Can You Keep A Secret?

Chapter Seventy-Seven

       

-Brooklyn's POV-

            My hope had slowly started to drain out until I was merely clinging to my last remains of it – Trying to survive on a drop of water in the middle of the desert.

            The day had started out fine enough – Andy had brought a package of pastel balloons back when he came in late last night, and we'd all written messages on them before gathering around. Jack said a few words about Rosie, tears brimming behind his eyelids, before we let them go.

            We'd stood there, all six of us, and watched them rise up and up into the sky until they were so far away that we couldn't see them anymore. Now it was just me, as it had been for a while. I clicked my phone on, checking the time – It was nearly 7:00. Stacey and I had planned to meet here at noon, but she'd texted me, explaining that she'd be a bit late – Now it had been so long that I couldn't help but wonder if she was even coming at all...But I had no reason to believe that she wouldn't be, so here I stayed, listlessly trying to pass the time until we reunited once again.

            It wasn't as if I was completely alone – A handful of fans had camped out for the long run, keeping me entertained and a little distracted, but it was getting harder and harder to keep up a happy exterior and hide what was really swirling around my head right now.

            At first, my mind had strayed to what mistakes I could've made – Was she regretting that other night? Upset that I'd had to make her leave the flat? Had I scared her off by saying I love you? Did she simply just not like me anymore? But then I had started catastrophizing – Was she okay? Had something happened to her, and that was why she wasn't here yet? A repeat of what had happened to Rye and Liv? Why, oh why, had I suggested that she come here instead of me coming to her or picking her up?

            I was opening my text messages to her to text her again, double check that she was alright and on her way, when I felt a pair of arms wrap around my neck. I jumped, thinking that it was her, but when I turned around, I found that it was only Amelia. I loved Mills – She made me laugh and was no longer somebody that I merely viewed as a fan, but as somebody that I could trust. I often came outside to hang around her when she came to the flat, but now, even seeing her smile couldn't cheer me up.

            "Who's Stacey?" She asked, looking at my phone.

            I quickly turned the screen off, mumbling, "Nobody." She raised her eyebrows, skeptical.

            "I think you're lying," She stated, enjoying watching me squirm. "Is she your girlfriend?" She asked.

            "No!" I shouted, but I do too quickly and too loudly, immediately giving it away.

            "She is, isn't she?" She gasped, a combination of shocked, amused, and upset, although she was working to hide that last one.

            "No," I tried to say again, but it was useless. Chloe had come over now, singing, "Brooklyn's got a giiirlfriiiend!"

            Usually I was always down for a little bit of banter, and, maybe even a couple of hours earlier, I would've found it funny – But now their teasing was simply piggybacking my fears and insecurities, and I found myself unable to play along.

            "Please leave me alone," I whispered, walking away from the group of them and towards the flat. I heard a couple of uncertain laughs and mumbles of confusion, but I closed myself off from it all, closing the door to the flat.

            I stayed there at the bottom, not wanting to have to face the others yet and admit to myself that I'd just been stood up. It was more than embarrassing to think that I'd stayed in the park all day, leaving only once to go to the gym, for somebody that never arrived. Instead, I dialed Stacey's number, swallowing that last droplet of hope as the phone rang.

            Thankfully, she picked up with a "Hello?" I might've been overthinking it, but it sounded laced with guilt.

            "Where are you?" I asked, skipping the pleasantries. I willed my voice not to shake.

            "I..." She said, as if starting out with some excuse, before she changed her mind and switched gears. "I'm not coming," She stated, voicing what I'd been fearing out loud.

            "Why not?" I asked, hating how small and desperate my voice sounded. For a moment, all I heard on the other side of the phone was her breathing. Finally, she spoke again – But it wasn't anything that I wanted to hear.