Nobody's Perfect

[Chickiboomxx]

I'm really sorry, I've realised I have time to post one now. Thanks so much for the comments, ~JarlieFanEver~, -Carina-, Kristen, Lucii, soph1303, Samantha28, Angel90(I can assure you, it will all be revealed in this chapter ) and lozlovesh&a. They mean a lot

Warning: mention of Charlie's rape.

Chapter 11-

Ruby swung her school bag over her shoulder and she and Casey weaved in and out of the crowd of teenagers until they reached the exit.

"Did you have a good first day?" Casey asked.

"Yeah, I did," Ruby smiled.

They headed to the beach, happy to be away from the stuffy classroom.

"Thank you, Casey," Ruby said after a while. "Thank you for helping me get through the day. I wouldn't have been able to cope at all if you weren't there."

"It's my pleasure."

"You do know, people think we're going out, right?" Ruby asked.

Casey stopped walking and looked into her eyes. "Let them think what they want."

Ruby smiled. "Cas-"

He placed his finger on her lips to shush her and then hesitated before giving her a quick kiss. He waited for her reaction. She grinned and kissed him back.

Charlie and Brax tore their eyes away from each other as the door opened. Sid walked in, carrying a phone in his hands. He walked over to Charlie(who was now covered in bandages) and said, "Charlie, is there anyone you would like to call? I've heard you have a daugh-"

"Um yes, Brax can you please get me some water?" Charlie said quickly, suddenly remembering Ruby.

He didn't move. "A door?"

Charlie swallowed. "Yeah...I have a door back at the caravan that needed fixing. Someone was supposed to be coming around today to sort it out. I need to make a call to cancel the service," she said, trying to ignore the guilt she felt for lying.

"Charlie, what aren't you telling me?" Brax sighed.

"I-I...oh okay then. Please don't be mad, I didn't tell you because...because-well I felt ashamed, I guess."

"Charlie, I promise whatever it is, I'll try my best not to be mad but please can you get to the point?"

"Ruby's not my sister," Charlie said. "She's my daughter. When I was fourteen, I was raped, and Brax I'm so sorry for not telling you."

Brax took a deep breath. "Charlie, I'm not mad. It's not your fault you were raped...I just wish if you had told me sooner."

"I know," Charlie sighed.

"I just need a bit of air," Brax said slowly. "You should give Ruby a call, I'll only be a few minutes." He walked out of the room.

Sid stood in the corner of the room, looking awkward. "Um, I also came in here to give you good news. You won't be needing surgery on your hip but you will need to stay in the hospital for a week or two, so you can recover properly."

"Thanks Sid, that's great," Charlie smiled. She looked back at the phone and dialed Ruby's number, holding it up to her ear.

"Hello?" came Ruby's voice from the other end.

"Hey Rubes, it's me. Where are you at the moment?"

"I'm just on the beach with Casey. What's up?"

"Well, after my shift I sort of had a bit of an accident. I got hit by a car and I'm in hospital. I have to stay here for up to two weeks so we need to find you somewhere to stay and-"

"You got hit by car?" Ruby gasped. "Oh my god Charlie! I'll be at the hospital as soon as I can!"

Charlie opened her mouth to speak but Ruby had already hung up.

[Chickiboomxx]

Thanks so much for the comments, Lucii, Samantha28, soph1303, -Carina-, Dingo x and Kristen. I really enjoy reading them.

Chapter 12-

Brax stepped out of the hospital doors, trying to get his head around it all. He began pacing up and down, taking deep breaths and trying to stay calm.

Well...Charlie had a daughter. That was definitely going to take some getting used to. He didn't really mind about how old she was when she got pregnant. Or the reason for her getting pregnant in the first place. The only thing Brax was having trouble getting past was the fact that Ruby was Charlie's daughter. He didn't know how it would affect their relationship.

Suddenly he heard his name being called and he looked around to see Ruby hurrying up to him.

"Brax! Where's Charlie? Is she okay?"

"She's going to be fine. When you walk in, she's in the second room to the right," Brax said.

Ruby nodded and was about to open the door when she turned around. "Why aren't you with her?"

"Well...I just sorta found something out and needed some air," he replied, apologetically.

"What did you find out?" Ruby asked curiously.

"About you being her daughter," Brax answered, truthfully.

Ruby's eyes widened. "And...how do you feel about that?"

"Well to be honest, I have no idea," he admitted. "I'm just confused about it all."

"Please don't hurt her Brax," Ruby said quietly, opening the door and slipping inside.

Casey dropped his surf board onto the sand and flopped down beside it. He couldn't surf. He was too busy worrying about Ruby. She had insisted that she would rather see Charlie alone so he had come back here for something to do. He looked around and groaned as Xavier came walking towards him. Casey jumped to his feet and grabbed his surf board, determined to get away before things got nasty.

"Oy!"

Casey sighed, dropped his board and looked at Xavier, blankly. "Yes?"

"Where's Ruby?" Xavier demanded.

"I don't think that's any of your business."

"She used to be my girlfriend, mate."

Casey crossed his arms. "One, we're not mates. Two, she's not your girlfriend any more. And three, clear off before I damage that pretty face of yours."

Xavier smirked. "Just you try."

"No thanks. The thought of my hand being that close to your face makes me want to vomit," Casey shuddered.

