Peyton, even in her half-unconscious state, felt a new weight in her bed. In any normal circumstance she would've been pissed, annoyed that someone had come to wake her up. But, considering the way her night had ended with Brooke, she could hardly get herself to sleep, let alone fall asleep and be awakened. So she turned towards the new weight, irritation subsiding.
"… Brooke?" She asked, her foggy mind trying to grasp why Brooke was at her bedside. And then she shifted, able to see Brooke's face in the moonlight, and discovered countless streams of tears over the brunette's skin. She sat up immediately. "Brooke, honey, what happened? Are you okay-"
"She kicked me out." Brooke said flatly. "Victoria kicked me out. I don't have a home anymore." The brunette looked in Peyton's eyes, searching for some reassurance, and then it was too hard to see the pain in them. She looked into the darkness of the room. "I don't even have a house key… I didn't know where else to go, so I came here. I didn't mean to wake you."
"Honey, it's alright." Peyton said tenderly. She reached over behind Brooke, her fingers curling around the pull string of one of her lamps.
"Don't-" Brooke was too late in her protest, and light poured into the room before she could cover her face. Peyton drew away, looking over at Brooke, and her eyes widened with horror. There, just under the brunette's left eye, her skin was a deep red and slightly swollen. Brooke looked away, not willing to see Peyton's reaction.
"Brooke…." Peyton started, not sure what to say or do. She reached out, touching Brooke's jaw gently to pull the brunette's face towards her. Brooke resisted for a moment, and then let Peyton examine her under the light. "Victoria…?" Brooke closed her eyes, trying not to cry like she had tried only 15 minutes ago. And, like before, it didn't work. She nodded, letting the tears fall, and said nothing.
Peyton shifted, leaning back against her headboard. "C'mere." She said, pulling Brooke into her. The brunette did not hesitate this time, moving fluidly to Peyton's side and curling perfectly into the blonde. She clung to her girlfriend's waist, her head resting under her chin.
"Peyton, she said I was nothing. She said was a disgrace… That I'm not her daughter and that I'll never-"
"Shhhhh." Peyton whispered, stroking Brooke's hair. She kissed the brunette on the forehead, then gently on the lips, and pulled her close against her again. "She was lying." She promised. "You are not nothing. You are everything to me."
"But you didn't hear her. She was malicious." Peyton watched Brooke almost through a maternal eye, continuing to run her fingers gently through the brunette's hair; she knew how well it soothed her.
"I don't need to have heard her to know she was wrong." Brooke pulled away just enough to turn her head up and look Peyton in the eyes.
"You mean that?" She asked, wondering then at what point in time she had learned to doubt her girlfriend. Still, the blonde nodded.
"I do." She said gently. "I love you, Brooke. No matter what happens. No matter what anyone else thinks or says about you, even Victoria." The blonde paused for a moment, looking at Brooke's facial injury closely again. "I shouldn't have left you." She said after a minute or two. Brooke shook her head.
"No. I'm glad you did." It was a half lie. "I don't know what she would've done to you if you would've stayed." But that was the truth. If Victoria was willing to hit her own daughter, who knows what she would've done to someone outside of the family. Brooke decided she didn't want to think about it anymore. "Can you kill the lights now that you've thoroughly examined my face two times over? I just wanna try and forget this for a while." Peyton nodded, already reaching for the lamp. She shifted back down into the bed, Brooke burrowing quickly against her once the blonde was settled.
"Goodnight, Brooke." Peyton said warmly, knowing the statement was purely a formality. Still, she hoped that Brooke could fall asleep at the least. "Let's do something fun tomorrow, okay?" Brooke nodded against Peyton's throat, exhaling the deep breath that comes before drifting off out of consciousness.
"Thanks, Peyton." She mumbled quitely. "I love you."