"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." – Charles Darwin

Chapter Twelve: Brand New Day

Most kind of stories
Save the best part for last
And most stories have a hero who finds
You make your past your past

^v^v^v^

She wakes up in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. But the pillows smell comforting and like laundry detergent and she kind of likes it. It reminds her of home.

When she sits up though and she takes in the light blue room, things change. Everything comes rushing back to her and she remembers why she's here. She's still in her clothes from yesterday and she feels dirty and tired all over. And it's not sleep tired. Its emotional tired.

She pushes the blanket behind and reaches for her socks and shoes. Tying them carefully and slowly she thinks of everything from last night. From Kimberly to Peyton taking her home to Lily helping her get to the hospital to Jamie holding her hand. She's staring off into space as she sits on the bed and she doesn't even notice Lucas walk in.

"Hey. How'd you sleep?" He asks standing n the doorway with a cup of coffee in hand. She inhales the scent she grew up smelling and for the first time she thinks she could really use a cup.

"Fine." She nods, still kind of nervous. She doesn't know Lucas and Peyton. She remembers them from when she was little and they used to babysit her, Lily, and Jamie. But she's never been on a personal level with either of them.

Lucas smiles and walks the rest of the way into the room. He takes a seat on the edge of the bed next to her and sighs, taking a sip from his mug. "Crazy night, huh?"

"Yeah." She chuckles, even though there's nothing to laugh about. "Have you talked to Kimberly?"

"Peyton did earlier. Said she hasn't left the hospital yet. It will be soon." He shrugs. He looks to Katy who only gives a nod and then there's silence. "You know, Katy, I've been wanting to talk to you." Katy looks to him, shocked to hear the words from his mouth. Why would Lucas want to talk to her?

"I'm sure you've heard about my Uncle Keith, Lily's dad." Katy nods. "I'm sure you've heard how he died too." Again, Katy nods, this time a bit slower. "He was like a father to me. He treated me like I was his son. I was only a little older than you when he died." He shakes his head, looking away from her and to the blue painted walls, rethinking that whole experience to himself.

"I remember…I remember thinking that it wasn't fair, you know? Keith was the nicest guy I'd ever met. Sure he had a few flaws, but who doesn't? And I remember thinking, how does God take away someone so great? You know?"

"Yeah." She nods.

"I was so angry." He says looking to her again. "So angry that he was gone, that he wouldn't be there when I got married or had kids or graduated. That he and my mom would never get their chance and that Lily would grow up without a real dad like I did. And when I found out, I remember being angry that my father had the ability to kill his own brother." He says, his eyes empty. Every time Keith is spoken of they do that. Their eyes are empty as if that spirit that used to be there is now gone. And only Keith could ever put it there.

"But I got over it." Lucas says quietly. "It took a while, but I learned that…Keith isn't coming back." He says roughly staring at Katy. "No matter how many times we cry or place blame or play the 'what if' game, he isn't coming back. I had to understand that and with that knowledge I just moved on."

"But it's hard." She mumbles.

"Yeah, I know." He nods. "But look at Peyton. Her mom died when she was eight and for years she carried that weight around, hiding in her art and music and just being a bitch to everyone." He chuckles remembering how things used to be back in high school. "But she met me and she met Haley and Brooke changed and Nathan and Haley got married and everything was just so different. And by senior year, by letting people in, Peyton wasn't the same girl she was at sixteen and I wasn't the same boy. We were all different."

"I bet high school was pretty weird for you guys." She chuckles knowing he'll know what she's talking about. He knows she's read his book. Everyone has.

"Yeah." He nods with a smile. "But I wouldn't take any of it back. It's high school, Katy. You only get one chance at it. Don't waste it by being miserable."

"I don't want to wake up every morning feeling like this, but I do." She doesn't know why she's telling him this. Why Lucas of all people she decides to open to. She thinks it's because he understands. Keith was a father to him. Peyton lost her mother. They get it. It's not like Lily who never knew her father or Jamie who only lost a grandfather. This is a parent, someone that raised you into the person you are today. It's different.

"I know that feeling." He chuckles. "But one day you'll wake up and that feeling won't be so heavy and you'll move on. It's OK to grieve, it's OK to feel bad, but there comes a time when you just got to start living again. You know, letting people back into your life and enjoying it again. You get what I'm saying?"

"Crystal clear." She smiles. "Thanks, Lucas."

"No problem." He nods, standing from the bed. "My door's always open if you ever need to talk. Now come on, Peyton made breakfast." He smiles, resting his hand on her shoulder as they walk downstairs for the food.

She has a lot to deal with today and she has a lot to say to certain. Maybe today's not the day the feeling doesn't lessen, maybe tomorrow though.

"Brooke, will you stop this!"

