"𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙"

‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧—

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'✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ "THAT'S CRAZY THAT MR. TANNER LET YOU ON THE TEAM. Tyler must be pissed, but good for you, Stefan." Brooke smiled, sat on Damon's lap on an armchair, opposite to the armchair holding Bonnie and Stefan and Elena sat on the couch in the middle. Stefan smiled in response, a little distracted by the scarf around her neck, "Go for it." Brooke placed the mug of tea down onto the coffee table.

"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit and wait for life to come. You have to go get it." Damon smirked at Stefan, who just glared in response to his brother.

"Well, Elena wasn't so lucky today. It's only because you missed summer camp." Brooke explained to her cousin, her hand out as she spoke, "I mean, I could always teach you but I'm really busy with—"

"I'll work with her, she'll get it." Bonnie nodded at Brooke, feeling a little overwhelmed by the aforementioned girl's state. She was acting different, she even looked different, it was weird.

"I could always ask Caroline to put you in the back if that makes you feel more comfortable." Brooke grinned at Elena, who only glared at her in response, really disliking the way the Elliot was behaving.

"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena." Damon spoke, and Elena smiled, blushing a little as she lifted her own cup of tea to her lips. Feeling jealous, Brooke rushed out the first words that came to mind.

"It's because her parents died, I was like that too. She's just going through this blah phase, she used to be really fun but now she's such a—" Brooke trailed off after seeing all of the glares and negative looks she was receiving, so she gulped and sat back into Damon's chest, only to be pushed back up, "Sorry."

"I'm sorry, Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." Damon stared directly at Stefan, who kept his glare, refusing to back down to his older brother.

"That's depressing." Brooke leaned over, grabbing her cup from the table when Elena sat up, her eyebrows pinched.

"You made it depressing first by bringing up my parents, Brooke." Elena rolled her eyes, placing her own cup down on the table and Stefan lifted his arm, placing it around his girlfriend's shoulders in attempt to comfort her. At that, Brooke calmed down, her mood switched from anger to jealousy, which was a much calmer emotion.

"Let's just not talk about death... anymore, Damon." Stefan nodded over at his brother, who seemingly didn't get the hint.

"Yeah, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up." Damon let out a heavy breath, wincing a little and Stefan removed his arm from Elena's shoulders, staring forwards in defeat.

"I'm gonna go and clean up." Elena spoke up awkwardly, and she pushed herself up, walking away from the small room. Eventually, Damon followed and so did Bonnie, leaving Stefan and Brooke in the room alone.

Brooke leaned back in her chair, now visibly quiet as she anxiously picked at her nails, feeling more comfortable than she did when Damon was in the room. Stefan seemed to take notice of that, sitting forwards with his hands on his thighs.

"That's a really nice scarf." Stefan pointed, and Brooke looked up, grimacing a little.

"Really? I think it's gross." Brooke responded, causing Stefan to chuckle a little to himself. He got up, moving to the edge of the couch to get closer.

"Can I see it?" Stefan asked and Brooke felt herself become cautious, automatically putting up the wall, "I mean, would you mind taking it off?" He asked further, getting closer and Brooke furrowed her brows, pushing herself backwards.

"You're getting too close." Brooke stated and his expression instantly softened as he moved backwards, knowing he crossed the line. Though, he still kept persistent, he knew Damon was doing something to her and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"I just wanted to know if you were okay, are you?" Stefan tilted his head and Brooke's eyes snapped down to her hands again, picking at her nails nervously.

"Um... I don't know." She looked up, her bright hazel eyes locking with his deep green ones, his eyes filled with concern and worry for her, and she sent him a tight-lipped smile, grateful that he cared, despite the fact that she was practically a stranger to him.

"Can you not take it off?" Stefan interlocked his hands, placing them in his lap as he watched Brooke's every move, making her feel a little self-conscious under his gaze.

"Okay, you're making me feel really uncomfortable now with all of these questions..." Brooke defended, her wall up and strong, and Damon approached, cutting their conversation short.

"What are you two kids talking about?" He asked, sitting on the arm of the armchair Brooke was sitting at.

"I was just commenting on her scarf." Stefan told his brother, his expression threatening towards Damon but soft towards Brooke, who furrowed her brows in disagreement.

"More like interrogating." Brooke scoffed lightly before she pushed herself up and out of the armchair, picking up her mug from the coffee table, "I'ma go and help Elena and Bonnie."

Before she completely exited the room, Damon clicked his fingers, treating her as if she was his dog and she spun around, her eyebrows furrowed towards the man, "Ask about Stefan whilst you're at it." Damon wiggled his brows, somehow compelling her from afar and Brooke nodded before she turned around again, entering the kitchen.

