A/N: Okay everyone, here is the new chapter! Yeah, it's like 2 in the morning here, but I'm just getting ready to go out of town and I just finished packing so I figured I might as well post while I have a second. I'm going to be gone all week, and probably won't have much of a chance to write or get on the internet, soooo that means I won't be able to update for like a week. Buuut, if you guys all leave reviews, then I will update first thing when I get back. Sound like a deal?? Anyways, on to the chapter...the song in this chapter is called 'All About Us' and is by t.a.t.u. I really like this song, it doesn't exactly fit the chapter perfectly, but it does good enough and I really just wanted to use it haha. Sorry this chapter isn't as long as usual, I hope you like it anyways! Enjoy!!
They say, they don't trust
You, me, we, us
So, we'll fall if we must
'Cause it's you, me, and its all about, it's all about
It's all about us
Chapter Thirty Six- Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
Lucas waved a hand in front of Brooke's face, "Hey, are you there?"
Brooke shook her head, snapping back into reality. "Yeah, sorry" She mumbled, grabbing onto her coffee cup with both hands.
"I lost you for a minute" Lucas laughed, watching as Brooke started to relax again.
"I was just thinking…" Brooke said with a shrug. She shivered when she felt Lucas' hand on her thigh, lightly squeezing it. Maybe she would just tell him about the store later. "…I was thinking that since Averie is gone and you have a few hours until you have to go to work that maybe I could show you what I got from Victoria's Secret the other day?"
"Ave is gone?" Lucas gulped.
"Mmhmm" Brooke purred, running a finger along his bare chest, "Chae and Jake took her for the day…" She stood from her chair, straddling Lucas' lap. As she sat on his legs she brought her hands to his face, slowly leaning towards him until her breath mixed with his. She smiled when she felt Lucas' body start to react to hers, his hands gripping her waist tightly.
"Then why are we still out here?" he asked, his voice low as he stood from the chair holding onto Brooke as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
As a surprised laugh escaped her throat all thoughts of Trish's phone call and every worry it brought had disappeared.
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"Luke" Brooke sighed, her fingers drawing on his arm while she laid across his chest, "You gotta get ready for work, you're gonna be late."
Lucas groaned, his arm tightening around Brooke's bare back. "Do I have to?"
Brooke laughed, letting her eyes slowly close, "It just depends on if you want them to kick your ass or not…" her voice grew quiet and her fingers stopped moving against his skin.
After a few minutes of silence Lucas loosened his grip on Brooke, "They got tickets for the Knicks game tonight, they are pretty good seats…"
"Mmm" Brooke responded, her eyes still closed, "Are you gonna see if Jake wants to go?"
"They gave me four tickets…do you and Chae want to tag along?" Lucas asked, shifting until he was halfway sitting up in bed.
"I'll ask her when they drop Ave off" Brooke said, rolling over so she was now snuggled against a pillow instead of Lucas.
Lucas stood from the bed, walking over to his dresser and starting to get dressed. He turned around and looked at Brooke who was already asleep in the spot he had been occupying moments ago. He loved how she always rolled over to his side of the bed when he wasn't there.
"Are you really going to sleep?" He asked, walking over to the bed and kneeling down next to her. "Can't you wait until I'm gone at least?"
"Why?" Brooke murmured, her eyes still closed.
"Because," Lucas stated, leaning down and pressing his lips against hers, smiling against her mouth when she slowly gave in to the kiss. He pulled away from her, watching her eyes slowly flutter open again. "When you are laying there, like that, its extremely hard not to climb back in bed and take advantage of you."
"Luke, you can't take advantage of me when I'm willing" Brooke said with a laugh, pushing against his now t-shirt clad chest. "Now can I go to sleep?"
Lucas exhaled deeply, "Fine" he groaned standing up and walking away from the bed. "Don't forget to ask Chae if they want to go to the game, I'll call you later."
"Okay, have a good day at work" Brooke said with a lazy wave of her arm, her head still firmly planted on the pillow, "Love you boyfriend" she said sleepily, pulling the blankets around her.
