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"Enough for Me"
By: Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl

For Valentine's Day, 2010

See if you can figure out who these new characters are by the end of the story.

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   "You're enough, you're enough, for me."

   It was her favorite song, the one she always listened to whenever she worked on a drawing.  This time she was working on her realism.  She was drawing one of her favorite photos; a picture of her, with her best friend, a boy named Cody.

   She loved that photo.  Often times, it was the only way she could see him.

   He was the Romeo to her Juliet.  Unlike the famous tragedy, however, it was not a battle of family against family.  It was instead the tale of the only daughter of two over-protective parents, untrusting of the boy whose heart she hoped to bind forever to her own.

   She could only see him whenever she had the chance to slip by his father's business after school.  Her parents picked her up almost every day without fail, caught on to her routine, trying however they could to keep them apart.

   The boy named Cody, as smitten with her as she was with him, became both bold and brazen, often sneaking over to her house at night simply to get a chance to see her from her bedroom window.

   It was no wonder both his  friends and her friends called the couple Romeo and Juliet.

   However, unlike the tragic couple of lore, little Brooke Chamberlain, was determined to keep her love story from meeting the same ending.

   Every night as she sat down to draw, she thought of how she could finally convince her parents to trust Cody.  She often wondered why they zeroed in on him, picking on every aspect of his life and personality, doing whatever they could to try and convince her that he was nothing more than complete and utter trash.

   In reality Cody had a very hard life.  His parents divorced when he was thirteen, only for his mother to die in a terrible car accident only weeks after the separation was final.  Even so, everything she had won in the settlement went to her newlywed husband, who refused to look after Cody, or help out the father and son in any way, and court battles didn't help them any.

   Cody and his father had to start over from next to nothing.  They bought a small trailer to live in, spending most of the money on a two car garage, which his father used to repair vehicles to earn a living.  Cody painstakingly learned his father's trade.  Unable to go to school Cody taught himself, while working alongside his father, earning money to survive.  Whatever little Cody made for himself he saved, eventually earning enough to purchase a car for himself when he turned fifteen, spending some of his spare time customizing it to his liking.

   It was tough on Cody and his father, but both of them always tried their best, especially after Cody met Brooke again, one day when they were thirteen.

   He had gone to school until the end of fifth grade.  He remembered Brooke, but didn't see her for at least two years.  Shortly after his parents filed for divorce, while he was walking the streets, hanging out with his friends, he saw her doing the same with her own.  Two years had changed them both, but Brooke especially; her hair was growing longer, her figure more slender.  There were more curves to her body than there were just two years before.  She was growing up.  Somehow Cody had forgotten that he had too.

   She saw him at the same time.  He wasn't the same little boy who liked to tease substitute teachers, play soccer with his friends, and rode his bike to school every day, wearing one of his father's old aviator jackets.

   The only thing that was the same, was the beat up aviator jacket hanging on his shoulders.

   Abandoning their friends, they met in the middle of seventy-seventh street, reintroducing themselves to each other.  She told him about how her oldest brother got married, while the brother between them was in his last year of high school.  Her father's well-placed investments had made the family richer, and they had moved into a bigger house in an upper class neighborhood.  Brooke expected to hear happy stories from Cody, but got the exact opposite.

   His mother had cheated on his father.  She filed for divorce, suing for everything her husband had, trying to completely destroy him when he had done nothing wrong.  Always a faithful husband and father, he conceded to giving her everything he had, but fought for custody of only one thing; their son Cody.

   The battle for Cody was bitter; both parents were deemed fit, shared custody seemed fine.  Caught between loving his mother and father, Cody found he had grown closer to his father.  Kept in the dark when it came to his mother's affair, Cody felt he couldn't trust her.  In the end, he would stay with his father, and even so, his mother's love wouldn't matter anyway.

   It was Brooke who got him through the death of his mother, for while he felt he couldn't trust her, he never stopped loving her.  His hatred was aimed at his step-father, who gave equally as much bitterness to him in return.

   School started back up and she lost touch with Cody.  When she did get to see him he would tell her of all he was doing, learning how to repair vehicles from the inside out, and how he was saving every dime he had to purchase his own.  He would only say so much, quickly asking her to instead tell him everything she wanted to about her life.  The time they spent together was often done walking along seventy-seventh street, while Brooke would window shop, and Cody would hold her bags for her.

   Brooke was more than smitten with Cody; she found she was falling in love with the brown furred hedgehog with stripes of grey in his hair.  They would walk together in the crisp autumn air, talking all afternoon as they sipped on lemonade and chewed bubble gum.  If it got too chilly, and Cody saw Brooke fold her arms close to her body, he'd let his jacket fall from his shoulders, then he'd drape it over hers.  Placing an arm around her, they'd continue to walk, Cody insisting that he wasn't cold, while Brooke could only blush shyly and giggle softly, cutting her eyes just enough to see his face as she hid hers.

   It was after a Halloween party that they spent their first romantic moment together.  They had turned fourteen over the spring and summer, and spent almost every day of the week together.  Cody and Brooke dressed like they were from the Phantom of the Opera, Cody playing the masked phantom, and Brooke his princess.  Slipping away from the party, Cody led Brooke to the swimming pool outside the home, illuminated with party lights, as well as those under the water, causing the pool to sparkle, even as the full moon reflected off of it.

   He was strangely quiet, usually full of laughter and jokes, much as he was in his youth.  Brooke sensed the apprehension, but before she could speak she rubbed her shoulders, already chilly, her dress not offering much protection.  She immediately felt something on her shoulders, but instead of Cody's jacket, it was the cape he was wearing, the tip of it clenched in his hand, as he put his arm around her shoulders.

   "You're always so cold.  Don't you have a jacket?"

   She giggled.  "Oh Cody, it wouldn't go with the outfit."

   "Fair enough."  He chuckled softly, but not for long.  Taking a breath he looked up to the moon.  "Hey Brooke, do you…do you like spending time with me?"

   She gazed at him.  "Of course I do Cody."  She spoke softly, being careful with her reply.  "I love all the time we spend together."

   "Really?!" He looked back to her quickly, almost as though he were startled.  He calmed down.  "I mean…really?  I just…I do too."

   Brooke giggled again.  "Is there something you need Cody?"

   He blinked twice.  He lifted the mask from his face, his emerald green eyes shining.  "Well…yes, there is Brooke.  I just, there's something I need to tell you."

   "Hee hee, I'm listening Cody."

   She was so beautiful; her rosy pink fur, her pale blue eyes.  Cody felt so shy and timid around her all of the sudden.  Was this because he finally felt ready to tell her?

