Hey guys, well this is a new idea that popped into my head a while ago! I really needed to write it since Brooke hasn't told anyone yet about being attacked. It's set before Bridge Over Troubled Water. Thanks to Danieee and JateSkateFate815 for helping!
Disclaimer : I own nothing you see familiar, just the plot.
Enjoy!
Brooke was seated on a couch, still wearing her dress from Quentin's funeral. The gang had all gone back to Nathan and Haley's house afterwards, just wanting to be in each others presence. Brooke had considered, and strongly at this, going back to her own home and sitting on her own couch. Over the past few days she had done a lot of brooding. Normally, it was Lucas' forte, but she had grown accustomed to pondering her thoughts of what had happened over and over again. After all, how could she forget it when it was so fresh on her mind ... and her face. Getting attacked had also given her a lot of insight on what the world was really like. No one is really safe or innocent.
So, at 7:47 PM at the Scott Resident, she was thinking just that on their couch. What really worried her was that when she was alone, without anything to do, she thought about that night. She tried keeping her mind off of it, by going down to the gun range and practicing, talking with Deb, and flicking through channels even if she didn't want to watch any of the shows or movies. They were just distractions. She had even used her laptop, even though it was weird because lately it was used for her new line, but she had just ended up researching different assault statistics. Even the news seemed different now.
"Brooke?" Jamie asked, as he climbed up and onto the sofa, taking the seat next to her. He sat up on his knees, with one elbow propped up against the sofa, he leaned on it. He had changed his clothes from what he had wore to the funeral to pajamas.
She shook her head, coming out of her daze, and turned to look at him. "Yeah buddy?" She asked quietly, leaning closer.
"Thanks." He said, plopping backwards onto his behind. "For today." He explained, to her confused face, giving her a small crooked smile. It was the closest thing to a smile anyways.
Brooke's eyes softened when she looked into his innocent blue eyes and brushed his hair back. Her negative thoughts began to slowly disparate. "Sweetie you don't ever need to thank me for that ..." She said.
"'Cause you're always there for me." He finished, nodding his head. He knew that ... And he would never forget it. To him, those words were like a security blanket, one which he found immense comfort in each time he heard it. But Quentin had said the same thing. It was going to take some time for him to cope with Quentin being gone forever now. What really got to him was all those numbers Brooke had mentioned. She was always the Cheerful one, even in sad situations Brooke was never like this. Then again, Jamie had never gone through loosing a loved one ... So maybe it was normal behavior. Did that mean that everyone changes forever? He hoped that it was temporary, because he wanted and needed his Aunt Brooke back.
"Exactly." Brooke said quietly, and looked at his face. His face contorted in deep thought as he ruminated. She had a feeling she knew what he was thinking about. Taking a deep breath and releasing it, Brooke turned her body to face him and said, "I need you to listen to me okay?" She asked, even though they both knew he was always listening. "You need to know something ... I'm really sorry about what you overheard me saying earlier. About all those statistics. I shouldn't have said that, honey." Brooke apologized.
"Is it true?" Jamie asked, tilting his head to the side, and gnawing on his lower lip in anticipation.
She sighed deeply, pressing one hand against her forehead. Should I even be the one talking to him about this? It's Nathan and Haley's job, they're his parents. I have no right. Brooke looked up from her hand to see him waiting patiently for her answer. Then, she looked up to see where everyone else was. Deb was standing next to Skillz by the sink, Haley had followed Nathan up the stairs to calm him done so he wouldn't blow up in front of everybody about Deb and Skillz's relationship, and Lucas and Peyton were out taking a walk.
She decided to answer him. After all, she is his Godmother and right now, Nathan and Haley had their hands full.
"There are bad things. You know that now," Like that psycho Nanny Carrie. Brooke thought, bitterly. "I honestly wish you didn't. I would do anything for you to still believe that the world was perfect. But ..." She trailed off, not wanting to go down that road. Swallowing, she continued, "What you do need to know is that there are good things out there too." She felt like a hypocrite right now. encouraging him to believe what she's saying when she didn't really herself. "There are people that make differences and importantly ... There's justice."
