Chapter Three Hundred and Eight
Charlie woke up in a tangled heap on top of the blankets with Joey. Far from falling asleep quickly, they had ensured that despite all the chaos around them, the spark was very much still there.
"What?" Joey squeaked, waking and sitting with a start.
For a moment, she was bewildered as to where she was. Shaking her head, she looked down at Charlie, awake but happily resting in the middle of the bed. Coming to her senses, she smirked as memories of the night before hit her. She sank back onto the bed.
"That was some celebration," she murmured.
Charlie giggled and moved to cuddle her, pausing when she realised that her hand wasn't where she has expected it to be. Mortified, she looked down and realised that she was still rather caught up with Joey's body.
"Sorry," she said quickly.
Joey winced a little as Charlie removed her fingers as gently as possible. Turning on her side, she grinned and kissed her.
"No wonder I don't remember going to sleep," she remarked. "We must have actually passed out mid... canoodling!"
Charlie snorted with laughter.
"What?" Joey asked, bewildered.
"After the night of passion we had last night, it amuses me that you've reverted to being terribly shy and innocent this morning," Charlie teased.
Joey pouted but smiled again when Charlie leaned in for a gentle kiss. The tenderness quickly gave way to passion again and both women were relieved that neither of them had to work today.
Nobody in the Austen or Holden households had slept. This morning, they had all come together again to discuss the revelations about Hugo.
"I just don't think it's appropriate now," Rachel said as she and Tony arrived at Gina's house. "Not that I ever thought it was."
Tony sighed heavily as he carried baby Harry into the house.
"Fine," he said tiredly. "I'll cancel the fight with John."
Despite looking rather like a ghost, he saw Gina's eyes light up from where she was nursing a coffee at the kitchen table. Personally, he didn't think the subject of his arranged boxing match with John was exactly the most important thing in their lives right now. Hugo was alive and according to Xavier, who had been informed by Ruby the night before, had escaped Witness Protection. He could be anywhere and in any amount of untold danger. And nobody had any idea as to how to get in touch with him.
Joey and Charlie had finally emerged from their bedroom after a night that had been rather noisy according to Ruby's side of the wall and began to make coffee and breakfast.
"Hey, Rubes," Joey greeted warmly when she found her step-daughter on the sofa. "How did you sleep?"
"You mean after you guys stopped making a racket?" the teenager remarked.
Joey and Charlie both coloured but were relieved when Ruby grinned at them.
"Come on," she teased. "It's pretty much a family joke by now."
"Sorry," Charlie said sincerely.
"Don't worry," Ruby said. "I'm pretty loud when I do it too."
Charlie choked on her coffee as she simultaneously dropped her cup. It fell to the floor and smashed at her feet. Charlie remained looking startled.
"Sorry," Ruby smirked. "I couldn't help but get a little revenge. I'm not sure what's worse – to know your parents are having sex or to know your daughter's having sex."
"Your daughter!" Charlie and Joey said quickly, making Ruby laugh loudly.
Charlie began to clear up the mess of her morning coffee, muttering that knowing your daughter was sexually active was far worse than anything else she could know about her.
Justin was all packed up and ready to return to base. It felt like forever since he had been at work and he was still struggling to get his head around everything that had happened with Larry.
"I'm heading out in about an hour," he said to Aden.
His brother was sat on the sofa, staring blankly at the television, although it didn't look like he was taking anything in. In the same clothes from the day before, Aden couldn't stop thinking about Nicole.
"Okay," he said numbly, not even able to process how much he was going to miss him. "Do you want breakfast?"
"I thought we could go to the Diner or something," Justin suggested, coming to sit beside him.
Aden nodded mutely, mumbling the word 'yeah'. He switched off the TV and tried to look with it.
"I'm really sorry about what happened with Nicole," Justin said. "But on the plus side, it means you can come to the city with me with a clear conscience."
He winced as he expected Aden to shout at him. But he didn't.
"Yeah," Aden said, reaching a decision that surprised him. "I can."
Sitting round the breakfast table together, Ruby studied her mother. Her head was still spinning over everything she had recently learned about Hugo.
"What are you up to this weekend?" Charlie asked, making conversation.
"I don't know," Ruby said.
"Having sex with Xavier by the sounds of it," Joey smirked.
Charlie choked on her second coffee of the day and complained loudly about it. Joey and Ruby exchanged amused glances.
"Actually, I don't think I'll be seeing all that much of Xavier," Ruby ventured more seriously.
"How come?" Charlie asked.
"He and his family are pretty stressed out about Hugo," Ruby replied bluntly.
She watched as Charlie and Joey exchanged anxious glances.
"What about Hugo?" Charlie asked, her voice rather higher pitched than normal.
"Just... missing him," Ruby lied. "With Martha so down and everything, it's all kicked off again. Plus, Xavier can't seem to let go of this theory that Hugo never died and that he's in Witness Protection of something."
