SEASON ONE — EPISODE THREE
"'𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙪𝙥"

‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧—

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'✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ THE NEXT NIGHT, Brooke found herself stood in between Caroline and Bonnie, red and white pompoms in her hand and her body was clad in her cheerleading uniform. It was the big football game, and she didn't know why, but she had a gut feeling that they were gonna win this time after so many losses.

Cheering and whooping could be heard all around the large group of students and teachers and Brooke jumped around, waving her pompoms in the air excitedly. After cleaning and creaming the wound on her neck, the redness had gone away just enough so that it was hardly visible, so she wasn't obligated to wear the ugly scarfs anymore.

The music from the marching band died down and Coach Tanner — who was also her history teacher — was stood upon the stage, a microphone in his hand, "All right, quiet down! Quiet down for a minute." He attempted, but nobody listened.

Brooke's eyes drifted over to her cousin, who was stood to the side without her uniform on, her arms crossed over her chest awkwardly and when they locked eyes, Brooke mouthed 'Why aren't you in uniform?' only to receive a shrug in response, causing her to roll her eyes in annoyance.

"Wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait. Wait." Tanner repeated the same word at least twelve times, irritating Brooke all the more before he finally received silence and began his speech, "Let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us."

Everybody booed, and the cheerleaders all sent thumbs down, their loud voices taking over everyone else's.

"But that is about to change." Tanner's words now caused everyone to start to cheer loudly, the cheerleaders jumping up and down in their spots at the front of the crowd, "We've got some great new talent tonight starting on offence and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these."

Caroline's eyes snapped to Brooke, whose eyes also snapped to Caroline's, the two taking Tanner's words way out of context and Brooke giggled, whistling loudly and suggestively, forcing Caroline into a fit of laughter.

"Hey, come on, Brooke!" Tanner rolled his eyes, knowing exactly who had whistled, his eyes glued to her and Brooke smiled wide, waving her pompoms in the air in response whilst Caroline cheered for her best-friend, "All right, let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore."

People cheered, and laughed, but Tyler and Matt had different ideas, the two glaring at Stefan. Brooke quickly took notice after trying to look around for her best-friend and she placed her hands around her mouth, the pompoms tickling her ears as she yelled, "Matt! Drop the frown!"

Matt's eyes snapped over at the sound of his name being called, and a smile instantly grew on his lips at the sight of Brooke. He lifted his hands in the air and made a love heart with his fingers, and she laughed before doing the same.

Smashing, banging and yelling erupted from behind the crowd, and Brooke furrowed her brows, standing on her tip-toes in attempt to look over everybody's heads but unfortunately, she was way too short being 5'2". So as an alternative, she pushed through the crowd until she ran out, watching as Jeremy ran towards Tyler with a broken vodka bottle in his hand, only for Stefan to push the Lockwood away, getting himself gashed in the hand.

Elena ran forwards towards Jeremy, who instantly dropped the broken bottle after realising what he had done, "What the hell, Jeremy?" Matt had gone with Tyler and Elena had ran to Jeremy's aid, so Brooke approached Stefan, taking a look at his bloodied hand, only to watch it slowly heal on its own.

"Uh, what the fuck?" Brooke questioned, taking a step away from him and she looked up, staring him in the eye as he pulled his hand away, wiping the excess blood on the back of his jersey. He lifted his finger to his lips, pleading for her to stay quiet about it and Brooke just took multiple steps backwards in fear, only to bump into Vicki, almost tripping over.

"Woah, you okay?" The Donovan girl asked, steadying the younger girl, who just blinked repeatedly in response, her eyes drifting from Stefan to Vicki. Stefan was now being accompanied by Elena, but his eyes still drifted over to Brooke every once in a while, making sure she hadn't run off.

"Brooke! The game's starting!" Caroline called out, pushing through the crowd in search of her best-friend and star cheerleader, only to find Vicki stood on her own, "Have you seen Brooke?"

Vicki turned towards Caroline, sending her a sympathetic smile and she pointed her thumb over her shoulder, "She said she felt ill and needed to go home." Vicki shrugged, unsure of what to do or say.

Caroline groaned loudly before spinning around, pushing back through to crowd to her squad. Just about a mile away, Brooke was running home, frightened and confused. She couldn't even fully comprehend what had just happened, it was like magic. But magic didn't exist, maybe when she was little but now, she only believed in reality... and maybe ghosts.

There was no Santa Claus, as much as she wished there was, there was no Tooth Fairy and there was definitely no such thing as super-healing. There just wasn't, it was real life, not the movie Twilight.

Though, after witnessing Stefan's wound in his hand magically disappear — the whole process — she started to question things. What was real, and what wasn't real? Was Stefan real or was he an illusion?

But her biggest question was, what is going on?

Her mind spiralled with conspiracy theories about what could've possibly happened, it could've been a trick to her eyes but Stefan wouldn't have acted that way if she was just imagining the whole situation. It was definitely real, she just wasn't sure what happened.

Brooke ran fast, faster than most people she knew, meaning that she reached her trailer in just under fifteen minutes. She didn't have her bag, nor did she have her jacket, both of her belongings back at the school in her locker in the changing rooms.

Quickly, she got down on her knees and reached under the trailer where the wheels were, grabbing the spare key. Her legs were wobbly and felt slightly numb, but she still managed to stand up, using the edges of the stationary van to support herself.

