Chapter 5

Brandon glanced at the clock on his nightstand. 3:23 A.M. He couldn't sleep. He hasn't been able to since Callie ended up in the hospital. The guilt was consuming him. Vico hurt Callie to get back at him and that's all he could think about. He just wanted to take Callie's pain away. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a scared whimper pierce through the silent house. Brandon threw the covers off his body and quietly made his way to Mariana and Callie's room.

Callie's face was scrunched together. Her body was trembling and she was writhing beneath the sheets. "No. Stop it. Please stop."

Callie's pleads felt like a stab to Brandon's heart. He felt anger burst within him at Liam and Vico for ignoring her pleads; for causing her all this pain and fear. He made her way to Callie's bed and kneeled beside it. "Callie, wake up. You're having a nightmare."

"Get off! Get off!" Callie's voice became more desperate as her breathing hitched.

Brandon glanced at Mariana to see she was still asleep. He gently placed his hand on Callie's shoulder, slightly shaking her. "Callie, wake up."

Callie's eyes shot open, wide with terror. Her heart pounded within her chest. She sat up quickly, grimacing at the pain that sparked in her ribs. Her eyes darted around the room anxiously before finally settling on Brandon. "I'm sorry. I used to be able to keep quiet when I had nightmares."

Brandon closed his eyes for a moment. She used to force herself to stay quiet during her nightmares. Probably because her previous foster families got angry with her if she woke them up. Probably to keep Jude from worrying. "Hey, you don't need to apologize. It's completely normal to have nightmares and I'm glad you made noise so I could wake you up from it. Plus I was awake already. You didn't wake me up."

Callie looked past Brandon at Mariana who remained sleeping. "I guess I didn't wake her up."

"Nah, she's a heavy sleeper." Brandon chuckled slightly. "Do you want to talk about your nightmare?"

Callie bit down on her lower lip. "It wasn't a nightmare, it was a flashback."

"Do you want me to get moms?"

"No, no." Callie whispered.

"Callie, you know I would do anything to go back and change this."

Callie shook her head. "I don't blame you, Brandon. It wasn't your fault. Please, don't blame yourself. I can't handle knowing that you are hurting because you think it's your fault."

She was worrying about him. She had been raped and beaten and she was worrying about him. "Callie, you've been through hell, especially this past week, and you're worrying about me hurting?"

"What happens to me doesn't matter if the people I love are okay."

Brandon wanted to cry. She thought she was worthless. He wanted to shake her and tell her that she did matter until she finally believed him. "Callie, what happens to you does matter. You are important. I know you've spent practically your whole life protecting Jude, but you need people to protect you too because you matter."

"No, I don't. If I did I wouldn't be tossed around from home to home with people who hit me and saw me as nothing more than the girl who cleaned their house and earned them a paycheck every week." Callie whispered as a new batch of tears bubbled in her eyes. "My mother was killed because my father was driving intoxicated. Our first foster home was probably one of the better ones. The husband and wife barely acknowledged us, but at least we were safe. I was forced to be a mother to Jude. I had just turned eleven when we moved to the second, Jude was seven. They told us if we took food from the kitchen, we would be hit with a belt twenty times. I tried sneaking food, but they usually found out. I never let Jude take food. I would always do it for him. I skipped a lot of meals that year. The third home hated us. They would lock me in a closet for days sometimes. The fourth home was the Olmsteads. Jude loved this home. It was the first home he was happy in since my mother died. The parents loved him, clearly favored him because the dad preferred boys over girls. They were pretty good though. They cared somewhat. After we were there for five months…L-Liam came home from college-he dropped out. And well you know how that one ends. Our fifth was probably the worst. He went out drinking every night and when he came back he always found a reason to hit me. And the one time I wasn't there to protect Jude, he got hit and I went crazy which sent me to juvie, where I was a punching bag again. And you know the rest. So tell me if I matter then why did I go through all of that?"

Brandon's heart was breaking as Callie exposed her past to him. He was happy she was letting her walls down. That was something that Callie rarely did. "Jude never got hit?"

"Only once or twice." Callie sniffed. "I never let him. I always took the blame for him or did something worse so they would come after me instead."

"Callie." Brandon sighed sadly. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that this selfless, amazing girl had gone through such horrors. "You do matter. You matter so much. You just got really unlucky, but you have us and we're going to get you through everything. I will spend the rest of my life reversing the damage that everyone did to you."

Callie frowned. She glanced at the clock. "Brandon, it's almost four in the morning. I'm sorry for keeping you up."

"Don't apologize. I don't care that it's four. You can wake me up every night if it means making you feel better." Brandon said, softly brushing away the tears on her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "I love you."

"I love you too." Callie whispered. She met his eyes hesitantly. "Would…would you mind…staying with me the rest of the night?"

Brandon smiled warmly. "Of course."

