Shattered Hart (27 page)

Rina looks like she
can’t
decide whether to strangle me or just stomp out of the room entirely.  She settles on chewing my ass out. 

“You really are a stupid asshole sometimes Damien.
 
My sister has been acting really stran
gely lately, and I’ve been
concerned.
  Dante and I both have.  Now
you’re
telling me that
you
are the cause of her unhappiness?  That pisses me off, big time.  How dare
you
try to make her decisions for her? 
Bringing a fake girlfriend to
the house
?
 
That’s
insensitive to the nth degree.  I saw her face when she walked in Damien.  If
you
were trying to hurt her, mission accomplished.
  Right now,
I’m so frustrated that
I really have
nothing else to say to you.”

Gesturing at me in disgust, she turns to Dante.  “I’m going to go make sure that Spencer has that poor girl under control.  She should know that
‘Nikki
’s’ family is supportive.  Be right back.”  After kissing him briefly on the lips, Sabrina walks out the kitchen door in to the night.

The kitchen is silent for a moment as Dante stares at me.  “So…
Brooke, huh?”

Turning and walking to the breakfast bar, I slide up on to a stool.  “Yes.  Brooke.”

Marching across the room toward me, Dante stops next to me and puts his hand on my shoulder.  “
You
need to tell me what happened so that I know whether or not I need to kick your ass.  I love that girl, and my future wife
isn’t
too happy with
you
right now.”

Burying my head in my hands, I let out a groan.  “That’s just it Dante. 
Nothing really has happened.
  We kissed one night in the driveway here,
something happened in Vegas, and then a few weeks ago
we almost had sex at my house.  I stopped when I realized she was a virgin, and I’ve been running from her ever since.”

“Wait, all this b
ecause
Brooke is
a virgin?”

“Of course it’
s because
Brooke
is
a virgin! 
If she wasn’t, I’d be with her right now.
I’m fucking
in love with her,
but
I
can’t
take that chance with her Dante. 
I don’t want her wasting her virginity on me.
  What if I’m a total fuck up in a relationship?  I have less experience in the relationship department than she does!  Who knows what th
e hell I would do!
”

I’m shocked when I feel him hit me over the head.  “Seriously,
you’re
saying that to me? 
I never had any kind of relationship before Rina, and look at us!
 
I could have been a fuck up too, but I’m not. 
I’ve never been happier. 
And
you
know who helped me see that? 
You
did
asshole
. 
I’m with a Tyler girl Damien. 
I know what you’d be getting in to with Brooke, and I think you’re a damn fool for pushing her away.
 
You’re
my brother
and
I love y
ou, but you fucked this up
.
Even I didn’t sink this low with Rina.
I hope for your sake that
you
didn’t
blow this to smithereens so badly that there is no getting
Brooke
back. 
If you lose her for good…
that’s
when
you’re
going to have a hard time living with yourself.
  I have to ask you the same thing Brooke had to ask me to wake me the fuck up.  What are you going to do when she’s with another man, and she shows up here swollen with his child?”

Fuck me.  Why didn’t I think of that before now?   What he just said makes me want to vomit.  I would never want Brooke to have children with another man. What have I done?

Our
conversation
is interrupted
by the return of Tally, Spencer and Sabrina. 

Taking control of the situation, Sabrina instructs Spencer to show Tally to the den to wait for Dominique.  Turning to Dante she says, “We all need to go tell Dominique how much we love her, and then we need to send her to Tally.  They need to talk.”

Turning to me she says, “The jury is out on you right now
.  If I didn’t know what your issues are, I’d throw your ass out of this house
.
  I love
you
Damien, but I’m pissed.  If
you
do anything else to hurt my sister, be prepared for my wrath.”

Wonderful.
  Now I’ve got both of the Tyler sisters angry at me.  I’m batting a thousand tonight.

The
three of us walk up the stairs in search of the girls.  Dante gestures to the one closed door before he knocks on it.  Without waiting for an answer, he swings it open.

Brooke and Delilah are on the bed with a clearly upset Dominique, and my heart breaks for my sister.  I hate that she’s been unhappy.

Walking to the end of the bed, Dante gestures for Dominique to come to him, and she all but jumps off the bed in to his arms.

“Dominique… I love
you
honey.  I’ll always love
you
, no matter what.  It breaks my heart that
you
thought you had to keep this a secret from me, from all of us.  We’re your family, and
that’s
forever.”

Taking her from Dante, I kiss her forehead and hug her tightly.  “I agree with everything that
big
lug just said. 
You’ll
always be my baby.  Nothing
you
can do would ever make me turn my back on you. 
I’m sorry about tonight but I’m in a way I’m also glad if it helps you to be able to get out there and have love.
 
That’s
all I’ve ever wanted for you.”

