Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with nor do I owe One Tree Hill or In Style Magazine. I do however own the character Lauren Benson.

Author Note: I hope everyone is liking this story and thanks to everyone who has been reading and/or reviewing I really appreciate it. The more reviews the more excited I get about writing a new chapter, so thank you. Everyone please read, review, and mostly enjoy.

Chapter 4

Brooke was soaking in the moment. She had fretfully waited to see him for so long and now here he was, standing right in front of her. For so long they had been nearly 200 miles from each other and the distance from her to him was a mere three feet. She wanted to reach out and touch him, wondering if his tanned skin still felt the same, calloused hands,warm skin, and a tiny freckle between his index and middle knuckle. She restrained herself and instead leaned on her luggage, saying, "So Jake, you just gonna stand around this lovely airport forever?"

He looked at her, and put his baseball cap on backwards, "Don't you need a ride?" He threw his duffle over his shoulder and then took hold of one piece of Brooke's luggage, pushing it back and forth.

"I have room for one more in my car if you want to come, Brooke." Nathan said, shoving his hands in his pockets and crossing his left foot over his right. He looked as if he were about to fall over and almost did.

Before he could ask her question, it was answered. Brooke turned around to see a tall, blonde, model looking female walking through the sliding glass doors. Although she was still several feet away from them, Brooke could knew a model when she saw one and this... was definitely a model. Her golden blonde hair hung right below her shoulders blades, her skin was perfectly clear, and she had the most ideal bone structure. Women in their forties went to plastic surgeons to look something like the alien standing in their midst.

Her jealousy filled eyes watched Nathan slowly and carefully put his arm around her waist, playing with the wasteband of her skirt which his so low on her hips that an inch of her tanned waist was shown. Jake's mouth was hanging so far toward the ground that Brooke felt she had to squat down and pick it up. She spoke, "Hi. I'm Lauren."

Damnit, even her voice is better than mine, Brooke thought. She felt as if she had been beaten at her own game. Lauren's hair was straighter and shinier than Brooke had known possible. Her orange linen skirt was hardly wrinkled, while Brooke's cargo pants were so messy that they seemed to say to those who didn't know, "Hey look at me, I just got off an airplane and am dreading being here". Her perfect body wore a simple body fitting white tank that made Brooke's slim frame look enormous.

Brooke enviously watched Lauren play with her necklace. She casually leaned forward to get a good look at it. Shocked, she gasped and took a step back. Brooke had seen the exact necklace in In Style magazine the previous week and knew for a fact that it was over two thousand dollars. It was a vintage white gold and diamond initial necklace. When she saw what the initial was, she knew their relationship was serious. No one spent two grand on someone if they thought they were just a fling. Lauren's fingers left the necklace to reveal the letter, "N".

Perfection spoke again, looking at her watch, "Nate we need to get out of here. Deb wanted us back at the house around..." Her speech was interrupted by a ringing cell phone. She dug through her Louis Vuitton Theda bag and said, "Sorry." She walked away, talking on her cell phone a mile a minute.

"So," Jake said looking in Nathan's direction, "That's your new girl." He pointed toward the model with a huge grin across his face. He wanted to give Nathan the thumbs up in approval, but was sure that Brooke would not appreciate it.

Brooke wanted so badly to plug her ears but didn't because she didn't want to seem too rude. She crossed her arms so tightly across her chest that she felt like she couldn't breathe. She dropped them to her sides and chewed on her bottom lip. When she felt the skin break she quit and brought her hand to her mouth. "Damn." She said under her breath.

"Yeah," Nathan replied, dropping the duffle to the ground and grabbing his elbow with the opposite hand, "She goes to UNC. We met at this awesome club after a game one night." He looked away from Brooke and toward Jake. "Cool, huh?"

"Just peachy." Brooke said, with a sarcastic smirk on her face. She looked over to the girl, who was still talking on her cell phone. Brooke rolled her eyes and sat on top of her rolling luggage that Jake was holding on to.

"So, Brooke are you seeing anyone these days?" Nathan asked, running his fingers through his hair and itching his arm.

She tried so hard not to cringe at his comment knowing that the answer was a pathetic, no. She would not add that she had been hoping she to come back to Tree Hill and start her relationship with Nathan all over again. A nice, clean slate, but she now knew that was not going to happen.

Reaching for Jake's hand, he gave it to her, and she squeezed it tight as if she were saying, "Play along here with me if you want to live." She said, "Yeah," looking at Jake she said, "Jake and I are actually dating." She kissed him lightly on his cheek. The prickly hair on his face tickled her face.

"Isn't Greensboro a little far from Charlotte." Nathan asked, watching his model walk back in our direction.

Jake played along. He ran his hand down her face. "No," Jake quickly said, making Nathan feel like an idiot, "it's only about an hour or so away." His hands were much softer than Nathan's ever were, Brooke thought. "So we get to see each other almost as often as we would like."

Brooke smile, "Yeah, but definitely not as much as we would like." She intertwined her fingers with his and squeezed it.

"Okay," Lauren said, throwing her phone back into her designer bag. She looked at Brooke and said, "I'm so sorry I didn't catch your name."

"Brooke. Brooke Davis." She held out her right hand and shook the model's dainty hand, "And you're Lauren..."

"Benson. Lauren Benson. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

"So, Brooke, are you going to let us give you a ride? I would really enjoy another woman in the car with these guys."

Brooke wished she wasn't so nice, it would have been much easier to hate her then. She watched the model run her impeccable fingers run through her hair. Her manicure was even better than Brooke's. Brooke hated the fact that the only reason she disliked Lauren right now was for her nails.

"Yes, I insist, especially you to are together." Nathan said, lifting the duffle back onto his shoulder, "It would only make sense."

"Okay," She said, giving in, "Someone help me get my things."

"I will." The model quickly offered.

"Thanks." Brooke said, sincerely as she watched the model take hold of her third piece of luggage.

"How much stuff do you need?" Jake asked, referring to her large about of luggage. "You are going to be her for a week."

"Exactly. Jake if you know anything about me, you know I have a tendency to over pack." She looked back at him and winked.

Nathan was in front of everyone cursing someone on the phone, the model and Brooke walked together discussing the newest line of Dior handbags, and Jake trailed behind wondering how his daughter was doing and missing her more than ever now that he knew they were in the same city.

Brooke knew that the Scott's probably much preferred the model over her. First of all, she was polite, not rude in anyway shape or form. She knew her Ps and Qs. Second of all, she was gorgeous. Not that Brooke wasn't it was just that Lauren blew Brooke out of the water in that department, and what seemed like most departments. Thirdly, and most importantly, Lauren was not Brooke and she was sure that is what made all the difference.