AN: Ok, first OTH fic! Yay! I'm pretty new to the characters, but Brathan is officially my OTP right now! Please read and let me know what you think! I will add more later, but I wanted to get this out there. It's sorta long, but not that bad. Reviews are Love!
Brooke sat in her 5th period class and sighed. She looked around the room, trying to escape from the boredom that was her math class. Not finding anything to help hold her interest, she resorted to staring out the window. Completely lost in her thoughts, she was jolted to attention when she heard snickers from her classmates. "Ms. Davis? The answer?"
The teacher looked at Brooke expectantly, as though waiting for her to fail. Suddenly a whisper from behind her said, "x 1 3/4". Without thinking about it Brooke spit the answer back out at the teacher. Raising an eyebrow, the teacher sighed before saying, "Next time, Ms. Davis, please try to stay awake, and next time, Mr. Scott, please keep your thoughts to yourself."
As the bell rang, Brooke turned a bit shyly to face her would-be savior. "Hey, thanks for that," she said, surprised that Nathan Scott had actually helped her. "Yeah, well, don't get too used to it," he replied, smirking a bit. "It was kind of a momentary lapse in judgement." Rolling her eyes, Brooke retorted, "Of course, I should have known that th infamous Nathan Scott would never do anything that might be perceived as civil while he was in his right mind."
"Whatever, I just felt sorry for you," Nathan said, trying to think of some witty comeback. She laughed, saying, "See you around," as she began to walk to her next class. Nathan's eyes never once left her retreating form.
Nathan hopped out of the passenger side as his dad parked the car. "Hey, Nate, I'm going to have a business meeting for the next two weeks, so you're going to have the house to yourself. Don't do anything stupid, and make damn sure you practice every day."
Rolling his eyes at his dad's remark, Nathan tried his best to hide his hurt. "Sure, dad," he sighed, walking in the front door. Dropping his stuff on the floor of his room, he changed into some sweats and called, "I'm going for a run," as he jogged out into the cold. He didn't really intend to run that far, but he got to thinking about his day and Brooke.
Sharp voices jerked him out of his reverie and looked around, a bit dazed as to where he was. Surprised, he realized he had run the five miles to the lake, and he shook his head, not looking forward to the return trip. Looking back up to try and figure out where the voices were coming from, he saw a man and woman standing on the driveway of a small ramshackle house.
Slowing to a walk, Nathan watched, not wanting to intrude, but unable to look away. The fight escalated, and the woman turned away and walked off towards the woods.
As she turned, though, Nathan caught a glimpse of her face, and he recognized her– Brooke.
Walking the rest of the way to the lake, Nathan was surprised to find someone already sitting on the bench when he arrived. He went to sit down, but as he faced the person he realized it was Brooke. Not sure what to do, Nathan made a move to leave and keep walking but a voice stopped him. "It's ok, you can sit. I'll leave."
Her normally perky voice was shaky, and as she started to get up he noticed the tear stains running down her cheeks. Brooke almost fell over as she tried to walk, and Nathan instinctively reached out to catch her. He gently set her back down on the bench before saying, "No, it's ok. How about you stay, and I stay with you?"
Nathan wasn't entirely sure where that had come from, he didn't normally give a shit what was going on with other people, Brooke least of all. Something about the situation made him care, though, and he knew that there was no way he was going to leave Brooke alone on the bench.
Sitting down next to her, he sat in silence for a moment, not sure what he should say or do. Brooke pulled her legs up onto the bench and hugged them to her as she started to shiver. Noticing, Nathan took his hoodie off and offered it to her. "Are you sure?" Brooke asked, hesitant to take the offered hoodie. "Yeah, I've got another one on," Nathan said, gesturing to his other sweatshirt.
"Thanks," Brooke said softly. "So...what's up?" Nathan asked, trying to figure out how to ask what was wrong without being too nosy. "Nothing much," Brooke said, "You?"
Shaking his head, Nathan decided to let it go for the moment as he said, "I'm alright, my dad's being an asshole and leaving for a few weeks, but other than that, life is ok." Looking at him with sympathy Brooke said, "That sucks about your dad...if you ever need anything or if I can do anything to help let me know, ok?"
Surprised by her offer but grateful nonetheless, Nathan smiled. "Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks. Seriously, though, are you ok? I saw you and that guy on my way up here."
