The gate was now open.

And this time, they were leaving out of it together willingly, with no intention of running into sudden risks or danger.

The leader and co-leader were hand in hand while walking to the Red and Orange striped armadillo van before them, who they knew belonged to the oldest brother of Brozone himself and seemed to be in a calm state unmoving.

She would see them coming close though and lifted her head up, wagging her tail slowly with a smile.

While walking together, they occupied themselves in small talk about their upcoming journey.

"You're really going home Clay! Well- we are- but I get to see Poppy and Dad and you get to see your brothers again! EEEEE I'm so excited it's literally been forever!" Viva squealed happily, squeezing his hand.

Clay felt his heart do spins seeing how excited she was and chuckled lightly, starting to become a little more excited himself. He wasn't or didn't seem as enthusiastic as she did, but he did genuinely miss his brothers and looked forward to seeing them again, even the one who'd be driving them to the village‐

He squeezed her hand back gently before responding to her cheerful rambling.

"Well- it's not- home home, but- I guess in a way if I'm gonna be with my brothers then it is."

"Of course! Your family is your home!" She added gracefully, smiling at him before starting to put a skip in her step.

"Heh.. yeah."

He'd look at her for a second after that and smiled to himself, secretly glad she didn't catch on and only knowing she didn't because she was still rambling in exhilaration.

Before they'd get close enough to reach the entrance though, the door would swing itself wide open, startling them both and causing them to stop in their tracks.

Stepping out of the armadillo vehicle was of course revealed said oldest brother with one of his huge comical smiles spread across his face.

"Well wouldya LOOKIE HEREEEEE!"

Clay just stared up casually while Viva looked up at him with a wide and excited smile.

He readjusted his goggles on his face goofily, putting his fists on his hips. With the way his smile was stretched and displayed at that moment one probably may have thought his cheeks were in an unreasonable amount of pain.

His armadillo companion began to pant and wag her tail at a faster and happier pace as he made himself visible and hopped down the steps.

As soon as he reached the two he wrapped his arms around both of them and squeezed them.

"OUHHHHkay," Clay let out a Grandpa wheeze and pat his back gently, "hey there brother–"

Viva had no complaints and happily hugged him back, giggling.

"If it ain't the lovely couple themselves!" He pulled away then held his stomach before doing a belly laugh.

Clay sighed to himself quietly.

"I already told you we're not–"

"Hi John Dory!" Viva waved rapidly and happily, squeezing onto Clay's hand again. "So good to see you again!"

"Same here Veevster!" He eyed their hands a few times, "Way more than great seein my favorite middle brother and his girl again!"

"Best friends," Clay put his finger up to emphasize correcting him, "Sir Squarington–"

Viva nudged him lightly in the side.

"What? He doesn't care–"

"Ahahaha," John chuckled wholeheartedly, not taking offense to the silly nickname at all and just being happy to see him, "yeahhh big brother here don't mind it he knows I'm just messin. Serious boy over here be havin jokes up his sleeve though huh!"

"He suuuure does! I would definitely know." Viva giggled, giving her partner a short glance and smile before squeezing his hand once more.

And against his inner judgement, he would be forced to present a smile across his face. His older brother was still annoying, but he'd be lying if he said it wasn't good to see him in the slightest.

"Well allllright! Whaddya say we get things packed up in here huh! Gotta hit the road so we can go get vacay boy!" He motioned his arm backward gesturing for them to come inside the van.

"EEEEE Vacay island! It was soooo nice there when I first went I can't WAIT to go back again!"

Viva let go of Clay's hand and skipped to Rhonda's entrance before stopping in front of it.

"Oh, and hi Rhonda," She leaned over and smiled at her, patting her gently.

Rhonda purred at the curly haired troll and nuzzled onto her, earning a giggle from her in return.

She'd then hop over to the steps where John was and walked up a few, the former leader taking a step out of her way so she could come in.

"She's so sweet!" Viva perked to him as she walked past, watching as he let out a snort of agreement.

"Ain't she? Love my little girl!" He replied almost instantly with another wide smile, giving her pats of his own on her side.

"Hehe! Well where I should put my stuff?!" Viva held her bag up to her side.

"Oh anywhere you like sweetheart! Heck just throw it wherever if you so please!" John chuckled, "Rhonda, is automatically ANYONE'S home! Told my bros that before I dropped em all off, heh."

"Awww that's so sweet! You've got a great big bro Clay," Viva winked down at Clay who was beginning to approach them with his own bag.

"Ohh he's somethin alright–" Clay joked, eyeing them playfully.

"Heyyyy, that's an improvement from Squarington and Yapster Square!" John joked back and pointed down at him with a toothy grin, his ear twitching from hearing Viva laugh next to him.

"Well come on slow poke, got places to be and family to see!" She dashed past John to the interior of Rhonda, and John would watch her for a bit before chuckling, putting his fists back on his side.

"She's great, you know? You guys balance out each other really well." John nodded towards his little brother and stepped to the side as he watched him come up the steps.

"Yep.. been like that for the past twenty years," he stopped next to him and just shrugged like it was nothing, "we've always looked out for each other."

"Well I'm.. glad to know you weren't all alone.. all that time." He said in a slightly lower and slightly less enthusiastic, which at the moment he didn't really catch or realize.

Clay would notice this sudden change and looked over at him to see the expression that matched his voice, and he looked as if he was deep into thought about something. He wanted to say something but didn't know what exactly, caring about him but not exactly sure how to express it all that much since it's been a while since they've had any sort of affectionate moments or talks. All of his others brothers as well, but with John he was deeply deprived of such, sad as it was.

