A/N This is my very first Beverly Hills fanfic... I wanted to explore how Valerie became the person she was in the series finale and the man she had met... I was going to write a happy fic but I'm really not good at those. I had to change some stuff like how the show ended. I really ship Valerie and David so for the sake of this fanfic, Kelly and Brandon is getting married instead. Other pairings will be Brenda and Dylan. I've already written eight chapters because I was really excited about this. This first chapter is like a prologue for this story that tells you about Valerie's life between leaving BH and the wedding.
Now, enjoy!
Prologue
Valerie had grown a lot as a person since moving away from Beverly Hills and back to Buffalo. She had made amends for all the bad stuff she'd done to the others and apologized. Though, she didn't feel like she was always at fault. Of course, the lying and manipulating behavior had pushed people away, but she'd never really gotten a chance in the first place. Kelly kept turning them all against her and in defense she had tried to make their lives as miserable as her own. All she wanted was to be loved and happy.
The relationship she'd had with David really helped her and even if she was pissed off when he broke up with her after she told him everything, she now understood what he meant. After what happened with her father she hadn't dealt with any of it. All she knew at the time was that she needed to get the hell out of there.
Out of that house.
Out of that school.
Away from all the bad memories.
They shipped her off to her old friends in Beverly Hills and a part of her was happy about it because she'd always envied Brenda's normal and perfect life. For the first time she would be able to sleep through the nights and study and bring friends home. Everything would be different.
But she just couldn't be happy there. Everyone was just squeaky-clean, which she knew she needed in her life. Looking back, she knew Ginger had been a bad influence from day one, but she was one of the only friends she'd ever had and helped her toughen up.
When she wasn't happy she just couldn't stand seeing everyone else so obnoxiously happy.
So when she went back to Buffalo she knew she needed to take David's advice and talk to someone professional. She should've done that as soon as she'd shot her father in the head and arranged the crime scene to look like a suicide, which everyone believed of course.
Her therapist was amazing. She made Valerie keep a journal where she could write down everything she was feeling and how she had felt all those years of abuse. She wrote a letter to her father, pouring out everything she wished she'd been brave enough to tell him when he was still alive. Valerie had shared every little thing she'd caused her friends on the west coast and she'd also written apology letters to each and every one of them, none of which she had sent of course. Perhaps when she was strong enough she would share them with the attended receivers, even if they already had forgiven her; how they could've done that she would never understand.
She was full of self-hatred, but therapy was helping her to slowly learn to like herself, maybe even love. At first, she had struggled with the decision of telling her therapist about what really happened that night her father died, but she'd done it and she wasn't sure if it was because the therapist wasn't allowed to tell anyone or if the woman just understood why Valerie did what she did. Everyone who knew told her it was self-defense and telling the police would just stir up trouble. She would have to sit down in court and tell everyone exactly what happened to her. She'd already gone through that once when Josh had drugged her and Noah had sex with her, and she had come out as the bad person.
The first year back in Buffalo Valerie had chosen to only focus on herself.
To heal.
To be happy.
And she finally reached that place where she could say that life was worth living. No more gut checks by a cliff. Her therapist even cleared her for dating.
Of course, her therapist couldn't actually decide if Valerie could date, but that's the deal they had made. Valerie didn't want to jump into anything without knowing that she was mentally okay.
She met Matthew during work. Valerie had gotten a job at a women's shelter where she could help women and children who had escaped an abusive family situation. Matthew was a detective who was working on one of the cases and the two of them hit it off almost instantly. They exchanged phone numbers and went on their first date the following Friday.
They actually had a lot in common and she had a surprisingly good time, which she believed he did too because he called her that same evening, after dropping her off, to plan their second date. And they kept seeing each other, taking things slow because she didn't want to rush into anything. She didn't want to mess up this relationship like she did with everything else. Eventually he asked her to move in with him and she said yes, after discussing this with her therapist of course. Nothing would go wrong this time. She was finally in a happy relationship with a man she loved more than anything else and they lived in a beautiful two-story house, an old family home he'd moved into when his grandfather passed away. Perfect for their future family he'd said.
When returning home from work one day, she found a single white envelope in the mail box and her fingers reached for it. She waited to open it until she got inside, and a smile stretched across her face when she saw the invitation.
Save the date for Brandon and Kelly's wedding.
Two years ago, she probably would've been upset by this information, hell she wasn't too happy the last time the two of them decided to get hitched, but that event had been cancelled. This time she wanted them to go through with it, to see the two of them happily married, just like she might be one day. Everything was going so well with Matthew after all. Now that her life had picked up she found herself excited about going back to the west coast and meet everyone again. Talking to her therapist and Matthew about some of the memories had actually made her miss them, even Kelly.
"Honey, I'm home," Matthew called as the front door slammed shut.
"In here," Valerie said from the kitchen, putting down the invitation and pouring herself a glass of homemade lemonade. "How was work?"
"It was alright," he shrugged and sat down at the kitchen island, smiling gratefully at his girlfriend when she handed him a glass of that same lemonade. "I just wish we could nail that son of a bitch. We all know he beat the crap out of his wife, but she's too afraid to press charges. I'm just afraid that the next time we see her she'll be dead."
Valerie grimaced and leaned on the island. "That sounds rough. Have you tried to convince her to go to the shelter?"
"Yeah and she's thinking about it. Perhaps you can work your magic and convince her that she'll be safe when he's behind bars."
"It's easier said than done," Valerie said and took a sip. She knew from experience that when you're being abused you're still afraid of what that person might do to you even when they're behind bars. They could still have dangerous contacts out in the real world.
"Mhm…" Matthew agreed and finally noticed the wedding invitation between them. "What's this?"
"Oh, I've been invited to Brandon and Kelly's wedding next month," she said, smiling widely.
"I see. And you're going?"
"I wouldn't want to miss it. I'd really want you to come with me," Valerie said and sat down next to him, holding her glass of lemonade close to her lips.
"Do you really think that's a good idea? Going back there I mean. Don't you remember how they treated you?"
"Hun, I wasn't very nice to them either. I've kind of missed them actually," she frowned slightly and took a sip. "Besides they weren't all that bad."
"You mean your ex-boyfriend?" Matthew asked and Valerie was sure there was a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"You know he helped me a lot in the past. Without him I probably wouldn't have been the person I am today," she said, her fingers brushing his arm.
"Yeah, you've mentioned that before," he said shortly and stood up from his seat, walking around the island to put the glass in the dishwasher.
"But I was hoping you could come with me."
"I can't just take days off work like that."
The annoyance was still in his voice and she knew there was no use in having a discussion about this right now. She had already decided she would go with or without him.
