Hi all! This is my first time writing a fic! Please review :) It would make my day!
Chapter 1,
"Good morning, coffees in the pot." Hank mumbled, barely looking up from the newspaper.
"Thanks." Erin stepped into Hank's kitchen, walked over to the coffee pot, and poured herself a cup. She sat down at the table and inhaled deeply, allowing the scent of the coffee to calm her nerves. She wasn't sure how to start this conversation. "Hank, can we talk?"
"Sure." Hank looked up from his newspaper and peered across the table at Erin. He knew she was going to ask if she could move back to her apartment. As much as he had loved having her live with him for the past month, he knew he had to let her go. It was time. The withdrawal symptoms had ceased, she was seeing Dr. Charles twice a week to talk about Nadia, her mother, and everything that had lead her to her downward spiral. She was in recovery and he needed to let her get back to her life.
"You know I've loved living here, and I can't thank you enough for supporting me through all of this, and for letting me back into Intelligence..." Erin paused, unsure of where to go from there. She wasn't sure if Hank would think she was ready. She felt ready though, she missed her apartment, her freedom, her life.
Thankfully, Hank cut her off before she could continue. "Erin, you can move back in to your apartment. Your room upstairs will always be there for you, I will always be there for you. But it's time, you're ready. I trust you."
I trust you. She had been waiting to hear those words from Hank for weeks, months even. She looked at the only real father she had ever known, tears threatening to spill from her eyes and she let out the deep breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She stood from her chair and leaned over to give Hank a hug.
"I'm not done talking," Hank said, as he released Erin from a tight hug and motioned for her to sit back down.
"Okay?" Erin suddenly became nervous. He said he trusted her, but she had royally screwed up. Multiple times. This wasn't the first time she had needed rescuing - not even close. How was she supposed to convince him it would be her last? She had tried. She had been at work early every morning, working harder than ever. She went straight home from work, only going to Molly's on special occasions when Hank had been there too. She even tried to lay off the flirting with Jay, which if she was being honest with herself, was the hardest part. The sexual tension between them was palpable any time they were alone, but she knew how Hank felt about in house romances, and she was not going to do anything to screw up her spot in his team, in his family.
Hank watched Erin; the closest thing he had to a daughter, one of the most important people in his life. She was freaking out. He wanted to laugh, she was so transparent. "Erin, it's nothing bad." She visibly relaxed and took another sip of her coffee to steady herself. "I gave Jay the go ahead. I was wrong before, and the two of you can make your own decisions regarding a relationship with each other. I won't stand in your way."
Erin almost choked on her coffee, "I'm sorry, what?"
"But I have something to say first," Hank said quickly.
Erin had no idea where this conversation was going. She took another sip of her coffee and stared at Hank. Hank was usually a man of very few words, never using more than necessary to get his point across. Even when she came to live with him last month, they hadn't really talked much about it. He just told her she was to move in him, cut all ties with her mother - conversation over. But she now she braced herself, she could tell he had a lot to say.
"I think you need to tell him." Hank said. "Tell him everything."
"I... I don't think... I don't..." Erin stopped short. She had been thinking about this a lot about this, too. She wanted to tell Jay. She wanted to let him all the way in. She had thought about it when they were together, after she left Intelligence to join the task force. She had really considered it, almost came close a couple of times. She remembered he had been in her apartment and picked up Lucas's book, an unkindness of Ravens, and asked her why she had three copies. She was about to answer when they called in to work for a case. When Hank put an end to their relationship a few days later, she had almost felt relieved. She wouldn't have to tell him. He would never had to know that she was a liar, that she wasn't who she said she was. Instead, they could end their short, but amazing relationship on good terms. The blame was placed on Hank, not on her. Nope, she couldn't tell him. That would be the end of their "good terms". She placed her head in her hands, holding back tears for the second time this morning.
"Erin," Hank said her name softy. He could tell she was working herself up, telling herself she couldn't do it. "Do you know why gave Jay the go ahead?"
Erin looked up slowly, "No. Why?"
"When I took you in when you were 17, you wanted to get better, to turn your life around. But your mom.. Charlie.. the girls at school.. everyone made it so hard on you. I was scared I was going to lose you. When I wasn't sure if I was getting through, do you remember who I called?"
"Yeah, I do." She smiled and thought back to that weekend, almost ten years ago.
She was 17. She had been living with Hank and Camille for a little over a month, and had started her senior year (again) at a fancy private school Hank had gotten her into. She was getting along well with a group of girls and had even joined cheerleading. Everything was going well, until last week, when the girls found out about her parents. Her deadbeat Dad, in prison. Her mom, who never cared about her much in the first place, now a drug addict living with a new, useless, abusive boyfriend in Chicago.
She had to laugh at the irony. She was these girls. Before, when she lived in Tree Hill. Before her Dad lost his job and forced them all to move to Chicago in the middle of her senior year of high school. Before he got arrested and lost all of his money. Before her mom found Brad and got into drugs and alcohol. Before Brad kicked Brooke out of the house. Before Brooke changed her name to Erin in an effort to leave her mom behind. Before she found Charlie. Before he got her hooked on drugs herself... Before all of that, she had been these girls. Happy. Carefree. Sometimes kind of mean. God, she missed her life and her friends. But she hasn't spoken to them in months, hadn't seen them since she went back to Tree Hill to cheer for the boys in their championship basketball game almost a year ago.
