Sweet Misery

[caroline77]

This might sound mean but when Charlie broke up with Angelo I thought ooo good soon Chax will be back together . Then who turns up like the bad penny she is Tegan Ruby wasn't the only one feeling queasy!!!!!! I am looking forward to seeing what happens when Brax finds out Charlie is single.

[Spotd1]

Thanks for another great chapter Lianne! Arghhh Brax you silly silly man! I know he is heartbroken so I can understand why he turned to *vomit* Tegan but I can't wait until him and Charlie see each other again..without Tegan!

I am so glad Charlie and Angelo have finally broken up too..cannot wait for the next update, please update soon! Xx

[Jen1205]

No not Tegan, Brax you fool. Damn it things never go straight forward for Chax.

Even though Chax aren't together I am loving this story, Can't wait for the next chapter I guess its time for Charlie to be a little jealous.

[beebee]

..... Nooooo!!! I know Brax hasn't done anything wrong, but why didn't he just reply to one of Charlies text's then this wouldn't be happening!!!

Please please fix this .. Chax are meant to be LOL

Great chapter though .... praying for Chax to hook up SOON!!!

Please don't make us wait as long, it's killing me LOL

xx

[soph1303]

Omg !!!

I was so happy when she broke it off with Angelo , but now.......!!!

More soon please

[Inactive User]

Great chapter And whoa at the ending! More soon please xx

[CharlieAndBraxLover]

Ahhh brax! Bloody tegan! Loving this, more soon xx

[RoRo90]

first of all so glad Charlie ended things properly with Angelo

but omg nooooooooooo why Brax why

of all the people he could go to for comfort it had to be Tegan (dog face)

really hope some tells him Charlie broke up with Angelo and they work things out but I am guessing its not going to be as smooth sailing as this. really cant wait till Chax see each other again

pretty please update really soon

[Sazzle]

Brilliant update! So glad that Charlie has told Angelo and that she obviously really wants to be with Brax

Was gutted that he turned up with Tegan and hoping that he can swallow his man pride and go and sort things out with Charlie soon!

Really looking forward to next update!!

[Chax47]

Evening

Sorry for it taking me all week to post this...I'm getting slow I know

Thank you once again for your fabulous updates!! You all rock!!!

Hope this makes up for the delay...you are all going to love me hehe enjoy! x

Chapter 11

The atmosphere which had settled over the room was beginning to be a little too much to bare. It had been a fair few minutes since anyone had last spoken. The varied looks on each of their faces said more than any words could.

Ruby tore her gaze away from the blonde and Brax as she began to gather her books from the table. "I'm just gonna go..." She whispered to Casey. He nodded his understandance to her as he followed her across the living room.

Brax avoided her stare as he walked past her and into the kitchen, closely followed by Tegan. Casey sighed as they reached the doorway; this was far from how he had planned the afternoon going.

Ruby paused in the doorway. "Who is she?"

Casey glanced over his shoulder before answering her. "An ex from Mangrove River. She's no good for him and he knows it." He rolled his eyes. He had discovered first hand the damage that Tegan could do to his older brother, but for one reason or another Brax always ran to her when things got tough. Apparently this constituted one of those times.

"Charlie is going to crushed when she finds out."

"She doesn't have to find out. I'll talk to him. We'll fix this don't worry." He stepped towards her and pulled her into a hug, feeling her sigh heavily into his chest.

"Let me know how it goes..."

-----

Ruby had used the walk home from Casey's to sort her head out. She knew that on one hand keeping this new information from Charlie was wrong, but causing her more pain was the only other option. She hoped that Casey would be able to talk some sense into Brax and send this Tegan back to whereever she came from.

"Hey sweetie." Charlie smiled as she walked into the kitchen, spotting Ruby leaning against the kitchen counter. She definitely seemed in better spirits than she had been previously. "I thought you were studying all day with Casey? You haven't had a fight have you?" She opened the fridge and stared at it's contents while she waited for a response; a response that wasn't coming anytime soon.

Ruby stared down at her feet, suddenly very aware of her mother's eyes studying her. She knew that if she were to make eye contact she would spill everything she knew. She had agreed to give Casey time, she was positive that the walk from his house to her own didn't really count as time.

"No, not at all. Something just came up." She shrugged nonchalantly, her eyes darting around the room to avoid Charlie's. "I should get back to the books." She smiled briefly at Charlie before dashing past her.

Charlie frowned as she stared back at the empty space were Ruby had been stood to the kitchen doorway were she had disappeared through. "What was that?" She mumbled to herself as she went back to rummaging through the fridge.

----

"It's been a while since I've been in the Bay, am I going to get the grand tour anytime soon?" Tegan asked, leaning over the couch to wrap her arms around Brax's neck. She kissed him lightly on the cheek as she turned her head to look at him.

Casey sat awkwardly in the corner watching the pair of them. It had been over an hour since Ruby had left; an hour in which he had to endure the sight of Tegan cosying up to his brother. An hour in which he had to keep the recent events to himself. The frustration was getting to him.

