Braxton House
"Morning." Heath says as Brax walks in from the flat with Ricky. "You good?"
"Fine. We're going to the diner to get some wedding stuff done." Brax says, glancing at Lucas. "Will you be fine holding the fort in Angelo's?"
"I'll be okay." Lucas nods. "It's starting to calm down a little with tourists now, and I coped fine last time."
"Good. Call me only as a last resort." Brax says before walking out to his ute.
"Don't take it personally." Ricky lightly smiles before following Brax out.
"What am I missing?" Lucas frowns.
"Things kind of kicked off between our mum and Brax last night. It's always been a touchy subject for Brax and I guess he's doing it rough after everything with Kyle came out." Heath says.
"What does that mean?" Lucas frowns. "About Kyle I mean."
"Brax can understand Kyle's headspace more than any of us. His girlfriend, Charlie, was killed by someone we had bad blood with and it sent him to a dark space. Then our dad came back on the scene and didn't help things. He was always abusive." Heath shakes his head. "Brax made a deal with dad that meant he'd get beaten instead of me and Casey. Sometimes dad got angry when Brax wasn't around, so I was beaten instead. I don't think Brax has ever gotten over what happened."
"So why doesn't he get help for it, like Kyle is?"
"This is Brax we're talking about. He won't ever talk about it to anyone, maybe to Ricky but no one else. He prefers to deal with things in his own way, even if it's not the best way." Heath says. "We all feel bad for how Kyle's feeling right now, but it goes a lot deeper for Brax. He feels like we're his responsibility and if something bad happens to us, he feels like it's his fault."
"But he shouldn't feel that way. He's the best big brother and he does a great job. He can't help what happens or if there's anything bad going on in our minds." Lucas says. "He's the best."
"We know that, but he's never had time to focus on the good he's done. One bad thing happens and it's all he thinks about, like how he can change it for the future or how he can fix things." Heath says.
"Well we have to help him as well as Kyle." Lucas says, wanting his brothers to know how great they are.
"Trust me, you don't want to get involved in Brax's life, especially right now. He won't take it well coming from a younger brother." Heath says, standing up to put his bowl in the sink.
"What if it didn't come from us? Or what if we did something else to make up for it that we know he'd appreciate?" Lucas says.
"Like what?" Heath asks, turning to face him.
"Their honeymoon." Lucas says. "They can't find a place they both like that fits in with their budget, so why don't we all put some money together for them as a thank you for everything Brax has done. That way he can't complain that we're interfering or whatever he would say, because it wouldn't just be for him, it would also be for Ricky." He explains.
"You might be onto something there little bro." Heath says. "Let me talk to Bianca about it."
"Why Bianca?" Lucas frowns.
"She always knows how to give the best advice about things like this. She was meeting Irene for breakfast this morning, why don't we catch her before you've got to start your shift?" Heath says.
"Okay, that could work." Lucas nods. "But I also wanted to check on Kyle before my shift, so I might not be able to stay long."
"Why don't you call Kyle to meet us and that way we can fill him in at the same time?" Heath suggests.
"Brax said we shouldn't be bothering Kyle at the minute, we should respect that."
"Come on, Kyle knows everything about the honeymoon so he'll be the best person to help us on the money front. Brax has only told him about where they wanted to go because he was the one who suggested it, we just know that it wasn't in their budget." Heath says.
"Fine, I'll ask him but I won't be forcing him to come." Lucas says.
"Great, you call him while I find my car keys." Heath says, looking around for them as Lucas dials Kyle's number. "Must be in my room." He mutters to himself, heading there to see them on the side, so he grabs them before walking back out to his brother.
"Great, see you there." Lucas smiles before hanging up.
"So he's agreed?"
"He's at the diner with Bianca and Irene." Lucas says.
"No, that's not going to work. Brax said him and Ricky were going there to plan the wedding." Heath says. "Call him back and tell him to meet somewhere else, and also to not mention anything to Brax if he sees him."
Summer Bay Beachfront
"I don't know a huge amount about it, I just know they both loved the sound of going somewhere in Europe. I can't remember which part though." Kyle says.
"Great, well that's a good start." Casey says, having joined them while on his break.
"But not really because we don't know how much we need to put together." Tyler says, also on his break from the gym.
"Well I think because Kyle knows the most about the honeymoon, he should be the one to get hints out of them." Heath says.
"Wait, why me?" Kyle frowns.
"You would be the best person because Brax opens up to you more about it. We're told to keep our noses out until they want to tell people more." Lucas says.
"Alright, that's fair." Kyle says, seeing where they were coming from. "But what do I do if they start getting suspicious?"
"They're not going to but if they do, then you use the excuse of being bored or whatever." Heath says.
"Right, I understand where you're all coming from, but there are better ways around this." Bianca says, having been listening in to work out the best plan. "Keeping it a complete surprise isn't going to be the best way around this, especially with the stress of planning right now."
"Then what do you suggest?" Heath asks his girlfriend.
"I suggest that yes, Kyle would be the best person, but not for getting hints. Why don't we go and see them, but explain what you all want to do for them?" Bianca says.
"But that just ruins the surprise." Casey frowns.
"It doesn't have to. We could tell them what you want to do, but we don't have to tell them where they're going." Bianca says. "We could ask them for a list of the top places they want to go. That way they can agree to what's going on, we get the list of places they want to go, and we also keep it a surprise as to where is chosen."
"I like that idea a lot more." Kyle says. "The surprise is still there, we just won't get shouted at when they're given the tickets."
"Yeah, I like it as well." Lucas nods. "It also gives the bonus of us being able to know a budget for each place, and we can choose the best places for them."
"Yeah, they weren't planning anything great for their honeymoon, so this would be nice for them." Kyle says. "They seemed like they were in a good mood this morning, so why don't we go now?"
"That sounds like a plan." Bianca smiles, kissing Heath goodbye before walking towards the diner with Kyle.
"So who's genius idea was this in the first place?" Casey asks.
"It was mine." Heath says.
"No it wasn't, it was mine!" Lucas exclaims. "I thought it would be a nice idea for us to give something back to Brax for all the great things he does for us."
"You've always been a smart and thoughtful person." Tyler says.
"Thank you." Lucas smiles.
"Well I think it's a great idea, he's done a lot for us." Casey says, especially to Heath.
"I think between all of us, we'll be able to afford something great for them. We might even be able to give them a few weeks away, make the most of them having time away from this place." Heath says.
"Yeah, Brax really needs it." Casey nods. "But what will happen when he's away?"
"What'd you mean by that?" Tyler asks.
"Every time Brax has gone away, something bad always happens." Casey says. "The last time he had to go away for a few days, Kyle punched Heath, and Heath threatened to kill Kyle."
"Hey, we're over that now." Heath glares. "None of that is going to happen again. We need to start acting like adults and give Brax this time with his new wife. We can't keep relying on him."
"No complaints from me." Lucas says, them all agreeing with him.