SEASON ONE — EPISODE EIGHTEEN
"𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜"

‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧—

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'✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ PLACEBO PLAYED THROUGH BROOKE'S SPEAKER as she placed her school supplies and her notebooks in her bag. Her phone was tucked between her ear and her shoulder, her head leaning to the side as she listened to Bonnie ramble about how it was staying with her distant side of the family

"So, what you're saying is that you hate it there? You said it was going well last week." Brooke asked as she pushed her pencil case into her backpack, listening to Bonnie sigh.

"It was, but then I met one of my cousins, his name's Leroy and I hate his guts. I wanted to throw him against the wall, like, every two seconds." Bonnie explained, frustration evident in her tone and Brooke let out a chuckle, knowing what that felt like.

"I get that. I mean, if you wanna come home, I'm always here for you for anything you ever need." She smiled, zipping up her bag and throwing it onto her back.

"You're so sweet, Brookie. Thank you for everything." Bonnie replied, her voice a higher pitch than before, only showing her appreciation for the Elliot girl all the more and Brooke switched off her speaker, smiling wide.

"Anytime, BonBon. Have you heard from Caroline?" Brooke questioned, a frown etched upon her features as she began to fix one of her loose shoelaces on the edge of her bed and Bonnie let out a laugh down the other line.

"I have, we've been talking." Bonnie replied before a sense of concern washed over her, "Why?"

"We just haven't seen each other much lately, but I'm gonna try and text her on the way to school." Brooke let out a soft sigh just as she heard the front door open. Aggressive chattering was heard and she furrowed her brows, trying to listen in further until she heard her brother call out for her.

"Brooke!" Nate yelled through the trailer and Brooke let out a sigh, giving Bonnie her goodbyes before exiting her room, making her way through the hallway. At the front door was stood Nate, his arms crossed over his chest and he had a glare slapped onto his face towards the other man — John Gilbert.

"Oh, what a surprise..." Brooke sent her uncle a tight—lipped smile, not too sure what to say to the man she hardly knew. John grinned, his hands stuffed in his pockets from where he was stood across from Nate inside of the trailer.

"It's lovely to see you, Brooke. You look beautiful as always." John complimented, causing Brooke's smile to widen just a tad.

"Thanks, you still look... old." She winced, she didn't have many positive things to say about her uncle, if not none.

"Lovely. Anyways, I just swung by to say hi and to see if your old man returned, but clearly not." John's eyes trailed over the surprisingly spotless trailer — thanks to Brooke — as Nathan's face scrunched up, clearly offended and Brooke's eyes widened, knowing Nate was about to lash out on their uncle.

"Our old man? That man is dead to us, John. You know this." Nate snapped, his arms tightening over his chest just a tad, his strong biceps clenching causing his leather jacket to stretch. Brooke's eyes flickered between the two, unsure of what exactly to do and just internally praying nobody would fight, especially not today.

"Yeah, sorry. That was insensitive." John admitted, pinching the bridge of his nose momentarily before he let out a sigh, "Do you want a ride to school, Brooke?" He turned to her, a hint of a smile on her face but before she could reply, Nathan cleared his throat.

"No, I'm taking her, but thanks for the offer, John. I'll see around. Let's go, Brooke." Nathan grabbed his work bag from by the kitchen counter and opened the front door, gesturing for both his uncle and his sister to leave the trailer. John left first, immediately making his way towards his car parked just outside the trailer and Brooke stopped just before she left, staring into the eyes of her angered brother.

"Hey, don't let him get to you, okay?" She lifted a hand and patted his shoulder, a reassuring smile upon her glossed lips. Nathan let a smile of his own spread across his lips and he leaned forwards, pressing a swift kiss to her cheek before she exited the trailer, her eyes following John's car as she climbed into Nathan's.

All she could wonder was for why John was back in Mystic Falls in the first place, but she'd just ask Elena when she arrived at school.

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"HE SAID HIS TRIP IS OPEN—ENDED." Elena explained to both her cousin and ex—boyfriend, leaning against the locker beside Matt's. Brooke was stood to the side, listening as she held Matt's backpack open for him, watching as he moved his items in and out of his locker.

"Uncle John. I never really liked that guy." Matt glanced in his ex's direction, a hint of a grin on his lips and Brooke scoffed, agreeing.

"Does anyone?" She raised a brow and both nodded in her direction, unable to argue with her, "He came over before he visited your place and riled Nate up, he's only here to cause more issues." Brooke explained, lifting a hand to brush a strand of hair from her eyes before holding onto the bag again.

"Well, I'm here for moral support if any of you need it." Matt smiled in both of the girls' directions and Brooke smiled back, staying silent whilst Elena decided to reply with words.

"Thanks. I think I'll suffer this one alone. You've been through enough." Elena crossed her arms over her chest, sending Matt a sympathetic look.

