A/N: WOW, so many Leyton haters, lol, WHOA...anyways...I am so glad that I have gotten this many reviews on the first chapter! That's awesome!
Okay some info on what to expect from this story, you'll either love it or hate it...so going to mention it NOW...this story is going to take time getting to the Brucas stuff...this will be dark and angsty because Brooke is a broken woman who is seeking help...of course Lucas and Peyton will be together for some time in this story it DOESN'T mean I am going to put much emphasis on it...I won't go into many details of their relationship but it will be there for some time. Also, some of your predictions are great but are they right? Hmmm (as I rub my chin) lol, thanks so much guys! Working on the next chapter for A Thousand Years too, just wanted to get a second one up for this story!
Enjoy!
"I grew up in Tree Hill, I've spent most of my life here. It's what I wished for. People say hell is endless, they say it's our worst nightmare. The face of our darkness. I like Tree Hill like this, warm, safe and loved, whatever it is, it doesn't mean there hasn't been hardships, I say hell is empty, but I'm here, and all the devils are here and here is good."
-Brooke & Nathan, Season 9, One Tree Hill
Chapter 2: Going Home
May 3rd, 2006
Brooke got Lucas's message about the accident and hurried to the hospital. She was going to check on Nathan first, but she also wanted to make sure Rachel was okay too. No matter what anybody had said about Rachel Gattina, she seemed to be the only one who had Brooke's back these past couple of days. The moment the elevator doors opened Brooke saw before her, her boyfriend taking comfort in the arm's of her best friend. Even though she thought it would be possible to save her relationship with him, she would not be able to stand the pain.
Brooke was going to say goodbye to Rachel but she was still sleeping. Maybe it was for the best. Brooke turned on her heel to leave.
"Slut."
Brooke turned around.
"Bitch."
"Whore."
Brook grinned and walked closer to Rachel's bedside.
"Well I know I'm not in heaven because it would never let Brooke Davis's skanky ass through the gates."
"And your ass wouldn't fit at least not in the old one. How are you?"
Rachel looked away.
"How's Cooper?"
Brooke went to sit down on the bed next to Rachel. Rachel noticed the look on her face.
"Brooke?"
"I am not sure about Cooper. I just…" Brooke hesitated and wondered if it was a good idea to tell Rachel. Rachel would definitely insist that she not do it and could probably talk her out of it.
"Rachel, I'm leaving."
Rachel smirked.
"Take me with you. I want to get back into my own bed."
Brooke shook her head as Rachel misunderstood her.
"No, I am going to leave Tree Hill. For good."
Rachel seemed a little upset but then kinked her head to the side and smiled.
"Good for you."
Rachel and Brooke were not by any means best friends or even really friends, but because they were so much alike, Rachel knew what she was going through with Lucas.
"Really? You aren't going to stop me and tell me to fight or be the better person or rub it in his face or anything like that?"
Rachel sat up in the hospital bed and placed her hand over Brooke's.
"Brooke, you and I both know that we don't like each other or have not had the best track in our relationship but you deserve better from that dick, Lucas Scott."
Brooke smiled but it was a sad smile.
"I'll write you." Brooke snickered.
"You better. I want to hear about your new life. Now get out of here." Rachel smacked her leg and Brooke pulled Rachel into a hug.
"I'll call you when I figure out where I'll be."
Brooke left Rachel's room and did her best to avoid anybody else in the hospital she knew would stop her from leaving. When she made the last turn before exiting the hospital, she found Lucas holding a distraught Haley. Brooke wanted to be there for Haley but if she came near Lucas now, her whole world would shatter and she would not be able to leave. She only hoped that when she did leave and she called Haley and explained that she would only understand.
"I love you both." Brooke whispered to herself about the two people who meant so much to her. Brooke took the stairs of the hospital, went to get all of her stuff, and left Tree Hill for good.
Brooke was almost through South Carolina before she realized that she didn't know where she was going. All she had was the money he parents left her to make it on her own until she graduated, most of her clothes and some things that were precious to her. Her parents eventually understood that she was in love with Lucas Scott and wanted to finish high school with her friends. As the year progressed, her mother would check in on her to see how she was doing. Victoria Davis had grown to appreciate Karen Roe for taking good care of her daughter and looking out for her.
Brooke didn't even say goodbye to Karen either. Brooke would be sure to let Karen know she was okay once she knew where she was going. Brooke hadn't even contacted her parents either.
