Title: In The Sun
By: Jojo
Fandom: Popular
Pairing: Brooke/Sam
Rating: PG 17
Warnings: If you are affected by subjects including abuse I warn you not to read this story. In times it will be dark and in times it will be light-hearted…I blame it on my lack of proper happy pills. LOL. This story has a few parts and will try my hardest to write them in a reasonable time frame.
Additional warning: To fit my own political woes some dates have been shifted around, while not at all a major theme (in fact it is only mentioned in like a few lines lines) keep in mind that for my own purpose we have sped up the war with Iraq to Bush being in the White House already planning the apocalypse. Could not resist.
Disclaimer: The characters in this story are not owned by me at all. If they were I would have kept the show running a hundred more seasons and would have had to change to HBO or Showtime. Can’t let the kiddies see the sexin!
Section 1
Leading Up To
Sam bounded up the stairs furiously, across The Palace Mike and Jane could here her shoes just over the sound of her cursing the heavens. Despite hearing the name Brooke repeated over and over like an African tribe’s death chant, they looked at each other and mentally agreed to sit this one out. Mike shrugged back to his papers and Jane tried yet again to land a spoon of food into Macs screaming mouth.
Back across the way Sam had topped the stairs and was making a serious bee line for Brookes door which stood open just a crack. (All the better for me to throw open) Sam thought to herself in anger. The events of the day spanned through her mind as she tried to remember just what had gone wrong…
~~~~~~~~
Earlier that day…
“Well maybe if you weren’t such a bitch all the time, you could actually feel loved by someone too Sam!” Brooke screamed at the top of her lungs while slamming down her books. “Then maybe you would get your head out of your self-riotous asshole mood and stop making your halfway sarcastic remarks about my relationship!” Brooke stood up and stormed out of the cafeteria. “Robert loves me Brooke, which is something I can’t say about you right now!” Tears had already started to slide down her face and she raced out of the cafeteria feeling utterly alone.
Sam stared at the blonde stunned by the sudden outburst…She wasn’t sure what had caused the onslaught and it slightly made her feel uneasy. All she had said was that Robert seemed a little controlling. And he did, to anyone with half a brain who could open there eyes and look. Robert was the new Adonis on campus and quite frankly his body made Josh look like Emory Dick. In four short months he had managed to become captain of the football team, as well as boyfriend to Brooke McQueen, the following an accomplishment which few people would ever boast in their wildest dreams even. Quite frankly he was superman incarnate at first glance, and he had everyone content in that fact. He was nice to the Tuna Twins and a god on the field, he was pretty much something the school had long needed…then why was it that he scared the hell out of Sam?
Maybe I am just jealous she thought to herself quietly, maybe I don’t like him because he stealing my best friend. She laughed inside at the thought of Brooke being her best friend, it was a little hard to swallow at times and she really had to look back at the last seven months they had spent together to concrete this term. Prom was the deciding role in this friendship and while it hadn’t been the easiest way to become friend, Sam was glad that it had happened none the less. The night had ended with Nichole in jail, and Sam in a coma for the better part of two months. Her recovery had been a medical miracle as far as the doctors were concerned. Every time they made a predicament about recovery time, Sam with the never ending support of Brooke had surprised them. In two months she would get over her temporary amnesia…she got that done in 6 days. In five months she would be able to sit up on her own… two weeks was all it took to accomplish that feat. And last but not least, maybe in a year she would be able to walk again…but in two months with the help of a cane and Brooke she was able to walk down the halls of Kennedy High only one month into her senior year. Brooke had been her rock, staying with her the entire time she was in the coma, and she had been the lighthouse that brought Sam out of the terrifying fog associated with memory loss. She had set with Sam just talking to her, not pleading like her friends, or ignoring the subject like their parents, she just talked to her, and it was Brook’s voice that brought her out of the fog.
Brooke stood by her in court when Nichole’s lawyer questioned the accident, twisting the events to seem more like and accident, than Nichole’s attempt to usurp McQueen from her royal chair by playing out a scene straight from a bad B horror flick. In the end the truth had prevailed and Nic was sitting behind bars and would be their until her 21rst birthday.