"True." Brooke pointed, allowing Matt to take his bag off of her to zip it up.

"Thank you, by the way, for just... For everything you did at Vicki's funeral and her memorial." Matt spoke, his eyes on Elena and Elena only whilst Brooke felt herself slowly becoming the odd one out. Never in her life did she ever feel as unappreciated as she did right then and there. She'd put so much effort and time into comforting not only Matt, but surprisingly Kelly as well in certain aspects. Brooke had helped more than Elena ever did just with the memorial, helping pick a casket and even putting some money towards that said casket, "I couldn't have done it without you." His final words only put the cherry on the cake and that was when Brooke was done with it all, her hands trembling.

She spun around and walked off in the opposite direction. A part of her knew she was being immature, but it hurt, it hurt so much and she was beginning to understand what Caroline meant. Elena did get everything in the end, the love and respect from everybody around them for doing absolutely nothing whilst Brooke slaved around to the ends of the earth, only to receive nothing.

Of course, she wasn't supporting her best—friend to receive any benefits, but a slight bit of appreciation would've been nice. She made her way straight through the wide open double doors leading to the courtyard, making a beeline straight for where she knew her little cousin would be.

But, instead of just seeing Jeremy sat on an old couch near the stairs, she noticed Tyler sat beside him with a blunt wedged between his fingers, offering it to the Gilbert, "Offering my baby cousin drugs, Lockwood?" Brooke sent him a scolding look and Tyler's eyes widened as he looked towards his ex—fling, clearly shocked to see her anywhere near the place where the druggies of the school would hang around.

"Uh— No." He stuttered out, causing her to laugh.

"I'm just joking, Tyler." She rolled her eyes and pushed Jeremy aside, squeezing herself on the end of the dirtied couch with a saddened sigh.

"What's up with you?" Jeremy asked whilst Tyler took a drag, blowing it away from the pair and Brooke lifted her legs, pulling her knees to her chest with her converse hanging off the edge of the couch.

"Ugh, I don't want to talk about it." Brooke then looked over at them, knowing they both were going through a lot with the death of Vicki, "How are you both?" She asked with a soft smile, resting her head on Jeremy's shoulder.

"Still pretty rough, not gonna lie. They said she overdosed." Tyler stated, holding the blunt atop his knee as he stared at the ground and the two of Gilbert blood looked towards him.

"Yeah, that's what I don't get. She was doing okay." Jeremy explained whilst Brooke just stayed quiet, listening intently.

"Apparently not." Tyler replied with a sing—song tone and Brooke had to refrain from sending him a glare, knowing it wasn't the time nor place.

"I'm pulling through." Jeremy turned to Brooke, sending her a smirk and she lifted her head, nodding in reply.

"Good, keep in mind that I'm always just a call away if you ever need anything, okay?" She lifted a hand, ruffling his hair and he wafted her hand away with a short chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks." Jeremy watched as she stood up from the couch, stretching momentarily before Tyler smirked from where he was still sat with the blunt in his hand.

"What about me?" He raised a brow and she sent him a look, adjusting her backpack on her back for a moment before the corners of her lips upturned slightly.

"Sure."

Later that day, much later, Brooke found herself sat at the table in the Gilbert household beside her brother with John at the end of the table and Jeremy sat opposite her. Jenna was stood in the kitchen, preparing the Chinese takeout they'd ordered whilst Stefan and Elena were upstairs, most likely making out or doing whatever couples do.

Brooke took a sip of her water, having almost devoured her entire ramen box, she hadn't been eating the best after everything that happened with Stefan and the tomb vampires.

She'd been tormented a lot that day, a lot of insecurities were built since and after the situation with Matt, she was starting to believe Damon's statement more and more with every minute that went by. Did nobody really care about her?

The sound of Jeremy's voice brought her out of her thoughts, "I have no interest in the Founder's Day kickoff party." Jeremy explained, taking a bite of his food.

"Sure you do. It's tradition." John replied, taking a sip of his wine.

"Far be it from us to break from tradition." Jenna added, taking a bite of a shrimp cracker.

"The Gilberts have been a part of this town for a hundred and fifty years. One of the founding families. And with that distinction come certain obligations... including going to the party." John explained, his eyes mostly on Jeremy and Nate wiped his mouth with a tissue, glancing back at Jenna momentarily, who sent him the same unamused look.

"Well, thankfully, we aren't under the name Gilbert so we don't have to attend that stupid shit anymore." Nate let a grin spread across his lips and Brooke let out a snort, agreeing. She hated pointless get togethers for rich people to ponder over which founding family has the better history.

"Same here. I'm not a Gilbert, so I was never cool enough to hear about the Gilbert family legacy." Jenna added, sending John a glare and Jeremy frowned, leaning closer to his uncle.

