SEASON ONE — EPISODE FOUR
"𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚"

‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧—

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'✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ MATT HAD DROPPED BROOKE OFF AT THE SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE, he wanted to ask questions and he even wanted to go inside with her, but she insisted that he didn't and that he should just go home to get ready for the Founder's Party.

She balled her hand into a fist, pounding on the door as loud as she could and about ten seconds later, the door opened, revealing Zach Salvatore, Stefan and Damon's "Uncle".

"Uh, Brooke? How can I help you?" Zach questioned, having never talked to the girl ever in his life but he knew her through her parents, the Elliots. Brooke faked a smile, stuffing her hands into her jacket pockets as she rolled backwards and forwards on the balls of her feet.

"Hi, Mr. Salvatore. Is Stefan or Damon in?" She tilted her head, her eyes drifting behind Zack to look down into the dimly lit hallway. She'd never been inside of the rather large house before, but she expected it to be dark, full of vintage furniture and the walls to be lined with antiques and old paintings.

"Yes, I'll go and get Stefan. Give me a moment." Zach nodded with a small smile before closing the door to a crack and walking down the hallway towards the stairs. Once she heard him call for Stefan, she knew what she had to do.

Luckily, she was light on her feet so sneaking around wouldn't be hard, but Brooke wasn't stupid, she had remembered what Stefan had told her about the advanced hearing vampires inherit. But, Zach wasn't a vampire and she didn't need Stefan to tell her that for her to know. He was distant friends with her father, so she'd seen him from time to time throughout her childhood. He never used to be grey-haired with wrinkles, though he still looked pretty much the same.

The house was exactly how she'd imagined it to be, despite the fact that there were a lot less paintings than she'd expected. It was a very traditional house, the type of house you'd expect an almost two-hundred year-old vampire to live in.

Most of the structure was dark-oak, the stairs, the flooring, the fireplace in the living room. The furniture was dark-oak too, and all of the non-wooden interior was coffee-brown. It was beautiful and to be completely honest, it replicated the house she had in her dreams.

She could just imagine waking up bright and early to the smell of her mother's infamous waffles with blueberries. She'd walk into the kitchen, her father stood beside her mother, making his morning coffee with a splash of milk, no sugar. And her brother, Nate, would be sat at the kitchen table, his head stuck in his iPod.

Her eyes began to water, sadness washing over her for just a moment but she remembered why she was even there and she turned to look over her shoulder, jumping at the sight of Damon stood in his suit, his hands stuffed in his trouser pockets with a smirk on his lips.

Brooke scowled, taking a challenging step forwards in anger and he held his finger up, tutting under his breath, "Uh-uh. I wouldn't do that if I was you." He raised his brows curtly and she tilted her head, squinting her eyes.

"I'm not scared of you, Damon. If you're gonna kill me, do it already. Put me out of my misery." She stepped forwards again until her chest was against his, and in Damon's mind, she was like a tiny yet brave mouse going up against a big bad wolf. He furrowed his brows down at her, a smirk still playing on his lips to show he was amused by her threatening behaviour.

"Well, I could. But... that wasn't my plan." He smiled and before she could even comprehend what was going on, he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against one of the pillars separating the living room from the hallway, "My plan was to use you, feed on you and get to Stefan. I never actually liked you, you'd be an idiot for thinking that."

Damon chuckled, finding enjoyment in Brooke's fear that she claimed she didn't feel towards him. Her hands clawed at his hand, scratching as hard as she could but it did no damage, no matter how much she kicked at his stomach or punched at his arms, he just wouldn't let go.

Trying something other than fighting it, she gathered saliva in her mouth and spat it at his face, causing his face to scrunch up in disgust. He used his free hand to wipe it off of his cheek and his eyes turned from amused to pissed in seconds. He wrapped his fingers tighter around her neck, all of the air in her body leaving like gusts of wind.

Brooke's body became weak, her kicking and punching become less striking as she felt the beating of her heart slow down. Just when her eyes closed and her body became fully limp, his hand was snatched from her neck and she dropped to the ground, choking with her hands gripping her neck.

Her eyes finally opened and she watched as Damon stabbed Stefan in the stomach with a butter knife, making her cringe. A circle of bright red blood spread around the wound under his white vest, and Damon sped over to her, kneeling down in front of her with a small smile on his face.

