Being the oldest child of the family had its pros and cons. Getting sent to the principal's office because she punched someone who said some not so nice things was a con. Alivia walked into the principal's office and she couldn't help but feel guilty. She knew she shouldn't have resorted to violence, but it was hard to control her temper when someone insulted her family.

"Alivia, please have a seat," The principal said, gesturing to a chair across from her desk. Alivia sits down, keeping her gaze on the floor. "I've just spoken to the other student involved in the altercation. She claims that you attacked her without provocation. Is that true?"

"No, ma'am," Alivia quickly replies, looking back at the prinicpal. She wasn't that surprised the girl said that. That girl was a bully. "She said some really hurtful things about my little brother Adam, and I just lost it."

The principal is silent as she looks at her for a moment, as if considering what to do. "I understand that you were defending your brother, Alivia. However, we have a zero-tolerance policy for violence in this school. I'm afraid I have no choice but to suspend you for the rest of the week."

Alivia felt a lump form in her throat. She had never been in trouble before, and now she was going to be suspended. She knew her mom was going to be so disappointed.  "Yes, ma'am." She responds quietly with a small frown on her lips while slumping back in her chair. She sits up straighter, looking hopeful. "But please do something about that girl making fun of my brother." She points at her. "That's bullying, and there's no bullying allowed here either."

"You are right." The principal nods in understanding. "She will also be suspended for getting in a fight."

Alivia smiled and nodded, satisfied with her answer. She felt a bit better knowing that mean girl was suspended as well. As if on cue, the door to the principal's office opened and Alivia's mom, Ellie, walked in and she looked worried. 

"Alivia, are you okay?" Ellie asked, rushing to her daughter's side. All she knew was that her daughter got called into the principal's office, she didn't know things were this bad. 

Alivia shakes her head, feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes. "I got into a fight, mom. I'm suspended for the rest of the week."

Ellie's face fell, but then she takes a deep breath and puts on a brave face. "Okay, we'll deal with it. Are you hurt?" 

Alivia did her best to hide a grimace as she holds up her bandaged hand. "Just bruised my knuckles."

"I'm fine." Alivia lied, sending her a reassuring smile. She didn't want her mom to worry about her more than she should. Her mom had enough to worry about. 

"Okay..." Ellie hesitantly says. She knew her daughter was lying, but she decided not to continue the conversation and made a mental note to continue this conversation at home. "Come on, let's go home."

****

"Alivia, seriously?" Her mom asked with disbelief and began walking down the hallway with her. 

"Mom, someone was trash talking Adam." Alivia replies defensively. She throws her arms up out of frustration.  "I had to do something! Did you just want me to stand on the side and not do anything about it?"

"Of course not," Ellie, responds. She frowns. "I just wish you could've handled it without getting into a fight."

Alivia grimaces, glancing at her right fist that was wrapped with a bandage since her knuckles bled. "Yeah, me too. Now I'm hurt, and getting suspended is on my permanent record." She frowned. That was not good for her perfect permanent record she had in mind, but she was willing to take risks if it was defending or even protecting her brother. 

"Two kids who got suspended in one day." She sighs heavily, rubbing her forehead tiredly. "What else could go wrong?"

"Wait," Alivia glances at her with surprise, raising her eyebrows. "Adam got suspended?" She shouldn't be

Ellie sighs. "He got in a fight with that Ray kid."

"I hate that boy and his friend." Alivia grumbled.

"Me too, sweetheart." Her mom agreed as they reached the car. 

"Knucklehead." Alivia scolded, flicking the back of Adam's head while she climbed into the backseat.

"Ow!" Adam winces, rubbing the back of his head. "What was that for?"

"For getting suspended." Alivia replied in a duh tone.

Adam rolls his eyes. Then he turns to face her with furrowed eyebrows. "What did you do?" 

Setting her backpack on the seat beside her, Alivia sighs. "I got suspended 'cause I got in a fight with someone after they trash talked about you." Her and Adam's mom started the car and pulled out the parking lot as the siblings talked.

Adam's eyes widen with surprise. "Really?" He chuckles. "Never pictured you being in a fight." He pauses before he adds, "Or getting suspended." He tilts his head to the side, looking at her curiously. "Did you win at least?"

Alivia smirks, rolling her eyes. "Obviously I won. I'm the one with the purple belt in karate, remember?" Her gaze glances down at her bandaged hand. "But winning the fight did come with a price." She winced slightly in pain, but it wasn't because of her hand and Adam could see that which made him concern but he decided not to ask about it now.

