Hi everyone. So sorry it's taken a while to update this story. I hope you've not forgotten about it! And I hope you enjoy this chapter. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Five Hundred and Sixty Three
The evening hadn't quite gone to plan for anybody. Bianca had decided that she wanted a girl's night out. But somehow, it had turned into a cosy night in at Irene's house. So now, she, Irene, Leah, Marilyn, Charlie, Joey and Nicole were all sat round having a sober evening, as since Will's stay, Irene didn't allow alcohol in the house at all. Irene had initially not offered her place for that reason but the night had been taken out of her hands and everyone (apart from Bianca) had agreed that they didn't need alcohol for a good time. So it had all been decided without her. But to be fair, she was having a nice time so she couldn't really complain.
"Honestly, I practically had to spell it out to him to get him out of the house!" Marilyn said. "It was so awkward. I mean, how do you tell your partner that his daughter wants to sleep with her boyfriend for the first time so he can't sit in the lounge for the night eating pizza and drinking beer?"
Charlie snorted. Joey grinned and put her arm around her.
"Who would be a parent to a teenager?" Leah remarked.
"Um… you're on your way, lady," Bianca pointed out.
Leah looked aghast, as did Joey.
"He's a baby!" Joey protested.
"He's a baby who has a serious crush on you!" Nicole reminded her.
"Oh, it's innocent," Joey said dismissively.
"Completely," Leah said. "He's still a baby. He's going to stop growing at the age of twelve. I've decided."
"Good luck," Nicole said. "But for the record, teenagers are not that bad."
"Um… you were a bloody nightmare!" Charlie informed her. "Don't think I've forgotten how much you hated me when we first met."
"You were dating my Dad," Nicole said. "Of course I hated you!"
"That is so weird," Bianca said. "I just can't imagine either of you with anyone else."
"I was only saying a couple of days ago that it feels like we've been together for longer than two years," Charlie said.
She glanced at Joey.
"In a good way," she added.
"It does feel like that," Joey agreed, holding her hand.
"You're like the Summer Bay's golden couple now," Nicole grinned.
Charlie and Joey both laughed, denying it bashfully. The others all insisted that it was true.
Romeo was in turmoil. Indi had been annoyed with him for cancelling their after school plans due to him getting detention. Then suddenly she had sent him a message, inviting him round for the whole evening. She'd said they needed to sort things out. He was terrified. He was convinced their relationship was over once and for all. Tonight, she was going to break up with him for good. He felt guilty for having feelings for Ruby. He felt scared of losing Indi. He didn't know whether to face up to things and go and see Indi. He didn't know if he had the energy to fight for her. He also didn't even know if he wanted to. Every time he so much as thought about it all, he got palpitations and he wanted to cry.
"So, how are you feeling now, Joey?" Nicole asked.
"I'm feeling a lot better," Joey confirmed, thanking her. "And in a couple of weeks, this damn thing is coming off so everything will be happy and back to normal."
She waved her cast.
"Hey, I hope it's not inhibiting you too much," Bianca smirked.
"I'm right handed," Joey smirked back.
Irene and Marilyn both blushed. Nicole, Bianca and Leah both burst out laughing.
"I think we'd be dealing with a very grumpy Charlie if she wasn't," Leah remarked. "I remember how all over each other you are from when we lived together!"
"Hey!" Charlie protested. "We're not that bad!"
"I've heard the stories from Ruby!" Nicole countered. "She's always complaining about the noise!"
"Maybe we should talk about something else!" Joey suggested.
"Yes, you're making me a little jealous," Marilyn said. "And I'm in a relationship!"
"Problems?" Bianca asked immediately. "We're here to listen."
"Oh, no problems," Marilyn said vaguely. "He's just a bit grumpy at the moment."
"He was pretty moody at lunch time today," Joey agreed.
"Yes, I'm sorry about that," Marilyn said.
She had been very embarrassed.
"What was he upset about?" Nicole asked worriedly, holding onto her bump.
"Dex's blog," Marilyn explained.
"Oh, I saw that!" Nicole said. "It was so great! It was so clever."
"What was it about?" Charlie asked.
Marilyn pulled her phone out to play it to the group.
With her parents out, Ruby was home alone, studying. She had asked Claire to come over but she was working at the restaurant for most of the night. To be honest, they weren't spending much time together these days and Ruby was feeling the distance. She was spending most of her time with Romeo. He required a lot of her attention. She was also enjoying spending time with Casey. Between those two guys and her school work, she didn't have much time left. And Claire seemed busy too. She had work and had developed a life separate to Ruby. Ruby supposed that sometimes even those closest friendships faded away.
She paused when there was a knock at the door. Closing her laptop, she walked across the room and opened the front door, surprised to see Casey standing there. She didn't think she'd even told him where she lived.
