NEW YORK
The next morning, everyone woke early to start the day-long drive back to Tree Hill. After a quick breakfast and after they had all gotten done packing, they made their way to the car. Brooke and Peyton had followed to say their good-byes.
"Does anyone else hate that feeling likeyou're forgetting something important?" Taylor asked as she threw her bag into the car
"Me!" Brooke raised her hand. "I have that feeling every time I leave the house."
"That would be you forgetting your brain." Lucas joked as he kissed Brooke's cheek. "Now you take care of yourself ok? We want you back in Tree Hill in one piece."
"Just for you Luke." Brooke winked as she hugged him back
"Bye Brooke. See you in a couple months." Nathan gave Brooke an awkward hug and walked away quickly
Brooke raised an eyebrow at Haley. "He just feels weird after last night. It's not a big deal." Haley explained with a laugh. She pulled Brooke into a hug. "Come back soon ok? I miss you, Tigger."
"I miss you too Tutor-Girl. Take care of yourself, and the baby ok?" Brooke smiled
"You know it." Haley smiled back
"And saving the best for last…me." Taylor said as she walked up to Brooke. "I miss you Brooke; more than you know." She gave Brooke a big hug. "I agree with everyone else; come home soon."
"I miss you too Tay. Be safe ok?" Brooke kissed Taylor's cheek when they broke apart
"You too babe." Taylor winked
Peyton couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy seeing Brooke being so friendly with her ex-girlfriend. What's the matter with me? Why do I keep feeling that way whenever Brooke is around Taylor or Faith. They are all just friends. Nothing more. Brooke loves me, not them.
"Pey! Did you hear a word that I just said?" Taylor laughed
Peyton laughed too. "No Tay, I'm sorry."
"It's cool. I just said have fun this week. For your sake, I hope it lasts long; for my sake, I hope that time flies. Having you and Brooke both gone is gonna be hell. I never see Syd anymore because of pretty boy over here." She jerked an accusing thumb towards Lucas
"Maybe I'll let you borrow her for the week." Lucas joked
"Hell yeah baby!" Taylor turned back towards Peyton. "See you when you get home."
"Of course."
The girls hugged, and then Lucas, Nathan, Haley, and Taylor all got in the car. Brooke and Peyton waved as they drove off. Brooke put her arm around Peyton's waist and rested her head on the taller girl's shoulder.
"Come on Goldilocks. Let's try to get some more sleep. I'm wiped out."
IN THE CAR
"Did anyone else notice the tension between our little lovebirds this week?" Taylor said soon after they left New York
"Yeah, actually. What's up with that?" Haley asked
"I think it has to do with a lot of things." Lucas said
"Like?" Haley prodded
"First of all, Peyton doesn't trust Brooke." Lucas started
"Why though?" Nathan asked from the driver's seat
"Because of the Faith thing, and then keeping your relationship a secret." He pointed to Taylor
"What's the deal with that anyway?" Nathan asked Taylor
"Another time Brother. I'm listening to Lucas." Taylor waved Nathan off
"Second, Peyton's been distant from everyone lately, and I think she's distancing herself from Brooke too. I think the drugs are starting to take its toll." Lucas continued
"Drugs? What drugs?" Taylor tried to sound innocent
"The drugs that you, Peyton, and Syd do." Lucas said matter-of-factly
"Wha…how?"
"I'm not stupid Taylor. Anyway, the third thing is, I think that there is something there between Brooke and Faith. I pointed it out to Brooke in a joke, and she got really serious. And finally, things change in two months; people change. I think that the two of them being away for so long is going to have an impact on how they react around each other. Which is what we witnessed this past week." Lucas finished
"The whole Faith thing could cause trouble if Brooke's not careful." Haley said thoughtfully
"I was thinking the same thing. Hopefully Brooke will deal with it ok though. I mean, Brooke and Peyton love each other. And they love each other a whole hell of a lot. That has to count for something." Taylor said. "I know Brooke. She wouldn't do anything to hurt someone she loves. And neither would Peyton."
