SEASON ONE — EPISODE TWENTY
"𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙙"

‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧—

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'✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ HER FOREHEAD RESTED AGAINST HER KNEES, her hair which she pulled out of that messy bun now fell over her legs, framing her face as she slept on the floor. Elena wasn't entirely sure how her cousin did it — both sleeping on the dirty, hard floor sat up and not sleeping for days, it seemed impossible for her.

Elena and Stefan were sat opposite Brooke, only they were on the small bed Damon had made for his brother. Hours went by, Elena continuously pestering her boyfriend to drink the bottle of blood whilst he just ignored her, spinning his bracelet around his wrist — it was black, and practically a singular piece of thread, but it was sentimental, it was Brooke's.

Eventually, Elena managed to get Stefan to come around and she stood up, placing his daylight ring on the bed beside him before she left. The only sound Stefan could hear was the mere sound of Brooke's breathing as she slept so uncomfortably on that floor, her arms wrapped around her legs and her forehead still pressed against her knees.

Even as she slept with her face out of view, Stefan could still see how broken she was, how much he'd hurt her, how much stress he'd caused on her. She never needed it, it was unnecessary. Brooke already had a ton of pain and weight on her shoulders without him in her life, and all he did once he arrived was only make it worse for her.

So, he stood from the camping bed without his daylight ring and left the basement, only he didn't go upstairs to see Elena, he left the house entirely. He was going to kill himself.

Brooke was shoved awake just twenty minutes later and her eyes snapped open, her head lifting. Her green eyes met Elena's dark eyes, only hers were filled with concern, "Where did he go?" Elena asked as Brooke reached her hand up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Where did who go?" Brooke mumbled, barely awake as she struggled to push herself up off of the hard floor, realising her ass had gone numb, "Ow, my legs."

"Stefan's gone. He left." Elena began to panic, running a hand through her hair and Brooke rolled her eyes, regaining her balance once she was on her feet.

"I know where he went." And this was the first time reading Stefan's journals and listening to his stories came in handy.

In just under ten minutes, Brooke found herself still hardly awake, stood a few metres behind Stefan at Steven's Quarry, the place Stefan had told her he'd first transitioned into the monster that he was. She watched as he shook his head rapidly, as if he was having a panic attack or a flashback and her eyebrows knitted together as she took a step back.

Elena was just a few steps behind, appearing from behind a bush before she stopped beside Brooke, Stefan's daylight ring in between the Gilbert's fingers, "Stefan." Brooke called out, though her voice was tired and quiet, and Stefan immediately turned around, looking towards the two cousins, "You shouldn't have told me about this place, I knew I'd find you here." Brooke explained, running a hand through her hair.

"I should have died that night... just like I had chosen." Stefan spoke, tears in his eyes as he remembered the events of the night he transitioned, "I should have let Damon die too."

"But you didn't. And if you die now, it's not gonna change what happened." Elena explained, taking a step forwards so now Brooke was a little behind, scuffing her shoes in the grass. She didn't know what to do, frankly she was too exhausted to fight him anymore, to fight the negative thoughts inside of his head. She was merely a friend at that point, it was Elena's job to comfort him.

"Every single person that's been hurt..." Stefan shook his head slowly as he trailed off, his eyes flickering over to Brooke momentarily, noticing how distant she looked and it only caused his heart to ache all the more, "...every single life that's been lost, it's because of me."

Elena paused for a moment, her brows knitted together, "The night that my parents died... I blew off family night so that I could go to some party. I ended up getting stranded and they had to come pick me up. That's why we ended up in the car at Wickery Bridge. And that's why they died." She explained, a hurt expression on her face, "Our actions are what set things in motion. But we have to live with that."

"I made a choice, Elena. And because of that choice, a lot of people were hurt." Stefan continued, as if he was completely pushing Elena's words aside and Brooke felt like facepalming, both physically and mentally drained.

"So, don't hurt anybody else. You were able to change the person that the blood made you once before, so what's stopping you now?" Brooke raised a brow, finally having got a word in, but not by choice, rather by necessity, "You made a choice to be good, so be good."

"No. Please don't do that. I can't." Stefan slumped his shoulders as he looked towards her, shaking his head with tears in his eyes.

