Author's note: Hey everyone... This chapter isn't as emotional as the last one. But I hope you still like it. :) It is a double chapter, connecting with the next one, so some things in this chapter are just build-ups for later. I loved all last chapter's reviews and proper thank you's are at the bottom.
Title is actually the album-title of Keane's debut album.
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Chapter 25 – Hopes and Fears
It's eleven o'clock on Saturday morning when Karen walks in through the door to the café and the familiar sound of the bell is heard. Brooke is behind the counter, serving a customer a cup of take-away coffee, and Karen smiles. With the young girl's good looks and cheery attitude, Brooke is a natural when it comes to handling the customers, and the bucket placed on the counter for tips is always full after one of Brooke's shifts. Today Brooke has just been covering for Karen while she went to her routine check-up at the hospital, and since it's still pretty early and Saturday, the café is pretty much empty. Although seeing the already half full can of coins tells her that the breakfast rush had been good.
The customer leaves again and Karen walks up and sits on one of the bar-chairs on the outside of the counter. With only two and a half months left of her pregnancy, her belly is starting to be a heavy load to carry around. But days like this one, when the April sun is shining and she has just seen her healthy baby on the ultrasound, she can't be anything else than happy.
"Hi sweetie" she says when Brooke comes up and places a glass of lemonade in front of her. "Has everything gone alright?"
"Yeah… it's been pretty calm here. The supplier dropped of some boxes of vegetables but they looked a little heavy so I just asked him to leave them in the kitchen. Lucas can move them later."
The young brunette sits down across from her and sips her own drink. "How did your doctor's appointment go?"
They sit there and chat for a while and Karen enjoys having Brooke for herself. Usually her son is by her side, especially the last week since their argument out on the porch. Lucas and Brooke has almost been inseparable since then and she is happy to see that they are finally working together to prepare for their future, talking and planning for the baby. But even so, Karen often misses the long conversations she used to have with Brooke last year when it was just them in the house. But today Brooke seems to be a little weight down by something and since the café is empty she takes the time to probe.
"So, Lucas told me that the parenting class yesterday was interesting…"
Brooke raises an eyebrow as if to say 'oh really?' and Karen laughs.
"You don't agree?"
"Uhm… I think calling it interesting would be pushing it…" Brooke says with a half-smile. "But Lucas and Haley loved it. I swear, both of them were making notes! Truthfully though Karen, I really don't know what I was doing there… Me and Nathan just felt really out of place…"
Karen feels a little sorry for the young girl and patting her shoulder she says; "That bad, huh?"
Brooke nods. "Yeah… it felt like school all over again. This woman kept asking me questions that I didn't have the answer to and then we had to watch a video that almost made Nathan faint…"
She goes quiet and Karen waits for her to continue but it seems like Brooke has drifted off far into thoughts.
"What are you thinking about hunnie?" she says to lure her back to reality. "Is there something on your mind?"
Brooke picks little pieces of a big blueberry muffin and puts them in her mouth.
"Yeah… This may seem a little random but… uhm… this giving birth-thing… does it hurt as bad as I think it will?"
Karen smiles. "Well, how bad do you think it will hurt?"
Scrunching up her face as if already feeling the pain, Brooke sighs; "Really, really bad…"
It doesn't surprise Karen at all that Brooke is worrying about all of this. Her son's girlfriend has passed the halfway mark of her pregnancy with two weeks now, being 22 weeks along, and her head is probably filled to the brim with questions like this one. Especially since her relationship with her mother is still strained. Mary Davis called once in a while, and they talked more than before, but Karen guesses that Brooke doesn't really feel comfortable with asking Mary things like this.
"For the first hours it feels like menstrual cramps…" she says, carefully picking her words to not scare the young girl. "But once the contractions come closer together, it gets a little more painful. I would say that the worst part is right before you push the baby out, but by then the epidural has probably kicked in so you'll be fine…"
"The worst part is before the actual pushing? How can anything be worse than that?"
Brooke looks a little pale just by talking about it and Karen puts her hand on top of the girl's hand on the counter.
"You'll do just fine Brooke, you'll see… Giving birth is the most natural thing. I was really worried too when I was expecting Lucas but it's kind of instinctive. Like learning to talk, dancing or having sex."