James stared at her for a few seconds before nodding his head. He kind of understood what she meant. "Okay." He said.
"If you ever want to talk ... Don't hesitate in coming to your parents, your Uncle Luke, me, or anybody else. Got that?" Brooke asked, raising an eyebrow. She held out her hand and Jamie slapped it.
"Got it." He promised her. "You too." James ordered her, by wagging a finger in her direction. He slipped off the couch and hopped off as soon as his feet.
"Wait what?" Brooke asked, incredulously as her eyes widened, and both of their eyes locked.
The four-year-old shrugged his shoulders. "Don't be afraid to talk to anybody. I was scared to go into the pool and didn't tell Daddy but he found out. Now I'm not scared anymore."
Brooke shook her head, and attempted to correct him. "I'm not s-"
"This is me you're talking to."
Brooke cracked a small smile at that, but still tried to make him understand. "But I'm not-"
"Ok so it's probably not the same thing but ... I've got a lot of time on my hands." He didn't really elaborate that any further so Brooke surmised he meant that he had been people watching and observing. "Scared is scared. Talk to someone."
Although he was four, Brooke was thinking of how smart he is for his age. He really does take after Haley.
She wondered what she had done in the past few days that had led him to believe and come to those conclusions. Before she could ask him, she realized that he had run upstairs by the soft patter of his footsteps. She then heard him bedroom door close and knew that he just wanted to be alone.
"Hey," Brooke said, into her cell phone, once someone had picked it up after a few rings. She was at home now and had just finished locking up all the doors and windows. She was sitting crossed legged on her bed, dressed in her nightwear that consisted of a baggy t-shirt and a pair of long sweat pants. She really didn't want to see her bruises.
"Hey! What's up? We just talked..."
"Y-Yeah I know." Brooke swallowed shakily, "Listen I-" Brooke sighed, suddenly not sure about doing this. What the hell had come over her? Did she just want to go around blabbing her problems? She didn't need anybodies pity ... Brooke Davis was above that.
"Brooke?" The person on the other end of the voice had a hint of worry in their voice. Brooke had been silent for a few seconds.
"I um I just called to say that w-we uh," Brooke stalled, not sure what to say, "we should do lunch tomorrow." That was believable.
"Lunch?" The person asked in disbelief, clearly not believing that was the reason for the phone call.
"Yeah .. Unless you're busy then we could reschedule," Brooke suggested, then covered her face in her palm, at her slowness.
"Okay." The person agreed, "Then we can talk about what's bothering you." They stated.
Brooke's eyes widened, and she began to sputter, "What? N-no! Nothing is bothering me! I am fine!"
"... Right, like I'm going to believe that."
Everyone else did.Brooke couldn't help but think. She quickly ran that thought out of her mind, it wasn't their fault that they had their own problems to worry about. Brooke couldn't blame them and even then, she wouldn't have said anything. So what was so special about this person?
"Listen, I am perfectly fine. But um as for lunch," Brooke looked up and glanced at herself in the mirror, completely forgetting an important factor. She was supposed to meet Deb at the shooting range. there was no way she could miss a practice. "I can't do it!"
"What?" They asked incredulously. "You invited me ... Listen Brooke-" Brooke cut them off.
"I'm sorry," She apologized, pushing some hair behind her ear, "But i forgot i had some prior engagement. I h-have to go now."
"No wait! I was just going to say that this is a new level of weird ... Even for you." Brooke could practically hear the other person smirking from the other end of the phone.
Brooke gave a small smile, even though she knew the other person couldn't see it, and said, "I'll call you another time. Bye."
"Later." The other person sighed, and Brooke closed her cell phone, knowing she had probably disappointed them. Even though that was not her intention, the last thing she wanted to do was rope someone into her own issues. This wasn't anyone issue but hers, and she intended it to stay that way.
Luckily, that didn't last long.
The next morning Brooke woke up to the sound of her alarm clock. Thankful that she didn't plan on going to work that day, she took her time getting ready. Once she had showered and gotten dressed, Brooke went down into the kitchen to prepare herself some breakfast.
