Chapter Twenty Four -Eight Months Later
It was Monday 15th September 2013 Eight months to the day since Brooke had been attacked and paralysed, after Six and a half months of physio everyday as well as her overworking herself to get back to how she once was, She wasn't back to 100% but she was finally walking around unaided and was back at home although she was sleeping on the couch most of the time as it was too painful for her to go up and down the stairs all the time. Although she was getting back to top fistness she wasn't back rehearsing with the band partly due to the fact that she was far enough in her recovery to cope with doing all the dance routines Carl had planned for them, but it was also due to the fact that six months into the recovery Mel had been on the way back to the house after visting Brooke and upon arriving at the house was attacked and sexually assualted by someone who she was never able to identify, she had done everything right and called the police but instead of following through with the case she told Charlie she didn't want to press on with the case as she didn't want to be a victim even though the evidence proved she was forced to have sex against her will she didn't want people knowing and being sympathic towards her even though people had told her thats not what people would think she refused to change her mind.
In the Eight months that had passed Brooke and Georgia had gotten closer and closer, having revealed to everyone that the police station hadn't been the first time they had meet all and that they had actually meet at a gay bar in the city a few weeks before and had been chatting since then, they had been dating for about seven months when they suddenly broke up much to everyone's confusion, Joey had tried to ask Brooke what happened but she always refused to say anything more than 'It's in the past so it doesnt matter' , but Brooke being Brooke she didn't dweal on whatever it was that had happened and instead every chance she had she was hitting the city going to all the gay bars there was, every night she did go she would get recognised by someone who knew her story and that she was in Fifth Element and all of them seemed very keen to make sure they showed her their support, although she wasn't complaining that their support came in the form of a very long night of sex and drinking.
It was about 10am Joey was in the kitchen cooking herself some breakfast when Brooke walked in she headed straight for the fridge getting a carton of orange juice out then walking over to the cupboard where all the medication was kept, getting her morning dosage out of each bottle and into her hand she took the top of the carton, predicting what Brooke was going to do Joey took the carton out of Brooke's hand walking over to the glasses cupboard get a glass out she poured the orange into it, then passed it back to Brooke,
"Thanks Jojo" Brooke replied placing the pills in her mouth then taking a swig of the Orange Joey had handed her
"Your welcome" Joey replied looking when she noticed Brooke grimace she asked "How's your head?"
"Banging like a sailor on shore leave's"
"That bad"
"Yeah, nothing a few paracetmal won't cure" Brooke replied smiling then making her way to the breadbin opening it and finding nothing "We got any wholemeal bread?"
"No I used the last two slices, Mel's gone to the shop to pick some up along with some more juice and a few bits she should be back any minute"
"Sweet" Walking over to the table and sitting down resting her head on the table, she looked up a few minutes later when Joey place a cup of tea on the table with two paracetemals, she smiled at her thanking her as she walked back to her breakfast. As she took a sip of the drink taking the pills at the same time, once she had swallowed the pills she looked over at Joey and asked "How's the court prep going?"
Joey smiled picking up her tea and Bacon sandwich and walking back over to the table this time joining Brooke at the table "It's going really well, Charlie's been really amazing making sure that I know every little thing"
"Any news on the actual Court date?"
"Nope, but they said I'll probably only be needed on the final day just to give my account of events"
"What about the scum? Has he finally changed his plea?" She asked her face filling with anger at the thought of Robbo and everything he had done to her baby cousin
"Nope he still says I wanted it"
"I can't believe that he still isn't man enough to admit what he did to you, I tell you what that twat deserves to be castrated for what he did to you" Brooke replied Joey knew she was serious from the look on her face.
"Yeah he does but your not going to do anything are you Brooke?" Looking Brooke dead in the eyes making sure she knew what she was referring too
"No I'm not a promise is a promise" Brooke paused for a second noticing that someone wasn't there she asked "So how's your lover then?"
