Tyler was deranged. Everything he said and did only proved that. If he truly wished to earn Brooke’s gratitude or thanks, he would have let Quinn go, no exchanges necessary. Trunk and rope free. But instead, he held onto him. Used him as bait and then tried to play it off like he did her a favor. But really, the person he was still doing favors for was himself. “It wasn’t for me,” Brooke shot back. If Tyler wanted to call her out on her transgressions, then she was going to do the same to him. “It was all for you,” As she said it, she pointed to Ty. “Don’t tell me I’m pretending to be someone I’m not when you’re the one who’s pretending. You pretend you did me a favor and I should be grateful. But, look at where we are,” Brooke stopped to gesture to their surroundings. “We’re here. And you’re trying to manipulate me into believing you did something nice for me. I’m not that naive anymore.” With his nickname for her, came another cringe from Brooke. She used to like it; the nickname. The idea of being special. Not just to him but to everyone. Jake wasn’t the only attention whore amongst them. Brooke loved attention too, she just refused to admit it. But now, she didn’t need it. She didn’t need Tyler or Branson of their classmates and friends to validate that she was special. All she needed or wanted was to be special to Jake. The ring on her finger, along with the vows they swore to one another, was enough to make her feel special. Even if Jake decided he made a mistake. Even if Jake changed his mind after today, that day and the moments that led up to it and followed after were enough to make her feel special always. To be married to Jake for however long he wished to call her his wife. It was enough. “Stop it,” Brooke growled as Tyler continued. She never doubted whether or not Jake had balls, as Tyler so vulgarly put it. He was more of a man than Tyler would ever be. And wasn’t that the kicker? Tyler liked to think he was a man because he felt like he was control and he had the upperhand. But charting around weapons to exercise his false sense of strength while bullying other people into doing or saying what he wanted didn’t make him a man. It didn’t even make him strong or a decent human being. It made him weak. He had something to prove. While, Jake didn’t have to prove anything. He only acted violently out of love. He was protecting her, avenging her. That’s what made him a man. He didn’t care what other people thought about them, or their relationship or how he looked being committed to her after everything. At least, he didn’t an hour ago. Brooke wasn’t sure he still felt the same but she hoped so. And anyway, that inner strength, that loyalty and honor made him a man. Not muscles, not brains, not appearances. Though, he was a man on the outside too.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Brooke piped up. Tyler could insult her all he wanted. But, how dare he say that Jake was no better? Jake was better than the both of them combined. He didn’t deserve anything she did to him. He deserved the world and that’s why Brooke was devoted to giving it to him. To hell with herself. All she cared about was that he lived and he was happy. Whether that was with her or not. “He is better. I know that’s difficult for you to wrap your head around but, it’s the truth. And I’ve always known it.” Brooke turned her chin away from the both of them because she didn’t want them to see the few tears that rolled down her cheeks. She dipped her head and then spoke softly, “It’s why this happened in the first place. I didn’t deserve him. And at pharm, I saw that.” Pharm was a tough memory to recall and talk about. Primarily because that’s where it all started with Tyler and with the downspiral of hers and Jake’s relationship.
Looking up, Brooke caught the end of Tyler’s address to Jake. That’s when Tyler pointed the knife at her and declared that this whole thing would end when she got real. She’d do that with Jake if he were the one asking. Because, she’d do anything for Jake. But, this was Tyler. Yet, it wasn’t like Brooke had a choice. Because Tyler only further pushed her by toying with the two lives that mattered most to her. Brooke stepped forward again when Tyler hurled Quinn’s body over the bumper of his sports car so he was hanging halfway out. Then she gasped and held her breath as he jammed the gun against the back of her dad’s head. She was traumatized. This wasn’t a game. It was life or death. And everything Tyler was doing and saying only proved that he never gave a flying fuck about her and he still didn’t. Because threatening her like this would leave her with eternal hemorrhaging and even more PTSD than what she started with. It would haunt her for the rest of her life. Everytime she closed her eyes, she’d see the gun pointed at her dad and Jake. It was hard to focus and do what Tyler was asking because she was so distracted by wanting to protect them both. On top of that, it was awkward and uncomfortable talking about that night in front of Jake and Quinn. Quinn, especially. No father wants to hear about how some sick bastard fucked his daughter. Inside, he was stewing. He wanted to bash Tyler’s skull against the pavement he was forced to look down on until the boy’s features were indistinguishable. Even as Tyler talked to both kids about Brooke’s actions, all Quinn could picture was Monica. His bipolar, co-dependent hophead of a wife. Sure, Monica wasn’t always amped up. But, when she was, she checked out. She still knew she was married and had a child she should have been looking after. But, addicts didn’t care about anything else except getting high on their drug of choice. Because drugs, those substances of abuse, were all that mattered. They filled voids. And that’s exactly how it was for Brooke. She was void of color and emotion and morals. That’s why Tyler wanted that version of her back. Because it was the only version that could sustain him.
