lollypop

I'm really enjoying this fiic!! It's very well written. Can't wait to see where you take the Charlie and Ruby relationship and whether of not Charlie will take on the responsibility of caring for Ruby! Wonder how Charlie and Angelo know each other.... could he be Ruby's biological father?? Can't wait for more update soon!!

Also someone working undercover either as a cop or an informant wouldn't be stupid enough to risk jeopardising an undercover operation by engaging in a romance with cop!! Another factor which points away from Brax being an undercover cop!!

Well considering how easily Brax backtracked towards Heath and the Riverboys after he said he "wanted out" it doesn't suprise me that he would backtrack to Tegan. I hope Charlie keeps her common sense about her and remembers just how little she knows about Brax and the reason why she broke up with him. I don't want to see her running back to him just because she feels sorry for him because he gets the living daylights beat out of him by Jake. It won't change who he is or what he's done and the writers would do well to have Charlie retain a little self respect in all this and have her listen to her head and obey the warning signs rather than her heart. Because that hasn't worked out well for her at all!!

What worries me is just how blassé Brax is about everything. It's like he's completely detached from reality. He doesn't seem to understand the fear that Ruby, Casey, Leah, Liam etc are living with everyday because of the Riverboys. The fact that they are terrified of these boys should strike a chord with Brax, make him realise what exactly his double life has done to these innocent people. But he just doesn't seem to care as long as Charlie is still sweet on him and he can keep Heath and the "Boys" off his back. The fact that he's lived in that world for so long, he doesn't seem to undertand the affect it has on outsiders. Sure Brax may have acknowledged that if the Riverboys found out about his double life that he would be a "dead man". But doesn't that speak volumes about the code of ethics Brax and the Riverboys lived by and continue to live by. If they would "kill" their own learder over something like that, surely then that says a lot about the type of life Brax has chosen to live for the best part of his life. And it's obvious Brax himself isn't above using violence to "sort people out". I mean for Gods sake the man slaps his own brother around to knock sense into him. Brax has a serious case of double standarditis. Which is rich coming from a man who as far as we know, has no education (i.e HSC), has never done an honest days work and has earned his money by cultivating and selling an illegal drug. -He wants to put his life on the straight and narrow, however he's doing that by running a business he purchased with drug money. -It's okay for the rest of the Riverboys to do jail time for the crimes they've committed, but Brax shouldn't go down for being the leader and the brains behind most of their big operations. -He can feed Charlie a tip off about what the Riverboys are up to because Charlie's his girlfriend, but if any of the other boys dob him in, then that's a betrayal and they should pay for it. -It's not okay for Charlie to do her job as a police officer and put dangerous criminals (i.e. the Riverboys) behind bars to protect her family and friends, but it's okay for Brax to tip off the "boys" about the cops making raids or asking questions because that's him protecting his family. -He wants to be free to make his own choices but Heath has to bow down to his orders just because Brax doesn't agree with what he's doing. -He EXPECTS honesty from Casey and Heath and Charlie, but he doesn't seem to mind spinning lie after lie, after lie. Where does it end. When will he realise that a person can't have everything their own way and they can't continue to bully and manipulate people to get what they want. The world has a way of paying back bad karma to those who have cheated their way to the top. Brax's time will come. Today, Charlie got a small glimpse of what her lies have done to the people around her. The fact that Ruby and Leah have both expressed their fears, I think that opened her eyes up more to just how dangerous this all really is. I think it also made her wake up to the fact that she doesn't know Brax and that she did choose to ignore a lot of stuff that she shouldn't have because now it's coming to bite her up the back side big time. What worries me about Charlie is, she seems fine to be with Brax at the cost of her own career and her own safety, but what about the safety of others? What about Ruby? and Leah and VJ? and Liam, Bianca and Irene ete, etc. Does she honestly believe the Riverboys would just stop at her and Brax. Would a serious threat made by Heath or one of the others towards Ruby, make her realise just how dangerous the game she has been playing is? When will she finally realise just how badly she messed up? She may have lost Brax (for the moment anyways), but how much more will she lose before the year is out? This thing is far from over. Peoples eyes have been opened up to a very dangerous world. One that could have serious consequences for everyone involved. Charlie and Brax engagaed in a game that was based on lies and deceit and it's coming back to haunt them ten fold. If we chose to see only what we want to see in a person, then we only end up hurting ourselves. If we chose to ignore warning signs and the threat of danger because of selfish reasons, then we end up hurting others. Charlie and Brax would do well to remember this. Because right now they're paddling towards a waterfall of chaos and destruction and I wouldn't be surprised if limbs, as well as hearts, are broken.

