Distracted by his phone, Robert failed to notice the absence of chatter and general merriment that usually greeted him upon entering the pub. As the door closed behind him, a shrill voice broke the quiet - "You spiteful little bitch!" - and his head shot up just in time to see his ex-wife slap Aaron's sister hard across the face.

The sound of skin on skin seemed to echo around the room and Robert's voice was equally loud in the stunned silence that followed. "Liv!"

All eyes were suddenly on him as he pocketed his phone and rushed to Liv's aid, his first and only thought to protect her.

He forced himself between the pair, shielding the young girl with his larger body as he compelled Chrissie to take a few steps back.

Liv was holding both hands to her left cheek, her eyes large and full of tears as she stared straight ahead in shock. He placed a tender hand to the back of her head and stooped slightly to meet her eyes. "Are you alright, sweetheart?" he asked in a voice usually reserved for her brother.

"Awww, how touching," Chrissie observed, her words dripping with sarcasm.

Robert slowly straightened and turned around, fists clenched and jaw hard as he fixed Chrissie with an unyielding stare. Her smirk disappeared and he took a moment to enjoy the colour draining from her cheeks before he shouted in her face. "What the hell do you think you were doing?!"

There were a few sharp intakes of breath around the room and Chrissie visibly shrank back, obviously shocked at just how angry he was, and Robert couldn't deny the small amount of pleasure he felt when he realised that maybe, just maybe, she was a little bit afraid of him.

He'd shouted at his ex-wife a few times in the past for various reasons but never with this much force. Then again, whenever he'd directed his temper towards her he'd never felt as passionate as he did now about protecting Liv.

Chrissie swallowed and glanced around to see everyone captivated by the scene before them and awaiting her response. Her lower lip trembled when she looked back at Robert but she raised her chin when she spoke, timid yet defiant. "You didn't hear what she said."

"I don't care what she said, she's 15 years old!" he yelled, making Chrissie flinch once again.

She opened her mouth to defend herself but the words died on her lips and Robert took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Liv didn't need this. He should get her home and take care of her.

Maintaining eye contact, he stepped even closer to Chrissie, forcing himself into her personal space. "Touch her again and I'll kill you," he whispered.

Turning around, he placed a hand on Liv's shoulder. "Come on, let's go," he said, Chrissie's protests of innocence to anyone who would listen fading behind them as he gently guided Liv out of the pub and walked with her the short distance to their cottage.

"Sorry." Liv sat on the couch as instructed while Robert fetched some supplies from the kitchen.

"It's not your fault," he said, coming back to sit on the coffee table in front of her. He placed a tray down beside him that contained a bowl of warm water, cotton wool, antiseptic cream, a bag of frozen peas and a tea towel.

He turned Liv's head, studying the red skin on her face and the small cut across her cheek where Chrissie must have caught her with her ring. He felt himself getting angry again but pushed it back down for Liv's sake. "Right, we'll get this cleaned up and then I'm phoning the police."

"Robert, no," she whined.

"Liv, she assaulted a 15 year-old-girl in front of a room full of witnesses. We can take her to court."

"Yeah, and you'd love that, wouldn't ya?"

He would actually, he couldn't deny it, and the fact that he didn't answer said it all.

"I don't want the police involved," she continued. "Please."

They stared at each other until Robert looked down in defeat. "Fine." Once again, Chrissie had hurt his family but one way or another, she wasn't going to escape justice this time. "But she's not getting away with it. Aaron won't allow it and neither will I." He dipped some cotton wool in the water, squeezing out the excess liquid before gently wiping the blood from Liv's cheek. "We can be very creative when we put our minds together."

"What did you ever see in her?" Liv asked when Robert had finished tending to her cut. "She's nothing like Aaron."

Robert dropped the cotton wool into the bowl. "No, she's not," he agreed. He picked up the tea towel and dabbed lightly at Liv's cheek to dry her skin. "When I first started chasing after her, almost all the guys in the company wanted her. I had a lot of competition and I couldn't believe it when she chose me." He brought the towel away and looked into Liv's eyes, smiling sadly. "She was beautiful and smart - she still is - but believe it or not, she was also warm and kind and funny too."

"Well, she's a right cow now."

"She's changed. You probably would have liked her if you'd known her when we were still together." He picked up the cream and started applying it. "She's never had much luck with men. I guess after years of being treated badly she saw Andy as her last chance. I mean, if one of the good guys can let you down like that then…" Robert shrugged and put the lid back on the cream. "Between us we really screwed her up."

"Robert-"

"There," he said, wiping his hands on his jeans. "It's just a scratch, you'll heal."

"You're not going to ask me what I said to her?"

"No." He wrapped the tea towel around the frozen peas and handed them to her. "It doesn't matter what you said, I'll always have your back." His phone beeped in his pocket and he grinned at Liv as he pulled it out. "She probably deserved it anyway."

