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He pulled up to the familiar looking house. In a lot of ways he had thought of this place with its wide, open windows and stone siding as his own. Nick had spent a lot of his time here in the place his boss lived. At one point he had even taken residence in one of the guest bedrooms when he was too messed up to stand the memories that broke him in his family's home. This place wasn't dark and dreary and filled to the roof with haunted memories. No, Zac's home was bright and full of light and laughter.

As he exited his car, carrying a dish of his famous cannoli's, he heard that laughter coming from inside. It was no doubt the laugh of his favorite little girl and when he rang the doorbell he was greeted with an answer.

"Uncle Nick!" Lily screamed, racing toward him and wrapping her tiny arms around his body. She nearly knocked him down in her excitement to hug him.

Nick smiled and patted her head. "What's up, Lee Lee?"

The little girl with Zac's sandy brown hair and Vanessa's wide brown eyes stepped back from him and crossed her tiny arms over her chest. "I'm mad at you," she pouted.

He bent down to get to her level, his hand reaching out to tap her nose. "And why's that?"

"You were gone. For weeks!"

"I'm sorry about that. Think you can ever forgive me?" he questioned, doing his best to make his eyes wide and hopeful.

Lily stared at him, her anger wavering. She huffed and stomped her foot before grabbing his hand and tugging him inside. Quiet music filtered in from the living room as Lilly pulled Nick down the hallways that were filled with black and white photos of their family. They were filled with smiling faces and tongues poking out or faraway shots of the happy couple kissing. This was the shining exception to everything Nick believed about his line of work. Somehow amongst the chaos, Zachary Efron had found a way to be let himself take the risk and be happy.

It wasn't always easy. There was a time when Zac had fought against his relationship with Vanessa and times when Vanessa couldn't handle the long hours that came with the job. It would take years for the two of them to even consider having a child. Yet somewhere along the way they decided they were through letting the job dictate how they lived. They still fought but as with most meant to be couples, the good outweighed the bad.

"He's here!" Lilly screamed when they entered the kitchen. Vanessa had her hair curled and pinned up as she bustled around getting dinner ready. She wore a pleated green dress that had her famous "Diva in Training" apron over it. It was a gift from her older sister, who Nick had only recently found out was Mileys's mother.

Tonight was certainly going to be interesting.

Zac appeared from behind the fridge and clapped his hand on Nick's back. His eyes squinted, "Do I know you?"

"Hardy har. Very funny. Couldn't exactly keep me from Lee Lee very long," Nick winked at Lily who had taken a seat at the kitchen island. The little girl blushed and quietly took a sip of her orange soda.

"Certainly going to try," Zac grunted as he strolled over to his daughter and wrapped his arms around her. "There's no way I'm letting you corrupt her."

Nick held his hands up. "I simply want to educate the youth of America. Think of me as a young Mr. Rogers."

Canessa barked out a laugh. "Sure. If Mr. Rogers wore leather jackets and didn't know how to settle down."

"Mr. Rogers was a player, V," Nick responded. "He knew how to work those sweater vests."

She merely rolled her eyes, shook her head and returned to spooning the ricotta and parsley mixture onto the layers of lasagna. Nick watched as Lily carefully sprinkled parmesan cheese on to the spread and couldn't help but smile. The sound of the doorbell snapped them all from their watching and cooking and a sense of awkwardness seemed to take over everyone except Lily, who hopped off her chair screaming, "I got it!"

Nick could only watch as the little girl disappeared down the hallway. It was only Vanessa's calm voice that brought him back. "Miley's put on a bit of a hard shell since my sister and brother-in-laws death. You'll have to excuse her upcoming reaction. I forgot to tell her you were coming."

"Forgot?" Zac coughed. "More like knew she wouldn't show up."

"That too." Vanessa smiled.

The sound of heavy feet in the entry way and a deep laughter cause Nick to turn back towards the hallway. He came face to face with a kid in his late teens baring an eerie resemblance to Miley. His shaggy brown hair hung just below his eyebrows in a way that caused him to constantly shake his head and a pair of deep blue eyes peeked between the strands. He was dressed in a pair of ripped jeans and a Grateful Dead t-shirt that he paired off with a worn-in pair of Converses. As he entered the kitchen, he threw Lily over his shoulder.

It was only when Braison raced toward the couch to tickle Lily that he saw her. She was dressed in faded jeans with a navy Henley and, like her brother, she had on Converses. The family must've had some kind of deal with the brand or it was pretty popular with mini Cyrus'. Her hair was pin-straight and went nearly to her waist. She was dressed so casual it was almost shocking to see. Upon seeing him her eyes widened before that female death glare was aimed in his direction. "What is he doing here?"

