SEASON ONE — EPISODE TWO
"𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙙"

‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧—

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'✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ IT WAS THE NIGHT OF THE COMET, something that hadn't occurred for over a century, meaning that everyone in Mystic Falls was over the moon about it, all excited to watch the comet fly overhead in the dark skies of the "cozy" town.

After school the day before, Brooke visited Vicki in the hospital, apparently she'd been attacked by an animal at the party, and Brooke couldn't help but feel guilty that she wasn't there for her. They weren't as close anymore, but she'd still do anything for the girl, she'd jump in front of a bear for her.

Now, it was midday on September 10th and Bonnie, Elena and Brooke were walking through the busy park — filled with people chatting and kids playing — in the middle of the town square. They were handing out flyers which explained everything about the festival for the comet that was passing for the first time since 1864.

"Want a program?" Brooke question an old couple that walked by, and the lady smiled wide, gladly accepting the sheet of paper before walking off with her husband's arm hooked in hers.

"He didn't call, huh?" Bonnie questioned Elena, the Gilbert girl had her hopes up after learning that Bonnie had given Stefan her number and her email, but the youngest Salvatore never put them to use, disappointing the girl entirely.

"Or text." Elena sighed, handing out flyers to random people as they walked in a row, but Brooke moved out of the way at times so they didn't hog up the entire path. She found people like that to be frustrating, especially when it's busy out.

"Or email." Brooke added with a humorous tone, though it wasn't exactly a funny situation and Elena nodded, her lips pulled into a tight-lipped smile.

"I never realised we never even exchanged that stuff. We never got to the texting part." Elena explained, sending a smile to a redhead as she held a flyer out to him and he took it willingly, reading it over.

"That's an important milestone in any relationship." Bonnie stated and Brooke furrowed her eyebrows, sticking her head out from behind Elena's taller frame. The Gilbert girl was 5'7" whilst Brooke was 5'2", so there was a recognisable difference, and sometimes she felt slightly insecure about her height, but like everything else, she ignored the bad thoughts, though they still lingered in the back of her mind at times.

"Okay, but what about when cell phones didn't exist?" Brooke questioned the youngest girl, who didn't take long to find an answer to respond with.

"They'd send letters, duh!" Bonnie chuckled playfully, not a rude bone in her body and Brooke tilted her head, sticking out her bottom lip in agreement, shrugging her shoulders lightly.

"Maybe Stefan was planning to send a letter." Brooke suggested and Elena rolled her eyes, knowing that was not Stefan's intention at all.

"No, I think the timing was just wrong." Elena shrugged, staring down at the concrete ground as they walked and the duo began to speak about Stefan when Brooke glanced around the park, quickly spotting Caroline stood with two friends.

"I'll be right back." She handed the leftover flyers to Elena before she rushed through the busy park, and as soon as she got close enough to Caroline, she placed her hands on the blonde's shoulders in attempt to scare her, which was successful as Caroline yelped in fear.

"That is not funny!" Caroline nudged Brooke's shoulder, the Elliot unable to stop laughing and Caroline crossed her arms over her chest, clearly annoyed, "What are you even doing here?"

"Handing out programs with Elena and BonBon." Brooke turned and pointed over at the duo who were still walking down the path, occasionally handing a flyer to someone as they spoke to each other. Caroline nodded, a small smile on her face.

"Where did you disappear off to at the back-to-school party?" Caroline questioned, remembering when she made her way back over to Matt and Bonnie, only to find out that Brooke had wandered off alone in the woods, leaving her worried sick. Of course, the best-friends had talked at school, but the blonde never had the chance to ask about it.

Brooke smiled, looking down in an embarrassed manner and Caroline smirked, immediately knowing what was up with her.

"Brooke Elizabeth Elliot, were you with a guy?" Caroline spoke in a motherly tone, but she giggled nonetheless and Brooke looked up, a grin on her face before she slowly began to nod, "Who? Tell me all the deets now!" Caroline latched onto Brooke's arm, dragging her away from the crowded park and towards the Grill.

"Stefan's brother." Brooke admitted quietly, feeling a little shameful in the fact that she had been practically throwing herself at him. But in reality, it had been Damon throwing himself at her in attempt to feel something again. It was true what he had said in those woods in the falls, he did find her pretty, but sadly, not as a pretty as he found Katherine... and Elena.

"Stefan has a brother? And you're boning him? No way!" Caroline exclaimed but Brooke quickly shushed her, leaned down a little dramatically, causing the blonde to roll her eyes, "Tell me everything."

"We first met whilst I was working, but he just disappeared until I saw him again at the party. He asked me to come home with him and I said yes." Brooke shrugged, feeling a little proud and Caroline giggled, happy for her best-friend.