She couldn't help but think of how lonely she felt, without Peyton in the house. She really didn't want to be home alone at any time of the day anymore, but what could she do? Ask Lucas and Peyton to move in with her?
No thanks.
After her small breakfast, Brooke decided to watch some television. She was flicking through the channels when she heard the doorbell ring.
Brooke looked up, confused as to who it could be that would be on her doorstep. She got up and slowly walked towards the door, and moved aside window curtains near the door to see who it was.
Brooke gasped in shock when her eyes landed on the figure who was behind the door. She just talked to the person last night and told them not to come!
Pulling the door open, Brooke said, "What are you doing here?" She wished she hadn't though. As soon as the other woman's eyes landed on her face, she knew she probably should have given some form of warning beforehand.
Trying her hardest to look unaffected, she cocked her head to the side and smirked, "What? No 'Hello'?"
Brooke couldn't help but to roll her eyes, and stepped backwards, letting her in. "Hey what's up? Oh by the way didn't I tell you we weren't doing lunch Rachel?"
"Yeah you did." Rachel Gatina stepped inside, and shrugged her shoulders carelessly.
"Yet here you are." Brooke gave up on being subtle and settled for a pointed look.
"I noticed I'm here too." Rachel shot her an infuriating smirk, closing the door behind her.
Brooke turned on her heels and stalked into the kitchen, Rachel following behind her closely. Brooke pulled out the stools for them to sit on and walked to the refrigerator.
Rachel took that time to notice her appearance, since she could see Brooke, but Brooke didn't notice her staring. She had purple-ish colored bruises around both of her eyes, and few more bruises along her face and neck. Brooke was wearing long sleeve so she was pretty much covered up. Did she fall down a big flight of stairs or something? Rachel thought to herself, careful about what to say out loud. Before she could say anything, Rachel froze in her tracks when she saw what the bruises around her neck looked like ... hand prints. Rachel's hands tightened into fists at the thought of someone doing this to Brooke, her best friend. Someone who never gave up on her. Stepping back, Rachel looked down the hallway and straight as the door. There were three different locks on the door varying in size and model.
Rachel decided to keep her mouth closed about this, and did her best to not mention or prod about anything. They both knew something wasn't right, but neither talked about it.
So, for the next two hours they chatted and ate and watched TV. There really wasn't anything new to catch up on, other than Brooke's pathetic explanation of how she had fallen down the stairs which lead to the bruises.
Yeah, stairs cause hand prints on your neck. Rachel bit her lip to prevent herself from letting that out. She wanted nothing more than to knock some sense into Brooke and have her open up. But Rachel knew Brooke, and Brooke had to be pushed to open up about her feelings because for some strange reason, she felt uncomfortable talking about what was wrong. It's 'cause of her damn parents ...
Rachel knew what she had to do. One of the main reasons she cared enough to take matters into her own hands was because Brooke had never given up on her since their friendship had formed. With Rachel's drug problem, Brooke had been their and comforted her. Sure, she had left but that was for Brooke's sake. Later, once she had settled down Charleston, Rachel had called and informed Brooke of her whereabouts and since then they had continued their phone conversations. Sometimes, Brooke would come out to visit her once a week. Except, Brooke had missed their recent lunch dates and had come up with an excuse each time. The final straw was last night, and she could sure as hell sense something was wrong with Brooke. So, she packed some stuff and got into her car and drove back to Tree Hill.
"So," Rachel began, in a faux jealous tone, "How's all the fame?"
Brooke froze up at hearing that. In the time that she had recently spent with Rachel, she never imagined this conversation. "Do you even know what that's like?" Brooke asked cautiously, knowing very well that she had said several times that fame was in fact not everything.
"No Brooke! You've had it so easy your entire life!" Brooke's head shot up so fast, it seemed as if she might have whip lash. Rachel knew what she was getting herself into, and at the same time she wanted to crawl under a rock at the look on Brooke's face.
"Easy?" Was this even the same Rachel she had seen all those months ago, "Easy?! How the hell can you say that?" She of all people should know! She gritted her teeth.
