A/N: Hey! Finally got around to posting this on this sight. It's a little A/U from the show, but basically Charlie is with Angelo and then a certain River Boy appears. How will their friendship change the lives of everyone involved?

Reviews are always welcome! Enjoy! :)

Chapter 1

Angelo looked down at his watch and sighed. He had been sat outside her house for almost an hour and there was still no sign of her anywhere. Her phone rang out and there was no one else home to let him in. The longer he was left outside, the more time he had to worry about what he was about to do. He had gone over the plan multiple times in his head, and to him it made perfect sense. They had been dating now for just over a year; surely what he was about to ask was another forward step in their relationship? He thought so, question was...would Charlie agree?

Just as he was about to call it a night, Charlie came running around the corner. She was dressed in her work uniform and looked flustered as she rummaged through her bag for her keys. She looked up and spotted Angelo and smiled.

"Oh hey! What are you doing here?" She kissed him lightly on the lips as she moved past him to open the door, holding it open for him to follow her.

Following her inside, he closed the door and took a deep breath. "I actually need to talk to you about something."

"I'm sorry, I got caught up at work and now I'm running late!"

"Running late?" Angelo threw her a confused stare.

"Yeah, there is a Year 12 presentation on at the school. I was supposed to meet Ruby like 20 minutes ago!"

She rushed into her bedroom with Angelo followed closely behind her. She proceeded to remove her uniform while Angelo took a seat on the corner of the bed.

"You said you wanted to talk to me about something?" She started as she browsed through the wardrobe looking for something to wear. Ruby had mentioned wanting to introduce Charlie to someone important so she wanted to make sure she looked presentable.

Suddenly Angelo wasn't so sure. Timing for this had to be perfect. "You know, it can wait if you need to get going."

Charlie spun around and looked at him as she hopped into a pair of dark jeans, wriggling the denim up over her hips.

"I'm listening...go on!" She gave him an encouraging smile so he decided to bite the bullet and ask her.

"It's actually about Angelo's..." He had bought the restaurant just over 6 months ago and at first things had been running smoothly. However recently, that was far from the case. "Things aren't going great at the minute. I'm loosing more money than what is coming in."

Charlie nodded sympathetically. She knew that things had been rough lately. She had noticed how stressed Angelo had been lately and knew that business was obviously starting to take it's toll on him.

She nodded for him to continue, wanting to see what this had to do with her.

"If I don't do something about it soon, I doubt there will be a restaurant for much longer..." He dropped his head into his hands. Charlie stopped getting ready for a second and took a seat beside him. Wrapping her arm around his shoulders, she gave him a comforting squeeze.

"So what are you planning to do?"

He paused before looking up at her. "That's where you come in..." She frowned at him. "I need you to invest in the restaurant."

Her eyes grew wide as she looked at him. Removing her arm from his shoulders she sat back slightly, going over what he just said to her.

"What?"

"It makes perfect sense, Charlie. And once things pick up, you'd be making profit on your investment."

Charlie remained silent for a minute, while Angelo studied her face, a hopeful expression on his own.

She eventually spoke. "I can't Angelo. I'm sorry."

He grew defensive. "What do you mean, you can't? I'm asking you to help out your boyfriend." His tone came out slightly harsher than he wanted, and she picked up on it immediately.

Now it was her turn to grow defensive. "No, Angelo. What you are asking is for me to part with a large sum of money."

He stood up, trying to calm his annoyance. "It is only temporary."

"And what if it's not? I can't take that risk, Angelo. Ruby will be going to uni soon and I just can't be making risks like that on a whim!" She ignored the angered look on his face as she fished around in her drawer for a vest top to accompany her jeans.

"A whim? This is my business, Charlie!" This was not how he imagined the conversation going.

"Exactly...your business. Not mine. I'm your girlfriend, Angelo. I don't wish to be your business partner as well, no matter how temporary you think it will be!"

She checked her appearance in the mirror and after applying a fresh splash of mascara and lipgloss, she checked her phone and sighed.

"I really have to go. You'll have to find someone else to invest. I'm sorry." She walked over to him and leaned in to kiss his lips but he turned his face away from her and she caught his cheek instead. Rolling her eyes, she walked out of the room leaving him to think about what he was going to do now.

The school hall was packed with students and parents. Gina and various students had been planning this evening for weeks, wanting to use the night as a way of celebrating Year 12 achievements as well as giving the student council a chance to air a debate. A table at the back of the room provided refreshments. Casey stood patiently in the queue, and eventually made his way back to Ruby, drinks in hand.

"Here you go!" He handed her the drink and smiled. "Are you sure Charlie is going to like me?" He had tried to control his nerves at meeting his girlfriend's mother but as the time got closer he found his nerves creeping to the surface.

