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mysensitivesideFanfic100, Part 10/100 -- check here for the chronology of completed fics -- Note that this one takes place before "Waiting."
Title: A Night To Forget
Fandom: Popular
Pairing: Sam/Brooke
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: 033 Too Much; written for the
fanfic100 challengeWord count: 1,594
Disclaimer: Alas, I don’t own the characters of Popular. They belong to Ryan Murphy, but hopefully he won’t mind if I borrow them for a little while.
Summary: Three perspectives on the night of Junior Prom, told in not-quite-chronological order.
A/N: A big thanks you to my two trusty betas,
wolfemeister andtheagonyofblank ! And again, thanks to Wolfe for the title suggestion! Later, Brooke wouldn’t be able to remember much. The doctor said it was because of the concussion, and was nothing to worry about. She remembered flashes, though. Things like running from the restaurant. The pounding of her heart. Nicole’s maniacal grin from behind the steering wheel. The feel of the cold, hard pavement beneath her cheek.
She wouldn’t be able to explain why she had even run in the first place. It had been what they wanted; they forced Harrison to choose. And yet, as soon as the name left his throat, she suddenly knew that she couldn’t stand to be in that room anymore. Though she couldn’t say for sure, of course, Brooke would guess that she’d have reacted the same way, no matter which name had come out.
The throbbing in Brooke’s head was relentless. She opened her eyes with a moan, trying to get her bearings. It was only when she tried to move that she realized that she was lying on the ground, on her back, with long red scrapes covering the right side of her body.
Suddenly, the sounds of everything around her broke through the loud ringing in her head. Now, her head was filled with the fuzzy sounds of people yelling, and someone else nearby, moaning.
Fighting how much it hurt to do so, Brooke turned her head to the side. She blinked, trying to make sense of the sights in front of her.
At first, her unfocused gaze didn’t really take anything in. But then the huddled form in front of her finally took shape as something recognizable.
Sam.
Instantly, it all made sense. Her initial confusion fled in the face of the intense wave of fear that washed over her. “Oh God, no,” she murmured, her eyes not leaving Sam’s crumpled form.
Her body aching, Brooke crawled over to Sam, whose eyes were closed and who was releasing a long, pain-filled groan. “Sam?” she asked urgently, placing her hands gently onto Sam’s shoulders and carefully rolling her over onto her back. “Sam, can you hear me??”
Sam’s eyes fluttered open, only to close again tightly after a second. “Brooke?” Sam’s voice was so soft, so weak, that Brooke had to lean closer to hear her.
“Oh, Sam. I’m here, Sammy. I’m here. You’re okay. You’re going to be fine. Oh, Sammy, you’re such an idiot!”
Opening her eyes again, it took Sam a moment before her gaze finally focused onto Brooke. “Don’t cry, Brooke,” she said simply, and then added, “You’re bleeding.”
Brooke, who had barely even noticed the tears streaming down her face, released a strangled sob at Sam’s words.
“Yeah? Well so are you.” Brooke kept her gaze on Sam’s face, not wanting to take the time to fully examine all that might be wrong with the brunette. It was bad, though. She knew it had to be bad.
“Mmm,” Sam agreed. “I’m just going to go to sleep now.”
“No! No, Sammy, stay awake,” Brooke pleaded. “Stay with me, Sam. Oh, please, Sam, don’t leave me. You can’t! I love you, Sam. I need you!” Brooke didn’t have the energy to think about where her words had come from, or what they really meant. She just knew that Sam needed help, and quickly.
It was all just too much to think about.
“Did someone call 9-1-1?” Brooke twisted around to shout desperately behind her. It was then that her eyes met Harrison’s. He stood a few feet away, an unreadable expression on his face. Unable to deal with him for the moment, she turned back to Sam. Her eyes were still open, but just barely. Brooke brought a trembling hand up to Sam’s face, trying to wipe away the blood that flowed from a large gash by Sam’s left eyebrow, but only succeeding in making a bigger mess.
It was then that Brooke heard the sound of a wailing ambulance approaching. Before she knew it, she was suddenly surrounded by EMTs, who were moving around Sam and talking so quickly that Brooke couldn’t fully process what they were saying.
They soon had Sam laid out on a stretcher, though, and then lifted her into the air.
“Sam!” Brooke lurched rapidly to her feet, calling after the retreating stretcher. She swayed a little, though, almost returning directly to the ground as a wave of dizziness crashed over her.
“Whoa, there.” An EMT appeared at her elbow, holding her upright. “Let’s take a look at you, okay? Looks like you might’ve hit your head pretty bad.”
“No, I have to go with Sam!” Brooke shook her head, hoping to clear the fuzziness in her brain, but only making things significantly worse. Suddenly she leaned away, only managing a few steps before she retched violently in the bushes nearby.
The EMT still kept his hold on the blonde, running a soothing hand over her back. “Look, you can ride in the back of the ambulance with your friend, but you have to let me check things out with you, okay?”
Brooke nodded carefully, wanting only to get Sam back within her sight.
Later, Sam would remember even less. Rather than remembering the actual, physical events, she was left more with the sensations that she had felt. She could remember fear. She could remember adrenaline. And she could remember pain. That was it.
She wouldn’t remember the dinner with Harrison at all.
