AUTHORS NOTE: Thank you all for your reviews! I knew you'd be happy about the last chapter but nothing in Tree Hill is ever easy :) Please keep reviewing!
Chapter Fourteen
Brooke had always wondered what it felt like when Lucas' heart had stopped that time outside of the café in high school. She wondered if he felt anything… if his mouth went dry… if he could feel it coming… if he knew in the split seconds before it happened that it was going to. She had read his book, but he hadn't been very specific about it. She had never asked, but she had thought about it once or twice.
She didn't have to ask now. Now she knew.
Her heart was stopped… and yes, she felt like she couldn't breathe, her mouth was dry like the Sahara and she could feel it beating so rapidly right before it stopped, she was sure it was going to just before it did.
She had imagined this day a thousand different ways… how she would confess her longest and deepest secret to her best friend. How she would make her understand how much she loved her… how she would show her… prove it… not let her walk away until Peyton understood. That she would say all the right things to make sure she never lost her. But in all the thousands of ways she had imagined this moment… this day… she had never once considered it would be Peyton that would confess her love first.
"Brooke…" Peyton's voice breaks out over the silence and causes Brooke's heart to start beating again. Brooke raises her hand to stop the blonde before she hears another word. She shakes her head from side to side, tears flowing freely from her eyes, no longer strong enough to hold them in or worried about the truth they tell. She feels Peyton take her hand and takes a shuttering breath before opening her eyes again. "Say something Brooke."
Brooke's eyes open slowly at first, one at a time, until she is staring at the blonde in front of her, Peyton's figure blurred slightly due to the heavy tears occupying the same area. Her mouths opens, the words on the tip of her tongue, desperate to come out of her mouth for years. But the words she's thought of saying a thousand different times… a thousand different ways, don't come out.
Instead, words she never expected to say do.
"You stole my line P. Sawyer," she says through the last of the falling tears. "You stole my line."
"Which line was that?" Peyton asks, the anxiety and desperation clear on her face. If she doesn't know by now that Brooke is in love with her… then Brooke has a lot of ideas how to show her.
She doesn't bother answering Peyton, instead leaning forward and capturing the blonde's lips with her own. Their eyes close instantly and Peyton sighs into the kiss, her hands moving to Brooke's dark hair.
This isn't the first time their lips have met, but neither girl could tell. This kiss was full of all those unspoken feelings and words between them that had never been said. Full of promises of more in the future and regrets for time wasted… full of passion and longing. Neither girl wants to pull away, but the need for air becomes too much eventually, and when they part, they both take a breath before their lips are instantly back upon one another… like a magnet pulling them close.
Just as Brooke's hand finds its way under Peyton's top, the shrill sound of a ringing cell phone breaks them out of the kiss and they both pull away, their hearts beating so quickly that it could practically be heard over the sound of the phone. Peyton glances at the table where Brooke's phone is.
"Who could be calling at this hour?" she questions, one eyebrow raising and as Brooke leans over to grab the phone, Peyton makes sure not to let go of her other hand.
Brooke gets the phone and turns back to Peyton, holding it up.
"It's Haley… something must be wrong," Brooke ushers out before pressing the button to speak. "Hales?"
"Brooke?" Haley's voice rings through from the other side of the phone line and it is clear that she's crying. Or at least, that she has been.
"Oh my God, Haley. What's wrong?" Brooke asks and the fast beat of her heart only increases as Haley clears her throat on the other end of the line.
"Brooke… there's been an accident. Lucas is in the hospital," Haley manages to get out, through a few sobs.
The two best friends and possibly more look at each other, both of their anger toward the man in question immediately gone at the thought of him in the hospital.
"We'll be right there," Brooke manages to say, before clicking the phone off. Just as she does, Peyton is up, pulling Brooke with her.
They drive in silence to the hospital, their hands still attached and never having parted. In a way its comforting to Brooke to have Peyton's hand wrapped in her own… and it's not all that uncommon. But due to the recent events of the night, it feels different somehow.
They pull up to the hospital, Peyton parking the car and neither girl moves to get out right away. Peyton is the one to finally squeeze Brooke's hand slightly and smile.
"We should get in there and be with our family," the blonde says and Brooke nods.
No more words are exchanged as they exit the vehicle and make their way through the emergency room doors of Tree Hill Hospital. A place they have both spent far too much time in.
As they round the corner, they are greeted by Haley, who is forcing out a smile with tear stained cheeks and a clearly distraught Nathan who is holding a sleeping Jamie over his shoulder.
"What happened? How's Lucas?" Brooke is the first to ask after hugging Haley and Nathan and Peyton doing the same. Their hands have remained attached to one another still and they back up together to get the information they need about their friend.
"He's in surgery… we don't know anything yet. It could be a few hours," Haley manages to get out. Her tears seem to come back with just those few words and Nathan wraps a comforting arm around her and ushers her back down to the chair she had previously been sitting in. The girls take a seat in the chairs across from the Scott family.
