Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or its characters...I own nothing but this story's plot!!


What you need to know: Everything seasons 1 through 3 happened. The Brucas breakup happened like on the show, then came my one-shot, Nothing but your t-shir on, then comes this fic. It's kind of the aftermath of my version of the BL breakup, post breakup hook-up, and what is to come. If you don't want to read that one shot to get the back story, you will be fine. But if you feel somethings in the story are a little confusing it might clear them up. If you still have any questions about anything, feel free to PM me!


Brooke and Rachel are kicked out of school for stealing calculus exams and forced to leave Tree Hill. What happens when Brooke decides to come home three years later? Will she be greeted with open arms? Or will she cause irreparable damage?


Prologue:

Hope for the Hopeless

"I cannot believe this! My daughter! My daughter expelled from school! This is so not what I needed to deal with right now," Victoria ranted to her daughter as she paced around her room. "How could you do something so stupid as to steal a test? Well actually never mind, if you were dumb enough to be failing of course you were dumb enough to concoct this insane plan!"

Brooke flopped back onto the pillows behind her head. She had heard the same lecture probably 50 times since her parents arrived yesterday morning. They did not particularly like coming back to Tree Hill or dealing with their daughter for that matter. So when an incident arose in which they had to deal with the two of them they were most definitely not pleased.

And sure, Brooke knew stealing a calculus exam wasn't the smartest of things. She had even been against it to begin with. But that damn Rachel could be so convincing…

"I know, Mom," Brooke grumbled through the pink satin throw pillow she had placed over her face. "It was stupid and I never should have done it, but what's done is done. And I—"

"You're damn right what's done is done. Brooke Penelope Davis you have practically ruined your entire future. If it wasn't for you father pulling some serious strings and donating that new library wing to Hansonville Academy you would have nothing. At least they agreed to take you on a trial basis," Victoria continued to yell as she threw items out of her daughters closet into the Louis Vuitton luggage she had opened on the floor.

"But I don't want to go there," Brooke whined. "It's all the way in Washington for God's sakes. I can just stay here, with my friends, get my GED—" Victoria cut her daughter off once more.

"Your GED?" She screeched. "Have you lost your mind? That is unacceptable. Not one of the colleges your father has picked out for you would touch you then. You can forget it missy, you are going to Hansonville. End of story."

"But Mom, I have a life here. I have my friends, I have my squad, and I have my clothes," Brooke pleaded, now sitting up on the bed to actually look at her mother. Her face was sad and tear-stained. Leaving was not what she wanted.

"Friends, please," Victoria snidely snapped. "If you had any real friends you wouldn't be in this predicament. They would never have let you go through with this ridiculous plan. They would never have left you been failing. That's the only thing I regret about Hansonville, the fact that that Rachel girl's parents got her in too," Victoria added, lowering her voice to an angry whisper when she remembered they were actually still in 'that-Rachel-girl's' house.

Brooke could see she wasn't getting anywhere with her mom. She had screwed up and she had to face the consequences of her actions. At least Rachel was going to school with her, so she wouldn't be totally alone up in Washington.

She and Rachel hadn't always been the best of friends, but when she had the fall out with Peyton over Lucas and then the whole breakup, Rachel had really been there for her. When she had nowhere else to go, Rachel had let her move in. And when Rachel had discovered she was failing calculus, she was determine to help Brooke graduate on time. And sure, sometimes her methods were a little unconventional, but she always meant well. And most importantly, she never judged Brooke for any of the things she had done, not even for a second. And part of that might have been because Rachel had done worse herself, but Brooke liked to think she was a very open-minded person.

"Brooke? Are you even listening to me?" Victoria asked her, walking over to where she was merely inches from her daughter's face.

"I'm sorry, what?" Brooke asked in response. She had been zoning out, thinking about all that she would miss—her friends, the birth of Haley's child, cheerleading, and Lucas. But to go along with the things she would miss there were also those that she wouldn't miss—Peyton's lying face, seeing Peyton and Lucas together, her calculus teacher, and all the regrets.