Now Brooke laughs. "In that case I'll be okay. Talking, dancing and having sex is kind of my specialties…"
Karen laughs too and Brooke blushes when she realizes what she has just said to the mother of her boyfriend. "…oops" she says and stands up to put the glasses away in the dishwasher. "Count on me to always put my foot in my mouth…"
A couple of customers come in and for a half an hour they work side by side. Two young teenage girls sits down over by the window and it reminds Karen of last Saturday when Brooke came into the café with Peyton. She has been meaning to ask Brooke how that had gone but so many other things has come up in between. And when it gets a little calmer again, she rests herself against the countertop.
"Did you and Peyton have fun last weekend? You looked like you actually enjoyed talking…"
Brooke nods but shrugs at the same time. "Yeah, I guess… It's not the same, but at least we didn't fight. And we're getting there… I feel like I owe it to Lucas to at least try to be grown up in this, and I figure that I will never trust him fully if we keep ignoring Peyton forever."
It seems like Brooke doesn't want to talk about it and Karen knows the young girl well enough not to force a conversation. Yet she finds herself putting her arm around Brooke's shoulders.
"When I saw you two in here I couldn't help to feel glad that Lucas finally got his head on straight… Peyton is a really sweet girl, but she's not you Brooke and she never will be… Lucas would never have been happy with her."
Brooke looks surprised and a shy smile creeps over the otherwise so confident girl's face.
"Thanks Karen… it really means a lot to me to hear you say that…"
And then the bell over the door sounds again and a new group of customers walk inside.
--------
A couple of hours later Brooke and Rachel are in the mall for a quick secret coffee before Lucas and Nathan gets there. Lucas doesn't really like her drinking coffee since it keeps the baby kicking all night long which resulted in keeping her awake too. And since she hated being bored she would demand that Lucas kept her entertained, hence him not wanting her to have any.
"But he's not here now" she thinks and takes a sip of her latte. And she needs coffee to get through this conversation since booze is currently out of the question…
She hasn't really hung out with Rachel for a couple of days and they sit and gossip for a bit before Brooke starts to shuffle around impatiently in her seat. She has to ask, and she has to ask now. Otherwise the moment will pass.
"So Rach… I kind of have a question to ask you…" she says and fiddles with the plastic lid to her take-away coffee. Rachel looks at her curiously and smirks.
"Am I supposed to be worried about this question of yours Brooke? You seem weird."
So, it's that evident? She straightens in her chair and clears her throat. Just go ahead and ask her, she thinks in an attempt to strengthen herself. This has been in her head for weeks and Rachel couldn't more than say no…
"Well, I've been thinking… I know how you're not so interested in babies and pregnancies and that sort of stuff… And I know that you'll probably just take off and leave Tree Hill a soon as we graduate to do lots of awesome stuff…"
She can hear how nervous her own voice sounds and it makes her feel a little stupid, but she can't seem to stop mumbling. She clears her throat again and puts a hand on her growing belly.
"Uhm… I mean I would have done the same if 'this' situation hadn't occurred…"
But now Rachel laughs. "Just spit it out skank! Why are you stuttering?"
"Okay. I… or well, me and Luke, we were wondering if you would want to be the baby's godmother…"
Rachel's jaw just drops and there is complete silence for a moment. The redhead who always seems to be in control suddenly seems confused. And then she finally opens her mouth.
"Me?"
Brooke nods and breaks a careful smile. "Yes you, ho!"
She's been thinking of making Rachel the baby's godmother for a while now. Partly because Rachel had been the first to stand up for her in all of this. She had been the first to know about the baby and she had, in her own twisted ways, helped with getting her and Lucas back on track. But deciding to pick Rachel as the godmother isn't just for these reasons. There is also the deeper feeling of understanding between herself and the redhead. She feels more on the same level with Rachel when it comes to babies and families than with anyone else, since they both had close to no parental guidance or supervision while growing up. And even though Peyton and Haley had upbringings that left them taking care of them selves for long periods of time too, they still had parents that really cared.
Just as Brooke's, Rachel's parents mostly didn't give a damn.
But every time lately that she has mustered the courage to ask her former roommate, the moment has passed too quickly or just felt 'wrong'. And seeing Rachel's face now, she suddenly thinks that Lucas might have been right.
