𝙶𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝙶𝚒𝚛𝚕 & 𝙳𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚜 𝚆𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝟷𝟾

Brooklyn stayed at Buck's with her brother, but because some couple rented the spare room for their 'make out session' after the party died down Brooklyn had to sleep in Dal's room.

She didn't mind, she and Dal shared the same room in New York. Anytime Brooklyn got hit or beaten by their dad she was scared to the bone. Dallas would always offer for her to sleep in his bed with him. So at this point, they didn't mind that much.

"The gangs gonna be worried man!" Dallas mentioned when they walked into his room.

"The gang is the reason I'm like this." Brooklyn scoffed. "Soft, sobbing with tears, injured for crying out loud. If I just had chosen to get close to no one I wouldn't have stayed, I wouldn't have gotten shot, or debated whether I should still stay or leave." Brooklyn kicked off her shoes and chucked her flannel against the wall, making her side hurt but she didn't care.

Dallas noticed the scars covering her body that's now revealing a white tank top. He didn't question it like usual because she's already worked up.

Dallas sighed knowing she just needed to let it out. He walked into the dimly lit bathroom and changed into a tank top and sweatpants. When he walked out he saw Brooklyn sitting on the floor leaning her head up against the wall, banging the floor with her fist. Her knuckles were turning raw and began to bleed.

"Hey, don't hurt yourself, Brooke." Dallas crouched to her height and looked her in the eye. He grabbed her hands and held them in his.

"I can do what I want!" She stood up and Dal followed.

"You need rest, come on, let's get ya to sleep, man."

"Ugh!" She groaned in frustration squinting her eyes to prevent tears. She started punching Dallas in the arm and stomach. It didn't hurt him due to her being tired and weak. She kept punching and punching him, his white tank top getting little dots of blood from her fists.

She eventually got her anger out and began to feel tired. She just started sobbing. Dallas opened his arms and Brooke fell into him.

All the emotions from the past three years flooded out. All the anger pent up from her dad's abuse. All the sadness from her mom's passing. The fear of the unknown from Mack and his friends, 'them'.

"S-sorry!" She stuttered calming down.

"You can't hurt me that easily Brookster." Dallas joked and led her to the side of his bed.

She sat down hesitantly then Dally returned with a first aid kit. "Hand." He demanded. She complied. He cleaned her knuckles and bandaged them up.

Dallas ushered her up onto the bed and she got the side against the wall. "Night Texas."

"Night New York." They shared their sibling nicknames and drifted off to sleep. At one point in time, Brooklyn snuggled against Dal's chest and was practically hugging her brother.

That was until she woke up in a cold sweat from one of her nightmares. Dallas groggily sat up facing her. His sleepiness vanished after seeing her face. "Nightmare?" She nodded at his question.

"'Bout our folks this time." She slowly laid back down.

"He can't hurt ya Brook, not with the gang." Dallas slung an arm over her small frame and they both fell back asleep.

———

"Hey, Kid! Glad your feelin' better from that awful sickness you had!" The boss patted Brooklyn roughly on the back smiling at her as she walked through the DX doors half an hour after opening time.

She wore her white tank top, DX shirt, tight jeans, and red shoes, her knuckles still wrapped, oh and can't forget the signature Winston scowl.

She shot a quizzical look at Soda and Steve having a conversation at the counter and they shot her cheesy grins.

"Cough yeah, uhh thanks. It's subdued by now, just a little cold." She fake smiled back. It didn't take much to make her look sick. She had dark rings under her eyes which were puffy from crying. She walked slowly and struggled to breathe due to her gunshot wound. It was the perfect excuse.

"Now let's get to work boys... and girl!" The boss shouted and walked back to his office.

"Hey Brooklyn, about yesterday," Soda put a hand on his neck awkwardly.

"It's fine, I'm not upset you asked me that question, I've thought about that a lot so it wasn't new news." Brooklyn walked by him and straight into the shop, with Steve on her trail.

"Hey, man." Steve greeted her and started fixing the car's spark plug.

She nodded in acknowledgment and tiredly sat in the spinny chair, her head leaning on her hand which was propped-up by her elbow.

Steve snuck a glance in her direction. "You look dead." He commented in all seriousness. She tried her best not to smile at his presence but at the same time she was too tired to anyways.

"Gee thanks, Steve, I try hard." She rolled her eyes and yawned.

"No really, you look very pale and have you been sleeping at all?" He wiped his hands on a clean rag and walked over toward her.

He crouched down to her eye level. He noticed her hazel eyes forcing themselves open, there was slight redness around them. It hurt Steve to see her so upset.

"Hang in there Winston." He smiled at her, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. It gave her butterflies but she didn't know why. Brooklyn pushed away the feeling.

"Thanks, Randle." She smiled back.

"Umm, I have something to tell you." Steve fiddled with the buttons on his shirt. "It's about uhh you."