"How did this happen?" Peyton asks finally, after no one has said anything else for a several minutes. "I just saw him at the club a couple of hours ago."
"Yeah, Brooke was supposed to tell him that I needed him at the house and when he didn't show or call, I called him to see where he was. His cell just rang and went to voicemail."
"That's not like Lucas," Brooke thinks out loud, knowing that Lucas was the type to always answer a call no matter how late or early and especially if that call was from Haley. Brooke hadn't even thought about the fact that she was supposed to tell Lucas to get in touch with Haley. After what she saw... or what she thought she saw... she left and never looked back.
"That's what I said, so I called again… and again… and again. Finally, it rang a few times on the fourth try and someone answered. It was one of the nurses and she told me Lucas had been in a car accident. Apparently he ran a red light and got hit head on," Haley explains, somehow without shedding any new tears.
"Oh my God," Peyton mumbles, her free hand going to her mouth to cover it and memories of her mother's smashed car entering her mind. Brooke's thoughts immediately go to Peyton's mother as well, and she looks over at the blonde, squeezing her hand tightly.
"He's going to be fine Peyt," Brooke manages to get out, though she's not sure if she even believes her own words in the moment. "He's in surgery and he's tough… he'll get through this."
"When I got here the nurse had me fill out some medical information and then asked me if I'd seen him tonight. She said they did a check of his blood and his blood alcohol level was well over the legal limit. Was he drinking at the club Peyton?" Haley asks.
"I… I'm… I'm not too sure. We… we had a disagreement… I… I ended up leaving before him," Peyton admits.
"A disagreement?" Nathan asks, looking first at Haley and then to Brooke before settling his eyes on Peyton. "About his feelings for you?"
"How did you…?" Peyton starts, startled to hear Nathan get it on the first guess.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is that Lucas is being taken care of. Right?" Nathan interrupts, not wanting to make a scene out of an already bad situation. He didn't blame Peyton for what had happened, and he didn't want her to think he did. He knew that this wasn't Peyton's fault.
"Mr. and Mrs. Scott?" a friendly female voice rings out from the doorway. Nathan, Haley, Brooke and Peyton all stand and inch closer to the woman in scrubs holding a clipboard. She smiles as the four approach and looks back down at her notes.
"Are you Haley and Nathan?" she asks, eying both of them.
"Yes, I'm his brother and this is my wife," Nathan answers before Haley has a chance to explain. Nathan knows that in a time of intensity Haley tends to babble and would have gone into a long drawn out explanation of their relationship with Lucas. She would have tried to explain that Nathan was his half brother and that though Haley was married to Nathan she was also Lucas' best friend. She probably would have even gone so far as to tell the nurse that their son was named after Lucas. At this point, Nathan just wanted to know that his brother was alive.
"Well, you'll be happy to hear that we were able to stabilize your brother in surgery and repair the damage to his kidney… he should make a full recovery," the nurse explains and a sigh of relief can be heard from all four adults standing there.
"That's great news," Haley says, hugging Nathan quickly and then turning to hug both Peyton and Brooke at the same time in a group hug. The nurse smiles at the sight of the friends and flips the page on her clipboard.
"Now, looks like the police are going to have a few questions for him when he's awake, which he isn't right now… but he should be in the morning. You should go home, get some rest. He won't be allowed visitors until then," the nurse says, seeing the tired and dreary faces of all three women and the strained look on Nathan's face as he holds the sleeping Jamie.
"Are you sure… I mean… can't we at least see him?" Peyton asks, not wanting to leave without visual proof that Lucas was alright. She had been through too much loss when it came to people she cared about and she wasn't about to walk out of that hospital without confirmation.
"He's just being situated in his room right now. But I can assure you he's resting comfortably and we'll take good care of him until morning. Now, go on. Take that sleeping boy home. I'm sure he'll want to see his uncle in the morning," the nurse says, ushering the four away from the door and toward the elevators.
"Come on Hales," Brooke says, taking her free hand and grabbing Haley's with it. She starts to walk following behind Nathan and stops when she feels Peyton's hand release from hers. "You coming P. Sawyer?" Brooke asks, turning to the blonde who is still standing by the nurse.
"I just…," Peyton starts, seeing the nurse turn and stop at the counter, seemingly writing notes.
"How about we meet you at the house?" Brooke says, looking at Haley and getting a smile from her.
"Sounds great… it's almost morning and I doubt I'm going to be able to sleep anyway. I'll get started on breakfast," Haley says, hugging Brooke once again. Her eyes look over her brunette friend to the blonde one in the distance. "Is she going to be alright?"
"Yeah… I'll make sure she is," Brooke says, flashing a reassuring smile at Haley quickly before looking over at Nathan who is holding the elevator. "Nathan? You alright to drive?"
