Walk the Line

eight

~He says, "Oh, baby girl, you know we're gonna be legends. I'm the king and you're the queen and we will stumble through heaven. If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes. I know you wanna go to heaven but you're human tonight."~

The next day, Callie and Brandon tiptoe around the impending break up, though act like nothing's changed. No one says anything for a great deal of the day and they start to think that maybe Stef and Lena won't say anything.

But they wished too soon.

They get called into the living room mid-afternoon and are sat on the couch across from Stef and Lena.

"I'm sure you know what this is about," Stef says and they both nod solemnly.

"You have to know we don't want to break you up," she continues. "I mean, listen to that. Regardless of the situation, breaking two people up who want to be together sounds so...cruel." She pauses briefly. "But this situation, your situation, does not allow the two of you to be together. So you need to end it."

Callie nods, a tear sliding down her cheek. "Okay, yeah, we have to," she says, quickly wiping the tear away.

"Of course," Lena starts. "If you both believe that what you have here is the real deal, that you are truly in love, we can always get your adoption nulled."

Before Callie can even process what they said, Brandon bursts out, "No! No way! That's not even an option!"

"Brandon, maybe-" Callie tries, but he cuts her off.

"No, Callie don't even think about it. This is your family. You're not leaving it."

"Can we please just talk about this upstairs?" She looks at him pleadingly and he reluctantly complies, following her out of the room and up the stairs.

As soon as she shuts the door behind them in his room, he says, "I don't know what there is to even talk about. You're not getting your adoption cancelled."

"Can you please just sit down?"

He listens and places himself on his bed, his back leaning against his headboard. Callie climbs onto his lap, straddling him. She holds his face in his hands.

"Maybe I should get it cancelled," she admits.

"Don't say that-"

"No, Brandon, maybe I really should." She pauses. "Don't you want me to be happy?"

"I don't see how this will make you happy," he replies. "You've always wanted a family. You fought for this family."

"I was wrong. I wanted a family so bad that I didn't know how to stop fighting for one and fight for you instead. But now that I have this family and not you, I can see clearly now. This is my family regardless of if a piece of paper says it or not. This has always been my family. But you, I'll lose you again. You'll cut me out again, I know it, because that's what you do to heal but I don't think I could handle that again. I don't think I can handle another broken heart. So please, let me fight for you."

He just looks at her, unsure of what to say, unsure of even what he's thinking.

"Please don't be mad at me," she says, taking his silence to be anger. "If all of this leads to you being upset with me anyway, to losing you either way, then there's no point to any of this."

"I'm not mad at you," he finally says. "I'm just worried you'll regret this decision and then resent me for it."

"I'm not going to regret it," she vows. "I could never regret being with you."

"Then promise me this will be worth it, that we'll really try and make it work."

"I promise you that this will be worth it," she tells him. "Because it will be."

It doesn't take long for her adoption to get annulled. They just had to tell the judge that she's been having an ongoing relationship with her adoptive brother and he almost immediately declared it annul right then and there instead of waiting for the proper moment. He was upset with Callie that she had lied to him before about her relationship with Brandon, but he let it slide anyway.

Callie is able to move in with Robert, but of course she is over at the Adams Foster household frequently. It's like she never left. And she knows she'll be a Foster again. It's only a matter of time.

But for now, she just enjoys everything that life has given her and she finally finds her happiness again.

————

FIVE YEARS LATER

Callie stands at the counter, flour smeared across her forehead, her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Brandon walks into the kitchen to see her flipping hot pancakes onto a plate.

"Are you trying to make my pancakes?" He asks her, hugging her from behind.

"What?" She smirks. "You think I can't do it?"

"I didn't say that. I bet they're delicious."

"Yeah, well, they're done," she tells him. "So give them a try."

"I will." He grabs the plate off the counter and sets it on the table. They both quickly dig in and Brandon tells her they're amazing.

"You don't have to lie, you know," she says. "I know yours are better."

"But these are still good," he promises her.

When she finishes eating, she stands up and goes to sit on his lap.

"I forgot to tell you," she says. "My doctor called this morning. I'm still in remission and he thinks I may never get sick again."

Brandon grins at her. "Babe, that's great."

"Yeah, but I still have to go in regularly to get tested," she reminds him.

"I'm sure it will always be good news, though," she replies and she just smiles at him.

He looks down at her left hand and runs his thumb over the ring on her ring finger. "Three more days."

"It's about time," she jokes. "It's been five years."

"Hey, don't blame me for waiting until we graduated college," he defends. "We went to different ones and I didn't want to make you feel obligated to leave and follow me around."

"Hey, what makes you think I would have been the one following you around?"

He laughs. "You're right. I would've gone wherever you were."

She smiles at him. "Well, regardless, I still thought you were gonna ask that summer after we graduated high school."

"Nah, I'm not the predictable."

She smiles wide. "I guess not." She runs her hand through his hair. "But I did promise you this would be worth it and I was right."

"You were. And I love you for convincing me of that."

She smiles. "I love you, too."

He kisses her and it's sweet because they both taste like syrup but it's still as beautiful as it was five years ago and it will still be this beautiful five, ten, fifty years from this moment. Because they love each other and love always finds a way.

————

A/N: So that's the end of this little fanfic! I hope you liked it! I hope this was satisfying enough of an ending for y'all! Haha! Anyways, thank you ALL for reading this story these past few weeks and for suffering through all the drama! I promise I will get In My Veins updated soon because it's been 4837473838 years since I updated that haha! The song for this last part is "Young God" by Halsey and it's amazing so listen to it! Thanks again for reading and please comment and vote!! I love you all!!

~Kennedy