Thank you again to everyone who has been in touch with me. Life is pretty difficult at the moment but I really appreciate your support. And I swear I will reply to everyone individually as soon as I can. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Two Hundred and Eighty Nine
Charlie and Watson finally arrived at the Surf Club and looked particularly stressed out. Charlie immediately ordered shots for both of them before taking large glasses of wine to the table.
"We're walking home tonight," Charlie said.
"What's wrong?" Joey asked, genuinely concerned.
Monica also looked worried as she tried to read her girlfriend's expression. Watson and Charlie exchanged uneasy glances before Charlie nodded and prepared to tell them about Justin's confession.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Aden demanded.
Justin had arrived home looking stressed and washed out before he'd confessed to his brother that he'd told the police everything he could remember about the accident.
"I had to tell the truth!" he insisted tiredly.
Aden began to pace the living room in a severe state of agitation. He ran his hands through his hair, pausing to shake his head and stare at Justin in sheer disbelief.
"The truth will land us both in jail," he said.
"Why both of us?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure that it's a crime to bury the dead body of your father, having covered up that he was in an accident in the first place," Aden pointed out.
Justin looked down uncertainly.
"I didn't tell them that we buried him," he said quietly.
"And what, you think when they sweep the area tomorrow, they're going to think he buried himself?" Aden snapped.
"I'll say that I did it," Justin told him. "This doesn't have to have anything to do with you."
"Well you've done a really good job of dragging me into it," Aden replied, folding his arms and glaring. "Thanks."
Xavier and Romeo sat in the living room at the caravan park. They'd played some video games but Romeo had been particularly half hearted and non-competitive. Seeing as it was particularly out of character, Xavier had turned the TV off and demanded to know what was wrong.
"It's Annie," Romeo admitted.
"Big surprise," Xavier remarked. "Haven't you made up after that row at school today?"
"We did," Romeo confirmed. "But... I don't think she's planning on staying here."
"Oh" Xavier said, evidently disappointed. "I thought..."
"I thought she loved me," Romeo said unhappily. "I guess she loves Japan more."
"It doesn't have to be murder, right?" Joey asked anxiously.
The thought of Justin and, more importantly, Aden being in some kind of legal trouble made her feel unwell. Charlie gently held her hand.
"Right," she said. "I mean, it could have been just an accident. He doesn't seem to remember details."
"But we're hunting for the body tomorrow at first light so hopefully we can piece things together then," Watson added.
Joey nodded but still looked upset. Charlie lifted Joey's hand and kissed the back of it.
"I promise that no matter what, we'll do our best to reach the right outcome," she assured her. "The last thing we want to do is arrest Aden or Justin."
Joey smiled, gazing into Charlie's eyes for a moment.
"I know," she said certainly. "I know you'll always do your best."
"What exactly are you expecting us to do out here?" Justin asked.
Aden had dragged him out of the house and into the car. They'd driven out to the woods and not even moonlight could guide their way.
"We have to move him," Aden explained.
He continued to try and repress his anger and frustration. Cutting the engine, he studied his brother's frightened face.
"Are you going to get out and help or just continue to make my life even harder?" he demanded.
Annie and Ruby were sitting on either end of the sofa at Charlie, Joey and Ruby's apartment. Between them was a nearly empty tub of ice cream.
"This is a really lovely place," Annie said.
"Yeah," Ruby agreed. "Charlie and Joey love it and I do too. I really enjoyed living with Leah but having this place is really great. I love the space and the location and the feeling of us being a proper family."
Annie smiled and nodded.
"I'm glad you and Charlie have worked things out," she said. "When I left things were pretty stressful."
Ruby nodded and frowned. It certainly hadn't been the best time of her life.
"And you get on with Joey?" Annie asked.
Ruby looked a little unsure for a moment. Before she'd gone to Japan, Annie hadn't been particularly accepting of Charlie and Joey's relationship. But she had certainly mellowed out since then.
"She's amazing," Ruby enthused. "She's really funny and really smart. If I could have ever picked a partner for Charlie, Joey's it."
"Is it different than her having a male partner?" Annie asked. "I'm not judging, just curious."
"It is different," Ruby said. "But it's better. I mean, I never had all that much opportunity to get to know Charlie's boyfriends. She was never serious enough with any of them. And she's certainly never lived with a partner before. But Charlie's so happy with Joey. We live so nicely together. Plus Charlie and I are both seriously hot headed so Joey's a wonderful mediator!"
"I feel a little bit tipsy," Charlie admitted.
Monica and Watson had gone home and Charlie and Joey were wandering back in the direction of their apartment.
"No kidding," Joey giggled, slipping her arm around her girlfriend's waist.
Charlie stopped and turned, cupping Joey's face in hers. She gazed at her in the darkness, not even needing light to see her. She already knew her by heart.
"I love you so much," she said, leaning in and offering a kiss that took Joey's breath away.
