Brandon's POV
I take a deep breath as I walk up the porch steps leading to my moms' house, and then I knock on the door. I waited until Callie went to work to stop by so I can tell them about the tour. I was being serious when I told Callie that I don't want her involved when I tell them about this. Things could get ugly, and I want Callie to be on the best terms with the family as she possibly can. She's all I care about, and I won't let my mom hurt her again. "Brandon? Is that really you?" Lena asks as she opens the door. "Hey Mama," I say, hugging her quickly. "I've missed you so much," she replies as she holds me tightly against her. "Yeah, I've missed you too," I say. "Please, come in," she says, holding the door open for me. I walk in behind her and head straight to the kitchen. They're eating dinner, like I knew they would be, and I look at the two empty spots that Callie and I used to occupy. "Brandon?" my mom says, dropping her fork on her plate. "What're you doing here?" "I came to talk to you," I say. "Do you want something to eat?" Lena asks. "No, I ate before I came here, but thanks," I reply. I do sit down at the table after she makes a pointed look at one of the empty chairs. "It's good to see you here B," Mariana says, smiling at me. "Yeah it's good to see you too. We haven't talked in a while," I reply. "I know, and I', sorry about that. I've been trying to spend as much time with Mat as possible before he leaves for the tour," she says. "Mariana wanted to go on tour with Mat, but moms said no," Jude says. It feels really good to see Jude. I haven't had a chance to talk to him alone ever since I told him about Callie and I, so it feels really good to see him. I've missed him the most, and I plan on making sure Jesus never knows that. "Well that sucks," I say. "Yeah it does," Mariana replies. "I really wanted to go. It would've been awesome." "So how are things Brandon?" my mom asks. "They're great," I reply. "Living with Dad has really improved our relationship, and I don't remember a time we were ever this close." "Well I'm glad this arrangement is working out for you," she says. "You mean the choice I made to live with Dad after you kicked me out? That arrangement?" I ask. "I did what I thought was necessary," she replies. "Yeah, well, it wasn't," I say. "And because of what you did, you might've lost Callie and I both in the process." "So I'm assuming you and Callie are still going through this phase," she says, crossing her arms. "If by phase you mean we're still dating, then yes mom, we're still dating. And we're still very much in love," I reply. "Stef, Brandon didn't come here to argue about this," Lena says. "He said he has something he wants to talk to us about, so I think it's only fair if we let him talk." "Fine," Mom says. "Talk." "Lou asked me to go on tour with them for the summer, and I told her I'm going," I say. "Absolutely not," she says, shaking her head. "You're not going on tour. You're seventeen years old. You need to be focusing on graduating high school and going to college. I told you I didn't care if you joined the band, but you're not going on tour." "It wasn't a question," I reply. "I'm telling you that she asked me to go on tour, and I'm going. I'll be eighteen by the time we go, so that means you can't stop me from going. I'll be an adult, and I can make my own decisions. You lost the right to tell me what I can and can't do the moment you kicked me out of the house. I live with Dad now, which gives him the right to tell me if I can go or not, and he's fine with it. He thinks it's an amazing opportunity that I shouldn't pass up." "Stef maybe we should talk about this," Lena says. "Mike's right. This could be a good thing for Brandon's Juilliard path, and I don't think he should miss this opportunity. It's once in a lifetime, and he might never get this chance again." "I don't think Brandon has proven that he's responsible enough to go on tour. He's acting out, he's going against our orders, and now he's deciding to go on tour without talking to us about it first. None of those things are responsible," Mom says. "I'm not responsible?" I ask. "That's just great, Mom. I'm not the responsible one, even though I came all the way over here, knowing I'm not welcome, to tell you about the tour and talk to you about it. That is me being responsible. What isn't responsible is you kicking Callie and I out when you found out about us without talking to me about it first. You didn't even take time out of your day to talk to me about our relationship. You were too caught up in the adoption to even think about asking me about it. If you would've taken the time to sit down and ask me anything you want, you would know that what Callie and I are doing isn't a mistake. You would see just how much we love each other. You would see that she can still be part of this family, adoption or not. But you decided to think what you wanted to think, and now look where we are. I'm going on tour, and you can't stop me from going. Callie's coming with me, and you can't stop her either. As far as I'm concerned, you're no longer a part of our lives. You chose to kick us out, which means you chose not to be part of our life anymore."