"Rachel?" he said, looking at Brooke suspiciously. "Why?"
She kept stirring the pancake batter and shrugged.
"Because I think she'd make a good one. And why not?"
"Well… maybe because the girl is totally irresponsible and somewhat crazy… Besides, I thought you'd want Haley to be the godmother to our daughter."
Setting down the bowl on the counter, she turned to him to explain, but his words had made her insecure about the idea and she looked down and blushed, suddenly feeling selfish.
"It's not that I don't want Haley… She would make an awesome godmother, I'm very aware of that. But you know that I don't really have a family Luke… You met my mom and dad and my grandparents are dead. I don't have any brothers or sisters, just some estranged cousin in Florida. So I'm thinking that my daughter needs a bigger safety net than I had… you know? Like more people connected to her that care and that will be there for her when she grows up..."
Lucas stepped a little closer and pushed the bangs away from her face so that he could see her eyes. But she shyly held her gaze towards the floor. Even after all that her and Lucas had been through, she still felt embarrassed to talk to him about the lack of love in her family.
"I know Brooke…" he said softly. "I know that you were alone way too much as a kid. But our daughter wont be alone baby. She'll have a mother and a father that loves her. And a grandmother, and an uncle and aunt in Nathan and Haley, and she'll have two little cousins that'll be just about her age… and don't forget"
She nodded to show that she knew all this and then finally looked up.
"But as you said Luke… Haley and Nathan will be our kid's aunt and uncle anyways, right? And I'm just worried that if I don't tie Rachel to this kid in some way she might feel like she doesn't have a 'place' in my daughter's life. I just don't want her to feel left out…"
Lucas just kissed her forehead and then, with smiling eyes he reached for the pancake batter and poured it into the pan.
"It's your choice pretty girl" he said calmly, as if he had agreed with her all along. "If you want Rachel then Rachel it is. I'm just not sure that it's such a good idea and I'm not sure she'll be overly pleased…"
Rachel opens her mouth to say something but then closes it again. And Brooke struggles to read the redheaded girl's facial expression. Is she just shocked? Happy? Horrified? Or does her raised eyebrow mean that Rachel thinks that she is completely insane?
"So what do you say?" she coaxes in an effort to get Rachel to respond. "Cat got your tongue?"
"Why?"
The only word leaving Rachel's mouth sounds forced and Brooke shrugs. "What do you mean 'why'?"
"Why me? You have so many other friends to pick from Brookie… Why would you want a slutty cheerleader with attachment-issues and a love for partying as the main caretaker of your kid if something happens to you?"
At this Brooke just laughs, but it's a warm laugh and she leans over and puts her hand over Rachel's on the table.
"Because the girl you just described is me, you stupid fatso… If something happened to me I would know that there was someone like me to raise my girl." She blushed. "I sorry to get a little mushy here, I know you hate it, but see this my way, okay? I want my daughter to be strong and fun and independent. And let's realize it, Lucas is just broody and WAY to afraid of a little adventure… Besides, you are the only one that actually knows less about babies than me. It would be good to have you in my ring-corner… It would make me look a little more motherly."
Rachel laughs now too and to Brooke's surprise Rachel gives her hand a little squeeze.
"I'm not saying that I'm not honored, okay? It just a kind of big thing… I have to think about it… I mean, I KNOW that Lucas hates the idea of having me as the godmother and he's probably right… last night I was screwing the new guy on the football-team and I seriously don't even remember his name… and last week I made Bevin smoke weed with me in the girls locker-room just because it wasn't as fun to be buzzed alone… if I do this godmother-thing and the kid gets all screwed up, than you can't blame me…"
Brooke breathes out. Rachel is going to say yes, she can se it in her eyes. Pleased with her accomplishment, she raises her eyebrow at Rachel's little scheme to try and scare her out of this.
"Hey" she says, with a dead-serious expression on her face. "I ate everything in the fridge last night. Including an entire batch of chocolate brownies… So I don't place blame, okay?"
Before Rachel has the time to respond, Brooke leans back in her chair and continues. "And do you want to now something really gross? I know you do so I'm gonna tell you; My bellybutton popped out last night..."