"Hi!" she said.
"Hi," he replied. "How are you?"
"I'm okay," she said, remaining in the doorway. "You?"
"Yeah, I'm okay," he said. "Romeo and I sorted things out."
"Good."
An awkward silence fell between them.
"I just… I wanted you to know that I do really like you, Ruby," Casey said earnestly.
"Oh!"
"So… um… well, maybe I could take you out sometime," he ventured. "On a date."
She smiled. She felt flattered.
"Maybe," she said.
He smiled.
"Great," he said. "Well, just think about it."
He turned and left.
Everyone had liked the blog and everyone was disappointed that Sid hadn't felt the same way.
"I get what he means," Irene ventured. "We all want our kids to fit in. He just wants to protect Dex. But it's a beautiful thing that Dex is so individual. If only everyone was brave enough to be themselves. Maybe bullying wouldn't exist then."
"What a world that would be," Joey remarked.
Charlie snuggled a little closer to her. She was learning more and more what her girlfriend had been through at school and how raw that was right now.
Liam was at the restaurant, desperately trying to complete writing a song he had been working on for far too long. He was interrupted by John and Sid, both of whom had been sent out on a boy's night by their partners who were on a girl's night at Irene's. He cringed. The last thing he wanted was company but it was too rude to send them away.
"So, how's Uni going?" Joey asked. "Are you settling into your classes? Are you making friends?"
"Classes are fine," Nicole confirmed. "I'm not overwhelmed with friends. I guess nobody's flocking towards The Pregnant One. But I have met one guy…"
Everyone was immediately interested.
"Relax!" Nicole laughed. "I'm pretty sure he's gay."
"Oh," Bianca frowned.
"But his name's Angus and he's really lovely," Nicole continued. "He's really funny and we have a really great time together. He's a great study buddy and he's really supportive of my situation."
"That's really great, Nic," Joey said sincerely. "But remember that we love you more."
Nicole grinned.
"Always," she promised. "So… any romance news for you, Leah? How did your date with that Brax guy go? I never heard…"
Leah looked awkward.
"What?" Nicole asked. "What did I say?"
Ruby had returned to her studies. She was also enjoying having the place to herself for a change and had indulged in some snacks and was playing music louder than she was usually allowed to. She paused when there was another knock at the door. She opened up and was surprised to see Romeo standing there. She invited him inside. He didn't seem like himself.
"What's up?" she asked.
"I don't know," he admitted, sinking onto the sofa beside her.
She put a comforting hand on his leg. He felt a sharp tingle shoot through him. He felt embarrassed and guilty all at the same time.
"What's going on, Romeo?" she asked.
"I'm meant to be with Indi right now," he said.
"Then why are you here?"
"I think she's going to break up with me," he said. "She said we had to 'sort things out'."
"Well, maybe she wants to resolve things between you," Ruby said.
He shook his head.
"I feel like it's the end and I can't face it," he said. "I don't want to deal with it."
She looked at him seriously, her hand still on his thigh.
"What do you want, Romeo?" she asked, looking deeply into his eyes.
"It was just a disaster," Leah admitted. "He didn't ask me out because he wanted to go out with me. He asked me about because…"
She trailed off awkward, glancing at Charlie.
"It's fine," Joey said, holding her girlfriend's hand. "He was trying to get the gossip on Charlie because he thinks he can get her into bed."
Bianca spat her drink out, quickly apologising to Irene for making a mess on the carpet. Irene waved her away. She was too interested in the absurdity of Darryl Braxton trying to win over Sergeant Charlie Buckton.
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Marilyn gasped. "I mean, for one thing, he's a criminal and you're a police officer. For another, you're in a committed, loving relationship. With a woman! I mean, do you even like men anymore? I mean, I don't know. I haven't asked you. Do you? But regardless, you're in a solid relationship. Why would he bother?"
Charlie smiled at how earnest Marilyn always was.
"I think he's the kind of guy that likes to set himself the biggest of challenges," Charlie said. "But you're exactly right, Marilyn. I'm in a solid, happy, loving relationship and I'm not looking elsewhere. His efforts are futile. And even if I was single, he's a criminal and I'm a cop. It would never happen. It's ridiculous."
Joey smiled and snuggled against her.
"But as for the other question, I haven't really defined my sexuality," Charlie said. "I guess I'm bisexual. I mean, I don't know. I just… I always dated men before. But then I fell in love with Joey and that's been it for me. I've never loved or been attracted to anyone the way I've felt about her. I guess I'm more open now to finding both men and women attractive. But at the same time, I don't really find men or women attractive because I'm pretty much just focussed on Joey, if that makes sense? Does that make sense?"
