I can't believe I'm on Chapter 7! I hope you like it!
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Brandon runs his fingers through his hair, pacing in Callie's hospital room.
"I wanted you to hear it from me," Callie somberly says.
He shakes his head not wanting to process this.
"You could've told me, Callie!" He says, frustrated, trying not to raise his voice. "You could've told me." He sounds reserved, nervous of his intonation.
"No, I couldn't," she says quietly. "Jude. He means more to me than-"
"What? Safety?"
"Secrets." Callie promptly answers.
There's a moment of silence, Brandon knows she's right. She wouldn't risk Jude over the truth, he thinks.
"I'm sorry. And I'm sorry that's not the first thing I said." He musters out, quiet and frustrated at himself.
Callie shrugs, "It's fine, really."
Brandon nervously asks, "So, what now?"
"What does that mean? Just live life normally...I'm not some broken toy. I can still make fun of you!" She laughs, but he doesn't.
"Will he just get away with it?"
Callie doesn't respond-doesn't know how to respond.
"There's no way I'll let him walk free!"
"It was a long time ago, Brandon," Callie retaliates, but keeps her voice steady. "No judge will hear my case…" A thought enters her mind and her voice becomes hard. "Don't you think it's enough with what happened at the fair? Is that not enough for you?"
Brandon notices how she gets louder, meaner even. He looks disappointed.
"You know that's not what I meant-"
"But that's how it is. Brandon, look." She says very matter of fact. "Kids like me in situations like these get...overlooked. And to tack this onto what happened a week ago, it's unnecessary because then they will look in my file and I won't get justice."
"What does your file have to do with this? Liam attacked you." He asks, unable to understand her problem.
"That's not what he said! That's not what any of them say. My file contains me attacking a foster father, he said I went crazy. But, he you know what really happened. Or that I stole, lied, verbally abused people-it's, it's all false. I stole to survive, I lied to live and I yelled to protect him."
She looks out near the door to Jude sitting in a chair. She looks to Brandon.
"Justice, as you and Stef call it, doesn't exist for us. As long as he is sitting there, my world turns because he's all I have."
Brandon pities her, he doesn't want to, but he can't help and think how easy of a life he has had.
"You need to know we're here now."
"And I do," she quickly responds.
The room gets quiet, the machines constant beeps seem to get louder.
"You guys are a good pair." Brandon says out of the blue.
Callie starts to laugh lightly and smiles, "Yeah, we are."
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Lena paces at the police station in a room with Stef who sits.
"What the hell are we going to do? What the hell-"
"Lena," Stef says with an even voice.
"Please sit down, hun," she continues.
After one last turn, Lena violently pulls out a chair and sits. Stef looks to her, trying not to be startled by her wife's anger.
"God!" Lena shouts, infuriated.
"Lena!" Stef harshly yells back. "Calm down! We need to actually discuss what's going to happen."
"Fine!" She complains back, still as loud as Stef.
"Calmly, we need to discuss this calmly." Stef bargains.
There's a beat, all heightened emotions begin to fade away.
"Okay," Lena exasperates. "I'm sorry. But Callie-"
"I know. I know. She was so brave, Lena. You should have seen her."
"I'm still watching her," Lena smiles. "Our girl is always brave..."
There is silence again, as the reason why they are in the police station creeps back in.
"What are we going to do?" Lena asks.
Stef looks worried, not wanting to reveal her answer.
"We'll do what Callie wants." She begins to explain. "Callie's really worried about Jude. Liam threatened her. He told Callie he'd kill Jude if she told anyone. That's why she stayed quiet for so long."
"Do you think, if this hadn't happened, we'd ever...know?" Lena asks, already knowing the answer.
"No, I doubt it, Lena." Stef replies, sadly hopeless. "He's her family-from the start."
"I think I'd do the same thing," Lena confesses, shuddering from her imagination.
Lena looks at Stef's uniform "What can the police do?"
Stef's face falls.
"There's no evidence. It was years ago. Everything's against her."
"But he'll go to jail?"
"For a while, yes," Stef responds. "He did attack her, on two occasions with witnesses, and the severe damage will aid in the hearing. But he won't go in for rape. He'll go to jail for physical abuse, stabbing and attacking two others."
Stef is blunt, but Lena is thankful for her clarity. She thinks about Brandon and Wyatt who fought against Liam, allowing extra time for the police to come.
"There's no way that he'll be walking around, right?"
"No," Stef quickly says. "Callie has a good case, Brandon and Wyatt will testify, even if Liam pleads not guilty-"
Lena scoffs, Stef's eyes shift to her.
"Even if, Lena, the evidence from the fair is enough. We can try for the rape charge, but it isn't likely…"
"Unbelievable," Lena says.
"I know," Stef embraces her.
"What else does she have to go through?" Lena leans into Stef.
Stef shakes her head, incapable of being in Callie's shoes.
"This has to be it, I swear, I don't know how much more I can get through, let alone Callie," Lena persists.
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Jesus sits with Callie for their first moment together since he saw her the hours after the attack. His feet lay upon her bed and Callie wrinkles her nose.
