Arriving home, Aria headed into the kitchen and found Brax sitting at the table. Kissing him on the cheek in greeting, she grabbed herself a can of soda and took a seat opposite him.

"I was thinking of having a family meal tomorrow night," Brax said as Aria took a sip of her drink, "What do you think?"

"Depends on who will be there," Aria replied.

"Me, you, Heath, Casey, Kyle, Ruby, Bianca, Ricky… possibly mom."

"That should be fun… can I invite Romeo?"

"Romeo?" Brax asked with the slightest hint of a smirk, "You sorted it out with him then?"

"We're giving it a try," Aria told him with a shrug.

"What made you change your mind?"

"Well, your advice may have helped a little, but I also realized that if I was going to take a chance with anyone, then it might as well be him," Aria explained, lowering her gaze and continuing, "I just don't want to get hurt again."

"Look at me giving advice on boys."

"Yeah, yeah, don't let it go to your head," Aria added with a grin, pushing herself to her feet, "I'm going to make myself some pasta with mayo and tuna, do you want some?"

"Please," Brax stated, washing up his cup and leaning against the counter as he continued, "So, are you in favour of having a family meal?"

"I'm in, but if mom starts I'm not going to be responsible for what comes out of my mouth," Aria warned.

"If mom starts I'll handle it," Brax promised, "If I don't at least invite her, she'll kick off and that's the last thing I need right now."

"Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, at least, everything that you need to worry about is fine," Brax said, obviously noticing the sudden change in her expression, "You don't need to worry, why don't you finish making us some food and I'll set up a film for us to watch?"

Nodding, Aria gave him a small smile and returned to the pasta that she had put on the oven to boil. She loved that her brothers wanted to protect her and she knew that they could all take care of themselves, but that didn't stop her from worrying.

Waking up the next morning with a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach, Aria got ready for school and headed out. She loved her brothers more than anything and being a Braxton had never been something that she was ashamed of, but her mum was a totally separate issue.

Growing up, she often watched other kids with their parents and wondered why she didn't have the bond they did with either of hers. It wasn't until she was old enough to understand that she realized she did, but the bond she had wasn't with her mom and dad… it was with Brax.

Brax did everything that a parent should, he helped with homework, made sure they ate and were keeping out of trouble. She'd never really let it bother her after that, knowing that she had her big brother to guide her as best he could and not forming much of a bond with her mom.

"Hey you," Romeo said, snapping Aria from her thoughts and returning the smile that she sent his way, "You okay?"

"I'm good, you?" Aria replied as Romeo entwined their fingers.

"Can't complain."

"I have a favour to ask."

"Shoot."

"Brax is having a family dinner tonight at Angelo's and I was hoping that you'd be able to come."

"Of course, but are you sure that it'll be alright with your brothers?" Romeo inquired.

"Brax was the one that said I could invite you, besides Bianca, Ricky and Ruby are all going to be there as well," Aria reassured him with a grin, "I promise that I'll protect you from my big bad brothers."

Making her way straight home after school, Aria got changed and headed over to the restaurant with Brax. Texting Romeo to let him know that everyone would be getting there for seven, she decided to make herself useful and helped Brax set the table.

Heath was the first to arrive with Bianca, followed a while later by Kyle and the others. Hugging Romeo as he walked in, Aria went to get him a drink and returned just as her mom turned up. It was obvious that she was drunk, but that was hardly a shock, and neither was the glare on her moms face when she spotted Aria.

"What's she doing here?" Cheryl demanded, causing Aria to roll her eyes and glance up as Heath moved to stand beside her.

"This is a family dinner, why wouldn't she be here?" Heath added angrily.

"She's not family… she was just a drunken mistake," Cheryl spat.

"It's nice to see you too mom," Aria replied sarcastically, "I have to say it's always a pleasure to hear how much you despise me, especially when I know that you mean every word you say and can't blame it on the alcohol."

"Don't get clever with me girly…"

"Leave it out, mom or go home," Brax snapped as he joined them from the kitchen, "This is supposed to be a nice family dinner, my family and Aria will always be a part of that."

Motioning for everyone to sit down, Aria led Romeo to some seats as far from her mom as she could and tried to focus on getting through the night.

Authors Notes: There will be more action in the next chapter I promise, this is like the calm before the storm...