Brooke Davis had a big decision to make. Sitting in the middle of her bed surrounded by papers, Brooke had no idea what she was getting herself into. When she had moved to Boston almost a year and a half ago, she didn't know that she was going to start her fashion line and have it take off so well. She thought that she would just get her fresh start and get back on track to the rest of her life. But now she was faced with the dilemma of constantly spending money traveling to New York to meet with different investors and other people that she was spending more time in the city she was in Boston. So now she was faced with having to decide whether to continue living in the Boston or just take the plunge and move to New York.
The decision required taking a lot more into consideration than just her pure exhaustion from traveling. She had to take into account the fact that she was going to either ask Jake to uproot his life from Boston and come with her continuing to her amazing assistant/care taker or fire him. She also had to think about how Nathan was going to react to the move as well, since she was already so far away from him and New York would add even more distance between them and might end up cutting into the already limited time they have together.
Deciding to just end the madness, Brooke made a plan to talk to both boys and get their opinions on the matter that way when she went to New York this time she could finally answer her business managers' constant questions about the move. Reaching towards the table next to her bed Brooke quickly sent a text to her faithful assistant and moved to get up from her bed, ready to face this decision head on.
20 minutes later Jake let himself into the apartment searching the small space for Brooke concerned as to what they could actually have to talk about. Her text message had only said that she needed to speak to him and judging by the stressed out look on her face the last time he saw her, he didn't have high hopes that this conversation was going to be a fun one. Stopping by the coffee maker which had gone off when he had walked in Jake filled up two cups and made his way to the only remaining place Brooke could be. True enough, he found her sitting in the middle of her bed concentrating very hard on the papers spread around her. "Hey Brooke." He called sitting on the edge of the bed not covered in papers and handing her one of the cups.
"Thank you." She greeted taking a sip of the steamy liquid.
"So what's up?" He asked moving a few more of the papers to get comfortable.
"I have something to sort of run by you. It's nothing bad per say depending on how you respond but I think it could be a really good thing." Jake just nodded silently telling her to continue on. "So you know that I've been traveling a lot back and forth to New York in the past 3 months and how tiring it is, so Cooper and Valerie think that I should move the whole operation to New York City. Now if I decide to do this that means that you'll either have to pack up and move with me or stay here and find another job. I really need your opinion because you've been such a great assistant that I don't think I could move to New York without you. Valarie has been looking at places for me to live and she found a duplex in Soho that's big enough for you and Jenny to live with me." Brooke stopped speaking to give Jake some time to process what she was saying to him.
"So what you want me to come move with you to New York? Is that the whole point of that speech?" He asked minutes later his head still trying to wrap around everything she had said to him.
"Yes Jake, I want you to come with me. I think that you are a vital part to helping me keep everything organized." Jake nodded and looked down at the bedspread toying with the idea of moving to New York.
"What does Nathan think about all of this?" Brooke sighed and looked down her shoulders slumping.
"I haven't talked to Nathan about it yet, I've been trying to figure out how to ask him. I don't want him to think that I'm trying to put even more distance between us. It's hard enough as it is now with everything going on to see him, what's going to happen if I really do move to New York? I'm just nervous about asking him, afraid of how he's going to see it." She rambled a few tears falling from her eyes.
"Brooke," Jake began reaching out and squeezing her hand. "It's Nathan that we're talking about. He loves you more than anything else in the world. He's going to support you no matter what; you just have to be up front and honest with him. I, personally, think that you need to tell him this in person, not over the phone."
"I know, I guess I'll just tell them when I see him for his final regular season game." Jake nodded smiling slightly at how devoted Brooke was to seeing all of Nathan's games. "You're coming too right?" Jake nodded yet again and stood up extending his hand to her.
"Come on let's get you packed so we can solve this dilemma of yours." Brooke smiled and accepted his hand letting him pull her up from the bed. Asking Jake had been easy, now Brooke just had to muster up the courage to ask Nathan his opinion, a feat that slightly unnerved Brooke.
Nathan sat in his dorm room attempting to finish the last paragraph of his research paper. He knew that he had to finish his paper before Brooke came into town because he wasn't going to miss a minute of time with her, it had been literally three weeks since the last time he had seen his girlfriend. He had been so focused on his paper that he hadn't even had time to really talk to her on the phone but from what he had heard from Jake she was really pushing herself to the limit both mentally and physically. He just hoped that this weekend would help her come to terms with whatever was bothering her. Finishing the final sentence of his paper Nathan hit save and got up ready to meet Brooke at her hotel to spend a few interrupted hours with her.
Brooke sat by the pool of her hotel watching Jake play with Jenny in the water. Checking her phone she anxiously waited for Nathan to call her to let her know that he was done with his paper and at the hotel. She hoped that her conversation with Nathan went well because she really need him to be on board with the moving plan because otherwise Brooke didn't think that she would be able to do it.
When Nathan finally arrived at Brooke's hotel, Brooke was sitting in her room working on some new sketches. Letting himself in with the key Brooke had left for him at the front desk, Nathan smiled when he saw her sitting by the window her sketch pad nestled in her lap completely focused on shading her design. He walked up behind her chair and leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Hey Babe." He greeted moving to sit on the table in front of her.
"Hey Nathan." She greeted leaning forward and giving him a proper kiss. "Finish your paper?" She asked closing her sketch pad and leaning forward smiling when Nathan nodded.
"Are you okay? You look awfully tired and stressed out." Nathan asked grabbing both of her hands and leaning forward resting his forehead against hers.
"I've just been travelling a lot back and forth from New York and Boston. It's beginning to take a toll on me."
"Maybe you should just move to New York to cut it on the excessive traveling." Nathan suggested making Brooke smile and chuckle a little bit.
"That's actually something I wanted to talk to you about this weekend. Valarie found me a place in Soho big enough for Jake and I."
"Why would you want to talk to me about it? I mean you know I'd support you no matter what Brooke." Brooke nodded and squeezed his hand, slightly overwhelmed by Nathan's sweetness.
"I didn't want to make such a big decision without at least letting you know. I don't want you to think that I'm putting even more distance between us. This place is big enough for you to come stay with me during the summer and on breaks and Jake's already agreed to move with me, so I won't be alone. I guess I also wanted you to tell me that it's the smart decision and be there to support me in my decision."
"Brooke, moving to New York isn't putting more distance between us, maybe physically but not emotionally. I'm still in love with you and still want to be with you as long as humanly possible. I've told you numerous times I'm in this for the long haul. I think moving to New York is the smartest decision because you won't be travelling as much and maybe you'll be able to take more time off. Plus we'll only be apart for another three months then I'll be with you all the time." Brooke smiled and leaned forward pressing her lips against his. Nathan responded immediately pulling her up from her chair and towards the bed determined to make the most of their limited time together. As Brooke's knees hit the edge of the bed all thoughts of New York and work were pushed from her mind.
The following morning when Brooke woke up in Nathan's arm she knew that moving to New York was the best thing for her. Being in New York would make it easier for her to focus on the clothing line and finally reach the level of success she's been dreaming of since she was a little girl. She also looked forward to spending the summer in New York with Nathan.
A/N: Finally an update! I'm pretty surprised at how fast this chapter happened. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, there is unfortunately only one chapter left in this story.