"Oh, my God, Brookie! You had sex?" Caroline asked and Brooke shook her head, scrunching up her nose a little as they entered Mystic Grill, the restaurant was crowded with people and a few kids, all enjoying their lunch.

"We made out last night, but he insisted we didn't go any further than that." Brooke let out a sigh at the memory, the two taking a seat across from each other in an empty booth and Caroline rested her hands on the table in front of her, tapping her fingers against the wood, "It was kinda weird, I don't remember much of what happened."

"Were you drunk or something?" Caroline questioned, waving over a waiter to the table and Brooke shook her head, pulling off her jacket as she answered.

"Completely sober. The whole thing is odd, but he's hot so..." She brushed it off and Caroline giggled, wiggling her brows as she flipped her blonde curls over her shoulder.

"And so is this waiter." Caroline widened her eyes towards Brooke, who immediately looked over to see a tall, dark-haired waiter, who looked to be of Spanish descent, approaching them with a notepad and a pen in his hands.

"Hola, ladies. What can I get you?" He smiled widely towards them both and Caroline smirked, propping her elbows up on the table with her hands interlocked under her chin.

"Hm, I was thinking a medium fry and a tall glass of you." Caroline flirted, and Brooke fought the urge to slide under the table right there, feeling her face becoming hot at the sight of the waiter's take aback expression. He lifted one of his hands, placing it onto his heart and he let out a chuckle.

"I'm flattered, but I'm taken, I'm sorry. I can get you that fry though." He rejected, causing Caroline's smirk to drop into a frown, and she looked over at Brooke, reaching her hand across the table to hold onto hers, which Brooke gladly did, "What about you?"

Brooke smiled awkwardly, glancing between her friend and the waiter, feeling slightly glad that the two had different shift times, "Uh, could I just get a burger with no ketchup or tomatoes? Thanks." The waiter nodded and walked off, heading towards the kitchen to inform the chef of the order.

"Well, that was embarrassing." Caroline slumped, rolling her eyes out of disappointment in herself and Brooke shook her head, caressing the back of the Forbes' hand with her thumb comfortingly.

"No, I think it was brave. At least you had the confidence to try, it means you're strong-willed." Brooke grinned at her friend in hopes to reassure her, and luckily, it worked and Caroline's lips turned into a huge smile, a light giggle emitting from her lips.

"You're right, his loss!" Caroline exclaimed, squeezing Brooke's hand lightly in glee and the aforementioned girl couldn't help but laugh a little too, Caroline's giggle was too contagious.

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SHE WAS WORKING, the one night she was actually excited to participate in a fun event she had to be working. Sometimes she despised her boss, but then she remembers that her and her brother wouldn't be living the way they were if it wasn't for her boss —  Robert — allowing her to work at the Grill at such a young age, she was fifteen when she started.

The grocery store never payed her enough considering her age, it was like an extremely part-time thing, so she searched around for a better job, and thankfully, Robert gave her the waitress job she'd been longing for, though she wasn't allowed to serve alcohol until she was eighteen.

The Grill was busy, filled with teenagers who would swipe extra cash to the bartender to get beers and vodka and young adults enjoying plates of fries and drinks before the event started. Everyone else was outside, lighting candles and waiting patiently for the comet to pass by.

She was wiping down a table when a voice erupted nearby, almost making her jump, "Aren't you gonna watch the comet?" She looked up, locking eyes with her brother and she chuckled, shaking her head sadly.

"Nope, does it look like I'm able to?" Brooke lifted the flannel into the air, waving it around slowly and Nate laughed, nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, no. I had Caroline flirting with me again, you need to tell her that she's too young." Nate followed her around the room, his hands stuffed into his jeans pockets and Brooke scoffed, rolling her eyes in disbelief. She knew Caroline had always had a crush on her brother, but Caroline had a crush on every possibly attractive guy in sight, she didn't completely understand the blonde's type, but to be honest, it seemed like a bit of everything.

"Tell her yourself." Brooke rounded the bar and Nate sat in one of the stools, chuckling quietly to himself. Brooke looked up from where she was organising the glasses, her eyes widening slightly at the sight of Damon sat beside her brother. Not wanting to bring attention to herself, she quickly turned around, fiddling with the bottles to pretend as if she was doing something productive.

"That's the thing, I already have. Over and over again, she just doesn't get the memo." Nate tapped his fingertips on the wooden bar, his other hand propped under his chin, holding up his head. He stared at his hand as it bounced upon the varnished wood, completely in his own mind whilst Brooke spun around, ignoring Damon completely.

