Brooke sat before her vanity, not really doing anything but thinking very hard about the decisions she still had to make.   She didn't know if Kevin  wanted anything to do with her after she walked out on him that morning, and she didn't know if David trusted her anymore.  She could tell he was in a bad mood tonight, and that just waiting for her to get ready was getting on his nerves.  Maybe he's just scared I'll make a scene at Crawford's again, she thought, knowing she wouldn't because she didn't plan on drinking an ounce, even though it was new years eve.  Brooke sighed as she fidgeted with her newly wavy hair, wondering if David even wanted her there, she shrugged and stood up, adjusting the simple black dress she had on, and sweeping a few loose tendrils from her eyes.

    "Okay I'm ready."  She said as she emerged from her bedroom.  He stood up from the chair letting out a frustrated sigh.

    "It's about time." he muttered, Brooke ignoring the comment, not wanting a fight to erupt at the beginning of the night.  They made their way to the jeep below and David, who usually did the gallant thing and opened her door, just got in the drivers seat and tapped impatiently on the wheel until she was in.  After the jeep was started, he immediately turned up the music, drowning out any chance of a conversation they could have had with the shrill screams of Kid Rock resonating in her ears.  She usually didn't mind it, but when he was listening to the music so loudly for the specific purpose of  ignoring her, she got pissed.  Biting down on her lip Brooke looked out the window, perfectly content to ignore him as well.
 
 

    "Hey Brooke, my guuuuuuurl!"  an obviously drunk Crawford yelled as they entered his house, leaping over shoes to give her a hug.  David walked past both of them, heading straight for the beer.  Brooke shrugged it off, and said a friendly hello to Mark, returning to kitchen with him to have a seat at the table.    They chit-chatted for awhile, Brooke finally losing interest in Mark's drunken slurs and getting up from the table to say hi to a few people.

    She was already bored and it was only 10 o'clock.     A throng of people had massed in the living room and were dancing and drinking and talking, she didn't feel like doing anything, except perhaps going home, so she stood around and talked to a few people she had met at Crawford's last party.  She quickly got bored with the conversation, but stayed for lack of anything better to do, or anyone else to talk to.    She heard Crawford yell another greeting and looked towards the door to see who had arrived, and although she knew deep down he'd be there, the sight of Kevin still shocked her.  Even more shocking was the trashy blond that was on his arm,  Brooke didn't know what to think of her, Skanky  was the first word that came to her mind, but she wondered if she had the right to judge, Kevin wasn't hers, and it was new year's eve, why shouldn't he have a date, even if that date looked like a Mariah wannabe.
 

     They were headed her way, and Brooke didn't know if she was prepared to talk to him, but put on a friendly smile.

    "Hey Shannon."  he said to one of the girls Brooke was talking to,  walking past them, pushing the blond into Brooke's arm almost purposely, and completely ignoring Brooke's presence.     She stifled her tears and left, without a word to the people she was talking to, returning to the kitchen where David was.  He was sitting at the table playing quarters with Crawford and a few others, all of them trashed.  She said "hi" as she entered, which in return was met with absolute silence, from everyone, but most purposely from David.

      "Another great party." She said sarcastically, pushing her way out of the kitchen and away from everyone and everything.  She wound her way up the stairs, passing the ever familiar bathroom she had passed out in, looking for somewhere she could just sit and think.  She finally just  returned to the bathroom when all other rooms seemed to be occupied, locking the door behind her and sitting down on the white tiled floor.  Brooke racked her mind for answers, wondering why she was suddenly such a pariah to everyone in the world.  David's ignoring me, Kevin's ignoring me and all of it is my fault, christ, why am I so fucked up?  I haven't even heard from Annie in weeks.  She must really think I'm nothing now, and I am, I'm nothing, she thought.  Brooke spent over an hour pondering everything that had been happening to her. Then something finally occurred to her, it didn't really bother her in the slightest that David was ignoring her, in fact she actually welcomed not having to talk to him and be around him constantly, but being shrugged off by Kevin like that killed her, even if it wasn't on purpose, but she knew it was.  She may have only known him for a short time, but he didn't ignore people like that unless it was on purpose.   She knew then, that she had finally made her decision, she couldn't be with David when her heart and mind were somewhere else, it wasn't fair to either of them, she had to end it.   I wonder if Kevin's promise to me was the truth,  will he never give up on me, or has he already?  she thought, have I ruined my chance at happiness with either of them?  Brooke had to go talk to Kevin, if he would talk to her, and finally open her heart to him.  She got up off the floor, her heart racing with fear and anticipation and adjusted her dress, making her way to the party below.    She pushed her way through the noisy crowd, searching for Kevin, and hoping David wasn't around.  Finally she saw him, laughing heartily with the same blond her had come in with, his hand resting lightly on her hip.  She winced at the scene, took a deep breath, and gathered up the courage to approach him.  Neither of them noticed her standing there, until she tapped Kevin lightly on the shoulder.

