Learn To Forgive

[soph1303]

Story Title: Learn To Forgive

Type of story: Short/Medium Fic

Main Characters: Charlie, Ruby and Angelo

BTTB rating: T

Genre: Family/Drama

Does story include spoilers: No

Any warnings: Death and grief. Will warn at start of chapter if there is any. (V/D, SC)

Summary: 5 lines max - Set back when the 2009 series started. Angelo never killed Jack, but the fire at the school formal still happened and somebody died. On the day of the funeral, Summer Bay struggles to come to grips with the loss of a loved one.

CHAPTER ONE

At Leah's House

"Ruby, it's time to go to the funeral" Leah called, as she tried to not burst into tears.

"Thanks, but I'm not going" came Ruby's reply.

"Ruby I know it's hard but..." Leah started to say.

"Leah, I'm not going and nothing that you say is going to change my mind, so please, can you just drop it" Ruby snapped, before storming out the room. Leah sighed as she continued to get ready.

At the Summer Bay House (Miles' and the kids' house)

Miles was standing in the kitchen, wearing the suit he only wore to funerals. Jai stood next to him. Neither of them said anything - there were no words to say. Their friend was dead and they were never coming back. Kirsty walked down the stairs and squeezed Miles' hand

"You ready to go?" she asked softly.

"Not really, but I don't think I'll ever be" Miles replied with a sad half-smile on his face.

At Irene's House

Belle walked into Annie's room and helped zip Annie into her dress. Belle noticed that Annie was crying and took Annie into her arms and cried with her.

"Why did she have to die Belle? It's so unfair" Annie sobbed into Belle's shoulder.

"I know it is sweetie, but we have to be strong. We need to be there for her family" Belle whispered as she rubbed Annie's back soothingly. Annie nodded and the two of them walked down stairs. Irene, Geoff and Aden were waiting in the kitchen. Aden walked over to Belle and kissed her on the forehead. Geoff walked over to his little sister and took her hand. Silently, the five of them left the house.

At Jack's House

Jack paced around the house. He was putting off the time when he had to pick up Tony and Rachel to take them to the funeral. He picked up a photo album, which was laying on the table from the last time he had looked at it. He flicked through it and smiled when he saw a picture of himself looking very drunk with her standing next to him laughing. Jack stopped smiling when he realised that she was dead and today was her funeral. He looked at the clock and realised he couldn't leave it any later. Jack grabbed his jacket and walked out the door.

Next Chapter - The funeral starts - but whose is it?

(Sorry this chapters so short, but this is my first shot at writing a fan fiction so it's not that good)

[soph1303]

CHAPTER 2

(This chapter was going to be the start of the funeral, but I decided to make this chapter a flashback to the fire instead)

Flashback

At the School Formal

There's screaming as everybody tries to comprehend what's going on. A car just hit the building. All the students are screaming and trying to get out. Nicole and Geoff are a few of the people who have managed to stay relatively calm. They start organising an exit for all the students. The terrified students are all too happy for someone else to be in charge and follow their lead. Meanwhile, in the kitchen a stove has fallen on Belle and she isn't moving. Leah is laying on the floor, struggling to breathe. Aden and Miles set about trying to free Belle, while Kirsty helps Leah to her feet. Belle comes into consciousness and starts screaming in pain. Annie, Jai and Kane are all unconscious inside the car.

"Aden, it's going to hurt Belle but we need to get her out - I can smell gas" Miles told Aden. Aden nodded and started to help Miles lift the stove. Belle screamed as it moved, and even though it killed Aden to hear her in pain, he knew that if they didn't get her out soon, they were all dead. Geoff came running into the room and helped the men lift the stove off Belle. Aden picked her up and managed to get her outside. Once Geoff knew Belle was safe, he ran over to the car, where Annie was trapped. Kirsty phoned 000 and helped get Leah outside. Miles ran over to Geoff and tried to help him free Annie and the others. Kirsty ran back into the kitchen to help. Just as she ran in, there was an explosion and a fire started trapping those who were in the kitchen. Nobody notices Martha lying in a corner unconscious.