Brooke bit her lip, trying to think of what she could say to him. "Nathan.." she began, "it's a long story."
"I've got time," he said, honestly wanting to know what was going on. "You can tell me anything, I won't tell anyone else or judge you or anything, I promise."
That seemed to be what Brooke needed to hear, and she started to talk. For the next hour, he listened to her explain about her life. He listened as she talked about her dad, about how he would get drunk and leave her for weeks at a time with no notice and sometimes get violent. He listened as she talked about being homeless on occasion, how she met Peyton and Peyton took her in.
By the time she was done there were silent tears running down her face, and Nathan hesitantly wrapped her in his arms to try and comfort her.
He had never seen Brooke like this, alone and scared. He had never known this side of Brooke before, and as he thought about it, he began to feel like a selfish bastard. He had never bother to get to know her, he had always just looked at her as the bitchy cheerleader who partied and slept around. She had hidden everything so incredibly well that he had never even suspected for a minute that she could be hiding something this big from him- from everyone.
"I'm sorry you had to listen to that, I'm sure it didn't make much sense," Brooke said, trying to stop hiccupping and crying.
"What? No, Brooke, it's totally fine. I'm really glad you told me, actually." She gave him a look that said,"BS", but he shook it off.
"Ok, Nate, whatever you say. But I should probably stop boring you and let you get going so that you can make it home before it gets too dark." Nathan hadn't even been thinking about going home, but he now noticed the setting sun and fading light. "Alright, you coming?" he asked, holding out his hand to Brooke. Shaking her head, she said, "Nah, I think I'm going to stay up here for a while longer."
She moved to take his hoodie off but he stilled her arms. "Keep it," he said, "I don't want you freezing to death up here. And promise me that if you ever need anything you'll just come to me, ok? I mean it, Brooke, if you need a place to stay or someone to talk to, I'm here for you."
Brooke's eyes teared up a bit at his words, but she smiled. "Thank you, Nathan, you know the same goes for you."
She stood and impulsively hugged him, trying to convey her thanks in the simple gesture. He held her a minute longer than he needed to, inhaling her sweet scent. When they broke apart, Brooke was smiling.
"Bye," she called as Nathan jogged off down the hill.
In the following weeks, Nathan began to notice little things that he had never even though to look for before.
He saw how Brooke would occasionally wear long sleeves even when it was burning hot outside, and he saw how sometimes Peyton would stay extra-close to her. Once or twice he saw how Peyton actually physically held Brooke up in the middle of the hallway when her legs gave out.
Since talking with Brooke, Nathan had grown to admire not only her, but also Peyton. Peyton was the one who was always there for her, no matter what. Peyton gave her a place to stay when she needed it, took care of her when she was hurt or sick, and did her best to keep her out of trouble. All of these were things that had escaped his attention before, but now he saw everything and worried about Brooke.
He had grown to rely on her companionship in the past few weeks. She had talked him through asking Haley out, and when it didn't work out she comforted him. He tried to check up on her, too, but she always just brushed him off.
Nathan always made sure to tell her that she could come to him with anything, even when she never did.
The soft knock on his window woke Nathan from a light and restless sleep. Turning over in bed, he got out and groggily opened the window.
"Nathan, do you think...well...could I maybe..stay here for the night?" Brooke asked. There was a fragility and shakiness in her voice that instantly set alarm bells ringing in his mind, and he said, "Yeah, of course." Reaching to help her in, he was stunned when she flew back from his hand, almost falling back out the window in the process.
"Brooke?" he questioned, his concern growing by the moment. She didn't answer, just came in all the way through the window. Her movements were stiff and slow, and she refused to look up to meet Nathan's eyes. "Brooke," he tried again, more gently. She didn't answer again for a moment, but when she did his breath hitched. Are those tears I hear? He thought in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, Nathan, I shouldn't have come, I just didn't know where else to go," Brooke rambled, trying desperately to keep the tears from falling. It didn't work, and Nathan moved to envelope her in a hug. As he moved to hug her, however, he heard a small gasp escape her lips and he drew back, afraid he had hurt her.
"Are you ok?" he asked, feeling like he was repeating the same question over and over without ever really getting an answer. Brooke just stood there, and before she could move or protest Nathan flipped the light on. Brooke looked up at him helplessly, trapped in the sudden light. This time it was Nathan who gasped as he took in Brooke's appearance.