    "Can we help you?" The snotty blond asked.

    "I have to talk to Kevin." Brooke said, trying to look him in the eyes, to plead with him, but he averted her gaze.

    "Can't you see he's with me."  She snapped,  Brooke's eyes still trying to lock with his.

    "Yeah I'm WITH Michelle."  He said coldly, pulling Michelle closer to him, an annoying giggle escaping her mouth.

Brooke's heart shattered into a million pieces.

    "I guess NEVER came sooner than we both thought." She said to Kevin before turning to leave, tears burning her eyes as she made her way towards the front door.  She was sobbing as she pulled her coat on, pulling the keys of the jeep from the pocket of David's jacket and leaving the house in a vale of hot tears.  She walked to the hoards of cars slowly, salty drops falling from her cheeks.  I waited too long, I hurt him too many times and I lost him before I even had him, she yelled in her mind, opening the jeep's door, crawling into the drivers seat and laying her head down on the wheel to cry.

After a few moments she heard a soft knock on the window, lifting her head up from the steering wheel, she wiped away the condensation on the fogged up window and saw Kevin standing before her.  She watched him through the glass, finally about to look into his eyes, eyes that were as full of hurt as her own.  He reached down to open the door, and Brooke slid into the passenger seat to let him sit down.  Brooke and Kevin both stared ahead, watching the white of their breath fog up the windows in the cold winter air, neither of them saying a word.

    "Bro--Kev..." They both turned to each other simultaneously, saying each others names, and then nervously laughing.

    "Go ahead."  Kevin said to her, turning his body to face hers.  She took a deep breath, wondering where she should start.

    "I'm sorry I left Kevin, I know it was cowardly of me, I just didn't know what to do."

    "Brooke, why do you keep doing this to me?  I tried tonight.  I tried to ignore you, and all I ended up doing..."  Brooke interrupted him.

    "Don't finish that sentence Kevin, this is all my fault."

    "Tell me."  He said, taking her hand and pulling it towards him.

    "Tell you what?"  She said, her tears still brimming her eyes.

    "Tell me you're not going to keep doing this to me Brooklyn." his eyes pleaded with her, begged her with every fiber of his being.    Brooke's lip trembled as she looked at his face and moved closer to him, attempting a smile through her tears.  She took his hands in hers, they were cold and strong, but rough in a way only a man's hands seem to be.

    "Things haven't been the greatest between David and I for awhile, but lately he's been brushing me off more and more, and tonight he's ignored me from the moment we left my house.  As much as that hurts, I'm out here crying because you brushed me off Kevin, that hurt more."

    "I'm sor.."  he began to apologize, Brooke cutting him off again.

    "Don't say you're sorry, I deserved it.  I know I did, but what I'm trying to say is I know what I want, and I'm not going to do anything about it tonight, not on New Years eve, but I will."  He looked at her, trying to read into what he thought she was saying, what he hoped she was saying.

    "Kevin?"  She questioned, his silence worrying her.  He looked down at their clasped hands, glancing back up, seeing the fear in her eyes and erasing it when he gave her a subtle smile.

    "It's after midnight."  He said motioning to his watch, and placing his hand on her face, leaning in towards her.

    "Happy new year Kevin."  She said, moving her head closer to his as they shared a New years kiss, probably the most meaningful kiss they have ever shared.

Their quiet moment was interrupted as the passenger door of the jeep was thrown open.

    "What the fuck do you think you're doing."  A very angry and drunk David yelled, pulling Brooke by the arm out of the jeep.  She fell onto her back in the slushy snow, the wind knocked out of her, so she couldn't catch her breath to respond as David yelled obscenities at her.   Kevin had gotten out of the jeep, and had rushed to Brooke's side ready to help her up, but David intercepted his path.

    "David I'm not going to fight you."  Kevin said calmly as a small crowd gathered at the door of Crawford's house.  David stood chest to chest with Kevin but continued speaking to Brooke.

    "And you just had to screw around on me with one of my friends huh Brooke?! You fucking whore, I never cheated on you once, and I could have, many chances have come."  He turned his gaze back on Kevin.  "So the fact we're frat brothers goes right out the fucking door when a little pussy comes along."   He said shoving Kevin in the chest.

    "David stop it, leave Kevin out of this."  Brooke yelled, finally getting her voice back.  She tried to get up, but fell back down, her ankle not able to support her.  David continued to shove Kevin backwards, finally pinning him against the Jeep.  David took a swing at Kevin, missing as kevin moved his head to the side.

    "David, you're drunk, please stop, we'll talk about this later."  Brooke screamed from the cold ground below.  David walked away from Kevin, stumbling drunkenly towards Brooke.

    "I come to find MY FIANCEE, to give her a New years kiss and I find her in MY Jeep making out with MY friend." He glared at her with hatred in his eyes, noticing that Kevin was walking towards Brooke to help her up.  David  immediately turned around throwing a punch at Kevin and clipping him in the mouth.   Kevin didn't fight back, knowing it was what David wanted, and pushed his arm away as he took another swing.  David toppled sideways and landed face first in the snow, getting up quickly and lunging at Kevin again, but being pulled back by Crawford and a few more of their frat buddies.