Xavier raised his eyebrows. "Too afraid?"

Casey felt his temper rising. "You wish."

Xavier ignored him. "That's okay. You just run home to your mummy then like a good boy."

Casey clenched his teeth, telling himself to rise above it.

Xavier sniggered. "You won't last a day with Ruby. She'll see that she's wasting her time going out with a dumb a** like you."

Casey took a swing at him, his fist colliding with Xavier's face. "Say it again."

[Chickiboomxx]

Thanks so much for the comments, Samantha28, ~JarlieFanEver~, Aden_Belle and soph1303. They really do mean a lot.

Sorry for the super short chapter. I'm short of time.

Chapter 13-

Xavier wiped the blood from his face angrily, glaring at Casey. He kicked Casey hard in the stomach. Casey grabbed Xavier's leg and forced him down to the ground. Soon they were wrestling in the sand, throwing wild hits at each other.

"Hey! Break it up, you two!"

Casey looked around to see Romeo running over to them. He was about to explain when Xavier took the opportunity to knock him back down onto the ground. Soon Casey had forgotten about Romeo completely and gave Xavier another punch. Romeo grabbed them both and forced them apart.

"Seriously guys, just get off each other! Have you seen the state of yourselves?"

Casey sighed and put a hand to his face. When he pulled it back, it was covered in blood.

"I think we should get you both to the hospital," Romeo said.

"I'm fine," Casey grunted, ignoring the horrible throbbing sensation in his nose.

"Guys, can you please come to an understanding? I don't want the same thing happening again," Romeo said, looking at them both.

"I wasn't the one with the problem in the first place," Casey said, putting his hands up in mock surrender.

"I don't care who started it. I just want it to stop, okay? Apologizing to each other would be a start."

Xavier sighed and looked at Casey's bruised, bloody face. "Look, mate, I shouldn't have got angry at you. What's going on between you and Ruby isn't my business."

Casey raised his eyebrows. He wasn't expecting that. "You're right it's not any of your business. You have a girlfriend, you shouldn't be after mine too."

"Oh, so there is something going on between you and Ruby?" Xavier asked, trying to keep his voice casual.

"Yes there is. So thanks for apologizing, I will see you later," Casey said, walking off.

[Chickiboomxx]

Thanks sooo much for the comments, Kristen, ~JarlieFanEver~, Dingo x and soph1303. xx

I'm sorry for posting another chapter this soon. My last chapter was so short so I wanted to write a longer one this time.

Chapter 14-

Ruby yawned. It was nearly twelve o clock and she was still sitting by Charlie's bed. Charlie had drifted off to sleep a couple of hours ago, after assuring Ruby that she could go and get some rest, and that she didn't need to stay. She had also asked where Brax was but Ruby knew that he was probably at his house trying to get his head around the situation.

Ruby had told Charlie, firmly, that she wasn't going anywhere. There was nobody else to sit and keep her company. She didn't care about school tomorrow. That would work itself out the next morning.

Charlie still hadn't found anywhere for Ruby to stay so for now, at night time, Ruby was to stay at the caravan by herself.

The door opened and a nurse crept inside. "Shouldn't you be at home sleeping?" she asked Ruby, softly.

"I can't leave her," Ruby said, stifling a yawn behind her hand.

The nurse shook her head and smiled. "It's your decision but don't feel pressured to stay. She'll be fine by herself."

Ruby bit her lip and thought for a minute. "Well, I suppose I could go home and sleep. And then I could come back early the next morning before school."

The nurse nodded. "If you're going to school tomorrow then I think that would be a smart move."

Ruby gave Charlie's hand a soft squeeze before thanking the nurse and leaving the room.

***

Early the next morning when Ruby's alarm went off, she didn't turn it off and go back to sleep again. Instead, she had her breakfast and got all ready for school before setting off straight away to the hospital.

As soon as she arrived, she hurried to Charlie's room and opened the door to see Charlie sitting up, staring at the wall.

"Mum?"

Charlie looked up and smiled, weakly. "Hey Rubes! Did you get some sleep?"

"Yes. I'm really sorry for leaving you. I was just so tired and then-"

"Don't be silly. You did the right thing."

"How are you feeling?" Ruby asked.

"Not too great. I'm just a bit sore and achy. But oh well, I'll survive."

"I should probably head to school in a minute. I hope you feel better soon."

"Thanks honey, have a good day," Charlie said as Ruby rushed out of the door, glancing anxiously at her watch.

Once she had arrived at school, Ruby hurried into class to find everyone already seated once again.

"Ruby, this is getting a bit silly. You need to try harder to get to school on time," Miles said as Ruby skidded over to her desk and unloaded her things.

"I'm, really sorry Mile- Mr Copeland. My mum had a car accident and she's in hospital. I had to see her."

Miles looked very taken aback by this news. His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. "Is she okay?"

"She has to stay in hospital for a couple of weeks but she'll be fine."

"Well, tell her, I hope she feels better soon," Miles said. "Now Ruby, please take a seat and we'll continue the lesson."

Ruby sat down at the back next to Casey. Once Miles had looked away, Casey leaned over towards her desk. "How's Charlie? And how are you?"

"Charlie's not too brilliant. I'm...a little tired...and just stressed, really."

"Would a kiss help?" Casey asked hopefully.

Ruby grinned. "Of course."

