Ok this time I'm serious! I'm updating now and I'll update once again within the next week, whatever it takes! The story is almost over and I'll work on it a lot from now on cause some of you guys have been reading since the very beginning and it's been more than two years now! I realize that probably makes me a jerk for taking so long. On the other hand, it makes you the best readers in the entire history of the world! =D Thank you so much! Oh, and be sure to check the note at the end of the chapter!
Also, if you're a fan of Glee, you might wanna check the new short fic I posted a couple of days ago, called Find My Way Home. It's basically a series of three oneshots, all of them taking place after the episode Home. The first one is Finn and Kurt, and they're discussing the situation with their parents, the second one is Brittany and Santana, and the aftermath of Santana sleeping with Finn, and the last one is some Quinn/Rachel cuteness because that has definitely been missing from the show! ^^ I posted the Brittana one earlier today. If you like the show, I would really appreciate some follow up to let me know if the writing and the characterizations are ok! Thanks! And now, the chapter:
Chapter 27 – The right person
Julie's arrival was announced by a loud bang of the door before it flung open, the girl almost disappearing behind a dozen shopping bags. Peyton and I were still in bed, luckily at least on our underwear, covered by the sheets. Hearing the noise, I could barely force myself to look away from the blonde next to me, so I just waved to let Julie know I was aware it was her.
Peyton, on the other hand, almost jumped out of bed, holding the sheets to cover herself up, and looked so cute all blushed. Which, I guessed, had more to do with the intense physical activity we were engaged on ten minutes ago than the fact that the younger girl had entered.
Being with her was amazing. It was everything I could hope for. There was no awkwardness, like I half expected, and even though neither of us really had done this before, it was something we were exploring together, and it made it all even better. It amazed me how every inch of her body seemed perfect to me, and how naturally it all had happened.
"Alright… I guess I should have stayed out a while longer", Julie said while covering her eyes with her hands in an overly dramatic manner. "Or maybe I should get my own room."
"We'll figure out the room thing later. Right now, give us ten minutes and we'll be decent again", I smirked, Peyton's elbow hitting me as she looked even more uncomfortable.
"You sure? You know, I can just… go somewhere else", she grinned back and was met with a pillow I threw her way.
"Ten minutes. We need to talk, missy."
"Fine, mom!" she overpronounced the word, left her bags on a corner and left the room again.
I laughed at the scene, mostly because I was so happy I would laugh at pretty much anything, and decided to turn back to Peyton. "You ok?" I asked sweetly, turning to pull her closer to me and kiss her.
"Yeah", she smiled, "It's just a bit weird when the fifteen year old I barely know barges into the room while we're… like this", I couldn't take the smile off my face, so she looked at me and furrowed her eyebrow, "What's so funny?"
I shook my head calmly. "Nothing. I just can't stop looking at you, and I don't even care that I probably look like an idiot who smiles all the time."
Her hand touched my cheek, slowly caressing it with the sweetest touch. "You're beautiful", she whispered, "Even when you look like an idiot", she completed, grinning.
"Way to ruin the moment, Blondie", I rolled my eyes.
"Oh well, someone had to, because we need to get dressed before she comes back", she threw the covers my way and got up. I reached for her hand in a quick motion and pulled her back. Losing her balance, she fell almost completely on top of me.
"That's better", I winked, she leaned closer until our lips met on another heated kiss.
"Brooke…" she pulled away again, saw me pouting, and gave me a quick peck, "Julie definitely needs a room of her own", she smiled, got up and this time pulled me with her. Hesitantly, I let her. She didn't let go of my hand after I was up, instead she led me to the bathroom. "Shower?"
"Oh yeah", I nodded and ran ahead of her, almost dragging her skinny ass with me.
X – X – X
"You know, Julie was pretty upset when I first saw her in Tree Hill", Peyton said while she played with my fingers without paying attention. We were both in bed, but fully clothed now, something I was not entirely happy with, our heads resting on the headboard.
I looked at her more carefully. "Did she say anything? I mean, it's a bit strange that she just showed up like this."
"When she saw me, she put up this brave face and was all smiles all the way here. You should talk to her, just the two of you."
I frowned almost instantly. "Is it gonna sound incredibly needy if I say I'll miss you too much?"
"Yes, it is", her tone was serious but her expression was playful. "I'll miss you too. So whatever it is, find out fast", she touched the tip of my noise quickly, right about the time there was a knock on the door, followed by Julie's voice.
"Can I come in now?"
