Brooklyn struggled to sleep that night. Her mind was a mess, and her thoughts wouldn't stop running around in her head. She couldn't believe the news about Ben, her manager, who had been so kind to her.
He was a killer.
And if he knew about her and Harry then he would use her. Hurt her.
And now her dad was in town, which made things a whole lot more complicated. Brooklyn was glad, however, that her mum wasn't with him. She wasn't sure how she would react if faced with her mother.
Brooklyn rolled over in her bed, sighing in frustration. She hoped sleep would help her forget everything, just for one night, but sleep wasn't coming. She laid in silence, staring at the ceiling, waiting for the morning to come. Soon the soft patter of rain could be heard and Brooklyn sighed, looking at her window and seeing water droplets through the crack in her curtains.
Brooklyn tensed as a low grumble was heard and there was a flash outside her window. She rolled over and buried her face in her pillow, covering her ears with her hands. "Please don't," she murmured, groaning when she heard another rumble.
Within minutes there was a full storm.
*
Brooklyn was tense and on edge as she got ready for school the next day. The storm had started an hour ago and she was wide awake, failing to sleep, since it began. She had gotten up early in hopes of distracting herself but nothing worked. She jumped and flinched at every crash of thunder.
"You're fine," Brooklyn told herself as she tied her hair up into a ponytail. "It can't hurt you. It can't do anything to do." She gasped when there was a loud bang. "I know it's not fine, but you've just got to pretend that it is."
Brooklyn took a deep breath and grabbed her bag, making her way downstairs where she found her dad sitting at the table. "Morning, B," he smiled.
"Good m-morning," Brooklyn said shakily, attempting to hide her uneasiness and fear.
"Are you nearly ready to go?" Her dad asked.
"Y-yeah," Brooklyn gulped, casting a look outside. The sky was dark and rain was pouring down.
"Are you going to have any breakfast?"
"I'm not hungry," Brooklyn said, nervously shifting from one foot to another. "Can we go? Like now?"
"Of course," he nodded and Brooklyn hurried outside, squeezing her eyes shut and scrambling into her dads car. She turned the radio up in hopes to block out the noise of thunder.
Her dad got in the car shortly after, complaining about the weather and he started the engine, turning the heaters up and the radio down. Brooklyn gritted her teeth and tried not to focus on the storm.
"How did you sleep?" Her dad asked as he drove away. "You look tired."
"I slept like a baby," Brooklyn lied. She was nervously twiddling her fingers, only glancing up to look outside occasionally, quickly lowering her gaze and bracing herself when she saw a flash of lightening. She wanted to stay at home and hide from the world, block out the sound of thunder that brought back so many horrible memories, but she didn't want to have to spend time with her dad which is what she would have to do if she stayed at home.
He no longer felt like her father. He seemed like a man that she knew once, in an old life, and now he was a distant memory. Ever since her parents had shipped her off to this town it felt like they had discarded her as their daughter.
"Did you and mum care when you heard about the accident I was in?" Brooklyn asked suddenly. "The car crash?"
Her dad gasped. "Gosh, yes! I was going to ask you how you were doing?"
"I was great, as great as you can be with a tree branch protruding from my stomach. I nearly died, dad, and you act like you don't care!"
"Of course I care, Brooke!" Her dad spluttered. "I was so worried. God, you're my only daughter, Brooke, I was so scared!"
"You didn't show that you were," Brooklyn said quietly.
Her dad sighed. "Your mother is making things very difficult, sweetheart."
"She hates me. Doesn't she?" Brooklyn said. "Why?"
"She doesn't hate you-"
"Please don't lie, dad."
"I don't know why your mother is the way she is," her dad admitted.
"If you had to choose," Brooklyn said slowly, watching her dad cautiously. She was fully aware that she was going to ask a very inappropriate question "If you had to choose out of the two of us, mum and me, who would you choose."
Her sighed sighed, looking sideways at his daughter in defeat. "Brooklyn, I-I... I don't know what to say-"
"Me or her?"
"I love your mother," her dad said quietly.
"So you'd choose her?" Brooklyn said as they pulled into the school. There was a silence as her dad parked the car.
"I-" Brooklyn's dad was cut off by a loud crash of thunder and she gulped. "I, I don't know- maybe! You can't expect me to decide!"
Brooklyn took a deep breath. "I think you already have," she said and grabbed her bag off the floor. "Thank you for the ride."
"Now, wait a second, sweetheart-"
A knock on the window made Brooklyn gasped in surprise. She looked up and narrowed her eyes when she saw Harry. His blond hair was damp, and he messily pushed it away from his eyes. Brooklyn tried not to get lost in them. Harry crossed his arms impatiently and gestured for Brooklyn to get out the car.
"Whos that?" Brooklyn's dad asked.
"Nobody," Brooklyn said dismissively.
