Edit - Just a quick clarification, I did originally put in Haley's age, but I edited it out when cleaning the chapter up. Brooke and Haley are not twins, but I can totally understand why people would think that. Haley is nearly 17 and Brooke has just turned 18.
A/N - If you have any queries, then feel free to ask me! This is going to be pretty much equally Saley as much as it is Brean, but ultimately it will be Baley heavy. If there is some minor mistakes, then please forgive me, I beta'ed this quite late at night, and if you spot anything out of the ordinary, let me know and I'll sort it out. This delves into other verses a little, I.E 'The Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries.'
Chapter One: The Beginning
A logged fire roars in front of her, the flames licking and lapping at the pieces of paper that she's tearing apart and scattering. She is watching with intense concentration as Dates, Names, 'I love you's', 'I miss you's' and 'Dear Brooke's', curdle and shrivel before turning to gray ash.
She realizes that she should have done this a long time ago, figures that she should never have got involved with him in the first place.
But then, you can never choose who you fall in love with. Her sister, too had, had her heart broken in unspeakable ways.
He is not coming back to her, not after everything that has happened, and even though she's trying to emit closure, she will love him for the rest of her life.
This, she is certain of.
She just isn't so sure what that means, or if it really means anything at all.
She picks up a heavily thumbed picture out of the box in front of her. The picture is seven years old, and although they're still the same two people, she can name about a hundred differences they now share.
She no longer recognizes the two smiling faces, and they're just like perfect strangers.
A salty teardrop slips onto the photograph and then trickles off, hitting the fire and creating a soft hissing noise. She discards it and watches as it burns quickly, the faces withering and spoiling into nothingness.
The creak of a door is sounded from behind and the incoming intruder pads across the room with care.
"Brooke." A female voice croons softly.
"It's time I move on with my life, Haley." Brooke's voice quivers and her face pales a shade or two, the remnants of inky tears laying stained upon her cheeks.
"Oh honey, but are you sure that you want to burn his letters?"
With a meticulous flick of Brooke's wrist the fire shrinks and then disappears, taking with it seven letter filled years of love and memories.
"I'm sure."
The door bursts open, a light snaps on and the voice of her uncle rings tawdrily in her ears. "Damn it, Haley James where is your sister?" Bobby demands as he shoots a look at the clock above the door that reads 3am.
Haley glances at the empty and untouched bed beside her and groans. "I don't know. Out with Lucas?"
She hears the cogs of his brain turn round and round and he's broadcasting his thoughts clearly like a radio. She wishes she could switch him off, tune him out, anything. But she's so tired and he's not putting up any sort of mental block.
'If Jimmy and Lydia could see this now…This is all I need… Damn John Winchester and his boys are coming tomorrow, can't be doing with this too….She's flirting with danger….Oh God She better not be….What if?… There's something in those woods… She'll get pregnant, Is she even having sex?… I hope not… Oh and then I'd have another one to look after.'
His thoughts are broken, messy and urgent; When he catches Haley looking at him closely as she reads his mind, it only makes him more angry.
"Haley!"
"I'm sorry! Okay it's late, I'm tired and you're radiating your thoughts right at me."
He shakes his head, he understands that she can't help it, but by God it doesn't mean it doesn't freak him out.
He snaps the subject back to Brooke. "I ought to flay that boy alive and then lock that little Miss up until she's thirty!" His voice rises several decibels and his cheeks flush a deep shade of Scarlett. He didn't sign up for the role of authoritarian, heck, he didn't sign up to be a father to two teenage girls, but due to the death of their parents, that role had been thrust upon him.
"She's eighteen, Uncle Bobby." Haley reasons as she sits up in bed and rubs her eyes with her palms, She then closes her eyes and breaths in deeply, in a few short moments her mind becomes blissfully silent.
His forehead crinkles, a tiny droplet of sweat forming upon his gray and receding hairline. He can handle a lot of things, A calamitous demon, a wailing banshee or two, maybe even an impending apocalypse, an eighteen year old girl, however was not one of them.
In fact, he'd have much rather dealt with the demon.