At Yabbie Creek Police Station

Charlie is organising some of the available officers - Jack, Angelo and Watson.

"We need to get down to the hall where the school formal was being held. I just got a call from Kirsty - she said that a car crashed into the building and that everybody was trapped inside. We're going to need Ambulances and the Fire Brigade there pronto. Now lets get moving" she shouted as everybody ran out there.

At the School Formal

Annie has come into conciousness and is desperately trying to wake up Jai. Miles and Geoff pick up a chair and are trying to smash through the glass to get to the people trapped inside. They finally manage to break through and Geoff climbs inside. Geoff listens to Kane's heart and realises that he is still breathing. Meanwhile the rescue services have arrived and have managed to smash through the back window. rescue helps Annie and Geoff out of the car. Jai and Kane are still trapped inside, with Miles and Kirsty frantically trying to get them out. A beam falls from the roof and hits Miles on the head. Luckily at that precise moment, Charlie manages to break through into the kitchen and helps Kirsty lift Miles into the car and through the gap. Kirsty wants to stay behind and get the others out but Charlie tells her that she needs to get out now. Kirsty finally agrees and rescue helps her, Miles and Jai out the car. Meanwhile Charlie still has to get Kane out of the car.

"Come on Kane" Charlie shouted as she struggled to breathe. Charlie has managed to undo Kane's seatbelt but is having trouble trying to lift him out.

Outside, Kirsty and Miles are trying to find out what has happened to Kane. They run from ambulance to ambulance trying to find Kane. When they realise he isn't there, they run back towards the hall, but they are stopped when the hall explodes.

"Kane!" Kirsty screamed as Miles struggled to hold her back. Everybody looks on in horror as they realise that Charlie and Kane could be dead. However, they see a paramedic run over to two people lying on the ground and they realise that Charlie had managed to get Kane out just in time. Everybody is fussing around Kane. Only Miles seems to see that Charlie is having trouble breathing. Refusing medical help, Charlie walks over to Jack.

"Have we got everyone out?" Charlie asks him between coughs.

"We've got all the students and teachers out" Jack replied.

"What about people like Leah, Kirsty and Martha?" Charlie questioned.

"Yeah we've got all them out to, but ..." Jack trailed off as reality hit him. "Did you just say Martha was in there?" he asked Charlie fearfully.

"Crap, she must still be in there" Charlie shouted, as she and Jack both ran back into the building, but from different entrances.

Next chapter: (Still a flashback chapter) Only one of them will live. Who will make it out alive? Charlie or Martha?

[soph1303]

ok here's the next chapter - who died will be revealed. This will be another flashback chapter and just a warning - there will be a brief description of the death in this chapter.

Note: because this was set at the start of 2009, Ruby still thinks Charlie is her sister, Angelo and Charlie are dating and Martha and Jack recently got married.

CHAPTER 3

Flashback

At the School Formal

The rescue team had finally moved Kane's car, so Jack took this entrance. Charlie ran around and through the back entrance. Jack was so focused on finding Martha that he hadn't seen Charlie run in as well - in fact nobody had. Jack ran through the rescue team who were trying to hold him back and into the burning building.

"Martha" he shouted as he ran through the rubble. Listening hard, he heard a faint noise coming from the corner. He ran towards it and saw Martha lying in the corner. Jack's relief quickly turned to horror as he saw how little she was breathing. Ignoring the flames, Jack picked up his wife and ran out of the building. Luckily there was an ambulance waiting on standby and Martha was quickly loaded into it. Angelo walked over to Jack.

"Good job mate. Don't worry Martha will be fine" Angelo reassured Jack. Jack smiled weakly back as he tried to catch his breath. "Now that Martha's out, have we got everybody?" Angelo queried.

"Yeah, Martha was the last one" Jack replied, not realising that Charlie had run back in. "Do you mind if I go to the hospital with Martha? I know I'm still technically on duty..." he was cut off by Angelo who pushed Jack into the ambulance with Martha.

