You Again

[soph1303]

Story Title: You Again

Type of story: Long fiction

Main Characters: Charlie, Ruby, Brax, Casey & Other Characters

BTTB rating: T

Genre: Romance, Drama, Family.

Does story include spoilers: No

Any warnings: (V/D), (L) will mention at start of chapter if there is any.

Summary: Charlie still got pregnant when she was 14 and due to the same circumstances, but she didn’t keep Ruby – she adopted her out to a family who couldn’t have kids. 16 years later, a chance move to Summer Bay will see mother and daughter meet. But what will happen when they do?

Warning: Brief mention of Charlie’s rape.

CHAPTER 1:

Charlie Buckton was running away. Well actually, she had just been transferred to a different police station. But the reason why she was taking the job was to run away. After living in the city her whole life, constantly being reminded of all the bad decisions she had made in the past, Charlie had decided it was time for a change.

Charlie shut the boot after putting the last suitcase in the car. She looked back at the apartment that she had lived in for the last 10 years – she didn’t feel any sadness as she left it. After all, her whole life had been work. No guy, no kids – just kids. Actually, no, that was a lie – she did have a daughter. When Charlie was 14, her boyfriend had raped her and she had got pregnant. Due to her age and her financial situation, Charlie and her parents all decided that adoption was the best option. They had looked through many applicants, until they found a nice couple who were unable to have children. The couple had offered to keep Charlie in the loop about her daughter, but Charlie had decided that she wanted a clean break, so she had declined – because of this, Charlie didn’t even know her daughter’s name. Charlie had often – in later years – regretted giving up her daughter. But she knew that she wouldn’t have been able to cope with being a mother so young. Besides, all of this was in the past now – and Charlie didn’t like dwelling on the past.

Charlie started the half an hour drive from the city to Summer Bay. Eventually she came to a “Welcome to Summer Bay” sign, so she knew that she was in the right place. Charlie carried on driving until she reached the caravan park. Her plan was to rent a caravan, until she could find a place of her own. She reached the house where the owner of the caravan park lived, and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, a curly-haired man answered the door.

“Hi I’m Charlie, I’m told this is where I’m supposed to come to rent a caravan” Charlie told the man.

“Yeah this is where you come. Oh, I’m Miles by the way” Miles held out a hand for Charlie to shake. Charlie shook it. Miles opened the door for Charlie to come inside, as he went to a desk where the keys for the caravans were kept. “So, Charlie, are you new to the bay?” he asked sociably as he handed Charlie the keys. Charlie smiled as she took them.

“Yeah, I just transferred from the police station in the city, to the one in Yabbie Creek” she replied. She smiled slightly as Miles eyes widened at the realisation that this attractive women in front of him was the new cop in town.

“Any family with you?” Miles asked. Charlie’s smile faded slightly.

“No, just me” she answered. Miles had seen Charlie’s facial expression change and decided not to push it. They discussed payment options and then Charlie left to go get settled in to her caravan.

After putting everything away, Charlie decided to go for a swim and get a bite to eat from the local diner. As it wasn’t far, Charlie grabbed her stuff, and walked down to the beach. Stripping down to her bikini, Charlie entered the water. After 15 minutes Charlie exited the water, dried herself off and headed off in the direction of the diner. Unbeknownst to Charlie, her swim hadn’t gone unnoticed by other members of the bay. Daryl “Brax” Braxton had noticed Charlie as she had entered the surf and was instantly struck by her good looks. Making a mental note to find out who this lady was, Brax continued to surf.

Charlie entered the diner a few minutes later. She could see straight away that everybody would know each other in a town as small as this, and she could already see a few people looking curiously in her direction. Charlie took a seat and scanned the menu. A group of noisy teenagers entered the diner as a friendly looking lady with brown hair walked over to where Charlie sat.

“Hey, what can I get you?” the woman asked as she smiled at Charlie.

“Just a coffee and a salad thanks” Charlie replied as she returned the smile.

“Ok, that’ll be ready in about 5 minutes” the lady said as she wrote down the order. “So are you new to the bay?”

Charlie realised that she was going to get asked this question a lot. “Yeah, just moved from the city” she answered the woman’s question.

“Oh, well, nice to meet you, I’m Leah” the woman told Charlie welcomingly. Charlie smiled at this Leah’s genuine friendliness.

“I’m Charlie” Charlie said.

“Ok, your order will be ready in a few minutes Charlie” the woman smiled again as she walked back towards the kitchen.

Charlie also smiled as Leah walked away. Yes, Charlie thought to herself, she was going to like it here.

[soph1303]

Thanks so much to Dingo x, ~JarlieFanEver~, pembie, Zetti, Danni02, LauraPhilly!!, lozlovesh&a, Lucii, elikell, totally, -Carina-, Chester-Sam and teespazzr, for all the nice comments!! It's great to see that users who read my last fan fic are reading this one too - I'm sorry that it's another Charlie and Ruby centric fic - but they are my favourites and they have so many good potential story lines!! Anyway, here's the next chapter .

Note: The river boy's aren't actually doing anything illegal in this fic, they just have a bad reputation. I'm writing it like this because I can't see him getting with Charlie in this fic otherwise. And screw it - even though this is supposed to be set with what's currently happening - I just love Jack too much!! So Jack's not dead in this fanfiction (I'm sorry, but as much as I love Watson, I loved Jack and Charlie when they were partners together - it was like a brother/sister relationship)!! So Martha and Jack will both still be in it and they will be married. Also I'm assuming Charlie is 32 and that Ruby is nearly 18.

CHAPTER 2

Charlie finished her meal, and pulled back her chair as she prepared to leave. As she did so, she hit one of the noisy girls that had come in earlier. The girl staggered slightly.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry..." Charlie began to apologize, but was cut off by the girls response.

"Hey, watch where you're going next time, you blind cow!" the girl said rudely as she walked off with her friends and out of the diner. Charlie stood shell shocked, as she realised that she had only been in the bay for a few hours, and she already seemed to have made an enemy. Brax had walked into the diner just before the teenager's angry outburst. Brax felt sorry for this mystery woman and decided to go over.

"I wouldn't take it personally, she's like that with everyone at the minute" said to Charlie, who jumped slightly, as she had not been expecting conversation. She turned and looked at Brax and smiled slightly.

"Sorry, I'm Brax by the way" Charlie raised her eyebrows slightly at his name, but shook the hand he offered her as she replied.

