Chapter Ninety-Four

Charlie woke up exhausted. She blinked open her eyes and then quickly closed them as the events of the day before hit her hard. It felt like she hadn't slept at all. Turning over, she gazed at Joey who was still sleeping soundly. Grateful at least that it was the weekend, Charlie remained beneath the blankets. She reached out and tenderly stroked Joey's cheek. She smiled as the corner of Joey's mouth twitched and she moaned softly in her sleep. Leaning closer, Charlie placed a gentle kiss on Joey's forehead before slipping out of bed to make some coffee.


Ruby trudged into the living room in her pyjamas. She felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Sinking onto the sofa, she decided that she wasn't going to move all day. She wished she could remember when life had been simple but that world seemed so far away these days.


Joey began to stir when she heard the door close. Opening up her eyes, she smiled as she saw Charlie approaching the bed with two steaming mugs of coffee. Propping herself up against the pillows, she accepted the mug that Charlie gave her and watched her slip into bed beside her.

"Bad night?" Joey asked.

Charlie looked startled.

"You had nightmares," Joey reminded her.

The memories came flooding back and she quickly apologised.

"Hey," Joey said softly. "It's not like we haven't been in reversed roles."

Charlie nodded, although she still felt guilty. Joey put her coffee down and kissed her. Charlie also put her coffee down and they snuggled beneath the blankets together, holding each other close.


Geoff stopped when he saw Ruby sitting and looking forlorn on the couch. He smiled and came to sit beside her.

"How did you sleep?" he asked.

"Not so well," she admitted.

They had stayed up together until the early hours talking about Charlie and Grant. Still Ruby felt so confused and lost. She had no idea where to turn.

"Are you going to talk to Charlie?"

Ruby nodded. They definitely needed to talk things through.

"I just feel so torn," she said. "I don't want Charlie to be a liar but... I want her to be lying. I don't want to be the product of a rape."

"Ruby, who are you going to believe? Some guy you just met yesterday or the woman who..."

"Lied to me my whole life?" Ruby interjected.

Geoff sighed.

"I know she lied," he said. "But think about what she was going through..."

"If she was going through it," Ruby said. "Maybe she was just promiscuous or something. Maybe she just got into trouble and tried to cover it up."

"Do you think she's really capable of that?" Geoff asked.

"Who knows what she's capable of, Geoff?" Ruby sighed. "I feel like I don't even know her anymore."


Joey convinced Charlie to go for the walk that was cut short the day before. Hand in hand, they strolled across the beach together, taking in the warmth of the sun and the sound of the surf.

"How's work going?" Charlie asked.

She felt bad that she hadn't really given Joey the chance to talk about it.

"Yeah, it's good," Joey said. "I wanted to pop into the Diner today and talk to Irene. Explain yesterday and apologise and everything. And talk about when we might actually get out on the water."

Charlie smiled enthusiastically.

"That'd be good," she said. "I'm glad you found something you love so much."

"Me too!" Joey admitted with a grin.

Still smiling, Charlie dropped Joey's hand and slipped her arm around her waist. She could hardly imagine how she would have coped with everything had Joey not been with her. The unwavering love and support she offered was the thing that currently made Charlie's world go round.


At lunch time, Ruby had headed over to see Xavier. He'd called a couple of hours before and invited her round. Part of her had wanted to say no but she didn't want to disappoint him. He kept falling to the bottom of her priorities and it made her feel guilty. She was unhappily aware that she was attracted to Geoff but she loved Xavier, she'd lost her virginity to him. She owed him the chance for them to stay together. It was wrong to abandon him at the first hurdle.

"How come you weren't at school yesterday?" Xavier asked.

He'd been surprised not to see her and she hadn't answered his calls. Ruby sighed and leant her head back.

"I had a horrible day," she said, not really wanting to talk about it.

"What happened?"

"Just a bad day," she said. "Stuff with Charlie."

Xavier nodded and chewed his lip.

