For my dear friend, Thane. xxx

Chapter Five Hundred and Eighty One

"Oh, you know what? It's Claire's twenty first today," Joey realised the following morning.

She and Charlie had both slept like the dead. Charlie groaned and rolled over, snuggling into Joey's warm embrace. Joey kissed the top of her head.

"I said I'd do breakfast," Joey said. "Ruby wanted us to make it feel like a family thing. Claire told her that we're the closest thing to a family she's ever had."

Charlie sighed sadly.

"I wonder if her parents will ever realise what they've lost," she said.

"I don't know," Joey said. "I mean, I never thought Brett would come round. And I mean, it's not like we're close exactly but we're friends. We're siblings again. And that means a lot. But my parents… I know my Dad would have rejected me. And I know my Mum would have stood by his decision even though it would have broken her heart. She was too weak to stand up to him."

Charlie held her a little closer.

"So, I was very lucky to end up with you and Ruby as my family," Joey continued. "With Ross and Morag. And Claire is lucky too. But we need to keep making sure she always feels that way."

"We do," Charlie agreed, sitting up and feeling decisive.

She climbed out of bed. Joey took a moment to appreciate the beauty of her naked body.

"Perv," Charlie smirked, catching her out.

Joey laughed and also climbed out of bed, aware of Charlie's eyes on her.

"Hypocrite," she retorted.


"Alright, alright!" Angelo complained.

Half dressed, he pulled open the front door, startled to find Bianca in front of him, looking utterly furious. He took a step back.

"Where is he?" she demanded.

"Who?"

"Who the hell do you think, you halfwit?" she snapped.

"He's in bed," Angelo told her, not rising to insult. "Probably asleep, the amount he put away last night."

She paused.

"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

"We had a poker night," he explained. "Beer. Junk food. Cards."

"What the hell are you thinking?" she demanded, raging radiating from her again. "Liam is sober!"

He stepped back again.

"He said drugs were his issue, not drink," he said, irritated.

Liam's sobriety was not his responsibility.

"It's all linked," Bianca told him. "He doesn't drink on purpose. What the hell is wrong with you, Angelo? Don't you know anything? Don't you even care?"

She pushed past him, demanding to know where her boyfriend's room was.


Ruby and Claire got up shortly after Charlie and Joey, who soon started making breakfast.

"Happy birthday, Claire!" Charlie said excitedly. "Twenty one years old, hey? Wow!"

"Can you even remember being that young?" Ruby teased.

"I'm twenty nine," Charlie snapped back.

"Thirty next year…" Joey teased from the kitchen.

"We should totally have a big party!" Ruby said excitedly.

"Let's get this one's celebrations out of the way first!" Charlie suggested.

"She won't even tell me what we're doing today…" Claire complained.

"You don't need to know," Ruby said. "We're just going to have a lovely day."

"Just enjoy yourself!" Joey suggested.

"I'm sure I will!" Claire laughed.


Liam was jolted awake. He blinked open his eyes, feeling sick and bleary.

"Liam!" Bianca said harshly. "What's wrong with you?"

"Ugh, I just feel a little groggy," he mumbled.

She sat down on the bed. He shifted to create some space.

"I mean, why did you stand me up last night?" she asked.

He could hear the hurt in her voice and immediately felt guilty.

"I uh… I just forgot," he managed. "I'm sorry. I started playing poker with Angelo and Roo and I just… forgot."

"And you started sinking a load of beers, I hear," she accused.

He rubbed his head. It was pounding.

"You're not supposed to drink," he said.

"I don't have a problem with drink," he insisted.

Bianca sighed, reminding him that he had told her long ago that alcohol was a gateway and that's why he stayed away from it.

"Well, I've changed my mind," he said sullenly.

"That doesn't excuse you from standing me up," she said.

"We're not joined at the hip," he said. "We don't even live together anymore."

He turned over, pulling the blankets with him. The conversation was clearly over.


Claire was overwhelmed. Joey had made them all a lovely breakfast before she, Charlie and Ruby had plied her with an exorbitant number of birthday presents.

"Guys, I don't deserve all this," she said, her voice wobbly with emotion.

"Of course you do!" Charlie said, presenting her with a large '21' badge and pinning it to her t-shirt.

"Perfect for an extrovert like you, Claire!" Joey chuckled.

Claire blushed.

"Happy birthday," Charlie said sincerely. "We want you to have a really special day. You deserve it."