" I'm Charlie" Charlie saw his mouth open as he began to ask her that inevitable question. "And yes, I just moved here".

Brax grinned as he replied "I'm guessing you've been asked that a lot"

"By every person, I seem to come across" Charlie grinned back, enjoying Brax's company. "So who was that angry girl and why shouldn't I take it personally?" she asked him.

"Oh, that was Ruby. And the reason she's so angry now, is that she found out recently that she is adopted" Brax informed her.

"Aww poor girl" Charlie replied.

Brax snorted as he replied "Look don't get me wrong, I do feel sorry for the girl, but she's not exactly doing herself any favours by acting the way she is."

Charlie didn't reply, as she was wondering if this is how her daughter would react if she ever found out that she was adopted. Charlie looked down at her watch and grimaced - she had to go down to the police station to fill in some paperwork at 2pm. It was now 1:45pm, so Charlie really needed to get going. Charlie was disappointed - she had been enjoying her talk with Brax.

"I'm really sorry, but I've gotta get down to the police station in 15 minutes, so I should probably head off" Charlie told Brax.

Brax grinned "You've only been in town 2 minutes and you already need to go down the police station? What have you been up to?" he asked cheekily.

Charlie smiled slightly, as Brax was way off the mark. "Actually I'm the new police officer there." Charlie couldn't stop herself laughing as Brax's eyes widened.

"A woman in uniform huh? Well you just got like a hundred times hotter in my eyes" he told Charlie with a devilish grin on his face. Charlie blushed slightly at this compliment.

"I'll see you around" Charlie called over her shoulder as she walked out of the diner.

Brax watched her wistfully as she walked away. "God I hope so" he murmured to himself.

Jack Holden groaned as he looked at the mountains of paper work that was stacked up on his desk. He looked at his watch - his new partner was starting in a few minutes. Which was good, because there was no way that he was going to be able to do all this paperwork by himself. Every time somebody entered the station, Jack would look around to see if it was his new partner. After several false alarms, Jack only briefly looked at the attractive woman who had just entered the station, before looking back down again. So he was surprised, when the woman walked towards his desk.

"Can I help you?" he asked her politely, assuming she was just a normal citizen with some sort of a problem.

"Yes, are you Jack Holden?" she queried. Jack nodded. Charlie smiled at him "Hi, I'm Charlie Buckton - I'm your new partner".

Jack's jaw dropped ever so slightly. Charlie didn't miss this, but pretended not to notice this. She was used to this reaction, when people found out what her job was. Many assuming she was precious just because of her looks. But through her dedication to her job, she had shown colleagues and citizens alike, that she was very good at what she did. Jack realised his mouth was hanging open slightly, and hurriedly closed it - trying to see if he could save a tiny bit of his dignity.

"Sorry, yes nice to meet you, here's the paperwork that you need" Jack said as he handed it to her. "You'll need to fill it all out before you start tomorrow".

"Ok thanks, I'll bring it back when I start tomorrow" Charlie said as she smiled warmly at him. Jack couldn't help but smile back, at the woman's open friendliness. He felt extremely lucky, as he realised that he and Charlie were going to have no problems working together. Charlie gave him a small wave as she walked out.

Charlie wasn't sure what it was about this town that was making her so happy, but all she knew was that she could barely keep the grin off her face. Apart from that slight incident with that Ruby girl, she thought to herself and her smile faded slightly. Charlie really hoped that she wasn't going to have any more problems with Ruby, as she really didn't want to make any enemies here. The move to Summer Bay had been about making a fresh start. Without really noticing it, Charlie had found herself walking on the beach. She saw Leah approaching her and waving, so she waved back. Charlie stopped as Leah walked towards her.

"Hey Charlie" Leah greeted her. "How are you settling in?"

"Really well thanks, I've met heaps of nice people and it's only my first day here" Charlie told her happily.

"That's good to hear" Leah smiled at her. "Speaking of nice people, I was wondering if you wanted to come and have dinner with me and some friends of mine. I figured it would be a good way for you to make some friends".

"Yeah, that sounds good, thanks Leah" Charlie thanked her warmly.

"Don't mention it" Leah told her. "So we'll see you at Angelo's at about 7?"

"Sounds great" Charlie replied.

A few hours later Charlie walked through the doors of Angelo's wearing a knee length black dress. Brax was serving behind the bar, and his eyes widened when he saw Charlie. Charlie quickly spotted Leah who beckoned her over. Charlie walked over to where Leah and 2 other women were sitting. Leah got up and pulled Charlie in for a hug. This surprised Charlie, but pleased her as well. They sat down and Leah began to introduce her to the other two women.

"So Charlie this is Bianca" Leah told her as she introduced Charlie to a blond woman, who smiled at Charlie welcomingly. "This is Martha" Leah continued and a tanned woman with brown hair and a big grin on her face gave a little half wave at her. "And Jenny has just gone to get drinks from the bar for us" Leah finished. The women all smiled at each other.

"So Charlie" the woman called Martha spoke "I think you work with my husband - Jack Holden?"

Charlie nodded as she replied "Yep he's my new work partner".

Martha smiled "Yeah Jack came home and said some hot new officer called Charlie Buckton had st..." Martha was cut off by glasses being dropped by a tall red-headed woman who had just approached their table. Charlie looked at the woman and the woman stared at her. A waiter came over and cleared up the mess. Leah, Bianca and Martha stared at the two women in confusion.

"Ok am I missing something here?" Bianca asked, as she looked back and forth between the two women. "What's wrong Jenny? Have you and Charlie met before?"

The woman called Jenny nodded slightly remembering the last time she had seen Charlie. "I met Charlie nearly 18 years ago" she told them.

"18 years ago!!" Leah spluttered. Jenny nodded slightly, still staring at Charlie who had tears forming in her eyes. "You know how Ruby recently found out that we adopted her right?" she asked them. The women nodded - confused as to how this could have anything to do with how Jenny knew Charlie. All except Charlie who had just realised who Ruby was. Jenny took a deep breath and said "Charlie is Ruby's mum!!"

[soph1303]

Thanks for all the comments guys - it makes it easier to write when I know people enjoy my story!! Sorry that it's only a short update - but I have a drama class to go to.