"Don't worry, we got it covered" Angelo replied as he got into a police car and left. One by one, all the police cars and ambulances left, until only the fire brigade remained.

Inside the Building

Charlie was stumbling around, looking for Martha. She didn't know that Jack had already found Martha, just like Jack didn't know that Charlie had gone back in.

"Martha" Charlie shouted. Sweat dripped off her as she continued to look. Every time Charlie shouted she found it harder to breathe. She contemplated going back outside, but she didn't know if Martha was in here or not so she continued to look. Just as she was about to give up, the roof caved in - blocking Charlie's exit. Charlie knew that her likelihood of surviving this wasn't good - nobody knew that she was there and by the time anybody found her it would probably be too late. Charlie fell to the ground as a brick hit her head. In her last few moments of consciousness, all Charlie could think about was thank god she had written those letters. With this on her mind, Charlie succumbed to the darkness.

At Yabbie Creek Police Station (half an hour later)

Watson came into Angelo's office where Angelo was sitting at a desk doing paperwork. "Good news, Martha's going to be fine, she suffered from severe smoke inhalation and will have some minor burns on her back, but she didn't come into much close contact with the fire, so nothing long lasting" she reported.

"That's great news" Angelo smiled. Watson smiled as well and left the office.

Angelo's phone rang. He answered the phone "Angelo speaking".

"Hey Angelo, it's Ruby" answered Ruby's voice.

"Hey Ruby, what can I do for you?" Angelo queried.

"I was just wondering if you knew where Charlie is" Ruby replied.

"No sorry, I assumed she just went home - she technically wasn't even supposed to be on duty tonight, but she had to come in because of the Formal emergency. Have you checked at the hospital?" Angelo questioned.

"Yeah I've checked at home, at the hospital, at the surf club and at the diner. What if something's happened to her Angelo?" Ruby asked fearfully.

"Well, I'm just about to finish my shift so I'll ask the other officers, and if they don't know where she is then I'll go look for her - ok?" Angelo replied.

"Ok, thanks Angelo. Call me if you find anything" Ruby begged.

"Will do, bye" Angelo reassured the desperate teenager as he hung up. Angelo got his stuff together and walked out of his office, into the main station area. "Has anybody seen Charlie recently?" he called out to his colleagues. Everybody shook their heads.

"The last time I saw her she was talking to Jack, but that was back at the formal hours ago" Watson replied.

"Ok thanks, I'll go see if Jack knows anything" Angelo called back as he rushed out of the station.

At the hospital

Martha was sleeping so Jack took a quick break to go get a coffee. He was surprised to see Angelo running down the corridor towards him.

"Angelo, what's going on?" Jack asked as Angelo reached him.

"Charlie's gone missing and apparently you were the last one to see her. Did she say where she was going when you saw her?" Angelo asked him.

"No the last time I saw her, was when we realised Martha was still inside. I rushed in there to find Martha, I don't know where Charlie went" Jack replied.

"Ok thanks mate" Angelo said as he started to walk down the corridor. He stopped suddenly and walked back to where Jack was still standing. " I don't suppose it's possible that Charlie went back in, to look for Martha, is it?" Angelo asked Jack worriedly, now concerned for his girlfriends safety.

"No, we did a head count, we had everybody..." Jack trailed off as reality hit him. "Oh my god, we did the head count before we got Martha."

"Crap, do you reckon she went back in?" Angelo asked Jack filled with dread. Jack nodded mutely as he realised he could be responsible for the death of one of his best friends. Jack watched in horror as Angelo sprinted down the corridor and out of the hospital.

At the School Formal (5 minutes later)

Angelo got out of his car and ran towards the building. A fire fighter stopped him in his tracks.

"I'm sorry sir but I'm going to have to ask you to stand back" the fire fighter told him.

"I'm a police officer and I'm telling you, somebody's still inside" Angelo shouted at him.

"Are you sure?" the fire fighter asked. When Angelo nodded angrily, the fire fighter started organising his men together, while Angelo called for an ambulance and then he phoned a hysterical Ruby.