Adam follows her line of sight, grimacing at the sight. "Ouch." Alivia nods, humming in agreement. "Thank you though." She glances up from her hand to look at him with confusion. He smiles at her. "For standing up for me."

"Of course." Alivia smiles. "You're my little brother. I'll always look out for you."

"And I'll always look out for you." Adam nodded and Ellie smiled slightly at the interaction between them. Adam then turned to face their mom.

"I didn't do it."

"I know you, Adam." Ellie said, shaking her head. "I know that mouth of yours. I know exactly what got you punched."

"He was giving me crap in front of the whole class." Adam explains. "I couldn't just take it."

"And he's twice your size." Ellie pointed out.

Adam rolls his eyes. "Everyone is twice my size. I've seen babies bigger than me."

Ellie frowns. "I don't understand you."

Adam stares forward with a sad look. "Dad would."

Alivia grimaces after noticing the hurt look on their mom's face at Adam's response. Adam was closer with their dad, but everything changed when his and Alivia's dad died. Their mom had to work more and didn't get to hang out with them much. Alivia took more responsibility at the house, doing most of the chores and cooking to help her mom out. She hated seeing her mom so stressed and worried. 

Ellie sighs. "What's going on, honey? Can you just tell me? If I keep having to leave work in the middle of the day, I'm gonna lose my job."

"I can get another job to help out with the bills and stuff." Alivia offered with a small smile.

Ellie glances at her daughter with a thankful smile. "Thanks, sweetheart, but you don't have to do that. You shouldn't even have one job." She frowns. "You're supposed to just be a teen, not help me out with paying the bills."

"But I wanna help." Alivia reassures her. "And I love working at the dog shelter." She chuckles. "It's really hard not coming home with all the dogs some days, but I love working there." Ever since her mom was struggling with paying the bills by herself, Alivia decided to get a job. It was kind of hard finding one that would take a freshmen like herself, but she managed to get a job at the local dog shelter which happened to be owned by her best friend's parents. 

Ellie smiles softly. "I appreciate you helping me out, but that's not the point." She glances at Adam. "It's the third time you've been suspended for fighting."

"I know. You'd think I'd be better at it by now." Adam retorted, his lips curling upward when he heard his sister snicker at his comment.

Alivia grows quiet, sheepishly smiling when she saw the look her mom gave her. "Sorry." 

"This goes on your permanent record." Ellie tells her son. Adam is quiet the whole time, starring forward with a sad look as his mom kept talking. "Get that? Care about your future? Do you? Son, you'd better start caring  because the future is coming, sooner than you think." 

****

"You think mom's mad at me?" Adam nervously asked as he threw the baseball at Alivia. Later that evening the siblings were out in the backyard, throwing the baseball around. Their golden retriever the family had was outside with them, laying on the ground nearby them. 

"I dunno about mad," Alivia shrugs, catching the ball with the baseball mitt she held. She glances at him with a sympathetic expression. "Probably disappointed." Adam sighs heavily, catching the ball Alivia threw back at him. "If it helps I think she's disappointed at me too." She said with a small smile, hoping that would cheer him up.

Adam nods, his lips curving up into a small smile. "Yeah, it does." 

Alivia rolls her eyes playfully. "Of course it does." She sarcastically said, laughing along with her brother, wincing a bit when she moved a specific way as she threw the ball she caught back to Adam. She instinctively put her hand over her bruise on her side and Adam frowned.

"Okay, what's up? I know your hand isn't the only thing that hurts so don't lie about it."

Alivia sighs heavily. "The girl I fought with kicked me in the side bad enough to leave a bruise. I didn't wanna tell mom since I didn't want her to worry more. She has too much on her plate already, she doesn't need to know about this." She looks at her brother with a stern expression. "You got that? Don't tell her about this," Her eyes soften as she almost looks pleadingly at him. "Please." 

Adam nods, looking at her reassuringly. "I promise. At least put a ice pack on it so it can heal faster."

"I will." Alivia smiled reassuringly at him.

"Kids," Ellie called out.

"Outside, mom!" Alivia replied, being careful with catching the ball now so she doesn't cause herself more pain.

Ellie walks out onto the back deck, dressed up. "Kids, I'm going out. Come and have your dinner."

