"Come back to Tree Hill with me and let's just be at home together." Peyton pleaded with her best friend, Brooke Davis after venting to Brooke that she'd lost herself and her way shortly after her move to California.
"I can't, Peyton!" Brooke said into the other end of the phone. "I have a lot to handle here right now and I don't really have any good reason to come back to Tree Hill right now. I'm sorry."
Peyton hung up the phone in disappointment without another word to her high school best friend. She wanted her best friend to come back to Tree Hill with her to support her decision to try and win back the love of her life, Lucas Scott. But little did Peyton know Brooke would be coming back to Tree Hill just not when she or anyone else expected her to.
[Several months later]
"Did you hear about Lucas Scott?" One of Brooke's interns was overheard whispering outside of the door to Brooke's office.
Brooke pulled her eye glasses off of the tip of her nose and dropped her pen onto her desk to listen in on the conversation happening between the interns.
"He got stood up at the alter by his publicist slash girlfriend." The intern continued to inform her co-workers.
Brooke's mouth dropped open but she quickly had to regain her posture as her mother, Victoria Davis, walked into her office.
"Please don't tell me that you were actually listening to those poor girls gossiping about your loser of an ex-boyfriend?" Victoria folded her arms over her chest as she looked down on her daughter.
Brooke rolled her chocolate brown eyes. "I just happened to overhear my lovely interns speaking about my wonderful high school boyfriend." She shrugged her shoulders. "And it sounds kind of sad. I feel bad for him!"
"Well you can't seriously feel sorry for the guy?" Victoria asked. "Not after everything he did to you that night he chose to be with that gothic mess named Peyton Sawyer over you?"
Brooke sighed heavily and placed her glasses back over her eyes. "Where are you going with this mother? I am trying to get some work done here." She motioned toward the papers clouding up her work desk.
"I just came to remind you of your responsibilities here in New York at your company Clothes over Bros." Victoria put emphasis on the company's name. "With the magazine doing so well and the clothing line being sold at every boutique, business is booming."
"And why did you come into my office to remind me of that?" Brooke raised an eyebrow to her mother.
Victoria leaned down to look straight into her daughter's eyes. "Because I know you are feeling the urge to go and fly back to that god awful town just to comfort that boy and win his heart back but it never works."
"She is kind of right! Being the footnote in a Peyton and Lucas love story does suck." Brooke thought to herself. "I am not going back to Tree Hill anytime soon, Victoria. I have no reason to go back."
"Can I trust you on that?" Victoria asked.
Brooke shot her mother a look that made Victoria leave her office with no further words to her.
Over the next several weeks Brooke could not get Lucas out of her mind. She'd avoided a few of his phone calls since his failed wedding day, but something sparked in her one night after arriving home from a long day at the office.
She kicked off her six inch pumps at the front door of her penthouse and like she did every night she pressed the answering machine button to listen to her messages while she worked around the large penthouse.
"You have twenty new messages." The voice of the answering machine played back to Brooke.
"Hey Brooke," Lucas' voice began to play over the answering machine.
Hearing Lucas' voice shocked Brooke and almost made her trip as she made her way around her neat penthouse.
"I was just calling to let you know that I am at the airport and I am coming to New York for a book signing tour." Lucas cleared his throat into the phone. "I was wondering if you'd like to meet up with me while I'm there? I understand if you're too busy, but I'd love to see you."
A smile stretched across Brooke's face but her smile soon disappeared when another message began to play for her.
"Change of plans." Lucas sounded slightly less depressed than he had on the message before. "My book tour was cancelled and I decided to stay home. I was really looking forward to seeing you! I haven't seen you since that night in New York. Bye!"
Brooke was sadden as she erased the rest of her messages off of the answering machine, but she couldn't help but smile at the memory of her night on the town with Lucas. He'd come to her after his break-up with her best friend, Peyton Sawyer.
The pair of friends pretended to be engaged for the entire night and for Brooke it will always be a memorable night, but to everyone else it was the moment Lucas walked away from her and chose to go back to Peyton rather than stay with her and work things out.
