Dedicated to Movie249. Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter One Hundred and Sixty Four

Charlie and Joey were on the sofa with hot drinks. Charlie was still tearful and Joey was doing her best to console her. She could kick Ruby for ignoring what they'd spoken about earlier in the day. She'd really believe for a moment there that Charlie and Ruby would have some kind of breakthrough and things would be okay.

"I should never have told her the truth," Charlie sobbed. "She was better off not knowing where she came from. I was a shit sister and I'm an even worse mother."

Joey put an arm around her, holding her close.

"You were a wonderful sister and you're an amazing mother," she said firmly.

"Try telling Ruby that!" Charlie said sadly.

"She'll come round."

"When?" Charlie asked desperately. "I love her so much. I miss her. How am I meant to fix this?"

She clung on tightly to her partner, relying on her for every kind of support.

"The two of you need to sit down and talk properly," Joey said.

"But every time I try, I get it wrong," Charlie replied. "I shouldn't have yelled at her. I'm practically inviting all the hostility."

"No, you're not," Joey said. "Forgive me for criticising your daughter but she's developed an attitude problem in recent months..."

"But that attitude is my fault," Charlie said.

"It's not," Joey insisted. "I know a lot of bad things have happened and we've all been hurt by it but at the end of the day, we all have to take responsibility for ourselves and our actions."

"I'm trying to!" Charlie said desperately.

"I'm talking about Ruby," Joey said gently.

"She hates me, Joey," Charlie sighed.

"She loves you," Joey said. "Her whole life is shaken up right now and she's testing the boundaries. I guarantee that she'll be back here within the hour, ready to make up."

"I hope you're right," Charlie said, her voice void of enthusiasm.


"Hey, Rubes!" Geoff greeted happily when his girlfriend knocked frantically at the door.

His face fell when he saw how upset she was.

"Things didn't go well with Charlie and Joey, I take it?" he said, welcoming her inside.

Ruby shook her head and admitted that she felt very guilty.

"Tell me what happened," he suggested.


Joey had enticed Charlie back to their room on the promise of a nice de-stressing massage. And it was shaping up to be wonderful. Charlie lay face down on the bed, naked from the waist up and thoroughly enjoyed Joey's hands running all over her.

"You always know the perfect way to make me feel better," she mumbled into the pillow.

Joey smiled from where she was straddling her partner's hips, trying to keep 'professional' and not get carried away with how gorgeous Charlie was, even when she could only see her bare back.

"I try," she said.

"You succeed," Charlie confirmed.

Joey kept her hands moving, hoping that Charlie was enjoying receiving the massage as much as Joey was enjoying giving it. Charlie's moan confirmed that she was.

"Do you really think Ruby and I will work things out?"

"I'm absolutely certain," Joey said without hesitation. "Ruby's going through a lot right now. She's acting out and testing the boundaries. But I know she loves you. She's told me that she loves you. Things will get back to normal soon. I know they will."

Charlie smiled and thanked her for her support through everything as usual.

"Besides," Joey said, running her hands over Charlie's back. "Who wouldn't love you?"

Unable to resist any longer, she leant forward and placed a delicate kiss on the middle of Charlie's back. Once she'd started, she couldn't stop. Charlie moaned a little louder as Joey's lips wound their way up to her shoulder and then onto her neck. Wriggling, Charlie turned over. Joey gazed longingly at her breasts, looking so pert and delicious. She reached down with her hands and began to tease them gently, gazing into Charlie's eyes. Keeping her hands on Charlie's warm body, Joey leant down again and kissed her mouth.


Geoff walked Ruby home and offered to go in with her. She thanked him but declined, knowing she had to sort things out with Charlie once and for all. And she had to have the courage to do it herself. Joey words from lunchtime echoed in her mind and she knew her step-mother was right. Kissing Geoff goodbye, she braced herself and pushed open the door.

"Charlie?" she called. "Joey?"


In their bedroom, the lovers paused. Half undressed, Joey looked at her watch.

"I didn't mean for her to be that punctual!" she remarked.

Charlie giggled and the two of them began to get dressed. They headed out to the lounge where Ruby was waiting for them. The teenager resisted the urge to comment on the fact that Charlie's work shirt was done up wrong. Instead, she sat down and said she had come home to apologise.

"Do you want me to leave you to it?" Joey asked.

"No!" they both said.

Charlie and Ruby both laughed at how startled Joey looked.

"The three of us are family, aren't we?" Ruby ventured. "We should work all this out together."

Joey nodded. Charlie took her hand and they all sat down together, bracing themselves for yet another discussion about the fragile state of their family.

"I'm sorry that I broke the rules and that I stayed out with Geoff over the weekend," Ruby said. "I shouldn't have."

"Why did you?" Charlie asked quietly.

"I just... wanted to," Ruby said. "I'm sorry."

Charlie sighed heavily.

"I know things are just settling down with us," she said. "But I really need you to work with me, Rubes. Like it or not, you are my daughter. And quite frankly, even if we really were just sisters, I'd be saying the same thing. You're sixteen and you're not old enough to be spending the night with your boyfriend."

"I love him," Ruby said.

"I'm sure you do," Charlie said, although she personally thought it was all a bit quick. "And I don't have any control over what you do with him."

She pulled a face at the thought but shook it away.

"But I can ask that you are at home, safely, inside this house every night," Charlie told her. "Do you know how dangerous it is to be wandering around at night?"

"It's Summer Bay!" Ruby exclaimed.

"What, you think nothing happens here?" Charlie asked, trying not to sound exasperated. "Maybe I should take you to work with me one of these days and let you know exactly what kind of things and people can hurt you – no matter what town you live in."

Ruby remained silent.

"We need to know where you are, Rubes," Joey added. "You can't just wander off and not tell people where you're going. You're not an adult yet."

Ruby nodded unhappily.

"We give you enough freedom, don't we?" Charlie asked. "Surely you don't need to demand more?"

"I've said I'm sorry," Ruby said. "Can we just forget about that now?"

"Okay," Charlie said. "Yes, we can."

"And I guess item two on the agenda is the stuff I said to you," Ruby said.

Charlie nodded.

"I'm really sorry about that."

She glanced at Joey, both of them remembering their conversation.

"I didn't mean it. I don't hate that you're my Mum. It's all still confusing and everything but you were always the best sister in the world. And so I hope that once we get our heads around everything, I'll be able to think of you as the best Mum in the world too. I know you're capable of it."

Charlie struggled not to cry. She pulled Ruby into a hug instead.

"I will always do my best to try to be a good mother to you," she managed.

Ruby nodded and stood up, saying she wanted to have a nice, hot bath in order to unwind from such a difficult day. On the way out, she paused and turned back to them.

"And just in case you were panicking, we only cuddled," she said. "I haven't had sex with Geoff."

"Good," Charlie said. "Thanks for reassuring me."

"You two on the other hand..." the teenager remarked, "were clearly busy while I was gone!"

Amused at Charlie and Joey's startled expressions, she headed off upstairs.


Next time... Charlie tries to help Miles, Hugo doesn't want to look after Bambang and Angelo loses his temper...