Brooke started to get low on gas and she stopped at a nearby gas station. She got out of her tiny Volkswagon and stretched her legs. She was still wearing the red dress that Haley insisted her two bridesmaids wear. Brooke loved the dress but now it was just a symbol of the pain she felt today. Peyton professing her undying love for Lucas, Lucas mentioning the kiss and losing the grace she fell in love with. Brooke wanted to get out of the dress immediately. She grabbed her bag and headed inside the rundown gas station. She knew she shouldn't have taken the back roads, but she was here now and couldn't get much further. She made her way through the smelly store and avoided any contact with any of the eyes of the rednecks in the store. Once inside the gross bathroom, she locked the door and began to cry.
What was she going to do? Brooke didn't really think this through. Maybe she should just call her parents and ask them if she could come out there, but she knew she would be more miserable there than if she had stayed in Tree Hill. Maybe she should just go back to Tree Hill. Her phone buzzed in her bag. She reached for it and saw it was a text from Haley.
'Brooke, where are you? I'm worried about you. Please let me know you're okay'
Great, Brooke thought. Haley was the one going through a nightmare and she was worried about her and her well-being.
"Damn it." Brooke felt like a horrible friend.
Brooke put her phone back in her bag and found that she packed appropriate clothes for how she was feeling. She pulled out a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, a pair of sneakers she stole from Peyton, and Lucas's Keith Scott's Body Shop sweatshirt. Although she was so upset with Lucas and Peyton, she stole these things to always keep with her. A part of them that she will remember even if they both betrayed her heart. She gently folded the red dress, placed it in her bag with the silver shoes. She unlocked the bathroom door, hurried outside to avoid anybody talking to her. She placed her card in the dispenser, and filled her tank up with gas. She got back in her car and started driving south again.
She dialed Haley's number. Haley picked up on the first ring.
"Brooke! Brooke where are you? We are so worried about you."
Brooke waited to respond for a moment as she tried to figure out who the 'we' was in her sentence.
"Haley, are you alone?" Brooke asked her.
"I'm still at the hospital with Nathan, but I am alone with him."
Brooke paused again and took a deep breath.
"Haley, I am so sorry that I just left, I was going to check in on you and Nathan but I saw Lucas and I just couldn't deal. I am sorry. I am such a horrible friend."
Haley exhaled.
"Brooke, don't worry about it. I love you, tigger. Where are you?"
"I am somewhere in South Carolina, Haley I left Tree Hill and I am probably never coming back." Brooke waited for Haley to lecture her or get angry but Haley didn't say anything.
"Haley?" She was sure that Haley hated her now.
"Brooke, why? I mean I know things are a little rocky with Lucas right now, but leave Tree Hill?"
"Haley, it's so much more than that. I just, going through this a second time with Lucas and Peyton, I just can't do it anymore. I will always love Lucas, and I think that, that might kill me in the long run. I love you and Nathan to death, but if I am looking out for my well- being and health I just can't be there anymore." Brooke began to cry as it began to rain outside.
"Okay, okay, Brooke, ssshh, its okay. Look you shouldn't be talking on the phone while driving in the condition you're in. Once you are at a safe place, you call me back okay?"
Brooke could hear the concern in Haley's voice. Before she got off with Haley she spoke again.
"Haley, please, please don't tell Lucas or Peyton about me. If they ask, just tell them I am okay. I can't, I can't have them worrying or trying to find me. I know it's a lot to ask, but—"
"Anything for you, Brooke. Just get somewhere safe and call me back." Haley hung up the phone and Brooke placed hers on the dashboard.
Brooke was still trying to figure out what to do. It was pouring outside and Brooke couldn't see outside. She pulled over onto the side of the road. Then an idea came across her mind. She reached for her phone again and found the number she hoped still belonged to him.
She hit the send button and waited. The phone rang three times and then someone answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Jake?"
"Yes?"
"It's Brooke. Brooke Davis."
"Brooke, hey, what's going on? Is Peyton okay?"
Brooke shook her head at the mention of the blonde's name.
"Um, I don't know, I would assume so." The tears began to form behind her eyes again.
"Brooke, what's wrong?"
"Jake, I know that you and I were never really close, but I have a favor to ask."
"Okay."
Brooke explained her situation to him and Jake understood. He told Brooke about Peyton's visit to see him and Brooke got upset. How could Peyton ask Jake to marry him when she was not in the state of mind to do that? Was Peyton really going to settle for Jake when she really wanted Lucas? What was Brooke thinking? She should be irate that Peyton was going after her boyfriend now. Brooke shook her head.
"Jake, I am sorry. I didn't know that Peyton came to see you."