"She's fine thanks, How was your night out yesterday?" Joey asked quickly changing the subject
"It was ok, same as usual"
"It can't have been that great you didn't bring anyone home"
"Like I said it was ok" Brooke replied shying away from the subject knowing Joey's reaction if she found out who she had slept with last night even she couldn't believe it
"So you didn't get lucky at all last night?" Joey said raising her eyebrow and smiling in amusement when Brooke stop herself sipping her tea holding the cup at her lips to answer
"Ok you really wanna know"
"Yes, thats the whole point of me asking"
"Alright smart ass, the only people I spent time talking to last night was Mel and Charlie" Brooke sipping her tea smirking afterwards when she saw the look on Joey's face at the mention of Charlie's name "Not so nosey now are we?"
"So did you and Charlie you know?" Joey asked suddenly very nervous and jealous at the thought of Charlie and Brooke
"No, I wouldn't do that to you" Brooke honestly replied getting up out of her seat she walked over to Joey's chair and continued "She's not going to wait for you forever Jojo, Do the smart thing and dump Frankee while Charlie's still willing to wait for you" As she went to walk out of the kitchen she looked back at Joey who know looked really worried, she hadn't told Brooke anything about her and Charlie and to her knowledge neither had Charlie. Brooke walked back to Joey and bent down whispering into her ear "No she didn't tell me, I can read you like a book Jojo I've known since day one" With that Brooke walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs into her room each step was painful but not as painful as the banging that was going on in her head at the moment she still couldn't believe what she had done last night or to be more accurate what she had done last night.
Charlie's office (Yabbie Creek Police Station)
In the last Eight months both and Charlie and Georgia had recieved promotions, Georgia had been promoted to Senior Constable and Charlie had been promoted to Sergant, when she had recieved the news about her promotion the first thing she wanted to do was call Joey but she couldn't because she knew Frankee didn't let her out of her sight and she would have asked why Joey was talking to Charlie for no apparent reason. Georgia on the other hand had called Brooke up straight away telling her the good news about her promotion as well as asking her to tell Joey about Charlie's knowing that she couldn't tell Joey herself.
Charlie was sat at her desk staring at the letter she had just recieved about Robert Cruze's upcoming court case they had finally arranged a date and in addition she was being called to give evidence on behalf of Joey, she kept nervously looking from the letter her phone debating weither or not to call Joey and tell her she was brought out out of her thoughts when Georgia Watson entered the room.
"Morning boss" She smiled at Charlie sitting down at her desk in the office
"Morning Georgie" Charlie replied not taking her eyes away from the paper infront of her
"What's that your reading?"
"Joey's court date" Charlie replied sighing softly
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No it's great, Joey is finally gonna get the justice she deserved" Charlie paused stopping herself from saying what she was going to
"But?" Georgia asked sensing that Charlie was holding back something, she got up closing the office door so nobody could hear them speaking "I'm asking as a friend Charlie not a collegue"
"They want me to give evidence against Robbo"
"And you don't want to?"
"I do I wanna do everything I can to help Joey get the justice she deserves"
"Then whats the problem?" Georgia asked slightly confused about why Charlie was in two minds
"They want me to deny my relationship with her, they want me to say we were only ever friends and basically deny everything that I feel for her"
"But you can't do that?"
"I don't think I can, I love her I can't stop it or pretend that I don't because I promised myself I would never deny my feelings for her because what she makes me feel is so special"
"Charlie, In this case I think that maybe their right, it would only hurt her case if they thought you and her were in a relationship. If you admit it then Robbo's lawyer can claim that your only going after him because he slept with the woman you love and that this Rape and attempted murder charge are all just revenge against him"
"How can that even be possible he was caught red handed trying to kill Joey"
"I know that but the fact of the matter is that you were the first person to see Joey after that. they could easily claim that she was concious and was in perfect health when Robbo had her"
"That's crazy Georgia, he tried to kill her" Charlie replied her voice slightly higher as the anger boiled inside as she relive images of Joey in the bath when she found her
"I know that Charlie" Sensing Charlie's anger she merely said "Look ultimately this is your decision but all I'm saying is weigh up all your options and they possible outcomes before you decide, maybe even talk to Joey and asked what she thinks"
"Thanks Georgie"
"Your welcome" Georgia replied sitting back down at her desk and turning her attention to her paperwork, she logged onto her computer and began writing out her notes for the cases that needed to be completed and signed off as closed. She was distracted from the computer when her phone vibrated in her pocket she pulled it out ready the message :
Hey Baby, we still ok for dinner tonight xxCxx
She smiled brightly at the message and replied to it quickly : Hey sexy, sounds perfect xxGxx
As she finished the righting the message she placed her phone back in her pocket turning her attention back to the computer she couldn't help but smile birghtly as thoughts of the possible things that could happen tonight flashed in her head.
