Chapter 1: Believe In Me

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"I won't be gone for a long time," he reassured me once again as I stood there, wrapped in his strong arms, crying into his shoulder. "I promise I'll come back soon."

"But Jasper, you can't go," I protested, pouting childishly.

"Why not?" he asked, running his calloused hand across my blond hair that cascaded down my back.

"You're not old enough to join the army," I said knowingly. "You have to be at least twenty and you're not even seventeen."

"And you're not old enough to understand what you're talking about," he scolded gently, kissing my forehead.

"Yes I am," I complained. "I'm twelve Jasper, I know what I'm talking about."

He laughed, as he gently hugged me to his side once more before dropping me playfully on my bed and tucking me in. "No you're not. Now, be a good girl and behave while I'm gone, alright?"

"Jazzy, please don't go," I begged uselessly once again, clinging to his neck with my thin arms and refusing to let go of him.

"I have to," he insisted, trying to loosen my grip on him carefully, so he wouldn't hurt me.

"No you don't," I argued persistently. "Stay with me."

"I'm sorry sweetie," he whispered, his blue eyes, the same shade as mine, sad for having to refuse my pleads. "I'll come back as soon as I can."

"You promise?" I asked doubtfully, my childish voice soft and broken after all the crying I had done.

"I promise," he said sincerely. "I won't go anywhere without you."

He planted a kiss on my forehead once again before leaving my room without looking back. I hoped with all my heart that he would be fine. I needed him to come back. Even when he was older than me for more than four years, we were closer than any other siblings could be. It wasn't that our parents left us aside or anything, but Jazzy always knew when I was feeling down and what to do to make it better. He was my best friend and I was his favourite girl. We were practically inseparable; until now. When I woke up the following morning, he was gone.

I remember getting up to see a beautiful day waiting for me outside. But I didn't care. What use would it be if there was no one I wanted to share it with? I got dressed in a simple, white dress and went downstairs to have breakfast and talk to my parents.

"Good morning, Nicole," my mother greeted warmly, knowing that I would be downcast because of Jasper's departure. She was eating her breakfast, dressed in a pretty creamy coloured dress. Even when she was nearing her forties, my mother was a beautiful woman. Her hair was the prettiest shade of light brown I had ever seen and she had the sapphire blue eyes both Jazz and I shared.

"Hi mum. Hi dad," I said sadly as I hugged both of them briefly and sat in my usual seat.

"Hello, Nicole. How are you feeling?" he asked, a glimpse of concern in his green eyes. John Whitlock was also a handsome man, very similar to my brother, except for his eyes, which were of a different colour. Like my father, Jasper and I had honey blond hair, a shade or two lighter than my mother's.

"I'll be fine," I lied, not wanting him to suffer more than he already was. After all, it was hard enough to have a son going away to get involved in a war that could end up with him getting killed. He didn't need to share my worries as well.

"I know that you miss him, sweetheart, we all do," my mother, Mary Jane Whitlock said as she placed her arm around my shoulders in a comforting manner. "But he wanted to do this and he'll be okay, I'm sure."

"I know he will," I sighed as a tear escaped my eyes and rolled down my cheek. "I just want him back."

"He'll be back soon," my father assured me, joining my mum and kissing me on the temple. "But you can't stay like this until he does. Go play with your friends, have fun and I can promise that time will go faster."

I hesitated for a minute, but ended up smiling at him and nodding. "I will, dad," I agreed.

"Good," my mum smiled. "But before you go out to play, you should eat your breakfast first."

"Alright," I huffed, my bright mood back. My dad was right. It was no use moping all day because Jasper was gone and I was sure he would be pretty mad if he returned and he found out I acted like that all the time he was gone. I finished my breakfast as quickly as I could and ran out of the kitchen, under my parent amused looks. "I'll go play with Lizzie," I yelled over my shoulder as I got out of the house and made my way towards her house.

My best friend, Elizabeth Darcy, lived a few blocks from my house and, like mine, her family was one of the wealthiest in town. She was a nice and rather shy girl, with dark hair and eyes, and a year older than me. Even though, most of the times, she acted more like my mother than my best friend, due to my recklessness and her maturity, we were always as close as sisters. She was an only child and, very often, she would stay over at my house or me at hers. Both my parents and hers were used to these sleepovers that were decided out of the blue. Her parents were really nice people and treated me like a second daughter, as did mine with Lizzie.

I skipped the few steps up to her doorstep and knocked on the door. Not a minute later, a servant opened and waited for me to introduce myself. It was obvious she was new or she would have allowed me in like every other servant did when they saw me.

"I am Nicole Whitlock and I am here to see Miss Elizabeth Darcy," I told her in a formal way.

"Are you expected, Miss Whitlock?" she asked suspiciously.

"Let her in, Cynthia," the familiar voice of Mrs. Macready, the housekeeper, commanded from the inside. "She's a frequent visitor."

The girl named Cynthia, that couldn't be older than twenty-five, stepped to one side and allowed me inside the house, while Mrs. Macready smiled welcomingly at me from the top of the staircase.

