"And if you're lucky, if you're the luckiest person on this entire planet, the person you love decides to love you back."
~Nathan Scott
Nathan smiled to himself, his eyes still closed. The house was still quiet, which meant Jamie was still over at Lucas'. He rolled over and wrapped his arms around Haley before settling in to go back to sleep. With an energetic four-year-old around, sleeping in was hard to do. So, Nathan liked to make sure he took advantage of it when he could.
When he felt Haley shift in his arms, he knew she was awake. Not that it really surprised him. Haley was an early riser. Probably because of Jamie. They were both always up early. "Go back to sleep." He murmured into her neck before kissing it.
"If you hadn't moved in the first place, I'd still be asleep." was Haley's quiet response. She turned in his arms and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
Nathan kissed her back, before pulling her closer and repeating, "Go back to sleep."
Haley smiled and buried her head in his chest. "I'll try."
"You better. Who knows when we'll be able to sleep in again." Nathan said quietly.
"The answer to that is simple." Haley replied.
"Really?" Nathan questioned, his eyes remained closed, because he knew if he opened them it would be harder to fall asleep again. "Then what is it?"
"We'll get to sleep in next time Jamie goes to stay at Luke's." Haley told him, her voice holding a sense of confidence. "And I'm sure we can bribe him to do it again soon. Maybe even in a couple of days."
Nathan laughed and kissed the top of Haley's head. "Bribery works wonder's with him."
"Yes it does." Haley yawned. "I love you Nathan."
"I love you too, Hales." Nathan replied softly. "Now, go back to sleep."
Haley didn't say anything in reply, instead she moved closer to him. With a smile, Nathan let himself slowly drift back to sleep. Thoughts of his wife and son played in his head as sleep overtook him. At one point in time he thought that basketball was his life, and that he'd be no where without it. But then he'd met Haley and fallen in love. He learnt what true love was. Sure they'd had their hard times, but they'd worked through them. Now they had an amazing son and a great life together. Nathan hoped he could get back into the pros, but if he didn't it would be okay. As long as he had Haley and Jamie by his side, he'd be happy. They meant everything to him.
Rushing and racing and running in circles
Moving so fast I'm forgetting my purpose
Blur of the traffic is sending me spinning
I'm getting nowhere
My head and my heart are colliding- chaotic
Pace of the world- I just wish I could stop it
Try to appear like I've got it together
I'm falling apart
Save me
Somebody take my hand
And lead me
Peyton groaned as she tried to stretch. Every single muscle seemed to rebel. That's what she got for sleeping on the couch. Her right arm was numb, which could be because of the fact that Brooke was asleep on it. Why had they let themselves fall asleep on the living room couch exactly? This was probably one of their worst ideas ever. They should have forced themselves to get up and go upstairs last night. "Brooke." Peyton mumbled, poking her friend in the side. "Get up. You're on my arm." She poked Brooke a second time.
The only response she got from her brunette friend was a grunt. "Brooke." Peyton groaned again. "If you don't get up right now, I'm gonna hurt you."She shifted on the couch in an attempt to pull away from her friend, but she didn't find herself with much room at all. Brooke seemed to have taken over a lot of the space on the couch.
"You're just oh so intimidating." Brooke mumbled after a moment, her eyes slowly opening. She lifted her head slightly to look around, for a moment she looked like she was really confused. "Why'd we sleep down here?"
"I was wondering that myself." Peyton sighed. "Could you get off my arm?"
"Yeah, sorry." Brooke pushed herself off of Peyton with a small groan. "I'm never sleeping on a couch again. Next movie night, we better make sure we make it to our beds."
Peyton laughed slightly as she stretched her arm which was still partially numb. "I fully agree with you there. We are far too old to do this anymore." When they were younger, falling asleep on the couch while watching movies was no big deal. Now, wasn't so much the same.
"We are not old." Brooke stated. "We are still young and carefree. And we can do anything we did back in high school."
"If you say so Brooke." Peyton said with a smile.
Brooke nodded. "I do."
"Morning guys." Haley's cheerful voice floated through the living room as she walked into it.
Peyton looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. "Someone sure is chipper this morning."
