Title: Futures

Author: Static-disturbed

Rating: PG for now. If you can watch the show you can read this.

Summary: This is my version of season 5, had some things happened differently in seasons 3 and 4. Lucas did make a proposal two years ago, but it was to Brooke. But the answer was still no. Now an event will bring her back to Tree Hill, and bring everything out into the open.

Couples and eventual couples: Brucas, Jeyton, Naley, Skevin

Note: Some things will be the same, some will be very different. I don't want to over explain anything; you'll figure it out as you read. This chapter doesn't give too much background but will set things in motion. More info about our other favorites will come as the story progresses.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. I also don't own the chapter titles or story title, which are all song titles in true OTH fashion.

Futures

Chapter 1:

On With The Show

He had always enjoyed driving the winding country roads that led in and out of the residential area of the tiny town. He liked the almost dangerous curves; the tall trees that were so old their branches had grown together into tangled barriers. These were the kind of roads his Mustang was made for, windows down and the perfect song on the radio. He could drive these roads with his eyes closed by now, had been navigating them since he was fifteen with his uncle grinning in the passenger seat of the old tow truck. The familiar roads eventually led him down a block he had visited a million times before.

The big white house didn't look very different than it had when they were sixteen. The sleek, black Mercury Comet was still parked out front. She smiled at him from her spot in a rocking chair on the front porch as he parked. With her bouncy blonde curls and blue eyes she looked the same as always; at least until she stood.

"Well standing was a bad idea," she quipped, attempting to force herself into a standing position.

"No sit back down," he lowered himself into the chair beside her. She had always been so skinny and the weight that came with nine months of pregnancy had been a shock to her tiny frame, making mostly everything she did a struggle during these last few weeks, "I can't have you going into labor or something with me around. I didn't bring any boiling water or towels."

She quirked an eyebrow and shook her head, relaxing back in the chair and resting a hand on her protruding belly.

"So where is the family?" he questioned.

"Jake went to pick Jenny up from her friends house," she explained, "You want something to drink?"

He chuckled.

"Do you mean do I want to go get you something to drink?"

Peyton grinned cheekily.

"You're the best. Iced tea please."

With rolled eyes he rose and entered the house, turning in to the kitchen. As he poured iced tea from the pitcher into a glass he couldn't help but to notice the opened package on the counter top, specifically the return address on the label.

He returned with the glass and a soda for himself.

"Thanks buddy!" she patted his arm enthusiastically as she sipped from her glass before she noticed the somewhat forlorn expression on his face, "Hey what's wrong?"

"Nothing. What'd Brooke send you?"

Peyton nodded knowingly and sighed.

"She sent me some new Clothes over Bros baby stuff. And why don't you just call her or something?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you're obviously still in love with her."

"Can we not have this conversation, again?"

"Lucas," she leaned forward and took his hand, "Everyone is worried about you. You spend all your time at the school, or cooped up in the house writing…"

"Those are my jobs, last time I checked I still had bills to pay so…"

"Luke, you have been hiding ever since whatever happened with Brooke and you've got to stop. And if you still love her then you need to at least tell her so."

He stayed silent for a long time, staring out across the street before he turned to her with a soft, sad smile.

"I asked her to marry me Peyton, and she said no."

"Well excuse me for rolling my eyes," she stared at him pointedly, "But so did your mom, the first time Keith asked her. Do you think that means she didn't love him?"

He didn't answer, instead stared into his lap.

"Luke, I know Brooke, you know Brooke. She just got scared, you just need to show her that there isn't anything to be scared of."

"Look, even if I did… we're different people now. She has her big New York life, there's no room for me in all that."

"She isn't happy Lucas," suddenly Peyton's words were quiet and sad as she glanced down at her own hands, "She tells everyone she is, me and Haley. But when I see her doing those interviews on TV, when we talk on the phone… I can hear it in her voice, her broken heart. And it breaks mine."

"I can't be the one to fix it Peyton, what me and Brooke had is gone. She gave it up."

Half an hour later after Lucas had driven off Peyton managed to waddle into the kitchen. Jake and Jenny had returned home and her husband had gone up to take a catnap, having planned on heading over to see how their show at TRIC was going for a few hours later in the night.

"Mommy what's for dinner?" Jenny came skidding into the room, a bundle of five-year-old energy; her wavy brunette locks bouncing in their pigtails and socked feet slippery on the tile floor.

"Well, seeing as mommy is too much of a whale to even bend over, we're having pizza again!" Peyton announced with sarcasm that was mostly perceived as genuine happiness by the little girl and Jenny clapped.

"Yay, we never have pizza twice in one week!"

"Well get ready cause it's coming. Pepperoni and extra sauce, the Jenny Jagielski special."

Jenny laughed and carefully climbed up onto the bar stool next to Peyton.

"I don't think you look like a whale," she told her mother quietly with a smile so sincere Peyton felt her already in overdrive hormones start to get the best of her.

"Aw honey," she pulled the little girl into a hug and instantly recoiled, wincing in pain and clenching her knuckles against the counter top "Ow, oh wow ow."

"Mommy what's wrong?"

Peyton forced a smile and tried to speak as calmly as she could.

"Um, ok Jenny I need you to go wake daddy up ok? Tell him it's an emergency."

Jenny instantly did as she was told, dashing out of the room and up the stairs. Peyton tried her best to control her breathing and rubbed her belly softly. Barely a minute later Jake came barreling into the room, Jenny following on his heels.

"What is it, are you okay?" he questioned frantically as he came to a stop.

"It's time," she explained simply, eyes darting towards her stomach. She couldn't help but smile as Jake's panicked face lit up.

"Time time?"

"Yes time, like soon time so we need to get going."

