Later that day, The Foster family gathered to have an Italian dinner, fixed by Lena. Stef felt everyone's glares on her as she tried to make small talk, avoiding any talk of what happened earlier. She just shrugged it off and proceeded to talk about how school was going to start up soon, or work. Lena kept patting her leg under the table, reassuring her wife that everything was fine.

Callie had stayed remarkably quiet during dinner, but she had made a concerted effort to at least make enough small talk for everyone to leave her alone. She had been the center of attention for the last few days and with Sharon in the house, well, it added another set of eyes, and in Callie's mind they were all looking at her. When Callie could no longer pretend to be interested in the food on her plate she asked if she could be excused. Stef looked up at Callie and then to Lena before nodding.

"Sure, but stay close, so that when I have to harass you all to do the dishes you aren't too far away." Stef winked at Callie, trying to make it sound like it was a joke, but Callie could hear the hidden meaning behind Stef's words. In a non-direct way she was telling Callie to stay downstairs so that they knew where she was and what she was doing, or more importantly what she wasn't doing. Callie sighed as she took her plate with her into the kitchen before settling into the living room and flipping through the TV channels looking for a distraction. She settled on a movie channel, though truth be told, she wasn't paying attention to the movie at all. It provided background noise as Callie sat there deep in thought, so deep in thought that she didn't see Sharon watching her from the hallway and enter until Sharon was sitting on the couch next to her.

"Mind if I join you?" Sharon's question was met with a determined silence, which didn't surprise her at all. To Callie, Sharon was still a new person who she hadn't learned to trust yet and Sharon knew that even though she had been called in to talk to Callie, she would have to prove herself first. Sharon sat back against the couch cushions and watched the movie for a few minutes when one scene played that seemed to catch Callie's attention.

'My daddy always said there was a separate god for children.'

Sharon watched as Callie pulled her legs toward her chest as if she was trying to defend herself from believing in that one line in the movie. Sharon saw a small flash of anger play across Callie's face. How dare the writers of this movie, the author of the book pretend to know something like that? Sharon knew bits and pieces of Callie's past and while she wish she had the full story, she knew enough to know that Callie's anger was well justified. Deep down Sharon didn't want to push Callie to open up to her because she knew that the last few days had been all about everyone focusing all their attention on Callie, but she had to at least try.

"I could try and make small talk with you, but I'm pretty sure you'd be able to see straight through that." Callie made no effort to show Sharon that she was listening, but Sharon decided to take a chance and keep talking.

"When Stef was growing up she always had the hardest time telling me about big things that were happening with her. Whether it was a big assignment at school, or someone was being mean to her, could be anything, it always took a few days for her to work up the courage to tell me. I found out about her cutting on my own, but when she came out it was the same thing. Even though she was a grown woman she still had to build herself up to tell me. She came over and I could tell whatever she had to tell me was something she had been fighting with because everything she said sounded rehearsed, but then all of a sudden it stopped and it was like she couldn't speak. Finally, after about half an hour of dancing around it she swallowed back some tears and blurted out 'I'm a lesbian'."

"Why are you telling me this story?" Callie didn't make eye contact, but that reaction as exactly what Sharon was hoping for so she smiled and explained.

"I told it to you to prove a point. Stef was so sure that I wouldn't be able to except it, that I would turn away from her because she was gay and yet here I am. I know it's easier to push people away and tell yourself that no one cares and no one understands, but please hear me when I say this…you can push as hard as you want, but nothing you do is going to send me, or your moms, running." Callie turned her head slightly to look at Sharon as if to determine if the older woman was serious and the look on Sharon's face said that she was very serious.

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"Look Callie, I know you already have a doctor to talk to, but I'm just letting you know that I'm here if you want to talk to someone who has a pretty good understanding of what it is you're doing." Callie looked at Sharon again, this time holding her gaze as if to weigh all her options, but before she could make her choice Jude came in from the kitchen.

"Callie if you want dessert I'd get some before Jesus gets it all."

Callie forced a smile and shook her head. "I'm fine buddy, thanks, but you should go get some before Jesus inhales it all." Jude looked at his sister as if he knew that she was hiding her true emotions, but he slowly turned back into the kitchen and left the women alone.

