Jude put his hands on his hips, balancing on the edge of a bench while Callie snapped a photo of him. The moment she started lowering the camera, he let himself tip forward and landed on the sidewalk next to her. She was checking the picture on the screen and tilted it toward him.

"I like it," she said.

"I need a cape, then I'll like it."

"I'll photoshop one in," Callie promised.

"Thanks," Jude said. "Do you still like your camera?"

Callie ran her thumb lovingly over the back of the camera. "I still can't believe you guys did this for me."

"You needed it," Jude said. "We're all proud of you, Callie."

She made a small face at his affection before grinning. Jude took the camera out of her hands and snapped a picture of her.

"Hey!"

Jude snapped another one. "You can't spend all of your time behind the camera!"

"Yes, I can! And, you have a ton of photos of me."

"Not from today," Jude said. "You've been taking pictures of me all day."

"I've only been with you for, like, two hours."

Jude took another picture. "I could get my own art exhibit with these."

Callie's eyebrows skyrocketed.

"I'd call it Sister: A Portrait of Annoyance." Jude took a picture of her expression after that too. "It'd be relatable to anyone with a sister. I'd make millions."

"Not off me you won't."

Jude squinted at her. "You're right, I should probably use Mariana."

"Because she's prettier than I am or because she's more annoying?"

There was absolutely no right way to answer that. Either way, Callie would get upset and, either way, word would get back to Mariana, and she would end up upset too. They were a solid unit, and Jude knew he'd have to step carefully to avoid falling in the hole he'd dug.

"You're equal?"

His flunked attempt at diplomacy only earnt him one of Callie's scorching looks and then she took her camera back. Jude shrugged and followed her. He'd met her near his school's football field and they'd promptly gone to get a late lunch. He was now following her about the streets. He was constantly watching her pause to take photos and it was fascinating the things that she chose. Although, he could do without the endless amount of posing by flower pots. Callie had asked him to do it the first time as a joke, but now, Jude just thought she was doing it because she could see how weird he found it. Jude was glad that there was no way either Taylor or Connor would be around tonight. He didn't know how he'd explain to either – particularly Taylor – why he was half inside of a closed café's potted tree.

"Come on, Jude," Callie said. "My memory card's almost full."

'You don't have another one?" Jude asked, although they started back toward where they had left Gerald.

"Yeah, but I'm not doing anything but taking photos of weird paint chips," Callie said. "Hardly important. I'll probably delete most of them."

"How un-sentimental of you," Jude said wryly.

"You want to get sentimental about my feet and a crack on the sidewalk?" Callie asked, flicking through pictures on the camera before showing it to Jude. "Because that's all this is."

"It might be important someday."

"How?" Callie asked with a snort. "To who?"

"There could be some clue to a crime happening in the background and we might not realize it's relevant until years later."

Callie stared down at the camera again. "Jude, it's just a sidewalk."

"Okay, okay, delete it," Jude conceded.

They reached Gerald and Jude opened the passenger door for Callie. Instead of taking a seat, she stopped and stared at him.

"Since when do you open car doors for me?"

"Uh …" Jude tapped the top of the door. "It's just habit now."

Callie didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. She just sat into the passenger seat and reached out, shutting the door herself. Jude's cheeks were hot with embarrassment, though it wasn't really that bad. He still felt awkward as he sat behind the wheel, imagining how Taylor would ridicule him if it had been her instead of Callie. Jude pulled out of the parking space.

"So, is the reporter you came here with going back home tonight?"

"Mark," Callie said. "And, yes. He has places to be tomorrow but I don't, so I just told them I needed today to get shots of the team and then tomorrow, I just needed to get some pictures of campus itself. I just wanted to spend some time with you."

"Christmas just happened, you know."

"I know, but I also know what it's like when you're in the middle of the semester. We never hear from you."

"Moms do."

"I'm not Moms."

"I'll do better."

"You say that every semester, Jude."

"Soon, I'll have to get a real job, just like you."

Callie took a picture of him driving. "My newspaper is thinking about an intern photographer. You could come hang out with me for a real job."

Jude shook his head and laughed. "That doesn't seem like the job I want."

"Any idea what the job you want is yet?"

"No. Sometimes I think I should work with foster kids, you know, like we were. But that's a lot more school and I don't think that's what I want to do. I just feel like I should."

"Do what makes you happiest," Callie said. "Even if you end up in a tiny, cold apartment eating ramen while your grad-student sister shrieks in her room and only eats marshmallows for a week because they don't offend her."

"Mariana's having fun."

"I mean, that was a couple months ago, but it's not out of the norm for her," Callie said. "I'll be so glad when she's done with it."

"Isn't she talking about a doctorate?"

"Yeah, and she'll probably do it, too. You know how Mariana is when she's determined."

"Terrifying?"

Callie laughed. "Yeah, exactly that."

Jude signalled onto another road, but he didn't turn the car to head back to his apartment. "What do you want to do with the rest of today?"

"I don't know," Callie said. "You want to just drive for a little bit?"

"Sure," Jude agreed. "Let's just drive."

It didn't have to be about the destination, did it?