   "Brooke, I-I know that I'm not much…nothing like the rich friends you have, but, I just…you mean so much to me.  I want you in my life, I mean, not just walking up and down seventy-seventh street every day.  What I'm trying to say is…well…is…"

   His words were hushed as her lips gently pressed against his.  Both knew what a kiss was; neither before had felt it.  He gently slid his hand through her hair, cradling her head, wrapping his other arm around her.  His head tilted, both leaned forward.  Even if they had no idea how a kiss felt, or what to do when one came, they wouldn't have needed to.  This is how they knew, that this was meant to be.

   Unsure of how long it was meant to last, they both pulled back together.  As Cody opened his eyes, he saw her doing the same, her cheeks almost as rosy as her fur.  This caused him to smile, even as he took careful breaths.

   "You know…you're cute when you blush, gazing at me with those beautiful blue eyes."  Cody chuckled softly, gently rubbing her cheek.

   Brooke giggled even softer, as low as she could muster, lowering her eyes.  "Oh Cody, stop it…that was your opportunity to say what you needed to."  She teased him, hoping the shyness would go away so she could give him her answer when she needed to.

   "You mean, the kiss wasn't enough to tell you?"  He grinned.

   She looked up at him.  "Cody, that's not fair!"  She protested softly.

   He chuckled softly, drawing her close to him, wrapping his arms around her.  He gently stroked her hair, resting his head on hers.  "I asked you a question Brooke, but, you answered me.  It's true, I think.  You feel the same."

   She looked up at him, still blushing shyly, the cold air doing nothing to help her find her voice.  "Cody…do you love me?"

   He gazed at her.  She was so beautiful.

   "Yes, Brooke, I love you."

   Brooke felt her heart pounding, and could even hear it in her ears.  It took her only a moment to realize though that it wasn't just her heart pounding in her ears.  As one of them rested on Cody's chest, she could hear his beating just as hers did.

   She closed her eyes, as if she were about to kiss him again.

   "Aww Cody…I-I love you too."  Her voice was so soft Cody could barely hear it.

   He kissed her gently on her head, but sighed.  "I'm just…sorry I can't offer you much, nothing more than my love."

   Brooke looked up at him.  The blushing was gone, her heart comforted by Cody's love.  "Don't you say that Cody.  All I need is you.  Your love is something that can't be bought, the only thing I would have to hope to be blessed to know.  I could only pray that you'd give me your heart Cody…even as I gave you mine.  As long as you love me Cody…you're enough for me."

   Cody felt himself shaking.  Beneath him he felt Brooke snuggle closer to him, nuzzling his chest gently with her head.  He adjusted his hold on her, making sure it was secure.  He shook his head.

   "Aww Brooke, I'm not that special.  I'm not rich like your father, or smart like your brothers.  I can't provide that kind of life."

   She giggled.  "You don't need to, because I can, and even then, it means nothing to me if I'd have to live it alone.  Rich or poor, as long as I'm with you, I can live either way.  I told you Cody…you, your love, it's enough for me."

   He smiled.  Somehow, he believed her.

   "I've already learned to live with nothing Brooke, but now I know I can't.  I can't live without you Brooke.  For the rest of my life, I will look after you, giving you my all, and my love."

   That night seemed like so long ago.  She rarely got to see Cody now.  Brooke felt like her heart was dying, unable to live without being able to feel his.

   When the new year came only two months later, her parents spotted Cody with her for the first time.  They had heard of him, and knew he and his father barely got by repairing cars, living in a trailer.  When he was simply her friend, they didn't seem to mind at much.

   Everything changed that night.

   Cody kissed Brooke at midnight.  Her parents saw this.

   In a rage, her father ran for them, breaking them apart, pushing Cody violently to the ground, and roughly grabbing Brooke by her shoulders, causing her to cry out as his grip began to hurt.

   Outraged, Mr. Chamberlain ordered Cody out of the house, and forbade him from ever seeing Brooke again.  Cody didn't fight, begging instead for Mr. Chamberlain to loosen his grip on Brooke.  Mr. Chamberlain refused, and again ordered Cody out.  Within seconds, three of Mr. Chamberlain's servants surrounded Cody and began to drag him out of the house.

   "Brooke!  I love you!  I'll come back for you, I promise!"  He cried out defiantly as he was dragged away.

   The partygoers watched the scene, stunned by what had happened.  Brooke finally tore away from her father, rubbing her shoulders, now throbbing painfully from his vice-like grip.

   "Father how could you?!"

   He glared at her, along with her mother, who now stood beside him.

   "You will never see that boy again!"  Her mother screamed at her.

   "He is complete and utter trash!  If I ever see him here again you WILL be punished, and I'll see that he is arrested!" Her father was even angrier.

   Tears streamed down her face.  She loved her parents, and here they were, breaking her heart.

   She could feel only one thing for them now.

   "I-I hate you!"

   Brooke ran upstairs, leaving a room full of partygoers talking amongst themselves, absorbed in complete and utter shock.  Her parents were filled with disgust, and from that moment on resolved to keep their only daughter away from Cody at whatever cost.

   She slammed her bedroom door behind her, locking it and shoving her bookshelf up behind it.  Exhausted, she slid to the floor, crying harder than she ever had before in her life.  After a few moments she looked up, hearing something hit her balcony window.

   She pulled herself up, stumbling to the doors.  Throwing them open she looked outside, only to see Cody standing on the ground below the balcony.

   "Cody!"  She cried out as softly as she could.

   He held a finger to his lips.  He spoke in as loud a whisper as he could muster.  "Don't listen to them Brooke.  Remember that I love you.  One of these days, we'll run away together, I promise!"

   They could both hear voices.  Someone was coming to make sure he was gone.

   "Run away Cody please!  Don't let them catch you!  I love you too!  You're all I need to live!  I can't wait until we can get away from here!"  Her cries were desperate and filled with pain.

   Cody gazed at her for a moment longer.  She could see tears in his eyes.  He soon turned to run away, and he was gone.

   Brooke slid to the ground again, crying on the balcony.  She was shivering cold, and this time Cody wasn't there with his jacket and strong arms to warm her up.

   "You're all I need Cody.  Mother and Father…I hate them."


   That was the night that Brooke first picked up drawing.  Afraid she would forget Cody's face, she grabbed a pencil and some paper and began drawing his face, burned perfectly in her mind.  She found she enjoyed drawing, and it became her favorite hobby, surpassing even her love for shopping.

   She didn't see Cody for several weeks after that.  It was around this time that one of their favorite bands released their new CD, the first single on it was a song called "You're Enough."  It was this song that was playing inside the house as Cody and Brooke shared their first kiss outside, and it became the song both of them clung to them when they couldn't be together.

   Their first reunion after that horrible night was both tearful and joyous.  Cody promised Brooke that he was saving all that he had for the day that they would run away together.  Brooke promised Cody that she would be ready, and that the day couldn't come soon enough.

