Since Kyle snapped at Casey, things had been a little tense. Kyle hadn't seen him since to apologise, and Casey hadn't either, although he wasn't really sure he was meant to apologise for, still confused by what happened. But Casey had finally plucked up the courage to go and see Kyle, wanting to hang out for a bit so they could start getting along again. He also wanted to see if he could notice anything else strange going on with his brother.

Braxton House

As he got to the Braxton household, Casey walked inside the empty house. He knew everyone else was out, and he was glad to see a note left on the table from Phoebe telling Kyle she had gone to an appointment and wasn't due back for a while. Walking into the hallway, he saw Kyle's door was slightly ajar, so he pushed it open and walked in, getting the shock of his life as he saw Kyle in the middle of getting dressed, his upper body covered in thick, dark bruises.

"Casey!" Kyle gasps, grabbing a hoodie from the side before quickly putting it on.

"I'm sorry, I-" Casey mutters, too shocked to speak. "I should go." He mutters, about to turn to walk out when Kyle shoves him against the wall.

"Don't tell anyone what you saw." Kyle stares at him.

"Kyle-"

"Promise me you're not going to tell anyone."

"Okay." Casey faintly nods.

He knew he had to tell Brax what he saw, he had no doubts about that. All sorts of scenarios were playing out in his mind and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to Kyle, knowing he could have prevented it. It just made him wonder more where Kyle got such horrific bruises from, knowing they weren't from walking into a door or tripping over something. This was something a lot worse, or even someone.

"Where did you get those bruises from?" Casey asks.

"It's nothing. What're you even doing here?" Kyle asks, releasing his grip on Casey before taking a few steps back, shoving his hands into his hoodie pockets.

"I just came to see if you wanted to hang out today." Casey mutters, unable to shake the feelings of something sinister going on, although he didn't want to believe that Kyle was being abused after what their father was like to them.

"No, I can't today. Maybe another time." Kyle mutters with a small shrug.

"Are we okay? After what happened in Angelo's the other week I just want to make sure that you're not still mad at me for something." Casey says.

"We're fine, I was just having a bad day, and then getting a warning from Brax about my job. I took it out on you and I shouldn't have. I'm sorry, I should have found you sooner to say that." Kyle says.

"No, it's fine. I've been really busy at the gym and wanted to give you some space to work through whatever you had going on." Casey says, sighing to himself. "Can you please just tell me what happened? I promise it will stay between us whatever it is. I'm worried about you."

"Casey, I'm fine. I just slipped over in the shower and didn't ice it straight away. Just keep it between us anyway, I don't need anyone else worrying about me when I'm fine. And don't tell Phoebe you were here, I don't need another fight starting between her and Denny." Kyle says.

"Denny doesn't have any issues." Casey says, wondering why Phoebe had problems with them.

"Can you just go now, please?"

"So you don't want to hang out during this rare time you have away from your girlfriend?"

"No, I don't." Kyle shakes his head.

"Fine, I'll go. I would say I'll see you around, but we both know that's not going to happen if Phoebe has her own way." Casey mutters before walking out.

Surf Club - Angelo's

Pacing back and forth in the small office, Casey glanced at his watch, hoping Brax would turn up soon. He was sure he was going to tell him what he saw, especially since Kyle is now blaming Denny for the fights that started between her and Phoebe. Phoebe had issues with the whole family, and he didn't know why Kyle couldn't see that. He wasn't sure what was going to happen next, he just knew something had to.

"Hey Case, I was told you wanted to speak to me about something important?" Brax asks as he walks into the office, dumping some books on the desk before turning to face his brother.

"I went to ask Kyle something earlier, and didn't think to knock before walking in his room-" Casey starts before being cut off.

"Case, if you've walked in on Kyle and Phoebe again, don't complain to me." Brax quickly stops him.

"No, I didn't, and please just listen to me, it is important." Casey says, Brax nodding for him to carry on. "Phoebe wasn't home but Kyle was in the middle of getting changed. His stomach and arms were covered in bruises and scratches. You were right about Phoebe, she's abusing him and that's how she's getting inside his head, it must be." He says, now having got Brax's full attention.

"What do you mean covered?" Brax asks.

"Exactly what I said! They were really thick and dark purple and there were some that looked like they were pretty old. After the family meeting the other day, I think it's pretty clear what's been going on." Casey says.

"Did you ask Kyle how he got them?"

"Yeah, but he just used the pathetic excuse of slipping over in the shower." Casey says. "I've done that before but I've never ended up with my whole body covered in bruises. I mean he had trousers on, but I could tell it wasn't just his upper body that was bruised. He was also quick to cover them up, which surely he wouldn't have done unless he was trying to hide them for a reason?"

"Right." Brax sighs, rubbing a hand over his face. "If he really did slip in the shower, then he's got no reason to hide them, not in my opinion. And if you say his body was covered with old bruises as well, then it doesn't match up. Yeah, Kyle can be clumsy sometimes, but never to this extent. Do you think something more serious is going on, and don't lie to me."

"Yeah, like I said, I think Phoebe is hurting him and he is too scared to admit it." Casey says. "I think for this to stop… I don't even know. How do we stop something like this without making things worse?"

"I don't know, I haven't dealt with something like this before. Dad always made it known when he was being abusive, and I don't want to make things worse for Kyle in case we've got this whole situation wrong. Maybe he is being abused, maybe he isn't. It might not even be Phoebe for all we know, she could just be a hard to crack person." Brax says.

"Maybe, but it still wouldn't explain where he's getting these bruises from. If it's not from Phoebe, then who else would they be from?" Casey questions.

"Has he been going out to meet anyone else, do you know?" Brax asks, knowing it was a long shot, he just wanted more to go on.

"Uh, not that I know off. It's not like he ever had a lot of mates here as it was, I think that's pretty much non-existent now. He spent all of his time with Victoria, no one else was really that important to him like she was." Casey says. "Do you think she might know more than us?"

"I doubt it. I think she would have told me if there was anything to worry about that time I spoke to her, and there was nothing. There was just that thing with Phoebe that caused her to break up with Kyle, but she was refusing to say." Brax says. "I'm going to go and talk to Kyle, see if I can find out some more about these bruises. Maybe he'll decide to talk to me about them, maybe he won't, but there's no harm in trying."

"Well Phoebe left a note on the table saying she had gone to an appointment and wouldn't be back for a while, so that gives you some time alone with Kyle, and that might make him feel more safe." Casey says.

"Or she'll turn up right as we get to that point like she did when she came home early from her gig. But either way, I'm going to try and get to the bottom of this." Brax says with determination, hoping he'd get somewhere with it. "And just keep this between us two for now, I can't have the others getting wind of it in case they go in questioning Kyle as well."

"Don't worry about that, this will stay between us." Casey says before they both walk out.