Title: Bathtub Lullaby

Summary: Mariana always takes the hot water so Jesus decided to put a stop on her and enter to the bathroom liked it or not. Bad is when he realized Mariana isn´t the one using the bathtub. One-shot.

Rating: K+

Gender: Angst/Family

Chapters: 1/1

"Come on Mariana!" he shouted as he knocked the bathroom door several times with his fists. "You promised you would leave me some hot water!"

He searched inside Mariana´s things until he found a pair of pins. They were rather small but Jesus smiled as he noticed they were just the right size to fit in the lock. He returned to the bathroom door and started working on the lock. He had learned how to open doors on his second foster house and, even if he wasn´t really proud with this ability, it was useful once in a while. He tried not to use it often but Mariana inside the bathroom for more than 20 minutes it meant he wasn´t going to get any hot water at all.

"My turn!" he stated as he stormed into the bathroom and threw his stuff over the sink.

Suddenly he froze on the door way. He expected to enter and find his sister fooling around inside the bathroom; maybe fixing her hair or trying some new makeup. Instead of that, he found Callie, his new foster "sister" sitting on the bathtub with her eyes focused on the stickers stuck on the wall. Jesus held his breathe unable to move, the girl was covered in bruises and cuts that came from her arms down to her back and…

NO! He had to look away. He had to turn around and walk out of the room, like, right now!

Callie turned around and stared at Jesus with puffy eyes, the boy immediately knew she had been crying.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with harsh voice as she pressed her knees against her naked chest. Luckly, thought Jesus.

"I thought Mariana was taking the bathroom for herself again and…" he started as he rubbed his neck uncomfortably. "Why didn´t you answer when I was knocking."

The girl opened her mouth and her eyes widely, realizing she had just black out and had missed the boy hitting and calling her. She turned around uncomfortably and put her chin on her knees.

"You didn´t hear me, didn´t you?"

"How long have I been sitting here?" she answered with another question. Jesus sighed.

"About an hour and fifteen minutes."

The girl nodded and closed her eyes slowly. Jesus looked away towards the corridor and wondered what his mothers would think if they saw him standing there with Callie completely naked on the bath tub.

"I will just leave you alone to let you finish." he said after some seconds of uncomfortable silence. Callie looked up to him again and her lips worked faster than her mind.

"Wait!" she half-screamed making Jesus stop halfway through the doorway. His whole body tensed up in anticipation. "Please don´t go."

He turned around and fount that the girl was worse bruised on the face than what he had noticed that night during dinner. He wondered where she had got those but he was too polite to ask her right away. After all he knew what was like to be the new one at a new house. The boy reentered to the bathroom slowly half doubting.

"Close the door." she ordered and Jesus complied.

The two teenagers stood in silence for a couple of seconds; each one staring at the other fiercely, both of them wanting to say something but neither of them knowing how to start. The water only covered the girl´s body up to the waist and her black and thin hair was almost dried and so her shoulders and her back. With her arms she kept her knees steady so her breasts were covered but still, they stood in an awkward position.

"I am sorry." She finally managed to spit out. Jesus blinked.

"About what?"

"What I said at dinner. About Brandon being the real son." she almost whispered. Jesus noticed why she had lowered her voice. She was trying to keeping it from breaking. He observed the girl and noticed how broken she looked, almost scared.

"It wasn´t a big deal, don´t worry about it."

She sighed. "You are older than Mariana, right?"

Jesus thought about it for a moment. "Well." he scratched his neck as he looked around the bathroom. "For only some minutes but you can say so. Why?"

Callie gave him a sad smile. "N-othing." now it was obvious her voice was trembling. "Just…I wanted…I am sorry."

The girl hid her face between her knees and Jesus heard her sob softly. Now he had two options; leave the girl alone and wait for her to feel better and go out by her own or…

He walked closer to the bathtub and took a large cup from the sink that Mariana and him would usually use to brush their teeth. He wished he had something bigger but that would do. He kneeled beside the bathtub and, trying to ignore the naked body of Callie, he poured some warm water over her head.

Callie looked up surprised for the sudden contact. Jesus repeated the action but this time he started massaging her hair with his fingers. Callie was tensed at first but immediately relaxed. It had been to long since someone treated her with softness and warmness. She let Jesus pour some shampoo on her hair and started crying. At first they were silent tears but after some minutes she started crying and sobbing loudly and without any control. This was wrong. She was always in control. She was strong and brave, not the 8 year old orphan who was suddenly shoved from foster home to foster home with a 4 year old boy.

Jesus kept pouring water on her hair as he washed it with caution. He would usually do that whenever Mariana had a bad day or was feeling down. He had done it since his mother abandoned and now he knew that it was exactly what the girl needed.

"Escondida por los rincones." he sung. "Temerosa que alguien la vea."

Callie didn´t understand the words of the song but there was something in the melody that relaxed her, and so it made more tears appear.

"Platicaba con los ratones. La pobre muñeca fea."

Callie covered her face with one hand and sobbed remembering the lullabies she used to sing to Jude. The nights she had washed and fed him.

"Un brazito ya se le rompió. Su carita está llena de ollín."

The night when she was arrested came to her mind. She had been so stupid. She had let the monster alone with her little brother. She had abandoned to the mercy of that horrible man. Guilt hit her chest and she had to bit her lip to prevent to start screaming. She felt like if she was reviving those nights of pain and fear at the prison and her latest foster homes.

"Y al sentirse olvidada lloró lagrimitas de aserrín."

She turned around and hugged the boy tightly. Jesus hugged her back ignoring his shirt going wet and the fact that Callie was naked. With his hand he caressed her neck and back taking extra caution not to touch any of her bruises. Jesus didn´t asked what was wrong and Callie didn´t say anything. When she finally stopped crying she covered her breasts with her arms and looked down as she brushed away some hair from her face. She was about to say something when Jesus interrupted her.

"I´ll leave you alone so you can change." he whispered and then he stood up. Callie followed him with her eyes. Jesus reached the door and gave her a quick glimpse. With Mariana he would usually help her dry off and then carry her to her room but he knew Callie wasn´t Mariana and he had done something that people would consider inappropriate.

"Jesus." the girl called him out one last time. "If we could keep this between…"

Jesus moved his right hand showing her to let it go. "It never happened."

Callie smiled. "Promise?"

Jesus looked down and smiled at the ground. "Promise."

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