Ten minutes later Ruby and Angelo stood waiting, and praying for Charlie's safety. Angelo saw them lifting a body out of the wreckage and covered Ruby's eyes so she wouldn't have to see the burns that covered nearly every inch of Charlie's body. Ruby threw off his hands and screamed as she saw Charlie. Angelo didn't even try and fight the tears that ran down his face as he watched the paramedics try and save Charlie, all he could do was hold back a sobbing Ruby.

5 minutes later, a Paramedic turned around to the pair and said the nine words they were dreading to hear - "I'm sorry, we were too late to save her."

Angelo collapsed to the ground and took Ruby in his arms as they both cried their hearts out.

[soph1303]

Thanks for the comments, this is my first fan fiction so it's good to know that people like it. I must be honest, I would have rather killed Martha off, but the rest of the story only works if its Charlie who is dead. And yay I was glad that someone had picked up on the importance of the letters.

Note: This chapter is back to the present now. Because Charlie was a police officer, she would have a police funeral thing like Jack did when he died in the show. I wasn't really sure what to do so I watched the video of Jack's funeral and just edited it to fit Charlie.

CHAPTER 4

At Leah's House

Ruby sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the black dress that was hanging on her wardrobe door. It had been exactly a week since Charlie died, and 5 days since she had read Charlie's letter. If she hadn't have read the letter, then Ruby would be going to the funeral right now. But she couldn't sit there knowing what she now knew. Ruby just couldn't bring herself to listen to people saying what she knew was now a lie.

Charlie's letter sat on Ruby's bedside table. It was heavily creased from all the times that Ruby had read it and then scrunched it up, and then flattened it out again. Ruby sighed as her phone vibrated; she knew that it would be Angelo calling - trying to convince her to go to the funeral. She waited until he hung up, then listened to the voice mail message that he had left.

Voice mail message

"Hey Ruby, it's Angelo. I know why you don't want to come, but it's Charlie's funeral. And I know this is going to sound harsh, but, today isn't about you - it's about Charlie, and it would break her heart if she knew that you weren't there. And I think it would break yours too, and I think you would regret it for the rest of your life if you don't come. Please come Ruby...(Angelo broke off and Ruby could hear that he was crying) I can't do this by my self."

End of Message

The tears ran down Ruby's face as she contemplated what Angelo had just said. She knew that going to the funeral was the right thing to do, but she wasn't sure if she was strong enough. But she knew that Angelo was right - today was about Charlie - not her, so she wiped the tears off her face and changed into the black dress. She didn't put any make-up on; she knew she would just cry it off. Ruby looked at the time, there was still 10 minutes to go. Everybody else had left, but Ruby knew that she could still make it if she ran. Slipping on her shoes, Ruby ran out of the door.

At the Funeral (10 minutes later)

Angelo could see the minister looking at his watch and he knew that it was time to start, but Angelo was still holding onto the belief that Ruby might show up. Just as Angelo was about to walk up and tell the minister to start, he saw Ruby burst through the church doors. He smiled as Ruby walked up to where he was standing. No words were said between them, but both knew that each other were grateful for their company. Angelo nodded to the minister that they were ready to start.

Because Charlie had been a police officer, she was to have the traditional police send off. Watson was to do the police valedictory for the commissioner and Jack was to do a reading. Angelo was wearing a suit as he was counted as being part of Charlie's family, so he wasn't with the rest of the police force.

Angelo could see Jack standing with the other officers and could see the tear that Jack was trying to hide. Angelo knew that Jack felt guilty for Charlie's death as Jack had been the last person to see her, and nothing could make him believe otherwise - even Angelo and Ruby's assurances that they didn't blame him and that it wasn't his fault. Angelo could also see Martha standing distraught in the crowd. Like Jack, Martha felt responsible as it was her that Charlie had died trying to save, and similarly no reassurances could ease Martha's guilt. But Angelo didn't blame either of them, he only blamed himself for not realising what happened to Charlie sooner.

