It's now Saturday morning and Kyle and Casey enter the kitchen, and both get themselves a bowl of cereal each, then both sit down at the table and eat their breakfast.
Kyle looks down at his bowl and sighs, not feeling overly hungry as he's still extremely sore, physically and mentally, from the bullying incident.
The one good thing to come out of it though is that Heath hasn't been able to hassle him, given his absence, with being away at a personal trainers seminar.
"Morning boys," Brax says as he enters the kitchen and ruffles both their heads, then gives Kyle's shoulders a soft squeeze.
"How are you feeling, Ky?"
"Morning Brax. I'm feeling okay I guess, sore but okay," Kyle replies as he looks up at his older brother, knowing it is better to just go along with all his constant check-ins that he was okay then make a fuss.
"Well rest up today," Brax instructs and kisses Kyle on the top of the head; this is when Casey turns to Brax.
"Actually Brax we were planning on playing basketball with the boys today," Casey says in which Brax nods his head.
"Okay, but look after Kyle, I know you like to play rough so make sure that he doesn't get more hurt and be mindful you are still recovering from that gastro bug," Brax says causing Kyle to lower his head and sigh, slightly embarrassed that he's going to have his younger brother pretty much babysitting him.
Although in reality it's nothing new really, since he's the smallest of the friends he's often looked after by Casey and their friends.
"Don't worry Brax, the boys and I will look after him," Casey says and reaches over and rubs Kyle's back.
"Cheers Case," Brax praises and then he crouches next to Kyle and ruffles his hair.
"I want you to make sure that you stop if it gets too much for you," Brax says and smiles as Kyle nods in reply.
Brax stands up and squeezes Kyle's neck and once again kisses the top of Kyle's head.
After the boys eat their breakfast they put their dishes in the sink and Kyle washes them.
Afterwards they get changed and head to the basketball courts.
The two brothers reach the courts and only Dex and Ryder are there. When they see the brothers coming they stop bouncing the ball to each other and smile.
"Hey guys! Kyle, how are you feeling?" Ryder asks his friend.
"Hey Ryder. I'm feeling okay. I'm obviously still sore but nothing I can't handle," Kyle says with a smile and fumbles the ball as Dex bounces it to him.
"Okay, well hopefully Liam and Romeo won't be long and then we can start playing," Ryder announces, as Kyle bounces the ball to him.
"You sure you're okay to play, Ky?" Dex asks with concern, as he doesn't want his best friend to get hurt.
"Yeah, I'll be all good, but if I get too sore I'll sit out for a bit," Kyle explains to his friends who both nod their heads completely understanding that Kyle may have to sit out at some point.
Just then Romeo and Liam show up.
"Let's go!" Liam yells cheerfully causing all five friends to smile at their enthusiastic friend.
Liam walks over to Kyle and messes up his hair.
"Kyle! You can be in my team, mate. You, me and Romeo against those three losers!" Liam cheers, grinning; more than happy to have Kyle in his team.
"Sounds good," Kyle says in reply, adjusting his messed up hair.
"Awesome! We're going to carve up!" Romeo cheers.
"In your dreams! We're going to win!" Casey announces, as he challenges his friend, only to have Romeo laugh in his face.
"Only the best are going to win!" Romeo teases.
"Yeah that's me, Ryder, and Dex!" Casey argues, even though he knows that Romeo and Liam were pretty good athletes compared to Ryder and Dex, but it doesn't stop him from fighting a challenge.
"Let's play then and we'll see!" Romeo announces and holds his arms up for Ryder to chuck him the ball.
"You're on!" Casey challenges, looking at his older brother out of the corner of his eye, being protective to make sure Kyle doesn't get hurt.
Brax is currently preparing lunch when Heath walks in.
"Hey, Mate; how was the personal trainer program thing in Parramatta?"
"It was great actually; not that I needed to know anything extra with my skill-set being so awesome already, but in order to keep my certificate it has to be completed."
Brax rolls his eyes at Heath's egotism.
"Hey; where are the boys?" Heath asks, expecting the boys to be relaxing at home.
"Playing basketball with their friends," Brax says and shrugs his shoulders.
Heath nods his head lightly.
"Are you sure that's a good idea with Kyle being so lacking in skill?" Heath chuckles.
"He'll be okay, the boys will look after him, they always do. Besides, they never play so rough that Kyle can't join in," Brax says as he cuts up the chicken so that it can be seasoned.
"What's for lunch?" Heath asks.
He loves eating with the boys, as they always have such tasty meals.
