Sorry it's taken a little longer to get this chapter up, hope it's okay.
x-x
Chapter 28.
Brax laughed lightly as he looked down to see Charlie sleeping peacefully in his arms, "So much for celebrating our sex anniversary." He mumbled under his breath before he threw the blanket off both of them, Charlie let out a groan and subconsciously began feeling about for the blanket, Brax laughed lightly before turning the TV off as he picked Charlie up in his arms and carried her into her bedroom.
Stripping down to his boxers, Brax closed Charlie's bedroom door and her curtains before turning the bedside lamp off as he crawled into the bed beside her, Charlie moved closer to him, cuddling into him tightly for warmth, Brax smiled as he wrapped his arms around her, "I promise we'll celebrate tomorrow." Charlie whispered before placing a soft kiss on Brax's chest. Brax laughed lightly before kissing the tip of her nose, and then her forehead before they both drifted off to sleep.
x-x
Charlie woke up to the smell of pancakes drifting through the house. She groaned as she sat up in the bed, searching for Brax, his side of the bed being stone cold, "Brax!" She yelled.
After gaining no reply, she got out of bed and wandered over to her wardrobe, pulling out one of Brax's hoodies he had left behind, Charlie slipped it on for warmth.
Walking into the living room, a huge smile spread across her face as she looked at what Brax had done. A plate of pancakes on the table, with a box of strawberries on the side, a glass of orange juice, and coffee, syrup, chocolate sauce, and a tall, slender vase, with a single white rose in it.
Charlie grinned before sitting down, thinking Brax could be such a hopeless romantic at times, she picked up the note on the table beside the plate with a stack of pancakes and recognised Brax's hand writing immediately,
Charlie,
Gone to pick Buckton junior up from the hospital, don't you dare jump up and come too; we'll probably be nearly home by the time you get your sexy ass out of your bed anyway. Just sit tight, relax and do nothing except eat the breakfast I've prepared for you.
I love you.
Ps. Your sexy bad-boy is still here x
Charlie laughed and shook her head, "No he isn't." She said to herself before she dug into her breakfast.
x-x
"YOU BETTER HAVE SAVED ME SOME PANCAKES!" A voice called from the front door about two minutes later, Charlie instantly knew it was Ruby. She jumped up excitedly and ran towards the front door, instantly pulling Ruby into her embrace, "Oh, ow, not so tight." Ruby moaned.
"Sorry." Charlie mumbled as she pulled back and took Ruby's head in her hands, "I just missed you, kid, that's all." She grinned again before kissing her forehead, "And I'm so glad you're okay." Charlie added before putting her arm around her and bringing her inside to the living room, "And don't worry, I only got up about ten minutes ago, so help yourself to some pancakes."
Charlie smiled before walking back into the kitchen, to be met by Brax coming into the house, dropping Ruby's two bags onto the floor, "Jeez, she's been in the hospital a few days and you bring her in this much crap." He rolled his eyes at Charlie as he straightened up.
She simply laughed off his comment before grabbing his hands and pulling him over to her, "Thank you for the breakfast." She smiled, "It was so thoughtful of you." Charlie grinned as she leaned up on her tip-toes, giving her lips easy access to his. "I don't think my sexy bad-boy is still here." Charlie teased before pouting as she looked up at Brax.
"I promise you, he is. You just haven't experienced that side yet." Brax assured her as his hands wound around her waist, pulling her into him firmly.
"Mm." Charlie bit her lip, "Whilst we're on that subject..." Charlie trailed off, leaning towards Brax's ear as she whispered, not wanting Ruby to hear, "When we get a moment to ourselves, we've got celebrating to do." Charlie grinned against his cheek before leaning backwards, studying Brax's reaction, she giggled as a grin crept onto his face,
"That we do Sergeant. That we do." He laughed before allowing her to link her hand with his as she pulled him into the living room.
x-x
"So," Brax began as he sat on the arm of the couch, watching Ruby and Charlie finish up their pancakes, "I was thinking we could do with some time away." He suggested.
