Callie's POV
Zeus has almost destroyed Mike's apartment, but he loves our puppy just as much as we do so he's been letting it slide. I never knew having a puppy would be so hard. He gets into everything, so Brandon and I have to keep a close watch at all times. He also whines at night when he isn't near us, so Brandon ends up bringing him in our room, where he sleeps between us in the bed. It's just like having a baby, but not as time consuming. I have no idea what we're going to do with him when we go back to school. Our summer vacation is almost over, and we've had an amazing time ever since Brandon came back from tour. The first few weeks were hard for him because he really wanted to be there with the band, but he didn't leave me. He stayed where I was, and I hope that he doesn't hate me for this someday. I can deal with it if he does, but I really hope he doesn't. I didn't mean for him to leave the tour; he made that decision all on his own. We spent the rest of the summer working and just being together. Brandon got the job at the music store, so he works almost every night, and I started back at my job a few days after I came home. We barely see each other, but we make it work.
Brandon's POV
"So moms want you and Callie to come over to the house tonight," Jesus says as I pull up to my dad's house. I roped him into coming over to help me record my Juilliard audition tape. I have to get a head start on my application so I have it ready by the time school starts this year. I want to have an early acceptance, and this is the way to do it. "For what?" I ask. "I don't know," he replies. "Lena woke us all up this morning and called us downstairs for a family meeting, and she told us that her and Mom talked and they want you to come over tonight." "I don't know, Jesus. The last time I was at the house, Mom and I didn't have a good conversation," I say. "I'm pretty sure this time will be the same thing." "You never know," he replies. "Just think about it and give them a chance. They may surprise you." I honestly don't know what to do about this. The last time I talked to my moms, I basically told them to stay out of my life and to never talk to me again. I doubt they'll ever be able to forgive me for that, and I have no idea why they would want to see us tonight. Why can't they just talk to me? Why do they have to bring Callie into it also? I mean, they've already betrayed her enough. The last thing I need is for them to hurt her again and then she's given another reason to leave me. We just started to go back to normal after the whole tour thing, and that was almost a month ago. I don't want things to go bad between us again. Not now that we're in a really good place.
Callie's POV
I sit in the living room and watch Brandon record his tape for Juilliard. He thinks that all of the videos are terrible, but I think they were all perfect. He's nervous, but I told him not to worry because he's the best piano player they could ever ask for. He doesn't believe me, of course. He wants to feel that the video is perfect himself, so anything Jesus or I say is irrelevant to him. He seems distracted though, but I'm afraid to ask him what's going on. I don't want to take him away from his audition tape, so I just sit back and wait for him to decide on which one is the best. "All of these are the same," he says. "I can't find one that's perfect. They're going to watch all of these and think that I'm a phony." "Stop," I reply, grabbing his hand. "They're all amazing, but you don't know it yet. Any of these videos will show the music teacher just how talented you are. You don't need to decide on one right now. Take a few weeks and then come back to them. You'll find one, I promise." "You're the best," he says, leaning down to kiss my cheek. "Are you going to tell me what's bothering you now? Or am I going to have to wait until it eats you alive and you explode?" He lets out a deep breath before pulling me down on the couch with him. "Before Jesus and I came inside, he told me that my moms want you and I to stop by tonight," he says. "Why?" I ask. I thought they wanted nothing to do with us now that we decided to be together. "I don't know," he replies. "To talk I guess. But I'm not so sure what they would want to talk about since the last time I saw them I basically told them to stay out of our lives and never talk to us again." "That's why this all sounds crazy to me," I say. "I know," he replies. "But it's up to you. If you don't want to go, then we don't have too. If it's going to make you uncomfortable, then we'll just stay home and I'll tell Jesus to ask them to give us a little more time." "No, it's fine," I say. "We can go tonight. We'll probably never be ready to face them again, but we have to do it sooner or later. If they're coming to us, then we should take them up on that and just go." "Are you sure?" he asks, squeezing my hand. "Not really, but we should at least see what they have to say," I reply. "Okay," he says. "We'll go. But if they say something that upsets you, we can leave. I won't let them hurt you again. Not if my life depends on it."
