Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or Gossip Girl

In Another Life

Chapter 21:

Unanswered Questions

Blair had had the first shower, and now she was out waiting for Brooke to get cleaned up and they were going to go pick up some ingredients to cook dinner. It was after 9 o'clock, but neither girl cared. The only time clock they were on was their own.

Blair was digging in her purse for her favorite MAC lip gloss when she felt her phone vibrating. She hadn't realized it had been on vibrate all day. Then realizing she hadn't talked to Nathan all day and that he was probably worried, she pulled her phone from her purse, hit the button, and pressed it to her ear without so much as glancing at the screen.

"Finally," an exasperated man voice sighed, only the voice wasn't Nathan.

"Who is this?" Blair asked, not bothering to pull the phone from her ear and look at the screen.

"It's Nate," the voice on the other end of the line said. "Why haven't you been answering your phone? And where's Brooke?" He asked all in one breath. "I go to the hospital to visit and she's nowhere to be found, and then you weren't answering, what am I supposed to be thinking?"

"Nate, calm down," Blair instructed. "I wasn't planning on Brooke being released today either. But she was and then one thing led to another and needless to say I was too busy to stop and check my phone."

"But she's alright?" Nate asked her.

Blair drew in a deep breath. "Yes, she's fine. We're about to make dinner."

"Can I talk to her?" He asked.

"Sorry, she's in the shower," Blair answered, and instantly heard Nate groan. "But I'll have her call when she gets out," she offered as a consolation.

"Thanks," he huffed and hung up the phone in a hurry.

Blair snapped her phone shut and thought about Nate's behavior. To her it seemed a little awkward, but she didn't really know him so who was she to judge.

She scanned her phone for things she missed during the day, a few calls and texts from both Nathan and Nate, as well as one from her mom.

"Man, I was popular today," she said to herself as she picked up the phone to call Nathan back.

"Were you just talking to someone?" Brooke asked as she emerged from the bathroom. She was towel drying her hair and loving every second of it. Her new shower had been heaven.

"Oh yeah, I had my phone on silent so I missed some of Nathan's calls. He said to tell you hello, and that he hated he had to go back before you were released," Blair answered, lighting up as she talked about the love of her life.

"Awwww, well that was sweet of him," Brooke said. She knew Nathan was a keeper. He was good to Blair, and she loved him. What more could you ask for for your best friend.

"Oh," Blair interjected as if she had previously forgotten something. "And he said you have to come and visit us now at Stanford so we can celebrate properly."

Brooke's eyes lit up at the idea of a celebration. "I would love that!" She squealed!

"Really? Great," Blair enthused. She wasn't sure about how Brooke would feel about leaving so soon after she just got back in the real world, but if she was excited she was all for it.

"Yeah," Brooke reiterated. "What else do I have to do?" She questioned. I mean, she had her whole life ahead of her, but it wasn't like she had any demands on her. She wasn't in college. She was free to go and do as she wished.

Blair shrugged her shoulders, "Good point," she admitted. "But I just thought you might want to get settled. I don't know," she told her.

"Well thanks for looking out for me, but after being confided to one place and having pretty much all of my decisions made for me, it will be good to just see where the wind takes me for awhile," Brooke admitted to her.

Blair nodded her head in acceptance. "I understand," she told her.

"And now, I think the wind is taking me to California," She added, giving her cousin a wide smile, as she bounced on the bed beside her.

"Man, I've missed homemade pizza," Brooke practically moaned as she took a bite of her concoction she and Blair had created.

"Tell me about it," Blair agreed. She hadn't made homemade pizza in forever. It had been a thing she and Brooke did, and without Brooke, it was just too painful to do it.

"And these fresh peppers just make the cheese pop," Brooke continued to gush. "I mean, I don't know what it is—" Then she was interrupted by the ringing of Blair's phone.

"Where is my phone?" Blair asked, looking around the little nest she had made for herself in one of the armchairs in the living room.

Brooke stood up, "Maybe you left it in the kitchen," she suggested, moving that way.

"No, here it is," Blair said, leaning over and grabbing it off the coffee table before it buzzed onto the floor. "Ugh, it was Nate again," she groaned. "Oops, I forgot to tell you to call him," she added, biting her lower lip and shrugging.

"Well that's fine," Brooke told her. "I'll call him back," she said, reaching her hand out for Blair's phone.

"Good idea," Blair agreed, "Then maybe he'll quit blowing up my phone."

Brooke laughed at her cousin's words as she received the device.

"Oh, and that's something we'll have to do tomorrow," Blair decided.

Brooke looked at her somewhat confused, "What?" She asked her.

