I don't know how long it takes Callie to respond to me, to what I said. Of course I screw up like that, basically saying that I can't live without her. Smooth move, Brandon

"You don't have to protect me." Callie murmurs, pushing the hair out of my eyes, and I only nod, looking at her.

"Yes I do. You don't realize it but I'm gonna end up hurting you. And I don't want to."

"You're not going to hurt me. Not if you don't want too," Callie says quietly, and I want to believe her. So bad, but if I do, I'll only be lying to myself. I want to tell her that I can't do this, that I can't control anything in my life, and that it'll happen, no matter what. "Because I know you. You don't hurt people, Brandon. You help them."

"I let Liam hurt you."

Callie looks confused, but that's not the truth. I hurt her trying to protect her from him when she followed me that day. I hurt her.

"If he did hurt me I wouldn't be here." Callie murmurs, pressing her hands against my bare chest, as if to prove her point that she's real. That's the problem. She's too real. It just makes me feel like that any second that it'll just go away, because that's the way life is. All of the good stuff leaves.

"I- It would be better if I wasn't here." I tell her, grabbing her hands. I shouldn't be this close to her. I promised Mike that I didn't want to hurt her, and this is the way to do it. To push her away.

"No. It would be better if you stay here. With me. Because I need you."

Suddenly I don't regret telling her that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she got hurt, because it's the truth. Most people are scared to say it. I let go of her hands, and they rest on my stomach before she slowly runs them up to my chest, her fingertips leaving trails of fire.

"I like this."

On instinct I open my eyes and look down, only to see her staring at my chest, but I know what she's looking at. My tattoo.

"I don't like it," I grumble as Callie gives me a small smile, her fingers tracing over the rips painted onto my skin. "It was a waste of money."

Callie's fingers still trace over it, and I smile to myself, liking how amazed she seems about it. I forgot that I even had it until today. A few years after my dad died and I was already in the system, I went out. Not sure of where I wanted to go. Or what I was going to do when I got there. But I thinking about my dad, and ten next thing I know is that I'm standing in the middle of a tattoo parlor, asking the man who worked there if he could to mine.

He yelled at me for a few minutes, saying that I had to call him before I came in, and that I was too young. Only fourteen, but I could care less. When I told him this, he just let out a laugh, making some joke about me getting a girl named tattoo.

He seemed even more confused when I said that I wasn't there for one of those, and told him I wanted a flag. "You know? For my dad. I want it to be ripped. He went down with a fight."

The man suddenly face had softened and he nearly shoved me into the chair, asking me where I wanted it.

"Why did you get it?" Callie asks, and I just smile as she looks at me, waiting for an answer.

"That will be a mystery for now. Nobody knows. I plan on keeping it like that." I say, knowing that it'll anger her that I won't tell her, and she frowns, but she's still staring at it, trying to figure out why I would get it.

"Please tell me."

I sigh, giving in to her pleading expression, and I tell myself that it'll be good for me. To tell her about my dad. "I got it for my dad. He was in the army and he died a few years ago. So I got it so I remember him," I let out a small laugh, running my fingers through my hair. "It keeps me going sometimes. That I can be like him. Somebody who saves lives. Not somebody who destroys them."

Callie is quiet, slowly processing all of it, and I just smile to myself. She bites her bottom lip in concentration, and I notice that it's a habit. A cute one.

I wonder what it's like to have somebody fall for you. And I mean really fall for you. Not because they want to get into your pants because they think you're attractive. But for them to be consumed with every little piece about you. The way you talk, the way you laugh, the way you just exist.

Usually this would be a good thing. That person wouldn't know how lucky they are. But if Callie does know that I'm amazed by her, she'd know that she's lucky. Instead she's with some guy who has bad luck following him everywhere he goes.

Callie seems to finally notice that I'm watching her carefully. "What?"

I shake my head. "Nothing. Nothing at all. It's just a tattoo."

"It's more than that." Callie tells me, and it seems like it has more of an impact on her then me. Her hands leave my chest, and I'm already missing the warmth from them.

"I want you to play me." I say before I can even process what I was thinking, or what I wanted to say. Or what I mean by this. Callie just seems even more confused, and even I am.

