Chapter Thirty-Six
Ruby waited up for Charlie and Joey. They came giggling through the door. It seemed like Charlie never stopped laughing these days, which was nice to see but it was also a little unnerving. She didn't think she had ever seen her sister so relaxed and calm before. But her joy was verging into the bliss of a new relationship and Ruby was determined to get the facts.
"Hey, Rubes!" Charlie greeted.
She bundled her sister into a hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"That's from Dad."
She kissed her other cheek.
"And that's from Morag."
Ruby couldn't help but be pleased.
"Did you have a good weekend?" she asked.
Charlie and Joey came to sit together on the sofa.
"It was great," Charlie enthused.
She forced herself not to look at Joey for fear for giving the game away.
"Joey took us to see Romeo and Juliet to see how the professionals do it. It was so much fun."
Joey couldn't stop smiling. She could never stop smiling when she was around Charlie.
"Are you two dating?" Ruby finally blurted out.
She stared at Charlie, demanding an answer. She was tired of playing guessing games. Both she and Joey watched Charlie's entire body tense.
"What? Of course we're not," Charlie lied.
She didn't need to look at Joey to know that she had visibly deflated. Ruby studied both of them. She didn't believe Charlie for a second.
"Then what's going on?" she asked.
"We're... we're best friends," Charlie said.
She looked away and caught a glimpse of Joey playing with her hands, seeming to want to do anything but hear this conversation. Charlie tore her gaze away from her and faced Ruby. She took a breath and cleared her throat.
"Okay, you're right," she said.
Ruby's eyes widened and Joey looked up sharply.
"I'm... I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
Ruby stood up, not quite prepared to have it all confirmed.
"You two are sleeping together?" she asked.
"It's not the way you're saying it," Charlie insisted. "We're in love."
Ruby scoffed.
"You're in love?" she asked.
"Yes."
Joey remained silent and watched the two siblings begin to tear chunks out of each other.
"How the hell can you be in love? You're not gay, Charlie. You've had enough men to prove that much!"
Charlie swallowed and clenched her jaw.
"Ruby, firstly don't you dare say something like that to me," Charlie warned. "And secondly, whether I'm gay or straight or bi or whatever isn't the issue here. It's irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that I'm with Joey and I love her."
"So, how long has this been going on?" Ruby demanded.
She glared at Joey who shrank back into the chair.
"A few weeks," Charlie said.
"You've been having sex with another girl for a few weeks?" Ruby shrieked, far too high pitched.
"No! We haven't been... We didn't leap into bed."
"Really? Because the set up in this house says different."
"We started sharing room because of Joey's nightmares. You know that."
"I don't know anything right now."
"We realised we had feelings for each other and we tried to stay just as friends but we couldn't. And not that it's any of your business, but we've been taking things slowly. We wanted to be sure that we were doing the right thing. I was frightened of my feelings."
"So you do realise that this isn't normal? I mean, being gay is fine. Except that you're not."
"I don't know what I am. All I know is how I feel about Joey."
Ruby sat back down and looked at Joey directly.
"So, how did you manage to seduce my heterosexual sister?" she asked.
"It... it wasn't... I didn't..." Joey faltered.
She looked at Charlie who took her hand. Ruby eyed the movement.
"She didn't seduce me," Charlie said. "It was a mutual thing. We just fell in love. It wasn't something we planned."
"So, now you two are in a relationship?" Ruby asked.
Charlie nodded.
"And I'm just supposed to accept that?"
"I really wish you could," Charlie said.
"I just... How do you suddenly decide you like girls?" Ruby asked.
"It's not about liking girls. It's about not having any control over who you fall for."
"Neither of us meant it to happen," Joey finally piped up.
"I'll... I just need to think, okay? Even though I've suspected for a while, it's still a shock. I need to... I need to go for a walk."
With that, Ruby upped and left.