He leaned over further but she turned her head. "Casey! Not here."

"I can't wait any longer!" He moaned. "You're too tempting."

Ruby blushed. "Restrain yourself."

He turned his head to look her in the eye and she gasped. "Casey, what happened to your face?"

"Nothing," he mumbled, turning away.

"Seriously Case, what happened?" Ruby asked.

"Well...I sorta got into a fight with your ex boyfriend."

"You what?" Ruby exclaimed.

"He came up to me on the beach. And before you say anything, he started it. Well...not the actual fight but he was baiting me."

"Oy, you two keep it down back there!" Miles warned them both.

***

Charlie looked around the hospital, feeling she could probably die of boredom. There was nothing to do except sleep and read a few of the trashy magazines that Ruby had brought over yesterday. She picked one of them up and flicked through it, not really focusing on the words. Suddenly the door burst open to reveal Brax standing awkwardly in the doorway.

Brax, what are you doing here?" Charlie sighed.

"Look Charlie, I'm really sorry for not coming back yesterday. I was just confused and..."

"Don't you apologize. You're supposed to be mad at me, remember?"

"This is just stupid, Charlie. It's like first minute you're angry at me then I'm angry at you. Why don't we just forgive each other and move on?"

"So, you're not still mad at me?" Charlie asked.

"I was never mad at you, Charlie. I just took a while to get my head around it. I want to be with you and nothing's going to get in the way of that."

Charlie smiled and tried to sit up but she ended up flopping uselessly back down. Brax grinned and hurried over, crouching down beside her. They hesitated before wrapping their arms around each other and kissing.

[Chickiboomxx]

Thanks so much for the comments, Samantha28, marie_the_bee, Danni02, ~JarlieFanEver~, Kristen, Dingo x, -Carina-,soph1303 and Angel90. They're really great to read. And I apologize again for taking so long to write another chapter.

Chapter 15-

The bell rung for the end of the day and Ruby gathered up her belongings, eager to get outside to speak to Casey. They hurried out of the classroom, losing each other in the swarm of teenagers. Ruby pushed her way through to the door and shoved it open, waiting for Casey to catch her up. She held the door open as students milled out, scanning the crowd for signs of her boyfriend. The last few students piled out and Ruby frowned as she saw that Casey was not one of them. She went back inside but the classroom was empty and so were the corridors.

Ruby looked around desperately but he was nowhere to be seen. She rushed back outside and ran around the back of the building, just in time to see a familiar looking boy creeping out of the back door.

"Casey!"

He spun around, his eyes widening, a guilty expression appearing on his face. "Oh, hey Ruby. I was wondering where you were."

She sighed and grabbed his arm dragging him out of the school grounds. "Sure you were."

"I was!" He protested.

"Don't lie to me Casey James Braxton. You just didn't want me pestering you about the fight with Xavier."

"Well, yeah that too," he admitted. "All you need to know is that Xavier and I don't get along. He obviously still likes you and can't except the fact that you've moved on. He's just a stupid-"

"Yep, okay Casey I get it."

"So we can just drop it?" he asked, hopefully.

"Nice try."

Casey groaned. "Come on Ruby. Why don't we just forget about it and relax. We'll take this stupid homework to the Surf Club, order some drinks and get it out of the way. Then, tomorrow I'll tell you all about the fight if you really must know."

Ruby thought for a moment. "Fine then. But you better prepare yourself for tomorrow. There's no way you can get out of it."

Casey rolled his eyes as they walked down to the Surf Club, desperately trying to think of an excuse to skip school the next day.

Brax yawned and opened his eyes. He was still at the hospital, sitting in the chair next to Charlie's bed.

"Hey," Charlie smiled as he rubbed his sore neck.

"Hey," Brax grinned. "Sorry for falling asleep. I had a late night last night."

"Don't apologize. I'm not surprised you fell asleep. It's incredibly boring in here."

"It's not boring. You're here."

"I'm in a hospital bed, unable to move. I don't think I'm going to be much fun, I'm afraid."

"That's okay, I'll think of something fun that we can do."

Charlie shot him a suspicious look. "Like what?"

Brax shrugged. "Paper games? Twenty questions? Eye spy? I don't know."

"What's twenty questions?" Charlie asked.

"It's where you ask me twenty questions and I have to answer them truthfully. And then I do the same to you."

Charlie smiled. "Okay then, let's play that. But you can ask me twenty questions first."

Brax raised his eyebrows. "Okay then...are you single?"

It was Charlie's turn to raise her eyebrows. "Do you really think I would have kissed you if I wasn't?"

Brax smiled, looking relieved. "Well you never know.."

"Do you normally kiss married people?"

Brax snorted. "Of course not. Anyway let's carry on. Do you have any other children?"

"I think I might have mentioned it if I did. And are all your questions going to be this personal?"

"Fine then, what's your favourite color?"

"Yellow."

"Favourite place?"

"Summer Bay."

There was a long pause.

"Are you going to ask me another question?" Charlie asked.

"Question number five...can I please kiss you?"

Charlie pretended to think about it and then nodded. Brax gave her a deep, meaningful kiss and then said, "Favourite kiss?"

She laughed. "What do you think?"

Ruby groaned as she stared at the last two maths questions in her workbook. She took a slurp of her drink before peering at Casey's to see what answer he had. His page was blank and he was staring at her in interest.