Everybody sat down as the minister started to speak. Ruby zoned out as the minister spoke - she didn't care what he had to say - he didn't even know Charlie. Angelo, Ruby, Ross and Morag were sitting in the front row, with all Charlie's other family and friends sitting in the rows behind. Eventually however, through her tears, Ruby was aware of Angelo getting to his feet. She could see him shaking with the tears he was trying to hold back, as he moved to the front to speak.

"I first met Charlie, when I assigned to be her temporary partner, when Jack was out of action" Angelo began. "If I remember correctly, I introduced myself to Charlie by flirting with her". Angelo gave a small sad laugh that was echoed by the crowd. "The fact that she already had a boyfriend didn't seem to faze me. Eventually I backed off a bit and we became good friends and she supported me through some hard times. Then just after Charlie and Roman had ended things, Charlie almost died saving Annie from the storm water drain. I remember being so scared when I thought she wasn't going to make it and being so relieved when she did." Angelo broke off, looking at his feet. "I don't really remember much of the rest of the night, apart from meeting up with Charlie, the two of us drowning our sorrows together and then waking up next to her in my bed the next morning" he continued as the crowd tittered good naturedly. "Eventually after a bit of persuading, Charlie agreed to go out with me and we've been going out ever since. The only regret I have is..." Angelo paused for a few seconds as he wiped away his tears, " is that I never got to tell her that I love her" he finished as the crowd gasped. "But it made it easier, when I read the letter Charlie left me. You see before she died, Charlie wrote a letter to me and a letter to Ruby. She had written them a month ago, and given them to Ross with the instructions to give them to us if anything ever happened to her. If its ok, I'd like to read a little bit of it out to you guys" Angelo paused as he got his letter out of his pocket and started to read from it. ""Dear Angelo, I'm hoping that you never have to read this, but if you are then it means that I'm dead. Knowing you, you're probably blaming yourself for whatever has happened to me and I want you to stop that right now. I'm hoping that we've had lots of time together and that I've had the chance to tell you I love you - if not, guess what - I love you"" Angelo broke off and let the tears run freely down his face. "We loved each other and we never told each other and now she's gone."

Seeing that he couldn't go on any more Ruby got up out of her seat and walked over to him and pulled him into a tight hug as Angelo cried into her shoulder. Angelo walked back to his seat and everyone in the crowds heart went out to him. Ruby walked over the podium and started to speak.

"I know that I'm supposed to stand hear and talk about all the good times my sister and I had together. But I can't do this. You see the thing is, Charlie is..."

[soph1303]

Thanks for all the nice comments they made me smile. Sorry for making people cry, it was supposed to be sad but I didn't intend to make people cry.

Warning: Mention of Charlie's rape as a teenager - and i guess that was kind of a massive spoiler but oh well.

CHAPTER 5

"Charlie is..." Ruby struggled to find the words. "Um I know this is definitely not the best moment for this to come out, but it needs to come out and I guess it would be better if everybody heard the whole truth from me, rather than half of the story off someone else." Ruby looked nervously at her feet as she spoke - a nervous habit which she had picked up from Charlie. Ruby was silent for a while as the tears ran down her cheeks. Eventually, she pulled her own letter from Charlie out of her pocket. "I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to read from Charlie's letter to me, like Angelo did with his." She smiled sadly at Angelo, who half-smiled back - Angelo knew what Ruby was going to say and all though personally, he didn't think now was the time for Charlie's secret to come out, he knew that it was going to come out eventually and at the end of the day, it was Ruby's decision. The crowd were intrigued as to what Charlie could have been keeping from them all. No one more so than Colleen, who believed that as Charlie was Colleens sisters step daughter, this meant that Charlie was part of her family and Colleen was put out that secrets were being kept from her. Ruby took a deep breath and started to read.

""Hey Rubes, I really hope that you never have to read this, but if you are then it's pretty obvious that I am dead or dying. And I don't want to die, with you never knowing the truth. I know it's weak and cowardly of me to write this in a letter, so that we can't talk about it face to face, but I just can't say this to your face as I know that you would hate me forever. And I can't deal with you hating me, so at least this way I will never know if you hate me or not.

