A.N.: Sorry for the delay in updating, school has started again and it's been hectic. Hopefully things should settle down a little soon and I should be able to post more regularly. In the meantime, sorry for the delay and I hope you guys enjoy the update.
-It had taken a while but Lucas had finally allowed her to go see Peyton. Sure she had to promise not to push and to give Peyton space if she needed it but at least that was something.
-It was weird, the closer she got to the door, the more nervous she became. She had never really been nervous around Peyton, the two of them had been friend for so long, they were like sisters, but now, they hadn't seen each other for years, it wasn't the same anymore and that was getting more and more obvious the closer she got to the door.
-She managed to open the door slightly after taking a deep breath, taking a look inside.
-It took a few seconds before Peyton noticed her. During those few seconds, she got a good look at her old friend.
-Peyton was laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling and the first thing that came to her was how sad she looked. Brooke had seen her best friend through all kind of sad events, but never before had Peyton look so sad, so discouraged, it was like something was missing.
-Finally, Peyton turned around and saw her, she froze.
-The two of them stayed rooted to their spot, silently staring at each other and Peyton had the distinct expression that Brooke was about to pass out too, exactly like Lucas had done the day before, but at last, Brooke caught herself.
-"Hi." She uttered.
-She was completely taken aback by the sight. That day was just getting worst every minute wasn't it. First, Anna being angry with her, then everybody finding out about her from the news, and now Brooke being here. Maybe she shouldn't have woken up this morning, she would have been way better staying in bed.
-She pushed all emotions to the back of her mind.
-"Brooke." She croaked.
-"Oh my god." And before she could do anything, Brooke had launched herself at her, wrapping her arms around her old friend tightly.
-Peyton didn't move, didn't return the gesture for a long time, that is until she couldn't hold it anymore and desperately hugged her back. Memories of all the good times she had had with her friend through the years floating through her mind.
-It was minutes, maybe hours before the two of them separated, both with tears flowing down each of their faces.
-"Don't ever do that again." The words were meant as a warning but her broken up tone and the tears rolling down her face told a different story.
-"Do what?" Peyton put some space between the two of them by standing up from the bed.
-"Scare me like that again. We all thought you were dead P. Sawyer." Brooke brushed away some of her tears.
-"Yeah maybe things would have been better that way." She muttered it under her breath but apparently it had still been loud enough.
-"What?" All trace of happiness or tears were gone from her voice and Peyton was taken aback by the hostility that had now replaced it.
"What'd do say?" Brooke repeated it again, this time almost yelling.
-"You heard me." Peyton snapped back. For two days now she had taken everything without a word, Lucas' detachment, Anna's anger, everything, but now she was going to be damned if she took this from Brooke too. Hell, the two of them hadn't been in each other's for even longer than her and Lucas had been apart, why the hell did she think that she was allowed to be angry with her.
-"What the hell is wrong with you?"
-"Brooke…Leave me alone."
-"No. I've left you alone long enough. You're not going to get rid of me this time. You better explain what the hell you meant by that.." Brooke wasn't backing down.
-"Why the hell do you care? You have everything; my daughter, Lucas. I thought you'd be happier with me gone."
-"Are you crazy?" She wasn't angry anymore, more shocked. She couldn't understand how Peyton could think that.
-Peyton turned away from Brooke, walking to stand by the window, looking out at the town.
-"Peyton! You can't mean that, you can't mean that you would have rather died." Brooke asked her incredulous, walking toward her.
-"Peyton!!!!!!" Brooke was done waiting for her friend to open up and grabbed her arm, forcing the blonde to face her.
-"Brooke just let it go okay." Peyton wouldn't look at her, training her eyes on the floor.
-"Sorry Blondie, not going to happen. We were all so sad when we thought you were dead, there's no way I'm just going to stand here and let you say that you rather it really did happen."
-"Brooke you have my life now. They have you, why would they need me?"
-"Are you talking about Anna and Luke, because if you do than I think that you really need to get your head checked up again, that's crazy."
-"Why? My daughter hates me and loves you and well Lucas… I don't even know what to say about Lucas, it's like he doesn't even care at all whether I'm dead or alive. The way I see it, they have you why would they want me."
-"P. Sawyer you're crazy. I love Anna, the little girl is an angel but there's no way I could replace you in her heart and well when it comes to Lucas, even if I wanted a shot with him, there would be no way. Lucas' whole focus is Anna now and believe me when I say this, he's very conscious of your existence."
-"Brooke..."
-"No! You hear me and you hear me good. Anna loves you, there's no way she could ever hate you. She's probably just in shock right now and she's lashing out simply because she's hurt."
-"She's not lashing out Brooke, she's ignoring me, she barely acknowledges my presence. Why would she do that?" The desperation in her voice was heartbreaking.
-"Oh come on Blondie. The first thing I learned about the girl is that she's like a mini you. She's been through hell this last year, it's only normal that she would be cautious about having you in her life again. Think about it, how would you have felt if suddenly you found out that your mom was back from the dead?"
-"Oh! I don't know okay. I guess I just thought that she'd be happy to see me, that she would have missed me, but she's happy here. She doesn't need me anymore." She finished sadly, the statement tearing at her heart.
-"Oh stop with the self-pity. You could have died. You almost lost your life AND your daughter. Now you have a second chance. You have a chance to have everything you always wanted. You can change things, all you have to do is hang in there and wait for things to settle down. Give her time Blondie, Anna's going to come around and you and broody can have your happily ever after." Brooke smiled coyly as the blonde blushed.
-"What makes you think I even want to get back together with Lucas?"
-"Oh come on P. Sawyer. I was stuck in that creepy triangle long enough to know that you'll always want to be with Lucas and beside, you left him your daughter for god's sake. She's the most important thing in your life and you leave her to him, that says everything. I'm smarter than I look you know."
-Peyton rolled her eyes at that and smiled.
-"I missed you." Tears were rolling down her face again. Brooke putting things in perspective for her had been one of the things that she had missed the most about her friend.
-"Me too P. Sawyer. You have no idea." Brooke moved in and hugged her friend again.
This time Peyton returned the hug without any hesitation.
-When they pulled back some time later, Brooke wiped the tears off of her friend's face and than from her own.
-"So come on P. Sawyer, we have to start planning."
-"Planning what?" Peyton hadn't been in Brooke's presence for years and needed to readjust to her scheming, it had been a while.
-"Getting your life back of course. We're going to need to find a way to get that mini you to melt the ice front and then we're going to need to snap Lucas from this stupid phase he's in. We need a plan but don't worry I'm on this."
-"Somehow, that's not reassuring me." Peyton answered nervously, but nonetheless with a smile on her face. It was nice to have someone finally treat her like her old self and not like a stranger, someone that needed to be approached with caution. It was refreshing.
-"Okay, let's do this." Brooke was all smile now, somehow scheming had always been something that put her in a good mood.
-"Brooke I don't know I mean…" Peyton was still hesitating though, she didn't know if she was strong enough to keep fighting.
-"Come on Blondie this is going to be so much fun." Brooke said enthusiastically, grabbing her friend into a hug.
-"Yeah somehow I doubt that."