"Get you a phone," Blair said slowly, nodding her head with every word. "I can't have people keep trying to get in touch with you through me. And when I leave, I am going to need a way to contact you."

"True," Brooke agreed. "Well I'm going to go call him back. You don't let our dessert pizza burn," she instructed with a point of her finger as she walked onto her apartment's small terrace.

"I'll try not to," Blair called as she watched Brooke step out onto the terrace.

"Hello," Nate answered his phone on the second ring. He sounded kind of annoyed, but Brooke tried to ignore that.

"Hey," Brooke breathed, and almost instantaneously Nate's mood changed.

"How are you?" He asked, wanting to know everything.

"I'm good, I'm good," Brooke answered, nodding her head even though she knew he couldn't see that, as she sat down on one of her terrace chairs.

Nate drew in a breath. He wanted her to elaborate, but he didn't want to be a pest. "So where are you?" He asked her, "At the hotel with Blair, or your new place?"

"I'm at my new apartment," she told him, "And Nate it's fabulous. You will have to come see what Blair has done with the place. I'm so excited."

"I can tell," he told her, he was picturing her dimpled smile and it was impossible for him not to smile in response.

"You should come visit," She said, biting her lip as she waited for a response. She didn't know why she felt nervous about inviting Nate over to her house. He was one of her oldest and dearest friends after all.

Nate let out a breath. "I wish I could, but I can't right now," He told her, regretting every word. "I'm with Serena at this benefit thing…" he began but let his words trail off.

"No, it's fine," Brooke said, shaking her head from side to side. "It's late and short notice, I understand," she told him. Though she couldn't help but feel jealous hearing that he was with her blonde best friend.

"First thing tomorrow, I'll be there," Nate promised her. "I'll bring breakfast."

"Bagels?" Brooke asked hopefully.

"Whatever you want," Nate told her with a laugh. "But I've gotta go. I'm literally being dragged into the auction right now."

"Bye Brooke," She heard a muffled Serena giggle through the phone. Then the line went dead.

"Bye," Brooke said quietly, to no one unparticular, leaning back on the chair's plush pillows and staring into the night sky.

She wasn't sure if it was because the pain medications hadn't totally left her system or if she had just gotten really bad at sorting out her feelings, but she could not put her finger on what was bothering her right now.

Why was she suddenly feeling jealous of Serena? Never in her life had she felt this way. If anything it was the other way around. She was the one with the big Park Avenue apartment and the gorgeous boyfriend falling at her feet. Only now she had been MIA for a few years and said gorgeous boyfriend was hanging out with her equally gorgeous best friend. Not that they hadn't hung out plenty before, but it seemed different now. Serena seemed different now.

What had happened with them while she was in the hospital? She really didn't want to know, but then again, she didn't think she could not know.

Luckily, she didn't have very long to ponder that dilemma since she was interrupted by the opening of the terrace door.

"Did you fall asleep or something?" Blair asked, coming over and peering down at Brooke. "I was going to come check on you earlier, but I didn't want to interrupt in case you were having phone sex with Nate or something," She tried to joke. "Which I hope you weren't, being on my phone and all." And when Brooke didn't respond, she shrieked, "Brooke, tell me you weren't!" Her face a grimace of horror and disgust.

Brooke had been trying to hold back her laughter; she hadn't really been in the mood with all the thoughts that were swirling in her head. But Blair's expression was simply too much and she couldn't hold her giggles in any longer.

"Don't worry," Brooke began. "It was the opposite of sex, at least for me anyway. He was with Serena."

"So what if he was?" Blair questioned, pushing Brooke's legs out of the way and sitting down.

Brooke just looked at her, a little confused. "Did you not hear what I just said? He was with her at some benefit thing. And I can't help but feeling that it was some kind of date," she admitted, biting on her lower lip nervously.

Blair simply scoffed. "Well that must have been some killer date then. Seeing how Nate has called me all of, I don't know, let me check, five times in the last three hours. And if it was some big important date, it surely shows how interesting Serena is that he is rushing off to talk to you."

"I guess," Brooke shrugged, still not convinced. "Blair," she began, "I just can't help but feeling that there is something there between them. Like maybe they were more than friends to each other while I was in the hospital." She realized that this was actually her worst fear, and she wasn't sure how she would face it if it were true.

"So what if they were," Blair said, blowing it off as if it were nothing. "You're back now, and that changes everything," She told her with a smile.

"Does it?" Brooke asked, not feeling so sure. And that feeling only sunk in as she let a silence settle in between herself and Blair.

So I hope there are some people out there still interested in this little story. Sorry it took so long to get this posted. Here is the next part for you all. Let me know what you thought! :)