First and foremost, I wanna thank you all for the nice reviews you left me. I'm glad you guys liked the teaser and are gonna keep coming to read more! It really means a lot to me.
And second, but not less important, I wanna send a GIGANTOR thanks to my sis and roomie, Prue (HaleyBub). Because she always reads my story before anyone else, she's like my test-audience! And because she's always going "OMG:wow:" when she reads it and once she even said this story was going better than the show! (to be fair, it's S4, it's really not that hard to write anything better that that.)
With that said, here's another chapter. I hope you guys like this one as well.
Drive back to Haley's place was one of the hardest things Brooke had to do in the last few months. With the exception of the first time she went to get checked up at the doctor's office, this was pretty hard. She had to drive all the way to the apartment without breaking down, because if she did, Haley would be able to tell at the first sight. They had never been best friends before, but after they lived together for a while, Haley was able to read Brooke like an open book. And Brooke could also read Haley. Add their daily growing friendship and yeah… Haley would know.
She parked the car right outside the building and got off, clicking on the button to turn on the alarm system as she walked towards the front stairs. Climbing the steps, she took deep breaths trying to regain her calm and collect herself before pressing the door bell. Haley opened the door with one hand as she held a bunch of colored napkins on the other hand. She looked agitated.
"Thank God!"
Brooke was pulled in by her friend and spun around to take a look at the place. It was definition of hectic for sure. There were floating balloons everywhere, especially by the corners, four huge cardboard boxes spread around the living room with some decorated letters hanging out by the edges and some more stuff around that Brooke couldn't describe since Haley was once again in front of her, gesticulating.
"Look at this mess, Brooke! What are we gonna do?"
"Whoa" Brooke nodded agreeing with her desperation, "I see what you mean. But don't worry, Tutor Mom" she added with a smile, "We'll work it out."
After reassuring her pregnant friend that everything would be alright, she marched to the hall's closet and disappeared as she walked in, looking for something. Haley got on the tip of her toes to peek inside and see what the girl was doing. Brooke came back out with a foldable stair on her hands and a smile on her face.
"First things first: we need to hang those letters up and then the banner. But don't worry, I'll do it. You're too pregnant to be hanging from stairs."
Haley rolled her eyes. Everyone was so protective of her lately it was starting to get annoying. She could see why Nathan would be like that – he was always overprotective – and even Lucas – who was always equally overprotective – but now Brooke? She couldn't stand that anymore. She was just pregnant! It wasn't like she was sick or elderly or something.
"Whatever" she announced annoyed, "Just do it fast because I can't be in this mess anymore. I think I might get a rash or something."
Brooke couldn't help the laugh she let out as she climbed up the steps from the small stair. At least she was still able to be amused by Haley's hormonal dramas.
Not too long after that, Mouth, Skills and Bevin arrived with the food and beverages. They put all the stuff inside the refrigerator and then started to help around with the decoration. It was going to be a long day. Seeing Brooke tying knots on the balloons strings, Mouth approached her with a careful look, not to make anyone suspicious. He leaned closer to her as if to help her and whispered.
"How was it?"
She took some time to raise her eyes to meet his as she kept on tying the knots. When she finally looked up to him, she had a small smile that hardly expressed any kind of happiness. He took a deep breath and she dropped the balloons strings on the side and softly took his hand, leaning him towards the door.
"Mouth forgot some pies on the car, we'll get it!" she announced to the others as they left the apartment.
They walked back to Bevin's car in silence with her still holding his hand. They stopped next to it and she leaned back against the passenger's door, taking a deep breath preparing to give him the bad news. He crossed his arms in front of her and waited.
"I went to get the results back" she stopped and stared at him trying hard to make the words come out of her mouth, "It's not what we wanted."
So it was bad news. He knew that already from the moment he saw her expression when he asked her how it went. He already knew that, but hearing her actually say the words was so much worse. He could barely hold back the tears that insisted on surface on his eyes. She noticed he was about to cry and couldn't help wrapping her arms around him. He hugged her back.
"I'm sorry" she sadly whispered on his ear.
He broke down and stared to cry. It wasn't her fault, why was she apologizing to him? He thought she'd be crying too, but she wasn't. She couldn't. She had made an enormous effort to stand strong so far and she wasn't about to lose that now. Not when she had people waiting for her inside the apartment, people who would tell she had been crying if she did so. A couple minutes later Brooke was back inside the apartment without Mouth and without the pies. She told Haley he had forgotten about them and drove back to the Café to pick them up. It wasn't true.
An hour and a half later, Brooke, Bevin and Skills were gone and Haley's place was finally presentable once again. It was heavily decorated, but at least one could walk in without stumbling on anything. She went back to her room when Nathan opened the front door. He had spent the afternoon with Deb and after that he went shooting ball with Lucas at the Rivercourt. He was all sweaty and tired, holding his basket ball on his hands. He glanced around the living room and frowned just when Haley came back with a smile.
