Chapter 29

brOOKE

My eyes open, and my head is pounding.

"Hey, sleepyhead." I hear Harper's voice, and she extends her hand out to me, holding me a coffee.

I take it gladly, but the room spins as I sit up. "How did I get here?" I look around, and I'm in Harper's room.

"The hospital gave you some meds for the pain, you passed out, and Ben carried you up here. He waited to make sure you were okay."

"I don't even remember that."

"I'm not surprised. Your face is fucked. Kyle clocked you good."

"He didn't mean to, I don't think. It all happened so fast."

"He stopped by this morning," she says meekly.

"Wait, what time is it?"

"A little after 3:00 p.m."

"Shit, I'm sorry."

"No. No, it's fine. You needed to sleep."

"Is Kyle okay?"

"Well, his face isn't, but he was more sorry about you getting hurt. He feels awful." She takes a seat on the bed beside me. "Brooke, he's so sorry that happened. He was really worried about you."

I smile, but it turns into a wince. "It's fine. I know he didn't mean to. I'm just sorry it all happened."

"He said he tried to make sure I was okay when he saw Asher grab me, but Jax stopped him, and then Chase just wailed on him."

I stay silent because that's all true. There wasn't really an excuse for it.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what was up with them last night."

She sighs standing up, walking over to her dressing table before leaning against it. "He's not gonna let me go, is he? Asher…"

"Harps…"

"He doesn't want me, but he doesn't want me to be happy with anyone else." I watch a tear fall from her eye.

"He loves you."

She laughs. "That's a fucked up kinda love."

I sigh. "Well, he's a little fucked up, but it's not his fault. He's trying, he just…" I sigh again because I can't explain any of it to her. "What happened with you two? I saw you arguing at the bar, and then you guys disappeared later."

"You mean he dragged me out of the bar. Asshole. Starts telling me how I can do better and how he doesn't like Kyle and that I need to dump his ass, and something didn't check out with him."

"Huh?" I'm confused.

She laughs. "Oh, you'll love this. Apparently, they did a background check on him yesterday, fuck knows how and apparently, he wasn't even friends with Nate," she says.

I'm gonna kill those idiots.

"Well, what did he say they found on him?"

"Something I already knew, he was accused of messing with a girl, but Kyle told me about that. They got drunk at a party and slept together, and then the next day, she freaked out because she already had a boyfriend. She called the cops. Psycho."

Something about this sounds way too familiar.

"And what happened?"

"He was let go, she dropped the charges and then dropped out of college. He hasn't slept with anyone since. He wanted to take it slow with us because of it."

"Didn't seem like he was taking it slow last night with the way he was kissing you."

"Oh please, like Chase doesn't kiss you like that."

She's got me there.

"Listen, I want to be the supportive friend, but if you didn't know him and heard that story, who would you believe?"

"Brooke. I really like him, okay? For the first time, I see a life for myself without Asher. It's the first time I felt a little like myself since that night at the beach."

I sigh, getting up out of bed, still in yesterday's dress, only without the heels. I walk over to her, put the coffee on the table, and give her the tightest hug I can manage. "I'll talk to the boys."

"Thank you," she whispers as she hugs me back just as tightly.

"Do you still have some of my clothes here?"

She nods, pulling back. "Yeah, you left a bag of stuff here a while ago. It's all hanging in the closet."

I catch sight of myself in the mirror. No wonder my head is pounding; the side of my face is purple. "Fuck I can't go home looking like this, my parents will freak out."

"He really is sorry."

"It's okay, I don't blame him, but do you think you can do something to tone it down? Chase is gonna flip when I see him."

She nods, pulling out her makeup kit as I wander to the closet, pulling on the skinny jeans and hoodie I left here last time.

She spends about thirty minutes on my makeup, trying to hide the purple and black.

"I think that's the best I can do, babe." I look in the mirror. It's not great, but it will do. She's managed to tone it down, at least.

"Thank you. Mind giving me a ride?" I ask, taking the last sip of my now cold coffee.

"Sure, but I'm not going in, Brooke, I can't."

"I get it, I'm gonna talk to them. I promise."

"I wasn't lying last night, Brooke. I don't want anything to do with them anymore."

"Can you at least try with Chase? He's my boyfriend, after all."

"And Kyle is mine, and he beat the shit out of him."

"He only got that extreme because Kyle hit me."

"No, Brooke, I'm sorry. I can't. Too many things with them don't add up. I'm done."

"Okay, I understand," I say meekly.

"You should think about whether Chase really is the guy for you, Brooke. If he can switch at a moment's notice, there's no telling what he could do."

"He wouldn't hurt me, Harper."

"I don't know that, Brooke. Honestly, everything that I've seen since Nate died tells me the opposite."

"You don't know him the way I do, Harper. All three of them are dealing with stuff you couldn't dream of, and that was never an issue with you till you decided you didn't want Asher anymore."

"I changed my mind. You can get a taxi."

She storms out of the bedroom, and I follow her.

"Harps, I didn't mean it that way."

"Leave me alone, Brooke."

"No." I grab her arm and spin her to face me. "Listen to me. This isn't my secret to share, okay? But I promise you the way they are is for good reason."

"I don't even know who you are anymore, Brooke."

"I'm the same girl you've always known. I'm your best friend."

"No, you're not. You look like her, you talk like her, but you're not the same girl."

I go quiet, letting go of her. "What do you mean?"

"Brooke, you never ever would have defended a guy that beat the shit out of someone—you sneak around, you don't answer your phone, we barely even text anymore."

I recoil at that. She's right; I've been a shit friend. I've been so wrapped up in getting vengeance and with Chase that I've let things slide.

"I'm sorry…"

"I get it, okay? You've got a new boyfriend, one that you crushed hard on for years, but you've just dropped me."

"It's not like that, Harper."

"No? Then what is it like? Nate died weeks ago, Brooke. I've seen you three times since then. We used to hang out every day."

"I'm just dealing with stuff."

"Like what?"

"Stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Stuff I can't share with you, okay," I snap.

Silence descends over us.

"I didn't mean to shout. I just—I'm trying to keep you safe."

"Keep me safe? What you're doing is putting a distance between us. Like I said, I don't know who you are anymore."

She takes a step away from me.

"I'm sorry, Harps. I can't tell you anything other than I love you, and I really am trying to keep you safe."

"Yeah well, I'm sorry too because as far as I'm concerned, Brooke, we're done too. You can show yourself out."