Sorry the updates are late today. I had to be up and out early this morning and it seriously wore me out. This chapter is dedicated to tclick. Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty Four

"Okay, I'd better be getting back to work," Charlie sighed.

She had taken a long enough unofficial break and she knew if she stayed any longer, she have to make the time up this evening.

"What are you going to do about Angelo?" Joey wondered.

Charlie sighed again and kissed her. She was more upset and anxious about the latest developments than she had let on. Between the nightmares and being in counselling, this was extra stress that they didn't need.

"I haven't quite figured that out yet," she admitted.

She paused when her phone rang.

"Hello?" she said.

Joey studied her girlfriend's expression as her eyes lit up with excitement. She thanked the caller profusely and then hung up. Martha and Leah looked equally intrigued.

"What's going on?" Joey asked curiously.

"We can move into the apartment next Friday!" Charlie said joyfully.

Joey leapt up and hugged her.

"I'm really trying not to take this personally," Leah remarked to Martha.

Charlie and Joey quickly apologised and stumbled over themselves to explain. It was only when they caught Leah's smirk that they realised she was teasing.

"You'd better invite me to the housewarming though," she said, standing up in order to get back to work herself.

"As if we could have a party without you, Leah," Joey chuckled.

"Right, okay, I really do have to head back to the station," Charlie said.

She kissed Joey one more time, waved to the others and then headed out of the Diner.


Xavier sat in his bedroom, having come back during his lunch break in order to finish unpacking properly. He felt sad to have walked out on his mother. In the past, they had been so bonded to each other. But Hugo's death had changed everything and now Gina and John were dating, Xavier couldn't cope.

"Do you want some lunch?" Liam asked, poking his head round the door.

Panicked, Xavier hurried to shut the box containing Hugo's money. Liam looked immediately suspicious.


"Right, I should probably be heading back to work too," Joey decided. "I left Aden in charge of the bait shop. I hope Alf doesn't get cranky!"

"Granddad loves you too much to get too cranky," Martha assured her. "Mind if I walk back with you?"

Joey smiled, telling her that she was more than welcome. As they headed out, they bumped into Nicole who apologised for not looking where she was going.

"Are you okay?" Joey asked worriedly.

"Yeah," Nicole lied. "Just... distracted."

She wandered off without another word. Joey and Martha exchanged concerned glances before continuing on their journey.


Charlie arrived at the police station and marched straight into the office Angelo shared with Watson. He was sat at his desk, typing away on his laptop. Watson eyed Charlie curiously from her desk as she towered over Angelo. He looked up a little anxiously, just about managing to meet her eye.

"What the hell do you think you're playing at?" Charlie bellowed.


"All I'm saying is that it doesn't seem like you have all that much to stick around for," Justin said.

He had wandered down to the beach in order to keep Aden company while he looked after the bait shop. His brother glared at him.

"I have a nice home, good friends and a wonderful girlfriend," he said. "What isn't there to stay for?"

Justin shrugged, although he was determined to come back to the conversation another time.

"Your mate's here," he said, nodding forwards.

Aden looked up to see Joey and Martha approaching.

"What time do you call this?" he asked with a smirk.

"Sorry, we had a women's meeting," Joey giggled. "Thanks for covering for me."

"Martha!" yelled a voice behind them.

She turned to find Liam racing towards her a little breathlessly.


"I mean, how could you do that?" Charlie ranted, still towering over Angelo. "Why would you do it? What on earth possessed you to turn into a fucking stalker and start following me around?"

"I'm not a stalker," Angelo replied, unfazed.

Charlie's fury grew.

"Then how do you explain following me around and taking photos of me when I don't know you're there?" she demanded.

"You're just pissed off that you got caught out," Angelo said. "And this little pretend relationship you've got with Joey isn't even half as perfect as you claim it is."

"I'm not having an affair!" Charlie shrieked.

Watson gave up pretending the work and blatantly tuned into the conversation. Several officers in reception also peered into the room to listen to what was being said.

"I saw you, Charlie!"

"I'm not sleeping with Michael!" Charlie insisted. "It's not like that!"

"Then why do you go to an upstairs room of his house twice a week?" Angelo demanded.

"He's my counsellor!" Charlie snapped.

Angelo just stared at her.

"What?" he managed.

"I don't know if you remember but at the turn of the year, I was abducted and nearly murdered!" Charlie reminded him. "And I was struggling to deal with it so I've been in therapy."

Angelo looked a little awkward. Charlie glared at him hatefully.

"Are you happy now?" she snapped. "Are you satisfied that the whole station knows how fucked up I've been feeling?"

She stormed back out of the room and towards her own office, slamming the door behind her.


Liam had reported Xavier's strange behaviour to Martha and she had agreed to quiz her young charge about his precious box when he got home from school. She had refused, however, to join Liam in searching for it and finding out for herself what was inside. Justin had disappeared and left Aden to hang out with Joey.

"Did you get everything sorted?" Aden asked.

"I told Charlie what happened," Joey said. "And I think I talked her out of beating the living daylights out of him."

"Why did you do that?" Aden laughed.

Joey snorted.

"As satisfying as it would be, it probably wouldn't help her career."

