Chapter Four Hundred and Thirty

Charlie and Joey both leapt up and rushed to their daughter's side, catching her just in time, before she almost face planted the floor.

"Ruby!" Charlie said, looking desperately at Joey.

"Ruby, what's going on?" Joey asked, knowing she had to keep her girlfriend from the edge of panic.

"I'm drunk!" Ruby declared, righting herself with the aid of her parents.

"Evidently," Joey said, unimpressed. "But why?"

Ruby looked at her, reading disappointment in her eyes. She promptly burst into tears.


Liam sat at home, turning his phone over and over in his hand and tapping his foot up and down, staring at the blank wall in front of him. He'd had so many missed calls from Ruby that he didn't actually know what to do. Well, the grown up thing would probably have been to answer one of them but he hadn't wanted to talk to her. She had been so distressed over the record deal and he couldn't put himself through her heartbreak. Plus there was their age old issue of her feelings for him. They weren't supposed to put themselves in unprofessional contact.

He sighed heavily and put his phone down, drumming his fingers on the edge of the chair instead. He was almost more nervous now that she had stopped calling. He hoped that she was okay.


"I'm sorry I'm always such a disappointment," Ruby sobbed.

Having guided her to the sofa, Charlie hugged her. Joey held her hand.

"You're not a disappointment," her mother assured her. "We're just worried about you."

Joey nodded.

"We love you," she said, putting her arm around her too. "Please, Ruby? Tell us what's going on."

Ruby just cried harder.

"I feel like I can't breathe," she wept.


Nicole was sat at the table at home, trying to study but not really getting very far when her phone rang. Glad of the distraction, she picked up, surprised when she saw Liam's name on the screen.

"Hey," she said. "How are you?"

"Worried," he admitted. "About Ruby."


"The record company only want Liam," Ruby sobbed. "Not me. They only like him."

"Oh, Ruby," Charlie sighed sadly.

She hugged her daughter closely and kissed the top of her head. No wonder she was upset.

"Or at least that's what he said," Ruby added, through her tears. "Maybe it's just that he didn't want to work with me. Wants to go solo. Doesn't want me around. Who would?"

Charlie drew away and looked sternly at her. Joey matched her expression.

"I don't ever want to hear you say anything like that again," Joey told her.

"Nor me," Charlie added. "Of course people want you around."

"How could anyone not?" Joey said. "You're amazing."

"So amazing that I'm completely alone and nobody loves me?" Ruby asked sourly.

"We love you," Charlie and Joey said unison.

"Nobody else does," Ruby told him. "And nobody loves me like that. And they never will."

Charlie hugged her again.

"Of course they will," she said. "Ruby, just because you don't have anyone now, it doesn't mean you won't again. You're so young, sweetheart."

"Everyone I know has someone," Ruby protested. "Indi has Romeo, April has Xavier, Nicole… well, I don't even know where she stands with Penn but she always has someone on the horizon, doesn't she? Bianca has Liam. You two have each other. Leah and Elijah are getting back together. Watson and Kerri have got together. It's not fair! All I want is…"

She sighed.

"Liam," she admitted.

Charlie closed her eyes in despair. She had hoped that her daughter would have recovered from her crush by now.

"Is that why you're so upset?" Joey dared.

Ruby looked at her.

"Because this means you don't get to work with him anymore?"

Ruby nodded and burst into tears, leaning against her other mother. Joey rubbed her back and gazed sadly at Charlie.

"Ruby, we really need to do something about this," Joey told her. "We need to sort this alcohol situation out, the pain you're in. And we need to sort it out properly."


Liam took a deep breath and knocked. He closed his eyes and waited, listening for noises on the other side of the door. Opening his eyes just in time, he was anxious to come face to face with Joey.

"Hi," he dared.

Joey stepped outside the apartment and closed the door.

"You really can't be here right now," she whispered.

"I just wanted to check that Ruby was okay," the music teacher said anxiously. "She left me loads of messages."

He shoved his hands in his pockets.

"She's very distressed but she's okay," Joey said. "We're putting her to bed."

Liam nodded.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Joey shook her head.

"I'm sorry if any of this is my fault," he said.

Joey managed a smile.