"Well while she's under my roof, she'll do as I say! She knows full well about the things that go bump in the night and yet off she goes!"
"Bobby, she can take care of herself. You and I both know that." Haley tells him firmly as she brushes a loose strand of hair out of her face.
She just wants to go back to sleep. If Brooke wants to paint the town red, then that was her prerogative. If anything, Brooke's razor sharp tongue would get her out of any troubles, and her other abilities would be able to prevent anything of the supernatural variety.
"God dammit, Haley, she's a target!" He exclaims, his patience waning.
"Bobby, she'll be okay."
As if on cue, a scrambling sound from below the window and a hushed but audible 'Haley! Open the freaking window and throw something down for me to grab a hold off.' is heard.
Bobby's expression changes from concern to fury and Haley can't help but bite down hard on her lip to stifle a suppressed giggle.
"Ah so that's how it is, is it? Stupid little mare is creeping outside! Hales open the window but don't let her in, I'm gonna teach that girl what for." He rushes out of the room as Haley edges herself out of the bed. She allows herself the privilege of delving into his mind -- just this once -- and what she hears doesn't disappoint.
"Thank God! I'm freezing my ass of out here, and I can hear some really creepy howling noises that do not sound like coyotes." Brooke calls from below as Haley appears at the window. Her milk bottle white legs are trembling beneath a skin-tight dress that would surely give Uncle Bobby a burst blood vessel.
"Well I can't let you in." Haley explains, throwing Brooke a look of mock concern while folding her arms to her chest.
"What?!"
"You could be a demon or anything." She shrugs carelessly, and she tries not to grin as she feels Brooke trying and failing to radiate thoughts into Haley's mind. After all, if she is a demon, letting her inside her head would be an extremely bad idea.
"Oh for -- " Brooke rises fervently, before her voices suddenly falters and her eyes widen at the sight of her Uncle siding up to the window with a large bucket.
"Shit!" And although she tries to dodge sideways, a huge pale of ice-cold water rains down on her and soaks her to the bone.
"It's okay Haley, she aint no demon. " Bobby beams wickedly. "But it is a good job I just blessed a load of toilet water, otherwise we'd have never known."
Brooke lets out a primitive scream and stamps her foot. She tells Bobby that if she wanted too, she could smite his sorry little ass into abyss.
"Uh huh, you do that darlin'. Now get your bony ass to the front door, and I'll let you in. I am not having you climbing into your room like a good for nothing stop out. Besides I am pretty sure that there is a Wendigo in the woods, and your magic tricks won't heed as well as you'd like to think. Especially considering you don't know how to channel them properly."
She trudges to the front door, arms folded stubbornly as Bobby opens the door and hands her a towel.
"You, Miss James are grounded until I say otherwise and if I catch you sneaking out again, I'll board your windows up and get a witch in here to permanently lock you inside. You got it?"
Her eyes narrow and her lips tighten into a pursed bow. "Whatever."
"I said, you got it?" He reiterates loudly. And she solemnly nods in reply.
"Good! and Jesus Christ, Brooke, if your gunna go out at least wear something that doesn't make you look like a common prostitute."
She scowls in return, but remains silent.
"Now go to bed, stay there, don't set anything on fire and tell your sister to stop reading my mind, it is giving me the heebie jeebies."
-x-
"So where did you go?"
"Just, you know, out." Brooke shrugs indifferently.
Haley shakes her head. "Bobby worries, Brooke. It's not fair on him."
Brooke screws her face up in disparagement, it's not fair on her or Haley that their parents got killed by a demon who wanted them for their abilities. She'd gladly give up her 'special power' if it meant she could have normalcy and alive parents. Besides all she could do was create a small amount of flames, and she had very little control over it, making it more of a hindrance then a blessing.
"Yeah well, he'll get over it." Brooke says dismissively.
She changes the subject and starts telling Haley about a party she'd just been too. Haley finds the topic far from riveting, but she listens anyway. Nodding and 'oohing and ahhing' in all the right places.
"Did you know that Nathan Scott is totally into you."
Haley's expression remains steady, and Brooke can't tell whether she's surprised or not.