"I hope you're right." Haley said
NEW YORK
"You know, this is the first time that we've really been alone all week." Brooke said from her spot cuddled up to Peyton
"I thought we were supposed to be getting some more sleep?" Peyton mumbled sleepily
Brooke looked up at Peyton. "Pey, are you alright?"
"Everything is fine. But can we talk later? I'm sleepy."
"Yeah, of course." Brooke leaned up and kissed Peyton. "I'm sorry for waking you, Babe. Go back to sleep."
Peyton sighed and opened her eyes to look at Brooke. "Now how the hell do you expect me to do that now?" She said with an edge to her voice
Surprised, Brooke looked at Peyton. "What?"
Peyton leaned down and kissed Brooke. "You know that I have a weak spot for your kisses." She joked
"I'll keep that in mind next time." Brooke giggled when she realized that Peyton was only kidding about being mad
"Oh shut up." Peyton kissed her again
When the girls had finally gotten out of bed late in the morning, they went to the café that Faith had introduced Brooke to when they first met.
"Doesn't this place remind you of Karen's back home?" Brooke said as she looked around
"It's very cozy." Peyton agreed
"Sometimes, when I get really homesick, I come here. It just makes me feel like I'm home again."
Peyton smiled and reached out and took Brooke's hand in her own. "How have you really been Brooke?"
Brooke sighed. "Now you are getting all serious. Why can't we just have fun now that we are alone?"
"I figured that we can just get the serious stuff out of the way, and just have fun the rest of the week." Peyton shrugged. "So what's going on?"
"Honestly, I just want to come home Peyton. I like it here, don't get me wrong, but I miss everyone and everything in Tree Hill. I like my friends here, but the only one that I am even remotely close to is Faith. I'm so used to having a bunch of close friends. And no one will ever be able to replace the friends I have back home. The only thing that I want to take back to Tree Hill with me is my loft. I love it. And maybe Faith. I'll miss her when I come home. Plus, she seems to get along well enough with everyone."
"Have your parents been home at all?" Peyton asked, purposefully avoiding the "Faith Topic"
"No. And it sucks." Brooke complained. "I knew that would happen as soon as I got here. I still don't see why I couldn't have just moved in with you."
"Why don't you see if you can come back early then?"
"I'll work on it. No enough about me. What's up with you? You seem so distant." Brooke said, tired of talking about herself for once
"I don't know Brooke. I just feel so disconnected from everyone. I'm not sure why."
"Let me ask you something. I've been thinking, and you said that you use about 2 times a week. How do you find the money for that Peyton? That stuff is not cheap."
"Money that I have saved up. And I keep making excuses to my dad about stuff I need. He's never home, so he doesn't realize that some of the excuses are insane."
"Like what?"
"One time, I told him that the toaster blew up and I needed 100 dollars for a new one." Peyton laughed. "The money was at my house 3 days later. I think I just wanted him to ask me what was up, and that's why I made such a lame-ass excuse for needing money. But he didn't even notice."
"Baby, why have you never told me about the drug situation being so out of control. Or the fact that your dad hasn't been home at all? Why are you leaving me out of such a huge part of your life?" Brooke asked, trying to mask the hurt she felt
"Brooke, you're 10 hours away. There's not much you can do to help. Or even say for that matter. It's just something that I need to deal with by myself."
"That's a load of shit Peyton. I've been by your side for everything you've ever been through. Why shut me out now? You have to promise me something, ok?"
"What is it?" Peyton asked hesitantly
"You have to start telling me what is going on with you. I care about you Peyton, and even if I cant be there to help you, I still want to know what is going on with my girlfriend."
"Ok Brooke." Peyton nodded her head in agreement. "Now enough of this serious shit."
"I agree. So…you listen to any good music lately?"
