Hello lovely readers!
Thank you once again for all of your kind comments!
As I said before I'm going on holiday for 2 weeks, so as promised, one more update before I leave and then as soon as I get back I shall update again.
Hope you enjoy this one
CHAPTER 21-I thought you knew me
"Brax" Charlie whimpered as the tears clouded her vision, but still enabling her to see the frail woman leaning back into the couch with Brax towering over her.
He glanced at the tattoo on his hand before realizing, Charlie wouldn't want him to do this "Just go" he muttered to Hayley
"What?" she asked, completely stunned
"Get out. GO!" Brax snapped, Hayley quickly obliged, scurrying out the door, like the little rat she was.
Brax immediately turned to Charlie, looking to her for comfort and immediately holding his arms out to her
"No" she whimpered as she edged away carefully
"Charlie, Baby" he whispered, stepping closer to her again as he reached out and touched her arm
"NO, DON'T HURT ME!" She cried, her innocent eyes pleading with him "Please don't hurt me" she breathed heavily as the tears poured from her eyes, the look she had seen on his face with Hayley was something she had never seen before, and it scared her, the man she loved had turned like a switch, it was a look that had resembled the one Jake Pirovic had given her as he cold heartedly pulled the trigger.
BRAX POV…..
Her words ripped me to shreds and I could feel my stomach churning, I'd scared her, the coldness of her voice startled me
3RD PERSON….
"You need to go and cool down Brax" she said bluntly
"Charlie you know I'd never hurt you-"
"Do I?" she said weakly, her vulnerable state sending shivers over her body, causing tears to cascade down Brax's face.
"Charlie please" he said, shakily making his way towards her
"Just stop" she said, holding her hands out in front of her, stopping him from getting any closer
He held his hands up and walked backwards to the other side of the room
"I wouldn't hurt you" he said, choking back his sobs
"Right now I could debate that point" she frowned as she swallowed back her own tears, he nodded silently, he could see he'd torn her apart from the inside, but the fact that she was so cold and icy towards him made it unable to fix. Things were too broken.
"What the hell is going on here?" Heath asked as he trudged through the door to see a worn Brax and an emotional Charlie standing the whole room length apart.
Brax sighed "Nothing Heath" Brax said icily as he turned and slammed the door as he walked swiftly out the house.
The room shook as he slammed the door, causing Charlie to jump, the moment he'd left she collapsed in a heap, balling her eyes out
"Charlie are you ok?" Heath asked dashing to her side, she flinched immediately at his touch "Hey, hey Charlie what's up?" Heath asked concerned "Did something happen with you and Brax?" her cries got louder at the sound of his name "Charlie did he hurt you because I swear if he laid a finger on you I'd-"
"No, no he didn't touch me" she said quietly, studying the horror on Heath's face
"It's just that Hayley turned up and Brax threatened to kill her and it really scared me" she whimpered, falling into his embrace
"It's ok, it's alright I got you" he soothed "Do you wanna sleep in with Ruby tonight Charlie, Case can have the couch" he offered comfortingly
"No, no I'll be ok I think I'm just going to go and wait for Brax, we need to talk about a few things" she said, gently squeezing his hand before walking to the corridor
"And Charlie" Heath called, she stopped in her tracks and turned around "If I could take it back and not have brought Hayley here…I would" he said sincerely, she nodded absentmindedly
"I wish you could too Heath, I wish you could too" she said weakly, wiping away the remaining tears.
1 HOUR LATER….
Brax walked along the corridor to his room, his heart beating loudly and his stomach flipping as he saw Charlie lying peacefully in his bed, closing the door gently, a small click sounding when it shut she awoke immediately, a wild look in her eyes, scared of who it was, but calming down slightly when she saw his figure in the doorway
"Sorry" he muttered, she smiled slightly, an awkward silence rising between them "I'll just get some stuff and sleep on the couch" he said weakly, beginning to gather his things
"No, no you're not, you're staying" she said, smiling softly at him. Her smile made his heat melt and he went weak at the knees, just having her smile at him made him feel as though he had something to live for.