Lucas laughed, shaking his head, "I love you too crazy girl."
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It amazed Brooke what a morning cat nap could do for the body. She felt amazing…well rested and level headed. Now if she could only put a little bit of her newfound energy to thinking of a way to tell Lucas about the Tree Hill store, she would be in good shape. Instead, she busied herself with new designs, and was actually getting a lot of work done. She even got a chance to pull out the brand new book of fabric swatches that had been Fed-Exed to her. Trish was going to be ecstatic when she found out how much Brooke had gotten accomplished.
When she heard the front door open, she dropped the pencil she was holding and practically ran out of the room. Averie hadn't even been gone for a whole day and she missed the little girl like crazy.
"Hey!" Brooke said excitedly, turning the corner into the living room where Chae was setting bags down on the ground. "Did you guys have fun?"
"Yeah, Sassy was so cute" Chae smiled, walking over to the couch and thumbing through the magazines that were on the coffee table. "She pretty much passed out in the car though, Jake's getting her now."
"You guys must have worn her out" Brooke said, watching as Jake walked in with Averie sleeping on his shoulder. Averie's shoes were off and her hair was a mess, but Brooke couldn't be happier to see her baby.
"Did you have a good morning?" Jake asked, kicking the front door closed with his foot.
"Yeah, it was a pretty good morning" Brooke said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "I actually did get a lot of work done."
"Is 'work' Luke's new nickname?" Chae asked playfully, raising her eyebrows and sticking her tongue out at Brooke.
"Funny" Brooke said sarcastically, nodding her head and rolling her eyes at her friend.
"I'm just gonna go lay Averie down" Jake said awkwardly, he always got uncomfortable when his girlfriend and best girl-friend talked about their sex lives. He just didn't get why the two had to be so open about everything.
"So when do you find out about the store?" Chae asked, "Aren't they supposed to be telling you this week? I bet you are like dying to find out all of the details."
Brooke tried to force out a smile, and was nervous about what her face looked like when she tried so hard. She knew the smile wasn't believable, and was glad that Chae had seemed to be interested in one of the magazines on the coffee table.
"Yeah, I'm just waiting for details" Brooke said, her voice coming out in quick whispers. She was pretty much thrilled when Jake walked back into the room. "Oh yeah, so Luke got tickets to the Knicks game tonight…"
"He did? That's awesome, this game sold out fast" Jake interrupted, a wide smile forming on his face.
"So I'm guessing you want to go?" Brooke asked with a laugh. "He said they are pretty good seats" she added with a shrug.
"Of course I'm in" Jake told her as if she shouldn't have even had to ask in the first place.
"Well, he has four tickets, so if you'll go I will too" Brooke told Chae.
"I guess" Chae sighed, uninterested.
"Chae, this is going to be one of the best games this season" Jake told her, his voice growing annoyed. "How could you two not be excited about this?"
"It's not that big of a deal, calm down buddy" Brooke said with a laugh, patting Jake's arm.
"You get excited way too easily, I mean it's a basketball game…" Chae said, her eyes wide as she stared at Jake. "And all you really need to watch is like the last couple minutes to find out who wins."
When Jake started to look even more frustrated than before Brooke nodded, "She's right" she told him with a small shrug.
"You two are impossible!"
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"There's my girl" Brooke grinned as she walked into Averie's bedroom, the small brown and black dog following her closely. The little girl was standing up in her crib, holding onto the bar with one hand and rubbing her eyes with the other.
"Mommy" Averie smiled, her voice still sounding tired. "Geen fis!"
Brooke lifted Averie out of the crib, taking her to the changing table and laying her down. "Did you see a green fish?"
"Yike a fis" Averie grinned, kicking her legs when Brooke tried to put her tiny jeans back on.
"Hey Sassy" Brooke laughed, trying to hold Averie's legs still while the little girl laughed. She finally managed to get her legs into the jeans, standing Averie up to pull the jeans on. "Guess where we get to go tonight? We are going to go watch the basketball game with daddy and uncle Jake and aunt Chae and you are going to be the best little girl ever!"
