The Girl Who Was Broken and Gone

Chapter 36: Acknowledgement

It was the next day and Brielle hadn't left her room. Each member of her family had knocked on her door, trying to get her to come out, but to no avail. She hasn't eaten any food besides the rest of her candy and for the rest of the day she had just laid there on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, letting her thoughts consume her. As much as she didn't want to think about what had happened, that's where her thoughts went. She relived every painful memory from the beginning to the end. She felt like she was living that nightmare all over again. She felt the pain from every single thing that had happened to her. Silent tears had streamed down her face and she had shoved her face into her pillow to muffle her sobs. Nobody could know that she was feeling emotions. Last time she openly showed her emotions before being kidnapped had caused the kidnapping. Maybe if she wasn't so upset and she was more aware of her surroundings, she would've been okay. But no. Her emotions got the best of her so she had decided to not show emotions in front of people and always be on high alert.

What helped Brielle feel better was knowing that she would never see Jake and John again. They weren't in the same state she was in. I mean sure they could try to find her but she doubted it. Brielle knew that she caused a lot of problems for them and she now knew that Jake was in love with her and if he really loved her then he would leave her alone. On the other hand, Jake was in the mafia and Brielle knew everything that happened behind closed doors so maybe he would track her down and kill her. But he loved her so he wouldn't kill her. But he was a mob boss and he kills and she knows things she shouldn't.

Brielle kept going back and forth in her head, debating on whether or not Jake would come for her. She didn't want him to find her again. She could easily put him behind bars if she wanted to but the question is: Did she want to? She knew the answer to that. No. She didn't want him to be behind bars. Sure she knew that he was a bad person but the thing is that he is a person. A human with a life.

She just needs to forget about him and let him go. She didn't love him. She wasn't in love with him. She did think about him while she was running away but she realized that the only reason she thought about him was because she was scared. She was scared that he would take her back. She didn't want him to. And then he had said that he loved her. Brielle doesn't believe that at all. How could he be in love with her if he had caused her so much pain? How can he be in love with her when he didn't even know who she was as a person? He didn't love her. He loved the idea of her. The idea of having someone that was there for him. He didn't even know what her favorite color was or when her birthday was. He didn't know what she was passionate about. He didn't know what made her eyes light up in happiness. He didn't know the way her family treated her. Jake didn't know Brielle and yet he had the audacity to say he was in love with her.

He doesn't know what love is. He doesn't know what being in love feels like. He doesn't know that he's supposed to feel butterflies in his stomach when he sees Brielle. He doesn't know that when you're in love with someone, you love every little thing about them. Their laugh, smile, eyes, insecurities, the way that they do the simplest things. The way that someone would tuck their hair behind their ear or how they'd let you know they were listening to every single thing you were saying. When you're in love, you're consumed by that person entirely. Jake wasn't like that with Brielle and Brielle knows that Jake wasn't in love with her. He just thinks that he was.

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Brielle opened her eyes and sat up, groggily rubbing her eyes. She looked out her window and saw that it was dark out.

I must've fallen asleep after all that thinking, Brielle thought just as her stomach rumbled. She stood up from her bed, tiptoeing to her door and slowly pulling it open.

There was pure silence.

Brielle sighed and slowly left her room, making sure she made no noise so nobody would know she was awake. She continued going until she made it to the kitchen. She flicked the light switch and the room illuminated with the light. She turned around and made her way to the fridge, humming a song as she did so. She found some leftover rice and chicken and put it in the microwave, heating it up until it was warm enough to eat. She then got a glass and filled it with water. When she had everything she needed, she turned the kitchen light off and went to the T.V room, flicking the light on. She turned around and looked up, gasping when she saw her mom sitting on the couch, sipping her tea. She looked exhausted. Brielle turned to leave.

"Wait," her mom gently called out. Brielle stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"Yes?" Brielle questioned, trying to keep her composure.

"Just . . . sit with me." Brielle was going to turn back around and walk to her room until she looked into her mother's pleading eyes. She sighed and walked to her mom, placing her plate and glass on the table and sitting down, making sure to keep space between them both. Brielle sat there, waiting for her mom to say something, but after a minute passed, she shook her head and began eating. When she was halfway done, her mom spoke up.

"I was so worried about you," her mom whispered out. Brielle scoffed.

"You probably didn't even realize I was gone. You never paid attention to me before."

Brielle's mom looked at her in sadness. She knew there was truth to her words. Brielle was the youngest and instead of getting the most attention, she got the least amount. For some reason her parents just thought that Brielle could take care of herself. That she could handle herself but in reality she was only a teenager in highschool. She needed her parents.

"I'm sorry. I know now that we didn't treat you properly and you felt like you weren't included in the family. But honey," she said, turning to face Brielle. "You are so important to me and and when you were gone it felt like a piece of me was missing because a part of me was missing. Your siblings and father make me who I am and when you were gone I was gone. I love you and I know I don't say it nearly enough, but it's true."

Brielle stayed silent, not knowing what to say. She just continued eating her food, sipping her water as she went.

"Please just- just tell me what happened," her mom pleaded.

"You don't want to know, okay? I can't tell anyone because then they'll feel what I felt and nobody should feel that, Mom. Nobody."

Brielle looked down and saw that she only had one bite of food left. She shovelled it in her mouth and finished her water, standing up with her dishes in hand. She went back to the kitchen and placed the dishes in the sink, wanting to retreat back to her room.

"Brielle," her mom called out again.

"Yeah?"

"Can we make an appointment with a therapist? I-I don't want you dealing with this alone."

Brielle was ready to say no, but she made the mistake of turning and looking at her mom again. She saw the tears in her eyes. She saw the pain and sadness. She didn't want anybody feeling those emotions, especially after she felt them times a million.

"I guess I can try," Brielle muttered.

"I know I don't deserve you agreeing, but thank you."

Brielle gave a weak smile and turned around, finally getting to her room. She knew she was going to be up all night since she slept through the day.

All through the night, Brielle watched videos and some movies on her phone to pass the night. Eventually when the sun started to rise, she closed her eyes and decided that a couple more hours of sleep wouldn't hurt anyone.

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Hiiiiii. This chapter is definitely one of my longer chapters and it actually went over 1,000 words. You proud of me? Yeah you are. Don't even lie lol.

Anyways what did you guys think of the chapter?

I have news! I already wrote the next chapter and it is the last chapter before the epilogue. Kinda exciting but also sad.

What do you think is going to happen?

Bye my fellow Masqueraders

-Masquerade

Have a good day/night

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