CHAPTER 3

Leah, Bianca and Martha stared at Charlie in shock - Charlie did not look old enough to be Charlie's mum. Jenny sat down quietly - silently cursing her big mouth. Tears streamed silently down Charlie's face. Brax walked past Charlie's table and saw her crying. He wished that he could comfort her - but they had only just met and he could tell that this was a private conversation. After a few minutes of silence, Martha couldn't bear the quiet any more.

"Is that why you moved Charlie?" she asked the distressed woman. Charlie looked at Martha in confusion. "To get in touch with Ruby" Martha explained her question.

Charlie shook her head vehemently. "No, I had absolutely no idea that she lived here. I didn't even know what her name was" she whispered. Jenny felt sorry for Charlie and took her hand.

"It's ok, I believe you Charlie" she told Charlie gently. Charlie smiled appreciatively at her. "But I understand if you do now that you're here, after all she is your daughter" Jenny continued. She was surprised when Charlie shook her head.

"No, I need to move on from the past" Charlie protested, thinking of the circumstances that had led to Ruby being born. Only Jenny knew how Charlie had got pregnant, so she understood why Charlie might not want to meet her daughter. The other women didn't know this, so they were confused as to Charlie's decision. Before Leah could voice her opinion, Charlie spoke. "I think I already met her though" Charlie confessed quietly.

Jenny looked at her encouragingly. "And?" she pressed.

"And she hates me" Charlie replied. All the women, apart from Leah were surprised - Leah had been in the diner when Ruby had yelled at Charlie.

"Charlie accidentally hit Ruby with her chair, and Ruby mouthed her off pretty badly" Leah explained to the others.

"Don't worry about it" Jenny told her. "She's like that with everyone".

"Yeah well, it wasn't exactly the meeting I was planning if I were to ever meet my daughter" Charlie said sadly. Bianca's heart went out to Charlie and put a comforting hand on Charlie's shoulder. "Is it ok if we talk about something else please?" Charlie pleaded. The women nodded, and the for the rest of the evening, there was no mention of Ruby or the adoption. Eventually Charlie stood up, and hugged everyone as she prepared to leave. "Can you please not mention the Ruby thing to anyone?" she asked the women. They all assured her that they wouldn't and watched as Charlie silently walked away.

When Charlie was out of earshot, Martha turned around to her friends. "How can Charlie have a nearly 18 year old daughter?" she whispered. Leah and Bianca shrugged, but Jenny felt the need to stand up for her old friend - as she knew how judgemental Martha could be. Especially about teen pregnancies (Martha had gotten pregnant as a teenager, but had miscarried her baby. Before she had lost the baby, Martha had been at the end of some pretty harsh comments. This had made Martha very judgemental of teenage mothers).

"Charlie has her reasons Martha" she told her friend sharply. Martha looked up in surprise; Jenny never raised her voice. "I promised her when I adopted Ruby that I would never tell anyone what happened without her consent" she continued as Martha opened her mouth to speak. "Charlie obviously had a hard time of it in the city, and probably moved here to leave all that behind. The least we can do is make sure that she is welcome here and be her friends. Can't we?" Jenny added. Martha, Leah and Bianca nodded. The women left Angelo's. But Martha, Leah and Bianca were all wondering if there was more to this situation than meets the eye.

[soph1303]

Wasn't going to post until tomorrow - as I just got back from camp and I am going to a concert in a few hours, but I was bored, so here's the next chapter. Btw: would people prefer it if I posted shorter chapters more often, or longer chapters less often??

Note:This is set in current time so Miles and Leah are dating, but I decided to make it so Liam hadn't turned to drugs so he and Bianca are still dating (and I decided that they are living at Irene's together) and obviously Martha and Jack are married. And Jenny is married to another made-up character. I did this because I want all of Charlie's friends having to keep her secret, and not being able to tell their partners. This chapter is going to focus on all of Charlie's friends.

CHAPTER 4

Martha unlocked the door of her house and walked in silently. She was so lost in thought that she walked straight past Jack and was nearly in their room, before Jack cleared his throat as to claim her attention.

"Hello, Earth to Martha" he called. Martha jumped slightly. Jack laughed at this. "So it was a good night then, I'm guessing" he said as he hugged his wife.

Martha pursed her lips. "I guess so" she replied, conscious of the promise she had made to Charlie not to say anything. "I met your new partner Charlie - Leah invited her along" she told him.

Jack looked at her eagerly - he liked Charlie and hoped that she and Martha could be friends as well. "And?" he inquired.

"She seems nice enough, but she..." Martha quickly stopped herself before she could break her promise. She saw Jack looking at her curiously, and shook her head. "Don't worry about it, lets go to bed" she told him, as she walked towards the bedroom. Jack followed, very aware of the fact that Martha was keeping something from him.

Bianca walked quietly into Irene's house trying not to wake anyone. She smiled when she saw Liam waiting up for her on the couch.

"Hey" she said as she walked over to him. Liam put one arm around Bianca and pulled her onto the couch next to him, Bianca bit on her lip as she tried not to laugh.

"Hey babe, how was your night?" Liam asked Bianca as he hugged her close.

Bianca snuggled into him, as she chose her words carefully. "It was good, Leah invited along a woman called Charlie who's new to the bay and she's good fun - I like her" Bianca told him, pleased that she seemed to have given nothing away with her answer. Besides, even though Liam was a teacher - he wasn't exactly the smartest cookie in the jar. So she was pretty sure that she would be able to keep Charlie's secret. Even though she had only just met Charlie she could tell that there was more to the situation than you might original think. Beside's she hoped that she and Charlie could be friends, so she was more than happy to keep the other womans secret a secret.

Liam snorted as he answered. "So basically another member to your secret women's business meetings". Bianca hit him playfully and before long they were heading to the bedroom.

Leah entered her house and sighed. Her caring nature meant that she was already worried about Charlie and how she must be coping with her big secret coming out. She tried to push all of this drama out of her mind, as she smiled at Miles who had been babysitting V.J. for her. Miles kissed her softly on the cheek and pulled away as he studied her face.

"Ok, what's wrong?" he asked.

Leah widened her eyes slightly, he couldn't know - could he? "Nothings wrong" she replied, her voice slightly higher than usual - thus giving away her lie.

"Ok I was joking" Miles told her, "but now I'm not - what's wrong?" he asked again.

Leah sighed in relief as she realised that she was just being paranoid. "Nothing, just tired" she said as she pulled Miles towards the bedroom.

