Home. In all honesty, it was what she had been looking forward to the most, and what she found she had been craving more than anything. Home wasn't the place or the location, for what was an empty house and empty rooms? No, it was the people. Joe, her husband, ever loving and ever patient and ever there for her; Cassie, her kindred spirit, her soul mate and best friend; her classmates and her other friends, all of whom she had missed.
It was them she missed the most, for it was them that made up her home. And finally, she was okay with being back.
Pissed was an emotion she felt at the beginning; anger towards Cassie for what the witch had done. Brooke had, in all honesty, felt betrayed, as though her best friend had turned on her and hexed her. But now, all Brooke could feel was thankfulness and a growing love for Cassana - how had she known the holiday was exactly what she needed? The time away, the counsellor, the beaches and the travelling... All of it had helped her heal.
Sure, she still missed baby Joe, and sure, she still hurt. A part of her had been torn away, stolen from her and there was a part of her heart that would never quite be the same again. Not without her baby. No, their baby. Joe had felt loss, too, and it was him that she felt the most ashamed to face. She had abandoned him, left him to fend on his own. So much for their vows, and so much for 'death do us part'. Well, she hadn't used those words; she had promised to love him beyond the grave, but how could she have known that it wasn't her death that would do them part?
He understood. He was forgiving and gentle and sweet like that, but Brooke would never forgive herself for doing that to him, and she already knew she would spend the rest of her life trying to make up for what she did.
Her first week back had been spent with him, alone, just the two of them, catching up and crying together and just loving. Loss came with love, she knew that now - she had known for a long time, but only in theory and now that they had experienced it firsthand she knew it would only make them stronger. They would make it. They always did.
And now, Cassie. Brooke had, of course, already moved her stuff back into the Crooke flat. But she hadn't actually seen her best friend since she first step foot back home. She had been too busy making amends with Joe. So when the day came that they would actually see each other, Brooke was surprisingly nervous.
Excited, of course, but nervous nevertheless. She had missed Cassie more than anyone would ever understand, with the exception of Joe, of course, who often joked that Brooke should have married the witch instead of him. In any case, the butterflies were real as Brooke started unpacking her stuff into the Crooke flat; while she had brought over suitcases, she hadn't actually begun the process of taking things out.
The familiar voice carried through the hallway, and Brooke couldn't help but laugh at the words being spoken. "I'm right here!" she called out, dropping the pigeon clock and making her way out. "Did you get more blind while I was away? Or did you fall and damage your brain? Because really, first I get a message saying you might be in love with your husband, and then you don't know where I am in this flat of ours?"
By then, she had already made her way to the living room and threw herself at Cassie, hugging her tightly. "I missed you" she murmured, and then added, "Yes, let's go eat. I am starved!"
Yes, it was good to be Home.
