A/N: Hey guys! I know, I suck at updating! You don't have to tell me! But here is the next chapter for you. It makes me sad to post this because we only have three chapters left, maybe four! I hope you guys like it!
Thank you to everyone that has read and reviewed or put this story on alert. And big thanks to Morgan for all her help! Love ya girl!
Big news!! I got a friend on OTH Central to make me a banner for this story and for my other one, "All Bets Are Off." The links are below and also on my profile page!! Go check them out, they're awesome!!
http://i41 (dot) tinypic (dot) com/ifd2r4 (dot) jpg (All Bets Are Off)
http://i39 (dot) tinypic (dot) com/2a62hys (dot) jpg (In the Beginning) This is just the first banner Lo made me. She made another one for this story with Tim's picture added in, but I don't have the link for it. As soon as I get it from Lo, I'll post it!
"So what'd you think about Dr. Reed?" Nathan asked. He and Brooke had just gotten back to the house from the appointment. Nathan was still a little annoyed at Dr. Reed's trick. He really did search every floor and every corner of that building looking for a vending machine!
"I like her. I think you would too!" Brooke replied, walking into the kitchen and setting her purse down on the kitchen counter.
"Hey kids. How was it?" they heard Dan ask from the living room. They walked in to see him hunched over his laptop playing Solitaire.
"Solitaire dad? Really? Don't you have anything better to do with your time?" Nathan joked.
"Funny! But not the point! How was the counseling?"
"I wouldn't know. Dr. Reed kicked me out and had me going from floor to floor looking for non-existent vending machines!" Nathan fumed. Brooke laughed, sitting on the couch next to Dan.
"The eight right there can go on that nine dad!" she whispered, pointing out the move to him.
"Thanks Brookie."
"And Dr. Reed was very nice. I liked her," she commented, looking at Nathan resting in the recliner, "I think for the first time in a long time things are going to be okay!"
"Oh, Peyton and Tim stopped by earlier. I told them I'd let you know when you got home. Maybe you should invite them over! I could start up the grill; maybe cook some steaks or something?" Dan asked, looking from Brooke to Nathan.
"That sounds perfect dad. Thanks. And there's something Brooke and I need to talk to you about," Nathan started.
"Are you pregnant again?" Dan panicked, 'Because I thought the doctor said it would be very difficult to get pregnant again if you ever could!"
"No, I'm not pregnant again. But thanks for that reminder," Brooke said dryly. "No, we wanted to thank you. We all know you weren't the best parent when we were growing up. No offense, and neither was Deb or my parents. But lately, we've watched you become a dad to us. You've not only worked on your relationship with Nathan, and even Lucas, but with me."
"Yeah dad, she's right. I know that lately we've been kind of detached from everyone and we apologize. But both Brooke and I just really want to thank you for being so supportive of us since Molly died," Nathan told him. Dan sat there stunned, tears in his eyes, not sure of what to say.
"Brooke, Nate, thank you. I told you that I wanted to be the father you two deserved. And I really am trying. I'm just thankful that you're giving me a second chance!" Dan said, "Now, why don't you two go call Peyton and Tim. I'll get the grill started. Tell them to bring their suits, you kids could use some downtime, maybe go for a swim in the pool while I'm cooking!"
"That sounds like a great idea! I'll go call Timmy!" Brooke smiled, jumping up from the couch. She quickly kissed Dan on the cheek, then kissed Nathan on the lips before running out of the room.
"Did you see that?" Nathan asked quietly, a smile tugging at his mouth.
"See what?" Dan asked back.
"She smiled. She smiled a genuine smile!" Nathan said, happiness written on his face. Dan smiled, glad that the kids seemed to be getting better. He watched Nathan run up the stairs to his room with pride. He was so proud of those two. He can't even imagine what he would have done if he lost either of them.
"Knock knock!" he heard a voice shout from the front door. He stood from the couch to see Lucas, Haley, and Karen walk in, Lucas holding Mason.
"Hey! What are you guys doing here?" he asked curiously.
"Well, Haley and Lucas wanted to see Brooke and Nathan. And, since we've noticed you putting forth an effort to change, we all thought you might like to see your grandson," Karen explained.
"Thank you. This means a lot. Hey Mason, can I hold you?" he asked in a baby voice, taking Mason from Lucas.
"Hello?" they heard Peyton ask from behind them, realizing they left the door open.
