"chapter 27- healing isn't linear"

brooke unlocked the door to the madden mansion. and she entered with her boyfriend.

"so where's your roommate." jordan said breaking the silence.

"asher's probably still at school." brooke replied as she went to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water.

jordan wrapped his arms around brookes waist.

"hey." brooke hummed as they rocked back and forth.

"i'm sorry i've been a little distracted lately." jordan sighed.

"actually i think distant is the word you're looking for." brooke corrected.

"ouch, okay." jordan joked.

"so asher has like a game plan, for when he's moving out?" jordan asked.

"you said you were okay with him staying here." brooke laughed.

"i am. i'm just saying with everything that's been going on, you & me. we've really had no alone time or space to focus on just us. & i want that to change." jordan sighed.

"you know what, i'm gonna take you out on a date. a real date." jordan added.

"i like the sound of that, how about tonight?"brooke suggested with a smile.

"give me a couple hours, i'm gonna surprise you." jordan assured.

"that sounds amazing." brooke gushed wrapping her arms around jordan's neck & leaning into kiss him.

but like always they were interrupted, this time by asher.

"hey." brooke said greeting asher.

"hey." asher replied awkwardly as he quickly headed to the guest room. & jordan left soon after.

brooke headed over to the hangout to grab a coffee & she spotted olivia in the corner alone.

"hey, i've been calling & texting all day." brooke said sitting beside her.

"yeah, something came up." olivia lied.

"it's okay, i actually have something for you. i know how much you loved the remake. i was gonna wait till tomorrow, but it's to celebrate your courage-" brooke preached handing her a wonder woman pin and then olivia cut her off.

"brooke." olivia sighed.

"no. let me finish. tomorrow is your one year sobriety mark. of course i remember, because i am so proud of you, how hard you fought to get your life and all that-" brooke added before she stopped as olivia placed a bottle of pills on the table.

"i found them this morning." olivia stated dolefully.

"have you taken any?" brooke inquired.

"no, not yet but it's been really hard. you know everyday i make an active choice to stay sober. one day at a time & today it's just not working." olivia revealed.

"liv, you don't have to go through this alone. i am here for you." brooke promised.

"i wish i could say the same for my family, you know? you're the only one who even remembered it was my one year sobriety coming up." olivia shrugged.

"i'm sure they remembered." brooke vouched.

"no, but i get it. they're like busy & this time of year's always bad because of playoffs & my mom has her d.a. campaigns." olivia said.

"you need to tell jordan & your parents how you're feeling." brooke replied.

"no, it'll just hurt them." liv responded.

"it's hurting you. they can't fix it unless they know, and you can't heal unless you're honest with them. healing isn't linear, theres' gonna be ups & downs. but absolutely no more struggling in silence." brooke demanded holding olivias hand, which caused olivia to tear up.

brooke stepped outside to call jordan.

"hey baby, you close." jordan said.

"hey look about tonight." brooke cringed.

"no, come on. don't say it." jordan groaned.

"i'm so sorry." brooke apologized.

"let me guess. what does asher need now?" jordan yelled into the phone.

"seriously? i ran into olivia, & she's having a rough time. so i'm staying with her." brooke disclosed.

"look, i'm sorry okay. of course it's cool, is liv alright." jordan responded

"no, i have to go." brooke snapped hanging up the phone.

jordan got in the car and decided to head over to the hangout to apologize in person. he peered through the window to see brooke & asher, then his blood started to boil.

"that's funny, he doesn't look like liv to me." jordan hissed.

"excuse me?" brooke gasped at his tone.

"dude, it's not what it looks like." asher said in their defense.

"i don't remember asking you." jordan yelled at asher, stepping up to him.

"hey, jordan." brooke said standing up pushing him back.

"here so you can get in the house." brooke said handing asher a spare house key.

"way to go." asher laughed leaving with the key.

"he locked himself out, fyi. hey, jealousy isn't a good look on you." brooke snarled.

"yeah my girlfriend lying to me, isn't a good look either." jordan clapped back.

"i have never lied to you, i would never do that. & the fact you assume instead of asking me what happened hurts." brooke said defending herself.

"what am i supposed to think? huh? you moved homeboy into your house." jordan replied.

"first quality time was the issue. now it's asher living with me & my family. which one is it, because it seems like you're just looking for problems. & no for the record i asked you, if you were okay with asher moving in, and instead of telling me the truth, you lied to me." brooke snapped.