Unknown to her, her actions hadn't gone unnoticed by Charlie who was looking at her in complete intrest her. Georgia was usually very focused at work she normally made sure nobody contacted her while she was working either that or she didn't answer the messages or calls until she was on a break. Seeing as she couldn't consintrate on her paperwork with Joey's court case and she she should do running around and around in her mind she asked Georgia; "Do you fancy going for some fresh air and some breakfast?"
Georgia looked away from her computer towards Charlie, thinking for a second she looked again from her computer to her paperwork then replied "That'd be great, I'm not in the right frame of mind for paperwork" As she said that Charlie smiled at her as she watched her pick up her keys then the both of them picking up their radio's from charge, along with their firearms and handcuffs along with anything else they could possibly need. They both walked out of the office and then out of the station getting into their patrol car and driving in the direction of the diner.
Driveway (Brooke's House)
Mel walked up the driveway a bunch of shopping in her hands, as she walked up the driveway she went to get her keys out of her pocket when she heard a car coming up behind her turning around she sighed when she noticed it was Frankee driving her ford focus, as she got closer to the door Frankee bibbed the horn at her laughing as she pulled up the car and got out locking it behind her.
Frankee ran from her car to the door where Mel was now standing about to open the door, Mel continued to ignore Frankee she was never in the mood for Frankee lately, all she seemed to be doing was trying to get her into bed and this time there was no way she was falling for it, not only was Brooke starting to talk to her like she normally did but her and Joey were getting on really well everything seemed to be like before. Even the occasional snide comments from Taylor -even though she loved Mel she was a teenager and at times would say things just to get Mel to leave her alone- had stopped. Along with the fact that she was finally started to feel normal after the sexual assault six weeks ago, it was hard being in the house knowing the exact spot that it happened was something she had to wake up and look at every single day, part of her wanted to move out but she had made a promise to Taylor that she would stay and look after them all, the other part of her knew that if she moved out she would miss Brooke and the kids too much, and seeing Brooke everyday and knowing she was in the house made her feel better safer even.
As Mel got the key into the lock Frankee attempted to take the bag out of her hands, Mel stopped what she was doing and turned around looking at Frankee and firmly stating "I can manage" Frankee stopped her attempts just looking at Mel in shock, Mel then turned the key in the door opening it and walking through it, then walking through the frontroom then into the kitchen.
As Mel entered the kitchen she noticed Joey sitting down just finishing off her breakfast, smiling at her she walked over to the counter near the fridge and placed the bags on the counters then beginning to unpack them, she turned around seeing Joey placing her plate in the dishwasher then walking over to her as joey reached her she politely asked her "Do you need any help unpacking Mel?"
Mel smiled at her brightly before replying "No I'll be ok thanks, anyway you've got a vistor" Just as Mel said that Frankee came striding into the kitchen walking over to Joey she placed a kiss on Joey's cheek "Morning Frankee"
"Morning Babe, how are you this morning?" Giving Joey a gentle smile as she asked
"I'm fine thanks, how about you?"
"I'm great now I've seen you" Pausing she gently grabbed Joey's hand pulling her in the direction of the front room, once they were in there in she said "I'm really sorry about last ngiht I didn't mean to shout at you like that, I was just worried about you thats all" Giving Joey her best 'I'm sorry forgive me' look
"It's fine, I'm sorry I didn't call you to let you know I was staying here and that I was safe" Joey replied, she wanted to stay angry at Frankee but she felt guilty about the real reason she didn't wanna spend time with Frankee, as Frankee broke into a massive smile she pulled Joey into a hug, they pulled apart as Mel went past them.
Pulling out of the hug Frankee turned in the direction Mel was going almost shouting "Where are you dissapearing to?"
