Chapter 49: I Finally Found You
Hey? Hey?? HEY? That was all he could say to her, after everything that had been going on for the past couple of weeks? At this point Brooke didn't know if she should be relieved that was all he said, or pissed that he didn't say enough. It was bad enough that the last time they had seen each other, it didn't end well. But now they both had to stay together and supposed their friends, who were going to become potential parents in a matter of hours.
"Hey," Brooke replied back, not really knowing what else she could say.
"Umm, Nathan's in there with Haley right now," Kyle said stupidly. Of course Nathan was with Haley.
Brooke nodded casually, looking around the waiting room, fingering the worn out paper in her back pocket. She didn't know why she had it in the first place, but she felt like she needed to have it with her, as a reminder of what she could have and what she lost. But at this point, standing right in front of the guy that meant it all, she didn't know if it was worth remembering because it was nothing but hard and complex.
"So," Brooke began, "Did you call anyone else to let them know that Haley went into labor?"
Kyle slowly shook his head, "No, I haven't really had time to. I've been with Haley the whole time and just stepped out and let Nathan take over. But I guess I should get working on that." In truth, what he really should've been doing was working on his relationship with Brooke, or what was left of it. If there was even a friendship now.
Brooke nodded understandably, when she really didn't. They were having a civilized conversation with one another, talking about who was going to call who. It was disappointing to know that Kyle was taking the avoidance approach. He obviously didn't want to deal with her, so why should she have to be around him?
"Okay, well I'll let you get to work on that," Brooke said, turning slowly around and walked towards the elevators. She didn't know where she was going exactly. Maybe the cafeteria, maybe to her car to take a breather, maybe even out of the hospital and back home to crawl under the bed and never come back out.
As Kyle watched her turn to walk away, he couldn't help but feel a little bit irritated. But in all fairness, he did the same to her, and suddenly he felt bad, and he knew that he had to talk to her, to explain everything he was feeling because he might never get to again. If he knew well, his heart would get the best of him and once again he would run, or in this case, let Brooke run. But he didn't want to do that anymore, it wasn't him and it wasn't the guy he wanted to be.
"Brooke wait," Kyle stated firmly, finding that compassion that had been lost for weeks.
--
Nathan wiped all thoughts of the outside lobby. All he was wanted to think about at this point was Haley and their soon to be new born baby. Nathan would've been lying if he said that he wasn't excited in the least bit. He was scared shitless, but that didn't seem to matter as much as he thought it would have.
"Oh my goodness, you're here, finally," Haley sighed, lying back on her pillow, sweat glistening off her forehead in the sunlight.
"Yeah, I'm here. And by the way I am so sorry it took me this long. You know I was at Brooke's house, and the traffic, and then I ran into Kyle and…" Nathan trailed.
"Nathan shut up, you're here now," Haley demanded.
"So, how are you holding up?" Nathan asked, sitting in the chair next to her.
"Hmm well I'm sweating like a pig and I can't push this baby out until a doctor says I can. And the fact that I'm not even fully dilated is starting to piss me off, because I've been here for the past two hours!"
"Yeah, well I think I could think of something maybe a little bit worse than that," Nathan said.
Haley laughed, "Oh yeah? Well please enlighten me."
"Well then there's the fact that I just left Kyle alone out there in the waiting room, and if I had to guess Brooke's probably here also, having to wait, with Kyle," Nathan explained.
Haley shrugged slightly, "That's a close one."
"I know. I kind of felt bad, so I suggested that Kyle just stay away from her. Bad move on my part I know. He got pretty upset about it before I left."
"Well duh, he wants to be with Brooke so bad Nathan, but it seemed to him like you were just pushing him farther away from her," Haley said obviously.
"I was just trying to help!" Nathan exclaimed, "That's what I've been trying to do this whole damn time."
"Yeah? Well this is something that you can't help with anymore. You couldn't help a long time ago either. This whole situation was on Brooke and Kyle, and they're the ones that are going to have to sort through it."