Before he could try and think of anything though, he immediately sprang back up like nothing happened and offered another one of his goofy smiles.

"Well come on! You comin in or are you havin second thoughts?!" John raised an eyebrow at him playfully.

And to his guilty relief, Clay felt a small weight get lifted off of his chest as he rolled his eyes and picked up his bag again.

"I'm already in here doofus–"

"Hehe, aaaaactually," John held his finger up, "you're in the doorway–"

"Yeah alright smartass—" Clay retorted before elbowing him in his side, causing him to laugh.

"Says Mr. CPA himself! Get over here!"

John continued laughing before he reached an arm over to him and ruffled his hair to the dismay of said CPA.

"AYE! Cut that– get off!" He smacked his hand off of his hair and backed away with one step, "and as a CPA I have EVERY excuse to be a smartass—"

"Yeah alright there buddy now get your silly behind in here." John chuckled once more before pointing behind him to the interior of Rhonda with his thumb.

Clay would roll his eyes again before adjusting his bag in his hand and began to walk toward his direction to get to the interior.

"Hey man," John would stop him and mumble quietly to him as he was about to pass him, "I don't mean to pry or anythin buuuut.. about you and Veevster earlier you.. you wereee  holding hands are you sureee you're not–"

"Skip it, John–" Clay got close to his face and mumbled back to him immediately, almost hissing, "it's not like that, it's just.. a comfort thing for us. We're that close."

"Hmmm.. alriiight alright, I'll back off.. for now–" he raised his voice a bit and chuckled a little before lowering it again, "you know you could tell me if you were though, right? I'd support you guys times a million like Branch with Poppy!"

"Yeah, well, we're not Branch and Poppy. We're just friends, that's it." He said casually, not noticing he was looking off to the side a little.

John did though. He noticed every little thing with his brothers. It was just an instinct and trait he grew to have being the oldest.

As much as he wanted to say something else he wouldn't question it anymore and just left it alone for now, not wanting to make him anymore upset or make him feel like he was intentionally trying to piss him off.

Patting his back a few times, he drew his hand up to his shoulder and held it there for a bit before nodding.

"Alright bud," he mumbled once more, "why don't you go put your things down and get settled so we can head out?"

Hearing his change in tone he would almost snap his neck turning to look back at him, seeing a genuine smile take hold of his older brother's expression.

He don't know why it made his heart do mini cartwheels seeing and hearing him be so genuine. It wasn't like he never wasn't, but it hit different seeing more of his serious and soft side besides his jokey and goofy side. He couldn't tell if it was just nice to see, or if it slowly healing his childhood self.

"...yeah." Clay nodded, before simply walking past him.

John watched him walk away for a bit before reaching his hands up to his vest to adjust it, then marched happily over to the front of the armadillo van.

He walked over to the drivers seat and hopped in it, patting the steering wheel a few times.

"Ready ol girl?" He hollered to Rhonda before pulling his goggles down on his face, getting the ignition ready as he heard her purr from outside.

Over in the back around the interior where most of all the seats were, Clay found Viva relaxed on one of them with her bag sitting next to her as she was reading a magazine, humming to herself.

He smiled a little as he walked over to her and found a spot next to her, seeing her look up from the corner of his eye after he sat down.

"Hey!" She said with a smile, putting the magazine down in her lap and sitting upright. "Everything okay? You took a little bit."

"Hm?" Clay looked over at her after putting his bag in his lap, "Oh yeah, I'm good. We were just talking."

"Ohhh okay." She scooted closer to him and rested her elbows on top of his bag, looking up at him with a wider smile.

"Are you exciiiiitedddddd?"

"'Course I am," Clay simply replied to her before gently lifting her off of his bag so he could take a book out of it, zipping it back up and removing his arms from under her. Though he wasn't showing it as much as she was, he definitely was excited himself.

"Gonna miss Hole N Fun especially since we're gonna be gone for longer this time, but– it'll be nice to take a break and see everyone."

Viva sighed and leaned against him, wrapping an arm around his and nuzzling against it.

"Yeah.. it'll be fun though. We'll make it fun."

Clay smiled down at her and pressed into her back, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Hm.. I wonder when John's gonna pull o–"

Suddenly, they were broken out of their peaceful trance when they heard a loud noise that sounded like a microphone turning on.

"ALRIGHTTTT WE ARE ABOUT TO TAKE OFF! EVERYBODY READY BACK THERE!" The oldest brother said into the microphone in question.

Clay sighed quietly and annoyingly before shouting back over at him.

"We've actually been ready– like this whole time–"

"Yeah! On the road to Vacay Island we go JD!" Viva shouted to him in a more enthusiastic tone, sitting up in her spot again.

"WELL ALLLLRIGHT! HERE WE GOOO!"

The van finally started moving as John pressed his foot on the gas pedal, pulling out and away from the gate, the armadillo eventually zooming away from it.

"Well–" Viva looked over at Clay, "he is certainly your brother!" She giggled quietly.

"Hush–" Clay poked her in the side and pulled her in closer, laying back in his seat.

He started to think to himself more about what was going to soon happen. First they would go to pick up Bruce, the brother he was closest to growing up, then he would go see his two baby brothers. Besides from going to save Floyd (which wasn't intentionally to leisurely be together), he hasn't actually spent time with his brothers in a very long time. Part of him was of course excited but nervous at the same time. Things obviously weren't going to be the same, but he hoped that it'd still be at least worthwhile.

Of course it would be though, he was going to be with his brothers again! And it would be like his nightmares never even came to be.

