A Life Beyond (Hard Time Series Book 2)

Pride (Part 1)

In the midst of all the craziness Callie Adams Foster had been debating since her release from Chowchilla about her siblings. Seeing them meant she had to face her birth mother once again and even if she had dealt and healed from her words from their last incident the ultimate challenge would be facing her again.

She knew she could, she knew she was strong and she needed to. However, Callie was aware there was a good chance she would not even get to see her little brother, John and her little sister, Alison, at all. It all depended on Sheila Jacobs and what kind of mood she was in. And that woman was never in a good one especially when it came to Callie.

Originally Stef had agreed to take her daughter whenever she wanted along with Lena for they did not want her going alone under any circumstances. The blonde had been very stern about this and made it known to Callie numerous times. But the young teen felt her mothers were far too stretched right now dealing with the babies, working, and the situation with Peaches. Of course if she had asked them they would have taken her but instead she decided to go alone that was until Pete saw her waiting for the metro and he grew curious. By this time the two had been out on a few coffee dates but Callie was not ready to do anything more then that just yet. They had not even kissed, held hands or hugged. It was far too early for her, far too intimate and physical and Callie avoided it right now at all cost. Did she want to be? Yes a part of her did but she just couldn't and Pete understood the best he could. He also tried never to push her and gave the girl her space as what Stef told him ran around her head. Pete knew, he knew not to hurt Callie or the blonde would have his head. But he wasn't like that anyway.

"I, I can go with you. Maybe you shouldn't go alone."

"Why? I'm fine. It's ok Pete." Callie said glancing down the warm street to see if the bus was coming and wanting to just run off.

"Well, um, don't you want your moms to take you? I mean from what you told me, I mean the little you told me she's not a nice person. I, I don't want her to hurt your feelings."

"She can't. I'll be fine Pete. Honest. I'll see you tomorrow."

Hoping on the bus and dismissing Pete's concerns Callie put her headphones on feeling her nerves about all this take over. But she had to do this, she needed to, and she needed to make sure her siblings were somewhat ok as she pulled out the address of their last known location. It was only about an hour away and if she timed it right she could make the connecting bus back to Walmart in time for Lena to pick her up. The woman was off today and Callie had lied telling her she got off later then she really did. It was wrong yes but she saw how stressed they were and was committed to not adding anymore to their lives right now.

That was were Callie always seemed to mess up for Stef had told her a million times to always go to her. Always but her stubbornness and pride took over and she knew they would most likely be furious with her. Right now it was a risk she was willing to take as she felt like a rock was sitting on her chest and her anxiety was taking over for sure. What Callie didn't know was that Pete got on at the next stop and when he took a seat beside her she could only let out a sigh.

"Callie, I'm not trying to be pushy or anything. I'm not like that and I respect you. I do Callie. But um I just um, want to make sure you are ok. Just you know moral support, not that you need it and not that you are weak. Not at all but I don't know if your moms would like you going alone especially if they knew I saw you going alone. And um yeah I don't want you going alone..I..

"Pete relax. I get it. I just don't like to, well I'm not good at his. Ok? I suck at it and I don't like asking for help or letting anyone into my life.It's nothing personal and I don't want to subject you to my birth mother. No one should be subjected to her and I'm scared if my mom meets her she will kill her and go back to jail."

"I know I get that. But I wouldn't feel right letting you go alone. I wouldn't." He said rather calmly as Callie was trying. She was but it was not easy at all even if part of her knew Pete was not going to harm her. "Look Cal I know that this is hard for you and I know you don't trust me 100 percent. But I just care. Honest I'm not in this to gain anything or treat you badly. I really just um, I enjoy your company and I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing you did this alone. So if you won't ask your moms at least I can be there."

Unsure of what to say to that Callie let out a sigh as she glanced back out the window. Maybe her silence was enough for Pete to know it was ok as they road the hour long ride to Sheila's. Unfortunately both Pete and Callie would miss that connecting bus back home leaving Stef and Lena beside themselves with worry and fear.

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Sorry for the short chapter busy day at work and just wanted to get this up for you guys! Thanks for reading as always!

Yikes! Wonder why they missed the bus back home!