-------
Lucas and Nathan stroll down the mall towards the main area. Today is the day to pick up the cribs they have ordered and they're also meeting Brooke for lunch. Haley is spending the day with her sister Taylor who miraculously appeared last night and Nathan is kind of happy to get out of the house. Lucas can't really blame him. He has known Haley's family most of his life and Taylor was the craziest of the bunch, and with a pregnant and hormonal Haley on top of that, Lucas would probably have done pretty much anything to escape as well.
"So about that video yesterday…" Nathan suddenly says with a shiver. "If it's anything like that in real life I don't think I want to be in the room when Haley gives birth…"
Lucas laughs. "Yeah, I know what you mean bro. I had this vision of everything being clean and simple. Like a few pushes and then…poof… baby!"
"Dude, there was no 'poof' in that video, I tell you! That woman looked like she was about to die…" Nathan says, looking almost as horrified as he had done when they watched it yesterday. "I don't understand how they can ever call childbirth beautiful… it looked like a damn battlefield to me!" He's quiet for a while but then he looks up at Lucas again, a little greenish in the face. "Brooke's not that happy, right? She's not that found of pain…"
Lucas shrugs because honestly he doesn't really know. His girlfriend had been unusually quiet after the parenting-class but she seemed okay. At least she hadn't anything about it to him…
They both laugh a little awkwardly and walk into the baby-store. Brooke is at the cash-register flanked by Rachel and there are lots of bags around them. How she could have had the time to buy all these things in the short amount of time she had been at the mall is a complete mystery to him, but then again, she has had Rachel to help her, and probably everyone in Tree Hill knew that when it came to shopping, Brooke Davis and Rachel Gattina were a force to be reckoned with.
She sees him when he walks up to her but she doesn't seem at all guilty over spending so much money. Instead she smiles brightly and flings her arms around his neck.
"Hey boyfriend!" she exclaims happily and kisses him. "I've missed you…"
It's just been a couple of hours since he saw her at home but he agrees and he returns the kiss a little more passionately which in turn brings out a smirk from Rachel.
"Can't you bunnies chill out? We're in a store with kids…"
Brooke manages to smack Rachel's arm without even stopping the kiss and Nathan laughs. Lucas too smiles against his girlfriend's soft lips and just enjoys the moment. He loves the way she feels in his arms. And the way she looks, all glowing and happy, with her growing belly proudly shown off in the tight tank-top. Almost no make-up on, sneakers and her hair in a ponytail, she still looks like a model picked right out of a magazine.
"You look amazing" he says seriously once she lets him go and he cradles her face in his hands. "How was your morning? Did everything go okay at the café?"
She smiles brightly and flashes her gorgeous dimples at him. "Yeah, I stayed and talked to your mother after. I think she likes me!"
"You've just figured that out?" he laughs and she giggles too. "Jeez Brooke, I had no idea you were so perceptive!"
She quirks her eyebrow cutely and untangles herself from him to be able to sign the card-slip that the cashier hands her. His arm is still loosely draped around her waist and as he leans in to kiss her neck, he sees total on the bottom and takes a deep breath.
"300 dollars?! Brooke, are you crazy?"
He picks the receipt up and looks at it again, sure that he must have read it wrong. These things, scattered in the bags on the floor around her are just spontaneous shopping. They're about to go up to the next floor and charge her visa-card for 200 dollars, paying for the baby-crib she picked out and they still haven't bought a stroller yet… and she had just spent another 297 dollars on what looked like clothes and accessories. Money that they don't really have since she's just working random shifts at his moms café and he still doesn't have a job.
Nathan huffs too, saying: "Brooke, seriously!?" and the happy smile disappears from her face. Giving both him and his brother the evil eye and she picks up all the bags, handing some of them to Rachel, and then she walks out of the store with her head held high and a look of complete annoyance on her face.
Lucas sighs and feels Nathan's hand reassuringly patting his shoulder. "Hormones, Luke" his brother says tiredly. "I told you it would start eventually, right? Now, lets go up and get the other things. Brooke needs a few minutes to cool off anyway."
But Lucas disagrees. He knows his pretty girl well by now and letting her walk off angry is probably the worst thing he can do. So he takes a few long steps and gently grabs her arm. She instantly stops, as if she had only been waiting for him to follow her, but she doesn't turn around.
