Finding Our Way Back (To Us)

So you guys, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! As of now, the pies are in the oven and a faint smell of apple is reaching my nose. I hope you all have a great evening, and here's the next chapter!

Oh, and thank you all for the amazing reviews. I really would write individual responses but there are so many of them, I don't think I can. Towards a little later in the fic, maybe. So here's just a general THANK YOU to all of you reviewers

Just Let Me Close My Eyes

June 9th, 2014

Most people hate New York in the summer. They hate the humidity, hate the lazy evenings and the afternoons that never seem to fade into the dark nights that welcomes you with a cool wind. But Brooke loved them. She loved how empty and yet alive the city felt during those weeks in August that seemed to just drone on forever. And she loved this evening – walking through central park with the only person that mattered to her in the world.

Emma was full of spark tonight. Her eyes lit up at the butterflies landing on the flowers on the great lawn, her laugh rang through the park as she leaned down to pet a Golden Retriever that was ambling by with it's owner.

Lucas saw them from across the lawn. He saw Emma in her yellow sundress and white sandals, and saw Brooke in her flowing white top and blue skirt. He watched Brooke lean down so she was at Emma's height and whisper something in her ear. He saw Emma grin and then laugh, before tugging her mother along to look at the boats in the pond.

December 23rd, 2008

"We're here!" The couple entered the festive living room to be greeted by shouts from their friends and family. "Hi, everyone!" exclaimed Brooke, looking happier than Lucas had seen her in months.

Karen rose from a chair where she had been deep in conversation with Larry. Gliding across the room, she swept Brooke and Lucas into a big hug. "Welcome home, you two!" she said with a wide smile on her face. "We missed you."

"We missed you too, mom," said Lucas with a smile, handing his mom a bag with a bottle of wine in it.

After the initial hello's, Lucas retreated to his old room where Nathan and Jake were already in deep immersion of the Lakers game. Brooke was left to talk animatedly with Haley and Peyton.

Deb emerged from the hallway after a few minutes with a jolly two-year old boy on her hip. "Karen, your son needs to lose some weight," she shouted into the kitchen, only to receive a short laugh from the mother.

Peyton and Haley immediately squealed and made their way over to baby Riley. Brooke stayed rooted by the coffee table, nervously fidgeting with her bracelet on her wrist. She watched Peyton lift Riley from Deb's arms and blow a raspberry on his stomach, only to receive a loud laugh from the little boy. Brooke gave a small smile. She didn't know exactly what was keeping her from joining her friends. She had seen the happiness Karen had in Riley, and Brooke couldn't help feeling slightly sad and jealous. After all, if it wasn't for certain circumstances, she would have that too.

Dinner was over. Nathan and Haley had said their goodbyes and left with Deb. Peyton and Jake were on their way out, just snagging some last bit of Cheesecake before they left. Lucas was helping Karen clean up the kitchen, and Brooke was feeling the exhaustion of another day.

Making her way back to Lucas' old room, she passed the nursery. Peeking in, she could see Riley rolling around in his crib, obviously not asleep yet. Stealing a glance down the hall, Brooke slipped into the room and moved over to the crib. He looked up at her with his blue eyes and, letting out a short laugh, reached up and grabbed her fingers.

Brooke gave a small smile and reached into the crib to lift Riley out. Bringing him up to eye level, she began to whisper a lullaby in his ear while rocking him back and forth.

On his way back from the kitchen, Lucas passed the nursery and stopped in his tracks. Leaning against the doorframe, he watched with a small smile as Brooke sang to Riley as she swayed back and forth in her jeans and hoodie. After a few minutes, she replaced the boy in his crib and gave him a small kiss before turning around to leave the room. Seeing Lucas, her expression from a smile to something unreadable. She tried to brush past him, but he gently took hold of her arm.

"Hey," he said, brushing her bangs to the side. "That was really sweet."

Brooke just mumbled something incoherent before quickly pulling away from him and retreating to his old bedroom, where she closed the door quietly behind her. Lucas stood in the hallway for a few more seconds. Then, with a sigh, he returned to the kitchen.

The room was dark when he entered it about half an hour later. Brooke was lying in bed on her side, facing away from him. Through the darkness, he could see her shoulders shaking, and knew she was crying.

Moving to the bed, he lay down and wrapped his arms around her unsettled form. He felt her tense up and try to move away from him.

"Brooke," he whispered into her ear. Stroking her hair, he began to whisper sweet nothingness into her ear, until she finally relaxed. Turning towards him, she let him dry her tears. With a smile, he gave her a small kiss on her nose and waited for her breathing to become steady before he fell asleep, she still curled up in his arms.

"Brooke!"

She turned around and smiled. It was the first real smile he had gotten from her since they ran into each other last week. He jogged up to her and gave her a small goofy smile.

"So, you said to meet you by the Great Lawn." She nodded to the basket in his left hand. "I'm assuming this 'dinner' is a picnic?"

"You assumed right," said Lucas with a smile, before turning his attention to the small child tugging on his jeans.

"I know you," stated Emma, simply.

Lucas gave a laugh and crouched down to Emma's height. "Well, I wasn't aware we had properly met. I'm Lucas," he said, extending his hand to the little girl with a sheepish grin.

