Callie POV
As I walked pass the doorway to the living room, I called out to the two boys, who were sat on the couch, with the controllers in their hands "Bye Connor! Bye Jude, I will see you later!"
"Bye!" I hear Connor call back, but Jude jumps off the couch and runs my way "Callie, wait up!"
I stop at the front doors and wait till Jude comes up to me "What's up bud?" I ask casually. I had no idea what Jude wanted to talk to, so I had no reason to worry or feel nervous about.
"Are you okay?" He asks me back worried, when he stopped right in front of me, just hand reach away
"What do you mean?" I raise my eyebrow at him
He shrugs his shoulders a little "You seem worried about something. Like something is bothering you. You barely said a word when we walked to home together. I simply wanted to know if everything is okay?"
"Yeah, everything's fine. No need to worry," I lie to him, looking straight to his eyes. I hated that the lie came out so easily. The last thing that I wanted was to worry my brother. Especially because, what worried me, was connected to my sexual life.
Jude eyes me suspiciously "What did you and Lena talk about?"
I shift in my stance and rub the back of my neck nervously "Just...stuff!"
"Why can't you tell me?" Jude asks in a bit more hushed voice, after he glanced back to the living room where Connor was sitting
"Because I don't want you to worry you," I say back quietly, admitting unintentionally that something was wrong
"Can't you see that I am already worried, Callie?" Jude points out to me raising his voice just a little bit "You - acting as if nothing is wrong - is worrying me! Just because we don't live under the same roof, doesn't mean I don't care about you! Just because I am your little brother, doesn't mean only you can worry about me! This - sibling thing – works both ways Callie! I am worried about you just as much you are worried about me!"
I was a little bit taken a back by his sudden outburst to me. Worried to upset him even more, I reply barely above whisper "Sorry…"
"So there is something wrong?" It was silly of me to think that Jude wouldn't catch on to what I said earlier
I look down to the floor between us and decide to tell him just a little part of the whole story "Gavin and I had a little...relationship problem. That's it. I'm just upset about what happened between us."
"You had a fight?" He asked concerned
"Yeah, sort of..." I was not going to give him any more detail about what happened. That would be way inappropriate. He doesn't need to know all the details. So my answer wasn't really a lie this time, it was a white lie.
"Oh! I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you two can work things out. You seem happy with him," Jude says giving me a sympathetic look
"Well, that's just life," I shrugged trying to play it cool "Every relationship has it's ups and downs."
Jude glanced back to the living room, to Connor. When he looked back to me, he whisper "Connor can be very needy sometimes"
I laughed back "Aren't we all!" I ruffled his hair "Do your homework and stay in school!"
"Moms would probably ground me till I would be 18 if I ever decide to leave school," Jude responded in a very serious tone
"Oh, the ways parents show how much they love you!" I smirk back and pull my brother in a hug. I lean out of the hug after just 2 seconds of embracing my baby brother.
Jude looks to me confused "What's wrong?"
I place my hand on the top of his head and keeping my hand steady I move it towards me. My hand hits my nose. I repeat the motion another time and get the same result.
"Since when are you this tall!" I exclaim out loudly, when I look down to his feet "Are you wearing heels?"
"No!" Jude laughs back looking down to his feet as well. He was standing in his white socks. The shoes were probably dropped somewhere in the middle of the living room.
"No, but seriously...you were to my chin the last time I saw you!" I say looking to his face, realizing our eyes are almost the same height
"That was yesterday," Jude points out "I doubt I grew few inches over night!"
"What are your moms feeding you?" I says and take in his height another time. I hadn't noticed how tall he was until now. It's like her drank some growth serum or something.
"Spinach!" Jude says back jokingly
"No wonder why am I so short. Mom doesn't buy me spinach!" I laugh back and pull him back into the hug, that I had cut short minute before
"I love you Callie" Jude says in the hug
"I love you more!"
"Not possible!" Jude replies without missing a beat
Stef POV
I lift Frankie out of her seat. Before I could realize, she was up to the house already, opening the front doors. The moment she started to walk, we could barely follow her every step and catch up with her. I was seriously starting to think we should sign her up to some track and field. Maybe she will excel in some discipline like 100 meter sprint.
"Hey, I think you lost this!" I heard Callie's voice, when I was head in the trunk, grabbing the shopping bags. When I look over my shoulder I see Callie standing behind me, with Frankie over her shoulder.
"That rebel does not look like ours!" I say with a smirk "Ours is like a little angel!"
"Then what should I do with this impostor?" Callie asks in a serious tone. Frankie giggles back as she wiggles in Callie's hands.
"Well, I'm not really sure. I have never had to deal with impostors before," I say scratching my temple, acting as if I am really thinking what to do
"Mom, it's me!" Frankie says with giggles "I'm not an impostor!"
