As soon as the teen set one foot inside the door, Johnny sprung into action. Surging out of his seat, he crossed the room quickly to loom over the boy.

"Where the hell have you been?" Johnny thundered as the teen slowly slid into the room, avoiding eye contact. "It's after two. Where were you, Bradin? Answer me, damn it."

"We've been sick with worry." Ava put in, as she too made her way across the room to stand at the side of her former boyfriend.

The boy fought hard against the urge to just turn around and head right back out the door. It wasn't like it would do him any good; he attempted to reason with his own reactions. After all, where would he go? He was smart enough to realize that leaving now would only delay the inevitable. Not to mention amplify the response he received. Slowly looking up at the unified pair, Bradin desperately wished for the never-ending night to be over. Staring briefly into his aunt's eyes, his response was barely above a whisper. "Sorry."

"Sorry?" Johnny returned in disbelief. "That's all you've got to say? 'Sorry?' Sorry isn't gonna cut it this time, kid. You better start talkin' and I mean now. Where have you been?"

"The beach." Bradin replied cautiously. "Just walkin' around."

Johnny wasn't buying it, though. Not with Bradin's past late night excursion still fresh in his mind. Not after watching Bradin lash out at his younger brother only days earlier. And certainly not after having spent hour after agonizing hour worrying about the teen and imagining all the horrible things that could be happening to him. "Just walking around, huh? You can't really expect us to believe that."

Looking out past the heated debate, Ava's heart skipped a beat as her eyes locked on the board Bradin had wisely left propped up against the side of the house for the first time. Before she knew what was happening, she found herself yelling at the dumbstruck teen. "You were surfing again? Bradin! We've been more than clear on this."

Though Bradin was momentarily shocked into silence by Ava's unexpected outburst, Johnny was not. He immediately picked up the tirade where the outraged aunt had left off. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to surf at night? Especially alone? Jay made that more than clear just a few days ago. How could..."

Stepping closer to the teen to emphasize how serious he was, Johnny's diatribe abruptly ended as he caught a whiff of the teen.

Bradin looked up hesitantly at him. The look on the man's face made it painfully obvious. His fervent prayers that his drinking would go unnoticed had not been answered. "Johnny."

"Drinking? You were drinking? Again?" Johnny demanded, as his voice rose with each passing syllable.

The boy felt his heart move up into his throat. "Johnny, I wasn't..."

"How could you?" Ava softly broke in, her eyes bright.

Johnny's response, however, was not quite so soft. Putting one hand on each side of the teen's head, he abruptly pulled the boy more than into his personal space as he sniffed the teen's breath.

Releasing his grip as Bradin instinctively pulled away, Johnny looked over his shoulder at his former girlfriend. The pained look on her face only doubled the realtor's indignation. The only thing he managed to say was a confirmation. "Beer."

"Aunt Ava," Bradin began, but quickly trailed off, unsure of what he could possibly say to the woman that would be appropriate.

Her tear-filled eyes practically burned a hole in the boy's heart as she quietly addressed him. "Go to your room, Bradin. We'll talk about this in the morning."

"Aunt Ava." The teen once again addressed her.

Johnny's voice quickly interjected, though. "Get upstairs Bradin."

When the boy hesitated, the man emphasized the order. "Now!"

Keeping his eyes locked on the pair, Bradin slowly made his way past them as he headed towards his room.

This was really, really not his night.