Chapter 6

It's now or never, the cop thought to herself just prior to opening her mouth and going off her instincts rather than her fear. "You never let us explain," Stef began when she realized that her best bet would be to jump right into it, instead of waiting for Callie to listen all on her own. Stef had to take the lead here and start making the decisions. The teen had been making the wrong ones for far too long. Everything around them just proved it.

"There was nothing to explain," Callie protested, wanting nothing more than to come to an end to this very late conversation. "You made a decision and I dealt with it. End of discussion," the girl said in a tone that almost left no room for argument.

"No," Stef said as she shook her head and Callie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Love," the blonde continued softly. "Mama and I didn't abandon you. I know that's what you think."

Callie huffed as if everything the woman in front of her was saying was a complete joke. Stef was a complete joke. "It doesn't matter now. None of this matters anymore." It amazed the teen that Stef was still so relentless about the whole situation after all of this time. What exactly did she think that explaining a decision from two years ago was going to solve now? Did she think they could just talk and everything would be better? That she could just forgive them?

"It matters to me!" Stef said sternly and wished that Callie would just accept her wanting to be there, rather than continue to fight her off with every point she tried to make. She took in a deep breath and noticed the confused look on Callie's face. "Look... I know that we screwed up big time that day in the courtroom. This we all know. But we weren't giving up on you, Callie. We just wanted... We wanted to get you to understand. You needed to learn that the decisions you were making weren't oaky..."

Callie furrowed her eyebrows and made a disgusted facial expression as if that were the stupidest thing she had ever heard.

"Your parole officer," Stef continued, "He suggested the girls' home, Callie."

The teen remained stiff as the woman spoke, not wanting to believe any word that was coming out of her mouth, but willing to listen if that was the only way to make Stef go away.

But as long as Callie was listening and not fighting, this was good news to the cop.

"He suggested that you needed to learn how to better control yourself and he said you'd get the coping skills you needed from Girls United. Lena and I didn't know what to do," she admitted honestly, knowing that it would be best to tell Callie the truth. "All we knew was that we wanted to help you–"

Callie glanced down at her feet and pursed her lips as she wondered just how long Stef's monologue would take.

"Yes, I told the judge that we couldn't take you home that day... because I was afraid. I was afraid of what would happen if I did," Stef paused to study her daughter's stance. She silently wondered if Callie was in fact, blocking out every word that she was saying. "I was afraid you'd run again. I was afraid we couldn't help you on our own. That's why we decided to go along with the idea because... we thought it was the only option we had to get you to come home," Stef finished with a cracked-voice, that she was beginning to regret showing.

Callie's gaze moved back up to the blonde's and she hated making anyone feel like that. In her mind, they were wrong and she was right. They didn't deserve to make her feel guilty for hearing them cry. She had done enough of that over the years and she couldn't just let all of that anger go no matter what. She knew that she was being more stubborn than she should be. But Callie needed to hold onto the rage that she felt whenever she thought about the Fosters; despite the fact that she suddenly found herself wanting to give in and believe the woman.

Stef took in a few deep breaths just so that she could gather her thoughts and try to keep her emotions in check. "We wanted to explain all of this that very same day after the hearing, but you refused to see us. And all the times we tried to visit you in juvie, you just avoided us."

The teen remained silent from the confusion that she was dealing with in her own mind, as she wondered just how she should react or even how she should feel. She couldn't help still feeling distant and angry. "No," she shook her head, "You left me there because you didn't want me around your son anymore," she retorted with hostility, more to convince herself than to convince Stef. "You knew I was nothing but trash so you tried to keep me away–"

"No," Stef was quick to interrupt. "We didn't abandon you, Callie. After everything that we've been through, you can't really believe that we'd think that about you... that we'd just cut off all ties because of a... a silly mistake that you and Brandon both made."

Callie's eyes fluttered back and forth as she stared back down at the ground. Her head was shaking back and forth, but with very little movement being made.

The blonde swallowed before continuing, "C-Callie, I'm so sorry that you thought that," Stef paused again as she instinctively brought her hand closer to her daughter's chin to move it upward, so that they would at least be making eye contact. She felt a sense of relief when the girl didn't retract in response to her touch, but it was obvious that her body was still tense. "We still love you."

Unwillingly, Callie's eyes filled with tears despite her desperate need to fight them back. How could she feel like falling apart at Stef's words when she wasn't supposed to care about any of them anymore?

Stef could sense Callie's struggle to not want to believe her.

"It's too late.." Callie mumbled as her last and final attempt at an excuse. She wasn't sure what else she could say anymore to get Stef to change her mind.

"Too late for what?" Stef asked with hopes that her daughter would realize that what she was saying didn't hold any ground anymore.

"Mn," Callie made a noise as she tried to search her thoughts for the right response. Her mouth opened to say something else but nothing came out.

"Please, Callie," Stef continued as she stepped even closer toward the girl. She needed her to realize that she wasn't going anywhere this time. "I'm not giving up on you. okay?" the blonde told her before tilting her head to the side and waiting for her daughter to nod or say something in agreement.

Callie breathed in deeply but still couldn't say a word. It was clear that the teen was stunned into utter silence.

Stef wanted to take this as a good sign even though she was exactly sure that it was.

It wasn't until the woman grabbed hold of Callie's body and pulled it close against her own that she could feel the resistance completely diminish. With that knowledge, she wrapped her arms around the brunette a little tighter. And within just a few seconds, she could feel her daughter's arms softly embracing her softly in return.