SEASON ONE — EPISODE EIGHT
"𝙞'𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙞 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡"

‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧—

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'✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ TWO DAYS LATER, Brooke's eyes began to open, an immediate bright light almost blinding her and the beeps of a machine almost deafening her in the process. She was in a hospital, that much was clear and she couldn't help but feel displeased with the fact that she was alive.

And as if the lights and beeping wasn't enough, Nathan's face suddenly came into view, scaring the life out of her but when she moved, a sharp stinging pain zoomed through her in her stomach, "Ow!" Brooke yelped, her hand — which was connected to wires — reached up to her stomach, feeling a bandage underneath her hospital gown.

"Don't move." Nathan told her in a comforting tone but she only scrunched her brows up at him, rolling her eyes.

"Hard to say when you just scared the shit out of me." Brooke muttered, placing her hands by her sides in attempt to move but Nate's hands came up, pushing her back down.

"No, you need to rest, Brooke. You were fucking shot. Do you remember what happened?" He questioned and she furrowed her brows for a moment, glancing to the window at the right side of the room, her eyes staring at the bright green grass before she shook her head, looking back at her brother.

"No." She lied, shrugging but as she moved again, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach, her face scrunching up in a wince, "Ouch..." She whispered, huffing in annoyance. She wanted nothing more than to see if Vicki was okay, if Stefan was okay, even if Elena was okay, she wanted to know if they were safe.

As if he could read her mind, the youngest Salvatore brother entered the room, clearing his throat to catch the Elliot siblings' attention. Nathan spun around, his brows knitted together in confusion and that was when he sped towards the Salvatore in anger, shaking his head, "Do you know why she was shot? Because one minute she was telling me she was going out with you and Elena and the next minute she's almost dead." He snapped, the space between the two extremely small, Brooke could swear they were practically kissing.

"Hey, he had nothing to do with my almost death. Leave Stef alone." Brooke moved to sit up, forgetting she had stitched in her stomach and she dropped back down after she felt a slight rip, her face scrunching up in pain, "Ow, shit." She mumbled, leaning her head back on the pillow in irritation.

"I'll go get a nurse." Nate told her, his eyes lingering on Stefan for a short moment before he brushed past him, heading out of the room. Brooke looked to her left, smiling at Stefan as she watched him approach her, a sympathetic smile on his lips.

"How are you doing?" Stefan asked, though it was pretty clear how shit she was feeling but she forced a wider smile, fiddling with her fingers in her lap.

"I'm great." Brooke responded sarcastically, glancing at her hands for a moment before looking back at him, her eyebrows furrowing ever so slightly, "How is everyone? Vicki?"

"She... left town." Stefan lied, he didn't have the heart to tell her the Donovan girl was dead and that he killed her, he knew it would break her heart into two for the millionth time in her life. Despite the lie, Brooke was still upset, forcing herself to sit up, "Be careful." He told her, watching as she winced, stabilising herself.

"Are you joking? Where did she go?" Brooke questioned further, a look of concern on her pale face and he shrugged, shaking his head. When he didn't reply, she narrowed her eyes, knowing something was wrong, "Okay, stop lying to me. I'm getting really worried." Her breaths became heavy and Stefan opened his mouth to speak, squeezing his eyes shut.

He hesitated and she noticed, reaching her hand forwards to slap his hand despite the pain shooting through her stomach as she moved, "She's dead." He rushed out, scratching the back of his neck nervously and her eyes widened, immediately watering. It wasn't real, it couldn't be... but before she could ask more questions, she mindlessly yet silently began to cry, her face in her hands, "I'm so sorry, Brooke. I should've never brought you into this, I'll stay away from you from now on."

Stefan spun around, his own eyes watering as he exited the room, the only sound in his ears was the sound of Brooke's quiet, heartbreaking sobs. On his way down the hallway, battling with his tears, he passed the Sheriff and Nathan, the two arguing about whether Ms Forbes should interrogate Brooke about Vicki Donovan, who had apparently 'left town'.

Luckily, for not only Brooke but everybody else, Sheriff Forbes left the hospital, deciding against investigating Brooke Elliot.