"Its okay, Brooke, I just knew her whole heart wasn't in it. As much as I love Peyton, I couldn't do that to myself or her."
Brooke nodded and took a deep breath.
"So what was that favor?"
"You still go to high school right?" Brooke slightly chuckled.
"Yes?"
"I need to start over somewhere fresh. I thought maybe with a familiar face, I could start fresh in Savannah?"
Brooke at this point didn't know if she could start over alone, but with a familiar face, she thought it would help her. She knew that no one would expect her to go to Savannah, so this might be the best option for her.
"Yeah, Brooke, that's not a problem. I even have a spare bedroom right now, if you would like to stay here until you figure out what you decide to do."
Brooke was more than grateful. She was still a long ways away from being in Savannah. She would stay overnight in a motel and then hit the road again in the morning. Once she made it to a motel she felt was reasonable and safe, she called Haley back and told her everything. The more Brooke spoke about the situation, the more Haley began to realize that she couldn't blame Brooke for leaving.
"Whatever you need me to do, Brooke, I'll do it, I am just sorry that this happened to you again. I can't believe this."
"Haley, just promise me that you'll never mention to Lucas anything about me. Just tell him that I am okay, but that I had to leave Tree Hill."
"Brooke, you still love him don't you?"
Brooke would always love Lucas, always. She couldn't help it. Even though Lucas did some shitty things to her, he was also the only guy who treated her like herself. Lucas told her that he loved the fact that she was different from him and it was something that kept them both sane.
"Always, Hales, but for me to get over him and to get past this, I need to not talk about him anymore. Can you do that for me?" Brook knew it was a lot to ask of Haley, but it was something that she had to do.
"Of course."
Brooke tried sleeping that night. She buried herself in the Keith Scott sweatshirt that Lucas said she could have. The night was long and painful. She hated sleeping alone, but she realized that, that was going to be her life for awhile. Alone.
Present day, June, 2011
Brooke ran through the streets of New York and hurried back to her friend's home. Once inside she collapsed in the hallway. She began to cry. Little feet were heard scurrying towards her in the background.
"Brooke?"
Brooke wrapped her arms around her legs and pulled them as tightly as she could towards her chest. The flustered brunette knelt down beside Brooke and pulled her into her arms.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?" She pushed her glasses up her nose as they began to fall.
"Five years, Mills, five years and I saw him." Brooke looked up from her knees towards the innocent brunette.
"You saw Lucas?" Millicent held her hand over her mouth.
Millicent Huxtable only heard stories about Lucas Scott, up until the moment Brooke met Julian. She never heard Brooke mention Lucas ever again. Millicent was just as surprised as Brooke was to hear the name Lucas Scott again.
"What did you do?" Millicent looked down at Brooke and Brooke shook her head.
"I panicked. I acted like a crazy person and he saw my face, Millie." Brooke wiped away all the tears that streamed down her face.
"Brooke, I am sorry, what did he do?"
His eyes. His piercing, deep, blue eyes cut through her like they always had. She saw the look of fear, panic, horror overcome him. It scared the hell out of her to see him, to be near him, and to have him touch her. After everything that has happened to her, she felt like a ghost had appeared before her.
She knew that Nathan was coming to New York from all the messages she had received. For the past month, she hadn't really spoken to Nathan not after what happened. She wasn't sure she could bear to speak to her dear friend, Nathan, about what has happened when all she wanted was to be around him and her dear friend Haley.
"He looked horrified." Brooke whispered.
"Can you blame him? Brooke, I don't know Lucas or any of your other friends from Tree Hill, but from what you have told me about these people, it seems that being with them would be the best thing for you. As much as I love having you here, bunny, you haven't even been back to your place yet. You have got to start coping with this."
Brooke's walls were torn down that night a month ago, and she knew that if she were to be around her old friends, she would be vulnerable and unstable. She wasn't sure she was ready for that again.
"Didn't you tell me not only a few days ago that you would love to go home and be with Nathan and Haley?"
Brooke looked over at her friend and rested her head on her shoulder.
"Yeah, but that was after I saw Lucas tonight. It seems that it will be impossible to avoid him now."
"Yeah, Brooke, but did you think you could avoid him forever? All you've been talking about is how safe and relaxing it would be to be around your friends. If I were you I would just suck it up and do it."
Brooke and Millicent didn't get a chance to eat their spaghetti, but they ordered pizza instead. Brooke stared out the window drinking her after dinner coffee and in the reflection of the window; she saw the horrid scar across her face. She had her phone turned off and when she cut it back on, she had six new messages from Nathan. They all were asking where was she, what's wrong, Lucas thought he saw you, I want to see you, I just want to make sure you're okay.