"That's 'cause her and Nate had sex last night." Brooke mused, from where she sat on the couch stretching her arms. "She's pretty much radiating sex."
"I am not." Haley protested her cheeks slightly reddened.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of Tutor-wife. We're all adults, and you guys are married." Brooke laughed.
"You must have been enjoying the night with Jamie at Lucas'." Peyton mused. "But you do realize you still had two other people in the house, right?"
Haley paused and looked between Peyton and Brooke. "We weren't loud were we?"
Peyton couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry about it Haley, we were camped out down here all night. Didn't hear a thing. Though, that could be because we had the tv on."
"I'm pretty sure I heard some lust filled screams during the beginning of Breakfast Club." Brooke mused, looking towards Peyton.
"Hmm, now that you mention it, I think I heard the same thing." Peyton mused, a smile playing on her lips.
"Ha. Ha. You guys think you're so funny." Haley rolled her eyes. "Well, for that I'm not going to make you guys breakfast and coffee like I was planning to." She turned and headed towards the kitchen.
Brooke jumped up and followed. "Aww, but Haley, we were joking, and you love us. You wouldn't really let me starve would you?"
"I don't know, if annoyed enough, I just might." Haley's voice came from the kitchen.
"No you wouldn't. I know you." Brooke mused. "You're still joking. You just want to see what I would do if it was true."
Peyton laughed from where she still sat on the couch. She loved her friends. She really did. They were good sources of entertainment, especially when in pain after spending the night on a couch. At least she didn't have a hangover on top of it. Peyton stood up and stretched out the rest of her muscles before picking up the dirty ice cream bowls from the coffee table and heading into the kitchen. Today was going to be a good day. She could feel it. Or, at least she hoped she had the right feeling about it. Because Peyton knew that there had been far too many times in the past that she'd had the same good feeling and been horrible wrong about it.
Slow me down
Don't let love pass me by
Just show me how
'Cause I'm ready to fall
Slow me down
Don't let me live a lie
Before my life flies by
I need you to slow me down
Rachel used her foot to knock on Owen's apartment door, since she had Jayden in one arm and the car seat and duffle bag in the other. She felt kind of weird standing outside Owen's apartment. She'd felt weird last night too when she'd stopped by to get Jayden's things for the night. Maybe it was because she hadn't ever seen the place. Or maybe it was because Owen and herself weren't using anyone as a moderator. They were trying to do it themselves, trying to move past everything and be the parents Jayden needed. Sure they did their best not to make eye contact. And they spoke as little as possible, but at least it was something.
She knocked on the door again with her foot and sighed. Where was he? She told him, she'd have Jayden back by eleven. "Maybe daddy not home." Jayden mused, his voice sounding hopeful. "I thought we were gonna go shopping today."
Rachel sighed. That had been the plan, and then she got a call to go to a photoshoot in LA, and she needed to catch the next flight out of Tree Hill, which was in an hour and a half. She hated leaving like this- so last minute- but she didn't really have a choice. She'd backed out of so many photoshoots in the past that she was sure if Brooke wasn't her boss she'd be fired. "We were gonna go buddy, but I gotta go back to work. You and me will go shopping when I come back to see you, alright?" She knocked on the apartment door with her foot again, shifting Jayden in her arm.
"But mommy, you promised." Jayden looked at her with big brown eyes, and stuck out his bottom lip in a pout.
"I know buddy, but I gotta go to work." Rachel shook her head. "You don't want mommy to lose her job do you?"
"Yes, I do." Jayden pouted, and Rachel could tell he was on the verge of a tantrum.
"No you don't." Rachel sighed. "Because if I lost my job, I wouldn't be able to buy you all those toys you want."
"I don't want toys. I want you."
Rachel's response was cut off by Owen opening the apartment door. She passed him the car seat and duffle bag before shifting Jayden in her arms again and looking down at him. "Okay, buddy, you be good for your dad, alright?" She kissed his forehead before putting him down on the ground. "I love you , Jayden, and I'll call you tonight."
"No!" Jayden crossed his arms at his chest and looked up at her.
"Jayden-"
"You always leave!" Jayden exclaimed, he turned his small body to look up at his dad. "Daddy! Make mommy stay!
"Buddy, I can't do that." Owen shook his head.
