Title: The Best Deceptions
By: Kat
Chapter Title: The Davis Curse
Rating: PG 13
Pairings: Lucas/Brooke, Nathan/Haley, Peyton/Jake and then some.
Timeline: Set four years after How Can You Be Sure?
Disclaimer: I own nothing of One Tree Hill.
Author's Notes: My first One Tree Hill fic. Brooke really was pregnant, she and Peyton sort of made up, Nicki stayed and caused more trouble, and Haley and Nathan never got married.
Summary: Brooke told Lucas there was no baby and she walked away from him and everything in Tree Hill, satisfied with her lie. It was acted out of spite, fueled the raw hurt and anger of being betrayed by the people she cared about. But Brooke Davis, then 16, didn't care. She wanted to leave Tree Hill and most of all, she wanted to hurt Lucas Scott. Now, over four years later, she is forced to go back to the place she vowed never to return to and face the people she thought no longer held a piece of her.
There is a curse on the Davis name and Brooke Davis knows it well. She is the most recent generation to carry it and possibly not the last. It had consumed her family for years, tearing at them, testing and breaking them in every possible way.
No one will truly love a Davis.
That was their curse and although she never admitted it, Brooke knew it was true. She was an offspring of several generations' worth of lies and deceit, unrequited and lost love. Her grandparents never loved each other and yet they stayed together. Their fifty years of marriage could be summed up as hollow, with the backdrop of World War II making it more romantic than it actually was.
Three children were born and bred only to repeat the cycle of empty marriages, wrong choices, passion and lust but never love. Never, ever love. There was always the absence of that.
Brooke saw and lived their unhappiness and when she was thirteen, she vowed to break it. Three years later, with her heart suddenly wrapped around the enigma that was Lucas Scott, Brooke thought she had broken the curse. She was loved. But just as she was on the verge of perfect happiness, Lucas cheated on her with her Peyton and the damnation that was her legacy lingered, strengthening itself as her unborn baby grew inside her.
Orange County, California
December 2008
The shrill ringing of the school bell interrupted Brooke's melodramatic inner ramblings and she was brought back to the reality that was now her life. Hundreds of children poured out of the enormous building and after craning her neck, she finally found who she was looking for.
Her four year old son was currently hugging a shy red-haired classmate, an unashamed smile on his rather innocent baby face. The teacher who monitored the child pick ups, spotted Brooke and waved. Mrs. Landry always talked animatedly about Brooke's sons' adventures at school.
"My son, the flirt." Brooke murmured with an amused shake of her head. He was definitely hers through and through.
Cole Daniel Davis, lady killer and flirt extraordinaire at the tender age of four, spotted his mother and made a beeline towards her. "Hey, babe." He greeted her toothily, using one of Brooke's favorite words.
Brooke arched an eyebrow, squatted to his level and pulled Cole into a fierce hug. "Hey back and that's Mom to you, mister." She replied, grinning.
"Okay, Mommy." Cole flashed her one of the smiles that reminded her of the other half the little boy came from and her grin faltered just a little.
Brooke shook the feeling away as the familiar ache in her chest returned. No, Brooke. Lucas Scott is history. You have filed him into that category, put him into filing cabinet, locked it and threw the key away. Cole is your son. Not his. Never his. She inwardly scolded as she and Cole hopped into their car and drove home.
The fifteen minute drive was filled with her son animatedly talking about school and girls and Christmas vacation. Sometimes, when Cole talked about girls, he reminded her of his Uncle Nathan before the Haley-days. Before cheating boyfriends and backstabbing best friends.
Brooke sighed heavily as she parked in the driveway and helped Cole out of his seat. "Don't be sad, Mama Bear." Cole said in the softest and possibly sincerest voice a child his age could muster. She was Mama Bear from The Bearington Bears and from the expression on Cole's face, Brooke saw Lucas all over again.
She felt like crying but instead she hugged her son and carried him out of the car, holding his Spider-man backpack with one hand. "Mommy's not sad, Cole." Brooke corrected, her voice giving away no sign of the contrary. "Christmas just makes Mommy all emotional." Once they reached the foyer, she set him down on the ground, making a mental note that Cole was getting too big to be carried.
A wail erupted from the second floor and Cole climbed the stairs rapidly, Brooke right behind him. "Ben's being broody." The little boy declared as he crawled to his younger brother. "Ben missed Mommy."
Brooke flopped on the bed, nodded at the nanny and declared that she'll take it from here. "Hi, baby." Brooke whispered softly as she drew her youngest son close to her, rocking him gently.