"Yeah", I said it loud, and mumbled the next part, "Unfortunately you can." Peyton looked amused.
"Just thought I'd make sure", she said while walking into the room and closing the door behind her.
"So Julie", I got up again, taking a quick look at Peyton and already regretting leaving her side, "How tired are you from all the shopping?" When she looked at me a bit confused, I continued, "Cause I was thinking we could go for a walk around and talk, if you wanted to."
She was quiet for a few seconds, considering the offer, and finally nodded. Then she turned to Peyton, "Is it ok? I don't wanna bother you two."
Peyton simply smiled. "It's fine, I'm exhausted from all the exercise anyway", she smirked now, causing the teenager to make a face.
"I do not need to know that!"
"Not so shy anymore, huh, P. Sawyer?" I commented while I put on some light make up and got ready to leave. Julie soon joined me and did the same. When we were ready, I pulled Peyton from the bed and brought her close to me.
"Don't take too long, ok?" she spoke quietly. I nodded, gave her a quick kiss and we left.
It wasn't that I was totally dependant on her now, it was just that we had spent so much time not talking or acting weird around each other, and now things seemed so perfect that I was almost afraid to leave her side. Plus, there was the added fact that I would be moving soon, and we still weren't sure if she would be able to come with me, so we could be apart for a while. For now, though, I would focus on the present and try to stop worrying so much about the future.
Julie and I walked through the 5th Avenue with a Starbucks cappuccino on our hands. For some reason, I figured it was a good place to take her, but looking at all the distractions around, I made a mental note that a park is always the best option in situations like these. Especially when it came to a teenager with a credit card. As we made our way to Central Park, I knew I couldn't compete with all the stores for her attention, so I waited until we were out of there.
"She's crazy about you, you know?" she started with a smile, as soon as the city noises began to get left behind. "All the way here, she was so nervous, she didn't know if you wanted her here or not. She babbles a lot, too. You're perfect for each other", she rolled her eyes, and then looked at me more closely when I remained quiet. "Except maybe now. You're so quiet, is everything ok?"
"Actually… I wanted to ask you the same", she was a bit surprised and taken aback, "And I don't mean that I'm not happy that you're here, but… you just showed up, without calling, you didn't even know where my house was. So I'm thinking something's up."
This time, she didn't speak for a while. "I thought you wouldn't mind if I visited", she shrugged, with a sad voice.
I placed myself in front of her, causing her to stop, and put both my hands on her shoulders. She looked up. "You know I don't mind", I spoke, making sure she knew it was true. "But if you came to me, you must also know that you can talk to me about stuff, right?"
Her hair covered part of her face when she looked down and started walking again, slowly. "It's stupid, really", she mumbled, hesitating to say more.
"It must be important to you, if it's making you feel like this. So it's important to me, too. Come on, Julie, it's me", I walked beside her, close enough for us to talk quietly, but far enough so that she wouldn't feel ambushed.
"My parents are getting divorced", she spoke quickly, seemingly afraid to say the words out loud.
"Oh…" I had to admit I was thinking of something worse, maybe due to the fact that my parents fought so much that most of the time I hoped they would get divorced once and for all. But, remembering how her parents were, I understood why this was hard on her. "You want to… talk about it? Why did it happen?"
"My mom was working late all the time, my dad thought she was having an affair or something, they fought. And the craziest thing is that she never cheated. And she wouldn't, I know that. Plus, I had to call her a bunch of times while she was at work. I even stopped by once, and she was going crazy with everything", she stopped to take a breath, and then continued, "They were both stressed, they started fighting a lot, and before we knew it, it was like it couldn't be fixed anymore. Or more like they didn't want to fix it."
It was a bit weird for me, because my family has never been functional like hers. I actually envied it, and it was sad that it was falling apart and becoming just one more messed up family like mine.
"How are they now?"
"See, that's the thing", she kept walking until we found a bench and sat there. She kept her head down, "Dad is about to move out, they're fighting over who gets to stay with me and Vince, even though he's going to college in a couple of months, so it's gonna be just me. And I can't stand the fighting, the yelling all the time, they can't even be in the same room."
"How long has this been going on?" I rubbed my hand up and down her back, trying to calm down the now shaking girl next to me.
"It started even before you were there. We just didn't know it yet. And then it all happened so fast… but it got worse right about the time you left. I just couldn't stand it anymore."
"I'm sorry I wasn't exactly available."
"Don't be, I didn't go asking for help either", she said it without hesitating. "But there's more…"
At that moment I turned my attention to her completely, facing her seriously. "Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like this?"