"Yes, you can, Stefan. You're the person who jumped in the water to save the family whose car had driven off the bridge." Elena butted in, taking a step forwards, unnoticeably blocking Brooke from sight as she got closer and closer to the broken Salvatore brother.

"Please, don't make this all okay." Stefan practically begged, pressing his palms together but Elena didn't listen, edging even closer.

"You're the person who saved my life."

"You don't understand, Elena."

"Then tell me."

"It hurts me. It hurts me, knowing what I've done to everyone, to the people I love... And that pain... that pain is with me all the time. And every day, I think that if I just— If I just give myself over to the blood, I can make that pain stop." As Stefan explained, waving his hands everywhere as he spoke, Brooke felt her eyes watering. Whilst she wasn't a vampire with an irresistibly strong thirst for human blood, she could still relate, she could relate to wanting everything to stop, she once considered ending her life. Did she do it? No, but she still thought about it to the current day.

So, before Stefan could continue, Brooke rushed forwards and threw her arms around the Salvatore without warning. He took a few steps back in shock, but her arms stayed around his torso as she sobbed, holding him close, "Please don't, I need you." She whispered, only loud enough for him to hear and he was stunned, so was Elena.

But, Elena's shock didn't last long before she, too, stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around both her boyfriend and her cousin, letting out a dry sob of her own. Stefan only stood still, frozen in shock. But, the hug didn't last long before Elena pulled away, Brooke following suit.

The former reached up and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, sucking in a deep breath before turning away, allowing Elena to finish her little speech, "Maybe I don't know about your pain or your thirst, Stefan. But, what I do know... is that you can take this..." She held up his daylight ring between her fingers, a genuine look on her face as she stared into his eyes, "...throw it in the quarry, and let the sun rise. Or, you could take this ring and put it on. And keep fighting, because we both need you." Elena stepped closer and placed the ring into Stefan's palm, wrapping his fingers around it before she leaned up, pressing a kiss to his lips.

And while Brooke cared, she knew Elena had convinced him, so she quietly stumbled past them and sat on the edge of the grass, looking down at the lake below, the moon in the reflection causing a smile to appear upon her lips.

When she turned her head to look at the two, they were now further away by only a few steps, tangled together as they kissed passionately. Her stomach turned, in a good way, as she looked away, minding her own business. She loved Elena, she loved Stefan, and no matter how much they stressed her out, they were still her family, and they'd always be.

Just a mere hour later, Stefan carried a fast asleep Brooke through the trailer park, having found her fast asleep just by the water at the Quarry when he'd finished his hug with Elena. His eyes trailed down to her sleeping face as he walked without struggle, making his way up the steps and he knocked on the door, only for Caroline to answer.

"Stefan?" Caroline scrunched her face up in confusion, but it only lasted a moment before her eyes trailed down to Brooke in his arms, "Oh, my God, is she dead?" One of her hands snapped up to her mouth in shock and Stefan shook his head.

"No, just asleep." Stefan replied simply, stepping into the trailer and his eyes scanned the trailer when he noticed a snoring Nathan Elliot sprawled across the couch. The two siblings were very much alike and it caused a small smile to spread across his lips.

"We were worried sick about her, she just ran off." Caroline explained as she rushingly followed Stefan down the narrow hallway and watched as he lightly kicked Brooke's bedroom door open, carrying her inside.

He laid her down on her bed in the corner of the room and pointed towards her boots, gesturing for Caroline to pull them off for her whilst he took off the girl's jacket, "I was having a panic attack, she was just worried about me."

"Okay, but what about the days of depression mode? She was killing herself." Caroline explained quietly, though there was an irritated tone in her voice as she spoke and it slightly triggered Stefan, but as he looked down at Brooke's peaceful face, he felt at ease again.

"I know, but she'll be okay now. It's my turn to look after her." Stefan whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead before he stood up straight, gently draping the girl's leather jacket of the back of her desk chair.

"Are you staying?" Caroline asked, neatly tucking Brooke's boots under the bed, just barely visible and Stefan quickly shook his head, waving his hand.

"No, no. I have to get back home, are you?" Stefan raised a brow as he stretched and Caroline thought about it for a moment before nodding with a calm smile.