But the problem is....Brax's family and Charlie are on two different sides whcih is never a good thing. If Brax would do anything to protect his family, does that mean he will do whatever takes to protect them, even if Charlie's involved in that threat to them as a police officer? Or will he all of a sudden neglect those family values as well for the sake of keeping Charlie on side? I mean where does Brax stand?? He wants to keep the Riverboys out of jail and out of trouble and his family but he's also willing to do whatever it takes to be with Charlie!! So where exactly does his priority lie?? He can't have it both ways. If he wants to be with Charlie he has to cut himself off entirely from everything thats dragging him down, otherwise Charlie's career will be in jeopardy as well as her life, and the lives of her daughter and friends. Or Charlie has to give it all up so he can maintain his double life. Either way sacrifices need to be made, and as far as I'm concerned, Brax should be the one to make those sacrifices since it's mostly his fault that they are in this mess!!

Being honest, Charlie and Brax are no different to Jack and Martha or Haley and Noah. Both these couples were red hot couples of their time on the show. Charlie and Brax will be no different. Eventually somebody else will come in and take their place. I get that they have chemistry...but isn't that the ponit?? Aren't couples supposed to have chemistry acting or not?? I don't get what's so special about them?

What's really bugging me about Brax at the moment is the way he's acting and reacting towards Heath. He keeps saying that if Hath wants the leadership he's on his own he can make his own mistakes and hopefully it'll knock sense into him. Yet every chance he gets he's tipping him off or trying to talk him out of it. I get that Heaths his brother and he looks out for family, but he can't keep saying one thing and doing another. Either he's in the Riverboys or he's out. But this inbetween business isn't working and it's only going to cause him even bigger headaches. What's worse is, how could he be stupid enough to tip Heath off and think Charlie wouldn't suspect him of doing it? I loved the end of tonights episode because finally we got to see Charlie call into question just how much she can actually trust Brax? And we got to see Brax come to a realisation that he can't have it all. He can't protect the 'boys' from the cops and keep Charlie on side. He can't expect her not to keep asking questions just because he doesn't want to answer them. I think tonight we've started to see the beginning of things falling apart for Brax. And I thing sadly for Charlie, she's realised that Morag was right.

Brax can get a second chance.......AFTER he's been punished for the crimes he's already committed. It's all well and good that Brax wants out and wants a better life, but that doesn't mean he should be allowed to just go unpunished for what he's done.

In all fairness, who would gladly let the leader of their gang, brother or not, just walk away? Brax was the brains and had all the contacts. He was the one who helped the boys make all their drug money. Without him the Riverboys will go under. So I can't imagine the other boys are too impressed either. The problem that Brax has is pretty complicted. He lived as the leader of the gang. The brains, the person all the boys answered too. And he gladly lived that role and the rewards it brought him while he was the big shot leader. Now all of a sudden he wants out so he can date Charlie without having to worry about the cops constantly trying to arrest him and so he can escape all the bad things that come with being in a gang. But the reality is, you can't expect to just up and walk away without there being serious reprecussions. Obviously if the Riverboys get caught, they are going to drag Brax down with them. He may not be "in" the gang anymore, but for the majority of their existence he was the leader and the brains. There's also going to be to be the inner conflict Brax will have, if he believes in being loyal to the boys, that by leaving them in the lurch he is putting them at risk of getting caught. So he may not be able to distance himself completely. Brax can say he wants out, but he will always be involved in the Riverboys one way or another.