Rachel wasn't use to this side of her son. She wasn't use to the tantrum throwing Jayden. Biting her lip, she crouched down in front of him. "Jayden, I promise you I'll be back in a couple of days to take you shopping. And I'll stay for a couple extra days, so we can spend a lot of time together."
"No." Jayden shook his head, his lower lip still jutted out. "You always promise, and it never happens." And Rachel knew he was right. She'd made so many promises to him, and a lot of them had been broken. "Just go." He said suddenly. "Don't come back. I hate you."
Rachel felt like her heart had just been ripped out of her chest and stomped on. Had her son really just said that? The tears stung at her eyes as she looked at the three-year-old. "You don't mean that Jayden, you're just mad at me right now."
"No. I hate you. Go away." Jayden turned, and pushed past his dad to move into the apartment as fast as his little legs would carry him.
Standing up Rachel blinked back her tears. "Give him a hug and kiss for me." She said softly, avoiding Owen's eye contact.
"Rachel-"
"Just do it for me please Owen? I'll call him tonight." Rachel turned, and headed down the hall of the apartment building. She heard Owen call after her, but she ignored it. She headed straight for the rental car and as soon as she was in it, she leaned forward against the steering wheel and let the tears out. Her son had really said it. He really had told her that he hated her. Rachel guessed she deserved it. She'd promised to take him shopping, and then when she gets a call to come to work, she blows off her son and books the next flight. What kind of mother was she? Maybe Jayden would be better off without her. Sure, she knew he hadn't meant what he'd said, but it didn't hurt any less. And, it only made her stop and think about all the shitty things she'd done in the past. All the shitty things she was still doing. Jayden deserved a better mother. He deserved someone who would be able to keep her promises, and that would always be there for him.
Sometimes I fear that I might disappear
In the blur of fast-forward I falter again
Forgetting to breathe, I need to sleep
I'm getting nowhere
All that I've missed I see in the reflection
Passed me while I wasn't paying attention
Tired of rushing, racing, and running
I'm falling apart
Tell me
Oh won't you take my hand
And lead me
Brooke looked around herself. The house she was currently in was perfect. It was exactly what she'd been thinking about getting for herself. When she had come to Tree Hill she'd planned on just leaving it at a simple visit. But after spending so much time with the people she loved, Brooke had changed her mind. She'd decided to stay in Tree Hill. If her mother didn't like it, well, too bad for her. She was twenty-two years old. She was fit to make her own decisions. She knew what she was doing. She knew what she wanted.
"Well," A voice pulled Brooke out of her thoughts. "What do you think?"
Brooke turned to the woman who had just walked back into the room. "I love the house." She replied. "Especially the furniture." She was being honest. The woman had done wonders with this house. Brooke pointed at the coffee table, "Like that coffee table. I absolutely love it."
The owner of the house seemed to be pleased to hear this. "We got that two summers ago on a vacation in Greece."
"I want it." Brooke said with a smile.
A look of confusion fell over the women's face. "You want the coffee table."
Brooke nodded, her smile still in place. "I want everything." She replied. "The house, the furniture," she paused for a moment. "And if you can be gone in an hour, I'll throw in an extra thirty thousand."
It didn't take the woman long to get over her shock. She seemed to be utterly happy with Brooke's offer. "Enjoy your new house." The woman said, with a large smile as she reached over and picked up her large cat. She paused and looked at Brooke. "You didn't want Beasley, did you?"
Brooke laughed and shook her head. "No, you can keep Beasley."
"Good." The woman nodded. "There's a roast in the oven."
"I love roast." Brooke grinned. "Bye."
She watched as the woman headed upstairs, probably to pack up her own personal belongings. Brooke smiled and looked around herself again. She had a house in Tree Hill. Now all she had to do was talk to her mother. Who surprisingly hadn't called about her whereabouts quite yet. She had been sure her mother would have figured out that she wasn't where she said she was going to be. Oh well, the more time she had without a confrontation from her mother the better.
The ringing of her cell phone, caused Brooke to jump slightly. She slid the phone out of her purse and flipped it open, not bothering to look at the call display. "Hello?"
"Hey, Brooke."
"Owen? What can I do for you?"
