Brax's POV:

After Charlie ended things between the two of us, I had immediately headed to Angelo's and picked up a large amount of alcohol before going home.

By now I had indulged in four beers and was now on the whiskey.

As far as I knew, nobody was home, and there was nobody here to stop me.

Charlie's POV:

I had arrived home in floods of tears, Ruby was out, with Casey no doubt.

I had to face Leah alone, begging for me to tell her what was wrong,

"Is it Brax?" She asked as I leant further back against my bedroom door, the mention of his name causing the tears to fall harder,

"Just go away Leah, please." I said weakly.

"It is Brax." She sighed and spoke softer, "What happened?"

"Nothing, Leah, just go away." I snapped, hoping the ruder tone would get her to leave me alone, which it did as I heard her walk away.

-The following morning.-

Casey's POV:

I tiredly rubbed my eyes as I walked down the hallway and outside, I had gone to the cinema with Ruby last night, dropped her off late, come home to a quiet house, I assumed Heath was off with the boys, and Brax with Charlie.

I stopped dead in my tracks as I saw Brax fast asleep in the middle of the lounge, more like passed out. Two empty bottles of whiskey and numerous amounts of beer bottles scattered around him.

I don't know how I missed it last night, I'm pretty sure he wasn't there, I shook my head before running over to him, kneeling on the floor and shaking him,

"Brax, BRAX!" I yelled.

"Wh-What?" He stirred before sitting up and squinting.

"What the hell?" I asked him.

"Nothing." He replied before slowly sitting up.

"Brax, what happened?"

"NOTHING!" He yelled.

"Brax, look at all these alcohol bottles, it's obviously something."

"Case, please, alright? It's nothing, work was a little tough, that's all."

"It's Charlie isn't it?" The mention of her name seemed to strike an angry cord in him, he jumped up and pushed me back violently.

"JUST LEAVE IT CASEY!"

Ruby's POV:

I was about to knock on Casey's door when I heard Brax yelling, I flung the door open just to see him push Casey back,

"Brax!" I yelled.

He turned to look at me, he looked pretty rough, "What the hell?" I asked.

His angry exterior seemed to melt at the sight of me, "It's Charlie." He spoke quietly, I stepped into the house, closing the door behind me,

"I knew it." Casey mumbled, I shot him a look before looking back at Brax.

"What happened? Is she alright?" I asked beginning to panic.

"Oh she's fine, better than ever, she ended things between us." He said quietly before sitting on the couch,

"Why?" I asked, confused.

"I don't know, Rubes, I really don't know, things were going well between us, I mean, I lov-care about her."

I grinned slightly, Brax was so close to saying he loved her, for the first time, "Well, I'm going to find out." I replied before picking up my bag and heading back home.

Charlie's POV:

I slipped my purple dressing gown on over my night dress before sleepily heading outside.

I yawned before sitting opposite Leah at the dining table, "I'm so sorry Leah."

She smiled before rubbing my arm caringly, "It's alright."

"Where's Ruby?" I asked, noticing the house was really quiet, almost too quiet.

"She went to Casey's."

I nodded, "So, you gonna tell me what happened then?" She asked, I knew what she was referring to, I sighed before beginning,

"I broke up with Brax last night."

"What? Why? I thought things were going well between you two."

"They are but-"

Our conversation was interrupted by Ruby, "CHARLIE!" She yelled shortly before briskly walking into the lounge and sitting beside Leah, "Spill."

"What?" I asked her.

"You and Brax, he nearly killed himself drinking last night, he nearly said he loves you, he-"

My heart skipped a beat at the word 'love', "He what?" I asked.

"Just, tell me what happened." She demanded.

"I broke up with him, because of Hayley."

"Well, who the hell is Hayley?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "She's a Rivergirl, and she threatened to inform everyone about me and Brax if I didn't end things, and it seemed like she was threatening you too Ruby, and I can't, I could never put anybody above you."

"Oh mom, I know, but I think you need to tell Brax, he's confused and upset."

I nodded, "I know, and I will, later on."

She smiled and nodded, "I need to go for a shower and stuff." I said before standing up and heading into the bathroom.

Brax's POV:

Come 3pm, I was showered, dressed, and completely booze-free.

I picked up my phone as a message came through, seeing Charlie's name flash on the screen I contemplated whether to open it or not, but I eventually decided to:

'Hey Brax, it's Charlie, I was wondering if you could meet me on the beach today? Just to clear things up and to talk, I completely understand if you don't want to.'

I sighed lightly, I really wanted to see her, I just wasn't sure if I wanted more hurt:

'Nah, I do want to. What time?'

'Half an hour? If you're not busy.'

'See you then.'

For some reason, it seemed like Charlie thought I had tonnes of things to do outside of our relationship, but truth is, I hadn't, which made thinking about her occur even more, and the pain of the break-up hurt even more too.

Charlie's POV:

I smiled lightly at Brax as he joined me on the beach, he returned the smile before the both of us ended up standing, looking at each other, awkwardly.

"Brax, I'm so sorry." I began.

"Charlie, I don't want you to be sorry, there's nothing to be sorry for, I just wanna know why."

I shook my head, "Why?" Brax asked again.

"I can't say."

He shook his head before looking at me astounded, "I thought we would good together, Charlie?"

"We are-were." I corrected myself, a small grin formed on his face.

"Then why?"

"Because of Hayley." I found myself blurting out.

Brax frowned, "Hayley?" I nodded, "What's she got to do with any of this?"

"Last night, before I met you, she approached me and threatened to tell everyone about us, then she threatened Ruby, and Brax I'm sorry, but Ruby will always come first, always."

"I'll kill her." He said angrily before motioning to walk away, I grabbed his hand,

"Brax." He stopped and turned back to face me, glancing down at our entwined hands before looking back up at me, "Please don't."

"Charlie, this whole situation is her fault, she's not getting away with it, she's not getting away with treating you like that and she's certainly not getting away with threatening Rubes."

He squeezed my hand before dropping it and briskly walking off, I was extremely worried about what he'd do, but couldn't help but smile at how protective he was of Ruby.

Hayley's POV:

I was sitting on a beach in Mangrove River relaxing when I saw Brax pacing towards me, I grinned and stood up, smiling at him warmly,

"Brax, long time no speak." I said as I stepped forward and stroked his arm, he angrily pushed my hand away, like my touch was lethal.

"Don't touch me, and yeah, long time no speak, yet you had time to get my girlfriend to break up with me, yeah?"

I was slightly astounded by his outbreak, "Brax, I-"

"Nah, nah." He interrupted, "I'm gonna talk, and you're gonna listen." He stated, I nodded, speechlessly, "How dare you Hayley, you had no right, and yeah, I love Charlie, and you just got the only, only, girl I've ever loved to break up with me, so thanks for that."

I motioned to speak but he continued, "And as for threatening Ruby, so help me god, you do anything to hurt that kid, and I'm gonna come after you myself, you stay away from me, you stay away from Charlie, and Ruby."

He finished and threw me a final dirty look before walking off.

I exhaled deeply through my anger before kneeling down on the sand and rooting through my bag, pulling out my mobile phone and calling the Coastal News.

Hey guys, thank you so much for the reviews so far. I'm finding more time to write so I'll hopefully be able to update more often than I usually do. (: Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.