Hey Everyone, Just want to say a quick thanks to all of you who are following this, It's nice to know you all like the story. Hope you enjoy this chapter and feel free to leave a comment or inbox me if you spot any mistakes or have an song requests or questions... Hope you Enjoy :-D xx
Charlie and Joey's lips were just about to touch when they were interrupted by Lily shouting "Auntie Mel Mel" They quickly jumped apart hoping that Mel hadn't noticed or guessed what was about to happen between them, unknown to them both Mel had been watching them for about five minutes before they noticed her, they both quickly sat down in their seats as they watched Lily climb down from her seat and run over to Mel excitedly as she reached Mel she scooped her up in her arms placing a kiss on the little girls cheek, smiling at Joey and Charlie moved around to Seb who was waving excitedly at her as she reached Seb he jumped of the chair and patted it indicating for Mel to sit down she smilied down at him brightly
"Thank You Seb, your a gent" Mel said smiling down at Seb and recieving a smile back before her quickly walked around to Joey when he saw she had Olivia on her lap again, he looked questioningly at Charlie who smilied brightly at him, he looked at Joey as if questioning if he could trust Charlie when Joey nodded to him, he smiled and walked to Charlie holding his arms upto her signalling that he wanted to sit on her lap, though she was slightly shocked at how trusting the little boy was of her she picked him up and placed him on her lap smiling at him as she did so.
As Seb repostioned himself on Charlie's lap Lily was repositioning herself on Mel's lap. Once she was comfortable, positioned so she was facing everyone else, she rested her head on Mel's chest listening to her heart beating at a steady pace, after a few minutes of awkward silence Alexis spoke "Is Brooke better now Melly?" She asked her face filled with fear
Mel saw the fear on Alexis' face and moved her hand across the table gently grabbing hold of Alexis' hand she smiled at her and smiled as she answered "Brooke is better but she's not 100% yet we have to give her some time to get better" When she noticed the sad look on all the kids faces she continued "But I've been told by the doctor that loads of hugs can help her get better faster, and Brooke said she's looking forward to getting loads and loads of hugs" She paused to see if the kids were reacting well to what she was saying, she hated seeing them upset "So do you all think you can give her loads of hugs everytime you see her?" As she finished they all shouted YES jumping out of their seats a little bit from the excitment.
"When can we see her?" Joey asked after what her and Charlie had talked about flashed in her mind.
"They said that everyone has to wait until the morning but I'm sure if you go now you could see her for a few minutes" Mel replied smiling she had sensed that Joey was a little upset by Brooke's choice
"Thanks, are you ok staying here with this lot?" She asked not wanting to presume that Mel would look after the kids considering that Mel and Brooke were no longer a couple
"Of course, I'm more than happy to look after them" Mel smiled happily
Joey stood up with Olivia in her arms, she carefully placed the little girl into high chair which was next to the table when she remembered that Charlie was still there she nervously asked her "Are you ok to hang around or do you ahve to rush off?"
Charlie smiled up at her, Joey was so cute when she got all nervous "Of course, I've got all the time in the world to be cuddled by this one" She quickly replied jestering down to Seb who had is head resting on Charlie's chest and had his arms hooked tightly on Charlie's waist, Joey smilied and nodded at Charlie then quickly turned around and walked out of the canteen and towards Brooke's room.
As she walked down the halls she felt even more and more nervous, she loved Brooke and the last thing she wanted to do was upset her when she was just getting her head around being paralysed from the waist down, but she also knew that Charlie was right the only way she wouldn't feel upset at Brooke was if they talked it out. As she approached the door she knocked then slowly opening the door her eyes quickly landed on a sleeping Brooke she closed the door behind her carefully, maybe it was a sign that she wasn't meant to tell Brooke how she felt or maybe it was someone making it easier for her to get everything of her chest without her having to worry about Brooke getting angry, she pulled the chair that she had called home for the last weeks closer to the bed and took hold of Brooke's hand which still had a drip in due to her dehydration over the last few weeks.
Joey sat still for a couple minutes taking in the pure silence of the room, when she finally decided that no matter what she said if Brooke truly loved her then she wouldn't be angry at her for speaking her mind, that was if Brooke was awake, she sat up a little straighter in the chair and cleared her throat hoping a little that the noise would wake Brooke up. When Brooke didn't stir from her sleep she spoke,
"Hey Brooke, I know I'm probably being stupid hoping that you can actually hear me even though your obviously asleep, but I need to get this off my chest I know that you and Mel have a lot of history and that you were together for over ten years but it hurt when you choose her over me considering that before this all happened you and her were barely talking because she had an affair behind your back not once but twice and I get that you probably did it as some weird way of protecting me but I wanted to be there for you and it felt like you didn't want me to be involved and that really hurt me" Joey took a deep breath while she was speaking her eyes had become locked on Brooke's hands as she looked up in her mind she could see Brooke looking at her anger in her eyes, but as she looked she realised how far off the image in her head was Brooke's eyes weren't even open let alone looking at her with anger. She sighed deeply she just wanted this to be over so they could get back to how they were but deep down she knew that she had to be strong for Brooke.