"Hey…" he says softly, wrapping his arms around her from behind and stretching his neck so that he can place his chin on top of her head. She so small when she's not wearing heals and he kind of likes the feeling. "You know I'm right, baby… and you can't run off. We still have to go up and get the crib…"
She sighs under his chin. "It's just money Luke… I don't get why you're blowing this up so much. I've always spent a lot of money…"
He sighs and turns her around. "But it's not a game anymore Brooke. We're expecting a kid…"
"I know that! I'm carrying it, remember? Now, are we finishing the shopping or do you have any more complaining to do?"
Her eyebrow is raised but this time without being accompanied by the playful dimples. Instead she looks angry and he pulls her towards him once more so that her pregnant belly presses into him.
"I'm sorry baby… I didn't mean to put you down or anything."
He rubs his nose against hers in an effort to make her become less annoyed with him and her tense body somewhat melts into his. "I know" she says and kisses him softly. "But stop being such a brooder. I have money… We're good Lucas, seriously…"
And maybe they are, he thinks. He has no idea how much she has on her bank-account but he heard her say at one point that her parents usually sent her over 1500 dollars a month, and since she hadn't really bought anything for herself in ages and his mother refused to charge her any rent, she should have some money saved by now. So he Eskimo-kisses her again and lets his hands slide in under her tank-top in the back, caressing her soft skin underneath. He really doesn't want her mad at him.
"Let's go shop then" he says when she finally smiles, but she shakes her head.
"No, you and Nathan can go. I need to find a ladies-room… and I'm starving to death here. Me and Rachel will just meet you down at Taco Bell when you're done packing the cribs in the car."
He's just about to whine about the choice of food-place when his girlfriend shuts him up with her lips. The passionate kiss she gives him throws him off and he decides that yet another lunch at Taco Bell will be fine. Brooke keeps telling him that it's the baby that wants texmex-food and he's sure its just an excuse, but her lips on his makes him go with whatever decision she makes. His hands slide along the sides of her waist and he feels her shiver under his touch before finally pulling away from him.
"Sure Pretty girl" he says and hesitantly lets her go, but not before grabbing some of her bags. "I'll just put these in the car for you baby. See you in like twenty minutes?"
She nods and links her arm with Rachel and as he watches her leave he just keeps wishing that he could just take her home for other activities.
---
"God, Lucas really needs to loosen up!" Brooke sighs as she and Rachel are making it towards the food-court. "it's no fun shopping when he gets all worked up about money like that…"
Rachel laughs. "Well you fixed that, right? Didn't you see the look on the poor guy's face after you totally groped him in the kids-departement? He totally just wanted to drag you into one of the dressing-rooms…"
Brooke laughs too, thinking 'then why didn't he?'. That would have been so much fun. But instead she stops at the ATM and puts her visa-card into the machine. What better way to get her boyfriend to calm down than to show him a cash-withdrawal receipt that showed they were safe?
"He'll be fine once we get home" she answers the redhead as she punches in the four-digit code. "I have a surprise planned for him tonight."
The machine prints out the receipt and she looks at it. This couldn't be hers, right? She knew she hadn't shopped as much as usual lately but the sum didn't really make any sense. She's just about to ask Rachel to look at it when she hears a familiar voice say her name behind her.
"Brooke Davis!"
She turns towards the sound.
"Chris Keller?"
And it is. Chris is standing right behind her, smiling his crooked smile, and she is totally confused. Wasn't Chris supposed to be on tour still? Instead he's standing in the mall, less then five feet away, in the middle of the Saturday lunch-rush.
"What are you doing here?" she asks and she feels Rachel's eyes going back and forth between them.
"Doing some shopping. Aren't you happy to see me?"
Strangely enough, she is. She probably should hate him and spit him in the face, but even back when she slept with him she knew that whatever happened between them was not entirely his fault. She had slept with him because she was really afraid of becoming attached to Lucas again, and that night on their fantasy boy-draft date she had known what she had to lose when doing what she did.
"As happy as I would be for a hole in my head" she answers and playfully raises her eyebrow. "Are you in town for a while, or are you just here to piss off Nathan?"
"Naw, just a quick in and out visit. The tour is passing through and Peyton got the Wreckers to play TRIC tomorrow night."
