The Dark Willow (A Matt Smith Fanfiction) *SLOW UPDATES*

Chapter 19

~Brooke's POV~

The ride back to set was silent. My legs were still shaking in fear. I moved my eyes toward Matt, who was focused on driving, shades once again over his face. I winced at the pain in my left eye, which got worse as it pulsed with every heartbeat.

We finally arrived back to set. I got out of the vehicle with the shopping bags in one hand, and holding my eye to protect it from the sun's brightness with the other.

Matt opened the door to the trailer and we both walked in. He shut the it behind us and walked to the middle of the room, throwing his shades on the sofa. I gently sat the bags down on the floor.

He stood there, silent for a few seconds before he turned to look at me. He took a few steps closer to me.

"Can I see your eye?"

I hesitated for a moment before I moved my hand away from my face. When my hand came down, my vision was still dark. My eye was swollen shut, and my best guess is it's probably black and blue. My heart rate increased, which caused the pulsing pain to increase in severity.

Matt clenched his jaw in anger. I felt myself cower away. I know he wasn't angry at me, but it was just a natural reflex I developed over the years.

He realized what I was doing and he softened his facial expression. A tear slowly crept down his cheek. I've never seen him cry before. I felt a pain in my stomach, that slowly spread to my chest.

"I'm sorry, Brooke." His voice cracked, as more tears fell. It wasn't his fault. Why was he crying? I wasn't crying. Although I was about to. Matt put his face in his hand to hide his tears from me.

I couldn't take it anymore. I lunged forward and wrapped my arms around him.

"Please don't cry over me. I'm used to things like this. I'll be fine. I promise." I'm not very good at comforting people for obvious reasons, but I was trying my best.

"I feel like this is my fault. You were caught being seen with me. If it wasn't for me this wouldn't have happened. Not to mention if this gets out, my job could be at risk for punching the guy." Matt talked between sobs. I tightened my grip around him.

I didn't even know what to say. I couldn't begin to fathom the guilt I would feel if he lost his job over something that happened to me. The guilt was killing me enough already.

I, for once, took the lead and brought Matt to the sofa and sat him down. He continued to sob. I'm pretty sure it was more because he was worried about his job and his image than it was for my well being, which I don't blame him for. Let's face it, I'm used to these kinds of things happening. He's probably not used to punching people in defense of someone else and then having his job on the edge.

I took the initiative to do to him what he did to me in the car this morning. I lifted his chin up until his eyes where level with mine, and then used my thumb to dry his falling tears.

He looked at me with surprise in his eyes, but then smiled slightly as he grabbed ahold of my hand, which was still resting on his cheek. A pleasant chill was sent down my spine when I seen him perk up.

"Brooke I've never met anyone with your level of humility. It's inspiring how after everything you've been through in your past, you're still willing to give someone else hope. No matter what happened, I want you to know you're a gift."

His words rang in my ears. There was no question in my mind that he meant what he said. My stomach felt warm, which made me smile.

A flood of confidence overcame me, which isn't something I usually have. I leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on his cheekbone.

Matt's tears kept falling, but they were now tears of joy. My heart skipped another beat.

Matt then took his arm and put it around me, pulling me into him. My head rested on his shoulder, and his arm was around my waist. I don't know how long we stayed like this, but I didn't want to leave. I was comfortable, and he was too.