"I don't really think people can change. You know, at the end of the day you are who you are. And it's probably who you've always been."
~ Brooke Davis
Brooke pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head as she unlocked the front door. She'd been up bright and early this morning and decided to get Lucas' house keys from Haley, who surprisingly didn't have a problem giving them to her. Seeing as she had yet to hear from Rachel, she wanted to surprise her friend with an early morning visit. As she stepped into Lucas' house she glanced around and spotted Lucas sitting with Jayden and the table. "And what are you two boys up to this morning?" She questioned with a smile, as she made her way towards them.
"Auntie Brooke!" Jayden exclaimed jumping off his seat and running towards her.
"Hey, Jay Bear." Brooke crouched down and held her arms open for him to run into. She picked him up and kissed him on his cheeks, nose, and forehead.
"What you doin' here?" He questioned tilting his head to the side as he looked at her.
"I came to see you of course, silly." She laughed. "And that crazy mother of yours."
"She's still sleepin'." Jayden stated.
"She is, is she?" Brooke questioned as she put Jayden back down onto the chair he'd been sitting on before she'd walked in the door. "Maybe I should go wake her up. And then you and your mom can come with me to go get Jamie and we'll go to the park and get ice cream for lunch."
"Yeah!" Jayden said excitedly.
Brooke smiled, and glanced over at Lucas. "Morning, Luke."
"Morning, Brooke." Lucas replied, an amused look on his face.
"How are you this morning?"
Lucas smiled. "I'm good. How about you? What are you doing here so early?"
"I wanted to take both Jamie and Jayden out, and since Rachel has to head out tonight, I figured I should drag her out nice and early with us." Brooke shrugged, she looked at Jayden. "Finish up your breakfast Jay, I'll be back." She turned and headed to Karen's room, which was where Rachel and Jayden stayed on Rachel's weekends with her son. She walked into the bedroom, and saw Rachel curled up on the bed, hugging a pillow to herself.
With a smile, Brooke jumped onto the bed. "Hey, whore, get up!" She got no response, not even a grunt. Brooke poked her friend in the side. "Rachel, time to get up. Come on." She poked her again.
"Go 'way." Was the mumbled response she got after a moment of silence and relentless poking.
"No. It's your last day to spend with your son until the next time you come back to Tree Hill, so get your skanky ass out of bed." Brooke demanded, pulling the pillow out of Rachel's grasp and hitting her in the head with it.
Rachel lifted her head and looked at Brooke with utter confusion. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I'm in Tree Hill for a visit." Brooke grinned. "Lucas must not have told you. I got here yesterday, but you were nowhere in sight."
Rachel sat up, running a hand through her hair. "Sorry, I was keeping myself busy all day while Skills kidnapped my son." She yawned.
"Why are you so tired?"
"It's early, and I was up a lot of the night with Jayden because of the storm."
"Speaking of Jayden... you, me, Jayden and Jamie are gonna go out as soon as you're up and motivated."
Rachel yawned again and nodded. "Alright."
"You okay, Rach?" Brooke questioned looking at her friend. Something was off; she just couldn't place what exactly.
Rachel turned her head and gave her a small smile. "I'm fine Brooke."
"If you say so." Brooke replied, not fully believing what Rachel said. Over the years Brooke had gotten to know Rachel really well, and reading her was getting pretty easy. "But you know if you need to talk about... anything I'm here for you."
"I know Brooke, and when I need to talk about something, you'll be the first to know." Rachel said with a shrug. "And as of right now, I don't have anything I need to talk about."
Brooke watched as Rachel got out of the bed, and went to her duffle bag. She dug through it and pulled out some clothes, leaving the room without another word. Brooke sighed. Something was going on in that head of Rachel's, and Brooke wanted to know what it was.
Passed out on the overpass
Sunday best and broken glass
Broken down from the bikes and bars
Suspended like spirits over speeding cars
You and me were kings over the parkway tonight
And tonight will go on forever while we
Walk around this town like we own the streets
And stay awake through summer like we own the heat
Singing "everybody wake up (wake up) it's time to get down"
(everybody, everybody wake up it's time to get down)
And when I pass the bottle back to Pete
On the overpass tonight, I bet we laugh
Nathan woke up to the smell of coffee and an empty bed. He remembered falling asleep with his arm wrapped around both his son and wife as the storm raged on outside, but now they were both gone. Yawning, he sat up, knowing they were probably downstairs already eating breakfast. He ran a hand through his short brown hair as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up.