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"CAREFUL, YOU SHOULD KNOW THERE'S ONLY TWO STEPS." Nathan rolled his eyes, placing his arm under his sister's thighs and his other arm behind her back, choosing to carry her inside of the trailer instead of watching her trip over.

"Ow!" Brooke groaned, wrapping her arm around his neck with a scrunched up face, pain shooting through her entire body, "Remind me to never hang out with the Gilberts again."

"Well, you technically are a Gilbert." Nate stated, opening the door and he stepped inside, heading straight for the couch. The trailer was a mess, only because Brooke hadn't been around to be a cleaning freak, there were clothes strewn around the hardly spacious room and in the kitchen, dirty plates and takeout containers were scattered all over the counters.

"Shit." She muttered, wincing again as he carefully placed her down on the couch and that was when she noticed how much of a tip it was in there, "Nathan, are you kidding me? You're thirty and you don't know how to clean." She snapped, her eyes flickering all around the room as he closed the front door, locking it.

"Don't start, I'll clean it and I'm not thirty." Nate scrunched up his face in annoyance as he headed down the hallway, entering her bedroom to grab her a change of clothes only to scream loudly, causing Brooke to pop her head up over the back of the couch.

"What happened? Nate?" She called out, and all she could hear was muttering before Caroline walked out of the bedroom, a guilty smile on her face. A grin spread across Brooke's lips, squealing with glee as she stared at her best—friend, "Care—bear!" She held her arms out and Caroline ran forwards, rounding the couch to give her a tight embrace, "Ow."

"Sorry." Caroline winced, giggling slightly and eventually, they both pulled away, smiling at each other but before Caroline could ask how she was, Nate exited the hallway, an angry expression on his face.

"She snuck in, how did you break that window?" Nate asked, leaning his hands onto the back of the couch and Caroline furrowed her brows, attempting to hide her flustered state as he hovered over her, blinking a few times before she spoke.

"Um, I didn't... It was already broken." Caroline and Nathan both looked over at Brooke, who was lying back on the arm of the couch, an oblivious look on her face.

"Why are you both looking at me?" She put her hands up in surrender, wincing slightly as she felt another shock of pain, she could hardly move without feeling something stabbing her. She was surprised she wasn't traumatised by it, she was actually doing pretty well mentally.

"Because it's your window." Caroline spoke as if it was the most obvious thing ever, yet Brooke was still oblivious, but only for a moment. Her eyes lit up in realisation, her window had been broken for a while... thanks to Damon Salvatore.

"I didn't break it." She played dumb, resting her head on a pillow and Nate groaned, dragging a hand down his face in stress. Caroline looked away from him before she cuddled up beside Brooke, muttering apologies every few seconds as she got comfortable.

The sound of a tap running surrounded the small home, informing them that Nate was doing the dishes and the younger Elliot grinned with pride, glad she finally got her brother to do something semi—productive.

A couple of hours later, Brooke was fast asleep beside Caroline, who sat between the siblings, Brooke's legs draped over hers. Nathan sat on the end, throwing candy into his mouth every few seconds as he stared at the television screen, a horror movie playing.

"Gross." Caroline grimaced, looking away from the TV as a murder scene came into view, the gore too much for the blonde. Nathan chuckled, lifting his arm and he moved her face so that she was looking at it, making her slap his hand away, "Don't do that." She whispered, her voice angry yet still humorous, a cheeky grin placed on Nate's lips.

"It isn't even that bad, he's just getting stabbed. It's not like he's being ripped open..." He shrugged, plopping another piece of candy into his mouth when a gunshot erupted from the movie, causing Brooke to jump up, screaming in fear. They both rushed to her aid, Nathan now crouched down beside her, the candy abandoned on the carpet, forgotten.

She began to sob in Caroline's arms as Nathan brushed her hair out of her face, the only thing she was able to think about was the accident. The way Damon couldn't have cared less about her death, the way Logan Fell didn't even feel one hint of remorse after shooting her so mercilessly, the way Vicki was dead.

The way Stefan never wanted to see her again, the way her parents were gone, one taken and one left. Her life was a shit show and if she didn't know it then, she definitely knew it now...

Or so she thought.

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