Chapter Thirty-Eight
Charlie and Joey escaped to their room as quickly as possible. Leah had been surprised but not judgemental about them dating each other. She even confessed that she had once told herself off for being silly when she found herself suspecting that there was more than friendship going on. She told them that as long as they were happy, it could only be a good thing and asked that the three of them could sit down together with VJ at some point and explain it to him so that he didn't start wondering or catch them together and get confused.
"That was surprisingly painless," Charlie realised.
Joey watched her remove her t-shirt and immediately lost the thread of the conversation. All she could see was Charlie's toned torso and perfect breasts. She was immediately fascinated. Charlie caught her grinning and stepped into her arms. Joey ran her fingers up and down Charlie's back, exhilarated by the feel of her skin. She buried her face in Charlie's neck, kissing her. Charlie stretched out her neck to receive her kisses. She dreamily imagined a life of just doing this with Joey. She thought she could exist perfectly happily that way. Sitting down on the end of the bed, Charlie pulled Joey down with her and within moments, Joey was laying atop her, tracing her kisses towards Charlie's chest. Charlie relaxed into her touch, allowing herself to be putty in Joey's hand. She felt better now that Ruby and Leah knew about them. It made her feel good to be honest rather than keep sneaking around. The weekend had been truly life changing for her. Finally, after approaching so tentatively and with so much caution, she had given in to what she really wanted and made love to Joey – several times. And it had been every bit as amazing as she had dreamed it would be. Now to have come home and admitted the truth, to have revealed exactly how special Joey was in her life, felt like exactly the right thing to have done, as scary as it had been. Joey lifted her mouth from Charlie's body and crept back up to gaze into her eyes.
"You're happy that we told them?" she checked.
"I'm ecstatic," Charlie confirmed, kissing her again.
***
The women woke reluctantly the next morning, glad that neither of them had to work. In their new found joy and liberation, they just wanted to stay in bed and be close to each other. The world could wait. They greeted each other with a kiss. Charlie let her mouth move along Joey's jaw, down her neck and towards her collarbone. Rolling on top of her, she let her hands wander, gliding over her body and finding each place that that excited them both the most.
"Let's stay in bed all day," Joey moaned as she felt Charlie gently caress her breasts.
"We may need to get up for lunch or something," Charlie murmured, replacing her fingers with her mouth.
All thoughts of food flew out of both of their minds.
***
Two hours later, Charlie and Joey were curled up in each other's arms and they had been for a little while. Joey trailed her fingertips up and down Charlie's body beneath the blanket. Charlie's skin tingled at the touch and she moved in for a kiss. Everything with Joey was so romantic and sensual. It was the most intimate, emotional and amazing sex she had ever had. She felt like she finally knew the different between sex and love. Being with Joey was different but for the first time, Charlie realised it wasn't because she was a woman; it was because they were soul mates. All she could hope for now that she wouldn't panic and run away like she normally did. She didn't want to go into 'arrest mode', as Ruby referred to it. She hoped that she wouldn't mess it up. Joey's heart was so fragile and her love was so pure. Charlie felt honoured and frightened to be in receipt of it. She just hoped that she could treat it with the care that it deserved. Joey seemed to have this illusion that Charlie was perfect. Charlie just hoed that one day she would be good enough for her. As far as she was concerned, Joey was the perfect one.
***
That afternoon, Joey and Charlie finally emerged from the bedroom, dressed and hungry for dinner. Leah and VJ were in the kitchen.
"Nice of you to show your faces!" Leah joked.
Joey grinned and Charlie blushed.
"What have you been doing?" VJ asked innocently.
All three women exchanged glances.
"Watching DVD's," Joey told him with a nod of her head.
Leah smirked and carried on cooking.
"There's enough for you guys if you want some," she offered.
"Thanks," Charlie said, sitting and pulling Joey down next to her.
***
"So, maybe we can all talk now?" Leah asked the girls.
Charlie and Joey nodded and turned to VJ.
"Veej," Joey began. "You know how people fall in love and there are boyfriends and girlfriends?"
VJ nodded, listening intently.
"Well, the thing is, sometimes girls can fall in love with girls and boys can fall in love with boys."
VJ nodded again, unfazed.
"And Charlie and I have fallen in love with each other."
He smiled brightly.
"I know."
Charlie, Joey and Leah exchanged surprised glances.
"What do you mean you know?" Leah asked her son.
"Well, you spend even more time together than bestest friends," he said. "And you smile at each other like Mum and Dan did and they loved each other."
Charlie couldn't help but giggle. Coming out to VJ was meant to be a big deal and yet he'd known for a while and accepted it easily. Leah was impressed by his maturity.
"I like you being together," VJ continued.
"You do?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah because before Joey, you weren't very happy."
Charlie blushed.
"And when you had boyfriends you were really, really unhappy. But now you don't stop smiling."
Charlie beamed and continued to blush. Joey reached for her hand, thrilled to be recognised as someone who made Charlie happy.
