SEASON ONE — EPISODE FIVE
"𝙗𝙞𝙜 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙡"

‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧—

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'✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ "YOU'RE DRUNK." Brooke stated, watching as her brother mindlessly danced on the dance floor, his arms flailing about like a madman. He slid like as if he was on ice and he even bowed to a lonely-looking lady, asking her to dance which made her chuckle.

She rolled her eyes with a smile and turned her head, watching Stefan stroll miserably towards the lake's fountain before stopping with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Brooke knew something was up, and her eyes darted around, Elena nowhere to be seen, so she left the dance floor, heading towards Stefan.

The Elliot daughter placed her hands behind her back as she stood beside him, staring off towards the fountain too and he sensed her presence, glancing over at her. It stayed silent for a little while but it was peaceful and quiet until he spoke up, "Elena believes Damon's lies."

"That's Elena for 'ya. She'll change her mind about it though, I know her." She smiled over at him, and they both locked eyes, knowing they were both going to be close friends. They both loved Elena, and that was the only similarity they needed.

"I'm sorry." Elena's voice sounded, her footsteps stopping behind them and they both turned around. The Gilbert smiled momentarily over at Brooke before she looked with a firm expression towards her boyfriend, "I take it all back. You're completely right about Damon."

Brooke turned to Stefan, wiggling her eyebrows and he glanced at her emotionlessly, too concerned to laugh at her jokes, "What did he do?" He asked, turning to look back at Elena.

"There are bruises all over Caroline's body. Bite marks. And he has her all confused and messed up in the head." Elena shrugged, staring up at the sky in shock as she spoke and Brooke glared towards the house, rage lacing through her veins.

"That's it!" Brooke stormed off, somehow running in her heels and Stefan went to protest before Elena spoke again, cutting him off. The Elliot didn't care for death, everybody knew that it happens to everyone, even the supernatural. If Damon was going to kill her, she was going to let him because she'd rather it be her over Caroline.

She searched everywhere, every single room, she'd even asked Bonnie if she'd seen her, but Caroline was nowhere to be seen. That was until she'd heard whimpers outside, down the steps to the entrance and she rushed down, knowing what Caroline's cries sounded like.

The blonde stood there alone on the grass, her eyes welled up with tears, she looked lonely and confused. So, the first thing Brooke thought of to do was rush over as fast as she could and wrap her arms around her best-friend, which is exactly what she did.

And luckily, Caroline embraced her back, "Brooke, I don't know what happened. I'm scared." She cried into the brunette's hair, and Brooke stroked her back, shushing her.

"It's okay, C. It's gonna be okay, all right?" Brooke squeezed her, swaying from side-to-side to the background music that still played on the dance floor. Caroline sobbed quietly into her shoulder, and as low as she felt, she still felt slightly at peace. She knew that she'd much rather be in Brooke's arms than her mother's, and that spoke millions.

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FOUR DAYS LATER, Caroline was feeling better — thankfully — and Brooke hadn't heard a peep from Stefan, nor Elena. Or anyone actually, it'd been radio silent in Mystic Falls. There was something inside of her mind that was actually delighted about the long awaited return of peace in the town, and after having a break from seeing Damon's face, she could finally begin to heal from his trauma.

She was still trying to come around the fact that vampires and witches exist, it was still baffling to her and it was like a two-hundred pound weight on her shoulders. The brunette couldn't speak to anybody about it, not even her brother or Caroline and it definitely took its toll.

But, the present day was a new day, a fresh start, something Brooke desperately needed. Bonnie had given her a ride to school that day, but there was something off about the Bennett. She was awfully quieter than usual, and she even seemed pissed at times.

So, Brooke, being the way she is, spoke up about it, "What's got your panties in a twist?" She questioned, her elbow propped up on the door with her chin resting on her knuckles and Bonnie glanced at her momentarily, unsure of what to say.

"Well, uh, where to start? Caroline's been assaulted by her boyfriend and won't talk to me, Elena's dating a potential maniac, we don't hang out much anymore and I just found out I can light candles using my mind." Bonnie let out a heavy sigh, turning up the music playing on the radio just a tad, attempting to bring the happy moods back to the car.

"Woah! Really?" Brooke turned completely, a huge excited grin on her face and Bonnie scoffed, rolling her eyes, staring onto the road. Brooke's smile dropped and she turned again in defeat.

"Turns out Grams isn't as crazy as I thought." Bonnie responded emotionlessly, she was acting as if she hadn't had any sleep and she was grumpy towards everybody. It was different to how she'd usually act, and Brooke felt bad, the girl had been going through a lot with nobody to speak to.

