Hi everyone. This is the first chapter of a new story, starting off with Ruby on the beach, telling Brax that she can't forgive him for Charlie's death. The dialogue at the end of the chapter is taken directly from the show. Obviously in this, Charlie has died and it's more about Ruby but it also has Joey playing her part. I hope you enjoy it, although the subject matter might be a little heavy! Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter One

It took all of Ruby Buckton's courage to approach Darryl 'Brax' Braxton as he finished surfing in the sea. Last night, encouraged by her former housemate, Leah Patterson-Baker, Ruby had gone to visit her late mother's boyfriend. Her hope had been that they might find a way to get past all the hurt and pain they had been through since her mother, Sergeant Charlie Buckton, had been murdered in cold blood at home.

It seemed like a lifetime ago that Ruby had been preparing to move to the city with her then boyfriend, Casey Braxton and both Charlie and Brax. They were all supposed to start a new life together, away from the Bay, where their worlds might not collide too much. In Summer Bay, Charlie had been a police officer and Brax had been a River Boy, a criminal gang that terrorised the town. But Charlie had given up being a cop for the man she loved and although it was hard to acknowledge now, Brax had been hoping to go on the straight and narrow and turn his life around.

But on the day of Charlie's final day in a career she loved, before her shift had even started, she had been gunned down at home by one of Brax's enemies. Jake had shot her in cold blood and left her to die alone on the living room floor. It had then been Ruby's heartbreaking decision to turn the life support machine off and let her go, once she had reluctantly accepted that her beloved mother would never wake up.

Life for Ruby had been hell from that moment on. Brax had practically held Charlie's broken body hostage at the hospital and he'd failed to show up at the funeral. Then he'd come drunk to the wake and insulted everybody. Since then, as far as she knew, he had been drinking excessively and getting himself beaten up on a regular basis trying to cage fight.

And as of last night, she also knew that he had been seeking solace by sleeping with other women. She'd gone to visit him to try and talk things through but the sight of Brax making out with some woman on the couch so soon after Charlie had died, sickened her. She wondered how many other people he'd been with since Charlie's death. Had he been with other women minus the two that Charlie knew about while she had still been alive?

For her part, Ruby had also turned to alcohol. She'd gone to the city right after Charlie's funeral and tried to drink away her problems. She'd attempted to start University without a single person knowing the truth of her tragedy. But Morag had sent her back home to try and deal with her grief.

Since then, she had pushed people away. When she'd realised that Leah was spending time with Brax and inviting him to the house, she had moved out in fury. She'd hit on her friend, Dexter Walker and hospitalised herself through drinking and not keeping a check on her blood sugar levels. Roo Stewart had then invited her to live in the house and every day, Ruby was grateful for the kindness of people.

But she was still utterly grief stricken and she felt incapable of connecting with the world around her. With every breath in her body, she missed Charlie – her sister, her mother, her guardian, her friend… her everything. Every time she closed her eyes she could see her on the floor or in her hospital bed, slipping further and further away from her. Her heart broke at all the things she'd never got to say. She had never imagined that there would come a time when it was too late to tell Charlie just how much she loved her.

"Hi," she said when Brax emerged from the water.

"Hey," he replied awkwardly.

"How was the surf?" she asked, for want of some way to break into the conversation she needed to have with him.

If she was ever going to move on with her life, she had to forgive him.

"Yeah, it was good," he said. "It was good. Listen, Rubes, about last night…"

She interrupted him.

"Brax, you don't have to explain," she said. "I get it."

"I wish I did," he replied. "You have to know that if there was anything I could change… If I could bring Charlie back… I'm sorry. I'm… I'm sorry."

She knew he meant it and that if it was a movie, she would forgive him, maybe even let herself be held by the man her mother had loved so much.

"You know everyone keeps telling me how we're going through the same things and I should be more understanding of your feelings," she ventured. "Maybe they're right. I know Charlie would want me to forgive you."

He looked hopeful. But the words got stuck in Ruby's throat.

"But I can't," she said sadly.

"Rubes…" he tried.

"I can't do it!" she said desperately. "Brax, Charlie isn't here to tell me anything! And she never will be again because of you and your little gang war that took her away from me! I can't get past that. I'm sorry but I cannot get past that and I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you."

With her heart breaking, she turned and walked away.

Next time… when Ruby goes through some of Charlie's things, she makes a discovery…