   Brooke turned fifteen, and her other older brother was went off to college.  She was alone in the house with her parents and the servants, and she began to distance herself from all of them, the pain that her parents inflicted upon her causing any respect she had for them to fade, and any love she had left for them all but disappeared.

   Her parents did nothing to reverse this.  Two years had passed; Brooke and Cody would turn seventeen this year, and as Brooke put the finishing touches on her latest portrait, her mother entered the room to give her another dose of misery.

   "Brooke, you've drawn long enough.  It's time for bed," her mother said.

   Letting out a gasp, Brooke hid the drawing under her pillow as she said, "I'm sorry mother, but you know me…I like to…"

   "Oh cut the crap Brooke Amelia Chamberlain," her mother snapped, looming over her.  Brooke looked up at her mother, used to the fire of fury burning in her eyes whenever Cody became the subject of discussion.  "The butcher told me he saw you with Cody today, walking together on seventy-seventh street.  I told you that you aren't allowed to spend time with him!  He's nothing but trash!"

   Brooke had gotten more brazen as she grew up.  Standing up, she faced her mother and shouted, "Oh shut up mother!  Cody is a beautiful, wonderful soul, and no matter what you do, you won't destroy the love we share!"

   Mrs. Chamberlain narrowed her eyes as she glared at her daughter.  Brooke was no longer easy to scare and intimidate.  Little did Brooke's parents know it was their constant attacks on Cody and the love Brooke shared with him that helped her grow stronger.  She was more defiant than ever before, and instead of the shy little girl she used to be, she had donned a more determined attitude, while still soft and sweet beneath the surface.

   Still, the Chamberlains were determined to rid themselves of Cody, who, in their minds, was becoming more and more like a parasite, or a demon their daughter needed to be exorcised clean of in order to move on from.

   Relaxing her face, Mrs. Chamberlain tried a new tactic.  "Oh Brooke, if only you could see it.  When you are grown up and become a lady you will see the lust in Cody's eyes.  He is nothing but a poor, ragged wretch.  He only wants your money and your body.  One night he'll have his way with you and bind himself to you forever.  You'll be his slave, while he spends our money on more women and wine.  You'll only be unhappy.  You just have to believe Daddy and me."

   Brooke wouldn't fall for it.  She turned away and crossed her arms.

   "I don't.  Cody loves me.  He doesn't want me for sex or for my money.  You just want to turn me against him.  You're wasting your time," Brooke muttered.

   Mrs. Chamberlain got angry again.  "Brooke…I forbid you from…"

   "Shut up!!!" Brooke cried, turning around quickly as she screamed at her mother.  "I love Cody, and you'll just have to accept it!!  I will marry him, and one day, I'll bear his children whether you like it or not!"

   "How dare you!" Mrs. Chamberlain shouted, standing toe to toe with her daughter.  "You are nothing but a disrespectful brat!  I will not have my daughter dirtying her womb with that bastard's children!  I don't care what I have to do, but I will get that boy out of our lives forever!"

   Brooke was ready to retaliate, but felt some of her mother's words sting hard enough at her heart that she gave notice to them.  Her expression relaxed, and as her mother turned to look to her again, Brooke gazed at her in disbelief; her voice weakened to a tremble, she asked, "You mean to tell me…that if I were to have Cody's baby, that you wouldn't even acknowledge it was your grandchild?"

   Mrs. Chamberlain looked angry before.  The look on her face now conveyed doom, horror, and utter dread when Brooke asked her this question.  "Don't even speak such a curse upon us Brooke," Mrs. Chamberlain muttered, her voice nothing but a growl.  "If that boy were to even touch you, let alone get you pregnant, it would take more than the toughest prison on earth to keep me from killing him, along with whatever gasp of his life he left within you."

   Just like that night two years ago, Brooke felt ready to cry.  "You…you'd kill your own grandchild?"

   Mrs. Chamberlain sneered at her daughter.  "You'd be no child of mine."

   A tear broke away from Brooke's blue eyes.  She let herself fall down to the bed, stunned and beyond words or breath.  Mrs. Chamberlain's face softened a bit as she shook her head.  "Your father and I love you Brooke…we're only trying to protect you.  You'll soon understand that you either do what we say, or suffer for disobeying us.  You don't really love Cody.  One day, you'll find a proper man, and then you'll thank us."

   Brooke hung her head and closed her eyes.  She wanted it all to go away, these lies she was hearing, and the nightmare that had forced its way into her mind.

   She felt her mother embrace her, and kiss her on the head.  Brooke heard her mother's footsteps as she left the room.  "That's quite enough for tonight.  Put away your stupid drawings and go to bed.  You have no talent anyway."

   The door slammed shut.  Finally Brooke could breathe again.

   She took a deep breath and began to cry.  Her mother had just caused her more pain in those few moments than she had caused over the past two years.  It was bad enough that she threatened to kill Cody as she had done countless times before; now, her mother had threatened to kill their children, should one ever come that she knew about, even if it was still helpless and defenseless in its mother's womb.

   Brooke felt that strong front start to shatter.  She felt so sick.  She hated them so much.  All she wanted was to escape with Cody, so they could disappear to a place so far away she would never have to deal with her parents again.

   When would that day come?  Why couldn't it be today?

   She glanced at the drawing she had just finished, a portrait of that photo of her and Cody…her favorite.  Their favorite song was still playing on repeat.

   "You're enough, you're enough…for me."

   "Cody…where are you?" Brooke whimpered, hugging a pillow.

   Silence prevailed for a moment as the song finished and was between repeats.  It was then that she heard a tap at the window.  Looking up, she could see Cody on the other side of the balcony doors, wearing his aviator jacket, smiling even though it was bitter cold outside, about ready to snow.

   "Oh Cody!" Brooke cried.  She rose to her feet and ran to unlock the doors.

   As Cody came inside, he shivered a bit, taking a breath as he entered the warm air.  "Gee whiz it is cold out there Brooke.  You'd have to wear two of my jackets to stay warm!" he said with a laugh.

   Their favorite song started to play on repeat.  He looked to see Brooke was no longer standing beside him.  She let herself fall back down on the bed where she continued to cry.

   He was used to this by now; her mother's and father's attacks were all too frequent.  "Oh Brooke," he whimpered, letting his jacket fall off his shoulders and to the floor.  He walked over to the bed and scooped her up in his arms, made strong by the heavy work he did fixing cars.  Cradling her in his arms he whispered, "Don't let your parents get to you.  They're not worth your tears…not over someone like me."

   Brooke looked up into his emerald eyes, her baby blues laced with tears.  "Oh Cody, it was horrible.  Mother said she'd kill you…"

   "Oh please Brooke, your parents have been threatening to kill me for years," Cody said with a laugh, "I'm hardly afraid of them."

   Trying to dry her eyes, Brooke sat up, pulling away from Cody.  "No Cody, you don't understand."

   Cody looked even more concerned now.  "Brooke…what did she say to hurt you?"

