Hey everyone! Sorry for such a long wait, I just got back from Michigan the 8th and then the following week had to go to school and now i'm in my senior year. Because of school, I don't know when i'll find time to update; but I promise I won't abandon this story, i'll finish it.

Now this chapter i'm iffy about. I don't know if any of the characters (especially Callie) are OOC, if they are, i'm really sorry. I have to get back in the flow of these characters. So, I hope you like this chapter. And about all the therapist's questions, I don't know if they are what a therapist would say... i'm going off of stuff i've read, so I hope I did an adequate job.

Anyways, Please enjot this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All rights belong to ABC family and J-Lo. :)

I'm hangin' on another day
Just to see what you throw my way
And I'm hanging on to the words you say
You said that I will be OK
Broken by Lifehouse

It was the next day and Callie decided to sleep in. She didn't want to be lazy, but her mind was tired, literally and figuratively. She wanted to sleep in to get some rest before her therapy.

She didn't know if she wanted to open up in therapy, because she didn't want anybody else knowing her past even though she knew the therapist wouldn't judge or look at her any differently, but still, she really didn't want to take that chance.

She slept in until someone shook her shoulder, she groaned and put her head cuddled into her pillow. But, the person was persistent and kept doing it and whispering "Callie, get up."

Finally wanting to punch the voice she got up and before she could see who it was she said a little fiercely, "WHAT!" She groaned but got up and saw that it was Brandon staring at her. She could see the smile on his face and she wanted to wipe that grin off his face.

Brandon liked seeing Callie get all worked up about waking up. She always got up before him so he always thought that she would be an early-morning person, but boy- was he wrong. "You have therapy soon. The moms wanted me to get you up." He said, simply. Then left and left Callie by herself.

She groaned and went into the bathroom to do all her natural hygiene stuff and then got dressed in some skinny jeans, an olive green jacket with a white t-shirt. Simple and comfortable. Just how she liked it.

She went down and the moms were waiting for her with…. Lunch. "What time is it?" She groaned out, getting a hotdog.

Stef smiled, "It's 1:00" Callie gasped, she couldn't believe that she slept that long! Never in her 16 years has she slept that long. Wow!

Lena, sensing her discomfort, smiled and said, "it's okay, Callie." She smiled while Jesus and Mariana came in.

"Sleeping beauty finally wakes up. How did it happen? Did Brandon give her a kiss?" Jesus teased him and both of the said people's cheeks were bright red.

Stef slapped his hand with a kitchen utensils, "Jesus that was not funny." Stef scolded but he just shrugged and took his hotdog and ate it.

Since the rest of the kids, excluding Brandon, didn't know about her therapy and the moms assumed that Callie didn't want everyone to know, and for that Callie was grateful. She ate her hotdog and kept tapping her feet, she was nervous.

If the rest of the family knew, they didn't say anything. And she was appreciative that they didn't say anything. She quickly ate her hotdog and the rest of the family did their things. Mariana was with friends, Jesus was with Lexi, and Jude was content to play in his room which left the moms, Callie, and Brandon.

"So... when is my appointment?" She asked them, not looking at them. But staring at the wooden table.

Stef, in response to her question said, "At 2. So we should leave soon."

Callie nodded, still not liking this idea the moms had of hers but there was nothing she could do, no matter what. They would still drag her to therapy if they had too.

Brandon sat next to Callie and took her hands in his. He looked at her sincerely and said, "Callie, you'll be fine. Trust me."

Callie looked disbelieving at him, "How do you know? Have you ever been to therapy?" Callie asked, a little bitter.

He shook his head, "Nope, sadly. But I've looked her up and she is one of the best." Callie nodded, still not believing him fully, but had to trust him. When has he ever proved her wrong? She thought as she kept shaking her leg.

She didn't even notice Stef putting a plate of food in front of her, she slowly chewed up all the food until the plate was all clear. She didn't even know what it tasted like, she just gulfed down the food because she was nervous. "Wow Callie, slow down. You'll give yourself a stomach-ache." Brandon told her and she didn't listen to him but just laid her head down on the desk.

Stef checked the time, "Okay, ready to go. Callie, do you want Brandon to go?" Stef gently asked her. Callie looked at Brandon and saw the hopeful look in his eye and knew he wanted to go with her, not to judge her, but to support her. She nodded and Stef told the children that she was leaving and they made their way to the car.

Once they got in, Callie leaned her head on the side of the car and complained, "Ouch. I have a stomach ache."

