Callie

It takes maybe half an hour to get to the group home. At this point it's starting to get dark outside. Bill stops the car and we all get out. I open the trunk and grab my duffle bag before anyone else can. Captain Roberts leads the way to the house. I can't see many details because there isn't a lot of light, but I can see that it is large and old.

We climb the steps and Captain Roberts rings the doorbell. She turns to face me and smiles, "This is a good home, Callie. I promise."

She's so full of shit.

I hear somebody turning locks and the door swings open to reveal a stout, middle-aged woman. She smiles at me and lowers her glasses a bit, "You must be Callie. We've been expecting you." She steps aside and waves us into the house

Inside is okay. The furniture is old and doesn't match but with the low funding they get from the state, this is expected. I don't see anybody else and I wonder what the other girls are like.

"My name is Rita Hendricks," the woman introduces herself, holding out her hand. I stare at her wordlessly, keeping my hands at my side. Behind me I hear Bill let out a sigh. Undeterred, Rita simply drops her hand and smiles, "Okay. Welcome to Girls United—"

"Girls United?" I repeat incredulously.

Rita nods, "Yes. Have you heard of us before?"

I shake my head, even though I have. Talk about irony.

"So this is a home for girls," Rita continues, addressing Bill as well as Captain Roberts and myself, "We work on building character, becoming accountable for yourself. You'll have chores here: cooking, cleaning, some yard work. All of the girls have chores and it rotates so you're not stuck with the same thing. You aren't allowed to leave the house without permission. You must go to school. There are no drugs or violence. We have group everyday at 4:00. I know I'm throwing a lot of information at you at once, do you have any questions?"

I tilt my head, "What do you do?"

Rita smiles, "I'm a mentor. Another woman works here as well; her name is Michelle. She's a counselor." I nod and shift my gaze to my sneakers.

"Thank you," I hear Captain Roberts say. She turns to me, "Well, Callie, if you're all set, we're going to leave."

"Okay."

"Behave, Callie." Bill warns me as he follows Captain Roberts to the door. They say goodbye to Rita before disappearing, leaving me all alone.

"Would you like to see where you'll be sleeping?"

I shrug, "I guess." She leads the way to a staircase and we head upstairs.

"I know it seems bad and strict," Rita comments, "But it's not. Most of the girls really like it here."

I roll my eyes, "Whatever." She doesn't respond. Stef would have told me to watch my attitude.

But Rita isn't Stef.

Rita knocks on the door before pushing it open, "You'll be sharing this room…" Whatever she says next is lost because all of a sudden I can only focus on one thing. My eyes widen and my mouth drops open a little. My blood runs cold and I am absolute speechless at the sight of the person I'm supposed to share a room with.

It's Daphne.

Stef

I wake up in the middle of the night and find myself unable to go back to sleep. I can't stop worrying about Callie. The only things I've heard about group homes were all bad so naturally I'm concerned. I glance up at Lena who is breathing softly, eyes closed. I gently remove myself from her and slip out of bed. I walk downstairs, not knowing what I want to do. As I reach the bottom of the stairs, I see a soft light in the kitchen. Curious, I go to inspect.

I find Jude sitting at the kitchen table with my laptop, leaning in and closely reading whatever is on the screen. He looks very determined in whatever he is doing and I have to wonder what exactly that is considering it's the middle of the night.

"Jude?" I say in a soft tone and he jumps a little. He stops what ever he is doing and looks up at me, a nervous look on his face, "What are you up to, buddy?" I continue.

Jude glances at the computer and then back at me, "Nothing."

I nod at the computer, "Are you sure? It's pretty late."

He looks down at the table and doesn't answer me. I take this as my cue to find out for myself what he is doing. I walk behind him and lean over a bit to see what's on the computer screen. The Internet browser is pulled up on a search engine.

girl group homes near San Francisco

My heart sinks, "Oh, Jude…"

"Why can't they just tell us where she is?" Jude asks, eyes searching mine imploringly, "How do we know she's okay?"

I sigh, "Honey, I'm sure she's just fine—"

"Stop it!" Jude suddenly yells, standing up from the stool, "Stop lying to me!"

I've never seen this side of Jude before. He's usually so calm and quiet, but now he's shaking with anger. He's breathing heavily and I can tell he doesn't even know where to start. I try to put my arm on his shoulder but he shrugs it off.

"Stop telling me everything is going to be okay when you don't know!" he yells at me, "Everyone keeps pretending everything is going to be fine but nobody knows for sure! The last time we got separated, Callie got beat up in juvie. And before that, I left her alone with Liam and…a-and…" I cut Jude off by bringing him into my arms and holding him close.

