Forever (and ever, and ever): BRALLIE

Chapter 5

A knock on Callie's door caused the two to separate.

A wave of momentary panic washed over Callie. What if it was Jude who was on the other side? She would have no way of explaining why Brandon was in her bed with her, the two of them in a bit of a disheveled state. Not even a day had gone by and they were already being reckless.

"Callie, honey, are you in there? Can I come in and talk to you?" Both Callie and Brandon breathed sighs of relief when they heard Lena's voice instead.

"Yeah, Mama, just a second." Callie scrambled to make herself presentable—her hair was mussed, her shirt was sliding off her shoulder, and her lips were still clearly swollen from kissing.

"Shit," Brandon muttered, noticing the hickey that he left on Callie's neck, "Cal, you might want to cover that."

It was a bit too late for that, as Lena turned the knob and opened the door, revealing the two teenagers looking guilty and embarrassed. In an effort to cover her neck, Callie brushed her hair over her shoulder and blushed a deep shade of red.

"We weren't having sex," Brandon rambled a bit too quickly, the same shade of scarlet as Callie.

Lena raised her hands in surrender, "I believe you. Besides, it's none of my business, really," now it was her turn to blush, "the less I know, the better."

Brandon stood up from Callie's bed, desperate to leave the awkward situation. "I should go..."

"That's a good idea," Lena gave him a warning look, "Oh, and Brandon?"

"Yeah?" "Your father wants to have a chat with you. He's talking to Mom downstairs right now but she's going to send him up to your room in a minute, okay?"

He nodded, and left, feeling guilty that he forgot Mike was still in the house. He didn't get to see his dad often, and on the rare occasions that he did, it more often than not turned into some form of lecture. Brandon sat down on his own bed and sighed, dreading the conversation that was to come.

Back in Callie's room, Lena spoke, "So, Mom and I just got off the phone with your social worker. We didn't tell her everything yet, but we let her in on enough of the situation to know that it was pretty urgent we meet with her soon. She's coming tomorrow morning, and we're going to have to address everything."

"Did you tell her that you're canceling the adoption?"

"Yes, but we explained to her that it was a very complicated situation and that you were completely on board and okay with not being adopted. We didn't want word to get out and have her call the courthouse about it, because that could be dangerous. Without enough information, she could think something bad happened, which could cause you to be prematurely removed from our care, and be placed somewhere that isn't what you wanted. That's the last thing we want to happen, and we're going to do everything in our power to prevent it. We want this to be about you, and you need to be an active participant in the process."

"So, what if she does call the judge before she knows everything?"

"Then she wouldn't be doing her job. She made it clear that she was going to listen to the situation and help us work out a variety of possible options for you before we do anything that is bound by law."

"So, who's going to be at this meeting?"

"Me, you, and Mom, and the social worker needs to chat with Brandon, Robert, and Rita as well."

"Robert makes sense considering I'm trying to live with him, but why Rita?"

"Since she recommended your adoption, she needs to be a part of this process. And, since the majority of your relationship with Brandon took place at Girls United, she's also linked to the details of that, as well."