Ruby Buckton
Ruby Buckton (2008-2012)
Rebecca Breeds
Episodes: 4665–5583
Date of Birth: 5th July 1993
Parents: Grant Bledcoe & Charlie Buckton (both deceased)
Adoptive Parents: Ross & Elsie Buckton (both deceased)
Step Parents: Morag Bellingham (adoptive)
Siblings: Mila Bledcoe & unnamed brother (both half)
Occupation: Student
Cheeky and mature for her age, 15-year-old Ruby came to the Bay from boarding school along with her maintenance man boyfriend, Pat. With the recent death of her mum and her dad’s decision to stay in Summer Bay, she decided to join him and her sister Charlie.
Ruby and Pat were anything but shy in showing their affection for each other when they first arrived in town and started pashing in the Surf Club.
Charlie was initially concerned as to whether her sister would accept Ross and Morag’s relationship, but she didn’t have anything to worry about, as Ruby told her she was happy for them.
Curious about her sister’s relationship with Pat, Charlie asked Ruby whether she really saw him as the love of her life. It was clear that Ruby had doubts, but she seemed determined to make things work. When Pat later revealed that he was leaving the Bay, however, Ruby finally came to the realisation that they weren’t going to be together forever and in an emotional scene on the beach, they kissed and said their goodbyes.
Shortly after enrolling at Summer Bay High, Ruby became friends with Annie Campbell. Seeing her friend so happy with Jai, she became upset that she didn’t have someone too. Ruby then started to develop a crush on her teacher, Miles. Annie soon caught onto her friend’s feelings, but all Ruby could think of was how amazing and kind Mr Copeland was.
Whilst walking from the Surf Club, Earl, who had previously been seen taking a skinny dip in the water, tried to take Ruby’s bag. Whilst doing this Ruby fell to the ground. But her knight in shining armour was in the right place at the right time and was quickly able to ward Earl off.
A few days later and Annie thought she saw Ruby and Miles kissing. During a meeting with school principal Mr Bartlett, however, Miles revealed that it was him and Kirsty.
Following the death of her mum, Ruby was about to get another shock when he dad Ross was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. This proved hard for everyone to deal with and while she was trying to be strong, it was obvious Ruby was struggling. Trying to find comfort and advice from someone in a similar position, Ruby began chatting on an online chatroom to someone named Skye – whose grandmother was suffering with Alzheimer’s.
At the same time her classmate Matthew Lyons took an interest in her and seemed to have a good understanding of her but she rejected his advances. She later found out from Annie and Jai that Matthew was really Skye and vowed revenge. She tricked Mathew into stripping off to skinny dip at the beach and stole his clothes, posting the pictures on the internet. She realised too late that Matthew genuinely wanted to be her friend and that his gran did have Alzheimer’s but Jai had already uploaded the pictures. Mathew retaliated by sticking her diary pages around the school and humiliating her.
She struggled to cope with Charlie’s self-destruction after her relationship with Roman ended but developed an interest in new boy Xavier Austin. They hooked up but Xavier left town soon after being exposed as a drug dealer. He returned in the aftermath of his cousin Jack’s death and Ruby tried to pick things up with him but he told her he was still in love with his ex, Freya.
Xavier hit the roof when he discovered Freya had stashed some illegal drugs in his school bag. Trying to protect him, Ruby took them and hid them in the fridge at home. Charlie questioned what they were doing there, with Ruby insisting that she found them at school and had nothing to do with them being there.
When the news of drugs in the school reached her, Belle went on confront Freya. Freya told her that if she let her name slip to the police, she would tell the cops Belle was her number one client. This didn’t phase Belle, however, as the cops believed Belle brought the drugs for a front page story.
More mayhem was in store for Ruby and Xavier as the unstoppable Freya fired up the motor on the boat and took them for a water-filled joyride. She continued to push the boat to the max but was stopped in her tracks when the boat hit another boat – Hugo’s. The man himself, however, was nowhere to be seen but later walked into the Surf Club unharmed after a night dive.
With Freya receiving hassle from the drug dealer she owed money to, Xavier decided he would meet with the dealers. But feeling the whole debacle was her responsibility, Ruby borrowed money and gave it to Freya so she could pay the dealers their dough. The con: she was to pack her bags and leave town. But when Ruby saw Xavier meeting the dealers on the beach, she couldn’t understand why they didn’t have their cash already. The penny soon dropped…Freya had skipped town – and taken the cash with her.
