A while later…
"Damn A/C unit." Ryan muttered, trying to fix the A/C as Ali, Amber and Brady walked in.
"Ryan!" Ali says, Ryan quickly spinning around to see her, Brady and Amber.
"Sorry… second time today that the damn thing stopped running." Ryan says as he and Ali hug.
"Floridians rely heavily on A/C, especially when we're barely out of summer." Ali says before she and Ryan let go. "Ryan, this is Amber and Brady Crockett. Guys, this is Ryan Rivera." She says, Ryan and Brady shaking hands before Ryan shook Amber's hand.
"Crockett… any relation to Billy Crockett?" Ryan asks.
"Younger half siblings." Amber says.
Out in the South Beach area, Sonny knocked on the door to Rico's house and it opened, revealing Rico and Trudy's daughter Veronica.
"Hi… Sonny, right?" Veronica says.
"That's right… old man around? I haven't seen him in quite a few years." Sonny says.
"Yeah." Veronica says, letting Sonny into the house and closing the door as Rico walked in from the backyard.
"Sonny?! Damn, it's been forever." Rico says as they hug.
"You finally settled down with Trudy, huh?" Sonny asks jokingly as they let go.
"Yep. Hey, have you met Martin and Gina's kids yet?" Rico says.
"Briefly… did they tell you about me, Julia and our kids?" Sonny says.
"Yeah… it's been rough lately, hasn't it?" Rico says, waiting until Veronica walked down the hallway and into her room.
"Yeah… and I also know what happened to Ali. Poor kid… she did what she had to do to save her older brother though, she reminds me of how Gina was after killing that guy that broke into her apartment." Sonny says.
"Same thing… did what she had to. But being justified doesn't take away guilt." Rico says.
"It never does." Sonny says.
A few hours later…
"Stop giggling, damn you!" Brady whispers as he and Ali drunkenly snuck into the Castillo house, Ali more drunk than Brady.
"You drank as much as me, how are you still sober?" Ali asks.
"Because I'm a lot bigger than you and not so much a lightweight… but that's not to say I can't see like a granny who forgot her glasses." Brady says.
Ali laughed again, letting out a slight squeak as her right knee slammed against the coffee table and Brady catching her… before both heard footsteps upstairs.
"Oh, damn…" Ali whispers, Brady seeing Miguel charge at him with the bat.
"Get away from my sister!" Miguel yells, swinging at Brady.
"Hey, chill!" Brady says, grabbing the bat. "We both had a bit too much to drink, I was helping her home." He says, Miguel still angry and not believing him.
"Oh yeah, that's what they all say, right before the-" Miguel shouts, cut off by Brady grabbing him by the underside of his chin and running him back against the wall.
"You're speaking to Brady Crockett, pal, and you'd better get your damn head straight!" Brady growls.
"Calm it down before Mrs. Harris wakes up and starts yelling." Ali says, the lack of food in her stomach and the alcohol making her feel sick.
"Damn, how much did she have to drink?!" Miguel asks after Brady lets go of him, both helping Ali sit down and Brady lightly brushing Ali's hair back.
"That's the last time I let you talk me into tequila shots, pal." Ali says, resting her head against Brady's shoulder.
"She's piss drunk, we've gotta get her upstairs and sober before my parents get home!" Miguel says, Brady picking Ali up into his arms and standing up.
Miguel and Brady helped Ali upstairs, Miguel opening the second door to the right and Brady walking in, lightly putting Ali on her bed and making sure she was on her side.
"Amber get this drunk sometimes?" Ali asks.
"Amber's been drunk like you wouldn't believe… once, she ran off and drank her head stupid, we found her three hours later passed out on the beach next to a stolen Dodge pickup." Brady says.
"Miguel, why didn't you meet up with us earlier and have fun?" Ali asks after kicking her sandals off.
"My idea of fun is not drinking til you're senseless, Ali." Miguel says, Brady holding Ali's hair back as she threw up in the small red trash can nearby.
Ali eventually stopped and buried her face into her pillow, Miguel deciding to let her rest as Brady rinsed out the trash can and putting it back by Ali's queen sized bed. He snuck downstairs, returning with a bottle of water and some Advil, Ali taking two of them as Brady stretched out next to her, having to curl his legs up a bit.
"Sorry about the bed being too small, pal." Ali mumbles sleepily, Brady lightly rubbing his left hand up and down her left side.
Morning started too early in Brady's opinion as he rubbed his eyes when the sunlight hit them and looked down, seeing that Ali had curled her tiny frame up against him, her head resting on his torso and her right arm wrapped around him, reminding him of how Amber was after the attack.
Brady reached over Ali and grabbed his phone, seeing a text from Amber.
'Where'd you and Ali disappear to last night?'
'Went off for more than a few drinks… not sure whether she's in my arms or I'm in hers right now.' Brady replies.
'Typical, only you would find yourself in the same bed with someone you met only the day before!' Amber texts back.
'That's not what I meant! She's most likely had a nightmare.' Brady replies.
'Whatever you say. Just keep them on, boyo.' Amber replies, Brady smiling a bit, not exactly at the joke itself but at the fact that it was the first glimmer of humor Amber had shown since she was attacked.
Ali groaned quietly, finding waking up a bit difficult and slowly opened her eyes, looking up at Brady.
"How did we get back here?" Ali asks groggily.
"I halfway between carried and dragged you here." Brady says.
"I'm surprised Miguel didn't try to kill you." Ali says, her memory fuzzy.
"Believe me, he did, came at me with a damn bat. Had to hold him at the wall to chill him out." Brady says.
"Hey, keep it down over there!" Mrs. Harris yelled from the left of the Castillo house, Ali muttering in Cuban and Brady chuckling.
"That's the senile old neighbor, calls Miguel 'Marco' and always accuses him of playing loud music." Ali says as they let go, Brady carefully helping Ali up. "Thanks for… staying here last night." She says.
"Hey, I had to keep an eye on you. You were pretty nuts last night." Brady says.
"I've got to cut back on the drinking." Ali says as they hug, Brady sneaking out eventually.
Reaching the newly bought Crockett house, Brady tried to sneak in… but Sonny caught him.
"Ali holding up okay?" Sonny asks.
"Blacked out drunk, more like it. I had no idea someone so tiny can drink that much." Brady says.
Sonny nodded… but he was worried about Ali.