Mckenna had been helping Ricky prepare dinner for nearly an hour, when the others arrived home and she hugged them all in greeting. Sat around the table a while later, she listened as they all talked about their days, and the realization of just how much she'd missed began to set in.

It was late by the time they finished catching up and Brax offered Mckenna the sofa, which she happily accepted. Laid in the dark a few hours later, Mckenna stared at the ceiling and sighed when the time reached 3 am with no sign of sleep in sight.

"Couldn't sleep?" Brax asked as he joined her a little after sunrise.

"It's going to sound stupid, but it was too quiet..." Mckenna replied, running a hand tiredly over her face and sighing.

"That doesn't sound stupid at all... at least not to me," Brax reassured her, "How about some coffee?"

"Yes please."

Once she'd finished the breakfast that Ricky had made, Mckenna left and made her way over to Mangrove. Despite her brothers now all living in Summer Bay, she was still living at their childhood home with their mom and it wasn't always easy growing up. Not wanting to just walk in, she took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"They let you out then," Cheryl said in greeting, leaving the door open and walking back inside.

"Nah, I broke out," Mckenna mumbled, rolling her eyes and closing the front door before heading into her room, "Mom, where's my stuff?"

"What stuff?"

"My phone, laptop... clothes."

"The bills don't pay themselves," came Cheryl's response from the other room.

"No, apparently my stuff does though."

Not wanting to spend more time in the house than she had to, Mckenna grabbed a shower and decided to head down to the beach. It was one of the things that she'd missed most being locked up, surfing, and just standing at the water's edge with the sand between her toes.

Lunchtime soon came around and she walked over to the Diner, ordering herself some food. The sound of laughter soon caught her attention and she glanced towards the door, smiling as Casey pulled her into a tight hug.

"Mac, this is my girlfriend Ruby," Casey introduced as a girl came over to join them, "Rubes, this is my sister Mckenna."

"It's nice to meet you," Ruby added with a warm smile.

"You too," Mckenna replied, "How'd you get stuck with this one?"

"Bad luck I suppose, but he's pretty so I'll keep him."

With a chuckle, she turned as her order was placed on the counter and left her younger brother to spend time with his friends. Unsure of what to do, she made her way over to Angelo's and stuck around to help out.

Freedom was all that she'd craved while locked up, but now she had it and it was a lot harder to fall back into the swing of life.

Author's Notes: Not 100% happy with this, but I like the direction and it's a good addition to the foundation of this story! Happy Reading