Ruby was annoyed that Xavier was pushing her away and he eventually told her it was because of Brendan but his worries were calmed when Brendan bonded with Ruby and the rest of his friends.
Ruby found out about Charlie and Joey’s relationship but, after the initial shock, decided to accept them. She was somewhat disgruntled when Charlie then wrecked the relationship. She was one of the first people to realise that Martha and Hugo had feelings for each other. When Xavier and Jai told her about the recording Trey had of himself and Nicole, Ruby told Nicole about it, prompting a violent showdown between the pair. Ruby told Xavier she wanted to sleep with him on her 16th birthday and shared the news with Charlie, who was violently opposed to the idea. At her party, Ruby was upset to learn Xavier had told everyone about their plans and told him she didn’t think she could go through with it. Her mood was lifted however when Xavier told her he loved her. She was somewhat put out when Charlie admitted she had slept with Angelo the same night but accepted the relationship.
When Geoff mentioned that there seemed to be a gun missing from the set Martha had given him from the farm and Annie told her Jai had seemed injured, Ruby quickly realised that Xavier and Jai had been messing about with the missing gun but reluctantly agreed to keep quiet. With Annie, she organised a petition to try and get Trey banned from the memorial trek. She arranged to have Jai and Annie paired up in an attempt to reunite them but was worried when they went missing. She and Xavier were then among the students trapped on the bus when Trey planted a bomb under it and subsequently rescued by Hugo and Martha.
Ruby advised Charlie to keep quiet about her relationship with Angelo when Ross and Morag visited but ended up having to tell them herself when Charlie was injured while they were together. When she heard about Belles cancer, Ruby decided life was too short to waste and took Xavier out to Martha’s farm where they slept together. However, they were sprung by their combined families and Ruby was shocked by Ross violent reaction. She was further confused by conflicting reports that Charlie had had a baby in her teens and became determined to track the child down, even trying to enlist Angelo’s help. Charlie eventually admitted the truth, that the baby was Ruby herself. After finding out Charlie had been raped, Ruby asked Xavier if she could stay with him but Martha refused unless Charlie cleared it. Ruby spent the night hiding out with Geoff and Annie before she and Geoff, who was still coping with Belles death, decided to leave town to clear their heads.
They ended up at the home of Ruby’s auntie Michelle, who told them about how Charlie had come to stay with her after Ruby was born, full of self-hatred. Ruby eventually returned to Summer Bay and persuaded Charlie to let her stay with Irene. She became increasingly reliant on Geoff, making Xavier jealous, and after an argument she decided to stay at home with Geoff instead of accompanying Xavier to Brendan’s birthday party. Charlie refused to tell her who her father was but, when Ross was saying goodbye to her before going into a home, he let slip his name was Bledcoe. She found Grants photo in an old school year book and persuaded Jai to help her track him down on the internet.
Ruby went to Grants house where she shouted at him for ruining her life. She was shocked when he followed her back to the Bay and, when he told her their liaison had been consensual and Charlie had only convinced herself it was rape, struggled to know who to believe, especially when both Grant and his wife visited her to plead his case. She was horrified when she found Charlie had kidnapped Grant to force a confession out of him and persuaded her to release him but when Grant used the same phrase he had used that night, she realised Charlie was telling the truth and hit Grant. She agreed to keep what had happened between the two of them but kept insisting that Grant needed to pay for what he’d done, despite Charlie protesting that if they told anyone she would be in as much trouble as Grant. She was slightly assuaged when Charlie agreed to tell Angelo and Ross but when Ruby herself told Morag what had happened, she stopped Ross finding out. Annoyed, Ruby ended her brief period staying with Charlie, accusing her of wanting everything her own way, and went back to Irene’s. She took a job at the fish market to pay her way and ended up telling both Geoff and Xavier about Charlie kidnapping Grant. Grant then turned up dead on the beach and both Charlie and Ruby were in the frame for murder, with Ruby feeling guilty that she had set things in motion by tracking Grant down.
Ruby was also suffering from romantic confusion and admitted to Nicole that she’d realised she liked Geoff more than Xavier, having previously admitted to Charlie that they’d had a moment and been not entirely displeased when Geoff accidentally walked in on her in the shower. She broke up with Xavier, only for him to be knocked out by Derrick Quaid when they both tried to stop him attacking Hugo and wake up not remembering the conversation. She asked him to help her give Charlie an alibi for the murder, saying they had seen her in bed at the time, although she was nervous when Detective Robertson turned up at her work and revealed Grant was killed nearby. She distracted herself by chatting with Annie about the latter’s feelings for Romeo. Detective Robertson saw through Ruby’s alibi story and forced her and Xavier to retract their statements after dragging her out of the Diner in handcuffs. He then arrested Ruby for conspiracy to murder but this turned out to be a ruse to flush out Ross, who admitted he had killed Grant.