"Welcome, Miss Whitlock. You wish to speak to Miss Darcy, I presume?" she asked professionally.

"Is she at home?" I asked out of politeness, as I knew she was sure to be in her room at this time of the day.

"Of course she is," the older woman said, leading me to the drawing room where my friend was plating the piano. She was an excellent performer. I, on the other hand, never had the coordination necessary to play any instrument, but I loved singing and reading. I waited patiently until she finished and the approached her from behind, trying to surprise her.

"Hello, Nicole," she greeted, turning around to face me with a knowing smile on her face. I never managed to catch her by surprise and scare her and I was getting frustrated because of it.

"Hi," I mumbled angrily, making my friend laugh happily.

"You're never going to scare me, so why don't you give up already?" she asked calmly, smiling broadly.

"Because if I give up I'll never succeed," I replied wisely, causing my friend to shake her head in exasperation.

"As you like it," she gave up, motioning for me to sit with her in the piano stool. "From the top?"

"Sure," I shuddered as my friend began playing and I started singing along, my soft, soprano voice melting with the vibrant notes of her piano, creating a beautiful melody.

"So, what's up?" she asked, as the final notes of the song trembled in the air.

"What's up with what?" I asked, playing dumb.

"With you, Nikki," she clarified. "I know you better than I know myself, so please tell me what's wrong with you."

"Jasper left," I confessed, lowering my head so that she wouldn't see my tear-filled eyes

"I'm sorry," she told me, knowing instantly what I was referring to. I had been talking to her the whole week about Jasper's decision to join the confederate army and she already knew how I felt about it. "I know it's hard, but he'll be fine.""Why does everyone keep saying that?" I snapped angrily. "You don't know if he'll be fine. There's a war going on out there and he could easily end up dead! He has no experience and he's not even old enough to fight! What if something happens to him? What if he doesn't come back?"

Instead of yelling at me like every other person would have done, Lizzie hugged me and tried to comfort me as best as she could while I cried into her shoulder. She knew I wasn't really angry at her, that I was just worried for my brother and she understood. She was the best friend anyone could ask for.

"You'll see him again, I'm sure," she said soothingly.

"How can you know that?" I asked, my voice hoarse from all the crying.

"I have faith," she replied simply. "I have hope. Never loose yours."

"I don't know if I can be as strong as you are," I sighed, admiring my friend for her inner strength and her wisdom.

"You are strong, Nicole," Lizzie told me sternly. "You just have to believe you are and trust yourself."

"How can I?"

"How can't you?" she asked back. "Look at you, Nikki. You're beautiful, intelligent and independent."

"I am?" I asked doubtfully.

"Yes," she answered firmly. "You just need to believe in yourself."

"I will," I told her, determination flowing through my body. I wanted to be this girl Lizzie had just described. I wanted to be admired and loved, to make my family proud and, most importantly, to make myself proud.

"Good," Lizzie smiled. Like Jasper, she always knew how to motivate me and make me feel better about myself. Everything I was now, I owed it to her. "Do you want to stay until tomorrow? My parents are gone until tomorrow and I don't want to be by myself."

"Sure," I agreed, smirking at my friend's fear to stay alone in her house, despite the presence of the whole household.

"Come on, let's have something to eat," she begged, grabbing my hand. "I'm starving."

I laughed and allowed her to drag me to the dining room, where we talked happily as we ate the delicious meal the cook had prepared.

"We should go to your house to get you some clothes and tell your parents you'll spend the night here," Lizzie said responsibly, as usual. "Mrs. Macready?"

"Yes, Miss Darcy?" the woman asked, stepping besides Lizzie.

"Would you tell Mr. Gardiner to prepare the coach? Miss Whitlock and I are going out. We shall be back by sundown," Lizzie informed her housekeeper.

"Of course, Miss Darcy," Mrs. Macready said, bowing her head and walking out of the room.

"Why do we need the carriage?" I asked my friend as soon as the older woman was out of the room. "My house is only a few blocks away; we can walk."

"I know, but I want to go for a ride," Lizzie shuddered. "We can go shop for dresses. I need your advise."

"That'd be great," I giggled happily, jumping up and down in my seat, making my friend laugh at my childishness.

"Let's go then," she said getting up and leading me outside where the couch was already waiting for us. We sat there, facing each other and gossiped about our neighbours like every other young girls until we reached my house.

"Miss Whitlock, Miss Darcy," Liddy, one of the girls that served in my house greeted us as she opened the door I had previously knocked.

"Liddy," I acknowledged with a nod. "Do you know where my parents are?"

"I believe they are in the drawing room, Miss Whitlock," she replied.

"Thank you," I said politely. "Could you ask Bettie to pack some clothes for me to spend the night at Miss Darcy's house?"

"Of course, Miss Whitlock," she said, before she disappeared up the stairs. Lizzie and I went to the living room, where we found my parents. My mother, just like Lizzie, was good at playing piano, and her hands were moving expertly across the keys, creating a beautiful tune. My father, on the other hand, was sitting on a chair, reading the newspaper. Since Jasper had told him he was planning to join the army, my father could always be found reading about the war and how it was going.

