Fic: One Crazy Night 14/22
Title: One Crazy Night
Fandom: Popular
Pairing: Sam/Brooke
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Alas, I don’t own the characters of Popular. They belong to Ryan Murphy, but hopefully he won’t mind if I borrow them for a little while.
A/N: This is a futurefic, where Sam and Brooke are in college. It's currently junior year.
A/N2: Thoughts are in [ ].
WARNING: This chapter has taken a bit of a darker turn. So, nothing graphic, but this chapter is rated R, for themes of violence.
( Chapters 1 - 2 )
( Chapters 3 - 5 )
( Chapters 6 - 8 )
( Chapters 9 - 10 )
( Chapters 11 - 12 )
( Chapter 13 )
PART 3 -- Junior Year
Chapter 14
Sam tried to enjoy the party, but she just wasn’t feeling it. It was loud, it was crowded, the floor was sticky with spilled beer, there were a lot of people that she didn’t know, and the music wasn’t even that good.
Part of the problem was that she had been up really late the last two nights in a row, trying to finish a 20-page paper for class. Normally, she could write really quickly, but ideas had seemed to evade her for this topic. So she really just wanted to curl up in bed and go to sleep, but Katie had made her promise that she would at least stop by for a little while.
Sam had told Luke that he shouldn’t bother coming down to the NYU campus, since she’d be going to bed early. She didn’t tell him about the party. The relationship between them had become somewhat strained lately, and she just didn’t feel like dealing with him tonight.
[ Was Brooke right? Maybe I am a coward. ]
After their fight, it took about a week for things to get back to normal for Sam and Brooke, but there appeared to be no lasting damage to their friendship. Somehow, though, that conversation about Brooke’s break-up with Charlie never happened. Sam hadn’t been sure whether or not Brooke still wanted to talk about it, so she just didn’t bring it up.
While she waited for Katie to return from the keg, Sam started thinking about whether she had been at the party long enough to constitute “making an appearance.” Honestly, watching a bunch of drunken frat boys wasn’t exactly her idea of “fun.” At that moment, though, Jason came up behind her and draped his arms around her shoulders.
“Hey, Sam! I’m glad you decided to come!”
“Yeah, I’m not staying for long, though...Sorry to be lame, but I’m really tired. It’s been a long week.”
“Well before you leave, you totally have to come meet Seth! And have you seen Brooke? I saw her earlier, but now I can’t find her.”
“Wait....Seth, the elusive new boyfriend who’s been too busy to meet any of us, because he has drama rehearsal everyday? Awesome, you know we’ve all been dying to meet the guy you’ve been raving about! But no, now that I think about it, I haven’t seen Brooke at all tonight.”
After meeting Seth (and quietly expressing her complete approval to Jason), she was about to leave, when Katie caught her arm.
“You’re not leaving, yet, are you? You practically just got here. Besides, you have to come help me!”
[ Ugh. I’m never going to get out of here. ]
“Help you? Katie, what are you talking about?”
“Okay, so you know the cute guy in my English class that I told you about? Well, he’s here, but he has a friend with him, so you totally have to come be my ‘wingwoman’ for the night.”
“So I have to go talk with the random friend, to give you an opportunity to talk and flirt with cute English class guy? But I’m already dating someone. Aren’t ‘wingpeople’ supposed to be single?”
“But Luke’s not here, so the random friend doesn’t have to know that you’re not single! It’s just a friendly little chat, it doesn’t have to mean anything. I know you’re tired, but pleeeeeease? Just stay for a little while longer. I’ve already made some serious eye contact with cute English class guy, now I just need you to help me follow through.”
Katie smiled hesitantly at Sam, who sighed, and smiled weakly back.
“Fine. But only because I’m such a fantastic friend.”
Katie grinned and threw her arms around Sam. “Great! You ARE a fantastic friend, and I’ll never forget it! And his name is Ryan, by the way. Please don’t call him ‘cute English class guy’ to his face. And I think the random friend is Mike. Or maybe John.”
Forty-five minutes later, and with Katie having successfully exchanged phone numbers with cute English class guy, Sam finally made her way back to her room. She, Katie, Brooke, and Alexis had managed to snag a sweet housing deal for their junior year, living in a four-bedroom suite.
Sam collapsed into bed, glad to have finally earned the right to catch up on some much-needed sleep.
Sam was almost asleep when she heard a light knock at her door. She grumbled tiredly to herself as she went to the door and opened it.
Brooke stood there, looking at the floor, with her arms crossed tightly in front of herself. Her shirt looked slightly torn and was missing a few buttons.
Sam’s heart seemed to skip a beat at the sight in front of her. “Brooke? What’s wrong? Are you okay? Come in.”
Brooke took a step inside the room, but still wouldn’t look at Sam. Sam touched Brooke lightly on the arm, trying to get the blonde to look at her. Brooke flinched violently and looked sharply up at Sam, an expression of fear in her eyes.
