Well, in Big Brother, Ife went. Or, more importantly, Corin didn't go. But I've been sick with migraine for the last couple of days so your extra update is a bit delayed. I'll update Beyond Reason after this so I hope you enjoy both. Love, IJKS xx

Chapter One Hundred and Eight

Joey was trembling as she stepped down from the stand, having given her evidence against Robbo. It had been an exceptionally long day already and it was only the first day of what looked like would be a week's trial. Morag couldn't have been better. She'd arranged for Joey to give evidence via a screen so that she didn't have to see Robbo if she didn't want to. And she definitely didn't want to. It hadn't been easy. She'd given her evidence to Morag, which had been hard enough, but the cross examination from Robbo's lawyer had been soul destroying as he tried to make her out to be a liar. Still, she hoped he hadn't succeeded. She felt like she had held her own for at least the most part. Swallowing uncertainly, she wished Charlie could have been with her.


But Charlie was impatiently waiting in the corridor. She wasn't allowed into the court or the satellite room until she had also testified. She looked up when she heard a door creak open and smiled in relief when Joey appeared. They launched themselves into each other's arms and held on tight.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked worriedly.

Joey nodded but felt tears in her eyes beginning all over again. She clung on tightly and kissed her cheek.

"You did very well, Joey."

They pulled apart to find Morag approaching them. Joey smiled.

"Do you think so?" she asked timidly.

Morag nodded.

"You should be proud," Morag said.


By the end of the day, Charlie was giving evidence. In her uniform, Charlie had taken the stand inside the court. She'd looked at Robbo a few times as she gave evidence in graphic detail about the state Joey had been in when she'd first approached her and then about how Robbo had tried to kill her. The defence had, of course, honed in on her relationship with Joey.

"So, this rape victim threw herself into a sexual relationship with you fairly immediately, did she?" the lawyer asked.

Robbo looked smug. Morag looked unhappy but remained quiet.

"It took time for it to become a sexual relationship," Charlie said calmly. "She was so broken by what had happened. We took things very slowly."

"How long?"

"Sorry?"

"How long?"

"Weeks? Months?"

"Months," Charlie said. "I don't know an exact number. Just that we took things very slowly."

She watched the lawyer examine his notes, obviously trying to catch her out. Finally, he headed back to the bench with no further questions.


It was Wednesday night. The jury had deliberated for all of half an hour right at the end of the day before coming back with a guilty verdict. Robbo had been convicted of rape and attempted murder and would be spending the next fifteen years in prison. Charlie and Joey had gone for subdued celebratory drinks with Ross, Morag, Ruby, Leah, Aden and Nicole. It had been nice, although Joey had been physically and emotionally exhausted and eagerly gone home to curl up into bed with Charlie. They held each other close and fell asleep in each other's arms.


On Saturday, Charlie and Joey were in the car. They'd expected the trial to take longer so they'd had two nice days off together where they had talked about pretty much everything, even things they'd struggled to talk about all this time.

"Are you sure you don't mind doing this, Joey?" Charlie asked.

She pulled up outside a house on a quiet street. Joey reached across and held her hand. She lifted it to her lips and kissed it.

"Of course I don't mind," she said. "I've got my book!"

Charlie smiled gratefully. This morning was her first session with her counsellor and she was terribly nervous about it. Joey had offered to sit and wait for her in the car until she was done so that she had the person she loved, waiting for her when she finished. Michael had agreed to see her on a Saturday to fit in with Charlie's schedule. He saw his clients in his home so he said it wasn't a problem.

"Okay," Charlie said. "Thank you so much. I'm really grateful."

"I know," Joey replied affectionately.

Charlie kissed her goodbye, took a deep breath and climbed out of the car. Joey picked up her book and watched her girlfriend head into the house and knock on the door. She couldn't help but think that Charlie was very brave to be facing her fears. And she was touched that she was willing to do it for Joey's sake as much as anything else.


Charlie took a deep breath and sat on the couch as Michael sat opposite her and explained about confidentiality and he's commitment to her.

"So, Charlie," he said. "Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

"Um, well, I'm twenty-nine years-old... I'm a Senior Constable in the police force. I have a girlfriend called Joey. We've been together for six months now. Um... I have a teenage daughter. Her name's Ruby."

Michael nodded and made a few notes.

"And what brings you here today, Charlie?"

Charlie swallowed. She wondered if Joey was alright in the car.

"Well, I guess... I'm not having such a good time right now. I... well, I..."

She took a deep breath.

"When I was a teenager, I was raped," she said, not looking at him. "And that's how I ended up with my daughter. It's all a bit complicated but... the guy, the person who raped me... he's back and I... I'm not coping very well."


Just over an hour later, Joey looked up to see a slightly less anxious Charlie walking towards her. She closed her book and waited for her to get into the car.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"It was really good actually," Charlie said.

"Good!" said Joey. "I told you it wouldn't be so bad. Shall we go and get breakfast?"

Charlie eyed her curiously. She'd half expected Joey to demand to know what had been said. Reading her expression, Joey smiled.

"You can tell me as much or as little as you want, Charlie," she said. "I'm not going to put pressure on you. This is your thing... it's private."

Charlie leant over and kissed her before putting her seatbelt on and starting the engine.

"Let's get a take away breakfast from the Diner and go and sit on the beach and talk," she suggested.


Monday rolled around and neither Charlie nor Joey were happy about it. They'd enjoyed their weekend together and had spent a fair amount of time with Ruby who had finally moved back in. After Charlie's counselling session, she'd taken Joey to the beach and told her all about it. She'd shared with Michael everything in her heart about Ruby, Grant and Joey. She'd told him about Angelo threatening to tell about what Charlie had done, although nothing had actually come from that yet. He'd stayed quiet so far and Charlie hadn't been questioned about it. She hadn't approached Angelo but she'd caught him looking sadly at her a few times. She wondered how long it would take for him to make yet another big apology. Grant had not been back and Charlie's nightmares had stopped. Joey's bruises had faded and both of them had forgotten about their argument a few days before.