"Of course I am." Caroline grinned even wider, the real reason she was staying being to catch a glimpse of Nathan shirtless after his morning shower but she wasn't going to admit that to just anybody. Stefan nodded with a smile back in return before he left the room, making his way out of the trailer completely without a sound.

And on his way back home, he thought up a list of how to get back into Brooke's good graces because he knew it would be hard to gain back her trust.

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JUST THE NEXT MORNING, Caroline had dressed her best—friend up and dragged her to school to design a stupid float for Founder's Day and Brooke couldn't be more bummed. She found herself sat at a table in the school cafeteria filled with people decorating things for the day alongside Matt, Bonnie and Tyler as Alaric travelled around, handing out papers to them all.

"So, these are the specs for the History Department's Founder's Day float. We're gonna be re—creating the Battle of Willow Creek. Tyler's been nominated to head up the production design." Alaric explained, hanging the sketches to them all but when one was handed to Brooke, she couldn't even look at it, her face buried in her elbow with her arms crossed over the table in front of her.

"By who?" Tyler asked, clearly surprised.

"By me. I've seen your sketches. I know you're good." Alaric paused behind Brooke, letting out a sigh as Tyler began to deny.

"I'm not really into the whole—"

"Oh, my God, just do it!" Brooke snapped, feeling a migraine coming on and Tyler's eyes widened for a moment before he went quiet.

"Just pick your team, be creative and— And don't screw up." Alaric trailed off, walking away towards the entrance to the cafeteria as if he'd noticed something.

"Great." Tyler mumbled annoyedly, rolling his eyes as Matt picked up a pencil, tapping the end of it against Brooke's arm.

"What?" She groaned into her arm, shuffling away from him with a grunt and Matt let out a chuckle, glancing at Bonnie momentarily.

"Jeez, someone's groggy." Matt rolled his eyes playfully, leaving Brooke alone to fall asleep against her arm but it didn't last long before she was nudged, only now from her right side.

"Wanna help?" Tyler asked, a pleading look in his eyes as Brooke reluctantly lifted her head and she let out a fake cry, clearly not up to it.

"Does it look like I wanna help?" She rolled her eyes, moving to place her face back in the crook of her elbow but before she could, Tyler nudged her gently for a second time.

"Come on, please." Tyler begged, staring into her eyes and after a few moments, she let out a huff.

"You owe me." She muttered, slumping her shoulders as they began the project. Bonnie then stood up and strolled away without a word, sitting down with Caroline. Brooke watched, only wishing she could be there with them, using the laptop Caroline was typing in to but no, she was stuck at that table with two dudes who could care less about what she wanted — a few months ago, Matt would've totally cared but now? She wasn't so sure.

They worked on the project, designing a float and Brooke couldn't help but notice the glares between Matt and Tyler, it only made her more uncomfortable. She cleared her throat, attempting to sit up properly but she was just too tired, too fed up with the angst and arguing.

"Okay, I'm done." Brooke snapped, standing up from the table and plopping herself down beside Caroline. Her eyes immediately locked onto the hideous float from the last Mystic Falls Float, her face scrunching up in disgust, "Blegh."

"I know right." Caroline scoffed, "We're going to do the complete opposite of that."

"Good." Brooke smiled, "Can somebody do something about Matt and Tyler? All they do is glare and make snarky comments and it's actually gonna make my brains fucking explode everywhere! All over you!" Brooke pointed towards Bonnie, demonstrating how her head was gonna burst and Bonnie grimaced, shaking her head.

"Please don't." Bonnie let out a laugh, and so did the other two, the three girls in giggling messes but it was always ruined. Suddenly, Alaric walked over in a rushed manner and tapped Brooke's shoulder, sending her a look before practically jogging off back in the same direction.

With a look in her friends' direction, Brooke made her way out of the cafeteria and entered the history classroom where she found Alaric stood behind his desk, Elena sat at one of the students' desks, Stefan stood to Elena's left and Damon stood in front of Elena, his arms crossed over his chest, "What's she doing here?" Damon snapped, a slight glare slapped onto his face and Brooke scrunched up her brows, sticking her tongue out at him like a child, though Alaric let out a chuckle, and surprisingly, Stefan did too.