    "Maybe you guys should leave."  Crawford said pleadingly.  "We'll throw him on the couch and let him sleep it off." He assured.   Kevin nodded and went to help Brooke up, as David was being pulled back towards the house.

    "BITCH."  He yelled, kicking a wave of dirty slushy snow onto her.
 

Kevin helped Brooke up, she was wet and dirty, and leaned against him for support, her ankle swollen and throbbing with pain.   She hobbled along, holding Kevin tightly as they made their way to his car, He opened the door and lifted her in, taking his coat off and draping it over her.  She leaned her head back against the seat, closing her eyes tight, tears burning her lids.  I didn't want David to find out like this, she thought, I didn't want to hurt him.   Kevin got in the drivers seat and started the car, sitting there a moment to let it warm up.

    "Are you okay."  He asked, wiping a streak of dirt from her face.  She kept her eyes close as she responded.

    "I'm fine."  She said.  Kevin could tell she wasn't,  he could hear it in her voice.

    "Brooklyn, look at me." Brooke turned to face him, tears falling from her eyes as she opened them.

    "You're bleeding."  She wept, her thumb wiping the blood from his lip.  He winced as she touched the cut, and she quickly pulled away.  Kevin put his hand on her face reassuringly.

    "Let's go." He said, backing out of the driveway and driving in silence to his house.

They pulled into his driveway, the house basked in darkness.  She opened the door to get out, Kevin quickly darting to her side of the car to help.

    "Kevin, you don't have to help."  She said trying to step out of the car, but he wouldn't hear it.

    "Your ankle could be broken, he pulled you out of the jeep hard Brooke.  Just let me help you."  She didn't have enough energy to argue with him so she let Kevin pick her up and carry her inside.  He sat her down on a chair and hurriedly took off upstairs, returning with a T-shirt.

    "Com'on let's go get you out of this soaking wet dress."  He said sweeping her off the chair and into the nearby bathroom, sitting her down on the closed toilet seat.

    "Okay your help is done, I can take it from here!"  She grinned.  Kevin nodded and shut the door behind himself.  She balanced on one leg removing her dress and draping it over the shower rod.  She looked at herself in the mirror, her hair now hung in limply on her shoulders, the water having pulled most of the wave from it so it was virtually straight again.  She splashed some warm water on her face, removing the spots of dirt that were still dotted all over her, drying it with a nearby towel.  She pulled on the yellow T-shirt, laughing at the ugly Camp Wyatt staff shirt she now wore,  knowing Kevin had chosen that one on purpose.  Her laugh quickly stopped when she recalled why she was here in the first place.

    "David was so mad.  I've never seen him like that before, he's never been so violent towards me."  She said aloud, David's behavior reminding her somewhat of Paul, the bastard Annie was beaten by.  Brooke didn't know what to think anymore, what would David do next, and how would she end it officially with him knowing the type of reaction he could have?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

    "Ready yet?"  He asked and Brooke said yes, and he came in, smiling at the shirt she wore.

    "Nice shirt."  She smiled, and he laughed.

    "I thought you'd like it."

He picked her up, even though she was insistent she could walk, and carried her to the couch where he had placed some blankets and had lit a fire.   He handed her a cup of tea to warm her up and she sipped it slowly, still shivering from being drenched and from the fright David had given her.

    "Let me look at your ankle."  He said, sitting down on the other end of the couch and lifting her ankle into his lap.  He held it so gently, and pressed the sides with his thumb and forefinger, she pulled back with a flinch when his touch hurt and he immediately apologized.

    "Sorry.  Well it isn't broken, but it's a pretty bad sprain."  He said.  "I'll be right back."

He returned momentarily and wrapped her ankle in a bandage, making sure it wasn't too tight and setting it down lightly on the couch.  He knelt on the floor next to her, pulling a warm down blanket over her.  She looked lovingly into his face, wincing when she noticed that a bruise was appearing next to his mouth.

    "I'm sorry."

    "What are you sorry for Brooklyn?"  he questioned.

    "I'm sorry that all this happened, that he blamed you and that he hit you." She said, feeling very guilty over everything.  He leaned closer to her, propping himself on his elbows to hold his head level with hers.

    "He can blame me all he wants, all I care about is you." She touched the cut on his lip tentatively, and moved her face in, kissing it with the lightest touch of her lips.  She smiled at his as he pulled away and he took the tea cup from her hand, setting it down on the table and pulling the blanket up around her neck.

    "Get some sleep."  He said,  swiping the hair from her face and lingering a moment on her cheek.   He stood up and shut out the light, she watched him grab a blanket and curl up in the chair next to her, the glow of the fire illuminating the room, I love you Kevin, she thought as her eyelids got heavy and she fell asleep before she could tell him.