Hello there Fosters Fandom! This is my first ever Fosters fic, I am a big fan of the Stef/Callie relationship, so you can be guaranteed to see a lot of that in this fic, also i'm on the fence about Brallie, so please leave me a review and let me know if you want this to be a Brallie or just have them as a brother/sister kind of thing. feedback, good or bad, is encouraged, please please please let me know what you thinK! BC xox
She shouldn't have brought him, she should have fought him harder.
Callie slides her eyes to Brandon, watches his leg bounce up and down, his fingers tap a rhythm on his knee to a beat only he can hear.
He looks nervous.
She has a bad feeling about this.
As the bus stops to pick up more passengers, Callie mentally plans out her rescue mission.
Her stomach turns, the fact that Jude needs to be rescued makes her physically ill. She left him unprotected, she left him in danger, her baby brother, the one thing in the world she has left that is untainted and pure.
Even as she thinks it, she knows its true; she hasn't been pure, not for a long time. Not since him, not since he violated her so completely.
But even then, when she was at her absolute lowest, she still stood strong, for him, for Jude, she still protected him, put on a brave face, pretended everything was fine, hid her emotions behind a mask she had long since perfected.
Tonight she was going to right a wrong, even as she wronged a right.
She was going to do right by her little brother, but do wrong by Brandon.
She could tell that Brandon was the type of person that followed the law to the letter, did what he was told by his parents, never broke the rules.
She realises that she's playing right into the stereotype. By bringing Brandon, the straight-A, musical prodigy along with her, taking him into a potentially dangerous situation, she is doing exactly what she is sure Lena and Stef feared she would.
She is being a bad influence on him, despite the fact that he is probably older than her, she is leading him astray and Callie knows that his moms will not take too kindly to this.
His moms.
She catches sight of his reflection in the window across from them no longer obstructed by a little old lady.
He looks like he has two moms, it seems silly to think that you can tell someone's parentage by their appearance, and yet she feels like she can.
His eyes, which are currently darting back and forth as though he expects at any minute to get caught, are soft and kind, like he grew up being doted on by two loving and caring mothers. He was probably taught by those same mothers, to love and care for others.
Its not his fault he's here, he was just raised right.
And now she is leading him wrong.
She can't quite place why she feels so guilty, why she cares about this boy she has known for less than 24 hours.
She knows she wont let anything happen to him, that's not her style. She is the protector, always has been, she is the one who shields and guards, not the damsel in distress. She knows that if this goes as horribly wrong as she has a feeling it will, she will be able to protect him, even if she has to trade her life for his.
He is worth it.
Not to her, she could happily step off the bus and never see him again and not spare him a second thought. Its not that she cares about him at all, its that someone does.
If something happened to Brandon, his mothers would be devastated, his brother and sister, the twins, would be lost. The kids at school, his friends, his girlfriend -people would miss him.
He is worth something in this world, he is worth something to people, he matters to them and for that reason alone, she would risk her life for his.
Because she doesn't have that.
She has Jude. Her baby brother. She is all the people in his life, his mom, his dad, his sister, his. Everything she has done in the past six years has been about him, has been for him.
Every beating she took was one he didn't have to. Every meal she didn't eat was one he did. Every injustice she suffered in silence, was so that she could stay with him, so that she could protect him.
Apart from Jude, she was worthless to everyone else. She had been told as much by nearly every foster parent she'd lived with to date. In some ways, she was even a hindrance to Jude. He was a cute kid, he had an adorable smile and a sweet demeanour about him, something she had fought hard to ensure he kept.
If they weren't a package deal, he could be adopted by a family that would be able to love and support him in ways she couldn't.
But while without her Jude could get adopted, he could just as easily be sent to another foster home, a worse foster home. That's the only thing that keeps her fighting, that keeps her from leaving him behind, the knowledge that while things could be a lot better, they could also be worse.
That is why she is doing this, risking the best foster home she has ever been in, because she still matters in Jude's eyes, she is still worth something to him.
She doesn't trust the Fosters, doesn't trust that Stef and Lena are as good as they seem, because in her experience, when something seems too good to be true, it usually is.
She doesn't trust Brandon either, not fully, but he's still with her, still riding the bus that is now only two stops away from where they need to be, and that tells her that he at least partially cares about her, or Jude.
If anything goes wrong tonight, she knows that Brandon is her best bet.
'Hey Brandon,'
Her voice is scratchy, she hasn't spoken since she told him about wrecking her foster dad's car nearly twenty minutes ago.
Brandon looks up, meeting her eyes in the reflective glass.
"Yeah?"
She stares straight at him as she replies, she needs him to understand how serious this is.
"If anything happens to me, you have to promise me you will make sure Jude is okay."
Its not a question, she hasn't asked him for any favours and she doesn't plan on starting now.
She sees him startle, his eyes breaking contact with hers in the window as he turns to face her.
"Callie -"
She cuts him off, rolling her eyes as she shifts to face him as well.
"I'm not saying something's gonna happen, but I just want to make sure that Jude will be somewhere safe. You know.. in case."
He doesn't look convinced so she continues.
"You know how when you go out, you take an umbrella but it never rains? But then the one day you don't take the umbrella, it starts pouring down? Its like that; if you prepare for the worst, it won't happen, but if you don't, then it will."
She messed it up, she can see by the look on his face that he doesn't understand what she means at all, the whole 'umbrella' thing made a lot more sense when her mother said it, it was her mom's 'Be prepared' speech.
Maybe he just doesn't believe her.
She doesn't really believe herself.
"Brandon just please, promise me?"
She grits her teeth. She doesn't beg. Ever. But she's already risking everything to save her brother, why not her pride as well?
He must realise that she is not one for saying 'please' because his eyes immediately soften, his shoulders slump in defeat.
He answers her, albeit reluctantly.
"I promise."
She breathes a sigh of relief and relaxes against the back of her seat.
"But Callie? Everthing's gonna be fine."
He looks away from her as he speaks, like he doesn't want to lie to her face.
He has a bad feeling too.
Alrighty so there is Chapter 1! I have the second one ready and waiting, so if i get a good response, it will be up by sunday :) please review and lemme know what you thought, and if you know of any good stef/callie fic out there, or if you have written one yourself, i would love to read it :) BC xox