"We're going to be a power couple!" Brooke squealed in the back of a horse carriage that was carrying her and Lucas through the warm streets of New York.
"But we'll still have the time for a big family." Lucas added. "Two boys and a girl!"
Brooke woke up with a smile on her face as she dreamt of her night with Lucas. Despite her trying, she'd never fallen out of love with Lucas but she refused to constantly be hurt by Lucas' roller coaster feelings for Peyton.
"Welcome to the state of Tree Hill." The pilot said over the intercom system to his flight passengers. "I hope you enjoy your stay in this one of a kind town and if you are coming back home then welcome home Tree Hillers. We are glad to have you back!"
She swung her carry-on bag over her shoulder as she exited the large commercial plane. The smell of coffee and burnt out candles welcomed her home as she walked through the airport of her hometown.
"Oh my god! Look its Lucas Scott." A tourist pointed her index finger as well as her camera phone in the direction of the author of the book, The Unkindness of Ravens.
Brooke followed the point of the girl's finger and found Lucas sitting alone in the airport. She began to walk toward him but as she did Lucas began to run in her direction. Her smile widened but once again faded when she noticed who Lucas was actually running toward.
Brooke's heart broke as she watched Peyton and Lucas embrace in a loving hug and kiss.
"Oh my god! What if they get married next?" The tourist squealed. "I hope she doesn't leave him at the alter like the last one."
Brooke felt tears began to sting the back of her eyes as she continued to watch Lucas with Peyton. "I guess I was too late." She thought to herself as she turned and left the airport with less encouragement that she had made the right decision to come back home.
[Later that day]
"Knock, knock." Brooke knocked on the front door of her best friend's, Haley James Scott, home.
The door began to pull open and on the other side stood Nathan Scott.
"Brooke?" Nathan was shocked to find Brooke Davis standing on the other side of his front door. "What are you doing here?"
Brooke squealed at the sight of the tall jock. "I came back home because I missed my little family." She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders.
Nathan laughed and took in Brooke's gentle hug. "We've missed you here too."
"Including my little god son, Jamie?" Brooke walked inside of the large home. "I hope you guys have been showing him pictures of his Aunt Brooke because I haven't seen him since he was a baby and I want him to always remember me as his Aunt Brooke."
"Why don't you ask him yourself. Jamie!" Nathan called out for his son. "Someone is here to see you."
Jamie's steps down the stairs echoed throughout the silent house. "Who is it?" He ran to meet his father at the front door.
"Hey buddy." Brooke kneeled down to become face to face with her god son. "I'm your Aunt Brooke."
Jamie smiled. "I know!"
"I'm glad you still know who I am." Brooke pulled the small boy off of the ground and into a tight hug. "Now where in the world is your mama?"
"Honey, I'm home." Haley walked into the front door. "Whose rental car is that sitting out front?"
Haley's question was answered the moment she saw Brooke standing with Jamie sitting on her hip. Her mouth dropped open and her purse fell off her shoulder and onto the ground at the sight of her best friend.
"What in the world are you doing here?" Haley asked.
"You know you're greeting to your family is so American apple pie!" Brooke sat Jamie back down on his feet so she could hug Haley. "I missed you so much that I decided to move back to Tree Hill so I can go back to seeing you every day." She smiled widely.
"Well you just missed Lucas and Peyton." Haley motioned toward her phone. "I just got a few odd texts from them and I think they went away together."
"Really?" Nathan raised both of his eyebrows. "When will they ever learn?"
Brooke remained silent but the images of Lucas and Peyton lovingly embracing at the airport played back in her mind.
"You two sound surprised. Are they not together anymore?" Brooke asked.
"Well they weren't together last night." Haley answered.
[The next morning]
"Rise and shine Aunt Brooke." Jamie walked into the guest room of his parents' home where his aunt had spent her first night back in Tree Hill.
Brooke groaned into her pillow. "Is it morning already?"
"Yup because the sun is out and the clock says that it is ten o'clock." Jamie climbed into the bed with her. "Wanna meet someone special?" He cradled his large grey rabbit in his arms.
