AN: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. I really appreciate it! I am so sorry there was such a delay in the chapters. I was moving and didn't expect to take this long to get settled. Anyways, here is the chapter and yes, I will continue to do regular updates. As in, I won't leave you hanging for more than a week again. Scouts honor? Pinky promise?

Come Together

Chapter Nine: Baby Shower Surprises pt. 1

"You know, there is that saying that exes can't be friends."

Sighing, "Well, I don't see why we can't be friends? We just settled everything and agreed that we were going to be friends. I can have a conversation with him."

"But the whole time you are going to be wishing that you were with him…"

"We can't just be together, Rachel. He is married to Peyton and they're going to have a baby."

"You already know that he doesn't want to be with her. He's just stuck and wants a way out!"

"I feel like Peyton knows that he doesn't want her," Brooke said as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"She probably does. You all are just stuck, wishing that there was some way for everything to go back to the way it was. You need to be careful and not get sucked into his web."

Brooke was tired of getting the lecture. She knew that there was no way that she was going to rush things with him. They were friends, first and foremost. Part of her wanted to just kiss him and spend the night with him. Part of her wanted to be with him so badly that it hurt. She needed to accept that there was no way they were going to have a relationship.

"I'm happily taken by the most amazing man."

"Are you really happy?"

Brooke sighed. There was no doubt in her mind that he was the greatest guy to ever come into her life. She really did love him and the way that he made her feel, but she just didn't feel the way she once did with Lucas. She just wanted to feel that love that she had experienced before.

"You took too long to reply…" Rachel said softly.

Brooke took a deep breath, "I really love him, Rachel. It's just hard to hear and experience what I have the past couple of days. How would you feel if Cooper did what Lucas did?"

The other end of the phone went silent. She knew that she struck a nerve with Rachel. Cooper was her first love and they had just as rough of a relationship as she had with Lucas. She wanted her to try and put the shoe on the other foot.

"Okay. Okay. Okay. I get it."

"Sure about that?"

"No, I really do, Brooke. If Cooper walked back into my life and wanted to be more with me, it would absolutely crush me. I haven't dated anyone since Cooper because no one feels like Cooper…"

"I think, maybe, it's just that first love feeling. You never really get over them. It just sucks because I feel like we both want to be more, but we can't…"

"You think that you'll ever be together again?"

Brooke sighed, "As much as I want to, I don't think there is any possible way."

"Well, just remember that you don't want to do anything that could put Peyton in the situation that you were in. As much as I hate that bitch, you're not a home wrecker and it's not right to make Peyton feel like you did. That would be hypocritical."

Brooke nodded, "I know, but look. I have to go get Peyton a gift before the baby shower later tonight. Thanks for always being there!"

She hung up the phone and looked at her home screen. There were tons of emails and a new text. She thought that it would be from Damon, but it was from a random number. The number was from Tree Hill, but she had no idea who it was. She opened it and smiled.

Hey, Brooke, it's Haley Scott. I just wanted to see if you had gotten Peyton a gift yet? I am a procrastinator. Anyways, let me know if you want to get something and show up together!

Brooke smiled at the text. It was nice that Haley was trying to be her friend and look out for her. It definitely made her feel more comfortable knowing that someone had her best interest in mind. She replied that she would love to meet her and arrive together.


"What is this thing?"

Haley giggled, "It's a breast pump. It helps collect the breast milk so that you don't have to be present for the baby to receive your milk."

Brooke quickly put it down, laughing, "I don't want to get Peyton anything that attaches to her nipples!"

"Being a mother is an interesting thing."

Brooke nodded, "What about this?"

"That is a baby rocker. Those are actually pretty nifty. Jamie loved that thing," Haley said with a big grin.

"I think that I will get this," she said as she picked up the box.

"I can't believe that little Jamie is so big already," Haley said with a small smile.

"I can't believe that you were the first one to get knocked up!"

"I can't believe that you didn't have a kid in high school!"

Brooke's face fell. She started to remember the time that she thought she was pregnant. She remembered the way that Lucas was with her. He was so supportive and held her hand when she took the pregnancy test. Although it was negative, she really thought that they were going to have a little family.

"Brooke?" Haley said as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

She shook her head, "Sorry, I was just thinking of something…"

"Did you talk to Luke?"

Nodding, "Yeah, we talked about the past and had a go at it. it was nice to get things off my chest after all this time…"

"You feel better?"

