Loving you is easy

Callie POV

I lay down, slinging my arm over my face, blocking the sun, a new song starting. Brandon sits next to me, throwing a fishing line into the lake. Jude, Moms, and the twins decided to go for a hike, leaving me and Brandon alone.

"God, Brandon," I say into my arm, dangling my bare feet into the cool water. "There's no damn fish in the lake."

Brandon been sitting next to me since they left, trying to catch fish.

"That's because you're scaring them," I move my arm and look at him, confused. "Never mind. There's probably something wrong with my bait."

I cover my face again, and let out a groan."Can we please do something different?"

"Like what?"

I move my arm, only to find Brandon looking at. I pull out a earbud, but leave the other one in so I can still hear Maroon's five Wipe your eyes play. "Something that is not fishing." I tell him. "This is painfully boring."

Brandon runs a hand through his already messed up hair, and swings his fishing pole side to side. "Me and Jesus caught fish here before."

"Are you sure that they were real fish?" I ask.

Brandon rests a hand on his chest, pretending to be hurt. "Can't you just believe me for once?"

"I believed you when you said that there was a lot to do here and that it was fun," I point out. "Clearly you were lying since I'm stuck fishing with you."

"Fishing is a sport that requires patience."

"And a guy who's willing to waste more than half of his day doing nothing in the middle of no where," I turn off my music. "The least you can do is find something to do while you sit here."

Brandon looks down at me again, and presses his lips to mine, the pulls away, standing up. "Come on. We'll do something fun, since this is boring. Just bring your sneakers." He holds out his hand, and I take it.

"What are we doing?"

"It's a surprise. No more questions. We're going to be walking for a while."

I shut up, and didn't ask any questions, even though I hate surprises.

"We're here!" Brandon announces, grabbing my hand, reaching a place that's finally not covered in trees. "This better be fun enough."

I laugh. "I just needed some entertainment, not an adventure."

"I forgot to ask you. Are you wearing a bathing suit?"

"No."

He gives me a smile. "I hope you're still up for jumping off of this thing."

I shake my head. "There is no way that I am jumping off a cliff into the lake. Is it even safe?"

Brandon shrugs. "I had Jesus jump off it when he was ten."

"No wonder."

Brandon pulls off his shirt, leaving his chest bare. I find myself staring, and can't force myself to look away fast enough.

"Enjoy what you see?"

I look at him. "Uh? W-what? Um, yeah."

Brandon laughs. "Come on. Jump off with me."

I kick off my shoes, and look over the edge, down at the water that is at least 200 feet below me. "No."

"It is 100% safe, Callie."

"I believe you."

"So? Wait. You're scared off heights?"

I shake my head. "Not of heights. I'm scared of falling from heights." I explain.

Brandon nods, then smiles playfully. "You're still gonna jump off with me."

"Hell no," I tell him, but I'm smiling. "Never going to happen."

Brandon's smile grows wider. "But the water's cold."

"I know it's hot here," I say, wrapping my arms around his neck. "But I'm still not going to jump off the cliff."

Brandon's warm lips find mine, his hands pulling me closer, pressing our bodies together. Brandon pulls away before I'm aware of his actions.

"Brandon!" I shout. "Don't you dare think about jumping off this cliff wi-"

I'm screaming until I'm under the water, I kick myself back up so my head's above the water.

"Brandon!" I shout, splashing water at him. "Was that necessary?"

"Yes, yes it was." He says. "We're having fun."

I laugh. "You're lucky I like you."

"I'm very lucky," Brandon says, smiling. "And you're lucky I love you."

Suddenly, I'm not next to Brandon anymore, but I can hear Liam's laughing.

"And you're lucky I love you. Or mom and Dad would already kicked you and Jude out," Liam's wet hair was in his eyes, holding the bucket of water, deciding if he should get his revenge by getting me wet or not. "My shirt's wet now."

A few moments ago, Jude had thrown a water at Liam, by my demand. I told Liam that he was lucky that I liked him or I would've thrown mine at him, and Jude ran off.

