For The Love of Callie

The Breaking Point

Stef's POV

Lena and I exchange glances "what do you mean?" Lena asks hoping for the same response I am.

"I just- I don't want to go back to Juvie. I don't want to go somewhere else right now." She says it quietly almost like a teenager sneaking around the house with a boy and a bottle of alcohol.

"We weren't just going to let you go anyway." Lena smiles. Callie smiles back through the pain but it's short lived. Another wave of pain puts her back in tears.

"I know hun. The meds will kick in in a little bit and it won't be so bad...I'm sorry love." I try to comfort her but in this state, she's inconsolable.

I gently run my thumb up and down her cheek in an effort to show we are here for her.

After an hour of on and off crying and fighting sleep, she finally gives in, and dozes off to sleep.

"The meds must have kicked in." Lena whispers pulling her blanket up to her shoulder.

I smile and retract my thumb but don't dare leave her side.

"Love she is finding comfort here." I say quietly looking from the sleeping teen to Lena.

"I know...Her social worker said she never finds security or comfort anywhere. This is a big step only a little over 24 hours later." She looks so full of hope.

"You should have seen her earlier. She'd confided into me about the bruise on her side a little bit. But then at the hospital she seemed to regress in that sense." I point out.

"It seems to me she needs to do it on her own time. If we push, she will only pull away." Lena whispers back.

"I can't help but try though. I want her to feel like she can trust us." I say adjusting the pillow next to me.

"I know, she will eventually. We just have to let her figure it out. We have to let her come to us." Lena was right. Every time Callie has let her walls crack is when it's on her terms.

"She's like you Stef." Lena points out and unfortunately, she couldn't be more right, I think that's why I clicked with her. As nervous as I was at first about having a kid from Juvie, she fits with us almost perfectly.

"I don't want to leave her" Lena says setting her head down with a yawn.

As we sit down in the living room, it feels almost as if a part of me had been missing and Callie was what was missing. We have had it so easy with our other three besides the bickering. To be honest, I could use the challenge of trying to figure this kid out.

Brandon's POV

Instead of going to sleep, I listened to well over two hours of music with headphones on in bed. I pause the music in desperate need of a drink of water from downstairs.

I flip the blanket off of my body and an immediate chill runs down my body.

As I get into the hallway, only Jesus's door is closed. Mariana's is open but lights are off. I peek in and she's sitting on her phone. She doesn't even notice I'm there.

I look further and see mom's light on. Peeking in there too, I see an empty bed that's unmade. Both mom's phones are up here plugged in at the bedside along with the landline.

I make my way down the stairs and pop my head into the living room. Both mom and mama are asleep laying next to the couch on couch pillows. The spot Callie has been sleeping in is empty. They didn't even pull out the pull out bed tonight.

I start to walk over to wake them up so they can go up to bed but I hear a sound come from the kitchen area.

Turning around, there's a light on in the hall off of the kitchen. The light flicks off and Callie comes into view. "Hey." I whisper.