"Definitely."

She lied. There was this pain in the pit of her stomach when she thought about the fight that they had. the things that were said were all that she could think about. Part of her felt like she got closure, but the other part of her felt like she was just as torn and sad about where they were.

"Well, at least you guys made amends?"

She let out a small laugh, "Yeah, funny how everything works out in life."

"I'm sorry. I am sure that this is really hard for you. I can't even imagine. I mean, Nathan and I are a work in progress. I never thought that I would fall for the most arrogant man in Tree Hill, or even have his child, but that is just the way it worked out," she paused for a moment. "Nathan and I were talking about getting a divorce at one point…"

Brooke covered her mouth, "What?!"

"Yeah," she said as tears formed in her eyes, "we just weren't happy with our life. He is a successful basketball player and living his dream, but I just sit here and dream about my dream. We separated for a little while and it was the hardest thing that I have ever had to go through. He found someone else and was sleeping with her—"

"What a prick!"

Haley giggled, "He was. They continued their relationship for a while and then I told him I was going to talk to my lawyer and serve him papers. I couldn't live like that anymore. Well, he got the message and came back to me. he knew that once I went to my lawyer, we were never going to be together again."

"I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be. In all honesty, the time apart made us realize what we really wanted and that was each other. I wanted to be with him and even though he moved on, I was always the one he wanted."

Brooke gave her a soft smile as she followed her to the baby clothes section. It felt good that Haley opened up for her and it made her feel like there was more to their friendship. They were connecting on a deeper level.

"So, my point is," Haley said as she grabbed a couple of baby onesies, "maybe you guys needed to grow apart to come together."

Deep down, she wanted so badly for that to be true.


Brooke took a deep breath as Haley opened the front door to Peyton and Lucas' house. She hoped that there would be enough people there that she could escape, but she knew that Peyton probably didn't have that many friends.

"Oh, wow."

Music was playing loudly and there were decorations all over the house. The fireplace was hung with a cute, little flower banner. She figured that Karen had probably made them because she remembered a similar banner at a birthday party that Karen had thrown her.

Their house was pretty nice and she was quite impressed. Sure, it was kind of dark and artsy, but that was Peyton in a nutshell. She was surprised that there wasn't much of Lucas' touch in the house. She figured that he would have pictures of cars all over the house.

She turned to see Nathan standing in the kitchen. She placed her gift by the fireplace with the mountain of all the other gifts. He was dressed nicely; the inner fashion expert in her was smiling. She hardly remembered him in anything but sweats, basketball uniforms, or jeans.

"I can't believe that this place is all decorated!" Haley gushed.

Nathan smirked, "Karen was in charge of decorating and planning the shower."

Brooke giggled, that was just like Karen, "Doesn't surprise me. Why are you here anyways? Aren't baby showers supposed to be for women only?"

"Yeah, but Peyton wanted everyone to come and celebrate the day with them. I'm just in it for the free food and the booze—"

"Thanks for the support bro," Lucas said as he handed him a beer.

Brooke gave him a soft smile as he stood next to her. He wasn't really looking at her and it made her feel weird. He was all that she could possibly think about, was he giving her the cold shoulder?

Haley gently hit Nathan's arm, "Of course we are here to support y'all. Where's Peyton at?"

Lucas shrugged, "I have no idea. I think that she is in the bathroom. She ate something that just didn't sit well with her or the baby."

"That's too bad."

"Hope she feels a little better so that she can enjoy the shower," Brooke said as she rubbed the back of her neck.

She turned to face Lucas. He didn't look at her or even say anything to her. She felt like she was invisible to him. There was no doubt in her mind that this whole baby situation had Lucas on edge, but if they had fixed everything, why was he acting so strange?

He nodded after a moment, "She'll be okay. I'm pretty sure my mother will drag her out here soon enough. My mom has pretty much taken over everything."

Brooke smiled as she saw Peyton walk towards them. She stifled a laugh. Peyton was wearing a pink dress and a sparkled tiara.

"Whoa," Nathan said with a chuckle, "how much did Karen pay you to wear that?"

"Ha ha," Peyton sassed as she rolled her eyes, "I actually decided that this is what I was going to wear to my baby shower. I mean, it's my damn baby shower."

Brooke raised a brow, something was going on, "Well, why don't we get this show on the road!"