"What?" She asked, self-consciously fixing her hair.

"You're hot when you're confused," he said simply.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes. In fact I'm feeling better than okay. I'm feeling...great. Let's go on a road trip."

Ruby blinked. "Excuse me?"

"A road trip," he repeated. "We can drive somewhere nice and then stay there for a day or two. It'll be fun!"

"What about school? I've only just started. I'm not skipping."

"You don't have to. We'll go on Friday after school."

"You're really serious?" Ruby asked.

"You're not?"

"Casey, we haven't known each other for that long. I don't even know if I'll be allowed."

"So?" he said, eyes sparkling.

"My mum's in hospital. I don't want to leave her."

"It's only for the weekend. Just tell her you're staying at a friends house. Think of the fun we'll have."

"I really want to it's just-"

"Then it's sorted. See you tomorrow for school!" He said, picking up his things and hurrying out of the door.

[Chickiboomxx]

Thanks so much for the comments, cb2180, Samantha28, Angel90, Danni02, -Carina-, ~JarlieFanEver~, Kristen, Dingo x and soph1303. They're really great to read. Xx It's a short one again I'm afraid but the next one will be extra long.

Note- I have no idea how old Kelly is. I know she might have already finished school but in this fic I'm just going to say she goes to Summer Bay high with Xavier, Ruby and Casey.

Chapter 16

The next morning, Ruby managed to get to class on time. She was the first one there and was already sitting at her desk when Casey came in.

"No spectacular entrance today?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not," Ruby smiled.

"Did you see Charlie again today?"

Ruby nodded, happily.

"How is she?"

"Better now that your brother's with her."

"Brax? How long has he been there?" Casey asked.

"I know he came sometime yesterday morning so quite a while."

"What's wrong?" Casey asked as he noticed the strange expression on Ruby's face.

She chewed her lip. "I sorta walked in on them kissing this morning."

Casey raised an eyebrow. "Well that's normal, isn't it? They are together, right?"

"Well, yeah but by kissing I mean really kissing. More like eating each others faces off."

Casey chuckled. "Lovely."

Ruby thought for a minute, shivered and then turned back to the front as Miles began addressing the class.

"Okay everyone, good morning. Get back to your own seats, please and quieten down. We'll be starting a new project today so I need your full attention. I'll only be repeating myself once. We're going to be working on a project about the environment. I'll mark you based on three things; creativity, the quality of your information and the effort that has gone into it," Miles told them.

"You have until next Monday to complete it. It's up to you how you want to present your project. It can be on paper or shown as a presentation on the computer. You need to include pictures and your thoughts on how pollution is effecting the environment. You'll be partnering up for this project so you now have ten minutes to find a partner and plan what you're going to do."

"Partner?" Casey asked Ruby.

Ruby was about to accept when Kelly walked over to them from the other side of the classroom.

"Hey," she smiled at Ruby. "I was wondering if you wanted to be partners for the project."

Ruby's eyes widened in amazement. "What about Xavier? Aren't you partners with him?"

Kelly shook her head. "Knowing Xavier, he'll just muck around and make me do all the work. And besides, he's not here today so..."

"I'm sorry, it's just I was going to be partners with-"

"That's okay, I get it. Maybe another time." She said, turning around.

"Wait!" Ruby called. "I'll be your partner. I'm sure Casey won't mind being with Xavier."

"Actually-" Casey interrupted, but Ruby stepped on his toe.

"Great," Kelly grinned. "I'll get us some paper." She left Ruby and Casey alone in awkward silence.

"I'm sorry," Ruby finally said. "It's just for this project. I promise I'll be with you next time."

Casey rolled his eyes and stood up. "I might not want to be with you next time. Ever considered that?"

Ruby watched as he walked away looking hurt. She closed her eyes and sighed. What had she done?

[Chickiboomxx]

Thanks so much for the comments, Danni02, Dingo x, soph1303, Lucii, Kristen, -Carina-, ~JarlieFanEver~ and Samantha28.

I'm sooo sorry, for not posting another chapter in ages!!! It's been really hard to find time to get on here. I also apologize for not commenting on other people's fan fictions. I promise I will catch up soon. It will be hard to post chapters as frequently as I would like but there'll definitely be at least once a week. xx

Chapter 17-

At the end of the day, Casey was the first to leave the classroom. He grabbed his bag and left the building without saying goodbye to Ruby. She quickly gathered up her belongings and hurried after him.

"Casey!" She shouted, weaving in and out of the people. "Casey!"

She stumbled around a group of boys and jumped over some abandoned school books, finally catching up with him at the door.

"What's the problem?" He sighed.

"You're my problem. Just stop acting like a baby. I chose a different partner for this stupid project. Big deal!"

"Ruby, I don't mind you being with Kelly. But did you really have to partner me with Xavier?"

"I didn't partner you with Xavier. I just suggested that you could go with him."

"So you didn't say, 'I'm sure Casey won't mind being with Xavier'? Because that's what I heard. Ruby, we had a fight. We don't exactly get along."

"It's your fault for not telling me more about the fight then. For all I knew, you could have apologized and hugged it out. You could be best friends by now."

He raised his eyebrows. "You really think so?"

"Well...no but that's not the point."

"What is the point then Ruby?"

"The point is that if you explained yourself properly at the start then you wouldn't have to be with Xavier."

