Summary: There are some things you can't control in life. Things like timing and the weather. Things like destiny and kismet. It's not like they asked to be at the same place, at the same time. It's just fate taking it's course.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to One Tree Hill. All Mark.
After a tiring day of meetings, Brooke was about ready to go to bed and knock out. Meeting after meeting, she was able to charm and impress everyone in the room, despite the fact that she had arrived late to her first meeting. Now, she was finally able to go back to her hotel and get some well deserved sleep that she has been waiting for since the moment she woke up.
Getting out of the car and walking through the rain and into the doors of the hotel, Brooke's phone rang.
"Hello?" Brooke answered.
"Hey Brooke. How's New York so far?" Sam, her adopted daughter, asked.
"Tiring, very tiring. I just got out of my last meeting and I'm on my way to my hotel room right now," she replied. "Everything good in Tree Hill?"
"Yeah, Nathan and Haley went out so I'm stuck baby-sitting Jamie," Sam said, slightly annoyed.
"Hey, I'm not a baby!" Jamie called out in the background causing Brooke to slightly laugh into the phone.
"Well, it's the least you can do for them considering that they're letting you stay at their house while I'm in New York, so be nice." Brooke said jokingly.
"I know, I know. I'm just really bored." Sam said before pausing. "So um, anything exciting happen?"
Despite the fact that Brooke and Julian were no longer together, Sam still kept in touch with Julian without Brooke knowing. Her and Julian would have their weekly talks about everything ranging from her writing, to his movie. They were still very close, and that's how she knew that both of them would be in New York at the same time. However, she kept it to herself in hopes that they might possibly see each other.
"Um Sam, I'm here for business with Clothes Over Bros. That's as exciting as it gets," Brooke answered. "Why do you sound so.. eager, or something?"
"Oh, no reason." Sam replied, her voice dropping at the fact that Brooke probably hasn't seen Julian yet.
"Uh huhh, so--" Brooke then walked into the elevator, but just after pressing her room level, something caught her attention. There stood Julian, in front of her. She froze.
"Brooke?" Sam called out. "Hello, Brooke?! Are you there?"
Despite the fact that Sam was yelling through the phone trying to get Brooke's attention, neither of them moved nor did they say anything. They stood there, staring at each other in awe. Seeing him again, for the first time in two years, made her heart ache. But she couldn't look away. He looked amazing, just like he looked the last time she saw him two years ago.
He stood there, dumbfounded. He knew that he probably looked ridiculous standing there soaking wet in his rain jacket and jeans but he didn't care. Because there she was, standing in front of him as beautiful as ever with those hypnotizing green-hazel eyes that he had missed for two years. With that gorgeous, soft, brown hair that was noticeably longer than the last time he had seen it. God, he missed running his fingers through her hair, which was now currently wet from the rain.
Before either one of them could move or even say anything, the elevator dinged and began to close on the both of them, pulling them out of their current state of shock. Neither of them believing what they had just saw in front of them.
"Brooke!" Sam continued to call out. "Bad reception or something?! Jeez. Hello?!"
"Uh, yeah Sam, I have to g-go. I'll call you, l-later." Brooke said, slightly stuttering due to the shock that she was still reeling from moments ago.
"Uh, okaaay, I guess I'll talk to you later then," Sam said a bit too peppy before hanging up and screaming.
Sam knew right then and there, that something exciting has happened. The type of excitement that she has been waiting for her foster mom to encounter ever since she told her that she'd be going to New York for two months. The type of encounter that could possibly bring Brooke and Julian back together and give her the family that she's always dreamed of. That's all she really wanted. A real family. A truly happy one. And hopefully, that's what she'll get after Brooke's time in New York. Just hopefully.
The elevator ride seemed like forever. Brooke's mind was still in a daze, she didn't know what to think of what had just happened. The elevator dinged once more, signaling that she has reached her designated floor level, snapping her out of her reverie, as well.
She slowly exited the elevator and started walking towards her hotel room. Once inside, Brooke took a few minutes to clear her mind. She decided that it was probably best for her not to think about what had just happened. Not now anyways. She just wanted to go and do whatever she was going to do before she saw him, and that was to take a nice long shower because she felt ridiculously dirty from the rain. She knew that if she went back to that moment, she would never get cleaned up or do what she was going to do before.
Showering was quick, which was unusual for someone like Brooke who normally spends about an hour in the shower, but she couldn't take it anymore. No matter how hard she tried not to think about it, her mind would wander off to Julian, and thinking of him weakened her. At least she was able to get herself cleaned up, appearance-wise.
Now lying in her bed, Brooke decided to go back to that moment that happened nearly twenty minutes ago. It was brief and short, but so much was felt in those few seconds that she saw him. A part of her wanted to scream and shout out of frustration. Another part of her wanted to jump and squeal because she saw him. But ultimately, a bigger part of her wanted to cry. To cry her heart out, and so she did. Bringing her hands over her eyes as salty tears fell to her cheeks, she couldn't help but wonder. Why? Why was she crying? Especially over someone who she hadn't seen in two years. Did he have that big of an impact on her to make her cry like this? If she saw Chase walking down the street in front of Clothes Over Bros, she wouldn't have cried. She probably would've ran over to him and say hi instead. If she saw Owen hanging out at the bar, she wouldn't have cried either. She probably would've gagged at the sight of him. But why was Julian different? Why was he able to make her cry but not any of those other guys? And why did it hurt this much? She didn't know.
After the elevator doors closed, he stood there for what could have been forever. Was that really her that he just saw? Was it all an illusion? Is the rain seeping into his brain and frying it or something? Because he couldn't grasp onto the fact that who he saw was Brooke. Even after hearing Sam yell through the phone, "Brooke! Hello, Brooke?!" It couldn't have been her that he saw. But it was, and he knew that deep down too.
After finally being able to fully realize that it was her, Julian walked into the elevator doors and pressed the button to his floor level. Finally arriving at his room, he lied down on his bed to think. He wasn't going to lie to himself, it hurt to see her again. Those eight seconds were one of the most shockingly painful eight seconds he has ever experienced, and one of the best. His heart felt like it was going to thump out of his chest as he slowly brought his arms over his head. Now he can't stop thinking about her, and it didn't hurt him as much to anymore, because there was only one thing he wanted to know: Will he see her again?
Author's Note: So, I kind of really hate this chapter. I feel like I rushed it a bit. I know most of you guys probably expected more out of their little encounter, but this was all I was able to come up with. I also know that some of you guys were expecting them to share the elevator ride with each other and I'm sorry to disappoint you guys on that. I wanted them to be speechless when they saw each other, unmovable almost. I just want you guys to know that I'm not a writer and it's actually really hard for me to come up with anything good. I wanted this story to be able to flow well but I found myself bouncing back and forth between Brooke and Julian, and I don't like that. I don't think it flows well at all. I also hope you guys understand the part about Brooke trying to keep herself from going back to that moment. She's just doing what I would've done, which is getting things done first AND THEN reflecting back on something. So again, I'm not sure what turns to take with this story but hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter. Oh, and I want to thank everyone for their kind reviews! I'm sorry I wasn't able to reply back to them, but I really do appreciate every single one of them! They're what keeps me going. So PLEASE, review! :)
