Oh yeah, I'll tell you something
I think you'll understand
When I'll say that something
I want to hold your hand.
~ The Beatles "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
Saturday arrived quickly, which meant that she had her date with Seth that night, and Brooklyn was excited. Seth had asked Sue to drive them to the movie theater in Port Angeles, and she had happily obliged. Since they were still keeping their relationship under wraps, they had told Sue that they were having a bestie night. Sue had been the one to suggest they have a sleepover as the grand finale to their night, to which the two had happily agreed. The movie that they decided on was some cheesy comedy— neither of them were very into romantic movies, and they thought that seeing an action or horror movie might kill the date night mood they were going for. Besides, they loved to make fun of all of the stupid parts after they watched movies.
In Brooklyn's opinion, the best thing about being in love with her best friend was that she never had to put too much thought into what she wore to dates. They had known each other for so long that clothing choice had never been a major cause of stress during the relationship. After all, they had seen each other in everything from sweats to formal wear. So, she simply wore a pair of jeans, and her soccer hoodie.
Brooklyn was tying her shoes when she heard a knock at the door.
"Come in," she called.
Paul opened the door and walked in. He stood awkwardly in front of the door for several seconds before Brooklyn voiced her confusion.
"Did you want something?" she asked. "Shit. That came out a lot ruder than I meant it to. I just meant that, like, you knocked on my door, but now you aren't saying anything, and I just was wondering if there was something you came to talk about or to tell me or... something."
Paul responded with a chuckle. "I just felt like I haven't seen you in a while... and Mom mentioned that you don't like that I've been hanging out with Sam lately."
"Seriously? You came in my room to talk to me about Sam Uley?" Brooklyn asks in a flat tone. He had to be kidding, right?
"I just want you to understand. We both know that me hanging out with Sam has been straining on our relationship, and I just wanted to tell you not to worry about me. I'm not in any trouble... Sam is a really good guy, and he's helping me out with a lot of stuff right now," Paul said in a somewhat defensive tone.
Brooklyn was a little nervous to respond. She really didn't want to make Paul angry, but she still wasn't sure why he had come into her room to talk about Sam Uley. Quite frankly, she was irritated that Paul had been ignoring her for weeks, only to come into her bedroom when she was about to leave the house to talk about Sam Uley of all people.
"What is he helping you out with?" Brooklyn asked, after a brief pause.
"I can't tell you," Paul replied quickly.
"Then why would you bring it up? You had to have known I would ask," Brooklyn said as she rolled her eyes.
Paul was visibly irritated by this comment. "I'm just trying to make you understand. There are things that you don't need to know— things that I can't tell you— but I need you to trust me on this. Sam isn't who you think he is."
This was getting ridiculous. They were just talking in circles, and Brooklyn could see that Paul was only becoming more and more frustrated with this conversation. She didn't understand why it was so important for her to approve of him hanging out with Sam Uley.
"Look, I'm obviously missing something important, and this conversation isn't getting us anywhere," Brooklyn said. "And I have plans with Seth, so can we just talk about this later? Or better yet, let's talk about literally anything other than Sam Uley."
With that, Brooklyn grabbed her bag and left the room. As she began walking over to Seth's house, she realized how glad she was that she put on a sweatshirt. Her face and hands prickled as the crisp evening air bit at her exposed skin. The slight breeze caused the branches of the trees rustle, and she heard the occasional bird call and twig snapping from beyond the treeline from some of the woodland creatures that lived in the forest.
She finally arrived at Seth's house and knocked at the door. Leah Clearwater that answered the door with a miserable look on her face— she had looked like that for months now. Brooklyn was beginning to become so used to that look that it would have been more odd to see Leah with a grin on her face. Sam Uley had really done a number on her.
"Hey, Leah," Brooklyn said. She didn't bother asking how Leah was doing, she already knew that things haven't been great for Leah since her breakup, and Brooklyn figured that she must be exhausted of people talking about it and asking how she was holding up. In a small community like La Push, people knew almost everything about everybody, and Leah and Sam's breakup had been less than secret.
"Hey," Leah responded with a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She stepped aside to let Brooklyn into the house.
Brooklyn walked the familiar path to Seth's room. His door was open and he was lying on his bed playing a game on his phone. He looked up as she walked in and gave her a wide smile.
"Hey, Brooke," he greeted.
"Hi, Seth," she answered with a smile that matched his. She set her bag down on the floor. "So, should we let Sue know that we're ready to go?"
"Sure," Seth answered as he got up. She waited for him to put on his shoes, and they walked out to the living room where Sue and Harry were sitting. The sound of laughter could be heard from down the hall. Brooklyn's heart twinged for a second— she wished that she had a family like Seth's. She didn't have a single memory of her parents being in the same room as each other, let alone any memories of them laughing together. She could only hope to, one day, have a marriage as strong and happy as Sue and Harry's (she was willing to bet that she would eventually have that with Seth).
"Hey, mom. We're ready to go," Seth said with a particularly Seth-like grin on his face.
"Thanks again, Sue, for agreeing to drive us," Brooklyn added.
Sue smiled. "It's no problem. I just can't wait for the day when you two get your licenses and can drive yourselves."