As the thoughts in her continued to whirl around and around she had a flashback to something Brooke had told her when she had worked out Joey was gay 'Never hide how you feel Jojo because it only hurts you more, even if you confess to a brick wall make sure you get it out' which had been followed with the usual Brooke wink. She smilied to herself looking at Brooke she spoke softly "I need to tell you something and you only have yourself to blame for this, I think I'm falling out of love with Frankee I know after all the problems me and her getting together caused that you'll be a little angry but I also know that you want me to be happy and that's what I want, these last few weeks have been so confusing coming back her after so long away seeing Charlie and all the places Brett used to take me when I was little, my brain is scrambled with the confusion I really want keep trying with Frankee but theres something about the way she's been acting since we got here thats confusing me, all she worries about is me talking to other people and what you and Mel are doing when she's not around, She doesn't act like she loves me anymore, plus she starts fights for no reason I don't understand it but I think now I finally understand why you didn't want me to be with her" She paused looking at Brooke's face for any signs that she might have woke up but there were none she was still fast asleep her chest rising and falling rhythmically "I know what your thinking why am I telling you all of this when your fast asleep, I think its because its easier for me to confess how I feel when I know your probably not gonna hear a word of it, like you told me when I was younger and trying to tell everyone I was gay, Its better to get it out even to a brick wall you were right and that's why I'm gonna tell you this now and not when your awake."
Joey took a deep breath, a tear falling down her cheek as she confessed her true feelings to Brooke "I think I'm falling for Charlie, I know its stupid of me to let her in but she's been great these last few weeks and the kids love her even Alexis does, I know you'd tell me not to go there but I can't help it she makes me feel happier just from being in the same room as me, when she looks at me I can see the love in her eyes, I don't know what to do I need you to help me, Please Brooke I can't do this on my own" Joey said almost begging as the tears fell more and more down her cheeks she just wanted someone to help her decide and truth be told there was only ever one person that she ever took advice from and that person was laying infront of her asleep in a hospital bed. As the tears flowed even more Joey leant her head forward onto the bed softly resting her head on Brooke's hand "Please be awake, cause I can't handle being alone with nobody to talk to anymore Brooke please" Joey begged her voice slightly muffled from the crying, she closed her eyes and tried to stop the tears flowing but no matter what she thought of she just couldn't get the tears to stop, as she squeezing tighter on Brooke's hand
Unknown to Joey, Brooke's eyes were opening up, the pain from the needle in her arm pressing into her flesh a little more causing her to wake from her sleep. As she took in her surrondings she remembered that she was in hospital she couldn't remember anything but the doctor had told her that her memory would return. As she blinked her eyes a couple of times until they had adjusted to the lighting in her room, she heard crying coming from what felt like beside her she didn't know if she was imagining or not as she listening more she realised it was Joey crying, as she heard Joey begging her to wake up she squeezed her hand softly and carefully turned her head looking slightly down at Joey she worrying asked "Jojo, what's wrong?"
Joey finally managed to stop the tears, as soon as she heard Brooke's voice asking her what was wrong she instantly felt better the fact that Brooke squeezed her hand at the same time made her feel even better, as she slowly brought her head up from the bed she was suprised to see Brooke looking at her worry filling her face. She was one hundred percent sure that Brooke voice had been in her head and that her squeezing her hand was just a reflex in her sleep, but no Brooke had to do what she asked her and was now seemingly wide awake and looking at her with worry filling her expression. As she looked Brooke in the face she smiled brightly at her unable to stop herself she hopped onto the bed and engolfed Brooke in a hug as she held onto her cousin careful not to rub over her bandages she took a deep breath in and just clung onto her.
