see her guardian so happy after so long. She hoped that all of this would last forever.

Angelo walked up the cliff edge. He had been swigging a bottle of vodka on the journey and now he stood almost in the exact spot where Tony Holden had once tried to kill him. Charlie had been the reason that Angelo had eventually saved himself. It had been a turning point in the relationship that had been on a rollercoaster from the start. Looking out at the world below him, he finished the vodka and dropped the bottle, feeling a little woozy and unsteady on his feet. He pulled out his phone and called Charlie.

Charlie was just about to start the car when her phone rang. She considered ignoring it but anxiety over something happening to her Dad was too much. Looking at the screen, she sighed when she saw Angelo's name flash up. Holding the phone in her hand, she wondered what she ought to do.

"Who is it?" Joey asked.

Charlie showed her the phone. Joey sighed loudly.

"I was hoping he'd disappeared for good," she admitted.

"Me too," Charlie said.

The phone rang off.

Frustrated, Angelo dialled Charlie's number again. He wondered why she hadn't answered. Didn't she care about him at all? He could be ringing her for something important... he was ringing her for something important... how could she let him down like that?

"Just answer it," Joey said tiredly. "If you speak to him once, he might give it up."

Nodding, Charlie answered the phone.

"Charlie!" Angelo exclaimed, his bitterness dissipating. "Charlie, I'm so glad you answered! I've missed you!"

His voice was a little slurred. Charlie immediately noticed.

"I'm pretty busy right now, Angelo," Charlie said firmly. "What do you want?"

"I want you to love me," Angelo said honestly.

He stepped a little closer to the edge of the cliff, his head swimming as he looked down. Charlie sighed.

"Angelo, we've been through this," she said unhappily. "It's over."

Joey rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat. Ruby also pulled a face.

"Charlie, I'm standing on the edge of a cliff," Angelo said seriously. "And if you won't talk to me, if you won't give me another chance, I'm jumping."

Tears spilled down his cheeks. Charlie felt sick. She looked at Joey in sheer panic and gestured that she needed pen and paper.

"Angelo, don't be stupid," she said into the phone. "Step back. Don't do something you won't have time to regret."

"I can't live without you, Charlie! You mean everything to me!"

"Well, you have to live without me," Charlie insisted. "Angelo, I want you in my life. I want to be your friend..."

"Friends," he remarked bitterly. "I can't be your friend, Charlie. I can't watch you swan around with that girl. I can't..."

His tears flowed harder and his eyes lost focus. On her end of the line, Charlie wrote to Joey to call the police and send them to the cliffs and that Angelo was suicidal. Worried, Joey climbed out of the car and made the call.

"Charlie, just tell me we can work it out!" Angelo begged.

"Okay, fine," Charlie said desperately. "We'll talk. Okay? We'll talk. Just don't do anything stupid."

"Will you come up here?" Angelo asked. "Will you talk to me up here now?"

Charlie chewed her lip, wondering what the right answer could be.

"Charlie?" he urged.

"Angelo, I can't keep..." she tried.

"I'll jump!" he threatened.

Part of her felt so exasperated that she wanted to call his bluff and tell him to do it. But she didn't want to take the risk and have that on his conscience.

"Charlie, you have to save me," he begged tearfully. "You have to..."

Joey climbed back into the car.

"Okay," Charlie said into the phone. "I'm coming. But I have to hang up while I'm driving. Wait for me."

"Okay," he said weakly.

Charlie hung up and started the car. She gripped the steering wheel tightly and hoped the police would arrive before she did.

Angelo stood and kept watch for Charlie. He'd had no real intention of jumping. But if guilt was what it took to get her there, then guilt was what he would dish out. He was sure that if he could only talk to Charlie, only get her away from Joey then she would see that they were meant to be together. They could try again and things could be perfect like they always should have been. He smiled when he saw her little, blue car pull up. Charlie leapt out and hurried towards him.

"Who's in the car?" Angelo asked, nodding towards it.

"Joey and Ruby," Charlie said anxiously. "I was with them when you called."

He glared at the car, hoping that Joey could see his face. Then a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. If he could win Charlie over now then it would be right in front of Joey. She'd be so hurt that she would run away again and leave them in peace. She wouldn't try and fight for the woman she loved.

"You left doing something with Joey to come to me?" he asked hopefully.

"What else could I do?" Charlie asked. "You're threatening to kill yourself."

He stepped backward, getting close enough to the edge to frighten her.

"And I will do it," he said. "If you don't give me another chance."

"Just step down from the edge and we'll talk, okay?" Charlie requested.

"No, you talk to me now," Angelo ordered. "You tell me you love me."

Charlie licked her lips. She didn't love him. She never had. But should she lie?

"Tell me you want to be with me or I'll jump!" Angelo threatened.

Charlie glanced back at Joey, feeling torn. She didn't want Angelo to jump but she didn't want to lie or betray Joey, even with words.

"Angelo, this isn't the way to solve your problems," she told him.

Angelo clenched his fists.

"My only problem is you," he said. "And you can fix it with just a few simple words. Why won't you save me?"

"Because it's not up to me to save you," Charlie said. "You have to save yourself."

"I'm nothing without you!" Angelo said. "Look at me!"

He gestured wildly and stumbled. Charlie lurched forward to catch him and steady him. He used the contact to force a kiss on her. In the car, Joey was horrified but relaxed a little bit when Charlie pulled away and wiped her mouth.

"Angelo, I have told you that it's over," Charlie said angrily.

"And I've told you that unless you and I get back together, I'm jumping," Angelo argued.

"You can't guilt trip me into dating you!"

"Watch me!"

Charlie noticed just how confident he looked. It annoyed her. Folding her arms, Charlie glared at him.

"I'm not getting back with you," she said. "So jump if you must."

He blanched and stared at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Jump," Charlie told him.

He moved towards her and began to rant and rave, calling her names that she felt she probably deserved. Joey and Ruby were just about to leap out of the car when Watson arrived with three colleagues.

"Angelo," Watson called.

He jerked his head in her direction and then glared at Charlie, accusing her of betraying him.

"I'm trying to help you," Charlie said. "Angelo, you have to get me out of your head. You have to come to terms with us breaking up. Please, listen to me. Please take care of yourself. You can get back on track if you only try. You can get past this."

Watson moved forward, attempting to get Angelo to go with her.

"You're all bitches!" Angelo said, stepping back a little.

Charlie was all too aware of the cliff edge.

"I hate all of you! I shouldn't be the mess here, Charlie. It's you. You're nothing. You're a piece of shit. I don't even know why I ever loved you. You were never good enough for me in the first place. I..."

He stepped back too far and fell.