Harry raised his eyebrows at Brooklyn's answer. *It's going to thunder any minute, babe, I think it's a good idea to get you inside where it's quieter.*
Brooklyn sighed and opened the door, climbing out of the car into the pouring rain. She closed the door before her dad could say anything else.
"Come on, you," Harry said, sighing when Brooklyn flinched and sucked in a breath when there was a rumble of thunder. He opened his jacket, covering as much of Brooklyn as he could and they walked into the school that was full of students hiding from the rain. "Are you okay?" Harry asked once they were inside.
"I'm just dandy," Brooklyn muttered. "Freaking fantastic!"
Harry gave Brooklyn a look and then guided her to the toilets and locked the door. "Hey," he said and pushed Brooklyn so she was pressed up against the side. "Why did you come to school today?" He asked, cupping Brooklyn's face, brushing his thumb across her cheek.
"As you probably already know, my dads here," Brooklyn said. "And I'm not staying alone with him."
"I made have dipped in and out of your head last night, he doesn't exactly seem like father of the year," Harry muttered. "But, you're going to be a mess today."
"I'll be fine," Brooklyn said dismissively and pushed Harry away from her. She jumped when she heard thunder.
"Sure you will be," Harry said.
"Don't give me that look," Brooklyn snapped. "I'm doing as well as I can be considering the circumstances!"
"I'm pretty sure you're no longer just talking about your dad."
"No," Brooklyn said sarcastically.
"So, about the whole werewolf hunter situation-"
"Yeah, still way too soon to discuss that out loud," Brooklyn muttered and shook her head. "Especially since I have work tonight."
"Um, hell will freeze over before I let you go to work," Harry said immediately.
Brooklyn paused and raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me, babe. You're not going."
"And you think you can stop me? You've already brought chaos into my life, Harry, I'm not letting you stop me from doing one of the few normal things in my life!"
"I can very easily stop you, Brooklyn," Harry said lowly. "You're not going anywhere near Ben."
Brooklyn paled at the thought of Ben. "Surely its more suspicious if I stop turning up," she said. "If I act normal then he has no reason to suspect anything."
"You're not going," Harry said.
"Yes, I am," Brooklyn insisted.
"Babe, don't argue with me on this," Harry said.
"Then don't tell me I can't go."
Harry gritted his teeth. "You're impossible."
Brooklyn smiled. "Does that mean you're going to stop telling me what to do?"
Harry scoffed and took Brooklyn's hand. "Not a chance," he said and pulled Brooklyn out of the bathroom.
"Harry," Brooklyn huffed. "Let go of me." More thunder crashed outside and Brooklyn jumped and squeezed Harry's hand tightly, pulling him closer to her.
"You were saying?" Harry said into her ear.
"Shut up," she grumbled and looked at the ground. "Just... hush- oh Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" Brooklyn gasped when there was more thunder and she groaned, trying to push away the memories that flooded her mind. "I can't escape him!" She whispered and came to a stop in the hallway. "It's like everything reminds me of him!"
"Hey, shh," Harry said lowly and pulled Brooklyn into his chest. "Just focus on my voice, block out the thunder."
"It's a loud freaking crash, its hard to block out!" Brooklyn snapped.
"So, let me in," Harry whispered. He ran his fingers through Brooklyn's hair and tapped her head. "Let me in, babe."
"No," Brooklyn mumbled. "I don't need you to help."
"But let me," Harry said. "Let me help. Want my help."
Brooklyn had a moment of weakness and the block on her mind slipped. Harry felt the wall crumble immediately and he let his thoughts flood Brooklyn's mind, just as there was a crash of thunder, but she didn't hear it. Harry was completely in Brooklyn's head, taking over what she could hear on the outside, and instead making her just hear him. All she could think about and focus on was him.
*I will always help you, Brooklyn,* Harry said. *Whether you need it or not.*
*What are you doing?* Brooklyn asked. She tried to pull away, tried to focus properly on the outside world, but it was like the only thing that was clear was Harry, and she was watching the rest of the world through blurred glass.
*I'm distracting you,* Harry said. He took Brooklyn's hand and guided her into the classroom. She found herself sitting down, but she wasn't fully aware.
It was a strange feeling, but peaceful in a weirdly invasive way. It was also frightening that Harry could have this much control. But, Harry was helping. Brooklyn looked outside and saw lightening strike, but she heard no thunder. She wasn't scared. Harry made it so she couldn't hear it.
Brooklyn felt like she had time to calmly deal with her thoughts. Calmly try and make sense out of everything. Ben, her dad, Harry. The whole world around her, for once in her life, was silent.
Harry's presence in Brooklyn's mind was ripped away when the teacher walked in and Brooklyn let out a long sigh, sinking low in her seat and crossing her arms over her chest. She already knew that she was going to complete little work today, if not none.
She felt Harry's hand rest on her thigh and she gave him a look but didn't say anything because his touch actually calmed her, but she didn't want to admit that.
*