As soon as Brooke stood up from the table and raced from the room, Sam automatically felt like she had no choice but to follow.
The whole evening was proving to be a disaster, just as Sam had known it would be. Harrison had chosen Brooke, though, and while Sam had to admit that it really hurt, she couldn’t understand why Brooke had left. This should have been what Brooke wanted!
Wanting to understand, Sam chased after the departing blonde.
“This is not what I wanted,” Brooke murmured quietly once they were outside, taking in a big gulp of air.
Again, that made no sense. “This is not what I wanted, Brooke, okay? Just stop!” Sam exclaimed in frustration.
But Brooke didn’t stop, and as soon as Sam caught sight of the car roaring around the corner, going way faster than it should, Sam started moving again too. She didn’t think, just let her feet carry her towards Brooke, who stood frozen in the middle of the road.
Adrenaline and fear pumped through Sam’s body, pushing her forward. Her mind felt abnormally calm, considering the situation; she just knew that she couldn’t simply stand by and let Brooke get hurt. She cared about Brooke too much to let that happen.
Brooke didn’t appear to notice her approach, though, as her gaze seemed to be stuck on the oncoming car.
Brooke screamed, but at the last second, Sam finally made it to her destination and shoved Brooke out of the way. Knowing that it was too late to save herself as well, Sam tensed her body, right before she felt the immense force of hot metal slam into her side.
Later, Harrison would remember everything.
He wished he could forget it all.
Harrison couldn’t believe it. The night had started off so well -- he had not one, but two beautiful women on his arms, two women he cared deeply about, and he had felt like nothing could go wrong.
Boy, had that been a misjudgment.
It was bad enough that they pulled that stunt on him at the last minute, making him choose between the two of them. But to make matters worse, they had both fled as soon as he did so! What the hell was that all about?
Harrison dropped his head down onto the table, sighing in frustration. It was just too much to deal with right then. And of course, to top it all off, he’d been left with the bill for dinner.
He quickly sat up again, though, at the loud sound of screeching tires outside. Hastily throwing some money down on the table, Harrison belatedly followed Brooke and Sam’s path out of the restaurant.
Once outside, it took him a moment to make sense of what was in front of him. He saw a car that had smashed into a tree, but his eyes kept moving, searching for any sign of Sam and Brooke.
When he saw the two figures lying on the ground, Harrison felt the color drain from his face, and he thought he might be sick. He recognized those dresses.
The heap that he knew to be Brooke began to move, at least, crawling over to where Sam lay. He found that his feet didn’t seem to be working properly, though, and he could only look on in horror, frozen in place.
After a moment, he finally was able to move again, and he hurried down the steps and across the street, his heart pounding painfully in his chest. He stopped when he was close enough to hear Brooke’s voice, suffused with fear and panic and pain.
“No! No, Sammy, stay awake. Stay with me, Sam. Oh, please, Sam, don’t leave me. You can’t! I love you, Sam. I need you!”
Something in Brooke’s voice stopped him cold. Harrison had never heard Brooke say anything before with that much emotion behind it.
It was that exact moment that he knew, and the expression in Brooke’s face as she turned around, wildly calling for an ambulance, only confirmed it.
They had made him choose between them, but Harrison understood immediately that he had actually lost them both.
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-21 06:49 pm (UTC)*deep breath*
Great stuff. Love the triple perspective. Can't wait for more.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 11:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-21 07:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 11:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-21 10:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 11:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-21 10:58 pm (UTC)Awesome job! <333333
no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 11:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 01:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 11:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-22 01:14 am (UTC)Is there going to be more to this story? I think that would be grrrreat!
no subject
Date: 2008-08-23 12:00 am (UTC)And well...don't forget that all the fics in my fanfic100 series are part of the same timeline, so the continuation of this story goes on with "Waiting," which takes place 5 days after this, and then you can anticipate 89 more fics coming after that!
no subject
Date: 2008-08-23 01:34 am (UTC)Wow!
Date: 2008-08-22 02:29 am (UTC)Re: Wow!
Date: 2008-08-23 12:09 am (UTC)And it's funny...when I was first starting this series, I remember talking with you briefly about how I wanted to try to avoid the fanon cliches, and this is the fic where, so far, I've had the most trouble coming up with a way to do so.
Basically, I'm really glad to hear that you liked it! :)
Re: Wow!
Date: 2008-08-23 12:15 am (UTC)Yeah, I know, but sometimes the cliche works, and with this fandom, despite us cringing sometimes at it, it's still what we like to read (and write) the most.
Re: Wow!
Date: 2008-08-23 12:27 am (UTC)Heh, yeah, good point about the cliche. Makes sense that something would have to be strong enough of a plot point to even become cliched in the first place.
Re: Wow!
Date: 2008-08-23 12:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-23 12:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-23 05:51 am (UTC)And can I just say, LOL you have managed to friend like every popular fan so they all comment here.
Well done, Becca, on both the fic and the friending.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-23 06:36 pm (UTC)And lol, I haven't actually friended everyone who commented. I just use fake cuts when I post to communities, which brings everyone here, because I like having all my comments in the same place.
Anyway, glad you liked it! :)
no subject
Date: 2008-08-24 02:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-26 08:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-28 04:30 pm (UTC)no subject
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