Title: The Hardest Part
Author: D Sollers
Subject: ONESHOT. "The hardest part," Brooke said turning towards him once more. Jake looked and held his breath as she continued. "Is knowing that she'll never love him the way you loved her. The way I loved him." JP, Mentions both LP and BL
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with One Tree Hill, nor at this present time would want to. Hello? Have you even watched the show recently. No I didn't think so.
Author's Notes: Okay so wow, I am in a one shot type of mood! Anybody that knows me, knows how much I love BL but I think everyone also knows that Bryan Greenberg is HELLA hot and I love me some Jake Jageleski. Watch October Road, next week after Grey's Anatomy.
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Jake Jagelski stared up at a familiar house, wanting nothing more but to ring the door bell. Peyton's house had always been open to him, the door left unlocked just in case he came back.
Hesitation entered his mind, as he thought about their last conversation. The one where he forced her to be honest with herself, which landed her back in Tree Hill and him with a heavy heart.
He promised himself that it was the right thing to do, that Peyton deserved to be with the person she truly loved. And if that person was Lucas, than he was going to just have to deal with it.
For the first couple of weeks, he buried himself in work. Accepting overtime at any chance he could have, just so he wouldn't have to face the apartment and the bed that they had made love in.
On his spare time, he visited with his daughter and read stories to her about fairy tales that at one point and time he himself had believed in.
And at night, he found himself standing on his balcony. Staring out to the moon, silently crying tears that no one noticed. He asked himself what he had done to deserve this, if he hadn't been good enough for her. What Lucas had that was so special she would risk her friendship with Brooke over.
As he stared up to the Sawyer front porch, his mind drifted to another girl.
Brooke Davis.
They had never been close friends, not really even the type to offer each other polite hellos. He had watched her grow up, amused with her flirty banter but not buying her reputation.
Brooke Davis had it all. She had the fancy house, with a nice car and all the money and clothes that she needed. Her relationship with Lucas had taken the whole town of Tree Hill by surprise but it was their breakup that had caused more stares.
Her heart had broken in front of everyone, a betrayal that everyone noticed. She faced the hushed whispers as she entered rooms and held her head high at the school where Lucas and Peyton had commit ed their betrayal.
And then she took everyone, including him by surprise. She had become the better person offering not only Peyton back her friendship but Lucas, her heart.
Jake's thoughts were interrupted by a honk on the horn.
"Okay stalker boy, what the hell are you doing here?"
Brooke got out of her car and crossed the distance between them. She wrapped her arms across her chest and then as she approached the car door, her angry look had turned to confusion.
"Jake?"
It was too late, she had seen him.
Jake looked one last time to Peyton's front porch before turning his attention back to Brooke as he exited the car. "Hi Brooke," he said with a shy grin.
"Oh my God, how are you? How's Jenny?" Brooke said as she wrapped her arms around him in a friendly hug.
He leaned against his car and smiled. "She's doing great actually. How are you?"
"I'm okay, great actually. I got my acceptance letter from the fashion design school in Las Vegas."
Jake grinned. "Sin City, huh? You think they can handle Brooke Davis?"
Brooke blushed but shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm actually turning it down. I got offered an internship at Victoria Secret for my clothing line," Brooke said.
Jake nodded his head, remembering that Peyton had filled him in on the clothes over bro's fashion line that Brooke had created.
"That's great Brooke, I'm proud of you."
"Thanks I guess," Brooke said. She pointed towards Peyton's house and looked up at him. "Are you hear to see Peyton?"
Jake stayed quiet. Even though he had driven from Savannah to Tree Hill, he wasn't sure he could face seeing her.
Brooke noticed the look on Jake's face and rubbed his shoulder.
"She's not here, graduation is in less than an hour. She's at school," Brooke explained as Jake quietly nodded his head. "With Lucas."
He wasn't sure what he was feeling as the words fell from her lips.
Lucas and Peyton.
Together.
"Look Jake, I'm sorry. I of all people know how hard it is to hear that," Brooke said. "I just thought you should know. Sometimes, it's easier to know than to not know."
Jake stayed silent, unsure of what he had expected. Had he wanted Peyton to be alone? Had he in visioned that he would drive into town and she would tell him how much she missed him? That they would finally have their happily ever after.
"I should get going..." Brooke said. "Don't be a stranger Jake."
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He had to see it with his own eyes.
Somehow even though he knew what Brooke had said was true, Jake had felt compelled to drive to the school. He needed to see her happy, he needed to see the look of happiness on her face as she kissed Lucas.
Jake wasn't sure why he was torturing himself, he just knew he needed closure. He needed to be able to know that what he and Peyton shared was in the past.
When his eyes finally found her, she had her back turned. All he could see was blonde hair, lightly curled around her face.
But he knew it was her.
He felt a lump form in his throat as his friend, her boyfriend wrapped his arm over her shoulders. Anger raged through him as he saw Lucas tuck his hand under her chin and touched her lips with his.
