Chapter Five
Something in Brandon had broken last night, when he had to pick up Callie and Wyatt. And he snapped. He laid himself on the line, and Callie, she had opened up. But it was only seconds before she was closed off again.
But it mattered now, he knew what was behind everything. He "understood" a piece of her now. She was scared of hurting Jude by getting kicked out, and she was also afraid of how it ended. Because in her world, everything had always ended.
In a different way, it broke him to watch Callie kiss Wyatt. After last night he thought maybe, she'd get it, and it nearly killed him that he couldn't get through to her.
And now all the remained between them was Callie's stony mask of indifference. But that sounded too dramatic. She wasn't indifferent. Indifferent meant she didn't care, and something inside her eyes told him she did care.
Callie was terrified. In an escape act, she had let Brandon in more than she had wanted. And he knew something now.
The house echoed with emptiness, something that never turned out well for them. Or extremely well, if you could ignore how it always ended.
"What are your plans for the day, Callie?" Brandon questions glancing up at her. He knew her answer would include Wyatt, but he wanted to pretend for one moment that he didn't care.
The truth was Brandon took everything to hard. Everything. He had to have a feeling about everything, but he kept them to himself, he couldn't let people see that. If he was hurt, if he was tormented, he hid all of it. In the hopes his world would still spin the way it had the day before. Brandon knew what it was like to lose everything, when his dad and mom divorced, he knew what it was like for your world to fall apart, so now he did everything in his power to keep it from happening again.
Callie was the opposite. She fought for what she wanted, she kept to herself so she could act how she wanted without hurting anyone. She was lonely, and miserable. But somewhere inside she knew she could be okay again. She was already becoming more comfortable here, which only struck her with more fear than she started with.
Callie shrugged at Brandon's question. The truth was, she didn't have plans, but so hoped Brandon would. She couldn't take his honest and searching eyes she would crack again, and that's something that after several times could not happen again.
Brandon was tired of non-committal shrugs, and never making eye contact. He was tired and frustrated. He had been so close to getting in, and then he just didn't. She was closed off and gone again. He had a feeling she would never want to open up like that again.
"Can we stop this?" he asks anger creeping into his voice. He was letting his own emotion show now, and he felt he could do it openly now. Maybe emotion is what she needed.
"Stop what?" Callie asks, looking up from her book, she was trying so hard to be calm, and look non-caring. But she did. She finally could admit to herself that she cared.
"This awkward no-talking thing. I'm not going to ask any questions. I just want to be your friend, and talk to you," Brandon admitted., although he could taste the lie on his tongue. He wanted a lot more.
Callie saw through his facade. He wanted more than she could give, already. She looked up at him, setting him with a dis-believing glare.
"Okay, so I want you. And I want you to be mine, but I can look past that, I just can't take the silence," he was pleading with her. A bargain.
"Brandon. I can't. I can't be around you and pretend that you don't have some sort of feelings about me, not after what you said. And I can't pretend that I don't," Callie stopped herself and stood to wash her dish eager to run.
She was becoming skilled at running away. She felt like a coward, but a part of her knew this is what had to be done.
"Please finish that sentence," Brandon said coming up behind her. The heat radiating of both of them and mingling, the "Callie" scent hit is senses and his was gone.
One time thing. That idea was a thing of the past. Callie thought it would have worked, but now she knew, her feelings for Brandon, whatever they were, ran deep. They ran deeper than a one-time fling and physical attraction. So much deeper.
"I can't pretend, I don't feel this," she waved a hand between them as she turned around.
Brandon took a step back, a frustrated sigh escaped him. That was enough. Like nights before her admitting it all was enough. That's all he could get now, and he knew it.
"Let me take you somewhere," Brandon says, and with every ounce of hope being used, Callie agrees.
He had a plan in mind, words to tell her, and rules to break.
They were staring at a park. A playground stretched before them, it met trees and branched into a forest on their left, but to their right were benches, and a little ice-cream stand.
Callie wondered why here. Why he had pulled her into a concrete tube, something old from that would have been used in a sewage system, but here it was, being used for playground equipment. Why were they here?
Brandon had a past here, she could tell by the way his hand rested on the concrete, and he stared at it. The pain on his face clear. He was burning with grief, and her hand burned to reach out to comfort him. She resisted for a moment. Then gave in, sliding her hand over his, where it rested on the concrete.
"You've let me in, a little, but you have," Brandon finally began, "But this is a part of me. See that bench right there" he asks pointing to the one directly under the trees, he didn't wait for an answer.
"That's were my mom and dad told me they would be getting a divorce. I remember it had been a great day. We had gone to the zoo, and miniature golfing, then we had gotten ice-cream and they sprung the news on me. I ran from them. I was confused and hurt. I was young, and so I came right here," her gestured down to the concrete tube.
"I remember wondering what I had done. Had I not been good enough? Was I not right? Was I too much trouble? What had I done to deserve this? I stayed here for hours. And they didn't look for me. They knew I would come back, and I did eventually right back to that bench. But they didn't chase after me, when I ran away," his words hung in the air like smoke. They knocked the breath out of Callie.
"Callie, I have never ran away since then. Because I never thought anyone would chase after me. And I think that's why you run now. You're scared of who will follow you. Who will chase after you. But get this right now. You can run a thousand times, and I plan to be right behind you," Brandon was close to tears but he didn't let them out.
He looked at Callie, whose eyes burned back to him.
Callie was lost to her own mind. Part of her begged to let him in. The other knew he was only temporary. But his words dug so deep. She couldn't tell him he was lying, somehow she knew he wasn't. He had proved since day one he would chase after her.
She wanted to let him in, now. She felt his pain. He knew what it was like for something to be temporary. His words were a promise. But promises got broken. She trusted Brandon. She trusted someone for the first time in years, and this time she wasn't going to keep him out.
Say something, Callie. Admit how you feel. Say something anything. Her brain screamed at her. But no words came.
They're eyes burned into one another. Souls being layed on the line for each other. Heat and passion bubbling between the hair between them.
Callie knew how little words meant. The only way to really prove something was actions. So she made an all changing action. She took a leap of faith. She moved closer. She crossed the imaginary line. She shut her eyes. She broke the rules.
Authors note: I feel like this chapter is positively awful. I don't think it makes since. But I feel pressured to upload, so here you go. And scroll for a Spoiler Alert for the next chapter!
SPOILER ALERT! they don't kiss!