Disclaimer: I do not own The Fosters or any of the characters. Portions of dialogue in Chapter 3. are based on dialogue from the show.

Prologue:

Callie's hands shook as she read the text: "Nice tree. That's the one outside your bedroom window, right?" She shivered, her blood running cold. Getting up, she looked out the window. The yard was dark and empty. No one stood beneath the tree, watching her. But he must have been there before, because he knew. He knew where she lived and slept. Just when she was starting to feel safe, he found her again. Heart pounding, she got into bed and wrapped her blanket around her, too scared to close her eyes. She was grateful that she shared a room with Mariana, even though her foster sister was stone cold drunk at the moment, and sound asleep. At least she wasn't completely alone.

Chapter 1. (one week later)

The Foster household was in an uproar when Callie went down to breakfast. She sat down at the table, and poured herself a glass of orange juice. Brandon sat across from her, looking sulky. "What's going on?" She asked him.

"My great-grandmother broke her ankle," he replied. "My mom is going down to help her out, I guess. And Lena has some education convention she has to go to this weekend, too."

"So they'll both be gone?" Callie frowned with concern.

"Yeah," Brandon replied. "Mom wants us to all go stay with friends for the weekend. I guess she doesn't trust the house with all of us. Jude went to Connor's, and the twins are going somewhere, too. But I kind of want to just stay here... I've got a piano competition coming up, and I need to practice."

Callie nodded. "Makes sense..." Where would she go? Her only real friend was Wyatt, and she doubted Stef and Lena would let her spend the weekend with him. "Where am I staying?" She asked Brandon.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Too bad you couldn't stay home, too. I could really use someone to listen to my composition." Spending a long weekend with nothing but his music and Callie sounded like the perfect set-up to him.

"Do you think they'd really let us stay here alone?" Callie wasn't even sure if that was what she wanted. The idea of being alone. Well, almost alone, scared her, now that Liam knew where to find her. But she didn't want to be a burden, and she certainly didn't want to stay with strangers. And it would be kind of cool to have Brandon all to herself for a few days. Though she didn't want to admit it, she was infatuated with him.

Finally, Stef got off the phone. She turned to her son. "Okay, B. You win. I guess you can stay home." She rushed around looking for her purse. "I've really got to get going," she breathed, frazzled by the stress of the morning. It was then that she noticed Callie. She groaned. "Lena? Honey? I think we overlooked someone."

Lena came into the kitchen holding her briefcase. "Callie." She nodded knowingly, then turned to Stef. "Any ideas?"

"I could stay home," Callie told them, trying to sound casual and aloof. "Really. It'll be fine. I can take care of myself."

"And I'll be here, too," Brandon added. Callie wasn't sure if that fact would help their case much. "We can hold down the fort."

Stef considered their offer. Brandon really did have to practice for his competition, and Callie had a good head on her shoulders. Maybe they would be okay? It would only be fore three days. "Fine," she sighed, defeated. "I must be crazy, but I'll go with it, only because I'm out of options and I have to run. Now." She eyed the teenagers sternly. "We're trusting you two. No wild parties. No fun of any kind. Got it?"

"Got it," Brandon and Callie both replied.

"Great," said Stef. She gave both Callie and Brandon a quick hug, then followed Lena out the door. As she got into her car, she waved goodbye, and called back to them; "Don't burn the house down!"

To Be Continued