Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill. Life doesn't like me that much.
A/N: This is Brooke's POV, set the day after the Season 5 finale. Lucas never called anyone to go to Vegas, but all the rest of the stuff from the finale is the same. (Meaning that Brooke just had to give up Angie, Luke is confused about love, and Peyton is waiting on a phone call for someone who knew her mom.) Also, this fic basically ignores Lindsey. This has no specific endgame pairing. I hope you like it!
The strangely calm tide washes itself up and down the deserted beach. The mellow water slides up the sand clear and crisp, almost hitting your toes. You fingers tangle themselves in the soft warm sand. You dip your head back and feel rays of distant sun trace your neck.
You lose yourself in this temporary peace.
A light shuffling sound gradually amplifies in your ears. You shut your eyes tight and relish the last strain of contentment before its inevitable end.
"Hey."
That savored peace is now gone, replaced by the dread of conversation.
"Hi, Peyton."
You offer her a guarded smile as she places herself on the ground to your right.
A quiet wind blows her blonde locks into her face as she releases a tired puff of air.
"Are you okay?" Peyton asks you carefully.
"I'm fine." You lie.
"Did you find out if Angie made it back okay?" Peyton whispers.
"They called me last night. She's all healthy and safe in her parent's arms." You answer hoarsely.
Peyton absently nods, looking far off into the distance at the sun beginning to set.
"That's good, Brooke."
You lay back and stare blankly at the sky. You don't care if your hair gets entwined with small grains of salt and rock. Peyton doesn't either. She leans backward, following your previous motion, and starts playing with a stick in the sand.
"How come you're here, Peyt?" You ask, gently closing your eyes.
"I don't know. I figured that I hadn't been to the beach in awhile. I needed somewhere to go to clear my head and the streets of Tree Hill weren't exactly working." Peyton sighs.
"Plus, I thought you might be here since your home answering machine told me that Brooke Davis was not available at this time, if I was from Clothes Over Bros I should just report to Victoria, if I was Victoria to go to hell, and if I wasn't either, it said you'd either be out with Peyton, which you weren't, at the beach, or at the local Clothes Over Bros store. I didn't even bother calling your cell." Peyton informs you.
"I guess I thought we could just wallow together and eventually rent movies and eat buckets of ice cream or something. Misery loves company."
"I don't know, Peyton, I just kind of want to sit here right now and watch the sunset." You say slightly frustrated.
"Okay." Peyton tenses, but stays right beside you.
You feel your resolve slightly soften. She only wanted to make you feel better about Angie and Victoria, to try and be a good friend.
"Listen, P. I'm sorry, it just hurts." You pause. Peyton looks at you and urges you to continue.
"I don't know if I'll ever see or hear from her again. I don't even know if they'll tell her about me."
Your eyes shine from loss.
You glance at Peyton and notice her gaze set in the sand.
"I hope they will tell her about you, Brooke. You don't deserve to be forgotten."
You smile slightly.
"You know, when I found out I was adopted, that no one had ever told me about Ellie, I was so mad." Peyton whispers passionately.
"I was furious with my dad, with Ellie, with everyone. I couldn't believe that they didn't tell me."
She looks at you.
"Whether Angie will know it or not, you saved her life Brooke. She'll be able to live and breathe and walk and talk, all because of you. So, if her parents don't tell her about you, just remember that you saved her. Angie will always have you."
You reach over and squeeze her hand.
"Thanks, P. Sawyer."
"You are very welcome, B. Davis." Peyton looks out to the sand once again.
The sky has turned orange and the sun is a fierce red.
"So what happened with Luke?" You murmur.
Her head turns sharply to look at you.
"How did you—?"
"Please, Peyton. Give me some credit here. I can tell by the way you're brooding." You inform her.
Peyton looks down.
"I don't know. Last night I basically told him that I would marry him in a heartbeat."
You sit shocked. You have mixed feelings about this.
"And...?" You drawl, interested.
"And... nothing. He just looked at me and left. I haven't heard from him since." Peyton looks out to the distance again.
"Oh, Peyt—" You start, but are interrupted by a vibrating feeling.
"Um... my phone is vibrating." You notify her.
"Who is it?" Peyton asks.
You sit up and pull out the phone. It reads: Broody Calling.
"Lucas." You tell her delicately.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
The silence stings with the sound of vibration.
"Well are you going to answer it?"
"Um, no. No, I don't think so."