By now as you're reading this, you are probably wondering what the heck I'm babbling on about, and saying that you'll never hate me - but trust me, in about 2 minutes you will. The only way that I can write this is the cold facts, without wondering about what your reaction is going to be or I will chicken out. Ok so here goes, - when I was 14 my boyfriend raped me."" Ruby paused as everybody in the crowd gasped in horror as they discovered what the much loved Charlie Buckton had been through as a young girl. ""Yes you read that right, I was raped. I bet you're wondering why I never told you any of this and the reason is that I got pregnant"" Ruby choked back her tears as the crowd to murmured to each other again in horror about this recent revelation. "" I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Oh my god I'm so sorry Ruby but you're my daughter !"" Ruby cried out loud as the crowd finally learned the truth about the Buckton family. The whole crowd was silent. They were too shocked to speak, even Colleen was speechless for the first time in her life. Ruby continued to cry as she continued "" I know that you are thinking that this must be some kind of sick joke, but I promise you that it's not and I am so,so sorry. But I was too traumatized after the birth and what had lead up to the birth to be a good mother to you, so I ran away to Auntie Michelle's for a year. I hated myself for leaving you but, I could barely look after myself, let alone a baby. But Aunty Michelle helped make me better, because I was so ashamed about what had happened to me. I never hated you though, I only ever hated myself. I came back after a year, and I know that you probably won't believe me, but I was honestly ready to be the best mother I could be to you. But when I got back, you didn't know who I was because I had missed the first year of your life. For weeks I tried to convince you to come round, but you weren't having any of it. Eventually mum and dad sat me down and told me that they thought it would be best if we let you believe that they were your parents and that I was your sister. I was absolutely furious Rubes! I didn't speak to them for ages but then you said your first word - mum. But it wasn't to me - it was to my mum, your grandmother. And it broke my heart, but it made me realise that you would never accept me as your mother. So I agreed. And I have regretted letting you go, every single day of my life and I regretted not trying harder to keep you. I know that you are going to hate me forever now and that this will overshadow all the good times we had together - but you deserve to know the truth. I love you forever baby girl, lots of love Charlie a.k.a your mum.""

Ruby looked up from the letter and looked at the crowd. All of whom had looks of pity, sadness and horror on their faces. Ruby took a deep breath and continued "Charlie's right I did hate her. I hated her for never telling me the truth, I hated her for running away and I really hated her for giving me up. I wasn't sure if I was going to come today, but then Angelo helped me realise a few things," Ruby paused and smiled at Angelo through her tears. " I realised that Charlie only did those things because she loved me and wanted what was best for me. And she truly did believe that she was doing what was best for me when she gave me up. And that Charlie could have easily had me adopted out of the family - I mean I would always be a constant reminder of what happened to her but she didn't do that and it's pretty obvious even to me how much she honestly loved me. I also realised that if Charlie hadn't of run away, then I probably would have ended up with a crazy mother, rather than a pretty cool sister." Ruby gave a small laugh. "I really wish that I could tell Charlie all these things, but I cant. However I know that when Charlie died, she died happy, because she was loved by her family and friends and she always will be. I miss you heaps and I love you so much Charlz......mum".

[soph1303]

Thanks for all the comments they mean a lot!! I think that there will be 2 more chapters left after this, but I'm still not really decided yet.