Brooke slowly sat up in the bed but her hair covered her face. "I would love to meet someone." She screamed when pushed her hair away from her eyes and saw the large animal in the bed with her and Jamie.
"This is Chester." Jamie was holding the rabbit up in the air toward Brooke's face.
Brooke waved at the rabbit. "It's nice to meet you, Chester." She hesitated before she began petting the soft fur on the animal's head. "He is kind of cute."
"Momma always says that Chester is cute like me!" Jamie smiled. "It only makes me love him more and more than I already do."
Brooke smiled and planted a kiss upon Jamie's round cheek. "I am so excited to spend the day with you while your momma and daddy go to work."
"What are we going to do today Aunt Brooke?" Jamie asked.
Brooke ran her fingers through the boy's soft sandy blond hair. "I have a few things planned for us."
Jamie and Brooke walked around the downtown area of Tree Hill, but Brooke was stopped in her tracks when she came face to face with Karen's Café.
"You must be sad that they closed it?" Jamie observed about the tears forming in her eyes while she stood motionless and stared at the covered windows of the closed up building.
"I am really sad that they closed it but I have an idea." Brooke smiled and pulled out her cellphone to call her assistant back in New York to set up an appointment for her to buy the old café. "You like it here bud?" She asked Jamie who was dribbling a small basketball around the wooden floor of the shop.
"I love it here! It is so big and empty." He smiled widely when his voice echoed throughout the building. "And that is cool too." He stated about the echos.
Brooke turned to the real-estate agent. "I'll take!" She took in the sight of the shop and suddenly felt like she had another reason for coming back to Tree Hill other than Lucas Scott. "Hey buddy, come here." She waved Jamie over to one of the windows, and together they pulled off the brown paper that had been covering it. "I'm glad to be home again."
Later that night Brooke's cellphone vibrated on the night stand of her new bedroom; after buying the café, she'd gone and bought herself a beach home to stay in.
"Hello?" She answered the phone on the last ring after reading that the call was coming from Peyton's cellphone.
"Brooke!" Peyton squealed into the phone. "I wanted you to be the first one to know that Lucas and I are in Vegas and we're getting married."
Brooke almost dropped the phone and fell to her knees at the news of Peyton and Lucas' engagement but she caught herself. "That is great, Peyton." She hung up the phone and threw it back into the night stand.
She fell down onto her new bed and screamed into her pillow out of frustration. She knew if she had come back to Tree Hill with Peyton several months ago then she would still have a fair chance at winning Lucas' heart back, but the engagement practically killed that dream for her.
She rolled over and found her purple monkey lying out of her suitcase. "At least I still have you to snuggle with tonight." Brooke pressed the stuffed monkey against her chest and cried herself to sleep that night.
It surprised her to wake up to knocking on her front door the next morning.
"I'm coming." Brooke slipped into her robe and made her way to the front door. "Yes?" She opened the door and her eyes widened when she found Peyton standing on the other side of her door. "I thought you were in Vegas getting married to Lucas?"
Peyton shook her head and flashed her engagement ring. "We decided that we wanted our friends to be there when we finally got married." She pushed past Brooke and walked inside of the large beach house.
"Well come right on in P. Sawyer." Brooke thought to herself as she closed the door behind her.
Peyton made herself comfortable on Brooke's couch. "I thought you were in New York making yourself busy by running your business?"
Brooke sat down on the arm of the couch. "I finally realized that I missed Tree Hill so I decided to run Clothes over Bros from here instead."
"So you're staying?" Peyton couldn't hide her disappointment from her voice.
Brooke smiled and nodded, ignoring Peyton's tone of voice. "I am indeed staying for good this time!"
"Well good at least I won't have to fly my maid of honor into the state to attend my wedding." Peyton took Brooke's hands into her own and gave them a squeeze. "I'm really glad you decided to come back."
"Me too P. Sawyer and it looks like I came back at the right moment." Brooke motioned toward Peyton's engagement ring. "Maid of honor?"
She'd recognized the diamond ring that sat perfectly on Peyton's ring finger. It was the same ring she'd worn the night she and Lucas' pretended to be engaged to one another. At the end of the night it felt horrible for her to give him back the ring.
