A/N: Thanks guys for the reviews!
Enjoy :)

Chapter 10

Her feet pounded against the gravel as she made her way as quickly as she could from the Diner. The fresh air had done little to alleviate the panic and pounding in her chest. Somehow along the way she had begun to cry but she simply ignored the tears as they stained her cheeks. She was not usually one to run away from her problems but at this moment in time she was willing to make the exception.

"Charlie!" Angelo's voice came from the doorway of the Diner as he watched her retreating figure. "Wait up!" The sound of his voice only made the tears fall harder but reluctantly Charlie slowed her pace before coming to a stop. The footsteps got louder behind her as a hand eventually took hold of her arm and turned her to face him.

The moment of truth.

His face was a mixture of confusion and hurt. She could feel him studying her as her eyes fell to the ground. Reaching out, he took hold of her other arm but she stepped back out of his embrace.

"Charlie, what's going on?" He withdrew his arms, letting them hang at his side.

Charlie wiped quickly at her face, noticing the crowd which had formed outside the Diner as she glanced up. Forcing herself to meet his gaze, she tried her best to hold it together.

"I am so sorry Angelo." Her voice was barely audible but her words hurt him all the same.

"Why? What do you have to be sorry for?"

"I can't do this. It's not fair to you." His frowned slightly at her; his confusion wasn't easing off. She sighed. "I should never have said yes to you."

He was silent for a moment but then a small smile appeared on his face. He took a step closer to her and reached out again for her. This time she didn't move.

"That's it? God, Charlie you had me worried that it was something serious." His hand reached up to touch her cheek. "If you don't want us to get married, then we don't have to get married."

She pushed his hand away and once again stepped into her own space. "This is serious, Angelo. It's not just about getting married; I don't want there to be an us anymore." She hadn't meant for her voice to come out as harshly as it had, and judging by the look on his face her words weren't what he had been expecting to hear.

Angelo stood in silence staring at her. Charlie hugged her arms across her chest as she tried to avoid his gaze. She hated the look of pain on his face, and hated that it was there because of her. It reminded her of the pain she had seen on Brax's face. Brax. The thought of him brought a millisecond of calm to her before Angelo's voice brought her back crashing down to earth.

"So..." She noticed how his eyes had reddened as he fought back tears. "You're breaking up with me?"

"Yes. I'm sorry." She knew her apology would mean nothing to him but she had to say it all the same.

He turned away from her for a moment as he ran his hand over his face. Seeing the people watching behind them only added to his anger.

"Have you been sleeping with him behind my back?" He turned back to face her, his eyes cold as they fixed on her.

She frowned at him. "What?"

"Brax? I'm assuming you're doing all of this because of him. How long has it been going on?" His voice grew louder, suddenly not carrying who overheard.

Charlie shook her head at him and turned to walk away but he caught up with her.

"Well? Are you going to answer my question?"

"Don't try and make this about Brax. I'm breaking up with you because we're not right together anymore, Angelo. And if you think I've been sleeping with him behind your back then you have just proved my point. We're just not right..."

"He's just a River Boy Charlie. He's no good for you." He replied smugly.

"And you are?"

Once the words had left her mouth she wanted to take them back. She knew deep down that Angelo had never been bad to her; his only fault was loving her unconditionally which she couldn't return. However, the desire to protect Brax had overtaken her and once the words were out there, that was it.

Angelo didn't grace her with a reply. A glare and a harsh brush past her shoulder was all she received in return.

"How long has she been in there?" Ruby whispered as she joined Leah outside Charlie's bedroom.

"Since yesterday afternoon. I've tried a couple of times to talk to her or bring her food but she doesn't want to know." Leah threw Ruby a concerned look as she tapped gently on Charlie's bedroom door for the tenth time that day. Silence.

"She can't stay in there forever."

"I don't know what we're going to do. I even went round to the Braxton's this morning but there is still no sign of Brax. I thought maybe he might be able to get her to snap out of it but he's still MIA." She kept her voice low, not wanting Charlie to overhear. She tried once more on the door but received no such luck.

