1979: Dan left town broken hearted when Brooke fell hopelessly in love with Erica's half-brother, Mark Dalton. However, the feelings were not reciprocal because Mark was still harboring feelings for his former flame Ellen Shepherd. One night when Mark had too much to drink, Brooke seduced him. Mark blatantly told Brooke all they had going for them was sex, but she moved in with him anyway hoping to change his mind. Brooke's jealousy of Ellen ruined her already tentative relationship with Mark. On the rebound, Brooke began a reckless affair with town sleaze, Eddie Dorrance. But this time Brooke got more than she bargained for when Eddie brutally raped her. When Brooke discovered she was pregnant from the attack she aborted the baby. She turned to Mark, who despite their stormy past, offered Brooke his friendship which she accepted. At a crossroads, Brooke took stock of herself and realized her shenanigans weren't working anymore. It was time to grow up. In Julia Barr's own words, (The Soap Opera Book of Lists) "I think what led to a maturation in Brooke was the Eddie Dorrance story. Brooke was young and foolish; she was going to sow her wild oats and take up with the most unlikable character she could find. That was Eddie. She treated him like dirt, and he was smitten with her. While they were on a date, Eddie raped her. Then she had an abortion. After that, she began to take stock of different things."

Shortly after she married Tom and got pregnant with Laura. Their marriage began to fall apart when an old friend of Tom's tried to rape Brooke and Tom didn't believe her. She and Mark became friendly again and their relationship turned romantic.