Author's Note: So, I know that some of you aren't all that happy with all of the scenes with Peyton in it. But she is going to be an integral part in the development of the story- I promise, all of this is going to piece together eventually. Hope you guys enjoy it! Also, for whatever reason I am suffering from some serious sinus headaches and insomnia right now. And there's nothing to do but write. So, quick chapters, anyone?
Disclaimer: One Tree Hill does not belong to me, I simply enjoy taking the characters out to play every so often. Lyrics courtesy of Unfair by Kate Voegele
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Three: Truthfully
"Hey Luke." Peyton spoke softly as she walked over to TRIC from where her office was at Red Bedroom Records. The truth of the matter was that there as only so much that she could do, especially considering that she hadn't actually signed an artist yet. What could she do as the owner of a record label that had no artists to manage, other than search for talent to sign?
"Hey, everything going okay?" Lucas asked as he turned to her as she sat beside him in one of the barstools, placing a tender kiss on her lips.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? You just finished writing the script for your movie, and pretty soon you're going to be casting for it. You've got a lot going on right now. And yet here you are."
"The thing is, Peyton, something keeps bringing me here. Even after all of the hours that I've been spending working on the movie. And- I think that I have a solution." Lucas told her after a moment, his eyes moving to hers.
"What is the something that keeps bringing you here, Lucas?" Peyton pulled her eyes from the stage at TRIC where one of the many unsigned acts were playing during their open mic night. The truth was that she had been sitting in on every open mic night that they had at TRIC since she'd been back from Los Angeles, and not one had really stood out to her yet. Sure, there had been acts that were good, but none that were great and that had screamed to her subconscious that they needed to be heard. They hadn't had the it factor. "A solution? That sounds promising."
"I'd like to think so." Lucas told her, pausing for a moment as the artist on stage stepped off, and an unfamiliar face stepped on stage. "Peyton, how would you feel about moving in with me? I know it might seem a little rushed- I just feel like we've already wasted so much time, and I don't want to waste any more."
A ghost of a smile crossed her lips before she nodded lightly. "Yeah, I really like that idea, Luke."
"But?"
"Brooke." Peyton paused for a moment, as though in thought. "I mean, she came back to Tree Hill for me, ya know? And... I just don't want to hurt her feelings by moving out already."
"How about this... talk to Brooke. If she doesn't think it's a good idea, we won't move in together yet. We won't rush it. But I can tell you right now, Brooke wants your happiness more than anything else and she's going to be there helping you pack."
* * * * *
Brooke Davis stood on the other side of the familiar door, adjusting her weight from foot to foot impatiently. Glancing down, she brought her hand up to the door once again, rapping against it gently. She knew that they were home, and she had to be quite honest- there was a slight level of anxiety that had been building up within her. Finally, the door swung open and she bit down on her lip when she saw no one. Immediately she realized why and she looked down. "Jamie! How's my favorite boy doing?"
"Aunt Brooke!" Before she had a moment to say anything further the four year old was ushering her inside of the home. "Momma! Daddy! Aunt Brooke is here!"
"She is?" Haley glanced up from where she stood inside of their kitchen, working on cooking dinner. After all it was nearly six o'clock on a Tuesday evening. Haley's glance became slightly inquisitive in that moment, her eyebrow arching slightly in wonder. "Hey Brooke, what brings you here, sweetie?"
"I'm really sorry I didn't call, Hales." The brunette apologized in the first moment, shooting her longtime friend an apologetic smile.
Before Brooke had a moment to explain to her friend, her godson was at her side once again. "Momma, can Aunt Brooke stay for dinner? I wanna tell her all about school, and Quintin, and... and Chester." The excitement was evident in the little boy's face. Brooke couldn't help but offer a genuine smile in his direction and gently ruffled his hair.
"I don't know, why don't you ask her if she has any dinner plans? If not we would love to have her."
"Can you, Aunt Brooke?"
Brooke's eyes moved to Haley who stood by the stove where she had since been joined by Nathan. "I'd love to. But I don't want to impose. I just needed to steal Haley for like five minutes."
