Come back when you can – chapter one
She sat on her spinning desk chair, one leg over the other as she leant into her desk, scrolling on her computer with a gleeful grin across her face, she clicked a couple of times and then squealed in delight and leaning back in her chair before spinning around. Clanking high heels came running up the hallway and with her hands resting behind her head she turned to face the door in time for her assistant Millicent Huxtable running into the room and hiding behind the door. Brooke looked at her with a mischievous grin knowing exactly what the dark haired girl was doing, she laughed as she watched Millicent hold her breath as her mother walked past and then sigh a breath of relief when she walked out of sight.
"Victoria getting to you again?" Brooke asked swaying the chair from side to side as Millicent walked over to the desk, Millicent was too polite to tell her what she was currently battling with her mother, Let's just say that when they were hiring for Brooke's assistant when Millicent walked through those big doors all clutzy and nervous, Victoria had detested the idea of hiring her and Brooke didn't know if it was the idea of having her own silent victory over her mother or if she saw admirable qualities in the brunette that sat in front of her, maybe it was both but the moment Brooke had hired her had become the moment that Victoria began to make not so subtle comments about Millicent and every single aspect of her existence. At that moment, the moment when Victoria would do anything in the world, say anything in the world to upset Millicent the reason Brooke had hired Millicent shone through, her pure resilience and the definite presence of admirable qualities. From that moment on Brooke has sort of been in awe of Millicent and everything she stands for. She smiled up to Millicent pretending that she had been listening to everything she had been saying in the past few minutes, she assumed that she had covered it when Millicent smiled back and walked out the door, dodging Brooke's friend and now model to the company Rachel as she walked in. It had made sense to hire Rachel, she was a gorgeous, she knew how to model and Brooke wasn't going to deny that it was nice to have a friendly face around. Leaving Tree Hill had been one of the hardest things for her to do, a lot harder than she ever thought it would be, watching her friends leave hadn't been easy either. She felt as though life had taken such dramatic turns for everyone within the high school group of friends and with every turn it was as though the group got further and further apart. She assumed that it wasn't the same for those that still lived in Tree Hill, but for herself and she felt so distant and so isolated being away and just the thought of how distant she had become from her best friend Peyton, her heart would literally hurt, it wasn't as though they were fighting and that is what made it so much harder, they had both began adjusting to the pace of their new lives and unfortunately those things such as phone calls and emails slipped through the cracks. From the brief conversations she was having she knew that Peyton was incredibly busy, running up and down the halls of the music world, no doubt taking it all by storm but then again another reason was definitely because Peyton was so far away from Lucas. Lucas was back in Tree Hill and Peyton was in LA and she knew that any moment that wasn't spent tirelessly working was spent on the other end of a phone call to her blonde boyfriend. But she had a plan, to soothe some of that isolation and distance between them all, she had it all organised it was going to be fantastic all she had to do was convince everyone else that it was a fantastic idea. She would have to start off with the closest. When she looked up she noticed that Rachel was blabbering away to herself, so she slowly transitioned into the conversation. "Wow that's great" she said hoping that that response deemed significant enough to the situation.
"What are you thinking Brooke Davis? Wild Party? Sleepover? Drunken Booze Fest?" Rachel asked with this cheeky look on her face wondering what life with her friend Brooke was going to spring on her now.
"I was thinking vacation" she said with a simple yet elegant Brooke Davis smile.
"Vegas? Tahiti? Paris? Oh please tell me it is Paris" she said getting more excited with every exotic location that fell from her lips.
"I was thinking a bit more local" she saw the distinct look of disappointment on her friends face "But only so everyone can come"
"Are you inviting boys Brooke Davis?" she asked again with the most mischievous of looks on her face.
"Actually I was thinking about having a bit of a high school reunion" she said with such fruitful glee.
