If you don't enjoy what I write, may I suggest that you get a life, stop reading and leave me the hell alone? I pity you if you're actually that sad that we're four hundred and twenty three chapters in, you don't like me, you don't like the story and you're still leaving pathetic, nasty reviews. Get a hobby? A job? Some friends, maybe? Just try and put some positivity into the world instead of trying to make people feel like shit all the time? To everyone else, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Four Hundred and Twenty Three
Ruby woke up tired. She was feeling it more and more these days and she didn't really know what to do about it. Today was Saturday and she didn't have anything to do. She knew she'd be on her own a lot as Joey had a secret afternoon with Charlie planned on the Blaxland and she felt lonely just thinking about it.
She'd been trying to build herself up after stopping drinking all those weeks ago but it didn't really seem to be working. She worked hard at school and she was still doing her music with Liam, although they were careful not to spend too much time together and she tried ever so hard not to get invested in anything but the music itself.
She enjoyed spending time with her parents, who were in essence, her very best friends. And then there was Dex, who had turned out to be quite the rock. But other than those three, she felt largely alone. And that made her feel sad.
Sighing heavily, she braced herself to try and talk to her parents about it. Keeping silent is what had made it all snowball in the first place. If she could stop things getting worse now, maybe she could be saved.
Across town, Xavier and April were busy making signs for their bottle ban campaign rally, due to start later that afternoon. The teenagers were both getting rather excited and even though he tried to hide it, they could tell John was too. Everything just seemed to be going so well at the moment. They'd even convinced their friends, Dex, Indi and Romeo to come round and help them with all the signs – if they showed up…
"What's this?" Ruby asked, when instead of her usual cereal bowl, there was a neatly wrapped gift in front of her at the breakfast table.
"Open it and see," Charlie encouraged.
Ruby looked at both her and Joey, who were both grinned excitedly. Curious, Ruby opened the present and was rather touched when she found, in a small box, a beautiful, Tiffany, heart shaped necklace, like that of Bridget Jones fame, sitting on a soft cushion.
"For me?" she asked, staring from the necklace and then to each of her parents in turn.
"Nah, it's for Angelo but we thought we'd run it by you first," Joey teased.
Ruby giggled.
"What did I do to deserve a gift?" she wondered, taking the pretty necklace out of the box.
"We just think you've worked really hard at getting on top of things," Charlie said. "And we're really proud of you for that. So we wanted to reward you."
Ruby was touched but also a little deflated. How could she talk to them now about how much she was struggling?
John left the kids to their signs and headed out for a coffee with Gina. He was excited about the rally that afternoon and he hoped that it would bring with it some media attention to the Bay and to the Council and his various causes. He didn't actually care that much about the bottle ban campaign itself and was really only doing it because he owed Xavier, but he felt like it was a step in the right direction. Everything felt really exciting at the moment.
"Do you really have to go to work on a Saturday?" Charlie complained grumpily while her girlfriend pulled her boots on and grabbed her keys.
"Only for a bit," Joey promised, leaning over the back of the sofa to kiss her goodbye. "Then you'll have me at your disposal all afternoon."
Charlie pulled her in for a deeper kiss, holding onto her for as long as she could get away with.
"Promise?" she asked.
"Promise," Joey said. "I'll call you when I finish, okay?"
"Okay," Charlie said.
They kissed one more time before Joey headed out to work.
"Hey, do you think we could do with more hands on deck?" Dex suggested as casually as he could get away with.
He, Indi and Romeo had all come round to help Xavier and April with the signs for the rally that afternoon and now spied an opportunity to try and include Ruby in the gang.
"Who on earth beside us would actually be roped into doing this?" Indi wondered.
This was far from how she wanted to spend her Saturday afternoon but Romeo had persuaded her to be charitable. Everyone knew how important all of this was to April.
"Well, I was thinking… Ruby," Dex said.
"No," Indi said adamantly.
"Well, we do need as much help as possible," April conceded. "And I don't personally have a problem with her."
She glanced at her boyfriend, Ruby's ex-boyfriend.
"Me neither," Xavier said, looking at Dex. "Do you think she'd come?"
"I think she would," Dex said. "Should I call her?"
"If she's coming, I'm leaving," Indi said sourly.
"Don't be such a bitch!" Dex snapped at his sister. "Get over yourself."
Indi looked at Romeo, who stayed silent. He just couldn't support her anymore. He loved his girlfriend but when it came to Ruby, he thought she was being unkind. She just needed to let it go.
