Brallie Metropolis AU | In This Together

Chapter 41 | Verdict

Callie walked out of their bedroom door in her flowy dress and ballet flats to see Brandon sitting on a stool already enjoying breakfast. The lawyer told her to wear something nice for court, if she was going to show.

"What time do you have to be there?" Brandon asked, not really curious, just trying to make conversation as he chomped on cereal.

"12:30," Callie responded quickly. The silence in the air grew more tension-filled by the second.

"Would you have testified for Liam?" He was determined to persuade her to not go.

"That was a very different situation. Liam was never charged and he never admitted to rape."

"So that makes Wyatt some noble bird because he admitted he raped someone?"

"And I was 15 and living in foster care at the time." Callie ignored his snide comment.

"Not when he went to court. You were 16-"

"And still living in foster care." She interrupted, turning to grab a granola bar out from the cabinet.

"It's not the same and you know it. You were with us and that was so much more than just foster care. You had people in your corner. Who knows what kind of support system this girl's got?" He pushed the bowl away from him with one lonely piece of cereal floating in the milk. He felt a little bad for what he was about to say and what emotions he would resurface, but he had too. He saw Callie's head drop. "Let's say Liam had been charged, how would you feel about someone testifying for him so he could get a lesser sentence? What about that other girl? Uh? Do you remember how you felt right after that happened to you? All the shame and guilt you felt, thinking that it was all your fault. Do you remember how you felt months and even years after? That other girl Wyatt raped is going through that right now, and will probably go through it for the rest of her life, just like you. What about the justice for her, that you never got. Don't do this. Please don't do this."

"Okay," her voice was soft and shaky as she lifted her head up and turned around. "But I don't have time to change. So I guess I'll just look extra nice today." Callie faked laugh before grabbing her bag and jacket and walking out the door. "Love you," she mumbled before the door clicked shut.

"Love you too," Brandon sighed and noticed the clock. He quickly got dressed and was out the door in three minutes flat.

Callie had a suspenseful day at school. She had called the lawyer she spoke to before to tell her that she wouldn't be there during the walk to her first class. The lawyer said she would leave a voicemail of the verdict of his case, if she wanted. Not really the verdict, more like the penalty, since Wyatt immediately said he was guilty.

At 1:30 pm, Callie heard a light beeping sound coming from her phone. Bad thing, it was in the middle of a math class, a pre-exquisite requirement she hated. She got really embarrassed because the people that surrounded her looked her way when her phone buzzed. Since she was in the middle of the professor rambling about pi, Callie had to listen to it on her walk home.

Brandon was finished with school earlier than usual. All day he was thinking about Callie and the first time he saw Liam. Man did he want to kill him. He could never understand how Liam could just walk all over the beautiful, kind, smart, extraordinary person that Callie is. She is Brandon's whole world. He would've waited forever for her.

Callie got home around 2:45 pm. She had also finished early that day. Brandon was sitting on the couch watching tv. She dropped her bag onto the floor and slowly made her way to the couch then sat down.

"What'd he end up getting?" He asked, referring to Wyatt's punishment. He figured that Callie had already known.

"18 months, plus one year probation. I guess he also got a penalty for the underage consumption of alcohol."