Brooke walked into Peyton's room to find her drawing on her bed. Brooke rolled her eyes at the loud music blaring from the stereo and could only cringe at her friend's choice of music.
"Hey friend!" Brooke asked as she plopped herself on the bed. "What ya drawing?" Brooke snatched the drawing out of her hand before Peyton could respond.
"Brooke, No!"
Brooke laughed at her friend's outburst, but the laughter soon turned to a frown. Before her was a picture of Peyton and Lucas and a broken heart in between the two people. Above the picture of Peyton were the words I love you and all I want is you and me! Above the picture of Lucas were the words I just want to be friends!
Brooke turned a questioning look to Peyton. "What's this Peyt?"
Peyton snatched the picture back from Brooke's hands and tucked it away in her bedside desk. "It's nothing Brooke!" She said nervously as she started putting away her drawing equipment, trying her best to avoid Brooke's look.
Brooke reached out a hand to still Peyton's movements. "I thought you told me you weren't going to lie to me again Peyt."
Peyton did her best to avert her gaze, staring at anything but Brooke. "I'm not lying to you Brooke, really, it was nothing."
"Than why can't you look me in the eye and say that, if it's nothing?"
Peyton yanked her hand out of Brooke's and threw it up in the air in frustration. "God Brooke, why are you making such a big deal out of this?" She yelled.
Brooke got up to sit on her knees atop the bed, her hands on her hips. "Peyton, I'm not the one making a big deal about this, you are! You're the one that's yelling and acting like you're hiding something."
"Well I wouldn't be acting this way if you would just let the subject drop!" Peyton turned and walked into her bathroom, slamming the door in the process.
Brooke sat there and stared at the closed door in shock. She had never seen Peyton behave so outrageously. She made her way off the bed and walked toward the bathroom door. She leaned her head against the hard wood and took a deep breath.
"Peyton?" She waited a breath for an answer, but got none. "Peyton, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you so upset. You're right, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. I just…" she raised her hand helplessly. "I just don't understand why you can't talk to me. We're best friends." Brooke paused and waited to hear if Peyton would respond and when she didn't, all she could do was shake her head. "Fine Peyt, you know where to find me when you're ready to talk about this." With that, she turned and left the room.
Peyton remained seated on her toilet seat until she heard Brooke start her car and drove off into the distance. She walked towards the door, opened it a crack, and peeked out. When she saw that there was no one there, she exited the bathroom and made her way back toward her bed. As she sat down, she pulled the drawing back out of the drawer and sat staring at it.
She caressed the picture of Lucas tenderly and felt a tear fall from her eyes to land on the drawing. The sadness and pain of the rejection came flooding back to her all at once and before she knew it, she was sobbing into her pillow.
The loneliness engulfed her very being as her shoulders shook with the wracking sobs. It was times like these that she missed her mother most. Times when she felt like there was no where and no one else to go to. "I miss you so much mommy!" she cried into the empty room.
Brooke drove aimlessly through the streets of Tree Hill, unsure of where it was she was headed. It was Saturday, so there was no school, no practices to attend, and for the first time in months, she had no boy friend to hang out with. She was driving past the River court when she noticed a couple of people there shooting hoops and decided to pull over and watch the game.
As she parked her car she noticed Haley seated on the bench alongside the court. She made her way toward the table and caught Lucas' eyes following her progress. She smiled softly his way and waved her hand in greeting.
Lucas watched as she made her way in Haley's direction. He waved at her and smiled hugely, until he felt a ball hit his back.
"Yo, earth to Lucas, you playing or what man?" Skills asked him good naturedly.
"Nah man, I think something or rather, someone has caught his attention." Nathan egged on as he watched his brother's face turn a beet red at being caught staring.
"Whatever, can we just play?" Lucas asked as he ran back to the middle of the court to start the next game. But his focus was divided between the game and watching Brooke.
Brooke took her seat besides Haley to watch the game.
"Hey Hales, what's going on?" She nudged Haley's shoulders softly with her own.
"Not much, just come to cheer for my husband at his request." Haley said with a laugh.
"What a good wife you are."
"What can I say, I'm going for the wife of the year award or something." Haley said laughing before turning to inspect Brooke. "But how are you doing? You know, with everything that's happened lately, are you alright?"
Brooke smiled at the look of concern on Haley's face as she put a friendly arm around her shoulder to reassure her that she was okay. "Well, I'll be honest with you Tutor-wife, this past week has been hard, but nothing that Brooke Davis can't handle, and especially nothing she can't handle with out the help of her friends." Brooke leaned her head against Haley's as she pushed her with her shoulder softly.
"Talking in the third person, going for special affects are we?" Haley hugged her side, glad that Brooke was doing alright.
"Thought you might like that." Brooke turned serious eyes on Haley. "Hey Hales, you haven't spoken to Peyton lately have you?"
Haley scrunched her forehead together in concentration as she tapped a finger to her chin. "Hmm, not since Friday at school. Why? What's going on?"