"Fine, I'm sorry. I'll make myself more clear next time."

Ruby smiled. "Good. I'm sorry too. Are we still going on that road trip on Friday?"

"Do you want to?" Casey asked.

"Of course I do."

His face relaxed a little. That's good... I'll see you tomorrow."

Ruby watched as he walked off and then left too. She wandered around on the beach for a bit before deciding she would go and see Charlie. She went back to the caravan to get changed and then headed to the hospital.

Once inside, she walked up to the door of Charlie's room and was about to open it but then hesitated. She pulled her hand away and knocked softly instead. She didn't want a repeat of this morning. After a few seconds she heard Charlie tell her to come in. Ruby pushed open the door and walked inside.

Charlie was snuggled up under the covers and Brax was sitting next to her, holding her hand.

"Hey, Rubes," Charlie smiled. "How was school?"

"Alright, I guess," Ruby replied, deciding not to go into too much detail.

She gave a polite nod to Brax who returned it and then turned back to her mum.

"How has your day been?" she asked.

"Not too bad to say I'm in a hospital. Lucky for me, I have great company. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be getting home soon?" she asked, looking across at Brax.

He looked down, guiltily. "I probably should. I'm going to have to go back to work tomorrow."

Charlie's mouth dropped open. "Have you been taking time off work to stay with me?"

"No...Yes, but Charlie I wanted to! A couple of days off work won't matter."

"Brax! You shouldn't have! I'm perfectly fine on my own. It's not like I wouldn't have seen you at all!"

"I know, I know."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "I'm very sorry to interrupt this lovely, little conversation but I've got a lot of homework to do so I better be off. I just wanted to stop by to see how you were doing."

"Alright, sweetie, I'll see you tomorrow," Charlie smiled.

"Who are you staying with?" Brax asked Ruby.

"Nobody. I'm still staying at the stupid caravan. When Charlie's better though, we're going to look into buying a proper house."

"You're all by yourself?" Brax asked.

"All by myself," Ruby confirmed.

Brax thought for a minute. "Do you like staying by yourself in the caravan?"

"Of course not," Ruby said, slightly confused by the questions.

"Because I have some extra space in my hotel room if you wanted to stay there-just until Charlie's better. I just thought you could use some company. I understand if you don't want to though."

"Of course I want to! That would be great!"

Brax smiled. "Cool, I can come by the caravan soon to help get your stuff together and then we can head off whenever you're ready."

"Thanks," Ruby smiled, waving to Charlie and then leaving the room. No more scary nights alone in the old, caravan, she thought, happily. And I'll probably be seeing a lot of Brax now that he's dating Charlie. Staying with him for a while would be the perfect opportunity to get to know him more.

True, it would be a little strange sharing a place with someone she hardly knew. For all she did know, he could be a psychopath cereal killer but there was just something about him that she trusted.

Charlie stared at Brax incredulously as Ruby left the room. "Are you sure about this?" she asked.

"Yeah," he assured her. "Surely you don't want her staying by herself for two weeks?"

"Of course not. It's just, she's high maintenance."

"If I can deal with Casey, then I'm sure I can manage with Ruby."

Charlie sighed. "Well if you're sure. But feel free to kick her out as soon as she becomes a pain."

Brax stood up. "It'll be fine, Charlie."

She nodded, not looking convinced.

Brax gave her a kiss on the head. "I'll bring her in tomorrow morning to see you."

Charlie smiled as he walked out of the room.

[Chickiboomxx]

Thanks so much for the comments, ~JarlieFanEver~, Kristen, Danni02, Dingo x and soph1303. They really mean a lot

Chapter 18-

Ruby headed to her desk the next morning to find Casey already there. He was scribbling away on a piece of paper, excitedly.

"Hey, Case," Ruby smiled, sitting down next to him. "What are you doing?"

"Oh hi, Ruby! I'm just making a list of what to bring on our trip tomorrow."

She peered over his shoulder to look at the piece of paper. "A tent?"

"Yeah, just in case we get lost or something. I know you said we could stay at a hotel or something but-"

"Casey, we're not going to get lost," Ruby sighed.

"Then I guess we won't be needing sleeping bags," Casey muttered, crossing a few things off his list.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Casey, maybe I should make the list."

He opened his mouth to argue but stopped and reluctantly handed over the piece of paper.

Ruby scanned it quickly before scrunching it up into a ball. "I'll start from scratch, I think."

"Did you see your mum again this morning?" Casey asked, changing the subject.

"Yes, Brax took me to see her," Ruby smiled.

Casey raised his eyebrows. "Brax?"

"Yeah, I'm staying with him for a while until my mum gets better."

"Brax?" Casey asked again.

"Um...yes, do you have a problem with that?"

"No," Casey said quickly. "I just didn't think you knew him that well."

"I don't," Ruby said. "But it sort of makes sense to stay with him. He is my mum's boyfriend after all."

"Isn't it a little weird though?"

"Well...it was at first but not anymore. He's really easy to talk to."

"Okay everyone, be quiet! We're going to be working on the project first thing this morning so find your partners and get working!" Miles shouted over the loud chatter.

Ruby shot Casey an apologetic look before going to find Kelly. She was at the front of the classroom talking to Xavier who was finally back at school. Ruby couldn't help overhearing the end of their conversation.