Brooke couldn't do anything other than frown up at him, angrier than she ever could be and he reached forwards, pushing some hair behind her ear. His smiled was sad in a way, like he was actually upset by the fact that she knew what he was, that she'd found him out.

"Such a waste. I guess it's your pretty little blonde friend's turn now." He tapped her cheek and before she could respond, he sped out of the room and out of the house, making the curtains blow from the breeze.

"Oh, I'm gonna kill him." She scowled at the wall, mostly speaking to herself but when she heard groaning from across the room, she remembered Stefan was still there with a knife sticking out of his stomach in the most impossible way to remove.

The brunette pushed herself up and rushed over to the middle of the room, she bent down in front of Stefan, who was struggling to pull the silver utensil out. She winced up at him as she slowly reached forwards for the handle, and he nodded down at her to consent before she pulled it out as fast as she could.

Stefan sucked a breath in at the slight pain and leaned back into the couch, holding onto his wound that quickly healed, but not as quickly as Damon's would. She placed the knife on the coffee table so that the vintage-looking carpet wouldn't be stained by the blood.

"Do you have a death wish or something?" Stefan asked her and her eyebrows pinched at him, she stuffed her hands in her pockets, adjusting her posture.

"He defaced my mom's grave. I wasn't thinking clearly, but I am now. Don't worry, Stefan." Brooke sent him a small smile and left the room, wiping her slightly bloodied hands on her black jeans, knowing the red liquid wouldn't stain them. On her way out, she noticed Zach walking back down the hallway in confusion and she sent him a small smile too, heading for the door.

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BROOKE WORE A RED DRESS, it was short but the skirt was loose and was far from tight. The top half was modest, she wasn't the type to wear such revealing clothes due to her insecurities and plus, her brother was escorting her to the party. The short-sleeves were puffy and at the chest there was a drawstring, it was just a pretty summer dress she had collecting dust in her tiny closet. For shoes, she just wore her mother's black chunky heels with bows on the front band, her freshly-painted red toenails exposed.

Nathan was matching, he wore a black suit with a red waistcoat, the colour matching Brooke's dress. Considering Brooke was never in any serious relationships, and neither was Nate, they always went to town parties together, often matching.

They walked up the steps, Brooke's freshly curled hair blowing in the warm breeze and the Lockwood family stood at the entrance, greeting everyone on their way inside. Tyler was the first to notice her, and he smiled softly at her, receiving a tight-lipped one in response.

The two faked grins at Mr and Mrs. Lockwood, who seemed so delighted to see them, "Oh, the Elliots. We haven't seen you in so long!" Mrs. Lockwood smiled, placing her hand on Brooke's bare arm with a grin on her face and the aforementioned girl giggled along, nodding.

"It's nice to see you again." Nate told them and Mr. Lockwood chuckled, unsure about whether he should hug either one of them or not, but he lost his chance to even choose when Mrs. Lockwood ushered them inside. They were arm in arm as they walked into the main room which led to the stairs, their house was even bigger than the Salvatore Boarding House but it resembled the White House more than a traditional one.

About ten minutes later, Brooke was stood beside Nate, stealing his champagne every two minutes when she spotted Caroline stood beside Damon, giggling at every word that exited his mouth. She couldn't help but scowl, anger taking over her facial features and she placed the glass in Nate's hand in a rushed manner, "I'll be right back."

"Okay." Nathan nodded as he read the names of books on the wall of the Lockwood's library and she stormed off, heading towards her best-friend and Damon when a hand hooked around her elbow, dragging her back.

"What the—" Brooke spun around, coming face-to-face with Stefan and she groaned, snatching her arm away from him, "What, Stefan?"

"You're going to make a big mistake walking over there. All you'll do is create a scene, it's busy in here." He gestured to the crowded room and she followed his gaze, her eyes searching the room. She let out a huff, squeezing her eyes shut in defeat.

"Then you better do something, Stefan, because he's hurting Caroline now." The brunette gave him a worried look before she glanced over at Caroline and Damon and walked away to find Nate, who had wandered off towards where all of the Founder's items were laid.

Stefan watched her walk away and let out a sigh, he knew he had to do something. He had to think logically about it all, Damon wasn't dumb, everyone knew that, even Brooke. But, there had to be something he could do.

