They were sitting in the car, his car. He was driving, headed north, to New York. No, she corrected herself. To Haley. She had to smile when she thought of Haley. Haley. It was like rining a bell in her mind. She had to pay attention, she had to.
She tuned back into the conversation when she heard Haley's name mentioned. She hadn't realized Lucas was talking, but them she remembered she had asked a question about Peyton.
"Oh, by the way, um,… when we get to New York,… I hope you'll understand if we spend most of our time with Haley." Brooke stopped listening. Is that what he thought? She was only going because it was New York, and there was shopping? Bastard, she half growled in her head. If you only knew the real reason...
But she smiled and nodded. "Of course." She turned around and looked out the window, her smile slipping off her graceful features.
He honestly thinks I don't even care about her. Not that I've given him a reason to believe otherwise, but... She fought with herself in her mind and before she knew it, they were standing in Haley's room. She smiled again, but the smile turned into a frown when she saw who the brunette girl was with.
Chris f-ing Keller. The single most revolting person in the world. She was drawn out of her thoughts when Haley opened her mouth.
"Lucas! Oh my gosh! Hi." Haley reached up and gave her best friend a hug. Brooke could feel the green monster inside of her threatening to explode, but she was saved when Chris opened his god awful mouth.
"Oh, well, it's about time the tribal leaders came to collect thier squaw." In Brooke's head all she heard was: Blah.Blah.Blah. Lucas, get your hands off her.
Haley gave a grunt of unamusement. "Oh shut up, Chris." Brooke fought back a laugh when she heard that, but Lucas was still managing to touch Haley in some way.
But, if Lucas was good for one thing, it was brooding. That and the fact that he hated Chris Keller. So Brooke was not surprised when he repeated exactly what Haley said. "Yeah, shut up Chris."
It was then that Haley finally realized that Brooke was presently in the room. The scene was in slow motion. Haley reached forward and pulled Brooke into an embrace.
"Oh, it's good to see you too Brooke." Brooke's heart sunk low into her stomach. Obviously, they all assumed that she hated Haley. When Peyton found out she had gone to New York, the first thing she would ask is how much money she spent. They thought so little of her.
And then they were in the hotel room. Brooke could sense the tension between Lucas and Haley and decided to be the "holier-than-thou bitch" everyone thought she was.
"Um,… I'm in New York city and my parents have resumed allowances; I would be crazy not to shop right now so I'm gonna leave you two alone. OK? Good luck, see ya, bye." And she was gone, out the door, awy from the one person she had come to see.
It was as if God hated her, becuase on her way down, in the elevator was none other than Chris Keller. She quickly wiped away the tears she didn't realize she had been crying off of her face, trying not to ruin her makeup, and put on her blank face.
"Are you crying?" Chris's voice was the most annoying thing in the world. Well, beside's Lucas' whining. She turned to glare at him.
"No." Her voice was hard and cold, and suprising, he flinched. But then he shrugged.
"Why would you be crying? I'm sure your parents didn't cancel your credit cards." Brooke wanted to snap his neck, but instead, she snapped at him.
"See, that's everyone's problem! You guys all think I came here just to shop and not care about anyone else! Why? Does anyone realize that I care that Haley is leaving as much as Lucas does? Huh?" She was screaming and he had taken a step back, his hands up in a defensive manner. She stopped and tried to control her breathing. Her chest rose and fell heavily and the elevator was silent.
"I don't know." He finally said as he shook his head. "I guess...people just expect you not to care." She looked at the ground.
"I know." She said quietly as she left the elevator, leaving Chris to wonder what just happened. But he shrugged, in natural Chris Keller fashion, and headed to the lobby to check his messages.
Brooke headed out the main doors and started to walk along the streets of New York. The buildings were massive and everything was incredible. But that didn't faze her. She was too busy wondering about Haley. Today was her last chance to prove she could be different. Maybe Haley would come home.
She piled bag on top of bag on top of bag. Things she would never use or wear, but she needed to play her part. She needed to pretend for just one more day. As she walked back to the hotel, she thought about what she would say to Haley, what she would do.