Charlie's anxiety grew and she felt a knot forming in the pit of her stomach. Offering silent support, Joey reached carefully for her hand beneath the table.
"I mean, that's crazy, right?" Ruby said, staring at Charlie and trying to read her mind.
"Yeah, crazy," Charlie mumbled.
She was no longer as happy as she had been when she woke up. Sometimes she wondered why she and Joey ever left the bedroom at all. It seemed like everything went wrong the moment they stopped losing themselves in each other and faced the real world.
Justin and Aden arrived at the Diner and were quickly served by Leah.
"I was really sorry to hear about you and Nicole," she sympathised kindly.
Aden sighed at the thought that the news had already begun to charge around town.
"Yeah, well it's freed me up to go to the city with Justin," he informed her.
Leah looked surprised.
"Oh, are you taking a holiday?" she asked.
Aden shook his head.
"I'm moving away," he told her. "For good."
Charlie and Joey walked from their apartment towards the Diner. Holding hands, Joey was trying to distract Charlie who was deeply concerned about the things Ruby had said about Hugo over breakfast.
"Do you think Martha's told them?" she asked. "Ruby has been spending a lot of time at the farm. Maybe she told her and Xavier the truth."
"No way," Joey said. "Ruby would have asked you outright. She's not the type to play games."
Charlie sighed, hoping that her girlfriend was right. If the span of Ruby's life had taught her anything, it was that she was full of surprises.
"I'm really happy you're coming with me," Justin said earnestly when Leah had left them to it.
Aden nodded and managed a genuine smile.
"I am too," he said. "I mean, before you get all excited, I am not about to sign up for the army but the city will be fun. It'll be a damn sight more exciting than Summer Bay."
Still, he didn't look as happy as he was trying to sound.
"Now I just have to find a way of telling Nicole that I'm leaving," he added.
"Just send her a text," Justin suggested. "Something like 'I'm gone' should do it."
"I can't do that to her..." Aden sighed.
"Of course you can't," said a firm voice behind him.
Aden spun round and looked as guilty as Justin as he came face to face with his best friend.
Xavier escaped the confines of his house as soon as he could. Claiming he needed some space and some air, which was at least partly true, he headed out towards the Battery. Something inside him was telling him that if Hugo had escaped Witness Protection, he would have found some way to hang around the Bay and keep an eye on his loved ones. Even if he wasn't planning on making his presence known, Xavier was certain that his beloved big brother would be looking out for them all.
"How could you even consider leaving Nicole a text message like that?" Joey demanded.
She sat down at the table without being invited. Charlie hovered rather awkwardly behind her and then decided to make a nuisance of herself in the kitchen with Leah instead.
"I didn't agree to it," Aden said quickly.
Justin excused himself and headed out into the fresh air. Joey glared as she watched him go.
"You thought about it though," Joey accused, although her tone was at least a little softer.
Aden shrugged.
"She's the one that broke up with me," he said sourly.
"But you know she was trying to do the right thing," Joey persisted. "She loves you Aden and she probably wanted to give the chance to stay with her. And instead you're what, skipping town without so much as a goodbye? To anyone? To me?"
Aden was struck by how sad she looked. He reached out and held her hand, which was resting on the table top.
"I would never have left without saying goodbye to you, Jo," he assured her. "You know how much I love you."
"What about Nicole?" Joey asked.
"I don't love her. Well, not like that. And she pretty much gave me an ultimatum – say it or get lost. I couldn't say it. And I suppose that's been the problem since the start," Aden explained. "From the moment we got together at New Year we've been inundated with problems. I can't even count how many times one or both of us has worn you out needing advice and stuff."
Joey nodded.
"You have been a nightmare," she conceded with an amused smile.
Aden chuckled.
"I'm going to miss you," he said sincerely.
"I'm going to miss you too," Joey replied. "More than I could even say."
Aden nodded and hugged her.
"Thank you for everything you've done for me," he said softly.
Joey withdrew and raised her eyebrows.
"Everything I've done for you?" she remarked. "If you hadn't helped me pick up the pieces after everything that happened with Robbo, I don't know where I'd be now."
"Well, it was mostly Charlie..."
"It was both of you," Joey said firmly. "And I'll never be able to thank you enough."
"Well, you were an angel after Belle died and you've always been my touchstone, the one person that I've been able to count on no matter what," Aden said.
"Call it even?" Joey grinned.
Aden nodded and hugged her again. Joey felt like she never wanted to let him go.
Sitting at home with Tony, Gina felt depressed. Xavier had wandered off and Martha had gone home. Rachel had had to go for a shift at the hospital, leaving her with just her brother and the baby for company.
"At least we know he's alive," Tony ventured.
"Do we?" Gina asked. "The point of Witness Protection was that the police would take care of him and stop him being hunted down by the bastards he was working with. Now who's there to protect him? He could be dead all over again as far as we know."
She sighed heavily and closed her eyes.
"And do you want to know the worst thing?" she asked, opening up and looking directly at Tony.
"What's that?" the P.E. teacher asked, a little anxious about the reply.
