Into the Past
Chapter 1: Home Safe Home
It was late, or early depending on how he looked at it. The silence that filled the house was only interrupted by a passing car or the screeching of tires from down the road. The eldest Braxton sat at the table waiting it was a warm night he'd left the front door open. He grasped the bottle on the table feeling unsettled as he glanced towards the clock once again.
Standing up and pushing away from the table Brax found a rubbish bag before heading to the lounge and beginning to pick up the empty bottles his mother had left strewn around the room before she'd stumbled to her bed not too long beforehand.
He could feel a headache coming on as his eyes involuntarily flicked up at the clock again as he walked beneath it towards the back door with the filled bag trying to keep the glass from making too much noise. It was quarter past three and he was going to kill Heath. He knew he should have gone with his brother, knew that Heath had been in a mood after having a run in with their mother that morning before he'd stormed out. But Brax had thought he'd needed to stay. She'd begun drinking long before Casey had gotten home from school and he wanted to stick around to make sure she didn't get onto him too much. He could only hope and pray that the younger Braxton wasn't in too much trouble, he certainly wasn't answering his phone and neither were any of their mates – hopefully not because they were locked in a cell for the night, not that it hadn't happened before.
After lowering the bag carefully into the bin, and walking back into the house he stopped to check on Casey who was still out cold in bed. He closed the door and continued down the hall before opening another at the far end, his mother lay on top of the blankets her small snores filling the room. He sighed before moving into it and grabbing the extra blanket that lay on the floor and placed it carefully over her. Hopefully she wouldn't wake before he got back. He moved back out of the room towards the kitchen to grab his phone and keys before he headed out to find Heath. Before he could gather his things though he heard the squeal of the screen door and sighed in relief.
Heath stumbled in one of his arms bracing himself on the wall and Brax simply leant against the counter and watched him shaking his head, at least until he saw a mop of blonde hair under his brothers other arm. Brax's eyes narrowed he didn't want to have to send another girl home Heath was trying to sneak into the house. It took only another second for him to realise he knew exactly who was stumbling into the house with his brother and only another before he realised that in fact Ricki was the one holding his brother up.
Sighing again he pushed himself off the counter and towards the stumbling pair before pulling Heath from the smaller girl. His lips quirked up in amusement as she threw him an extremely grateful look sighing in relief as the weight was lifted from her shoulders,
"Need to lay off the eggs Heath" she groaned rolling her shoulders and Brax chuckled quietly.
"Goodnight handsome" Ricki directed to Heath who stopped mid step pulling away from Brax who had turned him in the direction of his own room. He stumbled back towards his friend grabbing the wall before bending down to plant a kiss on what Brax assumed her head which landed on her eye,
"Night babe" Heath muttered and Ricki laughed as they could only just make out his jumbled words. Grabbing Heath's shoulders Brax turned him back leading him to his room before pushing him toward the bed which he easily collapsed upon. Brax shut the door knowing Heath was only seconds away from snoring to find Ricki sitting at the table his beer in hand. Her hair was a mess and she looked exhausted, Brax knew Heath must have called her at home and pulled her out of bed,
"Danny called me" she offered as an explanation causing him to frown,
"Why didn't he call me?" he asked the room perturbed and Ricki scoffed,
"Um probably because he didn't want you to take his head off for letting Heath get into the state he was in when I got there"
"Did your folks wake up?" asked Brax his brow creasing in concern, but she shook her head,
"I doubt it"
"How bad was it?" he asked sitting in the chair on the other side of the table,
"Nothing too extreme they just got into a fight at the pub" Brax groaned at her words,
"I should have gone with them tonight" he said running a hand over his face,
"Cut it out Brax" she began before he'd even finished his sentence
"This isn't your fault besides I could easily say the same thing" he didn't bother replying,
"You want a lift home?" he offered and she shook her head,
"It's all good" she dismissed and he watched her for a moment,
"You want to stay here? I'll take you to school tomorrow with Heath and Case" she held his gaze for several seconds a contemplative look on her face,
"You sure?" she asked and he rolled his eyes, standing and getting himself another drink from the fridge seen as Ricki had appeared to have claimed his, before shutting the front door,
"Ric I swear you're here more than Heath it's all good" he said offering her a smile which she returned,
"So was it bad tonight?" she asked as he sat again,
"Case is fine, Mum just started early today so I wanted to stick around but she didn't lay into him too hard"
"Because she was too busy with you?" she asked an eyebrow arched as she watched him. When he simply shrugged and she knew she would never get an answer from him she continued,
"I was caught up at school otherwise I would have gone with the guys"
"Heard you got shut up in detention" he smirked teasing,
"Heaths fault" she shot back and he nodded,
"Figures, you sure it's not going to cause you trouble if you're not at home?" he asked carefully. He knew home wasn't a good topic for Ricki, she hated talking about it. She simply shrugged,
"Na it'll just look like I've been for a surf with you lot it's not like I made my bed before I left" she grinned and he leaned closer,
"Ric you didn't have to go and get him I appreciate it but you could have rung me" she nodded,
"I know"
"Speaking of bed though, you have school in like four hours and you're not being late, I'm not being responsible for another detention for you. Let's hit the hay kid"
"Not a kid" was her usual response as she stood grabbing Brax's now empty drink and placing them on the counter,
"Thanks for tonight Brax"
"Where are you going?" he asked as she headed towards the lounge,
"Yeah if you think I'm bunking with your brother after the night he's had" she started making him laugh,
"Take my room Ric" he rebuffed her protests and five minutes later had pushed her into his own room. He couldn't have her sleep on the couch, sure she knew all there was to know about their mother but he couldn't know what state she'd be in when she woke up,
"Night Ric" he grinned as he shut the door,
"Night Brax"
Hey guys so this is my first Home and Away Fic, I used to watch it all the time but have tuned out recently. However I saw a few episodes with Ricki and Brax and loveeee them. I heard she knew the guys growing up and wanted to write about that! Let me know if you have any requests about moments between them all! Hope you enjoy, please review!
oh also quick question can anyone tell me how ricki is related to jamie, is she? and a quick run down on what happened there, i should go and rewatch it all but short on time a bit :)