Her face was bruised darkly, and there were welts and bruises running up and down her arms that he was willing to bet extended onto her stomach and back. "What happened?" he asked after a long moment.
"My father..." Brooke began brokenly, before completely breaking down. Nathan caught her as she fell to the floor, trying to be careful and not jar her. Cradling her in his arms, he tenderly held her as she cried, smoothing her hair out of her face and just holding onto her. When she finally slowed, Brooke tried to stand, but her legs gave way.
Catching her once more, Nathan gently picked her up in his arms, amazed at how light and immensely breakable she felt in his arms. Taking her to the bathroom, he cleaned her up as best he could, wincing every time she bit her already bloodied lip to keep from crying out in pain. He wanted to kill her father, but at the moment he knew that Brooke needed him more.
Carefully taking her back to his room, he laid her down on the bed and tucked her under the sheets. Turning the light off, he went and crawled into the bed with her, knowing instinctively that she didn't want to be alone. Nathan wrapped his arms around her, wanting her to feel safe and protected. Brooke tensed at his touch, but he murmured softly in her ear and didn't let go, reassuring her that it was ok, he wasn't going to hurt her.
Slowly he felt her small body relax into his embrace, and he stayed awake until he heard her erratic breathing slow and even out as she succumbed to exhaustion. Allowing himself to finally drift off once more, Nathan pulled her closer to his body, wanting to reassure himself that she was still there.
The morning light streaming through the window woke him, the events of the previous night coming back to him slowly. His mind suddenly grasped that his arms were wrapped around air, and he jumped out of bed, panicking. "Brooke?" he called, looking around for her.
"I'm in here," came the reply, and he breathed a sigh of relief that she was ok and not gone. He went downstairs and made some breakfast, looking up when he heard Brooke coming down the stairs. She was toweling her hair off and was wrapped in one of the robes that was always kept in the bathroom.
Her face was a bit swollen and mottled with red and blue bruises. She was clearly still a little stiff, though not nearly so much as the previous night, and she was walking with a limp. "Hey," he greeted her softly. "Want breakfast?"
She nodded, grateful that he wasn't pestering her with questions or kicking her out. Watching her as she ate, he decided to just ask her straight out. "Brooke, what happened?" She paused for a split second, but then she looked up to meet his eyes and he could see the tears glistening in her eyes.
"I was home alone," she began haltingly, and Nathan instinctively moved closer to her as though he could protect her from the memories. "My father came home drunk, started throwing things around...I just happened to be in the way. Things... got out of hand. I managed to get out when he got bored and went to grab a beer, and I didn't know where to go. Peyton is out of town and I didn't want to bother Haley or anyone else, but then I remembered what you said, and I don't know..I just ended up here. The rest, as they say, is history."
She finished with an attempt at a smile, but it couldn't disguise the tears falling from her eyes. His heart felt like it was breaking as Nathan enveloped her in a gentle hug, mindful of her injuries. Wanting to make it better but not having a clue as to what could possibly make something of this magnitude better, Nathan opted for simply pulling her closer to him and kissing the top of her head.
"I'm glad you came to me," he said quietly, "I meant what I said. You can stay with me for as long as you need to, and any time you ever need anything I want you to come to me. I'll help, Brooke, I'll keep you safe here." As he said the words, he realized that they were all true. He didn't know where the protectiveness had come from, but he knew that he would do whatever it took to keep Brooke from getting hurt like this again.
Brooke listened to what he was saying, trying to detect any hint that he was lying or just saying things to calm her down, but she thought for a brief moment that he actually meant what he was saying. As he pulled her closer, she was suddenly aware that she felt safe in his arms, and she basked in the feeling, knowing that it couldn't last.
Later that night, as Brooke was sleeping, Nathan sat up and watched her, keeping guard over her. He had barely managed to convince her to stay for another night, and he wanted to make sure that she didn't try to leave in the middle of it. He knew that she hated admitting that she was weak and needed help, and she was too proud to simply agree to live with him for a while.
Brooke gasped suddenly, causing Nathan to start from his thoughts. He watched Brooke closely to see if she was awake or not, and when he saw she was sleeping he stopped paying attention. Deciding to go downstairs to grab a drink, he was opening the fridge when he heard a scream from upstairs.
