Hi guys, first of all, I'd like to thank everyone for reviewing my other Brulian fic. I'm sorry if I didn't get round to replying to every review, but I appreciate all of them greatly! This is my attempt at a Brulian one shot, it might be quite cheesy, but not overly so. Hope you enjoy.
'You're staring at me'.
He laughed, it was a throaty, hearty laugh, ' Oh come on princess, you know you're beautiful'.
She attempted a sarcastic eye roll, and the witty comeback was supposed to sound much more confident.
'Does that ever work on a girl? Those cheesy lines?'
He winked, 'well, you're here with me aren't you?'
Yeah, she thought. But it's only because it was Sam's request, and with everything that's happened, Brooke couldn't bear to deny the girl anything. Imagine her surprise when Julian Baker arrived on her doorstep, with a bag stuffed with chinese takeaway, and a brand new Macbook tucked safely under his other arm.
'It's for Sam.' He shrugged casually, ' I downloaded all these cool screenwriting software for her as well.'
Brooke stopped herself from saying 'you didn't have to', because it was true, he didn't have to, but he's doing it anyway. Sensitive idiot.
That was over two hours ago, and Brooke had no idea how they ended up here, with Sam typing away in her bedroom, and them on the couch, nursing a bottle of white wine. She takes another sip from her glass and absentmindedly runs her manicured fingers through her cropped hair.
She doesn't want to begin to think why this all feels comfortable, she won't let herself.
Julian's eyes wander to the framed picture on the oak coffee table. It was a candid of Brooke and Sam, with Sam smirking at a very giggly and apparently tipsy Brooke Davis, it was a much needed celebration, due to Brooke's decision to be the costume designer for 'Ravens'. Normally, Brooke wouldn't let Sam anywhere near a drop of alcohol, but it was a perfect occasion, and with everything that's happened, Brooke couldn't bear to deny the girl anything.
' She reminds me of much of,'
'Peyton,' she cut in.
He refilled both their glasses and nodded, grinning slightly.
She couldn't really return his grin, instead, she voiced something that has been bothering her for a while now.
'Do you think that's part of the reason you keep popping up? Because you couldn't save Peyton, and you thought you could with Sam?'
His eyes matched hers, and she could see that he looked hurt, but not surprised.
'No, I don't. But do you want to know what I think?'
She took another sip of the wine and placed the glass on the coffee table, scooting closer to him as she did so.
'I'm sure you'll tell me'.
He raised an eyebrow, was she flirting with him? This mere possibility gave him a boost of confidence, he placed the now empty wine glass next to hers and inches his face so near hers that she could almost taste the wine on his lips, and he wonders how her coconut lotion would taste against his lips.
'I think'.
Pause
He's teasing her, she's sure of it. But she hasn't kissed anyone in so long that she doesn't want to make the first move. He moves even closer, and their legs are touching now.
' I think you're trying to think of as many reasons as you can, so that you won't have to get involved with me'.
Maybe it's the wine, or his natural spice, or even his adorable grey V neck sweater that exposes a few stray hairs, Brooke doesn't know, but she wants to kiss the living daylights out of this guy.
'You're right,' she whispers, 'but I don't think it's working'.
That did it. His lips were on hers, they were dry and chapped but she couldn't care less. They were both the dominating type, and their tongues slid in and out, battling eachother for dominance, for victory. Brooke's hands were all over his sweater, and Julian's hands all over her hair made her forget about the snarky fifteen year old in the other room. As the kiss becomes deeper, causing Julian to bite her lip slightly, Brooke's hand wanders down to his jeans, and her gentle caressing was enough to release a soft moan from him, she smirked in victory but he only kissed her harder, his hands wandering dangerously near her now unbuttoned white blouse.
'Brooke, can I order some-'
They both froze, Julian's hands were still fumbling around with Brooke's shirt, and hers were attempting to unbuckle his leather belt.
'OH! My god. Eiw! Okay, ugh. Sorry'.
Once the door slammed shut, Brooke turned to Julian, her hair messy and her lips swollen.
' I think I should go'.
Brooke did nothing but watch the tall retreating figure leave her house. The second door was slammed shut within two minutes, and Brooke Davis was still frozen on her couch, confused.
It must have been ten minutes later when Sam came out, a tub of cherry garcia and a spoon in her hand.
' Wow. Ignoring the growing hickey on your neck, you should go grab a jacket, it's cold outside'.
Brooke frowned, 'why would I be going outside? And hey, where's my spoon?'
Sam smirked, ' I'd love to share this with you, but you've got a love confession to make, eh? My bet is he's at Tric, I heard he was meeting Lucas there to draw up some contracts'.
She barely had time to check her appearance as she raced out the door, leather jacket in tow.
Sam was right, there he was, sitting there with Lucas. They were both downing beers, but the darker haired man seemed almost lost.
Great, she thought as she looked around. Owen was there, wearing a somber expression as usual, Peyton was squeezed next to Nathan and Haley, she could hear Haley's cheerful voice from a distance,
'We should give Brooke a call, where is she?'
It's now or never Davis.
Although her hair was messy, her lips were swollen and her top was creased, she's never felt more confident. The clicking of her heels announced her arrival, and with a light smile to all her friends, her eyes were soon turned to the dark haired man with the adorable V neck sweater.
'Brooke'. She could tell he was glad, but surprised this time.
'You shouldn't have left'.
The looks on her friends faces, and Owen's, were priceless. But she had to act on instinct for once and right now, she craves this.
He shifts uncomfortably, but raises from the stool nevertheless.
'Um, Brooke, do you want to do this here?'
He's challenging her, she knows it, welcomes it, even. His eyes are daring her to proclaim whatever's on her mind.
'You asked me earlier if I was trying to think of reasons to push you away,' Her eyes land on Peyton for a brief second, and the look of encouragement was evident in her eyes. That was all she needed.
' But the thing is, you think I see you for more than you are, and that's why you broke away and left. It wasn't because Sam caught us.'
Nathan's smirk was growing by the second, but she has to do this.
'But Julian, you are that guy, and I've never done this public announcement of love thing, but you make me do the craziest, cheesiest things.'
His expressions were unreadable, and she took it as a bad thing.
'If you don't say something within five seconds I'll-'
'You said love. Public announcement of love.'
Her eyebrow is raised, a small smirk prominently displayed on her face.
'Don't read too much into it, Baker'.
But they both know, words aren't really their forte. Their entire relationship, whatever it was, was constructed from hidden meanings, facades and steamy glances across the room.
Two years later.
'Sam! The pizza's here, do you mind getting the door?'
Brooke's smirk grew as her sarcastic foster daughter grumbled about staying in on a Saturday night, with possibly the most boring married couple on the planet.
She came back to the couch and placed two trays of pizza on the coffee table, and his eyes were still glued to the football game on the flatscreen. New York has been good to them, and with Sam possibly enrolling at NYU next year, they'll still be a unit. Brooke smiled at the thought.
'Baby, the pizza's here, come on'.
Julian turned to smile at her, 'alright, let's eat family'.
Sam rolled her eyes at the cheesiness of the Bakers, but of course, she would never admit how much she loves hanging out with them, as lame as they are.
The football game has been switched to a random sitcom that Brooke's probably seen five times, but he lets her have it. He takes a sip of his beer and chews on the pepperoni, taking a glance of his unit, as Brooke calls them. His eyes stop at Brooke's slightly larger bump, relishing in her glow. Brooke turns to him.
'You're staring at me'. She ecchoes the words from two years ago.
He chuckles at the memory but instead of saying something, he chooses to watch the screen, and softly places a hand on her stomach.