"How are you feeling?" she asked hesitantly
"Okay" he nodded silently, shuffling on the spot "I'm sorry" he said, staring into her eyes, she instantly knew he meant it, the remorse was clear and his pained expression said it all
"It's ok"
"No, no Charlie it isn't" he said coldly
"Brax it's fine!" she snapped, really not wanting to talk about earlier, in fear of what raw emotions it may bring up. Brax sighed deeply
"That's it I'm going on the couch Charlie, I'm not having another argument with you ok, I can't do it again"
"No Brax wait" she pleaded with him as he began gathering up his things "Please I'm sorry" she begged "Are you?"
"Yes I am Brax! For gods sake I've just lost a baby, I'm all over the place so I'm sorry if I've snapped a few times!" she said, frustrated with him, his stomach twisted in knots at her words, why couldn't she see the pain he was in?
"Nup, Charlie, we've lost a baby, OUR baby" Brax snapped, they both stood in silence, facing each other, Charlie wiping her hands over her eyes from the tears that had started to fall. Earlier wasn't their only problem, it was the past that was haunting them constantly, both of them trying to run away from it, but the grief was hovering over them like a dark cloud.
CHARLIE POV…..
"Charlie" Brax sighed, before reaching his arm out to me to embrace me in a hug, but for some stupid reason I flinched at his touch
"Charlie?" Brax looked at me questioningly, my vulnerable persona starting to show "Charlie?" he repeated, standing back slightly
"I-I'm s-so sorry, I-I just" I sighed, looking up at him, only for him to avert his eyes away from mine
"Charlie you know I'd never hurt you"
"Do I?" I said shakily as I played with my fingers
"I thought you knew me better than that" he murmured, her words ripping through him like a knife
3rd PERSON…..
Brax stood in silence, a tear rolling down his cheek, how could they have become like this? He diverted his gaze to the ground in a bid to hide his pain.
"I thought I knew you Brax but seeing you earlier, that, THAT scared me"
"Yeah well Charlie the reason I did that is because I can't bear to see you lying there on the floor like that again" her heart broke at his words
"Brax-"
"No I can't go through that again Charlie!" he snapped "Charlie I love you, ok I love you so much and I'd never, ever hurt you, ever" he began, silencing her with his hand as she opened her mouth to speak "No I need to say this" he continued "I know you're hurting, Charlie, but what you need to understand is that you're not the only one. I love you and the reason I flipped earlier is because I love you, and I don't want to face losing you again. And don't say that I obviously don't love you because if I did I wouldn't do that because we both know I'd do anything to keep you safe Charlie" He trembled
"Brax please I'm sorry, please don't cry" she begged as she watched the defeated man who stood before her
"Well it's hard not to when the woman you love doesn't want you to come near her"
"Brax" her voice broke as she let the tears fall
"Nup, Charlie I can't do this anymore, I can't be the strong one" he shook his head
"You don't have to be!" She exclaimed as her eyes became blurry with tears
"Yeah Charlie, yeah I do have to be! Because one step like earlier where I can't cope, you end up hating me!" He snapped
"I don't hate you" she pleaded with him
"No Charlie don't kid yourself, you can't look at me the same since I told you about our baby"
"That's not true" she said braking down as she shook her head
"Nup it is Charlie because if it wasn't we wouldn't be tearing each other apart like this"
She nodded her head lightly, trying to will the tears back in "I just want you to hold me and tell me we'll be ok" she said, her voice braking, his left hand reached out and touched hers, his right thumb slowly stoking her cheek. She attempted to blink away the tears as his eyes burned through hers "Please" she whispered, sobbing slightly as Brax engulfed her in his arms, holding her firmly into his embrace, no matter how much they fought against each other, they would always feel safe in the same place, each others arms. "I don't hate you" she mumbled against his damp shirt
"Ssshh" he soothed, kissing the side of her head "I'm sorry about earlier" he whispered as they locked themselves in each other's embrace
"You don't have to be" she whispered back, burying her head in the crook of his neck "Just promise you'll let me look after you" she pleaded with him, rubbing his back gently, he shook his head lightly "Nup Charlie you can't do that"
"Just let me." She demanded "Just let me look after you" she whispered as she stepped further into his embrace, holding out her arms for him to fall into, which he did.