When she bit her lip, I knew my feeling was right. "Three days ago, I was home and the yelling started again. They're not even asking us what we want, you know?" she sighed, "Even if they did, I wouldn't know what to say. So…" she swallowed hard and closed her eyes, took a deep breath and continued, "I got that fake id you got me when you were there, I went to that same club and found that Rick guy…"
"You WHAT?" I yelled, and watched as she retreated, almost as if she was going to break.
"He had some coke, I took it. I just wanted to get away from all that crap", tears left her eyes, but I couldn't bring myself to console her now. I was feeling way more anger than sympathy towards her at the moment. "I know it was stupid, and that is why I'm here, ok? I figured if things got to the point where I'm doing drugs, I needed to get out of there before it got worse."
"And you thought I would be ok with that?"
She lifted her head up, her hair covering part of her face. "Of course not! If I needed someone to tell me it's ok because I'm going through a lot right now, I would have gone to my friends back home. I need someone to be pissed off and tell me how stupid this is."
"Well, then you've come to the right person", I rolled my eyes, and when I looked back at her, she was staring straight at me, the tears had stopped now and the look on her face was serious.
"I don't wanna be that girl, Brooke. I don't wanna be the girl who does all the wrong things in the world and blames it on her fucked up family to take her own responsibility away."
My expression softened a little and I put my arms around her. "You're not. You're light years ahead of those girls. And I should know", I pulled away so that we were looking at each other, "I was one of them", I confessed with a sad smile.
She smiled too. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"I know", I nodded, "I'm just saying I'm proud of you… and I'm glad you came."
"Really?" she still looked a little unsure, and even apologetic, "I mean, you've got so much going on right now."
"Exactly", I smiled again, "We'll keep each other grounded, ok?"
She nodded and hugged me tight, "Thank you", she whispered.
As I hugged her back, I knew nothing would be easy for the next days, but I was also sure it was all worth it.
This time I decided to take a little detour and walk back through Park Avenue. It was better to get distracted with the luxury cars and buildings than the stores. At least there was no risk any of us would be buying anything around that neighborhood anytime soon. Unfortunately. A few blocks away, we turned to go back to 6th Avenue, where the hotel was. We were about ten minutes away when I suddenly turned to her with a question I hadn't thought about yet.
"Julie…"
"What?" she seemed more at ease again, and her tone was already relaxed.
"Your parents… they know that you're here, right?"
The flash of guilt that went through her face was all the answer I needed.
"Ok, before you freak out on me, can I say that they're so busy fighting all the time that chances are they haven't even noticed I'm not there yet?" she tried an innocent smile, and I had to smile back, but still trying to keep a firm voice.
"You'll call them as soon as we get to the hotel, and you'll let them know where you are. And you'll tell them you need some time and you're staying with me", as soon as I saw her expression change and I knew she would complain, I added, "This is not a negotiation."
"Fine", she mumbled, only half annoyed. Then she got closer to me while we walked, put her arm around my waist and rested her head on my shoulder. "Thanks."
I kissed the top of her head and we kept walking, and were soon back at the hotel. Before we got the elevator, she stopped and looked at the reception desk. Noticing the look of confusion in my face, she smiled widely, "I think I'll get my own room", she winked and walked away.
I would protest. I wouldn't really mean it, but I would have to make sure she would be alright by herself. But she didn't give me the time, and was back with a new card key before I could really think about it. "You're sure you'll be ok on your own?"
"I'm sure", she laughed, "You two deserve some space after all the drama", she then walked into the elevator and pressed 8. "It's on the same floor, so you can just knock in the morning when you're awake and… you know… decent", she grinned.
"Sounds like a plan", I nodded after a while, "But…" the elevator made a ringing sound, indicating we were on our floor. I grabbed her arm before she could go the opposite way in the long corridor. "It's still early. We can order something, have some awesome dinner and then you'll go."
"Really?" her face brightened up and she turned back to follow me, "Ok, let's get some pizza then."
I locked my arm on hers as we went to the room. "Hey, I was actually craving some pizza before. You read my mind."
Just one last observation! Some people reviewed talking about THE scene, and I'm soooo sorry, but I've never written sex scenes before, and I think I'd be a little self conscious! Do you hate me for that? Anyway, I skipped it because I really don't know how to write those. I could try and write something, and post it as a oneshot or something, or maybe as an extra chapter when the fic ends, or maybe even have more detail the next time the girls have sex! :P If you think it's important and necessary for you, I can make an effort! Let me know! ^^
