Chapter 2
Brooke Davis stared admiringly at the elegant white dress before her. There was no doubt in her mind that it was beautiful, maybe even her best dress yet, but for some reason looking at it made her feel odd. She wasn't sure what the feeling was, it felt like a mixture of both relief and sadness, but she didn't like it.
She did know one thing, though: Peyton Sawyer was going to look absolutely stunning in it.
"Brooke, where are you?" a voice called from the main part of her store.
"In the back," she replied, not taking her eyes off the dress.
She heard the faint clicking a heels coming closer and closer and then a sharp intake of breath.
"Wow. It's… it's amazing, Brooke."
"I thought you'd say that," she said, smiling widely as she turned from the dress to greet her best friend.
Peyton walked slowly towards the dress, her eyes wide and her smile even wider. "I can't believe it's finally done," she said, hesitantly touching the dress as if it was a very breakable glass vase.
"Almost done, P. Sawyer. I've still got a few last minute adjustments to make. But it's ready for you to try on if that makes you feel any better."
Brooke wasn't prepared for what Peyton did next.
"Not today," she said, her smile turning into a frown. "I'm kind of busy. I promised to meet Haley at the recording studio and I just barely had time to make it down here."
"Oh, come on, Peyton," Brooke said, "it'll only take a few minutes. Besides," she motioned towards the clock, "Haley's not even out of school yet. She's got another half hour to go."
Peyton's hesitation surprised Brooke, but she quickly gave up, obviously not in the mood to argue. "Alright," she said, smiling again, "let's do this."
A few minutes later Peyton stood staring at herself in the mirror with Brooke right behind her, praising the dress and the girl who wore it.
"You look amazing," she said, putting an arm around her friend's shoulder. "Really, Peyton, you're gonna blow everyone away. Lucas won't be able to take his eyes off of you."
Peyton smiled lightly, but said nothing. It didn't take long for Brooke to know that something was bothering her. She was trying on her wedding dress, after all. That fact alone should make a women glow with happiness. But all Brooke saw when she looked at Peyton was pure uncertainty.
"Peyton," Brooke said, turning her away from the mirror to face her, "what's going on?"
"What do you mean?" Peyton replied, looking at her in feigned innocence.
Brooke kinked an eyebrow. "You know exactly what I mean. Why aren't you beaming in excitement? This is your wedding dress, for God's sake! You should be thrilled!"
Peyton shook her head, refusing to admit that anything was wrong. "I am thrilled, Brooke." As if to prove her point her mouth widened into a huge smile. Brooke didn't buy it for a minute.
"Yeah," Brooke scoffed, "try to turn the excitement level down notch, it's a bit overwhelming."
Peyton sighed and turned back towards the mirror, running her hands over the dress over and over. Brooke let her be, knowing that there was no point in pushing her to talk. She would talk when she was ready.
"I guess…"
Brooke perked up at the sound of Peyton's voice and waited intently for her to continue.
"I don't know…" Peyton said a few moments later, her shoulders sagging. "I guess I'm just nervous about this whole thing."
Brooke took Peyton's hand and smiled sympathetically. "Look, I'm not an expert on weddings or anything, I mean, obviously I've never been engaged, but I'm pretty sure it very normal to be nervous about getting married."
"Yeah, I know," Peyton agreed, "but… I'm just worried that something's gonna go wrong, you know? That he's gonna change his mind or something. I mean these past few weeks Lucas has been really distant. And he doesn't seem excited at all for the wedding."
"Ah," Brooke said, "so this is about Lucas."
"Of course it's about him," Peyton said wearily. Sighing heavily, she sat down on one of the stools. "He just doesn't seem happy, Brooke."
"Peyton," Brooke said, sitting down next to her and squeezing her hand, "of course he's happy. He loves you. He wants to marry you. He's just not into the whole wedding planning thing."
"Yeah, maybe you're right. But still I feel horrible because… because I'm not happy." Peyton turned slowly to look at Brooke with tears forming in her eyes. Instinctively, Brooke brought her close to her in a tight hug.
She found it incredibly hard to believe that Peyton, who had waited so long for Lucas to be hers again, wasn't happy now that they were actually back together. If it had been her who had finally won back the love of her life, she didn't think she'd ever be unhappy again. Yet here was Peyton, the girl Lucas Scott was supposedly meant to be with, crying in her arms because she was unhappy with her and Lucas' relationship.
"Listen," Brooke said, pulling away to look at Peyton, "you need to talk to Lucas. I think that you're just stressed out about this whole thing. Maybe you should both take a few days off and just spend some time alone. I'm sure you two can work it out."
"I don't know, Brooke," Peyton muttered. "It's just not how I thought being back together would be. It's so different than it was back in high school. But I guess you're right, I'll talk to him."
"Good," Brooke said, smiling gently as she wiped the tears from Peyton's eyes. "Now, you should probably get dressed if you want to meet Haley on time."
