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Name: Brooklyn Gillies Age: 16 Parents: Elizabeth Gillies + Unknown
It's not unusual for Liz to arrive home later than her daughter, but it is unusual for Liz to walk in and find the house eerily quiet. She hangs her jacket by the door and walks inside, hearing only the sound of her own high heels clicking against the hardwood floor.
"Brooklyn? I'm home." Liz yells out, trying to find where in the house her daughter was, or even if she was in the house at all.
Liz was heading towards the stairs to check Brooklyn's bedroom when she heard the soft melody of piano keys being played. Abandoning her mission to go upstairs, Liz walks further into the house and to the music studio where she silently pushes the door open and leans against the threshold, watching and listening to Brooklyn playing and singing a gentle song.
When she finishes the last note, Liz claps softly and steps inside. Brooklyn quickly turns to face her and smiles, shuffling to the side of the piano stool to leave a space for her mother.
"That was gorgeous, Brooks." Liz kisses her hair and takes the seat next to her daughter.
"Thanks." Brooklyn smiles, looking down slightly and hoping Liz wouldn't notice the subtle change in her demeanour.
But she's not that lucky, and Liz isn't that stupid.
"Are you okay?" Liz asks, a little concerned as she pushes a curl of dark brunette hair behind Brooklyn's ear.
"Fin and I broke up." Brooklyn tells her, not quite indulging her in the full story.
"Oh, honey I'm so sorry." Liz sympathises, wrapping her daughter in her arms.
"It's fine." Brooklyn murmurs, pulling back from the embrace awkwardly and returning back to looking at the floor.
"Is it?" Liz asks, already knowing the answer but wanting her daughter to allow herself to be consciously aware of her feelings in order to process the pain.
"No." Brooklyn sobs, falling into her mom and crying on her shoulder.
"Aw, baby. Come here." Liz hushes, tightly hugging her and rubbing her back in comfort as Brooklyn cries.
"And.. a-nd he did it in, in front of everyone at lunch! I was so embarrassed, mom." Brooklyn cries harder, recalling it exactly as it happened.
— FLASHBACK —
Brooklyn was sitting outside at a lunch table with her closest school friends, enjoying the fall sunshine.
"Brooke, how are things with Fin?" Gabby asked, not wanting to pry for information but realising their friend group hadn't seen much of Brooklyn's boyfriend recently.
"Yeah, he's barely been around this past week." Seth said, checking his lipgloss in his phone camera.
"We've just been distant for a bit. We're supposed to be hanging out tomorrow and I'm planning on talking to him properly then." Brooklyn said, chewing on a piece of vegan sushi.