"I have at least 25 new albums!" Peyton started, excited to be talking about something she loved so much
"Peyton!" Brooke whispered loudly as she tugged on Peyton's arm
Peyton stifled a laugh. "Brooke, you are acting like a 2 year old whining to their mom!"
"But I'm bored!" Brooke pouted
Peyton rolled her eyes at her pouting girlfriend. After brunch, Peyton had decided that she wanted to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She figured that if she didn't go then, she wouldn't get around to it. Brooke had tagged along, not wanting to leave Peyton alone, and not wanting to be alone and bored. They had been there for 15 minutes and Brooke was already complaining.
"Babe, I told you that you didn't have to come, but you didn't want to listen to me." Peyton said, exasperated
"But I didn't want you to have to go alone."
"It would have been better than listening to you when I'm trying to look at everything!"
"Ok, ok! I'm sorry. I'll be quiet." Brooke said apologetically
Peyton laughed at Brooke and shook her head. They continued to look at the exhibits for a while, Brooke actually behaving like she cared about all the art. After another 15 minutes, Peyton realized that Brooke kept chewing her lip and playing with her nails.
"You ok?" Peyton asked Brooke who was intently focused on a nail
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Everything is great." Brooke looked up, and noticed a hallway that was blocked off. "Hey, what's down there?"
"I have no clue. But I guess it doesn't matter since we cant go down there." Peyton shrugged
Brooke looked at Peyton with a devilish glint in her eye. "Hey Peyton, come here for a second. I have to tell you something."
"You can tell me from here." Peyton said, not wanting to fall prey to whatever it was that Brooke was cooking up in her head
"No, really. I have to whisper it."
Why do I have a feeling that I am gonna regret this? Peyton thought
Peyton walked over to Brooke, and Brooke immediately grabbed Peyton's arm and dragged her into the hallway"Brooke!"
"Oh Peyton, shut up." Brooke back Peyton into the wall and softly began kissing her
"Brooke! What are you doing?" Peyton hissed, trying to be quiet
"What does it look like?" Brooke whispered back as she tucked one of Peyton's curls behind her ear. "I just wanted to kiss my girlfriend. Is that a crime?"
"No, but this might be! If we get caught, we could get in so much trouble, Babe."
Brooke placed her hands on either side of Peyton's face. "Peyton. Live a little will ya? You're really starting to become a mood-kill." Brooke pouted
"I'm sorry. I just don't want to-"
Brooke cut Peyton off by kissing her again.
Well, she's not going to give up anytime soon, so I might as well go along with it.
Peyton began to kiss Brooke back, and she placed her hands on Brooke's hips to bring their bodies closer together. Brooke played at the edges of Peyton's shirt, rubbing the soft skin exposed. Peyton played with Brooke's hair as the kiss deepened, their tongues massaging each other. Peyton traced Brooke's bottom lip with her tongue, and smiled at the shivers that it caused to run through Brooke's body. Brooke gently tugged on Peyton's lip in return, and pulled away breathless.
"Damn. We need to stop." Brooke said, trying to regain her composure
"I told you to not even start it!" Peyton chuckled
Brooke leaned in and kissed Peyton again, but pulled away before it got to the point that it had before.
"Ok, I'm all for daring things, but if we don't leave this hallway right now…" Brooke trailed off as she looked to make sure no one was coming
"Aww…is Brookie scared we're gonna get caught?" Peyton asked as if she were talking to a little kid
Brooke made a face. "Shut the fuck up. Now lets go before I have to urge to kiss you again. Or worse. And I really don't want our first time together to be in a museum hallway."
Peyton grabbed Brooke's face and kissed her hard. After about a minute, she pulled away. "Ok. Let's go." Peyton said, knowing that she just drove her girlfriend insane
"Peyton!" Brooke stomped her foot onto the ground. "You cant tease me like that!"
Peyton shrugged and walked away from Brooke to go back to the part of the museum they were actually allowed to be in.
"Dammit!" Brooke raked a hand through her hair and sighed as she turned to follow Peyton