X-x-x-x-x
Haley walked down the stairs of the two story home, they were still living in Debs house, you would think that living with your mother in law or even your mother would be unbearable at this stage of their lives, they were still young but with all that had happened to them in the past years they had matured dramatically. It was nice to be living with Deb; she helped Haley and Nathan juggle with the new demands of college and raising their beautiful baby boy Jamie. This week Deb was out of town visiting her brother Cooper, Nathan was at basketball training, Lucas was with him, and she had finally gotten Jamie down for a nap, she was feeling pretty happy with herself. She stood in the kitchen trying to find herself a snack in the fridge, her loose sweats clung to her petite figure, she noticed the silence a thought coming to her mind, she made sure the curtains were shut and the front door was locked, she checked the time to make sure she had adequate time before the boys would be back and she checked her phone to make sure that Nathan hadn't called or texted her to tell her that they were coming home earlier than expected. When she realised that nothing was stopping her she undid the zip of her jumper and threw her clothes down on a pile on the floor and took a moment to breathe in. Yes she could be a very self-conscious being, especially since the birth of her son but there was something in the act of standing naked in a room, not to seduce but to take a moment to take all that surrounded into her soul, it gave her this freedom that she sometimes thought that she no longer had. She was standing in the middle of the room her eyes closed, engulfed by thoughts and emotions when like on clockwork her mobile phone began to ring, she jumped and grabbed the closest thing to her and answered the phone, trying to calm herself down and catch her breath all at the same time.
"Hi this is Haley" she was so panicked that she had forgotten to check the caller id before she so ferociously answered the phone.
"Hey Tutor mum how are you doing?" there was this excitement in Brooke's voice, they truly hadn't spoken to each other in a while and she was craving conversation.
"I'm not naked" she said not sure exactly where the comment had come from. She heard Brooke nervously laugh before she cautiously breeched a new subject.
"What are you doing two weeks from today?" she asked swinging back on her desk chair, Rachel still sat in front of her but her face and attention was submerged within a magazine.
"Well the semesters over so Nathan and I don't have to go to school, so probably will just pick up some extra shifts at Karen's, maybe catch up with mum and dad why?"
"I was sitting in my big office and I was thinking about how I haven't laid eyes on you for nearly a year now and I just thought that maybe you would be interested in enjoying a lovely vacation with me"
"DRUNKEN BOOZE FEST" Rachel yelled over in the background, Brooke blocked the receiver and pointed at Rachel with this look on her face, she could hear Haley laughing in the background.
"Sounds like a great idea, but are you sure you want us to come? James is a bit of a handful and I doubt I will be very much fun at a 'drunken booze fest', we just wouldn't want to cramp your style" she said with her usual Haley James Scott laugh that made Brooke crave and pine for home, it was small things like voices and laughs that always reminded her of Tree Hill and make her miss it like crazy, she remembered sulking for an hour after receiving an joke via email from mouth, she had laughed at the joke that was so typically mouth and then the realisation that she hadn't hugged mouth in the longest time sunk in.
"Are you kidding me Miss HJS? I'm sure he is absolutely gorgeous"
"Oh he is" she said taking a moment to consider her son, she found herself doing this a lot lately, ever since he was born. Haley had fell in love with Jamie the second he was born into the world and each day that love grew stronger and stronger.
"Plus all of that is beside the point, I want a whole group holiday and we spent the last year of high school with Jamie in bump form so he is a member of the group, and I need some time with my godson anyway" she said with a smile.
"Okay well I will have to talk to Nathan about it but I reckon it sounds like a really great idea Brooke, We really miss you back here in Tree Hill"
"Thanks" she said not really one hundred per cent sure why she had responded that way, what she really wanted to say was 'I am missing you guys all like crazy' but she felt that if she actually said it aloud she would become a wreck, un-functional. "Oh Haley can you do me one more favour?"
"Anything Brooke" she said rearranging the blanket around her very naked body
"I need you to rope Luke in! I've got Mouth working on getting Skills to come, I've already convinced Rachel to come" she smiled feeling Haley's eyes roll across the phone line "And I'm just about to call Peyton now but I don't think I will be able to call Lucas today, I've got back to back meetings all afternoon and I know that the second I get on the phone to Luke I won't be able to hang up or shut up, plus from what I hear he practically lives with you so you have a higher chance of tracking him down anyway."
X-x-x-x-x-x
"Hello" she could tell just by the tone of her voice that her friend was incredibly distracted and probably doing ten things at the same time.
"Peyton Sawyer put down whatever you are doing this very minute" Brooke demanded with a smile
"Brooke Davis" she said as a broad smile appeared across her face, she felt her arm lag with the heavy book full of documents that she was supposed to be photocopying, this was her tenth trip to the photocopier this morning, she thought that she should just set up shop right there for the rest of the day.
