First I want to thank you all for the awesome reviews. I read them yesterday in Humanities while I was suppose to be researching something for my project. They totally made my day! And I'm glad you're all enjoying the Brooke/Haley bond.. I love it too..which is sort of weird and sad considering I'm the one writing it. But yeah, seeing as I have no life, here's another update. Enjoy!
Brooke sat in the police station absentmindedly swinging her legs underneath the cold, metal chair she sat on. It had been at least an hour and a half since her and Haley had gotten there. There was no sign of her brother and sister and she was starting to get a little worried.
She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket but chose to ignore it. She figured it was just Lucas calling about something. After it stopped, she fished around in her jacket and took it out. 10 missed calls flashed in front of her eyes. She flicked through the list and let out a small laugh. They were all from Lucas. He was so predictable at times.
The woman sitting at the front desk looked at Brooke and sighed. She was curious as to why a seventeen year old would be the only family member waiting for the poor girl who was almost raped. Brooke caught her glance and smiled at her. The woman smiled back at her, but all she wanted to do was to take the girl in her arms and tell her it was all going to be over soon. It was all very familiar process to her. After intense scrutinizing and questioning, the victim was usually released in to the care of family members and referred to a psychologist who could help them get over their pain.
"Is there someone I could call for you, dear?" Brooke looked up and saw the woman standing over her, a concerned look plastered on her face. Brooke shook her head and forced a smile.
"No, that's okay. My brother should be coming soon." She said with a small sigh. The woman, whose name was Nancy, sat down next to her studied her carefully.
"I don't mean to pry or anything, but are your parent's aware of what happened?" Nancy immediately regretted it when she saw Brooke's eyes water. She turned away, quickly wiping her eyes to avoid the tears that were threatening to spill over.
"Actually, my parent's passed away a long time ago."
"Oh, I am so sorry-" Nancy said, putting her hands over her mouth trying to stop the tears that were forming in her own eyes. She got up figuring Brooke would like some privacy. "I'll just be over here if you need me." Brooke nodded and went back to staring at the floor.
If someone had told her she would be this close with her sister she would have laughed. Her mother always told her it was important to be nice to Haley because no matter what happened with her friends or school, Haley would be the one that was always going to be there for her. But Brooke always thought that was a load of bullshit and continued treating Haley like crap in public. It was less than a month ago that she was still treating Haley the way she always did. And now? Now it didn't matter, but back then if Haley came within a foot of her at school, she would make a rude comment and continue walking. She buried her head in her hands and tried to rid the thoughts appearing in her head.
"Brooke? Can I ask you something real quick?" Haley asked coming up to Brooke's lunch table. Brooke seemed like she was in a good mood today and maybe she wouldn't poke fun at her.
"Tutor Girl," Brooke replied in a bitchy tone, "how many times have I told you not to bother me at school?" Haley looked away and listened to Brooke's friends snicker. They always thought it was amusing the way Brooke treated her sister.
"I know, but I just wanted to ask you something…in private." Haley asked again nervously. She didn't know why she put herself through this torture.
"Tutor Girl shouldn't you be off with the nerds somewhere?" Theresa said with a giggle. "If I were you, I'd leave to avoid any further humiliation."
Peyton sat there and sighed. She couldn't keep track of how many times she tried to get Brooke to stop humiliating Haley. "Haley, don't listen to them. Why don't you sit with us?" Peyton asked, moving over to the left so Haley could sit in between her and Brooke.
Haley smiled and went to sit down but quickly moved away when Brooke slid in her spot. "Peyton!" Brooke hissed making a disgusted face towards her. "She's not sitting here. It's bad enough I'm related to this thing, we don't need to make it worse by letting her sit here."
Haley sighed and looked away. To Brooke she wasn't even a person; she was a 'thing'. A thing with no one to talk to, a thing with no friends, a thing who did nothing but sit in her room all day hoping that someday her sister would change.
