Sitting by her sister's bedside, Watson has just finished filling Joey in on the events of the previous night. "I'm just sorry I missed it all but Ruby and Graves were more than happy to give me all the details."

Joey smiles, "She actually did it."

"Did you doubt her?"

"Maybe a little."

"Well, as far as Charlie's concerned, she's adamant that they're over."

"The way you say that I take it that Rosey has a different view."

"Just the usual 'you still love me', 'we'll be together again' blah, blah, blah."

"Great, Charlie and I finally get together and he's still going to be there."

"You knew he wouldn't just walk away."

Joey leans back against the pillow, sighing, "I guess it was expecting too much for him to actually respect Charlie's wishes."

"You took your ring off," Watson says in surprise as she notices her sister's finger.

Joey runs her thumb over her finger, finding it a little strange not to feel the ring there, "It was time."

"I'm glad Joey and while I never expected that it would be with Charlie, I'm happy that you're finally moving on."

Joey grins, "Believe me, I never saw this coming but she got under my guard."

Watson shakes her head, "It had to be with my friend and my boss though, didn't it?"

"Hey, you can't help who you fall for," Joey says with a cheeky smile.

"Jesus Joey, you love complicating my life."

"I try my best. Georgie, with Rosey back, I don't want Harley to stay here."

"It's ok Joey, I've already spoken to Charlie about taking a couple of days off so I'm going to take Harley to her gran's this afternoon."

"Thanks Georgie."

"You owe me big time for this Joey, because your mum was not happy when I told her not to come and see you."

"The less Martha and Rosey know about my family, the better."

"She understands why she needs to stay away Joey, but that won't stop her chewing me out when I'm finally under the same roof as her." Joey chuckles. "It's not funny Joey, she could peel paint with one glare."

"She adores you Georgie but just in case, try to hide behind Harley while you're there."

Watson glares at her sister before giving up. "I'm just glad that Harley spent last night at Leah's with VJ, because with the mood Angelo was in, I'd hate to think how he would have reacted if he learnt your daughter was there."

"Same here." Joey looks pensive, "Harley's really loved being here and she and VJ have obviously hit it off, she's going to want to come back."

"Once you've put Martha and Angelo away, it'll be safe for her to be here. Joey, what are you going to do when the investigation is over?"

Joey shrugs. "I'm a detective and unless there's a murder here, I'm city-based, but now, I don't know."

"You've got some thinking to do Joey."

"I know. I want to be with her Georgie but there are still things she doesn't know and if we are to be together, one of us is going to have to make a big change career-wise."

"You're not the only one," Watson mutters. "Look, I've got to get home, get some things together before I leave. I'll bring Harley by to see you before we go."

"Thanks for doing this Georgie and make sure you relax while you're away."

"Yeah, like that's going to happen with that family," she mutters as she leaves the room.

Rushing home from work to change before heading to the hospital, Charlie is shocked when she arrives home and finds Angelo sitting at the kitchen table with her engagement ring on the table in front of him.

"Angelo, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I came to get my stuff."

"You should have spoken to me at work before coming here uninvited."

"I tried to talk to you at work, you were always busy," Angelo complains with a petulant voice.

"You still should have spoken to me or at least called before coming here Angelo. You can't just walk into this house as if you own it, you don't live here anymore."

While appearing outwardly calm, Angelo was anything but, his insides churning with anger at Charlie's rejection. "Look, I know I behaved like an absolute shit last night and that somewhere along the way we've drifted apart, but I don't want a moment of anger and stupidity to ruin everything."

"Angelo."

He puts his hand up to silence her. "I'm going to move out for the moment to give us some space to work things out, but I'm not giving up Charlie. I love you and I know you love me." He picks up his bags, "We belong together Charlie," he reassures her as he makes his way slowly to the door.

"Angelo." He pauses, a smug grin tugging at his lips as he waits for Charlie to call him back. "The keys Angelo."

Angelo spins around in anger, "What!"

"The house keys Angelo," she holds her hand out.

Reaching into his pocket, he 'accidently' drops the keys at Charlie's feet and leaves before his anger gets the better of him. Charlie bends and picks up the keys, worried by his refusal to accept that it was over. Tossing the keys onto the table, she notices with dismay that Angelo had left the ring on the table. Picking it up, she puts it on top of the fridge and goes to change.

