44. Touch

Brooke wanted him to kiss her, but every touch he made just triggered memories she tried to stuff in the back of her mind.

            In three days, Brooke and Meredith will face the king. No one had the slightest idea of what any of them would say, but her father didn’t belong in that prison. Brooke stood in the shower. Before she left the house, she made sure to get some clothes. She gave Meredith a one her shirts and some jeans. Brooke brought her Capris pants and tank top. They lay on the counter along with her mother’s sword. The water splattered against her skin, her hair draped over her. She was going to cut it eventually. It was getting too long.

Then, she thought about Shawn. Would she see him? Should she see him? How long had it been since their night together? Years. What good would it do to see him with someone else? It would simply distract her from what she set out to do. Freeing her father. That’s how this all started in the first place. She let ambition blind her to living a life. A princess had to force her to have fun after all. Would she let it stop her now? What if Shawn thought of her like her stepsisters, calling her some kind of murderer? Brooke figured that would be the most heartbreaking thing to hear. She felt trapped as if she was in the rave of Eros, standing there, stiff, and unable to escape her own fear of ridicule, of rejection.

All these thoughts raced through her mind and she wanted them to cease. When they wouldn’t, Brooke began to sob, sliding against the wall, and laying on running water. It splashed against her bangs lain over her face. “See Shawn or no see Shawn; why is this so difficult?”

Meredith heard the sobbing and Brooke’s words. She watched the hearth and Rogue walked into the kitchen to prepare dinner. “Excuse me?” she said. Rogue turned to her. “If I may inquire, who is this Shawn character?”

Rogue smirked. “You don’t have to be so formal with me, Princess, really.” When Meredith didn’t respond, he continued and told her about the relationship between Brooke and Shawn. Meredith gasped and she displayed a giant smile. “You know what this means we should do, don’t you?”

Rogue looked at her questioningly, arching his left brow. Meredith’s smiled turned sly and she swiped his phone from him. He reached for it and Meredith slipped under him. “What are you doing?”

“Uniting these love birds.”

“But, Brooke said she didn’t-”

“Brooke doesn’t know what she wants.” Meredith chuckled and flipped the phone up. She studied the mechanics of it, brought up the text screen, and texted Shawn to come over immediately. She clamped the phone shut. Rogue gave her an uncertain expression. They both wanted this to happen.

“If this goes wrong, you did it.”

“I’ll take full blame,” Meredith said.

Rogue had the food on and Meredith continued to watch the hearth as they waited for something to happen. She jumped when she heard a knock at the door. Meredith bolted from the couch into Rogue’s room. He stared at her curiously. She waved for him to come quickly. He cut the food off, sighed, and followed the princess.

Brooke stopped the water. She heard someone bang on the door. Brooke wrapped a towel around her and peaked out the bathroom door. No one was in the living room or the kitchen. Where was everybody? Someone banged on the door harder and churned the doorknob. The curtains blocked Brooke’s view of the person, but she didn’t like the manner of the visitor. What if it was those guards? Did they spot her? Did they know of her and Meredith? Brooke heard the door unlock. She grabbed her mother’s sword, stepped out from the bathroom, and prepared to fight.

The door opened to reveal Shawn, with his sword drawn. Brooke moved to attack, and stopped, her sword raised in mid air. A sweat drop fell down her face. The two met eyes, and just as Brooke turned away, her towel dropped. Brooke’s heart hammered in her chest. Shawn’s eyes ricocheted around the room, not sure where to look. He chose the floor, peaked up a second, and he insidiously scorned himself. Brooke screamed, grabbed the towel, and hurried back into the bathroom. Every pound of her heart felt as if it hurt. What was he doing here? Why had he come? Did he just see her…naked? Brooke’s face felt like it might explode. Her whole body shook with embarrassment. She clothed herself and listened as she did so. “Granddad! Where are you, are you okay?” She left the bathroom and frowned. Meredith and Rogue revealed themselves.

“Son, why do you have a sword?” Rogue asked.

Shawn sheathed the sword, frowning as well. “You were texting me so I thought something was wrong.” His eyes widened when he noticed the princess. “Princess Meredith?” Then he glanced to Brooke, a light blush appearing on his round face. “Brooklyn?” He shook his head and stomped his foot. “What is going on here?”

Meredith sat the startled young man down and she explained their story this time. Brooke sat far away from him. “I don’t know what to say about this, honestly.” Shawn leaned back in the couch and closed his eyes. “So you guys are going to meet with the king?” Meredith nodded. “And demand your father free?” Meredith nodded for Brooke. She began to feel terrible that she did this. She just wanted them together. She adored love stories. Shawn rose and he looked angry. “I-” His eyes seemed lost in thought. “Let me take some time to take this information in, okay?” he asked gently.

“I apologize for troubling you, sword smith.”

“It’s fine.”