Alivia shares a surprised look with Adam. "Out, like, out on a date? That kind of out?" Alivia asked, her eyes widening as she and Adam looked back at their mom. As their mom walked back inside, the siblings glanced at each other surprise and confusion.

"You think she's going on a date?" Adam inquired.

"Dressed like that I assume it has to be a date." Alivia murmured and after dropping the baseball and their baseball mitts, the siblings run inside, followed by their dog.

"Where you goin'?" Adam questioned as their mom rearranged her wallet.

"Oh, just out to dinner with a friend." Ellie responded.

Alivia gasps excitedly. "You are going on a date! This is so exciting. You haven't been on a date in ages."

"Okay, ouch." Ellie said with a hurt look on her face. "And it's not a date." She argues. "It's just dinner with a friend."

"Sure." Alivia nodded, grinning at her mom. She didn't believe her words at all. 

"Which friend?" Adam asked, sitting down at the head of the table.

"His name's Derek. We work together." Ellie answered her son.

"You're goin' on a date." Adam realized.

"It's not a date. I don't think it's a date." Ellie shook her head.

"Your dress thinks it is." Adam remarked and Alivia chuckled.

"Oh, it is a date." Ellie realizes, her eyes widening. "I am going on a date. Why am I going on a date?"

"Because you deserve to have fun and it's time to move on." Alivia reassures her, petting their dog, who laid on his dog bed by the back door. She then sits down at the table by Adam, who was beginning to eat a pizza slice their mom had got for him. A plate was set out for both of them with pizza slices on it along with drinks by the plates. Alivia smiles widely at her mom. "So have fun on your date." Her mom sent her a thankful smile, appreciating her words.

"Can we please stop saying 'date' now?" Adam cut in with an annoyed smile on his face. "Thanks."

"Kids, I'm sorry." Ellie apologizes, looking guilty. "We...We should have spoken about this." She sits down at the table across from Alivia. "I  don't know how to handle it. Let's talk about it now."

"Right before your date?" Alivia raises her eyebrows. With a grimace, she shakes her head. "Bad timing." She smiles reassuringly. "Mom, we're fine with it." She sends a look to her brother, silently telling him to agree. "Right?"

"Yep, totally." Adam nodded.

"No, come on, we need to talk about this stuff." Ellie continued. To be honest, Alivia was a bit hurt that her mom didn't tell her or Adam about this date tonight, but she understood her mom had a busy schedule and could forget to tell them things. 

"Dear God, no." Adam said in disgust as he stood and walked to the fridge.

"No, no! You can have any kind of feeling." Ellie reassures her kids. "It's normal. As long as we're a team-" She glances at her phone when it buzzes. 

"Oh!" Adam gets out two sodas from the fridge, pointing one at his mom. "Time to go." He closed the fridge, glaring at it when it wouldn't close. He slammed it the second time and it finally closed. He walked back to the table, setting a bottle in front of his sister, who sent him a thankful smile and picked it up while he sat down.

"He texted me?" Ellie said with surprise. She stands, pushing the chair in and grabs her coat, purse and phone. "Well, look at that. It's a whole new world. But we will talk about it  tonight, honey."

"Mom, wait." Adam calls out, causing their mom to stop near the door. He walks over to her. "Turn around." He then zips up her dress. "Make good choices, okay?" From her place at the table, Alivia smiled softly at the interaction. Sometimes Adam could be sweet when he wanted to be. 

Ellie glances at him with a teasing smile. "Said the boy who got suspended." She comments and Adam smiles sheepishly. Alivia stands to join her family by the door as Mrs. Reed kisses Adam's forehead. "I love you, honey." She then pretends to sound like Adam as she says, "I love you too, mom. More than I know." She glances at Alivia with a smile, kissing her forehead. "I love you too, sweetheart. You're in charge, by the way."

Alivia nods, saluting her. "Got it." She smiles. "Love you too."

"Listen while I'm out, lock up the back. No ovens, no answering the door, no video games." Mrs. Reed called out as she walked over to the door and the siblings walked back to sit at the table. 

****

"Wait, so you're suspended?" Alivia's best friend, Aris Daniels, asked with surprise after Alivia explained to him what happened. Never once in his life did he think his best friend would get suspended. To be honest, he's proud she's finally done something rebellious even if it was because she defended her brother. 