Callie and I share a look of amusement "Are you? Really? How can we be sure you are not lying to us!?"
"Because I'm your youngest daughter, mommy!" Frankie reasons back in the most serious tone, while still being held in Callie's arms
"An impostor would say that, wouldn't they?" I say back thoughtfully with a playful touch
"Milky way train!" Frankie called out the next moment
Callie looks confused about the second part, but after a little smile and nod from me, she sets her down.
I scoop the girl up in my arms and give her a kiss "You better go make sure, mama is not an impostor as well!" I tell her before I set her down. Frankie's eyes grew big and she runs back to the house.
"Milky way train?" Callie raises eyebrow and chuckles lightly, when I hand her one of the bags to help me carry them in
"It's our secret password," I explain to her as I take two shopping bags myself
"For what?" Callie asks curiously as the two of us carry the bags to the house
"Everything!" I smile back at the girl "How else could we have know that she is not an impostor?!"
When we entered the kitchen, we saw that Frankie was still testing to see if Lena was impostor. She was asking her a bunch of questions and Lena answer each and every one with full on honesty and seriousness.
On the way out, Callie grabs her backpack that was dropped at the front doors. Callie walks back out to the car with me.
"You are heading home already?" I ask when I lift the last two bags out and close the trunk of the car
"No straight away," Callie takes in a deep breath "I need to go talk to Gavin first."
"Uh-oh!" the way she said the last part, sounded like they were in for a very serious talk or something "Everything okay with you two?"
"Not exactly," Callie admits after a little while, while staring down to the grass "Something happened yesterday and I just…run out...without saying a word. He's been calling and texting me today non-stop and...and I haven't picked up or answered any of his texts, because I don't know...how to tell him the stuff that I need to say to him. And it's really scary to even think about having that conversation with him," Callie took in a shaky breath and looked up to me "So, I'm just…trying to talk myself into going over and talking with him."
I reach for her hand and squeeze is gently "Well, if you don't mind a little advice from an old lady-"
"You're not old," Callie interjects quickly and quietly, without looking up to me
I smirk back and continue on with my little speech "Trust me when I say, it's better to have the talk, whatever it is you have to talk to him about, sooner rather than later. Especially if the talk you need to have is of serious matter!"
Callie and I are similar in some ways. We both can be very suborn and neither one of us likes showing others that we are vulnerable. Sharing and opening up comes hard to us, because we like to keep strong all of the time. In a way, we afraid to lose control over our lives.
With that in mind, I continue after a little pause "I know that opening up, sharing feeling or your deepest fears and worries with another person is scary and nerve wrecking, and you worry what the other person may think of you, but if you want the relationship to work, you have to be honest with each other. You will feel much better once you have gotten it off your chest. The longer you wait to have the talk, the more harder will it be to bring it up!"
Callie sighs and rubs her nose with her free hand "I'm just really not looking forward to having this talk!"
"I'm sorry, I can't help you more, love! If I could, I would. But only you can talk to Gavin about whatever it is you two need to talk about," I close the distance between us and place a gentle kiss to her forehead
Callie takes a deep breath in and then sighs "I know..." She looks over her shoulder and when she turns back to me she says "Okay. I need to go, if I want to get back home before curfew"
"I could give you a ride to Gavin's place," I offered her, trying to help her as much as I can
"No, I need the walk. I need some more time to think about what I am going to say and how am I going to start the talk," Callie declines my offer
"As you wish," I offer the girl a warm smile as I give her hand one last squeeze, before I let go of her palm
"Thanks for the talk. See you later, Stef!" Callie says before turning and walking down the street
When Callie was out of my sight, I hear the front doors open. Next moment, Frankie runs my way, calling out happily "Mommy, mommy! Mama is not an impostor!"
Callie POV
In about 40 minutes I was up to Gavin's place. My heart started to beat fast in my chest, the moment I looked up to the stairs that lead up to the hallway where Gavin's apartment was located. As I started to walk up the stairs to reach the second floor, my mind went blank. I forgot everything that I thought I would say to Gavin.
Before I could realize, I was standing in front of his apartment doors. Just staring at them. I was too scared to ring the bell or knock. So I just stood there, frozen in my spot.
"Callie?" I hear Gavin's voice from my right side. Gavin was coming down the hallway, towards me. He had his bike helmet in his hand and he was holding his keys in his free hand, and he was still wearing his bike jacket.
"I called and texted you like 10 times," He says to me worried, when he was up to me "Why didn't you pick up?"
"..I know...I'm sorry" I stutter out nervously "I needed some time...to think"
"Can we talk inside?" He asks me, when he unlocks the doors
I nod few times and walk in his apartment. While Gavin places his helmet, bike jacket away and takes off his shoes, I wait for him standing in the middle of the living room.