Born two years and three months younger than Cole, Ben was the resident brooder. He was quiet and tender, moody at times where Cole was loud and seemingly always on a sugar high. But they were brothers through and through, both dark haired and blue-eyed and the sons of men who did not love their mother. At least, Brooke thought so.
They are not cursed. They are not cursed. Brooke chanted inwardly. It will end with me. I will be unhappy forever as long as my boys will be loved. She knew it was stupid to believe in a curse made up by her grandmother. No one had put anything upon them. The Davis family members just made wrong choices. A lot. And Brooke proved that twice.
But she wasn't sorry.
Sighing, she scooted off the bed with Ben still in her arms. He was slowly dozing off and he would want to be rocked for at least another fifteen minutes. He was two and Brooke was still rocking him to sleep.
"Come on, Cole. Let's get you a snack." Brooke declared, ushering Cole out of the room. "And then we can decorate the tree." The phone rang just as they reached the main floor.
Talia, their live in nanny and occasional cook, answered. "Nathan Scott is on the phone." She declared and Brooke ushered Cole to the older woman.
"Nanny will make you a snack while I talk to Uncle Nathan." Brooke declared to Cole as she walked over to the office room and brought the receiver to her ear while still cradling Ben. "Hello? Nathan, you still there?"
"I'm here." He sounded tired, worn out. "You have to come home."
Brooke frowned as she settled on the chair. "No way, Nathan." I promised never to go back.
"Peyton got into an accident, Brooke, and-"
"Accident?" Brooke practically shrieked, her chest tightening with fear. "What accident? Is she okay?"
"There was an accident over…her car got pushed over a bridge, Brooke, and-"
"Is Peyton okay?" Brooke repeated shrilly, growing frantic.
Nathan Scott sighed sharply, his impatience seeping through. "Will you please let me get a sentence through?" When Brooke remained silent, Nathan continued. "Peyton's in the hospital but your parents…I'm sorry, Brooke."
Brooke furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What about my parents?" She demanded. "They're in Monte Carlo, I think."
"No, they're not." He pressed. "I don't like telling you this over the phone but they were in the accident too."
"They're dead." Brooke whispered bleakly, finally understanding. Nathan's silence spoke volumes and Brooke felt a twinge of guilt creep up on her. Her parents had probably died a horrible death and she hadn't felt it. Her day had gone like any other and she hadn't sensed that the people who brought her into this world were no longer there. "I'll be on the next flight to Tree Hill."
"Are you going to bring the boys?" Nathan asked, Peyton and Brooke's parents suddenly forgotten.
Brooke bit her bottom lip. "Yeah, I am. I'm not leaving them here. It's Christmas and I'm all they got."
There was a long palpable silence on the other side until Nathan finally replied. "I figured you would." He stated softly. "I'm going to tell Haley tonight."
"No, you can't!" She exclaimed and Ben fussed, startled that she had raised her voice. "We had a deal, Nathan Scott!"
"You're coming home, Brooke, and I don't want Haley blindsided. I want her to hear it from me. I'll try to keep her from saying anything to Lucas but I'm not making any promises."
Brooke Davis groaned in frustration, feeling the beginnings of a severe headache. "I'm not going to say anything to anyone. I'm going to finalize the arrangements for the funeral and leave as quickly as possible."
"And you'll what? Hide the boys until you leave?" Nathan demanded, scoffing indignantly. "Tree Hill isn't that big a town. People will figure it out. Lucas will figure it out. No more lies, Brooke. It's over."
Lucas. The name echoed in Brooke's ear like a scream.
It's not over! Brooke wanted to scream. It can not be over.
"You can't do this to this to me!" She angrily hissed. "I can't believe that you would screw me over just like Lucas."
"I am not screwing you over!" Nathan retorted fiercely, getting annoyed. He wanted to defend his brother but Nathan was just too tired and he simply did not want to go over this with the stubborn Brooke Davis again. "I am helping you and I am helping myself. I am tired, Brooke, of covering for you and lying to Haley. Peyton just woke up. I have to go. Call me so I know when to pick you up."
"But-" Brooke began to argue but Nathan had already hung up on her. Groaning, she slammed the phone back down and shifted Ben in her aching arms. "I can't believe that my life is falling apart again."
Author's Notes: I know it's pretty unrealistic for Brooke to get pregnant twice, live in Orange County and have a nanny for her kids. But there's a reason for that, which you will find out in the following chapter(s). This is my first One Tree Hill fic so be kind.
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