"I can't." Callie spoke and Sharon looked at her confused.

"Can't what, Callie?"

"Talk to you…not with everyone within earshot." Sharon recognized that Callie had been the center of attention for all the wrong reasons and everyone would notice her absence from family time and they would all come looking for her eventually.

"What if it was just you and me?" Callie looked slightly panicked and before she had the chance to say no Sharon corrected herself. "Or you, me and Stef?" Callie felt better at the thought of having Stef near by and with that offer on the table Callie nodded to Sharon.

"I'll be right back." Sharon grabbed her purse from near the front door and walked into the kitchen. The kids were fighting over dessert items and Lena and Stef were standing off to the side waiting for the fighting to die down. Stef caught her mother watching them and nudged Lena causing her to look up. Sharon walked over to the two of them and after digging around in her wallet she grabbed three twenty-dollar bills and handed them to Lena.

"Any chance I could convince you to take the kids to go see a movie?"

"Why do I get the feeling I'll only be taking four of my children to this movie?" said Lena

Sharon smiled at Lena. "Because Callie and I will be holding down the fort here, along with your blushing bride,"

Lena looked to Stef who seemed to be just as surprised. Lena knew that the time for questions wasn't right then. With the events of the doctor's office still fresh in everyone's mind Lena wasn't about to sneeze at Sharon's help, especially if it got Callie to open up a little bit. Lena stepped away from her mother in law and told the kids to grab their jackets and to meet her in the car. Lena could see how confused Jude looked when his sister didn't join them, but her smile assured him that she was being well cared for in his absence. Stef watched her family leave and as she shut the door behind them she poked her head in the living room to see her mother take a seat next to Callie. Not wanting to disturb, Stef opted to sit on the bottom stairs in a spot where she could hear what was going on, but could also give Callie some space to talk to her own mother.

"That a little bit better?" Sharon asked.

Callie nodded yes and smiled, "thank you."

"Of course; and if I know my daughter she probably waiting around the corner to come running in to save the day if you should start crying so it's just the three of us."

"This is kind of the most messed up gathering I can imagine. It's like the self-harm summit or something." Callie was wildly uncomfortable and humor was a natural coping mechanism. To her surprise Sharon laughed.

"I guess it does seem like that doesn't it?"

"I don't know what you want me to tell you. I've never been very good at this."

"What, talking about it?"

"No, trusting people, like at all. I never imagined having to defend why I do it to anyone because…well no one cared before now." Sharon could feel Stef's heart breaking from the other room and she offered Callie a soft smile.

"Well, people care now and I don't see that changing ever."

"Bet you didn't think your new granddaughter would be crazy did you?" Sharon shook her head and held out her hand for Callie to take whenever she was ready for that kind of contact.

"Hey, look at me." Callie lifted her gaze to meet Sharon's and the older woman smiled. "You, my dear girl, are not crazy."

"How can you possibly say that? Sane people don't do this." Callie revealed the most recent cuts from the days prior and waited for Sharon to react negatively, but that wasn't what happened. Sharon looked at the cuts and for a brief moment she had to remind herself that this was her granddaughter and not Stef she was dealing with and Callie had a past full of pain that Sharon couldn't fix with I love you's and kisses. Callie required a different approach.

"Are those supposed to scare me?" Sharon posed the question and Callie seemed shocked that the cuts didn't affect Sharon in any way.

"Don't they? I mean I cut myself with a razor, isn't that scary, doesn't that make you question my mental stability?"

"Why do you want me to be scared by this Callie?"

Callie snapped and blurted out through tears. "Because it fucking scares me." Callie put her hand over her mouth like she could take back the words, but she couldn't. Callie was used to people reacting to anything she did in big, grand gestures and when Sharon refused to be phased by her cutting Callie didn't know what to do and in that confusion the truth came out. Callie buried her face in her hands and kept crying and after placing a hand on her back to test the waters, Sharon wrapped her arms around her granddaughter and let her continue to cry. Sharon could see Stef pacing the front hallway, wanting desperately to come to her daughter's rescue, but Sharon knew that Stef knew better than to come running in. Stef had called her mother for a reason. Yes, she needed someone to talk to, but she needed her mother to work her magic a second time and help another teenager who was hurting way too much for them to handle alone.