Ruby began showing signs of being unwell, sweating and needing the toilet constantly and experiencing momentary blackouts. When Xavier visited her to clear the air, she ended up vomiting and asked him to leave. Geoff and Charlie found her unconscious on her bed and she was diagnosed with diabetes. Xavier visited her in hospital and they finally ended their relationship. She and Geoff began seeing each other but she was disappointed that he started acting more like a carer than a boyfriend until they eventually found a balance. Charlie was unhappy with them living alone together, especially when Ruby was hospitalised with low blood sugar after missing a meal and letting Gonk take her supply of sweets rather than reveal she was diabetic, and moved in while Irene was away. After a number of false starts, when they were first interrupted by Irene, then had to work at the Diner and heard Orson sneaking around nearby when they met up at Donnas place, Ruby and Geoff cemented their relationship by sleeping together. At the end of year Christmas party, she spoke to both Charlie and Xavier and they managed to put the events of the year behind them.
She was sympathetic about the plight of the refugees and furious about John Palmers comments on tax payers having to pay for their medical treatment, repeatedly accusing him of being a racist in public and harassing him. She arranged a collection to pay for their medical treatment and gift packages for them. When she heard there was a chance they could be deported, she organised a rally at the Diner to demonstrate that most of the townsfolk were on their sides but when she and Geoff arrived they found a racist mob attacking Leah and Hazem. They ended up trapped inside the building as it was firebombed and when she emerged from cover to try and help she was nearly hit by a burning beam and Geoff was injured protecting her.
Ruby felt guilty over the incident and asked Geoff if he blamed her, only for him to snap and say that he did, causing her to turn to Xavier for reassurance. Geoff then broke up with her and she overheard him telling Irene he was leaving town to become a missionary; she managed to deal with the news maturely as they said goodbye. She found herself drawn back to Xavier again and was disappointed when Mink revealed they’d kissed. When Xavier explained Mink had initiated the kiss and she realised she was just trying to cause trouble, she had a go at Mink and then went to the Diner opening with Xavier, although the bad memories about the riot caused them to leave early. She teased Xavier about getting back together, pretending she was going to kiss him before telling him she wasn’t easy, and wound up Leah about her crush on Elijah. She argued with Romeo about Mink getting away with things but became more sympathetic towards her when she discovered she had gone to juvenile detention to protect her mother. However, Mink was annoyed when she found out she knew and verbally attacked her. Xavier defended her and she rewarded him with a kiss, getting back with him again.
She became caught up in Charlie and Angelo’s relationship woes and confided in Angelo that Charlie had a history of sabotaging her relationships. She was disappointed that this resulted in the pair breaking up and, when she learned Angelo had kissed Charlie, encouraged her to try and make things up. She also spoke to Annie about her time in Japan and advised her against just staying in town for Romeo. She tried to give Xavier advice about Gina and John’s relationship, and also to Charlie about her counselling, and ended up skipping school with Xavier only to be caught by Martha and forced to work on the farm as punishment. She later suggested to Xavier he use Gina’s opposition to him boxing as a bargaining tool with regards the relationship. She also acted as a confidante to Nicole when Britt stole her designs and was the one to come up with the idea of Romeo wearing a dress to have to deal with cross-dressing in the school production of Romeo and Juliet. Ruby herself took the role of Mercutio and was shocked when she learned Liam was writing a song for her to perform. He was impressed with her singing voice however and encouraged her talent, even getting her to sing with him at the Diner, while she seemed to enjoy it when he held her stomach to help with breathing exercises. It wasn’t enough to stop her freezing up on stage but he ended up joining her to help her with the song.
Xavier confided in her about the money Hugo had left him and asked her to hide it at Irene’s. She didn’t feel comfortable with it and offered to help him find another hiding place instead. After shed quizzed Colleen about the local area, she distracted Martha while Xavier tried to recover the money only for it to turn out Martha had already found it. Ruby and Xavier took it to an old army battery but found that someone was living there, with a photo of Hugo and Xavier. Ruby covered for him with Gina when he spent the night at the battery. The incident sparked off Xavier’s belief that Hugo was still alive and Ruby reluctantly told him about Vinnie being in witness protection, joining him in a brief second search of the battery and trying to talk him out of his plan to hide the money at the gym. Xavier later told her that he’d found out from Martha that Hugo was alive and roped Ruby into helping him get some supplies for Hugo although he failed to turn up to the rendezvous while Ruby covered with Angelo and Tony. She also comforted Nicole over Aden’s departure.
