I'll Stay Till Sunrise || Jolex

I'll give you my all

TW// mentions and scenes of abuse

"You want the thruth?! Fine, that's what you'll get. Remember when he beat you so hard in the diner bathroom that your eyes were swollen shut and you couldn't see?! A dark haired woman dragged you to the appartment upstairs and cleaned you up-" 

I look up at her with a mixture of anger and confusion. Why is she bringing this up?

 "-that was me! Unfortunately, your best friend and boss Corinda Hale also has the same colour hair as me and lives in that appartment, so she got your graditude instead!"

Tears threatend to spill from Anna's eyes as she spoke but she continued. "I did everything in my power to keep you safe, Brooke! I let you believe Corey was the one who helped you so you didn't have to keep a secret from Paul! So he wouldn't beat you for not telling him!"

I stare at her. Shock, that's all I can feel. Pure and utter shock. It was her? She actually cared? All these years I thought she didn't care or didn't want to help. I resented her almost as much as I did Paul. Oh, I was so wrong. 

Slowely, gaps in my memory start to piece together. Sometimes Paul would leave me beaten and bloody on the bathroom floor of his parent's house during multiple dinner parties. I swear I saw him walk out but I'd always wake up, cuts cleaned and bandaged in his old bedroom. I assumed he came back for me. I never mentioned it to him. Thank God I didn't, I would've unknowingly thrown Anna under the bus.

"I-I-I'm so s-sorry." I stutter. "I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't. But now you do so can this be a reason for you to hate me a tiny bit less?"

My body feels numb. Numb with pain, the memories of those horrible years, the ones I tried to push back and forget about, resurfaced as she told me the truth. And numb with grief, I hated her, blamed her for so much. I held her almost as accountable as Paul. I didn't know. I never knew she was on my side.

"Maybe I don't hate you anymore."

Anna stares at me. Surprise and what looks like joy flashes in her eyes. "I'm glad. I missed us."

__________________________

I didn't sleep well that night. I thrashed and turned. Haunted by the memories. It's been years since I've had nightmares about Paul but my conversation with Anna brought all the horrors back. 

"Brooke, what the hell did you do?!" 

I startle awake by my husbands stern voice echoing down the hall. Cold fear creeps down my spine as his footsteps near the bedroom door.

"Paul, w-what's going on?" I stutter. 

"Why the hell is there 500 dollars missing from my account?!"

For a second, all I can do is stare at him in shock. Why is he mad about that? It's only 500, what's the big deal?

"I found a tear in your suit so I went to get it fixed. They charged $400 and I used the rest for gas on the drive home." I say in a timid voice. My eyes dart from the floor to his face and back. He's mad, I can sense it. Slowely I start to inch away from him. I know what's coming.

"P-Paul, I swear, I-I didn't mean to make you mad." I plead.

"You know I hate it when you use my money without telling me. I've told you that hundreds of times. When will you learn, huh Brooke? When?! Or are you going to stay a dumb little street rat forever?"

"I just wanted to be helpfull and do you a favour." I cry, hoping like hell that he forgives me instead of punishing me.

He doesn't reply. His glare is ice cold as he streches out his right arm and slaps me across the face. My head snaps left, hitting the bed frame with a sickening bang. I moan in pain, my head throbbing.

He pulls me out of bed and slams me against the wall. This time my head snaps backwards so hard it leaves a dent in the wall. Paul's face looming before me is all I see as everything goes black.

My eyes flash open. I swerve my head from side to side, expecting Paul to be waiting for me to regain consciousness. But instead I find myself on the couch of Meredith Grey's house and sitting on the opposite couch is my other ex-husband. Alex.

"It's alright, Jo. It was just a dream." He says in a soothing tone. What is he doing here? I open my mouth to ask him but am once again swallowed by exhaustion.

Once agin I'm so sorry for the long wait. I started school and haven't had much time. But I'm starting to get my motivashion to write back! Yay! Oh and it's my birthday on Monday (September 14) yay