When the tears had subsided into soft whimpers Callie pulled away slightly and dabbed her eyes with her sleeve. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"I'd rather you yell at me instead of keep everything bottled up like that." Sharon gestured to the cuts Callie had showed her. "You don't scare me Callie, but this, this scares me. It scared me when Stef was 16 and it scares me just as much now, if not more. I can't pretend to know the hell you've lived through and even if you told me, there isn't a thing I can do to take what happened to you back. But honey, this is not the answer. I know it seems like the answer, but it's not."

"I don't know how else to deal with everything. When I start feeling that way, it's like I can't breathe until I get rid of it somehow and cutting always helps."

"What about afterwards?"

"I feel like an idiot and I feel guilty; especially now that we're here and everything with Stef." Sharon knew that Callie and Stef had an understanding that no one else could ever touch, but that bond can cause crazy levels of guilt to be passed back and forth between them. Callie never wanted to disappoint Stef and the Stef wanted to be strong for her child. Neither one of them could see that they would forever be running in circles unless one of them quit.

"Honey, it's not your job to protect Stef, ok? It's her job to protect you. She knows when to ask for help, she learned it a long time ago. We just need to get you to the same place."

"I can do it myself." Callie's stubborn pride reminded Sharon of Stef and because of that she knew that eventually those walls would come tumbling down and Callie would need people to help her and thankfully she had a house full of those people.

"Honey with all due respect, no you cannot. If you could, we wouldn't be having this conversation. There is no shame in asking for help when you need it." Sharon reached for Callie's phone and silently tapped at the screen for a few seconds before handing the device back to Callie.

"Whenever you decide that you want to talk to someone or maybe decide that asking for help isn't any scarier than what you are doing now, you call me. If you can't talk to your mothers, please give me a chance to help before you reach for something to hurt yourself with, deal?" Callie looked at her phone, at the new contact that read Grandma and the tears started all over again. She shook her head yes and this time Callie wrapped her arms around Sharon and enjoyed the fact that she had a grandmother in her life again and one that knew how to help her through this difficult situation.

Callie sniffled and mumbled, "They didn't sign up for this."

"Who didn't sign up for what?"

"Stef and Lena, they didn't sign up for all this."

Stef had been standing in the doorway to the living room long enough to hear that and that was enough for her to stop lurking in the shadows and step into the living room.

"Yes we did." Callie sat up from her embrace with Sharon and Stef sat on the coffee table in front of the teenager. "When you came here to live with us, when you became part of this family, we absolutely signed up for this. Parenting doesn't end when your kid goes through hell Callie, that's when parents hang on tight and fight for you. You didn't screw up this family by coming here; you made it complete. You and Jude are my children, our children, and we absolutely signed up for this."

Callie broke down yet again, "I don't want to do it, I really don't, but I can't stop." She looked up at Stef "How do I stop?"

Stef got nervous, honestly, she didn't really know. Like Callie, she used humor as a defense mechanism "Uh…I usually just call my mom and tattle on my daughter."

Sharon chuckled but then gave Stef a serious look to tell her to try again.

Stef looked back to her daughter who was trying to give a fake smile. "No…uh…well, you have to find out what triggers you and develop new ways to cope…with your pain or anger or whatever. You like photography, don't you? And you are getting damn good on that guitar. Next time you feel an urge, do one of those things. If it gets too bad though, please, please come talk to one of us." Stef had a hand placed on Callie's knee by the end of her speech, she thought it went pretty well.

Callie engulfed Stef in a hug "I'll try."

Stef rubbed her back and looked at her mom. With tears in her eyes, she said, "You deserve to feel better, Callie, and you can get there without hurting yourself." But this time, she wasn't just talking to Callie, she was talking to herself.

NOTE: Okay guys, the time has come where I don't have any more ideas! PLEASE review with some because I can't keep writing without them! I hope y'all liked the chapter, but 95% of the credit goes to the best writer out there, MKAmericanhero (seriously, you HAVE to check her out) Love and kissies,

Katie