   Poor Brooke hung her head, unable to stop crying.  "She…she pulled the whole, 'He only wants you for your money and body,' card.  She could have stopped there, but…oh Cody…" Brooke whimpered, trailing into crying again.

   Pulling her into his arms, Cody felt himself get angry, sensing that her mother had deeply hurt Brooke, even more than she ever had before.

   "It's okay Brooke," he whispered and soothed, "I promise it's…"

   "She told me…that if, we ever…had a baby together…she'd…she'd kill it."

   Cody's eyes flashed immediately as Brooke went silent, save the tears she shed, weeping as she laid in his lap.  He held her close, unsure of what thought to cling to as they swirled in his head.  His sweetheart was just threatened…a child he didn't even know yet, maybe a son, though he hoped for a daughter, threatened too.  He had tolerated the Chamberlains for so long, and he didn't think he could any longer.

   "Oh…Brooke…you know I'd…never let that happen.  They'd have to kill me before I'd let them hurt…" he started.

   "Cody please!  Take me away with you!" Brooke cried, looking up at him.

   A gasp escaped Cody as he returned her gaze.  He lowered his eyes as he whispered, "Do you realize what that will mean?  We'd be on the run.  We'd have to live out of my car.  Is that what you really want?"

   Brooke sat up, hugging Cody tightly as she rested her head on his shoulder.  "Remember what I told you Cody?  You're all I need.  I just want to get away from here.  I can't take my mother and my father verbally and emotionally abusing me anymore.  I stopped loving them years ago."

   "Heh, right when you started loving me right?" Cody murmured, shrugging his shoulders as he hung his head.

   She kissed him on the cheek.  "Don't you do that Cody," Brooke whispered, her tears finally fading away.  "Up until I fell in love with you my parents loved me, and I loved them.  Love from parents is supposed to be unconditional.  I can understand a parent not liking the one their child is dating, but to threaten them with death time and time again, even extending it to their own grandchild…that's wrong."

   Cody looked at her, trying to persuade himself to be strong.  "I agree with you there…your parents are crazy.  The only thing I've ever wanted in my life is love.  I've tried to tell them this, but, they're convinced I'm nothing but garbage.  I was beginning to think they were right."

   Brooke gasped, sitting up straight.  "Don't you ever believe them Cody!  They're the ones that are trash!  This is why we need to get away from here.  As long as we're together, no matter where we go, we'll be happy, I just know it, and I know you do too."

   "Brooke," Cody said with a sigh, shaking his head.

   Brooke smiled, realizing she felt better.  After what had just happened that night, she knew she was ready.  She was ready to leave and be with Cody, and she had to make him realize that he was ready to do the same.

   Sitting up, Brooke placed her hand on Cody's shoulder, causing him to look at her.  She took this opportunity to lean forward and kiss him, and there they sat for a few tender moments.  As they pulled back and opened their eyes, Brooke placed her hand on Cody's face.  He gazed at her, hoping his body would remember to breathe.

   Smiling Brooke whispered, "If I'm enough for you Cody, you should know that you're ready for this.  If we're enough for each other, what's left for us to worry about?"

   Cody smiled a bit, shaking his head.  "I'm just…I want to take care of you.  I want to make sure you're safe and…happy."

   She kissed him on the cheek, giggling as she pulled away.  "I'm only happy when I'm with you Cody.  I'd much rather be on the run with you, where we can protect each other, than to be stuck in this prison of a life for one more day.  You promised me that night that you'd take me away.  How can we wait any longer now that we know how crazy my parents are?"

   "We…we can't," Cody replied.

   Brooke stood up.  Walking over to the CD player, she stopped the song midway.  Taking it out of the player she said, "There's only a few things I need to take with me.  My parents seem to think you can't survive on love alone.  I hope they have fun auctioning off all of the dead weight I leave behind."

   Cody chuckled softly.  He watched Brooke gather things from around her room, placing them in a pile on the floor.  She grabbed only a few of her favorite outfits; she made sure her favorite CDs were there; she grabbed her art supplies and her photos, and walked around making sure anything precious or necessary was leaving with her, for she had no intention of ever coming back.

   This was no longer her home.

   Standing up, Cody watched her.   He reached to pick up his jacket, and as he stood up he looked around him.  He looked at all of the beautiful things in Brooke's beautiful room, all of the posters on her wall, the big screen television in the corner, the gorgeous comforter on her queen-sized bed.  He thought of all the rooms in this mansion of a home, all of the finer things in life she had enjoyed.
None of this meant anything to her if he couldn't be part of her life.

   He thought of the disaster of a life he lived.  His mother cheated on his father.  His step-father made sure he and his father would be cut off without a dime after his mother died.  He had to save all the money he made, just to buy a car, one he had customized, but would now be the home he shared with Brooke.  He couldn't hope to provide her with anything close to what she was used to, but that didn't matter to her.

   She was happy.

   It was true.  That same feeling of completeness that he felt when he was with her, that same feeling that made him feel he was the richest person in the world, even as he lived the life of a poor man, that same feeling of being unafraid of anything; that way she made him feel, he made her feel as well.

   They were truly enough for each other.  The love they felt simply couldn't be wrong.

   "I'm ready Cody."

   He looked up.  Brooke was standing beside him.  Her backpack was sitting on the floor beside her, and she held a duffle bag in her hands.

   "Heh, are you sure you've got everything?" he asked, taking the backpack and slinging it over his shoulder.

   Brooke smiled and giggled, "I'm sure.  I'll miss some of these things, but what the heck, I'll just ask Penny to come here and get something for me if I forget it."

   Cody sighed but smiled.  Taking her hand he led her over to the balcony doors.  As he grabbed some pillows and a blanket off the bed he laughed and said, "As much as you love shopping I couldn't see you leaving anything behind."

   "Hee hee, I guess, I just love something else even more," Brooke whispered softly.

   He looked back to her.  "You don't have to hint at it…I know," he replied with a grin.

   After a few moments, Brooke sighed happily and said, "Well Cody, I'm ready."

   Cody still smiled as he gazed at her.  He tilted his head to one side, frowning as he did so.  Taking his aviator jacket, he draped it over her shoulders, tying the sleeves together so it wouldn't fall off.

   He stepped back, handing her a pillow to carry as he smiled.  "Nope, now you are," he whispered.

   "Oh Cody," Brooke murmured with a giggle.

   The brown furred hedgehog with grey stripes in his hair, leapt down from the balcony one last time, and this time, he took his rosy pink hedgehog with pale blue eyes with him.  His customized car would be their home as they began their life together.

   It didn't matter if they had to go without.  As long as they had each other, that was enough.

   Until that is, the one day, that Cody and Brooke Rose, would meet their little bud, a little girl with rosy pink fur, emerald green eyes, and that same determination, to find love.