Joey was touched. The others were all smiling at Charlie so much that she started to feel shy. Joey kissed her cheek.
"I just want things to feel better in my head," Romeo said. "I don't know why Indi and I are so distant from each other. One minute we were okay and now she's about to dump me. And then there's you…"
Ruby felt her heart beating faster. She hardly dared to hope.
"What do you mean, there's me?"
He looked anxious.
"Romeo, why did you warn me away from Casey?" Ruby asked.
"He isn't good enough for you," Romeo told her. "You're just a fantastic person, Ruby and there's so much anger in him. I don't want you to get hurt."
"Well, I can't be with the person I want to be with and I don't really want to be alone, so…" she ventured.
His breath caught.
"Who… who do you want to be with?" he asked.
Ruby locked eyes with him.
"Who do you think, Romeo?" she asked.
He swallowed. He thought about Indi. He imagined how awful it was going to be when she broke it off with him. He leant in and kissed Ruby. She felt like it was the most wonderful moment of her life.
Liam was getting a little frustrated as John and Sid drunkenly attempted to offer him their version of help with the song lyrics he was struggling with. Unfortunately, their help was not very helpful at all. Their words were clumsy and they constantly fell into fits of laughter, the more they drank. Giving up, Liam decided that if he couldn't beat them, he would join them and ordered a beer. He had had enough of song writing for one night.
"So, how's life in the tent?" Joey asked.
"Better now that April's living with me, I imagine," Irene said.
Bianca sipped her drink and nodded guiltily. It had been quite the squeeze for the three of them.
"Is that really awful?" she asked.
"Not at all," Irene said. "April agrees. Camping wasn't really for her."
"Where is April tonight anyway?" Nicole asked. "I thought she might have joined us."
"She's at the movies with Dex," Marilyn said. "Another issue when it came to giving poor Indi the house to herself tonight!"
"And we left Ruby studying," Charlie said. "I bet she'll have barely cracked a book!"
"Liam is deep in the song writing process at the moment," Bianca explained. "I'm hardly getting a look in at the moment. He's writing something like 'High Maintenance Woman' at the moment."
"Seriously?" Nicole balked. "I swear he was writing that when we were together!"
She immediately regretted it. Bianca had a face like thunder.
"Did he ever write a song called 'Melinda'?" she asked.
"Um… no?"
Bianca didn't believe her.
"I don't know," Nicole said honestly. "He wrote a lot of stuff, Bianca. If he writes songs about other women he's dated, don't take is personally. It's all just about life experience. Processing stuff."
Bianca sighed, turning Nicole's advice over in his mind.
"Also, do you want to be a high maintenance woman?" Joey put in.
Indi sat alone in her lounge. Dinner was ruined and all of her messages to Romeo had been left unanswered. Her outfit had gone to waste and she felt like her heart was broken. Sighing heavily, she stood up. She threw the food in the bin and blew out the candles. She headed into her room and got changed into her pyjamas. She returned to the kitchen and took out a tub of ice cream from the freezer. Grabbing a spoon, she dug in.
Ruby and Romeo kissed their way to Ruby's bedroom. Ruby could hardly believe that this was really happening. She had dreamed of it so many times but never truly believed that Romeo could really like her. She had thought he was too committed to Indi. But now he and Indi were over and Romeo really and truly liked her. She kicked her bedroom door shut and allowed him to guide her onto the bed. She wrapped her arms around his strong shoulders and closed her eyes. She never wanted this night to end.
Bianca found Liam at the restaurant. She was shocked to find him drinking with John and Sid. He wasn't drunk but he was on his second beer.
"Alcohol wasn't my problem," he told her quickly.
"I know," she said cautiously. "But I thought you were sober just in case."
"I am," he said. "I just thought once…"
She nodded but she was concerned.
"Anyway, I heard you wrote your latest song for Nicole…"
He looked startled. John and Sid both burst out laughing. Liam quickly made his excuses, aware that he had some making up to do. He and Bianca headed home.
"That was a good night," Charlie said, arriving home with Joey, their arms linked together.
"It was," Joey said.
They stopped and kissed outside before letting themselves into the house.
"Hmm… how much work do you think she actually did?" Charlie remarked, noting Ruby's discarded schoolwork on the kitchen table.
She called for her daughter. Then she paused, hearing an awkward sounding thud coming from the bedroom. Without pausing, Charlie marched towards the bedroom and threw the door open. She was shocked to find Ruby in bed, undressed and with the blankets clutched to her. Romeo Smith was stood completely naked in the middle of the room, clearly having been hurrying around the room trying to find his clothes.
Next time… Charlie and Joey are horrified by their discovery, Ruby reveals all to Nicole, Romeo makes his choice…
