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A tear has fallen down Brooke's cheeks as she struggled to comperhind the vicious text that she has received from the Blackmailer.
You either stop hanging about with that McCall boy or I will post your precious photos.
Or maybe I should hurt him instead.
The last text was sent with a photo of Alistair a few days after his fight with Orion when his face was still badly bruised. It made her heart explode with fear and concern. Her body shook slightly as she failed to contain her sobs in.
It was early in the morning, she was getting ready when her phone pinged.
God, she didn't know what to do. She can't just leave Alistair hanging alone like that, they have gotten really close recently and even closer since he took Brand in. It is so hard for her to just stop talking with him and as much as she wanted to be selfish and just ignore the text, she couldn't put Alistair in harms way.
Maybe she can somehow explain her situation to him since now she is sure that it can't be him. Why would anybody take photos of themselves and technically threaten themselves?
It had been a while since her heart and brain gotten into a disagreement, this time it was a full on war.
Her mind wanted to do what the blackmailer said while her heart fought against it. She was lost, confused, conflicted and extremely lonely as her world crumbled around her. Her heart is beating a mile a minute, her breath is shallow and unsteady, her eyes unfocused and blurry, she is terrified and absolutely so.
"Oh, God, please help me." She whispered as she continued to sob.
● ● ● ● ● ●
Life is starting to really look up for Alistair. His sleeping has been regular, a lot less panic attacks and he found himself actually feeling stuff rather than just numbness.
His heart would pound faster at the thought of Brooke and her marvelous beauty. His lips would form smile at the thought of his dog. He would actually get excited again to meet Zion and even Sully and Izzy. Over all, he was feeling much better mentally which reflected physically and caused his mom to relax a little. It's a chain reaction really.
Even his therapist is happy with him.
But with his feelings resurfacing, came the fear of feeling lonely, sad or very depressed again, and he knew it is inevitable, there will come a time when he will relapse and collapse harder than ever but if he recovered the first time then he would also find a way to recover again.
As he manoeuvred his way through his feelings and rediscovered how it is to function like a normal human being, an enormous realisation hit him. He has feelings for Brooke and it is not just platonic. It runs deeper than that. He was just too blind to see earlier.
Unfortunately, it has built new insecurities and fears in his brain, but he didn't want to dwell on that. He doesn't want to give himself a reason to be sad anymore and that just might be a part of loving himself.
His depression has convinced him that his dad's death was his fault and the horrible things that people were talking about him was true. It also had managed to convince him that he was worthless, a disposal piece. It made him think feeling sad, alone and scared was a sort of Karma for the death of his father and he felt like he deserved it.
Maybe in someway he did, maybe in someway he didn't but at this moment he was happy. Happy with what he has, with who he is surrounded by and with how his life is turning up.
He even started looking into colleges and universities. He has always been a smart guy and although the illness has cost him a few grades, he is still considerably good. He could get into a college or even land himself a scholarship.
Before, he didn't care about that. He saw no point in it whatsoever, because quite frankly he hadn't saw a future for him.
Now, as his energy is renewing and his mental health is improving, he could see a future ahead of him.
"Honey, come down for dinner!" His mom yelled interrupting his inner thoughts. He went down, a small smile on his face because he knew his mom would be happy if she saw him happy.
He set the table for them, sadness tugged at his heart strings because of the empty space on the table but he pushed it away. He just had to get used to it.
"Ali, Doctor Kilnsey said great things about your session last time," She put a piece of bread in her mouth, chewed it and then swallowed before continuing. "She said you have gotten better and she might lessen your dosage next month."
That was nice to hear. While the medicine was impeccable in his situation, it did have serious side effects that he wouldn't like to endure.
The pair filled the air with light conversation. His mom talking about her work and coworker and him mentioning Brooke and Zion.
Alicia McCall knew her son was a social butterfly when he was younger, always looking for someone to talk to or befriend. He also always wanted to help, in anyway he could and that trait still shone through yet it was dimmed by his shyness and overall hatred for his peers who had talked badly about him.
Nowadays, his old self, his real self that wasn't tainted by death, grief, depression and nonsense rumors is starting to come back and it is all thanks to the support he has been given by his best friend and new friends.
Alicia is proud of him. Proud of who he has become and very grateful and appreciative for Brooke, Zion and Brand.
He has built a good support system and she only hopes it would stay there for as long as they need each other.