"No, you're with Casey," Kelly was saying. "Ruby and I thought that would be a good idea."

"Kelly!" Xavier complained. "Why can't I be with you?"

"I'm with Ruby," Kelly explained, calmly. "Come on, it'll be fine. I'm sure you could be friends if you just tried. You had no problem with him before Ruby came."

"Why are you with Ruby?" Xavier asked, ignoring Kelly's last comment.

"I want to be with her. She's really nice. I'm not going to let what's happening between you, her and Casey get in the way of it."

Xavier groaned and stood up. Ruby quickly walked up to them before they realised she had been eavesdropping. "Hey, Kelly," she smiled. "Are you ready to work on the project?"

Xavier frowned and plodded off to find Casey.

"Yes, I'm ready. Today and tomorrow are our last chances to complete it. I have no idea how we'll get it done in time. Unless we meet up on the weekend or something. That would definitely give us more time."

Ruby was about to agree when she remembered the trip. "I'm really sorry but I can't," she sighed. "I'm going away on Friday afternoon and I'll probably be away all weekend."

Kelly chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Ah, that won't work then."

Ruby stopped to think as well but she couldn't think of any way they would be able to finish it in time if they didn't work on it at the weekend. "I'll get back to you on that one," Ruby finally said.

At the end of that lesson, Ruby went back to her seat to find Casey looking very moody.

"Don't ask," he muttered as Ruby opened her mouth to ask how it went.

Charlie smiled as Brax walked in later that afternoon, followed by Ruby in her school uniform.

"Hello, you two," she smiled. "How were your days?"

"Okay," Brax replied as Ruby answered, "Not too bad."

Charlie nodded. "Okay, that's not too bad."

Brax laughed. "How was yours?"

"Boring, as usual," Charlie grimaced. "But a lot better now you're both here."

"You're making me feel guilty about leaving you now," Brax smiled.

"Don't feel guilty. You would be bored out of your brain if you had to sit with me everyday."

Brax shook his head. "Of course I wouldn't. All this time at work, I will make up to you on the weekend. What do you say, Ruby? We'll bring food and entertainment. It'll be great."

"I'm really sorry but I was hoping to spend the weekend at...Kelly's house. I was going to go home with her on Friday and have a sleepover and then the next day we were going to go to a party. It would finish really late so I would probably crash out at hers again and then be back on Sunday morning," Ruby finished. It was her turn to feel guilty now.

Charlie frowned. "I'm not sure about that Ruby."

Ruby felt her temper rising. "Please, Mum!"

"I'm sorry Ruby but I haven't even met this Kelly girl. I don't feel comfortable with you spending two nights at her house. Especially if you're going to a party. There could be drinking and drugs and-"

"There won't be! I promise, it'll be completely safe."

"I'm sorry Ruby, but the answer is still no."

"You can't tell me what to do, Charlie!" Ruby said, her voice rising.

"Don't, use that tone with me, Ruby Buckton!"

"I'll do what I like!" Ruby shouted. "It's not like you can stop me! You're not allowed to leave that stupid bed!" She ran out of the room.

Charlie felt tears prickling her eyes. That was not the way to go.

[Chickiboomxx]

Thanks so much for the comments ~JarlieFanEver~, Kristen, Dingo x and Lucii. They are really nice to read

This will be my last post for a week or so because I'm going to Queensland tomorrow morning but I will do an extra long chapter when I get back. (soph1303 also told me to tell you that she won't be able to post another update for a while too because she'll be in Queensland with me)

Chapter 19-

Charlie wiped a stray tear away angrily. She was not going to let her own daughter upset her.

"Hey, hey," Brax stroked her hair, soothingly. "It'll be okay."

"It's just so annoying! She's right. I can't stop her from going to the stupid party. There's nothing I can do when I'm shut in here. I just-I hate it!"

Brax kissed her head and then stood up. "You might not be able to do anything, but I can. If you don't want her going to the party, then I'll make sure she doesn't go."

"You make it sound so easy," Charlie sighed.

"It will be easy," Brax said firmly.

"You don't know Ruby. She'll stop at nothing to get what she wants."

"Charlie, I will make sure she doesn't go. Whether it's locking her inside the house, or tying her up - I'll do it."

Charlie smiled weakly. "There's no harm in trying, I guess. But don't underestimate her. She's sneakier than you would think."

Brax nodded, squeezed her hand and walked out of the room, blowing one last kiss over his shoulder. "See you tomorrow morning."

He left the hospital and broke into a steady jog, looking around for Ruby. There's no way she would go straight back to the apartment. If she's as sneaky as Charlie said, then she would know I'll be trying to stop her, Brax thought, changing direction and running down towards the beach.

Unfortunately, the beach was at it's busiest, people everywhere, making the most of the gorgeous weather. He looked around desperately, trying to single out the girls wearing school dresses, but there were still too many. He was about to turn away when he spotted two teenagers to his right, barely visible between the bushes. One of them was very familiar.

"Ruby!" Brax shouted as he raced towards them. Ruby jumped and looked up. She groaned as Brax came closer.

"Excuse me for a moment," Ruby said to Kelly, standing up and brushing the sand off herself before turning to Brax. "Yes?"

"Ruby, can I have a word...in private?"

"Yes, I was just leaving anyway," Kelly said quickly, standing up as well. "I'll call you later, Ruby."

