Callie sighs to herself quietly as she see Brandon disappear behind his bedroom door. Again. It has been the only thing he's been doing. They talked less after they broke up, but it was clear that they still cared about each other. But now she can't even try to talk to him with out him sounding like he's about to fall apart, and she has no fucking clue, and it hurts her. To see Brandon look so lost, disappointment in his eyes.
Brandon was always there for her. He was the first person she opened up to about Liam. He was the reason why he told a full courtroom what happened to her.
Brandon still didn't give up on her after she ran away. Callie always relives seeing him standing awkwardly across the street of girls united. That's when she knew that she wasn't alone. And she never was. Not when it comes to Brandon. She knows that no much how much she hurt him, he'll always be there for her.
So why would this be any different? Now it's her job to be there for him, no matter how bad it is. For once, Callie wanted to be the supporter in their relationship. It killed her to see Brandon like this. He wasn't even happy anymore, and while she's running around with Wyatt, he's sitting in his room alone listening to music.
Callie wants to go knock on his door, but she knows that he wouldn't open. And even if he did, she highly doubts that he would tell her what is bothering him so much.
Instead, she goes downstairs knowing that Stef and Lena are still in the kitchen, probably cleaning up from dinner. Callie doesn't know what to say. Everybody knows that something is bothering him. It just hurts her that he won't lean on her after all those times she leaned on him.
She feels so stupid that it hurts her that he didn't come to her, but she understands why.
Lena is the first on to notice Callie standing there, not sure if she should even talk to them or not. If Stef and Lena are the only ones who know what's bothering him, there's has to be a good reason behind it.
"Is everything alright sweetie?" Lena asks, drying her hands with a towel as Stef looks up.
"I-uh... No, it's okay," Callie says quietly, looking down. "I was gonna ask you something, but it's okay." Callie can hear voice crack at the end, and she mentally curses herself. There's nothing wrong with her. She shouldn't be the one close to tears.
"No, come sit down," Stef says, hating to see her daughter look so disappointed in herself. Stef is so used to seeing it on Callie, but it still gets her every time. Callie has nothing to be disappointed about. "Please?" She adds on when Callie starts to open her mouth to say something.
Sighing, Callie sits on the opposite side of the table, wanting to be as far from Stef and Lena she could be without being rude.
They're my moms. Brandon's my brother. They'll be happy that I'm worried about him, right? Callie thinks, knowing that even if she did ask them, they wouldn't tell. because that what Stef and Lena do. The right thing.
"I'm..." Callie trails off. She doesn't even have to tell them that she's worried about Brandon. They all are. "I'm just worried about Brandon!" She says quickly, and much louder then she should have, in fear that they wouldn't hurt her. Which is ridiculous. They were the first people to hear her.
"Honey, we all are," Stef says, giving Callie the same caring smile she always gives her, and it always made Callie feel safe. "It's okay to be worried about somebody you love."
Somebody you love.
Stef words only have Callie thinking even more, and she forgets about the worst case scenarios of what could be bothering Brandon.
Of course Callie loves Brandon. But as a brother? Callie still isn't sure. But it shouldn't matter. The Quinn's will sign away their rights and Callie can be adopted.
"I know that we all are. But I want to know what's bothering him... I'm not gonna lie about it, I hate seeing him look so lost. Brandon's never the lost one. I am."
"Callie, you know that we can't tell you. It's his choice. If he wants to talk to you, he'll talk to you. Just like you did with him."
"Yeah, you're right," Callie says, running her fingers through her hair, not able to hide her disappointment, but they did have a point. Only if they knew that Brandon would never go to her. Before Lena could say anything else, Callie nods quickly. "No, it's okay. I'll just wait. It's okay."
Callie disappears from the kitchen, leaving Stef and Lena wondering if they told Callie the right thing. Everybody knows that Callie can be stubborn. Callie doesn't even bother to stop by Brandon's door, mentally debating herself if she should try to talk to him. She already knows he's not going to answer so instead she goes into her and Mariana's room.
Thankfully Mariana is on a date with Matt tonight, or she would've been pounding Callie with questions. Where's Wyatt? Do you want me to paint your nails? You aren't letting Brandon affect you, are you?
Truth is, Brandon has always affected her. And every single time he has, it has always been in a good way. At least that's how Callie felt. He made her think about better options in a terrible situation.
Not being able to think about sitting alone in her room, completely fine when Brandon could be breaking in his room, Callie knows that this will end like it always does. She will go to him. That's how it goes.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.
It takes five quick knocks for him to even acknowledge that somebody is at his door.
"I'm not in the mood, mom!" Brandon says roughly, even though his voice hardly reaches Callie's ears, and she sighs to herself. He sounds annoyed.
"It's uh, it's Callie." Callie tells him awkwardly, quietly, not expecting him to hear her, but she's surprised when he opens his door, not saying a single word to her as he lays down on his bed, pulling his headphones over his ears.
