Once again I apologize for the amount of time that it took for me to get this update out but real life is kicking my butt! But I did manage to squeeze out a chapter and I don't think it will take me long to get the next chapter out since I know exactly where I want it to go now.
I want to thank everyone for the reviews and I wish I had time to reply to all of you individually but I just don't have the time but I want each of you to know I read every single review and I'm going to work on the replying to them.
I think this story probably has about five or six chapters left but who knows... It has been so much fun to write...
I didn't use a song for this chapter simply because I couldn't find one that I liked that described how I wanted this chapter to feel.
Brooke Pov:
It had been 3 weeks since Lucas and I got engaged and we had been pretty good at not letting wedding planning completely consume our lives.
I was packing to head out to New York to meet with a new designer and Lucas was not very happy that I was leaving.
"Do you really have to go?" He whines from the bed as I move around the room putting stuff in my suitcase.
"Come on Luke, it's only for two days. I'll be back before you know it." I say and he just continues to pout.
"This is seriously no fun. Why do you have to be a famous fashion designer?" He says as he finally gets out of bed.
"Because I'm Brooke Davis it's what I do. Besides you have a tournament this week anyways. So in reality we would barely see each other as it is." I say trying to get him to lighten up.
"Yeah I guess you have a point. But I still don't have to like it." He states as he wraps his arms around me. "I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you too babe. I better get going my car is here to take me to the airport." I reply slowly pulling out of his embrace and meeting my lips with his.
"Promise you'll call when you land?" He asks as we part a few seconds later.
"Yes, I will call as soon as I land. And probably a thousand times after that as well." I laugh as he grabs my bags and walks with me to the waiting car.
"Sounds good to me Pretty Girl. You know my day isn't complete if I don't hear your voice at least a thousand times." He says and I can't help but chuckle.
"Seriously Luke we are becoming like the cheesiest couple ever." I say as he opens up the door.
"Well fine than. See ya later babe have a good trip. Talk to you when you get back." He says as he starts to walk away from me.
"Ok ok I don't mind the cheesiness. Now get over here and give me a kiss before I leave." I exclaim as he happily turns around and kisses me. "I love you Broody, I'll talk to you in a few hours, k?
"Ok and I love you too." He says as he closes the door and stands at the driveway as my car slowly pulls away.
I arrived in New York a short time later and made my way to the office where I was immediately greeted by Millie.
"How was the flight?" She asked as she handed me a cup of coffee. There was a reason she was the best assistant ever.
"Fast and uneventful which is fantastic." I say as we make our way into my office. "When is our meeting?"
"In just a little bit. Everything is ready to go." She replies as I started looking over the new designs.
"Well it looks like Broody by Clothes over Bro's is ready to make it's appearance." I exclaim as my thoughts turn to Lucas and my face beams in a smile.
"And it's going to be amazing Brooke." Millie says.
"Let's hope so because the sooner we get this line in production the sooner I can get focused on the wedding." I reply and she laughs at my enthusiasm.
"Speaking of which all of the wedding invitations are ready to be sent." Millie says as she joins me in looking at the designs.
"That's fantastic Millie. I really appreciate all the help." I reply as there is a knock on the door. "Come in."
"Hi I'm Adam Stevens, your new designer." The man says as he walks in and extends his hand to me.
"Well Hello Adam, I'm Brooke, Welcome aboard" I say as I shake his hand and motion for him to take a seat.
"Glad to be here. So have you had time to look over the designs?" He asks as Millie hands him a bottle of water.
"Yes I have and I must say you really grasped what I was looking for." I say and he smiles.
"Well I'm glad you like them. I have plenty more where that came from." He says sounding very sure of himself. "I do have one question though?"
"And what's that?" I ask as I look up at him. He's very cute and Millie is practically drooling looking at him.
"Why the name Broody?" He asks and I smile instantly.
"It's my nickname for my Fiancé he's a brooder." I say and he nods his head.
"That's interesting enough. When are you getting married?" He asks and he has a genuine smile on his face.
"In three months, we're getting married in Tree Hill." I replay and he looks pretty confused.
"Tree Hill?" He says and I can't help but laugh.
"North Carolina, it's where I grew up and where I live now. It's also where I have the boutique. I'm just here to meet with you and tie up loose ends. As a matter of fact would you be willing to come down there for future meetings?" I ask because in all honesty I am trying to avoid traveling to New York as often.
"Of course, will we be premiering the line down there?" He asks and I nod my head.