"Hey Peyt, Tim, come on in! Nate and Brooke are upstairs." Dan told them.
"Aw, little Scott!" Tim joked, tickling Mason's little stomach.
"Hey Dad, do you have any beach towels down here?" Nathan shouted, running down the stairs. By this time, everyone had walked into the living room and were all standing around.
"Oh, hey guys. What's going on?" he asked nervously. The last time they were all there was for the intervention.
"Peyton and Tim are here to go swimming. Haley, Lucas, and Karen came by to see how you and Brooke were doing. Where is she?"
"I'm right here, sorry, I couldn't find my swim…" she started, walking into the living room and tensing up at the sight of Dan holding Mason.
"What are you doing here?" Brooke asked, looking from Haley, to Lucas, to Mason, and back to Haley.
"Brooke, we just wanted to see how you were doing. We haven't heard from you in a while," Haley muttered, nervous of Brooke's reaction to Mason being there.
"Haley, take Mason. We'll be right back," Dan said quietly, handing Mason to Haley and trying to escort Brooke into the kitchen with Nathan behind him.
"No, I'm not going anywhere!" Brooke shouted, twisting in Dan's arms to see her friends standing there wide eyed.
"Brooke, come on, let's just go talk in the kitchen," Nathan said calmly.
"No, damn it! Let me go!" she screamed, shoving Dan and Nathan away.
"I'm not some frail little woman! Let me the fuck go!"
"Brooke, calm down!" Peyton said, coming to her side.
"If you could get them to get off me, I would calm down!" she growled through clenched teeth.
"Nate, Dan, let her go," Peyton demanded. Dan and Nathan released their hold on Brooke, but stood close, like they were afraid of what she was going to do.
"Thank you," she said dryly. "Now, before you tried to drag me away like I was some kind of insane, violent, dangerous person, I had something to say." Brooke walked up to Lucas, looking him in the eyes.
"Luke, I'm sorry."
"Brooke, it's okay. You don't have to do this," Lucas whispered to her, glancing behind her at Nathan, who was almost in tears.
"No, I do. Dr. Reed suggested it. Again, I'm sorry. I know we have a complicated history. But I shouldn't have treated you and Haley the way I did after Molly Erin died. I was sad, and angry at myself for what happened. And I took it out on you. So I'm sorry," she whispered, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"Brooke Davis, you are one of a kind," he laughed quietly, wrapping her up in a hug. Releasing his hold on her, she turned to Haley and Mason.
"Tutorgirl," Brooke mumbled.
"Tigger," Haley whispered back with a small smile. Everyone stood still watching the exchange.
"I'm so sorry," Brooke sobbed.
"You have nothing to be sorry for. If I were you, I would have done the same thing," Haley told her, handing Mason to Lucas.
"No you wouldn't. You're better than that. I'm not. And I'm so sorry for the things I said to you. I didn't mean them."
"Brooke, I know you didn't. And I am no better than you. In fact, you're better than me. At least you waited until Nathan was single to go for him!" she laughed, attempting a joke. Brooke gave her a strange look as Peyton tried to stifle a giggle.
"Too soon?" Haley asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Too soon," Brooke confirmed, nodding her head.
"Sorry! But really, you still have nothing to apologize for. I love you Brooke Davis. And I have something to ask you," Haley said, pausing briefly, "I know you've had a hard time with losing Molly Erin. And I understand that. But, Lucas and I were wondering if you would be Mason's godmother. Nathan is his godfather and you were the only one we could possibly think of being his godmother."
"Godmother?" Brooke choked out, looking at Mason.
"If you need time to think about it, we understand," Lucas told her. Nathan came up behind her and wrapped his arms around Brooke's waist. She stood silent for a few minutes, tears streaming down her face. On one hand, she was still not ready to move on from the loss of Molly Erin. There was still so much healing she had to go through. And counseling. And she didn't want to feel like she was betraying Molly Erin by becoming Mason's godmother. But she really needed the help and support of her friends. And knowing that Lucas and Haley wanted her to be Mason's godmother meant that they believed in her and supported her.
"You won't be forgetting Molly by doing this," Nathan whispered in her ear. She looked up at him in shock, like he was reading her thoughts.
"Brooke, if you're uncomfortable with this, it's okay. We'll understand," Haley said.