"You're not imposing Brooke, we would love to have you for dinner." Haley assured her after a moment, her eyes moving to Nathan for a moment.
"Go ahead." Nathan murmured, placing a tender kiss on the top of Haley's head, taking the spatula from her hand. "You two go take care of business. Jamie and I are going to finish up dinner, isn't that right?"
A small laugh escaped from Haley's lips, glancing at the pair unsurely. "Just please, don't burn the house down, okay?" And a short moment later Haley walked in step with Brooke, making their way up the staircase. "Is everything okay, Brooke?"
"Yeah, I was just hoping that you could help me out." Brooke began, reaching her hand into her purse and pulling out a video tape. "Last night after Julian left the store there were these two girls that were shopping. One of them stuffed a couple shirts in her bag, so I confronted her. The other one assaulted me- she shoved me into the wall, and they took off." She paused shortly, holding up a hand as though to tell Haley not to say anything yet. "I'm fine- I just thought that because both of them were teenagers, maybe you'd know who they were since you work at the school."
"I'm sorry, Brooke." Haley told her apologetically. In another moment they had stepped into the bedroom that Haley shared with Nathan. Without another word Haley took the tape from Brooke and made her way over to the VCR, slipping the tape inside and pressing play. "You know I'll help if I can."
"Thanks Tutor mom, I appreciate it." Brooke offered a half smile as the scene from the store began to play out in front of them again. Silently, both of them sat on the edge of the bed as they watched the scene play out. She didn't really feel the need to say anything else, it was all right in front of their eyes- black and white.
"Pause that." Haley murmured instantly, as though in recognition. "The one shoplifting." Her eyes focused more on the girl. The face was so familiar to her, she was a new girl in Haley's English class. One that seemed to always be exuding a bitter or sarcastic attitude. Someone who kept to herself, and Haley racked her brain to try to pull her name from her memory where it had been filed away with the hundreds of students that she saw on a daily basis. "Samantha Walker. And I think the other girl, that's her sister."
"You're sure?" Brooke asked hopefully as she peered over at her friend. Haley simply nodded, lost in thought, a moment from earlier in the day playing out in her mind.
Haley had been walking through the hallways of Tree Hill High, the school day having finally come to a close. It hadn't happened quite quickly enough. It had been an exhausting day, trying to lead her classes through a discussion of To Kill A Mockingbird. It had always been one of her favorite books, a novel that spoke to so much more than what most modern books were about. It had substance. It was truly about something and she didn't know how to make her class see that stories like that, they were what writing was truly about.
Haley ran her fingers through her hair roughly, watching a notebook fall to the ground out of the book bag of one of the many in the sea of students, trying to get out of the front door and as far away from the school for as long as they could. "Hang on!" Haley tried calling but to no avail, and saw the hooded teenager slip unphased into the music room.
Haley's forehead creased slightly, grasping the wirebound notebook in her hand. As she prepared to round the corner into the room, she stopped dead in her tracks. The simple sound of the guitar was floating through the air, mixing with the raw and honest sound of a voice. An unfamiliar one to Haley James Scott. She stood there listening briefly, and felt almost as though she were listening to a confession of sorts.
"The city sleeps I don't know how much I can keep
So silently
I wish I could say the same for me
But I've got this dead end street
To keep searching
For a tunnel underneath the bitter truth
Or the bridge invisible I wont fall through
Letting you unravel me
Cause the more you learn the more we share
We were worlds apart and you see
It was so much easier to be
Cause now I know what we can't have it and its so unfair"
Haley had stood there long enough unnoticed, and made herself known in the door jam. Her eyes took in the sight of a dark haired brunette adorned in a hooded sweatshirt. There was a sadness in her eyes, a familiar look to Haley. One that she saw on one of her newer students, Samantha Walker. They had only been attending the school for a mere few weeks, and for the most part they went completely unnoticed in the hallways. Sam didn't participate in class, she rarely even saw the girl speak. The brunette looked up then, startled. Her eyes widened slightly, but before a single word was able to escape past her lips, Haley spoke. "You're really good."