"Dude, you're feet...how can they smell that bad?" She says, coughing.
He wiggles them in front of her face as she pushes them away, laughing. He gets up and puts his arm around her.
"Then you've got to smell my shirt. I don't think I've changed it in a while." He jokes, laying on her.
Callie half chokes the smell, half laughs from the prank. She starts to push him away as he amusingly, fights back.
"Oh, come on, you're stronger than that!" Jesus teases, with his big, burly laugh.
"Do I smell, or something?" Jesus continues as Callie playful pulls at his shirt.
"You don't like it? Ah, you like it, Callie."
Callie fiercely grabs hold of his shirt. The weight from his body constrains her. Suddenly, she flashes back to all those years ago. Her fists hit against his chest, she begins to scream. Jesus tries to recoil away from Callie, but her clenched hand strikes his nose before he gets the chance.
"Woah!" Jesus's hand covers his nose so quickly it was a reflex. Blood seeps from the gaps in his hand as Callie is curled up on the bed.
He gets up and grabs a messy handful of tissues. He leaves to get a nurse as Callie just sits there, startled by her actions.
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"I'm so sorry. I talked to my doctor and he said it was another attack. I swear I didn't mean it." Callie croaks out from her tears.
Jesus holds Callie's hand, looking at her with sorrow.
"I know it wasn't your fault. It's really okay, it'll heal." He says, his nose taped with butterfly bandages. The space under his eyes begins to bruise as a reaction from his broken nose.
"You've got some swing on you, though," he grins.
She looks at him seriously, but breaks into a smile.
"Hm...maybe you deserved it." She laughs, at least tries to, but something holds her back.
She knows he didn't deserve it, jokes aside, but there was nothing she could do to stop herself. She looks down, unable to keep their connection. Callie exhales, bothered by her stupid traumatic stress outbursts.
"Look at me, Callie," Jesus says, completely serious. "This is nothing compared to you, okay? I'll take this any day if you got better each time. I'll heal, just like you. So, let's make a competition. If you feel better first, I owe you ice cream, but if I win, you owe me. Deal?"
"Deal." She says, smiling.
"Can I ask you something?" Jesus says very quietly.
Callie nods.
"What did you see...you know, when you like, freaked out? I don't really know what to call it…"
"An episode, I guess. At least that's what they tell me. I don't really see anything, that's the problem. Everything goes..dark," she tries to think, her eyes search for answers in the room.
"I didn't see your face, I didn't even see Liam's face, which I usually do... I felt panicky and knew I had to defend myself, it felt automatic, I couldn't stop it. This was different though, better-I mean, except for your face. This was the first time I didn't see Liam and that's because I've been working on it with that doctor. So, I didn't see as much as I have and I think that really freaked me out."
"But that's better right?"
Callie begins to smile, "Yeah. It is."
"Wow. I guess I owe you ice cream already. Ugh, I knew it," he grips Callie's hand. "You're already getting better. I just had to give you a reason."
"And who knew it would be ice cream?" Callie smirks.
"Oh, it's always ice cream." He laughs.
They remain holding hands, releasing their worries and smiling like they haven't in a long time.
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Mariana sits with Jude in the cafeteria. He sips on chocolate milk as she looks at the others sitting near them.
"She seems to really be getting better."
He nods.
"I'm sure she'll be home soon."
He nods.
"Then we'll be back in the same room, it's really weird without her there…" Mariana tries to sustain the conversation.
"What's going on with you?" She looks to him.
Jude continues to stare at his carton of milk.
"What will the people at school think? They've always stared when she has bruises."
"Is that what you're worried about, Jude? Do you think Callie really cares what they say? I'm sure it won't be that big of a deal."
He nods. He opens his mouth, about to say something, but closes it.
"It's just-no one is nice in school, not after this. Never after this."
Mariana sinks in her seat, she can't comprehend how this has happened more than once to her sister.
"You know what's different this time, Jude?" She asks.
He looks up to her.
"She has me. And if anyone gives her a bad look, I will stand up for Callie. Jesus will fight just about anyone if you give him a reason. Brandon will always be by her side, just like you. And Lena… well, she's the vice principal, so she can probably expel them. Stef is the backup. That's six people, including us, who have her back. That's what's different this time." She says strongly.
Jude puts his head on Mariana's shoulder.
"I like that." He says, cuddling in closer to her.
"Are you worried about anything else? Because you can always ask me. No matter what."
"What happens now with Liam?" Jude asks, curling up, trying to shield himself from the answer.
"I'm not really sure, buddy. Stef said something about a trial soon. That's when we'll know how long he'll be in jail." She replies
"But he's going for sure? And we won't have to worry about him?"
"Pretty sure. You'll never have to worry about him." Mariana promises.
"I wish I could protect her, you know?" He says insecurely.
"There's nothing to protect her from anymore. He'll be locked away and Stef will keep her safe."
"I wish she did before, too." He says, not realizing the raw truth.
Mariana cringes, wishing the same.
"Me, too. But don't dwell on that. All of us will keep her safe now."
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I'm honestly thinking there's one chapter left. Do you guys want to see more than that? R&R!