"No, please, that's not it. I'm…I mean…well, I don't know if…Of course I'll do it," Brooke stammered, a small smile coming to her face, cheeks turning red in embarrassment.
"So, Nathan, last week I talked with Brooke. She told me all about her pregnancy and the loss of Molly Erin. This week, I wanted to talk to you about your lives now. Tell me about your daily routine, things you do together, things you do for fun, times you talk. Whatever you think of," Dr. Reed said. It is now a week later, at their second appointment.
"Aren't you gonna ask Brooke to go find the vending machines?" Nathan asked with a smile.
"Sorry about that Nathan," Dr. Reed said quietly.
"It's okay," Nathan laughed, "Not a big deal.
"So, uh, anyways, our daily routine? Well, it's changed a lot in the last week or so. Before we met with you and before the intervention, it wasn't too easy for us. We didn't sleep, and if we did, we both had horrible nightmares. We didn't talk to anyone. And if we did talk to people, it normally ended up in a fight. We hardly touched.
"Actually, we hardly even talked to each other. Unless it was about our nightmares or who was going to stay up so the other could try to sleep. My school work was surprisingly not suffering since I had so much time on my hands from not sleeping."
"And what about now? Are the nightmares still as bad since the intervention?" Dr. Reed asked him. Brooke sat by his side, one hand wrapped around his.
"No, they're not. I um, I don't really know why. But it's like ever since we both agreed to get help, it was like there was this huge weight lifted off our shoulders, at least for me it was. And I felt better about things. I mean, I know we still have a lot to deal with. But it feels like now that we both decided to get help, things are already getting better. Brooke's started sleeping more, so have I. I've only had one nightmare since the intervention. She's only had two. And Haley and Lucas came over with Mason the other day.
"They asked Brooke to be Mason's godmother. They had already asked me to be his godfather the day he was born. But she accepted and actually smiled. And I don't mean one of those bullshit grins she gives people when she's trying to be polite. Or one of those insanely sexy smirks she gives me when she's being a smartass. But a real, honest to God, genuine smile."
"You really love Brooke don't you?" Dr. Reed asked with a smile, amazed at the amount of love this couple had for each other at such a young age.
Nathan glanced over at Brooke for a moment, thinking of all they had been through. He remembered all the times she would cry when they were little because her parents would never come home and he would comfort her with chocolate chip cookies that her nanny helped him make before sneaking up to her room to cheer her up. He could remember in the fifth grade when she had a crush on Tommy Sanders and in front of everyone on the playground Tommy told Brooke that girls were stupid and then pushed her down. He and Tim beat the snot out of Tommy Sanders that day. That was the first time he got suspended from school and it was all worth it as long as he was protecting Brooke. He thought back to eighth grade when Brooke made co-captain instead of captain of the cheerleading squad and would cry before every football or basketball game because of it. And he would get yelled at by his coaches every game because he wasn't warming up, he was letting his best friend cry on his shoulder. He recalled freshman year at one of his parties when stupid Tommy Sanders decided he liked Brooke a little too much and tried to take it too far even after she said no and he once again beat the snot out of him before staying up with Brooke all night as she cried, and then got angry. He also drove over to Tommy Sanders' house the next day with Brooke so she could slap him and punch him in the face and kick him in the balls. He could remember every time he had ever done something for her out of love. Every action he had ever committed towards her or for her was because of how much he loved her.
"I do. I've always loved her," Nathan said quietly while still looking at Brooke.
NPOV
It's been three weeks since our second appointment with Dr. Reed. It's been a pretty good three weeks. Brooke's only had three nightmares since then. Every other night, she's slept through the night. I had two nightmares since then. They weren't that bad either. I didn't wake up screaming. Actually, I didn't even wake Brooke up when I woke up from them.
We just got back home from visiting our godson. Brooke has become very committed to being the best godmother to Mason she can be. She often visits Haley and Mason during the day. Lucas just got a job working at the car dealership. Dad has him working in the shop right now, which is good for him. He enjoys working with cars. Dad has also made comments about giving Brooke and I jobs there too. He said they need some more help in the shop, and even though I don't know much about cars, he said Lucas can teach me. As for Brooke, supposedly their receptionist is quitting at the end of the month and Dad has offered Brooke that position. We've talked about taking the jobs for a while but we're not sure yet.