I've heard people say Brax is a great guy for walking away from the Riverboys for Casey's sake, but the reality is, it's his fault Casey wants anything to do with them in the first place. If Brax had steered clear of the lifestyle rather than living it for the last, however many years he has been involved, then Casey wouldn't have spent most of his life living in the shadow of the Riverboys and their crimes. He wouldn't have grown up having to deal with people judging him because of the actions of his brothers. I get that Brax wants a better life for Casey. But you can't expect him to listen when he has watched both his older brothers doing everything that Brax doesn't want him to do. And it's a bit hypocritical of him to expect Casey to be better than Heath, when Brax is equally as bad. He just happens to be better at hiding it. I have a feeling everything Brax has been trying to keep Casey away from is going to explode in his face. I can't see Casey reacting well to what his brother had been up to. If it were Heath he wouldn't care because everybody has come to expect the worst of him. But when Casey finds out that Brax has been lying to him, I have a feeling it might just push him further into the mess that is the Riverboys. Brax can't expect Casey to listen to him and be an honest man, when he has been so far from honest about his life, he may as well be on another planet.

I think VJ loves the idea of Brax. Not Brax himself. The fact that Brax's into Surfing and part of a "surfer gang", I think that interest VJ and at his age thats a pretty easy thing to be taken by. I don't think he knows Brax well enough to actually like him. Although, Leah doesn't seem to like or trust Brax too much so I doubt we will ever see them together on screen again. Unless things take a dramtic turnaround. The thing that gets me about Charlie and Brax sneaking around the most, is when people call or text her about something serious but she's too wrapped up in him to notice her phone or answer it. Take Angelo and Bianca for example. Both sent out and SOS to her, they could have been seriously harmed or injured but she never bothered to check her phone or actually answer it. Or in one instances Brax deleted a message to save his brothers skin which I believe was not only wrong but incredibly stupid. What if he had been too late and Heath had done something terrible?? My only concern is, aomething like this will happen again and Charlie won't have an excuse. What if Ruby had have been the one calling instead of Angelo? Or what if Ruby was in Bianca's situation? Would Charlie be able to forgive herslef if something bad happened to her own daughter because she wanted to run around acting like a mischievious teenager? Where exactly is she going to draw the line? If I knew the answer to this I probably wouldn't be so against her affair with Brax.

I think they've aged Casey on purpose to try and toughen him up for his transformation into an actual Riverboy and not just one by association. I wonder how all of this is going to affect Ruby? I mean the revelation that her mother has been sleeping with Brax behind her back for months and Caseys apparent steps into the dark side. I wonder if Brax will have anymore parenting advice for Charlie? I dunno what it is, but Brax doens't seem like the parental type to me. At least not in comparison to Angelo. The way Ruby talked about him they seemed to have a pretty close relationship. Somehow I can't see Brax as bing this way inclined with Ruby. But that's just the impression I get from him.

Yeah but to age that much in the space of a couple of months?? Home and Away must really be stressing Steve out!! DocZed64....Steve is cute...but he doesn't compare to Mr. Clooney. George just oozes sex appeal and charm out of every pore.

Is it just me or does anybody else think Brax looks much older in recent episodes than he did when he first arrived? When he first appeared he was quite fresh looking and his hair was cut nice and tight and it was neat. But in the last couple of weeks, I dunno if hair and make-up are doing it unpurpose or what, but his facial featurs seem to have aged somewhat. And his hair looks terrible. It's very flat and unkept. I dunno, maybe they're trying to make Brax look stressed about constantly having to cover his tracks, but he has changed quite a bit since he arrived.

