Chapter 1:
Brooke, Lucas, Peyton
He leaves with a heavy heart, Lucas. The whole flight to New York, he looked regretful about leaving someone behind in Tree Hill. It's not a permanent situation, but it sure is for long, which makes Lucas worry.
Of course, who better than Peyton Sawyer to read Lucas Scott especially when he starts brooding? She steals short glances at this boy, and she already knows what's wrong: Lindsey; Lucas' Lindsey as they call her. The only question now in Peyton's mind is whether she's more devastated or angered by this situation. I mean, why would he leave if he's gonna be this pathetic and broody for everyone to see? Peyton thinks. Especially me, she follows up.
Brooke, on the other hand, has actually been very quiet the whole trip. Not to mention, she's totally fixed on her laptop doing some catching up for the main branch of Clothes Over Bro's. After that little vacation, no one can blame her for this extra workload. Still, amidst this busy veneer, she has this emptiness in her movements and glares. What's she looking for? Love. After all, that's what she said would make her happy.
Lucas, Peyton and Brooke have taken the plane to NYC, picked up by one of Brooke's sedans and dropped off – at about 9am—at this exquisite apartment in Manhattan. Dutch-inspired, just the right size and clean, it puts the first actual smile on Peyton and Lucas' face. This, in turn, gives Brooke a little warmth. Her friends are near her now, and seem to be happy about the place she picked out for them.
The housekeeper, Ralph and the helper, Esther open the door and greet Brooke first. "Ms. Davis, it's good to have you back," Esther says and Ralph nods. Brooke smiles at them and gives them a hug, which kind of stuns the Esther and Ralph since the usual aura with Brooke is very professional. Amused at their faces after hugging them, Brooke finally gives a real laugh. "Chill out you two! It's not like my mother's here. Anyway, I want you to meet my friends Peyton and Lucas."
Peyton and Lucas are hesitant to look at each other before they step a little bit more forward. "Peyton, Luke, these are Ralph and Esther." Just like that, cheery Brooke is back.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Ms. Sawyer and Mr. Scott." Ralph said, shaking their hands. Peyton giggles a bit because being called Ms. Sawyer isn't actually a routine or anything.
"Ms. Davis has told us a lot about you." Esther says.
Peyton & Lucas and Esther & Ralph exchange hello's, and then Brooke cuts in. "Now. You two," she points her finger at Peyton and Lucas. "better be nice to my Esther and Ralph. I'm handing over my best companions from my very boring house to you, okay?" She jokes as Esther and Ralph look flattered in their corner. "The same goes for you two. Take good care of my friends." Brooke told her two friendly helpers.
Then, Brooke's phone rings and she has to work. Lucas and Peyton don't even talk to each other as they occasionally exchange awkward glances. Esther and Ralph show them to their rooms, which are at opposite ends of the 2nd floor of the very amazing apartment.
MEANWHILE,
Serena and Dan were sitting across each other in the Humphrey's kitchen, unable to make a lasting eye contact with each other. Serena was running her finger around the mug of coffee in front of her, which she was also staring at. Dan could not stop looking around and shaking his right knee.
Finally annoyed with the complete silence, Serena speaks up in an agitated and in-a-hurry tone. "What are we gonna do about this?"
Dan lingers on what how to respond to that question, and after some time, answers Serena. "We should talk about it."
A spiteful short laugh comes out of Serena's lips. Then she answers in a sarcastic manner, "Seriously? Dan? You wanna talk about it?" She shakes her head in absolute frustration and struggles to get her thoughts out due to her anger. "There is nothing to talk about! It happened. Let me tell you how. I go to Los Angeles for 4 days. I come back a day early. I go to your house. You and Vanessa are making out. You were both sober. Not to mention, neither of you could even give me an acceptable reason on why you guys did that. There." She looks away for a second before she resumes, "We don't need to talk about IT. There is nothing to talk about. So, I'm gonna ask you again…" Already fired up in anger, she starts trying to calm herself down. She looks down, closes her eyes and breathes heavily before she opens her eyes, looks at Dan and asks in the loneliest tone, "What are we gonna do about this?"
Dan takes all this in, looks at Serena straight in the eyes and holds her hand. In the sincerest manner possible, he answers, "We put it behind us…because I love YOU, and I am not about to throw away this amazing thing we have. What happened with Vanessa… that was just…a release, a goodbye from what we once hoped or thought we could be. I guess, we just set it aside for too long that it caught up to us at the wrong time and the wrong way. Now I'm sorry. I am so sorry I hurt you, but that was nothing. Believe me. I love YOU, so this…is what I wanna do…I wanna put that regretful happening behind us."
The speech Dan gave was almost moving enough to make everything OK, but not for Serena Van Der Woodsen. At that time, she felt parts of her old braver self ignite inside of her. No more of that boring, too nice, too forgiving, always giving type of person – especially type of girlfriend. She moves her hand away from Dan's and shakes her head slowly. "No."
"What do you mean, no?" Dan asks.
"I mean no, I can't put it behind me. I can't forgive you even if you wrote a book of sorry poems or stories or whatever to me. And…umm…I can't do this anymore – be in a relationship with you. So, it's over." Before Dan can even say something to convince Serena otherwise, she's already stormed outside their house.
Dan just sat there staring shocked and broken at the door. He meant every word he said and did not want to let go of Serena, but she was gone. Something about the way Serena ended their relationship had convinced Dan that she meant it and that calling her or trying to talk to her would lead to nowhere. Without a single noise, he went to his room, lied down on his bed and waited until he could fall asleep. All the while he was awake, he said nothing and did nothing.
AN: Chapter 1 is over. Hihi. Tell me what you guys think. Hope you didn't dislike/hate/disapprove of it too much. RnR. :)