Back at work that day, Joey stood at the door that led below deck. She took a deep breath, knowing she couldn't avoid going down there forever. She worried that Aden had cottoned onto her fear and she didn't want Robbo to continue to have any kind of hold on her. It had been over six months and she was happy now. She was in love and enjoying her life again. She was enjoying it even more than she ever had before. This felt like the last hurdle to get over. She put one step forward and then lost her nerve. She hurried away as quickly as she could, not noticing that Aden and Geoff had been watching everything.

"What's the problem?" Geoff asked Aden quietly.

Aden shoved his hands in his pockets and sighed.

"That was where she was... you know."

"Oh!" Geoff said. "I didn't realise."

Aden headed over to Joey to try and talk to her. This had gone on long enough. His friend needed help and he felt it was his responsibility to do it.

"Hey, Jo?" Aden said.

Joey jumped in fright and turned around.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, you just frightened me," she said. "I didn't hear you come up."

"I mean are you okay in general?" he said, feeling awkward.

"Yeah, I'm good," Joey said. "Charlie, Ruby and I had an awesome weekend actually. That plus the verdict, life is pretty good."

"Jo, you never go below deck," Aden finally blurted out.

Joey looked startled. She swallowed and turned away.

"I haven't needed to go down there," she said.

"Yes, you have," he argued, stepping a little closer. "You've needed to go down there loads but you've always made me or Geoff do it. Joey, you need to..."

"What?" Joey suddenly shouted, turning to glare at him. "What do I have to do, Aden? Tell me! Then tell me you'd go anywhere that your grandfather abused you."

Aden froze for a moment. He remembered being back in the house with his Dad that time. He hadn't been able to go near his room. It was too frightening. It brought back too many memories.

"That's different," he said. "I have no need to go back there but you can't run a boat without..."

"I've coped so far," Joey said. "And I don't need you telling me what to do, okay?"

"Joey, I don't want to argue with you," he said, keeping his tone gentle. "I'm just worried."

"Well, don't be," Joey told him. "I'm fine."

"Joey..."

"I'm fine!" she snapped.

"Fine!" he snapped back.

Turning around, he stormed back to Geoff.

"Didn't go well?" the younger boy asked.

"What the hell do you think?" Aden said acidly.

"Sorry, I was just..."

Aden shoved past him. Geoff stumbled and angrily pushed Aden back. Joey appeared just in time to see them begin to scuffle. She cried out her friend's name just as Aden tumbled over the side of the boat.

"Shit!" Geoff said, leaning over the side of the boat.

He hadn't meant that to happen. He'd just been incensed at having a bad mood taken out on him. Joey rushed over to the side of the boat and glanced worriedly at Geoff when she saw that Aden wasn't moving. Without thinking, Joey jumped over the side of the boat and crashed into the water. She had a flashback to when Aden had saved her, that day on this trawler when she'd fallen in. Surfacing and catching her breath, Joey shook her head and grabbed hold of Aden who still wasn't moving. Holding him across his chest and under his arm, she swam back to the edge of the boat. Geoff reached his arms down as Joey tried to hoist Aden up to him. After a few tries, Geoff grabbed hold of him and pulled him onto the deck of the boat. Dripping wet, Joey climbed back aboard herself and watched a frightened looking Geoff give their friend CPR. Joey fell onto her knees and waited desperately for some sign off life. Finally, Aden began to cough. He spat water out, narrowly missing Joey's knees and she hugged him, rubbing his back. He turned to glare at Geoff.


Charlie pulled up at the docks just as the trawler was pulling in. She waited a few minutes until Joey approached. Leaping out the car, she asked what had happened. Joey was soaking wet.

"I went for a dip!" Joey said.

"Let's get you home and dry," Charlie said, reaching for her.

"I'll get your car seat wet," Joey protested.

Charlie nudged her towards the car anyway and Joey reluctantly headed inside. Her clothes were soaking and her hair was dripping down her neck.


Back at home, Joey trudged into the bathroom and began to strip off. Charlie followed and perched on the edge of the bath for a good view.

"Would it be the wrong time to tell you that wet Joey is very hot?" the cop asked, admiring the way Joey's clothes clung to her.

"Are you kidding me?" Joey laughed.

"I'm really, really not," Charlie said, almost undressing Joey with her eyes.

She just about managed to pull her t-shirt off and step out of her shorts. Charlie was quick to assist with her underwear. With Joey's body pressed against her, making her uniform damp.

"I'm getting you wet," Joey said, realising.

"Am I that obvious?" Charlie smirked.

Joey laughed and kissed her before moving into the shower cubicle and turning the water on. Charlie sat back on the bath and watched without shame.

"Get in here!" Joey finally undress very quickly.


Reluctantly, Charlie and Joey dressed and headed back to work, both grabbing a piece of fruit on their way for some kind of sustenance.

"So, what actually happened?" Charlie asked as she drove them back to the boat.

"Aden fell in," Joey said, feeling more than a little guilty about it. "So I had to go in and get him. He wasn't breathing for a moment there. It was scary."

"I bet," Charlie said empathetically. "Are you okay?"

"After that lunch time?" Joey grinned. "I'm fine!"

She decided to tell Charlie what her problem had been after she got home. There was no use worrying her about it now. Kissing her girlfriend goodbye and climbing off the towel they'd put in the passenger seat to stop her getting wet all over again, Joey headed off to face the music.