^^ Yes but it was Heath under Brax's orders. I've been wondering though....Angelo told Nicole he was making copies of the disc and that he wanted her to put one in a security deposit box. Did Nicole do this? and if so...does that mean that evidence against Heath and Brax is still floating around somewhere in Summer Bay? Could it resurface later on down the track? Angelo may have made off with Brax's money and no intention of returning, but I don't think he would be stupid enough to destroy all the evidence and just let the Riverboys carry on with what they have been doing. Brax may be trying to turn over a new leaf, but even if he does and Brax and Charlie do eventually go public, I don't think they will get an easy time of it. Regardless of this, Brax is/was still the leader of a criminal gang and he spent much of his life on the wrong side of the law. He clearly isn't trusted by many in the community, so I highly soubt that the likes of Palmer, Morag etc will take to kindly to their chief police officer taking up with him. I know people will argue that Charlie was with Angelo after he shot Jack and she dealt with the negative reaction from people in the past about getting back together with him after he had been aquitted. But the thing is, Brax and Angelo are two different situations. Angelo was trying to bust on a criminal. Sure he went about it the wrong way and the consequences were massive. But he never intentionally set out to hurt anyone or to break the law. Which is why people eventually forgave him. And the fact that he was remoarsful about what he had done obviously was another factor in that. Brax on the other hand chose the life he lives. He chose to earn his money breaking the law. He chose to use manipulation, lies and any other means to get what he wants. He doesn't care who he hurts in the process or how many people have to go to jail so he doesn't have to. He shows no remoarse for his actions and he shows little care for anything outside himself. Brax may choose to walk away from the Riverboys, but I highly doubt Tegan, Heath and the rest of the boys will just let him walk away. Especially if they find out the reason he chooses to do so is because he's sleeping with the enemy. I just hope Casey, Ruby and Charlie aren't the one's who pay for his past indiscretions. After all it's not just his own life that he's risking, it's Charlie's too.

When you're talking about someone who can be as dangerous as Brax can, never say never. Charlie and Brax are still in the "honeymoon" stages of their affair, who knows what could happen if the novelty wears off.

Except for the important factor..... the fact that it is all based on lies. Sure there may be care and affection there, but what good is that when there is no honesty or trust?? Some fans may be disillusioned but the ironic thing is, so are Brax and Charlie. Right now they're living in a bubble of infatuation. But when reality bites, it leaves a nasty mark and that's exactly what will happen if Brax doesn't start owning up to his past and previous indiscretions. He can't keep lying to Charlie, and with Tegan around and Heath getting more and more suspicious, it will probably only become harder for him to do so. The sad thing is, this will probably end like another of Charlie's predictable romances. Guy does bad, she gets hurt, breaks things off, spends weeks or months pining after him, begins to soften to him again and then gets things back together.

Although it's good to see that Brax wants to leave his old life behind and start fresh, I still can't condone what he has done. For his character to have any justification I feel he needs to be punished and face the consequences of his actions rather than just be allowed to walk free and live happily ever after. It happens too often on this show that people who have done bad things get away with them. It's not right and it needs to be rectified. For Brax to truly be free of what he has done in the past he needs to own up to it and accept whatever punishment comes his way. Until then I can't see myself ever accepting a Charlie and Brax relationship. The whole thing is based on a far too many lies and a dodgy foundation that will collapse if things don't change. Which is why I'm glad Tegan is around to stir things up. She clearly knows a lot about Brax's past and what he has done and has been doing since arriving in the Bay and hopefully she will be able to open Charlie's eyes up to what's really been going on. It's quite sad to see Charlie in a relationship with someone who she clearly likes, but seems to have difficulty in trusting. I don't understand how she can sleep with someone and have a secret relationship while also going about her job and investigating him. It's like she's purposely setting herself up for heartbreak. I'm beginning to wonder how long it will be before everything is unravelled? How many more people will be hurt or caught in the Riverboy crossfire before it all comes undone? And when will Charlie finally learn the truth? Hopefully Tegans arrival will answer these questions and be the key to unlocking the trail of corruption and bring it to an end or at least bring it to light. Also the way Leah soke of Brax and Heath in today's episode makes me wonder how she would react to finding out the truth? She doesn't seem to be very trusting of Brax either.

