Sweet Misery

[RoRo90]

Great chapter but urrgh Tegan ... wish she would just disappear already

really wanted things to get better as I read the chapter but no ... oh well makes for great suspense but just please don't keep us wanting too long

I hope Casey gives Brax a right serving ... he will be kicking himself when he finds out that Charlie broke up with Angelo

please update soon so addicted to this fic

[Sazzle]

Brlliant update! Liked Ruby and Casey trying their best to help out but reckon they should just lock them in a room together... urgh Tegan! such an annoyance and Charlie will be gutted now and Brax has all his male ego upset so.... Really hope they talk soon properly and Brax finds out what she did for him and chases her

He was a bit harsh deleting her messages but understand his upset I guess...

Love this!! Please update as soon as you can! Its freaking good stuff!!

[beebee]

Please update soon x

[RoRo90]

Hope you can update soon, keep checking to see if you have really want to know what happens next.

[Jen1205]

I think I'm having withdrawal symptoms . Hope you get a chance to update soon, really can't wait to see what happens next

[Chax47]

Hey!!

Firstly, I am so sorry for being MIA lately!! I really didn't mean to make you all wait so long for the next chapter! Sorry, sorry, sorry!!!

Also, thank you for all the lovely reviews once again, I've said it before but you are all brilliant!! Thank you!

Right...enjoy, hopefully it's gonna be a good'un! I've only just finished it and was in a rush to get it to you, so please don't hold any spelling mistakes against me! Enjoy...hehe

x

Chapter 12

Ruby tried her hardest to catch up with her, but Charlie did have the advantage of having a head start. It may only have been less than a minute but her anger had allowed her to travel far in such a short space of time.

"Charlie! Please just wait up!" Ruby begged, silently urging for her legs to move faster than humanly possible. She had no idea what had been said when Charlie had confronted Brax, but she had watched the exchange from a distance. Watched as they momentarily spoke before Tegan had joined them, clearly marking her territory for Charlie to see. Which is exactly what she had done. Charlie had refused to look at Ruby as she made her dash from Angelos, but Ruby could see the pain which was visible on her face.

"Can you actually believe the nerve of him!" She shouted over her shoulder, slowing her pace down ever so slightly to give Ruby a chance to catch up. She needed someone to vent to; someone to help her make sense of what had just happened.

Sensing her opportunity, Ruby ran a little quicker, closing the gap between them. Placing her hand on Charlie's arm, she pulled her to a stand still.

Her breath caught harshly in her throat as she spoke. "Charlie...please."

Charlie's tear stained cheeks came into view as she turned her head to face Ruby. She wasn't sure if they were tears of hurt, pure anger or a mixture of the two, but either way they wouldn't stop falling.

"What kind of person confesses their feelings for someone, does a runner and then returns with Malibu Barbie on their arm." Her voice was catching in her throat, her words fighting to break through her cries.

Ruby grabbed hold of her, pulling her into a strong hug. She allowed her mother to cry for a couple of minutes on her shoulder, soothing her hair and comforting her as best as she could. When she eventually felt Charlie's grip loosen on her, Ruby pulled back so that they were once again face to face.

"Ok, I really need you to listen to me for a minute. Ok?" She knew this could end badly, but Charlie deserved to know the truth. They had agreed that they wouldn't have secrets from each other, it was a basis they were trying to build their mother/daughter relationship on.

Charlie frowned as she nodded. Wiping at the tears on her cheeks, she focused her blurry vision on her daughter.

"It's not what you think. The thing with Brax and Tegan..."

"How can it not be what it seems, Ruby? He's moved on pretty quickly, and without even bothering to speak to me about any of it." Shaking out of Ruby's reach, Charlie began walking away but made it only a few steps but she quickly spun back around. "Hang on a minute." Her tone had changed, the anger had no replaced any of the hurt she had been displaying earlier. Ruby felt her stomach drop. "I wasn't introduced to her. I don't know her name. How do you?"

Ruby's eyes fell to the floor. She could feel Charlie's eyes burning into her. Judging by the mixture of confusion, anger and betrayal that had laced Charlie's question, Ruby knew without looking up that the stare would be displaying the same range of emotions.

Keeping her gaze on the floor, she whispered her answer. "I knew he was back. With her."