As he left the bedroom and headed downstairs, the smell of coffee got stronger and the sound of talking and laughter got louder. Nathan smiled as he entered the kitchen to see Jamie sitting at the counter with a plate of food in front of him, and Haley busy making pancakes. "Morning, Jim-Jam." Nathan smiled ruffling his son's hair before moving around the counter to Haley. "Morning, Hales." He said wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her cheek.
"Morning, daddy." Jamie grinned from where he sat at the counter, before eating a forkful of pancakes.
Haley turned with a smile and gave Nathan a kiss. "Morning. Sleep good?"
"Of course." Nathan smiled at her. "I had you and Jamie beside me."
Haley laughed softly as she passed Nathan a plate. "Eat up." She said before filling up another plate. "We've got a long day ahead of us."
"Why? What are we doing?" Nathan questioned as he sat down beside his son at the counter.
"Aunt Brooke is taking me out all day with Jayden." Jamie grinned at him.
"Sounds like fun Jim-Jam." Nathan smiled.
"While he's with Brooke, we're going to be doing some shopping." Haley stated her back to him.
Nathan raised an eyebrow. "What kind of shopping exactly?"
"I want to paint the living room, and get a few new things." Haley replied. "Not too much shopping. I know what I want. So don't worry, Nate."
"Why shouldn't Nate worry?" Peyton questioned as she came into the kitchen.
"Because, even though I'm dragging him out of the house to shop with me, we won't be out long." Haley replied, handing Peyton a plate of food, before fixing herself one.
"Haley you didn't have to-"
Nathan cut Peyton off. "Don't argue with her, Peyton, you'll lose."
Peyton shook her head and sat down. "Brooke not up yet?"
"Actually, she was up first this morning." Haley mused. "She ate and then headed over to Luke's to get Rachel and Jayden."
Peyton nodded, not saying anything else. Nathan looked around the kitchen as silence fell amongst them. He didn't really know what to say, but he felt a need to say something. It wasn't that the silence was awkward, it just felt...unnatural. "So Peyton, how's your job going?" He asked for a lack of anything else.
"Um..." Peyton looked up at him and bit her lip. "I actually quit my job."
A silence fell again as both Nathan and Haley looked at Peyton. Why hadn't neither of them known that? "Why'd you do that Aunt Peyton?" Jamie was the one to ask the question on everybody's mind.
Peyton sighed. "Because I wasn't happy with what I was doing."
"You were working at a record label." Nathan replied, confused. "I thought it was what you wanted to do."
"It is, don't get me wrong." Peyton said, looking at Nathan. "But, I was the assistant to the assistant. What I did and said didn't matter to them. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life there, doing nothing but grunt work."
"Daddy?" Nathan turned and looked down at his son, who looked confused.
"Yeah, Jamie?"
"What's grunt work?"
Nathan laughed slightly. "Grunt work is doing work for other people that no one else wants to do."
"Like cleaning my room?" Jamie questioned.
"No. That's different." Haley interjected with a smile.
Jamie looked at Haley. "How?"
Haley shook her head and Nathan laughed. "Cleaning your room is something you have to do, because it's your room and your mess." Haley attempted to explain. "Grunt work is, having to clean up other people's messes because they don't want to."
"So, if I get someone to clean my room, they're doin' grunt work?" Jamie asked next.
Nathan laughed again, and ruffled his son's hair. "Only if you pay them, Jim-Jam."
I'm gonna stay eighteen forever (cut me open)
So we can stay like this forever (sun poisoned)
And we'll never miss a party (this offer...)
Cause we keep them going constantly (...stands forever)
And we'll never have to listen (new haircut)
To anyone about anything (new bracelet)
Cause it's all been done and it's all be said (eyeliner)
We're the coolest kids and we take what we can get
"I miss you." Lindsey's voice floated through the other end of the phone.
Lucas smiled to himself. "I miss you too Linds. How is everything in New York going?"
"It's good. I'll be flying in tomorrow. I can't wait to see you."
"I'll be at the airport, waiting for you." Lucas replied. He was quiet for a moment before saying, "There's something I should probably tell you."
"And what's that?"
Lucas sighed. "Brooke and Peyton are both in town. I thought you should know. And I want to make sure that you understand you've got nothing to worry about."
