The Fosters' Elliot Fletcher on Putting Sex Back on the Table for Callie and Aaron

Things are heating up on The Fosters!

Despite a few tense moments last week, Callie (Maia Mitchell) and Aaron (Elliot Fletcher) have gotten their relationship back on track and are willing to have "The Talk" again. Their last attempts to get on that intimate level led to a huge fight about boundaries and communication between the two love birds, and they decided neither of them were ready to go that far...yet.

On Tuesday's episode, Callie and Aaron are taking a break from campus life to see some nature, jump in some waterfalls and get a bit closer -- both physically and emotionally. It's an important episode in the storyline of their relationship -- the first teenage romance between a cisgender female and a trans man made for family viewing.

TV Guide talked to Fletcher about how Callie and Aaron were able to repair the rift in their relationship and why they're ready to have a deeper conversation about having sex.

The last time we saw Aaron and Callie, they were fighting over free speech. What brings them back together this week and comfortable enough to talk about sex again?

Elliot Fletcher: Aaron brings it up a little bit again. The way Aaron feels, he's not a jerk about it. He acknowledges what hate speech is and how awful it can be. He just wants to hear from both sides. The next episode, they have a little conversation about that but this whole hike they go on, they want to relax and detach from the things that are making them stressed or making them fight. They do genuinely care for each other so they do just want to spend some really nice time together. [The free speech issue] is not totally dropped, but it's put aside for a little bit so they can enjoy one another's presence.

This season is a lot about how Callie sees herself. How does her relationship with Aaron work into that and help her figure that out?

Fletcher: That's a good question. Aaron is very supportive and very protective. He wants to make sure that she's safe and cautious, especially with what happened at the beginning of the season and what happened last season. I believe Maia said this in an interview, but he's a good influence. I think right now he's her protector. He wants to make sure that she's okay and she's thinking about things before she does them because she is very impulsive. Aaron just wants to help her, not make better decisions, but make her decisions with more thought than just being extremely impulsive and spontaneous, which she is.

The Fosters Exclusive: Callie and Aaron Develop Tension Over Free Speech

The last time the two of them talked about taking their relationship to the next level, they both decided they weren't ready. What has changed in the few weeks since that episode to make them feel ready now?

Fletcher: They've obviously spent a lot more time together. I think they definitely talked about it more. They talk about it a little bit more in [Tuesday]'s] episode. There's been a lot of conversations between them which is really, really great because communication is so, so important -- especially if its heading in that direction. They're two very open people about what they want and what they don't want, what makes them comfortable and what doesn't make them comfortable. They're willing to have the seemingly awkward conversations. They're both mature in that department and they've both been through a lot with that. I think they're not really afraid to talk to one another about that.

What is it like for you to have to act out those seemingly awkward conversations?

Fletcher: I'm not a method actor but I am very much in [Aaron]'s headspace of this is the girl that I want to be with. She's respectful. Even though she does -- how many episodes was that ago now, two? -- go to someone else to ask,"What would make him comfortable? I don't know." She does really care about him. She wants to make him as comfortable as she can be. I don't know if I really think about that a lot during the actual filming of it.

Now I think about it. I don't really like watching myself but I watch a little bit. Not only do I watch it, but my family watches it and my girlfriend watches it. I don't think too much about that until it's actually airing. I don't think it's too weird because I'm not Aaron whatsoever. We share some similarities but we're very, very different.

The Fosters airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Freeform.