“Okay, Brooke, you’re really starting to scare me, here. Talk to me, hun, what happened?”
“I’m sorry, Sam. I just. I was at this party. I think I briefly saw you there, too. A bunch of us went to hang out in Josh’s room. You know Josh, right? Charlie’s old roommate. But then, bit by bit everyone left, until, before I even realized it was happening, it was just me and Charlie.”
Brooke took a deep breath and started pacing around the room, her arms still wrapped protectively around herself. Sam stared at her in horror. She really didn’t like where it sounded like this story might be headed.
“We were just talking. You know how I’ve wanted to stay friends with him. Even though I broke up with him, he was still a nice guy. But then...Oh, Sam. It all happened so quickly.”
Brooke finally stopped pacing and turned to face Sam, with tears now spilling down her face. Sam found her hands clenching into tight fists.
[ Oh god, no. That fucking bastard. ]
“What did he do, Brooke? If he hurt you... I swear, I’ll fucking kill him.” Sam’s voice was low and hard, full of pure anger and hatred.
“When we were dating...we never...I never slept with him. I just... It never felt right. So I wouldn’t. And then tonight...he was so drunk. He tried to kiss me, but I pushed him away.”
Sam was actually surprised to hear that Charlie and Brooke hadn’t been having sex when they were dating. She had just assumed that they were; assumed that Brooke simply wasn’t as talkative about sex as Sam found herself being. Now, though, it was Sam’s turn to start pacing. She had been so exhausted only a few minutes ago, but now she was wide awake. She wanted to hit something.
[ Brooke looks so small. This scared, vulnerable, hurting girl isn’t the Brooke that I know. ]
“He got so angry. And he started talking...about how I had used him. How I had strung him along for a while, and then it wasn’t even worth it for him in the end, because I wouldn’t put out. He always seemed like such a nice guy, Sam. How could I have been so wrong??”
Brooke started crying harder now. Sam stopped pacing and quickly crossed the room, pulling Brooke into her arms. Brooke buried her face into Sam’s neck, as Sam gently stroked her hair. Sam felt a tight tension in Brooke’s shoulders. And Brooke’s arms were still folded in front of her, creating a knot between their bodies.
Sam pulled back slightly, so she could look at Brooke directly. Brooke’s eyes were bloodshot, but she managed to control her crying. Sam reached up to Brooke’s cheek, wiping away a few stray tears.
“Brooke, this isn’t your fault. Don’t ever think that. Okay? This isn’t your fault. And I really really hate to ask this, but I feel like I need to. Did he....God, I don’t even want to say it... Did he rape you?”
Both Sam and Brooke cringed at the question, and Brooke shut her eyes tightly, taking in a big, shaky breath.
“No. Almost, but no.”
Brooke opened her eyes again, staring straight into Sam. She chuckled humorlessly as she then looked towards Sam’s feet and mumbled, “I managed to get in one well-placed knee to the crotch, and that gave me time to get out of there. I came straight here. I didn’t even know if you’d be here. But I didn’t want to be alone.”
Sam felt only a short bit of relief before she was once again filled with anger. She returned to pacing furiously.
“That son of a bitch! I hate him. I’ll kill him. Do you know where is he now, Brooke? I swear to god, I’ll fucking kill him! Or maybe I’ll just castrate him! Yeah, I like that idea!”
“I don’t know where he is. But Sammy? You don’t need to kill him right now. Can you...can you just...?”
Sam felt some of the anger leave her as she once again focused on Brooke, and solely Brooke.
“What? What can I do? I’ll do anything you want.”
“Can you just hold me?”
Sam felt her heart break at how vulnerable and fragile Brooke sounded. She smiled sadly before returning to wrap her arms tightly around the blonde. Brooke clung to her just as tightly.
Sam turned her head to whisper comfortingly into Brooke’s ear. “Of course, Princess. For as long as you need. I’m here. You’re safe now. I’ll never let him hurt you again. I promise.”
Sam felt Brooke nod into the crook of her neck. She gently led Brooke over to the bed, only releasing her in order to get out some comfortable pajamas for her to sleep in. Brooke numbly allowed Sam to help her change clothes, and Sam promptly threw the discarded clothes in the trash, knowing that Brooke wouldn’t want to wear them ever again.
Finally, Sam helped Brooke into bed, crawling in after her and immediately wrapping her arms protectively around Brooke’s waist, spooning into her from behind. Brooke was shivering, even though she said that she wasn’t cold. Sam tenderly kissed the back of Brooke’s neck, and then simply held her. Eventually, she finally felt Brooke relax somewhat, and fall into an exhausted sleep.
Sam’s heart, meanwhile, still hadn’t slowed down. She didn’t think that she had ever felt this strongly toward her step-sister. It was partly just a straightforward desire to protect Brooke. But there was a hint of something else, too. Something that Sam couldn’t quite identify. Slowly, though, exhaustion overtook Sam, as well.
[ I’m glad you came to me, Brooke. I promise that you can always feel safe with me. ]