Alivia was currently in her bedroom, sitting on her bed with her acoustic guitar on her lap as she aimlessly strummed. Aris sat on her bed beside her, smiling softly as he listened to her play. He was always admired by her talent. Alivia had taught him how to play before, but so far he was nowhere as near as good at playing guitar as she was and to be honest he was jealous of her talent. 

"Yep." Alivia replied, popping the p as she talked.

"I mean, it sucks," Aris nods. Then he smiles slightly. "But at least you get a couple days off school." He said, trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah, true." Alivia agreed with a small smile. 

"How are you feeling?" Aris questioned, looking at her with concern. When she told him the bruises she got, he was worried about her and he wished he was there to help her out somehow or at least be able to hug her. 

"I'm fine." She reassured him with a pained smile. She sighed heavily when he sent her a stern look. "Alright, fine, it still hurts." 

"What does?" Aris stares at her with confusion and worry. "I thought only your hand got hurt."

"Yeah, about that." She sheepishly smiled, raising her shirt just enough to show him the bruise on her side and he gasped, his eyes widening at seeing the bruise. The bruise had grown darker from earlier that day, it wasn't a pretty sight. 

"Via, that's not good." Aris frowns. "Let me fix that for you."

"I'm fine." She reassures him. "You don't have to do that."

"But I want to." Aris insists. "Please?" He asks, looking at her with puppy dog eyes since he knew she couldn't say no to that look. She sighs heavily, glancing away to void eye contact. "I won't stop worrying about you until I know that you're patched up." Aris pointed out.

"Okay, fine." Alivia grumbled and Aris smiled. He then got up to get to go get the first aid kit Alivia kept in her room. He has been at this house so many times and has patched her up after the cuts or scratches she got from karate tournaments so many times he remembered where she kept her first aid kit.

He sat back on the bed by her and opened the first aid kit he set by him. After getting what he needed, he gently cleaned and bandaged Alivia's wound, taking his time and making sure everything was done right. As he finished up, Alivia couldn't help but smile at him gratefully. She honestly admired his talent for medical things. It did help his dad was a doctor so he most likely learned a lot from him, but still he was so good at it. Plus he was kind of cute with how determined he was to be gentle and not hurt her. 

"Thanks, Aris," She said, looking up at him with newfound appreciation as she lowers her shirt over the bandaged bruised. "You're the best."

He grins at her, his face heating up. "Of course I am." He closes the first aid kit and puts it back. "But really, you're welcome, Via." Then suddenly, a loud explosion was heard, causing them to share a look of surprise.

"What was that?" Aris hesitantly asked. He wasn't for sure if he wanted to know the answer. 

"No idea." Alivia stands and grabs her bat she had hidden behind her bed just in case.

Aris chuckles. "We're checking it out, aren't we? Of course we are."

Alivia grind at him. "First I wanna check on my brother though." Aris nodded and walked with her to Adam's room. Alivia rolled her eye when she saw he was playing video games.

"Knucklehead!" She shouts, trying to get his attention, but she sighed after seeing he had headphones on. She walks over to him, taking his headphones off and ignored his protests. "Dude, did you not see the explosion outside?"

"Explosion?" Adam said with surprise, taking off the VR set to look out the window. 

"Yeah, we're gonna go check it out." Alivia told him as she started to walk out of the room with Aris.

"We?" Adam asks with confusion, looking at his sister and just then saw Aris. He smiles and saves. "Hey, Aris." Aris smiled and waved in response.

Alivia stops by the door when she remembered something. She glances over her shoulder at her brother with raided eyebrows. "Wait, didn't mom say no video games?" She asked, pointing at his VR set.

Adam sheepishly smiles and shrugs. "She did. But she's not here so doesn't really matter."

Alivia clicks her tongue, shaking her head. "Mom won't be happy to know you didn't listen to her."

Adam raises his eyebrows, looking a bit nervous. "How is she gonna know? Are you gonna tell her?"

"Maybe I will, maybe I wont." Alivia teased.

Adam rolls his eyes. "Alright, then I may or may not tell her that Aris was over even though you're suspended."

Alivia chuckles and reassures him, "I won't tell her." He grinned at her, relieved that she won't and Alivia grinned back at him. Aris chuckled, smiling with amusement as he watched the interaction between them.

Alivia then turns to walk out as Hawking jumps off Adam's bed to follow her. She furrows her eyebrows with confusion when their dog started growling and then ran out of the room. "Stay here, Adam."

