"I'll only ever want you. I know what it feels like to lose you; I don't ever want to feel that again"
Rubys POV:
It was so quiet; Casey and I had been expecting to hear raised voices at least. After a while I ventured out into the hallway to see what was happening.
Brax saw me first; he hesitated before he walked towards me, nodded at me and then left the room. Not without glancing back at her, an agonized look on his face.
I wasn't sure what had been said between them but I could tell Charlie was upset. She looked exhausted, physically and emotionally and I realised that she must have been in hell over the last few months too. There was no way anyone could be angry with someone who looked so drained.
"You ok?" I asked walking into the room.
She nodded. "I'm sorry Rubes, I shouldn't have put you through all this" There was a look of sorrow on her face.
"I know, but I got you back" I said smiling slightly, "That's all that matters, that's enough."
Charlies POV:
I felt like I'd never be able to make it up to her. Whatever I said wouldn't heal the wounds that had been created.
"He really loves you" She said looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I looked at her, surprised by the words.
She looked down and fiddled with the bracelets on her arm.
"I've been really angry with him" She said earnestly, looking up at me through her eye lashes as though she thought I'd be disappointed.
"Maybe I shouldn't have been but I blamed him for all this mess. I think I still do. But I never actually realised, before, how much he loves you, I never really understood. I just accepted that you were happy, happier than I ever remembered you being. And I was happy too. We went to pieces without you."
Her eyes sparkled with tears at the memory.
"It's been torture without you Charlie; suddenly all the reasons for us to be happy were gone. We didn't cope very well and now it seems like such a poor excuse because you're here."
When did my daughter grow up so quick? When did her view on the Braxton's change so dramatically? I recalled the days when she was telling me that they weren't so bad! But I realised that things had changed, she blamed them for this.
I felt like I'd missed out on a huge chunk of her life. I stepped forward and embraced her wanting to protect her from the things she had suffered.
"I'm not saying that he's not a complete screw up but he really would do anything for you" She said into my shoulder. I chuckled.
That small chuckle was like a huge weight being lifted off my shoulders. I couldn't remember the last time I had laughed.
Caseys POV:
I'd watched Brax pace up and down the small bedroom. I'd tried to calm him down, told him to give her time. This wasn't easy for anyone. I'd said that after everything they'd been through to get here she wouldn't throw it away but that she'd need to get her head round everything. We all did.
He was even more impatient than Ruby! Eventually he just gave up and walked out the room. I sighed and went after him.
Ruby and Charlie looked up at us and smiled as we walked in on their discussion. We were both surprised at the warm welcome but Brax grinned back and it was like everything was normal.
We all jumped as a mobile phone started buzzing and, at the same time, there was a knock on the door.
Normal faded quickly, replaced by a thick atmosphere of fear and dread.
Charlies POV:
It was like an alarm, a reminder that we weren't allowed to be happy, that we were locked up in here. The smiles washed off their faces.
"It'll be, Andy, the police officer who brought you here" I said quickly, wanting to reassure them. I picked up the phone and cancelled the call. It was our routine. I went to look through the spy hole in the door but Brax had beaten me to it.
"Thought you might want some supplies" he said after Brax had given his approval and opened the door. He walked in holding several bags of groceries in one hand and three pizza boxes aloft in his other.
I could have kicked him. As much as I appreciated the thought of food, and when I thought about it I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten, I was angry that he'd burst in and reminded us all that we were stuck here.
He must have sensed the tension because he put the items down on the table and strolled back towards the door telling us to call if we needed anything.
Braxs POV:
I never thought I'd see that smile again. It was like a bright light at the end of a dark tunnel. It was the smile I saw when she came into the restaurant at lunch times; it was the smile I saw when she told me we would be free.
The atmosphere had changed with the arrival of Andy but the arrival of food gave us all something to do, something normal.
"Meat Lovers! You've got him trained well Charlie" I joked trying to lighten the mood again.
"Oh good, pizza, you have no idea how long it's been since I last ate pizza" Casey grumbled sarcastically.
"Ah, ya love it" I said elbowing him in the ribs in jest. "At least ya fed"
Charlies POV:
We'd all been quiet during dinner, all thinking about the last few hours and all hungry. It was strange to have my family back. I couldn't quite get my head around the adjustment.
I knew that Brax had been very brief with the information on Geoffrey King but he'd assured me that he was out of our lives. I couldn't help but feel disappointed and upset that he'd found comfort in the arms of someone else.
It filled my mind but he'd thought I was dead and I'd let him believe that. I'd let him struggle.
I'd walked away too often and it always resulted in the same thing. I loved him.
After dinner Ruby decided to go to bed, having not slept the night before and Casey who'd set up camp on the sofa had gone to take a shower.
I watched Brax tidying up after dinner. I couldn't resist. I went up to him and slipped my arms round him, feeling the heat radiating off his body. I put my head into the back of his shirt, smelling the scent I knew so well.
"Thank you" I said. "For being here, for enduring this"
He seemed to freeze momentarily before turning so he could cup my face in his hands and kiss me. A soft, slow and meaningful kiss.
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, Charlie" He whispered, hardly taking his lips from mine.
"I've told you before, you're worth it" He said as he pulled away, his head tilted to one side, a cheeky grin playing on his face. He leant in for another kiss and at the same time turned us both round, lifted me up and placed me on the kitchen counter, a sparkle in his eye.
The kiss deepened and I instinctively wrapped my legs round his waist, drawing him closer to me.
I unbuttoned his shirt and ran my hands down his chest. He slipped his hands underneath my shirt; his thumbs drew circles on my stomach, on either side of my waist.
I tilted my head as he kissed my neck and as he drew back towards my lips he placed one hand underneath me, lifting me off the counter. My legs were still wrapped tightly round his waist and my arms locked behind his neck as he carried me towards the bedroom.
Braxs POV:
I woke early; I'd slept fitfully listening out for the slightest sound or movement. Light streamed in under the blind and fell across the bed.
Charlie lay on her stomach, her arm lay across my chest and our legs were intertwined. Her hair spread out on the pillow and crowned her face. She looked so beautiful and so peaceful.
Last night I'd seen the scars on her body, they would be a constant reminder of what we had been through, what I had put her through. She would bare those scars forever and we would all bare them mentally.
I'd kissed them, for me they were the belief that we could get through anything together. But I wouldn't let anybody hurt her ever again.
I remembered finding her covered in blood on the floor.
I remembered the paramedics trying to revive her.
I remembered her wired up to the machines in hospital.
For weeks I'd woken up alone wondering why I felt so empty, so alone and forlorn. I'd taken each day at a time because the thought of a longer period had terrified me. How could I get through another week without her when a day seemed like torture?
Time is apparently a great healer, maybe because over time you slowly forget about someone. But I didn't want to forget about her. I wanted to remember everything about her; her face, her smile, her laugh. And even though I'd wanted to remember all those things, it felt like a stab in the heart every time I did because she was gone.
And now by some miracle I'd got her back and she was here with me.
I could lay here, with her, forever and forget about everything else. She and I were meant to be together.
I couldn't help smiling as I reached out and ran a finger softly over her cheek bone, maybe it was to make sure she was real, that I hadn't dreamt the day before; or maybe because I couldn't resist the smoothness of her skin against mine.
