Robert picked up his phone and fired off a quick text to Liv: You home for tea?

He was expecting Aaron home any minute and didn't feel like cooking so he thought he'd order some takeaway. Almost instantly his phone beeped, signalling a message: I'm upstairs

Robert frowned. That was strange. He'd been home from work for a couple of hours and she'd been so quiet, he hadn't even known she was in the house.

He climbed the stairs to her bedroom. The door was ajar and he knocked on it gently. "Liv?" There was no answer so he waited a moment before pushing the door open slowly, giving her time to call out if she didn't want him to enter. "What's up? I thought you were going out."

She was lying on her bed and pushed her phone and earphones away from her as he walked in. She shrugged, dejected. "Didn't feel like it."

"What's going on?" He perched himself at the head of the bed and she shifted back to allow him room. Her hair was loose and with one hand she gathered all of the strands that had become trapped beneath her and pushed them behind her ear and over her shoulder.

He had a theory that she used her trademark ponytail as some kind of armour to stop people getting too close. No one in the village ever saw her with her hair down but within the safety of their home she felt comfortable enough to be herself and let her guard down, and Robert and Aaron were the only ones she ever allowed to see her that way.

He liked the thought of that.

"You know you can talk to me, right? I know I'm not Aaron but if there's anything I can help with…"

He thought she was going to brush him off or worse, scoff at his offer to confide in him, but eventually she spoke. "How do you get someone to notice you?"

"Well, that depends." Robert kicked off his shoes and put his feet up on the bed, adjusting one of the pillows behind his back so he could rest comfortably against the headboard. He linked his fingers and placed them in his lap. "Aaron stole my car but I wouldn't recommend anything like that," he said, smiling to himself as he thought back.

Liv took a deep breath. "There's someone at school that I like."

He waited for her to continue but it seemed, for once, Liv was struggling to find the right words. "And..." he encouraged.

"It's like they don't even know I exist."

"Well, have you tried talking to them?"

"No," Liv said despondently, pulling at the fabric of her duvet. "But I put super glue on the teacher's chair and everyone laughed but she didn't even crack a smile."

"Liv!"

She craned her neck to look at him. "What?" she asked innocently. "I offered to buy him new trousers."

Robert shook his head with a sigh and Liv laid back down.

He was thinking how best to advise her when he suddenly realised what she'd said.

She?

She didn't crack a smile?

Oh.

Okay.

"You're obviously going about it the wrong way." He placed his hand gently on Liv's head and smoothed her hair away from her face, hoping the physical contact would provide reassurance. If Liv wasn't going to treat her revelation like a big deal, then neither would he, but he still felt the need to acknowledge it and reaching out to touch her felt like the most natural way to do it. "What's she like?"

He lifted both of his arms when Liv suddenly scooched over and wrapped an arm around him. She nestled into his side and used his chest as a pillow. Once Robert had gotten over the surprise, he put his arms around her and continued stroking her hair comfortingly.

"She's called Mia. She's really pretty and she's really clever. She gets A's on all her tests."

"Well, here's an idea. Maybe you should behave in class and try to get A's on all your tests. You never know, she might take an interest."

"Yeah, nice try," she scoffed.

Robert's resulting grin faded into a fond smile as he marvelled at the unexpected love he had for the girl in his arms and how content he felt at that particular moment.

"You reckon that'd work?" Liv asked.

"Worth a try," Robert shrugged, "but you shouldn't just work hard to impress a girl, you should do it for yourself."

"Starting to sound like a lecture, old man," she complained, but Robert could hear the smile in her voice. When had their annoying bickering turned into affectionate banter?

"Sorry, but do you have any idea how frustrating it is knowing you've got a brain inside that stubborn little head of yours but that you'd rather use it to scheme and cause trouble than put it to good use?"

It wasn't lost on him how ironic it was that he, Robert Sugden, was lecturing someone about plotting and scheming. Sometimes it felt like plotting and scheming was all he ever did.

"And if I started getting A's, you and Aaron would be proud of me, right?"