Peyton rolled her eyes and got up from the table. "Why I'm friends with you is beyond me." She grabbed Haley's arm and lead her back over to the table Haley was originally sitting at. Haley had to smile; Peyton was the only one of Brooke's friends she liked. They were some days where Haley actually wished Peyton were her sister instead of Brooke. At least she acknowledged her presence. "Don't listen to your sister, Hales. You can ask me if you want, maybe I could help?"
"Oh, that's okay, Peyton. Thanks anyways, I think I can figure it out for myself." Haley said with a small smile, watching Brooke as she made her way over.
"Peyton!" Brooke called out before sitting down next to the blonde. "I'm sorry, Goldilocks, I didn't mean to be a bitch to you. Time of the month, you know how it is." Brooke said with a light laugh.
"Brooke," Peyton started out looking at Haley before taking Brooke's hand and leading her away from Haley. "Brooke you know I love you, right?" Brooke smiled and nodded unaware of where Peyton was going with this, "but the way you treat your sister pisses me off." Brooke opened her mouth in protest but Peyton went on. "All she wanted to do was ask you a question, she's not asking you to give her a kidney. She just wants someone to talk to, she has no friends, Brooke. She's not like you."
Brooke rolled her eyes feeling no sympathy what so ever towards her sister. "Okay, she has Lucas, but seeing as he's not here today I'll give you that. Second of all, she knows not to talk to me in public. Third of all I don't care about her problems, okay? Peyton if you're worried about her than why don't you go befriend her?" Brooke's voice gradually got bitchier as she went on. Peyton shook her head in disbelief.
"Brooke, all I want is for you to treat Haley the way she should be treated. Like your sister, not dirt." Brooke watched as Peyton walked back over to Haley and sat down next to her. She followed her back over and sat down next to them. She took a deep breath and looked at her sister.
"Haley," She started in a voice Haley barely recognized. The voice she used to comfort her when her parents died. The voice that helped her get back to sleep at night. "I'm sorry for being such a bitch to you. Now what did you want to ask me." Haley could tell Brooke was having a hard time with this.
Haley shook her head. "Forget it," she mumbled getting up from the table and walking away. Brooke threw her arms up in the air and groaned.
"I tried," She said to Peyton, who sighed and shook her head. Her plan had backfired. Again.
"Brooke!" Peyton's voice called out, snapping Brooke back into reality. She ran over to where Brooke was sitting and knelt down next to her. "I am so sorry, Brooke. I had to do it, I know I should have-"
Brooke looked at her best friend in confusion. "Peyton, what are you talking about? What did you have to do?"
Peyton took a deep breath and held onto Brooke's hand for support. "Earlier, Haley told me what happened with Nathan. That's why we were crying, and I know, I know I should of told you, but I promised her that I wouldn't say anything to her. And I know, I should have told you anyways and I totally understand if you're mad at me because she told me before you. But I just want you to know that I'm going to be here for the both of you, day and night."
Brooke looked at her best friend with watery eyes and hugged her tightly, burying her head into her shoulder. "Thank you so much, Peyton. I can't even begin to thank you for everything you've done. I just, I just can't imagine life without you." Peyton smiled and gently shifted her position so she was now sitting next to Brooke.
"How are you holding up?" Peyton asked gently, resting her head on top of Brooke's.
"I'm really scared, Pey. She's been in there for a while and I haven't heard anything. But how did you know I was here?"
"I called your house to make sure you were okay. Taylor told me what happened and she was going to come down but I told her I would wait with you until she got a hold of your brother. She said he wasn't picking up his phone." Brooke had to laugh. Her brother was one of those people who were not up to date on modern technology. He always figured it was someone else's phone that was ringing.
"Brooke?" An unfamiliar voice said, breaking the girls out of their embrace. Brooke and Peyton both stood up to see a man in a suit coming towards them. He had no idea which one was Brooke and having both girls stand up was no help. "Brooke?" He tried again looking at Peyton. Peyton gestured towards Brooke, who tensed up beside her.