Right?

~~~

"Do you have everything you need packed love?" Brandy, Bruce's wife, asked him as she was dumping a few fruits into a blender to make a smoothie.

"Yep," He stretched after putting something else in a bag he had sitting in front of him, "pretty sure that's it, I don't plan on staying long. Still got a business to run and family to look over you know." He chuckled, putting his hands on his hips and turning towards her.

Brandy didn't laugh nor did she respond for a bit as she stopped what she was doing for a second, soon reaching over to grab a nearby top that belonged to the blender she was using.

"Wellll, honey," She began to talk again, twisting the top onto the blender slowly, "you do work very hard, you could use a vacation. I went on my retreat last week, remember?"

"Well- well yes," Bruce confirmed but then continued to protest, "but things can sometimes get hectic with both the restuarant and the kids and I just don't like leaving y–"

"And.. they're your brothers, they're your family too. Your first family even."

There was another pause after that and father of thirteen's smile faded a bit as he noticed that she sounded a little upset– or at least that's what he thought he heard.

"I feel that sometimes you forget that, dare I say more than that." Was the last thing she said in a quiet mumble before grabbing nearby cups and starting the blender.

Now at that point he just didn't know what to say. He stood there in complete silence as he pondered over everything she'd said, feeling a slight pang in his heart as he came to conclude that she was right. After he'd left his brothers behind it was kind of like he just pushed every memory of them away to start a new life as if they never meant anything to him.

Hearing no response from him even after having turned off the blender, she lifted a finger that was resting on the button to turn it off and slowly turned to him, watching as he stood there staring at the ground.

She was about to say something else until she heard familiar distant yelling nearby, and shot her head and turned it in the direction of whatever it was.

"Daddy daddy daddy!" One of their children, LaBreezy came running over to them.

Hearing this call he quickly rose his head up, turning to look over at his daughter and noticed that two of his sons, Cove and Freddy were alongside her.

"Yes sweetheart?"

"Where are you going again? And for how long??" She suddenly got close to his face as she stared at him in wonder.

"Yeah! Are you really going away forever?!" Freddy popped up next to her.

"Uhhh–"

"Ugh no he's not guys! Stop listening to Bruce Jr!" Cove corrected them annoyedly, "he's just going to his boyband!"

Before answering any of this, Bruce would think a little about what Brandy said before, a small smile slowly appearing on his face.

"Rest assured, I'm not gonna be gone forever–" he walked closer to his three children, patting his daughter's hand lightly, "but.. daddy just wants and.. needs to spend time with his brothers, who are your uncles by the way, let's not forget that–" Bruce playfully eyed Cove.

"Mmmm–" Cove pouted, crossing his arms.

"And more than just a boyband... they're family. I never stopped caring about them but boy I've sure done a terrible job at showing it." He scratched the back of his neck and chuckled sheepishly, "maybe now can be my time to be better at it.."

Brandy smiled down at her husband, her heart being touched at the realization he was making.

Labreezy, Windy and Cove simply blinked down at their father, having no reaction to anything he just said.

"...uh, okay, well- we just wanted to know how long you'd be gone for–" Windy responded nonchalantly.

"Yeeaahhh.. OKAY byeee!" Labreezy happily got up and hopped away.

Eventually the other two children quickly followed behind, and it was just Brandy and Bruce by themselves again, besides a few islanders on the sidelines chilling out.

"Soooo.." Brandy began to speak in a low voice, opening the top to the blender.

Hearing her voice he turned to look back at her, seeing she now had a playful smile on her face.

"How long will you be staying?" She looked over at him while pouring her smoothie blend into one of the cups.

"Mmmm I dunno I was thinkin a day or two but I just might forrrr.. a week now?" He heard her chuckle lightly.

"I'm so glad Bruce. I know you love the life you made with all of us here and so do I, but.. they're your life too. They were your life first, and– I've seen how happy you are being around them. I just think you should spend an equal amount of time with them as well, you know? Hell, I remember at one point while we were still first dating you were telling me how you missed them. You never brought it up again after that, but.. you seemed really upset about all of it."

"Heh, yeah, I know.. I should've at least called, or checked up on them. Thinking back on it I feel like I was worse than John.. way worse.."

There was silence for a few seconds as he looked like he was contemplating, and Brandy was going to say something out of growing concern until he suddenly spoke up.

"But– you know what!"

He clasped his hands together before letting a smile return to his face, putting his hands on his hips and trying to seem confident.

"The past is in the past and all I can really do is continue to get better, right?"

Brandy eventually let her smile return to her face as well and nodded, leaning down to kiss his cheek lightly.

"Hm.. speaking of John– when is he gonna be here to come get you? He is on his way, isn't he?"

"Huh, yeah, he should be," Bruce answered, stroking his chin, "he did tell me he was going to pick up Clay and Viva first though. Ha– wouldn't be surprised if the dingaling got lost–"

"Oh look! That's him right there!" Brandy pointed above him to where the beach was and he immediately turned around.

A few meters from them he saw the familiar armadillo bus pull up on the sand and eventually stop in place.

"Anddd jokes ruined–" Bruce mumbled to himself before sighing and picking up his bag, then turned to face his wife again.

"You wanna come say hi?"

"I would love to."

~~~

"Alrighty FOLKS!" John hopped out of his seat after stopping Rhonda and marched to the interior where Clay and Viva were still sitting but were getting ready to get up.

"We are BACK at the Island of Vacay!" He said cheerfully and threw his arms out as if he was opening them for a hug, "Let's go get DADDY HEARTTHROB!"

Clay and Viva awkwardly stared at him for a second before looking at each other, then right back at him.

"...uhhh–"

"Please... never say that again–" Clay said in an uncomfortably low voice.

"Whhhhhy not?" John slightly lowered his arms, looking confused now.