“Why are you doing this?” Brooke cried. To which, Tyler simply never flinched. If anything, her crying only made him more agitated. “Jake,” Brooke turned to her newlywed and noticed that he didn’t look back at her right away. It was like he was thinking too hard about everything. But, when she met his gaze, she could see that he wanted answers too. That maybe he was starting to believe everything that Tyler was saying. Like he couldn’t believe she did this to him all over again, even though they already discussed it. “Fine,” she rolled her shoulders. “This is what he wants,” Brooke mumbled to Jake. Not quietly because she didn’t care if Tyler heard her. It was the truth. He wanted to break them apart so Jake would dump her and they could pick up where they left off. However, Brooke meant what she said to Jake. If he left her, there would be no one else. She wouldn’t run back to Tyler. Or anyone. She’d just die. Jake leaving her would no doubt feel like dying. And nobody could ever love or be with a dead girl. And who knows? Maybe, Brooke would even invite Tyler to shoot her instead. “A conversation’s what you want right?” Brooke turned to Tyler, “Well here it goes…. After pharm, I thought it was you,” Pausing, Brooke pointed to Tyler, “The one I had sex with in the pool. But it wasn’t you. It was Jake.” Next to him, Brooke could see her dad’s tied up hands, twitch and curl. “I didn’t know that until I left you after finding out you blackmailed me. I got my memories back that night. And you can paint whatever pictures you want about us, Ty but Jake already knows everything. He knows what I did. And what you did. And despite that, we worked it out. You can’t break us.” Turning her attention over to Jake, Brooke looked at him with that look. That helpless, ‘I’ll love you forever’ look. “I was blinded by the person I thought you were, the person I wanted and needed you to be.” Brooke was talking to Tyler again. “That’s why I bailed you out of Jail. For the same reasons my dad helped me even though he hates your guts now. You know, as much as I hate to admit it, you really had me fooled. The only person who didn’t believe you were a good guy or knew you weren’t was Jake. And he tried to warn me. He told me after I got off the phone with my dad trying to help you that I should have let you rot. Not only for what you did to him but for what deep down he knew you’d do to me, and to everyone else so long as you walked free. You’re a monster,” Brooke said this with fear and disgust. “And i should have listened to him. But, instead I helped you. Because I thought you were looking out for me in France. And maybe I held onto the hope that you could be redeemed or seen as a good guy and maybe I wanted to be the person to do that. Because I wanted your attention. The same way I want everybody’s. It’s like I needed it to feel like I was worth something. Or to feel like I was worthy of all the love you had and gave to me,” Now Brooke turned to address Jake, with tears in her eyes. “You’ve always loved me unconditionally even when I didn’t deserve it and I’m so sorry for everything I’ve ever done to you.” Wiping at a tear, Brooke forced herself to continue. If it meant this would all be over, it was worth the pain and discomfort she felt inside opening up about it. “I was wasted at that practice before I got into your car. And yes, I was the one who asked for a ride and yes, I knew that I was wrong. By that point, I had already thought that I had fucked up. That he would never love me or look at me the same knowing I hooked up with you at pharm despite that fact that I had been roofie’d.” Quinn stirred again, groaning. “Those are my mistakes and I’m accepting full responsibility for them. I was looking to feel something other than self loathing and hatred when I approached you. The booze I had in my system just wasn’t enough. And I may have been there, and my mind may have been awake but Ty, I didn’t want that.” She was referring to the sex. “I wanted the adrenaline rush and anyone else would have stopped me but I knew that you wouldn’t. And the only way to goad you into going full speed was to bribe you and considering you and I had only ever shared one thing it common, I used my body as incentive.” Brooke didn’t like talking about it and she knew Jake didn’t like hearing about it. And she knew there was the high possibility Jake would pull away from her after this but she had no choice. They wanted the truth. Both of them. No matter how much it hurt to hear. “I’m so sorry,” Brooke cried, shaking her head while talking to Jake even though she couldn’t bring herself to look at his face because she was scared to. “I was high off that adrenaline rush. And like an addict, like my….” Brooke swallowed harshly, “my mother… I would have done anything to get it. I would have cut off my own arm if it meant I didn’t have to live with the pain and the guilt that I endured ever since pharm. And if you were a true friend, you would have told me no. You would have helped me snap out of it but instead you took advantage of me. You drugged me, fed me booze, AND trapped me while having sex. You did it all so you would still have someone to play with the way you did with Nina. I only liked you when I was high, when I wasn’t myself. So, it wasn’t even real. It was me on a bender, destroying myself. While you watched and even worse, you pushed me closer and closer to death. And you enjoyed doing it. You still do. The girl you want, the girl you were with, was dead inside. I never loved you.” The words were harsh, but entirely blunt and truthful, “And honestly, being with you would be my worst nightmare.”