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DAMON DITCHED BROOKE, so instead of going home to a probably fast asleep, loudly snoring Nate, she went to Caroline's house. The two were sat on the blonde's bed, both clad in pyjamas. Caroline's were a cream yellow with thin, mustard yellow stripes, they were silk, the top a vest and the pants were wide leg.

Brooke's pyjamas were unmatched, unorganised, just like her life. She wore a plum purple Radiohead shirt with black drawstring shorts and black fluffy socks on her feet, "So, how's Nate?" Caroline asked, plopping a piece of popcorn into her mouth as Avril Lavigne played in the background on her cat radio.

"Why?" Brooke furrowed her brows, staring into the bottom of her bowl of sweet popcorn, stirring the contents around to avoid the non-popped cornels and Caroline groaned, leaned back on the bed with her arms above her head.

She didn't reply to Brooke's question, just watching the side of her face as she chucked a piece of popcorn in her mouth every ten seconds, her face full of concentration as she moved the cornels away from the popcorn. Caroline began to hum to the song playing when she trailed off, her eyes locked on the redness around Brooke's neck.

The blonde jumped up onto her knees, pulling Brooke's hair back without hesitation and Brooke moved her head away, swatting Caroline's hands from her face, "Has Stefan's brother been hurting you?" She yelled, knowing her mom wasn't home so it didn't matter as much, but it did to Brooke, causing her to cover her ears.

"Calm down, C. It's okay, he's just..." Brooke squeezed her eyes closed, trying to think of an excuse when Caroline smirked, leaning backwards a bit.

"Kinky?" The blonde asked, catching Brooke off guard, her eyes widening in shock and she placed her hand over her mouth, giggling uncontrollably, "What? I just said what you were thinking!"

"Definitely, Caroline." Brooke responded sarcastically, a grin on her lips and Caroline didn't take offence to it, quietly laughing to herself. It went silent between the two for a while, and Caroline cleared her throat, standing up from the bed to pace around, touching things on her dresser. She was quite a fidgety person, meaning that growing up, she had owned at least five hundred fidget toys so that she wouldn't overstimulate herself.

"So, about the game tomorrow, what are the odds that we'll actually win? I mean, we have Stefan now so..." Caroline shrugged, looking back at Brooke who had took it upon herself to reach across the bed, grabbing the blonde's half-eaten bowl of popcorn and she was stuffing her face with the toffee popcorn, "Hey!"

Caroline ran forwards, snatching the bowl from Brooke's hands and the brunette pouted, showing her sad puppy-eyes expression. They stared at each other for a moment, until Caroline eventually gave in with a sigh, handing the bowl back, "Thanks, bae." Brooke winked at the blonde, who giggled, spinning around.

"My mom hasn't called today." Caroline leaned back onto the bed, her arms out and it created a huge puff of wind, causing Brooke's hair to fly up in the air. The latter furrowed her brows, placing the now empty bowl onto the nightstand. She pushed herself up onto her knees and laid forwards onto her stomach, playing with Caroline's hair.

"Is she okay?" Brooke questioned, beginning to braid strands of the blonde's hair. Caroline nodded, letting out a deep sigh, wishing nothing more than for her mother to just love her unconditionally.

"Yep, saw her on duty earlier. She hates me." Caroline assumed, raising her hands in the air in front of her to pick at her violet nail polish. At her words, Brooke nudged her shoulder lightly, scolding her.

"Hey, she does not hate you, okay? Anyone who hates you is just plain stupid, trust me. You're so perky, and fun, and not to mention, you're hilarious! Your beautiful smile brightens up a gloomy room, and your laugh is so contagious, in a good way. It's so precious!" Brooke mindlessly fiddled with the blonde strands, unaware of the huge grin on Caroline's face. Brooke always had a way of either effortlessly hurting someone or being able to cheer them up in the sweetest way possible, "I'm just saying, if you were my daughter, I'd never be able to stop talking about you. About how proud I am of you."

"Aw, I love you so much, Brooke!" Caroline suddenly flipped over onto her stomach and she reached her hands up, grabbing onto Brooke's face, pulling her head forwards to press a gentle kiss to her cheek. Brooke's face went red, and she smiled, brushing some hair behind her ear, "You're adorable."

"Okay, too much cuteness. I'm tired!" Brooke pulled away with a slight laugh, falling back onto the bed, her head hitting the pillow and Caroline giggled loudly, following suit. Brooke reached over, flipping off the radio and the lamp, the room going dark, "Sweet dreams, C."

"Love you, B." Caroline pushed herself under the duvet and got comfortable before she hooked her arm in Brooke's to get warmer, the two best-friends squished together as they slept peacefully. It wasn't their first time, and definitely wasn't their last.

@amxliewrites || starring role
2024