"I was saying that you needed to finish packing your things. Your father and I are tired, and we have a lot to deal with in the upcoming days like the preparations for our departure as well as your own. Also we have to make sure you continue to fully understand your actions have consequences," Victoria explained.

"Trust me, I understand that," Brooke nodded at her mother. She knew she had done wrong, and now she was being punished, she totally got it. All she wanted to know was why where her parents deciding to actually 'be parents' now?

"Really? Because I don't think you do," Victoria said. "You tell me this every time Brooke, but you never change. Remember the first time I caught you sneaking cookies from the cookie jar, or stealing flowers from the neighbor's yard, or having sex with a boy? I told you there would be consequences for your actions if you weren't careful, but then I never followed through. I just let it go, and for that I partially blame myself. But most of the blame is on you. I am very disappointed in you Brooke," she said sadly, giving Brooke one last look before closing the door to her room.

Brooke just stared at the closed door in silence; tears were beckoning to fall down her face but she would not allow it. She just sat in disbelief, the first emotion her mother basically says she has about her, and there it was, disappointment.

She had always known she wasn't good enough for her parents. They would pass her around from nanny to nanny when she was younger. Then when she got older they threw their credit cards at her just so they didn't have to deal with her. Sure, she had always had every material thing she had wanted, but she knew that was just another tactic to keep up appearances and keep her out of their hair. Seriously, how much could they possibly care about her when it only took one conversation from a total stranger to allow her to stay in Tree Hill, North Carolina while they moved across the country to California? They had never conveyed a single emotion to her; she couldn't even remember so much as an 'I love you' growing up. No wonder she was so screwed up.

She lay back on the bed, ever since her parents had come into town she had gone from the room she and Rachel shared to a room of her own at the other end of her house. Neither of the girl's parents wanted them around each other, each saying the other was a bad influence. The both of them couldn't be more wrong. They, themselves, had been the bad influences on their daughters, they were just too proud to admit it.


"Rach, you still asleep?" Brooke asked as she peeked her head into the room she and the redhead shared up until a few days ago. She walked into the dark room, hoping her friend wasn't actually asleep despite the ungodly hour it was.

"Not, anymore," Rachel grumbled, rolling over in her bed and flicking on the lamp next to it. "How'd you get past the parentals?" She asked her friend as she sat up in the bed.

"Oh, you know, once they got a few drinks in them they weren't so worried about me anymore," Brooke laughed as she sat at the end of Rachel's bed. "And once they hit the bed I knew it would be a long time before they got up. I hate sleeping down at the other end of the house." She confessed, knowing Rachel would probably tease her for the sentimental confession.

She was right. "Shut up skank. Just get over here," Rachel told her, propping all her pillows up behind her for comfort. Rachel was not the kind of person to gush about her feelings. In fact, emotional displays usually made her run in the opposite direction. "I know you didn't just come in here to wake me up, so you better start talking."

"I don't know what my deal is. I woke up this morning and I was like feeling all sentimental. I was thinking about how I'm never going to walk up and hear Bevin tell one of her jokes that no one gets again, or lead another cheer practice, or…cheer for a certain basketball player," Brooke admitted, kind of mumbling out the last part of her sentence.

"Oh please tell me I did not just hear what I think I heard," the redhead said in a threatening tone, practically pouncing on the brunette.

"What? Now I can't tell you how I'm feeling?" Brooke asked, not wanting to justify her feelings. She just wanted someone she could talk with about them and not be judged.

"You can tell me all you want; it doesn't mean I won't think you're a total idiot. Or a masochist for that matter," Rachel blatantly admitted. She wasn't one to sugar-coat the facts, not even for one of her only friends in this world.

"Really? Just because I'm getting sentimental?" Brooke asked her friend honestly. She didn't want to be totally pathetic, but that's how she felt.