"You never had parents bugging the crap out of you for little things your entire life, you're successful with a hell of a lot of money, you're own fashion line, which was you're dream for like forever, and on top of that you get to work with your mother, who's probably better than a pesky agent." Rachel listed, and then threw her hands up in exasperation. I hope this works! Maybe she'll finally let something out instead of keeping it locked in for as long as she has.
This is NOT happening! The only person I thought I could confide in is acting like ... like this! It's not real because this cannot be happening! Brooke thought over and over.
She was at a loss of words, "I never had to worry about my parents bugging me my entire life because they never cared enough to be involved! I would do anything to have parents like that Rachel! And yeah I have all this success and my store's doing so freakin' great," She said the last part with bitter that didn't go by unnoticed, "but I felt so empty! You don't get that! I missed my family here every day. Yeah, the store was my dream! But what am I supposed to do when my dream gets crushed! Oh and as for working with that heartless stone hearted cold blooded creature ... Well you've met my mother! Remember Victoria? Remember the crap that she said to you?!" She asked, scrutinizing her friend.
Brooke completely missed Rachel suppressing a shudder at the mention of Victoria.
Rachel rolled her eyes, placing one hand on her hip. "Stop acting like a brat!"
"I am not a brat!" Brooke shook her head, blinking back the stinging tears. "Why are you saying this?!"
"Where is this crap coming from?" Rachel asked her, taking two steps forward She cocked her head to the side, feigning confusion.
"WHAT are you talking about?" Brooke was feeling so frustrated now and the burning sensation she felt in her throat only grew as she attempted to hold in her anger, confusion and tears.
"Why are you complaining, can't you learn to swallow it and deal with it?" This time, Rachel's voice grew an octave louder. "You're weak." She said, and in the simplicity in her words and tone ... Brooke broke.
For days she's felt weak because she couldn't prevent that monster from taking what was hers and from not protecting herself. For days she saw his masked face hovering above her, laughing at her, mocking her because she didn't fight back hard enough. She couldn't fight back though ... He was bigger than her and each blow hurt so much! Her heart felt heavy as a whirlpool of emotions hit her like a tsunami. The thing about feeling helpless, weak, angry, hurt, sad, depressed, scared, confused, and hostile is that it's like drowning. She even felt as if she was drowning when she felt empty and hollow, like at the funeral the other day. All those emotions came crashing and weighed down on her, and she couldn't find her way back to the top.
"NO!" She exclaimed, "I w-will not swallow it and d-deal with it! It's m-my turn! EVERYONE has shared their p-problems and they've ALL got some sort of closure!" She began to hiccup throughout her breakdown, "But where's mine huh? When will it be my turn? And why can't anyone tell?! Haley gave me the number for a therapist ... Can you actually believe that I would need a therapist? Oh and I am NOT weak either!" She fumed, feeling only the tiniest bit better as she stood up for herself, "I have to keep a weapon in my house!" Rachel cringed, "I-I never did that before! I-I can't go a second without being scared of someone attacking me in my sleep. Do you know what that's like? To be scared walking into you're own home or-or store?! I can't e-even feel safe anymore." Brooke continued her rant bit a bitter laugh and spoke with vehemence, "My store was robbed and I was beaten," Rachel sucked in a breath at hearing those words and the defeat in her voice. She wasn't sure if she should be thankful that it wasn't one of the worst case scenarios that had run through her mind when she had first seen Brooke's appearance or be pissed as hell that no one had noticed Brooke had been lying through her teeth. "Why did this happen to me? I NEVER hurt anyone that bad! I didn't deserve that! I didn't do anything!" She screamed the last part.
With a sharp cry of anguish, Brooke fell to the floor on her knees and Rachel rushed to her side, kneeling down, "Please," Brooke sobbed, gasping for breaths, "... I just need someone to save me." Rachel hugged her form close to her body, rocking back and forth in gentle movements while brushing her hair back and just letting Brooke cry it all out. "Please save me." She cried.
Tomorrow, Rachel thought to herself, muttering comforting words such as 'I'm here now', 'Don't worry', and 'Shhh it's okay' into Brooke's hair, We're going to see that therapist ... And I'm moving all my crap in here no matter what anyone says. Looks like I'm back ... for good.
Review please! What'd you guys think?