Chapter 13

Callie slipped into Brandon's room and closed the door behind her. He peeled his eyes off his computer screen and turned in his chair. A smile stretched across his lips when his eyes met hers. "Hey, how did it go at your dad's?"

She smiled back at him as she strolled towards his bed and took a seat. "Good. Sophia is really sweet. I think we have plans to go shopping."

"That's awesome. Nobody else is home?" Brandon asked as he shifted in his chair so he was facing Callie. He leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips after Callie shook her head. He reached out to take Callie's hand in his own. He intertwined their fingers and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. It was so much easier when nobody else was home. The two of them feared getting caught stealing a kiss or holding each other's hand when the others were home.

"So how's the hand?" She asked, looking at his brace free hand.

"I have ninety five percent function." He said quietly.

"That's good, right?" She asked. "Have your tried playing?"

Brandon nodded, a defeated expression painted across his features. "I need a hundred percent function to play classical, but when I mentioned getting the surgery to Mom, she shut it down right away."

Callie frowned. "Can't the surgery cause more damage?"

"Yeah, but there's also a chance it can completely fix it."

"Isn't that a big risk though?" Callie asked.

"Playing classical is me. It's my talent. It defines me. Who am I if I can't play?" Brandon shifted on the bench so he was facing Callie. Tears welled in his eyes. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he felt Callie squeeze his hand gently.

"Brandon, you are so much more than a piano player." Callie stood and leaned before Brandon to wrap her arms around him. She pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek as the tears began to tumble down his cheeks. "I know playing classical is so important to you, but that is just part of you. And if you can't play classical, that doesn't mean you have to give up on music."

"It's just…classical was my dream, my future and now I feel like it's crushed." Brandon closed his eyes for a moment to stop the tears from falling. He felt guilty for crying in front of her. This wasn't something she needed to deal with. He wrapped his arm around Callie's waist and pulled her onto his lap. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't…you don't need this from me."

Callie rested her hand on his cheek as she looked into his eyes. "Hey, don't apologize. I don't want you to feel like you can't be upset or cry or talk about your problems with me. I'm here for you."

"I know you are, but you're going through a lot right now and what's happening with me isn't as bad as…"

"No." Callie interjected. "Don't do that. What's happening with you is hard and you have every right to be upset, okay? I don't care what I'm dealing with, I want you to be honest with me and let me know what you're feeling. It's going to hurt me more if you don't come to me about something because you don't want to be a burden, okay?"

"Okay." Brandon nodded before leaning forward and landing his lips on hers. Callie's hand snaked around his neck as she deepened the kiss. She wanted to live in this moment forever. She wanted to be in his safe arms forever. All her problems seemed to dissipate when he was holding her with their lips connected.

"Don't give up on your dreams, okay? It may just take some time to get back into classical and even still you can explore other music. I mean you're obviously an amazing song writer as Outlaws is a perfect example of that." Callie smirked, a small giggle escaping her lips.

"I miss that laugh." He smiled, leaning in to peck her lips once again. "But I still want the surgery."

"Just promise me you'll think about it before you make a final decision?" Callie asked. She smiled after Brandon nodded. "I'm a little jealous you got your brace off first."

Brandon chuckled, although part of him was disgusted by the fact. Callie having to wear her wrist brace longer was just a reminder of how much damage Vico and Liam did to her. He had his hand broken defending himself in a fight over a month after she had her wrist broken and yet she was the one still dealing with complications. It made Brandon sick to think about they must have put her through. She had to fight against a wrestler and a guy easily twice her size.

Callie moved to stand, but Brandon pulled her back onto his lap. "Where are you going?"

"I'm probably crushing you." She laughed before resting her hand on her stomach. "This little one is starting to get big."

Brandon grinned as he placed a hand over hers on her stomach. "You're not crushing me at all. But I do see this little bump and it's very cute."

Callie closed her eyes for a moment. "It's going to start getting hard to hide. I know I have to tell Stef and Lena soon, but I'm scared."

"You tell them when you're ready." He said before pressing a kiss to her cheek. "So it went well today?"

