Thanks for the reviews, favourites and followers :) Like really, thanks :D So this chapter is mainly Jude-centric... as in him comparing his previous foster homes to this one... And it's also really, really short... Sorry!

As with everything else, please favourite / follow / review if you like...

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing... At all... Ever... Unfortunately :'(

When Jude woke up he was surprised to see that the clock on the table beside him read 7:30. He was surprised by this for two main reasons: 1; for the past four months he'd been forced to get up at 5:00 each morning in order to do extra chores and homework before going to school, and 2; the clock hadn't been there the previous evening - meaning that he'd actually felt safe enough to sleep through someone coming downstairs and placing it there. He hadn't felt safe in years, not really. But here... here was different, and he liked that.

The smell of freshly-cooked waffles wafted from the kitchen, making his mouth water and urging from the sofa where he lay. He made his way out of the room, noting the absence of his sister with a mixture of shock and curiosity - Callie never usually left him in a room on his own, unprotected, yet he somehow doubted that this place was as bad as the others. After all, hadn't Callie agreed just last night that the people here were actually nice - actually decent?

...

Still, he was relieved to see his sister at the table as he entered the room, though she didn't immediately notice him, instead staring off in the distance, immersed in her own thoughts. He smiled that, the fact that - despite what she'd probably say - she was actually letting her guard down, even if it was just for a few minutes. Having said that, she still looked particularly tense, though that was probably just second nature to her.

Stef looked up from her paper as he stood awkwardly in the doorway and smiled at him. "Hey Bud, Lena just made waffles. Help yourself before Jesus eats them all."

He nodded but didn't say anything, slowly making his way to the table. Yet more reason this foster home was different; not only did they, in no uncertain terms, give him permission to eat as much as he wanted, but they'd picked up on Callie's nickname for him and actually wanted to use it, in genuine terms of affection for him - and not just for the benefit of any case workers that came to visit, like his other foster homes.

At the sound of his nickname, Callie retracted from her thoughts and smiled broadly at him, the tension leaving her body as she fully relaxed, causing her to look almost care-free for a moment. "Hey Bud, d'you sleep well? You weren't too cold or anything, right?"

One thing that Jude could always marvel about his sister was how she could go from an average teenage girl to mother hen in nought to sixty seconds.

He nodded again, and returned her smile. "Yeah, I was fine. Not too hot, not too cold." He sat down beside her. "It was just right!"

"Alright, Baby Bear!" She laughed, like she did every time he made a joke or humorous comment, regardless of how funny it actually was, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, bringing him closer to her.

Jude smirked at her, a knowing look in his eye. "It was Goldilocks who said that, not Baby Bear!" He chuckled happily correcting his older sister, "Honestly, you should have known that!"

She laughed again, bumping her shoulder against his. "Nuh-uh!" She jokingly teased, "You should have known that!"

"What that doesn't make sense!" Mariana snapped, ruining the siblings' joyous mood and reminding them of the other's presence. Immediately both went silent, staring down at their plates and refusing to make eye contact with any one.

Stef looked up from her newspaper to meet Lena's eye, and sighed internally. She could have killed Mariana for saying that and scaring the two newcomers, forcing them back into their shells, it was just such a... Miss Thing to do. She sighed again, this time out loud, but didn't say anything, once again exchanging looks with her partner.

"Well I think we should get going. Jude, honey, you'll be staying here with me until Bill arrives, the rest of you, off to school!" She clapped her hands together and ushered the older teens out of the room, despite the reluctance and protests made by Callie and Jude as the two of them were separated.

Lena frowned at how much they depended on each other's presence, and at how much they fought to protect one each other. "It'll only be for a few hours," She promised them, "Just until Stef and I talk to Bill, then Jude will come in with me yo enrol. We're not going to let the two of you be separated, I promise." She smiled reassuring at both of them and they reluctantly obeyed, Callie picking up her bag and slinging it over a shoulder, before heading towards the door.

"Oh, and Callie?" Stef called, eyebrows raised ever so slightly, her tone teasing. "Don't think for a second that we didn't notice that cup of coffee you had - we're weaning you off of it, Missy!"

Jude smiled slightly at that.Yep,this foster family was definitely different from the rest...