"We can go now if you want? We can have dinner at the restaurant when we're done." Brax returned her smile, although Casey could tell that the smile had been somewhat forced. Brax was kidding himself as well as her, even if no one else could see it for the time being.

"Ok. I'll just go and get changed." She gave him a quick kiss before running off into the direction of the bedroom. Brax reached for the open bottle of beer on the coffee table and downed the reminents.

Seeing his window of opportunity, Casey moved to sit beside Brax on the couch.

"Brax there is something I really need to tell you. Before Tegan comes back." He kept his voice as low as he could but the panic to fix things which making that difficult.

Brax watched Casey out of the corner of his eye and nodded ."Sure. As long as it's nothing to do with Charlie you can tell me whatever you want."

"But Brax...her and A..."

"No!" He cut him off, the abruptness of his voice taking Casey slightly by surprise. "I don't want to know anything about her. She has made her choice, and I've made mine. So whatever it is you think you have to tell me; forget it." He held Casey's gaze for slightly longer than usual, his cold stare eventually making Casey look away. He knew better than to argue with Brax; Heath maybe he could get away with, but he never won an argument against the older brother.

"Right...I'm ready!" Tegan waltzed back into the living room, spinning with her arms out as Brax turned to look at her. She had chosen a black halterneck dress with a pair of sandals, her hair fell in waves around her face.

Brax smiled as he walked over to her. "You look great. Let's go." He gave Casey one final glare before ushering Tegan out of the house.

-----

Charlie tapped lightly on the bedroom door before entering. Ruby was laying on her bed, staring blankly at an open book. The notepad in front of her was empty; clearly the studying had been going well. She gave Charlie a small smile as she walked into the room and took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Hey, you've been awfully quiet in here. Are you ok?" Charlie reached over and stroked her arm as Ruby sat up to move beside her.

"I'm fine. Just some stuff on my mind, that's all."

Charlie returned her smile. "I'm here, if you want to talk."

"I know."

Sensing that she wasn't going to take her up on the offer of a chat, Charlie changed the subject. "So I was thinking that maybe we could go out for dinner? Just me and you?"

"Or we could order take away and stay in? We don't need to go out..." She hadn't heard from Casey for a couple of hours so she had no idea what the outcome had been. She just knew that the last thing she needed was Charlie running into Summer Bay's latest resident.

Charlie shook her head as she pushed Ruby playfully. "No come on. You've been stuck in here all day and I've hardly left the house. We'll get dressed up...maybe have a cocktail or two. Well you can have a coke, but I'll have a cocktail. What do you say?" She smiled hopefully at her daughter and Ruby found it difficult to say no.

----

They had been walking around the Bay for the past fourty minutes. The beach, the Diner and the Surf Club had been the only main stops on the tour, not that there was much else to see in the Bay. Brax had been thankful that they hadn't ran into anyone he knew. Dealing with the Charlie situation was something he had convinced himself that he was ready to do, but he knew that was far from the truth.

It was the first time that he had stepped foot in Angelo's since the Charlie's engagement party and the feelings from that night quickly came back to him. Hurt, anger, jealousy, just to name a few. He pushed the thoughts to the back of his head as he lead Tegan over to a booth, while he went to the bar.

"Hey, where's Angelo tonight?" He asked one of the barmaids. He knew he couldn't put off the inevitable meeting of the fiance of the woman he loves; surely it was best to get it over with sooner rather than later.

"He's away for a couple of days. Said it was important." She shrugged at him. Angelo hadn't been too forthcoming with information when he had left, no one even knew where he had gone or when he would be back.

Brax couldn't help the feeling of relief that came over him. Maybe Charlie has gone with him. He wasn't sure if he was ready to face her but by the looks of it he wouldn't have to.

"Ok. Could you bring two beers over to our table please." He smiled at the waitress as he went back to his date.

-----

"Are you sure you wouldn't just rather stay in?" Ruby asked, just as they were about to leave the house. Casey still hadn't gotten back to her so she couldn't help but assume the worst.

Charlie raised her eyebrows as she turned to look at her. "Are you kidding me? Look at us, we are all dressed up. It would be criminal for us to stay in dressed like this!" She laughed at her own comment but received only a smile off Ruby as a response. Charlie had opted for a short red dress for the evening, her hair falling over her left shoulder in a loose curly ponytail. Ruby had picked a shoestring strapped black dress.

"Fine, we'll go out. Where did you have in mind?"

Charlie paused in the doorway and grimaced slightly. "I know it's going to sound bad, but I've checked and Angelo is out of town for a few days...so I thought we could go there."

Ruby felt her stomach flip slightly. "What about the new Thai place in Yabby Creek? They do the best take out..."

Charlie frowned in confusion. "You love pizza...come on, let's go to Angelo's." She threw her daughter a skeptical look as she guided her out of the house.

-----

They made their way through the packed restaurant and managed to find a seat fairly quickly. Charlie couldn't help but notice how quiet Ruby had been on the walk over, but she figured her mind was still on her studying.

A waitress took their drinks order; Charlie a glass of white wine and Ruby a water. They glanced over their menus in silence while Charlie stole concerned looks over the top of her menu at her daughter.