"Daddy's ball?" Averie asked, lifting her arms so Brooke could change her shirt.
"Yup, daddy's basketball" Brooke nodded. Once Averie was dressed Brooke picked her up, resting the tiny girl on her hip. "What do you think about moving to Tree Hill?" Brooke asked, walking into the kitchen and putting Averie in her high chair. Averie babbled back, Brooke couldn't understand half of what she was saying. Brooke filled a sippy cup with juice, handing it to Averie and pouring some goldfish crackers on the tray.
"Fis!" Averie grinned, holding up a tiny orange fish in each hand.
"That's right" Brooke laughed. The kid had become obsessed with fish ever since Lucas had brought 'The Rainbow Fish' book home. Averie was ecstatic every time she saw a fish tank or was eating goldfish crackers. Brooke sat down on a chair next to Averie. "Do you think daddy will want to move to Tree Hill?" Brooke asked, watching as Averie just stared at her blankly while eating her crackers. Brooke picked Laela up from the ground when the small dog tried jumping onto her lap. She pet her soft fur, letting her mind wander.
She had been thinking about the store all day, and still had no clue how to break the news to Lucas. She didn't know why she was so nervous about it, Lucas was always understanding and had always been the first to support Brooke when it came to her clothing line. Its not like this time would be any different. This was a great opportunity for Brooke, and she was almost positive she couldn't let it pass by. She would love to live in Tree Hill again, that was for sure. It would be hard to leave New York, but she knew it would be better in the long run.
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Getting ready always took so much longer than Brooke planned. And its not like it was her fault, she had to get herself ready as well as Averie, and it wasn't an easy task. Especially when Averie wouldn't even sit still long enough to let Brooke run a comb through her hair. Brooke finally managed to pull back the front pieces of Averie's hair, securing it in a small braid while the rest of her hair fell straight against her shoulders. Lucas had bought her a tiny Knicks jersey and Averie did look pretty cute in it.
"Babe, come on, we really need to get going" Lucas said for what seemed like the hundredth time as he poked his head in the bathroom.
"I know, I'm almost ready" Brooke told him, for what seemed like the hundredth time as well. She rolled her eyes as soon as he left the room. Its not like she could go to the game with her hair halfway curled.
Lucas came into the bathroom again, this time holding Averie in one arm and Brooke's ringing cell phone in the other hand.
"Who is it?" Brooke asked, holding the curling iron in her hair and a mascara wand in her other hand.
"It's Trish" Luke told her, waving the phone around while Averie laughed and tried to grab for it.
"Tell her I'll call her later" Brooke said, pulling the curling iron out of her hair, leaving the strand of hair bouncing.
Lucas flipped the phone open, walking out of the bathroom as he answered it. "Hey, Trish its Lucas."
"Oh, hi Luke" Trish said warmly into the phone. "Is Brooke around?"
"She kind of has her hands full" Lucas told her, setting Averie on the ground and watching as she sat in front of her basket of toys that stayed in the living room. "She said to tell you she'd have to call you later…"
"Actually, could you just tell her that I just got word that the exec's are loving the new sketches for the summer line and are on board with adding them in the new store" Trish said, talking as fast as she usually did.
"Uh, sure" Lucas said, his voice sounding just as confused as he was feeling.
"I bet you are excited for her," Trish smiled, "She's been waiting for this store for a long time."
"Yeah" Lucas mumbled, "It'll be great."
"It will" Trish agreed, "Anyways, I'll let you go. Tell Brooke I'll just talk to her in a few days."
"Okay, bye Trish" Lucas said robotically, still trying to process all of the new information he had gained. For starters, what store? As far as he knew, they didn't even have a location for it yet, why would they be excited about the new summer line? He had probably just misunderstood what she meant. She was obviously talking about the store that they were discussing. The one that hadn't been decided yet.
"Luke" Brooke called, walking out of the bedroom, "Have you seen my brown jacket, the one with the big buttons and the tie?"
