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Turns out Brooke's friends weren't that bad, Alistair thought. Of course, it took him a few jokes and grins to get on their good side. It also took a lot of his might to just sit and not react to Sullivan as he threw daggers at him. He kept talking as if Alistair wasn't there, Sullivan was bruising his ego but he kept a closed lid on his anger.
Alistair didn't understand why they were extremely overprotective of Brooke. It almost made him question their relationship. If he didn't know that Sullivan was gay, Alistair would have assumed that they were dating.
And as he spent more time with the trio, his curiosity seemed to rise and steer.
On the other hand, Brooke was having issues trusting him. Despite whatever her heart tells her about him, she still can't bring herself to trust or tell him about her secret that was following her like the biggest, darkest shadow ever.
She could also feel someone's eyes on her all the time, when she cycles to school, when she's in class, and when she's in her own room. She didn't know whether it was paranoia or that someone was actually stalking her. She didn't want to tell her friends either because she didn't want them to worry even more about her. And if somehow all of that was in her head, it would cause them to keep an extra eye on her and they would be overprotective and careful around her, she didn't want that. They were the only normality left in her life, along side her parents, Alistair and of course her precious dogs.
Hey, wanna go out or smth? Everytime she gets a text, her heart just instantly drops. The sender of the nudes told her that they would be in contact if they needed her to do something and that terrified her.
But this text was innocent.
It was Alistair who managed to convince her the other day to exchange numbers. She protested at first and said her phone was broken but Alistair saw through the lie quickly which caused her to be embarrassed. So, out of guilt of lying to him, she agreed. They have only been talking for three days, excluding the crybaby incident. Brooke completely erased that from her mind, while it was the only thing that occupied Alistair's mind.
Did Brooke want to hang out with Alistair? Yes, he is weirdly nice to her but maybe there isn't any other intentions behind his act of kindness. Maybe it's just an act of kindness.
But Brooke couldn't let her naivety blind her judgment again.
People had have treated her nicely before until they got what they wanted from her and left her hallow and heartbroken. Everytime she offers a piece of herself to someone, they take advantage of it. Ruin her and then walk away like it's nothing.
Deciding that if she stayed inside on Saturday, she would really lose her sanity so she responded with a quick yes.
Mike's pizzeria? Another notification caused her heart to drop for a second.
Yeah, sure. Meet you there? She typed. The bubble that had three dots appeared and she waited patiently for it to change into a message.
Okay :)A small smile made its way onto her face as she got up to get dressed.
Her choice of clothes were really simple and warm because North Carolina was starting to get chiller by the day. She, subconsciously, put extra attention on her outfit, more than she normally would. She took her phone and her small wallet that contained a few dollar bills and her I.D. She explained where she was going and with whom to her mom before heading towards her baby blue bike.
Mike's pizzeria wasn't that far away from her home. She used to spend a lot of time there until she started to like the company of her dogs and couch better.
The wind ran its fingers through her blonde hair as she cycled. The breeze caressed her cheeks caused her to smile. She has always loved the cool wind on her cheeks, she couldn't really tell you why but she just did.
As she parked her bike and locked it onto a tree, Alistair's car came into view. It was a rusty, old, black sedan. It was in serious need of a wash. The door squealed as he closed it shut with force. They flinch slightly before turning to face each other.
"Cool bike." Alistair grinned. The bike absolutely matched Brooke's personality in his opinion. It was feminine, beautiful but still practical.
"Cool car." She chuckled. Alistair glanced back at his car. It was gift from his dad, it wasn't his dream car at the time but now it means the world to him.
"It's a gift from my father." Alistair grinned. He was confused as to what he should feel as memories started filling his mind. They were happy memories which caused him to be sad that they were just memories now. He also couldn't make any memories with dad anymore and that thought almost made him break down right then and there.
"That's thoughtful of him." She smiled softly. She was ignorant to what he was actually feeling inside. He also didn't have the heart to tell her that his dad passed away.
They made their way inside the small pizzeria, a soft smile on Brooke's lips as she inhaled the smell of beautiful pies. They took a seat in a booth, facing each other.
"So...what's the most interesting thing that happened to you today?" Alistair asked, trying to ease the awkwardness that was looming over them. It might have been his fault since his mind was somewhere else.
"Nat finally learned how to shake hands today." Brooke said. She thought dogs are the best answer for any question. It will ease the tension and might even give them common ground to stand on.
"Nat?" Alistair furrowed his eyebrows.
"My corgi. She's the newest addition to the family. She's pretty young." Adoration shone through her eyes at the thought of her dogs.
"I also have a golden retriever, his name is Bucky." She rested her chin on her hand as she talked. "I like Marvel if you couldn't tell." She chuckled lightly, Alistair found himself chuckling along with her.
She had this aura around her that made Alistair forgot everything, his problems, troubles and pain. She was cleansing to him, washing away all the darkness that was around him.
"I like Marvel too. I can't wait for the next Avengers movie." Marvel, books and other means of entertainment was his escape. He always needed to make himself busy, in order to drown his thoughts and hide them away.
As they gushed over Marvel and their favorite superhero, a waitress came and took their orders. Brooke ordered a small pizza with extra cheese on it with milkshake but no straw.
Alistair ordered himself a medium sized pizza with mushrooms, onions, peppers on top with a side of Coca-Cola.
"Cheese is my favorite. If it wasn't weird, I would have put it on everything." And then they went on talking about the best kind of cheese as they waited for their order to come around.