Having little to no social cues, John didn't understand what was weird about the phrase when he was quite literally just calling Bruce by his old title and acknowledging his position as a parent.

And.. well.. he was just old.

"Because you– you just–"

John watched and waited for him to explain with thoughtless eyes and a smile.

"...nevermind, let's just go–"

"Youuu got it!"

Like nothing even happened the oldest brother skipped happily toward the door and swang it open.

"God he's so old–" Clay moved his bag from his lap and put it next to him.

"Oh come on he's not that oldddd he meant well!" Viva laughed and nudged his side lightly and jumped up from the couch they were sitting on.

"That was painfully awkward though–"

"See? You're getting it!" Clay stood up next to her, holding his hands out towards her.

"Shush!" She laughed again then grabbed one of his hands he was holding out and pulled him out of the van, "let's go!"

As they got outside and started walking they came to see John running towards Bruce who was approaching with Brandy.

'"Welp- somebody's gonna have to BRUCE themselves HA– get it– because– bruce and– brace, they–" Clay saw she wasn't paying attention to his corny joke, "yeah okay—"

"Come on come on let's go say hi!" Viva just tugged on his arm for him to follow her increasing pace, and soon they were both jogging towards the three.

"BRUUUUCE!!" John shouted out as soon as he got close enough to his younger brother.

"H-Heyyyyy Joh-DOH—"

Bruce yelped a little as his older brother squeezed him happily. Before he probably wouldn't have let this happen and would dodge it somehow, but just as he was professing earlier he was trying to be more open in showing love to all of his brothers.. even ones that annoyed him more than others.

Brandy smiled down at the two, chuckling at how John was picking him up a little while squeezing him.

"OKAY– OKAY OKAY GOOD TO SEE YOU TOO MAN—" Bruce wheezed out as he patted his head, trying to wriggle out of his grasp.

"Hohohhhh MAN I missed doing that!" John finally put him down, readjusting his goggles on his head and his vest on his shoulders, "I'm shocked you even let me do it!"

"Yeaaahh well–" Bruce cleared his throat as he readjusted his own vest, "tryna be more– open to new things, you know? Especially for you guys. I owe it to ya after all."

"Awwww BROTHERRRR!!" John said in a teary voice, comically sniffing as he was about to hug him again.

"PLEASE–" Bruce immediately took a step back, holding his hands out in front of him, "don't– I get it– I love you too–"

"Well aren't you two just adorable!" Brandy chuckled again, joining their conversation.

"Why thank you Brandy, great to see you too! I hope little bro over here hasn't been too much trouble," John chuckled as he reached over and wrapped an arm around Bruce, pulling him in and patting his shoulder.

"Hilarious–" Bruce murmured, inching away from him slightly.

"Oh don't worry, he's been very hardworking and dealing with his own trouble." Brandy chuckled as she gestured over to their kids playing in the background.

"Ahh right I see I see, you guys always have a lot goin on here huh?! Family business stuff yeah?!" John let go of Bruce again and nodded, resting his fists on his hips again.

"Absolutely! It's everything to us." Brandy nodded as she looked over at Bruce who smiled up at her and then nodded himself.

"Yup, my whole life is here. Besides you guys–"

John chuckled once more and patted his back gently, speaking in a bit of a lower but still enthusiastic voice.

"That's great man."

A few inches behind them, Viva and Clay were making their way towards them and finally got close enough to them where they could see and hear them clearly.

"Hi– hi we're here!" Viva waved to the group, slightly out of breath.

"Yeap I– basically got dragged but hey–" Clay waved as well.

"Oh! Clay and.. Viva, was it? Lovely to see you two!" Brandy greeted them.

"Eeeyep!" Viva confirmed before smiling up at her, "that's me!"

There was a bit of silence after that as Bruce and Clay made eye contact with each other, not saying anything for a bit.

..until they started to slowly smile.

"...AYYYYYYY!!"
Clay would start while pointing at him.

"HEYYYYYY!!"
Bruce opened his arms wide.

They both ran up to each other and did their signature handshake while laughing and eventually gave each other a big hug.

"Heyyyy, why didn't I get a hug like that!" John pouted and crossed his arms, watching his younger brothers hug, "no respect for the oldest I swear–"

"Dawww," Viva walked up to Brandy and stood next to her, putting her hands on her hips, "look at our boys!"

"They sure are adorable aren't they," Brandy chuckled wholeheartedly, "and so are you guys!"

Viva's smile faded and her eyes would widen just a bit at that and she turned to look up at her.

"Wait huh–"

"You guys are going out, aren't you?"

"Oh– OHH no no no no no, we're just– really close friends, that's it!" Her hair fell in her face a bit as she waved her hands around and chuckled nervously, moving it out of the way afterwards.

"Hmmmm you sure? You can tell me if you are girl! I know we're not really close but I love anyone that's a part of my husband's family, and I'm a girl's girl!" Brandy leaned closer to her and rested a hand underneath her chin in interest,

"And I dunno about youuu buuut I don't think friends refer to each other like that~"

"Honestly, Brandy haha we really are just friends– it's just how we are with each other, you're not the only one who's made this assumption, heh.." Viva felt her face grow a little hot as she continued moving her hair out of the way, "I appreciate that offer, though! Girl's girl forever!"

"Mmmm.. well alright. You're both still adorable though." She winked at her.

"Hehe, thanks girlyyy.."

"Aw man how you been fool!" Clay slapped his arm a few times and then retreated both of them to rest on his sides, looking him up and down with a smile.

"Ahhh you knowwww just takin care of business, hangin with the fammm the usheee." Bruce flaunted his vest as he chuckled before pointing up at him, "what about you? Still got your CPA stuff goin on?"