Ruby had begun collaborating with Liam, prompting a jealous reaction from Xavier. She insisted she only had a professional interest in Liam but Nicole felt she saw him in a romantic light and she did find herself gazing admiringly at him during a brainstorming session. She took time out to chat to Charlie about her sleeping with Angelo but otherwise repeatedly chose to spend time with Liam ahead of Xavier. She was mortified when she overheard Xavier telling Liam to stay away from her, insisting she was only interested in the music, but Nicole pointed out that she would choose Liam over Xavier and helped her realise she actually had a crush on him. She went to see Liam and, without mentioning the crush, offered to give up their musical partnership because of the trouble Xavier was causing him but he decided to carry on. She admitted the crush to Xavier, prompting him to break up with her. She complained about her feelings to Nicole and Liam overheard her saying she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She left Nicole to make up an excuse for her but was horrified when Nicole told Liam that Ruby hated his songs. Not wanting to lose their collaboration, she admitted the truth to Liam but insisted she could get over it. She was disappointed to find Xavier moving on with April while she couldn’t act on her feelings for Liam.
She was delighted when Liam arranged a recording session for them and began dreaming of attending the Grammys. She had a brief talk with April and gave her and Xavier her blessing. She was on a high after the recording session and even mocked up a CD cover of herself and Liam but was upset to see him having a drink with Bianca. She agreed to meet with Liam to discuss the singing but he ignored her when Bianca turned up and she left in tears. When Xavier tried to talk to her about it, she kissed him, even though he was dating April, to try and prove she was over Liam. Liam arranged for him and Ruby to sing at the opening of Angelo’s new restaurant but, during the preparations, she kissed him. Liam instantly made it clear nothing could happen between them and cut all ties with her while Bianca had a go at her and told her to get over it. Ruby responded by getting drunk, having paid an older boy to buy her a bottle, and turning up at his house in her underwear and falling into his swimming pool, having to be rescued by Nicole and Penn. Bianca attempted to convince her she was in danger of ruining Liam’s career and she admitted to Charlie what was going on. She was thrown when April and Bianca moved into the house and asked Leah if she could move back in with her and Charlie, although she assured April she wasn’t the problem. She told Irene she wanted to buy Charlie a present and Irene suggested a bottle of wine, an idea which Ruby jumped on, asking Indigo to get it for her. However, they were caught by Charlie who reported the underage sale and took Ruby back to live with her. She initially insisted the wine was a present but then changed her mind and told Irene and Leah she had been planning to drink it. When Liam told her the people he’d sent their demo tape to only wanted him as a solo singer, she was found in a depressed mood by Penn who gave her a bottle of vodka and she proceeded to get drunk again. She was found to Nicole, who took her to Liam’s to sober up, but when Bianca found them there she convinced Liam to tell Charlie. Ruby admitted the drinking session was because of Liam being taken away from her and Charlie persuaded her to go to a rehab clinic.
She returned to town to find Liam had gone away and only Xavier welcomed her back to school. Ruby was left feeling her love life was a mess but was buoyed when Mitzy told her she would find her true love in two months. She was pleased when she and Charlie moved in together with Angelo, thinking they could be a family. At Nicole’s suggestion, she persuaded Charlie to give her driving lessons but she was unnerved by her mother’s calm and collected approach and got on a lot better when she was strict with her. She also took one with Angelo and had a minor accident when she drove into Penn at a slow speed. Charlie found her a driving instructor, Alexander Pitt, and she thought he was the person Mitzy told her about, flirting with him madly. He told her he couldn’t date a student but would be happy to go out with her once they’d finished the lessons but when she asked him out for a coffee he told her he already had a girlfriend. However he then announced they’d split up and agreed to a date. They kissed but she discovered he was still seeing his girlfriend. When she confronted him, he told her he’d heard shed cheated in the past and was easy. He later came round the house to apologise to her but she was disappointed when she learned Charlie put him up to it and Charlie suggested that her attitude had contributed to the situation. She ended up passing her driving test but was upset when she got home to find Charlie had prepared a party to commiserate with her, since she’d assumed she’d fail. After a short period of ignoring Charlie, she apologised for being precious.