Inside the room, Charlie lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. It had been two hours since she'd stopped crying; the tears a mixture of the pain and guilt she felt over what she'd done to Angelo and also the confusion and guilt she felt towards Brax. Not talking to him had made it harder but she hoped deep down that he would come back and they could eventually sort everything out.

Her phone beeped beside her on the pillow. A wave of hope washed over her as she reached for it but the hope quickly disappeared as she saw the name on the text message.

Angelo

Charlie, I'm sorry for what I said to you this afternoon.
We can get past this.

Please? I love you x

He had been calling and texting her all afternoon, all of which had gone unanswered. As much as she hated breakups, she hated being the breaker. Knowing that you have caused someone else's world to temporarily collapse was a little hard to face.

Tossing the phone back onto the bed, she got up and headed for the bedroom door. I can't stay locked up forever.

Leah and Ruby both jumped off the couch when they heard her bedroom door open. They were hesitant at first but quickly found themselves moving towards her and enveloping her into a group hug. She laughed lightly as she hugged them back.

"How are you feeling?" Ruby asked as Leah ran off into the kitchen to make her friend something to eat.

Charlie led Ruby to the couch and threw herself down onto it, pulling Ruby down beside her. Cuddling her into her chest, Charlie sighed.

"I'm ok. Well I'm getting there."

They sat silently for a few minutes before Leah rejoined the room carrying a plate of sandwiches. Charlie thanked her as she quietly picked at her first bit of food for over twenty four hours. Ruby and Leah glanced nervously at each other, neither knowing what to say. Charlie sensed their nerves as she placed the remainder of her sandwich on the plate and smiled gently at them both.

"Look I'm fine. People break up all the time. You don't have to worry, I'm going to be ok." The words were more for their benefit but she secretly saying them out loud brought a small sense of relief to herself.

"What about Brax?" Ruby asked quietly, only to be greeted with a glare by Leah. She responded with a sheepish shrug, all of which went unnoticed by Charlie.

Now it was Charlie's turn to shrug. "I still haven't heard from him. I don't know where he's gone, when he'll be back. If he'll even be back."

"You're going to tell him how you feel though, right?" Leah asked excitedly, this time causing Ruby to glare.

"Leah. She has only just broken up with Angelo." Ruby scolded her causing Charlie to laugh.

"Rubes, it's fine. I don't know. I guess we'll cross that path if and when we come to it."

It had been two weeks since the engagement fiasco. Two weeks since Charlie broke up with Angelo. Two weeks since she had last heard anything from Brax. She had gone about her day to day life as best as she could. Public places were temporarily avoided so that she wouldn't run into Angelo or worst...Colleen. She'd sent Brax a few text messages over the past couple of days but they each remained unanswered. Her hope was starting to wear thin.

Casey sat at the kitchen table staring down at the paper in front of him. Ruby sat beside him, scribbling away the answers while Casey's pen had barely touched the page. He sighed as he tossed the pen down and turned to face her.

"Come on Ruby, surely there must be something better we could be doing this afternoon?" He winked at her as he leant forward towards her. She smiled at him but the sound of the door opening behind them caught her attention.

Her eyes averted to the side as her jaw dropped. "Oh my God."

Casey spun around in the chair and smiled as Brax walked through the door, holding a duffel bag. He tossed the bag down on the floor as Casey ran over and greeted him.

"Brax. About time you came back."

Brax smiled as he hugged his brother. His smile faltered slightly as he caught sight of Ruby but he tried his best to be polite.

"Ruby. Hey."

She barely managed to mumble a hi. She didn't know what to do or say, so she chose silence as the safer option.

"You've missed so much." Casey glanced at Ruby but she nodded for him to continue. "I need to talk to you about Charlie."

Brax shrugged. "What about her?"

"She broke..."

"Brax, babe." A voice from outside cut Casey off as all eyes turned to the door. "Where shall I put my things?" A blonde woman appeared in the doorway, dressed in a denim mini and vest top. She smiled when she saw Casey. "Casey...long time."

Ruby watched silently from the kitchen table, a feeling of nausea taking over her stomach. Casey's mouth fell as he glanced between the new comer and his brother.

"Tegan..."

Dun...dun...dun... :)