My first real fanfic. Please go easy on me :) Being updated most weekends.

Disclaimer: I don't own NATM characters, or brand names/etc. used in this fic. Only my OCs.

Enjoy!

"I think that's it," Brooke declared, wiping her brow with a sense of accomplishment. Anticipating a response, she looked over to her dad passed out in a worn chair. She smiled, and started to pile the old trinkets in the boxes at her feet. As she was looking through a set of memorabilia her dad put in the 'garbage' pile, she picked up a broken frame with a picture of their family. Their complete family. Before the accident. The glass was cracked in half. On one side of the cracked glass was her mother and 23-year-old brother. The other side, herself, her father and her 4-year-old sister. Why would he put this in the trash, she thought. It must be a mistake. Yeah. He was pretty tired from waking up so early. He probably forgot to remove the picture from the frame. She carefully took the photo out of the frame and gently placed it in her photo book, halfway full of old family photos. Old memories. Can't bring Mom and Ryan back. Might as well hold on to the photos.

After bringing down a few boxes, she noticed a box in the corner of the attic, but the box was old and tarnished, so that she couldn't make out the writing. Dad must've forgotten this one. She opened the box to find a jeweled necklace covered in dust. It looked pretty old, and rather valuable. As someone who loved jewelry, she took it upon herself to clean it off while Dad was asleep. I bet he'll like when I've cleaned it up for him.

After a good hour or so of cleaning, the necklace had a pristine, almost supernatural glow to it. The gems were all of various sizes, shapes and colors, with a large bright red gem in the middle. She placed it back upstairs in one of the piles and dusted herself off, retreating down the tattered wood stairs. I'll finish sorting through the rest of this stuff in the morning.

Brooke got up out of bed, rubbed her eyes, and looked at the clock. 10:36. Oh no. I woke up late. Not good. She quickly hopped out of bed, put on some decent clothes (a featureless blue tee, denim shorts, and converse sneakers) and scrambled out the bedroom door and into the small and poor, yet somewhat charming living room and into the open kitchen. Her long, dark brown, curly hair seemed almost perfect, considering the rough night she had. She anxiously headed to the kitchen. No sooner did she grab the Corn Flakes from the cabinet, almost spill the milk as she poured, and begin to scarf down the cereal, did her father, Mr. Mendosa, emerge from the hallway in a rather formal outfit. He was a tall man with curly black hair and a bit of a beard. Brooke did not notice his presence until she heard his accented voice from behind.

"Forgot to eat supper last night, did we?"

She turned around, face full of milk, and gave an embarrassed smile. She wiped the milk away from her mouth with her shirt collar and finished crunching her most recent bite of cereal before she attempted to speak.

"I woke up early, don't blame me," she said with a playful, yet respectful tone.

"We had spaghetti," he teased.

"Oh, come on, Dad, you probably ate some Goldfish from the cabinet, like you always do." She turned to her breakfast and took another bite before she continued with a mouthful of food. "Do wake me, though, next time we have spaghetti and I'm not there to enjoy it. Oh, by the way, where's Maria?"

"She's at Jace and Wyatt's house again. I figured she wouldn't have much fun sitting around watching me sell things."

"Good call."

There was a bit of silence as Mr. Mendosa grabbed the already opened box of cereal from the counter and started pouring it. Brooke's worrisome expression faded for a moment.

"When did you say the garage sale starts?" she inquired.

"12:00."

As Mr. Mendosa was about to sit down next to his daughter, Brooke's sparkling green eyes flared as she popped her medicine in her mouth and gulped the orange juice down, not caring if her long hair got soaked in her cereal bowl.

"Whoa, what's the rush?" he asked as he was finally lifting the spoonful of flakes up to his mouth.

Brooke took one last swallow, and looked at her father in confusion.

"Do you know what time it is?"

"Let's see." He reached for his old flip phone that was sitting on the counter and opened it. "Oh, Dios mío."

"Exactly!"

He ate his cereal with as much haste as his daughter did. Brooke hurried up the stairs and came back with a fold-up table, and carefully came down the stairs. Unable to hold on to the rails, she missed a step in front of her and fell face first onto the wood stairs, the table skipping down the steps. Mr. Mendosa quickly turned around, hearing the commotion, rushed over, and exclaimed, "What were you thinking!" before realizing his daughter was injured. His tone immediately changed.

"Brooke, are you okay?!"

No response.

He kicked the table out of the way, knelt down, and shakily checked her pulse. He looked slightly relieved and wiped his brow, then attempted to pick her up carefully, so as not to cause any more harm to her already bruised body. He was able carry her over his shoulder, and slowly headed toward the living room, where he gingerly placed her onto the worn leather couch. He scurried to the kitchen and soaked a cool rag to place on her head. Several minutes inched by without a response from his daughter, so he pulled out his flip phone and started to-

"Ugh, what happened," Brooke moaned.

The joyous father closed his phone and came to the aid of his daughter. Though visibly shaken and angry, he came to his senses and composed himself before providing a calm response, so he would not scare her.

"You fell down the stairs and hit your head... You really should have asked me to help. I would have gladly abandoned my cereal to help you. But the important thing is that you're safe." He paused, giving his hazed daughter time to think. "But you shouldn't be carrying things like that on your own, especially down stairs. Heck, even I would have asked for your help-"

"I know, Dad. I'm sorry. I was being stupid."

"You aren't stupid, bebé. You're a very smart girl. You just rush into things without thinking first."

"No, I'm just a klutz."

He looked away for a moment and sighed, for he knew the statement was true. "You feel like standing?"

She slowly sat up, moving her arms and legs around and wiggling her fingers.

"Everything looks fine, cap'n."

"Well, bebé, as much as I would love for you to help me today, I think it would be best for you to rest. You took quite a fall. No need for you to work today."

"But Dad, I promised-"

"Up- no 'buts'. I'll get the neighbors to help." He continued with a pirate voice, his late son's trademark impression. "When one of me mateys is in rough shape, the cap'n will make do." He noticed her sheepish grin and smiled back, Dad feeling confident he turned things around.

"Alright, does this matey still get TV privileges?"

"Aye. But don't ye be countin' on it next time around." Mr. Mendosa looked over to the room Ryan once inhabited. He was still with them, somehow.

Thanks for reading! I hope you are enjoying it so far! Please review, favorite, and follow if you like it! It motivates me to write more! (p.s. I promise it gets better in the later chapters :))