Ava's appointment at the school seemed to go on forever, but finally it was over, and she was given a date to start. If she honest she wasn't expecting half the questions that principal Palmer asked, but to her relief Brax had answered.

Leaving Brax, Ava headed down the beach, and found Heath emerging from the sea with his surfboard under his arm.

"Hey trouble," Heath shouted as he made his way over to her.

"Hey, how were the waves today?" Ava asked motioning towards the sea.

"You know what it's like, you win some you lose some, but it was pretty decent out there. You should come out with me one day soon," Heath suggested, "How did your meeting with Palmer go?"

"I felt like I was under interrogation, but the worst part was that I didn't know how to answer the questions she was asking, and Brax had to handle them for me."

"There's nothing wrong with that Firefly."

"Everything is wrong with that, you and Brax always taught me that words are powerful, and that to get anywhere in life you have to take control of what you say. You have to keep your emotions in check, and keep your past exactly where it is… behind you… but when people start asking about it I freeze."

"Do you know why we always told you that?" Heath inquired sitting on the sand and waiting for Ava to sit beside him, "The reason we taught you that wasn't so that you would shut off your emotions, it was to stop you from looking back… keeping your past where it belongs gives you a clear path ahead, and with a past like ours that is a good thing."

Ava was quiet for a few moments, watching the water wash over the sand, and listening to the birds gliding overhead. When she was with her dad, the past was all she could think about… there was no future for her ahead and the memories she had with her brothers were safe in a strange way.

"The past is all I've thought about for the last three years, it made me feel strong thinking about you, Brax and Casey, but it also made it harder in a way. I don't want people judging me on how my life was, I want them to judge me on how I am now, and I know that people are going to want to know about my past but I'll tell them when I'm ready."

"That is completely up to you, we're not expecting you to hide it from everyone Firefly, and we definitely do not want to make this harder for you than it already is… we just want you to be happy, and protect you that's all."

"I know, you and Brax have always protected me," Ava stated looking over at Heath who put his arm around her, and kissed her head.

"We always will."

Ava nodded, smiling a little and wiping a few stray tears that had escaped down her face, the future that she once couldn't see was beginning to appear. It was a gradual thing, for now she was happy to just think about tomorrow, and what was to come but as always there was that voice in the back of her head, which she was trying to ignore.

When they arrived home, Charlie and Brax were talking in the kitchen, but from the sound of things it wasn't exactly going well.

"I'm not saying that you should turn your back on her Brax, I'm just saying that she shouldn't be staying here," Charlie said, "I get that she is your sister and that you want to protect her, but all she will do is bring even more trouble to your door."

"I don't just give up on my family because things might get a little hard Charlie, our entire lives have been hard and Ava's been through more than you ever will… family always comes first."

"So if she wasn't your family then you wouldn't be helping her?" Charlie asked.

"Don't even go there, we already know that Ava is a Braxton Charlie, don't you think we haven't already done all this… yes our mum had an affair, but a test was done and Ava is Danny's child."

"How to you plan on keeping her with you?" Charlie stated, "You can't just keep her away from her dad Brax, that's kidnapping of a minor like I said, and I can't just ignore that."

"Well you don't have to because I've already spoken to a lawyer, and I'm pushing for full guardianship of Ava. My lawyer thinks that I have a good chance of winning since my dad has a criminal record longer than his arm, and all his offences are more severe than any of mine."

"What about the others?"

"I already spoke to them about it, they all agree that it's best for Ava, and it is best for this family. Casey, Heath and Kyle are old enough to just walk away Charlie, but Ava isn't and I won't stand by while Danny tears her apart."

"She's not worth all this Brax."

Ava looked at Heath, before running out the front door, and pushing herself forward until she reached the beach.

"Ava," Heath shouted causing Brax to rush into the room, "I'm going after her."

"Let's go, she's probably just at the beach."

With that both men hurried out the door in search of Ava, who unknowingly was in danger, and it was only time that could tell if they would reach her in time.


Authors notes

Hey guys, sorry for the late update things have been a little hectic in my life lately, but everything seems to be settling down now so I will be able to update more regular... I'm going to go for at least two updates a week for you all so stay tuned... I just want to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has commented, favourited and followed this story it means alot :) x