Lucas shook his head, "Uhh…did you check the laundry room?" He asked, his mind still on the phone call with Trish. He watched as Brooke's eyes lit up and she said something before walking away. He looked over at Averie as she bobbed her head while looking at a singing book. He figured she'd be fine for a few minutes and followed Brooke back into their bedroom. He walked in just as she was walking out of her closet, the brown jacket in her hands.
"Found it" she smiled triumphantly, holding it up to show him before slipping it on. "Did you pack some snacks for Sassy?"
"Yeah, she's ready to go" Lucas told her, his voice low and broody. "Hey, Trish wanted me to tell you that they are excited about the summer line and want to use it for the opening of the store."
Brooke nodded, "That's good" she said plainly, directing her focus to the earrings she was putting on.
"It was weird, she made it sound like they already decided on a store" Lucas told her, shaking his head. "Did they?"
Brooke inhaled and exhaled deeply, not wanting to get into this now. Hopefully she could just keep it casual, and give him details later, she decided that would definitely work best.
"Yeah, they talked about it and it's a for sure deal" Brooke told him, looking in the mirror and then over at Lucas, "Ready to go?" She asked, changing the subject and walking towards him. She ran her hand along his arm until it reached his, their fingers linking together.
She tried to walk out of the room, but he wasn't moving and it held her back as well.
"That's great Brooke, when did you find out?" Lucas asked, a smile forming on his face.
"Just this morning" she shrugged, pulling at his hand, "Come on…"
This time he started to walk with her, "So where is it going to be? Manhattan?"
"Luke, we're gonna be late" She laughed nervously, walking into the living room where Averie was busily throwing toys around the room.
"I just want to know about the store" Lucas said softly, watching as she nervously bit on her lip. He brought his free hand up to her arm, "Aren't you excited?"
"Yeah, I am…I just don't want to be late, Jake and Chae are gonna wonder where we are" Brooke told him, walking into the kitchen and checking her bag, making sure Lucas really had packed all of Averie's things.
"It seems like you are avoiding the subject" He said, following Brooke into the kitchen. "You forget, but I know you better than anyone…what's going on? I have a feeling there is something you aren't telling me."
Brooke tipped her head back, closing her eyes. She turned around and looked at Lucas, who was patiently waiting for her to explain. She couldn't remember when exactly it had gotten to the point where Lucas could read her like an open book, and she wished just this once he hadn't.
"It's just, they don't want to open the store here…" Brooke said with a sigh, picking her bag up and resting it on her shoulder.
"Where do they want to open it then? Brooklyn?" Lucas asked, furrowing his eyebrows in thought.
"Can't we just talk about this later?" Brooke asked, her voice practically begging with him. They didn't have time for a big discussion, not now. She opened the fridge, pulling out a water bottle, "Will you grab Ave?"
"I want to know what's going on Brooke, there's obviously something you aren't telling me" Lucas said, refusing to move until she stopped acting so weird.
She sighed, setting the water bottle down on the kitchen counter and bringing a hand to her forehead. He watched as her eyes scanned the room, each side, the floor and the ceiling before looking back up at him.
"It's just…" Brooke started, tipping her head back. "They don't want to open the store in New York."
Lucas narrowed his eyes at her, "I thought you said it was a done deal?"
Brooke exhaled deeply, "It is…it's a done deal to open the store in Tree Hill" she explained, watching as Lucas' eyes widened. "They think New York is just too competitive right now, and that maybe if we have one successful store then we could open one here in the future, they just don't want to set it up for failure."
"Wait a second" He said, bringing his hand up to his head, "How do they expect you to run a store in Tree Hill from here? Are they going to bring someone in to do it?"
"They want me to move there" Brooke said quietly, looking down at her fingers. She didn't even want to see Lucas' reaction.
"And you didn't think this was something you should tell me?" Lucas asked, his voice rising in frustration.
"No, I was going to tell you, I just wanted to wait for the right time" Brooke told him, her voice was shaky and her words were unsure.