Brooke smiled into the hug but immediatley knew something was wrong with Joey she never usually hugged people for as long as this, even though they were family the longest hug she had every got of Joey was about three or four minutes but they had been locked in this hug for about eight or nine minutes, she didn't mind being hugged but Joey but it was more and more worrying to her every minute that went past caused the worry to grow inside her even more. After about ten minutes Joey finally pulled out of the hug when she saw the look of worry and confusion that Brooke was giving her she quickly said "I missed you when you were out of it, I just wanted to show you how much"
Brooke raised her eyebrows at Joey and quickly replied "Jojo, I'm paralysed not stupid" When Joey sighed deeply and sat down on the edge of the bed Brooke asked "So whats wrong?" Joey looked around at her hesitating she didn't want to upset Brooke just after she'd woke up "Jojo, whatever it is you can tell me" Brooke reassuringly said
Joey decided to just bite the bullet and ask Brooke "Why did you choose Mel over me?"
"What when did I choose Mel or you?" Brooke asked dhe didn't remember the day of the accident maybe she had upset Joey in some way shape or form
"You did when you asked her to stay in her with the doctor and not me...Joey" She replied adding the name Brooke had called her on the end so she knew what she was talking about
"I wasn't choosing her over you & I'm sorry I called you by your full name I just wanted to get it out of the way"
"But why her and not me, I thought we were close. I know your upset that I'm with Frankee but I thought we were back to normal"
"This is nothing to do with you and Frankee. And we are back to normal Jojo, it's just" Brooke paused as she tried to find the right words to express her feelings "I um..."
"You what Brooke, if you love her more just say it"
"Hey, I don't love her more than I love you Jojo I swear"
"Then why choose her?" Joey asked a tear escaping her eyes and running down her cheeks
"Have you ever seen me naked Jojo?" Brooke asked knowing how weird that must have sounded
"What?...Of course not"
"Exactly, Mel has and even if you had. But truthfully even if you had I would have choose Mel to stay in her with me" When Joey went to speak Brooke cut her off "Here me out...I say that because my wounds aren't exactly nice looking"
"What do you mean?" Joey asked not exactly understanding why Brooke's wounds would bother her
"I mean it's messy and I'd rather Mel struggle with seeing them than you"
"So in your own way you were protecting me"
"I guess so, you've been through enough in life Jojo the last thing I want is to add to that"
As Brooke finished her sentence Joey broke into a massive smile, the relief overflowing her body knowing that Brooke was only trying to protect from something she viewed as bad which was typical of Brooke, she felt a little bad for ever doubting Brooke's love for her. She was distracted from the relief when she remembered all she had just said, she wondered to herself if Brooke had heard her confess her growing feelings for Charlie and her decreasing feelings for Frankee, she wanted to know but right now she was just happy that Brooke was alive and on the road of recovery.
Meanwhile in the cafe Charlie and Mel had made some light conversation they mainly talked about the band and what Summer Bay was like to live in, when Charlie excused herself to make a phone call to Georgina to give her an update on Brooke's condition as she had asked her to do. As she put the phone down she noticed a young girl sitting on a bench in the gardens softly sobbing to herself, she slowly walked over to the girl and quickly realised it was one of Joey's younger cousins she asked if it was ok for her to sit down, when the younger girl nodded she sat down slowly next to her on the bench softly smiling at her.
After a few minutes of silence Charlie softly asked, "Your Taylor right?" Taylor turned her head slightly in Charlie's direction nodding at her question "Are you ok, just you look a little upset?" Taylor turned her head away from Charlie "I know stupid question, Your sister is in hospital after all?" After asking the question Charlie went silent mentally attacking herself for asking such a stupid and insensitive idiot. "I'm sorry I'll leave you be" Charlie said going to get up but before she could stand up completely Taylor spoke
"Are you Jojo's ex?" Taylor asked remembering being told by Brooke that Jojo dated a cop called Charlie when she lived in Summer Bay
"Yeah, I'm Charlie Buckton" She replied holding her hand out, Taylor accepted it softly shaking her hand then placing it back on her lap
"Do you know who attacked my sister yet?"
"Not yet but we have some leads to follow up on" Charlie honestly replied
Taylor nodded then went quiet again she thought to herself for a moment then said "Thank You"
"What for?" Charlie asked slightly confused by the gratitude
"Jojo told me that you saved Brooke's life when you found her, so thank you"
"Your more than welcome" Charlie paused for a moment before asking "Are you feeling ok just you look a little peaky"
"Jojo told you about my illness didn't she?"
"Yeah she was telling me about Brooke 26th Birthday"
Taylor smilied at the memory of Brooke singing to her in the studio "I'm fine just missing my sister being at home, my mum's a bit of a challenge without Brooke there"
Charlie looked at Taylor there seemed to be more than she was letting on "Are you sure you seem a little troubled?"
