As soon as they entered the house, Aria could smell the alcohol and swallowed nervously as memories from her childhood resurfaced. Hearing Danny's voice, she instinctively stepped closer to Brax and looked at him as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

Coming to a stop just inside the door, she let Brax passed and fought against the panic that had crept into her stomach. Seeing him brought back a mixture of strong emotions, but fear was prominent above all else and Aria hated that he could still evoke such a reaction from her.

"I'm glad that you all decided to come," Danny said, handing Heath and Brax a beer as Cheryl joined them, "You youngsters have grown up."

"That's what happens when you're not around," Brax replied, earning a glare from Cheryl and rolling his eyes at her, "What are you doing here, dad?"

"I just wanted to see my kids, that's all..." Danny told them, "I know that you're all angry at me and I deserve every ounce of it, but I'm trying to start over. All I'm asking is that you give me one last chance to prove that I can be a better person..."

"Why now?" Casey added, "You've spent the majority of our childhood in and out of prison, what's so different about this time?"

"Nothing is different, but now is all I have," Danny stated with a shrug, "I can't change the past, but I can change the person that I am and try to make up for the hell I put you all through."

Not believing a word of what Danny was saying, Aria stood in silence and waited to see what her brothers would do.

"Doesn't look like you've changed much to me," Kyle replied, drawing Aria's attention to him, "You claim to want to change and that's great, but they're just drunken words."

"Let me prove it to you then."

Having heard everything before, Aria left without a word and leaned against Brax's Ute to wait. Looking up as she heard the door, she spotted Kyle approaching her and smiled.

"If it makes you feel better, I don't want anything to do with him either..."

"It's not about that," Aria mumbled as Kyle stood next to her, "You guys can do whatever you want, but I've heard everything that he just said before and nothing ever changes."

"Heath seems to believe it."

"Heath just wants his dad in his life and I get it, but I haven't needed him or Cheryl for a long time now," Aria admitted with a shrug, "Can you let Brax know that I've gone home?"

"Of course," Kyle replied, "Be careful."

Nodding, she hugged him and headed home. Lying on her bed, she heard her phone chime and pulled it out to find a text from Andy.

'Hey, how are you?'

'Been better, are you busy?' Aria replied.

'No, why, what's up?'

'Meet me at the beach in half an hour?'

'I'll be there.'

Thinking about Romeo, Aria found that she didn't feel guilty for not reaching out to him and grabbed a jacket as she went to meet Andy. Romeo was a great guy and she didn't doubt that he would be there for her if she needed him, but he could never understand what she was feeling. Spotting Andy already waiting as she arrived, she pulled her jacket closer around her body and made her way over to him.

"Hey," she greeted, offering him a small smile as he looked over at her, "Thanks for coming."

"You know I'm always here, despite knowing that your boyfriend is going to be pissed," Andy replied.

"What do you mean?" Aria asked with a frown.

"He may have had a word with me about our friendship," Andy admitted with a shrug, "Turns out that he's not too keen on the idea of us hanging out."

"I can't believe him," Aria added angrily, turning to leave and stopping when Andy gently grabbed her arm.

"He's just looking out for you and I get it because I'd do the same."

"That doesn't give him the right to go around acting as if he owns me," Aria argued, relaxing a little under Andy's touch, "He doesn't get to decide who I spend time with..."

"I'm still here," Andy told her, "Now, forget about him and tell me what's going on?"

"Danny's back in the bay," Aria mumbled as they walked along the sand, "I went with the others to see him, thinking that maybe it would help, but it only dragged up emotions that I thought were long gone and I don't know how to handle it."

"Seeing him must have been rough, especially after how things went down last time," Andy replied, glancing over at her and continuing, "You don't actually want to talk about it though, right?"

"Not really."

"Okay then," Andy said, coming to a stop and turning to face her, "Tell me what you do want to do then?"

Looking into his concern filled eyes, Aria allowed her heart to control her actions and kissed him. Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, she retrieved it and answered as Brax's name flashed across the screen.

"Hey, Brax."

'Where are you?' Brax inquired, trying to keep the hint of panic from his voice and failing.

"I just went for a walk," Aria told him, glancing back at Andy, "Needed to clear my head."

'Don't stay out too late.'

"I'm on my way home now."

Hanging up, she put her phone back in her pocket and tried to figure out what to say. Stepping forward without a word, Andy lifted her chin and pressed a quick kiss against her lips.

"I don't know what this is, but we need to talk about it and you need to figure out what you want," Andy stated, backing off slightly as Aria nodded in agreement, "Come on, I'll walk you home."

"Thanks."