Chapter 10: Stay
The arrangements had all been made and her locker had been cleared out. Brooke Davis walked down the halls of what was her last day at Tree Hill High. She'd passed on her responsibilities as Head Cheerleader onto Peyton and the night before had been her last cheer for the Tree Hill Ravens.
It was all bittersweet really. Brooke was looking forward to moving and she'd enjoyed the attention, cards and presents she'd received from various members of the faculty and other students. The Cheerleaders had given her gold pom-poms, a bouquet of flowers and her uniform signed by all of the squad and basketball team.
She watched as a few students hung up a big banner advertising an upcoming dance. It upset Brooke that she was unable to attend it but she figured that there'd be plenty of dances to attend at her new school in New Bern.
Brooke let out a wistful sigh as she continued to watch them.
"Reminiscing?" Peyton asked as she came up to her departing best friend. She rested her head on Brooke's shoulder.
"I'm just going to miss it. I bet I would have looked cute as Queen," she said. Peyton let out a small chuckle.
"Well at least I'll have a chance this year, Tiara-Hog. How many have you won?" she asked Brooke. Brooke pretended to think.
"Far too many to count, P. Sawyer. My tiara drawer is getting full," she joked, "Actually, it's only three. I was packing them away last night." Brooke explained to Peyton. Peyton put a comforting arm around her friend.
"Well, B. Davis, what are your plans this fine Friday afternoon?" she asked.
"Nothing really. Other than packing up some of my clothes,"
"Wrong!" Peyton announced. Brooke frowned, "Because Haley and I pulled together and we've decided we're going to treat you before your big send-off,"
"Wha-" Brooke started, but before she could say anymore, Peyton produced a blindfold and wrapped it around Brooke's head, "Oh great," Brooke said sarcastically as things became dark, "Surprises. Have I mentioned how I don't like those?" she asked.
"Shhh, Brooke. Be quiet, be pretty. You're in good hands," Peyton promised as she led Brooke to her car.
After a quick drive, Brooke felt the car stop and the door open. She felt two pairs of hands lead her somewhere. Before she could even try to guess where she was, her blindfold was whipped off.
Brooke gasped as she looked at what was in front of her, "Oh my god, this is that new spa place!" she squealed as she realised where she was.
"The one and only." Haley interjected, "And you, Tigger, are going to be treated to a facial, mani and predi, massage and a quick tanning bed session before your big party tonight – all courtesy of your two best friends – and Nathan too because he said you're too hard to shop for." Haley explained in one breath.
"Also," Peyton pulled out a box and put it in front of her. Brooke opened it up, "It's from Mouth, Skillz, Fergy and the Rivercourt guys," she explained. Brooke looked at the Tiffany bracelet in front of her.
"I think I love you," Brooke gaped.
"We love you too, Brooke," Haley said.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was talking about this bracelet," Brooke said as she continued looking at it, "Can I touch it?" she asked. Haley and Peyton laughed.
"Of course. It's yours," Brooke put it on her hand and sighed.
"Oh my god I forgot how nice Tiffany's felt on my wrist," she said before tears filled up in her eyes.
Peyton and Haley enveloped her into a big hug, "I'm going to miss you guys," she wailed.
"Well, we've still got a big day ahead so let's start getting you ready," Peyton said as the three girls went off to start their makeovers.
Nathan surveyed the big banner that he'd just helped put up. 'Bon Voyage Brooke!' was spelt out on the banner that was hung on the stage. He smiled proudly.
"Hey, Nathan, where do you want these balloons?" Mouth asked as he brought an array of balloons. Nathan pointed to several corners where they should be put up and Mouth obliged. Nathan's eye wandered to wear Lucas was sitting, pathetically trying to blow up a balloon. He sighed and went over to talk to his elder brother.
"You know, I'm sure that balloon would appreciate it if you stopped slobbering all over it," he said, "You've been blowing that same balloon up for ten minutes already,"
"Sorry," Lucas mumbled as he threw the balloon in a corner.
"What is up with you?" Nathan questioned, "You've been walking around all week as if someone ran over your dog,"
"Just leave me alone, Nathan," Lucas said as he got up. Nathan followed his brother.
"It's Brooke, isn't it?" Nathan asked. Lucas didn't reply, "I thought you were okay with her leaving,"
"Well, I'm not. I… I can't be okay with her leaving and I don't understand how everyone else is!"
"Luke, none of us want to see her go, but it's her choice. The least you can do is put a smile on your face and support her. Wasn't that all your idea anyway? To support her decision?" Nathan reminded him.
"I never actually thought she'd go. I mean, she loves it here, her friends are here, and her favourite lingerie store is here… why would she want to go?" Lucas asked no-one in particular. Nathan shrugged.