"I just think that maybe..."Taylor hesitated in completeing her sentence deciding maybe a stranger wasn't the best person to be talking to "Don't worry about it I'll get over it"
"You know sometimes its easier to talk to someone who isn't involved in your everyday life" Charlie said trying to get the younger girl to open up she knew from experience that hiding your true emotions in at a young age wasn't a good decision "I know you've probably heard loads of bad things about me but I am a good listener and I wouldn't tell a soul if you didn't want me too"
"What do you mean bad things?"
"I assumed you knew about how me and Joey broke up?"
"Yeah but just because you cheated doesn't mean your a bad person"
"I just meant that its normal when people break up for whatever reason for people to say bad things about their exes"
"Have you forgotten everything about my cousin?" Taylor asked slightly annoyed that Charlie would think that Joey was that kind of person
"No, Of course I remember everything about her" Charlie replied unable to hide the smile on her face as memories of Joey flashed in her mind, her perfume, her shower gel, her laugh and how soft her skin felt against her own
"Then you should remember, Jojo's not that kind of person she never said a bad word about you...EVER"
"Really?" Charlie asked she had spent endless nights thinking about what Joey must think about her
"Really, The only things I heard about you were good things, Like how you always made her smile or how you made sure she got justice for her rape"
"Thats nice to know she doesn't hate me" Charlie replied all of a sudden she felt an urge to explain why she said what she did about Joey, the last thing she wanted was for Taylor to tell Joey and for Joey to get upset with her "I just thought that Brooke had to have some reason to hate me and Joey must have told her everything that happened between. I just thought maybe Joey might have said something to make Brooke hate me thats all"
Taylor sharply turned her head in Charlie's direction and firmly said "Brooke doesn't hate you" When Charlie looked at her confused "Brooke has a saying 'You can't hate someone you've never met' She had never met you so she doesn't hate you. Her and Jojo are close she hates when people hurt Jojo, and yeah she hates what you did to Jojo but you she's undecided on because she doesn't know you"
Charlie nodded her head at Taylors comments she didn't really know how to reply to it. After a few minutes silence she softly spoke "I'm sorry for assuming"
"Its not a problem" Taylor replied smiling slightly at Charlie "If I was to tell you whats on my mind, would you promise not to tell anyone else?"
"Of course, Anything you tell me that you didn't want anyone to know I wouldn't say anything. I promise" Charlie quickly and honestly replied
"What happened to Brooke was all my fault" Taylor stated when she saw the look on Charlies face she realised that must have sounded like an admission of guilt so she continued "I don't mean I attacked her or anything"
"Oh ok, you worried me then. So what do you mean?"
"She looks after everyone all day everyday and she still manages to workout, practice with the band and do all the housework and she never complains about it she just does it" Taylor explained looking at the ground in slight shame that she was being so self loathing when her sister was laying in a hospital bed then she thought about what Brooke would say if she was next to her, she smiled softly and continued "When I got sick I was so scared that I was gonna die that I stopped caring what I looked like or about my hygiene, But Brooke looked after me she got my clothes out every morning and when I didn't want to wash she did it for me. She never once gave up on me, and now the situation is reversed I can't even bear to stay in there for more than ten minutes now she's awake. I'm a rubbish sister"
"None of this is your fault and your not a rubbish sister" Charlie firmly answered
"Yes I am, she always looks after me and hugs me when I'm sad and she's always looking out for me. She would never walk out of a hosptial of I was in one"
"That doesn't mean your a rubbish sister or that any of this is your fault" Charlie again said when Taylor looked unconvinced she continued "All Brooke is doing is being a big sister...its part of the job...looking after you is her duty, the hugs doing your washing up and taking care of you is what being a big sister is about"
"What about nearly dying is that part of it as well" Taylor coldly replied
"If its needed then yeah"
"That's rubbish you shouldn't have to die to look after someone, if you really wanted to look after them you'd stay alive and well" Taylor angerily replied, Charlie completely understood her anger and was about to reply when a voice from them spoke
"That wasn't really an option though was it Tay?" Joey said as she slowly approached the bench Charlie and Joey were sitting on, she smiled softly at Charlie when Joey got closer to them Taylor slide over towards Charlie so Joey could sit down. Joey sat down next to Taylor and rested her left arm on the edge of the back of the bench. "Come on Taylor you can't really be blaming yourself for this can you?"
When Taylor nodded not saying a word, Joey sighed deeply she could see how conflicted Taylor seemed to be in herself "Charlie's right Taylor" She said, softly continuing she explained "Brooke loves you so much that she would give her life for you to continue yours, you know she'd kill for you if she had too."
"I know that but when I was sick she did so much for me, stuff that even as my sister she shouldn't have to do"
Taking a deep breath in Joey thought to herself when an idea of how to explain it came into her head "What about if it was Olivia, Lily or Seb?"