"What was that for?" Joey giggled shyly.
Charlie hugged her and kissed the top of her head.
"I just... love you," she said. "And now I'm hungry."
She led Joey off in the direction of the Diner.
"I'm glad everything's working out for Charlie and Joey," Annie said. "And you and Xave. You make such a perfect couple."
Ruby smiled, feeling a little wistful.
"Do you hear much from Geoff?" she dared to ask.
"Every couple of weeks or so," Annie said. "He's working pretty hard."
"He never gets in touch with me," Ruby admitted. "But I guess that's a good thing. I think it would spin me out if he was keeping in touch. We both needed to move on with our lives, I guess."
Annie nodded.
"As long as you're happy with Xavier now," she said.
"I am," Ruby said. "And you? Are you happy with Romeo?"
Annie sighed heavily and closed her eyes.
"I don't even know where to start with that," she confessed.
Charlie, Joey and Leah sat around the nearly empty Diner. There were five minutes to closing so Leah had sent Irene and Colleen home. Now, she and her two former housemates were tucking into leftovers.
"I mean, do you think I'm doing something wrong?" Leah asked, through a mouthful of lasagne.
"Talking with your mouth full?" Charlie remarked with a playful grin.
"I'm hungry!" Leah protested, thankfully having swallowed her food this time.
Joey giggled and shook her head.
"So, what do you think?"
"About what?" Charlie asked.
"Elijah!" Leah almost yelled. "The person I've been rambling about since you got here."
"Well, really you've been rambling about him since January," Charlie pointed out with a smirk.
"What is with you today, Charlie?" Leah asked, smiling to show she wasn't offended.
"Charlie had a very long day and then a very big drink," Joey said diplomatically, patting her girlfriend gently on the shoulder. "And as for Elijah, have you considered talking to him?"
Leah cringed. She had been expressing concern that he didn't seem to want them to go further in their physical relationship.
"Leah, if you can't talk about it, how do you expect to do it?" Charlie asked.
"It's embarrassing!" Leah said. "How do you even start a conversation about why you're not having sex yet?"
She cringed again.
"We talked about it all the time at the beginning," Joey revealed. "Neither of us was ready to take that step immediately so we kept talking about it and taking things as far as we could until the time felt right."
"That has to be a lesbian thing," Leah said. "Girls don't talk to boys about that kind of thing."
"I wouldn't know," Joey said.
Charlie nodded.
"I guess you're right," she conceded. "But I vote that you change the world, talk to your boyfriend and be honest about how you feel."
Leah shook her head.
"What have you turned my commitment phobic former housemate into?" she asked Joey.
The younger woman beamed.
"Someone who's honest about her feelings," she said. "And isn't she cute about them?"
Charlie smiled rather proudly.
"I'm definitely turning into a grown up," she said.
"Shit!" Aden shouted, throwing his torch on the floor and kicking a tree.
He and Justin had been searching for the burial site for hours but they couldn't find the body of their dead father anywhere.
"How could you be so damn stupid, Justin?" he demanded, ignoring how much his foot hurt. "After all I did to help you, after forgiving you for leaving me in that hell hole... After everything... how could you ruin both our lives?"
Charlie and Joey arrived home just as Annie was leaving. They exchanged brief pleasantries before Charlie collapsed on the sofa.
"Wild night out?" Ruby asked with a raised eyebrow.
Joey shook her head and said it was better not to ask. She lifted Charlie up and sat down, resting her girlfriend's head in her lap.
"Well, before you too get all gross and snugly, I'm going to bed," Ruby declared.
Kissing them both goodnight, she skipped off merrily to her room. Joey began to play idly with Charlie's hair.
"Do you think Aden knew what Justin had done?" she asked seriously.
Charlie sighed.
"I think so," she said.
"Will he be in trouble for it?"
"I don't know," Charlie told her. "It depends how involved he's been."
Joey sighed heavily and closed her eyes, still playing with Charlie's hair. It was something Charlie enjoyed and Joey found strangely comforting.
"I guess that would explain his behaviour recently," Joey mused. "If he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. And if he felt like he had nobody to talk to. I mean, I think he discusses most things with me but... well, I guess this was different."
Charlie sat up and gathered Joey into her arms.
"We'll work it out," she promised. "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all of this. We'll sort Justin out, however that may be. And you and Aden will go back to being best buddies again."
"Not if he joins the army," Joey pointed out.
"How did the army get involved?" Charlie wondered.
"Justin keeps telling Aden that he should sign up," Joey said. "I know it's selfish but I don't want him to. I'd miss him too much."
Charlie hugged Joey a little closer and kissed her cheek.
"How about we forget all the stress of the day, curl up and go to sleep?" she suggested.
"Sounds like heaven," Joey agreed.
Next time... Leah worries that Elijah is ashamed of her, Aden and Justin move Larry's body and Marilyn shares her secret with Alf...