Brax waited until Kelly had gone and then turned back to Ruby. "I think you need to apologize to your mother."

"Why should I? I'm old enough to do what I like. She can't keep on telling me what to do."

"She's your mother, Ruby. She cares about you."

"If she cared about me that much, she would just let me go to this one party. Do you think she's being fair?" Ruby demanded.

"It's not about what I think. The decision isn't up to me."

"It's not up to her either."

Brax took a deep breath. He was starting to get what Charlie meant.

"And besides, if you must know, I'm not going to a party at all," Ruby confessed.

Brax looked confused. "You just said you were."

"No, that was just what I told Charlie. Not that it made much difference. I'm actually going on a road trip."

"Oh you are, are you?" Brax raised his eyebrows.

"Didn't I just say I was?"

"Not if Charlie doesn't agree. I promised her that I would stop you from going to the party, so I can stop you from going on this road trip if she doesn't approve."

"You're not my father!"

Brax sighed and put his hands up. "I never said I was."

Ruby's face softened slightly. "Look, I'll ask Charlie if it makes you feel better, but if she says no then I can't guarantee I'll stay put."

Brax smiled. "Thank you, now come on. Let's go see Charlie."

Charlie waited anxiously, wondering if Brax had tracked down Ruby yet. She thought she and Ruby had sorted things out when they had left the bay together but obviously not. The door opened and Charlie groaned, expecting another nurse but instead Ruby was standing there.

"Ruby," Charlie said, uncertainly.

"Look, Charlie, I'm sorry about before. I didn't mean to shout. Or lie."

"Lie?"

"I wasn't really planning on going to a party. I...I was actually wanting to go...on a road trip."

"With who?" Charlie asked, suspiciously.

Ruby considered lying again, but then decided it would just make things worse. "Casey."

Charlie raised her eyebrows. "You were planning on spending two nights alone with a boy that you hardly know?"

"It's not like that! We're just going as friends! I swear!"

"Ruby, as I much as I want to, I can't let you go. If you were in a group of at least four, then I might say yes but-"

"We'll get more people," Ruby said quickly. "I'm sure Kelly could come. It would give us time to work on our school assignment."

"That's only three," Charlie said.

"And I guess we could invite Xavier along. He's...good friends with Kelly."

Charlie considered this for a minute. "Well...if Kelly and Xavier are both able to come then...you can go."

Ruby grinned and gave Charlie a hug. "Thanks mum!" She skipped out of the room.

Brax decided it would be safe to enter now and stepped around the corner. "That was a nice thing to do," he smiled.

"Do you think I gave in too quickly?" Charlie asked.

Brax shrugged. "Maybe, but at least you're both happy now."

Ruby pulled out her phone as soon as she left Charlie's room, and called Kelly. It went straight onto the machine, so she decided to leave a message.

"Hey Kelly, it's Ruby. I was just wondering if you and Xavier wanted to come on a road trip with us tomorrow after school. We would be back in time for school on Monday. I just thought it would give us an opportunity to work on our assignment there. Give me a call back when you get this message please."

Ruby hung up and skipped out of the hospital.

On her way home, she got a message and opened it eagerly.

Hi Ruby, thanks for your message. I'm sorry I didn't get to the phone in time. We would love to come with you! Should we all meet up later today to discuss details?

Kelly xx

Ruby smiled happily, feeling that the day couldn't get any better. She couldn't help wondering about what Casey would think of their two new recruits though.

[Chickiboomxx]

Thanks so much for the lovely comments, Kristen, Dingo x, Samantha28, ~JarlieFanEver~, Danni02, soph1303 and once_upon_a_mind.

I had an amazing time on my holiday, thanks! I know I'm getting really slack with this but as soon as I got back from my holiday, I went on a school camp so I didn't get time to post another update. I'll try and stick to at least one update a week

Chapter 20

Casey was woken by a loud knock on the front door. He grunted and rubbed his eyes, wondering who could be visiting this early in the morning. He ripped the covers off and plodded along in the vague direction of the door, squinting as his blurry vision began to refocus.

There was another impatient knock.

"I'm coming!" He grumbled, finally reaching the door and swinging it open. Ruby was standing there, a big smile on her face.

"Good morning, Casey!" She noticed his disgruntled expression and bit her lip. "Oops, did I wake you up?"

"Nah, of course not, I've been awake for ages...well, yeah you sorta did."

"Sorry," Ruby said. "But I've got some news to tell you."

"News?" Casey yawned. "Good or bad?"

Ruby considered this for a moment. "Well...I'm not really sure."

Casey looked puzzled but opened the door wider anyway to let her in. He led her over to the sofa which they both collapsed on, gratefully and then he motioned for her to begin.

She took a deep breath and then paused. "Let me just find the right way to word it...um...okay. It's a long story but basically Mum found out about the trip and said that she wouldn't let us go-"

"What?"

"-because it was just the two of us and she was a bit worried-"

"That's ridiculous!"

"-that something would happen but then-"

"Oh good, there's a but-"

"Casey, kindly shut up!"

She nudged him and then carried on. "But then, she decided she'd let us go if we went with two more people."

Casey groaned. "Oh well. I guess I could invite some of the boys-"

"So I invited Kelly and Xavier to come along with us," Ruby said, hesitantly.

Casey stood up quickly. "You did what?"