Romeo chuckled at the sight of Xavier in his Pizza Oven uniform. He had just started as a delivery driver, on a scooter he could barely ride, in a bid to save up the cash to attend a festival with Casey and Ruby and hopefully a date of his own (that he hadn't actually found yet).

"You laugh but I'm going to be rolling in it soon with my wage and tips," Xavier said.

"I already have two jobs," Romeo reminded him. "I get enough wage and tips."

Xavier shrugged and frowned. He also wondered how Romeo ever found the time to study and work at Bucktons' and on the beach as a lifeguard as well as fit in a social life, plus the amount of time he spent surfing.

"And anyway, I'm not sure we should even be friends anymore now you're working for a rival restaurant," Romeo joked.

"I don't think you're in a position to be choosy about your mates," Xavier teased.

Romeo sighed, agreeing silently.

"Hi, Romeo," said a sweet sounding voice.

Romeo blushed when Emily, a girl from school approached him, playing with her hair and smiling shyly. She barely noticed Xavier was there.

"Hi," Romeo managed.

"How are you doing?" she asked, touching his bare arm.

He was only wearing shorts, having been out for an early surf.

"I heard about your breakup with Indi," Emily continued. "I just wanted you to know that if you need a shoulder to cry on, my shoulder is always free."

Xavier smirked to himself. Romeo was startled. He managed to thank her and she walked away. The boys watched her leave.

"What was that?" Romeo asked.

"That was the beginning of the female population discovering that you're officially single," Xavier informed him.


"Well, we are going to love you and leave you for now," Charlie said.

The four of them were full from breakfast and Claire was genuinely emotional from all the lovely gifts.

"Oh, is it today you're going to the wedding fayre?" Ruby asked.

"Yes," Joey said. "Wish us luck!"

She and Charlie were a mix of nerves and excitement over their first step of planning for the wedding. They'd spotted some flyers for the wedding fayre and hoped that may be a good place to start.

"Have a good time," Claire said.

"Thank you," Charlie said. "We'll be back later though. Perhaps we could all have dinner or something, if you don't have plans?"

Ruby had deliberately been nonchalant about the party she had planned. She wanted it to be a surprise. It was in the diary at the restaurant as a 'private booking' with no details.

"That sounds great," Ruby said, looking at Claire.

"I'd love that," she agreed.


It was lunch time and Xavier was already growing a bit tired of delivering pizzas to ungrateful, lazy students. These seemed to be the only people who ordered pizzas during the day. He stopped short when one of the most stunning women he had ever met opened the door, beaming at him; she accepted the stack of pizzas gratefully. She had brown, tousled hair and brown eyes. He was instantly smitten.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," she replied. "So, um…?"

"I'm Xavier," he told her, extending his hand.

She laughed and shook his hand, introducing herself as Miranda. Then she asked how much the pizzas were. He blushed and billed her. She handed over the money but he couldn't make himself leave.

"So… are you having a pizza party or…?"

"Kind of," she said. "We're setting up for a party. We're having pizza while we work. Do you want to come to the party?"

He was thrilled. It was exactly what he wanted.


"Oh, come on, Nic!" Indi begged. "I can't go to this party by myself! Please come with me? Please?"

"I don't want to be your weird pregnant friend," Nicole complained.

"You won't be," Indi promised. "We'll stick together. We don't even have to stay that long. I just promised I'd show my face. Please can we go?"

"It's just that I promised Ruby I'd go to Claire's birthday party tonight," Nicole explained awkwardly.

Indi's face fell. She knew what was coming.

"Look, I know you hate Ruby but this is Claire… It's her twenty first and she has no family," Nicole said. "If I come to this horrible Uni party, will you come with me to Claire's afterwards? Just for a little while? For Claire?"

"For Claire," Indi said sulkily. "But if Ruby comes anywhere near me, she's getting a drink in her face."

"That's fair."


Charlie and Joey were set to give the wedding fayre a good review. They had had quite a lot of freebies. They'd had a good laugh in a photobooth. They had certainly come away with lots of ideas they felt they could recreate themselves. And they were relieved that they didn't have to find a venue or catering. Plus Leah had already said she would like to gift them a wedding cake as her contribution to the wedding.

"Oh, there's a clothes boutique here," Charlie said. "We haven't looked at clothes much."

She held onto Joey's hand as they approached the stall, full of fabrics and photos of different dresses and tuxedos.

