CHAPTER VIII ―

I'M ALRIGHT

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐍𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐘 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐖𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑, and when she had woken up, the young Sommers girl was utterly confused. She couldn't remember a thing from Friday or what had happened.

The first face she'd seen when she woke up was her mom, of course. Jenna had nearly burst into tears when she'd heard her daughter say her name, voice hoarse from the lack of water. She had instantly burst into action, giving her daughter water and darn near squeezing the life out of her daughter. Brooke had laughed a little when her mom had threatened her that if she'd ever do something like that again, there would be some consequences.

They had taken the whole morning to talk and watch horrible soaps that could only be watched at a Hospital, until Jenna had called Elena and Jeremy, announcing that Brooke was alright and was ready for visitors. It was just shy of fifteen minutes later when her cousins had burst into the room. Whilst Elena had hugged her and made sure she was okay, even helping her brush her hair... Jeremy had burst into tears and wept into the young Sommer girls shoulder.

"Jeremy, it's alright. I'm alright," Brooke had whispered to the youngest Gilbert, gently rubbing his back. She could feel his sobs getting harder, even though he was trying to hide it. "Shh..."

Elena and Jenna had left the room when Jeremy broke down, letting the two cousins just be with each other. Jenna had known that Jeremy was attached to her daughter, thinking of her as the big sister he'd always wanted. Not that Elena was a bad big sister, but there was a special bond between the two cousins. There always had been.

To say the least, the entire Gilbert and Sommers family had stayed with Brooke, chatting and talking idly, helping the young strawberry blonde catch up on everything she'd missed in two days. It was until Stefan had slowly entered the room, peeking his head in first with a boutique of flowers. "I hope I'm not interrupting." There was a charming smile on his face. Brooke melted.

"And that's our cue," Elena chuckled, standing up and beginning to grab her things.

Jenna smiled as she beckoned Stefan in, grabbing her own things with Jeremy in tow. "Now, you two," she stared the couple down. "I don't want any funny business in this hospital room."

Brooke groaned. "Moment ruined!"

Jenna laughed, beginning to shove the Gilbert boy out of the room. "C'mon, Jer. We have a lot to talk about." With a chorus of goodbyes and see you laters, the door had shut, leaving the young couple alone.

...

"Y'know, I was really worried something bad had happened to you," Stefan muttered, laying next to Brooke in the hospital bed. It was a tight fit, but the couple had made it work. She was practically in Stefan's lap as they rested there together, his arm around her shoulders, playing gently with her hair as she played with his fingers on his free hand, but they basked in the comfort they brought each other.

Brooke hummed. "I'm sorry, I don't even really remembered what happened," she sounded frustrated. "but the doctor said that it should come back in time. It seems I'm just blocking out what happened, or at least that's what he thinks."

Stefan nodded, gently kissing her forehead, leaving his lips there for just a moment longer as he breathed out, "I'm just glad you're okay." His voice was filled with guilt and concern.

"Hey, it's alright," Brooke pulled away from him, looking him in the eyes. Her forest green ones staring into his light green ones. "I'm fine. I'm alright. It's probably just the stress of the game the other night, nothing else. Everyone knows I take everything way too seriously sometimes."

Stefan hummed in agreement, pulling Brooke closer again as his thoughts travelled elsewhere... It was only a matter of time before the truth of what happened that night came to surface and with Damon around... it was only a matter of time before it got worse. Damon would have to go. It would be the only way to keep Brooke safe and Stefan Salvatore was willing to do whatever it took to keep it that way.

...

Walking into the kitchen the following morning, Brooke frowned to see her mom standing in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in her hand and watching the television, muttering under her breath, "Scum ball, scum bucket."

"Who are you talking to?"

Jenna jumped slightly, turning around to see her daughter standing in her pajamas, a frown on her face as she grabbed a granola bar off the counter. "Oh, uh him."

Peering around her mom, Brooke's frown deepened. "Him? The news guy?"

"Also known as Logan "Scum" Fell." Brooke didn't need to know exactly who Logan Fell was to her. "He's the reason why I left Mystic Falls."

"Oh," Brooke said, munching on the granola bar. "You and him? He's cute."

"He is not cute," Jenna raged, setting her coffee cup down. "There's nothing cute about him." She pointed towards the tv in time for Elena to come in.

"Logan Fell?" Elena laughed, siding with her cousin. "He's way cute."

All that was heard in the Gilbert house that morning was a groan of annoyance.

...

There was something about the way Stefan Salvatore kissed Brooke Sommers that made her feel absolutely loved by him. It was totally corny to say, but it was true and in this exact moment, as they kissed, feverishly and wholly wrapped in each-other, Brooke felt it and whilst she was scared of it, she was excited, too.

A breathy moan escaped Brooke's mouth when Stefan's lips travelled down the side of her neck and as soon as she was leaning up to kiss him again, he was up and off of her before she could register what had happened. She frowned.

Lips swollen and flushed face, Brooke sat up to see Stefan sitting up on the edge of the bed. God, sometimes he was ungodly fast. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Stefan swallowed, willing back the temptation he felt. When her hands touched his shoulders, gently caressing in worry, the veins under his eyes began to fade away, his fangs no longer nipping at his lips, no longer feeling the dire need to put his teeth into her jugular. He wasn't that side of him anymore. He wasn't him.

"I-I'm good, sorry," he turned around to face Brooke again, holding her hands in his one that was wrapped around his shoulder's loosely. "I'm sorry."

Brooke shrugged, "It's fine, it was a good time to stop anyways."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Stefan sighed, rubbing her arm gently. "It was getting a little..."

Brooke chuckled, "Yeah."

"Yeah."

"How do you look in a suit?" Brooke pondered, smiling at him. "For purely innocent reasons, of course."

Stefan chuckled, "I think I can pull one off." Brooke's smile widened.

"Perfect!" She clapped her hands together. "How about tomorrow night? I need a date to the Founder's Party."

Stefan frowned. "Are you sure? You only just got out of the hospital, Brooke. We don't want to trigger anything." The young Sommers girl shrugged her shoulders.

"That was just a freak accident, stress, like I said." Deep down, Stefan and Brooke both knew that wasn't it. Not with Mr. Tanner dead, but neither of them said anything. In Brooke's mind, it was stress. Like the doctor said. Stefan, on the other hand, he knew that Brooke wasn't completely human. There was something... something very different about the Sommers girl. "But I totally understand if you don't want to go, I know it's boring and probably not your thing, but it was important to my Aun-"

"I would be happy to accompany you, Miss Sommers."

A large smile embraced the Sommers girl's face.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Salvatore."