She wanted to call them, but she didn't think they would want to hear from her. They all graduated the year before, and were off doing their own thing. Peyton was in LA; Nathan, Haley, and Luke were all at college together in North Carolina. She would be doing her own thing too, if she had gotten it together enough to graduate. But no, her mother, Charlie, drugs, life... it got in the way.
So now, here she was. Sitting in her room in Hank and Camille's house, feeling completely and utterly alone. It was only 8 pm, but she just wanted to go to bed. She couldn't be awake any longer, she didn't want to have to think about this anymore. She was starting to wonder if coming here was a mistake. Life may have been scary with Charlie, but even then, she had never felt this alone.
She was about to get up to brush her teeth and get ready for bed when she heard a knock at her door. "Erin. Can I come in?" It was Hank.
"Sure." She said. She was not in the mood to talk, but she couldn't exactly turn him away in his own house.
"Hey kiddo. How are you doing?" He said, standing in the doorway.
"I'm fine." Erin said, a little too quickly to be convincing.
"Listen. Justin told me what's been going on at school."
Erin looked down at her fingers while she picked at her nails. She didn't want to look up, she didn't want him to know how lonely and sad she really was. "It's nothing." She said dismissively.
"Erin," he said her name softly and walked towards her bed and sat down next to her. "I know this is hard. But you've been doing so well, and I don't want this to be a setback."
"It won't be," she said quickly, even though she was thinking, "Easier said then done, Hank."
"Good." He replied, even though he didn't believe her for one second. He could see the sadness in her eyes, even if she was avoiding eye contact with him. "I just wish you would talk to me, kiddo." He said quietly. "But since I know I'm not always the easiest person to talk to, I invited someone over I think might help."
Erin lifted her gaze to Hank, and she watched him motion to the door.
She stared at the door, waiting for someone to appear. She hoped it wasn't a psychiatrist. God, she's had enough of Hank and Camille encouraging her to talk to a shrink. Sure, she was sad. And yeah, she missed the mind-numbing quality that the drugs brought her. But she didn't need a shrink.
All of a sudden, she heard footsteps coming towards her door and she stared, shocked, at the person walking through it. "Haley?"
"Brooke!" Haley smiled and ran to envelop Erin into a tight hug. "God, I missed you!"
"What are you doing here?!" Erin screeched. She couldn't believe it. She could not believe one of her best friends in the world was standing in front of her, in Chicago, in Hank's house.
"I'll let you two talk." Hank said, and ducked quietly out the room. He closed the door and smiled. He always forgot Erin's name was Brooke Davis before she legally changed it. It suited her, he thought. But the name Erin Lindsay suited her, too. God, he really hoped this worked. He hoped that Haley James Scott could get through to his girl.
"Hales, what are you doing here? Where's Jamie?" Erin said. She was smiling so wide, happy tears falling freely from her face.
"Oh he's fine. He's with Nathan. Brooke Davis, I am here because Hank called. He's worried about you, and I am too. But I want you to know, I'm here. We are all here for you. We love you. And we know you are going to get through this and live the amazing life you deserve".
Erin thought back to that week Haley had stayed with them. She had given her the rough draft of Luke's book, and Erin had read the words "She was fiercely independent, Brooke Davis. Brilliant and beautiful and brave. In two years, she had grown more than anyone I had ever known. Brooke Davis is going to change the world someday, and I'm not sure she even knows it." Haley coming to Chicago had turned everything around her for. After that weekend, Erin was determined to finally let Hank in and to let him help her. She decided she was going to make something of herself and she really was going to change the world.
"Yeah, I do remember." She said to Hank now, sitting in his kitchen letting the memories wash over her. "You called Haley."
"I did. I called Haley because I wanted to help you, and I knew I couldn't do it alone. And again, this time, I didn't do it alone. Jay was there. He brought you back."
He stared at her expectantly, waiting for her to say something. She knew he was right. If she wanted to be with Jay, she had to tell him everything. If they were going to really date, be something real, she couldn't exactly go visit Tree Hill four times a year and not tell him where she was going. She couldn't invite Peyton, Lucas, Nathan, Haley, and all of their kids for Thanksgiving to Hank's again and not invite Jay. She knew he was right, and yet...
"I'm not sure I'm ready" She stated plainly. She stood up and put her cup in the sink, turned around to face Hank. "I don't know if I can tell him yet."
Hank got up and walked over to her. "Kid, you don't have to be ready yet." He placed his hand on her shoulder and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I only brought it up because I gave him the go ahead, and when you move back in to your place, I'm thinking it's only a matter of time before he makes his move." He smirked at her and let out a chuckle to lighten the mood. Enough serious talk for now, they needed to get to work. "Let's get ready for work, okay?"
"Okay."