Callie and Brandon: A Love Above Family

Chapter 11: Brandon

Brandon saw the light, then he saw his mom and then everything went blurry. He couldn't remember much about the journey home from the beach nor of the following hour, or the night in general. He could just remember the fear, and the look of disappointment on his mother's face.  He was sent to his room, as if he was a naught child. They weren't allowed to speak to anyone. 

That's when he knew things were bad, when there was nothing left to say.

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When he woke up, Brandon felt empty. It'd happened again, he'd ruined everything. He ruined their family and he would lose Callie. He let that thought go as quickly as it had popped up. Having a melt down would not be best thing right now. Although he was definitely on the edge of one. He started to go through his normal morning routine. He got dressed, made his bed and then he sat on the edge of his bed unsure of what to do next. His thoughts tossed and turned in his head, so much that he felt a sharp pounding in the front of his skull. Pounding to the phrase 'You f**ked up Brandon, You f**ked up.' He dropped his head in his hands, and let the tears that had been building fall. He couldn't keep it together anymore. 

Amidst his tears, there was knock at the door but he was too lost in his emotions to be able to respond. In the background he heard the door opening, a movement and the door gently shutting. He then felt someone sit next to him, put their arms around him and pull him into their shoulder. Brandon started to sob. He didn't know who it was, and to be honest he didn't care.  It had gone from the most magical moment in his life to one of the worst in the blink of an eye. 

After half an hour, Brandon felt his tears start to subside as his body came to rest. He wiped his arm across his eyes, and felt a trail of tears and snot wipe off onto his shirt. He looked up expecting to see his mom, and was surprised to find his mama looking down with sad eyes shrouded in love. 

'Hey bubba, how you doing?' she gently spoke, slowly caressing circles on his back as if he was a child. Perhaps he was a child. He couldn't even deal with his feelings. He couldn't even stay away from the one girl his parents asked him to stay away from. Was he selfish? Was he such a bad person? 

'I don't know mama, I feel so lost. I feel...I feel....' he didn't know how he felt, it was so scary not knowing what would happen next. He knew this time it couldn't be ignored. His moms would have to do something, they would have to send one of them away and they'd never know they had already decided to do that. It would seem as if they were just selfish teenagers, throwing away their happy family for some lustful teenage relationship. Well he wasn't going to try and make them believe, there was no point now. They would probably send Callie away. He didn't think he could bare it.

'It's ok baby. Shhh, shhh. It will be ok. We just need to talk to you both, but we....I wanted to talk to you first to tell you that we love you Brandon. Whatever happens next, it is because we love you and we want to protect you. But we also have to protect this family, so you may not understand the decisions that are about to be made. I just wanted you to know that ok. That we love you.' Mama seemed a little desperate, like she was scared about what was about to happen. This made Brandon scared. Mama had never seemed so desperate. He knew something big was about to happen that would change his world completely.

'Please come downstairs in 15 minutes. Mom, Callie, you and I need to have a conversation. You won't be going to school today until we have made some decisions.'

'Okay Mama' he whispered. He had never felt so scared in his life.

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15 minutes later 

Callie was waiting on the top of the landing for Brandon. He noticed she looked scared. He probably looked the same. She was dressed in her old clothes, she always reverted to the safety of them when she felt threatened. Her worst nightmare was coming true again. He hoped this time, she was handling it better. She had come so far. Brandon was proud of her. 

In that moment, he remembered everything he loved about her and felt a renewed sense of strength. He took two steps across the landing and pulled her into a hug. She pulled him in close and grabbed him tightly, burying her face in his neck. He reached for the sides of her face, kissed her quickly and whispered the words he'd been thinking all night long, 'I just need you to know. It was worth every single moment for me. Every hug, every kiss, every laugh, every single breath because I was with you. I love you. No matter what happens now, I will wait for you. You are the love of my life Callie Foster. My family, My love, My life.'. 

'I loved every single second too Brandon. Every second' she replied, kissing him one last time. She started to descend the stairs one hand in his. Just before the very bottom, she squeezed his hand and let go. They reached the table to find Stef sat at one end, and Lena the other. His mom looked very angry and Lena looked very sad. 'Please sit down', his mom curtly spoke and nodded to the chairs at opposite sides of the table. 

It was time to face the music.