2/21 One Week Later
NEW YORK"Ahhh!" Brooke screamed when she sat up out of bed to see Faith sitting on her computer desk
"Happy 18th Birthday B!" Faith smiled big
"Aw! Thanks! Was my birthday gift a heart attack?" Brooke joked
"How ever did you know?" Faith joked back. "Get your ass out of bed and in the shower, and I'll make you breakfast."
"Hmm…this is a great way to start the day!" Brooke said as she smiled and stretched. "Minus your little stalker moment."
"Ha ha."
"So what do you want to do today?" Faith asked Brooke as they sat at the table to eat breakfast
"First I would love to go back to bed and sleep till whenever I wake up. Then a movie and Chinese food sounds good, followed by getting drunk with my friends to celebrate my birthday." Brooke said dreamily
"Done."
"Huh?" Brooke gave Faith a funny look
"Done! That's what we'll do today. A little nap sounds nice after this huge ass breakfast."
"Faith, it's a Thursday."
"I'm impressed! You know your days of the week."
"No doofus. We have school." Brooke rolled her eyes
"Wow. You're getting so smart." Faith continued to joke in a childish voice as she patted Brooke's head
"You're hopeless, you know that?"
"I try." Faith smiled
"As much as I would love to do all the things I said, there's no way we can."
"Do you have anything important going on in your classes?"
Brooke thought. "No."
"Then it's settled. I think a nap is the first activity of the day."
Brooke yawed. "Yes, I agree."
Both girls laughed as they rinsed their plates and then went to take an early nap.
"Bruce Willis is so hot for an older guy." Faith said as they walked out of the movie theatre
"Eh. He's ok. Not really my type." Brooke shrugged
"Oh, I think that's because he's missing boobs and he has a penis." Faith joked
"That's just raunchy." Brooke made a face
Faith laughed. "I only speak the truth. So where now? Food?"
"Yes please. Popcorn is not enough to fill me up. Especially since you pretty much ate it all."
"I'm a growing girl, thank you!"
"Yeah, I've noticed! Your ass is getting huge!" Brooke stuck her tongue out
"You know you like it." Faith blew Brooke a kiss
"You're absolutely right." Brooke smacked Faith's ass and ran away
"That's it! No birthday gift for you!" Faith called after her
Brooke turned around and flipped Faith off. "Bite me!"
"Better be careful what you wish for." Faith warned
"Yeah, yeah. Move your ever-growing fat ass. I'm starved."
"I don't know why I hang out with you. You're so rude." Faith mumbled
"B's phone. She's currently taking a shit, but if you want, you can leave a message and I'll try to remember to give it to her." Faith said, answering Brooke's phone
"Faith!" Brooke yelled
"That's interesting." Taylor laughed over the phone
"Why hello! What are you up to?" Faith smiled when she recognized Taylor's voice
"Nothing. Just calling to wish Brooke a happy birthday."
"Oh I see. I'll let you talk to her in a minute. We didn't really get to talk while I was down there. How are you?" Faith waved Brooke away when Brooke held out her hand for the phone
"I'm good. You left so damn fast. What's up with that?" Taylor said
"Sorry. I hate good-byes." Faith laughed
"Me too. So how are you?"
"I'm doing good." Faith sighed. "I would love to talk to you longer, but Brooke here is getting impatient with me, so I'm gonna let you go. Take care of yourself."
"I always do." Taylor laughed
Faith handed Brooke the phone and Brooke smiled big.
"Taylor!"
"Happy Birthday!"
"Why thank you."
"Hey! You're legal now!"
"Because that stopped you before?" Brooke joked
"True. So how are you doing? You having a good day?"
"Great. Skipped school, saw a movie, eating Chinese…all very nice."
"Good for you. So when are you moving back?"
"Oh shit. I haven't even thought about that." Brooke said, shocked
"Ouch! You miss us that much, huh?" Taylor joked
"Please. You know that I miss you like crazy."
"Whatever." Taylor laughed. "Well I just wanted to say hi."
"You're going already? We haven't even gotten to talk!"
"We can talk later. You get back to Faith and your Chinese food. I miss you Brooke."
"Ditto. I'll see you soon." Brooke hung up the phone and turned to Faith. "She asked if I was coming back."
"And?"
"I honestly don't know." Brooke shrugged and took a bite of her food. Then her phone rang again. "I don't think so!" Brooke said as she grabbed the phone away from Faith before Faith could answer it again
Faith pouted. "You're no fun."
Throughout dinner, Brooke got a number of other phone calls. Her parents, Haley, Lucas, and even Mouth called to wish her a happy birthday.
"She didn't call." Brooke said as she and Faith drove back to Brooke's
"The night's not over B." Faith pointed out
"I know." Brooke nodded. "So what now?"
"Well, I was thinking we could go back to your place, change, and then go dancing or something."
"Is school just not relevant to you or something?" Brooke laughed. "Tomorrow is a school day Faith!"