There was silence on the other end, and Lucas didn't know if Lindsey had hung up on him or not. "Thank you, Luke." Lindsey's voice finally reached his ears, and he felt relief wash over him. "Thank you for telling me. Haley called when she found out Brooke was heading to Tree Hill with Peyton to let me know. I was wondering whether or not you'd tell me yourself, and I'm glad you did."
Lucas should have known that Haley would fill Lindsey in. The two had become great friends the past year, talking to each other on the phone and going out for lunches. Lucas didn't mind at all. It was nice that his best friend and girlfriend got along so well. "I should have known she'd tell you, I was just hoping that I'd get to you first."
"Who got to me first doesn't matter." Lindsey replied. "What matters is that you told me, Luke. Now, enough of that talk. How's the writing for your second great novel coming?"
"Straight to business, huh?"
Lindsey laughed. "I'm at work Luke, I got to make it seem like I'm doing something work related, just in case an employee walked in here to ask questions."
"Okay, well, on the writing front. Things aren't so good." He told her honestly.
"You'll figure something out." Lindsey sounded confident, which was good. It was something Lucas needed, that extra confidence. "You are a brilliant writer. You're next book is going to be amazing, and do just as well as your first, if not better."
"Hopefully, I'll be able to figure it out soon."
"You will." Lindsey laughed.
The hell out of this town
Find some conversation
The low fuel lights been on for days
It doesn't mean anything
I've got another 500, 'nother 500 miles
Before we shut this engine down,
We shut it down
Haley smiled, watching as Jamie and Jayden ran around the backyard, playing with Jamie's little basketball and basketball net. Brooke, Rachel, Jamie and Jayden had come to the house after spending most of the morning at the park. Jamie and Jayden were now currently working off the energy they'd gotten from their ice cream for lunch.
"They grow up so fast." Rachel said softly. Haley turned to look at the redhead, who was looking out the window, watching the two young boys. "He's going to be three next week..." She trailed off.
"I know what you mean." Haley sighed. "Jamie's going to be in kindergarten next year. I don't know if I'm ready for that."
A silence fell around them again. Haley glanced from Rachel over to Brooke who was currently putting on a pot of coffee. It was weird to be standing in a kitchen with Rachel, talking about kids. More specifically, their kids.
"Thank you."
Rachel's words caught Haley off guard. She looked over at the redhead again. "For what Rachel?" Haley questioned.
"For being a mother figure to Jayden. I know he spends a lot of time her with you guys when his dad's working and what not." Haley watched a small smile come to Rachel's lips. "He talks about you, Nate, and Jamie all the time." She paused. "So thank you for making sure he gets a good life and knows right from wrong."
"I'd hardly call me his mother figure." Haley replied.
"But don't you see? You are." Rachel turned to face Haley. "I see him two to three days every second week, and for a week or two around Christmas and sometimes the summer. You're around him all of the time. You're a bigger influence on him then I am."
Haley shook her head. "That's not true. You're a huge influence on your son's life. You brought him into this world. He's your biggest fan. He cherishes his time with you, remembering every minute you're together."
"Rach, whatever's going through that head of yours, forget it." Brooke said finally speaking up. Haley looked over at Brooke as she moved from the coffee pot towards them. "You're a great mother and that little boy loves you."
Rachel shook her head. "I'm going to head out. My flights tonight, want to spend a bit more time alone with Jayden before I have to catch it."
Haley watched as Rachel left out the back door, saying a few words to Jayden and Jamie, before smiling and ruffling Jamie's hair. Rachel picked up Jayden, and Jayden turned to look at them through the window, waving. Haley smiled and waved back, as Jamie ran inside. "Mama, I'm gonna go play the PS3."
"Kay, Jamie, just don't have it too loud, okay?"
Jamie nodded and ran off towards the living room.
"Is Rachel alright?" Haley asked after a moment, glancing at Brooke.
Brooke shrugged. "I don't know Hales, I hope so. I think she just feels like she's missing out on a lot of Jayden's life because of his birthday coming up."
Haley nodded to herself, as she chopped up some vegetables. "Are you going to be eating dinner here with us?"
"Uh, no. I was going to eat at Luke's. I talked to him earlier and told him I'd be stopping by to say goodbye to Rachel, he invited me over for dinner."
Haley made a mental note of that. Was there a triangle slowly creeping its way back into Tree Hill? Haley hoped not for everyone's sake. She didn't want to see any of her friends getting hurt again.