But, Brooke was in exactly the same position. She didn't feel comfortable enough around Stefan to speak about all of her problems and open her heart to him.

The rest of the car journey was silent until Bonnie pulled into the car park and parked, stopping the engine. She leaned into the back seat and grabbed her bag before climbing out, Brooke doing the same. When they rounded the rather small yet cute vehicle, meeting each other at the rear end, Brooke unexpectedly wrapped her arms around Bonnie, embracing her tightly.

"I just want you to know that I'm here for you through anything, even if sometimes I'm a bit of a bitch." Brooke joked, earning a laugh out of Bonnie, who had hugged her back. The duo split apart and began to walk towards the school, meeting up with Elena at the entrance.

"Have any of you seen Caroline this morning?" Brooke asked the two, as they stopped at Elena's locker, the hallway dimmer than the hallway that had both Bonnie and Brooke's lockers in. The Elliot girl wasn't the biggest fan of that part of the school, it kinda gave her the creeps, especially the janitor closet.

"She's over there." Bonnie pointed to the lighter end of the hallway where Caroline walked with two other girls, handing out flyers for the Sexy Suds Car Wash event that was taking place the next day. Brooke winced, watching as her best-friend put on a fake grin, trying to hide the pain from the day prior.

"Why is she acting like nothing ever happened?" Brooke questioned, her brows furrowed as Caroline turned the corner and they all looked back at each other, every single one of them in disbelief, feeling a similar way.

"She's in denial." Elena added, turning to look at Caroline again, who was giggling with her other friends, visibly happier than ever before. Brooke watched too, her face scrunched up in slight disgust but mostly confusion when a voice spoke up, causing her to jump.

"Hey." Stefan spoke, specifically to Elena and she turned, slapping his arm violently, knowing it wouldn't affect him. Elena turned too, sending Brooke a slight glare before she raised a brow at Stefan, having not seen him for four days.

Bonnie, feeling uncomfortable, spoke up, "Hey. Uh, you know, I gotta go... uh, be somewhere right now." She made an excuse, walking off without explanation and Brooke watched her leave, itching with desperation to follow her. So, she sent the couple a tight-lipped smile before she turned, going to follow Bonnie when a hand latched around her elbow, dragging her backwards.

"Um, ow." Brooke winced, snatching her arm back from the unknown person and she spun around, locking eyes with Matt's bright blue ones. She let out a groan as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, guiding down another hallway towards his locker.

"So... Caroline has paired us up for the car wash, you up for it?" Matt turned his head to looked at her, a smirk on his face at the sight of her grimace. Being fully clothed was already a problem for her, so she couldn't imagine being half-naked in front of loads of people, "You don't have to wear a bikini, you know?"

"If I don't, C will just pester me the whole time. I do not have the energy for that." She slumped her shoulders, resting the side of her face on his chest and he chuckled, placing her against the other lockers as he searched through his own.

"No sleep again?" He raised a brow and Brooke scoffed, rolling her eyes at how much her friends know her, a small smile still evident on her lips nonetheless, "Was it a movie night with Nate or sleepover?"

"Shush, speaking of, we should totally have a sleepover again." Brooke clapped her hands together, tiredly enthusiastic with a toothy grin on her face, though it looked forced, she was genuinely excited.

"Sure. But you have to promise to do that garlic thing with the pizza again." He chuckled, licking his lips as he remembered the way she'd put garlic herb butter on the crust of the pizza, his mouth watered just imagining it.

"I promise." She slapped the locker beside her and pushed herself off of it, taking a step towards him. She smiled softly at him and raised her hand, patting his head as if he was a dog, "I'll see you later, Mr. PoPo." The brunette spun around and headed down the hallway towards her next class, leaving Matt chuckling to himself.

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THE NEXT DAY, Caroline had all but forced Brooke to wear at least something particularly revealing, leaving the girl in black denim shorts and a dark red tank top or you could call it a vest with black Dr Martins tie up sandals. She had to take out all of her jewellery because she was so afraid they'd get ruined, they were in her locker.

She was stood washing a car with Matt when she noticed him watching Elena and Stefan kissing by the cash table.

"Dude! You really need to move on, it's really uncomfortable to watch." Brooke scoffed to herself, scrubbing the black Volkswagen clean when he scrunched his brows at her, a little taken aback by her insensitive tone.

"Way to be comforting, Brooke." He rolled his eyes, turning away from his ex and her new boyfriend and Brooke bent down to scrub the right back wheel of the vehicle, "Besides, I was just observing."

"Whatever, I'm just trying to be straightforward with you. It's weird, she's moved on." She pushed herself back up, wiping down the windows once more when she heard Matt scoff out of irritation.