"She's here to help me deal with you." Alaric rolled his eyes as Brooke stood beside him, her hands on her hips. She could feel green eyes burning into her soul, but she avoided Stefan's gaze, far too tired to deal with his problems that day because lately, that was all he caused and as much as she loved him, she just couldn't handle it.

"Whatever. What's with all the furrowed brows?" Damon asked, having noticed how distant Stefan and Elena looked, along with Alaric before Brooke joined his side.

"I saw Isobel last night." Alaric's words caught both Damon and Brooke's attention, their eyes wide as they looked towards the teacher.

"Isobel's in Mystic Falls?" Brooke quirked a brow, her eyes accidentally flickering over to Stefan but as soon as they caught eye contact, she looked back over at Alaric, her cheeks heating up. After everything, there was a part of her that felt awkward around him now, she just wasn't as comfortable as she once was.

"Yep." Alaric nodded, pressing his lips into a thin line and Brooke instantly made her way over to Elena, bending down just a tad to be in eye level with her cousin.

"I can't imagine how hard this is for you, Lena." Brooke smiled sadly, the nickname she used to call her cousin accidentally slipping but it only made Elena smile back, reaching out to hug the Elliot girl.

"It's okay. Just stay with me, please?" Elena proposed, burying her face into Brooke's shoulder and the former immediately nodded, humming in agreement.

"Anything."

"Did you ask about Uncle John?" Damon randomly spoke up, beginning to pace as Brooke pulled away, propping herself up onto the desk beside the one Elena was sat in, swinging her flared jeans clad legs. Stefan had moved to sit on Alaric's desk, his eyes on his shoes, "Are they working together?"

"No." Alaric replied, a hint of irritation in his tone.

"No, they're not?"

"No, I didn't ask."

"What about the invention?"

"Didn't ask."

"She know about the tomb vampires?"

"Demon, shut up already! He'd just seen his supposedly dead wife after two years and you expect him to be asking these questions?" Brooke snapped, her hands pressed against the table beside her thighs as she continued to swing her legs, her eyes on the older Salvatore brother, who paused directly in front of Alaric.

Damon let out a sigh and glanced back at Brooke and Elena momentarily before his head turned back to the teacher, "What'd she want?"

"She wants to see me." Elena spoke up, her arms stretched out on the table in front of her and Brooke's arm sprung out, her hand gently landing on the girl's shoulder for moral support.

"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting. We don't know why or what she wants." Stefan spoke up, his expression tired and as he finished speaking, his eyes landing on Brooke, whose face turned away as soon as he looked at her.

"Well, if it were me, I'd want to meet my daughter." Brooke shrugged, her hand giving Elena's shoulder a small squeeze.

"Yeah, but you have empathy. Isobel seems like a completely different person, like she's heartless." Alaric explained, his arms crossed over his chest and Damon scoffed, letting out a laugh.

"Okay, firstly, Brooke lacks emp—"

"Shut up, Damon." Elena cut him off, clearly not in the mood for his usual teasing personality and Brooke smiled softly, giving Elena's shoulder a second squeeze of reassurance.

"Hey, if you don't want to see her, then you totally don't have to." Brooke told her and when the cousins locked eyes, Brooke smiled softly, the corners of her eyes creasing slightly and her dimples visible.

"I don't really have a choice." Elena responded, lifting her hand to place it atop Brooke's and the aforementioned girl furrowed her brows, looking towards Alaric.

"She's threatening to go on a killing spree." Alaric explained, his eyes on the Elliot, who rolled her eyes, letting out a sigh. Damon clicked his tongue, lifting his brows curtly.

"Oh. I take it that's not okay with you guys?" Damon looked around, trying to be funny but nobody laughed and Brooke had to hold back from visibly cringing. Though, she wasn't strong enough and accidentally gritted her teeth, scrunching her brows in embarrassment.

"I wanna do it. I wanna meet her. If I don't, I know I'll regret it." Elena explained, letting out a sigh as she glanced at the four around her. They all were skeptical, especially Damon and Brooke, but they all agreed. And at Elena's request, Brooke had agreed to be by her side the entire time.

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