Gavin walks towards me and gestures to the couch "Lets sit down," Gavin sits on one side of the couch, his left leg bent under him, while I sit on the other side, with straight back, both legs on floor, hands in my lap, head down.
"You look really tense," he observes after a moment. As I remain silent, he scooted a bit closet to me "Can you please just talk to me?"
Gavin slowly reached for my right hand "Did I do something wrong yesterday? I just...I want to understand, what I did to upset you? You have to believe me, I never meant to hurt you Callie...I'm sorry if I did!"
"There's...there's something I need to tell you," I blurred out suddenly. I got the courage to speak up and I used it, because I didn't know if I would get the courage back. It was either blurring it out like I did, or I would never say it. Okay, now the hard part was over. I spoke up, now I just need to follow through.
"I'm listening," Gavin says in hushed, more softer tone. I turn my head slowly to him, to see his hazel eyes. His forehead was frowned up. Gavin looked concerned and slightly scared.
I look down to the couch between us, away from his gaze "I was raped..." It still hurt to talk about, it was still a very hard subject. I guess, that will never change.
Slowly I lifted my head up to see Gavin's reaction. Nothing but hurt and anger was seen in his eyes. He sucked in his lower lip, biting it, when I continued "I was 14 at the time. I was still in foster care. I hadn't met Amy yet, so I was pretty much alone the whole time. My foster brother was very nice to me. He showed me affection and he acted as if he cared about me. I fell for his nice act and got hurt in the end..."
"Your foster..." Gavin chocked up a bit, he looked down momentary, to gather himself up "...your foster brother raped you?"
"Yes," I say sadly as I continue to watch his reaction. Gavin sucked in a breath and leaned a bit backwards. His free hand flew up to his face and run it over his mouth fidgety few times.
Gavin looked back at me "Yesterday, when we were in the bedroom, did I do something that triggered you?" I was surprised that he used the word – triggered. Honestly, I hadn't expecting him to. I was taken a back a little by his response, because I was so sure, that the first thing out of his mouth would be something along the lines off - you're disgusting, I want to break up with you!
"Yes, but I know you didn't do it intentionally. You had no idea, so it wasn't really your fault...that I freaked out. I should have told you before,"
"Uh, okay...can you tell me what it was? What it was that triggered you?" Gavin asked gently moving another inch closer to me "I don't want to do that ever again, so...um...what can I do?"
"I don't like being on bottom" I say shyly "And you sitting on me like that...it just made me feel trapped, like I couldn't get out" Now was not the time to be shy and embarrassed about it. I have come this far, I can't stop here. I need to be honest to him.
"Okay, okay!" Gavin nodded back instantly "There are other...positions we could try…that is if we, you know, try to do it again"
I smile back at him, thankful for his supportive response "And...and...and don't hold my wrists and pin them down to bed"
"Anything else?" Gavin asks carefully
I shake my head back "No. That's about it."
"Well, uh...thank you for telling me. I'm going to do my best not to repeat those things...and uh, if there is anything else, don't be afraid to tell me, okay" I nod back and smile at him sadly
"Can I ask you something personal?" I nod back my head, giving him the green light. I had assumed as much, that he had some more questions about what I had just told him.
"Am I, the first guy you dated after...?"
"Actually, you are the first guy I have ever dated. Liam, that's his name, and I – we weren't dating. He was using me and he took advantage of me. And after that, once I was living with Amy, I needed to concentrate on myself. I was not ready for a relationship. I had a lot of past daemons that I needed to deal with..."
"You don't need to explain, Callie. Getting over stuff like that - it takes time. You do whatever you need to do and take us much as time as you need" Gavin says to me "I'm not going to force you. If you are not ready, we don't have to have sex. I can wait"
"Are you really ready to wait till I am ready?"
"Some people are worth waiting for" Gavin replies and slowly leans closer to me "Can I kiss you?" I reply to him by leaning towards him till our lips meet for a quick, but sweet kiss.
I assume your mom knows this," He asks a moment later. I nod my head back once, Gavin instantly adds "That explains why she lectured about the word – No – and threatened to arrest me if I ever laid a finger on you"
"She's just very protective," I reason back
"You are lucky you have a mom like that!" Gavin replies when I kick off my shoes, so I could cuddle on the couch with him for few minutes. I lay my head down to his chest. For few minutes neither one of us said anything.
"Gavin?" I spoke up quietly
"Hmm?" He hums back as he continues to play with my hair
"Thank you for listening and being so supportive. You don't even realize how much it means"
"Anything for you," He answers before kissing the top of my head
AN: I am starting to kind of like Gavin myself. That was not suppose to happen, that was not the original plan :D
I'm going to be completely honest here, I am starting to get this feeling you are getting sick and tired of this story. I will try to end this story as fast as I can, so you will finally be free of this "commitment" to this story.