She had to search around for a little while, but she eventually spotted her brother's face beside Jenna's, and she approached, scrunching her eyes as she watched Logan Fell, Mystic Fall's News Reporter, walk away in shame, "I had that under control just fine."

"Yeah, I could tell by the uncomfortableness on your face." Nate raised his brows with a smirk at the woman, who just stared at him, a little in disbelief. Brooke chuckled and approached, smiling widely at the two of her favourite people.

"Hey, Aunt Jenna." Brooke smiled, the corners of her eyes creasing from her genuine happiness and Jenna's eyes lit up, her arms immediately opening up for a hug from the girl. Without hesitation, Brooke wrapped her arms around Jenna's taller frame, eventually pulling away.

"Oh, my God, how have you grown so much in such little time?" Jenna joked, knowing fully well that Brooke was still as tall as she was in 7th grade. The youngest rolled her eyes with a playful smile, and Nathan lifted his glass to his lips, stifling a laugh, clearly amused by the conversation.

"Don't you laugh." Brooke pointed her finger towards him, her eyes squinted but he just raised his eyebrows, raising his free hand in surrender. Jenna giggled, but her happy expression quickly turned to a disgusted one when she noticed Logan staring at her from afar.

"Sorry, guys. I'll see you later, I can't." She groaned in disgust and moved past Brooke, heading for the bar. The corners of Brooke's lips turned downwards and she shrugged towards her brother, not knowing the context between Logan and Jenna, but it seemed bad from the way she was behaving.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Caroline, Damon, Stefan and Elena stood across the room and she smiled at her brother before she rushed over, unbothered if she didn't look elegant like everybody wanted her to. She didn't care if her hair looked a mess, or if her running in heels was too unladylike, all she was bothered about was her best-friend who was clearly in a vulnerable state.

"Hey, guys! How're 'ya doing? I hope you don't mind me stealing Candy Cake for a quick dance." Brooke grabbed onto Caroline's hands and dragged her out of the room and she yelped from the suddenness. Brooke dragged her out to the dance floor outside where quite a few others were already dancing to the classical music.

"Brooke, what are you doing?" Caroline giggled a little, feeling spontaneous in that moment and she stopped, watching as Brooke reached out, grabbing two champagne glasses from a waiter's tray. She looked over Caroline's shoulder, noticing Stefan approaching and before she passed the glass to Caroline, she held it out, watching as Stefan discreetly placed a sprinkle of vervain inside whilst Caroline looked away for a split second.

"Champagne for you, m'lady." Brooke joked in a British accent, handing the glass to the blonde who had already searched her surroundings in hopes that her mother wasn't around.

"Just tell me if you see my mom." Caroline told her with a small giggle, placing the glass to her lips with a mischievous smile. The duo giggled together, enjoying their drinks, except one was spiked. Brooke didn't feel one ounce of guilt for spiking her friend's drink, it was for her own safety.

Damon and Elena approached after a little while, Stefan now stood beside the girls, who were still sipping on their champagne, "What'd we miss?" Damon asked, and Brooke hid her scowl, finding it hard to keep calm around him, but he noticed, making him smirk all the more.

"We were just chatting." Stefan told him, knowing that Brooke wasn't going to answer. Stefan took the glass from Brooke's hand and held it out to his brother, a small smile on his face, "Drink, Damon?"

"No, thanks. I'll pass." Damon hesitated a little and Stefan chuckled before raising it in the air. Damon glared over at Stefan and Elena had noticed the tension in the air.

"Stefan, do you have another dance in you?" Elena asked, catching her boyfriend's attention and he nodded curtly, a grin on his lips. Brooke smiled at the two, swooning a little over them. Her feeling shad changed since the first time she had seen them together, at first she was jealous, but now she was happy for them.

As much as she wished she had what they had, a love like her parents', she would never wish to take Elena's place, she deserved every ounce of it. The couple walked away, hand-in-hand, leaving Damon, Caroline and Brooke stood around, making the brunette slightly uneasy.

"All right, time to dance again!" Brooke pretended to be drunk, giggling loudly as she grabbed onto Caroline's hands, dragging her away from Damon and back onto the dance floor. She placed her hands onto Caroline's hips and the blonde placed her arms around her neck, the best-friends swaying from side-to-side.

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