A/N: Even though I totally HATE Pucas, I have resigned to the fact that the show will inevitably end up that way. Urgh. So I just have to angst it out.
Summary: "You've never been one to break tradition, and you know it's bad luck." They laugh, and she can see in his eyes that he's happy, and she thinks that maybe it could be enough. "You've never been one for tradition yourself."His eyes twinkled and she knew that she would regret what she was about to say. "Peyton isn't me, Luke."
Mirage of Happiness.
Brooke adjusted the long, white train on her best friend's wedding dress. She smoothed out the wrinkles in the satin gown, and stood up to adjust her own red bridesmaid dress.
Red bridesmaid dress. The last time she had been wearing one of these, she was preparing to lose Lucas to P. Sawyer again. Sounds pretty familiar.
She wasn't surprised when Peyton had opened the door to her bedroom late one night, all high pitched squeals and giggles and noises that Peyton wasn't supposed to making with a beautiful three carat rock on her finger. Still, just because she wasn't surprised doesn't mean that her heart didn't crack a little bit more. As her best friend retold the story to Brooke, she found it strange that Peyton didn't notice the cracks in her voice and the glassy eyes but then again, Brooke had always been the better friend.
She was snapped out of her memory by the sound of Peyton's excited nonstop stream of chatter ending in a question directed towards Brooke. She wasn't sure what to say, so she just smiled the sad smile that hid her dimples. Peyton didn't even notice, and continued to talk about the wedding, reception, and honeymoon.
Brooke nodded in all the appropriate pauses, and then excused herself to go to the bathroom. On her way outside, she ran into Nathan. They had always been two of a kind (at least before he knew Haley) so when he asked her how she was doing, instead of Peyton, she assumed he knew where she was coming from. She smiled another one of those heartbreakingly sad smiles, and this time it didn't go unnoticed. Brooke had never felt more grateful towards the reformed bad boy.
She stood up and prepared herself to walk back into the bride's room as the ecstatic best friend and perfect maid of honor. Just as she took her first step towards it, Nathan put his hand on her shoulder and gave her this look and she felt like he could see right through her. She heard the mumbled apology over her shoulder, and turned around in time to see his retreating back. She laughed out of bitterness. Who knew Nathan had been on Team Brooke?
As she walked back towards the room, she saw Lucas pacing in front of the door to Peyton nervously, muttering something to himself over and over again.
"Hey there, Broody. Trying to find something to angst over?"
He looked up and smiled at the comment, and pulled her into a friendly hug.
"I'm debating whether or not I should go in there, just to tell her how excited I am. Finally, everything worked out for us."
Brooke swallowed the lump in her throat and looked Lucas straight in the eye.
"You've never been one to break tradition, and you know it's bad luck. Knowing you two, it could break up this wedding."
They both laugh, and she can see in his eyes that he's really truly happy, and she thinks that maybe it could be enough for her.
"You've never been one for tradition yourself."
His eyes twinkled and she knew that she would regret what she was about to say.
"Peyton isn't me, Luke."
She stared at him, and for a second she saw this look flash across his face like he could see right through her. (What is it about those Scott brothers?) The words were on the tip of his tongue, and she knew that they were bound to be something along the lines of an apology, and she didn't think that she could handle that. So she simply plastered on a smile and walked back towards her friend. She looked back and saw him staring at her again.
"For what's it worth, I'm really happy for you Luke."
She saw the worry fade away in his eyes, replaced by the happiness that had been there for a while. She smiled at him, a real one with dimples and a cherry on top, and disappeared into the room to help her friend.
As the doors opened into the church, Brooke kissed Peyton on the cheek before hooking herself onto Skillz's arm. She turned around, and took a deep breath as the two followed Nathan and Haley into the church.
She saw him standing there smiling in excitement, and it was too easy to imagine that she was wearing white, that Skillz was really her absent dad, and that Lucas's smile was meant for her. Her breath caught in her throat as she thought about their lives together. And the thing was, she could see it. She could see the whole damn thing right in front of her and there was nothing she could do about it.
They would live in the same house that they had both grown up in technically, and the door would be painted bright red again. She could imagine herself sitting at the kitchen table sketching, him sitting across from her writing new plays for the game or a rough draft of the book inspired by brilliant and beautiful and brave Brooke Davis. Occasionally, after looking up and seeing that mischievous glint in her eye, they would abandon any sort of work and probably have sex on every surface of their house. After one or two years, they would welcome Theodore Keith Scott, or Teddy for short, into their lives. He would grow up in the same room that Lucas had, and have the same passion for basketball. He would have blue eyes and blond hair, just like his dad, but dimples deep enough to outshine his mother. When
Teddy turned three, Madeline Joy Scott would be a welcome addition to the family. With looks just like her mother, and a personality to match, Lucas would often say the world wasn't ready for two Brooke Scott's. Finally, last but certainly not least is Fitz Hugh Scott. Lucas gets a kick out of the fact that his initials are F. Scott, like one of his favorite authors. With dark hair and bright blue eyes, he was very handsome and he knew how to throw out a quote during a conversation.
She looked up at Lucas, and for a second, she could swear he saw it too. Teddy, Madeline, and Fitz in the house they had grown up in. And she saw the little wistful smile on his face that must've been meant for her. But then she was dutifully standing in place, and everyone had stood to look at Peyton and then her mirage of happiness was gone.
Brooke already knew what Peyton looked like, so she turned her head towards Lucas. No wistful smile was playing on his lips now. Only a large grin was stretched across his face, blue eyes lit up, amazed at how beautiful Peyton looked.
So as Peyton and Lucas stood there reciting vows, Brooke held the bouquet. And as Lucas said I do, Brooke smiled extra big to cover all of the cracks in her heart.
Damn red dress.