Braxton House - The Flat

"I didn't want to lie and I felt bad for it every time I had to do it." Kyle sighs. "But I also felt bad for getting back with Emily when I said I wasn't going to."

"You know if you explained all of this at the time, I wouldn't have been angry. You were so mad and upset at Emily when she cheated on you with Brent and hid it from you for ages, but you did the same to us." Brax shakes his head.

"I know." Kyle hangs his head in shame. "I'm the one that has to live with the guilt of lying to you like I did, and I'll accept that no one will trust me again. I really love her Brax. We actually went to couples counselling to work through the issues we had and it helped so much and made us stronger than ever. We talk to each other when there's been a problem and we work through it together. I know everyone hates me for what I did, but I'm not going to lie any longer, I love Emily and I'm not breaking up with her."

"We wouldn't have even asked you to break up with her!" Brax snaps. "Seriously, Kyle, do you think that little of me, of us, that you think we'd make you do that?"

"Well-"

"Great, thanks." Brax says, still not having any luck in opening the door, and he couldn't find the spare key either.

"I don't think little of you! I see you all with your partners and I want to be happy like that! I've got that with Emily and I know it's real this time. I don't get why you're so angry just because I'm back with her."

"This isn't about Emily!"

"Then what is it about?" Kyle frowns. "Cause you're only mad that I've been lying about being in a relationship with her."

"Exactly, I'm mad because you lied about it! You used to tell me everything, ask me advice on stuff even if you knew it would be crap, but then suddenly one day that all stopped and it was like I was a complete stranger to you again. What changed so much that you felt like you couldn't come to me about things anymore?" Brax asks.

"Nothing changed, I just didn't think you wanted me to offload to you all the time, or ask for stupid advice. I never felt like you were a stranger to me, or that I couldn't go to you about stuff."

"Then how come you're always asking the boys about stuff, or telling them stuff that then gets brought up and I have no idea what it's about. Am I just not a guy people want around anymore, is that it? Now that I'm married with a kid it makes me boring and not worth the time of day? But wait, Heath's the same but it made people crave his attention more!" Brax hisses, not understanding how his life changed so much when it didn't for Heath, who was basically going down the same road in life as him.

"Where's all this coming from?" Kyle frowns. "I've never intentionally left you out of stuff that the others know about, or… Have I really been that bad a brother over the past year that you think I don't care anymore?" He asks, and Brax merely stares at him, not because it was true but because he didn't want to sound pathetic over it all.

"It's not that." He eventually says. "None of this is about you lying, well not all of it."

"Then what is it about? And don't lie to me, you've already made it clear that it's wrong." Kyle says.

"I just feel like I'm not needed around here anymore. You're all moving on in life and that's great, but I don't see where I fit into this family anymore." Brax says, and he couldn't even recognise himself, not when he was being upfront about his own feelings. "Sometimes I even feel like Ricky doesn't need me, because she's got everyone else."

"But this family wouldn't be where it is today without you. I mean, how can you even say that? This family would fall apart if you weren't around." Kyle frowns.

"Would it? Cause it feels like everything would be just fine. You've all got each other, I'm not needed." Brax shrugs.

"Do you know how idiotic you sound?" Kyle asks, Brax glaring at him. "You know if I had to choose, it would always be you. You're the brother that has been there for me through the worst times of my life. I'll never forget what you did for me back when I was in hospital, I was in the worst headspace and just wanting it to be over. I wouldn't have got through that with anyone else because you just have this way of fixing things and no one knows how you do it."

"Don't lie, Kyle, we all know you prefer your triplets over me, especially Lucas. I'm fine with that, they're your full brothers and know you better than I ever will."

"That's not true! You know more about me than them both put together! Yeah, Lucas has been great to have around, but I'd still choose you, even though you're making it very clear it would be a stupid idea! I could never offload to him like I do to you-"

"Alright then, if that's so true then give me one good reason why I should believe that you wouldn't choose Lucas." Brax says.

"Why can't you just take my word for it?" Kyle asks, not wanting to say the real reason out loud.

"Cause somehow I don't believe you. All I'm asking for is one reason but if that's so hard." Brax scoffs, not thinking he was asking for a lot.

"Because you're like a dad to me!" Kyle shouts, hating the silence that followed. "I know I sound like an idiot for saying it, but it's true and I don't want to lose a person like you because I haven't had anyone like it before. I shouldn't feel like you've been a dad to me because you hate it when Casey's said that in the past, but you've been there for me more than anyone else in my whole life, cared more than anyone else. I'm so grateful for everything you've done for me, especially letting me be part of your family and I don't think you understand how much you mean to us all. You may feel like you're not needed anymore, but that's so far from the truth."

"Are you being serious?" Brax frowns.

"You think I'd lie about that after how stupid I feel saying it out loud to you? That's the truest thing I've ever told anyone, and I don't actually regret saying it. You asked for a good reason why I'd choose you over any of our brothers, and that's the reason. It doesn't mean I don't care about them, it's just I feel like I'd miss you the most if you weren't around. No one has ever been there for me as much as you have." Kyle says. "I've said some pretty cruel things to you since living here but you always came back and didn't make me feel bad for it, you shrugged it off. It means so much to have someone that I can go to and not be judged over what I say. And yeah, I know I go to Lucas about stuff, but never the stuff that I know would worry him. That's always been you because you know how to help me through it."

"Then why couldn't you just tell me this? And don't tell me it's because you felt stupid, that's a poor excuse." Brax says.

"I don't know, I guess I didn't want things to change. That time Casey said you were basically a dad to him, you got so mad and I didn't want the same to happen if I told you the truth about it."

"Kyle!" Brax groans, turning his back to Kyle as he rubs his hands over his face.

"You told me to tell the truth, I-" Kyle mutters, feeling like he should have stayed quiet, but then Brax turned to face him and he felt even worse. "Well now I feel like a dick, you didn't even cry when Henry was born."

"I'm not crying, it's hay fever!" Brax lightly glares, not knowing what came over him.

"I used the same excuse as a kid." Kyle says, smiling as Brax shoves him. "I'm really sorry about everything, I promise I won't lie about anything again. I didn't realise how bad it would make things and I don't want this to happen again."

"I just don't want you to feel like you can't come to me about stuff, no matter how much you think I'll hate it." Brax says.

"I won't, it was the worst decision I made." Kyle says.

"Come here." Brax sighs, pulling Kyle in for a man hug.

"So you don't hate me?" Kyle asks.

"Of course I don't." Brax says. "And I guess I can come around to the idea of you and Emily being back together."

"Yeah you will." Kyle smiles as Brax walks over to the couch.

"Well I'm glad that's all sorted now, cause there's a footy game on." Brax says, smirking at Kyle as he sits down next to him, not even caring that he hated watching it, he was just glad he sorted things out with Brax.