"I guess," Aden said. "But what a freak! I mean, I thought he was turning into a nicer guy. He brought Hugo down and everything and Martha's forgiven him. You'd think he'd be working hard to making himself likeable now he's got over a hurdle that big. But he's just behaving like an arse."

"I think he thinks he can get away with anything," Joey said. "But fortunately most of us are wise to the fact that following your ex-girlfriend around town isn't normal."

"She could press charges," Aden agreed. "She should press charges."

"Yep," Joey said. "I'll talk to her about it tonight. And on a more positive note, we're finally moving house next week. Yay!"

She did a little jig that made her friend laugh.

"Anyway, you were having issues before I bombarded you with my own," she said brightly. "So spill."


Leah was serving tables when she saw Elijah walk through the doors of the Diner.

"Hi," she said, feeling even more awkward around him than normal.

"Hi," he said, flashing a smile that made her tingle. "I just wanted to apologise for yesterday."

Leah moved back behind the counter, trying to busy herself in case the conversation got embarrassing.

"It's fine," she said. "I'm sorry if I made you feel awkward or anything. But I hope we can carry on being friends and everything."

She focussed on cleaning the surface of the counter.

"I just..."

"It's fine," she repeated. "I mean, you can't help it if you don't feel that way about me."

"But I do," he blurted out.

Leah dropped her cloth and stared at him.


"You just have to tell her that she's shutting you out," Joey told Aden. "It's hard, when you're in a new relationship, if you haven't had that for a while. It's hard to learn how to share stuff and be part of a couple again."

Aden looked sceptical, reminding her that she'd only been dating Liam a few months ago.

"Yeah, but how much did she really share with him?" Joey pointed out. "You two have such a deep connection, Aden. You've just got to remember communicate."


Watson had followed Charlie into her office to check that she was okay. They'd only been speaking for a few minutes when Angelo appeared in the doorway. Charlie offered him a look that could kill.

"What about what I saw at your place?" he asked. "How are you going to deny that? I saw you in action!"

"It was Joey," Charlie said.

"Yeah, that's what she said but it didn't look like it to me," Angelo said.

"Yeah, I guess you should know," Charlie snapped. "It's not like it's the first time you've spied on us."

Angelo looked awkward.

"Why don't you just be honest about all of this, Charlie?" he tried. "Nobody's going to judge you if you decide that you're not in love with her after all. I'm sure a lot of women go through these kinds of phases."

"Angelo, I think you'd better shut up," Watson warned.

Charlie's anger was only increasing.

"Why can't you get it into your head that Joey and I are happy together?" she demanded.

"Because you've been cheating on her," Angelo replied.

"I haven't!" Charlie cried. "I've never cheated on anybody in my whole life! If I wasn't happy with Joey then I'd leave her. But fortunately, I'm as crazy about her as I ever was. The single problem in my life is you."

"Look, all I'm saying is..." he began.

She stood up, interrupting him.

"I don't care what you're saying," she snapped. "And I'm warning you now that if you don't leave me and Joey in peace then I will take out an AVO against you. I'll press charges for harassment and everything you've worked so hard to build up in this town will be ruined. So why don't you do the smart thing and leave me the hell alone?"


Charlie and Joey both arrived home after what felt like a ridiculously long day. Collapsing on the sofa, they cuddled, relieved to be back together.

"What a lousy day," Charlie sighed.

She shifted to rest her head in Joey's lap. Obediently, Joey began to play with her hair as Charlie regaled her with everything she'd said to Angelo.

"I think you should press charges," Joey said.

Charlie sighed.

"And I'm not saying that because I hate him," Joey added. "I just think that neither of us quite realised how obsessive he is about you until now. It's kind of scary."

"Tell me about it," Charlie sighed.

She closed her eyes, relishing her girlfriend's gentle touch.

"But how can I?" she wondered. "We still have to work together."

"Not if he gets fired like he deserves," Joey said sourly.

"But how can I do that to him?" Charlie asked. "Work is pretty much all he has, Joey. I don't want to take that away from him."

"And that's why you're a better person than me," Joey said.

Charlie opened her eyes, gazing at Joey. She smiled.

"I wish I was even half as good as person as you," she said.

Joey leant down and kissed her tenderly on the lips.

"Guess what!" Leah squeaked excitedly, bursting into the room.

Realising she was interrupting, she apologised quickly.

"It's fine," Charlie said, gesturing for her to sit down. "What's so exciting?"

Leah burst into an excited ramble about Elijah asking her out on a date. Charlie and Joey tried not to look too concerned. But they were saved from commenting when Joey's phone beeped. She stretched out to pick her mobile up. Then she read out a text from Martha telling her that the panic was over – Xavier's mystery box contained nothing more than pictures and other Hugo related items.

"So, what do you think?" Leah asked, eager for her friends' approval about her date.

"We're happy for you," Charlie said.

"Just be careful with your heart, okay?" Joey said a little anxiously. "He's kind of messed you around a bit so far so try and protect yourself."

Leah nodded thoughtfully.

"But also, have fun!" Joey added with a cheeky grin.

Leah laughed.

"So, Charlie, did you hospitalise Angelo or what?" she asked.


Next time... Martha discovers what's really in Xavier's box, Nicole tells Ruby that Britt stole her designs and Angelo pushes Charlie too far...