"You'll have to ask her,"
"I can't do that,"
"Then you have to let her go," Nathan told him. Lucas sighed, "Just tell her how you feel, man!" Nathan groaned.
"You think I should?" Nathan nodded.
"Dude, come on, we've all seen how you look at her. We know that you like her and I think that she might feel the same way too,"
"It's too soon," Lucas told him, "She's just getting over this Felix business and then maybe I'll-"
"It'll be too late by then, Luke. She's going to New Bern in a few days and what if she meets someone? You'll be out of the picture and you'll have missed your chance. Lucas, you messed up with her once – don't mess it up again. She deserves to know how you feel otherwise you'll be brooding for the next ever and we'll all have to deal with it," Nathan said pointedly.
"You really think I can change her mind?"
"If you don't try, we'll never know," Lucas nodded his head in understanding.
"Okay, so I'll tell her… when?"
"I don't know but sometime before she leaves would be nice. Just don't leave it until she's about to get in the car, okay?" Nathan gave Lucas an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder and went off to make sure the room looked good enough for Brooke.
Lucas thought about what his brother had said and smiled slightly. Maybe there was some hope for him yet.
Brooke sighed happily as she ushered the last well-wisher out of the door. It was almost 3am and she was tired to say the least, but she still had a big smile on her face.
She looked around the room and spied her friends beginning to start clearing up.
"Friends," she announced, "now that my fabulous party is over – thank you all very much, by the way – I want to say a few words,"
Nathan, Haley, Peyton and Lucas looked at her intently as they waited for her speech.
"I know I've already made a speech earlier this evening but now I have my best friends here, I think that I need to make another one," she took in a deep breath, "I love you; Nate, P. Sawyer, Tutor Wife and Broody – I don't think I would have made it through these last few months without any of you. I'm really going to miss all of you so much, it's unbelievable. We've had so many great times and made so many memories and I'm grateful to you all for giving me that to take with me.
"Now, before I get all teary," she continued, "I just want to thank all of you for everything you've ever done for me and making Tree Hill a wonderful place to have spent my life," she wiped away a few stray tears and they all launched into a big group hug, with the girls sobbing.
Once they parted, Brooke, Haley and Peyton all looked at each other with their tear-stained faces and running mascara and laughed at each other.
"Come on Brooke, I'll drive you home," Peyton offered before she turned to the others, "You guys start clearing up and I'll be back soon,"
"Oh, let me help," Brooke said. The gang shook their heads furiously.
"No way, B. Davis. One, we know your version of clearing up means stuffing things under a rug, and two, you gotta go home and get some rest or we'll have to kill you," Peyton told her. Peyton went to go get their coats and Lucas nervously approached Brooke.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey, Lucas," she greeted.
"Look, um, I was wondering if you were busy tomorrow night,"
"If you're asking me out on a date, your timing really sucks. I leave Sunday morning!" Brooke reminded him.
"Uh, no… um, I just have some things I need to say to you and I'd rather tell you in private."
"Oh," Brooke said, "What kind of things?" she questioned, although the look on Lucas' face told her that he wasn't going to tell her in front of the others, "In that case, I'm working all tomorrow and helping my parents finish packing up the rest of our stuff. But I'm free in the evening,"
"That'd be great. I'll meet you at my mom's café around 7?" he suggested. Brooke nodded.
"I'll see you then," Brooke saw Peyton coming out of the cloakroom and took it as her cue to leave, "Well, I'd better get going. See you tomorrow, okay?" she said as she gave him a quick wave.
As she walked out of Tric, a feeling of uneasiness came over her and she felt sick. She hadn't been expecting Lucas to ask her to dinner and suddenly she was nervous about going.
"You okay, Brooke?" Peyton asked when she saw the look on her friend's face.
"I'm fine," Brooke told Peyton, "I think I'm just tired," Peyton hugged her and they walked to the car.
"Do you remember when you tore my doll's head off?" Brooke said in the car. They'd been parked outside Brooke's house for five minutes already, and had been reminiscing about their antics over the years. Peyton snorted.
"Only because you threw my He-Man action figure out of the window!" Peyton defended.
"You are a girl, Peyton! Girls shouldn't have action figures, they should have dolls. You were such a tomboy!"
"Hey! Those Barbie dolls were scary. Did you see those cones on her chest? For years I was scared of being a girl because I didn't want Madonna-like boobs,"
Brooke laughed, "Do you remember your mom giving us the sex talk?" Peyton groaned.
"God, that was so embarrassing."