Still on the lookout for the person shed been promised, she asked Dexter to get a car so they could go to the schoolies parties and agreed to go with him even when she learned he’d borrowed Sid’s car without permission. She managed to get a date with Jackson Dunn to the school formal but they were pulled over by the police and Charlie grounded her, meaning she would have to miss the evening. She was furious, blaming Dex and trying to get Angelo to intercede on behalf. She ended up sneaking out anyway but Charlie found out and tried to drag her out when she refused to leave, before Angelo stepped in and persuaded Ruby to go home. Afterwards she accepted shed been wasting her time with Jackson and thought better of her plan to leave town but offered to use a video Jackson had recorded on his phone of Liam and Bianca kissing to help Liam break up Bianca and Vittorio. However, he refused; not wanting to blackmail her and Ruby told Bianca how much he loved her. Marilyn gave her a tarot reading saying that the true love was someone she already knew, a hero who’d made a sacrifice and been abandoned, and she was left thinking Liam’s true love for Bianca was what she’d been promised. However she seemed to end the year thinking it was Romeo after he came to Bianca’s rescue at the wedding.
Ruby was shaken by the following events, with the death of Ross, who she hadn’t been allowed to visit, and Charlie and Angelo’s separation. She grew close to Romeo and Indigo and reacted badly when she learned Nicole was pregnant with Penn’s child, but relaxed after a chat with Charlie and gave Nicole her childhood toy Cat as a present for the baby. She set Xavier up with Summer to try and get him over his depression following April’s absence. She was pleased when Indigo arranged for Romeo to give her some maths tutoring but disappointed when he failed to show up because he was busy looking after Nicole and continued to support Nicole when she learned of her plan to have the baby adopted by Marilyn and Sid. She went round to Romeos for a study session just after he’d had a disastrous date with Indi and after they’d spent the evening talking gave him a semi-platonic kiss good night. She then asked Dexter to question Romeo about his and Indigos relationship for her.
She initially clashed with Casey Braxton when he arrived at the school and caused trouble for Romeo but softened towards him when he started giving her surfing lessons. She was annoyed when Romeo and Casey wouldn’t let her surf with them and when she tried to talk to Charlie about it she just told her to stay away from Casey. When he kissed her, she was pleased despite Romeo warning her to stay away from him. With her feelings for Romeo growing, she was distraught to learn Indigo was planning to sleep with him and told Casey she might be interested in a relationship with him but instead Romeo came to Ruby’s house and, after she told him she loved him, they slept together. She was on top of the world, thinking they were an item, and told Casey she couldn’t see him because there was someone else but was brought back down to earth when he said it was a one-off and he was still with Indi. She felt used and was frustrated by the lack of sympathy from Nicole and Charlie, bombarding Romeo with texts insisting it wasn’t over. She ended up in hospital with low blood sugar after failing to check her levels properly and had to deal with first a visit from Indi and a reluctant Romeo and then Charlie thinking she had depression.
She accompanied Xavier and Casey on a drive, insisting on driving the V8 herself, where she held her own against Heath and, after telling him of her experience with Romeo without giving names, ended up sleeping with Casey on the back seat after Xavier had gone to get petrol, being caught by Charlie. She was upset by Charlie’s reaction and told Casey she couldn’t see him anymore, before sharing a brief heart to heart with April about their respective problems. She became a public enemy when she told Indi about her and Romeo, accusing Indigo of wanting to find a reason to forgive Romeo when she asked for her version of events, telling Nicole shed learnt her behaviour from watching her and getting into arguments with Xavier when he blamed her for the break-up, but Casey supported her and they were soon an item. She was further humiliated when someone posted a cartoon video around town of her activities and annoyed by both Charlie using her position to try and track down the culprit and Dexter and April making a blog on the subject, although it did result in her becoming closer to Casey. She soon began clashing with Charlie over the relationship and, after learning Casey was dyslexic, she confided in him over her diabetes and had a go at Charlie for trying to convince the school she was doing Casey’s homework for him. She ended up arguing with Charlie again when she went on a school authorised trip to see Casey in a science competition but they smoothed things over afterwards.
