Chapter 71

*Brooklyn's POV*I sit on the corner of my bed, rereading the scripted letter I just opened a few minutes ago.

Payton's peacefully asleep next to me, after we watched movies and ate take-out in hopes to cheer her up. She kept telling me that she was fine on the way home from the fight, but I could see it in her eyes how much being off the team, and the whole Savannah/Alicia thing was hurting her.

I stared blankly at the slightly crumbled paper that I held in my hands, reading it once more, and scouring my mind for what the hell I was to do about it.

Long time no talk, Brookie.

I think you know who this is, and I'll just be getting right to the point now, because we all know how much you hate playing games after you 'fell in love' with precious Payton.

I'm giving you the chance to make all of this go away. To make me go away, and leave Payton's life alone.

I have so much I can do to completely obliterate her, publicly, and her private life. But if you do this simple thing, we won't have to worry about that(;

Oh, and I'm not bluffing. If you hadn't put the pieces together already, I was the one that got her kicked off the team. That's only the start of what I can do, and it'd be really smart of you to trust me on that.

You have the control here though.Just remember that.

If you 'cheat' on Payton one last time, giving no explanation, and completely cutting her out of your life for good, she won't have to worry about me anymore. I won't do anything, or release any information, ever, and burn any files I have on her.

I give you my honest word, I'll be out of Payton Foster's life for good if you simply do what I ask of you.

If you really love her, it won't be a hard choice for you.

See her get hurt over you in a petty heartbreak, that she'll get over in a couple of days, weeks even, or have her life completely crumble in front of her and suffer the pain of that forever, all thanks to you.

I'm sure you'll know what to do, you always have been a smart one(;

Now me on the other hand, I'm not as dumb as people perceive me as.

If you tell Payton or anyone else about this, I will find out. If you choose to go to the police, like you did already, pulling such a stunt like that, you're lucky I haven't done anything yet.. Sure, they'll get to me, but not before I tell everyone about the time she cheated on Aiden when they were dating with his own best friend? Or how she slept around with her current manager's son, just to get the highest jobs, or even how she aborted her baby after the dad didn't want anything to do with her, and Payton wanted to spare her career and reputation, all at the cost of someone's life?

Got you there, Brook? So maybe these things didn't happen, but what are the odds that anyone would believe anything that isn't fed to them through the media?

No one has to know about these things, and the many more stories that are left to my creative imagination.

Do one simple thing, Brooklyn, and everything goes away.

Payton lives her life, goes on to do something successful, without even glancing back at whatever you two are after you cheat on her another time.

The choice is right in front of you.

For every day you decide against doing the one thing that can stop all of this torment, raining down on 'perfect Foster's' life, I'll release a new 'fact' about Payton.

Hmm, which one should I start with?

How about how Ms.Perfect doesn't eat? I'm sure her fan's parents would love how their daughters look up to someone who has an eating disorder just to be a model's size.

That's a good one, career ending, even.

Now, you know what to do. Call the number on the back, you'll be speaking to a girl named Eva. She'll be the one helping you cheat on Payton.

Make it good too, get creative. Call Eva and set it up, for when you know Payton will see.

When she sees, don't say anything, don't go after her, just get her out of your life just like that.

Eva will be waiting for your call, and I suggest you call soon, wouldn't want any info to 'slip'.

Oh, and remember, let's keep this between us.

If you really love her, you'll know what to do.

Xoxo(;

Just the thought of hurting Payton again, was unbearable to me. But I knew what Alicia could do, and I can't just watch all of that happen to Payton.

I stood up pacing the room, running a hand through my hair out of frustration.

I do love Payton, a hell of a lot. Maybe just getting myself out of her life is the best option. Alicia was right, she would be hurt, but not for too long. It would hurt way less than what Alicia could do.

I'm gonna do it. I have to.

If it means that Payton's reputation will be saved from the lies Alicia would tell, then I'll have to do it. Hurting her will probably hurt me more than it does her. But I know that it'll hurt a lot more, watching her go through what Alicia can do.

Quietly making my way towards my bedside table, I grab my iPhone and walk downstairs into the empty kitchen.

Dialing the number on the back of the letter, I wait impatiently as it rings, and a girl's voice picks up.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hi. It's Brooklyn. Alicia said t--"

"I know what she said. When and where?" She says bluntly.

I haven't even thought about how I was gonna do it, and just thinking about it made me uneasy, and the guilt was already getting to me.

You're doing the right thing. I told myself.

"Um, I'll try and convince her to come to a party with me tonight, I guess then, since I can't wait till tomorrow.."

"Great. Sneak away from her later on through the night...." She trailed off explaining the plan, without even sounding remorseful.

I still couldn't believe I was doing this, and I don't think I could even go through with the whole thing, watching her look so hurt without wanting to hug and kiss her, and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

But all in all, I kept reminding myself of why I was doing it in the first place.

Payton would be better off with me 'cheating' on her. Alicia would leave her alone, and Payton will continue on with her life. She'll get over me after a while, but I don't know if I'd ever get over her.

I love her, so I'm letting her go for her own good.

Walking back upstairs into my room, Payton's still asleep, as I climb on the bed next to her. She begins to stir, and her eyes open slightly.

"Brook?" She mumbles.

"Shh, kitten go back to sleep," I say, wrapping my arms tightly around her, knowing that this would be the last time holding her in my arms.