"Soft chicken tacos," Brax replies.
It is one of Kyle's favourite meals and after the experience that he had, Brax thinks that he deserves it.
"Yum! Count me in, hope you cooked enough," Heath chuckles and slumps down on the couch, turning on the TV.
"I always do, especially when I can usually count on an unannounced extra," Brax smirks, rolling his eyes, implying towards Heath's continual popping over during meal time without warning.
"I can't think of who that would be," Heath chuckles sarcastically.
"Hmm, I bet you can't," Brax mumbles in reply and continues to focus on his meal preparation.
"Liam, pass it to me!" Kyle calls and Liam bounces the ball to him.
Kyle fumbles with it at first but then bounces it a few times and tries to pass it to Romeo, but Ryder catches it and starts to head towards the other basket.
They all follow after him and Ryder passes the ball to Casey who takes a shot and misses, Romeo grabs the ball and he and Liam run towards the other basket.
Everyone runs after him and Romeo passes the ball to Kyle who misses it and the ball collides with his stomach, he hisses in pain causing his friends and Casey to stop and turn to him.
"Are you okay?" Casey asks.
"Um…yeah," Kyle grimaces, causing Casey to give him a frown.
"How about we sit down, Ky? And these four can practice their jump shots and free throws?" Dex suggests, then he and his best friend go and sit on the bench and watch their friends continue playing.
Liam picks up the ball off the ground and takes a shot and gets it in.
"Ohhh yeah!" he yells out and smiles.
For the rest of the morning, the four boys continue to practice basketball shots while Kyle and Dex sit down it out and talk about comics.
At around twelve-thirty, the two younger Braxton brothers walk into the house and immediately smell the chicken.
"Yum! Brax that smells so good!" Kyle grins, as Heath walks around the corner and walks towards Kyle.
"Hey Spooky; you doing okay?" he asks, pulling Kyle into a hug and kissing the top of his head.
"I'm okay, got a little sore at one point but then Dex and I just stopped and talked about comics," Kyle says as Heath lets him go.
He then looks down nervously; afraid that Heath will tease him for being a geek, however, his brother surprises him.
"Sounds fun kiddo," Heath says smiling, and ruffles up his brother's hair.
"You good too, Snoopy?" Heath asks, as he nudges Casey who is glaring at him.
"I'm fine. Especially because you haven't been here hassling me recently," Casey spits.
Heath snickers.
"Good to hear! Hey, Spooky, let's sit down and watch some TV. Grumpy old Snoopy, can help Brax finish prepping lunch," Heath orders, causing both the boys to look at him.
"But I want to help," Kyle protests.
"What? That's not fair and I'm not even grumpy!" Casey yells at the same time.
"All three of you sit down and watch TV; I've got lunch under control," Brax informs, rolling his eyes at his brother's behaviour.
The younger three Braxton's sit down and Casey makes a grab for the remote and then hands it to Kyle.
"You pick Ky," he says with a smile and Kyle selects Ice Age, then three brothers watch the movie until Brax calls them for lunch.
The four brothers make up their soft tacos and then they all sit down and watch the movie while eating their lunch.
Come Sunday night, Kyle is reading one of his books on the couch while Brax is busy washing up and Casey is on the couch playing with his iPad, when he suddenly stops reading and puts his book down.
Casey notices Kyle sitting quietly in a daze out of the corner of his eye.
"What's up?" Casey asks.
"It's nothing," Kyle mumbles, shifting on the couch to try to alleviate his butterflies in his stomach.
"You're not a very good liar, Ky," Casey says, not taking his eyes off his game.
"Who's not a good liar?" Brax asks, entering the lounge room.
"Kyle; he reckons nothing's bothering him," Casey comments loudly.
Brax looks towards Kyle who awkwardly stares down at his book in his hands and notices Kyle seems clearly bothered by something and suspects it has something to do with his bullying incident.
"Ah Casey, would you mind heading to your room," Brax requests.
"What did I do?" he protests and scowls towards Brax.
"Nothing, Case. I just want to talk to Kyle alone for a moment."
"Why don't you and Kyle go somewhere else?" Casey asks, not wanting to move from his relaxing spot on the couch.
Brax raises his brow at Casey's talking back but decides not to fight over it, given that Kyle's concerns were the bigger priority.
"Casey, please do as I've asked. You can take your iPad with you and continue playing," Brax says calmly.
"Okay then; cool."
Casey gets up and leaves to his bedroom and Brax takes his spot on the couch.