CHAPTER 6

The funeral had been finished for half an hour. Everybody was now at the wake which was at Leah's house. Everybody was still coming to terms with what had happened. Ruby and Angelo sat in the corner by themselves, everyone just let them be - it was obvious how much the both of them were hurting and coming to grips with Charlie's shock revelation. Colleen for once, had not called Madge Wilkinson with this latest gossip, she kept it to herself and helped serve the food to people. The house was fairly quiet, as nobody knew what to say to each other apart from meaningless small talk. After a few hours, only Ruby, Leah, Angelo, Ross, Morag and VJ remained. VJ was sent to bed so that the adults could talk. Ruby had got some of their old home videos out and had put them on. On the T.V. screen she could see a 10 year old Ruby and a 24 year old Charlie running around in their bathers by a sprinkler. Everybody smiled as they saw the love between them. Ruby found, looking back, that she could see Charlie's maternal side towards Ruby, now that she knew the truth. Ruby looked over and Angelo and smiled. She still couldn't believe what he had done for her. The epitaph which they had ordered before they had had read Charlie's letter had Charlie down as Ruby's sister still. Once Angelo had found out the truth he ordered another one, which read: Charlotte Buckton, June 13th 1980- December 12th 2008, Precious daughter, Beloved mother, Loving girlfriend - will be missed. He wasn't sure if Ruby would accept Charlie as her mother or not, so he had ordered it hoping that she would. It had cost him a great deal of money, but there was nothing Angelo wouldn't do for Charlie.

Ross and Morag had left to go back to the city as it had recently been revealed that Ross had alzheimer's and had managed to get a place at a really good care facility and he needed to go back as soon as possible. Leah had gone to bed, so it was only Ruby and Angelo who remained. They sat there in silence still watching home videos of Charlie. Ruby was still angry at Charlie, but she accepted that Charlie was her mother and that she was a product of rape. There was one thing that Ruby wanted to do for Charlie and she needed Angelo's help to do it, but she wasn't sure whether he would go for it or not.

"Angelo" Ruby said quietly. Angelo jumped slightly, he hadn't been expecting conversation for a while.

"Yeah Rubes" he replied.

"There's something I want to do for Charlie, will you help me?" she asked.

"Yeah of course I will."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Ruby took a deep breath and started to tell Angelo her plan.

"Dad, I mean Ross, told me that the guy who raped Charlie - my father" she shuddered, "that he never got charged because Charlie waited so long to report it and he denied doing it."

Angelo was wary of where Ruby was going with this. "I know, and it sucks Rubes, but there's nothing that we can do about it".

Ruby nodded "I know that, but I want to go and talk to him. I want him to know what he did to Charlie and what he did to my family. I want to him to know about all the suffering he put this family through!" Ruby finished angrily.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea Rubes" Angelo said tentatively.

"You promised" Ruby reminded him.

"I know I promised, and trust me there's nothing I would like better than to meet this guy and hurt him for what he did to Charlie, but its not going to do any good and it's not going to bring Charlie back" Angelo whispered.

"I'm not going to do anything stupid, please can you come with me? I just what him to know what he did to my mum"Ruby broke down.

Angelo knew when he heard Ruby acknowledge Charlie as her mum, that he would help her.

"Yeah of course I will" he replied. "Do you know what his name is?"

"Yeah Grant Bledcoe" Ruby answered with a disgusted look on her face as she spoke her fathers name out loud.

After looking through a directory and getting Grant's street address, they arrived at his house an hour later. Ruby and Angelo walked up to the front door. Ruby took a breath and looked at Angelo. Angelo put an encouraging hand on Ruby's shoulder. Ruby pulled herself together and knocked on the door.

[soph1303]

Thanks for all the amazing comments guys!! They make make my day This chapter originally didn't exist - I wasn't going to bring Grant into it, but then I watched some of the old episodes where Ruby confronts Grant and it made me change my mind. And while yes, this is the second to last chapter, don't worry I already have plans for another fan fic once I have finished this.

CHAPTER 7

The door swung open and a man in his early 30's stood in the entrance. Ruby swallowed the bile that had come to the top of her mouth as she stared at the man who was her father, Angelo was using all his will power and restraint not to hit the guy that had raped his girlfriend when she was a teenager.

"Are you Grant Bledcoe?" Angelo asked the man.

"Yes, I am. Can I help you?" the man replied.

"Yes actually, you can. My name is constable Angelo Rosetta." Angelo showed Grant his badge. "Would it be alright if we asked you a few questions?"

