catgirl ! broken (nightwing)

«chapter eighteen: coming clean»

My glasses break in half and the tears I tried to stop-start free-falling. I can't do this.

I press the palms of my hands to my eyes, trying to stop it, but I can't.

I shake my head, a half-laugh half-sob comes out of my mouth as I give up on trying to hold it back. Running a hand through my hair, my teary eyes meet hers.

Her eyes are wide with shock, "Brooklyn..." She trails off.

I'm not sure what to say so I just stare back, silently letting the tears fall, sometimes trying to wipe them away.

Her eyes soften, "Please tell me, I can't understand if you don't tell me. I can't help you."

I nod weakly, trying to get my breathing under control. I finally let out a shaky breath," If I tell you, you can't tell anyone." I shake my head, " And I mean anyone. You can't do anything either, I will. If you agree, then I will tell you." I look her in the eyes," I will tell you the whole story." I promise.

She narrows her eyes at my words and takes a few moments to decide. Finally, she sighs and nods, probably knowing this is the only way she is going to find out.

I sigh," Ok, it's a pretty long story, are you sure?" I laugh humorlessly.

She nods again, telling me to go on.

"Ok, here it goes. When I was 7 my parents were killed right in front of me, that's how I met Catwoman. Anyway, there was one family member missing, my brother, Ben. He was at a friend's house that night. He was 8, one year older than me, so we were as close as you can be." I explain an aching in my chest growing. "We were separated when Catwoman took me in. He went to a very nice and loving family, after the accident. I didn't see him again till I was 12. When we found each other we instantly became best friends again." I smile slightly at the memories of us having fun together. "I told him everything and he told me everything. It was like old times, and it stayed like that for a few years." I took a deep breath, glad to actually talk about him. But now it was time to talk about her. My smile falls as I say, "Rogue, she was my best friend. At least she was before I was 13. Somewhere along the way, my trust for her just snapped. She lied, she was rude, and she was jealous of me. She pinned things on me, got me into trouble. So, I didn't talk to her for about 2 years. But she always comes back." My fists turn white and I can feel my nails digging into my skin but I force myself to keep going. "That time she came back as my brother's girlfriend. He loved her. Cried when they broke up all night." I shake my head at the memory, my eyes staring at the floor. "I didn't like it, but he loved her, and I wasn't going to tell him that he couldn't date her. I just got him back, I couldn't lose him over a stupid fight." My tears start to sting my eyes once again." That was my first mistake, letting her back into our lives. She dated him on and off, just to make me mad. I would stay with him while he cried his eyes out. That's how we worked, we had each other's backs. Seeing us still happy made Rogue finally snap." I look down at my lap, remembering that night.

______

Ring. Ring. Ring.

I sigh and open my eyes. I just want one night. One night where I don't want to kill Hayley for hurting my brother. I grab my phone and answer it.

"Hello?" I sigh and rub my eyes.

"Aw, did I wake you? Poor baby Brooke." A voice smeared.

My eyes widen and I shoot out of my bed, "Why do you have his phone? Where is he?" I demand. "Hayley, If you hurt him..." I trail off, trying to not even think about that.

I know she is crazy, crazier than Harley, and that's saying something.

"He is fine... for now, come to the old house on maple st. "