"What?" Taylor asked slightly confused on what they were talking about
"What if, Olivia, Lily or Seb were so sick that they could die in weeks. You can see them getting worse and worse everyday then one day the doctor tests you and says that if you have this operation and you donate you bone marrow it could save their lives. Even if it meant that there was a possibility that you could die, would you do it?"
Taylor paused for a second looking at Joey she honestly answered "Yeah, I'd do anything to protect them and make sure they were safe and healthy" When Joey smiled brightly at at her she questioned her "Why are you smiling like that?"
"Because you are so much like Brooke it's hard to believe, When you got sick she was really worried she'd lose you, I'm not meant to tell you but a couple times I found her alone in the studio crying"
"Crying? , why was she crying?"
"For all the reasons you just said, when you were in the first stages of chemo there was nothing anyone could do to help, We all had to sit back and hope that it worked but the worst part of that for Brooke was that she couldn't be the big sister she wanted to be there was nothing that she could do to make you better. And when she found out that you needed a bone marrow transplant she was the first person to be tested"
"But I thought she got tested because there were no other matches"
"That's what her me and Mel agreed to tell the family"
"And the truth?" Taylor asked hoping that Joey would tell her
"Are you sure you wanna know?" When Taylor nodded her head Joey continued, although she didn't notice Charlie was watching her intently "As soon as the doctor said about the Bone Marrow me and Brooke knew that she was most likely to be a match because you have the same mum and dad, so she got tested but they told her that all the medication she took would make it more dangerous for you that the would be a slight possibility you would develop the same illnesses as her, so she went into complete detox until all the medication was completely out of her system" When Taylor looked as if she was about to burst into tears Joey continued explaining "She knew what she was doing, and thats why she got sick after the bone marrow not because of the transplant itself but because her body needed the medication but hadn't got it...And before you even think about trying to blame yourself she knew exactly what she was doing that's why she told me and Mel so that if she got really ill we could step in and get her help. None of what happened was you fault Taylor, Brooke did exactly what any big sister in her position would do, She choose to save your life and the fact that she could have died was a risk she was more than happy to take"
The tears began to quickly flow down Taylors cheeks as they did she tucked her body into Joey's hugging her tightly as she finally let all the emotion she was feeling out, after a year she actually knew she wasn't to blame for anything that had happened. It felt like a weight had been lifted of her shoulders she didn't have to worry that Brooke secretly hated her, after everything that Joey had told she knew without doubt that Brooke loved her a lot more than she realised and she had to admit that felt really good to know.
None of them spoke, Joey just held on tightly to Taylor she was happy to be of help to the younger member of her family, she knew there something wrong but she had no idea that Taylor blamed herself and she could tell by Taylor's reaction that maybe she finally knew she wasn't to blame. As she held onto Taylor her eyes found Charlie's she smiled at her and motuhed 'Thank You' Charlie merely smiled back at her and placed her hand on top of Joey's which was still on the back edge of the bench they both felt the spark rush through them at the contact and neither of them moved their hand away.
After around twenty minutes of sitting as they were Taylor pulled out of the hug and sat up straight, wiping her face of all the tears she looked at Joey and softly asked "Can I see her?"
When Joey explained that no more visitors were aloud until tomorrow Taylor's face became filled with sadness again
"But I'm sure you could sneak past the nurses" Joey added sending Taylor a little wink, Taylor smiled at the comment and jumped up quickly before she left she leant down and gave Joey a peck on the cheek
"Thanks Jojo, your the best" As Taylor made her way past Charlie she stopped infront of her and happily said "Thank you Charlie, Jojo was right your really awesome" As she said that she happily walked off half skipping on every step. Although unknown to her the last statement she made had caused Joey to blush severly as Charlie looked at her seeking confirmation on weither or not Joey had really said she as awesome.
After a minutes silence, keeping her hand on top of Joey's Charlie looked around noticing that nobody was around but her and Joey she moved across the bench so she was right next to Joey, so much so their knees were touching, she softly asked Joey "Is that true?...You think I'm awesome"
Joey blushed slightly looking down at the ground she answered honestly "Yeah, but I said that a while ago" As she felt Charlie pull her hand away she looked up and continued "But you still are pretty awesome, everything you've done for me and my family since I got back. You've been a life saver literally" Charlie smiled brightly at Joey's comments, she took a deep breath in and decided that she needed to know what this thing between them was, were the friends or not or even maybe more...
Next Time:
*Charlie and Joey discuss their relationship...are they friends or more?
*Brooke and Taylor reconnect
*Frankee shows Mel her true colours...But How?