She heard Brandon giving a small laugh, despite how bad her stomach hurt, she turned around and said sternly, "Do not tell me 'I told you so' or I will make sure you never have kids." She wasn't really going through with the threat, and she knew that Brandon was doing it because he could, and not to tell her, but she couldn't help it. She was stressed, she was scared, she was in pain and it all came lashing out at Brandon, in that one sentence. Once she got her thoughts together, she whispered, "Sorry."

Brandon shrugged his shoulders, not taking it personally; knowing that Callie was stressed. Once the car stopped, Callie looked at where she was going to therapy.

It was a small, rectangular building with regular brick, they went in through the door and Callie walked into a nice hallway, with a huge sign that said Lifeline Counseling Center in green letters, it smelled like vanilla and her mom's checked her in while Brandon and Callie sat down on one of the chairs. Callie picked up a magazine on the table and didn't even look at it. She just didn't want anyone to talk to her.

The mom's came and sat down next to Brandon and they waited. The rest of them didn't talk because they didn't know what to say. Each couple was holding hands, and not letting go.

They were listening to some type of music when someone called, "Callie Jacobs?" Callie put the magazine down on the table and looked up at her new "therapist". She was in her early 40's and had medium-length, red hair that was straight and green eyes. She had a smile that instantly made you feel comfortable, feel welcome.

Stef unhooked herself from Lena and they both stood up, "Hi. I'm Stef and this is Lena. This is Callie, our foster child, and Brandon, our son." The therapist nodded and shook hands with all of them.

She gave a small smile and said, "Hi. I'm Kathryn Quinn and I'm Callie's therapist." She then turned towards Callie and shook her hand, "Hi. You must be Callie. Nice to meet you." Callie gave a small smile.

She gave a small smile back and then turned towards the whole family. "Now, since this is our first session, I usually do a family meeting. Not to gang up on you, Callie, but to find out more what's going on. And then I'll talk to just the parents and then just Callie. This whole process should take about an hour and a half. If you would follow me," They followed her and she entered in a passcode, opened a door, and came into a new room of hallways. They went to the second one, on the right and walked in.

It was a nice, warm, color. A creamy, caramel, brown with black lettering, with the saying, Live Well. Laugh Often. Love a lot. She sat down on a brown couch, with her family, and Lena sat on a brown chair while the therapist sat in a red chair, grabbing her clipboard. She turned towards the family with a soothing face. "Now, before we get into what the problem is, I just want to give you some rules, some basic procedures, your rights, and the cost." She gave them each a piece of paper and on top it said Health Information Privacy Protection Act.

She looked at the paper then back up on them, "These are your basic HIPPA rights. Just pretty much saying that, unless issued by warrant or a judicial system, I can't give up your health information to anyone else and I can't talk about you or your problems to my husband or someone I know. Pretty much just your basic rights." She summed up and then gave the parents another piece of paper.

They looked down on it and saw that it was a sheet with prices for the session, "Now, for the first session, the cost is $120, and you can pay upfront, or we can set up a payment plan. Most insurances accept my plan. But the rest of the visits will only cost $80, but if I ever have to go to court or anything, then it will be extra. But let's not worry about that."

Stef and Lena nodded, they were also new at getting this information and didn't know what to expect.

The therapist nodded, "Okay. Now here is the last sheet," She gave a sheet out to everyone, "This is the Lifeline Counseling Rights. Whatever you say Callie will stay in here and you will always be safe. I will never share what you're dealing with, with anyone, not even my husband. It stays between you and me. And also just some basic information about missing meetings, payment plans, etc…" She smiled.

Then lastly added, "I have to warn you. Once someone starts therapy, because of the memories we make them go into and what-not, they could always have a downfall and that is to be expected. Like someone once said, "You have to hit rock bottom to know that you can still swim." They nodded, accepting that.

Lena and Stef nodded, trying to gather in all this information. The therapist let them gather their minds, then said, "Any questions?"

Callie looked around and raised her hand, "Yes, Callie." The therapist turned towards her with a small smile.

"When you say you can't tell anyone, it means that you can't tell Lena or Stef?" She asked, honestly knowing.

Kathryn smiled, "Yes, Callie. But if you ever give me information that you are going to harm yourself, harm someone else, or someone is harming you, then I will have to tell your parents or the appropriate authorities to keep you safe. This isn't just my law, it's the state's law. But other than that, I will never say anything to anyone else. So that means if you want to talk about how much you hate someone in your foster family, I will not tell them what you said. But if you mention that you will kill someone in your family, then I would have to tell them. You understand?" Callie nodded, kind of sad that not everything was confidential.

"Okay. I've noticed that Brandon, you've been quiet and you're the only one of her siblings here. Why did you decide to go? Are you close with her?" The therapist asked, getting to know her family one-by-one to better understand her.