But when she got to the room, Haley was no where in sight. Probably with Broody. Chris confirmed her thoughts as he sang her a song.
"Lucas and Haley aren't back yet. But you can come into the Devil's lair." Brooke glared daggers at him. "Drop your things...have sex with Chris Keller." Now she was glaring swords and other pointy objects. He saw the look on her face. "Whatever"
She was ready. Her words were carefully planned and correctly punctuated. "Here's the deal: Brooke Davis thinks that Chris Keller can self-serve Chris Keller; in other words, you can go..."
But Haley walked through the door and Brooke found she couldn't breathe. "Oh, hey Brooke." Brooke hated the way she said her name like that. Like she wasn't happy to see her.
"What's going on?" Haley asked in a sing-song voice.
"She was just hitting on me." Chris was quick to respond. Brooke just kept glaring. But Chris didn't notice and continued to speak. "Hey, we missed you at the on-air. How's the flu bug?"
Haley smiled. "Oh...it'll pass. How'd it go?"
Chris' grin grew wider. "Well, without you, there's more time to talk about me. It went great!" Brooke snorted then started to hold her breath. Haley noticed, and Brooke felt her heart jump back into her ribcage, no longer residing in her stomach.
"What?" Haley placed her hand on Brooke's arm and Brooke's heart was that much closer to being where it was supposed to.
"I can't breathe...there's no room with Chris' ego!" She spat out in his direction. "Can we go?" She demanded.
"Yes, let's go. You can show me what you got." Haley brushed past her.
"You can show me what you got too." Chris called out from the bed. Brooke turned around and glared just one more time for good measure.
"Eh heh heh." She mocked. Then she followed Haley out of the room, desperatly trying to remember what she bought, so she could show Haley.
When she got to the room, Haley was sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for her. Brooke stood in the doorway and smiled. After a minute, Haley looked up and motioned for her to sit.
"Brooke..." She started to say. But Brooke cut her off.
"Let me speak." It came out a little harshly, but Haley swallowed and nodded for Brooke to continue.
"I'm not going to lecture you on leaving. I do that all the time. And I'm not going to tell you how much you're hurting Lucas. I'm sure he's already said it and, "She whispered this part. "I don't care."
Haley's head snapped up from looking down at the floor. But Brooke continued. "Thats right. I. Don't. Care." She said it louder, then smiled to herself. But it instantly turned into a frown. "You're not just leaving Lucas or Nathan or Peyton, Haley. What about me?"
Haley jumped off the bed. "You? You came to New York to shop. Look at everything you bought. You don't even lik..." And suddenly, Brooke's mouth was on Haley's. Haley stood still, not sure of what just happened and Brooke stood facing her, waiting for a reaction.
"What was that?" Haley managed to ask.
"I pick on you, because I like you." Brooke replied bluntly. Haley was silent again. But then spoke up.
"I thought only second graders did that?" Brooke smiled, then walked closer to Haley.
"I don't want you to stay. Come home, please." Her eyes begged and Haley couldn't look away.
"Can't." Was all that Haley managed to squeak out. Brooke brought her hand up and traced Haley's jaw line with her fingertip.
"Then...can I kiss you again?" Brooke asked hesitantly. Haley didn't respond and just lifted her head and captured Brooke's lips in her own. Brooke pulled her back so that they were on the bed now, hands moving and mouths still connected. Brooke was in heaven.
Later on, during the car ride home, she couldn't keep the smile off her face. She felt a little guilty, because Lucas was fighting back tears, but she was too damn happy to care. She fingered the necklace that was clenched in her fist. Haley's necklace.
But when they reached the sign that said: Leaving New York, it wasn't Lucas that burst into tears. Brooke did. Lucas pulled the car over, assuming it was something stupid like leaving the city of shopping. But he was surprised when she opened her mouth.
"I miss Haley." She whispered. He was shocked, but pulled her into a hug. And they sat like that for a moment.
Sometimes, even Brooke Davis could surprise the hell out you. Ecspecially when you least expected it.