Mel stopped in her tracks gritting her teeth Frankee was beginning to piss her off more and more everytime they spent time in the same room, forcing a smile onto her face she turned around she replied "I'm just going to ask Brooke if she wants anything to eat"
"How do you know she hasn't eaten anything yet?" Frankee answered trying to be a smart ass
"Because the only thing she can stomach first thing in the morning is Wholemeal Toast and eggs, and until I unpacked them just now there weren't any in the house"
"How do you know that?"
"Me and Brooke were together for ten years, I think I've mastered the art of knowing what she does in the morning, I mean we spent enough of them together in bed" Mel replied turning around and walking up the stairs and into Brooke's room, smiling brightly she knew that her comment would upset Frankee and she was glad. Knocking on the bedroom door she entered when there was no reply, as she entered she found Brooke laying on the bed listening to her ipod her eyes closed and her hands and feet moving to the beat of the song, she gently tapped her on the arm causing Brooke to slowly open her eyes and look at Mel, the nerves clear on both of their faces "Morning" Mel simply said
"Morning, How's your head?"
"About as good as yours"
"That bad huh" Brooke replied they both giggled softly at the comment "Look about last night?"
"I know it was the drink, we're not back together just because we had a chat and ended up kissing"
"How did you know I was gonna say that?"
"Brooke I've loved you since I was sixteen, I know how you think even if we're not together that doesn't change the fact that I know you, just like you know me"
"I suppose that's true" Brooke paused for a second then asked "If that's not why you came up here, then what can I help you with?"
"I was just about to cook myself some breakfast and I wondered if you wanted something to eat?"
"Yeah that'd be great thanks" She replied smiling at Mel brightly, who then turned towards the door as she reached it she stopped turning to Brooke she said,
"I'll call you when it's ready" Brooke thanked her then she walked through the door downstairs and into the kitchen beginnning to cook Brooke and her own breakfast
Back in her room Brooke was laying on her bed mentally having a go at herself 'your an idiot how could you let her in again' as she continued to beat herself up at the same time she was glad her and Mel had slept together although she hated to admit it Mel was the only woman who ever pleased her sexually, she had always been a great lover and after last night she knew that hadn't changed at all. As she got lost in her thoughts she began thinking about the old times between her and Mel when all of a sudden a song popped into her head, its was Brian McFadden-Like only a woman can, finding the song on her ipod she pressed the play button... As she listened to the song images of Mel span through her mind, from when they meet at school to when they got married along with images from moments inbetween she couldn't help but smile at the images in her mind, she missed Mel most of the time but lately it was worse and she knew it was because Mel was being more than helpful to her and as a result she saw her as the old Mel, and she knew that she was still deeply in love with Mel she'd known for the last month or so since Mel had been attacked when she had found out it was like someone had punched her in the heart, although she accepted it she didn't know weither it was a good thing or a bad thing, but the more the thought about their conversation last night the more she felt that it was a good thing.
As the song finished she heard Mel shouting up that her breakfast was ready, as she got off the bed she paused feeling a tingling sensation shoot up and down her left leg, she stood still for a second waiting for the feeling to go away, after a minute or so it was gone she walked out of her room closing her door firmly behind her walking downstairs into the kicthen. As she walked downstairs she could see Mel in the kitchen dancing around to the radio while she was serving up something to eat for them both, she smiled brightly walking nervously into the kitche she turned her head slightly to the right and was slightly disturbed to see Joey and Frankee playing tonsil tennis from what it looked like, "Do you two seriously have to do that in here, I'm about to eat?" She said in disgust she hated seeing Frankee with her hands all over her baby cousin she and everyone else including Frankee knew that Joey deserved better than Frankee. As the two broke the kiss Joey looked over in Brooke's direction softly saying "Sorry Brooke" with that her and Frankee almost ran out of the kitchen then up the stairs, the next thing Brooke and Mel heard was a door shutting.