"Yes I will debut it there and online before moving into other stores." I say and he agrees. "Do you have any other questions?"
"No I think everything is covered. I will have all the samples ready for you by tomorrow they are working on them as we speak." He replies and I can't help the grateful sigh that escapes my mouth.
"Well then I'm going to head out. I need something to eat and a glass of wine wouldn't hurt." I say and him and Millie both laugh.
"Would you mind if I joined you. I don't know many places here in the city yet." He says and I smile and nod my head.
"Sure why not I know this great Italian place." I reply as we make our way out of the offices.
A few hours later we are sitting on the patio of the restaurant. We have had constant conversation and I can't deny the fact that I'm having a great time. Although I do miss Lucas and as if on cue my phone rings and as I pull it out I see his name.
"Excuse me" I say to Adam before answering. "Hello."
"Hey babe you must be pretty busy." He says and I realize that I haven't called him since I landed.
"Actually I am having drinks with the new designer. I'm sorry I totally lost track of time." I say and I can almost sense his sadness.
"Sounds fun. So how is the new designer? Does she seem nice?" He asks and I laugh.
"Well actually she is a he but he's great. I feel like I've known him forever. He's 24 and has been in the industry almost as long as I have." I say into the phone and it takes him a couple seconds before he replies.
"Well that's great." He says and I can sense that something is wrong.
"Is everything ok baby? You don't sound right." I ask and he quickly replies.
"Everything is fine. I'll let you get back to your evening." He says and he is being incredibly short with me.
"Ok well I'll call you when I get back to the hotel ok?" I ask hoping he'll cheer up a bit.
"Sure sounds like a plan." He says and without another word he hangs up the phone.
"Well that was weird" I say to my phone as I slip it back into my purse and Adam looks at me questioningly.
"What was weird?" He asks as the waiter walks up with two more glasses of wine.
"My fiancé he was acting pretty strange. He never hangs up without saying I love you." I say and I know the hurt is evident in my voice.
"Well maybe he was in a hurry." Adam says and I smile.
"I highly doubt that. I think he's mad at me. We usually don't go more than a few hours without talking. And we haven't spoken all day." I say hoping that that's all it is.
"Obviously not your typical guy huh?" He asks and I look at him confused.
"What do you mean not your typical guy?" I ask taking a sip of my wine.
"Well most guys don't really get upset if they don't talk to their girlfriends all day." He says and I can't help but laugh.
"Then I guess he's not you "typical guy" I say making my famous air quotes as I say it. "Lucas and I talk about everything. He's my best friend. Well he's my best guy friend."
"Well I guess that's a good thing. I mean best friends make the best lovers right?" He says and I nod my head.
"Absolutely, having Lucas by my side through everything makes life so much better." I say and my desire to talk to Lucas and fix this is growing by the second.
"You are lucky to have found someone like that." He says and I smile as I finish my wine.
"Lucky doesn't begin to describe it. Listen Adam I have had a lot of fun tonight but I'm going to head to my hotel and call Lucas." I say and he smiles.
"Well I guess I can't hold that against you. Will we meet up tomorrow?" He asks as the waiter brings over the check.
"Absolutely I need to see those samples before I head back home." I say as I sign the check and start to stand up.
"Well I will see you in the morning then. Thanks for a lovely evening." He says as we walk out and hail separate cabs.
"Have a good night Adam see you tomorrow." I say as I step into my cab and head back to the hotel for a little phone call with that man that has been occupying my thoughts all day.
Lucas POV:
To tell you the truth I don't know why I was so short with Brooke. I mean it's not like I have anything to worry about. She is just out with a co-worker and here I am acting like it's more.
I guess it's the fact that I'm so used to talking to her all the time and not talking to her has kind of bummed me out. So now here I am sitting in front of my computer attempting to start work on my next book but Brooke is occupying my thoughts. And as if she can hear me all the way from New York my video chat icon signals me.
"Well hello Broody. Don't you look all sexy in front of the computer." She says as I close out of my file and watch as my Pretty Girl fills up my computer screen.
"I try what can I say. How did you know I would be on the computer?" I ask trying to judge whether or not she is mad.
"I took a lucky guess. Whenever you are brooding about something it's a pretty safe bet you will be at your computer." She says in a playful tone but I quickly learn I'm not in the clear. "Care to tell me why you were so short earlier?"
"I'm sorry babe. I was being a baby and shouldn't have acted that way." I say as I frown at her through my webcam and she smiles but turns serious once again.