(-.-)

Connor watched the clock tick down the last minute of the class. It was one of his larger lectures and one of his more boring ones. The professor was an old man who didn't really feel the compulsion to make himself heard to the large room, keeping the mic pinned to a place on his jacket that was too far away from his mouth. It was particularly problematic for Connor, who couldn't make himself sit anywhere but at the back of the room. He supposed he would get through it. He always had lots of time to study; he would have to pay a lot of attention to this class's textbook. The professor finally dismissed them and Connor took his time packing up his bag and waiting for the majority of the crowd to begin to thin.

He finished closing the zipper and then he looked up, only to see someone he knew.

"Jake? Hi."

"Hey!" Jake said, cutting through the crowd to approach Connor. "How was your break?"

"Busy," Connor said.

"Same," Jake said. "Do you have class?"

Connor shook his head. "I'm done for the day."

"I have an hour until my next class. Want to go grab a coffee?"

"Um, okay," Connor said.

For the briefest moment, he felt an impulse of let me call Jude first, like he absolutely had to ask permission to go have coffee with a friend. A friend that Jude knew he had. He knew what would happen if he did call. Jude would tell him that, of course he could go have fun and that Connor hadn't need to call at all. The only thing that would end up happening was that Connor would end up feeling bad because he hadn't realized his own independence and guilt because he had interrupted Jude's time with Callie – something that Connor knew Jude didn't get enough of. He squashed the feelings inside of him, hoping he didn't look shaky as he walked out of the classroom at Jake's side.

"H-how's Amy?" Connor asked.

"She's great. She's working today, so I guess she's not as great as she could be. But she really likes her co-workers, so I don't see her ever looking for a new job." Jake shrugged. "She says I should get a job there, 'cause I've been looking, but I don't think I should work with my girlfriend. I don't think I'd love her as much."

Connor adjusted his bag on his shoulder. "You'd love her less?"

It was a forward question and it bothered him that he had asked at all, but Jake seemed unbothered.

"Eh, maybe not the right words. I'd definitely still love her. I just don't think we'd be able to work in the same place, especially a fast food restaurant. I've worked them before and they make me a horrible person. Actually," Jake mused, "I think she'd end up liking me less."

Connor held the door of the coffee shop open for Jude. Like, love, more, less. An innocent conversation was sending his head spinning; he should really learn not to overthink things the way that he always tended to do. After they ordered, Jake switched to talking about what they had done over the holidays. Jake was feeling particularly chatty today, though Connor thought anyone could be called chatty when compared to himself, and Connor was happy to let him do most of the talking.

"It was just your average break," Jake said. "Honestly, every Christmas feels the same to me, you know?"

Connor nodded, though he wasn't completely sure he felt the same.

Jake checked the time on his phone. "I almost have to go. And I haven't even heard about your break!"

"Oh, it's okay," Connor said. "We'll talk again."

He was surprised at how confident he was in that.

Jake grinned. "For sure. Hey, you should come sit with my friend and I next week in class? We're down in the second row to the prof's left. He's blind as a bat so we have to sit close enough to see Roth's nose hairs."

That made Connor smile and he was almost sad that he had to shake his head. He would like to sit in class with a friend. "I have to sit at the back."

"Why?"

"I, um, don't like people behind me, especially people I don't know."

Jake paused. "You've seen some things, haven't you?"

Connor shrugged, trying to play it off.

"Well, maybe next time Alex can come to coffee with us. I think you'd like him. He's a bit of a nerd."

"I'd like to meet him," Connor said, though is heart gave an extra thud inside of his chest. He knew that he would have to talk to Jude about that before it happened, but he knew he'd see Jude again before he had to deal with it. He wouldn't have to interrupt anything at all.

"Great! See you Wednesday, Connor!"

"See you."

Jake packed up his things and Connor sat alone at the table for a moment, his empty hot chocolate cup still held firmly between his two hands. Connor thought he might be content to just sit. There were a few people around, but not too many. Watching the baristas work, hearing people talk, and taking in the music playing softly from the speakers was borderline relaxing. Connor rarely felt this good in public, particularly when alone. Then, class change began and Connor saw crowds begin to amass outside and he knew he had to go. Connor knew his limits by now.

He snuck out the side door and took the long path back to his dorm. Part of him just wanted to walk, the other part of him just wanted to avoid people. He was still exhausted from the crowds of people in New York. He walked quickly, feeling the textbooks he'd bought shifting in his bag. He had some reading to do when he got back and he started thirsting after the quiet warmth of his room, a cup of tea and his books open on his desk.

It was the most idyllic thing that he could think of and Connor wanted nothing more.

The chapter's title is after the song Love Is Your Name by Steven Tyler. If you have a song that reminds you of Barefoot And Bruised and would like it to be on the playlist – and possibly a chapter title – send it in and let me know! I'd love to hear your playlist suggestions! (Chapter titles are mostly chosen via shuffle.)

So, on tumblr I'm: we are all of legend now (with dashes between every word). If you want to find my replies to anon reviews, add backslash tagged backslash anon dash replies. If you want to see anything I post about Barefoot And Bruised, go to my tumblr URL and add backslash tagged backslash barefoot dash and dash bruised dash. Punctuation is spelled out due to Fanfiction's restrictions. If you're having any trouble accessing the tumblr content please send me a pm and I can format it for you in a different way.

~TLL~