brooks & hale ✔️

brooks

check out the mv i added above, it's the debut of holland, the first openly gay kpop idol - he deserves all the love in the world for doing something so brave!!!
hope you like the final chap of b&h ;)

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thirty-two ;
b r o o k s

"COUNT TO TEN AND back for me, please."

"Isn't that a little too difficult?" Hale asked, his sarcasm marred by the impatience in his words. "Maybe we should start a little easier and work our way up. Wouldn't want to waste any more time than we already are."

Brooks frowned. "Hale."

"What?" Hale shrugged, clearly unbothered by the exasperated expression the nurse was wearing at his aggravating refusal to admit there was anything wrong with him. "I'm simply offering a helpful suggestion."

"I don't care," Brooks said flatly. "You're not the medical professional here. Just do what she tells you to."

In all honesty, Brooks was grateful he got to hide out in the nurse's office for the remainder of lunch. If he had to spend another second subjected to the stares, whispers, and attention, he would have lost his mind. It had been bad enough before lunch. As he suspected, news spread quickly about the morning's events and more than one person was bold enough to outright ask if it was true. Brooks had spent too much time lying these past few weeks to tell anything but the truth.

And then, as if that wasn't enough drama, Hale went and kissed him. In front of the whole school. Not just a peck of the lips, either. He'd gone for full-frontal snogging that didn't leave a shadow of a doubt about the truth.

The teachers had chosen that moment to intervene - of course, they decided to make an appearance after the fight had occurred - and they'd been dragged down to the nurse's office before the uproar in the cafeteria could start over the scandal that Hale Ryves, known for being popular with the ladies, was gay. Well, Hale had been dragged to he nurse's office despite his protests, because his face definitely looked like it needed medical assistance.

Brooks had gone along with him despite being physically fine because a) he wasn't ready to face the questions everyone would have and b) he wanted to make sure Hale was okay. Elliot had also been forced to go to the nurse's office for his own bloody face, although it became apparent pretty quickly that he couldn't be treated at the same time as Hale without one of them trying to attack the other. Elliot had been relegated outside to wait while the nurse did Hale's check up, much to Brooks' relief.

"It's important you take these tests seriously," the nurse told Hale sternly. "If you have a concussion, you'll need to be treated accordingly. It's crucial I properly diagnose it now."

Hale rolled his eyes. "I don't have a concussion."

"She's the one who decides that, not you," Brooks reminded him. "Stop being difficult and count, Hale."

Hale heaved an exaggerated sigh to make it clear he wasn't impressed but began counting, up to ten and back down in a clear voice. The nurse then instructed him to look straight ahead as she shone a light in his eyes, checking whatever it was doctors looked for when they did that. Brooks absently wondered whether he would ever learn that, if he took the medicine route his parents were pushing.

"Okay, your optical nerves don't seem to be damaged, which is always good," the nurse said, scribbling something down on her notes. "And you're clearly in control of your mental capacities, if not a little mouthy."