Like Jack knew when Martha was lying, Miles knew when Leah was lying. But also like Jack, Miles knew that Leah would tell him when she was ready. Unfortunately Miles wasn't known for his patience and sighed in frustration as he followed Leah.

Jenny, like her other friends, was deep in thought. But more so than the others as she knew more of the story. She walked into her house and walked over to where her husband Mark was sitting with a cup of tea. When she approached him, Mark offered her his tea, which she gratefully accepted.

"You'll never guess who just moved to the bay" she told him in between gulps of tea. Mark raised his eyebrows as he waited for her to tell him. When Jenny hadn't spoken for a few minutes, Mark made himself another cup of tea and was just drinking his first mouthful when Jenny spoke.

"Charlie Buckton" Jenny said quietly. Mark choked on his mouthful of tea. "Yep, that was pretty much my reaction too" she told him as he mopped his self up, all the while looking at her incredulously.

"What.. how...why?" Mark spluttered as he tried to comprehend why Charlie had moved to the bay.

"She's a police officer now, and she got transferred here" Jenny informed her husband, whilst staring at her hands.

"Does she want Ruby back?" Mark asked, fearing the worst. He loved Ruby like she was his own daughter and he didn't want to lose her, not now, not ever.

Jenny shook her head and Mark sighed in relief. "I wouldn't blame her if she did though, after all Ruby is her daughter. But no, she had no idea that we lived here and she has no intention of getting back in contact with her and wants to just carry on as normal and not tell Ruby any of this." Jenny told him.

"How do you know all this?" Mark asked, wondering how Jenny knew so much about all of this.

"Leah invited her along to dinner with the girls tonight" she said and Mark nodded, comprehension now filling his head. "She seemed to be friendly enough though, and I hope that we can stay friends again" Jenny continued.

Mark looked at his wife strangely "Isn't it going to be awkward being friends with the woman who's daughter you adopted, especially as Charlie is bound to run into Ruby at some point..." he was cut off by the sound of smashing glass. They turned around slowly and saw Ruby in the door way surrounded by a broken wine glass, standing with her mouth open.

Jenny smiled at her adoptive daughter weakly "Ruby, how long have you been standing there for? And why were you holding a wine glass - have you been drinking?..."

Jenny's babble of self-conscious questions were cut off by Ruby's angry outburst. "Did you just say that my real mother has moved to the bay?" she screamed, the alcohol consumption fuelling her anger. Jenny nodded as tears streamed down her face. Ruby ran her hands through her curly hair as she tried to comprehend the situation. Jenny took a small step towards Ruby, who flinched as Jenny approached. Jenny stopped moving, hurt by Ruby's desire not to have her anywhere near her. Ruby took one last disgusted look at the people who she had thought were her parents before storming out of the open door.

"Ruby!" Jenny cried, but it was too late, Ruby had already gone.

[soph1303]

Thanks so much for the comments . Note: This chapter focuses on Charlie and Brax. Warning: Mentions of Charlie's rape.

CHAPTER 5

Charlie sat on the beach, not even bothering to wipe off the tears that streamed down her face. She had been sitting on the beach since she had left the restaurant half an hour ago. She had left the city to leave all the rumours and gossip behind, and now it looked like it was going to start all over again. No, she told herself, it was going to be different from the city - she knew that Leah and her other new friends would never deliberately tell anyone. But she worried, that in a town so small, that truth would come out anyway. It wasn't that she was ashamed of Ruby, it was that Charlie didn't think that she could face everyone's sympathy when they found out about how Charlie had got pregnant. She hated that everyone treated her differently once they had found out that she was raped. Charlie knew people didn't do it to make her feel bad, but every time it was mentioned, she felt herself go right back there. To when the boyfriend she thought that she had loved had raped her. Even though nearly 18 years had passed, Charlie still could remember every detail of that horrific night and she still sometimes had nightmares about it.

Brax had finished his shift and had decided to go for a walk on the beach before heading home. He had only been walking for a few minutes, when he saw Charlie sitting on the beach not far off. Brax took another few steps closer to her before stopping. He wasn't sure if he should approach her or not, seeing as they had only just met and he didn't want her to think that he was a stalker. But then he saw the tears that were glistening down her cheek, and before he knew it, he found himself walking up to where Charlie sat.

"Hey" Brax said as he sat down next to Charlie. Charlie jumped slightly and tried to wipe away her tears.

"Hey" she replied weakly.

"Why are you crying?" he asked.

"I'm not crying" Charlie replied quickly, but her voice broke halfway through. Brax raised his eyebrows. Charlie sighed. "Ok, fine. I'm crying. Happy?" she asked.

"No. Why are you crying?" Brax inquired further. He knew he probably shouldn't push it, but the truth was, even though he had only just met Charlie, he already cared about her and wanted to help her if he could.

Charlie smiled slightly "You don't give up easily do you?".

Brax shook his head. "So you gonna tell me why you're crying?"

Charlie looked at Brax "Why do you care so much? You only just met me" she pointed out.

Brax shrugged slightly - to be honest he wasn't sure himself really. "Because you're hot when you smile". This statement caused Charlie to burst out laughing. Brax smiled at this. "Now stop avoiding the question" he told her.

Charlie's smile faded as she wondered what to tell him. Even though she had only just met him, she somehow knew that she could trust Brax. But she wasn't sure what to tell him, without scaring him off. She was used to guys running when they found out and she didn't want to lose Brax. So she chose her words carefully. "I came to the bay, looking for a fresh start. And I ran into someone I used to know, someone who knows about my past. And a few things that I would rather have kept secret came out in front of a few people and I'm worried that the whole town will find out" Charlie confided.

Brax looked at her in surprise. "I find it hard to believe that you have a dodgy past. And besides the only way the whole town will find out is if Colleen finds out. But what are you so ashamed of anyway?" he asked her.

Charlie stared at Brax as she considered telling him the truth, or at least part of it. She wanted to tell him, but she was worried that he would react just like all the other men who had found out. Even though she knew she could trust him, Charlie decided she would rather get to know him better before telling him. "I want to tell you but I'm not quite ready yet" she told him quietly. Brax could sense her sadness, and without quite knowing what he was doing, he found himself placing an arm around Charlie. Charlie looked at his arm in surprise, but didn't shake it off. She lent her head on Brax's shoulder and they sat in comfortable silence.