"I wish he'd been killed the first time round," Gina admitted, hating herself for it. "It's been the hardest thing in the world to get my head around the kind of son I raised. At least when I thought he was dead I could do whatever it took to forget about him. Don't get me wrong – he's my son and I love him with all my heart. But I don't forgive him for what he did and I do think he was a monster. I felt like I was just getting my head around everything that happened and now it turns out that nothing was ever resolved in the first place."
Having left Aden to go and face Nicole, Charlie and Joey had retired to the beach. With a notepad and several pens, the couple began to note down official ideas for the restaurant. Now that Joey had passed her course and with the constant encouragement from her girlfriend, she had decided that she was really going to try and start her own business.
"Okay, so you want a tapas theme, right?" Charlie asked.
"Right," Joey nodded, watching Charlie write it down. "I want it to be fish and seafood centred in the main but I think it'd be good to have some meat dishes and I want really good vegetarian option too. And I want to put a lot of emphasis on starters and things – like, you could get platters to share with samples of lots of dishes and things like that."
Charlie grinned as she hurried to write everything down.
Nicole froze when she opened the door to her now ex-boyfriend.
"Hi," she said anxiously.
Sensing the tension, Miles and Romeo escaped outside in order to give the former lovers some privacy. Everyone had assumed that Aden and Nicole were pretty solid so it had come as quite a shock that they had split up without much warning.
"Hi," Aden replied. "Can I come in?"
Nicole anxiously gestured for him to enter the house.
"There's something I need to tell you," Aden said hesitantly.
For a moment, Nicole felt her heart swell at the thought that after everything, he might actually tell her that he was in love with her and that he wanted to give them another chance.
"I'm leaving town," Aden blurted out. "Today. With Justin. I just... I wanted to say goodbye."
Or maybe not, Nicole thought bitterly.
"Goodbye," she said, strangely void of emotion.
"That's all you've got to say?" Aden asked.
"What do you want me to say, Aden?" Nicole asked. "Do you want me to tell you that I love you and beg you to say it back? Do you want me to ask you to stay? Do you want me to tell you that the idea of you walking out of my life destroys me with a pain I didn't know was possible? Do you want me to get rid of every last shred of dignity and tell you exactly how I feel?"
Aden looked startled.
"Because I just have," Nicole finished. "I hope it's made you happy."
She turned towards the stairs, desperate to bury her head in her pillow and cry.
"Nic!" Aden said desperately, catching up with her and grabbing her hand.
He spun her around and gazed into her eyes for several long moments.
"I wish I could say everything you need me to," he said honestly. "I wish I could be the person you want. And I have such strong feelings for you. If I was to ever fall in love with another girl besides Belle, I know it would be you. But... it's the wrong time for us. Everything you've said about what I need right now is true. I do need to get out of the Bay. I need to explore the world and find myself. And then, even though I don't expect you to wait around and even though I'm sure there will be a thousand guys just desperate to be lucky enough to be with you, I hope, if we meet again, we'd have a better chance at succeeding."
Despite herself, Nicole was touched by his words. She closed the gap between them and stroke his handsome face with her fingertips.
"I'm going to miss you so much," she said softly.
"I'm going to miss you too," he replied.
Slowly, she leant in and kissed him.
Xavier was near the Battery when he got the distinct feeling that he was being followed. Glancing around him, a car that he had spotted several streets away seemed to be creeping along the road. As it sped up, heading towards him, Xavier prepared to run. He had images of Hugo's evil contacts coming to get him, trying to lure Hugo out and make him pay for giving evidence against them. He nearly burst into tears when he saw his brother in the driving seat of the car.
Joey felt tearful as she hugged Aden goodbye. He'd called her to say that he had done the right thing and said a proper goodbye to Nicole and was now packing up the car, ready to leave town with Justin. Charlie and Joey had hurried over to the house to say goodbye.
"You'd better keep in touch," Joey warned.
"Of course I will," Aden said, holding on tightly to his best friend. "For starters, I've got to come back for the opening night of your restaurant."
Joey withdrew, grinning at him.
"You'll come back for that?" she asked hopefully.
"Just try and keep me away," he replied.
They hugged again before finally parting. Joey moved on to say goodbye to Justin while Charlie replaced Joey in Aden's arms.
"Keep in touch, okay?" Charlie said.
"I will," Aden replied. "And thanks for everything you've done for me over the last few years – even when I haven't made helping me all that easy."
Charlie grinned and squeezed his hand.
"My pleasure," she said. "The Bay is going to be exceptionally boring without all your drama!"
Aden laughed.
"I'm sure another trouble maker will show up at some point in the near future!" he said.
He gazed affectionately over at Joey.
"Take care of her," he requested.
"I will," Charlie promised, also gazing at her partner.
Aden knew with absolutely certainty that she was telling the truth.
Next time… Angelo begs for Charlie's help, Gina takes her anger out on Angelo and then comes face to face with Hugo…