Brooke refused to speak to Meredith or Rogue for the rest of the night. How could she do that to her? On top of that, Shawn probably used that statement of soaking in information to leave the psychos who tricked him into seeing a naked convict. Brooke was embarrassed. Extremely embarrassed. She fell asleep mad at her two dearest friends. 

When she woke up, Shawn stood above her, his big brown eyes staring into hers upside down. He dangled keys in her view. “Care to go for a drive?” Meredith and Rogue were asleep. Ellis slept on the rug in front of the hearth. Dawn had started to approach. Brooke nodded mechanically, and he helped her up. She followed him to his car, now a black Ferrari. The doors lifted and she sat inside it. By the time they were on the road out of the mountains, Brooke realized what she had done. She was in the car with Shawn, dressed in jeans and a casual shirt. Why was she here? Why had he come? What was he doing? Brooke could tell he was driving to the Cliffside they visited that one time. Shawn parked his car and guided them to the cliff where they sat down. The scenery astounded Brooke. The sky was between darkness and light, a rising sun with swords of light to vanquish the night away. The waters lay placid as if holding its breath. The morning was warm, twinkled with cold breezes.

“I’m sorry for my friend’s behavior.”

Shawn shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Do you believe us?”

“How can I not trust the princess of my country?” That wasn’t the response she wanted to hear. Of course, she was glad Meredith stayed with them. “Did it not happen?”

“Yes!” Brooke said quickly.

Shawn smiled. “Then, I trust you.”

Brooke arched a brow, not understanding this guy at all. “Why?” The question came exasperatedly and she didn’t mean for it to.

“You trusted me to bring you here.”

“But-” That was so trivial.

“I’m tired of beating around the bush. Last time I nearly lost my chance forever.” Brooke went silent and waited. “Brooke I like you. A lot.”

“Why?” Brooke ventured. They hardly knew each other! Why did he like her so much? Why her?

“Do you know how much my granddad brags about you?” Brooke shook her head. “He told me stories about you, about your interesting battles. How strong you were. How persistent, ambitious, brave. He talked about you to anyone who’d listen.” Rogue talked about her? He bragged about her? He told stories about her to Shawn; he liked them and liked her. “I liked it. I loved it. You sounded like the bravest person in the world and-”

“And I too, Shawn.” She was just the same. They loved each other through stories that they believed in and valued.

His eyes glinted and his smile grew. He dared to touch her cheek and near his lips to hers. Memories of the cell flashed through her mind. She saw the master guardian’s face and shuddered. Her body felt hollowed and worn as if she were some old woman. She pulled away and stood. Tears kept falling down her cheeks. Shawn stood to face her. She couldn’t meet his eyes anymore. “I can’t do this.”

“What’s wrong?” Concern corrupted his handsome face, concern wasted on her. He caught her hand, and the flashes returned. She couldn’t stop crying. She snatched away from him and hugged herself. Make them stop. Someone make them stop. She tried to touch his face and she heard the master guardian’s deep, malicious chuckle. It made her sick to her stomach. She shivered.

“I can’t touch you,” she admitted. 

“Why not, Brooklyn, talk to me,” he said. He frowned and tried to touch her cheek, but her fear of those memories made her step back.

“You don’t know what it was like in that cell,” she whispered and as she spoke, the memory returned through her mind, her eyes. Shawn’s fingers rolled into fists and he looked helpless. “Are you mad?”

They stood there not knowing what to do. Brooke decided it was fatal. These memories will forever taunt her. She wanted to touch him, caress him, feel his soft skin beneath her fingers, but…she couldn’t. Brooke started to turn away, but Shawn pulled her back into an embrace. The memories roared through her mind and she fought against him, fought against the memories, fought against her mind. She was outnumbered. “Brooklyn, I want to be with you. I hate what you are implying.”

“You don’t know what it was like,” she repeated.

“I hate that I can’t do anything about it, but I can be here for you. We can work through this. I am willing to do that with you, Brooklyn, I love you.” Brooke sobbed into his shirt, sobbed hard, clutching onto his sleeve. This was the part of her life that would forever be unsettled because of her misfortune. He said it. He finally said it. He loved Brooke and he wanted to be with her. He wanted to fight for her in the way that she couldn’t. Even the words to respond were hard to grasp. She wanted to tell him she loved him just the same, but…Shawn sat her down, and they watched the morning come. Shawn wanted to cuddle with her, but he didn’t know if that would trigger something. He decided sitting next to her was good enough. “You trust me don’t you, Brooke?”

“Of course,” Brooke replied wearily.

“Think you’ll give me your sword?”

“Uh sure?” Brooke gave him a dubious glance and returned to watching the morning.

 

Author's Note

Dear Reader,

Tell me what you think of their romance. I wasn't very sure about it. I'm thinking I made them fall in love for no reason or maybe I should have included the night at the festival when Brooke and Shawn actually met. They were introduced by Rain and Rogue so they are like childhood friends. Should I place emphasis on that instead of hearing Rogue's stories about each other.

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely JazzSoulKeke,

God bless