Emma gave a little giggle and ran to Brooke, where she clutched her mom around the leg.

"She's pretty shy," said Brooke, explaining. "Don't worry, she'll get way too comfortable with you very quickly," she ended with a smile.

"Sounds like someone I know," he said with a laugh, before walking onto the lawn. Brooke smiled and, taking Emma's hand, followed behind him.

"Are you seriously that mad?"

Haley was banging around the kitchen, chopping vegetables furiously. "I'm not mad. I'm just, upset." With a fury, she began to stir the pasta. "I'm seriously beginning to regret naming our daughter Brooke."

"Don't," said Nathan with a small sigh. "Brooke has always been a good friend of yours. She just made a mistake."

"Yeah, a mistake that lasted 5 years."

"Look, Hales, you can't really understand what she was going through, or the position she was in."

Haley turned to face him. "I can't believe you're defending her! Who keeps someone's own child from them?"

"I'm not defending her…I'm just saying, you can't jump to conclusions."

"I can if I want to," said Haley with a grumble.

"Well you're going to have to see her next week anyway. So you might as well make peace with the fact that what's done is done. You can't change it. But you can forgive her."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that. Why don't you fly to New York and I'll stay here with the kids."

"Haley…"

"No, seriously Nathan. Brooke's just a month old. I don't know how I feel leaving her just yet. What if something goes wrong while we're gone?"

"I can assure you – my mom is a perfectly competent caregiver for Cody and Brooke. Besides, that's not what this is about, is it? You just don't want to be thrust into the middle of this Lucas/Brooke situation."

Haley sighed. "It's just…"

"Haley, we go to New York every summer. We go for one week. Every year. Peyton and Jake are even flying in for the summer."

Haley perked up a little. "Really? God, I haven't seen Peyton since she left for Paris."

"So, is that a yes, we're going?"

There was a short pause. Then Haley sighed and threw a dishtowel at him. "Fine, we're going."

June 11th, 2014

Brooke stood on her toes, peering over the crowd of passengers coming down the flight of stairs from Gate A5. Not seeing the family of four yet, she returned to her previous act of nervously pacing across the floor of the airport.

She hadn't seen Peyton in a year. And that was a long time to go without seeing your best friend. Usually when the Jagielski family returned to the city for the summer, they stayed in the apartment they had sublet while they lived in Paris. But the mortgage had gotten to be too much, and although Jake's three-year job in France was coming to an end, they had to sell the apartment. So Brooke had eagerly offered for them to stay with her. She had plenty of room, and was always looking for an opportunity for company. However, now she was rethinking the idea of living with four extra people for two months, even if she did have a four-bedroom apartment.

Lucas had offered to watch Emma while Brooke went to go pick up the family from the airport. Brooke had eagerly agreed, happy to let Lucas and Emma spend more time together. After Tuesday night, Emma had taken an extreme liking to Lucas, and besides the one tiff between them, things seemed to be going well between Brooke and Lucas as well.

June 9th, 2014

He had put Emma to sleep, and was now pulling on his light coat. Brooke leaned against the wall and watched as he ran a hand through his hair and turned around to face her.

"I think that went well," said Brooke with a smile.

He didn't respond, just looked to the floor.

"What's wrong?" she asked, moving towards him.

"When are you going to tell her?" he asked in almost a whisper.

Brooke sighed. "Lucas, we've been over this."

"Actually, we haven't," he said, somewhat coldly.

"Look, I thought we had a nice night tonight. Can't we leave it at that?"

"No."

Brooke felt frustration arise and she counted to ten before letting herself speak. When she did, it was in a cool, calm, collected tone. "Look, I just don't want to confuse her. I promise you, we'll do it soon. We just need to figure out how to."

The anger faded from Lucas' face and a small smile entered it. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Brooke gave a little sigh of relief. "It's fine."

"Brooke!"

Brooke turned on her heel and was just in time to see a rush of blonde come flying into her arms. "Peyton!"

The next few minutes were just full of high-pitched squeals and a rush of hugs. When the two girls finally broke apart, breathless and with rosy cheeks, Brooke turned to see the rest of the family standing there.

"Hi Jake!" she gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Jenny!" The small girl ran into Brooke's arms. "Hi Aunt Brooke! I missed you."

Brooke smiled and stroked the little brunettes hair. "I missed you too, kiddo." The two finished their hug and Brooke straightened up and turned her attention to the small baby boy in Jakes arms.

"Ohhh," said Brooke, immediately enraptured by Liam, and lifting him out of Jakes arms. "Aren't you just the cutest?" she asked, cradling him. "Gosh, he looks exactly like you, Jake."

"Except for the blonde hair and blue eyes. Those are all from his mom," said Jake, leaning in to give Peyton a kiss.

After a few more minutes of greetings and catching up, the five-some realized they were standing in a most inconvenient place for those wishing to get off of the escalator, and made their way out of the revolving doors to Brooke's car.

And as they drove off, Brooke couldn't help feeling a certain happiness that had failed to reach her in the past week. Today, for the first time in a long time, she felt worry-free.