"Mum, dad," I greeted them, stepping into the room with Lizzie in tow.

"Hello, sweetie. Lizzie how do you fare?" my mother asked, rising from her seat as well as my father.

"Very well, Mrs. Whitlock, thank you," my friend replied politely. My parents always asked her to call them John and Mary Jane, but Lizzie would never do so.

"As a matter of fact, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy will be out of town until tomorrow and Lizzie asked me if I wanted to spend the night with her," I explained, eager to get out of m house and to go shopping with my friend.

"That's great, dear," my father accepted. "Do you need anything?"

"I already asked Bettie to pack me some clothes, but Lizzie and I were planning to go buy some dresses, so I needed money for that," I told them.

"Of course, sweetie," my father told me as he took out his wallet and gave me more than enough.

"Would you two like to have tea with us?" my mother asked.

"It's alright, mum," I told her. "We're probably going to meet Helen and Katherine for tea."

"That's great, honey," my father said, kissing me on the forehead and hugging Lizzie before he sat again. "You should go find those dresses now. I don't want you two to be wandering around town until late."

"Don't worry, Mr. Whitlock, I'll take care of Nicole," Lizzie reassured him, as my mother hugged us both.

"I trust you, Lizzie," my father laughed, knowing my friend was completely reliable and trustworthy, not at all like myself.

"Alright, off you go girls," my mum told us as she ushered us out of the room. We complied and, soon enough, we were on the carriage yet again on our way to our favourite dress store in town.

"Good afternoon, Miss Whitlock, Miss Darcy," the shop owner greeted us warmly. Well, it was the least he could do. After all, the two of us were his best clients.

"Do you like this one?" Lizzie asked after having instantly submerged herself among endless perches filled with dresses of different colours and sizes. At the moment, she was holding a forest green dress with silver linings.

"I love it," I told her honestly. Green was always her colour; it made her tanned complexion stand out. "You should try it on."

"I will, what have you seen?" she asked as she approached me, holding some dresses in her arms to try on.

"I like this one," I told her, showing her a royal blue dress.

"Very suiting," she complimented. "Let's go see how it fits."

We got into the changing rooms and tried on about five dresses each. We would then come out at the same time and tell what we thought of the other's dress. I liked all of them, and so did Lizzie, though she had her doubts about a yellow dress I had tried on. We couldn't decide for one, so we ended up buying all those we tried on. The shop owner, Mr. Wells, was more than happy with his sale and he helped us carry the bags to the carriage.

After our shopping trip was finished, we headed towards Helen and Katherine Bentley's house for tea. Mrs. Bentley welcomed us inside and led us to the twins' private lounge, where the four of us enjoyed our tea and talked happily. Helen and Katherine were a few months younger than Lizzie, so we got on well. They both had light brown hair and hazel eyes, and loved gossip even more than Lizzie and I did.

"So, Nicole," Katherine began eyeing her twin significantly. I knew what that look meant. They were about to interrogate me about my brother. Helen had developed a crush on him, but I knew he never saw her as anything more than his little sister's friend. "How is Jasper doing?"

"He went to my uncle's house. He'll be spending some time there," I lied smoothly. My parents and I had agreed that we should make an excuse for Jasper's sudden disappearance. We couldn't tell he had joined the army because, in reality, he wasn't old enough to do so.

"Oh," Helen sighed disappointedly. "Do you know when he'll be back?"

"Not at all," I said, this time sincerely.

"That's too bad," Katherine said sadly. "I hope he returns soon."

"So do I," I agreed.

"Well, we should get going," Lizzie reminded me. "We are expected for dinner."

"Of course, I totally forgot," I said, getting up along with Lizzie.

"We hope to see you two soon," Helen said.

"Sure," I said as I grabbed my coat and followed Katherine and Lizzie down the stairs.

"Perfect," Helen smiled happily.

"Until then," Katherine greeted, bowing her head at Lizzie and I, who complied and left the house.

We got on the couch and waved at the twins, who were standing at the door, watching us leave. Maybe I didn't have the same relationship with them that I had with Lizzie, but I certainly considered the twins my friends. Even though they were too talkative and nosy, they were nice people and fun to be with.

The journey back to Lizzie's house was spent in a comfortable silence and, soon, we were enjoying dinner together, chatting about random things. I was showed then by Cynthia, the new servant that had received me in the morning, to my usual room. Yes, I had a room at my friend's house and so did she in mine. People would consider it strange but it was so usual for me to stay at Lizzie's house and vice versa that it was completely normal for us.

After changing into my night gown and wishing Lizzie a good night, I got into bed and closed my eyes, thinking that, if I spent my days in the same way I did that day, the day Jasper would return would arrive before I noticed.

A/N: Hey everyone! So, We Are Broken's prologue has had over 30 hits and only 1 review :( But, as I'm a good person, here is chapter 1, and I want to know what you people think about it! Please review and tell me! There are pics of the characters in my profile, so take a look! xoxo