I was back quicker than I expected with this chapter, so here we go!

I will also be posting another Callie/Ximena themed one-shot momentarily. For anyone who reviewed on any of my previous one-shot about a follow up chapter, I'll probably be doing that some time soon. I might post it separately as a companion piece to the two, since it would probably be a bit boring and repetitive otherwise, but we'll see. It might not make sense to do it that way.

Please review and feel free to leave any fic requests/send me fic requests through PMs!

"So, it turned out Nick was telling the truth. He did have information which saved the school," Lena spoke over dinner, telling her family just how she got her new role as principal of Anchor Beach, "his dad had been a forge all along. Planning to use the land for business and condos

rather than a school. He tried to make some excuse that he would build the school elsewhere, but the school board were less appreciative. In the end, his plan only got four votes — excluding Drew."

A few days later, the family were sat around the dinner table, talking about the most recent events in their lives. Callie hadn't sent so much as a text to Aaron since the awkward moment the other day, still embarrassed about how bad she freaked out on him when he went to kiss her. She may have asked for a break, but that didn't feel like the reason she couldn't go through with it. Her brain kept telling her she would be betraying someone, yet she just couldn't work out who that could be. Her and AJ were only friends, and it didn't seem like it could be anyone else in her life.

"So, Drew ended up voting against Anchor Beach going private, and you still took his job? That's brutal, Mama," Jude smirked as he heard the story.

"Well he still tried to turn Anchor Beach private," Mariana reminded her younger brother, "plus Mama deserved that job after all she has done for the school. If it wasn't for her, it would probably be Anchor Beach Academy by now. Or plans for some fancy shopping mall."

"Mariana against a shopping mall. Never thought you'd see the day," Stef joked, prompting her family to laugh at the joke as her youngest daughter stuck her tongue out jokingly at her.

Callie's phone buzzed with a message.

Aaron

Hey. Sorry about the other day.

The eldest daughter pressed the lock button on the top of her phone to make the screen turn black. That was not a message she wanted to answer right now.

"Who was that, sweets?" Her blonde mother asked curiously.

"Oh. Just Aaron," her daughter answered dismissively.

"How are things with you guys? He hasn't been round in a few days. Kinda left a bit suddenly the other day," her sister questioned.

"We're fine," the older girl lied, her two Moms looking at each other with disbelief, "he had stuff to do, and I've been busy with my project and stuff."

"And how's that going? Since you won't let any of us see it," her curly haired mother quizzed. Callie had started the piece the day after she had told Aaron about it and was just finished doing the shape of the body. She didn't want her family to see it before it was done in case it stopped her from finishing.

"Good," she smiled, "and you'll see it eventually. When I'm done."

"Well, I can't wait," the cop beamed, reaching out for her daughter beside her and placing her hand on her shoulder, pulling her hand back into her lap after she rubbed her arm with her thumb momentarily, "anyone else got anything to share? Jude? B?"

"Imminent Power are letting Taylor stream with us," Jude declared, "Declan managed to convince them. We are starting tomorrow."

"Grace got to go home today," Brandon added, "she will have to go back they've finished... recoding her T-cells, but at least she gets to be out of the hospital for a bit."

"I got a new para, if anyone is interested," Jesus piped up.

"Yeah. And I called things off with Mat. Now it's just time to decide between Wyatt and Logan," Mariana confessed, causing the family to laugh and groan collectively.

"Come onnnnnn. Even I don't get to see it?!"

Callie laughed at her friend as the groaned through her computer. They were once again video-chatting and she was refusing to show her her project.

"At least you know what it is," the brunette pointed out, "I haven't even told my family. Stop acting so hard done by."

Ximena sighed dramatically on the other end of the call, "fine. I guess I'll have to wait. Not like I can do much about it anyway."

"X, don't say that," the younger girl said sadly, upset that her friend still couldn't leave the church. She was still waiting for an update on her DACA status and it had been just over two weeks. The older girl was understandably fed up of being stuck there and bored out of her mind.

"You're the only thing keeping me sane at this point," the Latina sighed. It was an innocent comment but something about it made Callie's heart skip a beat.

"Well I'm glad to be of service," the girl grinned before she was interrupted by the buzzing of her phone on the desk beside her.

Aaron

Callie? Are we okay?

The brunette's breath caught in her throat as she read the message from her lock screen, biting her bottom lip. She had never replied to his message this morning. she didn't know how. She didn't know how to tell him she had no idea why she freaked out other than a feeling deep down of betrayal. A feeling that she didn't understand and wouldn't be able to explain when he inevitably asked why. She sighed and picked up the phone, staring at the message as if it would give her an idea on how to respond.

"Everything okay? Who is it?" Her friend asked, concerned.

Callie shook her head and looked up, offering a small smile.

"Yeah, yeah. It's just Aaron," she confessed, "he sorted tried to kiss me the other day and I freaked out on him. We haven't spoken since."

"Why did you freak out?" Ximena asked with a puzzled expression plastered on her face, "I thought you guys were just on a break."