Charlie swallowed her mouthful of food as she looked over at him with raised eyebrows, "Like where?" She questioned.
"I don't know, maybe up the coast or something, just you and I, Rubes, Case and maybe Heath and Bianca too."
"But they're not together..." Charlie grinned as she realised what Brax was getting at, "I see, you're thinking they might be at the end of our little trip?"
Brax nodded, "Well done, Buckton." He grinned, earning a small kick from Charlie. "It's just- after everything's that's happened with us, and then Ruby being in hospital, I just think we need some time away from the Bay and just focus on each other."
Charlie smiled before standing up, "And I think that's a great idea." Brax smiled back at her, raising his eyebrows as Charlie placed her hands on each of his thighs before lowering her head to his as she captured his lips in a kiss.
"And that's my cue to leave." Ruby groaned.
"But you only just got here, baby." Charlie moaned before turning back to Ruby, sitting on Brax's knee, reaching over to grab a strawberry, dipping it in the chocolate sauce before taking a small bite, putting the rest of it in Brax's mouth as he rested his chin on her shoulder, his mouth open expectantly, he smirked and kissed her neck before looking over at Ruby.
"But I don't want to watch her and watch you two do all of this." Ruby sighed as she looked at her mother.
"Well, I need to head off to work anyway, so you don't have to worry, kiddo." Brax smiled before pushing Charlie off his lap as he stood up, "I'll see you later." He smiled, kissing her lips before looking down at Ruby as she spoke to him,
"Thanks again for picking me up, Brax." She smiled up at him sweetly.
Brax returned her smile before swooping down to her level, "No problem." He grinned before kissing her forehead, "Bye Bucktons." He smirked, giving them both a wave before leaving the house.
x-x
Charlie grinned as she excitedly skipped into Angelo's and up to the bar, approaching Liam she smiled, "Is he-"
She was instantly cut off by Liam, "He's in his office." Liam laughed.
"Okay." Charlie grinned before turning around and heading towards Brax's office, knocking on the door a few times and gaining no response, she opened it to see Brax scrutinizing something closely on his laptop screen, she grinned as she closed the door behind her, Brax still not looking up. "Brax..." Charlie said softly as she walked over to him, he still failed to recognise her presence.
Walking up behind him, she reached over him before slamming the lid shut, Brax jumped before turning around in his swivel-chair, "Oh it's you." He chuckled, "You scared me." He laughed as Charlie grinned down at him.
"So I see, you were away with the fairies." Charlie laughed, frowning as Brax groaned. "What's up?" She asked.
"Awh babe." Brax moaned, "You shut the lid."
"So?" Charlie asked,
"That's so inconvenient; I'm going to have to turn it back on now." Brax groaned loudly.
"Eh, no." Charlie giggled at his inexperience with technology, "You just open it and ... voila." Charlie grinned as the screen lit up again.
"Genius." Brax grinned up at Charlie.
"No, you're just a little slow." Charlie laughed before she made herself comfortable in his lap, "Anyway, what are we looking at?" She asked, as he placed his left hand on her inner thigh, the other on the track-pad.
"I was just looking at things we could do up the coast and all, and places to stay."
Charlie turned her head to the side so she could look at Brax, "Well I don't know about things to do, but I've got a place to stay in mind."
"Thank god." Brax breathed a sigh of relief, "Because all these places look awful."
Charlie giggled, "The cabin." Charlie suggested, Brax frowned,
"What cabin?" He looked at her quizzically.
"The cabin..." Charlie trailed off, Brax still didn't get it, "The cabin my dad left Ruby and I in his will?" Brax shook his head, "Gosh, you're stupid at times." Charlie giggled,
"Hey!" Brax pouted as he pulled a sad face.
"Aww." Charlie grinned before kissing his temple, "Anyway, the cabin you chased me to and from after, well... y'know, the eh... the kidnap."
