SEASON ONE — EPISODE THREE
"𝙞'𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙚"

‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧—

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'✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ BROOKE WENT HOME AFTER VICKI WAS FOUND, she had a pretty long and busy day and she was exhausted. She entered the unlocked trailer, kicking off her shoes when she heard a voice from the living room, "How was work?" Nate asked, and she looked up, smiling as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Vicki went missing and I called Caroline a bitch. So, if anything, eventful." Brooke shrugged and Nathan chuckled, nodding in agreement. It was a busier day than usual, but it was still somewhat normal, "I'm gonna crash, night!" Brooke grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator, waving to her brother, who raised his hand in the air, sending her a thumbs up, making her laugh quietly to herself.

She made her way down the hallway, and entered her dark bedroom, closing the door behind her before she flicked the light-switch up, yellow lights illuminating the tiny room and she jumped at the sight of Damon laying comfortably on her bed, reading one of the books from her shelf.

"I would've never taken you for a smut gal." Damon smirked, not even taking one glance at her but he knew that she was slightly frightened. He wasn't supposed to know where she lived, and that, for valid reasons, scared her.

"How did you know where I live?" Brooke furrowed her brows, stuck in place and Damon chucked the book on the bed, pushing himself up from where he was laid on his stomach, strolling over to her.

"I followed you." He shrugged, smirking carelessly and her eyes widened a little out of shock, not expecting such a blunt response. She glanced down at her shoes, unsure of what to say when he placed his fingers underneath her chin, guiding her head back up so she could look him in the eyes, "I need to know what's happening between Stefan and Elena."

"That's none of your business, Damon." Brooke scrunched her face up slightly in disbelief that she'd ask him that when he moved his hand down to her neck, tightly wrapping his fingers around it, making her choke. He speedily slammed her into the wall, knowing Nathan was already fast asleep on the couch due to the loud snores erupting from the living room and Brooke clawed at his hands, kicking and shaking in attempt to get him off of her.

"That's the thing, it is my business. Now tell me or I'll happily rip your pretty little head off your body." This time, he compelled her to tell him and as calm as can be, Brooke responded, now seemingly unbothered by the air that was slowly exiting her lungs by the second.

"They're having a rough patch, all I know is that Stefan hasn't made any contact with Elena for a little while, he's being distant. But, that could've changed by now. I'm not that close with Elena anymore." Brooke choked when he let go of her throat, though his body was still up against hers, keeping her locked between him and the white wall behind her.

"Aren't you cousins?" Damon furrowed a brow, and so did Brooke as she held onto her neck, unsure of how he was getting this information. She hadn't told him anything about herself and yet he seemed to know a lot about her.

"Who told you that?" Brooke suddenly got defensive, and Damon rolled her eyes at her stubbornness to behave. He'd never met anybody like her before, he just had her in a chokehold and yet she still has the confidence to snap back, it was if she wasn't scared of death, or pain. And that was true, she wasn't, if anything, she was too used to it.

"I've asked around." He shrugged, his hand against the wall beside her head, and she felt her heart begin to race, trying her best to hide the fact that she was flustered, though Damon could see right through her pretending.

"So, you've asked about me?" Brooke tilted her head a little to the side, flirting with him shamelessly. She found him hot, yes, so she was totally gonna try every move to get into bed with him... again.

"No, I've asked about Elena." His words were like a stab to her heart, and she gulped, trying to stop the upcoming tears from escaping her hazel eyes so she didn't look like a complete cry baby in front of him.

"Oh, so you like Elena? Is that why you wanted to know what her status is with Stefan?" Brooke questioned, her eyebrows pinched and Damon felt a sudden urge to rip her head off just like he'd threatened to. He didn't know what it was, maybe it was the fact that she knew about his secret feelings for the doppelgänger of his one true love, or maybe she was asking too many questions for his liking.

It was definitely the second one.

He grabbed her by the throat again and threw her onto the bed, his body hovering over her. He hissed, showing off his sharp white fangs, his reddened scleras and veins like snakes slithering from beneath his eyes.

"You ask too many questions, Brookie, it's time for you to close your mouth." Damon compelled before he leaned down, brushing some of her hair away from her neck and he bit down onto her neck, his fangs deep into her tan skin.

The pain wasn't so bad, but it was still enough to make her want to scream and as much as she wanted to, she just couldn't open her mouth. She obeyed his every word, and it irritated her because she had no idea why. As an alternative to screaming, she just squeezed her eyes shut and balled her fists, silently wishing for it all to just be over.

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THE NEXT MORNING, Brooke was late to class, in fact, she missed all of her morning classes up until her cheer practice which Damon had dropped her off to as much as she insisted that she could just walk. Damon played loud rock music — despite Brooke's protests — as he rolled up to the field where her cheer group were still warming up, shocking Brooke just a little.

"Kiss me." Damon demanded once he noticed her reach for the door handle, and she obliged, leaning over the centre console before she pressed her lips to his. A part of her knew that it was just to get Elena's attention, knowing that the Gilbert was sat on the grass watching, but she ignored it, Brooke enjoyed the attention Damon was giving her, even if it was to get another girl.

Brooke climbed out, her hair blowing in the wind, along with the scarf that was tied loosely but not too loose around her neck and she headed towards Elena and Bonnie, a smile on her face, "Hey, guys."