Grant nodded and led the way inside. Ruby looked at her surroundings as she walked into Grant's home. From the pictures on the walls, Ruby could see that he had a wife and 2 kids. Ruby was angry at the fact that he had obviously just moved on with his life - as if he had never done anything to Charlie. The 3 of them sat down at the table - Ruby and Angelo at one side and Grant on the other.

"Can I ask what this is all about" Grant asked nervously. Ruby was glad to see him squirm.

"Does the name Charlie Buckton ring any bells?" Angelo asked Grant while watching his every move. When Charlie's name was mentioned, Grant jumped ever so slightly. Angelo and Ruby didn't miss this nervous movement.

"No. Never heard of her in my life" Grant lied uneasily. Ruby fought back a hiss when she saw him lie about what he did.

"Really?" Angelo asked disbelievingly. "Because it say's in your file that you used to date her when you were teenagers , and she accused you of raping her, but it was never proved because of how long she took to report it."

Grant swallowed loudly as he was caught out in his lie. "Oh her" he laughed unconvincingly. "Yeah now I remember. But like you said, there wasn't enough evidence for it to go to court, so I'm confused as to what you're doing here".

"Charlie died just over a week ago" Angelo replied quietly.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that" Grant said, not looking very sorry at all. "But..."

He was cut off by an angry outburst from Ruby who had been silent up to this point. "Don't you dare sit there and pretend to be sorry after what you did to her!" Ruby shouted angrily through her tears.

Grant looked quite taken aback by this outburst. "And who exactly are you, might I add?" he asked the distraught teenager.

"My name is Ruby Buckton" Ruby yelled. "Im your...daughter" she spat out in disgust.

Grant looked at his daughter in horror as he realised that she was his daughter from when he had raped a teenage Charlie. "What? I have a daughter?" he gasped.

Angelo nodded as he put his arm around a distraught Ruby. Everybody was silent for a few minutes before Grant spoke.

"Alright. I'll do it" he whispered. Ruby and Angelo stared at him in confusion.

"Do what?" Angelo asked the man.

"I'll do it." Grant repeated as he took a deep breath. "I'll confess!"

[soph1303]

Here's the last chapter guys!! Thanks for sticking with this story and I'm glad that so many people enjoyed it! I hope that this is a good way of ending the story. Sorry it's so short but it's basically an epilogue to the story

CHAPTER 8:

7 years later...

It had been 7 years since Charlie had died. It had been 7 years since Ruby had found out that her sister was actually her mum. 7 years since Ruby had met her father - the man who had raped her mother. 7 years since he had confessed to raping Charlie and 5 other women, and had been charged with rape and impeding police investigations and given a life sentence in jail. And it had been 7 hours since the birth of Ruby's first child - Charlotte Jade Austin. Named after the grandmother she would never meet.

Ruby smiled at her husband. She and Xavier had gotten married 5 years ago. Over the last 7 years through counselling and Grant finally confessing the truth, Ruby had come to accept Charlie as her mother. When she and Xavier had found out they were having a girl, they both agreed that it would be fitting to name her after Charlie. The family of 3 stood at Charlie's grave together, the closest Charlotte would ever get to meeting her grandmother. Ruby smiled when she remembered the congratulatory text she had received from Angelo 3 days previously. Angelo had moved to the city 6 years ago, realising that as long as he stayed in Summer Bay, he would always be reminded of Charlie. He had become focused on his work and had recently been made sergeant at the station he worked at there.

"Hey mum" Ruby spoke softly out loud. Over the last few years, Ruby had finally become comfortable with calling Charlie mum whenever she spoke about her or when she visited Charlie's grave.

"I'd like you to meet your granddaughter - Charlotte Jade Austin. We named her after you" Ruby carried on with a few tears running down her cheeks. Xavier put a comforting arm around his wife - she smiled at him gratefully.

"I know you'll never get to meet her, but I know that you will be always watching over her" Ruby finished as she laid down some flowers on Charlie's grave. The family of 3 walked away in a peaceful silence as the sun began to set. Just before Ruby left the grave yard, she turned around and blew a kiss towards where her mother lay. Then the 3 of them walked out of the graveyard together - finally happy; finally at peace.

THE END

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