Tyler felt let down by Brooke, like a balloon losing its air, and thus its value. He thought grabbing Quinn for her before he got a bullet between the eyes would have scored major points. Instead, she labeled it as a selfish-act. Crippled with anxiety, Tyler’s fingers twitched around the pistol’s handle. This was supposed to be easier. She was supposed to realize he was a stand-up guy again. That he cared about her. If he didn’t, why would he be here? Why would he want her? The more he thought about it, the more he realized she was right… This was a selfish-act. He didn’t give two shits about Quinn or Brooke. He just wanted to tear them apart. Why? Because Brooke made him think he was getting out from under Nina. He thought he found someone who accepted him, but Brooke stole the rug from under his feet. She trashed him just like all those other assholes did. After getting what they wanted, they dropped him off at someone else’s doorstep. This was Tyler getting the answers that have haunted him for a lifetime. Why didn’t people want him? How was he defective? “—Yes! A conversation, Brooke, keep up!” Tyler exclaimed venomously. If she would stop whining and start talking then maybe she’d save a life…or two.
As Brooke started, Tyler got comfortable with his back pressed up against the Spyder and listened. It already wasn’t making any sense. She thought she fucked him at Pharm and so to amend for the sin, she fucked him again and again and again? “That’s it, Brooke! You thought I was a good guy and so it was okay for you to fuck me. Then I blackmailed you and you backed out. But I’m still that same guy. I’ve done nothing differently now than I have before you bailed me out of jail. I was blackmailing you before pharm… I kicked your boyfriend’s ass at pharm…and still you came to me after. You saw the snake on my back, you knew I wasn’t perfect and yet you let me into your world. You knew what it would cost you… But I was worth it. Admit it.”
When France was brought up, Tyler rolled his head back with a roaring laugh. Did Jake know about this, too? She left Jake for him – maybe not essentially, but instead of learning how to fuck with Jake, she learned how to fuck by riding his cock and mouth for days on end. Everything Jake wanted, he took. Brooke didn’t seem to grasp onto that, that she traded Jake for him more than once. He was special and she couldn’t take that away from him now with her lies. “Say you did change me? What would that accomplish? You’d make me boyfriend material? For who, if not you?” to show a sign of good faith, Tyler placed the gun and knife down onto the hood of the car. He honestly wanted to know. Did she think they were going to be friends after? That she’d get back together with Jake and still be friends with the guy she was fucking for weeks? When Jake eventually found out about France he’d never let them be friends. Tyler betrayed him. They both did. He wasn’t the monster, they were both the monster.
While waiting for more, Jake did something Tyler didn’t see coming, he put his arms around Brooke. Tyler couldn’t believe it. He would have never forgave someone who fucked him over like that. He was sure this little meeting would have torn them apart. “Okay, Brooke,” Tyler grabbed the gun from the hood and walked over to Quinn. “How about this? You come with me and I’ll leave Quinn and Jake here. Unharmed. Or,” Tyler pointed the gun at the back of Quinn’s head and shot... smoke spiraled out from the pistol as it heated up in his hand and left a massive hole...in his bumper. “I never miss twice.” Jake’s arms tightened around Brooke as he shook his head, “do not go with him, Brooke.” Tyler dug into his pocket and put a packet of pills on the hood by the knife. “Pop a few X, get some drinks... You can be free again. Quinn and Jake would be better off. You’d be saving their lives...not only by the monster you claim me to be, but by the monster you know you are deep down.”