"The right time?" He said, a sarcastic laugh escaping his lips. "The right time to tell me that you are moving to Tree Hill? What were you just gonna explain it all when you started packing?"
"God, I haven't even made a decision yet!" Brooke yelled in frustration, leaning her elbows against the counter and resting her head in her hands.
"Brooke, we both know what your decision is" He said, his voice finally lowering as he shook his head from side to side. "It's not like you can say no to this." Lucas left the kitchen, and went into the living room where Averie was taking every single DVD out of its case. He crouched down next to her, not even having the energy to be mad at the mess surrounding his daughter. "Come on Ave" he said, reaching his arms out to the little girl, "Let's go get in the car."
The ride in the car was awkward to say the least. Lucas didn't say a word the whole time, and Averie was the only one actually talking. Other than Averie, the only other sounds in the car was the nursery rhymes cd playing in the stereo. When they finally got to the stadium, everyone was thrilled to get out of the car. Brooke got Averie out of the back seat while Lucas made sure he had the tickets.
"Walk!" Averie screamed, wiggling in Brooke's arms to try and get out of them.
"You can't walk, there are too many people" Brooke tried to explain, tightening her hold on the screaming little girl.
"Mine walk!" Averie cried, kicking her legs in attempt to get down.
Brooke just smiled as the people that were walking by stared. She knew the terrible two's were coming, and had a feeling this was just the beginning.
Lucas searched around in Brooke's purse, pulling out a plastic pink cup and handing it to Averie, "Here, do you want some juice?"
Averie took the cup from her dad and surveyed it, then screamed "No!" and threw the cup on the ground.
"Maybe this was a bad idea" Brooke sighed, handing Averie to Lucas.
"She'll be fine" Lucas told Brooke, taking the binky that Brooke was holding, "Ave, we gotta go inside and find Chae and the basketballs!" He told her in a cheery voice, hoping that she would get excited and calm down.
"Mine Sae" Averie told him with a pout, grabbing the binky from his hands and putting it in her mouth.
Brooke and Lucas were both relieved when Averie finally calmed down, her mood seemed to change instantly. They met up with Chae and Jake and all went inside to find their seats. Averie clung to Chae, moving between her lap and Jake's.
Lucas sat quietly in his seat, staring at the court while the two teams warmed up. Brooke always found it weird to be in there, watching Kade play basketball like she had done so many times before. After her run in with his mom last year, it made things even more uncomfortable between them, but luckily she hadn't ran into him or talked to him since. It helped that he was probably trying to avoid her as well. Lucas had talked to Kade, having to interview him for the show, but they didn't talk about anything personal. Brooke was glad, because she really didn't want Lucas to freak out at Kade about everything that had happened.
Brooke linked her arm through Lucas', she laid her head against his shoulder, "I'm sorry" she said quietly.
"Lets just talk about this later" Lucas said, still staring down at the court.
"You're brooding" Brooke frowned, "I don't want you to be mad at me."
"I'm not mad at you, I just want to watch the game" he said, his voice coming out a little more irritated than Brooke was expecting.
As Lucas stared at the orange ball being tossed around, he didn't even register what he was watching. His mind was on anything but the basketball game that he had been previously looking forward to. He was so excited for Brooke, knowing that her dream was actually becoming a reality. She had worked so hard for years, and it was finally paying off. He was happy she was finally getting the chance to open a store, he really was. He was just worried how that was going to effect every other aspect of their lives. Things had been going so well for them, and now it was like the carpet was being ripped from under their feet, sending them sailing in the air. It seemed like everything was happening all at once, and he really didn't want his world to change. If Brooke did move back home to Tree Hill to open her store, then where would that leave their relationship? And how would it affect Averie? With his job there was no way he could go with her, and that meant that they would be split up. He just hoped their relationship would be able to handle that if thats what it came down to. He wasn't willing to let her go.
