Episode 24
Her phone buzzes in her pocket and she nearly jumps, her anxiety peaked. Walking alone, or being alone in general for that matter, normally doesn't bother her so much. In fact, she usually prefers it over spending time with people that'll just judge her, or make her feel unwelcome, or make her feel wrong for being who she is.
She can think of a few people like this but quickly pushes them out of her mind. She doesn't want to resent them. Especially when one of them is her blood.
She doesn't know what it is, but something is off today. There's a feeling in the air that she can't get used to...she's familiar with bad energy and can usually look past it but today, it's sticking with her, making her glance over her shoulders as she walks home, pushing her forward a little faster. It could be the new knowledge of the people that have been and continue to watch her as she exits school, but she didn't see her probation officer today and doesn't think it possible for him to know the exact route she walks home.
She digs her phone out of her jean pocket and unlocks it in one swift move, eyes moving across the screen as she takes in Brandon's text.
Are you home?
Her thumbs dash across the keyboard, sending back curtly, Almost.
She looks up from her phone briefly, glancing all around her once more. Few people walk the streets, either getting into one of the many, empty parked cars, or hustling to some store. Nobody looks entirely aware of their surroundings, and that shakes her a bit. Is she the only one the world is out to get? Because nobody else seems to give a crap.
I'm at the store with Jesus, just come in I can take you home.
She sighs, locks her phone, and slips it back into her pocket. She's not far from the house now and as great as it sounds to rest prematurely, she'd only be giving into her unusual, unnecessary fear and there's never an occasion to give way to it. If she makes it home unshaken, fear and all, her thoughts will have forked no lightning and she can walk home everyday for the rest of her life courageously.
It's prime traffic hour and she can't imagine why the street is next to empty. She peers through each shop window as she goes and very few people mingle about, none seeming in any rush. It's strange and unsettling, and she can't help but scan fearfully every alley she passes, broad daylight and all. She's no good at trusting her heart or her head, but her gut is telling her something bad is looming in the distance and she pulls her phone back out to text Brandon.
Where are you?
She holds her phone with both hands, taking larger strides than she can even manage, watching for cars that come up behind her and zoom by, each one posing a new threat. The last thing she needs is another run-in with her probation officer, especially solo. He can't do anything to her but she's no good with people, and knowing him, he'll make her admit to some guilt she doesn't even have. Her phone nearly vibrates out of her hands.
Still at the store, you coming?
She's about to reply when she hits a pole, or a wall, or something so forceful she can't help but drop her phone. She watches it clatter to the floor, landing perfectly between two feet, two feet that aren't hers. She doesn't have to see who it is, her brain tells her body to step back and she does so amply, only stopping to see who it is when she's out of arm's reach.
"You think you can just make accusations like that and not face the repercussions?" Liam sneers, face full of vexation as he attempts to tower above her continuously retreating form. "Some stupid little restraining order is not going to stop me from making this right."
Callie is horrified, any ability to signal help muted by her terror, an abnormal thing for any regular person in fight or flight, but something that has always been normal for her. She's never done well under pressure. However, her legs work in overtime, perhaps on behalf of everything else, and she jets out across the street, an oncoming car missing her by just feet, it's blaring horn drawing attention to the situation on the usually calm street. A couple people appear in store windows, witnessing a girl sprinting across the street, around the corner and out of sight, their eyes immediately drawn to a built man glaring at her as she goes.
It only takes him a few moments to register the alarm the whole scene has caused and he power walks back to his truck, driving away in the other direction as calmly as possible as to not raise any more suspicion. This can't be the end of this. Her phone in his hand confirms this.
Callie is nearly hyperventilating by the time she makes it to the store, which only took a couple more blocks of running, but her adrenaline is wearing off and she can feel that she's sprained her ankle or something, and her lungs want to collapse. She zips through the sliding doors, spinning on her heel to face the outside as she backs inside, expecting to see his truck drive by. She never once looked back to see if he was following, but right now she finds herself praying to a greater good she doesn't believe in just for him to go away. Forever.