Brandon shifted, uncomfortable, but answered anyways. "Because…. I'm the one that found out about Callie and what she has been going through and I've helped her through it. So it only made sense that I was here." He did the best he could and he hoped that it was an adequate answer for her.

"Thanks, Brandon. Now can you take Callie outside while I talk to your parents alone?" Brandon nodded, gently pulling Callie up and taking her outside to the waiting room.

Callie turned towards Brandon as they sat down, "Why do you think they have to talk with your mom's?" Callie asked him.

Brandon shrugged, "Mhm. I guess just to find out what's going on with you from both point-of-views, I guess." He honestly didn't know and he wished he did.

Callie accepted the answer and then turned her face into her phone, checking her instagram.

In the room, Lena and Stef sat on the couch where Callie and Brandon occupied just a couple seconds before. "Okay. Now I've called you in here to see if you have any questions or concerns about Callie that you didn't want to say in front of her." The therapist said, hoping to give them answers. She gave them a couple of minutes and then she said, "Tell me what's going on? What's led her to coming to me?"

Stef and Lena took a deep breath, Stef spoke first. "Um… we fostered Callie and her brother, Jude, around a couple months ago. She just got out of juvie and we took her in. She and our son risked their life to save her brother from an abusive foster father and we took them in. After she got used to us, she started acting pretty decent- like a normal teenager. We never suspected anything was wrong until Brandon came to us telling us everything."

The therapist looked very interested in what they were saying, "Everything meaning what?"

Lena then started, "Telling us that Callie has been cutting herself, and then telling us that she was raped by a teacher at the school she goes to now." Lena had a tear in her eye, but quickly wiped it away.

The therapist nodded, "I'm sorry you had to go through that, honestly. But it's glad that she's getting help. How did she react?"

Stef spoke, after taking a deep breath, "She was very defensive at first, locking herself in the bathroom, but after a while, she started talking to us loosely, not saying much. And someone recommended a therapist and we bought her here."

The therapist was writing something down on her clipboard, thinking of what to say next. "Well that's understandable. Well thank you for spending time with me, can you bring Callie in here?"

They nodded, but then Lena spoke up, "Will she ever stop… cutting?" She asked, hesitantly, not really wanting to know the answer, but wanting to know at the same time.

The therapist looked at her with sympathy, "It depends on her and if she wants to get better. We can give her all the help, all the coping mechanisms in the world, but if she doesn't want to get better, she won't. It's all up to her. But I'll put it this way, a lot of my clients have stopped self-harming after a while, so it is possible."

Lena and Stef nodded, then going out in the waiting room to grab Callie. "Alright, your turn." Callie nodded, releasing her hands from Brandon's and going into the room where her therapist lies.

She slowly walked in, hesitant on what to do, so she sat down on the couch. "Hi, Callie." Her therapist said to her.

Callie just shrugged and said, "Hi."

The therapist didn't get offended at her rudeness or how she was looking down at her knees, instead of making eye contact with her. The therapist knew what was wrong, as all her clients started this way, "So, Callie, you look mad. Why?" She asked.

Callie looked up and gave her a cold glare, "Because I missed school to be here. In a shrink's office." Callie stated, then looking back down on her knees.

The therapist nodded, understand her, but saying, "I can see that. I know you're mad, probably at your foster parents, right?" She nodded. She then continued, "I know that you are, but they are doing this to help you because they care about you." She concluded, hoping to get to know more about Callie and how she feels about her foster family.

Callie scoffed, "Yeah, so what? Eventually I'll just get sent back to the foster system, this situation is only temporary." Even though she said is with a strict voice, the therapist could sense that it was also a little… sad.

"Well, Callie, it doesn't matter if it's a temporary situation, Lena and Stef care for you, so just accept that for now." The therapist told her, hoping that she would see what she was trying to say.

"Mhm." Callie just mumbled, playing with a thread on her shirt.

The therapist knew that Callie didn't want to talk about this anymore so moved onto another subject, "Callie, answer me one question." Callie nodded, and she continued, "Why did Lena and Stef send you here to me?" She asked her kindly, not accusing her of anything.

Callie just shrugged, thinking whether or not she should trust this person. A little part of her knew she could, but another part –the bigger part- of her was so used to just keeping her feelings bottled up inside because she's been hurt so many times. She didn't know what to do, but she thought about what Brandon would say about her not talking to the therapist, and then she thought about Jude. What would Jude think if he ever found out about her cutting? Would he yell at her, cry, get mad, or scream at her to get better, she didn't know what to do. But if there is one reason to get better, it was Jude, and maybe this therapy would work she hoped, so she answered. "Because I've cut." She said, simply, not giving away too much, even though she's pretty sure Lena and Stef told her about everything.

