Author's Note: I mapped out the story recently (part of the reason for the delay in the update) and there should be about twelve chapters in all, unless I get inspired to write more.

Question for all you reviewers out there: would you rather me write smut as part of this storyline, or would you rather me write it as individual oneshots (not as a part of this story)? (Both is definitely an option.) It wouldn't be for a while yet if I was to write it in here, and I'd naturally bump the rating to M. Let me know what you think, both on that and on what you think of this newest chapter! You are all wonderful people for reading this and favoriting/alerting/reviewing/just reading - whatever combination of those you do, thank you.

"You sure they'll be okay with this?"

"We're teenagers who live in San Diego. Part of our God-given birthright is to live at the beach as many days a year as possible," Brandon said. "Besides, we'll be back long before curfew."

"I know - it's just -"

"Callie, relax. You worry way too much. Look, if it bothers you, I won't hold your hand, and I definitely won't buy you ice cream at the pier." He offered her an easy grin.

The corners of her lips turned up into a smile. It was impossible not to smile when he was smiling at her like that; it turned her stomach to mush in the most indescribable of ways. "Let's just get far away from the school first," she said. "I don't want to think about anything related to that place right now. Not even your mom - sorry."

"No offense taken. I told her that I was going to be out with friends after school anyway, so they shouldn't expect us back for a while."

"Expect you back, maybe. But me?"

"You tagged along. We went to the beach. They don't have to know that you were the only friend I was with," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "It's cool. I wouldn't do anything to risk you living with us. Promise."

"Do you always make a habit of lying to the moms, or is it just since I came along that things changed? Because I always thought you were such a good guy."

"We've always had a pretty open relationship, but we also do a lot of, you know, 'what you don't know can't hurt you' things," he said. "I mean - when Talya and I were together, they did a lot for us, but there were things about our relationship that they didn't know. Because it wasn't something they needed to know."

"Yeah, I know they knew about you and Talya," she said, wrinkling her nose. "Sorry, I just - I don't like remembering that you two were ever together. Especially not - Christ, Brandon, the condoms -" There were things she knew about all of her foster siblings: names, ages, what they looked like, their favorite food. Brandon, 16, shaggy brown hair that flopped ever-so-perfectly over his face, with the most soulful eyes and the most kissable lips she had ever seen, and his favorite food was cheeseburgers with extra cheese and a dollop of ketchup. But she could safely say that Brandon was the first foster sibling she'd ever had an idea of a sexual history on, of all things.

(Then again, when the average age of her previous foster siblings was ten...)

"Sorry that you had to know about that," he said, putting his hand inside hers and squeezing it gently. "I promise you, though - the next time, it'll be with you."

"What - Who says I'd ever have sex with you?" Her laugh was far too awkward and out of place to be anything but a cover. The thought of having sex with him - she was oh-so-glad that he was walking beside her to not see how hard she was blushing at the thought. "I mean -"

"Well, uh, I was thinking that eventually, you know, if everything went well, that maybe, one day, you and I -"

"We'll see." Smooth, Callie, she thought, scare the guy off before you even get things going with him. Even if he can't stop stammering. "So - uh - we've been walking along the beach for a while now -" She looked around. Definitely a beach-like atmosphere here, with little souvenir shops and cafes on the side of the sidewalk. She swerved to the side to avoid hitting a rack of postcards, bumping into Brandon's side. Double smooth. She glanced up at him and smiled. At least he didn't seem to be upset. "When are we going to bury our feet in the sand?"

"Yeah, there's a special place I want to show you. Just a little further ahead," he said. "When my mom was single, before she met Lena, and it was just the two of us, she'd take me here."

"How old were you when they met?"

"Like seven, I think? She was one of the other teachers at the school I attended at the time. They met and fell in love at a PTA meeting, who knew."

"And so it was pretty instant? They just knew?"

"You'd have to ask them, but, yeah, I think so. And Lena's pretty cool, so I was cool with it. Having two moms is kind of awesome. And I still see my dad, too, of course. Best of both worlds."

She bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah, they've been really great to Jude and me. That's why I don't want to screw this all up."

"Don't worry about it." They moved off of the sidewalk and onto the sand, his hand still enclosing hers, and she gasped slightly as she felt her weight shift into the sand. "You've got me. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Or Jude, for that matter. Trust me."

"I - I do." It took more for her to say those two words than it did to kiss him, or to run off to the beach with him, or do all the running around behind other people's backs they had been doing. To trust in her world was a dangerous prospect. To trust meant to give herself over completely to another person, and that was something she had never been able to successfully do. Except for Jude, but he was her brother. He kind of had an exemption in the process. "I do trust you."

"Good," he said. "We're here." They were standing under the boardwalk, where the waves lapped into a small dip in the sand and rocks, creating a small pool. "Sometimes, when the tide's just right, there's all these little sea creatures in there." He looked down. "Although - not right now, I guess."

"This is cool anyway, thanks for showing me," she said, bending down on her hands and knees to examine it closer. The two of them sat in silence; she cast a glance over to him now and then, and watched as he crept his hand along the sand, moving closer to her leg. "You can put my hand on my leg. I'm not going to say no."

"You sure?"

"Yes. I said I trust you, remember?"

"I know. I like hearing you say it, though. Makes me feel good."

"I'd scream it at the top of my lungs." She stood up and brushed sand off her legs, and cupped her hands around her mouth, and began to shout, "I trust Brandon Foster!" A distant seagull's caw was the only reply. She laughed and sat back down. "Every time I say it, I become more convinced that it's true." She could trust him, trust that this wasn't leading them down a road to ruin, more than she trusted anyone in her life. Besides Jude, but again, little brother exemption trumped all.

"It's music to my ears," he said, kissing her softly. "It's nice to be here, just us."

"So there's an us now?"

"Well, I don't go kissing just anyone, Callie. I kind of thought you were my girlfriend."

"And I kind of thought you were my boyfriend." She tilted her head, pressed her index finger to her lips and looked intently at him. From every angle, he was just as cute as in the others, but it was nice to get a different perspective on the matter every now and then.

"I think if we both think it's true, we're beyond 'kind of,'" he said, kissing her again. His mouth moved against hers, and her tongue darted out to dance along the edge of his lip. He laid her against the sand and slipped his tongue inside her mouth. She closed her eyes and hooked her foot around his calf. "And you, Callie, are kind of perfect," he whispered against her lips as he moved back. He embraced her still, his arms wrapped around her sides, holding her against him.

"You are kind of the best thing that's happened to me in a really long time," she replied, her eyes fluttering open. "Do we have to go back?"

"Yeah, if we don't want the moms to catch us - but we don't have to leave yet. We still have time," he said. "We can still enjoy the beach for a while."

They walked out from under the boardwalk, hand-in-hand, and found a new place to sit, down by where the waves crashed against the sand, soaking it through. They sat there in contented silence, embracing each other, and occasionally sharing lazy kisses. Brandon traced his finger in the sand. "CJ + BF = LOVE" he wrote in the wet sand, drawing a loopy heart around it. "See? Now even the beach knows about us."

"The waves will wash it away, though."

"And when they do, I'll write it again. And again."

"You really know the right things to say, don't you?"

"I guess I do," he said, "Blame the moms. C'mon, let's get ice cream and then I guess we should head back. I have a sudden craving for cookies and cream in a cone."

"Funny, I had you pegged as more of a rocky road guy," she said with a laugh, as they walked away from the sandy heart. The waves lapped at the edges of Brandon's heart, but did not wash it away until they were out of sight; a seagull cawed somewhere overhead.

She had new reasons to love the beach, after today.

-to be continued-