She gasps as she collides with someone yet again, but when she turns she finds it's a familiar, welcoming yet equally frightened face at her disheveled appearance. Jesus doesn't spare another moment, calling out worriedly, "Brandon!", who appears from the bread aisle in a matter of seconds.
It doesn't take him but a second for the whole sight of her to sink in, and he rushes forward. "Callie?"
Despite her now very apparent injury she runs and throws her arms around him, still fighting for breath against him, the relief and security of his arms flooding her so abruptly she has to suppress a sob. When did she become so high-strung? She remembers the days when she felt safe being the one who had to do everything, now she finds herself craving authority and protection. She's not so sure if she likes it, and she notes that she needs some control back, though she allows him to pull her taught against him.
"What happened? Did somebody..." he feels his own heart working harder to pump blood, instincts telling him there's some real danger now, not just some silly, empty probation officer threats. He meets eyes with an intrigued Jesus, holding out the shopping list for him to grab. "Finish this up in the next few minutes."
She's still wheezing, incapable of words, but the increased oxygen to her brain clears her mind a bit, and she realizes she doesn't know if she should tell him what happened. Liam made it clear in but two sentence that illegal or not, he's going to get even with her, and she can't put these people in danger anymore. It's why she ran away, after all...the fact that she doesn't want to hurt any of them, no matter what they've said to her. Trouble always finds her, and the ones she loves.
But she's so sick of being alone. So the second she catches her breath, she says into his shoulder, "Liam. It was Liam."
Which obviously could've given him a heart attack but there's no easy way to tell someone your rapist is back to stalking you, despite legal standings. "What?" He lets up on his grip and her weight presses into the floor, even against her injured foot, and she winces, letting out a breathy gasp.
His eyes widen. "He hurt you-"
"No, I hurt myself running away from him, but-"
"So he hurt you." he concludes, his voice deadly deep, and she squeezes his arms to remind him that she's here, in one piece, and not beat up somewhere else, which now as she thinks about it, was very possible, and she's frightened once again. But she shakes her head, for his benefit, and confesses, "He has my phone. I dropped it and I couldn't get it back."
"That doesn't matter, we have to call the cops, Callie. This creep is not getting away with this, he broke a restraining order."
"I know, I know." she agrees, but seems eager to get off the topic. Her eyes move to Jesus as he heads towards them, empty basket in hand. "Can we just go home first? And then we can tell your mom."
Brandon turns to Jesus, eyeing the basket, perplexed. "You haven't gotten anything?"
"I can't find any of this fancy stuff!" Jesus waves the wrinkled list in his face, looking a bit frustrated as he motions at the top item. "Cardamom? What the hell is cardamom?"
"It's a spice." Callie explains humorlessly, and Jesus looks at her with sympathy, only now questioning, "You okay?"
She nods her head with a small smile, though she's not entirely convincing anyone. "Yeah...yeah."
Brandon sighs, taking the list from Jesus' still outstretched hand and folding it away in his pocket. He nods at the pile of baskets for Jesus to deposit it. "Well, moms can get this stuff later. We need to call someone."
They all hurry to the car, a little uneasy.
"Where's Jude? He hasn't come down for a snack yet."
Lena bites into a carrot and makes a strange, throaty noise in response before swallowing and explaining, "Forgot to tell you, he's over at Connor's house for dinner. We can pick him up at 6, if that works for you."
"Mmm," Stef pretends to ponder, leaning across her spouse to snatch her own baby carrot, "more like is that good for you, chaffeur?"
Lena gives a short laugh. "Brandon is still drive-happy, we can make him do it."
Her face twists before asking, "Is that before or after we talk to him about Callie?"
"He'll only get upset if it's true, which," she swallows the rest of her carrot and smiles, "it won't be, because I don't know how much more I can handle before I collapse with exhaustion."
"Mom?" The door slams shut and multiple footsteps clank across the wood floor, falling the sound of Stef's voice as she calls back to them. She exchanges a weary look with her wife before addressing the three empty-handed teens in the doorway with another bewildered gaze. "Where are the groceries?"
Brandon looks to Callie, who swallows loudly before explaining hesitantly, "I, uh, ran into Liam."
