Summer Skin
"I lay awake at night thinking that marrying her was the wrong choice."
Disclaimer: All characters owned by the CW and Mark Schwann.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: AU Future. A new twist on an old triangle- Lucas/Brooke/Peyton with bits of Nathan/Haley thrown in.
Lucas Scott isn't good with decisions. Not when he filled out his college applications, not when he pulled his father out of a blazing fire, and certainly not when he's forced to choose between two beautiful girls.
He has three things right now. He has a best friend. He has a good friend. And he has a girlfriend.
The first time around, he chose Peyton Sawyer, the beautiful, tortured blonde who was looking for a way to escape. Then, he chose Brooke Davis, the gorgeous, bubbly brunette who was going to help him escape. And through it all stood Haley James, the girl next door who had ended up marrying his brother.
Lucas Scott isn't good with decisions. This time around, both Brooke and Peyton are in love with him. Lucas Scott isn't good with decisions.
He picks Peyton.
The wedding comes right after high school ends. It shouldn't be too much of a surprise, because his brother and best friend married even younger. But it is.
Lucas broods, and Peyton broods, and it's just one big brooding fest before it even begins. Brooke has finally forgiven them for breaking her heart, again, and she teases Peyton. "Do you want your wedding dress to be black? That's going to be the mood, isn't it?" Peyton laughs, but her smile doesn't reach her eyes.
Brooke has started calling both of them Broody.
The dress is white, and so are the flowers. Brooke stands next to her best friend, and she wonders how it's possible that she's been the maid of honor for both of her best friends' weddings, both of them to boys she's slept with herself.
She wonders if she'll ever get her grand white wedding. Peyton is beautiful, but she hardly looks good in white.
Lucas is handsome, but not so much when his smile looks forced.
They say I Do, and they exchange rings, but not hearts.
The book comes right after he graduates college.
He waxes poetic about Peyton and their love, but what catches the perky brunette's eye is the smallest passage in the book.
She was fiercely independent, Brooke Davis. Brilliant, and beautiful, and brave. In two years she had grown more than anyone I had ever known. Brooke Davis is going to change the world someday. I'm not sure she even knows it.
Haley has Nathan, and Peyton has Lucas (or at least she thinks she does), but Brooke Davis doesn't need anyone but herself.
She's going to do just fine in the real world.
The phone calls come right after her fashion line goes worldwide. She recognizes his breathing; she doesn't think she'll ever forget it. All their late night calls from high school serve as a burning memory in her mind.
Lighting the flame is easy; it's taking out the fire that's hard. "Congratulations," he says softly, and she smiles just because of it.
"Well, someone once told me I was going to change the world," she replies cheekily, but she knows this is wrong. This is wrong, wrong, wrong because Peyton trusts her and she shouldn't be having late night conversations with her best friend's husband.
Things are different now. This isn't high school.
At the press party for Clothes Over Bros, Haley James Scott glances at Brooke like she knows a secret, and she shakes her head disappointedly.
When she does, Brooke has to look away.
Lucas and Nathan Scott share the same last name, but they are hardly alike.
In high school, both were jocks but Lucas was soft-spoken, kind and had an alluring quality about him. Nathan was outgoing, loud and slightly stereotypical. At least, until Haley James came along.
At the moment, Haley is reading a book to Jamie, and the boys are playing basketball in the Scott backyard. It's almost like they're back at Tree Hill High.
Nathan plays for the NBA now, but Lucas stays reserved in his home, planning his second novel while his brother cares for his family and plays on television. "How are things with Hales and Jamie?" Lucas asks.
"Good. Everything's good," Nathan smirks, but it's more of a smile. "You and Peyton?"
Lucas wishes he spent more time with his best friend since childhood, but growing up is hard enough as it is. "Can I tell you a secret?"
Nathan wants to laugh and call his brother gay for gossiping, but he has a feeling it's something serious, so he keeps a straight face and nods.
"Sometimes, I lay awake at night thinking that marrying her was the wrong choice," Lucas admits. "I don't know what to do."
"Brooke?"
"Is it that obvious?" Lucas sighs. "What do I do?"
Nathan shrugs. "I'm your brother, not your shrink."
And that is that.
"I love you, Luke," Peyton smiles as they lay in bed together one dark night.
"What's wrong?" he asks, turning to face her as she smiles tearfully at him. This marriage- it's killing him, but he thought he had made her happy. He can't believe he's been so blind to know that it's killing her too. These tears are surely a sign of regret.
But he's wrong. They're tears of joy, but he wishes they weren't because the next two words she utters are going to change his life forever.
"I'm pregnant."
He rolls back over to face the wall. Suddenly, he can't breathe.
"She's pregnant," he says blankly.
Brooke Davis smiles sadly. "Is she excited for the baby?"
She's gone through a series of crash and burn relationships, and none of them seem to stick. She's successful, but she's not happy, and she's a lot more like Lucas than she thinks.
Lucas shrugs. "Yeah. She's really happy."
"Are you?"
Lucas looks at her, all brown hair and hazel eyes and dimples. It's Brooke, and Peyton is Peyton, and he doesn't know what to do. He takes her face into his hands, and he kisses her like he should be kissing his wife.
He feels alive.
They reason that summer has always been their season, the season of LucasandBrooke, the reconciliation, or LucasandBrooke, the break up.
Lucas Scott has three things now. He has a best friend. He has a wife. And he has a lover.
Lucas Scott isn't good with decisions.
Author's Notes: Ideas, comments, suggestions? Leave reviews, please.
