Author's Note: With the exception of the first and last paragraphs, this chapter has been written in flashback mode. Just to avoid any confusion, the "present" scenes have been written in Italics.
Brooke crossed the South Carolina state line and silently cursed herself for letting Tarah talk her into such a harebrained scheme. She was halfway to Tree Hill so there was no sense in turning back around. Still she had no clue what she would say when she and Lucas came face to face again. She drove the interstate with only the company of her thoughts and she smiled as she fondly recollected the events that had started it all:
Brooke had always been a tomboy as far back as she could remember. The summers spent down south were right up her alley as she enjoyed the trees, and the fresh air and the countryside. Her brother much preferred staying holed up in their grandparents' home playing the Nintendo but Brooke had to be free, running and playing in the woods behind the houses. It was when she was just eight years old that she met the people that lived up the street.
Dan Scott, who owned a car dealership and was one of the richest men in town, was friends with her grandfather. It was legendary small town gossip that Dan had managed to father two sons within three months. Karen Rowe, had been his high school sweetheart and found herself pregnant that summer after graduation. While away in college, Dan had met Deborah Bishop during freshmen orientation and after a couple months of dating, she was pregnant as well. For whatever reason, Dan had chosen to marry Deb and raise Nathan as a family while Karen had been left to fend for herself, raising Lucas as a struggling single mother.
Gran, friendly with both women, would visit Karen sometimes at the café she owned and Brooke was often drug along. Karen's mother, a woman most people in town referred to as Ms. Ella, often helped out. Soon little Brooke was making the trip on her own, totally endeared to Karen and her mother, the woman with the soothing voice and face of an angel. Ms. Ella was the kind of grandmother every kid wanted. She was sweet and comforting and always had a pan of fresh baked brownies waiting on the table. Ms. Ella was like a mother to the whole community...when Brooke got a skinned knee or elbow from playing around with the boys, it was Ms. Ella that she ran to. She truly loved the woman and her greatest memories were of the woman taking her to church or braiding her long hair on her grandmother's porch.
She also enjoyed spending time with the Scott brothers and due to the fact that there were no girls around her age, the boys became her closet friends. Lucas was quiet and more reserved, a nice and friendly boy while Nathan was the louder and wilder of the two. Even though he was the younger of the two brothers, he thoroughly enjoyed picking on Brooke and tormenting her like the younger sister he never had. Those first two summers in Tree Hill were some of the best times of her life and during the school year in Boston, she looked forward to the time to be spent in North Carolina. But the third summer, the year she was eleven, everything changed. The first day she went over to the cafe and was not greeted with a warm smile or homemade goods. Ms. Ella was tired all the time, her skin was a pale, pasty color and she was always tired. Gran explained that the woman was sick with this thing called cancer and that it was best not to hang around the cafe and be a bother. No one had quite explained the severity of the matter and it was a hard concept for Brooke to grasp. She loved Ms. Ella dearly and wanted to do something to help. As she sat at Gran's table eating supper one night, a thought crept into her mind. The next day, she grabbed a bottle of orange juice, and some Tylenol and walked over to Karen's Cafe. Ms. Ella was resting in the back.
"Brooke, what are you doing here, honey?"
"My Gran said you were sick. One time when I had a fever, my mommy gave me juice and a Tylenol and it made me all better. I don't know if a cancer is like having a fever but I brought you some medicine. Maybe it will help."
Fresh tears sprang to the older woman's eyes as her heart was warmed by the innocence of this beautiful child.
The summer dragged on and it wasn't nearly as fun. The week before Brooke and her brother were due back to Massachusetts, Ms. Ella died. Death was so permanent, so final and nobody had really bothered explaining it to her. All she knew was that everyone was so sad all of a sudden and it made her sad, too. She knew would never ever see Ms. Ella again and it seemed so unfair. In church, the Sunday school teacher taught the children about Heaven and angels and how wonderful God was. For the life of her Brooke couldn't understand why such a good God would take this beautiful lady away from all her friends and family and cause so much pain to everyone.
The day of the funeral, Brooke filed in the small church with her brother, parents, and grandparents. Solemnly they walked down the aisle towards the large wooden box placed directly in the center. Inside was Ms. Ella who looked like she was taking a nap. Brooke had never seen anyone so still before and it was a little frightening. Her tiny hand reached inside the coffin and touched Ms. Ella. Her body felt so cold and so stiff. A tear fell from Brooke's face and landed onto Ms Ella's. It looked like the dead woman was crying and Brooke couldn't bear to wipe it away. That single drop of water that contained so much feeling and emotion was the one thing she could give to Ms. Ella to take with her to eternity.