Charlie felt as though the wind had been punched right out of her. She couldn't believe what she was hearing coming out of her own daughter's mouth. The same daughter who had seen first hand what not speaking to Brax had done to her. The same daughter who knew exactly what she was feeling towards him.

"I can't believe you knew and you didn't tell me." As Charlie took a step towards her, Ruby forced her eyes up from the ground.

"I only found out this afternoon, I was going to tell you but Casey said that we'd be able to fix things before they got this bad..."

"Fix things? What is there to fix, Ruby? He's with someone...seems pretty clear to me!" Once again, she backed away from her. She had no idea where she was going, but the need to get as far away as she could was overwhelming. Out of all her possible outcomes for her evening, this hadn't even made the list.

"He doesn't know." Ruby yelled after her. Her words caused Charlie to stop and slowly spin around.

"What?" The anger was hidden behind the curiousity, but Ruby could hear it all the same.

"Brax. He doesn't know that you and Angelo broke up. He still thinks you are engaged...that is why he is with someone else." Ruby offered, hoping that this would at least bring some relief to Charlie. Charlie's silence lingered, leaving Ruby clueless as to what she was thinking. Her face had remained straight; whatever thoughts she was having were not visible to the outside world.

Without saying anything else, Charlie turned on her heels and stormed away.

-----

In the fresh light of the next morning, Charlie still didn't feel any better. Ruby had left for school by the time she had gotten up, not that she had had the best night's sleep. Between the tossing, turning and pacing she had done around her bedroom, she must have gotten around two hours sleep at the most. Her eyes felt heavy as she waited for the kettle to boil to make some fresh coffee.

Leaning back against the counter, she threw her head back as she stared at the ceiling. She knew she would have to apologise at Ruby when she saw her. Deep down she was aware that Ruby hadn't purposely tried to hurt her. The desire to stay in the previous evening and keep Charlie away from any public space where she might run into the new couple was probably Ruby's way of trying to protect her.

The kettle quickly came to the boil, nudging Charlie from her thoughts. She poured herself a cup of coffee, choosing to sit outside hoping that the fresh air would clear her thoughts.

He thought she was still engaged. He didn't know that she had been waiting for him; waiting for him to come back and talk to her. To be with her. Part of her blamed him for that, if he had answered any of her messages he would have known the truth. The thought of him spending time with another woman sickened Charlie. Tegan, Ruby had called her. The name rolled through her head as did the image of her wrapping her arm around Brax's shoulders. Calling him babe.

Overcome with jealousy and nausea, Charlie abandonned her coffee and headed inside to get changed.

-----

Brax emerged from under the water, the warm morning sun immediately clearing the beads of water off of his face. Rubbing the excess water from his hair, he reached out for his board, jumping up to straddle the board and float aimlessly in the water. Since seeing Charlie had hadn't been able to get her out of his head. It had been the same story since he had confessed his feelings to her a few weeks earlier. She plagued his every thought; his every desire. At least with Tegan around he could pretend to focus his attention and energy onto someone else, but thoughts of Charlie Buckton always managed to resurface.

A surge of water came his way, followed closely by the sound of laughter. Turning away from the splash, he was soon greeted by a pair of arms wrapping around his waist.

"Hey." She placed a light kiss on his side. "It's getting awfully lonely in here alone. Get off the board and join me?" She questioned, slowly applying pressure to force him towards her.

As he turned his head to meet her gaze, his eyes fell on someone on the beach. She had been walking but stopped when she spotted them. Her eyes glued to them for a matter of minutes before turning sharply and heading off the beach.

Brax's sighed as he tried to ignore the queasy feeling that had washed over him. This wasn't playing out the way he had hoped.

He quickly moved out of Tegan's embrace, choosing instead to head further into the ocean. "Lay off it, Tegan. I'm trying to surf." He knew it was harsh, but he also knew from past experience that Tegan didn't do subtlety.

Tegan had noticed his eyes momentarily leave her to look at something, or someone, behind her. She knew who had caught his attention without even turning around. She knew Darryl Braxton inside out. She knew that she was going to have a fight on her hands if she wanted to keep him; to finally make him hers.

She rolled her eyes as she swan away from him. "I'm going to get a coffee. Come find me when you are done." She called over her shoulder. Walking back to her stuff on the beach, she rubbed a towel over her hair before slipping on a skirt over her bikini bottoms.