The last seven months of friendship with Brooke spread through Sam’s head quickly. Only she had noticed the change though, the change that had come over Brooke so quickly and with such force no one had given it a second look. And it had all started with Robert. If the entire school worshipped him as a god, he was Sam’s Satan incarnate. Brooke had been staring out the corner of her eye at him since day one. Once Sam began walking she had told Brooke she didn’t have to spend all her time with her, she didn’t think Brook would flip-flop and spend all of her time with him instead. Sam did not like the changes that had come over Brooke in the three short months they had been dating. The first and definitely most startling assessment Sam made was Brook’s weight loss. While everyone else pushed it towards her cheering, Sam saw something else. Brooke hardly ever ate at all, and when she did it was barely something that could be considered food. A slice of watermelon here and celery stick there, never anything to add up to a full meal. Besides the drop in her weight, Sam noticed other things. The blonde had become more quite, and not in the voice since, it was like she just didn’t have any fight in her at all. Something she would usually regard with fury was instead replaced with quite acceptance, like their was no other choice available to her anyways…
The only thing she did fight about was Robert, anytime Sam even mentioned the aforementioned changes with Roberts name in the sentence, Brooke not only became infuriated, but Sam could see fear in here eyes. Fear that broke her heart, the look told
Sam what Brooke did not, it spoke to Sam that Brooke was afraid it would get back to Robert somehow that she had not defended his honor against the sharp-tongued journalist. Something was wrong with Brooke and Sam knew it, and she did intend to find out the problem.
But right now she was hurt at the words Brooke had told her, so she sat down with her apple and quietly pulled Brook’s books towards her chest.
~~~~~~~~
Brooke for her part had ran without stopping to her car, once behind the wheel she let out and large breath which came out as nothing more than a choked sob. She put her hands over her face hoping to block out the memory of what had just happened. The look of hurt on Sam’s face had broken her heart and for a fleeting moment she had to fight back the urge to vomit right there. She knew that Sam had not deserved the strong words and was in fact dead on when listing Robert as controlling, because he was, in the three long months they had been together, Robert had taken complete control of her life. He instructed her what to wear, what to eat, how much to eat (to keep from getting fat), and most of all how much time she spent around Sam. At first it had been little ticks, things like making sure Brooke was with him all the time, if she mentioned doing something with Sam he looked sad and said he had made plans to go out. Within a 3 weeks he had started to break her, telling her repeatedly that being around Sam would only get Sam hurt. “I mean come on Brooke, you nearly got Sam killed playing your little Harrison game with her, next time she won’t be that lucky and the rib will be an inch the left instead to the right…then you will be responsible for the poor girls death.” Robert’s words rang through Brooks ears like a gong in a horrible ninja movie.
The abuse had started on their one month anniversary, and the memory was seared into Brookes mind, haunting her every thought. It is often said that the first time an abuser hits the object of his anger; he exhibits remorse, begging for forgiveness and promising it to be the only time. Their was no such moment in their relationship, he simply went from “Slightly Controlling Robert” to “Abusing Brooke Robert”. The change was so sudden it scared Brooke to death.
Brooke and Robert were hanging out after school in an empty hall; they had been kissing for what seemed like an hour before they came up of for air. Robert looked at her and smiled in that all-knowing Robert way and Brooke’s heart beat faster and the sight.
“So babe I was thinking about this weekend and decided we should definitely hang out,” he said brandishing a pair of Nickelback concert tickets. “And then afterwards we could get a hotel room and well…see where the night takes us.”
Brooke smiled sweetly at him readying herself to accept when a sudden memory flashed across her mind, “Oh I’m sorry Robert, that would be great, but I already promised Sam we would hang out this weekend. She got us all day passes to Disneyland, so we’re going to spend a whole day riding the tea cups.”
She smiled sweetly at Josh whose smile had not faded at all during her sentence.
Suddenly it what seemed like a moment straight out of a movie, Roberts eyes darkened and his smile turned into a angry snarl. He dropped his bag to the floor and slammed Brooke’s books out of her hands. In one swift move he enclosed his hand tightly around the blonds throat and pushed her into the lockers with such force it sent stars to Brook’s eyes. He leaned in closely putting his lips against the blonde’s ear.
“Well you are going to have to tell that little bitch that you have to cancel, because you are going to that concert with me, and afterwards you are going to that hotel with me, and you are going to fuck me…Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth, or do I need to beat them into that stupid blonde cheerleader head of yours?” Robert asked breathing heavily down her neck.
Brooke could barely feel herself nodding, and knew her voice definitely had only said yes inside of her now pounding head.