"I invited him," Zac answered. "He's come here for Sunday dinners for as long as I can remember."

She crossed her arms over her body and shifted her weight to one side. "And you just forgot to mention this because…"

"Because I knew you wouldn't come," Vanessa replied, putting the lasagna in the oven. "Nick is Lilly's godfather and he's practically a brother to Zac. He's a part of this family too."

Zac put his arm around his wife. "And I think as partners you both need to stop walking on eggshells around each other at the office. There has to be some sort of trust between the two of you or one of you is going to end up shot or worse."

"I trust Nick to have my back," Miley stated without a hint of doubt. It was enough to bug Nick's eyes out of skull. That was the closest to a compliment she had given him. She turned towards him and let out a huff. "That wasn't me stroking your ego, by the way. Just simple fact. You're good at your job despite being a jackass."

He tried to ignore the way her voice went straight to his cock when she implied stroking anything enough to formulate a response. "Same goes for you, Cyrus. Despite being a tightass."

Her eyes narrowed but before she could answer, her brother reentered the room. "Whoa! Tension, much?" He went right for the fridge, pulling out a can of root beer, before plopping on an empty chair. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing, Brais. Mind your own business," Miley groaned.

"Nice to see I'm not the only who gets on her bitchy side." Nick held his hand out. "I'm Nick. Miley's jackass of a partner."

Braison shook his hand. "Braison. The pesky little brother."

"Looks like I'm not the only one who gets on Miley's bad side," Nick whispered with a wink. Miley heard him of course and narrowed her eyes in annoyance. It was fun seeing her like this; where she couldn't exactly have an office to escape to. He was determined to break down some of those walls tonight.

Braison laughed. "Not by a long shot. Any good at Grand Theft Auto?"

"Per the job description I'm completely against it but give me a console and I'm all for it."

"Do you mind, Zac?"

Zac shook his head, laughing. "All set up in the family room."

Jumping off his seat, Braison nodded towards the room. "Right this way, Nick."

Nick followed mini-Cyrus and began to play one of his best performances of Grand Theft Auto to date. For some reason his coordination was stellar even with Miley ranting and raving behind his back. She wasn't exactly being subtle and her hushed whispers were carrying over into the other room. Despite Vanessa's pleas more than once that he was good looking, Miley kept stating the overused nickname of him being an ass.

At some point she must've given up because the sound of stomping feet retreated from hearing distance and when he turned around she was gone. Vanessa and Zac gave him apologetic glances but he wasn't having any of it. It was enough of her uncalled for attitude. So what if he was a player, that had nothing to do with her judgmental attitude. With an apology to Braison, he stood up and went to look for her.

He found her in the formal living room leafing through a leather bound photo album near a window seat. Small but noticeable tears were making their way down her cheeks. It was enough to stop his angry tirade until her head lifted and she gave him a look of pure hatred. "What are you stalking me now?"

"You trespassed on my Sunday dinners."

Miley scoffed. "Sunday dinners were my mother's thing. Vanessa just carried on the tradition when they moved here." He noticed her eyes drift down as her fingers danced along one of the images. "Weekends are the only time I can relax and not think about work and yet here you are."

Nick found himself clenching his fists. They were going to have it out once and for all. "What the hell is your problem? Did I wrong you in another life? Steal your Barbie or something?"

"And here come the sexist comments again," Miley pointed out with a challenging arch to her brow. "Who's to say I didn't play with Tonka trucks?"

"I'm sure you were a real boy, Pinocchio. Now answer the question."

In their back and forth he had somehow managed to tower above her and she now looked up at him with hurt in her eyes. "You're a distraction," she finally answered. Her voice was low and he had almost missed her words had their not been a distinction between the syllables.

"From what? Your job? You seem pretty dedicated to me."

"I have to catch these guys, Nick." Miley turned away from him to gaze out the window.

He sat beside her and found himself reaching out to cup the side of her face. Something he never did but found himself doing. It was what his mother used to do when she comforted people. She would always say that when people felt alone they needed some type of connection in order to open up and the touch was the way to do it. Cupping someone's face was her trademark and apparently he was adopting it. "Why?" he whispered. "You never came across these guys in DC. What do they have to do with you?"

Her eyes met his, wide and open and full of trust. "Because… some other family could suffer the same fate as mine."

Nick's brows furrowed. "What are you saying, Miley?"

"I'm saying that it's my fault my parents are dead."