"Sorry," Ruby said. "I'm just not up to talking about it. I haven't stopped thinking about it all and I stayed up half the night telling Geoff all the gory details."

Xavier's face turned to thunder.

"Right now I just want to be happy and with you," she said, not noticing.

"You told Geoff everything?" he asked.

"Yeah, well, he just happened to be around and..."

She trailed off, knowing she'd made a terrible mistake.

"Why don't I ever happen to be the person that's around?"

"Well, I live with Geoff and..."

"Don't remind me!" Xavier snapped.

"Xave..."

"What are you even doing here?" he asked, getting to his feet.

Ruby stood up too.

"Why don't you go and spend the day with your beloved Geoff?"

"I want to be with you," Ruby insisted.

"Well, you sure as hell don't know how to act like it!"

"Fine!" Ruby said, losing her temper. "I'll get the hell out of your hair then!"

She stormed loudly out of the house. Xavier sank back onto the couch.

"What happened?" Hugo asked, appearing from his room.

"My life is falling to pieces," Xavier told him unhappily.


Charlie and Joey headed into the Diner. Charlie took a seat and perused the menu she already knew so well while Joey headed over to get Irene's attention. She apologetically explained that there had been an emergency and she was called away from work without warning.

"Oh," Irene said. "Geoff and Aden never said anything. But it doesn't matter."

Joey smiled with relief. She was also grateful to Aden and Geoff.

"It will matter in future though," Irene said cheerfully. "If you're ready for it, we're allowed to trade again on Monday."

Joey's eyes lit up.

"Really?" she said. "Awesome!"


Ruby hurried home feeling sorry for herself. Shutting herself in her room, she cried and punched her pillow. Why couldn't things ever go right with Xavier? Why did they always end up fighting? Why couldn't she get Geoff out of her head? And why did Charlie ever have to tell her the truth about her conception? She thought she would have quite happily lived believing Charlie was just her sister and that she had come into being through an act of love between her parents. She wished she'd never found out.


Xavier trudged along the beach. He slowed his pace when he saw Jai sitting on the sand and looking out to sea. Seating himself beside him, he gazed at the horizon.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Annie," Jai replied.

With Dexter having moved away, Jai had hoped that Annie might take him back. But she'd firmly stated that it wouldn't happen. He turned to look at his friend who looked as miserable as he did.

"Ruby?" he asked.

Xavier nodded and sighed.


The day had been pleasant enough. They hadn't run into Grant at all so Charlie was hopeful that he had returned to the city where he would stay. She had no idea how she would cope if he came back and started demanding some kind of parental rights. She kissed Joey goodnight and closed her eyes, hoping sleep would take over quickly. Every day felt so exhausting at the moment. No sooner did one end but another started.


In the city, Grant prepared for his second night on the couch. His wife hadn't yet convinced herself that he wasn't a rapist but he was working on her. They were protecting the kids from the situation as much as they could but his perfect life felt like it was going down the toilet. Sighing, he looked up at the dark ceiling. Thoughts of Charlie ran through his mind. He'd been so proud of himself for getting her into bed, even if force had been required. She had been a wonderful conquest. He'd had no idea at the time just how badly it would come back to haunt him.


Joey was lying on her back, fast asleep when she suddenly couldn't breathe. Pain shot through her throat. She opened her eyes and struggled for breath, ducking out of the way just in time so that Charlie's fist didn't catch her again. Charlie was asleep. She was crying and fighting with someone in her dreams. Her fist came down again. Still winded, Joey caught it and began to wake her up as gently as she could.

"What?" Charlie managed when she came to.

She looked blearily at Joey who was holding her throat with one hand and Charlie's hand with the other. She sat up.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

Joey studied her face. Compassion flooded her.

"You were having another nightmare," she said, opting not to mention the pain she was in.

"Sorry," Charlie said, feeling genuinely guilty.

Joey smiled and hugged her. She kissed the top of her head and they settled back down to sleep again.