"You alreadyyyyy know!" Clay whipped his clipboard out of his hair and waved it around.

"I know that's right! Crazy prepared as always! A maniac wit it!" Bruce shoved his shoulder playfully, both laughing again.

"Glad to see and hear you and Viva are doing well," He turned to face Viva who was standing next to Brandy still, "Hey Viva!" 

"Hi Bruce!!" Viva did her rapid hand wave again, smiling wide.

"OOOOOOHHH!" John popped in between his brothers and squeezed them close to him, "now all we gotta do is go back home to go meet up with the other two youngsters!"

The two brothers wriggled slightly in their older brother's arms but still gave sheepish smiles. They were both undeniably excited too.

"EEEEE I can't WAIT!" Viva ran over to them excitedly, "let's go let's GOOOOO!"

"Wait!" Bruce wriggled completely out of John's grip, "Gotta say goodbye to the fam first– haven't been away from them this long after all."

He smiled and turned to his wife and walked over to her, putting a hand on top of hers.

"I love you." He leaned his head forward, as if he was waiting for her to press hers against it.

And of course she also eventually leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his.

"I love you too." She said in a soft voice raised her head a bit to press a kiss on his lips lightly, smiling.

"Awwww!" Viva squealed quietly, sliding her hand into Clay's who was also smiling at the sight.

"...and so do your children–" Brandy would suddenly say, moving away from him as she sat up completely.

"Ohhh boy–" Bruce murmured, knowing exactly was about to happen.

"KIDS! COME SAY BYE TO YOUR FATHER BEFORE HE LEAVES FOR A WEEK! ..AND SAY HI TO YOUR UNCLES AND AUNT TOO!"

Not even a few seconds later, there was a bunch of clamoring and footsteps from a distance coming close, and the group of four mentally prepared themselves for the chaos incoming as Clay and Viva stood huddled holding hands with John next to them, and Bruce of course stood guard of all of them.

Before they could come any closer, Bruce ran up to all of them and threw his hands up, shouting over all the yelling.

"NO TACKLING–"

And of course he got tackled.

"DOH—"

"DADDYYYY DON'T GOOO!" Bruce Jr. complained while on top of him.

"I told you he's NOT LEAVING FOREVER!" Cove yelled behind him.

Some of the kids were tackling or surrounding Bruce, and the others were doing the same to John, Clay and Viva.

John was just standing there with a nervous smile as a few of the kids were either poking him or staring at him intently.

"Can I call you uncle square johnnn?" Rainy asked John as he poked the side of his head lightly.

"Hahaaa well— whatever floats your boat kid!" He would've been offended if he wasn't used to the square jokes by now, and just didn't adore kids.

"I want his goggles!"

"Nooooo I want them!"

"No MEEEE!"

"Oh, well, see-" John tried to stop them from fighting over his goggles, "they aren't- I'm not– ohhhkay–"

"Is Aunt Vivi your girlfriend Uncle Claaay??" Labreezy asked, leaning down in front of her and giving her a nickname unintentionally.

"Ohhh haha, nah nah nah she's just my best friend." Clay chuckled lightly, not realizing he squeezed her hand a little in the process.

"Well then why are you holding hands??" Freddy was next to Labreezy and also asked.

"This? Ohhh we do this a lot, it's just our friendship! A lot of friends do it, right?" Viva looked over at Clay with a smile who nodded in agreement.

The two children weren't really too convinced and just gave each other a look, before just dropping it completely.

"..I like your hair Aunt Vivi!" Labreezy suddenly complimented.

"Awwww, thank you sweetie!" Viva smiled wide up at her.

"Can I touch it?!" Viva was taken a bit aback by this.

"Oh! Um– sure! Not too rough though!"

"I promiseeeee," The only muppet daughter gently moved her hand through her silky blonde hair, "woooaaahhh.. why can't I have hair like this?! Freddy come feel it!"

Doing the complete opposite, Freddy took a small whiff of the hair instead before smiling excitedly.

"It smells like cotton candy!"

"I said feel it not smell it dumbo!"

"What's the difference–"

"It looks like a pineapple!" Windy suddenly popped up, then looked over at Clay, "And his looks like grass!"

"Ugh–" Labreezy and Freddy rolled their eyes at their brother being literal though he meant no harm, and Clay and Viva just humored him.

"Grass huh–" Clay raised his eyebrows and put his hands on his hips, directing his attention to Viva, "well that's a new one from bushy!"

"Hehe," Viva chuckled, "well my hair does kinda look like a pineapple doesn't it?"

"Hey- hey guys- play nice okay! OOF–" Bruce yelled to the rest of his kids before he got tackled again.

Brandy was laughing and staring at the chaos in amusement before she stepped in to settle them all down.

"Alright you little rascals that's enough!" Brandy started picking them up one by one and moving them out of the way, "daddy's gotta get going now!"

"Yes please– they won't stop fighting over my goggles–" John gestured to some of the kids still arguing over who got to have them.

"MINEEEE–" One of the kids jumped on him and tried to take them off of his head.

"AH—"

"OKAAAY YUP, THAT IS OUR CUE– LET'S GO EVERYONE–" Bruce wriggled out of his kids grasps immediately before things could get more hectic, reaching to grab his bag that somehow wasn't destroyed through it all.

"Love you, mwah– love you, mwah— get off of him, mwah–" he gave a few of his kids that were nearby kisses then went to help John up after pulling one of the kids off of him.

"LOVE YOU HONEY!" Bruce blew a kiss to Brandy who was still trying to get them all settled, "GOOD LUCK– I'LL SEND YOU POSTCARDS!"

