Callie and Brandon: A Love Above Family

Chapter 12 - Callie

Here they were. The four of them sat around the family table, only this time there was no food, no laughter and only 4 family members. No-one had said anything yet. Callie was lost in her own thoughts. Where would she be sent this time? She was family now, so they wouldn't send her back into the system. That was a relief. Her greatest fear was being taken away from Brandon. She wasn't sure how she would cope being apart from him, and apart from her family. She looked up towards Brandon who was staring at her, liking he was drinking her in. He was afraid and he was sad. This was the very thing they were afraid of but they'd still done it, they'd risked it all. And it had been worth it, even if it was only for the shortest of times. 

Lena coughed slightly to get their attention and it looked like she was mentally preparing herself for what came next. Callie noticed Lena and Stef weren't looking at each other in the eyes. She wondered if they had caused this, had Brandon and her caused their parents to fight. She felt awful.

Lena began slowly, choosing her word deliberately it seemed, 'Callie. Brandon. First of all we want you to both know we love you very much. You are both very important members to our family'. Lena came to a stop, as if she was afraid to carry on. Callie felt the tears well up behind her eyes. She knew where these kinds of speeches went. They never ended well. At least Brandon would only have to get one of these speeches in his life hopefully. She braced herself for the impending rejection she knew would follow those words.

'However you have both broken our trust. We won't try to figure out what made you choose these actions nor we will try to force you to pretend you don't have feelings for one another. Perhaps that has been one of our biggest mistakes all along.' Callie noticed Stef shoot an angry stare at Lena. Obviously they thought differently about that part of the speech. Lena continued ignoring the look, 'We won't lie to you when we say how disappointed we are. You both know how we feel about lying, and we feel very much betrayed. Again however we also understand you both probably felt like you had no choice but to carry out the actions you did under the circumstances you have both found yourself in. We wish you had made other choices, made other decisions.....fallen for other people. But here we are now. Now we know, we have to make a choice.'

Lena stopped for a moment. Callie felt a single tear roll down her cheek. She had never felt so sad in her life, yes she'd been upset and devastated but right now all she felt was sad. Deeply sad about how much pain she had put two of the people she loved in. 

Stef spoke up next, 'We love you both truly but we also realise we cannot all live under the same roof for now. This is why we have made a choice. It's not to punish either of you but we want to put some distance between you, so you can figure this out more slowly. We won't stop you talking but you need time and space. So from monday Brandon will be attending boarding school in Texas.'

Callie was in shock. She wasn't being sent away. Brandon was. She didn't know what to say, she didn't know what to think. She looked at Brandon and saw he had tears in his eyes. She looked at Stef, she seemed so emotionless like she hadn't just told her son she was sending him away. Callie knew it had to be a facade so she could get through it but didn't she realise Brandon needed to know how hard it was for her to make this decision. That she was trying to do what was best for him. Callie shook her head slightly at her, she couldn't believe her. She turned to Lena to try and plea with her. She couldn't send him away, not Brandon. He couldn't be without his family. They'd tried it once. It hadn't worked. Lena looked devastated. Callie could see the tears were already forming in her eyes, but she looked resolute in this decision. Callie knew she wouldn't help them. They were alone. 

Brandon was so quiet. Callie was worried about him. She heard him almost whisper the words, 'I guess I'll start packing then' and he got up from the table and left. Just like that. Neither of their moms tried to stop him. Callie was flabbergasted. How had it all gone so wrong so quickly.

She got up to follow him but Stef reached out to touch her arm and spoke the words she never thought she'd hear again, 'Leave him be Callie. Leave him be. Haven't you done enough'. Callie had never been so angry as she had right then. She looked Stef right in the eye and said, 'At least I don't punish people for falling in love.' It didn't even make sense but she knew Stef got her meaning. As she looked away quickly.

Callie raced upstairs to find Brandon throwing stuff around his room. There was a suitcase and a large rucksack already on the bed and he'd started to make a pile of clothing. It didn't look like he was making any real headway though.

'I'm so so so sorry Brandon. I never thought they would send you away. I thought it would be me. I'm so sorry. I love you. God I'm sorry'. 

She hesitated by the bed. Callie didn't know how he was feeling right now and didn't want to intrude on his personal space if he was feeling angry. Gosh she would be so mad right now, probably at him too. She was a little surprised when he opened his arms immediately and invited her in. She jumped into his arms and then was when he broke. He broke completely. She felt his knees go but she wasn't strong enough to support him up. So they sank down to the floor together. Tangled in a mess of limbs and arms. She felt the tears drop onto her shoulder, then she felt his body started to shake and then she felt him lose all the composure he had. He started to sob. She didn't blame him. He was losing it all, being sent away. Rejected. She let him be. The only way to deal with this kind of thing, was not to deal with it all. To let it all out. Callie should know. 

After a while, his breathing evened out and his breathing slowed right down. Callie managed to maneuver him to the bed. She closed the door. Hoping their moms would let them have this and she lay down behind him. Callie being the big spoon to his small, curled up body. She held him tight and said nothing. There was really nothing to be said. They were to be torn apart and separated by hundred of miles. 

And guilty in the back of Callie's mind, a very small part of her brain wondered if this was actually for the best. But she shook it away before any more traitorous thoughts came to life.