Joey had packed up a gourmet lunch for her romantic afternoon with Charlie on Alf's boat. It seemed like she and her girlfriend were always doing things for other people at the moment and she didn't want to fall into the trap of taking each other for granted and just getting stuck in the mundane. She wanted to treat Charlie and make her feel special.
"Are you boys going to behave while I'm gone?" she asked with mock sternness.
"Of course, boss," Alf smirked, playing along.
"Yeah," Angelo replied, trying to force a smile.
He had been in a strange mood all day. Joey approached him, where he was unloading the dishwasher behind the bar.
"Are you okay, Angelo?" she asked. "You seem a bit… pensive."
"Yeah, I'm good," he lied. "You enjoy your afternoon."
He forced a more convincing smile. The truth was, he wasn't okay. Paulie had let him in on the depth of his debt problems the night before and the situation was bleak. He was up to his neck in $30,000 worth of trouble and there was no obvious way out. And now Paulie's problem was apparently Angelo's problem. His brother never brought him anything but trouble.
Ruby was nervous but touched that Dex was constantly making the effort to try and include her in everything the 'youth of Summer Bay' were up to. Since she had arrived at Xavier's house, things had been a little awkward but she had been doing her best to get on with things. Indi hadn't spoken to her once but Romeo had smiled a couple of times and been polite. Xavier and April were being normal and friendly with her and both had expressed gratitude that she had taken time out of her day to help them out. They had also specifically invited her to the rally that afternoon. And Dex had been chattering away, making her laugh and feel more at ease. She felt like she had definitely found a friend for life.
Joey met Charlie outside the restaurant at the exact time she promised she would finish work. She'd stopped off to buy flowers on the way and she'd taken a change of clothes with her so that she was more dressed up than she would be for a normal shift.
"Wow!" Charlie complimented, greeting her with a kiss. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you," Joey said, holding out the flowers. "These are for you. And you look beautiful too. You always do."
"Thank you," Charlie said, blushing at all the attention. "All this just to go to a rally?"
Her curiosity was getting the better of her, she had to admit.
"Well um… if it's okay with you, I thought we might skip the rally," Joey ventured. "I mean, I'm all for it and totally supportive of April but I don't fancy going and cheering and waving banners and listening to John droning on. Is that okay with you?"
"That's perfectly fine with me," Charlie said, almost gratefully. "What shall we do instead?"
"Well…" Joey said, a mischievous glint in her eye. "I'm glad you asked that question…"
Ruby was growing in confidence as she attended the rally with Dexter, Xavier and April. Half the town and a load of people she didn't know were there and everyone seemed to be getting into the spirit of things. There had been talk of protesters but none had shown up and everyone was listening to John speak rather eloquently about the cause. The fact that Indi and Romeo had opted out of attending had helped Ruby somewhat. Indi's absence meant that she could relax a bit more and focus on having a good time. For the first time in a long time, away from her parents, Ruby was starting to feel almost normal.
"Oh, Joey this is all so lovely," Charlie said, when her girlfriend led her to the Blaxland.
It was beautifully decorated and Joey had laid it out with Charlie's favourite food from the restaurant. Music from 'their' playlist played gently to set the mood.
"You're so lovely," Joey said, taking her hand and guiding her onto the boat.
Charlie smiled, accepting Joey's hand, as memories from their happy first kiss glided into her soul.
"Care to drive?" Joey offered, leading the way to the wheel, once she'd got them set up and ready.
Charlie grinned, more confident after all the times Joey had helped her steer.
"I love coming out here with you," she mused, as they headed out of the Bay, her hands on the steering wheel, the way she had been taught. "You've made this boat, this ocean… my favourite place in the world."
Joey stepped up behind her, guiding her and holding her close. She rested her chin on Charlie's shoulder, breathing in her scent and feeling utterly content.
"I'm glad," she said. "Because it's mine too. This is my perfect picture of happiness, being right here, right now, with you."
They kissed.
The rally concluded without incident and while April and Xavier and even Dex and Ruby, who were less invested in the whole thing, were flying high, John was a little deflated. He had secretly hoped that there might be protestors, some sort of conflict, something that might cause a media stir and get them on the news, on the map. But everything had been smooth and plain sailing. It had been easy and successful. It had been boring.
Anchored at sea, Charlie and Joey were happily tucking into their food.