"Have you put everything down?" she asked feeling instantly better for just hearing her best friend's voice
"I so wish I could, thank god I get a break soon" Brooke could tell that Peyton was exhausted
"What are you doing?" Brooke asked
"Photocopying"
"Your ass?" she asked with a smirk, making Peyton laugh really loud and it was the nicest sound she had heard in so long from her friend "What I actually meant was what are you doing for your break?"
"Probably just go home, try to catch up with Luke, actually I will probably just sleep" she said with this exhausted laugh
"Well I have to inform you that you will actually be at a beach house with me that week"
"Brooke, I would so love to, I really would and I hate doing this but you know what it's like juggling your work and juggling your relationship with Chase" Brooke made herself a mental note about telling Peyton about the break up "When you finally get a moment off you have to take advantage of it"
"Well I am glad you feel that way cause I just talked to Haley and Lucas is already on board" she knew that it was a lie, but it was only a small white lie, it wouldn't hurt. She knew that Haley had the powers to talk Lucas into anything and she had the power to talk Haley into anything for example the Sandy from grease costume at the Halloween party at TRIC.
X-x-x-x-x-x
The front door opened and she felt herself smile, her husband and her best friend were finally home and her son sat upon her hip. Back when Lucas originally joined the Ravens she never could have imagined a day that Lucas and Nathan would actually talk to each other and become the closest of friends and brothers, let alone that she would be married to the 'Jock' Nathan Scott and the mother to his child. Nathan walked into the room, greeted her with a 'hello' and a kiss before scooping their son out of her arms and giving her the look that said 'Lucas really needs to talk to someone and I think it should be you', she nodded in his direction and then looked to her blonde best friend, who looked more broody and slumped than usual.
"Hey Luke" she said walking over and throwing her arms around him "What's going on with you?"
"Are you and Nathan speaking with your telepathic marriage language again?" he asked with this smile that quickly disappeared when he delved deeper into his own thoughts
"Come sit down and talk to your old friend Haley" she said taking his hand and leading him over to the kitchen table "What's going on Luke? Is Karen okay? Lily?"
"There fine. In fact they are great; Andy is really taking care of them and adjusting to this whole kid thing"
"And you're upset because it should be Keith doing it all?" she asked putting a supportive hand on his arm.
"Yes! But no, Andy is a millionaire right?" he asked clearing the whole story past Haley, not knowing if she truly remembered, she nodded and waited for him to continue "Well he had a boat, and he and mum have decided that they want to take Lily away from Tree Hill and travel the world" she didn't know what to say, no way to comfort she knew exactly how he was feeling and she also knew that between them often silence was the best response "I'm going to miss them Hales. I've really been enjoying watching Lily grow up you know?"
"Yeah I do honey" she said squeezing his arm "When do they leave?"
"In about a month, but it's really a serious decision, I don't think they are coming back. Mum is shutting Karen's; she said at the moment it's all just temporary but I don't reckon she is going to come back" he said his world crumbling around him, Haley pulled his head onto her shoulder and threw her arms around him, placing a kiss on the crown of his head.
"Hey I've got something to take your mind off it all" she said as Lucas tilted his head in curiosity.
X-x-x-x-x-x
She walked into the foyer of her New York apartment; she unstrapped her high wedged shoes, walked to the kitchen, poured red wine into a steamed glass and then walked herself over to the couch. Brooke finally had a moment to herself, finally a moment to take a breath and register everything that had happen that day. Her phone rang and while she initially groaned at the idea of another business call or worse yet another call from her mother, she smiled as she registered who it actually was, she answered and before she even had a chance to say a greeting a voice beamed at her.
"Were in Baby, All of us, Nathan, James and me" Brooke waited for her to finish the sentence and as each second went past she regretted telling Peyton that Lucas was already on board "AND LUCAS" she breathed a sigh of relief.
To be continued!
*Authors Note* Will be writing a couple of one-offs and new stories on One Tree Hill and also will be updating my other stories soon, so keep an eye out. I have a story coming up about Lucas' reaction to Dan and his death in season 9 and I will also be doing a one-off about the last time Dan see's Lucas and his family and Lily at a another funeral. But I'll keep you posted. If anyone has an idea of families or couples or friendships that they would like me to write a story or involve more in a story just send me an email or write me a review and I would be happy to look into it!