Nathan looked at her, "So is this why you never got involved in this?"
Haley smirked, "That's exactly why I never got too involved. I knew this was something that they needed to figure it out themselves, and with all of you guys in their ear all the time, telling them what they should feel or how they should go about stuff, that's not helping, that's enabling. So I kept quiet, spoke only when spoken to kind of thing."
"Wow. I wish I would've done that," Nathan said quietly.
"You can't do anything now. All you can do if just sit back and wait for something to happen," Haley said.
"Hmm, kind of like with you and the baby," Nathan smirked before being smacked in the arm by Haley.
"Seriously Nathan, this is the most uncomfortable, painful thing that's probably ever going to happen to me and I don't need my husband laughing at me!"
"Okay okay I'm sorry. It's just that, throughout this whole pregnancy I've been so scared, not wanting anything to ever happen to you. And in some way I think that's why I immersed myself into Brooke and Kyle's drama, because it brought me away from that fear that something could happen to you. But right now, I'm not scared. If anything I'm so excited that I'm going to be a father and we're going to be a family. So you could complain, and be miserable, but by the end of the day, we're going to have a family, and be parents. For me that's the best thing"
--
Brooke sighed, half relieved and half annoyed. She was starting to think that maybe there would never be a time for her and Kyle. But apparently he had other ideas. She considered the fact that they would probably have to talk, since he seemed like he meant it this time. But she didn't know if she wanted to. Just a couple of hours ago Nathan was lecturing her again about her relationship, telling her to just go for it. But Kyle was, and she wasn't sure if that's what she wanted.
"What?" She asked, turning around, standing there waiting for him to answer.
Kyle stood there, surprised he even got her attention. He expected her to just ignore him and walk away, because let's face it, he deserved it.
"Umm, well," Kyle began. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about what happened the other day. I've just been so lost and confused lately that I took it out on you, and I shouldn't have done that.
Brooke rolled her eyes, "Yeah well so am I. You think it's easy not being able to talk to you until I figure this out by myself? I wanted to know it all so bad but I can't because my focus always goes to how much I miss you. And that day, you were different. You were somebody that I didn't even know you could be. I don't know if it's because of me or not."
"It was never because of you. I was still upset about that note and I just felt so used I guess."
"But Kyle you shouldn't be! That was something I had written before the accident and before I knew how I really felt about you."
"Brooke you can think what you want, but that still hurt me and I think I have a right to be a little bit mad about that. It was like, when I read that, nothing made sense anymore. It was like the whole thing we've been going through ever since I got here was for nothing."
"So what are you saying? That you wasted your time now?" Brooke asked, getting angrier with every second. She didn't know if she should be mad, but that was all she felt. She could've misunderstood, but it seemed like he didn't want to be with her anymore, and this whole break thing was just a cover up.
Kyle shook his head, "No I don't think I wasted my time. But I'm scared Brooke, and I know that might be a hard concept for people to think of me, but it's just so weird thinking about actually loving somebody with their whole heart. And I didn't even mean to, but I did. Then I didn't know if there was anything that could hold us back, except Lucas but I thought that was over. But it just seemed like things just kept on coming, and I felt guiltier and guiltier until I thought that you were the one that needed the break, when it was really me."
If this was a completely different situation, Brooke might have been relieved. But now she was just seriously mad and felt like crying. So it was Kyle that needed the break all along, not her? Why was he just realizing this now? When they had spent weeks ignoring each other, Brooke thinking all along that she was the one that needed time, when it was him.
"You needed the break? YOU needed the break?!? Are you kidding me? I spent two weeks basically cooped up in my room, crying over you and feeling like a total loser that I couldn't even tell someone that I loved them. And now you tell me that you were in the wrong, that you needed the time, and that you weren't ready?!?!" Brooke said, venom creeping out of her voice.
"I'm sorry," Kyle said, knowing that was all he could say. He didn't want to seem like the stupid one, the bad guy. But it was turning out that way. Brooke had been miserable throughout the whole thing, and now he wanted to say that it was his fault, that he was the confused one? He would hate himself too.