"Let go of me!" Jude cries, pushing against my abdomen but I don't listen to him. I begin to stroke his hair and rub his back, waiting for him to calm down. It takes a moment or two but Jude eventually stops struggling and leans into me. He grips my shirt as he cries his anger and frustration and fear.

"I'm sorry," I hear him choke out and I shake my head.

"You and your sister have a bad habit of apologizing when you have nothing to apologize for," I tell him lightly. I push back from him gently so I can see his face, "Jude, what happened with Liam wasn't your fault."

"But—"

I shake my head, "No. It's not your fault nor is it Callie's. The only person at fault is Liam, okay?"

Jude nods. But as soon as he calms down a bit, he gets worked up again, "But what if Callie gets hurt again?"

I have to pause, because his worry is very rational considering everything that's happened, "Callie is a very smart, resourceful girl." I finally tell him, "She can take care of herself. Lena and I are going to work as fast as we can to bring her back."

"Are you telling the truth?" Jude asks next in a skeptical voice, "Foster parents say things sometimes and don't do it. Are you lying?"

I gently tilt his head up with my finger, "Look into my eyes, Love." I wait until he does before continuing, "I will never lie to you and neither will Lena. Whatever we tell you is the absolute truth to the extent of our knowledge. We will get Callie back." Jude nods and leans into me, both physically and emotionally exhausted. I kiss the top of his head.

"Let's go back to bed."

Callie (a few hours earlier…)

I'm rooted to the spot and speechless. I can tell from the look on Daphne's face that she recognizes me, but Rita doesn't pick up on it. Of all the girls that could have landed in this group home…

This has to be a joke.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?" I hear Rita say to Daphne. Daphne stands up from the bed she was sitting on and walks over to me. It takes everything I have not to take a step back as soon as she's close enough.

"I'm Daphne," she introduces herself as if we've never met.

I nod curtly, "Callie."

She nods back.

"Settle in Callie," Rita says, "We're having dinner soon so you can officially meet the girls and get to know more about life here. If you need help with anything or have any questions, you can certainly talk to Daphne or you can find me in my office." She pats my shoulder as she walks towards the door, "I'm right downstairs." And then she disappears.

I want to yell for her to come back.

Daphne eyes me for a moment before walking back to her bed and taking a seat. I wish I knew what was going through her mind. I walk over to what I assume is my bed and set my bag down. No way am I falling victim to her again. She'd better not try to pull anything with me because with all the shit I've been through lately, I'm pretty sure I'm about to lose it.

"Why are you here?"

I whip my head around to see Daphne sitting on her bed, patiently waiting for answer. I fix her with my best glare before turning around so that I can unpack my bag. I hear her sigh.

"Okay. I know. Look, I'm sorry—"

I turn around sharply, "Well you can take your 'sorry' and shove it up your ass. I don't need your apology." I surprise myself with the words that come out of my mouth but I'm just so fed up for the night.

I'm just so tired.

I turn back to unpacking my bag. A moment later I hear Daphne get up and leave the room. I hear her go downstairs. With her gone, I relax a bit. I take a seat on the bed and drop my head into my hands. I don't even want to go to dinner but I feel like that wouldn't bode well with Rita. I feel a buzz in my pocket and I realize it's my phone. I fish it out of my pocket and see that I have a new message.

It's from Stef.

I open my phone and go to my texts.

Stef: Goodnight, sweet girl. We love you. Stay strong.

I make sure I screenshot the message before simply hugging the phone to my chest. I close my eyes and try to imagine the now comforting scent of the Foster's house, the feeling of Stef hugging me, the sound of Jude laughing along with my guitar…I feel tears well in my eyes and I can't help but let one escape. I wipe it away quickly. The last thing I need is to be pegged as weak by the other girls.

"Callie! Come down for dinner."

I roll my eyes to myself and internally groan. I quickly rifle through my bag for a pair of socks. Finding some, I turn off my phone and slip into the socks before burying it in the bottom of my bag. I don't know what the policy is on cellphones, but my best bet is to keep it hidden. I wipe my face one more time and set myself into my 'tough-girl' attitude before heading downstairs for dinner.

So. What's new my lovelies? Nothing interesting going on in my life to share with you guys…hm. I need a show to watch on Netflix. A funny show. I've watched The Office, I'm working on Parks and Rec, and I'm gonna need a new show after that because I'll be done with that soon.

Oh yeah! I have a new idea for a story! Another Stef/Callie centered fic. I'm going to start writing it on my laptop and see if I can go anywhere with it. I'm also not sure if I want to have two stories to update at the same time or just finish this one and then move on.

I'm close to 500 reviews. Can we do it? ;)

-Liv