Description
"Enough for Me"
By: Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl

For Valentine's Day, 2010

See if you can figure out who these new characters are by the end of the story.

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   "You're enough, you're enough, for me."

   It was her favorite song, the one she always listened to whenever she worked on a drawing.  This time she was working on her realism.  She was drawing one of her favorite photos; a picture of her, with her best friend, a boy named Cody.

   She loved that photo.  Often times, it was the only way she could see him.

   He was the Romeo to her Juliet.  Unlike the famous tragedy, however, it was not a battle of family against family.  It was instead the tale of the only daughter of two over-protective parents, untrusting of the boy whose heart she hoped to bind forever to her own.

   She could only see him whenever she had the chance to slip by his father's business after school.  Her parents picked her up almost every day without fail, caught on to her routine, trying however they could to keep them apart.

   The boy named Cody, as smitten with her as she was with him, became both bold and brazen, often sneaking over to her house at night simply to get a chance to see her from her bedroom window.

   It was no wonder both his  friends and her friends called the couple Romeo and Juliet.

   However, unlike the tragic couple of lore, little Brooke Chamberlain, was determined to keep her love story from meeting the same ending.

   Every night as she sat down to draw, she thought of how she could finally convince her parents to trust Cody.  She often wondered why they zeroed in on him, picking on every aspect of his life and personality, doing whatever they could to try and convince her that he was nothing more than complete and utter trash.

   In reality Cody had a very hard life.  His parents divorced when he was thirteen, only for his mother to die in a terrible car accident only weeks after the separation was final.  Even so, everything she had won in the settlement went to her newlywed husband, who refused to look after Cody, or help out the father and son in any way, and court battles didn't help them any.

   Cody and his father had to start over from next to nothing.  They bought a small trailer to live in, spending most of the money on a two car garage, which his father used to repair vehicles to earn a living.  Cody painstakingly learned his father's trade.  Unable to go to school Cody taught himself, while working alongside his father, earning money to survive.  Whatever little Cody made for himself he saved, eventually earning enough to purchase a car for himself when he turned fifteen, spending some of his spare time customizing it to his liking.

   It was tough on Cody and his father, but both of them always tried their best, especially after Cody met Brooke again, one day when they were thirteen.

   He had gone to school until the end of fifth grade.  He remembered Brooke, but didn't see her for at least two years.  Shortly after his parents filed for divorce, while he was walking the streets, hanging out with his friends, he saw her doing the same with her own.  Two years had changed them both, but Brooke especially; her hair was growing longer, her figure more slender.  There were more curves to her body than there were just two years before.  She was growing up.  Somehow Cody had forgotten that he had too.

   She saw him at the same time.  He wasn't the same little boy who liked to tease substitute teachers, play soccer with his friends, and rode his bike to school every day, wearing one of his father's old aviator jackets.

   The only thing that was the same, was the beat up aviator jacket hanging on his shoulders.

   Abandoning their friends, they met in the middle of seventy-seventh street, reintroducing themselves to each other.  She told him about how her oldest brother got married, while the brother between them was in his last year of high school.  Her father's well-placed investments had made the family richer, and they had moved into a bigger house in an upper class neighborhood.  Brooke expected to hear happy stories from Cody, but got the exact opposite.

   His mother had cheated on his father.  She filed for divorce, suing for everything her husband had, trying to completely destroy him when he had done nothing wrong.  Always a faithful husband and father, he conceded to giving her everything he had, but fought for custody of only one thing; their son Cody.

   The battle for Cody was bitter; both parents were deemed fit, shared custody seemed fine.  Caught between loving his mother and father, Cody found he had grown closer to his father.  Kept in the dark when it came to his mother's affair, Cody felt he couldn't trust her.  In the end, he would stay with his father, and even so, his mother's love wouldn't matter anyway.

   It was Brooke who got him through the death of his mother, for while he felt he couldn't trust her, he never stopped loving her.  His hatred was aimed at his step-father, who gave equally as much bitterness to him in return.

   School started back up and she lost touch with Cody.  When she did get to see him he would tell her of all he was doing, learning how to repair vehicles from the inside out, and how he was saving every dime he had to purchase his own.  He would only say so much, quickly asking her to instead tell him everything she wanted to about her life.  The time they spent together was often done walking along seventy-seventh street, while Brooke would window shop, and Cody would hold her bags for her.

   Brooke was more than smitten with Cody; she found she was falling in love with the brown furred hedgehog with stripes of grey in his hair.  They would walk together in the crisp autumn air, talking all afternoon as they sipped on lemonade and chewed bubble gum.  If it got too chilly, and Cody saw Brooke fold her arms close to her body, he'd let his jacket fall from his shoulders, then he'd drape it over hers.  Placing an arm around her, they'd continue to walk, Cody insisting that he wasn't cold, while Brooke could only blush shyly and giggle softly, cutting her eyes just enough to see his face as she hid hers.

   It was after a Halloween party that they spent their first romantic moment together.  They had turned fourteen over the spring and summer, and spent almost every day of the week together.  Cody and Brooke dressed like they were from the Phantom of the Opera, Cody playing the masked phantom, and Brooke his princess.  Slipping away from the party, Cody led Brooke to the swimming pool outside the home, illuminated with party lights, as well as those under the water, causing the pool to sparkle, even as the full moon reflected off of it.

   He was strangely quiet, usually full of laughter and jokes, much as he was in his youth.  Brooke sensed the apprehension, but before she could speak she rubbed her shoulders, already chilly, her dress not offering much protection.  She immediately felt something on her shoulders, but instead of Cody's jacket, it was the cape he was wearing, the tip of it clenched in his hand, as he put his arm around her shoulders.

   "You're always so cold.  Don't you have a jacket?"

   She giggled.  "Oh Cody, it wouldn't go with the outfit."

   "Fair enough."  He chuckled softly, but not for long.  Taking a breath he looked up to the moon.  "Hey Brooke, do you…do you like spending time with me?"

   She gazed at him.  "Of course I do Cody."  She spoke softly, being careful with her reply.  "I love all the time we spend together."

   "Really?!" He looked back to her quickly, almost as though he were startled.  He calmed down.  "I mean…really?  I just…I do too."

   Brooke giggled again.  "Is there something you need Cody?"

   He blinked twice.  He lifted the mask from his face, his emerald green eyes shining.  "Well…yes, there is Brooke.  I just, there's something I need to tell you."

   "Hee hee, I'm listening Cody."

   She was so beautiful; her rosy pink fur, her pale blue eyes.  Cody felt so shy and timid around her all of the sudden.  Was this because he finally felt ready to tell her?

