TITLE: Harm
SUMMARY: Yet another post-"I Do" fic. Running from her problems does Callie more harm than good.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own, you don't sue.
A/N: My third story this summer! I am eternally grateful to the Fosters for letting me find my writing mojo again. This fic gets a bit darker than my other stories; you've been warned.
Sleeping late on a Sunday morning was typical at the Foster house. The moms were usually the first ones up and about, but the morning after their wedding, they both remained cuddled in bed for a while. They kept staring at their new rings and recounting their favorite memories from the previous night.
"It'll be good for Mariana to have a big sister," Lena softly decided. "I think Callie's already made her think about things differently."
"She's made everyone think about things differently," Stef agreed. "It was so good seeing all the kids so happy together yesterday."
"Mmm. That's our family now."
"I know. I can hardly believe it."
Lena glanced at the clock. "Ugh, I really should get up; I promised Jesus I'd make cinnamon pancakes this morning."
"Ooh, yummy. Although if you don't want to scar our children, you should probably put some clothes on first..." Lena smacked Stef's shoulder before she got up and went to retrieve her pajamas from wherever they'd landed across the room.
After another minute of lounging in bed, Stef also got up and got re-dressed. She wanted to peek in on the kids before going to make some coffee. The boys were all still sleeping, as was Mariana, but she frowned when she realized that Callie's bed was empty.
Lena was already in the kitchen when Stef got downstairs. "Is Callie down here?" she asked her wife.
"I don't think so. She's not in her room?"
"No."
"Bathroom?"
"Empty." Stef looked out the window to see if their foster daughter was playing her guitar in the backyard, but there wasn't anyone out there.
"Well, where is she?" Lena wondered.
"I don't know." Stef grabbed her cell phone off the counter and opened the app she used to track the kids' phones. The map showed that Callie's phone was likely still in the house. "What the..."
"What?" Lena asked. Stef showed her the screen. "Try calling it." The blonde obliged, but they didn't hear a ring tone going off. They started looking around in the living room and dining room to see if they could hear the phone buzzing. Lena found it sitting on the end table closest to the front door - on top of a folded sheet of paper. "Stef!"
The blonde quickly joined her. "You found it?"
"Yeah, and a note."
I'M SORRY I HAD TO DO THINGS THIS WAY. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING
YOU'VE DONE FOR ME, BUT YOU'LL BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT ME.
PEOPLE LIKE ME DON'T GET TO HAVE HAPPY ENDINGS. - CALLIE
"Oh my God. She's gone, isn't she?" Lena asked.
"It sure sounds like it..." Stef turned and went back upstairs to the girls' room. Her heart sank as she opened the closet and found that half of it was empty.
"What's going on?" Mariana sleepily asked as she woke up.
"Did Callie say anything to you last night?" Stef asked.
"About what? Wait, where are her clothes?" the teen wondered as she looked at the closet.
"I don't understand," Lena said as she stood in the doorway. "I don't get what happened. Why would she leave?"
Mariana looked confused, but then realized Callie's bed was empty. "Where did Callie go?"
Stef sighed. "We don't know."
All of the kids were quickly awakened and the family assembled in the kitchen. No one knew anything about Callie's disappearance, and the moms were starting to get really worried.
"Who is Callie friends with at school?" Stef asked the older three.
Jesus shrugged. "I don't know."
"No one, really," Mariana added. "Except for Wyatt."
Lena nodded. "Of course. Do you know where Wyatt lives?"
"Nowhere," she replied. "I mean, his house got foreclosed on. They moved out over a month ago; I don't know where he's been staying since then."
"I'll check with the school," Lena said as she pulled out her cell phone.
"It's Sunday," Stef reminded her.
Lena rolled her eyes in frustration. "Okay, I'll go down there and see if his file got updated." She headed upstairs to get ready.
"Can you think of anywhere else that she might go?" Stef asked the kids.
"The beach?" Mariana suggested. "She likes it there."
"You might want to look at Wyatt's old house, actually," Jesus spoke up. "That's where Lexi hid when she ran away."
Stef nodded. "Okay. I'm going with Mama and we'll start looking. If any of you think of anything else, call us, all right?" The kids all nodded.
Left alone in the kitchen, the foursome all just stared at each other for a moment. "I can't believe this," Jesus finally said.
Jude sighed. "She's so stupid," he muttered under his breath. Why couldn't his sister just be good? She'd just promised him that she wouldn't be selfish anymore, and then went and did this!
"We don't know what happened," Brandon tried to gently chastise him.
Mariana suddenly looked up, fear written across her face. "What if it was Liam?" she asked. "What if he did something?"
Brandon shook his head. "I don't think so," he tried to quiet her, but Mariana was adamant.
"He's hurt her before! Mom should go make sure he didn't do something to her now."
Jude looked up, confused. "What happened to her before?"
Brandon shot his little sister a look. "He didn't know," he told her.
Mariana looked down. "Sorry."
"What did Liam do?" Jude demanded. Jesus looked similarly confused, but Mariana already knew her twin hadn't gotten the whole story. She'd never imagined that Callie hadn't told her baby brother, though.
Brandon sat down next to Jude. "You know that Callie and the Moms have been doing things with lawyers and stuff recently, right?"
He nodded. "She said it had to do with her probation."
"Yeah... it didn't. It had to do with Liam. When you guys were living with him, he hurt her. More than just getting you thrown out of the house." Jesus had a horrible feeling that he knew where this was going; he wordlessly took his twin's hand. Mariana squeezed his fingers.
Jude, however, hadn't figured it out yet. "What did he do?"
Brandon knew it wasn't supposed to be his job to tell the younger boy this story, but he wasn't going to lie to him. "One night... he came in her room and... he raped her."
Jude's mouth fell open. "What?"
It still got worse. "When she tried to go to his parents... instead of helping her, they kicked you guys out."
Jude sat silent for a long minute. No one else knew about the fight that he and Callie had had before the wedding. How could he have said those things to her? How could he have blamed her for what had happened to them with the Olmsteads? It had to be his fault that she'd left; why would she want to have anything to do with him?
As Jude started to cry, the other three teens all rushed to comfort him. "We're going to find her," Jesus promised. "She'll come home."
"Why didn't she tell me?" was the only question Jude could voice.
Brandon hugged him. "I don't know, bud. Maybe she thought she was protecting you."
He cried harder.
TBC..