"What?"

"You know," I say, looking at her guitar in the corner of her room, remembering watching her fingers run along the strings. "The way you play your guitar."

So that's what she does. I rest my head in her lap, and suddenly her fingers are grazing the waistband of my jeans, her fingers slowly tracing the muscles. As close as I was with Lou, I was never this intimate with her. Without helping it, my cheeks heat up.

Callie notices, her fingers still slowly tracing circles as her lips curve into a smirk. She still doesn't say anything, saving me from embarrassment.

"W-what note would that be?" I stutter, only making a fool of myself, doing the complete opposite of what I wanted to do. Act like this wasn't having effect on me.

"W-what? Oh, G." Callie mumbles, finally seeming to notice what we're doing, a blush rising to her cheeks, only making her more attractive as she looks down at me.

"Well," I say, grabbing her hand that has found it's way to my hair, and bring it back down to my stomach, pressing her hand against it. As pathetic as it sounds, I already started to miss the warmth. "What about this one?"

"Uh, A." Callie murmurs, her blush growing.

"And there's six notes, right?" I ask. "What about the other four?"

"I think you know them."

"On piano." I answer simply, shrugging, causing her to wrinkle her nose as she looks down at me, her hair falling to my face. More attractive. Callie in General is an attractive person.

I suddenly want more. More then us fighting and ready to rip each other heads off one minute, and the next so close and intimate with her. Judging by how red her cheeks are, this is her first real time being this intimate with somebody else too. It surprises me that she hasn't been this close to Wyatt.

I want more then us behind a closed door, not even exactly sure of what we are. Maybe it's supposed to be this way. Maybe it's the only way we can be together and be so comfortable around each other.

Then it hits me that Callie might not be as comfortable as I am, or be comfortable at all. I didn't tell her that she has to do this, but she might feel like she has too.

"Do you want to hear the rules?" I murmur, and her eyebrows furrow together, but she doesn't say anything. "The first one is that you can't think too hard about it. The seconds one is that you tell me when you want to stop. The third is to do whatever feels good too you..." I have to stop and think before I come up with a fourth one. "The fourth is th-"

"You shut up and kiss me?" Callie's lips are on mine quickly, moving her mouth against mine softly. I can't help but smile into the kiss as her fingers find my hair. Everything leaves my mind, and I can only think about how lucky I am to have met Callie. Who knows where I'd be without her. I prop myself on my elbows, kissing her again as she starts to pull away.

Callie pulls away again, and this time I let her, feeling the curve of her lips as she does. "I think I can get used to this." She whispers, only causing to smile as I sit up, and face her.

"I don't think I will."

"Good thing or bad thing?" Callie questions, her hands resting on my knees.

"Good," I tell her, giving her a smirk. "I'm bored. What can we do?"

"Homework."

"Homework?" I ask, giving her a frown, only causing her to smile lightly.

"Yes homework. Is that okay with you?"

I just nod, and Callie grabs for her backpack on the floor next to her bed. Needless to say, ten minutes later we're laying on her bed next to each other, our legs tangling together as I watch over her shoulder. She's working on Biology. AP Biology.

"A college class?" I ask, and Callie looks at me.

"Yeah, why?"

"The last school I went to the highest class we were able to take was chemistry."

"Oh," Callie says quietly, turning her attention back to her paper as I still read over her shoulder.

"Bacteria can have sex?" I ask out of the blue.

"What the hell, Brandon?"

"See, right here. Your teacher wrote this?"

"It's a study guide for a test next week."

"Oh."

Callie doesn't answer, and I start to get bored again. It's not like I have any homework to do. Without thinking, I kiss her cheek, causing her to smile. She's still reading her boring paper, and I kiss her jawline. Still looking at the dumb, boring paper. I push her hair to the side, kissing her neck gently, and she stops.

"That tickles." She murmurs.

"You aren't laughing." I say, kissing her neck again. Callie doesn't answer, but I know that she's not looking at her paper anymore. I'm about to kiss her neck again when her fingers find my hair, pulling my face to hers, and she kisses me slowly. And as stupid as it sounds, sparks were flying.