At Vanessa's Wedding

7- A few drinks will help

The aftermath of what Scarlet had done wasn't taken lightly from her mother and aunts, who all gave her a good scolding about how fists don't always resolve a problem.

Blake and Juliet were sitting with dopey smiles on their faces as they looked at Stewart's black eye, while mumbling to each other about how good a punch Scarlet threw.

Vanessa stayed indifferent as she squinted her eyes at the man that was sat with an icepack to his left eye, on the recliner.

"You don't just punch someone like that!" Laura yelled at Scarlet, who was sat beside Vanessa on the carpet while she iced her quickly bruising hand, occasionally glaring at Stewart.

"Look at your hand, you just didn't hurt him, you hurt yourself too." Wanda -Juliet's aunt- lectured as she pointed at Scarlet's hand.

Lauren, who had quickly helped her brother up off the ground after Scarlet had punched him, was sitting on the arm rest of the recliner while watching the Payne women grind Scarlet with lecture after lecture.

"Don't tell her family that Katie cheated on her with you. They don't know that Scarlet is gay." Lauren whispered in Stewart's ear, making him look at the blonde in disbelief. "What!?" Stewart whisper yelled as Lauren shrugged. "They also think that you cheated on her."

"I repeat, what!?" Lauren ignored Stewart as she looked at Scarlet's bruising hand with worry evident on her face.

"Just so you know, Scar took kick boxing lessons when she was in high school." Blake came over to warn Stewart as he looked at him with evident fear. "Hasn't she ruined my face enough?" Blake shrugged with a smirk before he went back to sit with Juliet, who gave Stewart a wink.

"Is her whole family like this?" Stewart whispered in Lauren's ear who broke away her stare from Scarlet to look at her brother. "Like what?"

"Dysfunctional." Lauren gave Stewart an unamused stare as she shook her head in disappointment.

"He's the one that started this all!" Scarlet yelled to her mother and aunts as they took a pause in lecturing her. "He should leave right now!"

"But I just want to apologize!" Stewart spoke up from beside Lauren as he stared at Scarlet. "Apologize? Do you even know what that means?!" Scarlet stood up and was gonna approach Stewart with her fists clenched, but she was stopped by Vanessa, who had also stood up and stopped the woman by placing her hands on her shoulders.

"Don't." Vanessa looked into her sister's eyes that were filled with rage. Scarlet looked back into Vanessa's eyes before she backed away. "At least ask him why the hell he is here, anyway?"

"He can't just fly here out of New York to beg me to come back, if he wanted me back, he would have sent someone else in his place." Scarlet spoke as she sat down beside Blake with a glare sent Stewart's way.

"I was here to see Lauren; she wasn't answering my calls." Lauren grabbed Stewart's shoulder as an attempt to make him stop talking. "I sent her here to get you back, but she stopped taking my calls after she came here. I was worried about her."

Lauren internally prepared herself as she looked at Scarlet, who looked back at her with confusion. "But she said that she came here to comfort me, to be there for me."

"Ha-ha, no. I sent her, in return for an ice-cream sundae." Stewart chuckled, not sensing the tense atmosphere that was now filling the living room.

"You're lying!" Scarlet had nothing else to do but to deny the claims as she didn't know for certain if he was lying or not. "No, I'm not lying, ask Lauren." He looked at Lauren, who had her head bowed as she tried to not look at Scarlet's hurt filled eyes.