What Nobody Else Sees

chapter thirteen

Sam stood outside of Callie's bedroom door, tapping his foot impatiently. "Callie, can we please talk about this? We're both adults here," He called, lightly banging his head against the doorframe. Max was staring at him, his head turning from the locked door and back to Sam. "If you won't open the door for me, will you at least let your dog in?"

Silence.

Sam let a few minutes pass, watching them tick by on his watch. Max paced, nudging the door with one of his large paws. Not a word from Callie. The longer he waited, the more worried Sam became. She was right, to a degree. He hated that. He wasn't a coward, he was just doing what was right for once.

The door swung open. Callie shoved past Sam, breezing down the hallway silently. Max trotted at her heels. Resisting an insult, Sam walked after her. "C'mon, Cal, don't be like that."

She wouldn't even turn around. Sam reached out to grab her arm, but stopped. Being in the gang, he learned some social cues that hadn't occurred to him before. Dylan, for instance, would flinch every time someone raised a hand at him. The other guys poked fun at it, but Sam noticed that the kid couldn't relax afterwards. He had a feeling that grabbing Callie might give her a reaction of some sort, and he wasn't about to make her struggle even more.

The front door slammed shut behind Callie, Max walking ahead of her. Sam pulled it back open. He managed to run in front of her, forcing her to stop. She stared at the ground.

"Callie, can we please talk before you go? I don't want you-,"

"Where's Peter?"

Sam's eyes widened. Callie wasn't looking at him, but her voice was telling enough. Cold, forceful, just like she had sounded when Sam went to take her hands at the kitchen table.

He eyed her suspiciously. "What do you mean? Like, where did I put him, or-,"

"Is he dead?"

This wasn't looking good.

Slowly, making his motions clear, Sam placed his hands her shoulders. "Yes, you know that," he quietly said, trying to make her look up. "You killed him, Callie, remember?"

Her eyes were glazed over. She was frozen, unnervingly still. It shook Sam to his core.

"I killed him," she repeated in a whisper.

He hated to reassure her that, but if it kept her sane, he would tell her a thousand times.

"Are you hallucinating? Seeing things, hearing things...?" He trailed off, hoping that she could be honest with him in this state, as twisted as it was. She felt like glass in his hands, and he was afraid to let go, afraid she would shatter.

"Everything's fine," she mumbled, her words sounding more like an echo than an answer to the actual question. She squeezed her eyes shut, the blue briefly disappearing, and when she reopened them, there was something like sadness buried deep beneath the cold anger. Their eyes met, matching hues. "Everything's fine." she repeated, stronger this time.

Sam couldn't help but question if she had picked that up from him. The lying, the bitterness, the strict 'leave me alone' stare. It was all so familiar. He saw it in himself every day.

He dropped his head to his chest, still holding on to her. It was one of those few moments where he felt like a small child again, holding onto his baby sister, fearful of dropping her, ready to defend her against the entire world.

Looking into her broken eyes, he realized that he had failed her once. He couldn't do it again.

"I'm sorry that I'm not coming to Mom and Dad's. It's not anyone's fault, I just need to figure some stuff out. Go there, stay for however long you want, and when you get back, I'll be here. I'm not going anywhere, Cal." he said.

She took a step back, nodding. His arms fell at his side. He scanned over her, finding the bandages and bruises, scrapes and scratches. Peter Hall had better be grateful that Callie was the one to kill him, because Sam would've made it worse. Much worse.

"I'll see you when I get back," Callie said, blinking quickly as though she were still trying to leave her previous state of mind.

Sam nodded. "I'll be here."

She walked to her car, calling Max, and letting him jump into the backseat. Dust and dirt flying as she drove off, Sam wondered how long he could keep this up. It didn't really bother him all too much. He had hidden away from the world before.