Forever (and ever, and ever): BRALLIE

Chapter 7

IT'S BEEN 3 ENTIRE MONTHS SINCE I'VE UPDATED SORRYSORRYSORRY

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The next morning, Callie cherished the last few minutes of rest she had, before she would be forced to meet whatever uncertain fate the day had in store for her.

"Callie?" Lena knocked softly and called from outside her door, "Rita is coming in half an hour to talk to you before Robert and your social worker get here. You should get ready."

Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes, which were swollen from both crying and a lack of sleep. She and Brandon had stayed awake for what seemed like an eternity the previous night, both extremely nervous in anticipation for the meeting that would likely determine their future.

She got dressed and left the room quietly as to not wake Mariana, and made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth. As she entered the room, a familiar set of green eyes, or rather, their reflection in the mirror, acknowledged her presence.

"Good morning," Brandon said, putting down his own toothbrush and leaning against the countertop.

"It's not really that good of a morning, now is it?" Callie retorted, smirking slightly as she squeezed toothpaste for herself.

Brandon rolled his eyes dramatically, "I was trying to be positive."

Callie finished the rest of her routine, and put away her toothbrush. Just as she was about to speak, she heard the doorbell ring.

"That must be Rita," Brandon said, encouraging Callie to go downstairs.

"I'm scared, B," she admitted, "I don't know what to say, and I really don't want her to hate me."

"You'll be fine," he squeezed her hand in reassurance and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "I'm sure of it."

Callie went out to the front porch, where Rita patted the seat next to her, encouraging her to sit and talk.

"So, Callie," Rita began, looking at the girl softy, "your moms are telling me you've been having some second thoughts about the adoption."

Because of her apparent nervousness, Callie was at a loss for words, and the most she could squeak out was a mere "yeah."

"Before you explain yourself, I think I have an idea where this is coming from. Tell me if I'm wrong, but does this have anything to do with the recording you sent me?"

She paused for a moment, and then nodded.

"Do you maybe, still have feelings for Brandon?"

Callie's silence assured Rita that her assumption was correct, and she sighed due to the realization.

"The day that I sent you that recording," Callie finally spoke, "that night, Brandon and I, we..." she trailed off, trying to think of a way to justify what was to come, "I mean, we were absolutely sure the adoption was going to be blown up, and there was just so much tension, and longing, and we,"

"Callie," Rita looked at her sternly; warningly, letting her know that her stalling had gone on long enough.

"We had sex." Oh boy, here comes the lecture.

Only, there was no such lecture. Rita's gaze turned sympathetic, and she put her hand on top of Callie's. "Do you remember what I told you the first time you came to live at Girls United?"

Callie cocked an eyebrow, puzzled.

"We discussed your relationship with Brandon as an addiction. After hearing what happened at the fundraiser... and now this, I think we may have to think about revisiting that assessment."

"I'm not addicted to Brandon." Callie tried to sound confident, but it came out sounding more like a question.

"I think you are, honey. Every time you are close to being adopted, that's when you latch back on to him. You're so afraid that something will go wrong that you grasp onto the first glimpse of love you can find."

Callie couldn't deny that there was truth to what Rita was saying, but it wasn't the only factor that played into her feelings.

"You know, Brandon told me the same thing, kind of." She thought back to the second time they had 'broken up,' right after the GU fundraiser. "A couple months ago, he told me that I was using him, that I only came to him when things were going wrong for me. But it hurt, Rita. It hurt so bad to hear him say that he couldn't trust me, to claim that I didn't really love him."

A tear slipped down her cheek at the memory.

"I remember being so mad at him, but then I realized that, really, I should be mad at myself. I broke his heart. He poured his heart and soul into making sure I was happy, but I never really took into account that he could be broken inside."

More tears fell.

"It made me realize that if I wanted him to trust me again, I needed to be the one to fight for us. I needed to show him that he was wrong, that you are wrong. I'm not using him, I'm not addicted to him, I'm in love with him. I'm one hundred percent, totally and completely in love with him, and I can't help it."

Callie's eyes met Rita's, and she could tell that her view of their relationship had been changed.

"Thank you for telling me that, Callie, and I'm sorry for assuming that your feelings weren't that serious."

"I just didn't want you thinking that I slept with him just to mess up my adoption. You know, it was my first time having consensual sex, and we did it because I was ready. We were ready."

"And when you were, you know, with Brandon, how did you feel?"

Callie's eyes widened, and she blushed.

Realizing the miscommunication, Rita jumped in to finish her sentence. "Emotionally, of course. I mean, did you feel safe with him?"

"Safer than I've ever been. He's just so sweet and caring, and he made sure that I felt safe and loved every step of the way. I've always thought it was cheesy that people called it making love, but with him it finally made sense. And just lying there with him after, with his arms around me, I felt the happiest I have been in a really long time."

"Well, then," Rita smiled at her and squeezed the hand that she was still holding, "it sounds like you are making the right decision there, kiddo."

She pulled her into a hug.

"I know this is a tough situation, but I can tell you have put a lot of thought into this, and you are being extremely mature about it. Brandon's a lucky boy, and from what you've been telling me, you sound like a pretty lucky girl. I'm proud of you, and I'll support you through all of this. Now, let's talk to your social worker, shall we?"

Author's Note: Thank you to all of you that still read this after I took such a long hiatus. I was super busy with things college applications and preparing for my road test, but now that I've passed my road test and got accepted to my top schools, I'm free to start writing at a somewhat normal schedule again (yay!)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and stay tuned for more real soon! :)

-MusicIsTheHeartAndSoul