Brooke's heart began to break. It was time to finally rip the band-aid off, she's had on forever, but she still didn't want to do it, but there was this ache in her heart, an ache that was left behind on that fateful day. She would never forgive herself and she needed to find who she was again.
She picked up her phone again and dialed the familiar number.
"Hello? Brooke?"
Brooke took a deep breath.
"Haley, hi." Brooke's voice was raspier than ever.
"Brooke, where are you? Nathan told me that Lucas saw you. Are you in New York?"
Brooke hesitated for a moment and she knew this was going to be a mistake.
"Yes, Haley, I am, but don't tell Nathan, especially not Lucas. I am going to come home to Tree Hill for awhile. There's something I need to tell you."
"Okay, what should I tell Nathan? He and Lucas are planning on finding you because Lucas knows that he saw you."
Brooke didn't know what to tell Haley because she didn't plan on running into Lucas. Lucas was dead set on finding her? I guess there is no turning back.
"Just tell them that you called me, I answered and that I don't want them to come find me. I am sure you can convince them of that."
"Brooke, Nathan mentioned that Lucas saw a scar on your face. Are you okay?"
"Haley, I am going to book a flight to Tree Hill tonight. I'll see you soon and we can talk about it."
"Okay."
"Don't tell Peyton or anyone I'm coming home. Just try to convince the guys not to go out looking for me okay?"
"Okay, Brooke. I promise."
Brooke pressed the end button and sat down in the chair next to the window. Millicent came around the corner.
"What's the plan, bunny?"
Brooke turned back to Millicent.
"I am going to go to the condo. It's time."
Brooke walked into the kitchen, placed her coffee cup in the sink, and turned towards her friend.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Millicent rubbed Brooke's arm for comfort.
"No, I'll do this on my own. I am going to fly out immediately to Tree Hill. You're right, it's time and maybe I will find what I'm looking for."
"Brooke, I think it's great, it's what he would want too, you know?"
Brooke couldn't help the tears that were beginning to form behind her eyes.
Brooke took a cab back to her condo, and she really hoped that Wilkins was not at the front desk this time. She hadn't been back here since that night. Luckily for her, it wasn't Wilkins, so she quickly waved to the concierge and hurried onto the elevator. Once on the third story, she slowly walked to the door to her condo. Brooke took in a deep breath, placed her key in the slot, and opened the door.
The place was cold and still smelled of waffles from their last time being here. Brooke wasn't sure she was ready for this. She quickly walked through the living room to their bedroom. They were never good at making up the bed and the sheets were still rumpled from the last time that made love. Brooke tried to not linger onto the memories; she pulled out her suitcase and started packing a new set of clothes for herself. She had about worn everything in her last suitcase at Millicent's place a dozen times over the past month as she couldn't bring herself to come back here.
After packing a good fair amount of clothes, she turns to leave but stops. She looked over at the nightstand and walked over and grabbed the picture frame. It was a picture of one of the last times she was truly happy with Julian. They were in the Bahamas with Millicent and their good friend, Clay. They were all celebrating Julian's successful movie. It was a great time they all had together. She began to cry and shoved the picture in her purse. The power and water was shut off and she wasn't surprised.
She pulled out her phone and checked the airport for the first available flight for Tree Hill. She was in luck and one was leaving in an hour. So she would arrive in Tree Hill around one in the morning. She booked the flight and called Haley to let her know. Haley said she would be there to pick Brooke up from the airport. Haley assured her that the guys were going to give the search for her a rest. Brooke was relieved but it wasn't going to solve anything. Eventually she would have to come back in contact with the two blondes again and just hoped she could put it off for as long as she could.
Brooke walked back into the living room and just broke down. This was their home where they felt safe and happy. All of that was ripped away from her and she had nobody to blame but herself.
"Why? Why did this have to happen to me? Are you done punishing me?" Brooke screamed at the top of her lungs towards the ceiling.
Brooke was never a religious or spiritual person, but she felt that she had done enough good deeds in her life for karma or any force out there to leave her alone. Brooke felt nauseated and went back into the bathroom to see if there was anything in there to take. She found some Pepto and drank the foul flavored syrup then she grabbed the box next to it and shoved it in her bag too, she had a horrible feeling she was going to have to use it soon and she was afraid.
Thoughts? Up next: Haley picks up Brooke from airport and Brooke finally tells Haley what happened. Stay tuned!