"More like the other way around." Brandon corrects, listening as they both voice their worry (did they hear him correctly?), watching as Lena drops her carrot back onto its plate, and Stef as she rushes over to Callie to examine her for any injuries, who just stands there patiently. Jesus dismisses himself silently. He was really only interested in the reaction.
"He didn't touch me, but I hurt my ankle walking away-"
"Running away, she was running away." Brandon fixes again, shooting her a curious look. "And he has her phone."
"I'm sorry," Callie blurts, nervous when Stef steps away from her, clearly just done checking her, though Callie takes it another way. "It's my fault."
"Your fault?" Brandon repeats incredulously, continuously interrupting any attempts for his parents to get a word in edgewise, though his consternation with the whole thing has them intrigued, so their eyes bounce back and forth between the two, as if watching a tennis match. "Why are you defending him?"
"I'm not defending him," Callie snaps, vexed that he would suggest such an idea, "I just don't want to make such a big deal out of this, I'm so over this. I thought court was the end of it."
"Well it's clearly not." Stef interjects while she has the chance, crossing her arms over her chest. "First, you're going to tell me what happened. Where you were, what you were doing, what time it was, everything. I'll call it in. He's facing a serious fine right now."
"A fine?" Brandon says in disbelief, "You're kidding if you think a fine is going to stop him."
"There's nothing else we can do, Brandon, based on the nature of his restraining order." she points out, feeling a bit helpless herself, so she adds, "Usually a fine will do the trick with these kinds of people, but if he tries to come around again he could serve jail time."
"So we're taking the risk of him coming around again?" he clarifies, and Stef, growing almost tired of his concern, orders him out. "Why don't you go finish your homework while Callie tells me what happened? Mama will start fixing dinner soon."
He complies tentatively, taking one last peek at Callie before he exits the room and heads upstairs. She pretends not to notice.
"Alright, so why don't you start with what you were doing." Stef places a hand behind Callie's back and ushers her over to the island, pulling out a stool for her to sit before taking the one next to her. "You were walking home?"
"Yeah."
Lena takes her hands away from her temples, mystified. "Why were you walking home, and alone? Brandon drives for a reason."
"I, uh," Callie scratches at her cheek, unable to meet either of their eyes, "I just like to walk. It's exercise."
Neither of them are persuaded, swapping looks of disbelief. Stef speaks again. "Well no more walking home. You'll go with Brandon. So you were walking home and he just came up to you?"
"Yeah, I didn't see him because I had my head down for a second, and then I ran into him...and he said that he was going to get even because of what happened with court...and then I ran away." she shrugs, playing with her bottom lip between her teeth. "He said he didn't care about the restraining order."
"Huh." Stef scoffs, standing again to retrieve the phone. "Well, he's going to care."
Callie pretends to be really interested in watching Stef dial the police station but Lena sets her with a look, demanding, "Why were you walking with your head down? You know that-"
"I know, I'm sorry, I was just...texting a friend, that's all."
"Texting," Lena repeats, almost under her breath, "Right. You teenagers are going to drive me up the wall." After a brief moment of silence Stef starts speaking with someone at the station, so Callie stands from her stool to leave the whole scene, but Lena is quick to object.
"How's your foot? Do you think you need to see a doctor?"
Callie shakes her head, desperate to just lay down. "It's my ankle and no, it'll be fine."
"Alright." Lena draws out, tone dripping with conviction, and Callie scurries out of the room, limping and all. Lena shakes her head before placing it in her hands, leaning her elbows on the counter, but then Stef's laugh sounds from the corner of the room and Lena lifts her head once more, catching Stef grinning before hanging up the phone.
"What?" Stef questions, avoiding her judgemental eyes. "It was strictly business, I promise. They're going over to his house now. This whole situation is under control."
Lena bobs her head, seeming a little more relieved, but there's an inquisitive gleam in her eyes. "Who were you talking to?"
"Oh, my new supervisor. She was telling me about something that happened to this other guy today...long story."
She perks up, back straightening on her stool. "Oh? Why haven't you told me about her? I didn't even know your old supervisor left."