"Is everything okay?" Brooke asked taking a step towards the man. She felt her heart skip a beat when she heard him sigh.
"My name is Detective King and I'm going to be handling your sisters case. But right now we have a little problem. Your sister isn't cooperating with us, which is normal with most victims. We were wondering if you could come back and help us?" Brooke nodded and looked at Peyton.
"I'll stay right here," Peyton reassured her, sitting back down and watching as Brooke slowly followed the detective down the hall. "She's just in this room here," he said while pointing to the door in front of them. "We're going to need her to identify Nathan Scott, do think you could help her do that?"
Brooke felt her body go numb but she had to be strong. "Yeah, I can do that. Just give me five minutes." The detective nodded and Brooke took a deep breath before opening the door to the dimly light room. "Hales?" She called out in soft voice to make sure she didn't scare her. "Hi," she whispered, shutting the door beside her before walking over to Haley.
Haley sat there in silence staring at nothing in particular. The last thing she wanted to do was to talk about Nathan and how he tried to hurt her. It was all in the past and she wanted to move on, but she couldn't. Every time she heard his name thoughts of that night kept coming into her head.
"Haley?" Brooke said once again trying to snap her sister out of her daze. She gently pulled out the chair from underneath the table and sat down, putting her hands on top of Haley's. "How are you doing?"
"How the fuck do you think I'm doing?" Haley snapped pulling her hands away, while her eyes filled up with tears. "I don't want to talk to them about it, why can't they just leave it alone?"
Brooke sighed and scratched her head. There was nothing she could say to make her feel better so there was no use in lying. "Leave it alone? Haley! If you tell them what happened to you than Nathan will be going to jail. Don't you want that?"
"Yes, Brooke I want that, but I don't want to tell some stranger I just met about what happened. It's a little weird." Haley said, getting up from the table and walking away from Brooke.
"Haley I know it's uncomfortable, but all you have to do is identify Nathan for them and that's it."
Haley felt her body tense up and she started to tremble. "I, I have to see him?" Brooke nodded sadly and carefully made her way over to her sister, putting her arm around her. "I don't want to."
Brooke squeezed her tighter and brushed the hair out of her face. "It's okay, honey, I'm going to be right here with you, okay? He's not going to hurt you ever again."
"Promise?" Haley asked shyly, looking for comfort in Brooke's hazel eyes. Brooke nodded as the door opened and the Detective walked in.
"All set?" He asked looking back and forth between Brooke and Haley. Brooke looked at Haley for reassurance and then nodded towards him. "Okay," he said while he pulled up the blind revealing numerous men on the other side. "All you have to do is tell us which one Nathan is, Haley."
Haley gulped and scanned through the men that were standing on the other side of the wall. "They can't see us right?" She asked, gripping Brooke's hand for comfort.
"No. This is a one way mirror, we can see them, but they can't see us."
"Okay," Haley stuttered, searching for any sign of Nathan. Her heart skipped a beat when she spotted him. She quickly caught his bruised face and turned away, burying her head into Brooke's shoulder.
"He's number 7," Brooke said, pointing to Nathan while running her hand up and down her sister's back. The detective nodded and motioned for the guard in the room to take Nathan out.
Peyton fiddled with her thumbs waiting for Brooke to come back out. It had only been fifteen minutes but it felt like an eternity. She turned her head towards the front desk when she heard a familiar voice.
"Lucas?" She said, making her way towards him. "What are you doing here?" She asked confused. It then hit her that he was probably here to bail Nathan out.
"Apparently my dumbass of a brother got himself arrested and I'm here to bail him out. What are you doing here?" Lucas asked, raising his eyebrow at the blonde girl in front of him.
"You can't do that," Peyton said, ignoring his question. She figured he had no idea about Nathan trying to rape Haley.