"Are you sure there is nothing you want to talk about? You don't seem yourself..." Charlie placed her menu down on the table and Ruby did the same as she forced a smile on her face. She had been telling herself over and over that she was reading too much into the situation. If Casey said he would sort it, then he would do that. She just had to have more faith.

"Honestly, it's nothing. I'll cheer up, I promise."

-----

The waitress cleared away their empty plates before bringing another two bottles of beer to the table. Brax thanked her before turning his attention back to Tegan. It had been a quiet dinner, Brax hadn't really been in the mood to talk and Tegan knew better than to push him. The occassional conversation they had, had been polite at best.

"I still can't believe you own half of this." Tegan wrapped her arm around his neck as she pulled him in for a kiss. Brax quickly broke the kiss, choosing to reach for his beer instead. If his actions had offended her, she hid it well. "It must be great for 'business.'" She whispered with a wink.

Brax moved completely out of her embrace, his face blank. "There is no 'business' and there won't be." He warned as he moved out of the booth. "I'm going to settle the bill." Tegan rolled her eyes as she downed the rest of her drink. He had definitely changed and she didn't like it one bit.

----

The conversation flowed easily while they ate their pizza. Ruby momentarily forgot the stress from that afternoon as they joked and chatted. It had been a long time since they had done anything just the two of them; Angelo had always been the third person to accompany their outings.

"So that's when Colleen just flipped on him. Literally chased the poor guy out of the Diner with a teatowel!" Charlie burst out laughing as Ruby finished her story.

She dabbed at the corner of her eyes with her napkin. "God, I wish I could have seen her face."

"I know, right!"

Charlie watched as Ruby took a sip of her water but her eyes were quickly averted to someone behind Ruby. Her jaw dropped.

"Brax..." It was barely a whisper but it was enough for Ruby to choke on her water.

"What?" She coughed again to clear her throat causing Charlie to glance back at her momentarily. She nodded towards the bar.

"He's back." Part of her was hurt that he hadn't got back in touch with her but then she couldn't really blame him. She knew that she had hurt him and all she wanted was a chance to explain. And it looked like this was her chance.

Ruby turned around and groaned as she caught sight of him. Her eyes quickly scanned the far side of the restaurant and her groaned only deepened as her eyes settled on Tegan.

"Great." She mumbled as she turned round to face Charlie again. "I'm not feeling too well. Can we leave?" She tried her best to look sick, not that it mattered...Charlie's eyes were fixed once again on Brax.

"I'm going to go and talk to him." She picked up her glass of wine and knocked back the last couple of mouthfulls. Silently thankful to whoever created dutch courage she stood up, only to be stopped once again by Ruby.

"Don't Charlie. It's not a good idea to talk to him." She pleaded but Charlie wasn't paying any attention.

"He's ignored me for two weeks. He's got no where to hide now..." She gave Ruby as reassuring smile as she moved past her, making her way over to the bar. Ruby turned in her seat to watch, her eyes flitting between the bar and the booth where Tegan was sat.

"Hey stranger." Charlie leant on the bar beside Brax, her body turned towards him. Her head fell to the side as she smiled over at him. He had tensed up at the sound of her voice, she had noticed that straight away.

He nervously cleared his throat. "Hi Charlie." He tried to keep it impersonal; tried to keep his eyes off of her so that he wouldn't notice how incredibly beautiful she looked that night. She's taken, so are you. "I was just..." He waved the receipt in front of him as he turned to go but her arm on his forearm stopped him and he reluctantly moved back to lean on the bar beside her. The shift in position meant that he now had to look at her and the minute his eyes hit her body that was it; he was falling and falling fast.

"I've tried messaging you..." She started, trying to keep her voice steady. She smiled at him but his face remained unreadable. She had no idea what he was thinking.

"Yeah, I deleted them."

She tried to ignore the hurt feeling that his words had caused her. "I guess I deserved that one..." She laughed lightly but he didn't join in.

"Is there something you wanted, Charlie?"

She looked down and realised that she still had her hand rested on his arm. He hadn' t moved it, which she took as a positive sign. She smiled to herself as she looked back up at him.

"I miss you. We really need to talk." She held his gaze and for a split second she was sure that she saw his resolve crumble. However, before she could double check, a tanned arm snaked it's way around Brax's shoulders.

"Did you pay the bill, babe?"

Charlie felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her as a voice joined them. She followed the arm back to it's owner; it's very blonde owner.

"Oh." Her eyes moved between Brax and this other woman as she tried to make sense of it. Then the reality hit her. "Oh." It was all she could manage, only this time it came out with a little more anger than before.

"Yeah I'm all done."

Charlie's eyes moved between Brax and this other woman as the reality hit her. Tegan's eyes never left Charlie's face, while her arm remained in it's position around Brax.

Charlie glared at Brax as she shook her head, turning sharply on her heels and walking quickly out of the restaurant, quickly followed by Ruby.

-----

Ok...so I may have been a little sarcastic before! Try not to hate me too much!

Reviews are like candy...keep 'em coming x