Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or any of the characters!
I take a deep breath as I look over at Sophie, who pushes the doorbell eagerly. I have no idea whether or not Lucas still lives here, where he used to live with Karen, but it was the only place I could think of to find him. Of course the first thing Sophie wanted to do the minute we landed was to see him; no matter how much I tried to distract her, talk her out of it, it did no good. For all I know, he may be gone from Tree Hill for good, even though that's hard to imagine. He loved this place, though I can never understand why. I mean sure, our highschool days were amazing; but what could he possibly have left here? I know he had plans to stay in North Carolina for college, but surely he must have moved on and started a new life somewhere else, right? Boy, is this gonna be awkward.
I'm snapped out of my thoughts the minute the door opens, and a beautiful woman with long, light brown hair and sparkling blue eyes looks at Sophie, then at me. As soon as her eyes meet mine, they widen.
"Brooke Davis?" Clearly she wasn't expecting to see me on her doorstep like this. "As in, Brooke Davis of Clothes Over Bros?"
I nod, unable to form any words. I guess Lucas really did leave here after all.
"Wow. I love your line, my closet is full of your stuff!" She gushes, and I can feel Sophie's growing disappointment and now impatience without even having to look at her face.
"Thank you, I'm flattered," I manage to say, faking a smile. "I'm sorry, we must have got the wrong house. I was looking for a highschool friend, Lucas Scott. He used to live here and..."
Her eyes widen even more and she cuts me off. "Oh, Luc isn't home right now but he should be back in just a few hours. Please, come in."
It takes more than a moment for me to register this. So he does live here? I stand there, stiff and confused, and Sophie is quiet beside me.
"I'm sorry, you must think I'm so rude. I'm Lindsey," the woman extends her hand out to me now and I take it hesitantly.
"This is my daughter, Sophie," I motion over to Sophie, who is still dead silent, but somehow manages to shake Lindsey's hand.
"Imagine that. Lucas is such a jerk, he knows how much I adore your line and yet he somehow failed to mention that you just happen to be a highschool friend of his. Amazing," Lindsey rants before inviting us in once again. This time, I speak up.
"Thank you, but maybe we should just stop by again later? I still want to give Sophie the grand tour of Tree Hill and all," I say and Lindsey nods.
"Oh, definitely. I'm sure Lucas would be thrilled to see you both."
Hmm. Thrilled? That sure is a creative word to describe it. Once we're back in the car, Sophie explodes.
"Never even mentioned you?!"
I wince at her words. "Sweetheart, sometimes it's easier for people just to forget. I warned you, this might not have been the best idea."
She shakes her head. "No. We're coming back and talking to him. I have to." She pauses and looks at me. "Maybe she was just a friend?"
"Hm, judging by the size of that rock on her finger, I'd say they might be a bit more than friends," I hear the sarcasm in my tone, but shake it off immediately. I sneak a sideways glance at Sophie to see if she noticed it too. "I'm sorry if you're a little disappointed honey. But people move on. What did you expect, Lucas sitting there and waiting for me? For us?"
She just stares out the window. I decide to move on to a lighter subject.
"So, you hungry? Even flying first class, I can't bring myself to enjoy airplane food. Let's grab a bite to eat."
"Yeah," her voice sounds brighter, if only a little bit. "Peyton actually told me about this one place, Karen's Cafe? She said to be sure to eat there. She said it was your favorite."
I narrow my eyes but stare straight ahead as I drive. Peyton, that little weasel. She knows that Sophie has no idea who Karen is, but she's practically encouraging her to meet her. I have to remember to have a long chat with Peyton when we get back to New York. I begin to protest, but Sophie just looks at me skeptically. Oh, what more do I have to lose? If I can fly all the way out to Tree Hill, AND go knocking on Lucas Scott's door, surely I can take my daughter over to Karen's Cafe for a burger. We pull up in the parking lot and walk in. Other than an older couple sitting at the far end, the cafe is empty. And just the way I remember it.
Karen looks up at us from behind the counter and drops the towel she was folding. She takes one look at Sophie, and I know she knows. Although she inherited her dark hair, pretty smile and deep dimples from me, Sophie clearly has Lucas' gorgeous blue eyes and his contagious laugh. Not that she's laughing now. She looks at Karen, totally oblivious. Just then, her cell phone rings. She pulls it out of her purse.
"I'll be right back," she says to me and hurries out the door to talk to her friend. Karen stares at me with tears in her eyes.
"Hi," I say quietly, barely choking out the word.
AN: So what do you guys think? I pretty much have the next couple of chapters planned out, it just needs a little bit of tweaking, so expect another update soon. Please review! Thank you!
Oh and on a side note, I know I've already mentioned Peyton a few times. Her and Brooke pretty much remained best friends even after Brooke left NC, and now she's living in NY too. There was never any Leyton romance/drama.