Brooke went upstairs after talking to Denise and found Alissa curled up in the chair near the window.

“Honey, I think we need to talk.”

“What is there to talk about?”

“I just got off the phone with Denise and AJ is a complete mess. He went over there after the fight with you and told her everything. AJ’s in so much pain and he feels terrible for what happened.”

Alissa just stared at her.

“You’ve got to talk to him.”

“Why, so we can get into another screaming match? So he can break more stuff?”

“No, so you two can resolve this.”

“I don’t want to…”

“That’s it! I’ve had enough!” Brooke yelled. “I can’t sit here and watch you two do this to each other anymore! You’re both being ridiculous!”

Alissa looked at her cousin. She hadn’t heard Brooke this worked up over anything in a while.

“You have to talk to him. I don’t care what’s happened! He didn’t mean to scare you and I think deep down inside, you know that.” Brooke took a breath. “Please talk to him. I’ll make you a deal. If you promise to be in the same room with him, I will remove any breakable objects. Hell, I’ll pad the walls if I have to!”

Alissa burst into laughter. Brooke was so glad to see a smile on her face. It had been far too long since it was there.

“Does that mean you’ll do it?”

Alissa smiled. “Ok.”