Title:Risking It All.

Pairing:Brooke/Rachel

TV Show:One Tree Hill.

Rating: T

Summary: This story takes place 3 years after season 4 ends. Brooke has graduated with a degree in fashion design, is on the fast track to stardom in the fashion world, is in the process of starting her own company, is living with and is in love with Peyton and seems to have it all. Rachel on the other hand has struggled since landing some initial modeling gigs and a chance meeting between Brooke and Rachel changes everyone's lives forever.

Disclaimer:I don't own the characters, they are property of the CW and Tollin/Robbins Productions.

Chapter 1.

Friday July 2nd, 2010. Olympic Auditorium Night of Fashion. Los Angeles, CA.

It was a scorching hot evening as countless black limousines's slowly pulled up to the huge auditorium. Famous people from all walks of life exited the fancy limo's, posing for the horde of paparazzi before being escorted inside the famous building.

As the last limo in the line pulled up, the paparazzi went wild, pushing and shoving each other as they tried desperately to be the one that captured the best picture of the new face of fashion, Brooke Davis.

Brooke looked radiant in a low cut red strapless dress, her gorgeous smile captured by thousands of pushy news and entertainment reporters as well as the thousands of adoring fans who lined the streets around her.

Peyton stepped out of the limo, took Brooke's hand and began walking towards the auditorium, but Brooke stopped her, spun her around and kissed her deeply as the flash bulbs went crazy capturing the passionate kiss.

While it was widely known that Brooke had been seeing another woman, this was the first time the press had seen Peyton with her.

To say Peyton was caught off guard would be an understatement, her unhappy glare was impossible to miss.

With a wave of her hand, Brooke followed Peyton inside almost reluctant to leave her adoring fans behind.

Pulling Brooke away from the other guests, Peyton shook her head at Brooke in disbelief, "What the hell was that?"

"What?" Brooke shrugged, not sure why Peyton was so annoyed.

Peyton looked at Brooke with the same stunned look, "You kissed me in front of the whole world. You might want to let me know what you were planning so I could say no."

Brooke laughed at Peyton's sincere concerns, "Come on Peyton, the press was going to find out sooner or later, I just figured tonight was the best night to let the cat out of the bag."

"We talked about this before." Peyton sighed, pulling Brooke away from the crowd, "I told you I wasn't comfortable being in the public eye and wanted to keep our relationship low key. You said you agreed. So what the hell changed?

Brooke put her hand on Peyton's shoulder, slid in close and kissed her softly on the lips, "I want to be able to do that to you whenever I want. I'm proud to have you as my girlfriend and I want people to get to know you. Let's face it Peyton, once your exhibit goes public next month, you are going to more famous than I am."

"I don't know about that, but you still should've told me what you were going to do. I was in shock; I bet those pictures are going to be horrible in the morning. It'll look like I was pissed off that you kissed me and that isn't going to look good."

"Oh stop it." Brooke laughed, "I don't care how some dumb picture looks. I love you and I want the world to know it. Why is that bad?"

Peyton shook her head and sighed, "It's not bad, but we agreed about this. This isn't the first time you've ignored my feelings and done something behind my back. I mean, I thought we were passed the high school games. I thought you had grown up and were able to respect my opinions, but sometimes I wonder if you've changed at all."

"That's a low blow and you know it." Brooke snapped, "Okay, I admit it was impulsive and I guess in hindsight it wasn't fair to you, but I don't think it was evil. You make it sound like I did this to hurt you. I love you. Why can't see that?"

"I know that, but…" Peyton said with a long pause.

"But what?"

Peyton looked around as the guests began hovering closer and closer to her and Brooke, "Never mind. Let's just enjoy this party. This is your big night and I don't want to ruin it for you."

"You could never do that." Brooke said with a cute grin, "Am I allowed to hold your hand, put my arm around your waist or should we stay three feet apart at all times?"

Peyton gave Brooke a mock smile, "Very funny."

"It's a little late for modesty." Brooke said, putting her hand over Peyton's arm, "That kiss is going to be on every channel on earth within the hour, so I hate to say it, but your life of anonymity is all but over."

"I was afraid of that." Peyton sighed, "Well, let's get inside. You need to be there when you get that pretty award."

"I'd much rather stay here with you." Brooke whispered in Peyton's ear.

"I'd love that to, but I think the guest of honor should really be in the audience when they call their name."

Brooke gave Peyton a mock pout, "Oh alright, but I want to walk in there with you by my side, so if you aren't ready for that now's your chance to run like hell."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world." Peyton smiled, "I hope I've told you how proud I am of you, because I am. You're finally getting the recognition you deserve and I will be right there with you when you do."

"Thank you." Brooke smiled, reaching down to put her hands in Peyton's, "I mean, really thank you. Without your help and support I never would've come this far."

"Yes you would've, you're just that talented." Peyton pointed out firmly, before turning back to see all the guests begin to take their seats, "Now, let's get inside so I can see my girl get her award."

Brooke kissed Peyton again, took her hand and walked slowly into the packed room.

They made their way to the large table in the front of the podium, sat down side by side and held hands on the table as they waited for the MC to begin the proceedings.

After some rather poor jokes, some corporate sucking up and a few too many bad musical guests, the host of the evening took the podium again.

"Welcome everyone. Tonight is a night we celebrate the future of fashion in LA. We are here to honor a beautiful and talented young designer who has revitalized fashion not only in Los Angeles, but all over the world. Her clothes appeal to the young teenager, the working woman, the party girl and every woman in between. Her ability to know what women of all ages and all walks of life want to wear has made her the number one selling new designer in the city. Please give a big hand for Brooke Davis, this year's recipient of the Impact Achievement Award, given to the designer who's work has had the biggest impact over the last year."