"He gave you Keith's ring." Brooke noted about the diamond.
Peyton frowned and looked down at her ring. "How did you know that this was Keith's ring?"
Brooke stuttered and tripped over her words as she tried to explain without giving away too much about wearing the ring for an entire night as her own. "Keith showed me the ring before he died."
"I forgot you and Keith were close." Peyton nodded her head slowly. "It's sad that I'll never get the chance to be that way with him."
"Yeah I miss Keith and Karen." Brooke mumbled. "At least I made an effort to become a part of Lucas' life while Peyton makes him start a whole new life every time they get back together." She thought to herself.
Peyton snapped her fingers in Brooke's face as Brooke fell into a silent daze. "Are you okay?"
Brooke shook her head to snap herself out of the daze of thoughts running through her mind. "I was just thinking about how I want to find a love like Keith's and Karen's love."
"Well one day you will find your prince charming." Peyton smiled. "One day you will be gushing to me about your fiancée and his amazing family."
Brooke remained silent but gave her head a nod. "One day." She knew she'd met her other half in Lucas but she couldn't help but feel as if her chances of winning him back were slim to none.
"Brooke Davis?" Lucas laughed in disbelief as Brooke walked into Haley and Nathan's backyard.
Brooke smiled and playfully took a bow in front of Lucas. "Yes sir, it is me! The girl of your dreams." She said in a fake British accent.
"Come here silly girl." Lucas smiled and pulled Brooke into a hug. "I've missed you so much."
Peyton flinched at Lucas confessing how much he'd missed Brooke. He said it the same way he told her that he missed her at the airport.
"I've missed you too." Brooke smiled and prolonged her embrace with him. "I'm sorry I missed so many of your calls but I was planning on coming here and surprising everyone with my arrival." She lied.
Lucas smiled and tucked a few pieces of loose curls behind her ear. "Well the surprise was totally worth all of the missed calls."
"It has been worth it for me too." Brooke had to peel her eyes away from his deep blue eyes, but his eyes followed her around the backyard as she began to chase around his nephew, Jamie Scott.
"You seem happy to have her back in town." Nathan noted about his older brother's wide smile.
Lucas nodded once and finally looked away from watching Brooke. "It's just good to see her. I haven't seen her in almost four years."
"We've all missed her like crazy." Nathan added with a nod.
"Especially Jamie." Lucas nodded toward Brooke and Jamie spinning around in the garden together. "It's like she never left."
Before everyone began to eat Brooke stood up and raised her glass of wine in the air. "I want to make a congratulations toast to the newly engaged Peyton Sawyer and Lucas Scott! No one saw this one coming but we're all happy for you." She clinked her glass against the plastic cup of Jamie's apple juice.
"Congrats." Nathan and Haley said in unison.
Nathan leaned over and whispered in his wife's ear. "The bet is not over yet! You know that this love triangle isn't going to officially end until one of them is signing a marriage license with Lucas."
"You are still betting on Brooke and Lucas getting married?" Haley whispered back into his ear.
Nathan winked before whispering. "You bet I am! Those two are meant for one another and they will see it soon enough now that Brooke is back in town."
"I agree with you but I think Peyton is determined to marry Lucas no matter what." Haley whispered back. "You saw how easy it was for her to get into Lindsay's head and chase her away."
"What are you two over there whispering about?" Peyton interrupted the couple's conversation.
Nathan and Haley looked at one another and in unison said, "Oh nothing."
Brooke smirked at the married couple because she'd been able to hear Nathan's side of the conversation due to the fact that she was sitting next to him at the long dinner table. She pretended as if she had heard none of the conversation as she went back to playing with her god son who sat upon her lap.
Nathan and Haley's conversation sparked new hope in Brooke. She now felt that she had a real chance at winning Lucas' heart back from Peyton but she knew it would be hard.
Brooke was not willing to throw her friend under the bus to win the affection of a guy, but she'd seen how easily Peyton abandoned their friendship in order to have Lucas' heart.
"Game on." Brooke thought to herself as she watched Peyton run her fingers through Lucas' sandy blond hair. "I'm giving this one my all."
