Chapter Three Hundred and Eighty Six

"Sorry about last night," Ruby said rather sheepishly as she joined her parents at the breakfast table.

She had been awake half the night, fretting about her behaviour, especially towards people like Charlie and Joey who had done nothing wrong.

"That's fine," Charlie told her, pouring herself and Joey a coffee each. "But we'd like to know what happened to upset you so much."

Ruby blanched, picturing Bianca and Liam sitting together on the beach.

"I'm just really nervous about performing at the opening," she lied.

"Rubes, there's no pressure if you don't feel you can…"

"I want to," Ruby assured her. "It's just… things feel a bit complicated and heavy at the moment."

"What things?" Charlie wondered.

Ruby pictured Liam and Bianca again and shook her head.

"It doesn't matter," she told them.


Romeo walked to school with Nicole, Indi and Dex. More and more, he was enjoying spending time with Indi and it was becoming difficult to keep her out of his mind. But there was no way he was going to go there. He'd thought Annie was the sweetest girl in the world but she had broken his heart without even seeming to care. He couldn't put himself through it again.

"Oh!" Indi said, tripping over.

Romeo instinctively caught her, checking that she was okay.

"That's what you get for swooning over blonde, surfer boys," Dex remarked.

Both Indi and Romeo looked horrified.


Charlie was positively giddy at the thought of the sign arriving for the restaurant that afternoon. She and Joey were going to meet Ruby and be there for the big reveal. Joey was more nervous than anything else. She'd hyped up the name of the restaurant through keeping it a secret and she hoped that it wouldn't be an anti-climax.


Nicole found Ruby crying in the school toilets. She knew it was her because she'd seen her rush in. She (and Ruby) had also seen Liam and Bianca looking extremely cosy.

"Ruby, please talk to me," she begged, hovering outside the cubicle door.

"I'm fine," Ruby replied, sniffing and blowing her nose.

"I know you're upset," Nicole said. "And I know why. Crying in the toilets isn't going to help."

"How do you know?" Ruby asked through the door.

"Because I've had my fair share of heartbreak and I understand how you're feeling."

Ruby reluctantly opened the door.

"I don't know how to forget him," she admitted, falling into her friend's arms.


"It's nearly time!" Charlie said excitedly, practically dancing around the flat.

"Don't you worry that after all this excitement, you're going to be underwhelmed?" Joey asked.

Charlie smiled, stopped dancing and pulled her girlfriend into a hug.

"I have no such worries," she promised. "After all the secrecy, the name has got to be pretty awesome."

Joey sighed, still looking a little worried. But she was happy to receive kisses.


Angelo ditched another call from his brother and poked his head around Marilyn's door.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

A fair few people were planning to turn up for the unveiling of the new restaurant's name. He was happy for Joey, although he felt a little bitter too. Once upon a time, he would have been running his own restaurant, passed down to him from his family. But his brother had ruined that idea and Angelo had gone off to try and carve out his own future. And look where that got me, he thought to himself.

"Yes," Marilyn said brightly.

They headed out of the bait shop and tarot room together.


Romeo and Indi had also gathered outside the restaurant, waiting for the name of the place to be revealed. Things were a little awkward between them. After this morning, Romeo had made it clear that he only saw Indi as a friend. She had accepted it but the more he thought about it, the more interested in her he realised he was.


"What the…?" Joey stuttered when she walked out of the restaurant and onto the street below.

The builders were on the roof, installing the sign but concealing it from the large crowd waiting for them.

"Looks like we're not the only ones who are excited," Charlie remarked, catching hold of her girlfriend's hand.

They moved to join Ruby, Romeo, Indi, Marilyn, Angelo, Alf, Colleen and Leah as they waited for the sign to be set up. The crowd counted down as they waited to see what Joey had named her business. The builders moved away, revealing the name: Buckton's. Charlie couldn't help but smile but she was rather bemused. Turning to her girlfriend, she asked why she'd called it that.

"Well, that's part of what I wanted to ask you today," Joey exchanged a little anxiously, very aware that everyone was watching and listening.

Joey took Charlie's hands and a deep breath.

"I was wondering how you'd feel if I were to change my name," she ventured.

Charlie gazed at her.

"I've never really felt like a Collins," Joey said shyly. "I've never really fitted in, as much as I love my family. But with you and Ruby…"

She glanced at their teenage daughter standing nearby.

"Well, I feel like I finally fit and… Well, what do you think?"

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Charlie told her.

Everyone cheered as they kissed.


Next time… Joey changes her surname, Ruby kisses Liam and Sid confronts Penn…