"come on, open your eyes. what did you expect?" jordan laughed.

"i expected you to trust me." brooke replied tearing up.

"look i do trust you." jordan said stepping closer to brooke.

"no, you don't trust me. you want to believe those words when you say them, but the truth is you can't. & what hurts is i've never given you a reason not to." brooke cried.

"brooke." jordan sighed, as she walked out of the hangout crying.

olivia paced back & forth as her mind flashed back to a year ago.

the music was blaring, drinks were flowing, & drugs were practically oozing out of the walls. olivia & brooke stood on a countertop dancing to the music. while sammy was hooking up with some guy on the couch.

"the qb one has arrived." jj screamed as jordan walked in with a blonde on his arm.

"it's time to party bitch." the guys yelled as her & olivia got down from the countertop.

brooke walked over to asher who was sitting in the corner all alone. asher could tell by brookes face she was drunk off her ass as she reached over & snorted a line of cocaine in front of him.

"liv said he didn't even want this, but somehow he's still the life of the party." brooke laughed watching jordan baker while asher just stared at her.

"what you're not gonna run over & kiss the ring like everybody else?" brooke questioned.

"nah." asher replied.

"what bug crawled up your ass?" brooke asked.

"just got some family stuff going on right now." asher revealed as brooke began to run her fingers through his hair.

"awe poor baby. join the club." brooke mocked as asher downed the rest of his drink & got up to walk away.

"no don't leave." brooke slurred out as she kissed ashers neck, and he pushed her off.

"not tonight." asher said sternly rejecting her.

"whatever, don't come running back the next time you want pussy." brooke said storming off as olivia approached asher.

"looks like you pissed my girl brooke off." olivia laughed.

"she's not even pissed, she's just drunk & horny." asher said rolling his eyes.

" well how about a toast adams." olivia suggested.

"okay." asher sighed.

"here's to sucky families." olivia smiled.

"cheers." they said in unison taking a shot of the svedka straight out of bottle.

"should you be mixing that with whatever else you're on?" asher asked concerned.

"awe, you worried about me?" olivia questioned as she held ashers hands.

they looked up at eachother & their lips collided, then they snuck off into any empty room. & the rest of the things that occurred where a part of a dark, dark history of events that olivia couldn't erase or take back. & just like that she was brought back to present day, while she paced back & forth in front of her family in the living room.

"do you know how sad it is that i have to send 911 texts just to get you all here to talk to me?" olivia blurted out.

"okay what're you talking about?" coach asked.

"i'm talking about the fact, that i feel invisible in my own family." olivia stated.

"olivia-" laura started before olivia stopped her.

"just let me finish. you guys are all so goal orientated. you live in the future, always focused on the next game, the next win, the next campaign. it's like you don't see the details in the present. except i live in the present." olivia exclaimed.

"baby, obviously we see you." coach baker promised.

"do you? i mean why do you think i started using drugs in the first place? being the one of the party girls at least gave me something, & then still. you didn't notice until i almost overdosed, & then you just threw money at the problem. shipped me off to rehab, & poof, i was magically fixed." olivia cried.

"it wasn't a magical fix. nobody thought that. honey, it's what you needed." laura explained.

"yeah, but it's not all i needed. post rehab, brooke & spencer are the only people who've checked to see if i'm really okay. all of you assumed i was and just moved on." olivia revealed.

"we're so sorry, but you've been so strong." coach baker stated.

"you're right we should've been paying closer attention." laura agreed.

"i just don't want us to keep making the same mistake." olivia sighed as she walked upstairs to her room.

"hey liv." jordan said as olivia took out her airpods.

"i'm sorry about ruining your date with brooke." olivia apologized.

"actually i came to apologize. for not ratting you out. look liv, i knew you were using. okay, a lot & i didn't say anything about it. i guess i thought i was being a good brother covering for you. maybe if i would've said something sooner you wouldn't have, you know." jordan admitted.

"you probably still would've found me passed out after the party, i was so far gone." olivia assured.

"you scared me to death that day, liv. maybe that's why i try to forget it ever happened, but it did. & none of us should forget that." jordan replied.

"congratulations for making it one year sober, by the way. you did make it, right?" jordan added.

"yes i did." olivia laughed hugging jordan.