"Okay."
The noise stops. Broody doesn't leave a message.
"So... besides the usual Lucas issues, what's going on in my P. Sawyer's head?" You tap the side of her head.
"Well, someone who knew Ellie was supposed to call me, but I haven't heard from them. Mia met them on the road and well, I guess I'm just anxious to hear more about her." Peyton tells you.
"That's great, Peyton."
"Yeah."
You lean back into the sand again. Peyton is staring at the waves of orange in the sky. You stare at the violent red.
The minutes tick by slowly. The sun settles to a reddish purple tone, while the surrounding area of orange fades into a light yellow. The sun retreats lower until it rests on the edge of the water. The ocean reflects the colors from the sky. The atmosphere is calm with only the quiet sound of breathing to penetrate the stillness.
This silent tranquility makes you feel vulnerable.
You don't like people to see you vulnerable.
Peyton turns her head to look at you. A strange glint in her eye catches your attention. She looks like she knows something, as if she's certain she's just discovered something hidden, something secret.
"So, why do you think Lucas called you?" Peyton asks you charily.
You watch her vigilantly.
"I don't know. He probably called to ask if Angie got home safely." You shrug your shoulders slightly.
"Hm." Peyton turns to watch the sunset.
Your mouth drops open a bit and you look at Peyton suspiciously.
"What is that supposed to mean?"You say incredulously.
"Oh, nothing."
"Peyton?" You raise your eyes skeptically.
You can't believe you guys are about to go there again.
You don't want to go there again. It hurts too much.
Peyton sighs loudly.
"Look, Brooke. I know that you've been telling me since we got back to Tree Hill that you believe Luke and I are meant to be, but quite frankly, I don't believe you."
Shit. You guys are going to go there again.
"You two are meant to be, Peyton." You attempt to reassure her half-heartedly.
"Well, what if we aren't? What if he's meant to be with someone else?"
"With who, Peyt? With Lindsey? I'd say that since she turned him down at the altar, she's not about to go prance around with him anytime soon." You roll your eyes.
"No, not with Lindsey. How about, with someone else?"
You can't believe she's about to go there.
"With you?"
You take a deep breath.
"Listen, Peyton. Lucas and I were over a long time ago." You say matter-of-factly.
"So what? Lucas and I were over a long time ago, too." Her mind seems set on this idea.
"Do you still love him?" Peyton asks you.
Suddenly, everything stops.
"You and Lucas are meant to be, Peyton."
"I don't believe you."
"You and Luke are meant to be, Peyton. Don't you get it? Can't it fit into your head?" You raise your tone.
"I don't believe you!" Peyton yells.
You're both standing now. You're both yelling now.
You're both fighting over the same boy, again.
You'll always be fighting for the same boy.
You're both so distracted that you don't notice a pair of footsteps increase their pace at the sound of rising voices.
"Hey, whoa. What's going on here?"
You and Peyton both stop your arguing. You are both thinking the same thing: How much of that did he hear?
Lucas stands unsteadily between you and Peyton.
He runs a hand over his recently shaved head and squints.
Simultaneously, you and Peyton drop to the floor. Peyton puts her head in her hands while you stare at your toes.
"Are you two fighting over me again?" He chuckles.
You and Peyton momentarily glance at one another before his chuckling ceases.
"Sorry, bad joke." Lucas notices each of your behaviors.
You each glare at him.
Lucas shares a fleeting look with Peyton. The heartache echoes along the edge of their silhouettes and whispers what could have been. You're sure you can feel it too.
"So, Brooke." Lucas turns his attention to you.
"I knew I'd find you here."
You glance up at him, confused.
"I called your cell, but you didn't answer. I figured you'd be with Peyton, because well, she didn't answer her phone either. You guys weren't under the bridge, and you weren't at Clothes Over Bros, so I called your home phone and thought you must be at the beach." He explains.
"I thought that since Angie was gone, you might need someone to talk to."
"Did she get home okay?" He looks at you supportively.
"Yeah." You murmur.
He settles himself in the sand on your left. Peyton continues to hold her head in her hands on your right.
Lucas grasps your hand for a moment.
"It's all going to turn out okay."
Unexpectedly, you sense that you are about to break down.
Peyton beats you to it.
Her sobs hit the wind uncontrollably.
You instantly wrap your arms around her.
Lucas attempts to make a gesture of comfort, but Peyton pushes him away.
Soon, you're struggling to keep your own eyes dry.