His room is a mess. There's papers across the floor, his keyboard is nowhere to be seen, and the circles underneath Brandon's eyes. Callie sits down on the edge of his bed, still not sure of what she would say, but it's clear. It's written all over his face.
He's disappointed. Ashamed, even. Not of her, but for the first time, Callie knows he's disappointed in himself. And it hurts her to see him like this, listening to music when he could be playing it, the anger in his green eyes.
"It's not nice to stare." Brandon tells her emotionless, and it surprises Callie even more. Brandon has never been the type of person to hide his emotions.
"I- I'm sorry. I didn't realize."
"It's fine," He says roughly, clearly not paying much attention to her. "What do you need this time? A hug to help your broken heart?"
"No, I'm here for you," Callie lets out an awkward laugh. "Surprise, huh? This time you get to lean on me." She gives him a small smile even though she knows it's useless.
"I don't need to tell you anything!" He spits out angrily, shaking his head. "I didn't need you before! What makes you think that I need you now?"
"Because that's what we do. You need me and I need you." Callie tells him quietly, not able to meet his eyes. She always needed Brandon.
Callie didn't expect Brandon to say anything else, not with the way he was watching her, his face still emotionless. He was clearly thinking.
Brandon was always the one that she leaned on, the one who would do anything to make her happy. Now she's giving him the chance for him to lean on her. Callie still has Liam to worry about, and he expects her to back out last minute, but judging by the look on her face, she wasn't going to leave him anytime soon.
"You really mean it, huh? That's it's my turn to lean on you?" Brandon says quietly, his anger gone and replaced with disappointment.
Callie nods, stoping herself from reaching for his hand. "I'll be here for you. I know that I wasn't before, but I don't plan on leaving you anytime soon."
"I- uh, you were always there for me. In a different way, you know?"
"I know. But I'm here for you now no matter how you need me."
"Dani and I had sex." Brandon tells her quietly, softly, Brandon didn't expect it to be so easy to tell Callie. Brandon always had a soft voice, but it was never like this. Never broken.
"Y-you and Dani what?" Callie stutters, her heart breaking at the thought of something like this happen to Brandon. And that he would keep from her for such a long time, but she could still tell that he seems more relaxed, almost as if he was waiting for the right moment to tell her.
"We had sex-" Noticing the look on Callie face only makes Brandon feel angry. "Don't look at me like that. Like a different person now. Thats how my parents look at me now. I don't need you to look at me like that now."
"Brandon, you could've tol-"
"Told you?" Brandon demands, raising his voice, hating the way Callie flinches when he does. "Tell you that I had sex when I was drunk with my Dads girlfriend when you're still dealing with Liam?" He takes a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair, lowering his face.
"What happened between me and Dani is different. I got drunk and kissed her, and the next thing I know is that I'm sleeping with her. I remember how it started. That's it, Callie. What happened with You and Liam... You know it wasn't your fault. You didn't start it. You told him to stop. You remember everything that happened. You felt pain, Cals. I didn't. It hurt you."
Brandon sits down on his bed, hating the pained expression on her face, and closes his eyes to stop himself from crying.
He can feel her sit next to him, and he knows that the tears are already falling freely down her face.
"You're right. I remember it. I felt pain. But that doesn't mean you didn't, B. Just because you don't remember all of it, doesn't mean it didn't happen."
Without thinking, Brandon grabs her cold hand in his, lacing their fingers together. He hasn't held her hand in such a long time, that even the memory hurts.
"I don't have pain. I have guilt. It's the only thing I feel when I see her or when she's mention. Or sex in general for that matter."
"Everybody has guilt. I have guilt for hurting you." Callie tells him quietly, and for once tonight, he can hear the disappointment in her words.
"You only did what you thought was best for you. That's different." Brandon says, finally opening his eyes again, only to see Callie staring at him.
Callie gives him a lopsided smile, and stands up. "No, not really. But I can't remember the last time we played together."
Brandon probably looked confused because Callie just disappears out of his door, and comes back a few seconds later with her guitar in hand.
"Where's your keyboard?"
What Callie meant finally gets to him, and he's already digging through the pile of stuff of the floor in his closet, looking for his keyboard.
Brandon makes a path to the stand for his keyboard and wipes the dust off of the keyboard as Callie sits down next to him, a piece of paper in her hand.
"I think we can forget about this right?" She asks, clearly talking about the discussion they just had. "Let's start over with this."
Brandon looks at the crumbled piece of paper in her hand, and smiles when he sees what it is, but doesn't do anything, just stares at her.
"I'm here for you, Brandon. I don't plan on leaving anytime soon, remember?"
They shouldn't start over with something like this, but right now Brandon could care less because as long as they had this song, it was clear that they have each other. At least for a few minutes.
It would be the first time they play it together, and the idea brings a smile onto his lips. The smile that Callie has only makes him feel better, knowing that everything was going to be okay, because she was right. He needs her and she needs him. That's how it's always been. It wasn't going to start changing now.
Brandon takes the paper and neats it out as much as he can, and starts singing.