Callie winced as she scooted herself over in her bed to make room for Brandon. She knew she shouldn't be doing this; giving in to her feelings for Brandon. But he gave her a sense of safety. She felt like nothing could hurt her when she was in his arms and right now she needed that more than anything.

Brandon slipped into the bed and wrapped his arms around Callie. He pressed a ginger kiss to the top of her head as she rested it on his chest. His fingers danced in her curls, lulling her to sleep. He waited until her breathing evened out before letting himself drift off.

"Let's go, breakfast is ready!" Stef shouted as she placed a platter of scrambled eggs on the table.

Mariana scooped some eggs into her plate from her spot at the kitchen table. "Who's staying home with Callie today?"

"I am. I'm taking a late shift tonight so I can be home with Callie until Mama gets off from work." Stef took a sip of her coffee before placing it on the counter. "Brandon, Jude, Jesus, let's go!"

Jude ran down the stairs and hopped onto a kitchen chair. "Brandon's helping Callie downstairs."

Brandon entered the kitchen, his arm around Callie's waist as she limped beside him. Lena looked over at the two and helped Callie onto a chair. "You should have stayed in bed, sweetheart. We could have brought you breakfast upstairs."

"I'm so tired of sitting in bed." Callie said, watching as Lena scooped eggs into a plate and placed it in front of Callie. "I'm not that hungry."

Stef and Lena exchanged glances. Stef walked over and placed a hand on Callie's shoulder. "Sweets, I know it might be hard, but you've got to eat. Just a little bit is fine."

Callie nodded and reluctantly slipped a forkful of eggs into her mouth.

"Jesus!" Stef shouted, causing Callie to flinch. Stef frowned and gently rubbed her foster daughter's shoulder. "Sorry, love."

Everyone's eyes moved towards Jude as he let out a frustrated groan. He stared down at his shirt with a new stain on his chest. "I spilled orange juice on my shirt."

"Go change now so you're not late." Lena said. She waited for him to leave before she spoke up again. "Mariana, Brandon, mom and I have to talk to Callie."

Callie felt her stomach twist with anxiety. Whenever they wanted to talk to her alone it meant something was wrong. "They can stay."

Stef hesitated, looking at her daughter and son. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Callie nodded. She really only wanted Brandon here. She felt safer with his presence, but she couldn't tell them that. "It's just Mariana and Brandon."

Lena paused for a moment, struggling to form words. "There was a bail hearing yesterday for Vico and Liam and…the bail was set very high but…"

"But what?" Callie asked nervously.

"Vico's out on bail." Lena blurted out, waiting for Callie's reaction. Callie's face was unreadable; void of any emotion.

Callie's stomach shifted uneasily. Her heart began to throb against her rib cage painfully. The words replayed her head over and over, hoping she had heard them wrong.

"Are you fucking kidding me? They can't do that!" Brandon's voiced boomed throughout the kitchen, thick with fury.

Stef felt Callie begin to tremble beneath her and her body tense when Brandon shouted. "Brandon, you're scaring Callie. And watch your language."

"I'm sorry, but this is insane. How is he even allowed a bail?" Brandon paced the kitchen, throwing his arms in the air with frustration. "What about Liam?"

Stef noted that Callie flinched at the mention of Liam's name. "Both of their bails were set for $500,000. Liam couldn't afford it; most people can't. However, Vico comes from a very wealthy family and they were able to pay for the bail. He's not allowed to come within fifteen feet of Callie or any of us, he can't go more than twenty miles out of the city, and he must wear an anklet."

Lena studied Callie, struggling to read the brunette's emotions. Callie remained quiet, her body tense and rigid. "Callie, you haven't said anything."

Callie peeled her eyes off the wall at the sound of her name. "There's nothing to say. This is how it goes. I get hurt and nobody gets punished for it."

Stef was furious at the people in Callie's past. She knew the girl had a rough past with a history of abuse, but she didn't know the extent of it. She also knew that nobody seemed to do anything about it. "Callie, they will be punished. It's not fair that he's out on bail, but he won't hurt you. He's not allowed near you and if he comes within five feet of our house or the school his anklet sets off an alarm. But believe me after the trial they will both be in jail for a very long time."

Callie shook her head as tears tumbled down her cheeks. "No, it doesn't work that way. Nobody believes the trashy foster girl who is just looking for attention and has a history of juvie and sleeping with her foster brother."

Stef blinked back her own tears. How was she supposed to convince Callie that this would work out when she had been let down so many times? "Callie…"

"No, this is just the way it goes. Nobody ever believes me. Nobody believed me when we were starving in our second foster home. Nobody believed me when Liam forced me to have sex with him. Nobody believed that our foster father was beating the shit out of me practically every night just because he felt like it. Nobody believed me that I smashed his car to get him to stop hitting Jude." Callie let out a choked sob at the end of her rant.

Stef wrapped her arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "We believe you, Callie. I know life hasn't been fair to you, but I promise you that we will do everything in our power to put Liam and Vico away for as long as we can."

Thanks for reading! There's still a ton more to come! Review!