You're not going to cry.
Your eyes betray you. It's too late for the façade.
The tears feel foreign on your cheeks.
You and Peyton cling to each other, desperate not to be tugged down by the heavy weight of Lucas's stunned stare.
Lucas gradually assesses the situation, as if he's trying to figure out the best thing to do.
Eventually he wraps his arms around you and Peyton.
He drags you to the sand and holds you both until the sun dips past the ocean and darkness comes.
You each gradually stop crying.
Everything is calm.
"You know—"
You and Peyton are startled at the sudden sound against the quiet.
"— you two are such a mess."
Lucas offers you each a small pat on the back.
"But for some reason, I love you anyway." Lucas chuckles.
Your breath hitches.
Peyton's back tenses.
You guys are so pathetic.
"Last night, I had a talk with Haley."
He stands up and you instantly feel lost.
Peyton starts shivering so you snuggle up to her.
"I told her that I was going to go away for awhile. I thought I needed to run away." Lucas starts pacing.
"Turns out that I'm done running. I need to think about this, even though all I ever do is think about this."
His pace accelerates.
"All I ever think about is you two."Lucas stops moving.
"I spend every hour of every day trying to decide who it is exactly that I love. I just don't know anymore."
He's not quite sure who to look at, so he squints past your heads, to the sand behind you.
His confession is a shock.
"I just thought you should know that."
Lucas starts to shuffle away, and you and Peyton stare at him in bewildered disbelief.
"Hey, Broody!" You call him hoarsely.
He pauses, but doesn't turn around.
"You can't just do that." Your built up irritation is resurfacing. You and Peyton stand.
"You can't just wander into our lives and spring that on us anytime you want!"
"You may not realize this, Lucas, but Peyton and I are affected by everything you say to us."
Your eyes blur.
"You can't just leave after something like that, Luke." Peyton finally finds her voice.
He turns around slowly.
"I can't just leave. Why not?" He dares a short glance at each of you.
"I had to live here for the past two years without you! I had to wake up without you, Peyton! All because you turned down my proposal! Then, you come back and basically expect me to propose to you again! All because it's your dream! And, Brooke... that night in New York. You never called me after that. You never answered any of my calls! I hadn't talked to you since then and all of a sudden you show up in Tree Hill! I missed you both so much. I needed you both so much."
He closes his eyes tightly and his hands form tight fists.
"I don't think I'll ever be able to choose between you."
"I just don't know how anymore."
Lucas is lost. Peyton is lost. You're lost.
Well, this is just perfect.
"Lucas." You speak quietly.
"We're all lost." Peyton finishes your thought gently.
You're all so tired.
You set yourself into the sand and look up at the stars.
They are bright and twinkling against the dark sky.
Peyton drops next to you on your right.
"It's so big and beautiful." Peyton sighs.
She lifts her right hand and starts tracing her long fingers in the sand, forming salty shapes and designs. Peyton never was one to hold back on drawing when inspiration struck.
Lucas stares you in the eyes.
He sees all your thoughts.
He doesn't have to choose tonight.
He does have to decide eventually.
When that day comes, you and Peyton are going to have to stand through it all. You will have to each fight to keep your friendship alive.
You won't let him go though and neither will Peyton.
You're both just not strong enough to release your hold on Lucas Scott.
He knows. He's in pain.
He's going to have to deal with it.
Until then, you're going to gaze at the stars. Peyton's going to sketch all the world's meaning onto the beach. You're both going to try to salvage your friendship and allow Broody to finally choose between you in time.
Peyton's your best friend, your one constant in life.
She's in love with Lucas.
Lucas is your one and only, your broody prince charming.
He's in love with you.
He's also in love with Peyton.
Lucas, still unsure of himself, takes a shaky seat to your left. His stare is intense as he maps out the line separating the black sky and the murky sea.
Tomorrow there will be fighting.
All the words that have remained unsaid will be spoken.
He'll have to sort out his feelings, or break three hearts instead of one.
The choice is in his hands now.
Right now though, all you want to do is relax and not think about Luke's final decision.
The drama can wait till tomorrow.
You sigh.
The scattered stars sparkle across the sky. The water below illuminates sporadically with the star's reflections settling into the darkness. The moon is prominent against the small stars and shadows. It glows bright and full above your heads.
You take her hand.
You lay your head on his shoulder.
For this one moment, before all the chaos, you feel complete.