Brallie Metropolis AU | In This Together

Chapter 98 | Fourteen.

"Mom?!" Colleen shouted from downstairs bathroom, thinking her mother, a fellow female, was in the family room. She was standing awkwardly behind the closed door, waiting for a reply but was startled when she heard Brandon coming to her rescue. He was dabbling on the piano in the piano room, he heard Colleen's yells. She could tell it was him by the heavier footsteps.

"Colleen?" Brandon knocked gently on the door. "Are you okay? Are you sick?" He wondered, thinking of why she would be calling out for a parent while locked in the bathroom. "Mom's at the office."

"Oh, u-um," she stuttered, stalling enough to think of a solution to her problem in the least embarrassing way. She needed Callie, but would have to settle in this case. "When is she gonna be back"?

"Probably not for a few hours..." He told into the wood "...are you- is everything okay?"

"U-uh," Colleen stuttered again. "Yeah, I-"

"Do you need something? What do you need from mom that I can't help you with?" Brandon asked directly, knowing something wasn't right with her.

"Um, I think I sta-"

"What?" He interrupted, signaling her to talk louder after she began mumbling out of humiliation, but seeing no other option than to spill.

"I think I started my period," Colleen spit it out, sighing as soon as the word erupted from her lips. Brandon's body went cold and he instantly grunted in his mind, half-heartedly regretting trying to help. His eyes rolled, thinking about what he had to do. He didn't know much about the technicality of menstruating, but he had the idea. He definitely never wanted to go shopping with them for the first time for feminine products. He would have to because neither Colleen nor Em had started yet, or until today. They were both bound to get it soon though, 14 is definitely on the later side for the average starting age, but they were developed appropriately for their age for everything else. They weren't late bloomers, just late period-starters.

"U-u-h...okay," Brandon shakenly spat. "I...uh..." his words got shyer while he tried to come up with a plan not to humiliate her completely. "We'll have to go to store. Or I can go by myself but-"

"Mom doesn't have anything already here I could use?" Colleen interrupted, hoping and praying the answer would be yes. If it was, she could hide in her room until Callie got home, and then deal with it then.

"No, I'm pretty sure she doesn't. We have to go to the store."

Callie laid her head against the store, preparing herself for the cumbersome experience she was about to endure. She did the only thing she could do has a temporary fix and exited the bathroom. She was relieved when Brandon wasn't standing there. He had gone upstairs to inform Em they were leaving. He asked if she wanted to come and she denied quickly. She clearly didn't want to be dragging into that.

Brandon found Colleen sitting in the passenger seat of the car, already buckled in. Once he was in the car, he texted Callie to let her know what was going on. He was hoping she was on her way home or something so she could take the lead on this one, but there wasn't a response. Don't get him wrong, he wanted to he involved in his daughters' lives has much as possible, but there are some disadvantages he has. He's a man, there are some things Callie said he could opt out on. This was one of those situations he said she could take charge.

Colleen had control over the radio for this time being. That definitely helped to drown out the discomfort. There was no way to avoid it though once they got in the store and were heading to the hygiene section. Along the back side wall, there lied the rows of boxes colored blue, green, and pink.

"So...er, what should you get?" Brandon hesitantly asked, holding onto the red basket in his arms. "Like...absorbency..."

"Oh my god," Colleen slurred as she roller her head back to stare at the ceiling.

"This is much more awkward for me than for you, trust me," he intoned while his eyes still browsed the options on the shelves. He never realized there were soo many choices.

"I doubt it." Suddenly a familiar voice comes up behind them.

"Brandon? Colleen? What are you doing here?" It was Callie and she had a tube of toothpaste in her hand.

"Oh my god," he spoke out in relief. "I'm so happy you're here. I love you so much," he thanked her, stepping closer to kiss her check and hand off the basket. "I'm gonna wait in the car." Brandon's flustered self scurried out of the store as fast as possible.

"So...what happened?"

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A/N- I know this is short, but honestly I really want to get to chapter 100, and then the fun begins ;). I will probably go back one day and add onto this, but this is a start I suppose. I hope you enjoyed reading! Thank you so much! XOXO

P.s. As a reader myself, one of my favorite literary devices used is foreshadowing. I like to include it in little bits, so maybe you've caught them! Maybe you haven't! Just know...foreshadowing is always on my mind.