"Thanks, I'll need both– but I love you more! Have fun!" Brandy waved over to him with a smile while holding Bruce Jr. who was chomping in her other arm and almost bit it, "HEY– you stop that RIGHT now Bruce Jr–"

"HAHAAAA YEAAHH HAHAAA let's go let's go right now while they're distracted–" Bruce murmured while hurrying the three back over toward the direction of Rhonda.

"They were actually kinda cute!!" Viva giggled.

"Overwhelming‐" Clay replied, "but yes, cute–"

"Eh, they're cuter when they're not rough housing–" Bruce chimed in while still pushing them towards Rhonda.

"We should've taken pictures so we could show the fam back at the village!" John chuckled, "even though my goggles almost got snatched off– speaking of are they okay– someone check—"

"Why couldn't they come?" Clay asked, jumping over his question and request.

"Well it wasn't that they couldn't but for one I kinda woke up super early to do other things like clean up and what not, and I didn't wanna wake them up in case they were still asleep, and I think Poppyseed was busy doing queeny things by the time I was about to leave–"

"Poppyyyyy!" Viva squealed, the thought of seeing her sister again exciting her.

"Hah, yeah, I told her where I was going cause I happened to walk past her and she was pretty ecstatic. We also randomly laughed about how we're both early birds and–"

"Well let's get going so we can see them already!" Bruce insisted.

"Way ahead of you bro! LET'S GO GANG!"

John ran in front of them the rest of the way to Rhonda who got excited seeing him and the rest of them. He swang the door open and waited at the top of the steps for them to come inside.

Up the steps they went and slammed shut went the door before John returned to his previous spot in the driver's seat.

He pulled down the mic again and spoke into it to say, "everyone READY?!"

As soon as he heard all three of them collectively agree that they were ready to go, he smirked to himself and put the mic away, cracking his knuckles.

"Let's DO THIS!"

John pushed his goggles down on his face again and immediately cranked the ignition, hearing Rhonda roar from outside and eventually taking off away from Vacay Island.

