Begin Again

Chapter 8: I Will Fall

Brandon approached his home nervously. Your home is supposed to be this save place but with everything going on, Brandon knew that when he would go inside everything would change. He needed to get his head on straight and talk to Callie. He needed to explain why he left that room. He needed to make sure she knew, he would always be there for her, no matter the consequences. He always would be.

The driveway was vacant. Lena was caught up at board meetings and Stef was still at work. Brandon exhaled deeply. If only things were as simple as they were when the two thought the adoption couldn't happen. He thought about how Callie mentioned wanting to stay in that bed forever. He wanted that too. He wanted to go back to holding her in his arms, so blissfully. Things weren't so simple though.

Brandon walked into the house, his mind moving a hundred miles an hour.

"There you are!! Brandon what the hell did you do?!" Mariana demanded. "You just left her alone after she found out she was pregnant?"

"Hey, hey! Keep your voice down!"

"Moms aren't home."

"Jesus and Jude though." Brandon said in a hushed tone.

"Nope. Jesus stayed after to talk to coach about possibly getting back on the wrestling team. Jude stayed with Mama because one of his teachers wanted to discuss work he completed during summer school. I don't know. They'll both be at school until Mama gets out of meetings. The only person that could hear me is Callie and I'm pretty sure she knows what happened."

"Don't be a smartass."

"That's beside the point, Brandon. You need to be there for Callie, especially now. That's not something she should have to worry about alone."

Brandon sighed as he glanced up the stairs. "I still don't understand your feelings on this whole thing."

"You're my brother. Callie's my sister. So in that sense, it's weird. But that doesn't mean the feelings you have for each other aren't real. If this family has taught me anything, it's that you can't help who you love. You love her. She loves you. Now go to her. She's upstairs." Mariana motioned her head to the stairs.

"Thank you." Brandon smiled slightly as he turned his direction toward the stairs. As he approached Callie's door, he heard something he hadn't in a while. She was playing guitar. Brandon stood silently outside the door. It was cracked, ever so slightly. He glanced through the tiny opening and watched as she played. Moments later, she started to sing. Callie never cared for her voice when she sang, but she still would from time to time, especially when no one was watching. Little did she know, Brandon was. She had watched him play without his knowledge numerous times. This was his first time hearing Callie play alone.

When we said goodbye it was forever

And I spent the last year piecing my life together

Just when I think I've let you go

Your song's playing on the radio

And just like that it rushes back

Every part of you

I will fall, I will fall if you come around

Just when I think my heart break has settled down

I will fall, I will fall if you come around

Brandon opened the door slightly. Callie immediately stopped playing. Brandon could tell she had been holding back tears.

"Sorry. I uh, I didn't know you were home." Callie murmured.

Brandon walked into the room and over to Callie after closing the door. She stood from her bed in a quick motion as she held her guitar by its neck by her side. Brandon stepped forward toward Callie. She attempted to step back but the bed was directly behind her. She tried to walk around Brandon but he grabbed ahold of her hand before she could open the door. He grabbed the guitar and placed it on Mariana's bed. Callie's back was a few feet away from the door, Brandon right in front of her.

He moved his hand to her face and pushed aside the strand of hair that was in her face. He left his hand against her cheek. "I love you, Callie." Brandon whispered out. Callie moved her head upward, her eyes meeting Brandon's. She had always been the one to say it first. But not this time. He wanted to be the one to say it first, and so he did. She put her hand on Brandon's as he held onto her. The two stood quiet for a moment. He stepped toward her again, even though there was really no space for him to close between them. A moment later, Brandon leaned in slowly, placing a soft kiss onto Callie's lips. "I want to be with you, no matter what. I want you. I want us." With those words, Callie smiled. She ran her fingers through his hair and pressed her lips to his, this time harder. Brandon kissed back, full force. He stepped forward again, this time pushing her into the door.

The kiss was full of passion, as were all of their other kisses. They knew that their worlds would be crashing down around them in the matter of hours. But all that mattered in that moment was the two of them. They were together. He loved her. She loved him.

Brandon pulled away for a moment. He was breathing heavy as he touched his forehead to hers. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left."

Callie grabbed ahold of his hand and pulled him over to her bed. "Why did you leave?"

"I began to panic. I thought that this was all my fault. If I didn't go to your room that night, this wouldn't be happening."

"Brandon, I made the choice to have sex with you. I wanted that. I'm happy you came to my room that night. I wanted you to. None of this is your fault. Please know that. I don't want you blaming yourself."

"Well I know that now. I uh, I saw Sophia. She was there for a therapy appointment. Don't hate me...I told her what happened."

"You what?" Callie uttered.

"I'm sorry. But she's a lot smarter than most people her age. She helped me realize that nothing else matters but you. I just want to be with you."

She smiled. "Don't hate me, either." Callie began. "When you were talking to Sophia, I bumped into Robert. I told him that I'm pregnant."

"I gathered that."

"You did? How?" Callie questioned, confused.

"I saw him after you left. I went back to talk to you. He was the one that told me you had left. We talked for a while. He wants to be there for you. I think he wanted to kill me at first but more importantly, he said he wants what's best for you."

She nodded. "He said he would be there for us, in whatever decision we decide to make."

"Do we even know what decision we want to make right now?" Brandon questioned as he rested his hand on Callie's leg.

She exhaled deeply and rested her head on his shoulder. "Either adoption or keeping it." Callie sighed. "I uh, I just can't end a life that we created. I can't bring myself to do that." Brandon nodded in agreement. "I guess we should just start by telling the family. Then we can go from there. I can talk to Robert first. I can probably stay with him."

Brandon placed his arm on the small of her back. "We'll be okay."

"I hope so. Can we just lay here for a little while? Once the word gets out, I'm not sure how much we'll be able to."

Brandon nodded and positioned himself against the wall as he sprawled himself across the bed. Callie followed quickly behind. She rested her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. She fiddled her fingers around his chest. He placed one hand on hers and wrapped his left arm around her and it felt like home.

Author's note: Sorry it's almost been a month since I updated. I'm currently in the midst of this huge snow storm. There's like 2 feet of snow outside my house so I've been snowed in. With my spare time I decided to rewatch some of my favorite Brallie heavy episodes and after watching Idyllwild, I decided I should write. I've been listening to different Brallie playlists and just writing. I'm sorry this chapter isn't very long. But I hope you all like it. Please vote and comment. Thank you :D