"Sentimental? Please, Brooke. Let's be honest, you have never gotten over him and you probably never will. But the great thing about this move is its giving you a chance to move on. So take it," Rachel encouraged her, flopping back down on the pillows.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm over Lucas, I just…" She trailed off, not knowing how to complete her thought without sounding like a bumbling idiot. It didn't even make sense to her. All she knew was that she was going to miss Tree Hill, and knowing it wouldn't be right outside her front door…well, that just made everything seem perishable.

"You just nothing," Rachel snapped back. "If you're over that boy then I'm going to sleep with Mouth."

"Well I can't wait to tell the lucky boy," Brooke smirked, "Although I wouldn't want to break his heart right before we both leave so I'm going to have to put the brakes on that whole conquest."

Rachel rolled her eyes; Brooke thought she was so smooth. "You are soooo not over him Miss ratty-t-shirt,-still-looks-at-her-love-scrap-book-every-night,-gives-Peyton-the-evil-eye-anytime-she-looks-at-he-who-shall-not-be-named," She quipped, putting air-quotes around the whole name she had come up for Brooke and all her not so subtle actions.

"We are no longer having this conversation," Brooke told her, standing up from the bed and wrapping her around her own waist. "I did not come in here for you to make fun of me. I came to have a serious conversation, but clearly you are incapable of that," she snapped at her friend, moving towards the door.

Rachel climbed out of her bed and followed her friend. "Look Brooke, I'm sorry. I just don't want to see you get hurt again. I know what happened when you guys broke up, and then that night a Tric," she told her trying to be supportive.

Brooke's eyes grew wide at the end of her friend's statement. "You promised never to mention that," she said, her heart starting to race. "That was a moment of weakness and it should not have happened."

"And it will not be mentioned again," Rachel agreed, acknowledging her former promise. "But do you see what I mean? You do not think straight when it comes to him. And I don't think the added complication of us moving away is helping the situation," she told her friend. I mean, someone had to look out for her friend's heart. And if she wasn't going to do it herself, Rachel knew what she had to do.

"I guess," Brooke reluctantly admitted. She hated it when Rachel was right. "So do you think it is a bad idea to say goodbye to everyone today, his included?" She asked, wanting her friend's honest opinion.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to say that including him in your goodbye rounds would not be one of your brightest moments," Rachel answered, crossing her arms over her chest. "But the fact that you reconsidered it, that is progress," she added, patting her friend on the shoulder.

"Alright, well I may take your advice this time. And hey at least if I come to regret it I can always blame it on you," Brooke tease her, trying to lighten the mood.

"Haha, very funny. But trust me, you won't regret it," Rachel spoke with her confident air that had originally drawn Brooke to hate her, but she now respected.

"I'm going to head back to my room before our parents wake up and throw a bitch-fit. I actually would like to leave the house today," Brooke added, walking out the door, leaving Rachel alone in her room to contemplate whether or not the advice that was right for her would be right for Brooke.


The next morning it was time for the girls to leave. They had an early flight so that they would arrive in Seattle, Washington around lunch. This would give them the majority of the day to get oriented with the campus and unpacked their things which had been shipped a few days prior. At least they were going to be roommates again. Their parents weren't able to get them separated due to the school's overcrowding.

The ride to the airport was silent. Brooke rode smashed in between her parents in the back of a chauffeur driven Lincoln Town Car. She wished she and Rachel could have just caught a cab together, but for some reason her parents actually wanted to see her off. Probably to make sure she actually got on the plane and didn't try to stay here in Tree Hill. As it was, they had so little faith in her that they were having a representative from Hansonville meet her at the airport and show her back to campus, how pathetic.

At least soon she would be rid of them. And this little town she had always loved. Here she was a big fish in a small pond. At Hansonville who knew what she would be? All she knew was with Rachel by her side they had better watch out…these two could be pretty untouchable when they wanted to be.

Brooke's parents gave her her ticket and watched her walk through the security gate. They called after her something about she better get on that plane, but she didn't even turn around in response. She just walked over to her friend and waited for their plane to start boarding, which shouldn't be too long. After all, they had been cut it pretty close on time.