Brooke inhaled deeply, unsure if she should tell Haley or not. "Well, I'm sure it's nothing but, when I went to her house today to see what she was up to, I found her on her bed drawing."
Haley rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Duh Brooke, she's always in her room drawing, there's nothing new there. What's abnormal about that?"
Brooke punched Haley softly in her arm as she laughed at her reaction. "I'm not done yet Hales. Anyway, so, I kind of snatched the drawing she was working on out of her hand and found that it was a drawing of her and what appears to be Lucas on it, with a broken heart in between. So when I asked her about, she kind of freaked out and started getting all defensive and stuff when I asked her what the drawing was about. And then locked herself in her bathroom."
Haley sucked in a breath and ran her hand through her hair. "Wow, I've never heard of Peyton behaving like that. Than what did you do?"
"Well, there was not much more I could do. I just told her when she's ready to talk she would know where to find me. Then I left. I didn't know what else to do." Brooke lifted her hand helplessly.
Haley placed a reassuring hand on Brooke's. "You did the right thing Tigger by giving her some time. She'll come around."
"I hope so Hales. I just wish she would tell me what's going on with her. It's like, she hasn't been herself lately you know?"
"I know, but Peyton's always been that way. I love the girl, but she's head to toe in issues." That got the desired laugh she wanted out of Brooke. "So, a drawing of her and Lucas huh? Wonder what that's about." Haley glanced thoughtfully in Lucas' direction, who was now going for a lay up.
Brooke followed Haley's gaze and met Lucas' blue eyes. He gave her a wink before turning his attention back to the game.
Haley, seeing this exchange, turned amused eyebrows back at Brooke. "Interesting, what was that about?"
Brooke shrugged her shoulders and giggled softly. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Haley gave her a knowing look. "Uh huh, I'm sure you don't. But I won't push you for information. You'll tell me if there's anything I should know." Haley laughed as Brooke's face turned a becoming shade of red. "Anyway, back to Peyton, since that seemed to be a picture of her and Lucas, maybe you should ask him if he knows what's going on."
Brooke's gaze returned to Lucas. "Maybe I will." She said thoughtfully, knowing he would tell her if there was anything going on that she should know about. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to.
The guys had just finished their game and were making their way to the table. Nathan gave Haley a kiss before sitting sideways on the bench and pulling her against his chest.
"Urgh, Nate, you're all sweaty." Haley struggled as his arms wrapped around her middle.
"You know you love being in my arms, sweaty or not!" Nathan laughed as she scrunched her nose in distaste.
Lucas took a seat next to Brooke, and as much as he wanted to take her into his arms, he knew he couldn't. So he settled for being next to her instead. "Hey you!" He whispered into her ear.
Brooke turned to smile sweetly if not albeit, flirtatiously. "Hey!" They exchanged, what could only be described as an intimate look between one another before turning their attention back to their friends.
"So, what are you guys up to now?" Brooke directed her question at Nathan and Haley.
"Well, I am kind of hungry. Anybody up for some food?" Nathan asked as he looked around at everybody else. When he got the green light from the other guys, he directed his gaze at Brooke and Lucas who had yet to answer. "How bout you two?"
Brooke's attention was diverted when she felt Lucas' hand caressing her lower back. From everybody else's position on the bench, they couldn't see what was going on behind her back. She leaned into his hand and felt it lay flat against her back as it cupped her side. For two seconds, she closed her eyes in utter contentment at the feel of him there. She was pulled out of daze when she heard Nathan's question. "What? Yeah sure, I could go for some food." She turned to look at Lucas.
Lucas, whose attention was also diverted, smiled softly at her as she turned to look at him. Each time she smiled it took his breath away. He moved his hand away from her side as he heard Haley call out his name. "Huh?" He asked her, lost to the conversation.
Haley looked between the two friends, and smiled. She couldn't understand why two people who so obviously wanted to be together didn't just get together. "Nate was asking if you wanted to get something to eat with us."
Lucas laughed self consciously. "Is Brooke coming?" At Brooke's confirmed nod. "Sure, I'll go for some food. How bout my mom's café?"
After everyone nodded in agreement. They each made their way to their cars and decided to meet at the café.
Lucas ran to catch up with Brooke and caught her just as she reached her car. "Hey Brooke, do you mind if I ride with you? I didn't drive here today."
"Sure Broody, and besides, this works out, I needed to ask you something anyway." Brooke got into the drivers seat and unlocked the passenger door for Lucas.
"What did you want to ask me?" Lucas asked as he settled into his seat and buckled himself in.
"Peyton!"
Lucas paused abruptly mid buckle at the name before continuing with the task. Does she know about Peyton coming over the other night? Is she mad about it? These questions ran through his mind as Brooke shifted the car into drive and navigated it onto the road.
A/N: Sorry to leave this chapter like this, but I had to. Hope you're not too mad. Please let me know what you think. Thanks again for the reviews. I look forward to reading more of your thoughts. Next chapter will be up soon, and it will be longer. Promise!