Words Written You Never Read
Chapter 1:
"We're happy free confused and lonely at the same time. It's miserable and magical oh yeah," Brooke sings along to Taylor Swift on the radio, ""Tonight's the night we forget about the deadlines, it's time uh uh. I don't know about you but I'm feeling twenty-two." Brooke sashays across the store and spins when she gets to the counter. "No truer words were spoken T. Swift. Today I am feeling every ounce of my twenty two years," she says aloud. Since graduating from Tree Hill High School four years ago Brooke had been busy, never could she have imagined that the same clothing line she created in her apartment senior year as a way to focus on herself and not relationships and heartbreak would one day turn into Clothes Over Bros.
The summer after her eighteenth birthday was spent in California at the behest of her mother who professed to miss her terribly. When Victoria Davis caught Brooke doodling on a notepad it was all over - her little hobby quickly turned into a global fashion empire. After four years of travelling the world trying to get her mother's approval Brooke decided it was time to fill the hole in her heart and return to the one place that she always called home… Tree Hill.
Brooke hears the store phone ringing, "Clothes Over Bros."
"Great, you're answering the phones now?" Victoria hisses, "I told you moving back to Snooze Hill would be a disaster."
"Hello mother, how may I help you?" Brooke says with a smile so wide it hurt her mouth. Even though Victoria couldn't see her she wasn't about to let her think she'd won.
"That boy doesn't still live around there does he?" Victoria snaps.
The boy she was referring to was none other than Lucas Scott. After Luke turned up in New York, drunk and rejected, Brooke had taken him in. She hadn't expected him to try and kiss her, obviously she couldn't talk to Peyton about it - she was the reason Lucas was feeling rebuffed in the first place. Lucas had flown to California and proposed to her, she hesitated and Lucas bailed. He landed in the only place he knew to seek comfort, Brooke's arms. She hadn't expected to miss him as much as she did and when they nearly hooked up on her living room sofa she knew she needed to talk to someone and if it wasn't Peyton Sawyer it was usually Haley. Unfortunately for Brooke, Haley James Scott was currently out on tour, playing sold out shows and concerts like she had been born to be a performer. That only left Nathan, who happened to be Lucas's baby brother. "Mother, I need to go I'm going to be late."
"Please tell me one thing before I let you go, you aren't going to meet him are you?"
Brooke laughs, "No mother - I have plans tonight with someone that is off the market. No need to be worried."
Brooke heads up to the doorstep and buzzes the bell, Nathan is at the door almost immediately, "Hey hot shot." Brooke and Nathan head inside and she notices the walls filled with happy memories staring back at her. 'Will I ever have someone in my life that looks at me the way Nathan looks at Haley?' Brooke wonders to herself. The further they walk inside the more uneasy Brooke feels, 'something's not quite right?' she tells herself. "Is everything alright Nathan?"
"Yeah, yeah." Nathan waves her off. "I have beer and beer." He chuckles, surveying the refrigerator.
"I guess I'll take a beer then." Brooke replies with a smile.
"Great," Nathan opens two Coronas and heads to the couch. "So what did my idiot brother do now?"
"Well…" Brooke begins to rehash the happenings of that fateful night in New York with Lucas. Thinking about it now makes her dizzy, 'how could he still do this to me after all these years?' she pouts. She wipes at her eyes, the wave of emotion hit her like a ton of bricks. "So clearly I need some advice, I'm a mess."
Nathan lays his arm around the back of the couch behind Brooke's exposed shoulders, "I'm glad you told me everything, I just wish there was more I could do for you. I understand the conflicting feelings, you and Lucas have history and he kissed you, it's normal to wonder what if things had turned out differently. You aren't a mess Davis, you're human, look around you sweetheart I'm a mess."
"What's wrong Nate, did something happen with Haley?" Brooke asks with sad eyes.
Nathan let out a deep sigh, "We're friends right Brooke?"
Brooke reaches for his hand and gives him a reassuring smile, "of course we are Nate, I've known you since third grade."
"It's time for me to tell you some truth," Nathan gulps hard, "Haley and I have been having some problems. We tried counseling, we took some time away together, we spent time apart. All it did was make the truth more apparent to us both… Our marriage is over."
Brooke felt betrayed, if Nathan and Haley couldn't make their marriage last where was the hope for her? "Wow Nathan I am so sorry I had no idea. The last time I talked to Haley she didn't mention anything, I can't believe you are having such problems. You're getting divorced? You two have always presented yourselves as such a united front, both of you were in this for the long haul what happened?"
Nathan shrugs, "We married too young I suppose."
"Well I am here for both of you," Brooke rubs Nathan's hand to strengthen her vow, "Anytime, anywhere."
Nathan sits up and puts his head in his hands, it's at that moment Brooke notices his naked ring finger, "That is really kind of you Brooke, but I'm sure the reason Haley hasn't said anything to you is because our main issue you."
Brooke took a second to respond, "Wait… I don't understand. What do you mean?"
Nathan exhales sharply, now was as good a time as any, "Me and Haley are getting divorced because of my feelings for you."