"Have you heard from Rachel at all today?"
Brooke crossed her arms. "You know, considering two weeks ago you wouldn't even look at her, I find it really weird that you've been asking about her so much the past couple of days."
She heard Owen sigh. "Look, Rachel dropped Jayden off here a couple of hours ago, and Jayden said a few things that he didn't mean, and Rachel left. Now she's not answering her cell phone."
"What did Jay say Owen?" Brooke questioned, a small bit of worry washing over her.
"Rachel called me around eight this morning and told me she was going to have to drop Jayden off early, because she got a call and was told they needed her for a photoshoot first thing tomorrow morning, so she had to book the earliest flight out of town." Brooke bit her lip, wishing Owen would stop rambling and just get to the point. "Jayden wasn't too happy about it, and when Rachel dropped him off he threw a little fit. He told her he wanted her to leave and not come back." Owen paused. "He told her that he hated her."
'Oh no.' Was Brooke's first thought. She could only imagine what was going through Rachel's head right now. "Jayden was just upset. He's three years old. He didn't mean it."
Owen sighed again. "I know. And I know Rachel knows it too. I just can't get hold of her. And I don't know if it's because she's just avoiding me. Do you think you can see if she's alright?"
"Yeah, I can do that." Brooke replied. "You know Owen, it's good to know that you still care about her."
"I never stopped Brooke. I gotta go though, Chase just got back. Call me if you hear from her."
"I will. Bye Owen."
Brooke bit her lip as she closed her cell phone. She scrolled through her contacts but instead of calling Rachel she selected Millicent's number. Her brunette assistant answered after one ring. "Hello, Clothes over Bros, Millicent speaking."
"Hi, Milli, it's me."
"Your mom hasn't tracked you down already, has she?"
Brooke couldn't help but smile slightly. "No she hasn't."
"Okay. Good. She's finally figured out you're not Milan. I thought she'd figure it out sooner really. She's been trying to track you down all day, and as far as I know, she can't figure out where you are. You might be safe for a couple more days."
"Thanks for the warning, but that's not why I'm calling."
"Oh." Millicent paused for a moment. "What can I do for you Brooke?"
"Um, since when has there been a photoshoot tomorrow morning?" Brooke questioned. She knew all of the scheduled photoshoots for Clothes over Bros, and as far as she could remember there hadn't been one scheduled all weekend.
"Right. About that. Victoria was getting the February edition of the magazine together, and she wasn't too happy with some of the photos, so she decided to redo them."
"It's my magazine. I make the ultimate decisions. And the pictures for it were fine." Brooke pinched the bridge of her nose. Why was her mother messing with a good thing?
"Your mother is intimidating Brooke. None of us wanted to tell her no. And she made the decision so last minute, that no one was really given the chance to call you. I'm sorry."
"It's fine Milli. I'm gonna try to call Rachel. I'll talk to you later."
"Bye Brooke."
"Bye, Milli." Brooke closed her cell phone and sighed. She should have known that leaving work would be a bad idea. It seemed her mother was trying to completely take over again and she wasn't going to be able to avoid calling her for very much longer.
Brooke looked down at her phone and quickly dialled Rachel's cell number. She listened to it ring a couple of times before she got Rachel's voicemail. She sighed. "Hey Rach, it's me. I got a call from Owen a little while ago. He's worried about you, you know. And so am I. You know Jay didn't mean what he said." She sighed. "Just call me when you get this, okay? I guess you're already on the plane. Bye slut."
She closed her cell phone once again, and slid it back into her purse. Brooke really hoped that Rachel would call her back. Part of her worried that Rachel wouldn't. After all the past week she hadn't heard from Rachel until she was in town. Brooke glanced over at the front door noticing the previous owner of the house leaving with a couple of bags and her cat. She smiled at the woman and offered her a small wave. It looked like it was time to move in and get settled, maybe that would keep her from worrying about Rachel for a bit.
Slow me down
Don't let love pass me by
Just show me how
'Cause I'm ready to fall
Slow me down
Don't let me live a lie
Before my life flies by
I need you to slow me down
"How did I get roped into this again?" Lucas questioned, looking over at Brooke as he shifted the coffee table.
