Surf Club - Angelo's
"I'll man the bar now so you can have a change." Kyle says as he hands his notepad over to his triplet, it being just as busy in the restaurant as it was a few days ago when Lucas made his system up.
"Okay." Lucas nods. "Brax has more liquor in his office once we've cleared out and he told me to let you know the other food delivery is due in the next hour."
"Great. Is he still in his office?" Kyle asks, having been too busy taking orders to notice if he had left yet.
"Yep. The website crashed so he's trying to get it sorted." Lucas says as he walks around the bar. "So many people are leaving reviews."
"You did good with this system. It'll be great having you help me manage this place." Kyle smiles as they get back to what they were doing.
While they carried on working throughout the day, Brax came to check on them every now and then in case they needed more help than they were letting on. He'd got the website back up and was impressed with the good reviews that were still coming in. He wasn't sure how long it would last, but he didn't mind. It proved to him that his brothers were capable of managing the place by themselves and he wanted them to have it one day as their own.
"Do you think this is just something bad waiting to happen?" Kyle asks his eldest brother as he pours some drinks out.
"How'd you mean?" Brax asks, helping to unpack some more stock.
"Well what if the chefs are so busy that they cause an outbreak of food poisoning or orders get mixed up and someone is given something they're allergic to by accident?"
"Kyle, I'd prefer it if you didn't go saying that in a restaurant full of people." Brax says as he stands up to face him. "I've been checking in with them and they're doing fine. They're coping great with the workload and said they'll let me know if it gets too much." He says as Lucas walks up to the bar with a drinks order.
"Four beers for Tyler's table." He says as Kyle gives the drinks to Kayla for another table as she was on drink duty today.
"When did Tyler arrive?" Kyle frowns, not having noticed him come in. "And who's he with?"
"Just a minute ago and I don't know." Lucas says, not knowing who the three guys were.
"They're River Boys." Brax says, wanting to know how Tyler knew them, then Heath came in, saying something to them before heading to the bar.
"Still busy in here then?" He says.
"Why is Tyler hanging out with River Boys?" Kyle asks.
"Oh, he's just hanging out with them on his break and then he's coming back down to mind the gym. Me and Casey have separate bootcamps down on the beach." Heath says.
"Kyle, change the order to three beers and whatever soft drink Tyler likes." Brax says.
"Huh?" Heath frowns.
"Did you know your employee ordered a beer for himself, knowing he'd be on equipment soon?" Brax shakes his head. "And I'm guessing you're the one introducing him to trouble?"
"I told him not to have alcohol, so don't blame me for that. And I didn't introduce them as such, they came up to us outside and he introduced himself." Heath says. "Cancel Tyler's drink, I'll take him back down to the gym. I needed him anyway." He shakes his head, grabbing Tyler on his way to the stairs.
"Three beers for the River Boys." Kyle says, handing Lucas the tray.
"Thank you." Lucas says, taking it over to the table.
"How angry are you about that?" Kyle asks.
"Don't get involved, this is between me and Tyler. You don't need to be dragged into this mess as well." Brax says, the last thing he needed was for Tyler to get involved with his gang even more. "Just make sure Lucas doesn't get distracted by them, he doesn't need to be dragged into this either."
"Okay." Kyle nods, glancing over at his triplet, who was now taking an order from another table.
Braxton House
"There's leftover pie if you want some. You must be hungry." Ricky says as Lucas and Kyle walk in after finishing their shift.
"It smells delicious." Lucas smiles as they grab plates for themselves, dishing some up.
"We kept swapping from the bar to the floor when we needed a rest. It worked well." Kyle says. "I suggested to everyone that if they're getting bored of what they're doing, they can swap with someone else."
"It keeps the system going really well and that way, everyone can be happy with what they're doing." Lucas says, sitting down at the table with Ricky. "Where is everyone else?" He asks, feeling like it was a lot quieter than usual.
"Tyler met up with River Boys after his shift, so Heath has gone to keep an eye on him while Brax warns the trouble making boys to keep Tyler out of their crime." Ricky says. "Bianca is at Irene's and Casey has gone on a second date with this girl."
"Do you know who she is yet?" Lucas asks.
"We haven't seen him yet and Emily is refusing to tell us." Kyle says.
"I know the same as you." Ricky shrugs.
"This is really good pie." Lucas comments before focusing back on the conversation. "Casey is still ignoring us, so is this helping us or is he still mad?"
"Thank you, and I honestly don't know." Ricky says. "I tried getting it out of him, he just wouldn't say anything about the matter. I did put good words in for you and I think it may have helped a little. Just give him another day or so, unless he decides to talk to you first."
"All I know is that I won't go first. I don't want to fight with him anymore." Kyle says.
"Maybe things will change." Lucas says. "He's got a second date with this girl, so I think it will be good."
"Do either of you two know why Tyler has started hanging around the River Boys?" Ricky asks.
"No." They both shake their heads.
"I didn't even know about it until he was in Angelo's with a few of them today." Kyle says.
"I don't even know the River Boys, so I don't know how he's got in with them so quickly." Lucas adds.
"But he only met them today, how come it's like he's known them for ages?" Kyle asks.
"He's never struggled fitting into anywhere. In school he was the popular kid, everyone wanted to be his friend and when he wanted to be friends with someone, it just seemed to happen almost instantly as if it was always there. It just comes naturally to him and I don't know why. People were only nice to me because they didn't want to get on the wrong side of Tyler." Lucas says.
"Least you had people being nice to you. All I attracted was bullies." Kyle says.
"I was bullied as well. I had to hide it from Tyler or they said they would kill me." Lucas says, glancing at Kyle. "I've still not told Tyler, so it has to stay between us three."
"Your secret is safe." Ricky says.
"Did he not realise something was wrong?" Kyle asks.
"Nope. They acted nice when he was around, as soon as Tyler's back was turned, they were taking my homework as if it was theirs, shoving me hard into walls, just making me feel bad. I didn't even know why. Maybe it's because I wasn't outgoing or sporty like Tyler. He tried out for every sport he was allowed to and I didn't want to. I was different." Lucas says.
"I was the same." Kyle says. "I hated sports and couldn't fit in easily."
"So how did you get over it."
"I didn't." Kyle says. "When I tried, it just didn't go how I thought it would. I stopped trying and I stopped caring."
"Well you didn't let it get to either of you. You're still here and you're the best people to have around. Who cares that people didn't like you in school? They were missing out not being friends with you. Plus, who can say they're still friends with everyone from school?" Ricky says.
"I'm still friends with a couple." Kyle says.
"Yeah, same here. I haven't spoken to the rest in a while. Tyler doesn't speak to barely any of his friends anymore, he just makes new ones." Lucas says.
"I'm still friends with a few as well. Actually one of those doesn't count because I'll be marrying him, but you get the point." Ricky smiles.
"We shouldn't let the past get us down, we need to focus on making our future great with people we care about. Family is more important." Lucas says.
"I agree." Kyle says, Ricky smiling at how close they were considering they hadn't known each other long.