"And why can't I, Miss Sawyer?" Lucas asked crossing his arms. Peyton was getting angry at the pure thought of Nathan roaming around free to go.
"Do you even know what he did?"
Lucas laughed and ran his hand through his neatly shaven head. "He said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Peyton shook her head and tugged at the stray curl that fell into her face. "Peyton are you okay?"
"You have no idea do you?" Peyton said, her voice rising in anger. How could be Lucas be so stupid? "I called the cops on him."
"What? Why the hell would you do that?" Lucas said, his voice also rising in anger. "Look, I know you two broke up a while ago, but Peyton, why would you do that?"
Peyton stood on the chair to become eye level with him and stared back at him with watery eyes. "Your brother tried to, tried to rape Haley." She spat angrily, letting the tears fall down her face without a care in the world. She watched as Lucas walked leaned against the wall before smacking it with his fist.
"Where's Haley?" Lucas asked, his voice beginning to tremble. "Is, is she okay?"
Peyton got off the chair and hugged him around the middle. "They've had her in for questioning for over 2 hours. Brooke's in there with her now trying to help her cooperate with the cops. Why would he do something like that, Luke?"
Lucas broke away from the embrace and rubbed his eyes, trying to rid the tears. "Because he's an asshole, that's why. I'm going to fucking kill him." He stormed off down the hall ignoring the protests from Nancy. He turned the corner, nearly bumping into Brooke.
"Lucas? What are you doing here?" Brooke asked before Lucas pulled her into a hug. She sniffled and allowed him to gently stroke her hair.
"Peyton told me what happened. Where's Haley?" Brooke held him tighter and rested her head on his chest. "Is she okay?"
"She's just, just in the bathroom. But god, Luke, she's not okay. She's too traumatized to even talk about it. But who could blame her." Haley slowly walked up to the couple, tapping Brooke on the shoulder to make her presence known. Brooke gently stepped aside and allowed Lucas to look at Haley. He shook his head and chewed his bottom lip, trying to think of something to say. Haley turned away to avoid his look.
"Hey," He whispered taking a step forward. He tried to pull her into a hug but she cowered away and sank to the floor. "It's me, buddy." Lucas sounded hurt at her actions but quickly shook it off.
Brooke pulled him back a little and shook her head. "They said that she might cower away from men. I'm so sorry, Lucas. But I think it's best if you leave," Brooke whispered giving him a quick hug. Lucas understood completely, but nodded sadly. His best friend didn't even want to be around him anymore.
"Lucas wait," Haley said, getting up from the floor and walking over to him. She allowed him to hug her, but she had no strength to hug him back. "I'm sorry," she whispered as he held her tighter, making her wince as his body brushed her bruised abdomen. She immediately pulled back and shuddered, hoping the pain would go away.
"What is it?" He asked in concern. Haley looked at Brooke and looked Brooke at Lucas. All she wanted to do was to go home and stop being treated like she was going to break. "Hales?" He asked again, this time softer. Brooke stepped in front of her sister and put her hand on Lucas' chest.
"Luke, can you just take us home?" Brooke asked him. Lucas looked back at Haley and sighed.
"Yeah, sure come on." He said, watching Haley scurry past him, not bothering to look at him. Brooke sighed heavily and held his hand as they walked out past Peyton, who ran right up to them.
"Peyton, I am so sorry," Brooke said, suddenly remembering Peyton was waiting for her. "I completely forgot and I-"
Peyton laughed and shook her head. "Don't sweat it. I'm just glad you're okay." She said glancing at Haley. "You don't mind if I go, then?"
Brooke shook her head and gave Peyton a hug. "We're all set, thanks. For everything." Peyton smiled and gave Lucas a quick hug. She decided it was best if she just smiled at Haley for the sake of her pulling away in fear.
"You all set, Hales?" Brooke asked before they started to walk any further. Haley looked at Lucas and shook her head.