When Casey helped her break into an empty holiday mansion and suggested they spend time there together while the owner was away, she decided to hold a party there instead but the event descended into chaos when Heath and the River Boys crashed it and they were raided by the police. Ruby managed to slip away but Casey was caught. Although she initially acted innocent, when Charlie said Casey would end up with a criminal record Ruby insisted she would have to be charged as well and the case was dropped. She conspired with Casey to trick Charlie and Brax into coming on a family outing to try and make them get on better; unaware they were already seeing each other in secret. She tried to play matchmaker between Charlie and a colleague she saw her talking to in the Diner, then added her details to a dating site. She arranged a date with one of the guys who answered, Ryan, and was pleased when Charlie came back having apparently had a good time, unaware shed actually been with Brax.
She ended up joining the Mangrove River team for the surf carnival so she could compete alongside Casey but lost out to Miranda Jacobs from Summer Bay, who knocked her off her surf ski when she tried to cut her up. When a fight broke out between the two supporters, she ignored Charlie’s attempt to usher her away and left with Casey and Heath. She was questioned by Constable Watson after Charlie was injured in the fight, denying the bottle that hit Charlie was thrown from the car she was in. She was horrified when she heard his family might be involved in Angelo’s disappearance and avoided him for a bit. She took a shift at the Diner to avoid him only to find herself working with Indi, although it gave them a chance to finally settle their differences. She also apologised to Casey, accepting he wasn’t involved.
She was concerned when she found Liam had been sacked, quizzing April about it, and even more so when he turned at school on drugs and she, April, Xavier and Dexter found him standing on a cliff top. Banned from going to a music festival because of her recent behaviour, she earned a reprieve when Xavier persuaded Gina to chaperone them but the festival was flooded out anyway. She quizzed Casey about where their relationship was going and was pleased when he assured her it was going forward. When Romeo tried to get in touch with her, she told Indigo since she didn’t want to keep it secret from her only for Indigo to explain Romeo had an STI so Ruby might have it. Although it gave her a chance to talk to Romeo and finally clear the air over what happened between them, she ignored his, Indi and Miles advice to get tested, worried about the implications of her being the source of the infection, until Casey talked her into taking the test with him and they both tested negative. She organised a party for Charlie’s birthday and realised Charlie had been lying about her whereabouts when she tried to contact her to tell her about the test.
She was frustrated when Casey skipped school to go surfing and tried to convince him he was worth more than being a River Boy. When the teens went on a trip to Nelsons Noose, she promised Roo she wouldn’t surf and wouldn’t let the boys do so but ended up giving in and ended up having to resuscitate Xavier when he had an accident. She later tried to reassure Casey when he had poor trial exam results and was shocked when he dropped out of school. She did her best to persuade him to reconsider and when he decided to return to school and his mother threw him out she let him spend the night at their place. She tried to keep him on the straight and narrow as he spent time partying on the beach and surfing instead of going to school.
She began to suspect Charlie was seeing someone and following her, found out it was Brax. Charlie warned her not to tell anyone because she was worried about the repercussions if the River Boys found out and, although Ruby told Casey, she also instructed him to stay quiet. She was mostly supportive of the pair, encouraging Charlie to make it up with him when they had a row, although the attempt failed when Charlie learned Brax had slept with Tegan Callahan. When Jake Pirovic, a member of a rival gang, was released on bail, Charlie ordered Ruby to stay away from the Braxton house. However, when Ruby was at the restaurant with Casey, Jake turned up and took them both hostage. They were rescued by Brax when he turned up with the pills and she went and told Charlie what happened, which resulted in Jake being arrested and them finding out Brax had been stabbed. She had a minor involvement in Tegan’s claim Brax was Darcy’s father, encouraging Casey to tell Brax it wasn’t true and letting Charlie know. She was also concerned when she found out about the River Boys planning to fight Jakes gang.
When they sheltered in the school together during a storm, she was shocked to find Casey had dropped out of school. He broke up with her when she insulted his family but later asked her for a second chance and admitted he had set fire to Jake’s gang’s headquarters. She agreed to help him and when she overheard Charlie saying they were about to make an arrest warned him and Heath. When Casey turned himself in, Charlie let Ruby in to see him but he told her to stay away from him. She tried to get close to him by hanging out with the other River Boys but it just made him jealous. She went to a Year 12 party with April and ended up hanging out with Xavier. When Casey mistook their relationship for more than it was and kissed Summer, Ruby got upset and went home but Casey followed and asked her to wait for him. She supported him in court only to see him sent to juvenile detention for thirty days.