"Why were you being a baby? And regardless you know the rules." She says and I nod my head.
"I know. We never hang up the phone or leave without saying I love you." I say and she nods.
"So then care to explain why you did it?" She asks and I can almost see a tear in her eye.
"I felt left out that's why." I say in a soft tone and she looks so confused.
"You felt left out of my fashion line?" She asks as she once again shakes her head at me.
"It's just you have this whole other side to your life that I'm not a part of and I know it sounds stupid but it sucks." I say and I can see her face start to soften.
"Ok first of all it's not stupid and second of all there is no part of my life that you aren't a part of. I mean for god's sake Luke the line is called Broody! Clearly you are a part of it." She replies and I drop my head.
"I know but you are over there having fun and I just wish I could be there." I say and she smiles.
"Luke you are always there. You are my heart and you know that. You think I don't think the same things when you are off doing your basketball thing." She replies and I can't help but laugh at her use of the term basketball thing.
"Are you telling me that when I'm off with the team you wish you were there coaching and running plays?" I ask and she sticks her tongue out at me.
"No you big goof but I like to watch you in your element and sometimes I feel a little left out too." She says as her head drops and I can't help but feel bad.
"I'm sorry Pretty Girl. I shouldn't have acted that way today, I guess I just had a rough day." I say and her head picks up.
"Why was your day so rough? I mean aside from the fact that I wasn't there." She asks as I lean back in my chair.
"We lost the first game of the tournament and the team morale is just down in the dumps right now. I don't know what to do." I say and she blows me a kiss over the camera.
"You know what to do Luke. What would Whitey do if you guys lost the first game of the tournament?" She asks and it amazes me that she can pretty much have the same thoughts as me.
"He would tell us that it's not all about the actual game it's about the mindset and remembering that at the end of the day there is more to life than basketball." I say and she nods her head.
"Exactly babe so you just need to make them realize that this tournament isn't the do all end all of life and they should just play like it's just them on the court." She replies and I can't help but agree with her.
"Thanks babe you always make things better for me." I say in complete and total honesty.
"Glad I could help after all that's what I'm here for." She says as she kinks her eyebrows at me. "So no more hanging up on me right?"
"Absolutely not I promise." I say and she smiles.
"Good and just to stroke your ego a little bit, I couldn't stop talking about you." She says and of course that makes me smile.
"Nice, I'm glad I'm so irresistible that you can't stop thinking about me." I say as flirty as I can be to a webcam.
"Wow someone's a little cocky. You know that the only thing on your mind all day was me. Admit it." She says as her voice drops a little bit.
"I admit it Brooke. But let's be honest you are on my mind day and night. First thought I have when I wake up last thought I have when I go to bed." I say and she smiles.
"Same for me Luke, I wish I was going to bed in your arms tonight. I don't sleep well when I'm not in them." She says and I can tell that she's getting tired.
"I don't sleep well unless you are with me either baby. But I can tell that you are tired so why don't you go get some sleep." I say and as much as I want to keep talking to her I know she needs her sleep.
"Well on the plus side the sooner I go to sleep the sooner I wake up and get to talk to you again." She says and I smile at her attempt at enthusiasm.
"Absolutely Pretty Girl and the sooner tomorrow comes the sooner you will be in my arms." I say as she blows me another kiss.
"I can't wait baby. Sweet Dreams. I love you Lucas Scott you know that?" She says and my heart swells.
"I love you too Brooke Davis soon to be Brooke Scott." I say and I blow her a kiss as she signs off. And sleep comes much easier than I thought it would.
The next day seems to fly by and before I know it I am standing at the airport waiting to pick up Brooke. I smile as I see her walk out of the terminal and look towards me and slowly start walking my way.
"Hey Pretty Girl you need a ride?" I ask and she smiles at me.
"Actually I'm waiting for my fiancé." She says in a flirty tone.
"Well he's a lucky guy if he gets to marry you." I say and before I know it her arms are around me and she kisses me. "I missed you."
"I missed you too babe. But you will be happy to know that my New York trips are slowly coming to an end." She says and the smile on my face is evident.
"That does make me very happy!" I say as I grab her bag and place it in the trunk before opening the door for her and then getting in the drivers side.
"Well I like to make you happy so that works. But my workload is going to be crazy for the next couple weeks getting ready to premiere this line." She says and I can't help the frown that crosses my face.
"Well as long as you are home every night then that's all that matters. Even if it does suck." I say trying my best to stay positive and she squeezes my hand.