"Oh." Brax sighed lightly, "That cabin." Charlie nodded, "Well, yeah, it's perfect, and it seems lovely but if it's too hard for you to go there then we won't."
"No." Charlie shook her head, "It holds too many good memories for me to have filled it with bad ones." Charlie smiled before placing her arm around Brax, her fingers playing with the hairs on the back of his neck, "Plus, the most recent memory was a happy one."
Brax chuckled, "What? Me throwing you up against the door, kissing the life out of you?" Charlie grinned and nodded,
"Yeah." She replied simply before kissing his lips, "So the cabin classifies as perfect accommodation, if you're up for it."
"Mm-hm, perfect." Brax smiled before holding Charlie close to him, her head resting on his chest, "So I was thinking, for it not to be suss, you coax Heath into coming with us, and I'll work on Bianca."
"Uh-huh." Charlie grinned before looking up at him, "You're quite the mastermind, aren't you Darryl?" Charlie asked, her lips curling into a smile.
"That I am, Charlotte." Brax chuckled, "That I am."
x-x
Arriving home from work late that evening, Charlie frowned as she walked into the house to see a tub of her favourite ice cream sitting on the kitchen counter, Ben and Jerry's; Chocolate Fudge Brownie, "RUBES!" Charlie yelled, soon joined in the kitchen by Ruby and Casey,
"Yeah?" Ruby asked.
"Who left this?" She asked. Ruby chuckled and pointed to the post-it note latched onto the tub of ice-cream.
I love you.
"No guesses as to who it's from then." Charlie rolled her eyes.
"Casey Braxton, take note." Ruby giggled, "He's such a romantic." She laughed, referring to Brax.
"That he is." Charlie agreed before looking over at the fridge-freezer to see a post-it note stuck on that too, picking it up, she read it,
I didn't mean to go over the top, I'm sorry, don't be mad.
Charlie groaned as she turned to Ruby and Casey, "Open the freezer." Casey prompted, turning back to the freezer, Charlie opened it to reveal shelf after shelf filled with tub upon tub of the exact same ice-cream.
"Oh god." Charlie groaned, "I'm going to kill him."
"And that right there is our cue to leave." Ruby giggled before pulling Casey out of the front door. Charlie watched them leave before picking her phone up and calling Brax, he picked up after the first ring, Charlie beating him to it as she spoke first,
"Darryl Braxton, you're a dead man walking."
She heard him chuckle at the other end of the line, "I take it you're home, and you've seen the ice cream."
"Yes, and I'm not impressed!" Charlie groaned "Brax, this is going to take me forever to eat, not to mention it's unhealthy and there's no room for anything else in our freezer now!"
"Well... if it becomes that much of a problem, you have permission to use our freezer at home, or the Angelo's freezer."
"I'll be taking you up on that offer, Braxton." Charlie broke out in a smile as she considered how thoughtful he'd been, "But thank you." She quickly added, "It's the most thoughtful thing anybody's done for me."
"What? Try to make you obese by stuffing your freezer full of ice-cream?"
"And there you go... ruin the moment." Charlie sighed.
"I'm sorry." Brax laughed.
"Whatever... I was thinking you could come over, show me that Riverboy side you were talking about, babe?"
"Be there in ten."
Charlie laughed at the speediness of his reply, as soon as the word 'ten' left his lips he had cut the line and she knew he'd be on his way over to hers, she giggled as she excitedly sat on the couch, waiting for his arrival.
x-x
Standing up, Charlie ran to the back door as she heard the knock, flinging it open she was met by an amused looking Brax, "You even left the uniform on for me." He smirked.
"Actually I forgot to take it off." Charlie said bluntly.
"Shhh." Brax intruded as he stepped closer, his body leaning against Charlie's as he kicked the door shut with his foot, "You're ruining the fantasy." He told her as he began to unbutton her work blouse.
"It's time to celebrate." Charlie giggled childishly before Brax lowered his lips onto hers as they made their way into Charlie's bedroom.