After waiting about 30 minutes they began boarding flight 124, straight service to Seattle, Washington. She and Rachel were some of the first to get on the plane. After all, their parents cared just enough not to let them fly coach, even in a time of punishment.

"Can you believe we're really leaving?" Rachel asked Brooke, sounding a little excited as she stuffed her carryon in the overhead compartment.

"No," Brooke answered from below. She was glad to be sitting by the window so she could get one last look at all she was leaving behind. "I mean, this is the only place I've ever lived. It's all still so weird."

"Trust me, as sad as it is to admit, you get used to the moving thing. It's when you get attached that you have a problem. Luck for me the only one I really let get close to me was you," Rachel admitted, taking the seat beside her friend.

"Yeah, but I'm the baby who's attached to everyone and everything. The more I think about it, I think I'll even miss being able to fight with Peyton," Brooke pouted, sounding even more depressed about leaving then she had the day before.

"I know," Rachel told her. "But hey, if it makes you feel any better I'll let you fight with me."

"I might have to take you up on that," Brooke answered, finally giving in a cracking a smile.

"That's the little girl I know," Rachel told her, shoving her in the arm. "Let's look at the bright side of this situation. We can totally reinvent ourselves. No one at this school knows us or any of our baggage. We can be who ever we want to be. We can even say we're virgins," Rachel told her friend, receiving a strange look from her that made her add, "I know, why would we want to do that, right? But seriously, we can be anyone or anything. We're a mystery."

Brooke thought about her friend's words. She wasn't really up for lying to everyone but how much easier would it be if everyone didn't know your whole history. In this new place there were no complicated ties to other people, no reputations to live up to or overcome. It was just her, and for once, that sounded kind of nice.

The stewardess came over the intercom and announced that they were about to take off, and everyone needed to buckle up. Brooke did just that and turned to look out her window, bidding farewell to what she could see of Tree Hill, thinking about all she was leaving but at the same time all the unknown she was about to face.

Rachel observed her friend who looked like she was in deep thought and gingerly touched her arm. "Hey you alright?" She asked her in a concerned voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Brooke shrugged her off. "Just thinking," She added, not wanting to go into too much detail.

"No regrets I hope," Rachel prodded, she had to know. She hoped if Brooke had taken her advice from the day before she would be fine. But the more and more she thought about it, the more she realized what was right for her might not be right for Brooke. "About your goodbyes and everything?" She asked, hoping for once to get a straight forward answer.

"No, no regrets," Brooke smiled at her friend as she thought of her tearful goodbyes yesterday with Haley, Nathan, and Mouth. She was definitely going to miss them. She was going to miss Lucas too though, but she knew she would never get through a goodbye to his face. Thank goodness she had taken Rachel's advice, somewhat. All she needed to say to him was in the letter she's left with Haley.


"So could this suck any worse?" Brooke asked flopping down on her twin bed in the dorm room she and Rachel now shared. "Even the weather here is awful," she added, looking at her window at the snow that was falling. It had been coming down at a steady rate since she and Rachel had landed, and now the ground was blanketed in white.

"Well you could have to listen to some stupid whore complain about it every five minutes," Rachel said, rolling her eyes at Brooke. She got it, this was less than ideal. But did Brooke really have to go on and on about it?

"Sorry," Brooke admitted, pushing herself up off her bed. "From now on I am back on the making the best of things wagon. And the first thing we should do is hang something on these walls. I feel like we're in a prison," she observed, running her finger over the cold bricks.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Rachel agreed, also doing a turn to look around the room.

The room wasn't as big as either of the girls was used to. It was a little smaller than the room they shared at Rachel's house. It had grey painted cinderblock walls, and the only furnishings in the room were two desks and two twin beds. They each had their own tiny closest, but they had to share a bathroom with a whole floor of other girls. Obviously with their spur of the moment enrollment there was no time to get them better living accommodations, it was simply about having a roof over their heads and a school they could graduate from.