Despite the pain that he was feeling, he couldn't help but watch. He could hear Peyton's laughter, a giggle escaping her lips as Lucas pinned himself against her.
Nathan and Haley joined them, Nathan's arm wrapped protectively around his pregnant wife's shoulders. Jake could make out his old team members, each with their girlfriends. Bevin sat on Skills' lap, laughing at something he was telling her.
"It feels weird, doesn't it?" Brooke said, once again coming close to Jake. She had changed, now wearing a short white dress.
Jake laughed. "You have no idea."
"I spent half of my senior year in his arms," Brooke admitted. "He meant more to me than I will ever be able to explain. And in an instant, it was gone. Once I heard from Peyton that she still had feelings for him... it killed any hope that I had for our relationship."
Jake cleared his throat. "You let her have him."
She nodded her head, knowing that his words weren't a question but more of a statement. After all, he had done the same exact thing. They had both surrendered the people that the loved to each other, hoping against hope that somehow it would be okay.
"And now I feel as if I'm on the outside looking in."
She wrapped an arm across her chest, offering herself the only security she could find. "The hardest part," Brooke said turning towards him once more. Jake looked and held his breath as she continued. "Is knowing that she'll never love him the way you loved her. The way I loved him."
"Brooke," a boy called out to her.
Brooke turned and for a slight second, the pain that was on her face lessened. She smiled at the boy who knew her and then back to Jake.
"That's Chase," Brooke said trying her best not to smile. "My boyfriend. It's funny how when you stop looking for someone to make you happy... you find someone who does."
She didn't say anything else as she walked away from him, taking her boyfriends hand in hers. Jake watched as Brooke made her way to her friends, staying on the other side of Nathan and Haley but still close to Peyton.
He took one last look at the blonde who held his heart and smiled sadly.
This was it, the closure that he had wanted to face.
For a moment, he swore he could sense that she felt him. Her body turned away, pulling away from Lucas. She searched the crowd, her eyes darting from seat to seat wondering why she felt the way she did.
And then their eyes locked.
Peyton's smile fell as she lifted her left hand to wave hello to him. Jake smiled, his own hand lifting to wave as well. He held his breath as she watched him, ignoring her boyfriend that was standing beside her.
It felt as if his world was standing still, as if the hundreds of people who had gathered for the graduation weren't there. And it was just his Peyton and him alone, sharing their final moment.
He could tell the crowd was settling down, and people were moving to their seats but he didn't care. All that mattered to him in that moment, was remembering every detail of the girl he had left behind. Her blonde hair, her slender shoulders, her long tan legs. He etched the memory into his brain and with a smile, he turned away.
Walking up the hill towards his car, he gave her one last look. She was still standing in place, still trying to take in what his arrival had met. He mouthed I love you, which went unanswered, unheard.
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And then he was gone.
With a blink of an eye, Jake Jagelski had once again disappeared out of Peyton's sight. She glanced towards her boyfriend, and then to Nathan and Haley.
Had anyone seen him?
Was it her imagination?
Her eyes landed on Brooke. "Brooke..." Peyton stumbled for the right words but Brooke cut her off.
"P Sawyer! We're graduating, can you believe it?"
Peyton smiled. "Yeah, I can't believe it."
She turned her attention to her boyfriend as she slipped her hand into his. This was the choice she had made, the decision to come back to Tree Hill had been hard, but she had followed her heart home.
So what was that familiar ache creeping back into her mind, into her heart?
"Are you okay babe?" Lucas asked quietly.
Peyton nodded her head but kept her eyes from locking with his. Somehow over the last two years, Lucas Scott had become the one person who knew her the best. And one look into her green eyes, he would know she was lying.
That their relationship had been built on that very lie.
Lucas glanced towards Brooke, smiling sadly at his ex girlfriend and her current boyfriend. She seemed happy, content with the choices they had all made. As he took his seat he couldn't help but shake the feeling that something wasn't right, but he did his best to ignore it.
Brooke tried her hardest not to look at Peyton and Lucas, afraid that her real feelings would come spilling out. Instead she placed her hand on Chase's leg and turned her head back towards to where Jake had been, just moments before.
With no Jake in sight, she realized that closure was what they all had needed.
But somehow, she knew in her heart that there would be no closure.
That the drama that they had during their senior year of high school, would play a heavy part on their futures as college students.
That the friendships that they had managed to save, would suffer and that the hearts that they had left behind, would somehow come back to the surface.
The only question was when.
She shut her eyes for a moment, remembering a different time.
A time where she believed in fairy tales, where she believed there was a happily ever after.
Back to a time where she believed that good things happened to good people and that you shouldn't mess with karma because it can turn around and bite you in the ass.
Back to a time where she believed that people who were meant to be together, always found their way in the end.
"I give to you the graduating class of Tree Hill high..."
THE END.