"Now that we are alone, what's bothering you?" Brax asks softly.
"It's just I'm really worried about going to school tomorrow. How can I go back after everything that happened, despite still liking school?" Kyle mumbles sadly.
Brax sighs heavily and rests his hand on Kyle's knee.
"Kyle, what happened doesn't define you or make you any less of a person and you shouldn't let those bullies change you or make you unhappy in doing what you like with school. You also know that Bianca is going to keep an eye on you and I'm sure has alerted the teachers to keep a watch out," Brax assures.
"I guess, it's just hard thinking about it, especially after it was so humiliating," Kyle mumbles.
"I understand that kiddo, but if you feel like you can't handle it at any time or are hassled, I want you to go and see a teacher okay," Brax says, causing Kyle to nod.
"Good kid," Brax praises.
Monday at school goes smoothly for Kyle for a change and he is excited to be home in the kitchen preparing for dinner.
After feeling positive with his good day at school he is eager to share his cooking, considering he loves cooking and enjoys helping Brax out with the dinner, and would do it more but Brax wants him to focus more on his school work so only lets Kyle cook once a week.
He quickly rushes over to the flat and knocks on the door.
"Yeah!" he hears Heath call from inside.
Kyle cautiously opens the door and enters.
He sees Heath and Bianca sitting on the couch and shyly looks down.
"Are you staying at ours for dinner?" he asks sweetly and looks up at them both briefly.
"We'd love to, Kyle! What is Brax making?" Bianca asks.
"I'm actually cooking tonight, and we are having creamy bacon and basil pesto pasta, " Kyle mutters as his cheeks flush red.
"That sounds lovely, Kyle! Will there be enough?" Bianca asks.
"Yeah absolutely. We always make extra because Heath and Casey are bottomless pits, plus we never know when Heath will turn up and eat our food," Kyle casually admits with a smile.
Bianca giggles at Kyle's comment, while Heath glares at his younger brother.
Kyle takes this as his cue to leave and he runs out the door and goes back to cooking dinner, hoping that Heath isn't going to hassle him later for his comment.
While Kyle is cooking dinner, Casey and Romeo are playing a video game and Kyle can't help but roll his eyes.
They're playing FIFA and they keep yelling at the TV, like it would change their game.
"You hanging for dinner, Romeo?" Kyle asks as he's wondering if he needs to cook for one more.
"Nah mate, Mum's cooking a roast so I'm not missing out on that," Romeo replies not taking his eyes off the game.
"GOAL!" he yells right in Casey's face.
"It's only two in all, and I'll win in the end," Casey huffs and shoves Romeo away; there is no way he's losing.
Kyle keeps pottering in the kitchen and after a while Heath comes in and wraps his arms around Kyle's chest.
"Hey Maggie Beer! Or is it Teddy Bear or Kylie Bear?" Heath teases as he kisses the top of his head.
"Heath: cut it out! I'm trying to cook!" Kyle moans but can't help but smile, he loves it when Heath is like this!
He can be so caring and fun when he's not teasing. It was also nice to have a break from all the pranks.
"It smells amazing, little man," Heath praises and ruffles up Kyle's hair.
He then walks back and sits on the couch beside Casey and grabs the spare controller as Romeo had just gone home.
"Come on little brother, you may have beaten Romeo but let's see if you can beat me."
Later on, everyone is sitting around the table eating dinner.
"This is beautiful Kyle," Bianca says, making Kyle blush.
"Thanks Bianca," Kyle shyly replies and looks up from his meal to lightly smile at Bianca.
"Yep, he's a great little cook; aren't ya Ky. It's a huge help to me. As always his schooling comes first so he has limited time in the kitchen making dinner, but when he does it's worth it," Brax says and he ruffles Kyle's hair.
Kyle smiles widely, he loves whenever Brax praises him.
"Yep! You'll be treated to the best meals when you're with me babe, with my big fella running a restaurant and my little brother being a great little chef," Heath boasts, causing Bianca to giggle and lean over and kiss him.
Casey screws up his face in disgust.
"But to get good food you'll have to eat with us Bianca; Heath's an awful cook; his food tastes so foul and smells like rotten feet," Casey grunts and gets a glare from his older brother that then turns into a smirk.
"Casey, keep your comments to yourself," Brax warns.
"I was just trying to warn her," Casey grumbles.
"Now now Case, no need to be nasty just because I beat you in FIFA," Heath laughs, causing Casey to scowl and roll his eyes.
"Let's all just enjoy our meal; huh?" Brax states.