"It's not your fault," she told him. "Just… keep your distance for now. She needs to heal from… everything."


"Everything is going to be okay, sweetheart," Charlie whispered, tucking her daughter into bed.

She'd given her a couple of painkillers and water and put a bucket by her bed, although she doubted that she or Joey would get much sleep. They would be checking on her lots overnight.

"How do you know?" Ruby asked tearfully.

"Because I know," Charlie said. "You're the most beautiful, wonderful person in the world and everything is going to work out just perfectly."

Her daughter managed a smile.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too," Charlie said.

Joey slipped back into the room.

"I love you, Joey," Ruby said tiredly, almost ready to drift off into sleep.

"I love you, Rubes," Joey told her. "Goodnight."


That night, Charlie and Joey stayed up late, discussing what to do for the best. Charlie was particularly emotional about everything that had happened.

"How didn't I know how bad things were?" she asked tearfully. "I've let her down, Joey."

Joey hugged her tightly, kissing her lips.

"You haven't done anything wrong," she promised. "She was doing a great job of holding things together. Obviously too good. Neither of us knew she was struggling so much. We thought she was better."

Charlie continued to weep.

"But I should have known…" she said.

"How could you have if she didn't let you know?" Joey asked.

Charlie sighed heavily.

"The most important thing is that we know now and we can do something about it," Joey said. "And we will, Charlie. We'll get this sorted out and she'll be just fine. She will. I promise."

"Do you think we've made the right decision about what to do?" Charlie asked anxiously.

Joey nodded.

"I think we have."


The next morning, Charlie and Joey sat down with Ruby and encouraged her to eat a gentle breakfast. As they suspected, she was extremely worse for wear but they were not about to judge her or even tease her. Now wasn't the time for that. Now was the time to take care of her and let her know they loved her and would do anything to keep her safe and make her better.

"Ruby, we've been talking about everything…" Charlie ventured.

The teenager looked up meekly, almost fearful.

"And we think that you need proper help to deal with things," her mother said. "We don't think this is something we can handle by saying 'there, there, never mind, you'll get over him, now, don't do it again'. You know?"

Ruby nodded.

"So… we've been looking into this place…"

"Are you sending me away?" Ruby asked quietly. "Don't you want me around anymore?"

Charlie and Joey both reached out for a hand each.

"Of course we do!" they assured her.

"We love you so much, Ruby," Charlie said.

"And the last thing we want is for you to go away," Joey added. "But we think that you need proper support, support that we can't give you just by ourselves."

"We wish we could," Charlie added. "Honestly, I wish I could just wrap you up, tell you I love you and make everything better. I wish I could take all your pain from you and put it on myself but it won't work. But this place…"

"Is it like rehab or something? I'm not an alcoholic…"

"It's not rehab," Joey said. "It's a residential counselling facility. They'll support you and help you face the reasons why you feel so sad. You can explore why you've had this fixation on Liam – because I don't personally think it's even about him anymore. And why you've been drinking. It'll deal with everything."

"I don't want to be on my own…" Ruby said sadly. "I'm scared."

"We'll take you there and settle you in," Charlie promised. "And we won't leave you until you're ready."

"And we'll visit the first second we're allowed to," Joey put in.

"And then as soon as you're ready, we'll bring you home and everything will be okay again."


That afternoon, Charlie and Joey were sat in the car outside the clinic, having done just as they had promised. They'd driven Ruby to the clinic and settled her in. It had taken a while for her to allow them to leave but eventually, the nurses had encouraged them to depart and let her get to know other patients and relax into the place.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Charlie burst into tears. Joey immediately reached out and guided her partner into her arms. She held her as she sobbed.

"I don't want to leave her in that place, Joey," she cried.

"I know, sweetheart," Joey said. "I know."

She was tearful herself but tried not to let it show. She wanted to support Charlie as best she could.

"But she'll be okay," she said. "We've done the right thing. We've done what's best. They'll take care of her in there and she'll get better. And then she'll come home to us. I promise."

Charlie sat back up, gazing into her eyes.

"You promise?" she asked.

"Cross my heart."

"Then I believe you."


Next time… Angelo has a very dark day, Penn shakes Alf's memory and Sid and Marilyn fall out of sync…