The therapist nodded, "And, Callie, tell me why are you cutting?"

She thought about it for a minute, but honestly didn't know. She cut because she wanted to get rid of the memories, the pain and that she had so many feelings bottled up that she didn't know what to do. So she answered, "I don't know."

The therapist expected this answer, "Okay. Well, did you cut to get rid of memories? To feel something other than numbness? To take control of your feelings? Because you're overwhelmed? Why?" She asked, hoping that she would answer.

Callie answered, "To get rid of memories, I guess." She didn't know the answer, but that sounded the closest.

The therapist turned her head, "Okay. What memories?" She asked this because even though she knew the answer, she wanted to give Callie a chance to put in her two cents.

Callie didn't look at her, "You know… about my past, my foster life."

"What about it?"

"I don't know. It's just that I wake up in cold sweat sometimes."

The therapist nodded, "Tell me more about that? What memories from your past make you wake up in cold sweat?"

Callie didn't want to tell her, she didn't trust her. She didn't want to tell her, her whole life story. So she raised her voice a little bit, "I don't want to talk about it." She told her, sternly, but the therapist heard a little bit of sadness in her voice.

"Okay, then. Tell me about Brandon, he seems to be pretty close." She changed the subject knowing that she wouldn't get any more out of Callie about that topic.

Callie gave a small smile, "What about Brandon?"

"What makes him so special? Why did he come with you when you have a younger brother, Jude?" She asked, hoping to get to know the answer.

She shook her head, "I don't know. He understands more and… yeah…" She didn't know what else to say, why did she tell Brandon? Oh yeah, because he found out. But she could have just yelled at him and never talked to him, so why did she? Why did she talk to Brandon?

The therapist listened intently to her. "Well that makes sense. What do you mean he understands you more?"

Callie shrugged, "I don't know. He's older than Jude." The therapist accepted this answer, but was going go more into this later, when she wasn't as stressed.

She looked at her clock and realized that she had 15 more minutes left with Callie, "Well, Callie, we have about 15 minutes left. Do you want to play a game?"

Callie shook her head, not wanting to play any games. The therapist tried another technique, "Alright. But I'm going to tell you about myself, alright? And always remember that if you don't like me, I won't be offended."

She started, "My name is Kathryn Quinn and I'm 39 years-old. I got my masters in counseling at UCLA and I have 2 children- Cara, 5, and Matthew, 8. I wanted to be a therapist because when I was younger, I was also in the foster care system. I moved around to different families, and some of them weren't nice. I made a lot of mistakes, I did drugs, I sold drugs, I skipped school, but then I met somebody and my whole life changed. I got my GED and then went on to college. I then met my husband and we have 2 children and a dog, Sadie." She hoped that opening up to her would make Callie feel more comfortable.

Callie nodded, shocked that she was in the foster system. "How long?" She asked, knowing what she meant.

"About 10 years. My dad died when I was 8 and my mom was a druggie." She told her, hoping to answer her question.

She nodded, shocked that she lost a parent, also. "My mom died, also." She whispered to her.

The therapist looked at her with sympathy, "How old were you? How did that make you feel?"

Callie just shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to tell her anymore about that topic, but told her, "Around your age."

The therapist nodded and wrote down something in her clipboard, "Well, good session today, Callie. Do you want to make another appointment?" She asked her.

Callie just shrugged and she nodded, just going to ask her parents. "Alright. Well I'll meet with your foster parents."

They went back into the waiting room and Brandon gave her a hug. "How did it go?" Stef asked, hoping that it went at least okay.

The therapist smiled, "It went good. I didn't get much information out of her, but it will take a while. She's defensive and has been that way for such a long time, it will take a lot of time to get her to feel safe about opening up to me. So I would like to make a next appointment if that's alright with Callie."

Callie just nodded and they set up her next appointment for the next week, same time, and same day. "Alright, well talk to you later."

They waved and made their way out of the office, "So, Callie, how did your appointment go?" Stef asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She shrugged, "Good, I guess." Stef knew that she wasn't going to get any more out of the poor girl, so just let it be.

Lena suggested, "Do you guys want to get ice-cream or go out for lunch?"

Callie nodded, "I can do lunch."

Lena gave her a quick hug, "Alright. Let's go eat!"

And they made their way to a local family restaurant.

Unbeknownst to them, a guy was in his car, watching them.

Hope you liked it and I hope I did a good job at portraying the characters. And the song Broken by Lifehouse is such an amazing song, if you haven't listen to it: do. It's so beautiful & amazing.

I hoped you liked it and I promise the next chapter will be up sooner.

Adios Amgios,

Lauren. :)