Hey everybody. This story picks up right where the season 3 finale left off, so if you haven't gotten that far, I wouldn't recommend reading this because there will be some major spoilers. I've already written the next two chapters for this story, too, so I'll be uploading those sometime soon. And thanks so much to Junebugsm for letting me know that this chapter was originally posted in the wrong format because I probably never would have even noticed.

Dislcaimer: I don't own the Fosters, or anything relating to it. All that I own in this story is the general plot.

Chapter One

"No," Callie spoke, nauseous from the whirlwind of emotions that she was feeling. "We can't because it's true."

She knew that there was no taking back what she'd just said to her mothers. She knew that there was no taking back what had happened between her and Brandon that night in Idyllwild. She knew that there was no taking back the lying, and the betrayal, and the shame. She knew that she couldn't take back anything that she'd done, and as much as she didn't want to regret that night with Brandon, she couldn't help but hate herself for it all in that one moment.

Stef and Lena exchanged looks, and Callie didn't know what to say when she saw the look on Stef's face. There was anger, and hurt, and disappointment. There was resentment, even, and Callie felt like shit. After all that family had done for her and Jude -after all that she'd put them through- this was what she had to give them in return. The look in Stef's eyes said it all. Callie was a disgrace and she knew it.

"What do you mean 'it's true?'" Stef replied after a few short seconds, her voice stern and detached.

Her jaw was set and she just looked right at Callie, not even a shred of sympathy in her eyes. There wasn't room for understanding in this situation, at least not at the moment. Why the Hell should Callie even deserve that anyway. She had slept with Brandon. She'd gone behind her mothers' backs, her family's backs, and she'd lied in court, and she'd deceived the people who had only ever shown her love and kindness and forgiveness. This, though... this was unforgivable and Callie knew it.

"Stef, I-" Callie squeezed her eyes shut, turning her head down and shaking it, wishing the tears away. "I'm sorry," she whispered, clenching her jaw afterwards. She let out a shaky breath. There was no taking any of this back.

"Do you mean to tell me that- that you and Brandon-" Stef couldn't even get the words out. She looked up to the ceiling and bit the inside of her cheek, shaking her head lightly as if she was trying to understand even the idea of Callie and Brandon sleeping with each other. After a brief moment, she looked back at Callie, unnervingly calm given the situation. "You slept with Brandon?" She spoke coldly, her question more of a statement. "You had sex with Brandon?"

The coldness in her tone was enough to give Callie goosebumps. She couldn't meet her mom's eyes. She just kept her gaze fixed on the floor and her body went rigid. She knew that she could trust the Adams-Foster family, hell, she was legally a part of the family now, but she would understand if they didn't want her to be an Adams-Foster anymore. Brothers and sisters, they didn't sleep together -that was wrong on so many levels- and Callie had crossed that border. Sure, Brandon was a part of it all, but Callie was the foster kid. She was the one who had been with them for the shortest amount of time. She was the one whom Lena and Stef had welcomed into their home, and for her to do this? God, it was inexcusable. Unacceptable. It was horrible.

"I am so sorry," Callie choked out, squeezing her eyes shut once more. She knew that an apology wouldn't fix anything. It wouldn't make anything okay. It wouldn't really do, or mean, anything. It was the only thing she could think to offer in that moment, though.

"How could you-" Stef started, finally snapping. She was pissed, and she had every right to be. She took a step toward Callie, fire in her eyes, but was then pulled back.

"Stef," Lena interjected, grabbing Stef's arm in an attempt to hold her back. "Let's just take a minute here to think about all of this before we say or do anything, okay?"

Until Stef had started toward Callie, Lena hadn't said a word, trying to wrap her mind around the situation as much as she possibly could. Now, though, she had to do something. This was a fragile, explosive situation, and everyone was vulnerable in that moment. Even though she was filled with anger at the fact that Callie and Brandon had slept together, she had to keep a level head about it, for her wife's sake and for Callie's too.

"To think about all of this?" Stef scoffed, rolling her eyes and she shot Lena an incredulous look. "What the hell is there to think about, Lena? The situation is pretty damn clear."

Lena gave her wife a stern gaze. "Stef, let's just try to understand how it happened, alright?" She whispered so that only her wife could hear her. "I'm sure that there is a lot to this situation that we don't know about."

Stef let out a quiet sigh, biting her lip. She was pissed, but she knew that Lena was right, and she knew that whatever happened wasn't entirely her daughter's fault. She needed to calm down and start thinking straight.

