Glad that it was the weekend, Aria got ready and headed over to the diner to meet Andy. Walking in, she spotted him already waiting at a table and went to join him.

"Hey," Andy said with a smile as she sat down.

"Hey yourself."

Ordering their food, they ate and then made their way down to the beach. They were talking about the Summer Bay Talent Festival, when Aria heard someone call her name and turned around to see Charlie walking towards them.

"What can I do for you, sergeant Buckton?" Aria asked politely.

"I need you to come with me," Charlie replied, causing Aria to frown, "I'm placing you under arrest on suspicion of vandalism and assault.

"What?"

Looking over at Andy as Charlie placed her in cuffs, Aria felt fear rise in her chest and allowed herself to be put in the back of the police cruiser. The ride over to the station was silent and Charlie led her into a small room, leaving her alone while she went to ring Brax.

"Is Brax coming?" Aria mumbled as Charlie returned, swallowing past the lump that had formed in her throat and trying to stay calm.

"He's on his way," Charlie replied, taking a seat opposite her and looking up as one of her colleagues joined them, "I need to ask you some questions, where were you Wednesday night around nine?"

"At home doing homework like always."

"Do you recognize this?" Charlie inquired, showing Aria a picture and waiting for an answer.

"No."

Glancing over at the door as someone knocked, Charlie disappeared and came back a few minutes later with an angry looking Brax in tow.

"Aria, let's go..." Brax instructed, motioning for Aria to leave and placing his hands on her shoulders.

"We still need to ask your sister a few more questions," Charlie's colleague added as he blocked the doorway.

"You shouldn't have been asking my sister anything without myself present," Brax argued, "So, I suggest that you move out of our way and let me take her home."

"Let them go," Charlie ordered.

Climbing into Brax's Ute, Aria stared out the window as they drove home and followed him inside. Sat in the kitchen, she looked up as Brax took a seat opposite her and pushed a cup of hot chocolate across the table.

"I'm sorry," Aria mumbled after a long silence.

"What have you got to be sorry about?"

"I know how hard you try to keep us out of trouble, but I swear that I didn't do anything, Brax..."

"Hey," Brax stated, waiting until Aria looked at him and continuing, "I've never had to try to keep you out of trouble, Aria and I know that you didn't do whatever it is that they were accusing you of."

"Why are people so quick to accuse us of stuff?"

"We have a reputation for being trouble and that's what people expect from us, when in fact we do the things we do in order to protect each other... to look out for one another."

Pulling out her phone, Aria sent Andy a quick text to let him know that she was okay and decided to head over to the diner to tackle her homework as her brothers arrived home. Walking in, she greeted a few of the river boys with a smile and sat down at an empty table. She had been working for nearly an hour, when someone placed a milkshake in front of her and sat down.

"Need any help?" Heath asked as Aria looked up at him.

"Not really, but the company of my big brother would be nice," Aria replied.

"I can do that," Heath agreed with a smile, "Brax told us what happened, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Aria told him, shifting her attention to the doors and spotting Danny.

"Hey," Danny greeted as he approached them, slapping Heath on the back and sitting down, "I was thinking that we could go surfing or something, what do you think?"

"I'm in, Aria?" Heath said.

"No thanks, I'm busy here..."

"That's okay, maybe another time," Danny added, waiting for Heath to finish his drink and following him out of the diner.

So much for keeping me company, Aria thought, shaking her head and continuing the assignment she had started. It was another hour, before she gave up and made her way home.

The house was empty when she got there, but she knew that the others would soon be home and put some dinner in the oven to cook. Sat on the floor with her keyboard a while later, Aria worked on the song that she wanted to perform at the festival and ate her food.

"What are you working on?" Kyle inquired as he walked through the front door.

"A song for the Summer Bay Talent Festival."

"Seriously, you're entering?"

"Yep... there's food in the kitchen."

"Great, I'm starving."

Aria knew that Kyle was excited for her, but she was glad that he didn't make a huge deal out of it and left her to get on with it by herself. She had just figured out the melody, when Heath entered the house with blood trickling down his face and a soon to be black eye.

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing..."

"Well that's convincing," Aria replied, rolling her eyes and pulling him into the kitchen by his hand, "Sit..."

She knew that it had something to do with her dad, but Heath refused to tell her what happened and disappeared as soon as she finished cleaning him up.

Author's Notes: Finally back! Hoping to get back into the swing of writing... it's been a rough time!