And towards troll village.

~~~

A little while into the drive, Clay was reading a book with one leg crossed over the other, while Viva was leant against his side dozed into a small nap, snoring quietly.

On the other side of him Bruce slid next to him almost silently, clearing his throat.

"Soooooo," He started.

"Sooooo?" Clay didn't look at him but his ear twitched as he heard his voice next to him, flipping through his book.

"You guys– really aren't a thing?" He asked genuinely, not even trying to tease.

"No," Clay sighed, not even needing to ask what he meant as he bookmarked the page he was on with his finger before looking at him, "and everyone's been going on about it almost all day– I mean I guess it's nothing new we get it a lot but you know–"

"Well to be fair you do kinda make yourselves look like a couple, it'd be perfectly easy to assume–" Bruce insisted, shrugging a little.

"Not on purpose!"

"I knowww I know," Bruce chuckled quietly, "don't lose those stems on your head—"

"Ugh, well– at least you're not teasing about it like John was." Clay shifted in his seat a little before rolling his eyes and turning to look forward.

"Yeahhh haha don't get too used to it– but, honestly Clay.. do you.. like her?"

Clay turned to look over at him for a bit before he rerouted his attention to Viva, who was snoozing peacefully against him and scooted closer to him at one point.

His heart began to pound what felt like out of his chest and it sounded so loud to him he thought it was gonna wake her up.

Gulping down hot saliva ever so quietly and gripping the book he was holding in his hand slightly, he didn't look back at Bruce and just now stared at the ground, not understanding why this simple question he should've been able to answer easily, and that he'd already answered many times, suddenly had him so tongue tied.

Why was it suddenly so different now that Bruce was asking him?

Speaking of, he felt his older brother's eyes pierce into him as he continued to stare at the ground in thought and knew if he turned to look at him again he'd probably pass out. Even if it was involuntary it still just left him in a worse chokehold.

"I.. I–"

Everything stopped though when the van suddenly stopped, and the two brothers looked up once this happened.

"...guess where we areeeeee," John said in a singy songy voice over the mic, immediately pulling it up and hopping out of his seat.

Right now Rhonda was parked next to a tree and they were at the entrance of the village, a few trolls walking around.

Bruce and Clay looked at each other then out the windows they were next to, seeing that they were right where they'd both guessed in their heads.

"..troll village." Bruce said quietly, still looking outside.

"We're here.. we're home," Clay said in a mumble, turning back to Bruce with a small smile, watching him turn back to him with the same smile.

"Well come onnnnnn you lot!" John slid in their direction, "LET'S GO FI–"

"SHHHHH!" Clay and Bruce quickly shushed him as they gestured down to the still sleeping Viva.

"Oop," He immediately zipped his lips, "my bad– well, I mean– she's gonna have to get up anyway, but– come onnnnn!"

After whisper yelling he ran towards the door and flung it open again and took exaggerated steps out of it.

"He is unreal–" Bruce mumbled before turning to look at Clay, who was looking at Viva while now having an arm wrapped around her.

He was debating in his head whether he should pick her up or wake her up instead.

"..I'll meet you outside." He gently patted his shoulder before grabbing his bag and walked to the door, following John out.

Clay watched as he left and sat there in silence for a bit before looking at his partner again.

Knowing it would be noisy and wanting to be part of the excitement, and also knowing she'd wanna see her sister after nonstop blabbering about it, he finally made his choice.

"Hey," he said in a soft voice while starting to gently nudge her, "hey, veevs."

She would murmur a bit but not fully wake up and ended up cuddling closer to him.

Ignoring the heat rising in his ears, he gently wrapped both his hands around her waist and started poking it.

Giggling quietly she tried to move his hands away, but he wouldn't stop until she was fully awake, moving a hand up to lightly pat her cheek.

"Viiiivaaaaaaa~"

After having to move around so much she started finally waking up and blinked her eyes open slowly, seeing that Clay was smiling down at her.

"Hi.." She mumbled softly, yawning and stretching against him.

"Hey," He said back in that same soft voice, feeling his heartbeat speed up again, "you okay?"

"Yeah.." She rubbed her eyes, still leaning against him, "why?"

"Well.." He took her arms and sat her up slowly.

"We're here."

She blinked for a few seconds as she tried to figure out what he meant by that, still having just woken up, then figured it out.

"..here? As in– troll village??" She started sitting up on her own a bit, her eyes slightly widening.

"Mmmmmhm!"

"....AAAAAAHHHH LET'S GO LET'S GO LET'S GO!!"

All the sleepiness dissipated from Viva and she quickly sprang up and grabbed her bag and ran towards the door.

"...am I surprised? Not at all–" Clay also grabbed his bag and followed behind, closing the door behind him as he walked out.

"BIG BROTHER is HOME! YEAH!" John pumped his fists in the air after jumping out of the armadillo vehicle, inhaling and exhaling.

He turned and saw that everyone was now finally out and smiled at them.

"Well there you guys are! Let's get a move on shall we!" He turned back around and started marching forward.

"..and go where—" Bruce stood there watching him, along with Clay and Viva just staring.

"To find Branch Poppy and Floyd!"

..

"But where–"

John stopped for a second and slowly turned around, holding his mouth open agape for a second before reaching a hand behind his head to scratch it.

"I– don't actually know–"

"...haven't you been living here for a month–"

"LISTEN THIS VILLAGE IS HUGE OKAY I CAN'T KNOW OR REMEMBER WHERE EVERY SINGLE THING OR PATH IS.. PLUS I'M OLD!!"

"HA! I knew it," Clay chuckled to himself as he crossed his arms.

"THAT'S THE ONLY TIME YOU'LL EVER HEAR ME SAY IT–" John pointed at him, completely hearing what he said.

"...uhmmm, well—" Viva started, clearing her throat a bit, "how about we just– walk around until we–"

Suddenly, someone's phone began to rang and everyone began to check their hair and pockets if they had any.

They all shrugged at one another then turned to look at John, who wasn't doing any kind of searching whatsoever and looking around at nothing.

Bruce, rolling his eyes slightly and raised a fist to his mouth, clearing his throat loudly; seeing John had no reaction to it he did it again but louder and towards his directions.

"Huh– oh yeah what's up man?" He asked casually.

"Do you HEAR THAT—"

"Hear wha–" he stopped as he finally caught onto the noise himself, "OHHHHH THATTTTT! Yeah I think that's mine SORRY guys HAHA!" He started to reach into his hair to grab the snailphone.

Bruce couldn't do anything but simply facepalm at his dimwitted older brother.

"Don't know how that keeps happening– OH HEY it's Branch!" He answered the phone, "Yeeeeellowww?"

"John are you almost back yet?"

"Yep! Sure are! Convenient that you called cause I just came back with the crew!" John looked back at his brothers and Viva then held the phone out towards them to greet him.

"Sup Branch!"

"Ayyyyy little bro!"

"HII!"

"Hey guys!" He greeted back, "Good to hear from you a–"

"HEYYYYY I'm here tooooo!" Floyd suddenly jumped into the conversation.

"FLOYD?? AYYYYY!"

"WASSUP MAN!"

"CLAY! BRUCE!" Their younger brother said excitedly over the phone.

"Okay, guys, can we- can we just hold on for one se—"

"AND MEEEEE!!" The cheerful voice of Poppy suddenly rang through the phone.

Of course Viva immediately gasped and squealed hearing it.

"POPPY???!" She shouted excitedly, practically almost snatching the phone from John's hand.

"EEEEEEE HI VIVAAAAA I MISSED YOUUUU!!"

"I MISSED YOU MOREEEEE!!"

At this point both girls were just having a screaming match, leaving Clay and Bruce having to cover their ears and John literally having to move the phone away from his ear.