Sprinting back up to his room, he was greeted by the sight of Brooke thrashing under the covers, sheets twisted tightly around her legs. She was crying, whimpering, flinching over and over again in her sleep, saying, "No, no, please, I'll leave, I'll be good, please, no!" over and over. Rushing to the bed, Nathan shook her, trying to wake her from the nightmare.
"Brooke, it's just a dream, it's ok," he was shouting now, trying to wake her with no success. "Brooke!" he yelled, and she bolted upright, falling out of the bed in the process. Nathan barely caught her as she fell out of the bed, talking to her, just trying to soothe her.
"Brooke, shhh, it's ok, it was just a dream, a nightmare, it wasn't real." She buried her head in his chest, sobbing, and he held her tightly, trying to calm her and prove to her that she was safe.
Safe now, at least he thought with a grimace, because he knew that what she had been dreaming about had been real a mere 24 hours earlier. She held onto him tightly, trying to convince herself that she was safe, that the dream wasn't real.
God, Brooke, get ahold of yourself she thought, he's probably getting sick and tired of you right and your "I'm messed up" personality right about now. With great effort she forced the sobs to stop, but she couldn't bring herself to let go of Nathan.
"I'm sorry, Nathan, I'm not worth this," she whispered, ashamed of everything that was happening. Nathan's heart felt like it was being put through a shredder when she said that, and he wanted to kill the person that had done this to her.
"Brooke, listen to me. This isn't your fault. You're worth everything in the world and more. Look at me, Brooke," he said, gently taking her chin and forcing her to look at him. "It's ok." Looking at him, Brooke saw that he was being honest, that he really wasn't mad at her, that he actually cared.
"Thank you," she said softly.
"C'mere," Nathan said, drawing her closer to him and stroking her hair. They fell asleep like that, Brooke holding onto Nathan as though he would disappear if she let go, and Nathan doing the same with Brooke.
When he woke, he was surprised to find Brooke still in his arms, snuggled up to him, and he couldn't stop the smile that came unbidden to his face when he looked down at her. She stirred and her eyes opened, meeting his. "Hey," he said, "How are you?"
"Better, I think," she replied, not wanting to leave the warmth and strength of his arms. He seemed to sense that, and scooped her up in his arms to carry her downstairs. She squeaked indignantly, determined not to let on how nice it felt.
"Nathan, I'm capable of walking you know!" Her laughing protests fell on deaf ears, and Nathan just smiled. After a light breakfast Brooke sighed.
"I'd better get going," she said. Nathan's smile fell.
"What? No, stay! It's fine, and I would really feel better with you here so I know you're ok." She couldn't help the smile that formed at his words, but she still shook her head. "No, Nathan, I really appreciate everything that you've done, and I don't want to intrude any more than I already have. I mean, come on- you've skipped school for two days now just because of me!"
Trying to come up with a comeback, Nathan retorted lamely, "Well you skipped too!" Her look softened at that, and she replied, "Yeah, but that's a little different. You need to go to school tomorrow, you have basketball practice and everyone is probably missing you."
"But you won't be there." he said, more of a statement than a question. "Nathan..." she trailed off, a look of pain flashing across her face before she buried it.
Instantly feeling bad for making things harder for her, Nathan said, "It's ok. I understand. I just...I'm worried about you, Brooke, I don't want you to get hurt again." He took her hand in his as he said the last part, trying to convey how much he wanted her to be okay.
She squeezed his hand, saying, "I'll be fine, Nate, don't worry about it. Be a gentleman and walk me to the door?" Sighing but knowing he was beaten, Nathan followed her to the door.
"Nathan," she said as she stood in the doorway. "Thank you." She quickly stood on her toes to give him a soft kiss on the cheek before turning and going out the door. Nathan stood there in shock, watching her leave. She didn't look back, but his eyes didn't leave her until she turned the corner and was out of sight.
Lifting his fingers to his cheek, he touched the spot where her lips had been...They were so soft and full... God, man, get real! It was probably just a small thank-you, she has enough problems without me trying to hit on her too! And since when do I even think about hitting on Brooke Davis anyways?? Nathan thought. Closing the door, he went to crash on the couch and watch some sports to try and clear his mind.