After her first day back at work, Graves drops in to see Joey on her way home. "God, I feel wasted," Graves groans the moment she sits down.

"Tough first day?"

"After that wanker woke everyone last night, I didn't get much sleep."

"Oh please, you're worn out from all the sex."

Graves glares at her. "If you must know, there's been very little sex."

"Nightmares?" Joey asks knowingly.

"A couple." Graves sighs loudly, "It's mostly that I jump at the slightest of noises and I keep expecting someone or something to jump out at me. When I'm with Dex, I feel safe." Joey chuckles at that. Graves grins, "I know it seems silly, I could take Dex down with one hand, but when he's around, everything feels good."

Joey nods, "I get that."

"Most of the time that we've been locked in the room, Dex has been studying and I've just been lying snuggled up against him, feeling safe and relaxed."

"If you need to talk, I kind of know what you're going through."

"Thanks Joey, maybe someday I'll take you up on that, but for the moment, Dex is all I need. He's been great, just holding me and listening to me when I need him."

It's not the first time that Joey's glad that Graves had found someone like Dex. "Are you sure you don't want to go back with him, I mean your anniversary is coming up soon?"

"He's coming here for that and there's no way I'm walking out on this case until we get these bastards."

"I just wish I could get out of here and back to work."

"Don't rush it Joey, we need you at full strength when it comes time to take them down."

"Work isn't the only reason I want out of here."

Graves smirks at her, "You don't say."

"We haven't really had much chance for any alone time." Joey waves her hand around, "This place is hardly private."

"You're together now, that's what matters."

"Yeah. So when does Dex leave?"

"He's going to stay with me at Georgie's until she gets back."

"When are you moving back there?"

"Tomorrow. The carpet was being replaced today, but I thought I'd leave it another night before moving back."

"Don't push yourself too hard Graves, there's no shame in taking your time to deal with this."

"I won't, but I need to face this and it'll be easier with Dex by my side and the creep is dead."

"And it's just a house."

"Exactly. I'm alive and I wasn't raped and I have no intention of letting this guy run my life from the grave by making me scared of some stupid house."

"I'm glad you feel that way."

"I was one of the lucky ones Joey, I just have to remember that." Joey nods. "Do you need to rest, you're looking a little tired?"

"I'm fine, I'm just bored out of my mind lying here doing nothing all day. What about Rosey, how was his first day back?"

Graves smirks, "I think things have changed a little while he's been gone. He was having a dig at me and Const. Avery got stuck into him."

"Really?"

"Yeah, apparently we have a few officers, especially those who were at the scene, on our side now because of what happened, even you."

"That's a surprise. Just remember not to needle Rosey too much," Joey says, "You're lucky he didn't turn around and thump you back last night."

"I couldn't help myself Joey. Dex actually wanted to do a blog about what happened last night, but I told him to hold off for the moment, with the mood Rosey's in, my Dex would end up a smear on his fist. The guy's delusional Joey, he's acting like he and Charlie are just taking a little time away from each other."

"Yeah, Georgie said something earlier."

"Um Joey, is Georgie ok, I mean, she just seems kind of tired lately."

"She's just had a lot to deal with, especially with the two of us ending up in hospital."

"I suppose so, I just hope she remembers to take it easy while she's away."

"She won't have a choice."

Graves narrows her eyes at her, "What have you done?"

"Called my foster family to make sure that they did whatever was necessary to make Georgie relax."

"Did you tell her that?"

"No."

"Jesus Joey, she's half expecting to be eaten alive."

"I know," she says with a big grin.

"God, you can be a cruel bitch."

"Not really, if I'd told her, she'd have found a reason to stay away."

"Yeah, maybe, but if I were you, I'd just make sure you're out of here before she gets back."

Joey winces as she tries to get more comfortable. "Are you sure you guys don't want to request replacements," Charlie says as she strolls into the room, "You look like you couldn't arrest a five year old between you."

"I don't know about Joey, but I feel fine."

"Same here."

With her hands on her hips, Charlie continues to glare at them.

"Ok, so I might still have a little headache," Graves finally admits. "And the stitches are bothering me a little but they come out tomorrow and ok, I may have gone back to work a day or two early."

"I'm still fine. Really Charlie, I'm fine, just a little tired and sore."