Chae was watching Brooke and Lucas and knew something was off. Jake and Lucas were sitting by each other, and since Brooke was sitting on the opposite side of Lucas, the two girls were as far away from each other as possible. It was driving Chae crazy not to be able to talk to Brooke and find out what was wrong. When Averie crawled from her lap over to Jake's, Chae stood up, slipping past Jake and Lucas.
"Hey, I'm gonna go to the bathroom" Chae announced, looking from Jake who nodded down to Brooke who was staring off into space. She tapped Brooke's shoulder, "Do you wanna come with me?"
Brooke looked up, not even realizing Chae was standing in front of her. "Uh, yeah" Brooke told her, bringing herself out of her thoughts and back into the present. She looked over to make sure Averie was okay and stood up, following Chae out of the bleachers.
Once the two girls were out in the hallways Chae grabbed Brooke's hand, dragging her over to a small table that was set up by the concession stands. The hallways were practically bare considering the 'game of the season' was about to start.
"I thought you had to go to the bathroom?" Brooke asked with a raised eyebrow as Chae pushed her down on the bench.
Chae waved her hand, dismissing what Brooke had said. "What's going on with you and Lucas?" She asked, sitting down next to Brooke and cutting straight to the point.
"Nothing" Brooke sighed, looking anywhere but at Chae.
"Okay, so I know I'm not like the smartest person ever, but I'm not a total idiot" Chae said with a laugh. "I can tell something is wrong, you aren't being annoyingly cheery and he is being extra broody…that plus the fact you two aren't like all touchy and all over each other raises a red flag."
Brooke groaned, knowing that Chae wasn't going to back off until she had an answer. "Well, they decided to open the store in Tree Hill and not here. Lucas found out right before we were coming and he's kind of upset."
"Why are they opening the store in Tree Hill? You can't leave New York! What are you guys going to do?" Chae shrieked, just as surprised as Lucas had been.
Brooke covered her face in her hands, "I don't know!"
"God, no wonder Lucas is freaking out" Chae said, shaking her head.
"Okay, you really aren't helping here!" Brooke cried.
"Sorry" Chae gulped, "But I mean, are you going to have to move there? Is Lucas going with you?"
"We haven't really talked about it, but he signed a contract with his job and is pretty much stuck" Brooke frowned, "If we do decide to open the store there then I'm going to have to move there. I just don't know what to do. I can't let this chance slip away."
"So are you and Ave just gonna move there or what?" Chae asked.
"I'm not really sure, we didn't have a chance to talk about it, and at the moment he's like not talking to me at all which just makes everything worse" Brooke sighed, her voice filling with sadness.
Chae rested a hand on Brooke's knee, "I'm sorry buddy. But I'm sure you two will work it out, you always do."
"I guess" Brooke shrugged, standing from the bench. "We should probably get back in there, Jake's probably wondering where you went…"
Chae linked her arm through Brooke's as they started to walk back into the stadium. "Luke loves you, and even though everything sucks right now, I know it will get better" she told Brooke, leaning her head close to her friends, "I mean, look at everything me and Jake went through…"
Brooke let out a sarcastic laugh, "I'm pretty sure me and Lucas have already been through enough."
Chae just shrugged, giving Brooke a small smile. She didn't really know what to say, because Brooke was right. Her and Lucas had been through a lot together, and it seemed like things were never easy for them. Chae knew that they'd work it out though, she couldn't imagine Brooke without Lucas, or Lucas without Brooke.
They made their way back to their seats, Averie squealing in delight when she saw her mom and Chae. Lucas looked over at Brooke when she sat down, giving her a small smile because at the moment it was all he could offer.
Brooke reached for his hand, linking her fingers in between his. She let out a relieved sigh when she felt his hand lightly squeeze hers. It was a small gesture, but at least he wasn't pulling away from her completely.
A/N: Lucas knows! Now what's going to happen? Hmm, I dunno! I don't have time to write personal thank you's this time, but seriously, THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed the last chapter...you know who you are! I hope you all liked this chapter, make sure and let me know what you thought! Don't forget to review and I will update when I get home from my vacation! I love you all! You are the greatest! XOXOX Linds