HOME AND AWAY

Chapter 14

"What happened was not your fault. Dad is just rotten to the core." Heath said whilst kissing the top of Summer's head. "You need to remember that." Heath said seriously.

"But..."

"No buts Summer, you do not control Dad's actions. You do not make him commit crimes." Heath said sharply, he clearly wasn't getting through to her by being nice about it.

"I've been summoned to court." Summer said quietly, "How can I face him?".

"With us by your side." Came the voice of Brax, who was stood in the doorway with Casey.

"I can't do it." Summer muttered.

"You can and you will. This is your chance to claim back your life Sum. It's your opportunity to show him that he doesn't control you." Brax said.

"But I'm not strong enough." Summer said quietly, her eyes on the group.

"You are and if you're not, we will be right there beside you." Brax said sitting down beside Summer. "You're stuck with us kid." He smiled as he put his arm around her and she nestled in.

"What about Kyle?" Summer asked, causing Heath and Brax to both look at her suddenly.

"What about him?" Heath shot darkly.

"Is he stuck with us too? We can't leave him on his own." Summer reasoned, albeit quieter than before in the awake of Heath's change of tone.

"He's got a family of his own." Heath barked.

"Heath." Brax warned as Summer recoiled into him slightly.

"No he hasn't, he grew up without a family. He was even worse off than me. He needs us." Summer said a little bolder this time. "It would be nice to have someone similar to me." She added, causing Brax to raise his eyebrow.

"What do you mean? We're the same as you, he's your half-brother." Brax asked confused by her statement.

"I know that, I mean someone that grew up without siblings; alone." Summer frowned slightly. "He was abandoned by Danny and his mother died. That's kind of like me, it would be nice to have someone who understands that." Summer explained.

"You can't be suggesting that he moves in here?" Heath snapped, the subject clearly agitated him but Brax ignored him.

"Do you think he should move in here?"Brax asked Summer.

"Yes. So that we can be together as a family." Summer smiled.

"Ok, I'll have to talk to Casey first but we'll work something out." Brax smiled too, ignoring the scowl from Heath.

Brax was worried about Summer. In the week leading up to Danny's trial, Summer had barely said a word. She'd got up, picked at 'breakfast', gone to school, come home, finished her homework, was forced to eat dinner and then went to bed. None of the Braxton's were getting any emotion out of her, Romeo was getting snippets but he wasn't going to tell Brax what they had been discussing. Brax had tried desperately to get her to talk but he couldn't get her to open up to him. The only thing easing his worries, only slightly though, was that she had promised him that she wasn't harming herself. At least that was something.

Kyle had moved into the spare room and had integrated well amongst the Braxton's. Well, apart from Heath who was doing everything he could to avoid Kyle. As Summer had suggested, she and Kyle had formed a close bond already. The pair of them were frequently found in each other's company, they weren't talking about anything in particular but were simply enjoying each other's company.

One afternoon, the conversation between them turned serious. "Can I ask you something Summer?" Kyle had asked cautiously.

"Of course." Summer smiled at her new brother.