Broken
"Brooke, what happened to you?"
She just stood in the middle of the doorway, avoiding Lucas and Peyton's gazes, unsure of what to say. She wanted to lie, tell them that she'd done something silly like fall down the stairs, but she couldn't. Not only because they'd probably never believe her, but because they deserved to know the truth. They'd obviously gone through great lengths to find her today, judging by the fact that they'd attempted to knock down her door, and that proved more than ever just how much they truly cared about her. For that reason alone she owed it to them to tell them.
But she was scared—scared of what the truth meant and what it would bring. She didn't want the pity that they would feel for her or the pure weakness they would see in her. It would be humiliating.
She needed to tell them, though. First, though, she would need to find the strength to speak.
After a few seconds of silence, she allowed her eyes to travel upwards to look at two of her closest friends. Peyton's hand was covering her mouth, her eyes wide, clearly in shock. Lucas stood a few feet behind Peyton, his eyes bearing intensely into hers. He looked so confused.
The numbness that had overtaken her body a short while ago was fading as she looked at them. Now she just felt broken.
She looked back down at the ground, trying desperately to keep the tears that were welling up in her eyes from falling. She wasn't going to cry. Not now. She looked weak enough as it was.
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Lucas couldn't understand what was happening.
Even though he'd come to her store in full anticipation of something being wrong with Brooke, he'd never expected to see her like this. Her face looked like it had been rammed into a brick wall over and over again and a few large bruises ran down both her arm. He was sure there were many more bruises hidden underneath her clothes as well.
What had happened to her? That was what he needed to know. It broke his heart looking at her standing there, staring at anything but him and Peyton.
Taking a steady breath to calm himself, he took a step closer to her. She looked down at the ground, unmoving. She had yet to answer Peyton's question from earlier and that only furthered his suspicion that whatever had happened to her had not been an accident.
He was standing right in front of her now and still she didn't look at him. When he lifted his hand to touch her arm, she flinched away. His hand froze, surprised at her reaction. Then her head slowly tipped upward and her eyes looked straight into his. There was a flash of stubbornness in them that was a familiar quality of Brooke's, but he saw past it. She was trying to throw up a strong exterior to hide her true emotions and to make it seem as if she didn't need them. He wasn't going to have that, though; there was no way she was going to go through this alone.
He lifted his hand again, inching it slowly towards her face. She held his gaze, defiant as ever, but he just shook his head, not playing her game. She didn't flinch when he touched her this time. His fingers gently grazed against her bruised eyes, resting to cup her cheek.
Then he repeated Peyton's question. "What happened to you?"
That was when she began to crumble. She looked away, unable to keep up her façade, her lips twitching into a frown. He could see tears welling up in her eyes as she inhaled sharply.
He'd never seen her look so completely lost before. Brooke Davis was the strongest and bravest person he knew and yet there she was, looking more helpless— more ashamed – than he'd ever seen her. And that was what scared him more than anything.
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Peyton was frozen in place. There were so many thoughts running through her head—first and foremost how had this happened? Different scenarios ran through her mind of what could have happened, but none of them gave her any sense of relief. Then again, her best friend was standing in front of her looking like she'd been ran over so there was really nothing that could be good about this situation.
She watched as Lucas moved to Brooke, gently caressing her best friend's face. For a second, she was jealous of the attention he gave her, but it quickly died down. There was not a worse moment to let her petty insecurities shine through than now.
Brooke still hadn't answered her question and when Lucas asked it again a few moments later, they still received no answer. Peyton looked on in silence as Brooke's eyes met Lucas'. Even from her position, she could see the shame written on all over her best friend's face. Then Brooke's eyes traveled over to her and she looked so completely lost that Peyton couldn't stay put any longer.
She moved slowly over to Brooke, their eyes finally meeting, and very slowly put a hand on the bare skin of her arm. And then she saw something she hadn't noticed before—something so startling that she couldn't' help but take a step back. It was a handprint— bruise in the shape of a handprint that wrapped around the top of Brooke's arm.
Shocked, Peyton looked back up at Brooke, who was now staring solemnly back at her.
"Brooke…"
She choked up, at a loss for words. She didn't even need any confirmation from Brooke; the look of complete and utter shame that crossed her best friend's face as Peyton's eyes widened in horror was enough— someone had done this to Brooke. Someone had beaten her.
That thought alone caused the tears to flow down her face.
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Peyton knew; that was pretty clear. Her best friend was silently crying now, but there was anger in Peyton's eyes as well. Brooke felt like crying along with her, but she didn't. She still couldn't cry in front of them. Crying would be admitting defeat and she wasn't going to do that. She couldn't let her attacker take away her dignity.