   "Brooke, I-I know that I'm not much…nothing like the rich friends you have, but, I just…you mean so much to me.  I want you in my life, I mean, not just walking up and down seventy-seventh street every day.  What I'm trying to say is…well…is…"

   His words were hushed as her lips gently pressed against his.  Both knew what a kiss was; neither before had felt it.  He gently slid his hand through her hair, cradling her head, wrapping his other arm around her.  His head tilted, both leaned forward.  Even if they had no idea how a kiss felt, or what to do when one came, they wouldn't have needed to.  This is how they knew, that this was meant to be.

   Unsure of how long it was meant to last, they both pulled back together.  As Cody opened his eyes, he saw her doing the same, her cheeks almost as rosy as her fur.  This caused him to smile, even as he took careful breaths.

   "You know…you're cute when you blush, gazing at me with those beautiful blue eyes."  Cody chuckled softly, gently rubbing her cheek.

   Brooke giggled even softer, as low as she could muster, lowering her eyes.  "Oh Cody, stop it…that was your opportunity to say what you needed to."  She teased him, hoping the shyness would go away so she could give him her answer when she needed to.

   "You mean, the kiss wasn't enough to tell you?"  He grinned.

   She looked up at him.  "Cody, that's not fair!"  She protested softly.

   He chuckled softly, drawing her close to him, wrapping his arms around her.  He gently stroked her hair, resting his head on hers.  "I asked you a question Brooke, but, you answered me.  It's true, I think.  You feel the same."

   She looked up at him, still blushing shyly, the cold air doing nothing to help her find her voice.  "Cody…do you love me?"

   He gazed at her.  She was so beautiful.

   "Yes, Brooke, I love you."

   Brooke felt her heart pounding, and could even hear it in her ears.  It took her only a moment to realize though that it wasn't just her heart pounding in her ears.  As one of them rested on Cody's chest, she could hear his beating just as hers did.

   She closed her eyes, as if she were about to kiss him again.

   "Aww Cody…I-I love you too."  Her voice was so soft Cody could barely hear it.

   He kissed her gently on her head, but sighed.  "I'm just…sorry I can't offer you much, nothing more than my love."

   Brooke looked up at him.  The blushing was gone, her heart comforted by Cody's love.  "Don't you say that Cody.  All I need is you.  Your love is something that can't be bought, the only thing I would have to hope to be blessed to know.  I could only pray that you'd give me your heart Cody…even as I gave you mine.  As long as you love me Cody…you're enough for me."

   Cody felt himself shaking.  Beneath him he felt Brooke snuggle closer to him, nuzzling his chest gently with her head.  He adjusted his hold on her, making sure it was secure.  He shook his head.

   "Aww Brooke, I'm not that special.  I'm not rich like your father, or smart like your brothers.  I can't provide that kind of life."

   She giggled.  "You don't need to, because I can, and even then, it means nothing to me if I'd have to live it alone.  Rich or poor, as long as I'm with you, I can live either way.  I told you Cody…you, your love, it's enough for me."

   He smiled.  Somehow, he believed her.

   "I've already learned to live with nothing Brooke, but now I know I can't.  I can't live without you Brooke.  For the rest of my life, I will look after you, giving you my all, and my love."

   That night seemed like so long ago.  She rarely got to see Cody now.  Brooke felt like her heart was dying, unable to live without being able to feel his.

   When the new year came only two months later, her parents spotted Cody with her for the first time.  They had heard of him, and knew he and his father barely got by repairing cars, living in a trailer.  When he was simply her friend, they didn't seem to mind at much.

   Everything changed that night.

   Cody kissed Brooke at midnight.  Her parents saw this.

   In a rage, her father ran for them, breaking them apart, pushing Cody violently to the ground, and roughly grabbing Brooke by her shoulders, causing her to cry out as his grip began to hurt.

   Outraged, Mr. Chamberlain ordered Cody out of the house, and forbade him from ever seeing Brooke again.  Cody didn't fight, begging instead for Mr. Chamberlain to loosen his grip on Brooke.  Mr. Chamberlain refused, and again ordered Cody out.  Within seconds, three of Mr. Chamberlain's servants surrounded Cody and began to drag him out of the house.

   "Brooke!  I love you!  I'll come back for you, I promise!"  He cried out defiantly as he was dragged away.

   The partygoers watched the scene, stunned by what had happened.  Brooke finally tore away from her father, rubbing her shoulders, now throbbing painfully from his vice-like grip.

   "Father how could you?!"

   He glared at her, along with her mother, who now stood beside him.

   "You will never see that boy again!"  Her mother screamed at her.

   "He is complete and utter trash!  If I ever see him here again you WILL be punished, and I'll see that he is arrested!" Her father was even angrier.

   Tears streamed down her face.  She loved her parents, and here they were, breaking her heart.

   She could feel only one thing for them now.

   "I-I hate you!"

   Brooke ran upstairs, leaving a room full of partygoers talking amongst themselves, absorbed in complete and utter shock.  Her parents were filled with disgust, and from that moment on resolved to keep their only daughter away from Cody at whatever cost.

   She slammed her bedroom door behind her, locking it and shoving her bookshelf up behind it.  Exhausted, she slid to the floor, crying harder than she ever had before in her life.  After a few moments she looked up, hearing something hit her balcony window.

   She pulled herself up, stumbling to the doors.  Throwing them open she looked outside, only to see Cody standing on the ground below the balcony.

   "Cody!"  She cried out as softly as she could.

   He held a finger to his lips.  He spoke in as loud a whisper as he could muster.  "Don't listen to them Brooke.  Remember that I love you.  One of these days, we'll run away together, I promise!"

   They could both hear voices.  Someone was coming to make sure he was gone.

   "Run away Cody please!  Don't let them catch you!  I love you too!  You're all I need to live!  I can't wait until we can get away from here!"  Her cries were desperate and filled with pain.

   Cody gazed at her for a moment longer.  She could see tears in his eyes.  He soon turned to run away, and he was gone.

   Brooke slid to the ground again, crying on the balcony.  She was shivering cold, and this time Cody wasn't there with his jacket and strong arms to warm her up.

   "You're all I need Cody.  Mother and Father…I hate them."


   That was the night that Brooke first picked up drawing.  Afraid she would forget Cody's face, she grabbed a pencil and some paper and began drawing his face, burned perfectly in her mind.  She found she enjoyed drawing, and it became her favorite hobby, surpassing even her love for shopping.

   She didn't see Cody for several weeks after that.  It was around this time that one of their favorite bands released their new CD, the first single on it was a song called "You're Enough."  It was this song that was playing inside the house as Cody and Brooke shared their first kiss outside, and it became the song both of them clung to them when they couldn't be together.

   Their first reunion after that horrible night was both tearful and joyous.  Cody promised Brooke that he was saving all that he had for the day that they would run away together.  Brooke promised Cody that she would be ready, and that the day couldn't come soon enough.

