That night, Troy and Gabriella were face-timing. Suddenly a thought popped into Gabriella's head. "Oh, I meant to ask you today, what were you and Locky talking about before you played, it seemed pretty serious, is everything alright?"

"Yeah it's ok, I just wanted to check up on him, that's all."

"Is something wrong?"

He sighed. "Nothing's wrong per se, it's more just - you should let Locky tell you. He just has some feelings that I think he needs to talk to you guys about that you can deal with as a family. I just wanted to tell him that I wasn't just your boyfriend or Chad's friend, that I'm there for him too."

"That's so sweet Wildcat... I guess I should go talk to him then."

"Yeah that's probably a good idea."

She smiled. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams Baby, talk soon."

Gabriella went out to where her brothers and sisters were and turned to Lachlan. "Hey Bud, can I talk to you for a second?" Lachlan looked at her quizzically before nodding and following her to the other side of the room. "Troy told me that you guys had a chat today."

"What did he say?"

"He didn't tell me what you guys were talking about, he said that it was something that should come from you and that it wasn't his place to say but he did say that he thought we should talk about whatever you're feeling."

Lachlan sighed. "Yeah he's probably right." He proceeded to tell Gabriella everything he'd said to Troy that day and by the end of his explanation, she could feel the lump in her throat.

"God Bud, I don't even know what to say, I'm so sorry that we made you feel that way. Let's go through one thing at a time ok?" He nodded in response so she continued. "Alright first off, I'm sorry if we made you feel like we treat you on the same level as the girls, that wasn't our intention. I know you're only two years younger than me but you're always gonna be my little brother and I'm always going to protect you. That's never going to change Bud, just as I know that Chad's never gonna stop trying to protect me and none of us are going to stop trying to protect the two girls, it's just what you do when you have a younger brother or sister."

"I get that Gabi, but I'm supposed to be one of the men of the house and yet you're the one who's always getting hurt and trying to protect us."

She smiled sadly. "I get that Bud, I really do. It's a sucky situation overall. None of us want to see any of our siblings get hurt, but at the end of the day, if it's between me or one of you guys getting hurt, I'll take it in a heartbeat... Now about the left out thing, I'm really sorry that you feel that way, that's the last thing I want. You know that we all love you so much. The hard thing is that Chad, you and I all had a relatively normal childhood until they were born since Dad was still here. They never had him in their lives properly and everything's just gotten progressively worse since.

I guess in a way Chad and I are trying to give them as normal of a childhood as we can and in ways, taking over the role of their parents. Gosh Imi has even told me that she thinks of me as more of her mom than our actual mom which I had to correct quickly because at the end of the day, we're all brothers and sisters, I can't let her think like that. I guess in a way, that might be why they tend to go to us a bit more, but they do love you Bud, never forget that.

How about every weekend or every second weekend, we all go down to the park. You and Chad can have some brother time and maybe play a one-on-one or whatever you guys want to do. After that, you could spend some time playing with the girls?"

He smiled. "That'd be good G, but what about you?"

"Well I'm sure we can find something or if we can't think of anything, we could pick a lunch time and spend that time together at school, if you're fine with being seen with your big sister at school."

"Yeah I'd like that."

She pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry that you've been feeling like this but I love you Locky, so much and if you ever feel like this again or anything in general, come talk to me ok?" He nodded in response. "Ok good, you're such a good kid Locky, you're an amazing big brother to the girls and you're an awesome little brother for me and Chad. You're never on the outside of our family ok, we're all in this together, always."

He smiled. "Thanks G, I love you too. You're the best big sister ever."