^^Took the words right out of my mouth. Thank You.

^^ I agree with you Red Ranger 1. I'm glad we're on the same wave length.

The worrying thing for me about Brax is the fact that there are two completely different sides to him. One is a lot more dominant than the other and it's a side to him I don't like and it's the side of him that makes me believe he will never be good enough for Charlie if he doesn't learn to get it under control. There's the side of him that wants to provide for his family and set Casey on the right path and keep Heath out of truble. There's the part of him that he probably found unexpectedly falling for Charlie. This side of Brax show the caring side of him. But then there's this dangerous side to him that really is a nasty piece of work. He lies and manipulates his way out of trouble. He uses violent or questionable tactics to deal with people who could rumble his game. He displayed a thuggish side to himself when he slapped Heath around for undermining him. He shows little remoarse for the schemes and tactics he uses and he walks over whoever he has to get what he wants. Brax does have a good side deep down, but the problem is, is that Brax has told one too many lies. And the problem with lying is, when you tell one lie, you have to back it up with another, and another, and another and so on. However, there's only so many lies a person can spin before it all comes crashing down. And the longer Brax's insists on lying, the worse it will be for him when it all comes undone. Charlie gets annoyed when she finds out that Ruby has told her one lie. Imagine how unhappy she'll be when she finds out that Brax has been continuously lying to her for months, and eventually she will. I'm sorry but if she goes running straight back to him after finding all that out, she really is as stupid as Brax is making her out to be.

How can you cut someone some slack when they are as thuggish as Brax? I want to like him because he is a really good character, but it's difficult to do that when his answer to dealing with people who may fumble his real criminal activities is to "deal with them" or "sort them out". I mean just look at the way he handled the whole Angelo situation. He showed no remoarse for what they did to him or for what he did to Brodie setting him up like that. He doesn't even seem to fazed by the fact that he is constantly lying to the woman he supposedly "really cares about" or that he's comprimising her and putting her career in jeopardy. These are not the characteristics of a good man. Aden, Angelo, and Jack did questionable things, they even broke the law, but at least they showed remoarse for what they had done. They were good men who did bad things That's the difference they hold over Brax. At least it is so far. And what Charlie did was completely understandable. She was trying to get the truth out of a man who raped her when she was only 14 years old. She was scared that he was manipulating her daughter into liking him and believeing him and she was fearful of losing her. Charlie may have stepped over the line big time in the way she handled Grant, but at least her actions were justified. I'm sure any mother would do the same thing to protect their child.

True.....but it does mean he needs to stay as far away from Charlie until he decides to change his criminal ways!! Btax can do whatever he wants but I don't want to see him drag Charlie down to his level for the sake of a few ratings and people thinking their "hot" together!! I agree completely with RedRanger1

It always confuses me how Charlie was so traumatised by being raped when she was younger, that she finds even the idea of commitment terrifying, but yet sex for her is like getting a take away, she can have it wherever, whenever it suits her?? and with whoever without flinching.....can somebody explain that to me??

Am I the only thing who finds the whole thing really wrong??? Something about it creeps me out. She's barely out of school and he's 30. I know Nicole repeated her HSC but it still seems really, really weird. Nothing about this relationship makes sense. They've only noticed each other in the last few weeks and all of a sudden the writers are setting them up for a fairytale romance?? I wonder how Sid would react if it were Indi that Angelo had his eye on. I mean there is a ten year age gap or more. I'm sorry but this whole storyline seems completely ridiculous to me. Which is why I find the whole thing totally unbelieveable.