"As ever, this is amazing," Charlie enthused, finishing her salmon, which had been carefully kept as hot as possible. "I am a very lucky girl to have ended up with you."
"You teased the cooking skill out of me really," Joey said shyly.
"How, because I'm so shit at it?" Charlie smirked, sipping her orange juice.
Joey laughed and caught hold of her hand. She lifted it to her lips and kissed it.
"You gave me encouragement for the first time in my life," she said sincerely, recalling the way that Charlie had nudged her to college to pass her course.
None of everything she had would have been possible without Charlie and she loved her for it. She was grateful for it every single day.
"I'm glad to have helped you," Charlie said. "I think you would have been just as awesome on your own but I'm very, very happy to be part of your life, part of your journey."
Joey stood and took both of Charlie's hands, gesturing for her to get up also. Charlie obeyed and they fell into each other's arms.
"I couldn't have done any of this without you," she said. "I dread to think what my life would be like without you. I never want to know what it would be like. I love you with every breath in my body."
"I feel the same way," Charlie almost whispered.
She closed the gap between them in a kiss.
Having loaded up John and Gina's cars with all their placards and belongings, everyone was ready to go home. On the way out of the rally site, Xavier stopped so abruptly that John walked straight into the back of him.
"Watch where you're going!" John complained.
"Look at that!" Xavier managed, pointing ahead of him.
John looked. Almost scrap, was a Mad Max car. They both wanted it.
Abandoning dessert, Charlie and Joey headed over to the cushions that Joey had set up. Their kisses became more passionate, as their hands roamed all over each other's bodies.
"I love you so much," Charlie mumbled, fumbling with the buttons on Joey's shirt.
One of them pinged off and shot over the edge of the boat, as she rid Joey of her shirt. They broke away, laughing.
"Well, that's gone," Joey remarked.
"Oh well," Charlie said. "We'll sew on another one."
"Sorry, we?" Joey asked.
"Okay, you," Charlie said.
The police officer was not known for her sewing skills.
"Anyway," Joey said. "Where were we?"
They kissed again, forgetting all about the button as they continued to shed each other's clothes. It felt good to escape the world and just focus on each other.
On shift, Watson had stopped to get a coffee from the Diner when she spotted Kerri sitting with Danny outside. She looked around to see if Brax was around but she couldn't see him. Charlie's words rang in her ears about seizing the moment and taking chances.
Regulating her breathing, Watson approached her and was greeted with a warm smile.
"Hi," she said.
"Hi, Watson," Kerri said.
She was surprised that the police officer had come over but she was pleased too. They'd had a nice time chatting the other night when Brax hadn't been able to make their date. Funnily enough, things had actually been easier than when they'd been uncomplicated before.
"How are you?"
"Yeah, I'm good thanks," Watson said.
She turned to Danny.
"How are you both?"
"We're fine, aren't we Danny?" Kerri said.
"Yep," Danny said, pleased that Watson was including him in the conversation.
"Listen um… I was wondering…"
"We're just going surfing, nothing illegal," said a voice behind them.
Watson's heart sank. She turned to find Brax, looking muscular and chiselled, ready to steal away the girl she liked yet again.
"No arrests," she said as jovially as possible. "Just saying hello."
"Why?" he snapped cautiously.
"We're friends, Brax," Kerri told her boyfriend.
He narrowed his eyes, looking between the two women.
"Then I suggest you have a rethink about who you're friends with," he told her. "Pigs aren't nice company."
"That's mean!" Danny objected. "You should say sorry!"
The ten year old looked anxiously between the three adults.
"Brax and I aren't very friendly," Watson told him. "But it's okay. You don't need to worry about it, Danny."
She nodded at him and Kerri and forced a smile before heading off on her way. Kerri looked torn. She had just witnessed gentle Watson in direct conflict with a side to Brax she had never seen before and really didn't like.
Thrusting deeply inside each other, Charlie and Joey breathlessly climaxed, Joey just a fraction of a second ahead of Charlie. Her head swimming, Charlie collapsed on top of Joey, kissing her shoulder and resting against her. They gently withdrew their fingers from each other, both perspiring and gasping for air.
"That was good," Joey murmured.
"Only good?" Charlie teased.
Joey grinned.
"Very, very good," she conceded. "And when you're ready, I'm very much up for round two. Perhaps with dessert incorporated…"
Charlie sat up, suddenly with all the energy in the world.
Next time… Ross has an accident, Brax humiliates Watson and Paulie puts pressure on Angelo…