"Yeah for the most part. Although I'm pretty sure they think I'm crazy." Callie sighed as she pointed to the splint on her wrist and brace on her ankle. "I don't think they believed that I was just in an accident. Probably from these stupid bite mark scars and scratches."

Brandon watched Callie's fingers trace over the scars on her neck and chest. An image of Vico biting Callie's neck as he pinned her down flashed through his mind. Nausea bubbled in his stomach and he tried to shake the image from his mind. "Since when do you care what people think about you?"

"I know I act like I don't care and I guess to a certain degree I don't, but I'm just tired of being seen as the crazy, dangerous foster girl." Callie pressed her lips together as she glanced away from Brandon.

Brandon smiled sadly. He was glad she was opening up. She must have been labeled as someone she wasn't for six years and he couldn't imagine how frustrating that felt. He brushed her curls behind her ears. "You're not that girl though and if they don't want to stick around to see passed that label, then they're not worth it. It doesn't take that long to see how amazing you are. You're pretty easy to fall in love with."

A smile found Callie's lips. "You're biased."

"Maybe." Brandon shrugged with a grin. "But Moms and the twins fell for you pretty easily too."

"I just…" Callie paused as she searched for her words. "I don't know. I'm tired of explaining things to people and I don't want to tell them what happened."

"You don't have to." Brandon replied. He glanced at her injured wrist and ankle. "You haven't really told anyone what really happened besides the fact that they…attacked you."

Callie looked away. "I'm…I'm not ready to talk about what happened."

"Okay, that's fine." Brandon nodded. He brought her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss to the top of her hand. "Just know that I'm here when you are ready."

Callie knocked on Brandon's door before stepping inside. "Hey, are you doing anything tonight?"

Brandon peeled his eyes off his laptop to look at Callie. "No. Why?"

"Jesus and Emma are going to see her friend's band and Mariana and I want to go, but we need a ride so we want you to come with us."

"Wow, I feel so wanted. You're using me for my driver's license." Brandon smirked.

Callie laughed. "I want you there, you know that."

Brandon smiled. He was glad Callie was going out. She hadn't really gone anywhere except for the school, the burger stand, and the doctor's office since the winter ball. "Yes, I'll come. But only because you want me there because I don't want to spend my Saturday listening to some crappy high school band."

"Because sitting home doing homework is so much better." Callie chuckled sarcastically, turning to leave the room. "We're leaving at eight, okay?"

Brandon nodded and watched as Callie treaded down the hall.

Brandon, Callie, and Mariana entered the crowded, spotting Emma and Jesus. Mariana bounced over to the couple and greeted them enthusiastically.

Emma began pushing a table next to another. "Here, help me push these two tables together."

Callie moved to help, but Brandon quickly stepped in front. Between her injuries and her pregnancy, he didn't want her moving the table. "I got it. Your wrist is still healing."

Callie let out a frustrated sigh. She was tired of feeling helpless. She hopped onto the stool, in between Mariana and Brandon. She felt her heart rate increase as a dark-haired male approached the table.

"Emma."

Emma spun around and threw her arms around him. "Oh hey!"

"You brought a posse, nice." He smiled before extending his hand to Brandon. "Hey man."

"Hey, this is your band?" Brandon asked, shaking his hand.

Callie watched the exchange, feeling more comfortable that Brandon seemed friendly with him.

"Yeah, it's me, Jasper, and my cousin Lou." Mat replied. He pointed towards Brandon's hand. "Hey, is your hand doing okay?"

"It's not exactly where I want it, but with one more surgery hopefully it'll be back to normal."

Callie glanced at Brandon, pursing her lips. He was so stubborn.

"Good." Mat nodded. "Okay well we're on soon. I hope you guys enjoy, I'll see you later."

"Good luck!" Brandon shouted as Mat started for the stage.

"So Emma, how do you know Mat?" Mariana asked casually.

Callie laughed. "I think what she's trying to ask is, does he have a girlfriend?"

Jesus smirked and nodded in agreement. "That's definitely what she's trying to ask."

