Chapter 8

"Hey can we talk?" An oh so familiar voice asks.

"Brandon." Callie says.

"Can we please go some where private and talk?" He asks again.

"Can we not do this right now? Please." Callie asks him.

"I just want to talk." He says.

"No Brandon I don't want to talk right now I need some time." She says.

"Time huh, you need time. Fine Callie how about I give you all the time in the world. I will just leave you alone completely. You can live your life how ever you want." Brandon says with anger in his voice.

"Brandon." Callie starts.

"No it is ok Callie. MOMS I Am GOING TO MY DADS BE BACK SOON." He says loud enough for the moms to hear in the kitchen.

"Brandon we are cooking dinner in here." Stef says coming to stand in the door way.

"I am not hungry any more I will be back." Brandon says his eyes never leaving Callie's back as she still hasn't turned to face him.

"Ok B we will see you when you get back." Stef says.

Callie is looking at Stef with a horrified look on her face. She knows Stef has figured out that she is what is causing Brandon to leave. Stef smiles at Callie letting her know it will all be ok. Callie jumps a little as the door shuts a little hard than is needed for it to close.

"I'm sorry." Callie says.

"Don't be. But you know there is time to stop him." Stef says.

"I'm scared Stef."

"Of what?" Stef asks as she walks in and puts an arm around Callie.

"Now that he knows what really happened to me, that he may not really want me. That he is just playing nice till it is all over so he can dump the girl with all the baggage." Callie says.

"Sweets I am sure that is the kind of people you have dealt with in the past. But we aren't like that. You have to give him a chance, he may just surprise you. You can't let fear stop you, you have to find away to deal with it and go one and live your life." Stef says.

"I got to go." Callie says as she turns and runs out the door.

Brandon is standing next to his car with his head on his arms on the roof. He knows he let his anger get the best of him, but is just so frustrated. He keeps running what he would say to her if she would just let him talk to her.

"Brandon?"

"Callie."

"I'm Sorry for acting so crazy." Callie starts but stops as her breath catches in her throat as he turns to face her with the pain in his eyes.

"Callie, let me." He starts.

"No Brandon let me get this out. Then I promise I will stand here and let you say what ever it is you want to say. Even if it is just to call me a horrible person." Callie says.

"Callie, ok." He says as she raises her eyebrows when it seems he is going to say more.

"First of all me wanting time has nothing to do with us, and everything to do with me. I see that look and I know it is hard for you to understand Brandon, but it is true. You have no clue what it meant to me today to have to get up and go calm you down as you were listening to me tell them what happened to me. I could see the pain in your eyes mixed with anger over what happened to me. I have never had anyone have those kind of emotions over me before, well maybe Jude. But he doesn't know all of what happened, just that Liam hurt me. Then that stupid cop started saying all of those things, and I knew I had to stand up to him. But as I was showing him my scar it dawned on me. This was something that I would have to carry with me for the rest of my life. How could I ever expect a guy like you to have feelings for me now that you knew what had really happened." She stops for a moment to wipe her tears and looks away.

"Callie..." Brandon starts but stops when she raises her finger to let him know she wasn't done.

"Brandon all of my teenage life I have been passed around from home to home. Some where ok and some were nightmares. But most every where I went I got the same thing. That I wasn't good enough, or I didn't deserve to be happy. Or I deserved everything that has happened to me cause I am a bad person. Since my mom died and my dad went to jail, I have been a nobody. I have been somebody that no one could love. So it is hard for me to come into this house where everyone seems to care. I have never known than Brandon. What's worse is here I have this amazing guy, who is Handsome and smart and talented. Who am I kidding I think you're extremely hot. But here is this a fore mentioned guy who seems to really like me. Sorry I know this is going to be hard for you to hear and even harder for me to say. But I have to wonder why it is he likes me. I know it is too soon to think about any thing more than like but still for the life of me I can't understand it. I know I am not ugly and that I am smart, but I am far from the best looking girl in school. So why is it that a guy who seems to be able to take his pick of girls..." She stops again to wipe her eyes. "Why would he pick the girl who is completely fucked in the head who has been raped, who has been abused both physically and mentally since she was 10 years old? A girl who has so many scares and internal issues that it is hard for her to trust any one about anything. Why would he want me? How could he want me? It just doesn't make sense to me."

"Are you done? Is it my turn now?" He asks.

"Sure."

He steps forward and wipes the tears from her face before she can. He lifts her chin so that she is looking him in the eyes. He gives her a sad smile which she returns tentatively.

"The truth is because you are you." He starts then puts a finger over her lips when she starts to say something. "You said that if I let you say what you had to say you would stand here and let me talk when you were done." She just nods her head resisting the urge to kiss his finger.