"Well, I guess it just slipped my mind," Stef shrugs, opening up an overhead cabinet and bringing down a giant boiling pot. "But yeah, old supervisor was transferred, in comes the new one. She's better. Nicer, definitely. But still gets the job done. I guess I never said anything cause that's all there is to say."
Lena turns her back to her, mumbling, "Oh."
"So, spaghetti or fettuccine?" Stef inquires, completely changing the subject, though she doesn't seem to be doing it on purpose. She doesn't sense Lena's discomfort, as usual, so Lena gets up and heads for the door, replying as evenly as possible, "Doesn't matter, pasta is pasta."
Lena knows she might be a little irrational but she can't shake the feeling.
Callie is on auto-pilot to her bed, content with blocking everyone and everything else out, when Mariana scurries off her bed to her feet, appearing genuinely concerned, though her words ring out in her head. "I know I'm not the first to ask but are you okay? I heard what happened and I was so worried."
"I'm fine, thanks." she murmurs as she climbs into bed, ignoring Mariana, who clearly put too much effort into showing she cared, standing awkwardly, unacknowledged, above her own bed before collapsing back on top of it.
"That's good." Mariana says cordially, almost irked.
Callie has her back to her now, but she sighs and replies, "You don't have to worry about me screwing anything up, Mariana."
"What?" she sits up again, only to stare at the covers over Callie's back, which is rising and falling at a steady pace, she's unsure if she wants to disturb that. "I mean, I'm sorry about what I said, I never wanted you to take it like that-"
"I need you guys." Callie says matter-of-factly, fatigue making her emotionless, so she explains, "I thought I could be on my own but I can't. So I'm not about to do anything that's going to jeopardize my being here."
"So you're saying-"
"I don't want to be adopted, I never will want to again. I just need to be here right now."
Mariana exhales quietly, deciding against saying anything further on the subject. "Okay, well, are you going to eat dinner? If not, I can just tell them you're asleep already..."
Callie rubs at her eyes, agreeing wearily, "That'd be great, thanks."
Stef and Lena were unprepared when Jude walked through the door, Connor's mom having to drop him off early for some family emergency, that they had to send him upstairs first just to buy themselves more time. How could they tell him that his sister's rapist was back threatening her? Threatening possibly the whole family? Jude is fragile, they'll have to come about it gently.
He heads up the stairs, just going to drop his backpack off in his room, when Mariana's cracked-open door catches his eye. He can't help but step forward a bit, watching as his sister rubs at her eyes, already in bed, probably crying again. He falls back hastily, slinging his backpack through his open bedroom door and hopping down the stairs, two at a time.
Brandon catches his arm at the bottom of the stairs, agog to hear why his face is set with such motivation. "What's going on?"
"This is for Callie." is all he says as he tears out of his grip and powers into the kitchen, stopping firmly in the doorway and waiting for both moms to look up before confessing determinedly and absolutely remorselessly,
"Brandon and Callie are dating."
A/N: Jude is still young and dumb you guys. There's a reminder for ya. I'm all about cliffhangers, sorry ;) Anyway, while I was writing this, especially the first scene, I found myself really starting to hate the Callie and Brandon I've created. Their relationship is too much about salvation at this point, and I really wanted it to be about friendship and love and yadda yadda (which obviously isn't possible with this kind of set-up) but it's going to get there. First they're going to have to fall apart before they can get back together, but better this time! Also, Callie is not a wimp. She's badass and I don't think the show is ever going to let her prove that to us so I will! I have something big planned for both her independently and them together! Also, Mariana and Jesus will be getting their own storylines soon. Sorry to those of you that didn't want Liam to be back, but it adds action. Someone else will be coming back soon too! Please review you guys. 20+ new people have followed this story and I'm only getting 9 reviews per chapter. There was a time when I would get 23 reviews! I know it's not about the number count all the time but when 9 of you are reviewing it makes me feel like the rest of you don't like the story enough or something! It just takes a second to let me know if it's bad or good guys! THANK YOU so much to those that did review, as usual, you guys are so great for always reviewing every chapter. I smile whenever I see my repeat reviewers! Love you guys! I promise not to bother about reviews anymore after this! See you next Monday!