in which brandon and callie finally catch a break

He'd had feelings for Callie from the moment she'd stepped into the Foster's home, if he was being honest. He'd loved the girl since he was sixteen, but all the dreams he had come up with during the times they were together, the hours they had spent sneaking around - well, they hadn't happened. Sixteen year old Brandon figured that by twenty four, he would have managed to convinced Callie to marry him, but life doesn't quite turn out the way your teenage self envisioned.

In reality, he and Callie had faced one too many obstacles for their newly blossoming relationship to survive. The ban put on their relationship by Stef and Lena until Callie was 18, and out of the system (unsurprisingly, neither of them were too happy when Brandon and Callie had confessed all) stopped everything before it could really even begin - and, drove a wedge between Brandon and Stef that took the rest of high school to fix.

Despite the occasional make out session in secluded corners of the Foster home that happened when the tension got too much for them, by the time Callie had turned eighteen and was officially no longer part of the foster system, making a go of their relationship wasn't really an option for them. Brandon had just been accepted to Julliard, and Callie was staying in San Diego and starting community college in the fall.

By time Brandon returned to San Diego in May after his freshman year in New York to celebrate the finalisation of Jude's adoption papers, Callie had left San Diego for the rest of the world, travelling Europe and Asia, sending back a flurry of bright, and exciting looking postcards to Jude and the rest of the Foster household. She settled in Australia after a few months, and started a degree in popular music which by all accounts she loved (judging from what she said in her postcards, anyway.)

The circumstances were never right for them, the stars never seemed to aline for them, and Brandon had eventually resigned himself to the fact he and Callie weren't meant to happen. That didn't stop him thinking about her, however, and how he was back home in San Diego, it was even harder to get Callie out of his mind. It was like she was everywhere - sitting on the porch playing guitar, standing at the sink washing dishes with Marianna, the two girls laughing and talking, Callie pushing Jude way too high on the swing..

He couldn't help but smile, lost in memories.

"Twenty four and living at home with your moms? I'd say that was sad B, but I'm moving back in too."

Brandon looked up to see Callie standing on the Foster's front porch, bags in hand. She was more tanned, her hair a lighter shade of brown then he remembered, and there was definitely an Australian twang creeping into her accent, but she was still Callie.

"You're a sight for sore eyes Cal - whats it been, four years?"

"Something like that." Callie said. "So, what brings you home?"

"Its a stopover - I'm starting a new job in LA next week." Brandon said. "What brings you home?"

"I figured four years was long enough." Callie shrugged. "I was really starting to miss it here."

"Theres no place like home." Brandon quipped.

Callie smiled. "We had a lot of good times here, didn't we?"

Brandon nodded in agreement. "Its good to see you again Cal." He said quietly, standing up to hug her tightly. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Callie replied, her voice muffled by Brandon's chest. Had he gotten taller? "So much."

"Why didn't we stay in contact again?" Brandon joked.

"I think it probably hurt too much." Callie admitted.

Brandon nodded. "Us and our bad timing, right?"

"We've always had really bad timing.. in the worst circumstances.."

"You think it'll ever work out for us?" Brandon found himself asking. "I mean, we're older now, we know better.. We're both actually in the same country.."

Callie couldn't help but laugh. "That's a good point."

"You think we'll ever have another chance then?" Brandon asked.

"I…" Callie said. "I think so."

"You do?"

Callie nodded. "I do."

"The timing almost feels right this time, doesn't it?" Brandon said. "LA and San Diego is closer than we have been the past five years."

"Who says I'm staying in San Diego?" Callie grinned. "Like any struggling musician, I'm going to head for LA and see what happens."

"Wow. I guess the circumstances are pretty perfect this time, right?"

"Pretty perfect? I don't think two musicians living in LA is perfect, we mightn't be able to eat most of the time."

"I'll deal." Brandon grinned.

"Well then B, I guess the circumstances are perfect." Callie smiled at him.

Brandon couldn't help but return the smile, feeling for the first time since he left for college that maybe his sixteen year old self hadn't been such a naive dreamer after all.

Maybe, he and Callie had finally caught a break.