When April admitted she had illegally obtained prescription drugs, Ruby talked her out of confessing and disposed of the remaining pills for her. However, when April subsequently collapsed she told Sid the truth. She and April later exchanged apologies. When Brax was arrested for armed robbery, it increased her stress over events so Miles took her, Xavier, Dexter and April to a tai chi class. She made plans to move to the city for Uni and was pleased when Charlie offered to go with her. She was worried when she received a letter from Casey saying he didn’t want to hold her back, fearing he wanted to break up with her, and wasn’t reassured when a bitter Heath told her Casey wouldn’t go with them to the city. She acted as an agony aunt to both Dexter and April after shed seen him kissing Dallas Phillips. She reassured April over her worries over being a virgin but was concerned when she realised she planned to sleep with Xavier after the formal. She invited Dexter to go with her, hoping it would give them a chance to get back together, but was delighted when Casey turned up in time to take her instead and when he agreed to join her in the city when she went to Uni. After they had spent the night together, she left Charlie alone in the house and went round the Braxtons to pack.
She returned home to find Charlie had been shot and, when she was declared brain dead, turned off life support. She struggled to hold things together at the funeral and, when Brax turned up drunk at the wake, blamed him for her death. She planned to move into the flat Charlie had set up for them with Casey but Casey refused to go with her, insisting on staying to support Brax. Once in the city, she spent all her time partying and getting drunk and, when Casey came to see her, broke up with him. Morag, who shed been staying with, felt she had unresolved issues in Summer Bay and sent her back. She was angry to find Leah had lent Brax money and refused to live with her if she didn’t cut all ties with Brax. She moved into a caravan and shut herself away, although she briefly joined Alf, Roo and the family for a barbeque. She was also unhappy about Brax having a go at Leah for wearing some perfume Charlie had given her and being harassed by Casey’s friend Tyler Churchill for breaking up with him
She was upset when a box of Charlie’s things turned up and tried to throw it away. Roo retrieved it and she took it back to her caravan where she proceeded to get drunk. Dexter tried to help her but she ended up trying to seduce him. Neither of them could go through with it but she was humiliated when Indi had a go at her in the Diner and rejected Roo and Gina’s attempts to help her. She ended up passing out in her caravan, where she was found by Dexter and Roo. Sid counselled her about her feelings of loneliness and she told Leah shed move back in with her if she stayed away from Brax but Leah refused so she moved in with Alf and Roo instead. She was horrified when April told her she’d slept with Heath but managed to put her feelings about the Braxton aside long enough to give her objective advice. Leah encouraged her to make things up with Brax but she was disgusted when she turned up at his house to find him getting intimate with another woman, Tess Green. Leah convinced her to see things from Brax’s point of view and she told him she didn’t want to be angry anymore but couldn’t forgive him.
She took an interest in Romeos involvement in the pro surfing circuit and, having decided to defer Uni for a year, asked to go with him. They went to a tournament together before Romeo asked her to drop out because of Indi’s opposition. Romeo then decided to drop out himself instead but Ruby told Indi she would regret stopping him doing the thing he loved and Indi withdrew her objections. Ruby decided to pull out of a competition when she received Charlie’s life insurance. Romeo convinced her to accompany him to the event but she got upset again when she saw that Charlie’s old car had been damaged and drove off. Her mood improved when she spent the evening with Xavier and Romeo came round to check on her. When she and Romeo stayed overnight at another competition, they ended up having to share a room. Even though they had a camp bed put in, Indi got the wrong idea when she came along to surprise her husband. Ruby accompanied Romeo back to town the next day and encouraged him to make it up to her. She later saw Indi out with Logan Meyer and reluctantly told Romeo.
Ruby found her feelings for Romeo re-emerging but, with him and Indigo making a go of their marriage, threw herself into a relationship with another surfer, Steve Carmody. When Romeo pulled out of a competition to attend Sasha’s trial, she confronted Indi about it only for him to reveal Indi didn’t know about the competition and tell her to stay out. She responded by sleeping with Steve but was shocked when he smoked a joint in front of her. Romeo ended up accompanying them anyway when the trial finished early but Steve placed a large amount of cannabis in Ruby’s bag. She was caught by the custom officials and charged, being released on bail. She was relieved when the charges were dropped until Morag told her Brax had pressured Steve into turning himself in. She was horrified that he was interfering in her life again but Brax told her he’d continue looking out for her whether she wanted him to or not.
