A/N: First of all thank you, thank you for the great reviews. Secondly, I made a mistake in my first note about how seasons 4,5, and 6 were the same. Obviously, that's not true and I don't know what I was thinking, so to clear things up. Everything that happened up until Brooke slapped Peyton is the same. After that the group got through senior year, Nathan and Haley went to college and Lucas helped with Jamie. Brooke stayed in Tree Hill for a couple of years before Clothes Over Bros took off and has lived in New York for about the past 4 years. Everything else should be explained, if not in this chapter then soon.
A/N: props to juicetroop82 for guessing what the website was
And on to the next chapter...
Chapter 2
Understanding
Brooke sighed as she dropped the sketch pencil onto her desk, and leaned back into her leather chair. It was a very rare, actually almost unheard of, for Brooke to have a moment of quiet to sketch out a design during the middle of the day, but today she had canceled her lunch meeting and cleared her afternoon on purpose. Although she had blamed it on needing to finish sketches for the fall line, she really just needed some time to herself.
Pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers, Brooke cursed the signs of the oncoming migraine. She reached for her side drawer to grab the small bottle in hopes of heading it off. Popping two pills into her mouth, she didn't have time to replace the bottle before there was a knock on her door.
"Yes," she called knowing only one person was brave enough to disturb her when she had cleared her schedule.
"Hey Brooke," Millicent greeted hesitantly sticking her head through the door. Millie had long been Brooke's personal assistant and after many years of experience, she could pretty well read her bosses moods.
"Hey Millie," Brooke waved her into the office.
"I know you cleared your schedule and I know you probably just want to be left alone, but," Millie started moving to stand in front of Brooke's large mahogany desk.
"It's ok Millie, what is it?" Brooke cut her off.
"Well, I um, I just wanted to make sure you were ok," Millie smiled worriedly.
Brooke had always appreciated how big of a heart her assistant had, especially at how rare it was in the cutthroat world of fashion. She also knew how long Millie had debated coming into Brooke's office to make sure she was ok.
"Millie, I'm fine," Brooke told the girl giving her a small smile in return. It was a lie sure, but the fashion designer didn't really want to get into it all.
Millie seemed to almost accept the answer, as her gaze shifted to the floor.
"Oh ok," she mumbled hesitantly.
"Millie, is there something else?"
"It's just that Haley has called three times again today," the girl said not lifting her eyes to meet Brooke's.
Brooke brought her hand to rub her right temple. This is exactly why she had taken the afternoon off. It had been two weeks since Haley and Brooke's almost conversation concerning Lucas' visit, and ever since Brooke had been avoiding her friend's calls.
Its was not that Brooke didn't want to talk to Haley, and part of her felt guilty for doing it especially because it meant she didn't talk to her godson too, but Brooke just didn't want to deal with what she knew Haley would want to talk about.
When Peyton had first disappeared, the four friends channeled their grief into finding her. As time went on though, and their efforts brought no leads or signs of their blonde friend, Lucas and Haley began to see that it was time to move on, and they encouraged Nathan and Brooke to do the same.
Brooke knew that they meant well and that their grief had been allowed to turn from pain to happy memories, but her grief still consumed her. Consumed her like she was stuck underwater desperate to breathe, her lungs burning, screaming for relief only to never find their way to the surface.
She had fiercely rebuked their attempts to give up the search for Peyton, to forgive herself in the process.
She couldn't.
She wouldn't.
After graduation, she threw herself even harder into finding Peyton, pressing the police, begging the news stations to run her story, even going door to door all across North Carolina.
But nothing,
Not a single, miniscule shred of evidence that her best friend was still out there.
It couldn't deter her though, and only pushed her harder.
Soon her small Clothes over Bros fashion line, became her only escape from the pain. It connected the brunette to her best friend in a way she couldn't quite place. Before she knew it, her small line she filled orders online with by hand had become an empire seemingly overnight.
She remembered her first day in her new office overlooking New York's busy streets below, and how she could only describe the feeling of success as bittersweet.
Bittersweet because Peyton was suppose to be right there sharing it with her.
With her new empire, Brooke was able to reach new avenues with her search. She used her power and her money to make sure every deep crevice of the United States was searched, a search that years later was still going on, and would until Brooke found what she was looking for.
"I will call her back soon," Brooke said giving Millie the same reply she had been for the past two weeks.
The assistant knew that was her dismissal.
As she reached the door, Brooke's voice stopped her.
"And Millie," the fashion designer gave her a genuine smile this time, "thanks"
Millie nodded and closed the door once again behind her.
Picking up the black pencil again, Brooke let her hands control the sketch she drew on the page, allowing her mind to wonder unconfined.
Not ten minutes later, there was another knock on her door.
She knew it wouldn't be Millie coming to check on her again, and any client would have been called ahead to make sure Brooke was ready to receive them.
Oh god, Brooke thought, maybe it was her mother. She couldn't deal with Victoria right now.
No it couldn't be she decided, Victoria wouldn't have bothered to knock, she would have just barreled in.
Curiously and somewhat frustrated that her free afternoon was being interrupted, she got up to answer the door ready to give whoever was on the other side a piece of her mind.