"I don't know," the younger girl sighed, "it just felt wrong. Like I was betraying someone. It doesn't make much sense."

"Don't dwell on it too much, girl. You're probably just not ready to get back together yet," her friend said, receiving an amused frown from her friend, "what? I don't doubt that you guys will get back together. You're clearly in love with the guy."

Callie thought she saw a flash of disappoint in the girl's face before it quickly disappeared.

"Maybe," she shrugged.

Art classes always felt so lonely for Callie with Ximena to keep her company. She never really got on with the rest of her classmates – she felt like they were a bit judgemental and questioned why she was even there - so without her friend, the girl would quietly get on with her work at the back of the room, away from the other students. Helen tried to move her closer to the rest of the class, but she had told her she would much prefer to be alone to focus on what she was doing.

Her current piece of work was not something she felt comfortable enough doing around them, so she was focusing on a more upbeat piece of work. Like she had told Ximena, family was the most important thing to her, so this project was exploring that.

"What have we got then, Callie?" The art teacher smiled, coming over to the teenager as she worked on it. The girl looked up from her work and smiled at the woman.

"I'm just drawing the outline of a silhouette onto this wood," she explained, "eventually I'm going to cut it all out, and do the same for another three sides to make a box which I will put a light in the middle of, like a light box. I want it to symbolise family because that's important to me."

"I think that's a great idea," the professor encouraged, "I'm glad you're starting to find your muse."

Helen had been aware of Callie's struggle to come up with ideas for her portfolio, pleased that she was finally getting somewhere. She saw a lot of potential in the girl if she just believed in herself and her work.

"Thank you," Callie said sincerely, "but I owe it to Ximena. She helped a lot."

"Do you see her a lot?" The art professor quizzes as the girl went back to drawing the outline with her good hand. Thankfully, she was right-handed and had hurt her left wrist, so she could still use her dominant hand to draw.

"Yeah. Everyday mostly," she nodded.

"That's nice. I'm glad you two get along. She's a lovely girl," her teacher spoke, "she brings out the best in you."

The young girl once again smiled at the woman as she began to walk away, talking to other students about they were working on, too.

She thought about what her teacher had said. It was true. Ximena really did bring out the best in her. She made her feel confident and have some belief in herself. She didn't make her feel like the scared little foster kid she once was, and never looked at her with pity when she told her about events in her past. It was one of the many things she liked about the older girl. The one thing she hated the most was pitiful looks from other people whenever she brought the subject up. And without Ximena, she would still be stuck about how to expand her portfolio.

The bell which signified the end of the lesson brought the girl out of her thoughts. She gathered her things and placed them at the back of the classroom. Helen had told her it was okay to keep them there since carrying five slabs of wood to and from every class would be a bit of a mission. Throwing her backpack over her shoulder, she waved goodbye to her professor as she left the room, checking her phone for any missed messages. She always turned it on silent in class to minimise distractions.

X

How's art class without me?

Aaron

Are we going to talk about what happened?

Shawn

Meet you at the usual table for lunch?

The girl unlocked her phone and replied to the messages. First, she replied to Ximena, followed by Shawn:

The usual. Hope you get to come back soon or I'm going to die from loneliness.

Sure. Just got out of class. See you soon.

Her thumb hovered over Aaron's messaged as she contemplated whether to reply or not. After a few moments, she locked her phone and stuffed it in her jeans pocket. She would talk to him eventually, just not right now. She needed to work out what she was going to say.

The brunette made her way to her usual lunch table, waving to Shawn as she saw him already sat waiting for her. He smiled and waved back.

"Hey," he greeted as she sat down bedside him, "how was class?"

"Boring," the girl groaned, "Ximena better be able to come back soon, otherwise it's going to kill me."

"Yeah," the guy laughed before his face turned serious, "how's her DACA status going?"

"She still hasn't heard back," the girl sighed, pulling the brown paper bag with her lunch in out of her bag and placing it on the table, "I don't understand what's taking so long."

The pair chatted as they are their lunch, Callie scouring through her phone as they talked. As the opened the internet to look at the local news, she spotted a headline which caught her eye.

Shiloh McCullen To Visit San Diego And Deliver Speech At Republican Rally

She quickly swallowed her mouthful and hastily tapped her friends arm, interrupting what he was saying. She showed him her phone when he questioned her. After he gave her a puzzled look, she began to explain her idea.

"We could go to the rally, and when she asked for questions, broadcast Ximena's situation," she began to explain, but he still looked puzzled.

"Why would we do that? They're not going to care," he frowned.

"No, but it'll give us coverage. Give Ximena media exposure. Maybe it'll help speed up the process of her getting a hearing," she explained further.

"Oh. Clever idea," Shawn commended, "when is it?"

"Next Saturday," Callie answered after scrolling down the article to find a date, "we have just about enough time to make some posters and stuff."

"Well, let's get to it then," Shawn smirked, as they began to draw out some plans.