"Can you be nicer about it? I was in love with her." Matt stared down at the cloth in his hands and she moved around the car, her stone expression softening at his frown. She went to touch his hand in attempt to reassure him but he snatched his hand away, "Don't, you've made me feel shitty enough." He walked away, cleaning the front of the car.

Brooke scrunched her brows towards him, completely confused by how she had upset him. She was trying to be firm and serious, not mean in any way but it seemed like he took it in that way. She spun around and headed towards Caroline to place the rest of the money in the jar when Elena approached.

"Hey, we're out of towels and those shimmy things." Elena informed the blonde, who was counting the money as Elena sat down beside her and she looked up, sending puppy eyes towards Brooke, who groaned, slumping her shoulders.

"Fine, but you know I hate that hallway." Brooke let out a heavy sigh of annoyance and headed inside the school, unaware of the black crow hanging above her atop the street lamp. She brushed some hair behind her ear as she entered the dark corridor of classrooms and lockers.

Her pace was quick with intentions to get in and out of there as quick as she could, but her luck was false when she placed her hand on the doorknob to the janitor's closet, twisting it and it being locked. She let out a huff of annoyance when a loud swish sounded behind her, causing her to spin around.

"Fuck." Brooke muttered, knowing exactly what that was and she made a split second decision, running down the halls towards her locker with her earrings inside. Of course, the vervain earrings wouldn't protect her life but they could stop Damon from compelling her to do things she didn't want to.

The brunette's biggest mistake was looking over her shoulder, onto the bump into a hard chest, causing her to scream. She fell backwards onto her ass, her hands landing onto the dirty flooring behind her to prop herself up as she looked up at Damon, a dirty, exhausted, half-dead-looking Damon.

"Help me, Brooke." He begged, his voice weak and she scrunched up her face, squirming backwards when he vanished into thin air. She squeezed her eyes shut out of disbelief as to what she was witnessing, only for there to be absolutely nothing in the corridors with her.

Suddenly, Stefan came rushing into the hallway and immediately helped her up from the ground, looking her over, "Are you okay? Brooke?" He leaned closer to her face, checking her eyes for any signs of anything he should be worried about but he knew from her panicked breaths that something was wrong, "What happened?"

"I saw Damon." Brooke mumbled, running a hand through her hair with a heavy sigh, and Stefan shook his head, confused.

"What do you mean? He's locked up at the house." Stefan stood up straight, letting go of her upper-arm and she shrugged, unsure of what to say.

"It must've been a hallucination. Shit!" Brooke spun around and raced back down the hallway, heading back outside to find Caroline. If Damon couldn't get to her, he would get to Caroline, who didn't own anything containing vervain and the vervain would've let her system by then.

Stefan followed her outside, watching as she frantically scanned the parking lot full of soaking wet students washing cars. She placed a hand on her forehead in panic when she realised Caroline wasn't there and without a word to Stefan, she ran off towards the Salvatore Boarding House.

He didn't protest and he didn't follow her, he would've if it wasn't for Bonnie lighting a car on fire in the corner of his eye. Brooke never stopped running, even when she tripped over her feet almost spraining her ankle, she still sped as fast as she could to the place where she knew the blonde was.

After five minutes, she arrived at the house and immediately entered without hesitation, running around in search for Caroline, "Caroline! C! Are you here?" She called out when she heard heavy and fast footsteps rushing down the corridor, and out came Caroline.

"Run!" The blonde screamed, trying to grab onto Brooke but the brunette shook her head, pushing the blonde out the door. Damon turned the corner and froze when he came face to face with Brooke, and she smirked, tilting her head.

"You look a little thirsty, Damey. How about some blood?" Brooke reached onto one of the side tables in the narrow hallway and she picked up a small, empty vase, smashing it between her fingers with a bit of struggle, slicing up her hand. Blood dripped everywhere and veins flowed from Damon's bloodshot eyes, he went to rush forwards, unable to speed due to his weakness.

She ran into the living room and used her non-injured hand to open all of the curtains wide, shining the sunlight onto Damon's skin, causing him to scream in agony, his skin cracking and burning. Brooke winced as she squeezed her hand, feeling all of the open wounds in her palm as she pushed more blood out, and she ran into the hallway towards the front door, opening the door wide.

She spun around in the doorway as Damon hid in the shadows, completely in defeat and she raised her blood-covered wrist to her hand, sniffing it with a pretend smile visible on her face, "Mm, too bad you don't get a taste. Stay away from Caroline, or I'll kill you. I may look frail and weak, but I'm actually not. Don't test me, Damon." She snarled and spun around, walking through the large patch of grass in front of the house after Caroline.

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