Ruby took his hand in hers and smiled. "Of curse she will. Who couldn't?" She gave him a quick kiss before checking her watch again. "She should be here by now..."

She hadn't told Casey but she herself was nervous. Casey was a River Boy and she knew the reputation that they had, and Charlie would know it too seeing as she were a cop. Ruby just hoped that her mum could see past the stories and like Casey for who he was.

Casey looked over to the door and spotted his brother making his way through the crowds to them.

"Here's Brax!"

Ruby followed Casey's gaze and smiled.

"Casey, sorry I'm late!" He apologised. The pride was evident on Brax's face. An education and a life away from the River Boys was all Brax wanted for his baby brother, and Brax was on his way to getting his wish. "Hey Ruby."

Charlie made her way into the school, searching for her daughter as she went. She had used the walk to the school to try and clear her mind from her previous conversation with Angelo. Part of her felt bad for saying no but the other part of her stuck by her decision.

Entering the school hall, Charlie quickly scanned the crowd and found Ruby almost instantly. She was engrossed talking to man, who from the back was fairly well built and dressed in a pair of jeans and a checked blue shirt. There was a younger boy to his left, and Charlie sensed that this was who Ruby was keen for her to meet.

Ruby spotted Charlie and grinned, excusing herself from the group as she made her way over to her mum.

"Hey!" Ruby hugged her.

"I'm really sorry I'm late, work was just a nightmare."

"It's ok. Come on I want you to meet someone before we start." She grabbed Charlie's hand and led her over to Casey, wanting to get the meeting over with. "And please, be my mum for tonight and not a sergeant."

Charlie didn't understand what Ruby meant but she didn't have time to think it over. Two sets of eyes were suddenly on her as Ruby made the introductions.

"Mum, this is Casey...my boyfriend." Ruby slipped her hand into Casey's and smiled, glancing nervously at Charlie while she waited for her reaction.

"Hi Casey, it's really nice to meet you."

Casey sighed a breath of relief. "You too."

The other man cleared his throat and they all turned to face him.

"Oh God I'm sorry." Ruby started. "This is Casey's brother, Brax...well Darryl Braxton."

Braxton. She had heard that name somewhere before. Charlie smiled at him as she extended her hand to him. "Hi, I'm Charlie."

He mirrored her smile as he took her hand in his own. Their hands remained linked for a few extra seconds as they looked at each other. Brax immediately noted how beautiful she was, and the sensation of her hand in his gave him a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"It's really nice to meet you, Charlie."

Hearing him say her name brought goosebumps to her skin, immediately pulling her out of her daze and back to reality. She pulled her hand out of his grasp and smiled.

The moment was interrupted by Gina announcing that they should take their seats. Ruby and Casey rushed off to join their friends, leaving Charlie alone with Brax. They smiled awkwardly at each other.

"Shall we sit?" Charlie asked.

"After you..." He gestured for her to sit before taking a seat beside her.

"Braxton...the name sounds familiar?" Charlie asked. She couldn't place where she had heard it before. She glanced around the hall before her eyes fell back on Brax.

Casey had told Brax that Ruby's mum worked for the police and he knew that if he was going to impress her, discussing the River Boys wasn't the way to go about it.

"It does?" He met her gaze and smiled.

"Ruby and Casey seem to be pretty close."

"Yeah. She has been a really great influence on him." Brax smiled. There was clearly something special about these Braxton girls.

The presentation quickly started, and Charlie had to try her hardest to concentrate. She caught him stealing glimpses at her, which immediately made his cheeks turn red as he looked away. She tried to stifle her laughter as Brax acted like nothing had happened.

Two hours later, the evening was coming to a close. For the most part, the presentation had been fairly boring until Casey and Ruby had made their appearances. Brax and Charlie had whispered occasionally through it, keeping themselves entertained through the boring parts.

Ruby and Casey rejoined them after it had finished. They too looked just as bored.

"I didn't think it was ever going to end!" Ruby groaned, placing herself into Casey's embrace. The others agreed.

"I didn't think it was all that bad..." Brax stated, glancing slightly in Charlie's direction. Charlie smiled.

Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, she took it out to find a message from Angelo.

"Shall we go to the Diner?" Ruby suggested.

"Yeah, I'm game. Charlie?" Brax was keen for the night not to end; he wanted to spend more time with this beautiful woman.

"There's actually somewhere I need to go..." She wanted to stay but knew that she couldn't. "It was really nice to meet you both." She smiled at Casey an Brax before kissing Ruby goodbye.

Brax watched as she walked away, knowing that he couldn't wait to meet her once again.