Spencer steps forward next.  “Dominique, you’re my family, regardless that we don’t share blood.  You have a place in my heart no matter what.  I love you.”

Rina is last to grab her,
and her words have all of us choking back tears.
“When my parents died, I thought Brooke and I would never be a part of a family, together, again.  You all changed that for us.  We are a family.  There is nothing you could do that would ever make any of us turn our backs on you.  Not ever.  The fact that you’re a lesbian changes nothing sweetheart. We all just
want you to love and be loved. This family is forever, no matter what.”

Gesturing toward the door Spencer says, “Tally is in the den. 
You
need to go talk to her.  Clearly
you
have some explaining to do. 
You could have knocked me over with a feather when she identified you as being the Nikki that Damien and I have been hearing about.
 
She’s
a
wonderful
girl Dominique. 
Don’t
let her get away.”

I’m relieved when Dominique wipes her tears and smiles at all of us. 
“You all are the best family that a girl could ask for.
  I’m going to go make this right.  I love
you
guys!”

The room is silent for a few moments as we all get our emotions under control, and then the silence is broken by Brooke.

“I’d like to speak to Damien everybody.  Can we please have a few minutes?”

Walking across the bedroom, I close the door to give us some privacy.  My entire future hinges on what happens here.  I need to make her understand how I feel, need her to know how sorry I am.  Before I can get a word out, she holds up her hand at me.

“Shut up. 
You
shut your mouth until
you’re
ready to answer this question
, and answer it honestly. 
Don’t
you
dare lie to me about
this
.
  Did
you
, or did you not, bring that poor girl here specifically to make me go away?”

I’ve got a bad, bad feeling about this.  She isn’t going to let me explain what I’ve done.

“It’s not that I wanted you to go
away
Brooke,
it’s…
.”

Taking me by surprise, Brooke
yell
s
, “NO! 
You
answer the question. 
No more lies.
  No half-truths.  No evasions.
You
take some goddamn responsibility for what
you’ve
done.
Did.
You
.
Do.
This.
So.
That. I. Would. Go. Away?”

She’s destroying me with her anger.  What can I do?  I’m losing her, if I haven’t lost her already.

“Not in the way
you
mean Brooke, but yes.  Yes, I did.  I
thought that if
…”

In a nanosecond,
she is
across the room, shoving past
me
to get to the door.

I lurch for her, pulling her in to my arms.
  “Jesus Brooke!  Please
don’t
go.  I fucked up
honey
.  I
didn’t
want to do this.  I was clutching at straws
and
I was wrong.  I’m sorry! Please…. I’m so, so sorry.”

Pushing against
my
chest
, she
struggle
to get away from me
.  “
You
win Damien. 
You’ve
finally got what you wanted.  I’m done.  Let me go!”

Groaning,
I pull her
in closer. 
I can’t lose her.  I just can’t.  I won’t survive.  Sliding my hand
around the back of
her
neck to hold
her
in place, I cover her mouth with my own. I pour all of my sadness
in to the kiss, praying tha
t she will feel how sorry I am
even if she won’t listen to the words I
need
to say.

She struggles to pull away, but I just can’t let her go.
 

“No Brooke.  Please, no. 
Don’t
leave me.  I want
you,
I’ve always wanted you.  I’ve been a damn fool. I need you.”

I
feel a flicker of hope when she starts kissing me back, her tongue sliding against mine.
  She tastes so good, my girl, and I wonder
how
I was ever able to push her away at all.
  She’s my heart. How have I been so blind?

My heart shatters in to a million tiny pieces when she shoves
me back
from her.

“
You’re lying to me Damien. If you cared, you would never have done this in the first place
.  I
can’t
be with someone who would rather lie to me than be with me.  I’m done with
you
Damien.  Now
let me go.
  You accomplished what you wanted to tonight.
  You win.”

Slamming the door behind her, she leaves me
with nothing but a shattered heart.  I’ve lost Brooke for good, which means I’ve lost everything.

I’
ve been
shuffling through life
like a ghost for the last few weeks
.  Everyt
hing around me is dull, lifeless and unappealing
.  I’m not sleeping and I’m barely eat
ing. Everything weighs on me. 
This is, I realize, what a broken heart feels like.  Nothing could ever have prepared me for this.  I am gutted, an empty shell. 

When I do manage to sleep I wake up crying, because in my dreams, I relive over and over again the moment that I realized that Damien cared so little for me that he created an enormous lie to get away from me.
  I feel like I should be wearing a shirt that says “STALKER.”  I can’t believe that I was so obnoxious in my desire for Damien that I made him uncomfortable enough to create such a lie.

I can see that my sister and the rest of the family
are all very worried,
but
thus
far I have been
un
able to
bring myself back from
the
melancholy that
has
taken ahold
me.
  It’s hard for me to even be around any of them, and I generally try to avoid them at all costs.