"The thought of losing you scares me" he murmured into her neck, she could tell he was on the verge of tears as he deliberately tightened his hold on her, not wanting her to pull away and see the tears threatening to spill "I can't see you on the floor like that again" he sighed, tilting his head up to the ceiling, avoiding her eye contact
"And you won't have to. Ever" she smiled softly at him, watching as a few stray tears slid down his cheeks, letting his emotions show. Looping her left arm around his neck, she pressed her body up against this, he shook his head lightly, desperate to feel her warmth again. Their noses brushed past one another, their lips slowly but firmly pressing against each other, moving in sync for a while until Charlie wriggled away, giggling slightly as the kiss got more and more passionate.
"Brax" she grinned, leaning her head firmly into his chest as she blushed "Charlie" he laughed back teasingly as her cheeks flushed a hot pink
As a calm silence arose over the two of them Brax spoke up "You promise that from now on, we will work through this together, you and me?"
"I promise" she smiled whilst outstretching her hands to him and leaning in to peck him lightly on the lips
Later that night:…..
Charlie and Brax lay on the bed together, wrapped up in each other's embrace. Charlie grinned as she looked up to see Brax gazing lovingly down at her.
"What are you looking at?" she giggled, moving her hand so it was playing gently with his hair.
"You. Just you" Brax smiled, causing Charlie's cheeks to flush
"You've gotta stop doing that" she laughed softly as he placed his hand over her cheek
"And what would that be?" he asked teasingly, watching her cheeks burn an intense red
"Darryl!" she moaned, laughing still as she picked a pillow up and plonked him over the head with it
"Ouch" he groaned, giving a mock hurt look at her
"Awh baby do you want me to kiss it all better?" she teased as she leant forward and placed a chase kiss on his lips, only for him to lean towards her for more, kissing her passionately, her giggling into his mouth, both of them pulling away as the front door slammed shut
"Shh, shh" Brax said, placing his finger over Charlie's mouth as they heard Ruby and Casey's voices "You've gotta be quiet now, the kids are in the house" he chuckled slightly as she giggled even more
"Hey Brax are you in there-" Casey started, covering his eyes as he saw Brax on top of Charlie in the bed "Argh Guys!" he exclaimed, covering his eyes like a little kid
"Well Casey, there is this thing called knocking, you should try it sometime" Brax stated, laughing slightly at his brothers expression.
"And for your information, we both have clothes on" Charlie giggled, gesturing to both herself and Brax
"Yeah and doctor said six weeks mate, you've got nothing to worry about, just remember three weeks time, you knock" Brax teased, watching his brother squirm on the spot
"I was just gonna let you know, Liam's just got back and Heath's gone a bit mental" Casey swallowed slightly, still uncomfortable with the situation
"Does Bianca know?" Charlie asked, pushing Brax off of her and sitting up
"Not yet and at the rate things with Liam and Heath are going, I don't recon she'll see him" Casey said "well alive anyway" he muttered, before practically pegging it out of the door like a little kid.
"Ugh" Brax said, dropping his head down onto Charlie's shoulders "I should go find him" he grumbled, kissing Charlie's shoulder blade
"Uh uh, no way Mr, you, me, bed" she stated, holding his face in her hands, kissing him gently before giving him a look. He gazed curiously at her for a few seconds before realizing what she wanted and outstretching his arms to her, hugging the duvet close to her she smiled as she snuggled into Brax's warm embrace, lightly kissing his shoulder blade as he wrapped his arms tightly around her, pulling their body's closer together "mmm" she mumbled as Brax stroked his fingers through her hair and hugged her tightly
"Feels better sleeping here with you" she mumbled up against his chest, Brax smiled at her comment, kissing her hairline as they both fell asleep.
Aww, thought I'd give you happy Chax whilst I'm on holiday…as always, I love to hear your thoughts so review x