“That’s very good, Brooke. I have been patient with you up until now, but after this point you had better listen to me and obey me very closely. You are nothing more than a hot body in a skirt, that’s all the world, has ever seen you as, and that’s all they ever will. You are fat and ugly, and as far as I’m concerned you should be glad I am even dating you. As far as that little dykey friend of yours is concerned I feel it is my duty to inform you that she does not care about you. How could she? You nearly got her killed or have you forgotten. Every time you get around her you only cause her pain. She stays friends with you out of pity. It was pity that drove her to save your pitiful life that night, and pity that keeps her attached to you. But I know you care about her so I’m going to tell you this once and one time only…If you ever tell her about this, in fact if you ever tell anyone about this, I will finish the job that Nicole started, and I will make you watch every second of it.”
And with that Robert sealed Brooke’s fait. Up until that moment the only thought in her head had been running home to confess the horrible event to Sammy, her Sammy. But what he said changed that. And Brooke vowed to herself that no matter what, no matter what happened after this moment she had to keep Sammy safe.
And thus began the series of events that have led up to now. For the past two months Brooke has been beaten almost everyday and come close to raping her at least three times. In order to keep Brooke weak, Robert exploited her anorexia, turning her against food completely, telling her over and over again she was fat, until Brooke could do nothing but believe him…
And that’s where we find ourselves as Sam closes in on Brooke’s door.
Love Will
“Ok McQueen what the hell is going on with you? First you barely say a word to me in two months, now you’re blowing up at me like Bush on Iraq. What the hell did I…” Sam stopped shortly at the view before her eyes.
Brooke lay asleep on her bed, her face was wet and Sam could tell it was from crying herself to sleep. Sam could hear her whimpering words that Sam could barely make out. Stop and Please being the most obvious. Sam turned around and softly closed the door behind her making sure to lock it. Slowly she made her was over to Brooke hoping to not wake the Blonde.
“God she’s beautiful”, Sam said to an empty room; feeling her anger fade away almost instantly. Sam blushed because of the omission and told her brain to shut up, but she knew it wasn’t going to. She was in love with the girl and Sam knew no matter how hard she tried nothing was going to change that. Sam knew she had been in love with Brooke before the accident, it that love that drove Sam to push Brooke out of the way of Nicole’s oncoming jaguar. She thought about what she was doing as she ran towards the startled blonde. Her mind worked in over drive thinking about what the consequences of her action were going to bring. Most likely death for herself, but Brooke would live, and that was all she cared about. So she sacked her like a quarter back and took the hit for her.
Love will drive you to do crazy things.
Sam snapped back to earth when Brooke’s whimpering started to intensify, she started flailing her arms in her sleep screaming out for Sammy to save her.
Sam grabbed the blonde’s arms and shook her to wake her up from whatever hell Brooke was in.
Brooke’s eyes fluttered open and she looked up into the worried eyes of her best friend, soon to be step-sister. In this moment she forgot every warning Robert had ever given her and grabbed onto Sam for dear life, wrapping her arms around the brunette weeping into chest loudly.
Sam for her part was stunned but by no means planning on moving any time soon. She wrapped her arms around Brooke pulling her closer, the sobbing coming from Brooke spoke to Sam, words Brooke had not told her in months. Sam knew that something was definitely wrong and she was going to find out what it was. What Sam did next solved the mystery for her.
Between the gently shushing and telling Brooke it would be ok. Sam ran a hand over back to comfort her. At one point she lightly patted Brooke and Brooke reacted like she had been struck by a wrecking ball, crying out in pain.
“Jesus Brooke what was that, are you hurt, did something happen to you!?” Sam asked quickly as she reached for the hem of Brooks’s shirt.
Brooke gasped and tried her hardest to back away from Sam on the bed, her mind returned to her and she all but jumped over Sam and made a run for the bathroom, holding down her shirt as she went, apologizing to Sam breathlessly. “I’m sorry I don’t know what came over me” she said slamming the door behind her.
Sam stared dumbfounded at the door.
On the other side Brooke sat with her back against the door crying with all her might. She knew that she had come close to revealing her secret to Sam (too close) she thought to herself as Roberts voice ran through her mind “Tell her and I will hurt her worse than you can imagine…I hear she’s a virgin and I love cherries.”, Brooke fought back a sob and closed her eyes.
She knew that telling Sam would make it all end, but she knew that telling Sam would also end Sam.
“Love will make you do crazy things”, Brooke whispered to herself.
~~~~~~~~
The week went by slowly for Sam, every time she was alone with Brooke she tried her hardest to get the blonde to talk to her about the events of Monday night, and every time Brooke shot her down and left the room. By Friday she was a wreck, worried beyond all belief and feeling utterly useless.