It was too late for that, though. She just wasn't ready to admit it.
Lucas, on the other hand, still looked confused. Brooke glanced back at him. His hand had moved to rest on her shoulder. He was looking at her searchingly, desperate for an explanation. And he deserved one.
She opened her mouth, taking a deep breath. It was time to face the truth.
"I was attacked."
Her voice was hoarse and tired. It almost hurt to talk, but she needed to say it and now that she had, she felt a very small wave of relief brush over her.
The moment she said the words, Lucas tensed. He looked even more horrified than earlier, but when the realization settled in of what she'd said, he took two steps back, and she lost all contact from his body. His fists clenched so tightly that it looked like his knuckle bones were about to burst out from his skin. His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. He looked about ready to strangle someone.
Then, in the blink of an eye, his face softened and he once again moved back to her side. She kept her emotions in check as his hands wrapped around her, pulling her into his warm embrace. For a moment, she remained frozen in his arms, but then as the overwhelming sensation of safety rushed through her, she let herself give in to him.
And then the tears came.
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He wanted to kill whoever did this to her. When she'd first uttered the words that she'd been attacked, his immediate reaction was to jump in his car, hunt down the person who'd done this to her, and do just that, but he'd known that wouldn't solve anything. She needed him now and he would be there for her. The rest would be dealt with later.
So he walked back over to her and pulled her into his arms, hoping that he could find some way to give her any sort of comfort. Most of all, though, he just wanted her to know that he'd take care of her, that he was going to try to keep her safe from here on out. No one would ever touch her like that again as long as he was around.
Then she was crying and at each sob his heart broke into smaller and smaller pieces. She dug her head into his sweatshirt, the tears drenching it almost immediately, but he didn't care. He just ran his hands soothingly up and down her back, resting his chin on the top of her head.
Another second passed and then Peyton was behind Brooke, wrapping her own arms around her, so that Brooke was sandwiched between them both. Brooke turned around slightly, allowing herself to fall into Peyton's arms completely. Lucas took a few steps back, letting the Brooke's best friend comfort her, and watched them silently.
People were starting to walk around the streets and so after a few minutes, Lucas put a hand on Peyton's shoulder. The blonde looked up at him, tears rolling down her cheeks, and he motioned wordlessly towards the door. Peyton nodded and they both led Brooke inside. Peyton walked with Brooke over to the couch and they both sat down. Brooke's sobs had quieted down and now she sat there, her head resting on Peyton's shoulder, taking slow, calming breathes.
Lucas was trying so hard to stay calm, but when he stepped inside and saw the broken mannequin and the clothes strewn across the floor, the fury that had overcome him earlier came back and he was left standing at the doorway, his jaw set firmly, his eyes narrowed.
One thing was for sure—whoever did this was going to pay. He'd never been a very vengeful person and, except for those fights with Nathan back in high school, he was really quite peaceful, but this was too much. When someone deliberately hurt a person that he loved, that was taking it too far.
And then another thought struck his mind and he had to force himself from ramming his fist into the wall at the thought of it. But he needed to remain calm for Brooke's sake.
He closed the door behind him and walked over to the couch. Brooke looked up at him with her swollen and bruised eyes as he stopped in front of her. Peyton's arm was still wrapped protectively around Brooke and when Peyton looked at him, he could already tell that she was thinking along the same lines as him.
And so, even though he was afraid of what her answer might be, he voiced the question that both he and Peyton were wondering.
"Brooke… Did he…?
He couldn't even finish the sentence—it killed him too much to say it aloud— but luckily Brooke could already tell what he was asking and he was so relieved to see her shake her head.
"No," she murmured quietly, "he didn't."
There was a conviction in her words that told him she wasn't lying, that her attacker hadn't violated her in the cruelest possible way. He didn't need to hear anything else; he believed her.
He took a seat next to Brooke and then stole a glance at Peyton, who looked just as relieved as he felt. He focused on Brooke again. She was calm now—almost eerily so—and her tears were drying on her face. She stared tiredly at the mess on the floor in front of them.
What could he possibly say in this situation to make her feel any better? There really was nothing, he knew, and that was why he only put a comforting hand on Brooke's back and settled into silence. There was nothing else he could do right now except be there for her.
Only one other thing was on his mind now and that was the biggest question of all: who did this to her? He needed to know, but he didn't want to push anything out of her until she was ready. But as he sat next to her, running his hand up and down her back, and watched Peyton string her hands through Brooke's hair, he couldn't handle not knowing anymore.