"Is that Aaron?" she asked before he'd even had chance to open the text.

"Yeah. He's stuck in traffic, reckons he's gonna be at least another couple of hours."

"Why do we even have peas?" Liv asked as he sent a quick reply. "Nobody eats them."

"For occasions just like this. I never know when I might need them in my line of work," he said, putting his phone back in his pocket.

Liv frowned. "As partner in a haulage firm?"

"Nah, I was thinking more as Robert Sugden. It's not easy being me, you know? Full-time job. Someone somewhere always wants to wallop me one."

"Can't think why," Liv laughed. "You wanna watch a film while we wait for Aaron?"

"Sure."

"I'll pick the film, you get the snacks," she said quickly.

"Deal," he said as he stood up but hesitated before going to the kitchen. "As long as it's not a rom-com."

Liv sighed and shook her head despondently. "Do you even know me?"

Robert grinned and went in search of food and drinks. When he returned, Liv was waiting on the couch with the remote in her hand. "Well?" she asked.

Robert huffed out a laugh when he saw the DVD menu playing on the television and realised which film she'd chosen. "I knew I kept you around for a reason."

Liv smirked at him. "I can't believe you doubted me."

It was late when Aaron arrived home. He locked the door behind him and dropped his bag at the bottom of the stairs with a tired sigh. Hearing sound coming from the living room, he pushed the door open to find Robert and Liv asleep. As he rounded the couch, he chuckled to himself when he saw what they'd been watching; he found it quite amusing that every member of his dysfunctional little family had a bit of a thing for Ryan Reynolds.

Aaron paused the DVD and sat down on the coffee table across from his still sleeping husband and sister. He placed the remote back on the table and frowned; amongst the cans and empty crisp packets, a bag of what used to be frozen peas lay abandoned.

He automatically looked to Robert. Only the television illuminated the room so Aaron leaned forward to get a better look. Robert's face appeared to be uninjured and as far as he could tell, so did his hands.

With a growing sense of unease, Aaron's gaze shifted to Liv. Looking closely, he could tell that the left side of her face looked darker and it was obvious there was some kind of cut on her cheek. "Liv, wake up." He grabbed her knee and started shaking it until she opened her eyes. "What happened? Has someone hit you?"

She pushed herself away from Robert and sat up, her movements waking him up.

"Who was it?" Aaron asked.

"Don't get mad," she said, glancing uneasily at Robert. "Robert said you'd sort it together."

"I'll ask again. Who hit you?" he growled.

"Chrissie," Robert answered, bringing his arm back to his side as Liv moved closer to Aaron.

"What?! I'll kill her!"

Aaron attempted to stand up and Robert reached for him but Liv was quicker. "Aaron, no!" she said, pulling him back down.

Aaron kept glancing between the pair, unable to believe they were being so relaxed about it. He reached for his phone in his pocket. "Then I'm phoning the police."

"Please, don't," Liv pleaded. "I'm fine! And Robert's already scared her half to death."

Aaron stared at Liv, trying to decide what to do for the best. His eyes were drawn to the cut on her face. He could see it was only superficial but the fact remained that Chrissie had hit his little sister and there was no way an act like that could go unpunished.

He looked at Robert who just shrugged. "You know I won't let her get away with it."

Aaron nodded, Robert's matter-of fact tone calming him down a bit. "Okay," he said quietly, dropping his phone on the table. He rubbed his face, exhausted, and looked at Liv. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes! Robert took care of me."

Aaron gave his husband a soft look before eyeing the bag of peas and prodding it with his fingers. He looked back up at Robert. "Makes a change from you getting slapped, I suppose."

"Oi!" Robert complained with a smile, nudging Aaron's knee with his own.

Aaron chuckled, turning his attention once again to Liv. "Go to bed, we'll talk about this in the morning."

Instead of exchanging goodnights, he lifted his arm as Liv got up and they touched hands briefly until she was out of reach and wandered off.

He sat quietly, his eyes fixed on the spot where she'd been sitting, wondering if he'd done the right thing in letting it go - for now - and whether he shouldn't have just called the police like he'd wanted.

"Liv'll be fine," Robert stated. "She's tough, takes after her brother." Aaron forced a smile, grateful to Robert for recognising he was having doubts and for trying to allay them. "Don't worry, we'll figure something out, make sure she regrets it."

"Yeah." Aaron nodded resolutely and looked up to find Robert peering past his shoulder at the television with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Robert leaned forward, his lips curling mischievously. "You know, I could always don a red spandex suit to exact our revenge on Chrissie."

Aaron closed the distance between them and pressed a kiss to Robert's lips. "Or you could put it on and wait for me in the bedroom," he answered, his voice low and deep.

They both turned in the direction of the kitchen when they heard a gagging noise and saw Liv heading towards the stairs with a glass of water. "Great," she said. "Now I'll never be able to watch Deadpool again."