Chapter Twenty

That night, Joey lay in bed alone. She and Charlie had agreed, without mentioning what had happened earlier, that it would be best if they slept apart. Joey didn't think she'd be having any nightmares anyway. It would require going to sleep to have bad dreams and she had too much on her mind to do that, she was sure. Every time she closed her eyes, she could feel Charlie's perfect lips pressing against hers, her tongue slipping into her mouth and it made her tingle. But then she saw Charlie's frightened eyes as she struggled to come to terms with what she had done and Joey felt terrible. She decided there and then that first thing tomorrow she would go and look for a job and a new place to live. Once more, she had screwed up. It was practically a talent, only it had never really mattered quite so much until now. Charlie was the best thing that had ever happened to her and now, while Charlie was still being friendly, it felt like she had lost her. Joey couldn't be around her anymore. She had to stay away, stand on her own two feet and move on. Charlie didn't need her around complicating and confusing her life. She was better off without the likes of Joey hanging around like a bad smell. Charlie was perfect and Joey was useless. She was a fool to have ever thought it could be any other way. Joey didn't bother to stop herself from crying. Her heart ached and she missed Charlie's presence beside her terribly.

***

"Are you alright?" Ruby asked.

Charlie was fidgeting and fretful and wearing on Ruby's last nerve.

"I'm fine," Charlie said tiredly.

"Why are you even in here?" Ruby wanted to know. "I thought you and Joey were sharing these days."

"We decided to see whether Joey could make it through the night by herself," Charlie lied.

She hadn't being able to stop thinking about that kiss, wondering how something so simple could have meant so much. It hadn't even lasted that long and yet it had been more sensual that anything she had ever shared with anyone in her past. The connection between her and Joey was unmistakable and it had been from the moment they met. She was well aware of what had occurred between them during that kiss today. It was love. But she had no idea what to do about it.

"Well, could you stop fidgeting?" Ruby asked. "You're disturbing me."

"Sorry."

"No wonder Joey doesn't have nightmares with you," her sister grumbled. "You probably never let her get any rest!"

Charlie ignored the comment and stared into the dark, attempting to keep still. It wasn't long before she heard the familiar sound of Joey crying out. She sighed and contemplated ignoring her. But she couldn't do it. She couldn't let Joey suffer all alone. Carefully, she eased herself out of bed and padded downstairs, letting herself into Joey's room. She slipped into the bed beside the frightened woman and held her close. In her sleep, Joey seemed to settle, accepting the comfort that Charlie provided. She wrapped her arms around Charlie and continued her slumber. Charlie rested against the pillows and closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to claim her as well.

***

In the morning, Joey was surprised to find Charlie in bed with her. She quickly figured out that she must have had a nightmare and instantly felt guilty. Things were going to be really hard when she moved out and had to survive by herself. She had come to depend on Charlie so much since she had rescued her that day at the Surf Club.

"Morning," Charlie said.

"Hi," Joey replied.

She pulled away from Charlie's warm body.

"Do you want the first shower?" she asked, sitting up and swinging her legs off the bed.

Charlie observed how broken Joey was and her heart went out to her. She wanted to fix things but she didn't know how.

"You can," she said brightly.

Joey nodded and grabbed her towel from the back of the chair, leaving Charlie alone in bed.

***

Charlie and Joey barely spoke over breakfast. Ruby looked from one to the other curiously. It was blindly obvious that something significant had happened between them. They were both behaving very strangely. It didn't seem like they'd had a fight though because neither of them were angry. They just seem sad, shy and awkward. Ruby suddenly decided that she'd figured out it. She swallowed the last of her orange juice, trying not to look triumphant. She had warned her sister that Joey had feelings for her but Charlie had totally dismissed her and insisted that it wasn't true. Ruby was convinced that Joey had told Charlie that she liked her or worse, made a pass at her and Charlie had been forced to reject her and now they were feeling awkward around each other. Ruby felt bad for them both and hoped it wouldn't wreck their friendship but she also liked being right, especially when it meant that Charlie was wrong.

***

Charlie was distracted at work. All she could think about was the kiss. Grabbing her lunch at the Diner, she bumped into Hugo and made polite conversation.

"So, Charlie, we never did go on that date, did we?"

"It wasn't a date," she reminded him.

He laughed.

"Okay, we never did go on that non-date, did we?" he said, rephrasing.

"No, we didn't," she agreed.

"So, would you like to? Maybe tonight?"

Charlie shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Hugo but you kind of made me swear off men for a while," she said.

She kept smiling to show that she was playing… mostly. He frowned, feeling disappointed.

"Are you sure I can't win you over?" he asked.

"Not just now," she replied.

She'd been tempted. A date with a guy might be exactly what she needed and Hugo did seem nice enough. Plus, after standing her up a few weeks ago, he owed her a meal and a few glasses of wine. But whether it would good for her or not, it wouldn't be good for Joey and that girl did not need any more hurt in her life. She smiled politely and headed past him towards the exit. Hugo called her back.

"Hey, Charlie, if you've sworn off guys, you're not suddenly into girls, are you?" he joked.

She tried and failed to laugh. That was far too close to the bone. Her smile looked more like a grimace, as if she had wind or something. She hurried to her car and started the engine, never having been quite so keen to get back to paperwork as she did right then.

***

Joey looked around her and checked that she had all her belongings. She'd spent the day cleaning the house to the best of her ability. It was her goodbye gift to Charlie, Ruby, Leah and VJ. Now she was packed and ready to move on. Taking a breath, Joey picked up her bags and left the house.