She looked back at Callie, whose eyes were still fixed to the floor. "When did this happen, Callie?" She asked, her voice softer.

"It was at Idyllwild," Callie breathed out, her voice empty. "Before, uh, before the adoption. Brandon and I, we didn't think I was going to get adopted, and-"

"Why would you even think that?" Lena interrupted, confusion written all over her face.

Callie bit her lip, still not taking her eyes off of the floor. "Carmen knew about Brandon and me," she breathed out. "She threatened to tell, if I, uh, tried to turn her in for what went on with her and Rita." Callie paused, looking up to her moms with wet eyes. "I figured she'd go through with it and I'd just end up in another foster home."

"Callie," Stef sighed, rubbing her temple. She shook her head lightly, not saying anything else although it looked like she was still trying to figure out what to say.

Callie's eyes met Stef's. They were dull, like Callie had no hope or fight left in her whatsoever. "We thought the adoption was off the table," Callie answered, her voice hoarse. "You weren't even my foster parents anymore and we were sure that I didn't even have any chance left at getting adopted and we just, we didn't know. We didn't mean for it to happen... it just, it did..."

Stef sighed once more, looking at Callie with eyes filled with disappointment, frustration, confusion, and also a little bit of what looked like sympathy, like she could almost understand why it had happened.

"You know that's not an excuse though, Callie, right?" She asked. "That doesn't just make all of that okay."

"No," Callie responded, her eyes widening slightly as she shook her head. "No, I know it's not okay. I know that, believe me. And I know there's no excuse for it, I know that I can't- that apologizing won't just suddenly make all of this better. I know I screwed up, I really really do, and I know you're probably pissed with me right now, but just please know that I don't think it's okay. At all."

Lena looked between the two. Stef was leaning against Lena's desk, her eyes now on the floor. Callie looked hopeless and broken at the same time. She seemed ashamed, and as upset as Lena was with what had gone on, she still felt for the girl. There was no excusing what she and Brandon had done, but she hated seeing Callie so hurt. The girl was clearly pissed at herself -possibly more than the moms were- and from what Lena could tell, she was feeling guilty about it too.

"Look, um, I get it if you both hate me right now," Callie suddenly spoke up after a minute or two of silence, "and I know I should have talked to you about this sooner. Before the adoption, even. I just, I didn't want it to blow up. I didn't want to screw things up for the family, and maybe that's selfish on my own part, but I'm sorry."

Stef looked to Callie, shaking her head lightly. "We don't hate you, Love," she breathed. "But we also can't just let this go away."

Lena nodded, a more serious look on her face. "Mom and I need to have a serious conversation with Brandon about this, and then we're all gonna have to talk about it together, and there are going to be some major consequences for this, but we still love you, Callie. Nothing's gonna change that."

Callie opened her mouth and there was a tremendous amount of sadness in her eyes, but she didn't say or do anything. Maybe it was because she couldn't understand how calm her mothers were in that moment, or maybe it was because of her own guilt that she was feeling, but it was too much for her. She's screwed up so much, and now here it was, probably about to blow up in her face. Brandon would probably be pissed at her for telling Moms, and Jude would probably be disappointed and enraged with it all. And that was all on top of everything that was going on with Fost and Found. How the hell was she even supposed to handle all of that?

"I'm sorry," Callie finally managed to breathe out a cold ten seconds later.

Stef sighed once more, nodding slowly. "Callie, we can talk about this later," she spoked quietly. "Why don't you get to class."

Lena nodded in agreement. "We'll talk about this once we get home, and we'll discuss the consequences then, too."

Callie could feel her heart fall to her stomach as she stood up and numbly walked toward the door. Stef felt a pang of sympathy when she saw how hurt Callie looked, and she opened her mouth, like she was going to say something, but nothing came out. Callie felt like her legs would give out from under her, and her head was pounding. She felt sick, and hopeless, and lost.

"Go to class," Lena breathed quietly as Callie silently walked out the door. She felt bad for her daughter, seeing how upset she was, but she couldn't let that get in the way of it all.

Callie just kept her jaw shut tightly, knowing that if she said anything else, she'd end up bawling her eyes out. She walked down the school hallway, deaf to the chatter of people around her and numb to the feeling of her own feet hitting the floor. This was one of the worst days of her life already, and she could practically see the world falling apart around her. How could anything even be worse?