"You are with out a doubt the most complicated girl I have ever met." He stops to gather his thoughts. "But you sell yourself short in a lot of areas. You are the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on. You are smart even though you some times doubt your self. Today I seen an inner strength that I didn't even know you had. Do you have issues? Sure you do, but Callie we all do in some form or another. I see in you, a frightened girl who is on the verge of becoming a woman to be reckoned with. You just need to allow yourself to. You also need to understand that you don't have to do it alone any more, or just count on Jude. You have the moms now and Mariana and Jesus. But you also have me, in any way you want me Callie. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt I could fall head over heals in love with you, if you would just let me. Are you damaged? Not to me you are not. So you have a scar because of something terrible that happened to you."

He reaches out and uses his finger to start to push her shirt down so he can look at her scar. She flinches and pulls away. But he moves close to her again, and again reaches out while looking her in the eyes and pushes he shirt down just till he can see most of the scar. He uses his other hand and kisses his fingers and places them on her scar. As his hand comes into contact with her scar she closes her eyes and sighs.

"Callie everything you have gone through has made you the person you are today. The person who is standing right in front of me. The person I want to be with and the person I want so much, it scares me. You hold the ability in your hands to do something no other girl has ever been able to." He says.

"What is that?" She asks her voice catching.

"To utterly destroy me. You said you think that I am hot, well I have news for you I think you are hot as well. But it goes beyond that, way beyond that. Cause not only do I feel a physical attraction to you, but a mental and spiritual one as well. I started to tell you something not to long ago and I asked you to wait a month and ask me again, do you remember?" He asks.

"Yeah." She says nervously.

"I want you to ask me now." He says.

"You do?"

"Yes." He says.

"Ok so I am asking, would you please finish that sentence?" Callie asks.

"When I was going to say it before I was going to say; I think you are the one for me Callie. But I have come to realize something since then. I don't think anymore, I Know You Are The One For Me." Ne says.

"How do you know for sure Brandon? How do you know it isn't just teenage hormones making you think that way?" She asks.

"Because I had the teenage hormones as you say with Talya. So I know what those are. What I feel for you goes so far above what I felt for her. I know I am not an expert at love or relationships, but I know what I feel." He says.

"Do you, do you really?" She asks.

"Yes I do know what I am feeling. I know it isn't love, not yet. But I am balancing on that edge. To be honest it wouldn't take much for me to fall over it." He says.

"But Brandon what you are talking about is really dangerous. It is for both me and for Jude. Yes I know I gave into it before and thought I could finally be happy, but that cop made me rethink a few things. If we do this and stay together you do realize that you will be branded with my past as well. Everywhere we go someone will find out, and not just about my time in the foster care and what happened to me while I was in it. No they will find out that we meet because I was placed in your home. Is that something you could live with if we stay together?" She asks.

"I could and will live with it. I don't care what people will say, now or in the future. I care about what you think and how you feel." He says.

"Ok." Is her simple response.

"If I remember right I was suppose to ask you the same question when you asked me. So Callie what I want to know is, what were you going to say to me?" Brandon asks.

"That I knew you were the one for me." She says in a voice barely above a whisper.

Brandon doesn't respond with words he simple moves close takes her face between his hands and begins to kiss her. She hesitates for only a moment before encircling his neck with her arms and burying her hands in his hair. Brandon lowers his arms and wraps them around her waist and brings her closer to him. The kiss deepens as each allows all of the emotion over the last few hours to come out in the kiss.

For Brandon he was trying to show her just how much he cared and that she could trust him. That he would never treat her like Liam did. He wants to show her just how much she means to him, with out scaring her. But he is tired of holding back, so he puts all of his feelings into this one smoldering kiss.

Callie is tired of hiding how she feels. She is tired of worrying if she is making a mistake that will get them kicked out. Here is a guy she knows she could love and he was into her. He wanted to be with her, he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to love her. She wasn't going to hold back any more. So she let all of the pain and hurt that was inside of her go and allowed Brandon's kiss to wash her clean. To bathe her in a new light, to allow her feelings to come out in just one mind blowing numbing kiss. As they pull apart both a little breathless she looks him in the eyes.

"People can see us." She says.

"I don't care." He says.

"Brandon."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think it is too early for me to say what I want to say?" She asks.

"Only if you think it is too early." He replies.

"Brandon."

"Yeah Callie?"

"I..."

A/N: Sorry to leave you hanging but hey got to make you want to read the next chapter now don't I? Hope you are all enjoying this story. I know I am not following the episodes like some are, but that is just not me. I like the plot so I borrowed it and am running with it in my own way. So please read and review, they do really help writers keep going.

Also to lettherebelove0721 thanks so much for the review!