"I'm fine. I'll see you at the house in a little bit," offering her the same reassuring smile that she had just offered his wife. Haley moves down the hall to the elevator and Brooke watches as the doors close and her two friends disappear. Her attention then turns back to Peyton.
She makes her way over to her, wrapping an arm around her waist tightly and resting her chin on Peyton's shoulder.
"Peyt… come on… Haley and Nathan are expecting us at the house," Brooke whispers in her ear, feeling Peyton shiver as her breath hits her.
"I know… I just… I need to know…" Peyton hesitates again, knowing that Brooke can tell exactly what is bothering her without her having to say anything. Brooke smiles to herself and sneaks a quick and soft kiss to Peyton's ear before releasing her hold on the blonde. Despite the tense moment and the circumstances, it feels good to Brooke to be able to kiss Peyton that way without feeling nervous. It brings her a sense of confidence she had been missing for the past few years.
Brooke Davis strides over to the nurse, still at the counter writing notes and she leans against the counter next to her.
"Can I help you?" the nurse asks, feeling Brooke next to her. When she looks up only then does she realize that Brooke and Peyton haven't left with the others.
"I know you said that he's fine… but you see… my… my friend there," Brooke says, nodding in Peyton's direction and lowering her voice a little. The nurse stops her before she can continue.
"I'm sorry miss… but he's just been put in a room and he cannot have visitors until he wakes up," the nurse tries to explain again, but it falls upon deaf ears.
"I know… and I'm all for following the rules… most of the time," Brooke starts, getting a small smile out of the nurse. "But you see… my friend there… she's not great when it comes to hospitals and accidents… she's had a bit of bad luck with it before. And she could really use some reassurance right now."
"Like I said… he's not allowed visitors," the nurse says again, but her tone isn't very convincing and Brooke picks up on it.
"And we won't visit. We won't even go in the room. She just needs to see that he's there… that he's being taken care of," Brooke explains and she watches as the nurse seems to eventually cave to the sympathetic words of the brunette.
"Alright… but only for a minute. Come on," she says, waving her hand at Brooke. Brooke smiles and doesn't even bother explaining to Peyton. She instead just grabs the blonde's hand and drags her to follow the nurse.
They take a short silent walk through the hallway until they stop in front of an open door. Lucas lay unmoving on the bed inside, machines all calm and monitoring his condition.
"This is his room. Room 212. You might want to check again tomorrow in case they move him, but for now, this is where he'll be for tonight," the nurse says again, watching as Peyton seems to calm her breathing just by seeing Lucas there in the room.
"Thank you," Brooke says to the nurse, who smiles and then leads them back out the way they came.
The two women walk side by side, Brooke's arm wrapped around Peyton's waist and Peyton's around Brooke's shoulders. They don't speak as they head down the elevator and back out to the parking lot where they get in the car.
"You alright?" Brooke asks, finding her voice again.
"Yeah… just seeing him helped," Peyton explains and Brooke can't help but feel a slight twinge of jealously with the comment. She knows it's stupid and Lucas is laying in a hospital bed right now, but it hurts just the same. "Thanks Brooke."
"For what?"
"For getting them to let me see him," Peyton explains. "I just needed to see that he was there… you know?"
"I know," Brooke replies, seeing that Peyton still is a little unsettled and hasn't started the car. "Do you want me to drive?" Brooke questions.
"No, I'm fine," Peyton explains as she moves to start the car, but stops suddenly. "Brooke?"
"Yeah?"
"Is this my fault?" she asks.
Brooke instantly has her hand in Peyton's and has turned to face her.
"No! Why would you think that? It was just an accident Peyt… accidents happen."
"But he was drinking because of me… because I told him I wasn't in love with him…"
"It isn't your fault," Brooke reiterates, this time with a more stern tone than before. She can feel Peyton getting ready to reply negatively, but before she allows that to happen, she leans into the blonde and kisses her softly, their lips parting just enough for the kiss to deepen slightly.
It doesn't last a very long time, but when they pull away, both girls seem breathless.
"I could get used to that," Peyton says finally, and Brooke can't stop the smile. She knows that things are bad right now… with Lucas in the hospital and all, but she can't hide the way she feels anymore about Peyton. Not now that she knows Peyton feels the same for her.
"So what do you say… should we get to Haley's?" Brooke asks.
"Yeah… we should."
Brooke nods and turns back in her seat, making sure to keep a hand in Peyton's as she starts the car. It roars to life and both girls let out a breath as they move forward on the streets in the direction of Haley and Nathan's.
Peyton's words are lingering in Brooke's mind during the silent drive.
Is this my fault?
She knows that it will take a lot more convincing for Peyton to believe she wasn't to blame for what happened to Lucas, but Brooke makes up her mind right then and there that she's going to do everything in her power to make sure the blonde knows she wasn't responsible. She just got Peyton the way she wanted her… and there was no way Brooke was going to let her go.