Peyton got Chris to play at Tric? Why didn't she know this? Then when she thinks about it she realizes that she actually does. Peyton had sent her a text-message earlier, saying that they should all come to the party tomorrow night, but she had been busy at the café then. She sees Chris look at her belly and she shyly puts her hand on it, feeling her daughter kick under her palm.
"I see you're having a baby… How's that working out for you? Are you happy?"
The question is supposed to sound nonchalant but he looks serious.
"Yeah, I actually am. Who would have thought, right? Brooke Davis as a mother…" She laughs awkwardly and he smiles too.
"So… is Lucas treating you the way he should?" he asks with his eyes fixed on her. He looks mostly the same. His hair is a little shorter but that's about the only difference. He still looks like a rugged little rock-geek and his brown eyes are still as piercing.
She nods and can't help the smile that suddenly covers her face when she thinks of Lucas, who probably paying for their baby's crib by now. And Chris smiles too.
"I'm glad you got the guy you wanted Brooke. It's been a hell of a ride for the two of you."
"Yeah, I guess it has, hasn't it?"
She unconsciously strokes her rounded belly and watches Chris as her smile becomes crocked with the awkwardness she's feeling. He nods slowly, looking down on his feet as if he's embarrassed, and mumbles;
"Hey… uhm… About that night you and I shared…"
Brooke puts her hand up trying to stop him from saying anything more. She hasn't thought about this in such a long time, not since Lucas asked her if the baby was Chris' at Tric that night. But he looks up and shakes his head. And something in his eyes makes her decide to let him finish.
"No seriously Brooke. I need to say this so hear me out, okay? I knew that you loved him so it was wrong of me to take advantage of you when you were drunk. But hey, Chris Keller was drunk too and you were hot! And in those situations you kind of take what you can get, right?"
It's weird but his words actually make her blush. Maybe it's the hormones because this blunt honesty is exactly what she should expect from him.
"I guess…" she mumbles.
In the spur of the moment she finds herself taking a step forward, hugging Chris. And in the back of her mind she also finds herself thinking that Chris reminds her of her old life, of how she felt before she let Lucas back into her heart and when she still found sex as a get away from her insecurities and problems. She's not sad that that part of her is gone nowadays, but getting it in black and white this way still makes it all feel a little bittersweet and the hug lasts longer than she has intended.
When she finally lets go she hears someone clear his throat behind her and she turns to see Lucas. His eyes are dark but they are not directed at her but instead at Chris. Nathan is beside Lucas and Brooke isn't surprised to find that even he looks annoyed. Chris isn't really the favorite person of the Scott-brothers, for obvious reasons, and even though Nathan himself had been the one to drag Chris back into Haley's life last year, he had still been very pleased to see the guy leave town.
"Hey baby…" she says nervously to Lucas, and for a second his eyes dart over to her and a smile fills them, but then he looks back at Chris.
"Keller… what are you doing back? I thought you were in New York…"
"Oh Luke, keeping track of me, are you?" Chris smirks crookedly. "That's nice of you man. And here I was thinking that nobody missed Chris Keller. But I should have known, right? Heck, no one can resist Chris Keller, not even pregnant women..."
Nathan sighs loudly and even Rachel seems a little uneasy by the situation. Then Lucas suddenly turns and walks back the way he came from and his tense shoulders tells Brooke that he's doing this to try and keep his temper in check. She takes a step to follow him but Rachel shakes her head.
"I'll go get him" she says and winks at Brooke. "I have a habit of talking to your boyfriend about Keller…"
---
Lucas stops and sits down over by the fountain in the middle of the mall. He's not really angry, just frustrated. This was supposed to be a good day. It was Saturday, his favorite day since it meant a whole day with Brooke. But today nothing went as planned. The parenting-class had been a complete disaster, he had managed to truly embarrass his girlfriend in front of the other parents by knowing more about the pregnancy than her, then the argument they had over her shopping… and now Chris. Just seeing the guy look at Brooke had almost made him punch the guy's teeth out.
He sighs loudly and then Rachel sits down next to him and he huffs;
"I can't believe Brooke… how can she hug that freak? He almost destroyed everything between us before… plus, she knows I hate him…"
"Well, this is turning into a déjà vu-convo…" Rachel says laughing, and he looks up at her feeling annoyed that she seems to take his anger as a joke.
"What do you mean?"