I'm gonna stay eighteen forever (cut me open)
So we can stay like this forever (sun poisoned)
And we'll never miss a party (this offer...)
Cause we keep them going constantly (...stands forever)
And we'll never have to listen (new haircut)
To anyone about anything (new bracelet)
Cause it's all been done and it's all been said (eyeliner)
We're the coolest kids and we take what we can get (wait forever)
"Hey, P. Sawyer." Brooke's voice floated through the living room. "I haven't seen you all day."
Peyton looked up from where she was sitting on the couch drawing. "Yeah, I went for a walk around town. Wanted to see if anything was different."
"Well, is there anything different?" Brooke questioned sitting down beside Peyton on the couch.
"Karen's Cafe is closed."
Brooke sighed. "I know."
Peyton sat quietly for a moment. She glanced down at the sketch pad on her lap, before looking back at Brooke. "There's something I gotta tell you Brooke."
"You're not dying or anything are you?" Brooke questioned, turning to fully face Peyton.
Peyton laughed and shook her head slightly; she should have known Brooke would ask something like that. "No, don't worry I'm not dying."
"Good." Brooke smiled. "I just want to say though, if you were dying, I lay claim to your car, and all your stuff."
"It's good to know you care so much about me." Peyton smiled, knowing her best friend was joking around with her. "Anyway, what I wanted to tell you, before you found out from Nate and Haley, is..." She sighed. "I quit my job."
"What?" Brooke sat up straighter and looked at her. "When did that happen?"
"After you called me about coming here. My boss wouldn't give me the time off, and I just... quit."
"Peyton, was it something you really wanted to do, or did you just quit because you didn't get the time off you asked for?" Brooke questioned, and Peyton knew Brooke was blaming herself for this.
"It was what I wanted. Like we talked about before, I wasn't happy with the job." Peyton sighed. "I'm going to take a bit of time to figure out what I really want to do with myself."
"Well, if there's anything I can do for you Peyton, let me know."
Peyton smiled. "Don't worry Brooke, I will."
Brooke nodded. "I'm going to be going to Luke's later, to say goodbye to Rachel. Did you want to come, or are you going to stay here with Naley and Jamie?"
"I think I'm going to stay here." Peyton replied. She didn't really want to go to Lucas' place, mainly because she still felt horribly awkward around him- especially with his willingness to forgive her. There had to be something going on, something he wasn't saying. Maybe he was pretending to forgive her for everyone else's sake. They had all the same friends in Tree Hill after all.
"You sure?"
Peyton nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I'm sure Brooke. You go and say your goodbyes. Tell Lucas I said hi."
(you're just jealous cause I'm young and in love)
Eighteen forever (first kisses)
(your stomach's filled up but you're starved for conversation)
So we can stay like this forever (new stitches)
(you're spending all your nights growing old in your bed)
And we'll never miss a party (collar weekend)
(and your tearin up your photos cause you wanna forget...it's over)
Cause we keep them going constantly (appearance ticket)
(you're just jealous cause I'm young and in love)
And we'll never have to listen (November to...)
(you're stomach's filled up but you're starved for conversation)
To anyone about anything cause it's all been done (...remember)
(you're spending all your nights growing old in your bed)
And it's all been said (nightswimmers)
(and you're tearin up your photos cause you wanna forget...it's over)
We're the coolest kids and we take what we can get
Rachel shoved a few things into her duffle bag before zipping it up. The weekend had come and gone already. Days seemed to drag on, until she got to Tree Hill. When she was here with her son, everything went by too fast.
"Do you gotta go mommy?" Jayden asked from where he sat on the bed beside the duffle bag.
"Yeah, baby, I gotta go." Rachel smiled sadly at her son. She wished she hadn't screwed up in the past. She wished things in her life had gone differently, and that the little family she'd gained hadn't fallen apart. "But you know I'll be back."
Jayden pouted, and crossed his arms at his chest. "But you always take so long."
Rachel sighed, crouching in front of her son. "Not this time, I won't. I'm gonna be back in five days for your birthday."
"Five days?" Jayden questioned looking at her suspiciously.
"Five days, baby." Rachel smiled, leaning forward and kissing her son's forehead. "And you wanna know why?"
"'Cause it's my birthday?"
Rachel nodded. "And I wouldn't miss it for the world because you're my baby boy."
Jayden reached out and wrapped his small arms around her neck. Rachel closed her eyes, and pulled him closer to her. "I love you mommy." He said quietly.
