My Everything: A Brallie One Shot

"Are you sure this looks okay?" Callie asks Mariana, glancing down at the vibrant pink one-shoulder gown she was currently trying on.

Mariana beams. "Yes!" She confirms. "It looks great on you!"

Callie looks at herself again in the mirror, running her hands over the dress for the millionth time. It costs so much, but she does love it and this is the last chance they will get to go shopping before the dance. Mariana had already picked out her dress, a green, floor-length covered in beading, that they were holding for her up front while Callie finished up.

"But it's so much," Callie points out.

"And it's for prom, Callie!" Mariana says, making prom sound like it's the equivalent to a wedding. "Besides, Wyatt will love it!"

Callie smiles. Wyatt had asked her just a couple weeks ago and while she wasn't a big fan of dances, she was happy to be asked. Mariana, on the other hand, had been asked by Mat and she was brimming with excitement. It has been all she's talked about since he asked her last week. Callie looks back at herself in the mirror and smiles again.

"Okay," she says. "I'll get it."

Mariana squeals. "Yay! This prom is gonna be great! And who knows? Maybe you'll be prom queen."

Callie laughs. "Right. Like that would ever happen."

Mariana shrugs. "You can never say never."

Callie laughs it off, but as she looks back at herself in the floor-length mirror, she imagines a tiara on the top of her head.

And for a split-second, she imagines a boy that isn't Wyatt standing next to her.
----
"Yes, I know," Brandon says into the phone, slightly irritated. "A gray tie."

"Not just gray, Brandon," Lou corrects. "It's kind of a dark gray with a silvery tint to it."

Brandon runs his hand through his hair. He can't figure out what the difference is between gray and "dark gray with a silvery tint". It all sounds the same to him, but he just sighs and says, "Yeah, okay. I got it. I will go tomorrow to get it."

"Okay," Lou replies, excitement evident in her voice. "That sounds good." After they say their goodbyes, they hang up.

Brandon had only asked Lou to prom because he felt like she would be the least demanding. That was proving to be false. And it's not just the tie color she's freaking out over. She also went to five different stores to find her dress and she checks in with Brandon multiple times a day to make sure he is planning everything. She's probably acting this way because since she dropped out of high school, she never thought she would go to prom, but now she is.

And Brandon does believe he will have a good time at the dance with Lou, he just doesn't want to see her dancing and having a good time with Wyatt. Because even though it's been months, the way he feels hasn't changed, but he knows Callie's have so he pushes what he feels into this large abyss within him with everything else he wants to forget. And sometimes it works. And sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes he'll gaze too long at her or think things he shouldn't or allow himself to feel things he shouldn't. Sometimes he imagines an alternate universe where they can be together and happy and accepted but he always stops himself before he gets too far and then he tells himself over and over again that she is his sister and he needs to stop pining, as if a few whispered words will change anything.

Because as often and as hard as he tries to convince himself of this, nothing ever changes. And nothing probably ever will.
----
She takes a look at herself in the mirror, Mariana smiling proudly behind her.