"I am not." Mariana defended, but the smile that stretched her lips said otherwise.

Everyone's attention turned towards the stage as a short girl with dark, long hair cascading down her back in gentle waves spoke into the microphone.

Mariana burrowed her eyebrows as she looked back at Emma. "Lou?"

"Lucy." Emma nodded.

Lou introduced the band before the music began and she started singing into the microphone. Callie exchanged glances with Mariana as they both noticed Brandon's hand tapping to the beat of the songs.

After Someone's Little Sister finished their performance, Mariana began to show Emma some of the dance moves from the dance team. Jesus sat at the table watching in amusement while Callie and Brandon stood in the corner.

"I know what you're doing." Brandon told Callie.

"What?" She asked innocently. "I'm just hanging out with my family, listening to some music."

The two were interrupted when Mat returned to their table. Emma hugged him, complimenting the band's performance. She looked at Jesus and grabbed his hand. "It was amazing, but we have to go."

"We do?" Jesus asked slightly startled. He glared at his sister as she made a whipping sound before nodding at his girlfriend. "We do."

Jesus and Emma disappeared into the crowd as they started towards the exit. Mat pointed at Brandon. "What did you think?"

"I thought it was really good." Brandon said, nodding his head.

"C'mon, you're a musician. You actually know what you're talking about. Bring it."

"Uh, okay um…" Brandon started hesitantly. "Well your energy was really good, the songs are good, but I don't know…I don't think they were being…articulated as well as they could be, I guess."

"I know we're not as tight as middle school honors band." Mat said, causing Brandon to laugh.

"Wait, you guys used to play together?" Callie asked, glancing back and forth between Brandon and Mat.

Brandon nodded. "Yeah in seventh grade."

"Well then you know Brandon is a seriously great pianist." Callie said before looking towards Mariana to continue.

"Like seriously great." Mariana added. "Like even when I'm sick of him practicing the same thing over and over again that I think if I hear it one more time, I might puncture my own ear drums, I can step back and recognize that it's actually pretty amazing."

Mat smirked at Mariana's dramatic compliment. "Oh I remember he's super good."

"Yeah and he writes too." Callie added, earning a confused look from Brandon.

"We could use your help with something actually," Mat said, a hint of excitement in his voice.

Brandon seemed almost embarrassed. "Oh no I don't think…"

"Chiming up the sound, maybe getting a few of our songs charted." Mat interjected.

The singer of the band appeared behind Mat, joining in on the conversation. "So what? We can play the same stale version every time?"

"Well you know, that's only how it starts. Once you know it, you can really play around. Unless you guys like the fact that most of the time you guys sound like you're rehearsing."

Lou scoffed and glared at Brandon. "You're welcome to not attend our shows if you don't like what we do."

"No, he didn't mean um…" Callie interjected in attempt to ease Brandon's insult. "He's a musician too. Classical."

"Well maybe you're just a little too…buttoned up to get what we're about." Lou said bitterly, her eyes glancing over his body. She turned and walked away, clearly annoyed by Brandon's comment.

"Wow, she's…" Mariana started.

"Intense yeah." Mat finished. "And I have about thirty seconds to follow her before she quits the band. Again. Dude, you have to come jam with us some time."

"I don't think it's my thing. It's definitely not her thing." Brandon nodded his head towards Lou.

"Just think about it." Mat said, taking a few steps backwards. "We could probably use a little buttoning up."

Mariana turned towards Brandon with a grin stretched across her lips. Callie felt a small smile find her own lips at the success of her plan. Now they just had to convince Brandon to take the opportunity.

Thanks for reading! As you can tell, some of this is words/scenes from the Fosters as in previous chapters. Just want to make it known that I don't own those parts. As I'm sure you've all heard, the Fosters is sadly coming to an end. It hasn't been the same since season 3, but I definitely do not want it to end. I have high hopes for the spin off though and my fingers are crossed that Brandon and Callie will end up together for the end of the series (although not sure if that's really going to happen) Anyway, hope you enjoyed! We're getting close to Stef and Lena finding out about the pregnancy- I promise!

Review!