"Were you seriously late because you were having sex?" Caroline spoke up, clearing her throat with her arms crossed over her chest and Brooke looked over, wincing slightly at the sight of her best-friend's disgusted facial expression.

"I'm sorry, C. I promise it won't happen again." Brooke smiled sweetly in hopes that Caroline would forgive her, and she let out a sigh of relief when the blonde grinned, nodding, "Did you guys seriously wait for me?"

"Of course! It's not like you're our best flyer!" Caroline giggled before she took a few steps forwards, her eyebrows furrowing a little at the sight of the scarf wrapped around Brooke's neck. The Forbes girl knew Brooke since they were little, and never had she seen the brunette wear a scarf like that... never, "Why are you wearing a scarf?" The blonde asked in a judgemental voice, scoffing a little.

"Because I wanted to." Brooke shrugged, scrunching up her face a little and Caroline looked taken aback for a moment, as did all of the other girls in the small space who were all listening in on the conversation.

"There's no need to be rude, Brooke." Elena spoke up, scrunching her brows at her cousin and Brooke's eyes snapped over to her as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Did anybody ask you, Elena?" Brooke remarked, tilting her head a little to get her point across and Elena's face was full of shock, although she wasn't surprised. They'd argued before, and let's just say, it never ends in Brooke being the first to apologise.

"Okay, let's just calm down." Bonnie stood in between the cousins, knowing how the whole situation could end and Brooke's eyes moved from Elena to Bonnie, a small pretend smile making its way onto her lips.

"Anyways, let's start with the double-pike herkie hurdler. What do you say?" Caroline clapped her hands together to get everyone's attention and Elena glared at Brooke as they all got into their positions, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight."

They all jumped, Brooke the highest, and did their moves with every count Caroline called. But, the brunette had a big heart and noticed Elena struggling, so she slowed down a little so the girl could catch up. Elena smiled gratefully, attempting to copy her cousin's moves the best way she could when Caroline interrupted.

"Elena, sweetie, why don't you just observe today? Okay?" Caroline grinned, her hands on her hips and Elena nodded, heading to the back of the group before she began to copy the girls' moves again, "Again! Let's do it again from the top. And five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight."

At the end of practice, Elena ran up to Brooke as they headed towards the changing rooms, nudging her shoulder with hers, "Hey. So, I was wondering if you'd like to join me, Bonnie and Stefan for dinner tonight at my house? Bonnie's been having these weird issues with Stefan and I'm trying to resolve them, and I know Bonnie would feel a lot better if you were there."

"Uh, sure, why not?" Brooke shrugged, too unbothered to ask the details, all she knew was that she was going to score a free meal. The Gilberts always helped Brooke and Nathan after their mother died and father disappeared, making sure they were okay financially to live comfortably, but eventually, after Grayson and Miranda's death, they didn't help out as much anymore.

Of course, Nathan did all he could to do his part in helping Jenna with everything, but now, all of the family dinners, all of the help with groceries and bills, all of it had gone. Meaning that there were a lot less hot meals and sometimes Nathan couldn't use his car due to the high price in gas.

"Great! I'll see you tonight, then." Elena smirked, completely forgetting about their small heated conversation at the start of practice and Brooke smiled, watching her cousin rush off back onto the field to see Stefan after his tryouts.

Despite the fact that they weren't as close anymore and they always bickered, she still loved Elena. She didn't know what dying was like, but she assumed that it'd most likely be painful, but she'd ride through that pain if it meant Elena didn't have to.

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DAMON HAD INSISTED he'd come, even when Brooke straight up said "no", he wouldn't take that as an answer. It got to the point where he had his teeth sunk into her in attempt to threaten her into saying yes instead of just compelling her. He wanted her to listen, he wanted her as his own personal slave, but Brooke wasn't as easy as he thought.

But, eventually, it worked and Brooke found herself stood at the Gilbert front door beside Damon, wearing a dress she was hardly comfortable with and a scarf wrapped tightly around her neck, making her itch but she supposed it hid the bite marks.

On her feet, she wore light green flats, completely different from what she usually wore. Brooke wasn't a light colours girl, she didn't like the way pastel colours looked on her but Damon did, so she obliged.

Elena opened the door, her eyes immediately snapping over to Damon in confusion, "Hey, sorry I'm late. I got... caught up. We brought dessert, though." Brooke held up the vanilla cheesecake in her hand and ducked under Elena's arm, making her way to the kitchen.

On her way down the hallway, Stefan approached and she smiled sweetly at him before she placed thhe cheesecake on the table where Bonnie was sat, "Hey, BonBon."

"Hey, Brookie. I didn't know you were coming!" Bonnie stood up, wrapping her arms tightly around the shorter girl when she pulled back, eyeing her outfit, "Uh, what are you wearing? And what is with these scarfs?" Bonnie ran her fingers through the lavender scarf, and Brooke slapped her hand away, a glare replacing the smile on her face.

"Can everybody just stop judging me? I'm gonna go and get a knife." Brooke walked over to the kitchen, leaving Bonnie frozen stood there, bewildered about what had just happened. Brooke was a nice girl, always had been and yes, sometimes she got snappy because of what she'd been through, but she'd never gotten violent with anyone, it was baffling to see Brooke act that way.

Nobody could understand what was going on.

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