Chapter 21: Chaos Brews after Peace Comes

3rd POV

For once in a long time Brooke felt a strong urge to smile. This urge being so strong it had caused the corners of her lips to rise up a little, and her eyes dance with happiness.

Currently another day had passed, and of course, the day had been long, tiring, hot, and energy consuming. But in the end, her and Squid managed to sneak in some alone time. Right at this moment the two laid on his cot, Brooke snuggled up in his side while his arm curled around her.

And if Squid was to be truthful as well he would say he was at his happiest right now.

This was another thing they had in common: sad backgrounds. The two had troubles remembering a time when they had been happy, and in their past their life had been filled with mostly downs and rarely ever ups. But no matter how tough the two were, they didn't like talking about it because of the emotional hurt that came with it, not because they wanted to keep up the illusion that they were tough people who didn't need someone pitying them or sympathizing with them.

At this moment, none of it mattered. For once they weren't yelling at each other, or fighting; they were just together, lying in a comfortable silence.

If Squid was once again to be honest with himself he would say he was slightly nervous. He had never actually dated a girl more like had hook ups which usually just involved making out and some groping along with it. But he was not going to treat Brooke like he had treated the others: like trash. No he was going to take care of her, treat her like she's the only important person in world, which to him, she was. He wasn't going to treat her like Michael had treated her.

The simple thought of Michael infuriated him to no end. He wanted to chop off the hands that touched her body, he wanted to gouge out the eyes that saw her naked form without consent, he wanted to cut off the tongue that whispered disgusting putrid words to her, and so on. Squid wasn't a killer, he was in Greenlake for a whole different reason, but he was sure that if he ever met the man he wouldn't be able to hold himself back from killing him; destroying the man who haunted her dreams.

For second, Squid was worried about touching her, knowing that some girls who experienced sexual assault not nearly as bad as Brooke's tended to have troubles with touching but when she allowed him to hold her hand this morning and even rest her head on his shoulder he was reminded once again that this was Brooke he was talking about; the strong girl who could beat the shit out of you for just eying her a moment too long.

Turning his focus back on her, and smile crossed his lips, causing his toothpick to lightly poke him in the cheek. The southerner then took his toothpick out of his mouth, throwing the used one away and pressed a kiss to the side of her head, struggling to contain a chuckle when he saw how sleepy her eyes got. "Hmm," she hummed, turning her body onto her side to snuggle more into him.

"Squid," she asked hesitantly, gingerly draping an arm over his chest. She would be lying if she said she didn't feel a bit awkward with the whole boyfriend and girlfriend thing.

"Yeah," he drawled, his jaw itching for another toothpick. The main reason he always had one in his mouth was because of a habit. Before he had come to Camp Greenlake Squid had a smoking habit, addicted to cigarettes, and since he came here obviously he's not allowed to have them here anymore. At first he had been inwardly panicky and had caused more fights than any other guy because the lack of nicotine caused him to be more on edge which gave him the appearance of being tough to the other guys, showing them exactly what he's capable of.

X-ray must've soon picked up on it, and so he mentioned that some of the boys here who used to smoke stick toothpick's in their mouth so that they could at least have the feeling of something in their mouth like they're used to. And like that Squid constantly had one in his mouth which did give him some relief.

The metal eyed girl then spoke up again, pulling him away from his thoughts. "Well… I can't remember your names when Mom told me. What's your real name," she asked, slightly embarrassed to ask such a thing. She wanted to berate herself for acting so shyly, for acting awkward, for being like this in general, but instead, she couldn't help it, and for some reason, she felt as if she could act like this when he was around. To be bashful, to be act awkward, to be sweet, like he wouldn't judge her for not being "Brooke the Beast" and instead being "Brooke the Sweet."

In return the brunette smirked slightly at her bashfulness, while she pursed her chapped lips, glaring playfully at him. "It's alright," he grinned, using his free hand to cup her face. "My name is Alan, and you can call me that but only when we're alone, okay?" he stated, caressing her cheek. In response, Brooke nodded, kissing the palm of his hand as she settled back down. But the metal eyed girl didn't get far before Squid swooped in for a kiss, his tongue soon running over her lip for entrance, which she granted him, the two of them each exploring the other's mouths.

They both couldn't believe they had gotten this lucky.

3rd POV, Somewhere Else

"Does the defendant plead guilty," the judge asked, his eyes narrowing onto the boy before him. Inwardly the judge was berating himself, hating himself. He had locked up that one girl only for her accusations to be right all along. And this boy in front of him was living proof. The boy should be feeling guilty, begging for forgiveness, but instead, he looked smug. He had gotten away with it, and everyone in this court knew it.

They all knew they had let him slip from their finger tips, all because he spoke a few good lies and he was off the hook while the girl was sent away from the aftermath of his terror. If only they had believed her, if someone had believed her other than her good child hood friend, and only one of her last good family member, but instead no one did. She was the town outcast, the town misfit, the one who spoke little and when she did she was threatening. Everyone saw it coming when she was arrested, assuming her hard as stones personality and her violent outburst of fights would soon end up her trying or even taking another's life away.

However, nobody saw what the actual truth was, that was until a witness finally spoke up, and like that the truth was brought out into the light.

"Guilty, your honor," the boy continued, his eyes showing just how wrong the boy truly was; the so-called star boy of the town. The balding judge knew it, and he was sure everyone else in the court room knew it too, save for his mother who still believe he's a little angel. They knew that he had no regrets of what he did, in fact, he looked like he didn't believe what he did was wrong. It was almost sickening to them to believe they had trusted this man's word over another, who turned out to be a victimized girl with a troubled past and a non-stable living environment.

The judge ignored the parents as the mother sobbed loudly and annoyingly while the boy's father simply glared at his son; unlike the mother, he wasn't blind. He knew his son was a monster in the end, and he wasn't going to comfort his wife as long as she still believed in her son being the greatest person ever. Despite all the love the man felt for his wife, which was shown crystal clear on the news reports and in his eyes at this moment, he didn't want to comfort the woman over crying for her monstrous son going to juvy.

"Michael Lambridge, you are hereby sentenced to Camp Greenlake. Your lawyer will inform you of how long your sentence is. Court dismissed," the judge called, feeling guilt twine in his stomach. He hated it, for he knew boy was well aware of the plead deal: pleads innocent and proven guilty, he'll be tried as an adult and sent to prison. But if he pleads guilty then he's sent to Camp Greenlake, and there resides Brooke, the woman he raped multiple times, the woman he wronged and inwardly scarred for life. No, the judge didn't like this at all but there was nothing he can do about it, what's done has been done.

To be continued…

A/N: Yep so there you have it, CurlyNerdy, your thought did come true, even though I had planned it all along. I am sorry about it, but I did give you a bit of romance before more drama came. There were so many reviews! Thank you guys, and thank you for favorite/following!

To LolUrNotDylanObrien: I am glad you're enjoying it!

To Guest (1): Thank you I hope you aren't too angry about the ending of this chapter.

To sarahmichellegellarfan1: Thank you for all the reviews! And yes this is before Stanley comes here and even before Barfbag comes, which he will some soon.

To Guest (2): Thank you so much!