   Brooke turned fifteen, and her other older brother was went off to college.  She was alone in the house with her parents and the servants, and she began to distance herself from all of them, the pain that her parents inflicted upon her causing any respect she had for them to fade, and any love she had left for them all but disappeared.

   Her parents did nothing to reverse this.  Two years had passed; Brooke and Cody would turn seventeen this year, and as Brooke put the finishing touches on her latest portrait, her mother entered the room to give her another dose of misery.

   "Brooke, you've drawn long enough.  It's time for bed," her mother said.

   Letting out a gasp, Brooke hid the drawing under her pillow as she said, "I'm sorry mother, but you know me…I like to…"

   "Oh cut the crap Brooke Amelia Chamberlain," her mother snapped, looming over her.  Brooke looked up at her mother, used to the fire of fury burning in her eyes whenever Cody became the subject of discussion.  "The butcher told me he saw you with Cody today, walking together on seventy-seventh street.  I told you that you aren't allowed to spend time with him!  He's nothing but trash!"

   Brooke had gotten more brazen as she grew up.  Standing up, she faced her mother and shouted, "Oh shut up mother!  Cody is a beautiful, wonderful soul, and no matter what you do, you won't destroy the love we share!"

   Mrs. Chamberlain narrowed her eyes as she glared at her daughter.  Brooke was no longer easy to scare and intimidate.  Little did Brooke's parents know it was their constant attacks on Cody and the love Brooke shared with him that helped her grow stronger.  She was more defiant than ever before, and instead of the shy little girl she used to be, she had donned a more determined attitude, while still soft and sweet beneath the surface.

   Still, the Chamberlains were determined to rid themselves of Cody, who, in their minds, was becoming more and more like a parasite, or a demon their daughter needed to be exorcised clean of in order to move on from.

   Relaxing her face, Mrs. Chamberlain tried a new tactic.  "Oh Brooke, if only you could see it.  When you are grown up and become a lady you will see the lust in Cody's eyes.  He is nothing but a poor, ragged wretch.  He only wants your money and your body.  One night he'll have his way with you and bind himself to you forever.  You'll be his slave, while he spends our money on more women and wine.  You'll only be unhappy.  You just have to believe Daddy and me."

   Brooke wouldn't fall for it.  She turned away and crossed her arms.

   "I don't.  Cody loves me.  He doesn't want me for sex or for my money.  You just want to turn me against him.  You're wasting your time," Brooke muttered.

   Mrs. Chamberlain got angry again.  "Brooke…I forbid you from…"

   "Shut up!!!" Brooke cried, turning around quickly as she screamed at her mother.  "I love Cody, and you'll just have to accept it!!  I will marry him, and one day, I'll bear his children whether you like it or not!"

   "How dare you!" Mrs. Chamberlain shouted, standing toe to toe with her daughter.  "You are nothing but a disrespectful brat!  I will not have my daughter dirtying her womb with that bastard's children!  I don't care what I have to do, but I will get that boy out of our lives forever!"

   Brooke was ready to retaliate, but felt some of her mother's words sting hard enough at her heart that she gave notice to them.  Her expression relaxed, and as her mother turned to look to her again, Brooke gazed at her in disbelief; her voice weakened to a tremble, she asked, "You mean to tell me…that if I were to have Cody's baby, that you wouldn't even acknowledge it was your grandchild?"

   Mrs. Chamberlain looked angry before.  The look on her face now conveyed doom, horror, and utter dread when Brooke asked her this question.  "Don't even speak such a curse upon us Brooke," Mrs. Chamberlain muttered, her voice nothing but a growl.  "If that boy were to even touch you, let alone get you pregnant, it would take more than the toughest prison on earth to keep me from killing him, along with whatever gasp of his life he left within you."

   Just like that night two years ago, Brooke felt ready to cry.  "You…you'd kill your own grandchild?"

   Mrs. Chamberlain sneered at her daughter.  "You'd be no child of mine."

   A tear broke away from Brooke's blue eyes.  She let herself fall down to the bed, stunned and beyond words or breath.  Mrs. Chamberlain's face softened a bit as she shook her head.  "Your father and I love you Brooke…we're only trying to protect you.  You'll soon understand that you either do what we say, or suffer for disobeying us.  You don't really love Cody.  One day, you'll find a proper man, and then you'll thank us."

   Brooke hung her head and closed her eyes.  She wanted it all to go away, these lies she was hearing, and the nightmare that had forced its way into her mind.

   She felt her mother embrace her, and kiss her on the head.  Brooke heard her mother's footsteps as she left the room.  "That's quite enough for tonight.  Put away your stupid drawings and go to bed.  You have no talent anyway."

   The door slammed shut.  Finally Brooke could breathe again.

   She took a deep breath and began to cry.  Her mother had just caused her more pain in those few moments than she had caused over the past two years.  It was bad enough that she threatened to kill Cody as she had done countless times before; now, her mother had threatened to kill their children, should one ever come that she knew about, even if it was still helpless and defenseless in its mother's womb.

   Brooke felt that strong front start to shatter.  She felt so sick.  She hated them so much.  All she wanted was to escape with Cody, so they could disappear to a place so far away she would never have to deal with her parents again.

   When would that day come?  Why couldn't it be today?

   She glanced at the drawing she had just finished, a portrait of that photo of her and Cody…her favorite.  Their favorite song was still playing on repeat.

   "You're enough, you're enough…for me."

   "Cody…where are you?" Brooke whimpered, hugging a pillow.

   Silence prevailed for a moment as the song finished and was between repeats.  It was then that she heard a tap at the window.  Looking up, she could see Cody on the other side of the balcony doors, wearing his aviator jacket, smiling even though it was bitter cold outside, about ready to snow.

   "Oh Cody!" Brooke cried.  She rose to her feet and ran to unlock the doors.

   As Cody came inside, he shivered a bit, taking a breath as he entered the warm air.  "Gee whiz it is cold out there Brooke.  You'd have to wear two of my jackets to stay warm!" he said with a laugh.

   Their favorite song started to play on repeat.  He looked to see Brooke was no longer standing beside him.  She let herself fall back down on the bed where she continued to cry.

   He was used to this by now; her mother's and father's attacks were all too frequent.  "Oh Brooke," he whimpered, letting his jacket fall off his shoulders and to the floor.  He walked over to the bed and scooped her up in his arms, made strong by the heavy work he did fixing cars.  Cradling her in his arms he whispered, "Don't let your parents get to you.  They're not worth your tears…not over someone like me."

   Brooke looked up into his emerald eyes, her baby blues laced with tears.  "Oh Cody, it was horrible.  Mother said she'd kill you…"

   "Oh please Brooke, your parents have been threatening to kill me for years," Cody said with a laugh, "I'm hardly afraid of them."

   Trying to dry her eyes, Brooke sat up, pulling away from Cody.  "No Cody, you don't understand."

   Cody looked even more concerned now.  "Brooke…what did she say to hurt you?"