"You got stabbed Joey."

"And I lost a little bit of blood...ok, quite a bit, but even the doctor says I'm fine."

"He said that you were damn lucky to be alive and that you should be resting."

"If you stop talking, I can rest."

Graves watches Charlie in amusement. "What?" Charlie asks, uncomfortable at the attention.

"Just ignore her Charlie, she's only teasing."

"About what?"

"She's waiting to see if you'll kiss me."

"Oh, in that case." Charlie walks to Joey's side, leaning down, she kisses Joey with as much meaning and passion as she could, leaving Joey flushed and breathless and Graves a little stunned when she finally breaks the kiss. Joey lies there with a huge grin while Graves shakes her head, smiling at Charlie's actions.

"I think I'll leave you guys to it and go and have a nice cold shower." Graves waves goodbye and closes the door behind her.

"Now," Charlie grins, "Where was I?" Lying on the bed next to Joey, being more careful this time, Charlie spends the next 15 minutes demonstrating with her lips, how much she had missed her since their make out session the previous day.

Moving off the bed when she hears footsteps on the other side of the door, Charlie straightens her clothes and hopes the nurse who has just entered, doesn't notice their flushed faces or the silly grin she was sure matched Joey's.

"Has the doctor said when you'll be released?" Charlie asks as soon as they were alone again.

"I'm healing pretty quickly, so probably a couple of days. He warned me that there will be some discomfort and pain for a while and that I shouldn't do anything too strenuous," she says, before adding, "And I'm to avoid sex for at least a month."

"A month!" Charlie blurts out loudly.

Joey chuckles at Charlie's horrified expression. "Actually, he didn't mention sex but he did warn me to take it easy for the next week or two." Charlie blushes at her outburst. Joey chuckles again, "The look on your face when I said no sex."

"I'm going to get you for that."

Joey wiggles her eyebrows suggestively, "Is that a promise?"

Charlie leans over her, "Maybe," she whispers against her lips, before closing the distance and brushing her lips over Joey's. Grinning at Joey's look of disappointment, she sits on the chair, keeping a safe distance between them.

"Ok Charlie, what's up?"

Charlie smiles slightly at Joey being able to pick up on her mood. "Angelo was waiting for me when I got home."

"What, inside?"

"Sitting at the kitchen table as if he belonged there."

"That prick!"

"It's ok Joey, he was only picking up his belongings but he left the engagement ring."

"Shit."

"It's over between me and Angelo."

"I know that Charlie, you know that, but he clearly doesn't."

"He just doesn't want to hear, which really isn't that much of a surprise," Charlie sighs.

Joey holds her hand out which Charlie gratefully accepts. "Are you ok with how it turned out with Angelo?"

"I'd rather that it hadn't ending in a screaming match in the middle of the night, but I don't regret what I did. Now what about you, you're going to miss Harley, aren't you?"

"I already am, but she can't keep missing school and I'm really not up to looking after her like I should be."

"You'd have had plenty of volunteers to help," Charlie says, "Ruby loves having her around and so did Leah, though Roman's getting a little worried about how clucky Leah's suddenly become."

Joey chuckles, "Is there going to be a little Harris on the way?"

"If Leah has her way. Um Joey, um," Charlie starts as her curiosity gets the better of her, "Dex, ah, does he own a bright pink fluro silk robe?"

"No, but Sheila does."

"Huh?" Charlie looks confused, before she remembers, "Oh right, his blog."

"He probably just grabbed the first thing that came to hand when he heard your voices. Charlie, Dex is a great guy, a little out there, but he's harmless."

"He and Graves just seem so different."

"Yeah, but they're crazy about each other."

"That's obvious. You're looking tired."

"It just seems to hit me at the worst times," Joey says in frustration.

"Maybe that's a good thing while you're in here." Charlie grins, "We seem to lose ourselves when we're together."

"Are you complaining?"

"Definitely not." Taking time to say their goodbyes, Charlie sighs against Joey's lips. "I really don't want to go."

"I don't want you to go, but they'll be bringing the meals around soon."

"I'll be by again tomorrow." Charlie pauses at the door, "Hurry up and get out of here Joey, I have a promise to keep," she says in a low voice as she leaves.

Flushing at the look Charlie sent her way, Joey stares at the ceiling, "Damn, I really have to get out of here."