"Hey! You're home!" she launched to plant a kiss on his lips and quickly stepped back making a face once she felt his sweat, "And disgusting!"
"Did a baby bottle explode or something?" he asked still glancing around.
Haley giggled and shook her head, "It's for the baby shower tomorrow. Remember?"
He nodded along as he walked towards the bedroom. She followed him and watched as he dropped his ball on the armchair and opened the closet, searching for a clean towel. She rolled her eyes when he couldn't find any. When was he going to learn that the towels were kept on the hallway closet? After grabbing him one at the right closet, she threw the towel on him.
"So, I don't have to be here for this baby shower thing, do I?" he asked already pleading.
"Don't worry, no boys allowed."
"Great" he smiled and turned around heading towards the bathroom, "I'm gonna take a shower."
Haley smiled to herself and walked after him inside the bathroom. He hung the towel on the hanger and turned around to see her leaning against the doorframe, tracing invisible circles on her bump, with her index finger. She had a half smile on her lips.
"Can we join you?"
Nathan took a moment to consider the idea of him and Haley naked in the shower, but then he shook his head, pushing her out of the bathroom.
"Oh, no, no. Last time you two joined me in the shower, you talked me into take a bath and I ended up having to rub your feet for 40 minutes."
Outraged with the accusation, Haley put both hands on her waist, giving him a dirty look, "I did not!" she kept her look but once she saw he wasn't gonna break, she rolled her eyes, "Okay, maybe it was like 20 minutes, not one minute longer than that! And may I just remind you that I have to carry your child all day long? It's tiring! So excuse me if I need a foot massage every now and then."
He walked next to her and pulled her closer by the waist. He voice was soft, "I know that, but if you want a massage all you have to do is ask. You don't have to trick me into it."
But her hormones had already taken over her by then. She pushed him away from her grasp and walked towards the bedroom door, without looking back.
"I don't trick you to do anything. And since you insist, I'll let you take your shower alone."
"Haley" he called out to her as he followed her around to the living room, "Where are you going?"
"To the Café" she said grabbing her jacket and putting it on, "Mouth never came back with those pies. Don't worry; it's not a trick so you can drive me. I'll walk so then later I can actually trick you to rub my tired feet."
She shot him one last look and slammed the door on her way out. Nathan sighed heavily and threw his hands in the air as he spun around to return to the bathroom.
Working behind a balcony with a six months pregnant belly wasn't as easy as Karen remembered it was the first time. The fact that she wasn't eighteen anymore didn't help either. Although the doctor said she shouldn't be doing any heavy lifting or too much exercise, Karen couldn't keep herself away from her Café. She had promised Lucas she wouldn't work as much, so she had to hire some extra help. Haley was almost as pregnant as she was so she had reduced her shifts the last couple of weeks, giving Karen one more reason to spend her time around the place.
Haley walked in the Café with her purse hanging from one shoulder and glancing behind the balcony with a smile. Karen returned the same smile as she cleaned the counter with a cloth.
"Well, look who it is… Haley James-Scott. I had almost forgotten what you looked like."
"Oh, Karen, please!" Haley begged as she took a seat by one of the stools, "It has not been that long."
"No? I haven't seen you in eight days."
Haley's face turned into a puppy one, "OK, then maybe it's been a while" she promptly stood up from her spot and walked around the balcony, to give Karen a side hug.
The woman returned the hug and kept cleaning on the counter as they chatted a little more, standing next to each other. After a minute or two, Brooke walked in holding an open notebook on her hands. She walked straight to the counter with a pleasant smile.
"Hi!"
She greeted the two of them who greeted her back. Leaning over the counter, Brooke got on the tip of her toes and peeked over it just to see Karen and Haley's bump next to each other. They were so close, or maybe just too big, that their bumps were actually touching. Brooke grinned.
"Play date?"
Haley rolled her eyes and Karen held a giggle. Brooke smiled along and placed her notebook over the counter as she grabbed a pen inside her purse and fixed her hair behind her ear.
"So, Karen, I came to confirm your presence tomorrow at Haley's baby shower."
"I'll be there" she nodded.
"Great" Brooke ticked Karen's name on the list and then glanced at Haley quickly, "I just have one thing to talk to you about the gift… but the mommy to be can't hear this."
"Say no more" Haley turned around, "I'll go check for the pies in the kitchen."
She left Karen and Brooke alone. Brooke waited to make sure she wasn't going to hear them talking and then turned back to Karen while glancing down at her notes.
"Okay, so I was thinking of making a theme for the presents. I know, it's a little too on time, but say if this is too cute: basketball. Right? I mean, it's a boy and it's Nathan's son, so… it's a given. So I was thinking all the baby presents have to be b-ball related. Is it OK? Or did you already buy the present and it's too late now to even exchange it?"
Karen saw the trace of excitement on Brooke's face and softened her own as she shook her head, reassuringly, "It's not too late. And I think it's a great idea."
Brooke smiled weakly, "Thanks."
