Braxton House

"Morning." Kyle smiles as he walks through the door.

"Move in day?" Lucas asks, grinning as Kyle nods, placing some bags on the floor by the couch.

"Are on you on shift at Angelo's tonight?" Kyle asks.

"Yeah, we both are, remember?" Lucas lightly frowns. "We're on until close but I can get Tyler to cover your shift if you want to change it. He's really trying hard to make up for what he did."

"No, it's okay. As a thanks to Irene for letting me stay, I offered to give her a meal on the house. It was actually Bianca who said they were going there tonight but Irene was great to me while I was there so I just upgraded it a little." Kyle says.

"That was kind of you. I'm surprised you didn't want to stay there longer." Lucas jokes, having enjoyed it himself when he'd been over there with Kyle. "You basically ate diner food all the time without having someone else stealing it when you're not looking."

"I see you've seen the real side of Heath then?" Kyle scoffs. "He does that, just normally when you're in the middle of eating it instead."

"He did that once when I was tired and I may have gotten a little angry." Lucas smirks. "Anyway, we've got the house to ourselves so I want to tell you something." He says before going quiet.

"Sure, what did you want to say?" Kyle asks, noticing something was off since he said it. "Lucas, are you okay?" He frowns.

"No." Lucas sighs.

"What's wrong? You can tell me." Kyle says.

"I know, I've been excited to tell you for a while, but I'm… I'm pretty scared of your reaction." Lucas mutters.

"Why would you be scared?" Kyle frowns, even more confused now. "Are you in trouble? Has someone threatened you?"

"No, nothing like that." Lucas shakes his head. "Whatever happens, you'll always be there for me, won't you?"

"I'm not going anywhere, and I'm back here for good now as well. The meds I'm on are finally starting to feel better and Nate says my body is getting used to them now, so I don't have to worry about any bad days again. Is that what you're worried about?" Kyle asks.

"No, there's something I need to tell you." Lucas says, staring at Kyle for a few moments before finding the courage to go ahead with it. "I've never had a girlfriend before, or even been interested in getting one because I'm gay." He says, his heart starting to pound in his chest.

"That's great Lucas!" Kyle smiles, hugging him. "Is that what you've been so worried about?" He asks, getting a nod in reply.

"I haven't told anyone else, not even Tyler knows. I didn't know how to tell people but I've been questioned over when I'm going to settle down and I don't want to live a lie." Lucas says.

"Well I'm really happy for you." Kyle smiles. "You don't have to lie about it. I know I've never been in your situation, or even know of anyone that has but I don't think you need to worry about telling anyone else. As long as you're happy, our brothers will be happy for you as well. They may not seem like it giving their history with gangs, but Brax and Heath have always made it clear to me that they'll be happy with me as long as I'm happy with myself. You're no different."

"But Brax and Heath can be scary, and look at how they are with Tyler. What if they kick me out because I'm gay?" Lucas asks.

"Lucas, they're nothing like the River Boys. They're only like that with Tyler because he draws in bad attention that could get the cops on our backs again. They've worked hard to get to where they are today, and nothing to do with your sexuality will change that." Kyle says. "If you're scared about telling them, maybe just leave hints until you're ready to properly tell them. You know your secret is safe with me and it's your choice as to when people find out."

"Thank you." Lucas smiles, hugging Kyle again.

"So at the family meal when you said you've fallen for someone but can't tell me who it is, can I know now?" Kyle asks.

"Nope!" Lucas grins. "I don't think I'm even going to say because I don't want to embarrass myself."

"Why would you embarrass yourself?" Kyle frowns.

"I don't think they're gay, and I'll look so stupid if it came out that I liked them. They may also not want to talk to me again, and they're a really good friend." Lucas says.

"You know if you told me, I could try and find out for you."

"No, you're too close to them!" Lucas quickly says. "If he was to find out, he might not be friends with you or Casey either, and I'm not ruining that."

"So it's someone in our friend group." Kyle mutters, trying to work out who Lucas had been closest to, thinking of a couple of them.

"You won't be able to work it out, and I'll make sure to hide it better now." Lucas smiles.

"You know I wouldn't tell them."

"I do, but I've revealed enough for one day." Lucas laughs as Heath and Casey walk in from their surf. "Did you move everything over from Irene's or do you need to go back for more?"

"Nope, I brought everything over. I was going to go to Angelo's for lunch before my shift started, do you want to come as well?" Kyle asks, glancing back at his brothers.

"I won't turn down free lunch." Heath says.

"Count me in as well." Casey says.

"Does Brax not mind us eating there for free? Surely his profits would be affected." Lucas says.

"If it bothered him, he would have stopped in a long time ago. Just be grateful for the free food." Heath smirks. "I'm going for a shower then we can go."

"Yeah, I need to unpack my stuff as well." Kyle says, picking his bags up before walking into the hallway behind Heath, heading into their rooms.

"Do you think Tyler would want to join us or is he sticking working every second to make up for what he did?" Lucas asks.

"Heath checked in on him before we went for a surf and Tyler has picked up four extra shifts this week. He doesn't even want to be paid for it, so yeah, he's definitely still trying to make up for it." Casey says.

"Does he know it's annoying Heath that he's trying so hard?" Lucas frowns, having thought he'd already been told about it but wasn't listening.

"Yeah, we've all told him. He's just freaking out about Brax finding out and wants to do everything he can to show that he's trying to make it right." Casey says.

"When is Brax going to be told?"

"I don't know." Casey shrugs. "I think Heath's going to let them enjoy the time they had on their honeymoon, then maybe tell them a week or so after that."

"I can just see Brax going mad over it being kept for him, especially if he isn't told straight away when they get home." Lucas says.

"I have tried telling Heath that, not that he shouldn't already know it. He thinks he knows best and is using the fact that he's in charge right now get in the way of that. All I know is that I am not getting involved once Brax has been told, I don't need a reason to be dragged into anything between them."

"So you think it's going to be really bad?"

"In the past, every time Brax has gone away for various reasons and left Heath in charge, he's come back to a problem. Last time it was Heath and Kyle falling out, and it nearly tore our family apart. I get that this isn't as bad as that, but it's still severe in the fact that Tyler could have been arrested if they were caught." Casey says. "We're not the first people to be suspects when something bad happens around here, but we used to be just because we're Braxton's and had a bad reputation because we were River Boys. I think I speak for us all when I say we don't want to be there again, cause trust me, having the police watching your every move just to get evidence or whatever isn't nice."

"Yeah, I can imagine that." Lucas nods. "I think this really scared Tyler, I've never seen him be so worried about being caught by the police. This is good, I know it."

"Let's hope you're right, things might not be good for a while else." Casey says. "Anyway, I'm going to grab a shower in the flat before we go." He says, heading into the flat as Lucas goes to his room while he waits for his brothers to be ready.