"I love you too, baby." Rachel smiled; she kissed his cheek and pulled away. She was so close to crying. But she couldn't do it, not in front of him. If she cried in front of him, he'd be upset, and she didn't want that. "Now, what do you say we do the last minute check to make sure mommy hasn't left anything behind?"
Jayden nodded standing up on the bed. "Kay mommy." He jumped off the bed, and started to crawl around the floor, looking under things. Rachel started to go through the drawers she used and searched the surfaces of the nightstand, dresser, and desk.
This was their little ritual. A way to keep busy before time came for Rachel to leave. "Mommy, I don't see anything."
"Me either, which means I did a good job packing this time." Rachel smiled at him, before scooping him up into her arms and kissing his cheek.
Jayden rested his head on her shoulder. "Does that mean you're going now?"
"Yeah." Rachel sighed. "It does." She stood there silently for a few minutes before kissing his cheek again and putting him down. "You're going to stay here with your Aunt Brooke and Lucas-"
"Uncle Lucas." Jayden corrected her with a grin.
Rachel chose not to say anything. Apparently Jayden was slowly gaining a lot of aunts and uncles. "Okay. You're going to stay here with your Aunt Brooke and Uncle Lucas until your dad comes to take you home. I'll call you before your bedtime."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"Pinky swear?" Jayden held out his small pinky to her.
Rachel linked her pinky to her son's and kissed it. "I pinky swear." She put her son down and said, "Now, go tell your Uncle Lucas to make you some dinner."
"Okay mommy." Jayden replied before he hurried out of the room.
Rachel sighed and sat down on the bed. She didn't want to leave. She hated leaving him. Hated not being a bigger part of his life, but this is what worked. This was what she got for making bad judgements. Jayden deserved a happy, semi-normal life, and his father could do that for him. She closed her eyes and dropped her head in her hands. Why couldn't time travel exist? Why couldn't she go back to the worst day of her life and redo it?
There were so many things Rachel wished she could change. So many things she wished she could fix to better life for herself and for her son. A few minutes passed before Rachel opened her eyes and stood up. If she didn't head for the airport now she'd never leave. As she picked up her bag she heard a knock on the front door. She ignored it figuring it was one of Lucas' friends. She shouldered her duffle bag as she left the bedroom.
"Kay, Jayden baby, it's time for me to go. Can I have one more hug and kiss, before I leave?" She said as she walked through the hallway.
"Guess who's here mommy." Was the reply she got from Jayden as he ran towards her.
"Who's here baby?" Rachel questioned, as she crouched in front of him.
Jayden grinned at her. "I told you to guess."
"Hmm... Santa Clause?"
"No mommy." Jayden laughed. "He won't be here for a few weeks."
"Then who's here?"
"Daddy."
Rachel froze she hadn't been expecting that answer. Jayden's father wasn't supposed to be there until after she left. She liked the system they had. It was a system where they didn't have to face each other. "Come say hi to him mommy." Jayden said, pulling her back to reality as he grabbed her hand.
She couldn't argue with her son, so she stood up and let Jayden lead her the little ways into the kitchen, where his father stood, talking to Brooke. Jayden let go of her hand and she felt herself start to panic. Her lifeline was gone. Her safety net was gone.
Rachel's heart raced as dark brown eyes met hers. "Hey, Rachel." His voice was cold, distant. It still held so much anger and pain, even after the past year and a half.
Her throat closed up, and for a moment she felt like she was going to pass out. Why did being in the same room with him do this to her? Was it the guilt? Was it the pain? Was it the need to be with him again to fix things for Jayden? When her voice finally came back to her all she found herself able to say was, "Hi, Owen."
Just jealous cause we're young and in love
You're just jealous cause we're young and in love
You're just jealous cause we're young and in love
You're just jealous cause we're young and in love
You're just jealous cause we're young and in love
You're just jealous...
AN: Hey all, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays. Thank you for the reviews. They really made my day. And what did you think of the big reveal? Anything you'd like to see in the future? Pairings you might want to see? Special thanks to dolcegrazia, PeterPanTinkerBell27, cRaZyGuRl093, and cRiMsOnGoDdEsS01 for the reviews; and cRiMsOnGoDdEsS01 another thank you for adding the story to your alerts (and I promise you there are more Brachel scenes to come, becuase I love their friendship). Anyway. Reviews are Love.