Brooke stood there for what seemed like forever until her father guided her to their place in the pews. The funeral service began and the family walked in. Brooke looked up and her eyes met with Luke's. Never would she forget that look of sorrow and agony etched on his young face as he had just lost one of the biggest parts of himself. The two kept eye contact for a long and a life long bond was formed from the deepest burrows of a shared grief. The summer after Ms. Ella died, Brooke did not return to Tree Hill.
The next year at the age of 13, she did go back and was shocked to see how much her friends had grown. Nate was ever the prankster, still teasing her relentlessly while Luke was more focused on his new obsession...basketball. The two brothers often played with other kids from town at the River Court. In particular, one of the older boys that played was a black kid nicknamed "Skills". Lucas and Nathan often had Brooke manning a video camera as they recorded their games but she was more interested in Skills who was absolutely gorgeous! Even though Nathan had teased her about her oily hair, developing acne, thick glasses and braces, Skills was always so nice to her and it somehow gave her the courage to reveal her true feelings. As Skills and Lucas were practicing with the varsity football team on the Tree Hill High School football field, she watched lovingly from the stands, sticking around until the boys were done.
"What are you doing, here, Short Stuff?" Skills asked, using his pet name for her.
"Waiting for you", she cooed.
"Well, I bet your Gran is fit to be tied right about now. It's late so hop in the truck with Luke and me. I'll give you a ride home."
Brooke sighed happily in victory as she climbed in between the two friends. As they pulled up to her driveway, she leaned over, grabbed Skills' face and planted a big wet one on his unsuspecting lips. He quickly pulled away and Lucas laughed out loud.
"Short Stuff, what the hell did you just do to me?" Skills laughed.
Brooke frowned. They weren't supposed to laugh at her.
"I...I kissed you. I love you, Skills."
"Come on, Short Stuff. You don't love me. You just think you do. It's called having a crush and everybody gets them."
Brooke felt her face blush from humiliation.
"I do too love you, Skills and you love me, too!" she wailed.
Skills felt terrible as he saw the tears forming in her eyes.
"Yes, Short Syuff, I do love you but not in the way you love me. I love you like a little sister."
Brooke was embarrassed.
"You don't love me because I'm ugly. I'm ugly just like Nathan said."
"No, no, and don't ever let me hear you say that again. You're not ugly, I think you're a beautiful girl. Look at yourself. Short Stuff, you are a beautiful, beautiful girl and I swear if I was a few years younger, you'd have to beat me away with a stick."
Skills' treatment of a sensitive situation made her feel better and the next year when she returned, gone were the glasses, braces, and chubby pre teen. In her place was an unusually gorgeous, hourglass shaped young woman and the boys who couldn't believe their eyes, were definitely starting to take notice.
"I am hot and sweaty as hell", Lucas complained one night as he and Brooke were walking back from the River Court. "Let's go out for a swim in the lake."
"Nah, I don't feel like it", she told him. "I'm tired."
"I'll race you", he grinned.
For a girl, Brooke was one of the most determined and competitive people Lucas had ever met. She never backed down from anything and he knew a challenge would be the one thing to get her motivated. Sure enough they dove into the lake and swam until it got dark and the water was too chilly to stand. Laughing as they climbed out, it was the first time Lucas actually noticed just how pretty she was. For years they had swam around in that lake in their underwear but for the first time Luke felt himself having to shield the growing erection protruding from his body. It was a total turn on to see how her perky little nipples pressed against the bra and how pretty much everything was quite visible in the white underpants that were so wet they were now see through.
"What are you looking at, Scott?" she joked.
"You", he said, not joking.
"Why?" Brooke asked, a little uncomfortable.
"You're beautiful", Lucas whispered as he walked over to her and brushed a lock of wet hair out of her face.
Slowly, shyly but deliberately, the two shared the first kiss of many...
It was the times like those, the good times, the sweet memories that had made all the pain worthwhile, Brooke thought to herself. She had no idea what she hoped to accomplish by showing up again in Tree Hill but if she could feel, even just for one more moment, how she felt that day the first time, Lucas Scott ever kissed her, then she knew it would all be worth it.