Brooke allowed herself to walk more slowly and less evenly as soon as she knew that she was out of sight of Nathan. Although she would never admit it to Nathan, she was still sore and aching all over, and she couldn't stop thinking about kissing him.
Geez, since when do I think about hitting on Nathan Scott? She wondered, finally deciding to write it off to brain damage or something out of her control. It took her a good hour and a half to limp her way back to her house, and she couldn't help but wonder how in the world she had managed to cross the five miles to Nathan's house in the dark and hurt.
Brooke placed her hand on the doorknob, hoping that nobody would be there, but a small part still hoping that someone would care enough to at least be in the building.
As the door swung open, however, Brooke could see at a glance that nobody had been there since she left. The car was gone, there was booze spilled all over the floors, and shards of glass were still scattered. Trying to tell herself that she wasn't disappointed, Brooke gathered herself and began to clean.
The following day at school, Nathan couldn't stop thinking about Brooke. Why am I so damn worried? She said she would be fine, not to worry about her...so why is she all that I can think about? Mentally slapping himself, Nathan tried to focus on what the teacher was saying, but without willing himself to, he found himself staring at Brooke's empty seat.
Deciding that he had to do something to refocus, he resorted to texting Brooke and hoping that she would respond and allay some of his fears. How are you? He typed, hitting send. Within a few moments he felt his phone buzz in his pocket and he flipped it open.
Fine, thanks for asking. You? Smiling a little and glad to know that she was ok, he replied Better now that I know you're ok.
Nathan kept texting her throughout the day until she finally stopped responding around three. The next day Brooke still wasn't at school and she had stopped returning any texts, and he began to be a bit worried. Maybe she got hurt again and didn't come to me..or maybe she was just hurt worse than I thought.
Peyton was back, and she couldn't stop glancing at Brooke's empty seat. One of the other girl's noticed, and turned to Peyton, saying, "She hasn't been here since last week. Nobody's seen her, and nobody really knows where she is."
Nathan watched as Peyton turned sheet-white and got a slightly panicked look on her face.
Peyton's mind was racing frantically. What if she's hurt? What if nobody knows and she's just laying there? Why the hell didn't she call me? Nathan watched as the emotions and thoughts flitted across her face like wildfire. The bell rang and she fairly leapt for the door but he caught her by the arm. "I need to talk to you Peyton," he said. "Nathan, now's really not the time, I have to go," she started, but he cut her off. "It's about Brooke."
Peyton hesitated, but she decided to give him a chance and hear him out. "Ok, let's go over here where it's a little more private." He followed her, and when she turned again to face him he started talking.
"Peyton, Brooke's dad...he was home and things got out of hand." Her hand rose to her mouth as she imagined all the possible scenarios.
"Peyton, hey, don't freak out, it's ok. She came to me,"- here Payton gasped a little, unable to comprehend why Brooke would go to him of all people- "and she stayed with me for a few nights. Brooke got pretty banged up, Pey, but I think she's going to be ok."
Inhaling deeply and trying to regain some sense of calm, Peyton tried to set her thoughts in order. Ok, well, she got hurt...but Nathan said she got cleaned up at his place, so that means that she's probably ok. But wait...where is she now?
When she voiced that thought, he said, "She's back at her place."
The look of horror on Peyton's face let him know right away that he had done something wrong. "You let her go?" Peyton screeched in disbelief. "Well, uh, yeah, I could barely convince her to stay one more night at my place!" Nathan began to get defensive.
"You aren't supposed to ask her, dummy, you're supposed to tell her that she's staying with you! She hates going back to her house after something like this, especially alone. You at least took her back there yourself so that you could make sure nobody else was still there, right?"
The look on Nathan's face was all the answer Peyton needed, but she relented a bit as she also saw the look of intense worry and pain.
"I'm sorry, Nathan, I tend to overreact and get a bit protective when it comes to Brooke...You did the best job you could; I'm just glad that she turned to you," Peyton said.
Continuing, she said, "Listen, I'm going to ditch and go check on her, you want to come?" Nathan jumped at the chance to go with her, and they headed for Brooke's house.
The end! Of this chapter, at least. So i'm fairly certain that Brooke's dad isn't really abusive? But it made for an interesting idea in my mind and allows for LOTS of talking and interacting with Nathan! Please review!