"Aren't you gonna watch the comet?" Brooke smiled at her brother, her hands leaning on the edge of the bar and Nathan smirked, dropping his hand from under his chin, placing them both in his lap.

"I actually am, just wanted a beer but you're still a baby..." Nate teased and her cheeks went red, her eyes momentarily flickering over to Damon, who smirked to himself, hearing the entire conversation as he lifted his whiskey glass filled with bourbon to his lips.

"Shut up. I'll go and get Joe." She giggled and rushed off, grabbing a few dirty glasses on her way to the kitchen. When she returned ten minutes later, both of the men had disappeared from the bar. She didn't think much of it, assuming they both made their way outside to watch the comet and she continued working, wiping down tables and serving the very few people in the Grill.

After the comet had completely passed, the Mystic Grill became busy almost immediately, young adults and teens piling into the place like a herd of cattle. Eventually, all of Brooke's friends, including Tyler, were all sat at a table together, explaining how beautiful the comet was to her considering she missed it.

"It was really slow, but it was an amazing experience." Elena told her with a smile and Brooke nodded, fiddling with the cloth that hung from her belt as she listened to them all talk over each other. Tyler and Matt were deeply engaged in their own conversation whilst Bonnie, Elena and Caroline spoke directly to Brooke.

"It's so sad you missed it, working sucks." Bonnie smiled sadly at her, her lips pressed together and she reached out, placing her hand on Brooke's when her eyes suddenly widened, as if she'd had an electric shock from the physical touch. Brooke furrowed her brows, as did Elena and Caroline, all confused but when Bonnie quickly pulled her hand back, she stayed quiet, refusing to say much.

"Are you—" Before Brooke could ask her if she was okay, Jeremy approached with a concerned expression on his face, immediately earning everybody's attention.

"Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" Jeremy questioned, and Brooke shook her head, along with a few others when Tyler decided to open his mouth. The two boys had a bit of a problem with each other, you could call it a feud, and it was kind of ridiculous to Brooke because it was over Vicki, the girl that none of them deserved — at least Brooke thought so.

"You're her stalker. You tell us." Tyler spat out, his arms crossed, leaning them onto the table in front of him and Elena was stood behind him, her face full of worry. Caroline and Matt stood behind Jeremy, whilst Bonnie stood beside Brooke.

"I can't find her." Jeremy responded, ignoring Tyler's rude remark, although his tone was clearly snappy.

"Probably found somebody else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced." Tyler insulted, and Elena's eyebrows pinched even more than before, her eyes immediately snapping over to Tyler.

"What's with the "Pill pusher"?" She asked him, and Tyler nodded over at Jeremy, his facial expression challenging.

"Ask him."

"You wanna do this right now?" Jeremy threatened, and both Bonnie and Brooke's eyes moved from Tyler to Jeremy, the two girls slightly enjoying the feud the two had with each other.

"Are you dealing?" Elena asked her brother, though she was ignored.

"She's never gonna go for you." Tyler insulted once again, and Brooke rolled her eyes, honestly, she was rooting for Jeremy.

"She already did. Over and over and over again." Jeremy spoke angrily, so enraged that his nose scrunched up as he spoke whilst Tyler's expression was completely calm, knowing his words were getting to the younger Gilbert.

"Yeah, right." Tyler responded, not believing Jeremy for a second.

"Okay, you slept with Vicki Donovan? I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?" Caroline judged, her eyebrows raising when she emphasised the word 'you' and Brooke took a step forwards, her hand placing itself onto Jeremy's shoulder.

"Hey, isn't this personal? I don't think Vicki wants everyone to know who she's slept with." Brooke stated, her eyes trailing around the group and Elena nodded whilst Matt moved forwards, placing his hand out in authority.

"Brooke's right, how about all of you just shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt asked, though it sounded more like a demand and Brooke reached forward, grabbing onto Caroline's hand.

"We'll check the bathroom." Brooke nodded over at her male best-friend, who nodded too in response, grateful that she was helping out. She held tightly onto Caroline's hand as they walked towards the bathroom, and when they entered, searching the room for Vicki, there was nobody there, "She isn't here."

"She's probably drugged up somewhere in some trash. Because that's what she is, pick me trash." Caroline shrugged, rolling her eyes as she picked at her finger nails, clearly bored and Brooke furrowed her brows, taking a step out of one of the cubicles.

"Hey, Vick's not trash. Don't be a bitch, C." Brooke didn't let the blonde respond, leaving the bathroom in seconds to search another place where the Donovan girl could be. She knew what Caroline thought of Vicki, and in Brooke's opinion, Caroline was jealous of the brunette. That was something that she'd never say to her face though.

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