Rachel smirks. "Don't you remember our little fantasy boy-draft date? I guess I shouldn't be too surprised if you don't, since you spent the entire time talking about our little Brookie-cookie."
He shrugs as if not remembering, but of course he remembered. How could he not…
"I can't believe she's doing this…" Lucas said and took a swig of the beer Rachel had bought them at the gas-station. It was dark out and the Rivercourt Park was empty except for himself and the cocky redheaded girl.
"So she's on a date with Chris." Rachel answers nonchalantly. "It doesn't mean anything."
At the last words his head shot up and he frowned. "It does! This guy has caused a lot of trouble and Brooke knows that!"
It did matter. It made him angry just to think of the dude, not to mention thinking about what he had done to Haley's and Nathan's relationship. And now Keller was on a date with Brooke, with his Brooke. He took another swig of beer and Rachel watched him intently.
"What is the deal with you and Brooke anyway?"
He could see she was snooping, trying to figure out if she still had a small chance to score at this 'date'. But she also looked genuinely curious, so he shrugged, deciding that he might as well talk to her. They didn't have anything better to do.
"She's just not ready to commit…"
The explanation sounded lame and Rachel laughed. "Right… that's usually what I tell guys that I'm not really into."
"…and she wants to make sure that I'm serious about her. Plus…"
"Plus what?"
He took a momentary pause and smiled before saying; "She's the one…"
"Why?"
He looked out over the empty park and felt his heart beat faster just by thinking of the brunette dimpled girl.
"She just is. I feel it. You know Pascal says 'The heart has reasons that reason can not know…'"
But that wasn't really a truthful answer. His heart knew, and it had known for a while now.
"So what if I do remember?" he says and looks over his shoulder at all the little coins on the bottom of the fountain. "She obviously doesn't… If she remembered how much that scumbag hurt us, then she wouldn't have been in his arms like that…"
But Rachel just looks at him as if he's being the biggest, most clueless jerk in town. "Double-moral must be your middle-name Luke… Otherwise, how could you sit here and pout like this over Brooke sharing a hug with a guy from her past, and not think about what your 'friendly' relationship with Peyton did to her for months…"
She shoves him a little to get him to look at her and he mumbles something incoherently. He wants to be angry and the way Rachel is turning this conversation makes him realize that he won't have that luxury for much longer.
"Brooke told me about the argument you guys had a week ago" she continues. "And I would say that it's pretty stupid of you to go all 'I'm jealous over Chris Keller' when your main point in that fight was that she didn't trust you enough… Besides, what could possibly come between you guys, huh? I thought you two were a match made by destiny?"
She's teasing him now, throwing back words in his face that he told her that night in the park.
"Cut it out Rach…" he says silently, well aware of the fact that she has already managed to prove him wrong in this, but in typical Rachel Gattina-fashion she has to rub it in.
"Why should I? As the future godmother it's my place to protect yours and Brooke's relationship, right? What happened to all that talk about Pascal, huh?"
He sighs and leans his forehead in his hands, remembering all to well…
"Okay… take your shirt off."
Rachel's voice was bossy and he rolled his eyes to tell her she was being stupid.
"Rachel…"
But the redhead in front of him just smirked and for a second he was reminded about Brooke. Even though the two girls hated each other, their poise and confidence were still the same, and then of course there was their bitchy temperament.
"I'm not gonna touch you, you sissy virgin-boy" she said, actually sounding a little angry. "I'm trying to make a point. Just take your damn shirt off!"
A little bit embarrassed he laughed and pulled the t-shirt over his head. Rachel walked around him and sneaked her arms around his neck from the back.
"Alright," she half-whispered. "You say Brooke's the one. Your soulmate… Well, if that's the case, then call upon destiny or providence or whatever forces that's going to bring you two together… And make the shot, blindfolded.
He raised an eyebrow at her and laughed. Her request was insane. He was standing too far away from the basket. But she tied the shirt snug around his head to cover his eyes and he mumbled "This is ridiculous!"
Rachel however just coaxed him on. "Come on! It's your destiny. You can't miss."
Sighing, he bounced the ball and tried to make out the direction of the basket by the sound of her voice. Then he bounced it again and concentrated before extending his arm and letting the ball fly into the air. There was a sound of razzeling from the chain net.
"What happened?" he said and started to pull the t-shirt away from his eyes. And then he heard Rachel's voice;
"It went in."