"I know," I say, suddenly serious. "Thank you for that. Or at least acting like it."

Liam shakes his head. "I'm not acting like it. I actually love you."

"Callie? Hey, Callie? Are you alright?" I hear Brandon ask. "You zoned out."

"L-Liam!" I choke out, and Brandon looks behind him, only to see the rocky wall of the cliff.

Brandon faces me again. "Callie? Di-"

I cut him off. "L-Liam!" I choke out. "H-He... He was here! H-"

"Callie! It was just a flashback, okay? He's not here with us, it's just us two. You and I. Callie and Brandon. No Liam."

I burry my face into his chest, and I don't even know why, but I start sobbing.

"Hey," Brandon says gently. "It's... Its okay."

I nod, but keep my face in his muscular chest.

"Do you need anything? I can tell moms that we can leave, if you want."

"No... I- I just want to get out."

Brandon understands, because he pulls me out of the lake. "Are you sure that you don't need anything?"

"Positive."

It's quite for a few minutes, both of us sitting on the dock, my head still buried into his chest.

"It was something I said, wasn't it?" Brandon mumbles.

"What?" I ask, looking up at him.

"I said something that triggered it, right?"

"Yes," I answer truthfully. "But it just happened. I can usually tell when it's coming on. It wasn't your fault. Don't feel bad about it, Brandon."

Brandon shakes his head. "I feel bad about it. I'm not going to stop feeling bad about it."

"Bran-"

"I remind you of... him," Brandon murmurs, the disgust in his voice. "That's horrible. I can just stop taking to you. It would reduce the amount of them. I ca-"

"Brandon!" I say. "Stop talking about it like that! This is the first time it happened like this!"

"Because I said something he said a long time ago, Callie! I don't want to remind you of somebody lik-"

I stand up, and look down at him, his face having a look like I've let him down.

"You do not remind me of Liam! You are nothing like him! You're the complete opposite, okay? You care for people! I know he doesn't. He's Liam," I pause, bending down to face him better, my fingers pushing his hair out of his green eyes, resting my forehead on his. "And you're Brandon Foster. That's a big difference. You're so much better than him, Brandon. You really are."

I kiss his forehead, and stand up, the wood of the dock burning my feet. "Get me when they come back."

There's a knock at my bedroom door, and I open it, poking my head out.

"Yes?"

Brandon stares at me. "Dinner's ready."

"I'll be there in a minute," I tell him, and he starts down the hallway. "Brandon, wait."

He turns around, facing me again. "Hm?"

"It wasn't your fault." Is all I manage to say.

He nods, and starts down the stairs, and I follow him.

When we get to the bottom of the stairs, everybody is already sitting down. Lena looks at us. "I hope you're in the mood for steak, Callie."

An hour later, there was a fire, and Jesus grabbed the marshmallows, rotating them? Brandon holding my hand where nobody could see.

"You're cold," He murmurs.

I look at him, shivering. "What?"

"Here. Take my sweatshirt."

I shake my head. "I'm not cold."

"Aww, come on, Callie. You are cold."

I give in. "Fine I am cold, but I am not taking your sweatshirt."

"Yes, yes you are," Brandon answers, letting go of my hand, pulling the fabric over his head and handing it to me. "Here you go."

I take it thankfully. "Thank you," I tell him putting it on, it lose and baggy. "It's warm."

I lay down on the cold ground next to Jude, who's half awake.

"Hi, Callie," he mumbles, looking up at the sky. "Do you like it here?"

"It's nice," I answer. "You've been here before, right?"

"Last summer." Jude replies, rolling over.

"Enjoying it?"

"Hm?"

"The cabin," Brandon says. "It's not too bad up here, is it?"

"It's nice."

Brandon nods. "I usually like to come outside when it dark out up here. For once there's nothing blocking the sky. You can see the sky clearly."

"The stars," I mumble.

"Yeah," Brandon says. "The stars are nice. I used to stay up all night looking at them when I was younger."