"Can I go with Peyton?" Haley asked quietly.Lucas felt like he had been hit by a ton of bricks. Brooke looked at him sadly.
"No, no it's fine, go right ahead. I'll just stay here and pay my favorite little brother a visit."
"I'm sorry," Brooke whispered looking up at him with sad eyes. Lucas nodded and gave her a quick hug before disappearing down the hall. She knew it probably killed him to have Haley ignore him, but Brooke could understand where her sister was coming from. She knew she was going to have a hard time around guys, even her best friend.
"Are we all set?" Peyton asked breaking the silence that filled the air. Brooke and Haley both nodded and followed her out to the car.
Brooke struggled as she tried to open the door while an exhausted Haley leaned on her for support. She finally unlocked the door and gently kicked it open. She led Haley into the living room and sat her down on the chair.
"Hello?" She called out to the empty house. She glanced over to the couch and saw Taylor fast asleep. Typical she thought. Taylor was never one to depend on. She took off her jacket and walked over to Haley. "You must be exhausted. I think you should get some sleep, we'll talk in the morning."
"Yeah," Haley whispered, "are you coming too?"
"Where the hell have you two been?" Mike yelled, coming down the stairs. Haley immediately tensed up at his harsh voice.
Brooke took a deep breath and figured Taylor hadn't mentioned anything to Mike about their whereabouts. "Didn't Taylor tell you?"
"Tell me what?" Mike asked in a calm voice. He noticed Haley trembling and put his hand on her shoulder. She flinched and inched away from him, hiding behind her sister.
"Haley?" He said, stepping towards her once more. Haley latched onto Brooke tightly. "What in the world is going on?"
"You might want to sit down for this one," Brooke whispered as she gently pulled Haley off of her. Taylor began to stir and looked confused. She immediately shot up and put her hands over her mouth.
"Oh my god, I am so sorry. I must have fallen asleep while I was waiting for Mike." She exclaimed sitting up so Brooke could sit down. Brooke tried her best to let it go. She was too tired to start a fight.
"Don't worry. Can you just take her to bed? Just put her in my room, I'll be up soon." Brooke said with a heavy sigh. Taylor nodded and reluctantly and got up from the couch, letting out a small yawn. She knew Brooke was going to have a hard time letting Haley grow up, but with everything Haley experienced, she could understand where Brooke was coming from.
"Come on, Haley-Bub," Taylor said in a gentle voice, using the childhood nickname she had made up for her sister. Haley sighed and tried to hide her disappointment. She didn't want Taylor, she wanted Brooke. Brooke knew how to make her feel safe when she went to bed at night. Brooke knew how to tuck her in just like her mother did. Brooke made sure she was fast asleep before she left her room. Brooke knew how to do it all. Taylor didn't. Taylor thought it was weird that Haley still had to be tucked in. Taylor thought Brooke was babying her too much. Taylor was going to make Brooke stop, but Haley wasn't going to let it happen. Brooke was her rock and no one was going to take her away from her.
Mike watch in confusion as Haley sadly followed Taylor up the stairs and into her room. He joined Brooke on the couch and waited for her to fill him in. "So, what's up?"
"I don't know else to tell you so I'm just going to tell you straight, okay?" Mike nodded, a little scared as to what his sister was going to tell him. Brooke took a deep breath and let it all out. "Nathan tried to rape Haley. That's why I went over and trashed his apartment. I had to, Mike, I wasn't going to let him get away with hurting her…" She began to sob and felt her brother's arms wrap around her.
"It's okay, I understand. I just with you told me earlier before I stormed out. What else happened?" Brooke was surprised at Mike's tone. She figured he would be through the roof by now.