The Elliot girl was panicking, and she could feel an anxiety attack coming on but she remembered to breathe and stay concentrated on the subject at hand. She rushed over to the steps leading to the door and attempted to stick the key into the hole, but she couldn't, her hands way too shaky.

"Come on, Brooke. It's okay." She breathed out through her mouth, and then in through her nose. She repeated the process before attempting to stick the key in again, this time successfully. Brooke let out a sigh of relief, opening the door and closing it behind her, locking it for safety precautions.

Leaning against the closed door, she breathed heavily again, trying to stop her shaky limbs. It took her a few minutes, but it was perfectly fine, she was just glad she was able to walk properly again. Her throat itched, and she made her way to the kitchen, opening up the refrigerator to grab a water bottle, taking a few gulps of the clear liquid.

Nate wasn't home, it was Friday and he usually stayed out every Friday with his construction friends, getting drunk. Luckily, Nathan was a funny and extremely sleepy drunk unlike their father, who became aggressive after alcohol entered his system.

She leaned against the counter, sipping on her water in the dark room that was slightly illuminated by the light blue refrigerator light. Brooke closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing for a little while until a knock erupted from the front door, making her eyes snap open. She looked over at the door, completely terrified by who could possibly be on the other side, and she had every right to be.

When she strolled over to the door and opened it, Stefan Salvatore stood on the other side, a reassuring smile on his face in attempt to comfort the scared girl but he failed, causing her to slam the door shut, only for it to be stopped by his hand, "Brooke." He spoke, only terrifying her all the more as she pressed her back against the door, pushing it closed with all of her might but his hand was just too strong.

"Go away, weirdo!" Brooke yelled, her white trainers skidding against the wooden floor, making a squeaking noise that she ignored, all of her concentration on closing the door. That was until he pushed the door completely, making her fly forwards but just before her face collided with the kitchen table, he sped inside, catching her.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked, his expression filled with concern and her glare softened for just a moment at the sight of his genuine worry when she remembered what had happened to his hand, causing her to slap his hands off of her.

She ran backwards, looking down to see where she was going and Stefan sighed, knowing it would be difficult to get her to listen. He strolled over to the wide open front door, closing it calmly and Brooke swallowed the air in her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut in fear.

"Please just leave." The brunette begged, hiding behind the couch and Stefan shook his head, a sympathetic look on his pale face.

"I'm sorry, Brooke, I can't just leave with you knowing what you know." He stared down at his black shoes, his fingers fiddling with the sleeves of his leather jacket having changed out of his jersey and football kit.

"I don't know anything, what do you mean?" Brooke played dumb, silently hoping he would listen and just leave her alone, but of course, nothing ever goes her way. It was as if the universe hated her guts.

"You saw my hand. If you just let me explain, you'll understand, just please? Hear me out?" Stefan pleaded, staying in his spot and so did Brooke, not responding. It went quiet for a while, the Salvatore choosing to be patient with her, and thankfully, she slowly appeared from behind the couch.

Her hair was in a high ponytail, two strands of hair left out in the front and she was wearing her cheerleading uniform, looking cuter than ever. She let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head in disbelief before she pointed to the hallway, "My brother could come home at any time, let's talk in my room. You just have to promise not to hurt me. Give me your word."

"I give you my word, I'd never hurt you. You're Elena's cousin, the last thing I'd want is to hurt her... again." Stefan responded and Brooke furrowed her brows, feeling a little offended that he cared more about hurting Elena by hurting her than actually hurting her.

"Okay." She waved her hands, ushering him down the dark hallway until they reached her room. She switched the pale yellow lights on and she pointed towards her bed as she closed the door, "You can sit, if you want."

Stefan sent her a tight-lipped smile and carefully sat down on the edge of her bed, his hands interlocked in his lap. He let out a breath, watching as she pressed herself against her door, her hand glued to the doorknob behind her back, "You probably have a lot of questions, and I'm going to answer them. You just have to give me your word that you won't tell anyone. Not Elena, not your brother, nobody."

"It depends on what it is." Brooke responded, her demeanour very clearly terrified but he could tell she was trying to put her wall up, attempting to seem nonchalant but it was failing, not that he'd actually tell her that.

"Okay. I'll just say this straight because for some reason, I trust you..." Stefan hesitated for a moment, his eyes roaming over her small, cluttered yet clean bedroom. Rock band posters were stuck randomly to all of the walls, one of them coincidentally being one of his favourite bands, making him smile a little to himself. She had a few shelves hung around holding books, vinyls, jewellery boxes and other belongings.

His eyes moved back over to her, and he instantly took in the fact that her hands were littered in rings, but not overly covered. She had string bracelets around her wrist, and a pretty silver necklace around her neck. It was no secret that Brooke was obsessed with jewellery, even her ears were pierced in several places. The only thing she was against was body and facial piercings, that would hurt if a piece of fabric caught on it.

He took in a deep breath, spinning his daylight ring around his middle finger nervously before he gulped, finding the courage to admit one of his biggest secrets to a girl he hardly even knew, "I'm a vampire."

Brooke's eyes widened in shock, her fingers moving to turn the doorknob and run out right there and then, but she paused, stopping for an unknown reason. She wasn't scared, she wasn't shaking, she wasn't panicking and she wasn't even anxious, she felt completely okay. But that terrified her.

@amxliewrites || starring role
2024