She suggested Romeo stay with them after he and Indi broke up. He spent his first night in the house getting drunk before kissing Ruby but she turned him down, saying she wanted it to be right. Indi had a go at her in the Diner nevertheless, despite having already slept with Logan, and she was upset when Romeo distanced himself from her. She supported Casey when he tried to see Henri Brown in the city, after which she and Romeo spoke about their feelings and got together. When they went to a competition, she ran into Steve and warned him about drug tests and the consequences of Romeo seeing him. Ironically, not long after, Steve hit Romeo with his car, injuring his knee. She was jealous of Indi when she turned up at the hospital and stopped her seeing a sleeping Romeo, only for Romeo to say Indi’s name when he came round. When Roo suggested she give Romeo something to aim for, she suggested they go into business together. She reluctantly told him about Indi’s visit but after they’d spoken Romeo told Ruby he wanted to be with her.
Ruby came up with the idea of them setting up a surf shop together and gave Romeo $10,000 to buy shock but was shocked when she overheard him arguing with Logan and realised he had given most of it to Indi to pay off her debts. She asked Romeo how he felt about her and he assured her he wouldn’t take her for granted, after which she asked Indi to stay away from them. When Lottie moved into the house, she suggested she and Romeo get a place of their own and, when Indi came round to pay back some of the money she owed, told her to just transfer it into Romeos account in future. Romeo was furious when he found out and Ruby was worried when she saw him comforting Indi. When April mentioned how devoted Heath was to Bianca and their baby, Ruby interrupted Romeos attempt to break up with her by claiming to be pregnant. Although they moved into a caravan together, she was upset when he cancelled all their business plans and insisted he needs to get a steady job. She threw away her birth control pills and managed to get Romeo to sleep with her when he considered ending the relationship anyway. A pregnancy test came back negative and, when she tried to follow Leah’s advice to set the mood, he turned down her offer of a romantic dinner at a restaurant. Casey comforted her and she responded by kissing him. She convinced him not to tell Romeo and was annoyed when Sasha warned her off Casey. After Romeo got a salesman job, they resumed their relationship.
Indi paid her the rest of the money she owed Romeo and told her she’d stay away from them. Leah then found out that Ruby was lying about the pregnancy and insisted she had to tell Romeo. Initially Romeo misunderstood and believed she had a miscarriage, which Ruby went along with. When Leah again demanded she be honest, she admitted the truth and he promptly walked out on her. She found him with Indi on the beach and accused him of using her, having to be restrained by Brax from attacking the pair. She admitted to Leah that she’d done wrong and tried to talk to Romeo. He initially ignored her but eventually they spoke and both stated their side of things. She was upset when she found Leah had offered Romeo a place to stay and was then approached by Danny Braxton, who invited her to join him, Marilyn and Casey for a barbeque. Casey invited her along to a post-school trials drink at Angelo’s and, when she saw Romeo chatting with Indi, she kissed Casey in front of him. She and Casey quickly established their relationship wasn’t romantic. Alf and Casey convinced her to move back into the house but she was upset when Casey then started avoiding her. She saw Romeo yelling at Indigo for spending more time with Liam than him and angrily accused Indi of breaking up her and Romeo when she didn’t even want him back. When Romeo had a go at her, she made a frantic apology to an uninterested Indi, begging her not to hurt Romeo, and Romeo later visited her to reassure her. She was then shocked to realise Casey had been pretending to help Danny rip her off, seeing him as another person who’d betrayed her.
After an emotional visit to Charlie’s grave, she decided to move to the city. When April suggested Indi was punishing Romeo by refusing to get back with him, Ruby argued with Indi and offered a sympathetic ear to a depressed Romeo, then cut the brakes on Indi’s car. She walked away when she saw Indi getting into it and was shocked when the car was still there several hours later but didn’t say anything until she was preparing to leave and Leah mentioned how Charlie would be proud of her. Suddenly realising the enormity of what she’d done, she rang Indi to warn her and raced to where the car was parked but Dexter had already taken the car and crashed.
Having admitted the truth to Romeo, she visited a comatose Dexter in hospital to apologise where an angry April told her she was going to jail. She then went to see Brax and told him she was going to turn herself in, advising him to let go of his anger over Charlie’s death. So she wouldn’t have to face being arrested by Charlie’s old colleagues, Brax convinced Leah and Georgie to take her to a police station in the city to make her confession.
Leah told Romeo the following week that the police had charged Ruby, and that she would be staying with Morag in the city until the court case. Despite Morag returning to the bay later in the year, any result of Ruby’s court case has not been revealed on screen.