Tonight's party was in an hour and a half, so I'll wake Payton up in an hour, leaving her some time to get ready, and we'll probably show up late anyways.

She was fast asleep after a few minutes, and I just savored the last few hours we'll be having together.

You're doing this for Payton. It's better off for her this way.

I kept repeating this over and over as the time passed. The more I kept saying it, the more I knew that this was best for her, and that I was doing the right thing, which I was positive would slowly kill me inside.

How can you hurt someone you love so fucking much? I mean, it happens every day, and it's unintentionally hurting someone, but I know that I'm hurting her. How can I do something like that? But in the end, I'm just hurting her less than what would happen if I don't do this.

"I love you Pay, I'm so sorry," I whispered and kissed her on her forehead before she slowly started to wake up.

"What day is it?" She asks, laughing softly.

"Same day you fell asleep," I chuckle. "So there's this party I wanted to know if you wanted to go to tonight.."

"Uh, yeah, sure," she smiles.

"Great.. It's in half an hour, but we can always show up late like usual," I can almost feel my heart shattering on the inside, little by little as time went on.

"Okay, I'll just go get ready then," she starts to get up out of bed, but I end up pulling her back down.

"Just.. stay a few more minutes with me?" I bite my lip. If only she knew..

"Sure," she lays back down again, and I re wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her in closer as her head rests against my chest. "Brook.. I sort of need to breathe," she laughs, and I realize just how tight my grip on her was. I instantly loosened my hold.

"Sorry kitten," I kiss her again.

The dreaded moment came when I had to let her out of my arms so she could go get ready for the party. She left my room, and just a few short moments after, Harper ran in and jumped on my bed.

"Where's Payton?" She asks, a wide smile on her face. Harper's really grown to like Payton being around so much, but I guess that'll change soon.

"She just left," I answered.

"Aw, will she be back tomorrow?" She asks me again hopefully.

"Maybe.."

I didn't want to get her hopes up, but I didn't want to crush them either by saying she'll probably never see her here again after tonight.

She just smiles again, skipping out of my room.

*Payton's POV*The party wasn't as big as I thought it would be. We came pretty late, and I'm pretty positive that mostly everyone that was planning on being here was already here

Sean and a couple of the guys were here, as I'd seen them on the way in.

"I'm gonna go grab some drinks," Brooklyn yells over the loud, pulsating music. I nod my head as he turns to head off, but quickly turns back around and puts his lips onto mine. Pulling back after a few seconds, he turns and walks away again.

Alright then..

While he's gone, I might as well look for a bathroom. My squirrel sized bladder that makes me have to go pee every half hour is unfortunately acting up again..

*Brooklyn's POV*Just as I turn to leave, I can't help but kiss her for the last time before turning back again, disappearing through the crowd. She was confused by my sudden affection, and I knew that she would be, but I really couldn't bear the fact that that would be the last time I would taste her lips again.

Sighing dramatically, I whip my phone out of my back pocket and text Eva's contact, asking where she was so I could just get this over with. I was breaking as time passed, knowing that in a few minutes, I'd be the worst person in the room. Within a minute, Eva texts me back, telling me that she's in the back of the living room, by the drink table.

Heading over there, every step becoming heavier to take, I reach the table in the dimly lit, overcrowded room, and look around.

"Brooklyn," I hear someone say, and turn around to face a smirking blonde leaning back against a wall by the table.

"Eva?" I ask and she nods. Yeah, she was attractive, but nothing compares to Payton, but I didn't really have a say in that, did I?

"Where'd you leave her at?" She asks.

"By the front, said I was going for drinks," I looked at the ground, reevaluating my options. Yep. Still nothing outweighs this.

"Whatever Alicia's blackmailing her with, this is the easy way out. She'll end up getting hurt either way, just let there be less pain involved," Eva says.

"I hope you're right," I mumble.

At this point, my stomach's in knots, I felt completely numb inside, and my heart was racing. Was I really gonna do this? You have to. We've been over this. You'll have to forget her, it's for the best. My mind told me.

"How are we gonna get her to see us?" I ask, feeling a lump form in my throat.

"I've got that covered," she smirks. A few minutes pass, and Eva checks her phone, then sets it down with an evil smile playing on her lips.

How could girls like Eva and Alicia live with themselves, knowing how they fuck up other people's happiness?

"Payton should be heading this way now." She explains. "Remember, make it look real, I'm sure Alicia would appreciate knowing that you put on a show." She winked, getting closer to me and closing off the gap between our lips.

I hated every second of that kiss, I could only think of what I was doing to Payton, the girl that I'm absolutely, positively, crazily in love with. But I shook off the thoughts, knowing that I was sparing her future, career, reputation, you name it. Anything that Payton had that mattered in her life could easily be taken away by Alicia's lies, and I'm doing this to save her from that happening.

"Damn, who's the hottie Brooklyn?" I recognize Payton's voice say as I pull apart to see her with a blank expression on her face, arms crossed. But I could still see hurt through her emotionless state, and my heart was just crumbling inside me. She turns and walks away, pushing through the crowd, and it takes all the strength in me to not say anything, or run after her.

I close my eyes and rub them with the bottom of my palms, leaning back against the wall harshly, and letting out a sharp sigh in defeat.

Let her go because you love her.

Shut up mind, no one likes you.

It's true though, it's for the best.

But why do I feel like I broke myself more than I did her?