"Brooke, do you…" He started off slowly, unsure of whether he should continue or not. She was relatively calm now and he didn't want to ruin any progress she'd made since they'd found her. But he needed to know and so he continued on. "Do you know who did this to you?"
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Brooke was wondering when he or Peyton would ask her that. She wasn't sure she was ready to tell them or even if she was right about her suspicions about her mother being behind it. If she told them, then they'd probably want to do something about it and she didn't think that was wise right now. She didn't even know for sure if Victoria was behind it, anyway.
That was a lie. She did know. There was no one else who could have possibly done it. Maybe if they'd stolen her money instead of her designs, or even taken the money along with the designs, she would have thought otherwise, but there was no denying that stealing only her designs was a pure coincidence. In fact, her mother couldn't have been more obvious.
She took a deep breath as she made the decision to tell them. She wasn't going to hide anything from them now, not after everything they'd done for her today.
"I don't know," she said huskily, "but I think Victoria was behind it."
She turned to Lucas. He looked completely taken by surprise. His eyebrows were furrowed in confusion, as if he was calculating in his mind how a mother could possibly do something like this to her own daughter.
"Why do you think that?" Peyton asked.
Brooke's eyes fell on her best friend. "The person who attacked me…" She swallowed, trying to find the right words. "They stole my designs. Only my designs. Nothing else."
"Are you sure that's all they stole?" Lucas questioned.
She resumed staring straight ahead of her, her eyelids drooping. She was so exhausted.
"Yes."
Silence overcame them for a moment before Peyton took her hand. "Oh, Brooke, I'm so sorry…"
Lucas strung his fingers through hers. "We're going to figure this out," he said seriously. She just nodded. He looked directly into her eyes. "We're here for you, Brooke," he continued. "Everything's going to be okay…"
Her head fell onto Lucas' shoulder and she let out a long sigh as her eyes slowly closed. "I know."
It was amazing the change she felt from only a short while ago, when she'd felt so alone and so broken, but now she just felt safe. She was still confused and angry, and it was also hard to ignore the pain from the bruises that were a constant reminder of the hell she'd gone through, but with Lucas and Peyton here with her, there was a new sense of hope and safety. She wasn't alone, she'd never be alone, and her two best friends here with her proved that. And even though it would be a long time before she would fully heal, she knew that as long as she had them by her side, she would be okay.
A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter was so short! I just needed to end it there but I promise that most other chapters in this story will be much longer. I was intending on updating Awakening before this one, but I left you all with a cliffhanger last chapter and so I decided to work on this story first. I'll be working on Awakening over the weekend, so it should be too long before the next chapter's up.
Thank you all for your amazing reviews last chapter! Without them I'd never be motivated to write, so keep them coming ;).
And now I've got a couple responses to anonymous reviews:
Christine: First off, thanks so much for taking the time to review! Haha, I never ever would have done the stairs excuse. I don't know how Brooke actually expected people to believe her in the first place, but the fact that they all bought her lie so easily was just plain stupid. I can understand why you'd hate them all for a few weeks. They were completely clueless, even though it was so incredibly obvious that she didn't fall down the stairs. I agree with you too about Lucas' hero complex. It's so unlike Lucas to completely ignore Brooke during a time like that. Leyton or no Leyton, he would normally never do that. It's just not him. And yet he did ignore her and it was so completely out of character and just wrong, especially after season 5. I really don't know what came over the writers because that whole storyline just turned out horribly. Anyway, I hope that Peyton won't be too annoying for you in this story. I'm not much of a fan of her anymore, but I used to like her, so I like to portray her as I used to love her in the show. Hopefully, she'll be tolerable for you! Thanks again for reviewing and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Lena: Hey! I'm so happy that last chapter was your favorite so far! I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first, but it's good to know that everyone seemed to really like it. I'm going to be honest and tell you that you're probably going to be annoyed with Peyton for a little while longer in this story, but after she gets over Lucas, I really hope you'll start liking her more. I completely understand why you hate her, though. It's pretty easy to hate Peyton ;). But she's going to be cool in this story, I promise. And she'll also be a really good friend to Brooke too, so hopefully that will score her some points with you too. As for Brooke not hiding herself like she did in the show, I just couldn't do it that way. It's understandable why she did it on the show, but I think it would have been so much better if she opened up. And that's what she's going to do in this story. She's still going to have a tough time and it's going to take a little while to move on from it, especially since she's going to have to deal with Victoria at some point, but with all of her friends' support, getting through it is going to be much easier for her. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this new chapter as much as the last one and thanks for reviewing!