Beautifully Broken

As she sat across from him, listing every negativity she possibly could to do with their relationship, he couldn't help but think that the girl sat before him appeared so lost, scared, anything but her usual self. This may have been what unnerved him the most.

She never got scared.

She after all, was Brooke Davis, and fear didn't go with the Top Dog image.

So as she sat with tears in her eyes, pleading silently with him to answer her, begging him to give her any form of hope, his mind cleared and he was unable to form the words that she so desperately needed to hear.

So he kissed her.

It wasn't with everything he had and the feeling certainly wasn't as searing as it was to her. To her it was ecstasy. The feeling of his lips up against hers was something she had become addicted to, a habit she never wanted to let go of. To him, it was a compulsory effort that came along with the title of 'boyfriend'.

When he kissed her like that, the world around her seemed to fall away, leaving her with the insatiable feeling she always seemed to have whenever her skin was up against his. And for that moment, every insecurity that was running through her seemed to be silenced, it was just him and her. The only two that mattered, that ever did matter.

She wasn't his first choice, at the end of the day the least he could do was be honest with himself by admitting that she wasn't. So to fill the aching emptiness of rejection from another girl, he'd turned to Brooke. She'd been there when he needed her. Did he love her? At this current point in time, no, he couldn't admit to himself, let alone her those strong words, words that were often said too much. He didn't want to potentially lie to her along with himself by doing so. But did he care deeply about her? Yes, that he did. He cared when he saw her deep, gratifying dimples etched in her cheekbones because of him. He cared to see her lip quiver at his touch. And he cared seeing the tears in her eyes as she pronounced every fear she had about the two of them.

As their lips caressed one another's, their breathe mixing together, tongues colliding to form one, his hand reached up to lightly graze her cheek, showing the truth within the kiss. That he did care. Pulling back, they stared deeply and longingly into one another's eyes, the look of passion deeply etched in both.

"I'm sorry if I'm not the person you want me to be." she whispered, so in audible he almost failed to hear.

In that moment, she was baring all. A hidden truth finally revealed. Brooke Davis did love and she did care and she did fear.

She'd feared for sometime that she wasn't the only girl on his mind and the look on his face as she'd spoke those words only confirmed it. However, a small curve had begun to form in either side of his face, allowing his smile, a smile she'd fallen in love with to show through.

Reaching both hands either side of her face to cup her cheeks in his, he directed her eyes into his, staring deeply and willing her to believe what he was about to say.

"But you are Brooke." he matched her level of quietness as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, allowing him to see her face clearly. "I guess I just forget to show you that sometimes."

Seeing her staring back at him for the past hour or so, looking so broken, desperate and hopeless, wanting nothing more than for the both of them to understand one another, something within him had changed. As she'd spent recent moments listing every significant detail about why it was she cared so much for the boy in front of her, he couldn't help but reciprocate and allow some tingling feeling inside of him to form for the brunette.

He loved the way she smiled, just as she did with him. A smile that was missing at that current moment, leaving an empty blank space on her face.

He missed the smell of her hair whenever she was missing from his arms, just as she missed the musty smell of whatever cologne he was wearing.

He cared, missed and longed to be with her whenever she was away from him. He cared to see her smile absent from her face. He cared to see the spark from her eyes, drained and gone.

He cared for her.

That's when he realized what had changed. He did care. But he could love.

"You're everything I want and need for you to be." he whispered once again, still allowing his hand to graze the smoothness of her cheek.

Once again, his forehead leant in towards hers, resting lightly against it. Both their eyes were closed, allowing them to revel in being together, offering comfort and solace like no other could. As his lips gently reached forward and encased hers, they both felt a whole new sense of security, warmth and hope within them.

Feelings were mutual.

He'd realized that she may not be that perfect somebody, but he had someone that was beautifully broken in every way, and yet none of that mattered. She was, and always would be, his beautifully broken girl, the one he cared so deeply for. He knew he could love her. Maybe that was enough.

And for the first time, he kissed her like he like he truly meant it.