I was offered a full ride to Duke and Brooke insists I take it. Her parents called a few days ago and were actually pretty nice to her, even offered to pay her way through college if she chose to go to Duke with me. We're thinking about taking them up on that offer. Lucas and Haley are going to stay in Tree Hill for at least a year while Mason is still young. Lucas wants to transfer to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after a year or two. Haley has no problem following him with Mason. And Peyton and Tim? They're already away. Peyton got an internship this summer at Sire Records in LA. Tim said he couldn't possibly imagine being away from her for an entire summer so he went with her. They're staying in a shabby old apartment close to Hollywood. Peyton is working at the record company and Tim is working at a movie theatre down the street from their apartment for now. When Peyton's internship is over, they're going to join me and Brooke at Duke if we do decide to go. I've got to let the school know by tomorrow if I'm taking the scholarship.
"Nate?" I heard Brooke's voice interrupt my thoughts. I looked up from my spot on the bed to see her walk in the room from the hallway.
"Hey B. What's up?"
"We need to talk. Dad keeps asking if we're gonna work at the dealership."
"Oh, yeah I was just thinking about that. What do you want to do?" I asked her, needing to know what she wanted. If she wants to stay in Tree Hill, then that's what we'll do.
"I think you should take the scholarship. It's your dream to play at Duke. And my parents already said they would pay my way through. Let's go to college Natey," Brooke said, a giant smile coming to her face.
"You sure? I mean, we'll be away from everyone; Dad, Luke, Hales, Mason," I told her.
"Yeah but Peyt and Timmy will be with us! And we can come home on weekends you don't have games. Nate, we have to do this. It's time to move on. I miss Molly as much as you do and I always will. But we can't live in your childhood bedroom hiding from the world the rest of our lives."
"Okay. I'll call the school tomorrow and let them know! We should go up there next weekend, maybe we can find an apartment off campus so we don't have to live in the dorms!" I cheered, getting excited about going to Duke to play basketball.
"Sounds good to me! I think I'm gonna take a shower real quick before bed. I'll be back in a minute!" she said, giving me an idea. I sat on my bed and waited until I knew for sure she was in the shower. Then I quickly stripped down and rushed into the bathroom as quietly as I could. I could see the outline of her body through the shower curtain. As quiet as I could, I pulled back the shower curtain and saw her naked for the first time in so long. I couldn't believe the sight of her. She's gorgeous.
"Nathan!" she shrieked, making me pull my gaze from her body to her face. My cheeks reddened at being caught.
"What are you doing?" she asked as I stepped into the shower. I pulled her towards me, wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her up against my body. Lowering my face to hers, I touched my lips against hers softly.
"I wanted to take a shower with you," I whispered, kissing her again. Pulling away, I grabbed the bottle of shampoo she liked, pouring a small amount into my hands. I lathered up her hair, massaging her scalp as I went, making her moan quietly. We then spent the next few minutes washing each other, kissing here and there, and touching the other innocently when we could.
"That was the best shower I've had in a long time!" Brooke laughed, brushing the tangles out of her hair, her body still wrapped in a towel. I sat on the bed in just basketball shorts, waiting for her to join me. She walked over to the bed, sitting in my lap, arms wrapped around my neck.
"Remember your first talk with Dr. Reed?" she asked and I nodded my head. "Did you really mean what you said?"
I knew exactly what she meant.
"Do you doubt my love Brooke? After all this time, are you still doubting me?" I asked, a bit surprised by her question. She just shrugged her shoulders.
"Brookie, we have been best friends since we were little kids. And we've been together for a while now. After everything we've been through, if I didn't love you as much as I do, I wouldn't still be here with you."
"I know. It's just, I've been thinking about the future a lot. And everything we have wanted is gone now. I just need to know you still want me," she said quietly, feeling a little insecure.
"Okay, you know what? I was actually gonna wait for this, but I can't now. Get up real quick," I told her, standing once she got up from my lap. I walked over to my dresser and pulled out a small box from my sock drawer. Walking back over to the bed, Brooke gasped as she saw the box in my hand.
"Nate," she whispered, a tear coming to her eye as I kneeled in front of her.
"Brooke, I don't ever want you to doubt my love again. I have loved you since we were little kids. And I have been in love with you for a long time. I need you in my life forever. I want you for the rest of my life. So please, will you marry me?"
Brooke just started bawling. Not exactly the reaction I was looking for.
A/N: Like it? Hate it? Let me know!!