"I'm just trying to help." The fashion designer wined as Kimberly pushed her away. The hospital was starting to get a bit too depressing for Kimberly, making her angry and impatient to get out here. And Brooke annoying her every two seconds wasn't helping.

"Well, Nurse Brooke, I don't need help. I'm just sitting here."

"Sorry." She mumbles crossing her arms over her chest and gives that puppy dog face.

"Don't do that face." Kimberly points to her. "Nothing good comes of that face." Brooke's ready to counter with a smart comment when the doctor comes in. "Please tell me I can leave, doc."

"You seem better than yesterday. I don't see why not." He smiles to the two women in the room. "Let me just get a wheelchair." He turns and walks out of the room, leaving the two adult alone again.

"Thank God. One more second here and you might have to admit me to the psycho ward."

Brooke chuckles at her dramatic statement. "OK, drama queen, I'm going to drop you off at your place, leaving you in Hannah's hands and then I have to get the store. But I will come by later to check on you."

"Again, not necessary." Kimberly huffs, knowing Brooke and how she won't change her mind.

She does her job quietly as she's come accustomed to. She waits tables, take people's orders, and then bring them the food, just as Lily taught her. Unfortunately, today Lily isn't her and she finds it's even harder to get through the day without her.

She can here the rumors of Kimberly spreading around. She'll hear a nearby table whispering about it or kids on the street staring in at her. She can feel the stares on her back when she turns away. She doesn't necessarily like the new attention and she does everything to ignore it. It's just kind of hard when their all around her and the stares deepen.

Rumors of the accident being worse than what it actually was. And it only reminds her of what could have happened. Her sister isn't dead, she doesn't have any brain damage, and she isn't paralyzed from the waist down. She's fine. It's her that might be a little broken.

She tries to make it through two hours of working before the gossip gets too much for her. She doesn't care if Kimberly will get pissed or if Karen needs help. She doesn't want to be there.

She tells Karen some lame excuse about how she feels bad and the older woman doesn't bother to question. She knows what the girl is going through and maybe some fresh air is just what she needs.

She walks the sidewalk slowly, staring at the cement lines as she thinks back to her and Lucas' talk. One day she's going to wake up and things won't feel as bad. Does that mean that she miss her mom anymore? That her memory of how bad she feels will fade? Because she doesn't want that to happen. She doesn't want to forget this pain because it reminds her of how much she loved her mom.

She doesn't want to wake up and have it all be gone. But it's time that she at least tries to move on. There's a possibility that her sister could have been dead. And if Kimberly would have died, she would've died with their fight in mind and knowing that she's leaving her sister.

She doesn't want hat to happen. Not now or the years to come. So, maybe she still is mad at Kimberly, but maybe there's a chance she could forgive her.

"Katy!" She turns to see the blonde haired, blued eyed boy that has helped her so much in the past twenty-four hours. Usually she would've kept walking, but today she doesn't really want to leave him behind.

"Hey." He says once he catches up. "Aren't you supposed to be at the café?"

"Yeah," She nods, "but I wasn't up for it."

"I hear ya. How's Kimberly doing?"

"I don't know." She shrugs. "I haven't seen her yet. I'm kind of scared to."

"She's better, Katy, you know that."

"Yeah, I know, but all my life I've never seen Kimberly weak, you know. She's always been strong and together and I don't think I could see her laying in that bed helpless. I could barely do it last night."

"If you want, I could go with you." He suggests with a small smile.

"I think when I'm ready, I got to face it on my own."

"OK," He nods, "but until then you wanna…I don't know, hangout?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Hannah, you don't have to do this." Kimberly says as she watches Hannah fluff the pillow behind her back.

"I'm just trying to help."

"Well, thanks." She chuckles snatching the pillow from her hand, "but I'm not helpless. I can do some things on my own."

"The doctor said to rest." Hannah says placing her hands on her hips and taking that fearless stance.

"Right and I can't do that if I'm too busy killing you."

"Very funny." She glares.

Kimberly chuckles and changes the channel on the TV. "Look if you really want to help, it's my week to pick Ally up from school. Go do that."

"OK." She nods. "I'll be back in a half hour."

"Oh, and Peyton and Haley are kind of working today so I promised I'd carpool. So can you take home too?" She asks smiling widely.

"Two hyper, full of sugar, kids. On a Friday afternoon." She says staring off into space. "You're evil you know that."

"The best ones are." She watches Hannah leave the room as she storms past Julian. He turns to see his daughter in bed and they both laugh at the girl who just left. "What are you doing here?"

"I think I have an appointment with you, remember?" He chuckles sitting down on the edge of the bed. "How you doing?"

"I'm fine. Kind of bored, but I'm good."

"Good." He nods.