Peyton couldn't stop smiling as she listened to the words of praise being said about the woman she loved, "Well it's your time Brooke. I'm so proud of you. I love you and I could not be happier for you."

"Thank you so much." Brooke said as she looked deep in Peyton's eyes, "I guess I should go up there and say a few words."

"Yep, that's usually how it works." Peyton smiled.

Brooke walked along the front of the podium before being escorted to the microphone by a pretty young woman.

She stepped up to the microphone and looked into the huge audience, her eyes lighting up as she saw countless movie stars, singers and fellow designers looking back at her. She cleared her throat and removed a small speech from her purse.

"I don't really know what to say here. I feel so honored to be standing here right now. I've spent most of my life creating clothes, but I never thought it would be anything more than a hobby." Brooke said, looking back at Peyton, "But, I was lucky, I had good friends to help me out along the way. Friends who stood by me through thick and thin, through good times and bad and I couldn't have done this without them."

Brooke paused for a moment, took a sip of water and continued, "One of those friends is with me here tonight. Her name is Peyton Sawyer and she's been my inspiration for so long and without her none of this would be possible. She's a little shy and I don't want to embarrass her, but without her love and support I would not be where I am today, so thank you Peyton. I love you. Thank you very much."

As soon as she finished the room got to their feet and began applauding loudly. Each member of the panel stopped to congratulate her on her success.

By the time she was finished the room had begun to fill up as the guests began milling about.

With her shiny award in one hand, Brooke tried to make her way back to her table but found herself unable to get past the overflowing crowd. Wondering what to do, she turned and walked towards the kitchen, stopping outside the door so she could grab her cell phone.

Just as she began to push Peyton's icon on her phone, the door opened up and knocked her to the floor.

Dazed slightly, Brooke shook her head as someone helped her to her feet, "Thank you, I can't believe I didn't see the door."

"Brooke?"

Brooke looked back at the person standing in front of her, shook the cobwebs from her head and began focusing on the face of the woman, "OMG. Rachel? Is that you?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is." Rachel said, looking down at the ground, trying to avoid eye contact with Brooke.

"I thought you were working as a model still?" Brooke asked, clearly confused at seeing Rachel in a waitress uniform, "Are you working here?"

"Look, this is embarrassing enough okay." Rachel said, avoiding any type of eye contact with Brooke, "I showed up late tonight, I almost got fired, I had no idea you were going to be here or I wouldn't have come."

"The last post card you sent me was from San Moritz, you said you were shooting some swimsuit calendar and were doing some print work for Victoria Secret? Was any of that true?"

"Does it look like it?" Rachel said sarcastically.

Brooke looked Rachel over from head to toe, she was still a beautiful young woman and seeing her again brought back oh so many memories, "I guess not, but why would you tell me that?"

"Because, you were doing so well with your career." Rachel replied, turning to the side as she continued, "I just didn't want you feeling sorry for me cause mine was falling apart. I'm doing fine. I know it was childish, but I really wanted you to be proud of me."

"It doesn't matter what you are doing for a living. You're my friend and that's all I care about."

"Friend huh?" Rachel said, pouncing on Brooke's bad choice of words, "Is that why you wouldn't talk to me for the first year you moved here?"

Brooke quickly changed into argue mode, "Oh come on Rachel, you left not me. You left us. You left what we had. Why, cause it got a little too comfortable for your liking. So you take off, don't tell me where you're going, just say it's over and then a year later you call me and say you miss me. What is that?"

"Look, I wasn't expecting to fall in love with you." Rachel snapped, losing a bit of her original anger as the tables turned a bit, "I know I handled it wrong, but so what, I wasn't the only one with issues."

"Issues? What issues did I have?"

"How about issues with Peyton?" Rachel replied, quick to bring up Brooke's first love, "You were still in love with her when you were with me. I felt like the rebound girl. Not to mention your infatuation with pretty much any guy who smiled at you."

Brooke gritted her teeth as Rachel brought up the past, "Oh that's rich coming from you."

"Meaning what? Are ya gonna start calling me names again?" Rachel said with her usual sarcastic tone, "Hey, let's just pretend we're in high school and we can have a catfight and pull each other's hair while everyone laughs at us."

"Fine. You're right. I shouldn't have said those things. I'm still not very good at thinking before I speak." Brooke said with a partial grin, "Let me start over. You look great. It's really nice to see you again. Whether you believe it or not, I have missed you so much the last few years."

"I've missed you to, but I know you're with Peyton now and well, I'm glad you're happy. I am." Rachel repeated, not sure Brooke believed her, "So I see you are here to get some big award or something? I've missed a lot haven't I?"

"Yes you have." Brooke agreed with a smile, something she couldn't help doing whenever she saw Rachel, "Can we get together and talk some day? I'd like to catch up on what you've been doing."

"Are you going to tell Peyton we're talking?"

"Um, yes, sure, why shouldn't I tell her?"

"Well, she isn't my biggest fan. She knows I loved you and I can't imagine anyone wanting their lovers ex around."

"Peyton knows we were friends first, so she'll understand."

"If you say so. I'm free pretty much every night. I don't have the same busy night life I used to. Any time you want to talk just give me a call." Rachel said, taking out a piece of paper and scribbling her phone number on it.

"Thanks." Brooke said, taking the piece of paper from Rachel, their hands touching momentarily, causing their eyes to meet once more, "Well, I better get going. I'm really glad we bumped into each other. I'll call you tonight okay?"

"That would be good." Rachel nodded, taking in Brooke's beauty one more time before she walked away.

With her palms sweaty and her heart beating a mile a minute, Brooke knew her life was about to get very complicated.

End of Chapter 1