"Unbelievable," Brooke mumbled as the elevator opened, a nurse stepping out. She quickly strode over to the elevator and pressed the close button. She didn't know where she was going, she just had to get out of there. She felt bad for leaving Naley, but she couldn't be in that close proximity without there being some issues, like she had thought.
--
She walked away again, just like that. He didn't blame her, but he didn't feel like they should go out that way. Kyle looked around the room, trying to find some advice within all the coffee and the droaning of the television news. He couldn't just sit here and hope that Brooke came back. Brooke wasn't going to come to him that was for sure. He knew he had to be the one to go and find her, do anything to bring her back.
He walked urgently to Haley's room, and opened the door to see the couple laughing about something. He raised his eyebrow, curious as to what could possibly make Haley laugh anymore at a time like this. But he didn't look too much into it, he had to get to Brooke.
"Hey guys. Sorry to interrupt," Kyle said, stepping into the room.
"Oh no it's okay Kyle, we were just talking. So what's up?" Haley asked, sitting straight.
"Well I'm sorry to go out like this, but I kind of have to leave," Kyle said shortly.
"Leave? Will you come back?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah, well actually I really don't know. That depends if Brooke will come back with me," Kyle said, hoping they would get what he was talking about.
"You know what? Take all the time you need. In fact, don't come back until Brooke comes with you," Haley said, smiling up at him.
"Haley's right. You're not allowed in this hospital until we see Brooke too," Nathan said.
"Thanks guys," Kyle said before walking quickly out of the room. If he was fast enough, maybe he could catch up to Brooke. She always seemed to get side tracked whenever she walked past the gift shops.
As the elevator dropped down, so did Kyle's stomach. It was either he was nervous, or he just really hated the feeling that elevators gave him. The doors opened and he quickly pressed the close button, much to a couple's dismay but he didn't care, he had to find Brooke or else he would never have a chance to talk to her.
The ride went by as slow as it could get. Plus the dropping feeling was in the pit of his stomach, along with nervousness. He finally heard the ding for the first floor and ran out, looking both ways for the brunette. He went into the gift shop, but she wasn't there.
"Umm excuse me, but have you seen a teenage girl with brown hair walk in here?" Kyle asked politely to the woman sitting behind she desk.
She smirked, "There are tons of teenage girls with brown hair that come into this store."
"Okay, well she has really noticeable dimples, she struts when she walks, and she was probably in a upset mood. Most likely she bought a ton of tabloid magazines or a stuffed bear or something," Kyle explained, trying to think of anything else that would trigger this woman's memory.
"Oh her, yes she was just in here. Cute as a button she is, but she sure did have a chip on her shoulder. And that pout, oh my goodness!" the woman exclaimed.
"So she was just in here?" Kyle asked.
"Yup, left about a minute or two before you walked in."
"Okay thank you very much," and with that Kyle ran back out of the store and towards the exit. Like himself and Nathan, Brooke would've probably parked on the emergency parking also, not because it was an emergency, just because she was wearing heels.
He ran up the steps and looked frantically around for that powder blue VW comvertible, but it wasn't anywhere in sight. But what he did hear was the clicking of heels and a murmur of someone talking.
Very quietly, Kyle peered through every car and row of parking lots, trying not to make a noise.
"Found ya," Kyle whispered to himself as he saw her at the very end of the parking lot, hips swaying, shoulders back, and her hair blowing in the breeze. She had two bags on either hand, and she was in fact talking to herself.
It was now or never in this case. If he chose to go back upstairs and be there for Nathan and Haley, Brooke would get away and he would probably never get up the courage to even try to explain himself anymore. But if he stood his ground, then maybe he could whip up something that Brooke would believe.
He was brought out of his thoughts by Brooke opening her back door and throwing the bags in the backseat. Closing it, she opened the driver's door and slid into it gracefully. The car turned on, and Kyle ran as fast as he could to the end of that parking lot.
Nathan and Haley would understand.