"It was great. She gave us cookies, your mom made the best cookies,"
"She did, didn't she?" Peyton looked at Brooke, "Although she almost had a fit when she caught us trying make-up on,"
"That's because she didn't want you to chase the boys around, like I did,"
"My mom kept telling me you were a bad influence!"
"I was!" Brooke said, "I really loved your mom,"
"She loved you too," Peyton told Peyton truthfully. Brooke smiled.
"I'm really sorry about what happened to her. She was a great woman," Peyton nodded.
"Yeah, she was." There was a small silence while they remembered Peyton's mom.
"God, how long have we been friends now?" Brooke asked after some time.
"Oh, years. I think we were actually best friends from the womb too. My first memory is splashing in puddles with you,"
"Aw. Wow, this is so weird," Brooke said.
"What?"
"This. The finality of it all. I mean, I always thought we'd be saying this stuff in our graduation gowns, not… not now. It's too early – at least it feels that way," Peyton held Brooke's hand.
"We'll still be friends, okay? There is no way P. Sawyer can forget B. Davis. Remember that,"
"Hos over bros?" Brooke said holding out her fist. Peyton hit it with her own and they hugged, "Well, I'd better go. I'll see you soon. Are you going to be there on Sunday morning before I leave?"
Peyton nodded, "Goodnight, Brooke."
"'Night Sawyer!" Brooke called as she got out of the car and into her house.
Lucas waited patiently for Brooke to show up. It was finally Saturday night and he'd been plucking up the courage to tell Brooke how he really felt all day. He'd almost backed out several times but he realised that this was really his only time to tell her how she felt.
The café had been closed early and Lucas had called his mom to help him make a dinner for Brooke, and she was only too happy to oblige.
Finally, Brooke entered the café and was stunned to see only Lucas standing there with dinner in front of me.
"Sorry, I'm late, Lucas. Is this for me?" Brooke asked taking a seat. Lucas nodded, "Wow, you really went all out,"
"My mom helped. Just a little… goodbye gift, I guess," he said.
"This is really nice," she complimented, "Do you mind if I start? I'm kinda hungry, I think I forgot to eat lunch in between all the boxes," she said. Lucas nodded, "So what did you want to talk to me about?"
Lucas watched her as she ate a bite of food and then looked at him expectantly, "Uh, let's wait until after dinner," he suggested as nerves got the better of him. Brooke nodded and the two ate their dinner, talking quietly and laughing over some memories.
Sometime after dinner, they were still talking when 10 o'clock came by. Lucas noticed how late it was getting and knew Brooke would need to leave shortly. He noticed that they were holding hands across the table and wondered how long they'd been doing that.
"You okay, Lucas?" Brooke asked when she noted that he hadn't said anything for some time. Lucas looked up at her and realised that it was now or never.
"Stay," he blurted out before he could stop himself. Brooke frowned and looked at him.
"What?" she asked.
"Stay. Stay here in Tree Hill," he said again. Brooke pulled her hand away from his as if it was on fire.
"Lucas…" she began as she shook her head, "Don't… don't do this to me… not now. Not-"
"When then?" Lucas questioned, "When you're gone? Brooke, you leave tomorrow! Now is a good a reason as any to ask you to change your mind. You can still stay,"
"I can't, Lucas," Brooke told him.
"How about if you stayed here for me?" he tried
"Lucas... don't start this. You can't make me stay here by using my feelings for you as bait. It's not fair, and I can't do that, Lucas," she told him again.
"Why not?"
"Well... for a million reasons."
"I'm just asking for one"
"Because I can't have my heart broken by you again," she said before she could stop herself, "because it's so damn unfair that you have to drop this on me the night before I leave. You're supposed to be supporting me, okay? I need to leave this place. Start a new life. Isn't that why you ran off to Charleston?"
"I left because I'd screwed things up between you and Peyton. At that point, you both hated me and I hated myself for what I did,"
"Whatever," Brooke told him, "That's still no justification for what you're trying to do,"
"Brooke, over the last few weeks, I've realised that I've fallen in love with you all over again,"
"Like you did before?" Brooke scoffed, although she didn't want to open this particular can of worms, she felt she had no choice, "Tell me, did you love me when you were cheating on me with my best friend?"
"That was a mistake, Brooke! Listen, I really am sorry for what happened months ago but now I'm telling you now that I don't want to lose you again. I can't let you go without telling you how I feel,"
"Well, you've told me how you feel but it doesn't change a thing. I'm still leaving," she got up from her seat.
"Brooke..." Lucas tried again but it was too late.
"I'm sorry, Lucas, but you missed your chance," she told him finally before leaving the café, and leaving a broken-hearted Lucas behind.
To Be Continued…