"You heard me. I invited Kelly and Xavier to come with us. The environmental assignment is due on Monday so it would be a great opportunity to work on it. And you never know, it might be really fun." Ruby blurted out quickly, bracing herself for Casey's reaction.

"Fun? Really? You don't know the meaning of fun. I thought this would be a great chance to spend some time together and enjoy ourselves...now it's just going to be some stupid homework group, is it? Not exactly what I had in mind. Seriously Ruby! I'm not spending two whole days with Xavier Austin while you have a nice girly time with Kelly. It's just not happening!"

There it was. Ruby closed her eyes and took a breath. "Look, Casey. You told me you and Xavier had worked things out. If so, I don't see what the problem is. Now go and get ready for school. We'll discuss this later." She marched out of the door, desperately hoping Casey would come around.

Once at school, Ruby found Kelly and Xavier at the back of the class and she walked over to them. "Hey guys!" she smiled. "What's up?"

"Oh hey, Ruby," Kelly smiled. "We were just talking about the trip. Is everything still okay?"

"I think so," Ruby frowned. "Casey didn't really take it too well this morning when I told him you would both be coming but I'm sure he'll get over it."

Kelly looked over at Xavier, meaningfully. "I've sort of had the same problem. But you've promised to be on your best behaviour haven't you, Xav?"

Xavier rolled his eyes. "I guess. But if he tries to start anything, I can't promise to just sit there and ignore him."

"Don't worry about that. Casey knows what will happen if he does try and pick a fight. And I can assure you it's not pretty so I think we'll be fine."

Kelly chuckled. "We've got everything packed up so we'll just have to pick it up after school and then we're good to go."

Ruby nodded but her attention was fixed on Casey who was just walking through the door. His hands were shoved inside his pockets and he was slouching over in their direction, looking very moody.

Kelly nudged Xavier in his ribs and he grudgingly muttered something that resembled a hello. Ruby smiled and they all took their seats, not saying another word about the trip.

Once the final bell had sounded for the end of the day, the four of them quickly snatched up their things and left the classroom. They walked out of the building and towards Ruby's car, after she had insisted that she would like to drive. After calling at all four houses to pick up the luggage, they set off again. It was only after reaching the back of the WELCOME TO SUMMER BAY SIGN that they realised, they hadn't figured out where they were going. They all began discussing places but still couldn't all agree on one.

"What about we go to Maccas?" Xavier joked. "I'm starving."

"Yeah, we'll just set up the tent outside and eat all our meals there shall we?" Kelly said sarcastically.

"We could go to that huge camping ground by the lake," Ruby suggested.

"Too far away," Casey replied. "How about we just go back and camp on the beach?"

"We could do that any day. This should be somewhere exciting," Ruby said.

"There's a big forest not too far from here. It's really pretty and it'd be perfect to set up the tent. We could build a bonfire and roast marshmallows in the evening. It's shaded by the trees too so we won't be too hot," Kelly finally suggested.

The other three stopped and looked at her. "That sounds brilliant," Ruby grinned.

"There it is then," Casey shrugged.

Xavier nodded his approval too and then they started the car again and carried on driving. Kelly (who was sitting in the front seat) gave Ruby directions while Casey and Xavier sat in silence behind them. The car sped along another street and turned into an alleyway, soon followed by another turn onto a bumpy road. Eventually they arrived at the entrance of the forest and parked the car.

They smiled as they carried the bags and suitcases into the forest, going deeper and deeper until they came across a big patch of flattened dirt where they dumped the things and looked around.

"I think this is a great spot to set up," Kelly said, looking around, happily. She pulled the tent out of it's bag started unfolded it, the others watching in amazement as it kept on getting bigger.

"When you said the tent would fit us all in, I thought you meant a cheap four person tent where we would all be squished up together like sardines," Ruby gasped as she examined the length of it.

Kelly chuckled and began sliding the metal poles through the sheet. "You're a good friend Ruby, but I respect your privacy. I thought we should all have separate compartments for getting changed and we needed an entrance for keeping all the bags in."

The others rushed over to help and after a lot of poking, groaning, yelling and sweating, the tent was up. They unpacked their things into the rooms and then collapsed on the fold out chairs outside to relax.

"That was some serious workout," Casey sighed, wiping his forehead.

Xavier snorted. "Maybe for some people. In my opinion, it was a piece of cake."

Kelly and Ruby exchanged annoyed glances. "Speaking of cake, I have some in my bag if anyone wants some," Ruby said, desperately trying to change the subject.

The boys perked up at that and stopped fighting as Ruby made a quick trip into the tent to fetch it. But she shouldn't have got her hopes up. Once the last few crumbs had disappeared they started at it again.

"Piece of cake was it Xavier?" Casey asked, pointing to the bead of sweat that had formed on Xavier's forehead.

"I'm just hot that's all," Xavier snapped.

Casey looked Xavier up and down. "In your dreams."

"In my dreams? If that's so, how come both these girls have been out with me. One of them still is in fact."

"And one of them isn't so-"

"Only because she went away. If she hadn't there would be no you and Ruby."

"There would also be no you and Kelly," Casey pointed out. "You can't have them both, Xavier."

"Boys!" Ruby shouted. "Would you please just be quiet for at least a minute? Or is that too hard for you?"

There was along pause before, "You know what Casey, maybe I can."