Well at this point Brooke figured, she would not just give them a piece, she would give them the whole damn thing.
Whipping the door open, however, Brooke was uncharacteristically rendered speechless.
"Good to see you too Cheery," he grinned knowing how much she hated the nickname Lucas had given her in high school.
"Nathan!" the brunette cried launching herself into his arms.
He hugged her back with just as much strength, letting the time fade as two friends said more with an embrace than words could ever express.
"What, what are you doing here," Brooke laughed happily pulling out of his strong arms.
"Can't a guy visit one of his best friends?" he replied coyly.
"Yeah, they could Hot-shot, if said guy had seen his friend more than like twice in the past three years," she teased him.
"That hurt, Brooke, right here," he laughed placing both hands over his heart.
She laughed as she pulled him into her office and the two settled on the couch in the corner.
They settled into a comfortable silence as she took him in.
Nathan Scott, two time NBA all-star, point guard for the Charlotte Bobcats, loving husband, amazing father, and yet still the same Nathan Scott she loved like a brother.
She placed her hand on his knee, and he gave it a loving squeeze as she fought back the tears that threatened to overflow.
"You missed me," he smirked playfully, reaching over to wipe away the lone tear that had actually left her hazel-eyes.
She laughed again and smacked him on the arm playfully.
"Shut up, besides you missed me too"
"Of course I did, you're Brooke Davis," his deep blue eyes lit up with sincerity.
God, she loved this guy.
This guy who had been her strongest supporter through everything. Never once did he question her, or tell her to give up hope. He did the only thing she could have asked for – he understood.
She knew he had never stopped loving Peyton Sawyer. Sure that love had taken many different forms over the years, from childhood friend, to rebellious girlfriend in their early high school years (even if he had been an ass as her boyfriend), to big brother, always protecting her.
He had been the first person she called after that terrible night nine-years ago. Through her sobs and panic, he had managed to figure out what had happened. Busting through the police tape with such determination, no one dared stop him, he had scooped the distraught brunette into his arms, whispering that they would get her back over and over as she sobbed into his chest.
"Seriously Nate, what are you doing here," she took his hand again.
He turned his eyes away from her, and his knee began to bounce slightly. Brooke knew that was a defining sign he was nervous.
"Nate," she said to bring his eyes back to her, "You know I am unbelievably happy that you are here, but I know you have a game tonight in California if I'm not mistaken, so come on tell me what's going on."
"You keep up with me," he tried to joke in true Nathan fashion.
She gave him the look that told him, he couldn't joke his way out of telling her.
"I, I just missed you that's all," he told her looking away from her again.
"Nate, I missed you too, but you didn't skip a game just because you missed me."
He was silent for a minute before he whispered.
"I miss her"
Brooke had almost missed it, but when she heard those words leave Nathan's mouth she quickly found herself crying in his arms again. And she wasn't the only one to allow tears.
"I miss her so much," he whispered again into her hair.
"I know, I know," she cooed.
After a few minutes, he pulled back and viciously wiped at the stray tears with the back of his hand.
"Look at me, I come here to check on you, and end up being the one crying," he let out a small chuckle.
"Nate," Brooke began softly, "It's ok to miss her."
He nodded, "I know, it's just, I don't know I can't stop thinking about her lately."
Brooke knew the feeling.
"Did something happen?" she questioned lightly, not wanting to push if he wasn't ready.
"No, not really," he stood up to pace in front of the couch, "but Lucas told me how he ambushed you when he was up here, and then Haley told me about how she was going to talk to you. "
She nodded her understanding.
"And, I don't know, it just made me so angry. They act like she was never apart of our lives, like she never happened at all. Jesus Brooke, my brother said he loved her and he just, just pretends as if she moved away or something. It's not right!" he finished breathlessly.
"No, it's not," she said standing in front of him.
He looked at her sadly, "It's not right"
They let the silence fill the space between them again.
"What do you think she's doing?" he asked suddenly, "I mean, do you think she's ok?"
Brooke let the smile spread across her face. She had often wondered the same things. But Brooke was never able to imagine Peyton Sawyer not ok, her mind just couldn't go there despite the circumstances. Mostly, she imagined her best friend driving down a deserted highway somewhere, top down on a Mercury Comet, just like the one she had in high school, wind blowing through her golden locks, rock music blaring from the car stereo.
He smiled back at her as she realized she had described the scene out loud.
"Yeah, Sawyer and her loser rock," he laughed heartily.
"God wasn't it awful!" the brunette had never been able share Peyton's love for the dark and dreary music.
"Definitely," he agreed and paused, "Hey, you wanna get out of here, I mean you are the boss and all who can leave whenever she wants right."
Normally Brooke would be frustrated that she had allowed someone to read her so easily, but not with Nathan. She couldn't have been more happy her dark haired friend had known exactly what she needed.
"Damn right I am. Lets go," she said grabbing her purse and waving to Millie, who smiled in return, as the two friends walked hand in hand onto the elevator.
A/N: I always loved Nathan and Peyton's friendship and felt like he would be the one to understand how Brooke felt. Let me know what you think, good, bad or ugly. Cheers!