I stared at the photos, all of the muscles in my body seeming to freeze. There were more than I could count this time; some laying on the locker shelf, most scattered by my feet and a bunch taped like wallpaper to the inside of the metal container.

Words evaporated from my mouth as I tried to force my mind to catch up with what my eyes were seeing. Almost every moment of the last two months of my life had apparently been documented without my knowing. If I'd thought the last lot of images were bad, these were even worse— even more personal and intrusive. There were photos of me in the cafeteria, in class, in my room, in Mia's room, walking home... anywhere I had been and anything I had done, there was a photo of it. This time though, the photographer hadn't been so generous as to ensure that I was always fully clothed. The thought made bile rise in my throat and I doubled over as if I was about to sick.

My breathing sped up to the point of hyperventilation, but it was like I was no longer in control of my body anymore and I couldn't do anything to stop it. Feeling dizzy all of a sudden, I felt my knees wobble and start to give way.

I braced myself to crash to the floor, but the impact never came, a pair of strong arms latching around me before I could fall.

"You're okay, Savannah. It's all going to be okay. Come on, let's get you out of here." A voice whispered urgently, pulling me back to my feet. I was steered away from my locker and towards the main entrance. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the scene at my locker though, and my gaze stayed there until we turned a corner that forced me to. In the back of my mind, I vaguely noted that it was Brooks who led me through the parking lot and tucked me safely into the passenger seat of his car.

Once I was seated, he placed both hands on my shoulders and watched me seriously. "Don't move, okay? And don't unlock the doors. I'll be right back."

And then he locked me up in his car and sprinted back towards the school building, disappearing inside the doors a moment later.

I pulled my sweater up over my face and hid, counting down from twenty in my head over and over again to occupy my mind until Brooks got back.

The knowledge that someone could have been— certainly was— watching me right now and taking photos sent a cold shiver of dread down my spine.  Was it Luke? What was he going to do with those photos? What did he really want from me? If he could easily achieve this without my even noticing his presence, I wondered what else he was capable of.

By the time I had reached my sixteenth countdown from twenty, I heard the familiar click of the truck being unlocked and, soon after, Brooks clambered into the driver's side. He slung his backpack onto the backseat and handed me my handbag, which I hadn't even realized I'd left behind. I attempted to smile in thanks, but I couldn't muster up the ability to change my facial expression from its mask of horror.

Brooks stayed silent, his mouth a hard line as he put his truck into gear and hit the gas. We didn't talk, not even as we pulled up outside the house and hurried inside.

I stood idly in the hallway, wondering what I was supposed to do now.

To my surprise, Brooks tugged me gently upstairs and into his room, which I hadn't been inside since he was almost fourteen. It was neat and tidy, just how I expected it to be.

While I stood in the middle of the room like a ghost version of myself, Brooks got to work securing the place. He strode around with purpose, making sure that every window and curtain was closed and the rooms were only very dimly lit. It took me a second to figure out that he was trying to make sure it was too dark to take a decent photograph, and I tried to ignore the way my heart dropped as a result.

Once he was satisfied that we were secluded, he turned to me with a gentle expression, his eyes soft but wary, like he was trying to approach a feral animal.

And it was then, standing in the centre of Brooks' immaculate bedroom with him staring at me in a way I'd never seen him do before, like I was made of glass, that my emotions caught up to me. I opened my mouth to say something witty to lighten the mood, but instead all that escaped my throat was a strangled cry.

Brooks surged forward and pulled me into his arms, his hand cradling the back of my head as I sobbed into his chest.

Part of me was so embarrassed that this was what I had been reduced to. I didn't cry in front of anyone— not my mother or my father, Mia, my co-stars, and certainly not Brooks. It made me feel like the old version of myself.

It made me feel pathetic.

But still, I couldn't stop, so I decided to allow myself just this one moment of weakness. Just this once and then I would pull myself back together. Brooks lowered us both carefully onto his bed, and he tucked me into the space between his arm and his body. I sprawled across him and buried my face, clutching fistfuls of his shirt between my fingers. 

He hummed quiet reassurances in my ear, phrases like "Shh, it's okay" or "I'm right here" as his warm fingers played with my hair. 

I don't know how long we lay there, me crying and Brooks holding me tightly, but I must have dozed off eventually because when I opened my eyes again I could hear the bustle of life in the kitchen that meant the other McCormacks were home. I stretched my hand out and ran my fingers over the empty space on the bed, wondering where Brooks had escaped to.

Maybe he'd decided that this, that I, was too much drama. All I'd done since I got back to Beaufort was create problems, and maybe he'd realized tonight that he'd been right to begin with— I was just a self-absorbed diva who was more trouble than she was worth. After all, I had enough baggage to fill an entire airplane.