The teenager's forehead creased then, leaning the guitar against the wall. Instantly her arms crossed over her chest, taking the offensive. "What, you were spying on me?" The same defensive outer shell that her sister seemed to have.
"No, I wasn't spying on you. You dropped this..." Haley spoke softly, eyes browsing over the cover of the notebook, seeing her name written in solid letters: MIA CATALANO. "Mia."
Haley felt her body jolt slightly as a body slammed into hers. "Sorry..." Came a quick, murmured reply. It was Sam. Before she had a chance to say anything further, Sam's eyes locked on Mia's. "We've gotta go." And with that, they were gone.
"Hales, you alright?" Brooke asked after another moment, noticing the quietness that had consumed her friend.
"Yeah. Everything is fine." Haley murmured back in response, trying to push the image of their faces out of her mind. It seemed as though they had everything in the world to hide. And she wondered just what kind of secret they were keeping.
* * * * *
Julian Baker normally wasn't the type to chase a woman for her affection. When he was in high school it was quite easy, he didn't date at all. But as he had gotten older, the mathlete enigma that he had carried with him seemingly dissipated, and people began to see him for the type of person that he was. Or rather, who they had thought he was. Talented, charming, sometimes even arrogant. Not many women really got to know him well enough to know the real Julian, and he longed for that kind of relationship again. The kind of relationship that really and truly was about love, respect, and understanding.
Julian normally found himself drawn to women who needed him in one way or another. But with Brooke Davis it was different. She was different. She was strong, independent. She didn't need him, but something deep inside of him wanted her and he couldn't help but feel drawn to her because of that.
The dark-haired producer let out a light breath. Maybe the reason that he felt so drawn to her was because they had so much in common. Their life experiences were almost a mirror reflection. Most of this he knew from reading an Unkindness of Ravens, but it was something that he was still able to see in her. Though she didn't talk about her personal life all that often with him, though she tried to keep their relationship professional, Julian could see it in her eyes. The fear of betrayal, of loving someone back and that not being enough, and the fear that she would never be enough for her mother. Surely, the confessions of Brooke's true self from none other than her best friend helped in his attempts to get to know her better. And he wished that Brooke would believe that it
He had decided partially because of the conversation that he'd had with Peyton, and in talking to Lucas that there were reasons for her walls. Reasons that he understood- his relationship with his father was much like the relationship that Brooke had with Victoria. He only wished that Brooke would learn much like he did that they had no right to control their lives, to make them feel as though they weren't good enough. Brooke was good enough. Brooke was more than enough. Couldn't Victoria see that? The other way that they had led parallel lives was that both Brooke and Julian had been hurt by the love between Lucas and Peyton; he understood that she feared being betrayed again. But she couldn't let that define her, he couldn't allow the mistakes of other men define the relationship that they could or couldn't have.
That was why Julian had decided not to give up. Brooke Davis would learn that she was worth far too much to him, and she would learn that he wasn't other guys. She would learn the lengths that he would go to prove to her that she would always be more than enough.
* * * * *
Brooke Davis was utterly exhausted. This entire week had been nothing but a blur. She'd had her conference call with Macy's earlier in the week to talk about her upcoming line, she'd been working tirelessly on the wardrobe for Lucas' movie, and for the past day she had been helping Peyton to pack so that she could move in with Lucas. She was happy for Peyton. Much of Tree Hill had been waiting for the moment that they would have their happy ending, and Brooke truly hoped that this was the beginning of their happily ever after. That things wouldn't go sour once again. Because above all, they were two of the most important people in her life and she would always want what was best for them.
On top of everything else that had been happening in her life as of late, she still had to deal with Victoria. After another confrontation with her mother about the business end of things she just felt defeated. Like it wasn't even worth it anymore. She loved her company, but it wasn't everything. And she truly wondered if deep down she would be better off just giving it up. Victoria had made idle threats, had told her that she had always wanted a career more than her daughter. And maybe that was what Brooke would give her- the company with no strings attached. Maybe she would sever ties with her mother, and maybe she would be able to start all over again. Or maybe she would fail.
