The weekend was long and sad for Brook. He had slept a lot over the last few days. His mind had raced between Holly and what their future was going to be like. Apparently, to Holly, they would be just friends and nothing more. Brook didn't like that thought at all, but that was reality, now. He knew that he would see her when school started, and that she would still be none the wiser to his feelings for her. Could he live with that? He wasn't sure, but he would try.
Their walk to school was awkward. Brook wasn't feeling overly talkative for a number of reasons, but, thankfully, Holly was content with telling him about all of the tinkering that she had done over the weekend. She smiled as she went into the minutia of putting together her newest contraption. "So, I took the arm of the trebuchet, and attached it to the main body. It should be able to launch a couple hundred pounds when it is fully enlarged." Holly smiled, looking at Brook who was more focused on the ground were he was walking. Holly ears drooped. She walked over, and pulled on Brooks arm. "Brook? Are you alright? You have barely said two words to me this morning."
Brook was pulled from his thoughts when Holly touched him. He shook his head, and looked down at his friend. "Sorry, still not feeling so hot." He said, trying not to look directly at her.
Holly looked up at him, and knew that something was wrong. "Brook, I know when you are lying. You can talk to me." She smiled at him.
Brook liked her smile, and he felt a smile crack his lips. It cheered him up a lot. "I will be fine, just need to think some things over is all." He said honestly.
"Okay." Holly nodded. "That makes sense." She smiled reassuringly, and looked back at Brook. That was when she realized she had a question for him. "Brook, you said that you wanted to talk to me about something before the weekend. What was it?"
There was a moment of panic in Brook. He had actually forgotten about that. He quickly took a breath, calming himself. He could talk to her. Maybe not about what he actually wanted to say, but, at least, something. "Oh, yeah, that. Well, I wanted to ask you…" Brook paused for a moment, looking her over, and focusing on her smile. "What makes you happy?"
"Well, a lot of things. I like casting, and tinkering, and I like spending time with you…" She blushed, looking away and at the ground. "And, well, I like school. Lunchtime especially. Why are you so suddenly interested in what makes me happy, though? We grew up together. You know all this."
Brook blushed when Holly said that she liked him, but he quickly recovered, keeping his cool. "I just want to double check. It feels like we don't talk as often as we used to. So, I… wanted to make sure that we were still cool." He half grinned, glad that he had come up with a plausible cover story.
Holly thought for a moment; they had been chatting less lately. "Alright, makes sense. Now, I've gotta ask you. What makes you happy?" She smiled curiously up at him.
Brook paused for a moment. He hadn't thought about that in a while. He looked over Holly, and closed his eyes. He realized that so long as she was happy, he could be happy, and he was perfectly fine with that. "Well, I have my sketches, my friends, and my family." He smiled at her.
"You goof." Holly laughed, playfully smacking him.
"I'm serious!" He exclaimed defensively. "You and Mom make me happy, and that's all that matters." He replied solemnly, albeit a little red tinged his cheeks.
She waved a hand at Brook, and smiled. "I'm not saying it is a bad thing, you idiot. It's sweet. Really it is." She said seriously. "Now, come on, let's get to school. Otherwise, we will be late." Holly said charging ahead.
Brook smiled, and followed behind her. He was sure that he would follow her anywhere, so long as she was by his side. They quickly made their way to the school, and talked briefly before they waved goodbye to each other, going about their day as normal. That was, until lunch time came about. Brook was making his way to where John and Nasir were before James, quite literally, ran into him, stopping him in his tracks. "Well, hey there, buddy! Didn't see you there." He smiled.
Brook looked at him oddly before waving his hand dismissively. "It's all right. No harm, no foul, right?" Brook smiled back at him.
"Exactly!" James happily replied, putting an arm around Brook like a friend would. "Say, I couldn't help but notice that I saw you the other day, just around lunch time?" He asked inquisitively, looking the half-elf up and down.
Brook blushed before responding. "Yeah, sorry about tha-" Brook started before getting cut off by James.
"Okay, cool, so why were you following Holly around then?" His hand tightening on Brooks shoulder, not enough to cause pain, but to make it known that he was, in fact, holding him.
Brook felt James's grip tighten. He felt nervousness eek into him, but he wasn't afraid of the asshole. "We're friends. I just wanted to talk to her about something is all." He said calmly.
James looked him over intently. "What did you want to talk to her about?" His voice was deeper when he said that. Darker.
Brook tried to size this guy up, figure out what he was doing. He made a judgement call, and ran with it. "I… was going to ask her out." Brook replied, his voice annoyed, but honest. "But, clearly, I didn't arrive soon enough." Brook sighed.
James smiled when he heard that. "Clearly!" He released his grip on Brook's shoulder, but still kept it there. "Don't worry. I won't tell her you were there. She will never know. Your secret is safe with me." He pat Brook on the shoulder, and began to walk away.
Brook felt a rage build inside of him. He hated this guy. James had only taken five steps before Brook retorted. "Don't hurt her." He threatened.
James stopped, and turned on point to look at Brook to make sure he heard him right. "Come again?"
"Don't hurt her. Otherwise, you'll regret it." Brook stated again in a time that spoke volumes while staring clouds of daggers at the human.