"You know it shouldn't be like this." She says to him seriously. "I shouldn't be able to talk to you so casually. Not after what Brooke told me."

"Do you really believe what Brooke says?"

"She's my mom."

"Yeah, and I'm your dad." He says turning closer to her. "And I'm in love with your mom. Not some A-list actress. You know that."

"Do I? You are gone a lot, Julian. I can see why Brooke would believe something like that and, OK, maybe you don't seem like the guy to have an affair, but you never know."

"Believing and knowing are two different things. And I know that you know the truth. Right, you believe me, right?"

"Yeah." She says softly. "But Brooke doesn't and that's what's important." She says meeting his eyes. He smiles because she might be the only one that believes him.

"She will." He nods. "I'm going to make sure of that and I'm going to need you're help."

"How am I going to help?"

"Brooke wants the divorce to happen as soon as possible. I need your help to make sure that doesn't happen. I don't know how but I'm sure you can figure something out."

"And what are you going to do?" She asks kinking her brow.

He gives her that classic Julian Baker smirk. "I'm going to make her fall in love with me again."

"Aunt Hannah!" The three kids come running to her. Hannah's kneeling on the ground waiting for them. It's Ally that meets her first and gives her a big hug. Maybe she doesn't know these kids as well as she used and maybe it's been a while since she last saw them, but they seem to recognize her and they don't hesitate to jump on top of her.

"Hey guys." She says standing up on two feet. "Wow, you guys have really grown up."

The three children smile with missing teeth.

"Can we go see Kimberly before you take us home?" Sawyer asks tugging at her shirt.

"Sure, I guess we can swing by there." Hannah shrugs. She nudges them towards the car to help buckle them in. "Come on, get in." She buckles each kid into the back seat and starts to walk around to the front when she hears her name.

"Hannah?" She turns to meet those blue eyes she hasn't seen a really long time. She doesn't know if she should ignore him or give an awkward hi. She didn't even know he worked here.

"Tyler." She smiles walking over to him.

"Wow." He laughs embracing her in a hug. It doesn't feel weird, which is weird to her. Because this is her best friend's ex-boyfriend and according to girl-code she's supposed to hate him. "It's good to see you. I didn't know you were in town."

"Yeah," She nods, unwrapping her arms from around him, "I'm here helping out Kimberly for a weeks."

"Yeah, I heard about the accident." He says bowing his head and staring down at his fingers. "How she doing?"

"Good. It might be a few weeks before her leg gets better, but until then she's at home." She says hinting that maybe if he ever wanted to come by so and so would be there. What Hannah doesn't know is that he already has come by. Twice. And both times he almost broke Kimberly in two.

"That's good." He nods. "Well, look I got to get back to work, but it was good seeing you again."

"You too." She watches him walk away wondering exactly who that person was, because that was not the Tyler she remembered.

The years sure have changed them. All of them

"Hi." She says into the end of the phone. That smile comes to her face and she has no idea how this man can put it there. "I'm sorry if you're at work or at home, but…"

"Yeah I got the flowers. Their beautiful." He says something sweet that he knows will make her blush and it does. It's a superpower, she thinks, because no one can make her so girly with a few words.

"Well, I was just calling to say thanks and to see if you maybe wanted to go out some time." She says softly. There's something about him that makes her do this. And she realizes it's because she likes him. She really likes him and because of that she feels like a fifteen year old girl again.

"Really?"

"It might be a while before I can actually go on a date, but I'll call you." He says something along the lines of can't wait and even that has her blushing. She can see his smile on the other end and listens to his voice carefully as if it's the last time they'll ever talk. They say their goodbyes and one promises to cal the other the next day. She lies in bed with the phone still clutched in her hand and that smile's on her lips.

It's Charlie's smile.

She falls asleep easily that night. She dreams of her mom and old times they used to share. Like all the times they went shopping or their late night phone calls. She remembers all the good times. Some her brother is in and some Katy is in. But it's mostly just the two of them laughing and having fun.

If she knew then what she knows now, there would have been a lot more of those moments.

She rolls over onto her side and something feels different. Darker. Like something's watching her. Her eyes pop open and she doesn't know how that happens when she was fast asleep just seconds ago. She looks up to see a tall figure beside her bed. It'd probably scare her to death if the moon wasn't shining in and she couldn't see the outline of her baby sister there.

She looks scared and innocent and Kimberly can remember this clearly. When Katy would sneak into her room at night and want to sleep in her bed. She's too tired to understand why she's doing it now. But she has a good idea.

"Come on." Kimberly mumbles lifting up the blankets and sliding over. Katy takes them quietly and settles into the bed all without a word. Kimberly's arm wraps around the girl and pulls her closer for the comfort of her being there.

That's how they fall asleep that night. Two sisters. Together.