"We're already proud of you, Liv, you're amazing." Robert stopped stroking her hair and kissed the top of her head. "But we'd be even more proud."

His hand settled on her shoulder and she sighed. "I really like her, Robert."

"Just try talking to her."

"What would I say? She goes to ballet and plays the cello, I like football and can't even play the recorder."

Robert chuckled. "Doesn't mean a thing, look at me and your brother. I once spent £800 on a bottle of whiskey and Aaron's happy drinking warm beer from a welly."

Liv laughed but when she heard the front door bang, she raised herself up and looked urgently at Robert. "Will you tell Aaron for me?"

"Don't you want to tell him yourself?"

Liv groaned and dropped her forehead to Robert's chest. "It's embarrassing," she whined.

"I will if that's what you want. You're really brave, you know."

Liv lifted her face from its hiding place. "What do you mean?"

"You're 15 years old and you're coming out like it's nothing – and it should be nothing. I'm twice your age and I've never even said it out loud." Robert looked away. "Still have trouble admitting it to myself sometimes," he said quietly.

"I know what I said about it being embarrassing but that's only because it's Aaron and he's my brother and I hate talking to him about stuff like that." She waited until Robert's gaze was on her once more. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I know that and it's not like it's some big secret, Aaron and me-"

"Doesn't mean it's not scary putting a label on it though."

"Exactly," he said, relieved she understood.

Robert watched her bite her lower lip in thought before a playful smile appeared on her face. "You could always tell me if you want," she said, nudging him. "You know I won't tell anyone. It'll be our little secret."

"Hmmm…" Robert played along, exaggerating his scepticism. "I don't know…"

"Promise," she said, and crossed her heart.

Robert sighed. "Oh, alright then." He leaned towards her briefly and whispered in her ear. "I'm bisexual."

They were still grinning inanely when Aaron appeared in the doorway. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Liv grabbed her phone and climbed over Robert's legs. "Anyone ever tell you you're nosy?" she asked as she passed by her brother on her way to the bathroom.

Aaron looked at Robert in confusion. "Rob?"

Robert stood up, greeting him with a kiss. "How was work?"

"Fine." Aaron looked at him expectantly. "Well? Come on, I'm not stupid, I know something's going on."

"Let's go downstairs."

"Liv's gay."

"You what?"

"She likes girls, Aaron."

Aaron rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I think I know what gay is, thanks." He leaned back against the kitchen counter, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the wood. "Why did she tell you and not me?"

Standing beside him, Robert could see the hurt on his face. "Hey." He covered the hand nearest him and rubbed the back of Aaron's fingers soothingly with his thumb. "I don't think she made a conscious decision to tell me instead of you. She was just asking my advice about a girl at school that she likes and it came out…" Robert was still trying to wrap his head around it, if he was being honest. "She came out."

Aaron exhaled loudly and glanced at him, a smile threatening to curve his lips as he released the counter and took hold of Robert's hand. "Well, I didn't see that one coming."

"Me neither." He held Aaron's hand tightly as he rested against the worktop next to him.

Aaron looked up questioningly when Robert huffed out a laugh and shook his head in amusement. "What?"

"Well, there's one thing I won't have to worry about now."

"What's that?"

"You getting done for GBH when some snot-nosed teenager knocks her up."

Liv's footsteps sounded on the stairs and Robert called out to her when she appeared. "Hey, kiddo, wanna choose some takeaway?"

As Liv made her way over to the drawer with the menus, they shared a secret smile and Robert sensed Aaron's focus shift from his sister's beaming face to Robert's own matching expression. "You trying to tell me I wouldn't have had to worry the same thing about you?"

Robert studied her from across the room, contemplating his feelings. She'd gone from virtual sister-in-law to daughter when he wasn't looking. He'd never felt even a fraction of the fierce protectiveness for Lachlan that he felt for Liv and it wasn't just because she was a girl. She was just as much a handful – if not more so in some ways – but he knew she was fragile underneath it all and all he wanted to do was take care of her. Her and Aaron.

"Well?" Aaron asked.

Robert smiled warmly. "Nah," he said, looking down shyly at his feet. "You're probably right."