"Well, Peyton called the cops on Nathan and he was arrested and the cops came and took Haley down for questioning. But, they couldn't do anything except have her identify Nathan. They're going to come by tomorrow to talk to you and discuss the possibilities of what Haley will go through. I'm just so scared, she won't tell me anything more, she's sick of talking about it. I don't know what's going to happen to her." With every word she said, Brooke began to cry harder and harder. It was harder for her to sit here and talk about it than it was for Haley. She had always promised to protect Haley, but she let her down and that killed her.
"Brooke, Brooke, it's okay." Mike said, trying to comfort his sister. It was all new to him and he wasn't sure of what to do next. "I'll take some time off work, we'll get her the best psychologist possible, Jen can help her through this too, she's done rape cases before. It's all going to be okay, I promise. As for Nathan, he'll be rotting in jail by the time I get through with him. That no good bastard will pay for what he did."
Brooke wiped her eyes and nodded, pulling out of her brother's embrace. "I should probably get to bed. Haley needs me right now."
Mike nodded and stood up. "I think it's best if you guys took the rest of the week off. I'll call the school and let them know what happened."
"Okay," Brooke nodded before getting up and walking over to the stairs. "Goodnight," She said, beginning to walk up the stairs.
"Brooke, wait." Mike called out before her. Brooke walked back down and looked at him. "Look, I know I haven't been the best brother, but I want you to know I'm here for you and I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate everything you do for Haley. She'd be lost without you. And if you ever need help, just let me know. I'm going to be there every step of the way, I promise. I'm going to change. No more late nights at work, no more working from home, no more, it's all done. We need to sit down and have a long talk about everything. Including Mom and Dad."
Brooke shuddered at the thought of talking about her mother and father. He wasn't hiding something, was he? She was too tired to weigh out the possibilities. "I love you," she said, walking over to Mike and giving him one last hug.
"I love you too, Brooke," He said, watching her disappear up the stairs. He sighed heavily and put his face in his hands. Boy they were going to be in for a shock tomorrow.
Brooke dragged her feet up the stairs and barely made it through her bedroom door. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Thanks, Taylor," she mumbled, getting onto the bed and laid down next to a sleeping Haley. Taylor smiled and continued to run her hands through Haley's hair.
"Brooke, you know we have to do something about this, right?" Brooke felt a groan coming on but managed to suppress it with a cough. "You can't keep doing this."
"Can we talk about this in the morning?" Brooke snapped, shutting her eyes, wishing for Taylor to go away.
"Fine, but don't think you're avoiding me tomorrow," Taylor said with a sigh, getting off the bed and walking out of the room. Brooke sighed and rolled over to face her sister. Brooke knew Taylor was trying to get her to stop letting Haley sleep with her, but Brooke wasn't ready to give that up. Haley didn't know it, but she was Brooke's comfort during the night. She felt relaxed and at ease when Haley slept beside her.
"Brooke?" Haley said in a hoarse whisper. She heard what Taylor said and was woken up by the harshness in Brooke's voice. She too was afraid of their bond being broken by Taylor. "You promised not to leave me, don't let her take me away from you, please. I need you."
Brooke quickly hugged Haley before she launched into a fit of hysteria. "Hales, she's not going to tear us apart, I promise. I'm always going to be here for you, no matter what. But right now, you and I both need some sleep. I'll be right here for you in the morning."
"Promise?"
"I promise," Brooke whispered holding her sister closer. She wasn't going to let anyone take her away from her. Not Nathan. Not Taylor. No one. "No one is going to take you away from me. No one." Haley smiled at the sureness in her sister's voice. She snuggled closer towards her and shut her eyes, fearfully dreading the morning that lay ahead of her.
Well, I know that doesn't really tell you anything but Nathan's fate, but itwill be decided in the next chapter. There's going to be a few secrets revealed including why Taylor left without a goodbye. Also, Brooke deals with a heartbreak. And seeing as I should have a climax, in a few chapters poor Haley will go through a character change that won't sit well with her sister. Once again, thanks again for reading and reviewing. I'll shut up now.
Kristin