"Why does she hate you?" The youngest teenager asked, his eyes on Jenna.

"We used to sleep together." John replied in the simplest tone ever and before anybody could react, Brooke lifted her brother's dirty tissue and slapped it right on the man's forehead, causing Jeremy to laugh with shock. He gasped and quickly moved it, wiping his head with the back of his hand with a glare.

"Be more respectful, what the hell?!" Brooke scoffed, and little did she know, Jenna was stood at the kitchen island with a smug grin on her face, glad her girl she called her niece was there to stand up for her.

"Nice one." Nate whispered into his sister's ear with a low chuckle and Brooke let out a smile, taking a mouthful of her ramen. Suddenly, she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket and she placed her box onto the table, reaching for her phone to see a message from Stefan reading 'Please help me. I'm freaking out.'

And that was all she needed before she excused herself and made her way outside where Stefan was sat in his little sports car, his face buried in his hands. Brooke let out a heavy sigh and knocked on the window lightly, watching as his face lifted from his hands, the veins under his eyes appearing and vanishing continuously as if he couldn't control himself.

Instead of climbing into the car, which had a good chance of ending in the worst way possible, she rounded the car and opened the door, gesturing for him to get out, "What are you doing?" He asked, unsure as he climbed out.

"We're gonna take a walk. Chop, chop, sweetie." Brooke ushered him, closing the door to his car as soon as he was out of it and she tugged on his jacket lightly, leading the way towards the pathway opposite to the Gilbert home.

"And how is this supposed to help?" Stefan asked as he followed her without hesitation, falling into step with her and she rolled her eyes, picking a flower from a flower bush outside of a random house.

"Don't think, just breathe. Trust me." She smiled, smelling the flower momentarily before she tucked it into the pocket of his shirt under his jacket, the pretty scent of the red rose drifting into his senses. He listened as he walked beside her down the dark pathway, breathing in the cold air and the flower's scent, feeling slightly calmer than before.

The twitching of his eyes had gone completely and he couldn't be more grateful for her.

"You feeling better?" She turned her head to look at him with her hands stuffed into her pockets, a smile upon her lips and as he stared into her eyes and saw that smile, he felt completely at ease.

"Much better, actually. Thank you." He smiled too surprisingly and Brooke nodded, looking back up at the dark sky above.

After a few moments of silence, allowing the light breeze to be their only source of sound, Brooke spoke up, "What happened anyway?"

"Me and Elena were..." Stefan trailed off, his eyes on his shoes as he continued to breathe in the scent of the flower and Brooke let out a snort, knowing exactly what he meant, "I don't know, everything happened so quick. I lashed out on her."

"Why? You clearly don't have everything under control, do you?" She raised a scolding brow towards him and he nodded in defeat, knowing her couldn't lie to her anymore, "Look, you can talk to me about anything, you don't have to hide stuff from me. I'm not your Mom or your lover, I'm just a friend, a shoulder to lean on."

"You're more than just a friend, Brooke." Stefan claimed, his voice quiet and calm in contrast to how frustrated and panicked he was just five minutes earlier. She looked over at him, a frown etched into her features, "I just— I've been going to the hospital's blood bank."

Then, her eyes widened and she was completely unsure about what to do.

"I've been trying to get it under control but... I just can't and Damon isn't helping."

"Unsurprising." Brooke let out a scoff and rolled her eyes, annoyed with Damon per usual.

"He's been encouraging me to drink human blood, he says it's normal and he's right, I guess. I'm just struggling, I don't want to feed on human blood." Stefan let out a grumble, clearly frustrated with himself and Brooke stopped abruptly in the middle of the pathway, causing him to stop as well, turning towards her.

"Stefan, please. If you're ever, and I mean ever, having those urges to drink human blood and you're struggling to fight it, just ring me. Please." She sent him a look, her eyes wide and pleading, a small pout on her bottom lip and that was just a face he could never say no to, ever.

"Okay, I'll definitely hold you to that." Stefan smiled and she nodded, holding a grin of her own.

"Good, I don't want my bestie relapsing." She nudged his shoulder with her own despite the height difference and placed her hand on crook of his elbow, dragging them back towards the Gilbert house.

And just the next day, the day of that stupid Founder's Day party, Brooke was sat on the couch with her brother, planning to have a movie night when her cell atop of the coffee table began to ring. She let out an annoyed sigh and leaned forwards, picking up her cell and holding it to her ear.

Before she could even say hello, Stefan's voice echoed down the line, "Hi, Brooke. I need a really big favour." He practically begged, his voice cracking with desperation and Brooke slumped her shoulders, a frown now etched upon her features whilst Nate flickered through movies to watch, minding his own business.

"What?" She asked, knowing exactly what he was going to ask...

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