"Oh," Peyton's eyes widened I surprise, "I almost forgot. God, it's almost three! I gotta go."
Brooke watched her change hurriedly back into her clothes, gently setting aside her wedding dress, before walking swiftly back towards the main shop.
"Thanks for the advice, Brooke," Peyton said, turning to smile back at her.
"No problem, P. Sawyer," she replied. "Just do yourself a favor and don't worry, okay?"
"I'll try not to," Peyton grinned. "See you later."
"See you," Brooke murmured, watching as Peyton's back disappeared through the door.
She sat back down at the stool, staring absently at Peyton's dress, and thought about what had just occurred. She had always thought that if Lucas and Peyton got back together everything would work out perfectly. And to be honest, that's what it had seemed to be like the past few months. She had thought that the two of them were beyond happy.
After all, weren't Lucas Scott and Peyton Sawyer always meant to be? Somehow, Brooke wasn't so sure anymore.
Brooke had been lying on her couch, perfecting a few of her newest sketches, when the doorbell rang. She sat up quickly, wondering who would be visiting her at this time of night. She made her way silently towards the door, not sure if she wanted to answer it.
Ever since Peyton had moved in with Lucas, Brooke had found herself a bit more cautious when it came to leaving her doors locked at night. She was living alone now and she thought often of the possibility of a robber or someone worse invading her home. But when she peered through her peek hole and saw Lucas's face staring back at her, she quickly opened the door.
"Hey," he said, smiling weakly at her. "Sorry to bother you so late, I just had to get out of the house."
"It's okay," she replied, staring at him curiously. "I always love spending time with you, even at eleven thirty at night."
He grinned and followed her into the house, joining her on the couch. She watched as he leaned back and ran a hand through his short blonde hair before closing his eyes.
"What's up, Luke?" she asked quietly.
He sighed. "Peyton and I had a fight," he said, not bothering to open his eyes.
"Oh," was all she could say. She really hoped that whatever they were fighting about had nothing to do with what she and Peyton had been talking about earlier, yet she couldn't help the worried feeling that arose in her stomach. "So, um, what about, if you don't mind me asking?"
Lucas shook his head and laughed in aggravation. "She thinks that we should go to pre-marriage counseling."
"Luke," Brooke said, not seeing why he was so frustrated, "pre-marriage counseling is completely normal for engaged couples. Tons of people do it."
"I know," he muttered, putting his head in his hands, "I just feel like it should be so much easier than this, that we shouldn't have to go to get counseled before we're even married."
Brooke didn't know what to day to that. Instead she stared forlornly down at one of her sketches and remained silent, letting him do the talking. She couldn't help but feel a bit surprised, though; she knew that relationships were never easy but Lucas made it seem like something was seriously wrong with his and Peyton's relationship.
"She doesn't think I'm happy."
She turned quickly back to look at him. His head was still in his hands and his shoulders sagged in defeat. He looked so…vulnerable.
"Are you?"
He lifted his face slowly up and looked at her, his eyes shining with uncertainty.
"No… I'm not happy, Brooke."
She didn't say anything, she couldn't say anything. How could he not be happy? He and Peyton were finally together. They were getting married. Things were supposed to get better from here. The drama was supposed to be over.
"I… I don't know what to say, Lucas."
"You don't need to say anything," he murmured. "The thing is, I thought that by choosing Peyton that everything would be over and that things would be perfect. But nothing is perfect and I'm not happy and to be honest I don't think she is either. Maybe…maybe she and I just aren't meant to be. Maybe we're better off as friends."
"Don't say that," Brooke said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"But I have to. Because I think it just might be true."
"You've been through too much for things to just end like this," she said, taking his hand. "You can't give up."
Lucas looked at her, pure agony in his eyes, and slowly shook his head. "I don't really have a choice. I can't choose who I love. I know that now… I'm going to end the relationship. I can't do this to her any longer."
"Lucas," Brooke pleaded, "you need to think about this--,"
"I have thought about it, Brooke," he sighed. "I've thought about it every waking moment these past few months and now I know that I'm right—we're not meant to be."
"Lucas…" Brooke murmured, her voice shaking, "this is gonna devastate her."
"I know," he replied, and there were tears in his eyes, "and I'm gonna hate myself for that."
He didn't say anything else, instead he just sat there, looking so conflicted that Brooke unconsciously pulled him towards her and wrapped her arms around him. She had nothing else to say and, even though she didn't completely agree with what he was doing, she knew that she would support him through whatever he decided. Because he was her friend. And she loved him.
A/N: Thanks so much to all those who read the first chapter—I hope you enjoyed it! And a special thanks to evergloweyes and chameron-brucas-chuckblair4eva for reviewing!
And please, please remember to review! I really need the feedback and it's what inspires me to keep writing. So if you liked it, let me know, if you didn't and you think there are some things I need to work on, let me know. Any type of constructive feedback is welcome! So, once again, thanks for reading and remember to review!!
