The Redemption of Callie & Kayden

forever. Just she and I without the sounds and heaviness of the world. Without the fucking complications of life.

Chapter 14
    #10 Face the truth and let it go
Callie
    We make love countless times throughout the night and then finally I slip Kayden’s shirt on and he puts his boxers back on. Then we lie down in the bed and rest. Somewhere well into the early hours of morning Luke and Seth stumble into the house, drunk off their asses and making a lot of noise. Seconds later, Seth starts jiggling the doorknob and shaking the door.
    “Oh Callie Lawrence, let me in,” he says, banging on the door.
    Then I hear Luke say, “Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin.”
    This is followed by a lot of laughter and then the sound of a glass breaking.
    I glance up at Kayden, who has his arm around me and is playing with my hair. He smiles down at me as I rest my face on his chest.
    “They’re wasted,” he says. “And I’m guessing that Luke probably dropped a bottle on the floor in classic Luke style.”
    “Does he do that a lot?”
    “In the past, yeah. It’s like he forgets how to use his hands or something.”
    I laugh against his chest and he kisses the top of my head. “Should I let him in?” I ask.
    “Nah,” Kayden replies. “Let them stay out there and annoy the shit out of each other.”
    I laugh as Seth continues to bang on the door. He does it for quite a while before he gives up and the house gets quiet. Even though the last few hours have been amazing, I still have a ton of questions on the tip of my tongue, but I’m worried about the consequences if I ask them.
    “Tell me what you’re thinking about?” He repeats my early words as he twists a lock of my hair around his finger.
    I peer up at him, noting the small scars on his face, and I can’t believe how many people don’t notice. “I’m thinking that you should tell someone about your father.”
    He freezes and the strand of my hair falls from his finger. “Callie, I can’t do that. No one will believe me.”
    With my hands flat on his chest, I push up and swing my leg over him. “Yes, they will. We just have to find the right person.”
    He shakes his head as he swallows hard and stares at the moon through the window. “I can’t.”
    I put my hands on his shoulders and pin him down. “Yes, you can… and do you know why…” I trail off because what I’m about to say is probably the second hardest thing I’ll ever have to say. The first being what
I
actually have to say to someone else. “Because I’m going to tell someone too.”
    His eyes snap to mine and he assesses my face with great concern. “You’re going to tell someone about Caleb?”
    My heart is trying to kill me from the inside as it slams against my chest. “I am, if you will.”
    It’s that simple, at least the theory in my head is. I’ll promise to tell my family as long as he tells someone about his father—someone who will do something about it. Although, when it actually comes down to spilling those words out to the world, it’ll be complex, complicated, rough, hurtful, aching, painful, shameful… I could write a list down in my notebook of everything that it will be and there wouldn’t be enough pages.
    “Callie, I think that’s good,” he encourages. “You should tell your parents.”
    “But I’m only going to if you tell someone about your dad.” I know it’s blackmail, but it’s all I’ve got at the moment. “And you need to tell—
we
need to tell.”
    His eyebrows knit together. “You’d really blackmail me into it?”
    My shoulders slump inward as I slouch down, feeling like the world’s most terrible person. “I’m only doing it because I lo—care for you.” My eyes widen at the word that almost slipped out.
    I know he notices, but he pretends he doesn’t. He stays calm underneath me. “And what do you think will come from us telling someone?”
    Tears are forming in my eyes and one rolls down my cheek, dripping off my jawline and falling on him. “Freedom.” I try to force the rest of the tears back, but the wall around me is crumbling rapidly and soon I lose all control over my emotions. I start to sob, again. He’s probably going to start thinking that that’s all I do.
    He pulls me down against him and I bury my face in his chest with my hands on his shoulders. Tears veil my vision as I stare at the wall to the side of me.
    “Fine, I’ll do it… I’ll tell someone… I guess,” he says so quietly the sounds of