Lucas laughs and shakes his head at the redhead sitting beside him.
"Yeah I remember… And you can stop with the guilt-trips now, I was overreacting, I know that. But you're making it sound like if it's all your making that me and Brooke got back together. I mean, you do remember what happened when I took the blindfold off, don't you? You were naked, Rachel!"
"Yeah, but I knew it wouldn't work… It was obvious for everyone that Brooke already had you whipped. I just wanted to bug the living hell out of her."
She laughs too and then they sit in silence for a couple of minutes. The mall is filled with people swarming about doing there business and Lucas thinks of Brooke and how he actually just left her standing there. She was probably taking it out on Nathan by now.
Then Rachel finally speaks again. Her voice is softer this time, not her usual cocky tone.
"Are you okay with me being the godmother to your baby Luke? Brooke asked me earlier and I haven't answered yet… I mean, I really get it if you don't want me to…"
She looks a little embarrassed and he gives her a sideways hug.
"I would love it if you said yes."
Not being one for emotional moments, Rachel stands up and reaches out her hand towards him.
"Come on" she says. "Lets go and patch you up with Brooke. You guys just need some alone-time…" She blinks naughtily and he laughs and takes her hand, letting her pull him up into standing position.
"Yeah…" he says. "I want to go home."
He really does. After all, Brooke is pretty much all he needs to feel happy.
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Authors note 2: This may seem like it ends pretty abruptly. But the next chapter doesn't have a timejump (lol, I'm not Mark Schwan, making time jumps went there is still unsolved issues) so chapter 26 will start right up where this one ended, in the mall. I need reviews though, lots of them!! Lol. Cause I have an exam this week and if you give me enough reviews I will take time to finsh the update before that. :)
Thank you's:
B.Davis: Lots of big hugs to you, the greatest of them all this week! Thanks for having so much patience with my constant nagging about this chapter. And thanks for ALWAYS reviewing. I realized today that i don't think you missed one chapter... :hug:
Tiffany Rae: Your reviews for the latest chapters were just amazing!! I love those long reviews and even more I love how you called me on my bullshit in the last one. Lol. your thoughts were very insightful and reviews like yours make me a better writer for sure. THANK YOU!
Line: Don't feel ashamed! I'm so glad that you found it and liked it. But you're probably right, one should always trust when fic's are recomended. I know I do. Thanks a lot and I hope you keep reading this.
Moonman: You're such a sweetheart! And I'm sorry for keeping you awake with my fic. I'm always so happy to get new readers and your review was just so awesome. :)
Marap: Thank you. (blushing) I really hope you keep reading.
Wishinonastar: Hey you, always such a great reviewer, and you always make me laugh. :) I wish I could give you a equally great chapter in this but this one is a little lame, I know… Anyways, you're great Hannah and I'm still looking forward to read the next draft.
Awhero: I might just go on forever… lol Because these chapters just keeps getting longer and longer and I just keep adding more thing that I need to finish before the story is over. Hope you stick with it to the end. ;)
Jeytonbrucasnaley: I didn't mean to make you almost cry… lol I'm glad you liked the chapter. And I'm surprised you had time to read it, with the pace you've been updating lately. :)
Trista, Treehillraven4life: I'm glad that you both like my story and that you like long chapters since that seems to be what I'm producing these days. If I wouldn't have cut this chapter in half it would have been over 12.000 words. lol
Typokween: insightful review! And I agree. The connection they have as friend is undeniable… which totally sucks. :) Thanks for the review.
Eemah93: The HCM-thing is coming, don't worry hun. Thanks for the kind words.
Cyn: Thank you so much. And the thing with Lucas and his dad is a great idea! I'm going to look into that for sure.
Brucas3: Aww… I'm glad you liked Brooke's box. And the chapter. Thank you so much.
Truelovedoesnotexist: I'm so happy that you liked that Lucas got a little angry, cause I kind of think he needed that in order to vent.
And also a HUGE thank you to; BreezeBlownBy, Brucasforeva, Brookleighgilmore, Courtneylovesjason, OTH rox, Lauren829, Goober396, Lauren. Crazybrunette113, Dolcegrazia, Soapfan2006, Trhill4life, Snowbabie, you guys ALL rock!!!