"I know! How about we go shopping! I mean, there's got to be somewhere to shop around this place," she suggested, her tone of voice finally sounding like Brooke pre-getting kicked out of Tree Hill High.

"That sounds awesome," Rachel agreed. "But how are we going to get to the mall or wherever we're going. We have no cars here. We are basically trapped," she explained, taking a seat on her bed's unmade mattress.

Brooke thought about it for a second. "There has got to be like a shuttle or something. I mean, I didn't really see too many cars here. Or we could always walk?" she threw out to her friend, already sure of the response she would get.

"You have got to be kidding me. It is like two degrees in the middle of a freakin' blizzard! The only people walking right now are penguins," Rachel told her with a simple hand wave. "I hate to say it but at this hour, I think we are pretty much stuck here for the night."

Brooke lay back on her bed as a sign of defeat. She had been seriously craving some good old greasy cheese sticks. And now she couldn't get them out of her head. She was pretty sure she and Rach had missed the scheduled supper. But maybe there was somewhere on campus that was open and serving food. I mean, the school wouldn't let them starve. Would they?

"I'm so hungry," Brooke rolled over to face Rachel with a huge pout on her face. She knew even if Rachel was hungry she couldn't turn down her request for food now.

"You know if you eat much more you're going to have to get a new best friend because I don't think you will be able to fit in my clothes anymore," Rachel teased her friend as she let out a snide giggle.

Brooke's face burned; sure she had put on a little weigh since getting kicked out of school. Whose diet wouldn't take a hit after going through such a stressful ordeal? She rolled over to face her wall, no longer wanting to talk with Rachel.

Rachel observed her friend's behavior and immediately regretted her own. "B, I'm sorry. Don't act like such a super sensitive bitch," she called to her, in her own approach to compassion, which obviously was still a little rough around the edges.

"I think you're the one being a bitch," Brooke snapped back at her, rolling back over to face her friend and propping her body up on her elbow. "You always have to take my little insecurities and just throw them back in my face, don't you?" Brooke screamed at her.

"I know," Rachel hung her head. "And I'm sorry, Brooke. You know I suck. And I may not always have the best means over be able to sidestep sensitive areas, but I always have your best intentions at heart. You're the only one who has really ever been there for me. And I want you to know, I'm always going to be here for you," she said, walking over to her friend's bed and taking a seat beside her.

"Its fine Rach," Brooke said, "I shouldn't have snapped out on you. Ever since the whole incident I have been super sensitive…I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe I'm getting my period or something," She tried to explain away her actions to her friend.

"You've been about to get your period for a whole two weeks?" Rachel asked her shocked. "No, something else is definitely up with you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Brooke told her dismissively, trying to get her persistent friend to drop the subject. Yeah right, that was like asking Rachel's inner fat girl to put down her favorite Raspberry pie. She didn't want her friend to say it. She didn't want her to utter the words she herself had been afraid to think since she had actually missed her period a week and a half before.

"Brooke," Rachel spoke softly, turning to face her friend. "Could you be pregnant?" She asked her, speaking with a tone of serious that Brooke had hardly heard her friend use.

The reality of her situation hit her like a ton of bricks. Unable to say anything else, Brooke just let her head fall onto her friend's shoulder and the tears began to flow uncontrollably.

The redhead wrapped her arms around her friend, slowly beginning to rock her in her arms. "It's okay Brooke," she told her. "I'm here for you and I will help you through this. Whatever you have to do, I'm here," Rachel kept repeating, trying to say anything she could to calm her friend.

"Okay," Brooke muttered between cries as she continued to sob. Life at a new school in a strange city just got a whole lot more complicated.


So what do you guys think? Remember, this is like three years prior to when the actual story will be taking place. It was just kind of to show everyone how we got to the place we will be in in the next chapter. So don't be confused by the next chapter but the girls will no longer be in high school. I hope you all liked it! Let me know! :)

Audra