"What? No, I'm going with you." Adam argues, setting his gaming things to the side before he quickly got out of bed and followed her. If something bad was outside, he wasn't going to let his sister walk out there alone. Despite Arid being with her, he still wanted to go. He raises his eyebrows, tilting his head to the side when he noticed the bat she held. "Where'd you get the bat?"

"I have it in my room just in case." Alivia shrugs, and he glances at her with surprise. He didn't expect her to have that. "But fine," She grumbles, knowing there was no point in arguing with him. "Just stay behind us." The two siblings and Aris then walked out into the house, looking all over for anything out of the ordinary. 

"Hawking?" Adam called out, confused as to where the dog went. 

"He's outside." Aris noticed as they walked to the backdoor, noticing the dog in the backyard. Alivia opened the sliding door, raising her eyebrows when Hawking suddenly barked. She assumed Hawking saw something as a threat since he was barking. And it wasn't like a friendly bark, it was more of a threatening bark which made her anxiety and nerves skyrocket since that could mean something dangerous was out there.

Before Adam left his room, he put on a jacket and grabbed a flashlight he turned on once they both went outside. Alivia was wishing she grabbed a jacket since she didn't realize how cold it would be. Aris seemed to know her shivering and gave her his jacket with a soft smile on his face and a light shade of blush. She blushed faintly but smiled and thanked him as she put on the jacket that quickly warmed her up. The jacket was a bit too big for her, but it was soft and warm and it smelt like Aris so she wasn't complaining.

Hawking continued to bark, and with Alivia in front, the siblings walked throughout their backyard, Adam shining the light everywhere.

"See anything suspicious?" Alivia inquired, her eyes scanning the backyard.

"Not yet." Aris replied.

"I think Hawking does." Adam responds, standing by Hawking, who kept staring at in a direction and barking. "What is it?" He asks Hawking. "You see something?"

Hawking barks again, then whines before he runs off into the woods. "Hawking, stop!" Adam yells. "Hawking!" 

"Wait, Adam!" Alivia yells worriedly when Adam started running after Hawking. "Come on!" She told Aris before they started running after Adam and Hawking. They get to where Adam stood at the edge of the woods...Which was in their backyard.

"Hawking!" Adam shouted, his voice echoing. 

"Where did he go? It's like he just disappeared." Aris murmured, confused when he couldn't find the golden retriever anywhere in sight.

"He has to be around here somewhere." Alivia spoke, hoping that it wouldn't be too hard to find their dog. She was worried since it was nighttime which made it harder to see anything, and there could be anything out here in the woods.

They walk down the small hill where they saw small fires scattered across the ground. "This is weird..." Alivia commented, her voice trailing off as she glanced at their surroundings with confusion.

"Very weird." Aris agreed.

"You know what's even weirder?" Adam inquired.

"What?" Alivia glanced at him curiously. 

"Look up." Adam answered, his gaze looking above him and Alivia.

Alivia and Aris follows his line of sight, her eyes widening. "Woah." The two best friends said in unison with Adam. The trees around them were burned, sparks falling around the siblings. "Is the sky falling?" Alivia joked, trying to lighten up this scary situation. To be honest, it did look like the sky was falling. 

Adam and Aris did crack a small smile at her joke, but they all were on high alert at a sudden sound. When a sudden bark is heard, Adam instinctively grabbed onto Alivia's arm, and she instinctively put a protective arm in front of him while holding her bat in front of her defensively the same time Aris slightly stood in front of her. They all calmed down and relaxed as Hawking ran over to them. 

"It's just Hawking." Aris sighed with relief.

"Hawking, you almost just gave me a heart attack." Alivia scolded as Adam let go of her arm, and she put a hand over her fast beating heart. she took a deep breath to try and calm herself down. It was just the family's dog. She and Adam didn't have anything to be scared of...right?

"You scared the crap out of me." Adam told Hawking, who wagged his tail wagged as Adam bent down by him and pet him. He stood again, eyes widening when rustling in the leaves was heard. As Aris stood slightly in front of Alivia, Alivia did the same with Adam and Hawking, her grip tightened on her back while she kept it in front of her.

"Who's there?" Adam calls out. After getting no response, he glances over at Alivia and Aris worriedly. "I don't think we should be out here."

"Exactly what I was thinking." Aris nodded in agreement, looking slightly scared.

"I 100% agree." Alivia immediately says, and she scans the wooded area nervously. "Let's go."

A/N currently loving alivia & adam also love alivia & aris so much they're so cute!!