Maybe he was regretting everything he'd said yesterday, and this was him trying to distance himself from me. I would understand, though, if that's what he was doing. Sometimes even I wanted a little distance from myself.

I sat in silence a while longer, drowning in the bottomless pool of my own thoughts, until I heard the door crack open. Brooks entered the room holding a steaming blue mug, which he handed to me wordlessly before sitting down on the edge of the bed.

He stared at the floor, and I got the feeling that neither of us knew exactly where to go from here, or what happened next.

I took a sip of black, sweet coffee from the mug and then clutched it between both hands, letting it warm me.

"This—this can't go on any longer Savannah." Brooks said quietly after a moment. I froze, wondering whether he meant me being here.

"The photos, it's obsessive. It's stalking." 

"I know."

"We need to do something about it. Clearly whatever you said to Luke didn't work."

I still had my doubts about Luke after the conversation we'd had in the park, but I couldn't deny that the signs had always pointed to him. "I know."

"I need to talk to him."

Panic rose in my throat at his words. The last time Brooks and Luke had seen each other, it almost ended a lot worse than it had. I shook my head vehemently. "Please don't, Brooks. I'll find another way." My voice sounded different, almost like it wasn't my own. Probably from all the crying.

Brooks sighed deeply, his eyes hardening as he latched his gaze onto me. "We're back there are we?" He spoke through tight lips. "To you not accepting anybody's help? After all of this, why won't you let me in... why don't you trust me?"

Shame crashed over me and I looked down at the bedsheets. Was that what he thought? That I was too prideful to ask for help? That I didn't trust anyone's decision unless it was my own?

It was the exact opposite. I had a habit of fucking up all of the good things in my life— first my relationship with the McCormacks when I left four years ago, then by going to that stupid party and getting shipped here. I had finally started to fix things here and I'd be damned if I was going to pull Brooks into my mess.

"I'm scared, Brooks!" I exclaimed shakily, reaching up to thread my fingers into my hair.

I hated to admit it— the last thing I wanted to do was admit it. But I was. I was freaking scared of whoever the hell was stalking me, and I was scared of what they wanted from me and those that I had cared about. I couldn't fool myself into thinking that it wasn't sinister and it didn't scare me.

Not anymore.

"I'm scared of whoever has it out for me, and what they might do to me. Or, oh God, what they might do to you and your family. You guys are in those photos too. If anything happened to you because of me, I-I—" My voice broke as I choked back tears, and I let out a frustrated cry. I didn't want to feel like this; so helpless and fragile, but I couldn't help it. Now that I had started I couldn't stop.

"Hey," Brooks said sharply, surging forward to pull me into an embrace. I could feel Brooks' heart beating against me and the steady rise and fall of his ribs as he breathed. His body formed a protective shield around me, and despite my woes, I suddenly felt safe.

He pulled away all too soon, to my disdain, locking the full force of his piercing gaze on me. A breath passed between us before he reached up gently, almost hesitantly, and swept my unruly dark hair behind my ear. His fingers lingered on my cheek, soft as a whisper, and I closed my eyes momentarily to savor the sensation.

"Listen to me, Savannah." He commanded, and I opened my eyes once again. He inhaled slowly, releasing the air in one long, shaky breath. He had the kind of seriousness in his expression that made me sure I would completely believe whatever he was about to tell me. "I swear, I am not going to let anything happen to you or any of us." He bit gently on his lower lip and shook his head, his eyes glassy. "Ever. I will do everything in my power to make sure you're safe, you hear?" He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against mine.

His words sent my heart into overtime, half from gratitude and half from relief that he hadn't given up on me quite yet. But still, I couldn't shake the niggling feeling that it wasn't me who needed protecting.

He looked up at me from under his lashes, his hands cradling my face. If I wasn't already cried out, I probably would've been brought to tears by the way in which he was watching me. "I just need you to trust me, yeah? We're in this together whether you like it or not, and I'll be here figuring this out with you every step of the way. We just need to trust each other again. Can you do that?"

I closed my eyes and squeezed him even tighter when I whispered, "I can do that."

And I truly believed it.

Yewww hey guys!!! Wow I haven't written an author's note in a while oops lol. But that was chapter 30! I really hope you liked it... I feel like this story is a lot slower than my other books, but now we're getting into the good stuff I promise. Thank you so much to anyone reading this, people seem to have enjoyed reading Cupid's Daughter but not a lot want to give TDADDWAD (lol) a try, so thank you again!!!!!

Hope you guys have a wonderful week!

Love, Meg x