"Ok, um, lets go," he grabbed the car keys from the counter and moved towards her. Peyton laughed and held up a hand.

"Babe we have enough time for you to put on some pants."

For the first time Jake looked down at his own bare legs and realized he was only wearing boxer shorts. He gave her a goofy grin that still made her heart skip a beat.

"Right. I'll be back in two seconds and I'll get your bag. Jenny put your sneakers on we have to go!"

As he left the room Jenny glanced down at her own already sneaker clad feet and looked at her mother, rolling her eyes.

"Aunt Haley!" Jenny launched herself at the woman as soon as she entered the waiting room and Haley swept the small girl into her arms, "We're having a baby!"

"I heard," Haley grinned, shifting the little girl onto her hip and looking into her eyes, "So what do you think? Little brother or little sister?"

"Daddy says it doesn't matter as long as the baby is healthy," Jenny answered matter of factly and then, after a beat, leaned in close to Haley's ear, "But I really hope it's a girl!"

She spotted Lucas several feet away, crammed into a plastic chair that seemed too small for his tall frame and long limbs. They crossed the room and Haley deposited Jenny back in her chair where the little girl quickly went back to reading a Hi Lites magazine.

"How long have you been here?" Haley asked as she sat next to Lucas, reaching absently for a magazine from the table beside her chair.

"Four hours?" he guessed, "It feels like forever."

"Yea, for you. Imagine how long it feels for Peyton. God I was in labor with Jamie for so long. They say your first baby is the hardest," she laughed and Lucas cringed a little bit.

"Birth freaks me out."

"What a boy," she sighed, slapping him playfully on the arm.

"So where is my awesome nephew?"

"Where else? Basketball. I just dropped him off," she flipped through the pages of the magazine, glancing at her watch and making a mental note of when she had to return to the rec center to pick up her son.

"Jamie looked really good out there on Tuesday, he definitely got his uncle's jump sh..."

"Oh my god!" Haley interrupted suddenly, grabbing her purse and digging through it until she produced her cell phone, "I'm such an idiot," she scolded herself quietly and began dialing numbers, excusing herself as she made a phone call. Lucas stared after her in confusion for several seconds before his eyes drifted to the open page of the magazine Haley had been glancing over. Brooke Davis smiled up at him brilliantly from the glossy page.

It was only twenty minutes later when Jake reappeared from the depths of the swinging doors labeled 'Delivery'. He looked worn out but was grinning from ear to ear as he hoisted Jenny into the air then brought her down on his hip.

"Well what is it daddy?" she begged.

"Yea daddy," Haley mimicked excitedly, "What is it?"

"You have a little brother baby," Jake explained simply. All of Jenny's earlier hopes for a baby sister seemed forgotten as she grinned and looked up at her daddy with big excited eyes.

"I can't believe it," she exclaimed, "I have a brother!" she then announced to Haley and Lucas who laughed.

"Are you ready to meet him?" Jake asked, also glancing at his two friends.

"Of course!"

Five hours later the sky outside the window was dark and Peyton's room had grown quiet. The entire Scott clan had gone home hours ago and she had sent Jake home with Jenny only twenty minutes ago when their daughter had started to drift to sleep. Her husband promised to be back first thing in the morning but for now it was just her and her baby boy. She couldn't stop staring down at him in her arms. Everyone said it was too early to really tell but she could already see Jake in his face.

"Oh my God," the breathy whisper from the doorway caught Peyton's attention and she glanced up, her smile stretching even farther as she saw who was now standing at the foot of her bed.

"Brooke!"

The brunette was dressed casually compared to her normal wardrobe in jeans and a black top, her long, shiny hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her big hazel eyes were glazed over with tears and she held a hand over her heart as she approached the mother and newborn son.

"Peyton he's gorgeous," she admonished and Peyton suddenly remembered how much she had missed Brooke's voice in person, how nice it was to talk to her not via text or email. She scooted her body over slightly and gestured towards the bedside with her head. Brooke slipped in beside her and the two girls stared down dreamily at the little boy sleeping peacefully in his mother's arms, Peyton's head falling to her best-friends shoulder in content exhaust. "When Haley called me I got the first flight I could. I had to come see you, and him. What's his name?"

"Garrett. Garret Lawrence Jagielski."

"Oh man he's gonna be a heart breaker. Where is the proud daddy?"

"He just took Jenny home for the night, all the excitement had her dead on her feet. They'll be back in the morning."

"He's got your little angry, emo scowl," Brooke teased happily as Garret wrinkled up his forehead. Peyton giggled and sighed.

"I'm so glad you're here Brooke."

"There isn't anywhere I'd rather be."

"Victoria isn't gonna have a fit?" Peyton questioned, half worried and half amused. Brooke crinkled up her eyebrows.

"Of course she is. But that doesn't matter. What matters right now is being here with you, meeting Garrett."

"I love you Brooke."

Brooke smiled and wrapped an arm around the other girls shoulder, pressing a kiss to the side of her best friends forehead.

"You did good P. Sawyer."

Across town Lucas Scott stood in the hallway of Tree Hill High. He'd been on his way to his office but now he seemed to stand frozen in time as he was assaulted with memories. Many of the important triumphs and tragedies of his life had taken place in this building. Some nights he found himself at that junction outside the library doors, breathing heavy and haunted by what ifs. Other nights he ran drills on the basketball court in the dark, imaging his brother and his best friends beside him. Tonight though his mind was somewhere else, tonight it was with her. He watched his sixteen year old self kiss Brooke Davis by the drinking fountain, her waiting for him after basketball practice, them cutting class together in May of senior year. He could see her dimpled smile greeting him, her tiny hand slipping easily into his own; he could hear her sweet, raspy voice echoing down the empty hall to him, "Hey Boyfriend, walk me to class?"