-----

"Just a coffee thanks, Colleen." Charlie ordered quickly, taking refuge at a table in the back of the Diner before Colleen had any opportunity to ask her anything or make any sort of comment. She knew that the gossip mill had been busy since her split with Angelo, but facing it was still something which she wasn't quite prepared for.

Colleen quickly made the coffee and took it over to the table. She hovered momentarily in front of Charlie, but soon found that she could hear Leah's voice in her head. Leah had took to warning the older woman every day that if she so much as caught wind that Colleen had been gossiping about her best friend then Leah wouldn't be responsible for her actions. For once, it appeared that Colleen Smart had actually taken note.

Relieved when Colleen retreated back to the kitchen, Charlie took a moment to breathe in the fresh aroma of the coffee. The sight of Brax and Tegan together in the water was still had the front of her mind and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't remove the mental image.

Unfortunately for her, she didn't have to chance to. She glanced up from her coffee cup to see one half of the couple walking towards her, a smirk playing on her lips.

"Don't suppose this seat is taken?" Without waiting for a response, Tegan sat in front of the brunette.

Placing the coffee cup back onto the table, Charlie threw a cold, hard stare at her. "Can I help you with something?"

Tegan studied her for a moment before continuing. "Just thought that it was time me and you had a little chat. Cleared the air."

Charlie almost scoffed in her face. She had to force herself to remain straight face. If Tegan had wanted to clear the air than she could have at least told her voice that. Her words had come out laced with disdain. Charlie couldn't help the roll of her eyes, Tegan however looked less than impressed with the gesture.

"I have nothing to say to you and would appreciate you not speaking to me."

Tegan laughed. A sound which Charlie knew she would have a hard time removing from her memory. "See, that's where I think you're wrong. I've waited for years to get Darryl back and now that I have him, I'm not going to let some crush get in my way."

"A crush? That's what he told you that I was?"

Tegan nodded, the smugness evident on her lips. "Don't kid yourself, you were never anything more to him. So whatever hold it is you think you have with him, I'm here to tell you to let it go. This is one you're not going to win."

For the second time that day, Charlie felt sick to her stomach. Just a crush. Had it all been lies? Had he just been playing her to get what he wanted? Anything she thought she knew was crumbling around her.

The sight of Brax walking into the Diner only made matters worse. Colleen reappeared from the kitchen, eager to watch the scene play out first hand. Tegan, who had her back to the doorway was unaware of Brax scanning the room, freezing in the spot as he saw the two woman talking.

Grabbing her purse, Charlie stood up, pausing at Tegan's side. "You two can have each other." She spat, giving her one last glare before heading towards the door.

"Charlie..." Brax stopped her, glancing between her and the table she had been previously been sitting on.

Whatever he was going to say, he didn't get the chance. Charlie quickly cut him off. "Keep Barbie away from me. Same goes for you." She pushed past him, not wanting him to see the tears that were seconds away from appearing.

----

Brax stormed into the house, closely followed by Tegan. They had argued the whole way home from the Diner. Although she wouldn't admit it, Tegan knew that she had overstepped the mark, at least in Brax's eyes.

"I told you that I wanted you to stay away from her." He snapped back as she slammed the front door behind her.

Heath walked out of the kitchen, a smile on his face as he saw Brax.

"Bro...you're back! Casey told me that you were here, but tracking you down seems to be impossible." His smile faded as he noticed Tegan. Puzzled, he glanced back at Brax before looking back at the blonde. He had clearly interrupted something. "Tegan...hey."

"Hi Heath." She gave him a small smile before focussing her attention back on Brax. "I don't get why you're so cut up about this." Brax pursed his lips as he tried to calm his breathing. She knew him well enough to know that she was seconds away from pushing him too far. "Fine...I'm going to go and take a shower. We'll talk later." She threw Heath one final look before disappearing into the bathroom.

Once they were alone, Heath flopped down on the couch beside his brother, turning to face him. "What the hell is she doing back?"

"I bought her back with me. It seemed like a good idea at the time." He threw his head back onto the couch in frustration. Everything was one big mess and he couldn't figure out where to start to piece it all back together.

"Why would you bring her back with you? Did Buckton change her mind again?"

