The following week was uneventful, allowing Ava to settle down, and prepare herself for school. She woke up early on her first day, heading downstairs and making breakfast, before anyone else was even awake.

Her stomach turned with a mixture of excitement and nerves, but that was to be expected on such a big day. Brax, Casey and Heath soon joined her, eating their breakfast in silence, while Ava got ready.

"Are you ready?" Brax asked as he grabbed his keys off the side.

"I think so," Ava replied.

"Then lets get you to school."

Ava hugged Heath and Casey, before following Brax out to the truck. The drive to the school was quiet, and the closer they got, the more nervous Ava became.

"Just be yourself, and please try not to get into trouble or suspended."

"I won't," Ava promised with a chuckle.

"I know," Brax stated as Ava climbed out the truck, and smiled at him before heading inside.

Ava walked through the thriving mass of students, who were gathered in the corridor, and kept her eyes focused on the schedule in her hand. Even as she looked for her first class, she could feel the eyes of her classmates on her, and the whispers that seemed to follow.

"Are you lost?" came a voice from behind her causing her to spin around.

"Just a little bit."

"I'm Dexter but you can call me Dex… can I see your schedule?"

Ava hesitated, before handing over her schedule, and watching the boy look it over.

"I'm Ava by the way."

"It's nice to meet you Ava," Dex said with a smile, "Listen, you're in a majority of my classes, and I'd be more than happy to be your guide… if you want."

"That'd be great," Ava replied feeling slightly awkward and self-conscious.

Dexter smiled leading the way to their first class, and by the end of the day, Ava had completely relaxed around him. As they left school Ava spotted Brax leaning against his truck, and with a quick goodbye to Dex, she walked over to where he was waiting.

"How was your first day?" Brax asked as he hugged her.

"It was good, but I have a lot to catch up on."

"You can do it, I see you've made friends with the Walker kid."

"You mean Dexter?" Ava inquired earning a nod from Brax, "He's a little strange but he seems nice."

"It's good that you've made a friend already," Brax stated as they climbed into the truck and headed home, "I'm going to drop you off, and then I've got to go to Angelo's."

Ava headed inside, dropping her bag on the sofa, and heading into the kitchen where Kyle was sat.

"Hey," Kyle said as Ava poured herself a glass of juice and joined him, "School go okay?"

"Yeah, school was good," Ava replied, "What are you writing?"

"Some lyrics for a new song that I'm working on."

"You sing?" Ava asked.

"Yeah, and play guitar as well."

"Will you play something for me?"

"Sure, come in the other room," Kyle stated with a smile, "Any requests?"

"Something you wrote."

"Okay, this is something I've been working on but it's nowhere near finished. Beautiful girl talks with her eyes, prettier than the starlit skies, Beautiful smile brightens my day, takes the usual pain away," Kyle sang as he strummed the strings gently, "If this is love then it's all I need, I promise that I won't mislead, if this is love it's all I ask, that you not hide behind a mask."

"That's going to be amazing when it's finished, and you have a really good voice as well," Ava said with a smile.

"Thanks, do you want to watch a movie?"

"I would but I have loads of catch up work to do, and I really want to get it started."

"Okay, mind if I work on my song, and keep you company?"

"Only if you promise that I'll get to hear it first… once you've finished it," Ava added.

"You drive a hard bargain little sister, but I think that's doable."

Ava laughed grabbing her books, and reading through the assignments she had been given to do. It was two hours before Brax arrived home with food, followed shortly after by Heath and Casey.

"How long have you been working on all that?" Brax inquired.

"Since I got in, I wanted to get it started, and kind of lost track of time."

"Come get something to eat Einstein," Casey teased as Brax dished out the food for all five of them.

Ava sat down beside Casey, waiting for everyone else to start eating, before digging into her own plate of food. Once everyone had finished, Ava help Kyle with the dishes, and then returned to her schoolwork, which was spread out on the floor. Twenty minutes later, Ava looked up to find Brax watching her and smiled.

"Everything okay?" Ava asked.

"Everything's fine, it's just nice seeing you content, and focused on something good."

"Brax, can I tell you something?"

"Of course you can," Brax said sitting down on the floor beside her.

"This morning when you dropped me off at school… I was scared about you leaving me," Ava admitted.

"How come?"

"There were two reasons, the first was that no one would understand me the way that you and the others do, but then I met Dex and that fear disappeared."

"What was the other reason?" Brax added.

"I was scared that you wouldn't be here when school finished, and then when I saw you waiting I was relieved… I expected the fear to disappear like it had before but it didn't," Ava explained feeling stupid for being so insecure.

"It's understandable that you're afraid of us leaving you, and it's okay to be scared. Ava, I'm not dad… I don't expect you to be strong all the time, and I don't want you to keep things from me because you think I'll be mad."

"I just don't want to let you down," Ava mumbled.

"The only way you could ever let me down, is if you let dad win, and all of us are going to make sure that that doesn't happen," Brax added wiping away a stray tear that slid down her cheek.

Authors Notes

Hey guys, thought Ava deserved a positive chapter without so much drama, so I hope you enjoy it and the next chapter will be up soon!