After the traumatic but temporarily ending of Writing to Reach You, I thought I'd write a more cheerful (but still somewhat dramatic, I hope!) story, set four years in the future where there was no cheating and no leaving. Title courtesy of the lovely Lulu, who was a wonderful sounding board!

Have a Little Faith

Chapter One

Leah walked into the kitchen to the smell of baking and the sight of a mess. A bra was slung on the back of a chair, a t-shirt had been dropped on the floor and there was a chocolate hand print on the table. She shook her head.

"I don't even want to know," she said to herself.

Looking up, she heard giggling as her flushed housemates, Charlie and Joey entered the room. Charlie blanched when she saw her.

"Oh!" she said. "Hey, Leah. We were um… baking."

She was wearing shorts and a pyjama top and Leah allowed herself an amused smile as she watched her frantically scan the room for her day clothes. Leah pointed them out and Charlie made a grab for them looking mortified, although after four years of living with the couple, this was hardly the first time she'd caught them getting carried away in the middle of the afternoon. Joey, who was dressed properly, grinned at her girlfriend's embarrassment and headed to the oven to peer inside and see whether their cake was ready yet.

"I guess that's one way to pass the time," Leah commented, setting her bag down.

Charlie left the room to get changed. Joey rummaged around for oven gloves.

"Like you and Roman have never…" Joey grinned.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Leah asked, changing the subject.

Joey chuckled and took the cake out of the oven, just as Charlie re-entered the kitchen, bringing with her the mixing bowl they'd abducted earlier.

"Want some cake?" Joey asked both women.

"Dare I?" Leah said worriedly.

"Don't worry. We made it before we started..."

Charlie poked her in the arm to stop her talking. Leah laughed.

"Maybe a small slice," she said.

"Okay, just let me do the icing."

"Do you guys want some privacy for that?"

That night, Joey and Charlie lay in bed in the darkness waiting for sleep to claim them. As usual, Joey was on her side, facing the wall while Charlie was curled up into her, wrapping her lean body around her partner.

"I think we should go away," Joey said absently.

"Away?" Charlie repeated sleepily.

"I can hire a boat from work and we could take off for a little holiday."

"That would be nice."

Charlie snuggled in a little tighter and kissed Joey's neck. Joey smiled into the darkness and allowed her hand to reach behind her and pull Charlie in close.

"I'm going to start doing some overtime to save up," she said.

"There's no need," said Charlie. "We can pay for it together."

"No. I want to."

"But…"

Joey turned her head slightly.

"Please?"

Charlie sighed. She knew how stubborn Joey could get about these things.

"Whatever you say," she said.

She kissed Joey's lips and whispered goodnight.

Two days later, Charlie was not in a good mood and she was making sure everyone in the house knew about it. So far she had snapped at Leah, Roman, VJ, Ruby and Xavier and two of those people didn't even live there. And one was only a child! For two full days, Joey had been out early and back late and not even made time to have lunch with her. Two dinners had been left to go cold, phone calls had been rushed and texts had only received vague replies. While Charlie had been desperately trying to remind herself that the only reason Joey was working so hard was because she wanted to take Charlie on holiday, somehow it didn't seem to be a valid reason. She didn't want to go away so badly that she wanted Joey to be absent from her life. What was the point in that? Slouched on the sofa, Charlie frowned at the television. Her ears pricked up when she heard the sound of someone coming in through the back door.

"Honey, I'm home!" Joey called.

Ruby and Xavier leapt up from their seats as Charlie jerked her head in Joey's direction without smiling.

"Dude, you are in so much trouble," Xavier commented, as Ruby dragged him off to her bedroom.

Joey looked a little unnerved as she ventured over to her partner. Charlie had her arms folded across her chest.

"I missed you," Joey began.

"I'm surprised you remember who I am," Charlie replied.

"Oh, don't be like that," Joey said.

She placed a hand on Charlie's thigh and began stroking the flesh she found there. She smiled into Charlie's unhappy face. Despite herself, Charlie felt her bad mood begin to dissipate. It was ever so hard to stay cranky with Joey for long. She was too sweet.

"I'm just trying to save up some cash so I can take you away," Joey said.

She placed a kiss on Charlie's cheek.

"Far away on a beautiful boat where we can enjoy the sunshine and the water and the pleasure of each other's company and… well, the pleasure of each other."

She grinned wickedly and planted a kiss on Charlie's mouth, never letting her hand subside. Charlie grinned back and felt her body relax. Joey leant over and kissed her more deeply.

"Forgive me?" Joey asked, pulling reluctantly away.

"Depends how much you missed me," Charlie replied.

"Oh, I missed you a lot," Joey said. "I can show you if you like."

They kissed again.

The following day, Charlie was disappointed to find that Joey was up and out before sunrise. She had been vaguely aware of being kissed on the mouth at some un-Godly hour but she hadn't been conscious enough to really register it. And now Joey had sent her a text to say that she couldn't make lunch. Pacing the kitchen, looking at the sandwiches she'd already prepared before she'd received her partner's message, Charlie sighed. She really didn't want this holiday so much that she was happy to forget what Joey looked like for the next however long. Coming to a snap decision, she reached for some foil and wrapped each sandwich up and put them carefully in her bag before heading down to the wharf. She and Joey were having lunch and that was final.

Charlie marched down to the wharf and spied the boat that Joey was devoting all her time to. She peered at the deck, trying to spot the woman she'd fallen so passionately in love with four years ago. It had been difficult for Charlie to accept that she was attracted to another woman and after some initial hesitation they'd finally admitted their feelings and not looked back since. Coming out hadn't been the easiest thing in the world but eventually Ruby and their friends had got used to them being a couple and until her current grumpiness had set in, Charlie had never been happier. She smiled as she spotted Joey standing in the sunshine in a pair of denim shorts and a tight black vest which showed off a beautiful figure and tanned skin. Charlie stopped smiling when she saw Joey laughing heartily while a beautiful blonde woman touched her affectionately on the arm, leaning in close to her.