Meanwhile, 100 metres or so down the beach, a distraught Ruby sat crying on a sandbank. She looked up to see her boyfriend Casey walking towards her. She ran towards him, and buried her face in his chest as she cried. Casey wrapped his arms around Ruby, as he waited for her to tell him what had happened.

"I just found out that my birth mother has moved to the bay" she sobbed.

Casey looked at her in surprise "Are you serious?". Ruby nodded. "Oh Ruby" he said sympathetically as he hugged her closer. "Do you know who she is?" he asked. Ruby shook her head, too distraught to speak. "Do you want to meet her?" he asked his girlfriend.

Ruby looked up at him "I'm not sure" she told him. "On one hand I do, but on the other hand, she gave me up so she obviously didn't want me".

Casey looked down at Ruby "Maybe you should talk to your parents, I mean Jenny and Mark, I mean.. well you know what I mean. You should talk to them and find out the whole truth first, before making judgements".

Ruby nodded and the two of them started to walk down the beach, in the direction of where Charlie and Brax were sitting.

Brax still had his arm around Charlie when he saw his brother and Ruby walking down the beach towards them.

"Hey bro'" Casey greeted his brother as he and Ruby approached Brax and Charlie.

"Hey Case, this is Charlie. Charlie, this is my brother Casey and you already met his girlfriend Ruby earlier" Brax trailed off awkwardly remembering how Ruby and Charlie had met. Casey smiled at Charlie, but Ruby had remembered who Charlie was and stared at her coldly. Charlie looked at her feet, she could physically not make herself look at the girl who she now knew was her daughter.

"Hi" Charlie mumbled quietly. "I better be off" she told Brax. Brax looked at her in surprise. "Thanks for tonight though" she told him. Charlie gave him a parting smile and walked hastily down the beach.

"Charlie wait" Brax called. Charlie didn't turn around, she just kept walking down the beach. Brax turned back to his brother and Ruby. The three of them all had expressions of surprise on their face at Charlie's hasty exit.

"What was all that about?" Casey asked Brax.

Brax shrugged. "I wouldn't have a clue mate". But inside, he couldn't shake the feeling that Ruby was the reason why Charlie had left.

[soph1303]

Here's the next update - thanks for all the comments, they mean a lot . Not too sure about this chapter, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

CHAPTER 6

Charlie woke up in her caravan the next day and started to dress for work. She wasn't sure how her first day was going to go and was worrying that she was going to screw up. She hadn't got to sleep until the early hours of the morning and wasn't best pleased about it. She worried that she was going to run into Ruby again. Charlie hated the fact that she couldn't even look at her own daughter, and knew that she had to look at her if she was going to keep pretending. When Charlie couldn't leave it any later, she exited her caravan and walked over to her car. Even during her brief walk to the car, Charlie was greeted with friendly smiles by everyone she passed. Charlie actually loved the fact that everyone in the bay were so close and that everyone got along, but was worried about how fast gossip could spread in a town so small.

Ruby took a deep breath and walked out of her bedroom and into the living room. She had crept back into the house last night, but hadn't confronted her adoptive parents. Even though she had wanted answers, she knew that she needed to calm down before talking to them. She saw Jenny and Mark sitting on the couch - waiting up for Ruby. Jenny let out a sigh of relief when she saw Ruby walk through the door. Ruby silently walked over to an armchair which faced the couch, and sat down. Ruby stared at the people who she had thought were her parents.

"I'm assuming you couldn't have kids, which is why you adopted me. But what I want to know is why my birth mother didn't want me and who she is" Ruby told them, getting straight to the point.

Jenny shot a distressed look at her husband - they both understood the delicacy of the situation, and while they both wanted to answer Ruby's question, they also knew that it was Charlie's call whether Ruby found out. "Ruby, I'm sorry but I promised Charlie that..." Jenny cut off realising that she had just told Ruby who her mother was. Jenny placed her hand over her mouth in horror - once again, blaming her big mouth. Ruby had her mouth open in shock, as she realised that she had met her mother the previous night.

"You can't be telling me that my mother is the new cop in town!" Ruby shouted at them.

"Ruby..." Mark began.

"I don't want to hear this" Ruby screamed hysterically at him as she jumped to her feet and ran out of the door.

10 minutes later Charlie walked into the police station. Jack spotted her enter, and went over to greet her.

"Hey, you ready for your first day?" Jack asked her as she signed in and handed her paper work over to another cop and was given her badge and stripes.

"Ready as I'll ever be" Charlie replied with a small smile as she fastened on her stripes (2 bars as she was a senior constable) and her badge.

"My wife Martha told me that you and the girls were hanging out last night, how did that go?" Jack asked curiously. He hadn't got any more out of Martha this morning and was wondering about her reaction to Charlie. Worry quickly showed on Charlie's face as Jack mentioned last night. Martha wouldn't have told him, would she? But Charlie figured that Jack would be looking at her a lot differently if he knew her secret, so she forced a smile on her face. "Yeah it was a good night" she told him. Jack was still looking at her curiously, so Charlie decided to quickly change the subject. "So what's my first job here?"

Jack hadn't missed the worried look on Charlie's face, but knew that at work he needed to forget about it - for now. "Well we're on patrol first up, so lets get going" Jack told her and they walked out of the station, Jack still wondering what Charlie was hiding.

2 hours later Charlie and Jack walked back into the station, both laughing uncontrollably - they had been passing cop stories with each other.

"Did he really do that?" Jack asked as he tried to stop laughing, with no success. Charlie nodded weakly as she tried to gain control of her laughter. But then they both looked at each other, and lost it again as they both collapsed into chairs behind desks and started taking files out. They hadn't noticed Ruby sitting on a chair as they had entered the station. So Charlie was surprised when she felt somebody tap her, and spun her chair around. The colour drained from her face as she saw it was Ruby. Ruby pulled her hand back and slapped Charlie across the face. Jack jumped up out of his seat and held Ruby back, as she went to slap Charlie again. Charlie sat shell-shocked, holding her face where Ruby had slapped it.

"Hey! What the heck is your problem?" Jack shouted. Ruby didn't reply as she was still trying to get free from Jack's arms. "Are you all right?" he asked Charlie.

"Yeah I'm fine" Charlie said numbly as she stared at Ruby. The whole station was quiet - everyone was staring at the 3 of them.

"Now I'll ask you again Ruby, what on earth are you doing slapping Charlie for?" Jack asked Ruby angrily.