"You love me and couldn't say no." Brooke replied with a grin. She paused and looked over at Lindsey. "Of course not in that 'I want to marry you and have a family way'. It's more of a 'we're great friends and I've got your back' love."
Lindsey just laughed and shook her head. "It's okay, Brooke. I understand you guys have a past, but Lucas keeps reassuring me that it's going to stay there."
Brooke nodded. "He's right. It will be staying there." She paused for a moment. "Move it back, Luke. It looked better where it was originally."
Lucas turned to look at Brooke. He'd moved the stupid coffee table about five times now, and it was heavy. It would have been nice to have some help, but apparently everyone else was busy.
"Don't give me that look, Lucas. You offered to help." Brooke stated, crossing her arms at her chest.
"Yes, I offered to help, but I didn't think I'd have to move everything around a bunch of times, before you decide to just leave it the way it was." Lucas replied.
Brooke rolled her eyes, a smile on her lips. "Oh, stop complaining Broody. You know you love helping me."
"I like helping you when I don't have to move around an entire living room four times."
"You're exaggerating." Brooke replied. "And we helped you."
"Barely."
Brooke raised an eyebrow. "Someone's a little cranky today." She turned to Lindsey. "You keep him up all night or something?"
Lindsey laughed and shook her head. "No, I didn't. Jamie came in and woke him up first thing this morning."
"Nobody's fault but your own, Broody." Brooke mused, patting his chest. "You're the one who let Jamie stay the night at your place. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna try to get a hold of my new roomie."
Lucas watched as Brooke turned and headed up the stairs. Her new roomie was more specifically Peyton. When Brooke had called him earlier to tell him about her new house, she'd informed him that there were enough rooms for Peyton and Rachel to both have their own. She even commented that Jayden would be able to have his own room when he came to spend time with Rachel. It seemed to Lucas that Brooke had figured it all out. It was classic Brooke Davis, knowing what she wants and going for it. He was happy for her.
"So, you're two ex-girlfriends living in the same house, kind of weird isn't it?" Lindsey suddenly mused, drawing Lucas' attention.
Lucas looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. "Not really. They lived together in the past." He shrugged slightly.
Lindsey smiled slightly. "Okay, now if I moved in with them, things would be weird."
"And a little awkward." Lucas replied, a small smile coming to his lips as he moved towards his girlfriend.
"Hmm, maybe I should talk to Brooke. See if she has room for one more." Lindsey mused, and Lucas could tell she was joking.
Lucas raised an eyebrow, deciding to carry on with the joke. "What? You don't like staying at my house? I thought you liked it there."
"I don't know anymore." Lindsey shrugged, looking around the room. "I kind of like it here a little bit better."
"Really?" Lucas questioned wrapping his arms around her. "If you stay here though you won't be getting any of this." He lowered his head and brought his lips to hers.
"Mmm. That may be reason enough to stay at your place." Lindsey smiled against his lips.
"Guys. Please." Brooke's voice made the two pull apart. "Get a room." She paused. "Just not in this house. Preferably you'll go back to Luke's and do that."
Lucas laughed and shook his head. A smile stayed on his lips as he looked over at Brooke. She was still the same girl he remembered from high school, and at the same time she wasn't. It was clear that Brooke had grown up a lot. She'd done a lot for herself and her friends. But, it was clear the Brooke Davis from high school still lingered below the surface.
Just show me
I need you to slow me down
The noise of the world is getting me caught up
Chasing the clock and I wish I could stop it
Just need to breathe, somebody please
Slow me down
AN: Thanks again for all the reviews you guys. I'm trying to get updates every week, but with school it's going to be harder. But I will try. Anyway, the drama in this fic is just getting started, trust me there's some fairly good stuff to come. And I pormise this is going to end up being a Brucas fic, it's just gonna take a bit of time. I would like to thank Ravenscircle, cRiMsOnGoDdEsS01, bruasever, Long Live BRUCAS, .Cinnamon,ravencheerleader, tanya2byour21, cRaZyGuRl093, bella, TVCrazed, and centuryshorty for your reviews. Really, eleven reviews last chapter? That's awesome in my books. It really leaves me incredibly happy and inspired getting all your opinions. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Leave me a review to let me know, I'll love you forever for it.