Brax opened his eyes and frowned at his brother. "What? I hooked up with Tegan while I was away. She wanted to come back to the Bay for a while so I told her it was fine. I don't want to talk about Charlie anymore. She made her choice and I wasn't it so there's nothing really left to say." He stood up, ignoring the confused look which had taken over Heath's face. "Is there any beer left?"

"What are you talking about?"

Brax stopped in his tracks, staring down at the pair of furrowed eyebrows that were staring back up at him. He watched as slowly the realisation washed over Heath's face, softening his features.

"You really don't know, do you?" He stood up, so that he was now face to face with his brother.

Now it was Brax's turn to be confused. "What are you talking about? First Casey...now you. You're all acting weird."

Heath sighed. As much as he disliked Buckton, he knew that deep down she was the one who made Brax happy. Deep down she was the one he truely wanted. He couldn't be the one to stand in the way of that.

"You were it. You were her choice. She called off the engagement to Angelo the next day. They're not together anymore."

Brax felt the colour drain from his face. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing audible came out. She had tried to call him, to text him. She had tried to speak to him in Angelos but he had rubbed his fling with Tegan in her face. The hurt on her face had been because she thought he had changed his mind about her and moved on with someone else.

Taking a deep breath, he flopped back down on the couch, his head dropping into his hands. "Are you sure?"

Heath sat back down beside him. "I overheard Leah and Bianca talking about it in the Diner the other week. No one could get hold of you. She's been waiting for you to get back....and then you show up with Tegan." He grimaced as Brax stood back up, glaring down at him.

"Oh God...Tegan." He began to pace the living room. "I've made things a hundred times worse."

Heath shrugged. His range of relationship advice didn't run deep, and he was out of things to say. Thankfully though, Brax had picked up his keys and was heading towards the door.

"I need some fresh air. Can you cover for me?"

One nod from Heath and he was gone, letting the door close quietly behind him.

-----

Charlie flopped onto the sofa, a glass of wine in one hand and the TV remote in the other. Leah had plans with Irene and Ruby was on a date with Casey so for once she had the house to herself. Wine and soppy chick flicks had seemed like the perfect combination for the evening. Dressed simply in a pair of jogging bottoms and a vest top, her hair was pulled into a loose ponytail and her make up had been left pale. Sighing as she pressed play, she relaxed into the couch, excited about the possibilty of two hours of forgetting her own problems. For now, all she had to think about was Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey and what was going to happen with them in the next ten days.

Ten minutes into the film, a gentle knock on the door distracted her from the screen. Glancing at the clock, she realised that it was only 9.30. It was too early for Ruby to be back, and Leah had told her that she would be home around midnight. Reluctantly pressing pause, she placed her wine on the coffee table and jumped up, heading into the kitchen.

Switching on the light, she reached the door and opened it, her breath hitching in her throat as she was laid eyes on her visitor. She kept one hand on the doorframe while the other held the door slightly ajar.

She couldn't read his face; couldn't tell why he was there. His eyes searched hers as they stood silently on the doorstep.

"Brax, what are you doing here? I said everything I had to say to you this afternoon." She stepped back slightly and began to close the door but his foot stopped it and he gently pushed it back open.

"Is it true?" His voice was filled with hope, something which took Charlie slightly by surprise.

She raised her eyes to meet his once again, feeling the all too familiar moisture return to them. The slight nod she gave him was all that was needed. Without another word he stepped towards her, his lips colliding forcefully with hers as he pushed her backwords, pressing her up against the kitchen wall.

-----

Argh!! Thoughts?!?!

[GeorgieNZ]

YAY you updated! Amazing update please Brax knows that Charlie and Angelo broke up... Interested to see how the kiss plays out and what will happen with Tegan. Update soon please!!!

[faith406]

Well worth the wait, can't wait to see whether Charlie pulls back from the kiss or if things go further. Can't wait for your next update.

[Dingo x]

Agree with Faith406 it was definitely worth the wait!

Such an amazing update, hope Charlie doesn't pull back.

Looking forward to seeing what happens with Tegan.

Please please update soon, can't wait to see what happens. xx

[Jen1205]

Completely worth the wait, The kiss at the end actually gave me butterflies, Ahh I love Chax

So glad they are finally getting together, Poor Tegan I don't think she is going to be happy

Brilliant update, Can't wait for the next one