James stood straight up, walking up to Brook, their noses almost touching. "Oh, really?" His voice oozed venom. "And, if I do, what are you going to do about? You half-breed?" He grinned, daring Brook to do something.
Brook put on a facade, one he had seen on both his father and Vladimir before. He gave a mischievous grin before taking a step back and crossing his arms. "Me? Oh, it's not me you need to worry about. It's Holly." He lowered his gaze, tempting him for more.
James cocked his head to the side, raising an eyebrow. "Holly?" He said curiously, not sure if Brook was being truthful or not.
"You might have known her for, what? A few days? From afar?" Brook asked, pausing to let him think for a moment. Then, he continued. "I, however, have known her for for over a decade, and I know two things about that woman that you should be extremely worried about." Brook stated, knowing that James would never know Holly like Brook did.
"And, what's that?" James asked sounding slightly worried, but still keeping his act up.
"One, she is a fighter. She isn't afraid to fight back, or stand up for herself." Brook smiled, thinking back on all of the fights they had growing up.
James took a step back, looking at him oddly. "And, the the other thing?" He asked, actually sounding worried now.
Brook put on a huge grin, as he spoke his piece, now. "She has a proverbial arsenal of weapons at her disposal. She likes to make them, actually." Brook winced slightly, thinking of when he got hit by the crossfire of them in more than one occasion before. "They hurt." He elaborated. "So, don't get caught in her crossfire."
"T-thanks. I will keep that in mind…" James trailed off, beginning to walk away, slightly flushed.
"Oh, and James!" Brook called to him before he left. James looked back, but didn't say anything. "You better make sure she stays happy. Don't make her lose that smile." Brook glared at him, this time with intent to kill if James did that. The two stared each other down, neither wanting to be the first to leave. James broke off first, much to Brook's delight, and the two went about their way to their respective areas.
Brook would see James in passing, and the human would often insult him when that happened. But, Brook kept quiet. He could deal with words. What did annoy him was when Brook would look at Holly, and James would notice. James would pull her close and begin to make out with her just to spite him. Gods he hated James. Until one day, James looked shaken up about something. He and Holly were sitting farther apart than normal. James looked at Brook, and he looked like he had seen a ghost. Clearly, Holly had done something that James wasn't expecting. Brook smiled and waved before going back to his conversation.
On their way home from school that day, Holly seemed relatively mad. Her brow was furrowed, and her gaze was off a thousand yards ahead of her. He walked over close to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Holly, you okay?"
Holly jumped at the feeling of Brook's hand touching her. She turned and looked at him furiously before she realized it was just Brook. "Sorry." She sighed. "I just had… a rough day." She responded apologetically.
He looked at Holly curiously. What had happened? "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"No… Yes. I don't know." Holly rolled her eyes, looking at the half-elf helplessly. "James got a little handsy at lunch today. I took care of it, but I can't believe that it even happened."
Brook looked at her in shock, but he had a small smile beneath his shocked exterior. "I'm sorry. I am glad you took care of it, if you ever need help, just let me know. Okay?" He asked, wanting to make sure that she was okay.
Holly chuckled, a hollow laugh somewhere between sadism and mirth. "Honestly, I might've just scared him off today. There probably won't be an issue given another tenday."
"Glad to hear." Brook smiled. He knew that Everything would be alright, Holly could take care of herself. The rest of the walk back to their houses was quiet. They waved each other off, making their way home. Brook smiled widely as he walked to his house. Of course, Holly would make sure James was kept in check. She wasn't like all the other girls he had been with. She was different. Brook went through the rest of the day smiling, and, as he laid down in bed, he thought of Holly, and how awesome she was. As he drifted off to sleep, his dreams were filled with her.
He found himself walking down the road to Holly's house. As he walked, he smiled; he was just overall happy. As he walked past the area of the grove, he heard a noise. Then another. And another. Curiously, Brook walked over to the grove to figure out the reason behind the noises. As he approached, he saw what the noise was, and he was horrified to see it.
What he saw was Holly leading James into the grove, and they were both giggling. They stopped by the large tree, and began to make out rather passionately. Things were getting heated, and Brook approached as he desperately wanted to stop what was happening. "Hey, stop! What are you doing!?" Brook yelled, already knowing the answer.
Holly turned to Brook with a frown. "Brook! We were having fun! Something you know nothing about!" She said angrily.
Brook was floored. "W-what?" He stammered.
"Yeah, Half-breed… You need to be more like me!" James smiled at Brook before turning to continue his tongue work on Holly.
"But… This is our place." Brook said, at almost whisper.
"Well, it's not anymore, Brook. It's ours." Holly said, wrapping her arms around James.
James looked at Holly and then back to Brook. "You know what, you're right. It is ours, but I think it could use some remodeling. Don't you think?"
Holly smiled, and kissed James. "Yes, I do."
James looked at Brook, and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the entire grove was engulfed in flames, and Holly and James disappeared into the fire. Brook ran to try and save Holly, but his feet were unable to move. He watched in horror as the grove turned to ash around him. Brook fell to the ground crying, and, a few moments later, he woke up, feverishly looking around. He was glad to find himself in his bedroom. Screw James, making his dreams go sour. Brook looked out his window to see the sun beginning to rise. With a sigh, he rolled out of bed. He was already up, so he might as well start his day.