"I knew." she replies nonchalantly. Of course she knew, he was as clear as a television signal when it came to broadcasting his thoughts. He also frequently wondered what she looked like without a bra on, and this was rather distracting when she was trying to teach him algebra. She'd nearly clubbed him with her school bag when he'd thought 'I'd rather minus your clothes, add the bed….' and he'd thought how weird she was, when he had appeared to be fixedly listening to her.
"Of course you knew. Oh, does Lucas Scott like me? Like really like me?" Brooke eagerly asks, although she knows that Haley will probably deny her this knowledge, she'd tell her that it's unethical and that she doesn't choose to hear people's thoughts therefore Brooke shouldn't be privy to the knowledge.
"Brooke this is entirely unethical as I don't choose to hear people's thoughts therefore you shouldn't be privy to the knowledge." Momentarily Brooke wonders if she's the mind reader.
"Just no." Haley replies aloud to Brookes thought.
Brooke throws her a pointed look. "Get out of my head."
"I'm sorry. I'm just really tired." Haley tries really hard not to listen to Brooke's thoughts, mostly because her sister should be allowed her privacy and also because Brooke has a lot of private thoughts that Haley really doesn't want to be conscious of.
Brooke ignores her sister, deciding that she wants some sleep. She checks the salt line at the window, hides the athame knife under her pillow and attempts to ignore the eery howling in the distance.
-x-
She isn't supposed to be out, and she knew for sure that he'd whoop her ass if he found out that she'd disobeyed him again.
But she doesn't care.
Her friend Rachel told her how there was a bar on the outskirts of town that let just about anyone in and doesn't check ID, and although it was apparently a little sketchy, it was nothing she couldn't handle.
"It's a biker bar so we need to blend in a little, so wear leather or flannel or something." Rachel had told her in school, and Brooke had promptly gone home and raided Bobby's wardrobe. She'd found a blue and green flannel shirt, and had customized it by cutting off the sleeves and tying it around her waist.
"I can't figure out if your completely stupid or just wanting to get your ass kicked." Haley had told her.
"He won't notice, he has like a million other shirts. What's more, I look so much better then he does. Don't forget to cover for me, I'll be back before midnight." She had said while admiring her reflection. She really did look good and she was particularly looking forward to her night out with Rachel. She needed a change of scenery, South Dakota teenagers were pretty tame when it came to parties and Brooke was growing bored.
"I'll see you later, kay? You don't have to worry."
-x-
A tall and ruggedly handsome man scans the sea of women in the bar, searching for something, or rather someone to numb the pain, if only for the night ahead.
It's his twenty third birthday and he's never felt more alone in his whole, entire life. He'd never admit to feeling this way, he'd rather wrap himself up in alcohol and sleazy women and just drink, fuck and hunt the pain away until the feeling becomes an ignorable dull ache.
His brother, Sam and his father had spent most of the drive to Southern Dakota arguing about whether Sam was going away for college or not, an argument that Sam was vastly losing.
Dean didn't really have an opinion on the matter, he just wanted his little brother to be happy and safe.
But then, whether he went to college or not, things wouldn't change.
At least not for Dean.
He takes a long, hard gulp of his beer and shifts his thoughts to a gorgeous brunette about ten feet away from him. He thinks that she is wearing the most ridiculous flannel shirt -- even though it is showing off a toned abdomen that makes him practically weak at the knee's -- that he has ever seen.
He watches her closely as she talks, giggles and throws back shots of tequila with a red-haired girl who's dressed in leather from head to toe.
Oh Boy.
He decides to approach the two, that way he might get to spend the night with one of them - or if he was really lucky - both of them.
Now that truly brought a smile to his face.
Hopefully if things materialized they'd go back to one of girls houses and not his motel room, his father would go mad at him if he caught him 'sleeping on the job.' especially on one of Bobby's cases.
He needed to be in tip, top form, and he knew just how to unwind.
A/N - It's pretty obvious where I'm going with this for the next chapter ;] and I really hope you enjoyed and wasn't too confused about the time jump. Anyway, feedback, reviews, etc are love!