"Good afternoon," said a woman in her sixties with greying hair and glasses. "So, who's getting married?"

"We are," Charlie said.

"To who?"

"To each other," Charlie said, starting to feel a little uncomfortable.

"As in, lesbians?" the woman asked, the word seeming to create and bad taste in her mouth.

"That's right," Joey said, squeezing Charlie's hand quite hard.

"Right, well, I'm sure we can do something with that," the woman said. "So, who's the woman and who's the man?"

Charlie and Joey exchanged glances.

"Excuse me?"

"Who's going to wear the dress? Who's the woman?"

"Well, we're both women," Charlie said. "That's kind of the point."

"Well, you can't both wear dresses," she told them. "And you can't both wear suits."

"I think you'll find we can both wear whatever we like," Joey informed her.

"And it won't be bought from you," Charlie said, leading Joey away.


Romeo froze as soon as he arrived at the party. He elbowed Xavier hard in the ribs.

"You didn't tell me this was a Uni party and that Indi was going to be here!" he snapped. "What the hell is wrong with you, Xave?"

"I didn't know!" Xavier replied, rubbing his painful middle. "I'm sorry."

Then he wandered off in the direction of Miranda, hoping that she would be interested in spending time with him. Alone and frustrated, Romeo headed to the drinks table, wondering whether he should even stay.

"What are you even doing here?"

He recognised Indi's voice immediately.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know you'd be here."

"This is a Uni party," she said. "These are my friends from my course."

"Xavier delivered a pizza to some girl," Romeo said, pointing to him and Miranda. "He got an invitation and dragged me along."

"Well… go home or stay out of my way."

She walked off back to Nicole who was say awkwardly in a chair. There was no way of hiding her pregnancy anymore. He felt almost as sorry for her as he felt for himself.


Roo had been invited round to dinner at the farm. She was enjoying Sid's company. She had been enjoying Sid's company a lot recently, not romantically, of course, but she found him mentally stimulating. And quite nice to look at. But Marilyn was putting her on edge. She kept flapping about, fretting that pregnant Nicole was at a party. Roo wanted to scream at her to calm down and give the kid some space. She completely understood the stress that Nicole was under and more pressure from Marilyn was only going to make it worse.


"This has been such an amazing day," Claire said. "Thank you."

They had taken the bus to Yabbie Creek Nature Reserve, a place that Ruby knew Claire loved to visit. Now, they were sat on the beach, eating an ice cream from the Diner.

"I'm sorry I didn't manage to do anything extra special," Ruby said, desperately and secretly hoping that the party would turn out well. "But I hope that spending the day together would be good enough."

"It's wonderful," Claire said. "I've loved it."

She reached over and hugged her. Ruby kissed her cheek. It meant more to Claire than she could ever have told her.

"Charlie and Joey should be back soon," Ruby said. "We can have a nice dinner at the restaurant."

"Oh, I think it's booked out for some event or something," Claire remembered.

"Hey," Ruby said confidently. "They own the place. We'll be fine!"


Romeo approached Nicole who looked almost as miserable as he did.

"Do you want to go on to Claire's party?" he asked.

He needed to leave. His heart was completely broken.

"Yeah," she said, allowing him to haul her out of her chair.

This had been the single most boring party she had ever been to. As she had expected, nobody had spoken to her, apart from Romeo and even then it had been awkward as she hadn't wanted Indi to see her fraternising with the enemy. But now, they had both seen Indi kissing some other guy. She knew how distraught Romeo was and she knew she needed to get him out of there. Xavier had been glued to some other girl all evening; he was unlikely to want to leave in case there was a slim chance she was interested in him.

"Let's go," she said, patting her friend and housemate on the shoulder. "Everything's going to be okay."


Charlie and Joey arrived at the restaurant at the same time as Romeo and Nicole. Watson, Kerri, Danny, Dex, Scott and Blake had been there for most of the day, getting the place set up while Ruby kept Claire distracted.

"I am getting paid time and half for all this, aren't I?" Scott said cheekily.

"Um… we're doing this for free so I don't think you get paid!" Watson put in.

"No squabbling, kids!" Joey ordered.

Morag, Colleen, April, Bianca, Liam, Leah, VJ, Angelo and Casey had all arrived, ready to shout surprise when Claire and Ruby turned up.


Next time… Claire gets more than one surprise at her birthday party, Charlie and Joey report their experience of the wedding fayre and Liam's drinking causes concern…