"Okay, guys, guys– OKAY– can we SAVE the excitement for when we actually SEE EACH OTHER–" Branch complained.

"HEHE, SORRYYYY–"
"HEHE, SORRYYYY–"
They both apologized, though the excitement was still prominent in their voices as they held back giggles.

"Uhhh.. well anyway– why were you askin?" He put the phone back to his ear, "Everything all good?"

"Oh yeah, everything is fine, we were just wondering because we were talking about meeting up with you guys somewhere when you got here and cause we're not exactly at the bunker or Poppy's pod right now but– of course I happened to call at the perfect time– anyways, where are you?" 

"Riiiiight at the entrance! Got good ol' Rhonda parked next to a tree," John patted his armadillo on the head gently, "should be extremely hard to miss–"

"Ohhh yeah for sure– well you guys stay there, we'll be down there soon to come get you."

"Gotcha Bitty B! We will wait here!"

The phone call ended a few seconds after that and the group did indeed wait for their relatives to show up; after some time they did start to see some familiar faces show up in the distance come toward their direction, which of course urged them to start to take steps forward as well.

Once their sights were confirmed they happily closed the gap between one another and greeted each other, hugging and talking their heads off like there was no tomorrow.

Poppy and Viva basically tackled each other on the ground and with all the squealing and shouting they were doing you would've thought their voices would give out sooner or later.

All the brothers meanwhile were giving each other hugs of their own and just enjoyed each other's company. It felt just like old times and they couldn't have asked for anything more, they would've been lying if they said they didn't miss any of this.

Clay especially felt tugs on his heartstrings as he was reuniting with his brothers. He knew it'd only been a month but just being there with them, genuinely enjoying time with them as much as they were with him was something he didn't know he needed. Even things as simple as John coming to come pick up him and Viva, or when they went to go pick up Bruce, it just played a soothing harmonic sound.

It was just them. It made something inside of him just slowly dissipate but he couldn't put his finger on what, not worrying about it as he just wanted to focus on being with his brothers.

"Gosh I really missed this.." Floyd leaned against Bruce who was gently patting his side, nodding in agreement, "all that time together we neglected ourselves of!"

Branch cleared his throat.

"...except Branch–"

"Well," Bruce started, "why don't we start changing all that now? I'm pretty hungry after my small shift this morning and traveling," a smirk sneaked itself onto his face, "we want dine in or home cooked?"

"Well I mean, we've got the rest of the day ahead of us, how about dine in?" Branch offered.

"Yeahhh meat circles sound pretty good right about now, dunno about yall–" Clay rubbed his stomach and his brothers would chuckle in response.

"Yeah yeah!" Floyd agreed, "Then we can go to an arcadeee or the parkkkk or–"

"YEAAAHH! Family REUNION BABY!" John shouted out as he squeezed all his brothers close to him.

And for the millionth time they all wheezed out, but didn't pull away and just let it happen despite their breaths being taken away.

"DON'T FORGET ABOUT USSSS!" The girls chimed in and joined the hug on each side.

"Aw yeah can't forget the gal pals!" John chuckled and eventually let all of his brothers go, "you wanna join us?!"

"Actually, Poppy was about to show me room and the HUGE stock of scrapbooks she has which I am practically am about to PASS AWAY OVER if I don't get a looksie like– right now–"

"Hahaha yeah probably should've waited to tell her about that as well as she shouldn't have told me about the candies she bought but ANYWAY– we might join you guys a little later! Or ya know– just let you have your brotherly time while we have our sisterly timeeee!" Poppy giggled while waving a hand, the other one holding Viva's.

"Yeah yeah haha okay before I actually die we'll see you guys later BYEEEE!" Viva waved to them as she pulled Poppy with her and began to walk somewhere.

"Hehe, uh– it's actually this way Viva–" Poppy pointed in the opposite direction that she was walking from.

"I knew that!" The older sister turned and pulled her the right way.

"Well alright!" John put his hands on his hips and turned back to his brothers, "guess we're goin our seperate ways then! OOH HEY, sleepover at Branch's tonight or in Rhonda?"

Viva's ear perked up as she heard him say sleepover, a weird feeling starting to rise within her as she remembered something.

"Hey, uhm– hold on a second sis." Viva let go of Poppy's hand and stopped their walking as she quickly turned to head towards Clay's direction.

He was discussing with them where they'd be sleeping with one another for the night and next few nights until he felt light taps on his shoulder, turning to see her looking up at him with what he worried was a slightly concerned look.

"Hey!" He said, turning to her, "What's up?"

"Heyyyy, uhh.. Clay, you know.. you know when you go to sleep you'll–"

"I know, I know." He nodded, speaking in a quieter voice now.

"Well.. are you gonna tell them?"

"Yeahhhh.. no."

"Huh, but– Clay, shouldn't they–"

"I don't.." He sighed quietly, "I don't want to put this on them right now, not when I just got them back. Not when I'm actually happy with them."

Viva understood what he was saying, but of course she was still worried.

Gently, she grabbed his hand.

"But.. but what happens when—"

"It'll be okay," he told her right away, "I'll be okay. I'll just.. make up somethin, that's it! They'll probably just go away the longer I'm here and– I'm really trying not to worry about it right now either, you know?"

Viva still seemed unsure for a bit and looked down at the ground until she felt him lightly squeeze her hand, sighing.

"..okay."

Smiling, he leaned in and hugged her gently, another small weight being lifted off his chest when he felt her hug back.

Pulling away and holding her shoulders, he stuck his tongue out playfully at her before letting go of them.

"Now go have fun with your crazy sister," he joked, nudging her gently.

"Pffft–" she nudged him back, "and you go have fun with your crazier brothers–"

"Girl no one could ever be as crazy as you–"

"Oh hush!" She laughed before shoving him playfully and started to slowly back away, a warm smile now holding her expression.

"I'll see you later." She said before going back to where Poppy was, and he would just smile and watch her go.

"Yeah.."

Poppy saw her sister reapproaching and smiled, walking up to her.

"Everything okay?" The younger sister asked her, taking her hand again.

"Yeah, yeah! Just uh- had to ask Clay something, hehe.. so how's dad doing?"

"Oh he's GREAT he was actually about you when we–"

Clay continued to watch them walk away, not even realizing he was or that he was in his own head until one of his brothers called out to him with a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Branch.

"We're about to leave now– you good?"

"Huhm–? Oh, yeah yeah yeah I'm all good! Viva just had to ask me somethin." Clay smiled over at him.

"Ah.. alright."

"Alriiiighttt EATSSS! Let's get a move on broskiiis!" John hooted as he pumped his fists in the air, starting to walk.

"Please don't say that again–" Bruce followed after him.

"Oh come on I've said WORSE things!"

"John do you even know where you're going?"

"No he doesn't because it's this way–" Branch quickly caught up with them and lead the way, the rest of them following.

"Heyyyy nowww I knew that, I knew that—"

Clay just watched with a smile as his brothers would continue to go on about anything, following alongside them. He didn't know about his nightmares right now, but he didn't want to think about that. After all, the baby steps he was taking right now with reconnecting with his brothers was enough of a start, right?

He felt good about it, so..

Why should he worry?