"She had it coming Jack, she's had it coming for nearly 18 years!" Ruby shouted at him as she finally freed herself. She took a few steps back and looked at Charlie who had tears streaming down her face.

"Ruby, I don't have a clue what you're on about. Your behaviour is completely unacceptable, now I'm going to call your parents" Jack informed her.

Ruby looked at Charlie spitefully as the anger she was feeling consumed her. "Well you had better call Charlie then" she informed him, whilst staring at Charlie with a cold look in her eyes. Charlie stared back at her pleadingly, she didn't know how Ruby had found out, but surely she had more common sense then to blurt it out in front of everyone at the station.

"What?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Yeah that's right you had better call Charlie. Hasn't she told you yet? I thought she might have, considering what good friends you two seem to be, but anyway Charlie is my birth mother" Ruby told him.

Jack looked at Ruby angrily "What sort of a sick joke is that. Why would you say something like that?"

"Because it's true, isn't it mother dear?" she asked Charlie in a sickly-sweet voice.

Jack turned to look at Charlie, as everything slowly fell into place in his mind. "Is it true Charlie? Is she your daughter?" he asked the distraught woman.

Charlie tried to speak, but she was crying too much. Instead she just nodded. The whole station gasped. Charlie looked at everyone around her, realising that history was about to repeat it's self. "I'm sorry I have to go" she cried as she ran out of the station, brushing past Brax who was standing in the doorway of the station as she did so.

[soph1303]

Wow thanks for all the nice comments guys - and elikell I'm glad you find my story unique . And yeah Ruby is kind of going to be cow for quite a while in this fic - I promise she'll get better everntually, but for now - she's a cow!! This chapter is really short and is sort of a filler chapter before the next one which will have long and have lots going on!

CHAPTER 7

Brax stared at the door that Charlie had just ran out of - he noticed that he always seemed to walk in just as something big happened to Charlie. Brax couldn't believe what he had just heard; Charlie was Ruby's real mother. Now that he thought about it, it would explain Charlie's abrupt departure on the beach the other day. Brax found that he felt intensely sorry for Charlie. But he was one of the few that did - the whole station was buzzing with this new revelation. Madge Wilkinson was already on the phone to Colleen. Brax sighed - he knew that between Madge and Colleen, the whole town would know in a couple of hours. Jack however was looking worriedly at the door which Charlie had run out of. Brax walked over to him.

"Do you want me to go see if she's alright?" he asked Jack.

Jack nodded "If you could, that would be great, cheers."

Ruby stormed over to the two of them. "Let me get this straight, you just found out that Charlie is my mother, and you want to go comfort her?"

Brax looked at her in disgust. "Stop being such a little brat Ruby!" he told her angrily. Ruby actually looked quite shocked. "Why on earth would you just blurt it out like that?" Brax continued.

Ruby looked at him spitefully "Well I just thought.."

But she was cut off by an angry Jack "No, you just wanted to punish Charlie because your angry at being lied to. But you had no right to let it out like that. So yes Ruby I feel sorry for Charlie, and no Ruby, I don't feel sorry for you - not one little bit" with this Jack stormed off to his office.

Brax looked at Ruby and shook his head, he couldn't believe that Ruby would sink so low. Then he walked out of the station. Ruby was left standing in the middle of the police station with a shocked expression - this hadn't worked out the way that she had hoped.

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Charlie sat on the beach crying, she had already been on the recieving end of disgusted looks - looks like big news really did travel fast in this town. She saw Brax running towards her. Charlie started to get up, she liked Brax and couldn't bear it if he hated her now. So she was suprised when Brax ran up to her and took her hand.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah why wouldn't I be? The whole town now knows that Ruby's my daughter, but why would that upset me?" Charlie said sarcastically, but her sarcasm was marred slightly by hear sobs. "Why are you even talking to me, don't you hate me now?"

Brax looked at her in shock "Why would I hate you?" he asked.

Charlie looked at him in surprise "Because everyone always me when they find out. To them I was just some stupid teenager who was careless and got herself pregnant, and couldn't cope with the pressure so I gave her up".

"I don't hate you and I don't think that you were a careless teenager" Brax told her sincerely.

"Well you're pretty much the only one who believes that" she told him. She looked so sad as she said this, that he instinctively hugged her. Charlie accepted the hug gratefully and the two of them stood together, Charlie finding comfort in Brax's arms.

[soph1303]

Thanks for all the comments – it’s interesting to see the split opinions of Ruby – some people think she’s a cow, some people feel sorry for her and others are some where in between. And Red Ranger 1 - I'm glad that you like Brax in this fic, even if you don't like him in the actual show. Sorry this chapter isn't as long as I would have liked, but the other things that were going to happen, fit in better with the next chapter. Anyway here’s the next chapter .

Warning: Language and mentions of Charlie's rape.

CHAPTER 8

Charlie sobbed into Brax’s chest, she knew that she was basically crying in the arms of a stranger – but at that moment in time, she was so distraught that she didn’t care. Brax didn’t know what to do except hold Charlie and tell her that everything was going to be alright. But from the looks some of the locals were giving Charlie - Brax wasn't so sure that it was. A few minutes later however, Charlie saw Jenny running across the beach towards her. Charlie pulled out of the hug; she really didn’t feel like dealing with Jenny right now, but knew that she needed to, sooner rather than later.

“I really need to talk to Jenny now, but can we catch up later?” she asked Brax. Brax nodded, happy that Charlie wanted to see him again. He gave her a smile, then walked off in the direction of Angelo’s. A few moments later a panting Jenny reached Charlie.

"Charlie I am so sorry" she told Charlie earnestly.

"Then why did you tell her!" Charlie shouted. She knew that she shouldn't shout, but really what did Jenny expect? Jenny knew full well that she had moved to Summer Bay for a fresh start and that she didn't want Ruby knowing that Charlie was her mum. But no, on Charlie's second day she had already managed to blab Charlie's secret to Ruby, and through Colleen and Madge Wilkinson, practically the whole town knew now.

"It was an accident, I swear" Jenny said, practically in tears herself. Charlie snorted and shook her disbelievingly. "I'm telling the truth Charlie. She was asking about why she was up for adoption in the first place and when I was saying I couldn't tell her without your consent, your name accidentally slipped out. And then because she knew that a new arrival was her mum and that you were a new arrival with the right name, I guess she just put two and two together".