There was something different about that girl standing in front of Karen. She was usually a force of nature, making everyone and everything around her aware that she was in the room. She was usually awfully loud or speaking too fast to anyone even grasp the idea of what she was talking about. And that was one of the things that made Karen really like Brooke: she was full of life, but not the Brooke sitting on the other side of the balcony that night. That Brooke was faking a weak enthusiasm and barely succeeding on fooling Karen of the opposite.
"Brooke" Karen's voice was almost a whisper, "Is everything OK?"
"Huh?" Brooke lifted her face to look at Karen. She had lost herself in her own thoughts for a second and totally zoned out, but Karen's words brought her back, "Uh, yeah. Everything's fine."
"You know you can tell me anything, don't you?" Karen reached for the girl's hand over the counter.
Brooke looked down and saw their hands together. She felt an urge to say something, to share the pain that was growing inside her, but she didn't. She couldn't do that to Karen. Karen was pregnant of a man who had been killed even before she knew she was carrying his child. She had enough problems of her own to have to deal with Brooke's, too.
"I know" she nodded.
"I'm always here for you" Karen tried again, squeezing her hand.
Brooke nodded one more time, "Thanks, Karen. But everything's OK. Really."
She forced one more smile to reassure what she had said. Karen smiled back, for Brooke's relief. In fact, she wasn't sure if she was that relieved. Maybe she needed someone to really notice something was wrong, maybe she needed someone to know her that well. But she wasn't sure if she wanted that.
Brooke left the Café shortly after her quick conversation with Karen. She gave Haley a ride home and then headed to Peyton's house to confirm the girl's presence at the baby shower. Not that she needed to go there in person, she could easily call to confirm, but she felt like she had been avoiding Peyton enough as it was ever since her and Lucas started dating. It had been Brooke's little final push that got them together, but that didn't mean she was ok with seeing them together all the time. She already saw too much on the school's halls during the week. She just missed spending time alone with her best friend.
She parked the car outside her house and walked to the door, ringing the door bell. She waited for two minutes before the door was opened revealing Peyton's figure. She had a smile on her face and was already with her pajamas on. Brooke glanced at her quickly and arched one eyebrow.
"A little early to be asleep, isn't P. Sawyer?" she asked already walking in.
Peyton stepped aside to make room for Brooke to walk in and then closed the door behind them. She followed the girl around up to her bedroom. Once they got in, Brooke dropped her purse on the bed and headed to the bathroom.
"Not that's not great to see you, Brooke, but what are you doing here?" she sat on her own bed, staring at the bathroom's closed door, "Because as you stated, I was going to sleep."
"Already?" Brooke's voice was muffed coming from the other side of the door, "Where's Lucas?"
She wasn't sure if it was ok for her to ask Peyton that, but she thought that if Peyton was dating anyone else other than Lucas then it'd be ok. So she had to make it ok for her to ask even though she was dating him. She was her best friend still and Lucas was with her. She could live with that. Probably.
Peyton was surprised with her question, but decided not to make a big deal out of it, "He played ball with Nathan at the Rivercourt the whole day long. He was tired so he called it a night."
"Oh my God!" Brooke squealed from inside, "Are those new boots? They're fabulous!"
Hearing the excitement on Brooke's voice made Peyton laugh. She missed fun Brooke. Actually, she missed any version of Brooke lately. She had been too distant from her, but she could understand. Even though she made it clear she was ok that Peyton was with Lucas, Peyton knew it better. It was going to be hard on her at first, but eventually she wished they could go back to what they once where.
"Yeah" Peyton raised her voice again to make herself be heard, "But I used them once and they hurt the back of my ankle so bad I needed to use a band-aid for three days."
"Why don't you exchange them?"
Peyton sighed loudly, "I've been meaning to do it, but I don't wanna go all the way down there not knowing if they have another pair to give me in exchange."
"Call them. You bought them at Zoe's, right? I have their phone on my cell."
Peyton heard the flush and giggled. Why did Brooke have a shoe store's phone number on her cell phone? But then again, it was Brooke… She glanced around and saw Brooke's purse right next to her and reached out to it, opening it to find her cell.
"Is it in your purse?" she asked already digging in.
The bathroom's door was abruptly opened and Brooke rushed out, knocking the purse away from Peyton's hand and holding it tight together. She had a scared look on her face, as Peyton was both scared and confused by the girl's reaction. She frowned, although she was trying to smile and break the tension that built up immediately around them.
"Brooke, what's wrong?"
"Nothing" she answered quickly as she sighed trying to calm down, "It's just that…" she hesitated, taking some time to think of an excuse, "I have a sample of the party's gifts in here and you can't see otherwise you'll ruin the surprise."
She forced a grin and Peyton seemed to buy it for a moment and rolled her eyes. Brooke breathed in relief seeing the girl change the subject to what kind of music they'd be playing at the party. But she couldn't really pay attention to what was being said, she just kept holding her purse tightly against her chest as if protecting it. She had her medical results in there; she didn't even want to think of what could've happened if Peyton had found them like that.