"Of course and for every time you are asleep when I get home I will find new ways to wake you up." She says and I pull her hand up to mine and kiss it. "So how was the rest of the tournament?"
"We finished in first place so your pep talk to me really helped!" I say and she claps her hands excitedly.
"Yay I'm proud of you babe. I told you all it took was a little positive thinking." She says as we continue driving and make our way home.
One week later:
It had been a crazy week for Brooke and I in fact I feel like I've barely seen her so I decide to leave practice a little early today and take her out to a surprise dinner so we can actually spend some time together.
I stop by the coffee shop on my way to the store and grab her a cup of coffee hoping to cheer her up a bit because when I talked to her on the phone earlier she seemed a little stressed to say the least.
As I walk into the store though it looks like a grave yard and she is sitting silently at the computer. She is so focused on it that she doesn't even here me come in.
"Hi Pretty Girl" I say as she practically jumps out of her seat.
"Holy crap Luke you scared me." She says as she slaps me on the shoulder.
"Being abusive to the guy that brings you coffee is not very nice!" I exclaim as she takes the cup of coffee from me and turns back to her computer. "And apparently being nice isn't on the agenda either."
"Sorry Luke things are just crazy around here." She says and I turn and look around the store. "It might not look like it but it is."
As if on cue a guy comes out of the back carrying a pile of clothes.
"Where are we setting these ones up Brooke?" He says as he sets them on the counter. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't know we had customers."
"Don't worry he's not a customer it's Lucas and those go over on that shelf" She says as she takes the coffee from my hand and hands it to Adam. "And look he brought you coffee."
"Well wasn't that very considerate of you." Adam says as he shoots me an evil grin and I look at Brooke with a confused stare.
"Yeah what can I say I'm a nice guy." I say trying to be considerate because he works with Brooke and then I turn back to her. "So how much longer do you have?"
"Honestly it's probably going to be a late night Luke. We have to have all of these clothes ready to sell by tomorrow." She says and my frustration shows.
"Brooke I haven't seen you all week you can't leave early or at least come have dinner with me?" I ask and she smiles sadly at me.
"I wish I could babe I do but there is too much to do and I already promised Adam that we would order chinese food." She says and I try not to let her see that I'm upset.
"I'm sorry Lucas I have been keeping your girl pretty occupied lately. It took all I had to convince her to let loose a little last night." Adam says as he once again shoots that smile at me.
"Oh shut up Adam it didn't take that much to convince me." She says and the confusion is clear.
"What are you talking about?" I say as I look at her and she just shakes her head.
"Nothing important it's just that after we finished most of the work last night Adam and I went to tric and had a couple of drinks." She says and I really don't think I can hide my feelings anymore.
"And you couldn't think to call me?" I say and she looks at me with her kinked eyebrow.
"Because you would have been so interested in listening to us talk about fashion? And besides it was late I knew you would be asleep." She says and I shake my head at her.
"No I was awake waiting up for you, like I have done every night this week." I say and I look to the side of me and it actually seems like Adam is enjoying our little argument.
"Is that why every night when I get home you have been fast asleep? How is that waiting up for me?" She says and it is so confusing to me that we are arguing.
"I seem to recall someone saying that if I was asleep when you got home you would wake me up." I say and she shakes her head at me.
"Yeah I did say that Luke but honestly I've been exhausted." She says and it does sound like she is genuinely sorry.
"Well I guess work is more important." I say and she shakes her head at me.
"You know that's not true Luke. But this line is important and I need to make sure it's perfect." She replies but honestly at this point I don't know what to think as I still see Adam smirking in the corner.
"Yeah I get it. Well I'll let you get back to work." I say as I start heading for the door. She walks behind me as I reach the door.
"Luke don't be like this ok? As soon as this line is out for sale things will calm down I promise." She says as she grabs my hand.
"That's fine but you want to know the worst thing about this?" I say as she looks at me with confused eyes.
"What's that?" She asks and my eyes are almost teary.
"You didn't even come today." I say and she looks at me like she has no idea what I'm talking about.
"Didn't come to what?" She asks and I shake my head sadly.
"My check up Brooke and you didn't even remember. But don't worry I'm fine. I'll see you later." I say as I let go of her hand and walk out the door.
I know I should have stayed and understood but for whatever reason I couldn't do that. I needed to be alone and to be honest up until I told her about the forgotten appointment it didn't seem like she wanted me there anyways.