Brooke made her way from the living room back to the kitchen, having busied herself with cleaning while she tried to sort her thoughts out. It was a habit of hers, cleaning and reorganizing. There was something that was somewhat therapeutic about it. But for some reason no matter how much she cleaned she was finding that nothing was helping. Her kitchen nearly sparkled it was so clean, and she had yet to come to any conclusions. The brunette pushed a dark strand of hair behind her ear that had fallen loose from the ponytail that secured her hair out of her eyes. Hearing a knock on the door, Brooke's hazel eyes rolled slightly at the sound. "Peyton, if you forgot something you can get it tomorrow!" She called with a short laugh passing through her lips. She had said goodbye to her friend not more than twenty minutes ago.
Trudging to the front door in her incredibly dressed down attire of a white tank top and black yoga pants, she pulled the door open as she began to speak. "Okay, what'd you forget, Pey-" Brooke's eyes widened instantly, and she found her slamming the door immediately upon opening it. What was she doing? She wasn't nearly close to being presentable- her hair lightly tousled from busying herself with housework. But why did she care if she was presentable in the first place? She didn't think of Julian like that. She didn't. Or at least she hadn't. Not until this past week. Not until the breathtaking kiss that they had shared only two days ago. Brooke breathed out slowly as her back rest against the front door for a long moment. Her eyes blinked closed. What was she doing? Letting out another slow breath she stood up and straightened out her hear, clearing her throat and trying to collect her thoughts, and her composure. A sheepish look on her face she pulled the door open just enough to poke her head through. "Uh, hey Julian."
There was a smirk that played across Julian's lips as he watched her. "So, is this how you greet all your guests, or should I feel privileged?"
"Well, uh..." Brooke stammered lightly, before her forehead creased at the sound of her own voice, searching for an explanation. "What are you doing here, Julian? I thought you said everything was all set until tomorrow when we're supposed to start going over the finished wardrobe samples."
"I didn't come here on business, Brooke." Julian told her after a moment, his dark brown eyes seeking hers out.
"Julian, we've talked about this." Brooke began with the same argument that she had been feeding to him for over a week now. "The only kind of relationship that we can have is a business relationship. And besides, I'm in no way ready to invite someone in my home looking like Mr. Clean." She told him matter-of-factly.
"So you're just going to turn me away, even if I come bearing gifts?" Julian retorted after a moment. Reaching out his free hand he brushed his fingertips against her cheek then, wondering if she felt the same connection that he did at the contact. For him it was electric, and it left him wanting more. He hoped that she felt the same, and noticed that Brooke's eyes fluttered closed at his touch. "By the way? I think you're way sexier than Mr. Clean."
Brooke let out a soft laugh at his words. "Always with the compliments." It was after she had spoke that she finally processed his first words, having been so preoccupied with the feeling of his skin against hers, a light blush having come to her cheeks. "Did you say gifts?"
"I did." Julian grinned back at her, finally dropping his hand from her cheek.
"Well, what is it?" Brooke asked him after a quick moment. If there was one thing that Brooke Davis was absolutely crazy about, it was gifts. She loved being surprised, and having a little something to brighten her day. But could Julian really know her well enough to surprise her with anything that she would like, let alone something that she would want? Truthfully, she was anxious to know.
"Well, see, I know." Julian spoke with a short pause, his eyes studying her features intently. Even without trying she was absolutely stunning to him, and he wondered how she wasn't aware of how perfect she was. "But for you to find out you're going to have to invite me inside. On a strictly personal basis." He emphasized before watching as she opened the door wider, allowing him to step inside, for the first time with absolutely no ties to Lucas Scott's movie.
* * * * *
Author's Note: Okay, a lot of information to absorb- hope this chapter was okay, I couldn't sleep last night and got to writing. I'm loving this story so far 3 know that within the next two or three chapters, there is going to be some drama going down. Don't lie, we all love drama! Read & Review- the reviews keep the chapters coming.