If Sam was feeling bad Brooke was feeling worse, the last week had been especially hard for her to deal with. Robert’s grade dropped below a D in Glass’s Bio and he had been suspended for the team till his grades were back up. All his anger over this was taken out on Brooke who had an A in the class. He had beaten her repeatedly and informed her that she was going to start doing his homework and if his next paper didn’t get an A, Sam would pay for her stupidity.
Either way you look at it, both girls were suffering.
Brooke sat in the warm water loving the feeling of it on her body. The quilt of bruises on her upper torso hurt and the warm water temporarily relieved her hurt. Robert was smart if anything and knew to only hit Brooke where it would not be seen by anyone. He made sure to look at her in her cheerleading outfit to see where he could and couldn’t hit her.
Last night had been a very bad night for Brooke indeed. Robert and his family were going out of town for spring break and he felt it necessary to give her the worst beating ever. A reminder that he would only be gone for one week.
Brooke was positive he had broken a rib and sobbed in pain.
Sam stood on the other side of the door listening to the girl crying. When she heard the sob she sucked in a breath and decided it was now or never and she was going to get in that bathroom even if she had to break the door down. She took a deep breath checked the handle and almost cried in relief when she realized it was unlocked.
The opened the door and stepped into the bathroom, the sight she saw before her was enough to break her heart into a hundred pieces. Brook’s back was turned from her but she could see the blonde’s reflection in the mirror. And what she saw was horrible. Her entire upper body was covered in bruises. Their was a part on her left side that looked like a thin piece of skin was the only thing holding a rib from poking out.
Brooke froze when she heard the door open, she tried her hardest to get out of the bath to her room in time but realized as she looked at the startled expression of the brunette in the mirror that there was no way she was going to be a able to hide in time.
So Brooke did what her heart had been willing her to do for two months now. Brooke just cracked, her knees gave out and she fell to the floor balling her eyes out before she even fell into Sam’s arms.
Sam could see the look in her loves eyes and closed the distance in three long strides, just in time to catch the falling girl. She looked like a beautiful flower wilting suddenly in the heat of a drought, unable to stay standing with pressure on her shoulders.
The sat on the floor for almost thirty minutes, with Brooke crying her heart out, and Sam crying herself, telling Brooke she loved her and it would be all ok.
Once Brooke’s head calmed down she could hear the reassurance coming from the brunette. Her breathe caught at the three words she hadn’t heard in more than two months, coming for the one person she had been told repeatedly would never say.
“You love me?” Brooke asked quietly looking into Sam’s eyes.
Sam for her self could see the emotions in the blonde’s eyes, the most obvious outright fear. Suddenly every feeling she had been feeling for the last year rushed out of her mouth and she was powerless to stop it. “Yes I love you Brooke…with all my heart. You’re the most beautiful, sweet, caring person I have every known. I think about you every moment of the day and, and oh god I love you.”
Brook sniffled and looked at her feeling he life come back to her…”You really love…oh Sammy” she exclaimed throwing her arms around the girl.
Sam held on to Brooke for what seemed like an eternity until she felt the girl slump in her arms, exhausted and asleep. Sam stood carefully holding the sleeping girl in her arms. She noticed as she carried her into her room that she couldn’t way more that a hundred pounds. The realization scared Sam.
She laid Brooke down on the satin sheets and covered her up under a sheet. For the first time Sam realized that Brooke was very naked. She blushed as she brushed some hair out of Brooke’s face and kissed her on the temple. With that she turned around to go to her room and heard Brooke call out like a wounded puppy.
“Where are you going?” Brooke asked worriedly, Sam spun around when she felt Brooke’s hand on her back and kneeled down next to the bed.
“I’m just going back to my room Princess so you can sleep”
“No please stay with me Sammy…I need you here with me…”
Sam felt a tear run down her face and nodded at the beautiful blond lying in front of her. “Ok I’ll stay in here” she said moving to lie down.
“No please in the bed with me”, Brooke whispered hoarsely.
Sam could feel her face turning red. (No bad Sam she thought to herself. The girl needs your help, not you thinking dirty things.) “Are you sure?”
“Please”
“Ok”
Sam crawled into bed with Brooke and the blonde cuddled up to Sam putting her head in the crook of the brunette’s neck. She sighed softly and drifted into a deep nightmareless sleep.
Sam stayed up watching the blonde sleep. Her mind was racing with questions, but she knew that they were going to have to wait until the morning. Already in her mind she was putting a few things together and the conclusion she was reaching was making her blood boil. She stayed awake for nearly an hour thinking until finally she drifted off to sleep holding her beautiful Brooke in her arms.