Charlie looked at Jenny, and could tell that she was telling the truth. But that didn't stop her from being angry though. "It's ok I believe you" Charlie told Jenny, who looked relieved. "But that doesn't mean that I'm not angry at you for letting it slip though" she added. "Because trust me - I'm furious. You've completely ruined my fresh start here".

Jenny nodded. She knew that it was true and she knew that Charlie had every right to feel the way that she felt. "So what are we going to do?" she asked Charlie.

Charlie paused for a moment, she knew what needed to be done, but that didn't mean that she was any happier about doing it though. "We tell her the truth" Charlie said quietly.

"The whole truth?" Jenny asked tentatively - in reference to the fact of whether Charlie would tell Ruby how she got pregnant.

Charlie knew what Jenny was referring to, and nodded. "The whole truth" she confirmed.

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Charlie paused at Jenny's front door - they had finally tracked Ruby down. Thankfully Jack had phoned and told her to take the rest of the day off. Charlie was so grateful to Jack; even though he obviously curious about everything, he didn't even mention what had happened at the station.

Jenny came up behind Charlie and put her hand on the shaking woman's shoulder. "Are you sure you're ready?" Jenny asked.

Charlie nodded and attempted to pull herself together. "I need to this now, or I'll never be able to do it" she told Jenny, and moved aside so that Jenny could unlock the door. Jenny took Charlie's hand and squeezed it comfortingly, and then they walked inside. Ruby was sitting in an arm chair when they walked in. When she saw Charlie, she jumped up in anger.

"What's she doing here?" she asked Jenny.

"You said that you wanted to know the whole truth and Charlie can tell you that better than I can, so she's here to answer your questions" Jenny told Ruby. Ruby seemed to calm down and sat back down again. She looked at the two women expectingly. Charlie and Jenny walked over the couch which faced Ruby's chair and sat down. Charlie was suddenly reminded of being in the interview room at the station - except this time she was the one in charge of the interview. There was an awkward silence for a few minutes where no-one spoke. Charlie looked down at her hands.

"Why did you do it?" Ruby asked suddenly. Charlie looked up in surprise. "I mean, why did you give me up?" Ruby added.

Charlie laughed a small humourless laugh. "How old do you think I am ?" she asked the teenager. Ruby shrugged - she wasn't sure how this was relevant. "I was 14 Ruby" Charlie told her. Ruby looked at her in shock - she had guessed that Charlie had been young, but not that young. "There was no way I was ready to be a mother at 14. Not financially, not stability wise and certainly not mentally, not after..." Charlie trailed off, reluctant to tell Ruby about the rape.

Ruby hadn't noticed the end of Charlie's sentence, so she just assumed the same as most people did. "So you want me to feel sorry you because you were just some stupid slut who got herself pregnant because you were careless?" Ruby asked her real mother.

Charlie looked at her in shock - she hated to say it, but her daughter really was quite a judgemental, self-centred brat. "Ruby I didn't get pregnant because I was careless".

Ruby looked at her disbelievingly and snorted. "Right so how did you get pregnant then?" she asked rudely. Charlie opened her mouth to speak, but she physically couldn't make herself tell Ruby that she was raped. Ruby looked at the distress that was clearly shown on Charlie's face, and against her better judgement actually believed that Charlie was telling the truth. "What other way is there of getting pregnant at 14? I mean at 14 you aren't going to deliberately want to have a baby. So if you're telling the truth, then that must mean that you were ra..." Ruby trailed off as she realised how Charlie had gotten pregnant, and from the look on Charlie's face she knew that she was right. "That you were raped" she finished. Charlie flinched slightly at the word, but nodded through her tears.

"Yes" Charlie whispered.

Even though she was expecting it, it still came as a shock to Ruby to hear Charlie confirm it. "Oh my god! I feel sick, I'm worse than a mistake, I'm a product of..."

But she was cut off by Charlie. "No Ruby, please don't ever think that" she cried.

"Well it's true!" Ruby shouted at her angrily. You obviously hated me so you gave me up, but you had no right to keep that from me - I hate you!" and with this, Ruby stormed out of the house, leaving a loud silence behind her.

It was clearly obvious to the two women, that Ruby had once again taken a situation where somebody else was a victim and turned it into a story where she was the one being mistreated.

[soph1303]

Sorry that this chapter's so short, but I was struggling for ways to write this chapter. I know where I want to go with the rest of the story, but it was writing this one that was giving me trouble. Anyway, I hope you like it though .

CHAPTER 9

Ruby sat sobbing on the beach, not coping with the recent revelation. Brax had just finished his shift and was walking along the beach when he spotted Ruby. He pursed his lips, he was still angry at Ruby for her behaviour in the police station, but as she was his brother's girlfriend, he felt he had some sort of responsibility to look out for her. Besides, she looked genuinely heartbroken. Sighing heavily, Brax approached Ruby.

"Hey Ruby" he said as he sat down.

Ruby hastily wiped her tears away before facing him. "Hey" she replied weakly.

"You ok?" Brax asked her.

Ruby shook her head. "No, not really" she told him. "Charlie just told me..." But she was cut off, as Brax placed his hands over his ears. Ruby looked at him in surprise. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"If it's something about Charlie, I would rather that she herself told me, rather than having been told by you when she'd prefer it if I not know" Brax informed her. Ruby looked down as she processed this. Brax sighed "You're a good kid Ruby, but next time before you open your mouth to speak, put yourself in Charlie's shoes and think how she'd feel if the situation was reversed". With this, Brax patted Ruby on the shoulder, and then got up and left Ruby to think about what he had just said. Ruby sat alone on the beach, for once she actually took in the advice. Ruby gasped in horror as she realised that she had completely ignored Charlie's feelings in this messed up situation. Ruby brushed the sand off of herself as she jumped to her feet. Without looking back, she ran in the direction of her house, hoping that Charlie was still there.

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Charlie paced the living room of Jenny's house. She had wanted to go out and look for Ruby, but Jenny had managed to convince her that Ruby needed time to calm down and that she would come back when she was ready. While Charlie accepted this, she still wished that she could do more and that she hadn't frozen when the time had come to tell Ruby the truth. Charlie and Jenny were both shocked when the front door banged open and a panting Ruby emerged from behind it.

"Ruby!" Charlie cried in shock.

