It had been a week since the attack and I, Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, was staying by myself for the first time since. Lucas of course had offered to stay but seeing as I had been with him all week, I felt a break was necessary for him. I lay in my big bed empty bed, in my big empty room, in my big empty house, all alone and afraid. Afraid. There's that word. That word that describes a person I never wanted to be. Lucas says I have a right to be, and he probably right, but I feel I should be stronger than this. Much stronger. He's gone, I assure myself. He's gone and he's never coming back. I'm safe. The doors are locked and I'm safe.
I start to drift off to sleep when I hear the sound of a door opening. My stomach drops. Foot steps start echoing throughout the house. Whoever it is is coming closer. I know I should move, get up and call someone for help but I can't. I'm paralyzed with fear. The footsteps sound closer than ever, and then even with my back to the door I can feel someone's presence. They come closer and I feel my bed dip a little as they sit down on it. Tears start streaming down my face. I can't move, I can't scream, I can't do anything. Suddenly I feel a hand caress my cheek. Something about it isn't right. The texture of the intruders hand is not coarse and rough like Derek's were. They're not big and masculine like Lucas' or Nathan's either. Instead they are soft, delicate, and feminine. The person exhales lightly and I hear her speak.
"Oh P. Sawyer, you always slept like a rock." Brooke. How could I be so stupid? Of course it's my B. Davis. I should have know just by her touch, her exhale. They were both things I'd memorized long ago, but I guess being without both for so long made my memory a little weak. But that raspy voice, the one that used to send shivers down my spine (hell, it still does), that was what I needed. In an instant my fear melted away and I relaxed into her touch which she obviously felt. "So you are awake," she said. I turned to face her. Her long brown hair framed her face beautifully and the moon light hit her perfectly. She was an angel. She was my angel.
"Brooke," I say almost inaudibly. She looks at me right in the eye, a weak smile playing upon her face. "What are you doing here?" Her smile fades. Wow. Of all the things I could have said I had to say that. Good job Peyton. She sighs.
"I came to make sure you were okay," she says. "You know, since you got attack by that psycho faux brother of yours. Thanks for letting me know about that by the way." Oh God, I knew she'd get pissed when she found out. I stare at her, not knowing what to say. "Do you have a problem Peyton? Seriously, do you have some sort of mental issue? Why the hell wouldn't you tell me?" She's yelling now. The tone of her voice is harsh and I start to feel tears well up in my eyes. "Answer me Peyton. Tell me why."
"Brooke," I manage t choke out, trying to hide the fact that I'm crying. Her stare cuts through me, it's like she's looking right into my soul. "I...I couldn't." She scoffs.
"You couldn't," she repeats softly. "You couldn't tell me, me of all people that some psycho stalker freak attacked you and almost fucking killed you! You couldn't tell me that. After everything we've been through." She stood up and started pacing. Brooke always paced when she got angry. I sat up on the bed and followed her with my eyes, searching for something to say to her.
"Did you come here to see if I was okay or to yell at me," I say, harsher then I meant to. I felt bad but I also felt this sudden irruption of anger was a bit uncalled for, especially since she was the one who cut me out of her life completely.
"Well someone needs to knock some sense into that stubborn head of yours," she retorted, not even looking at me. That was it.
"Brooke, you cut me out of your life completely!" I yelled. "You haven't talked to me or even so much as looked at me in a month and I'm supposed to just waltz up to you one day and dump my problems on you!" She looked at me, shocked at my sudden boldness. She walked towards me.
"This isn't just one your problems Peyton," she hissed. "You got attacked! He could have fucking killed you and I had to hear about it from Haley!"
"Yeah well if it was up to me you wouldn't have found out at all," I said coldly, immediately regretting it. I didn't mean that at all. The truth was I had been praying for someone to tell her, because I hoped she would come. I looked at her and she had the same on her face that she'd had when she found out about me and Lucas. That look that I hated to see on her face. It wasn't anger, it was hurt. She was hurt. I had hurt her. "Brooke...I didn't mean that...I'm sorry." She was silent for a while.
"I'm gonna go," she finally said softly.
"Brooke don't," I said. I had to say something. I had to make her stay. "Brooke I was afraid!" She stopped in the doorway and turned to face me. "I was afraid to tell you...because...because I was afraid you wouldn't care." There I said it. The truth was out. I braced myself for more yelling.
"You thought I wouldn't care?" she repeated, bewilderment in her voice. "Peyton...how could I not care?" She walked towards my bed and sat down next to me.
"You cut me out Brooke," I cried. "You're mad at me."
"Yeah, I'm mad at you," she said. "But that doesn't mean I don't care about you. That doesn't mean I don't think about you constantly. That doesn't mean I don't love you, because I do. I love you more than anything Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, and if anything ever happened to you I don't know what I'd do with myself." Now I was crying. A seemingly never ending stream of tears slid down my face and Brooke tried her best to catch all of the with her thumbs, wiping them away. "Come here," she whispered pulling me into a tight embrace. "Sh, baby it's okay...I'm here...Every thing's going to be okay...I've got you." I felt safe in her arms, and for a moment it seemed like everything else had disappeared, Derek, Lucas, everything. In that moment it was just the two of us.
"I'm sorry," I said pulling away from her.
"Baby, you don't have to apologize," she whispered, moving a piece of hair behind my ear.
"No, I do," I said. "I should have told you. I wanted to...I wanted you to come...I just...I guess I just thought-" I was cut off by Brooke pressing her lips firmly against mine. It took a few seconds for my brain to register what was going on but in a few seconds I was kissing her back. She pulled away after few seconds and smiled at me.
"Did I ever tell you that you talk too much P. Sawyer," she whispered in my ear, nipping the lobe lightly as she pulled away. The action sent shivers down my whole body. We were silent for a moment, just sitting there staring at each other. "I should probably go," she said finally.
"No," I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards me as a laid my head back on the pillow. "Stay with me tonight...please." Instead of responding she placed a soft kiss on my lips before crawling into bed next to me and wrapping her arms tightly around me. I finally felt safe. Safer than I felt all those nights I stayed with Lucas, safer than I've ever felt in my life. And soon I started to drift off to sleep knowing...well hoping that everything would be okay, at least for a little while.