Peyton smiled and ushered them to the living room. Brooke took a seat on the couch and watched as the boys went out to the backyard. Karen sat down next to Haley on the opposing couch.

"Is anyone else coming?" Haley asked as she crossed her legs.

Peyton shook her head, "Nope. This is all the company that I need."

Although Brooke didn't have very many friends, she wondered who would be at her baby shower. Surely, there would be more than just three other people. There was a little twinge in her stomach, she felt awful that there weren't more people there for her. She knew that it was all because of the way Peyton treated people.

"Well, go on, open my gift!" Haley said as she handed it to her.

Peyton smiled as she opened it, cooing, "Awww this is just the cutest thing!"

"I remember when Jamie used to be that small."

Karen scoffed, "Honey, I remember when Lucas used to fit in that. Now, would you look at him? He's a grown man with a little one on the way!"

"It just goes so fast," Haley agreed.

Brooke felt somewhat out of place. They all were experiencing motherhood and she was nowhere near ready for that. Sure, deep down, she would love to have what all the other women had, but she was in a great place with her career.

"I just can't believe I am going to be meeting this little angel soon," Peyton said as she rubbed her belly.

Karen smiled, passing her Brooke's gift, "This one is from Brooke."

She opened it and her face lit up, "No way! I was going to get this the other day!"

"No way," Brooke repeated in the same tone of voice.

"Thanks, Brooke!" Peyton said as she walked over to her and hugged her.

Brooke smiled and she embraced her back. Her eyes collided with Karen. She was smiling at her and giving her the thumbs up. She was one proud grandma.


"Excuse me," Brooke said.

She hopped off of the couch and towards the kitchen. Karen had given Peyton so many gifts that she finished her drink an hour ago. She was startled as Lucas was in the kitchen.

"Shit. You scared me!"

He chuckled, "You always did scare easy."

She stuck her tongue out at him as she grabbed a water from the fridge. he continued to laugh as he leaned against the counter. He looked really good.

"You think you're such a cool kid."

"I am a cool kid," he said as he made a smug face and pretended to smoke a cigarette.

She giggled, "How's the party out back?"

"Well, thanks to booze and tobacco, it's pretty—"

"Ew! You still dip!" Brooke snapped as she pretended to gag.

That was the top thing that she hated about Lucas Scott. Well, besides the fact that she loved him. She remembered how he used to dip whenever they were hanging out. She always did find it disgusting.

"You still bite your fingernails!"

She scoffed, "How did…okay…okay. I still bite my finger nails, so what!"

"Old habits die hard…"

She smirked, "I guess so."

They sat there for a moment. She wanted to just talk to him and catch up, but there wasn't anything that she could think of to say. All that was on her mind was how he remembered that she bite her fingernails.

"How's it in there?" he asked as he nodded his head in the direction of the living room.

"Good. Your mom went a little crazy with the whole shower thing…"

He laughed, "This is the moment she has been waiting for since I was too old to fit in little overalls."

She giggled, "Well, she sure bought enough clothes that your daughter should be set until she's four!"

He nodded and gave her a small smile, "Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he said as he shrugged.

"I just…I…"

"It's just hard sometimes to think about it."

"It shouldn't be."

Haley walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Nathan also joined in the kitchen. Brooke wished that Haley could feel the tension in the room and leave. Lucas was about to open up to her and she was ready to listen.

"If I have to hear one more thing about the color they're choosing for the nursery, I will hang myself," she said as she chugged some of her beer.

Brooke laughed, "Really?"

"I suggested pink, but then there was the question of what shade of pink."

Haley froze in the middle of her sentence. Brooke turned to look at what she was looking at. She didn't see anything.

"Haley?" Lucas said softly.

"Is that Jake?" Haley said as she pointed.

Brooke turned around and her jaw dropped. What was he doing here? He's face was scruffy and he had barely aged. She remembered the last time she saw him. He was telling Peyton that he needed to leave town and get away from his baby momma drama.

"What…why is he here?"

Lucas furrowed his brows, "I have no idea. I've hung out with him a couple of times, but I didn't know that we invited him."

Lucas excused himself and walked over to talk to Jake. Haley threw up her hands in defense. She hadn't known that he was invited either.

"This is just turning in to one big, damn reunion!" Brooke muttered under her breath.

"You just need a drink, Davis," Nathan said as he offered her some of his beer.

Something just didn't feel right about this baby shower and she knew that before she even arrived.