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Neal shifted the bookend to the side, tilting his head to eye the newly-created space. "Hey, is this enough room, do y'think?" he called over to Brooke, unpacking her books from a box nearby.
Brooke looked up from the piles that she was making as she sorted her books. "What books are on that shelf?"
"These are all my textbooks and yearbooks n'stuff," he replied, pushing the textbooks in question closer together to make a bit more room.
Brooke started to push a stack of books toward Neal as she scooted over to him. "Here are all my books from school and my yearbooks...shall we put our yearbooks together, and then hope that all the rest fit on the shelf?" she teased as she leaned in, kissing him softly on the cheek.
Neal breathed out a faint laugh, closing his eyes a moment. "...Sure," he agreed, reaching for the stack of books, and grinned at the dates on the covers. "Ah, a contemporary, I see..."
Brooke grinned. "Uh huh... I used to have some from when I was in grade school, but they were...destroyed, rather gleefully."
"Yeah, we didn't have grade school yearbooks...that's why high school yearbooks were such a big fuckin' deal..." Neal smiled, tapping the top book, which was her freshman yearbook. "Okay, spill," he teased playfully. "Lemme see the young Brooke White."
Brooke laughed and held it to her chest. "Switch. Let me see yours and I'll let you see mine." Her eyes shone with amusement.
Neal's eyes sparkled with suppressed laughter. "...Deal," he murmured, taking his freshman yearbook off the shelf and passing it to her.
Brooke looked through the pages smiling softly. She finally found the freshman section and looked through the pictures until she got to the T section. She smiled when she spied Neal's picture. "Wow - your hair was really red!" she teased. He looked so young with his hair cut so short, no piercings and no tattoos.
He snorted softly, a little smirk on his face. "Yeah, I was orange then. And those damn ties and uniforms used to drive me crazy..."
Brooke smiled and looked through the rest of the book before handing it back to Neal. "You looked handsome in them though," she grinned.
Neal glanced up from where he was flicking through the pages of Brooke's yearbook, and took his back from her with a smile. "You looked mighty fine yourself, here, Brooke...with those big ol' waves in your hair..."
Brooke laughed. "Oh man... I forgot about that. Usually, my hair was pulled back in a ponytail. See, you weren't the only one that had to do uniforms."
"Uh huh..." Neal murmured, closing the book and passing it back to Brooke, making a grab for the next one on the stack. "Plaid's hot, y'know..." he murmured with a wink.
Brooke laughed and then held her hand out for Neal's next one. "Just wait until you see the pictures of me when I was little - I was such a nerd."
"There are no pictures of me as a little kid...not public, anyway..." Neal replied with a grin, passing her his sophomore yearbook. "My mom's got all that shit tucked away somewhere."
Brooke nodded. "I took all of mine off of my mom and dad so that they couldn't use them as blackmail." She flipped immediately to the sophomore class, quickly finding Neal's picture, and smiled softly at the change he had shown in a year. "You've gotten older...but you still look about the same."
Neal mirrored Brooke's actions, flicking through the pages again to the last page of the sophomore class, grinning to himself at the flash of beauty beginning to show through the awkward teen in front of him.
Neal shrugged slightly. "Family curse, I s'pose. We don't seem to age much." He closed the yearbook in his lap, and held out his hand for the third.
Brooke smiled and brushed her fingers over the small glossy picture before closing the book. She picked up her junior yearbook and handed it to him. "I warn you...I was extra geeky during this year." She held out her hand for Neal's junior year.
Neal grinned cheekily. "Hey...me too." With that caveat, he passed over his own, and took Brooke's from her hand, immediately pawing through the pages to find her photo with the junior year class.
Brooke laughed softly and flipped through the pages. She found Neal's picture and grinned. "Aww...handsome as ever." She flipped through the rest of the pages with a soft smile before handing it back to Neal. She held her senior year book in her arms and waited for him to switch up. "This one is a lot better."
Neal lost himself for a moment in thought, his finger resting lightly on the page just below Brooke's picture, smiling, wondering why what she considered to be "extra geeky" was so incredibly endearing to him.
"...Hmmm?" he murmured, glancing up as she spoke. "...Oh...yeah, the senior picture's always the best..." he replied, closing her book and handing it back to her, along with his senior yearbook, in exchange for hers.
"One thing, though," he told her with a grin. "Be sure to check out the freshman pics, too. Wait 'til you see Skibby."
Brooke's smile lit up her face. "Oh, that's right... Oooh, just wait till I get to tease him about this." She flipped through the freshman pictures coming to the S's. "Ooooohhhh...look at how cute he was...!" she cooed. She then flipped back to the seniors and found Neal's. "You definitely started to fill out more..." She grinned, looking at how his face had started to gain definition and how his shoulders had become broader than they'd been in the previous years.
Neal opened her senior yearbook directly to her picture. A slow, soft smile crossed his lips as he trailed his fingertip lightly along her photographed cheek, marveling at how the gawky woman-child from four years ago had matured into the beautiful young woman pictured here. Sure, there were still some hints of the youth beneath that smile, but... "Wow..." he murmured.
Brooke continued to flip through the book until she reached the back cover where flowing writing covered both pages with tiny perfect script. She glanced at the bottom and saw a signature signed with 'love you baby' and a name: 'Emily.' She didn't read the letter but handed it back to Neal with that part open. "Who was Emily?"
Neal glanced up sharply, his smile fading. "...My girlfriend. Ex. Girlfriend," he replied quietly, his words clipped and terse. "...She was my world," he murmured, dropping his gaze to the floor, unconsciously tightening and loosening his left hand into and out of a fist.
Brooke looked at Neal and put the books off to the side, scooting up to Neal until their knees were touching. "What happened?" She reached out and brushed her hand around Neal's clenched fist, trying to soothe whatever tension she had inadvertently created.
"Caught her with another guy," he muttered, shrugging tightly. "Th'summer after graduation. They were kissin' each other. She told me she loved me. That she wanted t'be with me. And then she did that..." He closed his eyes a moment, his fist tightening with a light cracking of his knuckles. "I was so angry, and hurt...she didn't even offer an excuse, just...flipped her hair and held onto his arm, tellin' me she didn't love me anymore..." He exhaled a heavy, shuddering breath. "Couldn't hit her. Couldn't punch him, cuz she was hangin' off him. So I left...and punched a brick wall instead."
Brooke had known how he had messed up his hand but had never known the backstory behind it. She reached out and brought Neal's hand to her lips, kissing it softly. "She had no idea what an incredible guy you are, or how very special it is to be loved by you," she whispered, leaning in to kiss him.
Neal squeezed Brooke's hand lightly and kissed her back, slowly and deeply. He lifted his free hand to cup her cheek gently, his mind racing.
He'd foolishly thought Emily was the one, with the certainty that only the young and hormonal have. She'd been his whole world, and when he'd found her with the other boy, his world had come crashing down...he'd been so sure his heart would never mend...
...It had, of course, mended, with time and distance...and new loves had come and gone since then...but if he'd gotten his wishes then, he wouldn't be here now, with the love of his life...
He broke away from the kiss to breathe, pressing his forehead to Brooke's, and smiled tenderly.
...The love of his life.
"..Love you..." he breathed out softly, and kissed her again, thanking Emily for answering his prayers.