Chapter Six

The rule she broke was one of her own. She let someone in. She wrapped her arms around Brandon and hugged him. Her eyes shut tight, wanting to feel his touch, feel his comfort. Her face buries into his neck.

It was the first hug she had given to someone other than Jude, and as his arms wrapped around her she felt her world crumble to bits. It was too much for her. His arms surrounding her, his promise ringing in her head. Echoing. He would chase after her. The way she suddenly felt in his arms as his hand traced slow circles on her back. All of it was too much.

Brandon was blank. When he planned to come here he hadn't planned those words. But when he said them, he knew, it was exactly what she needed. And it was exactly what he meant. Every word he said was the truth, and now he felt whole. In a strange way. Like a cliché, Callie in his arms made him feel whole.

"Callie, I don't care anymore. You can date Wyatt. You can be with him, but please, stop running from me. I can be whatever you want. Or nothing. Just stay," he whispered into her ear. Her arms tightened around him, as tears threatened to spill over.

She couldn't stay. She wouldn't be allowed to stay. Soon enough they'd find a home for her and Jude, and she would be shipped off again. Like always. So, no. She couldn't promise to stay. No matter what he said, she couldn't lie and tell him she would.

"I can't promise anything more than the moment I'm in," she whispered even quieter pulling back from their hug.

"I could be across the country tomorrow," she continued, "I can't tell you I'm going to stay, when most likely, I'm just not going to," she finished staring out to the forest area.

"If you got to choose, would you choose to stay?" he questioned reaching out a hand to hold. Their hands connected tightly.

"Does it matter? I never get to choose," she admitted quietly.

"But what would you choose?" he asks again, unsure of the area he was getting into. Was he crossing another line? A part of him hoped so.

She shook her head.

"I haven't ever thought about it. You know? I've never felt safe enough to sit around and think about what I wanted. It's always been survive today, survive this month, survive another year. Protect Jude, and don't lose yourself," Callie admits finally after a long moment.

"Think about it now," he whispered. His eyes meeting hers in an attempt to say, you're finally safe.

"I want to leave California. This state reeks of my past. College?" she scrunched her face in thought before shaking her head, "That's not for me. Couldn't afford it anyway. Uh, photography is cool, it's fun. But I don't know. Does any of this really matter? I'll end up working at a gas station somewhere anyway. Probably with a boyfriend who is an alcoholic, or somewhere who has no since of care like Wyatt. My dreams, My thoughts, My desires, they

don't matter. Not to anyone," Callie spoke each word with thought.

She knew where she would end up. It had been the same truth most foster parents had told her. She was trash, she would amount to nothing. And somewhere along the many homes, she started to believe what they were saying. A part of her stayed strong, and held onto the hope of something better. That maybe had finally come.

"I care. About your dreams, your thoughts," Brandon paused to make eye contact, and delivered every ounce of want and lust he had for her into his next two words, "Your desires," he finished.

Callie was on fire. Every part of her was suddenly aware of his touch, his eyes, his breath. And his words. She could tell he meant it.

"I want you," she whispered so slow she wasn't even sure she said it, but she did. Without breaking eye contact she admitted the one truth she knew right then. Callie wanted Brandon. Every inch of her skin yearned for his touch, and every inch of her mind yearned to be opened and examined.

With her words, Brandon's eyes lit intensely. He had never known such attraction that with three simple words his pants could tighten. But at the same time as fantasies played, he wanted to keep talking. Keep listening to every word she had to say. It was a powerful and strange feeling.

Callie went still, as the groan escaped his lips. She couldn't think, but at the same time she knew she needed words from him now. Actions would only mean chaos.

"Say something Brandon," she demanded, and pleaded. Another minute of his heated gaze and she would be a goner.

He didn't speak, he lifted her hand to his lips, and kissed the back of her hand. Before pulling her hand to the side of his face.

If she thought she burned before she was an inferno now. A hot inferno of confusion and lust. His lips felt like heaven against her hand, what would they feel like against hers, she wondered, but didn't think any further she was still waiting on words.

"Callie, you kill me. You know that?" he whispered obvious strain on his voice, "I can't kiss you not when you're with someone else. I can't do that. You have to be mine for me to kiss you. God, I want you. But until you can be mine. Your mind is all I can explore," it took every fiber of his being to say this, to explain why he wouldn't kiss her.

He expected her to retract her hand, and go. He knew he was asking a lot from her, but he didn't care, she had to know this.

Callie went from being on fire to warm in a different way. Like a glow from a fire after a long winter walk, or drinking hot chocolate after playing in the snow, a warm fuzzy feeling that felt a lot like affection. Her smile was genuine when it appeared.

"Okay. That's fair," she said, a part of her trying to find a time to break up with Wyatt. The other part wondering if she should risk it with Brandon. She wanted to. But there was so much more on the line than what she wanted. As always.

"Okay. Alright, so we should get out of this tunnel before I go back on what I just said," Brandon said nodding towards anywhere outside this confined space. Callie grinned, and followed him out.

Brandon took her hand when they stood, and they went for ice cream at the little stand, where they sat for a few hours. They laughed and joked, and told secrets, all pointless words that meant the world to both of them. But here it was.

On the same bench, where Brandon's world fell apart, Callie's world finally felt like it was coming together.

Brandon didn't know if she would still be this open when they got home, and Callie didn't know herself. But in this moment, none of that mattered. Her past, his past, their unknown futures all pushed aside, to have one day, just a few hours to be Callie and Brandon. Two people getting to know each other, two people laughing, two people dancing on a line they wouldn't cross, not today, anyway.

Here they were, living, breathing, with hearts beating, as they let the world go on around them, cocooned in a hope that tomorrow, nothing would change from today. But they both knew, the world always changed.

Authors Note: Another one, here you go! I actually really love this chapter. I think it was needed. So Wyatt appears in the next chapter, and happy reading all. Thanks so much for the reviews.