Sorry it's late, guys. My new meds made it impossible to wake up this morning but here is your next instalment. Enjoy! IJKS xxx

Chapter Seventy-Six

Rehearsal had been okay although Charlie was obviously distracted. Joey was relieved that nobody had criticised her. She didn't think Charlie could take it. Driving past the Surf Club, Charlie suddenly asked if Joey and Amber fancied stopping off for a drink. Joey readily agreed at the thought of spending social time with her girlfriend again. Charlie seemed to be running on autopilot and it made her sad and worried. Exiting the car and heading into the bar, they found seats in the corner. Charlie headed up to the bar with drinks orders and exchanged pleasantries with Alf.

"I wish I could say Aden was doing okay though," the Summer Bay stalwart commented.

Charlie turned to see her girlfriend's best mate slumped over the bar nursing what was obviously one in a long line of beers.

"Aden?" she said to him.

He slowly turned and glanced at her, his eyes unfocussed.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm just fine," he drawled drunkenly.

Charlie shot a look behind her at Joey who immediately realised what was happening and hurried over, putting her arm around Aden worriedly. Charlie moved closer to them.

"Aden, what's wrong?" Joey asked.

"My wife died," Aden snapped.

Joey sighed.

"You've drunk way too much," she said. "We need to get you home to sleep it off."

"No," he argued. "I don't want to go home! There's nothing for me at home!"

"Aden...."

"I don't want to go home, Jo," he insisted.

Charlie asked Alf for a glass of water and shot an apologetic look over at Amber.

"Well then drink this," Joey said when Alf handed the glass of water over. "And come over and sit with us instead of sitting alone."

He nodded slowly and accepted Joey's hand, stumbling off his stool and following Joey and Charlie to the corner table and mumbling a hello to Amber.

***

Ruby and Geoff drove at their leisure towards the other side of the city where Michelle lived. They were planning on stopping nearby the house and staying over in another B&B before they appeared at her door in the morning. Ruby was nervous. Michelle had been the person Charlie had turned to her in time of greatest pain. Michelle would know exactly how Charlie had been after giving birth to Ruby. She would know the depth of her depression. Ruby wasn't sure if she could face what Michelle might be able to tell her.

***

Charlie eyed Aden curiously. He was a slurring wreck. And she was absolutely certain that Angelo had bailed him out earlier. She wondered what had happened.

"Life is just shit, isn't it?" he rambled.

Amber shifted uncomfortably and Joey sighed, reaching out for Charlie's hand.

"I mean, look at you," he said to Charlie. "You spend your whole life looking out for your sister. You love her and care about her and then it all comes out that she's your daughter."

Amber's eyes nearly fell out of her head.

"And yeah, okay, you've been lying to her but you had your reasons. You went through this awful trauma. You were..."

"Aden..." Joey warned.

"Abused and hurt. And me and Jo know all about how that feels. We've been there."

"Aden, we really don't need to start talking about all this now," Joey warned, glancing at Amber who really didn't need to hear all their personal traumas.

"And then you finally tell the truth and she bails on you!" Aden continued, oblivious to his friend's warnings. "She ditches you and runs away and she doesn't even think about the way she's hurting you when really, all you tried to do was love her and give her the best start in life."

He took a deep breath and looked a little tearful.

"You did all that and she's not even grateful. And now, here you all, are sad and losing yourself in work and pushing Joey away."

"Aden!" Joey snapped, closing her eyes.

Charlie dropped her hand and picked up her drink.

"But you two will get through it because that's what you do. Until one of you gets sick and dies and leaves the other one all alone."

Joey pulled a face.

"All a fucking lone," Aden sighed.

Then he threw up all over the floor.

***

Ruby and Geoff lay side by side on the mattress of their little hotel room watching television.

"Do you and this Michelle get on well?" Geoff asked.

"I thought we did. But she's a big part of the lie so now I don't know how I feel about her," Ruby replied, staring at the screen in front of her.

"Rubes, there were two people in that situation who needed protecting – you and Charlie both."

Ruby sighed and closed her eyes.

"I know," she said. "I know that. Every time I think about thirteen year old Charlie, I just think... what the hell did she go through? How awful must it have been for her? I mean, when I was thirteen I was still watching cartoons. And she was pregnant. But then when I think about how awful it was, it makes me hate myself."

"Hate yourself?"

"I came from evil," Ruby said. "The whole time she was pregnant with me, she must have felt like there was poison inside her. And when I was born... she must have felt like I represented everything bad in her life. No wonder she couldn't love me. No wonder she couldn't be my Mum. How could she even bear to be my sister?"

***

"Okay, now you sit there and drink this big glass of water, okay?" Joey told Aden, hauling him onto the couch.

Amber had made a quick exit after the emptying of Aden's stomach, leaving Charlie and Joey to put their personal awkwardness aside and get him home. Charlie drove and Joey sat in the back with her friend, phoning Nicole on the way.

"I feel sick," Aden complained.

"I don't think there's any left!" Joey chuckled. "Alf had a lot of clearing up to do. And you are so lucky he let me and Charlie get away with mopping up because I would never ever have forgiven you for that!"

He looked immediately tearful. She hugged him and promised that she was joking. Charlie sat down beside them and then leapt up when there was a knock on the door. Pulling it open, she welcomed Nicole inside.

"What happened?" the blonde asked.

"He consumed a lot of beer," Charlie informed her.

"And then spewed it up all over the floor of the Surf Club," Joey added.

"Charming!" Nicole remarked.

"Would you be able to stay with him?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, sure."

"I don't need to be baby-sat," Aden protested.

"Sure you don't," Nicole and Joey replied in unison.

***

Angelo finally finished work. As soon as he got home he jumped into the shower to wash the day off him. Busting the abalone crew had been rewarding and had potentially provided a person with information about the human trafficking scam, which was the whole reason he was back in the Bay to start with. The guy, Gibsy, could potentially be willing to roll over on Hugo Austin. It was a long shot but it was something worth pursuing. And now that he had saved Aden from trouble, it was minimally possible that Charlie and Joey might be willing to ease up on him. Aden was their good friend and he had just been spared a heap of trouble that would have likely put him behind bars, considering he was still on a good behaviour bond after trying to kill his father. Charlie had definitely worked out what had happened, although she hadn't said anything. Yet. He still had hope.

***

"So, I've been shutting you out, hey?" Charlie said when she and Joey were safely in their bedroom and beginning to undress.

Joey chewed her lip and cursed Aden for ratting out her complaint.

"Well you haven't exactly been... open with me these last couple of days," she managed.

"I didn't think I was bad enough to warrant you bitching about me to your mate," Charlie snapped a little more angrily than she'd intended.

"I didn't bitch!" Joey protested. "I worried. There's a difference."

"Well, I'm fine, okay?" Charlie said, climbing beneath the sheets.

Joey came to lie beside her and sighed, unconvinced.

"I love you, Charlie," she said. "I just want to be useful and supportive. I don't want to let you down."

With tears in her eyes, Charlie pulled Joey closer so that their bodies were entwined. She kissed the top of her head.

"You've never let me down," she said. "It's me that causes chaos wherever I go."