Tale as Old as Time

0. prologue

When Brooke Whittaker was five, if you asked her what her favorite time of the year was, she would tell you it was Christmas. However, unlike every other child who answered the same way, Brooke didn't say Christmas was her favorite because of the presents. She wouldn't even say it was because of the food—though that was a bonus. She would say it was because she got to see her family.

It was tradition for the Whittaker family to leave their lavish abode in Richmond, Virginia and travel to New York to visit the Williams family and attend their Christmas party. The annual party was hosted by Alexandria Williams at their residence, and it never failed to be breathtaking. And each year, Brooke would get to see the people she considered to be her family.

Of course, at home in Virginia, Brooke would see her father, and her three brothers, and her two sisters. But, once a year she would get to see her grandparents, who resided in New York, as well at the Williams's whom she considered to be her second family. Alexandria Williams practically became the mother figure in Brooke's life after her mother passed away when she was two. The only memories she had of her were the pictures her father held close in his home study.

The Williams family also had a son, Nicholas, who was the same age as Brooke. For years, being the only two children of the same age in the Whittaker and Williams families, they became very close. The two had been friends since before Brooke could remember. So much so that every time she thought about Christmas, Nicholas Williams's head would pop into her mind.

The Williams's Christmas parties were always lavish—and slightly ridiculous in Brooke's mind—with swarms of the east coast's finest families attending. The children would run around, play games, and exchange gifts, while the adults would informally discuss business deals.

There were the Williams's, the Whittaker's, the Crawford's, the Kennedy's, the van der Hoof's, the Colton's, and so many more names that Brooke couldn't even keep straight in her head. But most notoriously, in Brooke's mind, were the Prescott's who brought their irritating, troublemaking son, Nathaniel. He was also the same age as Nicholas and Brooke and up until they were in fourth grade, Brooke hadn't minded him in the slightest. He would always hang around the Colton's daughter, Sage. But as the group of kids grew up and started to realize that boys and girls wanted to play different games and hang around with different people, Brooke and Nicholas began to grow further apart.

After the incident, they didn't talk to each other once. Not a single sentence was uttered between the two. Not even a hello or goodbye. Nothing. Not for eight years.