"I'm so glad the kids are at school" Mel softly said looking over at Brooke smiling softly when Brooke laughed at the joke
"Yeah, me too" Brooke replied sitting down at the table as she saw Mel finish serving up the breakfast. As she watched Mel she once again became focused completely on Mel's every move, the same thing had happened to her a couple times last night when they were talking. She was so focused on Mel's body movements that she didn't see her place two glasses of orange juice on the table then walk back to the counter-top and pick up the two plates of wholemeal toast, Poached Egg and beans she had prepared for the both of them, carrying them over to the table placing one in front of her seat and the other in front of Brooke, as Mel sat down opposite her she looked at Brooke and asked;
"Are you ok?" As she finished her sentence Brooke snapped out of her trance and replied,
"Yeah, sorry I zoned out then" Looking at the food and drink infront of her she smiled at Mel softly saying "Thanks"
"Your welcome" Mel instantly replied, she couldn't help but smile at how polite Brooke was being to her, the last few days between them had been different, they had been made to work together on a song for the new album by Carl upon sitting down with each other she had realised that the spark that they shared for more than ten years was very much still alive between them, although she was happy about it she didn't know if Brooke had felt it as well and even if she had there was nothing suggesting that Brooke would ever give her another chance. As she got lost in her thoughts of the past few days she ate her food occasionally looking at Brooke, on a couple of occasions she noticed Brooke looking at her just smiling which caused her to blush and return to her food hoping Brooke hadn't noticed.
After about twenty minutes they had both finished their food and their plates were empty Mel stood up collecting both the plates walking over to the dishwasher and placing them both inside the machine to be washed and cleaned, as she returned to the table noticing Brooke's glass of juice was empty as she went to pick it up Brooke placed her hand onto of Mel's preventing her from picking it up looking Mel in the eyes she said "Can we talk about this please?"
Mel looked her in the eyes not knowing if she would want to hear what Brooke wanted to say she replied "There's nothing to talk about is there, we kissed thats that" Mel said weakly trying to remove her hand from Brooke's again.
"Mel please, I know this is bothering you as much as it is me" Brooke honestly replied standing up and taking Mel's hands in her own "I was wrong about last night, and we both know why" Mel looked into Brooke's eyes "This connection we have hasn't disappeared, I can't be the only one that noticed it" When Brooke explained when Mel didn't reply she let go of Mel hands, feeling suddenly embarrased as she went to talk out of the room she was stopped when Mel said;
"Your not" Turning around to see Brooke turning around to look at her she continued "I noticed a couple days ago when we were praticing Queen of my heart/I wanna be the only one, I'm guessing that's when you noticed as well" When Brooke smiled and nodded she went on "I didn't know what to do, then last night we talked properly for the first time in a long time, then you kissed me and it was amazing but I thought that what you said this morning was what you wanted, that even though you knew you still couldn't forgive me" Mel said a tear falling down her cheek unexpectedly, before she could react to it Brooke moved forward reaching up and wiping the tear away "I know that I brought this all on myself, and because of that I have to accept that we may never be together again" Mel whole heartedly explained, the last six months had made her realise just how much she loved Brooke and how empty she felt without her, but instead of trying to win her back she just accepted that having Brooke in her life was better than not having her in it at all. She knew there was a chance that Brooke would never forgive her and that was one hundred percent her fault.
"Mel, I forgive you" Brooke honestly replied looking Mel in the eyes "I know that what you did although it was wrong it was in theory for the best reason" When Mel looked at her in disbelief she continued "You loved me so much that losing me was unthinkable for you, so you did what was the only option at the time. And if I'm being honest yeah it would have been miles better if it wasn't Frankee you cheated with but she took advantage of you, I'm not saying your innocent in this because we both know you were far from that, but what I'm saying is if you promise me hand on heart and swear on my life no our life together that you will NEVER betray me again then I can move on from this"
"And if I promise then we're back together...forever?, no snide comments or suspecting me"Mel asked not sure she had heard Brooke clearly
"Yeah, all I need to hear is you promise you'll NEVER make me feel that again" Brooke replied smiling brightly at Mel who was also smiling like she had won the lottery or a Grammy award
"I think I can do that" Mel replied taking hold of Brooke's hands and beginning to speak "I Melaine Carter promise that I will never, NEVER, cheat on you, Brooke Carter, again or intenstionally make you sad for as long as I live" She completed, as she finished Brooke smiled at her pulling Mel closer to her, they hugged for minutes on end until they both pulled back both wanting to seal the deal with a kiss, as their lips got closer and closer