"Don't be too excited though, they'll be harder to keep track of once they're mobile," Harry laughed. Sue gave Harry a heartfelt smile, and a peck on the cheek before she, Brooklyn, and Seth got in the car and drove to the movie theater in Port Angeles. Once they arrived, they said quick goodbyes to Sue, and waited for her car to leave their line of sight.
As soon as she was gone, Seth pulled Brooklyn in for a kiss. "I have been wanting to do that all day," he said.
She grinned up at him. "I'm so glad we're doing this today. Things have been so tense at home and school is getting so stressful."
Seth held her hand as they got in line to buy their tickets.
"Did you hear that Jared Cameron joined Sam's posse?" Seth asked.
"What? No," said Brooklyn. "Did he get the same makeover that Paul did?"
"Yeah, tattoo and all," Seth responded.
"God. They're starting to sound less like a posse, and more like a cult. You know, Paul came into my room earlier today and tried telling me that Sam is a 'really good guy' and that he's helping Paul get through something," Brooklyn ranted. "Sorry. I didn't mean to unload on you like that. I'm totally ruining date night aren't I?"
"Nah, it's fine," Seth smiled. "I want to know what's going on in your life. Good and bad."
He gave a reassuring squeeze on her hand that was intertwined with his. He always knew how to make her feel better.
They reached the front of the line, and Seth turned to order and pay for their tickets. Then, they moved to the next line to get their snacks and drinks. Brooklyn insisted on paying for them since Seth had bought the tickets.
They sat down just as commercials ended. Seth wrapped his arm around Brooklyn, and she leaned into him. It felt nice to be able to hold each other in public, but Brooklyn wasn't convinced that it would be worth telling their families about their relationship yet.
Brooklyn loved Seth's laugh. She was glad that they had chosen to watch a comedy because she could watch Seth laugh out of the corner of her eye. She knew that he had caught her looking at him a couple of times throughout the movie, but she wasn't embarrassed. Brooklyn was sure that Seth was the most beautiful person, both inside and out, that she had ever met, and she believed that such beauty deserved to be admired. Besides, she had caught him staring at her plenty of times before.
After the movie ended, they left the theater laughing like hyenas.
"I can't believe they kept that in the movie," Seth gasped. "How was that allowed?"
"I have no idea, but I'm so glad they did," Brooklyn said as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. Their laughter died down, and Seth decided to call his mom to come and pick them up.
"She said that my dad would pick us up. He should be here soon," Seth said as he put his phone back in his pocket. "And then we can move on to the sleepover portion of the evening," he added with a smirk.
"Perv," she teased.
They continued to talk and mess around as they waited for Harry to arrive.
Once they had arrived back at the Clearwater house, Seth and Brooklyn said goodnight to Harry and Sue, and went up to Seth's bedroom.
Once the door was closed, Seth walked over to his dresser and pulled out a joint and a lighter.
"Want some?" he asked Brooklyn.
She frowned. "I wish. They test our pee during competition season."
"Shit, sorry. I completely forgot that you have soccer."
"Nah, it's fine. You go ahead though, I don't mind," said Brooklyn.
Seth opened the window and leaned his head out. He closed his eyes as he exhaled, and Brooklyn watched as the smoke disappeared into the night sky. He had only taken a couple of hits before he extinguished the joint and closed the window.
"Come here," said Seth as he pulled her closer to him. She could smell weed and movie theater popcorn on his breath.
He laid a tender kiss on her lips. Things quickly escalated before Seth broke away from her lips to grab a condom.
"Shit," he mumbled.
"What's wrong," Brooklyn asked, her voice laced with concern.
"I'm out," he said as he held up an empty box. "And Leah's home so we can't raid her stash."
"Shit," Brooklyn concurred. Seth flopped back down on the bed next to her.
"Oh well. Our relationship isn't based on sex, we can have fun without it," Seth said.
"... Or we could do it anyway," Brooklyn suggested as she placed a kiss on his neck. Okay, she knew it was stupid, but she was a teenager in love. And like, they had only ever slept with each other, so it wasn't like they were risking spreading any STIs. It seemed like a somewhat logical idea in that moment.
"Yeah, let's do that. That sounds way better," Seth said, as he pulled her in for a sloppy kiss.
Brooklyn woke up early the next morning. The sun was barely rising and she could hear birds chirping outside. Seth was snoring lightly beside her.
"Seth, wake up," she shook him lightly.
"What?" he groaned in response.
"We gotta get dressed in case one of your parents walks in," Brooklyn said softly.
"Alright," he said. He got out of bed sluggishly and put on his pajamas. She did the same, and they climbed back into the bed. This time however, they constructed a wall of pillows between them so as to not draw any suspicion from Seth's parents.
Brooklyn woke up for the second time that day a few hours later. This time, however, Seth was the one waking her up.
"My mom made waffles," he said.
She stretched and yawned. "Sick, I love waffles."
After breakfast, she said goodbye to the Clearwaters and Seth walked her home.
They arrived at her house just as Paul was leaving— probably going to Sam's. She gave Seth a quick hug goodbye, and went inside. She watched his retreating form from the window until she couldn't see him anymore. Her mom was still asleep, so she went to her bedroom and began to work on the pile of homework that had accumulated from the previous week of school.