Thank you for all the reviews! I really appreciate them and please keep reviewing the upcoming chapters. Just want to say a huge congratulations to Steve Peacocke for taking home the Silver Logie for "Most Popular New Male Talent." He's an amazing actor and definitely deserves it.

Chapter Twenty Two

Brax's P.O.V.
I looked back at Casey after the fight between Charlie and I. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Go after her," he said.
"No, I'm going for a surf," I told him.
"Are you kidding me?"
"No, I need to clear my head."
"Mate, your girlfriend is upset and it's partly your fault. Her daughter is in hospital. She was already sad to begin with, and now you've made everything worse."
"Did you not hear her? She used the whole "being a Braxton is bad" thing on me. That includes you too you know," I told him sternly.
"She's probably not thinking straight. At least talk to her would you?" Casey begged.
"No, not until she apologizes."
"Oh right, of course you'd disagree with me. You've always been the stubborn one."
"Yeah, whatever. I'll catch you later."
Just as I walked out the door, Casey shouted after me. "And for the record, I like you with Charlie so please, try to patch things up."

As I headed down to the beach, I saw Charlie coming back from the diner. She knew I saw her and started to come my way. Instead of meeting up with her, I pretended like I didn't realise she was coming and headed into the waves. I heard footsteps jogging towards me. Charlie had stopped me. "Brax, wait. Can we please talk?" she asked.
"What about?" I replied.
"What I said before. I'm really sorry."
"Look, I get that you're upset, confused and you can't think straight right now, and I know Ruby's on your mind, but what you said about my family really hit me hard. I thought you out of all people would understand. You're one of the few people who genuinely understand why we made up the River Boys. We come from tough backgrounds and family means a lot to us. One comment like that really gets to us, and not in a good way either," I explained to her.
"I know, that's why I keep apologising."
"That's not going to take back what you said."
"Well if I could take it back, I would."
"Yeah well, you can't. I'm sorry Charlie, but I think we should just keep to ourselves for awhile." I told her and went straight off into the waves. I didn't want to listen to what she had to say.

Charlie's P.O.V.
I walked away with tears in my eyes. How could he do this to me? I thought he knew me better than this. He should know that I didn't mean what I said. It just kind of slipped out... Now he doesn't even want to see me... As I went into the hospital and passed Casey's room, he called out to me. I was about to go into his room because I knew he would find out about Brax and I sooner or later, but I was interrupted by Dr Walker.
"Can I please have a word with you for a sec?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure. Is Ruby okay?"
"Fortunately yes. We've moved her into the room next to Casey's. She's made a full recovery, but will need full medical care for the next forty eight hours. She's got a broken arm, as well as many scars and bruises. I can assure you that she will be okay though," Dr Walked explained.
I sighed with relief. Thank god she'll be alright. What a close call it was. "Am I allowed to go in and see her?" I asked Sid.
"Yeah, of course, but just so you know, she's asleep."
"I'll go in anyways," I told him.
"Charlie, can you please let me know when she's woken up?" Casey asked me.
"Yeah, of course," I replied. Casey was a good kid and I knew he genuinely cared about Ruby.
"Don't stay for too long when you go and see her though Casey, you need your own rest too," Dr Walker said.
"Yeah okay, I just want to see how she's doing."

I let myself into Ruby's room. Just as Dr Walker had said, she was sound asleep. She had a blue cast along her right arm. Her scars and bruises were quite visible, although hopefully the bruises would fade soon enough. I may have pulled up a chair a bit too loudly next to her. She got woken up by me, and looked extremely tired. "Charlie?" she said tiredly. I didn't respond. I gave her a hug straight away, and held on tightly. "Haha warm greeting aye?" she joked. At least she still had her humour. "This was such a close call Ruby, I was really afraid of losing you," I told her.
"At least I'm okay now," she said.
"Yeah, that's the main thing. I love you Rubes."
"I love you too Charlie," she said. I leaned into her and wouldn't let her go. "How's Casey?" she asked.
"He's doing well. He broke a leg, and has bruises and scars like you, but he did wake up a lot earlier than you did. You were unconscious for awhile and was in a coma, but Casey pretty much woke up straight away," I explained.
"What about the car?"
"It got hit pretty hard... We'll have to get a new one."
She looked completely devastated and started crying in my arms. "Charlie, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I swear I was looking at where I was going, but the car came out of nowhere!" she exclaimed.
"Rubes, it's okay. The cops know it wasn't your fault."
"What about the people in the other car?" she asked, worryingly.
"They're hurt too, but I don't think it was anywhere near as bad as you and Casey were."
"Oh..." Her voice drifted off. Ruby had a really big heart and was always looking out for others so I knew she felt really bad.
"Don't worry about it Ruby. As long as you're safe, it's all that matters," I said.
"Yeah, I guess so..." she said unsurely.