Ruby held up her index finger, signalling that she needed a minute to regain her breath. Jenny excused herself from the room, knowing that Ruby and Charlie probably needed to have this discussion alone. After Ruby had got her breathing under control she started to speak "Um I bumped into Brax on the beach" she stopped when she saw the sad expression on Charlie's face "don't worry I didn't say anything" she hurriedly assured Charlie, who looked thoroughly relieved at this. "Well I was going to, but then he said some stuff and it made me realise that all I've done is thought about myself and how this affected me. I mean heck, when I found out you were... well basically all I thought about was about how bad this was for me when you were the one who went through hell" Ruby babbled quickly, her nervousness making her sentences come out faster than intended. But Charlie nodded, signalling that she understood what Ruby was trying to say. Ruby sighed as she got down to what she really wanted to say to Charlie. "I guess, what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry. And if you still want to ... then I'm ready to listen to the whole story" Ruby said looking down, fearing that she had already gone too far, and that Charlie wouldn't want anything to do with her.

"Ruby" Charlie said quietly causing Ruby to look up. "I'm sorry too, and if you really want to know the whole story, then I'll tell you" Charlie finished with a tentative smile at Ruby. Ruby smiled back, and slowly she reached for Charlie's hand and squeezed it. Charlie looked at Ruby's hand in surprise, before returning the squeeze. Mother and daughter smiled at each other, both still aware that they were no where near friends yet, but they had certainly reached an understanding.

[soph1303]

Sorry for the lack of updates - but thanks for all the comments - in particular thanks for your reviews Danni02, they made me laugh and elikell I'm glad that you are loving my fic as I love writing it as well

CHAPTER 10

Ruby and Charlie sat on the couch. They had just briefly talked about how Charlie had gotten pregnant (luckily Ruby could see how uncomfortable Charlie was talking about it and mercifully only asked a few questions, which Charlie was extremely grateful for). They had now reached the point of why Ruby was given up for adoption. Charlie was hesitant about talking about it; she was glad to be on speaking terms with Ruby and didn't want to jeopardize that. Though in Ruby's defense, she had sat there through the talk so far, even through the things that Charlie had said couldn't have been easy to hear, squeezing her mothers hand every now and again. It was with this last thought that Charlie began to talk again.

"Before you were born, my parents sat me down and talked me through my options" Charlie began, and Ruby nodded acknowledging what Charlie had said. "They told me I basically had three options: abortion, keeping you or adoption. I knew that I could never go through with an abortion, but I also knew that there was no way that I could keep you either. I was still so traumatized, and then there was my age and financial situation to think about as well. So I was left with the adoption solution" Charlie said looking down, feeling ashamed. Ruby stroked Charlies' hand comfortingly. Although it wasn't easy to hear, Ruby understood why Charlie had done what she did, and knew that she probably would have done the same thing if she had been in Charlies' situation. Charlie took a deep breath before continuing. "So we met with the adoption agency and they were really understanding about everything. I looked through lists of couples who had filed to adopt. I wanted you to go to a couple who couldn't have kids but really wanted too, and who would be able to look after you the way I never could. I eventually narrowed it down to about 3 couples. the first 2 couples were nice but I knew when I met Jenny and Mark that they were the couple that I wanted to have you. They were so supportive about everything, and they didn't care about how I had gotten pregnant - the other couples had been a bit iffy on that detail - all that they wanted was to have a baby and be parents".

Ruby sat there as she listened to Charlie speak and felt her anger towards her adoptive parents fade away. All they had wanted was to be parents and they hadn't cared what she was a product of. They hadn't not told her about being adopted to be cruel, they had done it as they had wanted Ruby to be their daughter and they hadn't wanted the adoption factor to become an issue.

"They offered to keep me informed about your life." Charlie continued. "You know photos and school reports, that sort of thing. They even offered to let me stay in contact with you. But I wanted a clean break, so I declined. In later years, yes, I did regret my decision to give you up, but at the time it was the best decision. I really hope that you can forgive me, but I completely understand if you don't" Charlie finished quietly.

Ruby looked quite shocked. "Why wouldn't I want to know you? You're my mum and that's all that matters. I'm not angry anymore now that I know the whole story. I just have a tendency to fly off the handle before hearing the whole story. I'm going to carry on living here with mum and dad, I mean Jenny and Mark, but I want to have a relationship with you as well. Besides it's this towns too small for us not to get along".

Charlie realised, as she listened to her daughter speak, that she might have misjudged her daughter. While Ruby might have a slight anger-management issue and was quick to judge, she was also a mature young woman and Charlie was proud to be her mother. Charlie and Ruby both grinned at each other, each wiping away the tears that had formed during their conversation.

"Ok all this feelings talk has made me hungry" Ruby told Charlie who giggled. "Why don't we stick some popcorn in and put on 'How to lose a guy in 10 days'?" Ruby suggested.

"Ok definitely, that's my favourite movie" Charlie told Ruby with a guilty smile on her face.

Ruby grinned widely "Mine too!" she confessed. Ruby and Charlie both smiled at this little similarity that they shared. Ruby knew that it was probably a coincidence but she liked to think that it was a mother/daughter genetic connection thing, that they had even though they had never met prior to this. Ruby walked off happily towards to the kitchen and started preparing the popcorn, whilst Charlie set up the movie. A few minutes later, they joined together on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn smothered with butter at the ready.

"What?" Ruby asked self-consciously as Charlie stared the popcorn. "It doesn't taste right without that amount of butter" Ruby told her indignantly whilst Charlie snorted. Ruby shushed her as the opening credits started. Charlie tried to stop laughing, and succeeded, but couldn't wipe the smile off of her face. Neither could Ruby for that matter. Ruby took Charlie's hand and they settled down to watch the movie.

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2 hours later Jenny came downstairs to investigate the lack of noise - all she had heard from the living room for the last 2 hours was laughter, and was worried that something had gone down between the two, due to the fact that the living room was now silent. Jenny smiled however when she walked into the living room and she saw the two of them still sitting on the couch - fast asleep. Ruby was asleep with her head on Charlie's shoulder and Charlie had her arm around Ruby. Quietly, as not to disturb the pair, Jenny turned off the TV and laid a blanket over them. She turned off the light and exited the room. Meanwhile mother and daughter slept, completely oblivious as to their surroundings. If a passerby had witnessed the scene, to them it would have just looked like a normal mother and daughter enjoying each others company.