Hopefully she's right though hopefully once this new line is out and selling we can actually spend some time together because if this is how our marriage is going to start off things don't look very good.
I don't know how long I had been sitting on the steps leading up to my old bedroom but I knew it had been a while as I saw Brookes car pulling up into the driveway. She slowly got out of her car and looked at me as she slowly made her way to the steps.
"Hi" her usual raspiness was combined with a sad undertone.
"Hi" I say back as she sits down next to me.
"How long have you been out here?" She asks as I notice that she's sitting kind of far away from me.
"A few hours maybe longer. Did you get all of your stuff finished?" I ask because no matter how hurt I am I still want Brooke to succeed.
"Yeah it's all done. Broody by Clothes Over Bro's is officially ready to go." She says and I send her a small smile.
"Well that's good I know how much work you put into it." I say and she shakes her head.
"Can we stop with the polite conversation please? Luke I'm so sorry I missed the appointment, you have no idea how horrible I feel." She says and I shake my head.
"Hey you have been busy and I understand." I say but before I can continue she stops me.
"No Luke you shouldn't have to understand. I should have been there. I promised you I would be there and I wasn't." She says and I see the tears in her eyes.
"It just hurt you know? I mean you have been by my side through all of this and it was just hard not having you there. But like I said everything is ok so there's no use to beat yourself up over it Brooke." I say as I motion for her to come closer and she slowly moves and rests her head on my shoulder.
"I'm sorry Luke. I shouldn't have let this new line consume me. And to add to the stress all of the wedding plans." She says and I lay my head on top of hers.
"I know Brooke. I can't fault you for being a success after all you are a famous fashion designer. I just missed you these last few days and when you pretty much ignored me when I tried to do something nice for you today it just wasn't what I'm used to." I say and she pulls her head up and looks at me.
"I should have never have acted that way. It's just Adam and I have been so busy with the line and we were trying to figure out where everything was-" Now it's my turn to cut her off.
"You weren't too busy to go out for drinks with him." I say and I'll admit it I'm jealous.
"That was nothing you know that! I mean we talked about the line the whole time and then I was talking about having our wedding reception at Tric. As a matter of fact I think he's getting tired of hearing about the Brucas wedding." She says and I can't help but laugh.
"I know it was nothing but it's supposed to be me that you are talking to and going out with not him. I mean you blew me off for dinner tonight to have chinese food with him. How do you think that made me feel?" I say and now she's laughing.
"Adam and I are friends and co workers that's it and I'm sorry if that bothers you but we have a lot in common and it's nice to have someone to talk to about the mundane things in fashion. You are so jealous! " She says and I nod my head.
"Is it so wrong to be jealous of a guy that I don't even know spending time with MY fiancé." I say and she shakes her head.
"NO that's not wrong but what is wrong is not trusting your FIANCE enough to know that there is NO ONE I repeat NO ONE that could ever compete with you." She says and I flash a small smile.
"I know Brooke I do trust you." I say and I'm not lying I do trust her but this Adam guy is rubbing me the wrong way.
"Good because I don't know if you've heard but a marriage is based on trust." She says as I let myself wrap my arms around her.
"I know but it's also built on spending time together and putting each other and not work first." I say and she nods her head.
"You are right Lucas and I know that so from now on you come first. I won't get caught up like this again. I promise you that." She says and I can't help but believe her.
"Ok good because I really don't like fighting with you it's no fun." I say and she laughs.
"It's no fun for me either, but at the same time we both know that fights are bound to happen. Especially when you get to the other part of it" She says as she slowly stands up.
"And what's that?" I ask even though I already know the answer.
"The making up part so take me to bed Lucas Scott and I'll show you just how sorry I am about today." She says as she extends her hand to me and I let her help me up. "But I need to do one thing."
"Ok" I say as she wraps her arms around me and places her head on my chest to hear my heart beat and kisses my chest through my shirt.
"I live to hear this heart beat Lucas. It's the greatest sound in the world." She says as we walk into the house and up to our bedroom.
We made love all night and hours later as I lay awake watching her peaceful sleeping form I can't help the feeling in my stomach that things are going to be perfect and the nagging feeling that this Adam that she seems to like so much isn't exactly Mr. Perfect.
Ok now I know I know this was so not how I anticipated the chapter going but at the same time I feel like it's needed to take this story where I plan on it going. So please don't hate me too much for this chapter!
As always reviews are love and the reviews have kind of been dropping off lately.. So i need to make sure that you are all still interested in this story....