Chapter Twelve
Ruby's P.O.V.
I told Casey to stick around until Charlie came home. I knew I was old enough to stay home alone, but there was always a bit of me that got paranoid every time I heard a tiny sound. Leah and VJ were spending nights in the city more and more often with Miles which led to Ruby always having Casey over. Charlie didn't approve of it, but she knew Brax would kill Casey if he did anything to get Ruby into trouble.
It was way past midnight and Charlie still hadn't reached home yet. Casey insisted on me going to sleep and said he would wake me up once she got home, but I didn't want to hear it. I was getting worried. She had never stayed out this late before. I called the police station, but they told me Charlie didn't have the night shift.
"Didn't you say Charlie took Brax away?" I asked Casey.
"Yeah, and she was talking in her professional voice too. She called Brax, 'Mr Braxton.' She only ever does that when she's on patrol. She wasn't even in her uniform," he answered.
"Where do you think she took him?"
"Into a strippers club?" he joked.
I shot him a dirty look and threw a pillow at his face. "This isn't funny!" I shrieked.
"Just calm down will you? They're both probably perfectly fine, and you're just overreacting," Casey said calmly.
"But we don't know that for sure!" I shouted.
"How about you just go to sleep? I promise you I'll wake you up when she gets back."
I pretended to close my eyes and fall asleep so that he would leave me alone. He stroked my hair and kissed me on the lips.
Charlie's P.O.V.
A few hours later, Brax and I pulled up at the driveway.
"Sssshhhhhh! Be quiet," I whispered to Brax as we got out of the car.
I told him to come home with me, as Heath would probably still be up partying and I wanted him all to myself. Knowing Ruby, she would probably be asleep and Brax could easily climb out of the window the following morning before she'd wake up.
I opened the front door and told Brax to creep in quietly. It was dark so the only way we could make our way safely into my bedroom was to turn on the light. I flicked the light switch and screamed. I wasn't the only one. Casey and Ruby did as well and quickly tried to cover themselves up with their clothes.
"What on earth do you think you're doing?" I shouted.
At the same time, Casey yelled, "Bro, what the hell man? What are you doing with Charlie at this time of the night!"
There was no way out of this. All four of us had been caught.
"The two of you can get dressed and then we'll have a talk about this," I said.
"Can't we wait till tomorrow morning? It's so late and I'm so tired!" Ruby whined.
"Don't tell me that! You're the one who should be asleep!"
"Yeah, pretty rich hearing that from you."
"Ruby, don't talk to me like that," I warned her.
Ruby's P.O.V.
Once Casey and I had a shower, we sat at the dining table with Brax and Charlie.
I shot questions at Charlie. "What were you doing together? Why did you take you take Brax away, Charlie? Why are you home so late?"
"Okay, alright Rubes. We get it. We owe you an explanation, but it's not like you were completely innocent either."
"Charlie, Casey and I are old enough to look after ourselves. Neither of us would hurt each other in any way," I told her.
"Ruby, I get that, but you're still young."
"I'm almost eighteen!"
"Yeah, almost. Not yet."
"Well I haven't done anything wrong. It was just an awkward encounter okay? Now you have to tell me what you were doing. It makes absolutely no sense to see you with Brax at this hour. You don't even have the night shift!" I exclaimed.
Charlie's P.O.V.
"Brax, can I please talk to you for a second?" I asked him.
Ruby glared at me, as if she knew something was up. I ignored her and followed Brax into the kitchen.
"What are we going to say?" Brax asked.
"We're going to have to tell them. It'll be a lot safer if they're the only ones who will know."
"How do you know they won't tell anyone?"
"We've just got to trust them."
I could tell Brax wasn't so sure with that, but we went back to Casey and Ruby anyways.
"If we tell you, you've got to keep your mouth shuts alright? You can't bring this up in public, and you can tell anyone about it," Brax said.
"What about Heath?" Casey asked.
"Especially not Heath," Brax said firmly.
"Uh... Okay? Get to the point?" said Ruby.
"Brax and I, well uh... There's no simpler way to say this than uh... We're a couple," I said slowly.
Ruby and Casey's eyes widened.
"You're a couple!" Ruby repeated.
"Wait, let me get this straight," Casey said. "My brother is going out with my girlfriend's mum?"
Brax and I looked at each other. "Uh, yes to say the least," I replied.
"Oh wow. This is so messed up," Ruby said. "You're the one who's been telling me to study and concentrate on my work, yet you're going behind my back with Brax? This is so not right."
"Look Rubes, I know this looks bad-"
Ruby interrupted me. "Looks bad? Are you kidding me? That's an understatement!"
"I knew you'd be like this. This is why we didn't want to tell anyone," I explained.
"I'm your own daughter! Wait until everyone else finds out about this."
"Everyone else? Rubes, no way. You are not telling everyone."
"Why are you so worried about it? You seem to be fine doing it with Brax."
Ruby didn't even wait for me to respond. She dragged Casey into her room with her and slammed her bedroom door.
"Baby, she'll get over it," Brax said.
He put his arms around me and kissed my neck. I couldn't help but worry. I just kept staring at her door and her words kept repeating in my head. "Wait until everyone else finds out about this."
"What if she does tell people?" I asked Brax.
"She won't, I promise."
"How can you be so sure?"
"She's your daughter Charlie, she wouldn't do anything to put you at risk or hurt you."
"Yeah, well I hope you're right."
"When am I not?" he joked.
I couldn't help but smile. I gave him a light punch and kissed his forehead. He picked me up and I clinged onto him. He carried me into my room and closed the door behind us.