Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of the characters!

Intro: Okay so the summary pretty much tells you all you need to know... Brooke got pregnant at the age of 18. Scared and confused, she ran away from Tree Hill shortly after graduation, to New York, where she made her way through college as a single mom. She's now 34 and an extremely successful fashion designer. Her daughter, Sophie, is 16.

"Brooke, how many times do I have to tell you?" My assistant, Millicent, demands impatiently. "Don't worry about a thing. I'll make sure everything runs smoothly while you're gone. Just go and have fun and relax. And do NOT think about work, not for a second."

With that, she takes me by the arm and leads me through the office and out the door. I smile at her and give her a warm hug.

"Thanks, Mil. I know my baby's in good hands." Of course, Clothes Over Bros is only my second baby. First is Sophie, who is not just my daughter but my best friend. And with whom I'm taking a very relaxing mother-daughter trip to Hawaii for a whole week. Boy do I need this break.

The only thing on my mind during the drive home from the office is beautiful beaches, delicious cocktails, and relaxing spa treatments.

"Soph?" I call out as soon as I open the front door of the house. She skips down the stairs and plants a light kiss on my cheek.

"Hey mom!" Well someone's clearly excited about the trip.

"Are you done packing??" I ask, even though I myself haven't even started; our flight is early tomorrow morning.

"Yup," she smiles at me coyly then, and I know that smile. She's up to something. I used to get that same smug smile in high school when I was busy stirring up trouble. And I did a whole lot of that.

"What?" I ask her, and she pulls me into the living room and urges me to sit down.

"Well...there's been a change of plans," she says as she hands me a small white envelope.

I look down at it, then back up at her. "What?" I'm stunned. A change of plans?

"Instead of going to Hawaii, I thought maybe we should go to Tree Hill," her prominent dimples frame her beautiful smile, but I feel the anger boiling inside of me.

"Tree Hill?"

"Yeah. You know how I've been asking you all about your life in North Carolina, and... dad," the last word is barely audible. I look at her incredulously.

"When did you do this?" I open the envelope now and slowly slip out two plane tickets. The flight is scheduled for tomorrow, at almost the same time as our flight to Hawaii would have been.

"This morning. Peyton took me down to the travel agency and helped me swap the Hawaii tickets for these."

I narrow my eyes. Peyton. Lovely how my best friend is now backing up my daughter instead of me. I'm going to have a long chat with her. As if reading my mind, Sophie plops down next to me and takes my hand.

"Mom, don't get mad at Peyton. I mean, you both know how curious I am about my father. And she told me I deserve to meet him, and that I'd absolutely love him, and..."

I gently squeeze her hand and cut her off. "I'm not mad. I'm just...surprised. But if this is what you really want, I guess you're old enough to handle it."

She attacks me with a huge, rib crushing hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! We are going to have SO much fun. And I promise, I'll make it up to you."

Yeah. Fun. Going back to Tree Hill and facing all the things I ran from sixteen years ago. All the people I ran from. Well, one person in particular. Wow, I really must love this kid, because a tropical sunset and pina coladas are sounding so much better than going back to North Carolina right now. There's a reason why I left so many years ago. I've tried to explain it to her many times before, but at this point all she wants is to know more about her father. I can't blame her, really. I hadn't even shown her pictures, but Peyton brought over the scrapbook we made during our senior year, and Sophie stole a picture of me and Lucas at the Naley wedding. Just a few months before she was conceived. Strange how, in a matter of minutes, your entire life can change forever.

Of course, I'm more than grateful for having Sophie in my life. She is my life. But looking through that scrapbook, I couldn't help but shake the questions; how would my life be different now if I hadn't gotten pregnant then? Or, what if I had stayed in Tree Hill and raised Sophie there? Well for one thing, I wouldn't have Clothes Over Bros. And I can't even try to imagine Sophie as a small-town girl. She loves the city, and it suits her.

Suddenly, she snaps me out of my thoughts with the question I'd been dreading. "So, have you started packing? Like, at all?"

Ugh. I force myself to get up, pulling her up with me. Packing doesn't sound so bad after all, compared to what I'll have to face come tomorrow.

AN: So, what do you think?? I'd love some feedback! I tried a different Brucas story but I really wasn't feeling it so I ended up deleting it. But what do you guys think about this? I got the idea randomly a few days ago. Let me know if you'd be interested in reading more!