   Poor Brooke hung her head, unable to stop crying.  "She…she pulled the whole, 'He only wants you for your money and body,' card.  She could have stopped there, but…oh Cody…" Brooke whimpered, trailing into crying again.

   Pulling her into his arms, Cody felt himself get angry, sensing that her mother had deeply hurt Brooke, even more than she ever had before.

   "It's okay Brooke," he whispered and soothed, "I promise it's…"

   "She told me…that if, we ever…had a baby together…she'd…she'd kill it."

   Cody's eyes flashed immediately as Brooke went silent, save the tears she shed, weeping as she laid in his lap.  He held her close, unsure of what thought to cling to as they swirled in his head.  His sweetheart was just threatened…a child he didn't even know yet, maybe a son, though he hoped for a daughter, threatened too.  He had tolerated the Chamberlains for so long, and he didn't think he could any longer.

   "Oh…Brooke…you know I'd…never let that happen.  They'd have to kill me before I'd let them hurt…" he started.

   "Cody please!  Take me away with you!" Brooke cried, looking up at him.

   A gasp escaped Cody as he returned her gaze.  He lowered his eyes as he whispered, "Do you realize what that will mean?  We'd be on the run.  We'd have to live out of my car.  Is that what you really want?"

   Brooke sat up, hugging Cody tightly as she rested her head on his shoulder.  "Remember what I told you Cody?  You're all I need.  I just want to get away from here.  I can't take my mother and my father verbally and emotionally abusing me anymore.  I stopped loving them years ago."

   "Heh, right when you started loving me right?" Cody murmured, shrugging his shoulders as he hung his head.

   She kissed him on the cheek.  "Don't you do that Cody," Brooke whispered, her tears finally fading away.  "Up until I fell in love with you my parents loved me, and I loved them.  Love from parents is supposed to be unconditional.  I can understand a parent not liking the one their child is dating, but to threaten them with death time and time again, even extending it to their own grandchild…that's wrong."

   Cody looked at her, trying to persuade himself to be strong.  "I agree with you there…your parents are crazy.  The only thing I've ever wanted in my life is love.  I've tried to tell them this, but, they're convinced I'm nothing but garbage.  I was beginning to think they were right."

   Brooke gasped, sitting up straight.  "Don't you ever believe them Cody!  They're the ones that are trash!  This is why we need to get away from here.  As long as we're together, no matter where we go, we'll be happy, I just know it, and I know you do too."

   "Brooke," Cody said with a sigh, shaking his head.

   Brooke smiled, realizing she felt better.  After what had just happened that night, she knew she was ready.  She was ready to leave and be with Cody, and she had to make him realize that he was ready to do the same.

   Sitting up, Brooke placed her hand on Cody's shoulder, causing him to look at her.  She took this opportunity to lean forward and kiss him, and there they sat for a few tender moments.  As they pulled back and opened their eyes, Brooke placed her hand on Cody's face.  He gazed at her, hoping his body would remember to breathe.

   Smiling Brooke whispered, "If I'm enough for you Cody, you should know that you're ready for this.  If we're enough for each other, what's left for us to worry about?"

   Cody smiled a bit, shaking his head.  "I'm just…I want to take care of you.  I want to make sure you're safe and…happy."

   She kissed him on the cheek, giggling as she pulled away.  "I'm only happy when I'm with you Cody.  I'd much rather be on the run with you, where we can protect each other, than to be stuck in this prison of a life for one more day.  You promised me that night that you'd take me away.  How can we wait any longer now that we know how crazy my parents are?"

   "We…we can't," Cody replied.

   Brooke stood up.  Walking over to the CD player, she stopped the song midway.  Taking it out of the player she said, "There's only a few things I need to take with me.  My parents seem to think you can't survive on love alone.  I hope they have fun auctioning off all of the dead weight I leave behind."

   Cody chuckled softly.  He watched Brooke gather things from around her room, placing them in a pile on the floor.  She grabbed only a few of her favorite outfits; she made sure her favorite CDs were there; she grabbed her art supplies and her photos, and walked around making sure anything precious or necessary was leaving with her, for she had no intention of ever coming back.

   This was no longer her home.

   Standing up, Cody watched her.   He reached to pick up his jacket, and as he stood up he looked around him.  He looked at all of the beautiful things in Brooke's beautiful room, all of the posters on her wall, the big screen television in the corner, the gorgeous comforter on her queen-sized bed.  He thought of all the rooms in this mansion of a home, all of the finer things in life she had enjoyed.
None of this meant anything to her if he couldn't be part of her life.

   He thought of the disaster of a life he lived.  His mother cheated on his father.  His step-father made sure he and his father would be cut off without a dime after his mother died.  He had to save all the money he made, just to buy a car, one he had customized, but would now be the home he shared with Brooke.  He couldn't hope to provide her with anything close to what she was used to, but that didn't matter to her.

   She was happy.

   It was true.  That same feeling of completeness that he felt when he was with her, that same feeling that made him feel he was the richest person in the world, even as he lived the life of a poor man, that same feeling of being unafraid of anything; that way she made him feel, he made her feel as well.

   They were truly enough for each other.  The love they felt simply couldn't be wrong.

   "I'm ready Cody."

   He looked up.  Brooke was standing beside him.  Her backpack was sitting on the floor beside her, and she held a duffle bag in her hands.

   "Heh, are you sure you've got everything?" he asked, taking the backpack and slinging it over his shoulder.

   Brooke smiled and giggled, "I'm sure.  I'll miss some of these things, but what the heck, I'll just ask Penny to come here and get something for me if I forget it."

   Cody sighed but smiled.  Taking her hand he led her over to the balcony doors.  As he grabbed some pillows and a blanket off the bed he laughed and said, "As much as you love shopping I couldn't see you leaving anything behind."

   "Hee hee, I guess, I just love something else even more," Brooke whispered softly.

   He looked back to her.  "You don't have to hint at it…I know," he replied with a grin.

   After a few moments, Brooke sighed happily and said, "Well Cody, I'm ready."

   Cody still smiled as he gazed at her.  He tilted his head to one side, frowning as he did so.  Taking his aviator jacket, he draped it over her shoulders, tying the sleeves together so it wouldn't fall off.

   He stepped back, handing her a pillow to carry as he smiled.  "Nope, now you are," he whispered.

   "Oh Cody," Brooke murmured with a giggle.

   The brown furred hedgehog with grey stripes in his hair, leapt down from the balcony one last time, and this time, he took his rosy pink hedgehog with pale blue eyes with him.  His customized car would be their home as they began their life together.

   It didn't matter if they had to go without.  As long as they had each other, that was enough.

   Until that is, the one day, that Cody and Brooke Rose, would meet their little bud, a little girl with rosy pink fur, emerald green eyes, and that same determination, to find love.