Faith shrugged. "So we'll be a little tired, and maybe a little hung over. Who cares! It's your birthday, we're going to have some fun."
"I guess. When I fall asleep in all my classes, I'm blaming you."
"If that's what you have to do to have fun, then so be it." Faith smiled
"SURPRISE!" Everyone said as they jumped out from around Brooke's loft when Brooke and Faith walked through the door
"Jesus! I swear you people are trying to scare me to death!" Brooke said with a hand to her chest. She turned to Faith. "You could have at least warned me!"
"That ruins the 'surprise' part B." Faith rolled her eyes
Brooke pushed Faith's shoulder. "Thank you." She smiled big, flashing her dimples
"So Davis, you ready to party?" Brett said as he approached Brooke and Faith
"Hell yeah!"
TREE HILL
"I don't know if I should call her or not." Peyton sighed
"Peyton! You've been debating this all day!" Sydney said. "Just call her! It's her birthday, and you guys are kinda talking again."
Peyton and Brooke had talked a couple times during the past week, and even though Brooke was hesitant at first, they decided that they wanted to try to rebuild their friendship. Neither knew the fate of their relationship though; they were just going to see how things played out.
"I know, I know. But it's still weird sometimes. And I don't want to disrupt anything she has going on."
"Peyton, for God's sake, will you just call her already?" Taylor said walking into the apartment
"I'll do it later." Peyton shook her head. "I can't right now. Did you get the movie on your way home?" Peyton asked Taylor
"Of course." Taylor made a face. "Not. Sorry guys, I forgot."
"Eh, I wasn't in a movie mood anyway." Sydney shrugged
"So I have a suggestion." Peyton said
"Ok? Care to share with us?" Taylor laughed
"Why don't we go hang out with Haley, Nathan, Lucas, and whoever else is down at the Rivercourt." Peyton suggested. "If it's not to weird, that is." She said to Sydney
"I'm cool with it. I still talk to Lucas, so it's not too weird. But are you sure that they will be there?" Sydney asked
"They're always there." Peyton said
"Well let's go then." Taylor stood and turned to walk out the door
NEW YORK
"I didn't invite Brett. I can't believe that he actually showed his face here." Faith whispered to Brooke who was sitting on her lap as a bunch of people were sitting around the table playing poker
"It's fine. Are you ok with him being here?" Brooke whispered back
"No. Hell no I'm not." Faith hissed
"What are you two whispering about?" Scooter asked
"I need a tampon." Faith snapped
"That was an overshare. I didn't need to know that." Scooter made a face. "Gross." He added in a whisper
"And that is why you don't ask girls what they're whispering about." Elisha laughed
"Brooke, when did you get so good at poker?" Jeremy asked
"I have no idea!" Brooke laughed. "Back in Tree Hill, I kicked ass and took everyone's money. Guess I'm just talented."
"Guess so." Brett said as he looked at Brooke
Brooke gave Brett an evil look when she realized what he was saying. "Faith? Bathroom?"
"Huh?" Faith said, not catching onto what happened. She looked at Brooke, who was beginning to turn red with anger, and realized what was going on. "Oh yes. Right."
Brooke and Faith got up and walked away, leaving everyone else at the table dumbfounded. Everyone but Brett, at least.
"Are we supposed to know what that was about?" Elisha asked
"I'm thinking not." Jeremy said. He shrugged. "Might as well try to play with Brooke gone. Maybe we can actually win something."
TREE HILL
Peyton, Sydney, and Taylor pulled up to the Rivercourt to find a huge game of basketball going on.
"Told you they'd be here." Peyton said as she got out of the car
"Good for you." Taylor joked
The three girls got out of the car and made their way over to Haley.
"Hey Haley-bub." Taylor said, giving her sister a hug
"Hey!" Haley gave Taylor a huge smile. "What are you guys doing?"
"Came to watch the show." Peyton smiled. "How are you?"
"I'm good. How are you guys?"
"Good." They all answered in unison
"Have you talked to Mom and Dad lately?" Taylor asked Haley
"They emailed a few days ago. I think they were in Florida. Something about it being warm there." Haley laughed
"That's cool. Tell them I said hi next time you email them."
"I will." Haley smiled
"Hey girls. What are you doing here?" Lucas asked as he walked up to them
"Damn Scott. Rude much?" Sydney joked
"You know what I mean." Lucas said, giving Sydney a hug. "You guys wanna play?"
"Sure!" They all answered
As Peyton, Sydney, and Taylor walked out onto the court, Taylor turned back around to Haley.
"You playing?"
"I'm not allowed. They say it's unfair to the other team." Haley pouted
Taylor laughed and ran back over to Haley. Dropping to her knees, she talked to Haley's stomach. "Hello Baby Scott. It's your Auntie Tay. I'll be the one you can always go to when you need to talk about boys, or be bailed out of jail, that way Mommy doesn't have a heart attack."
"Tay!" Haley laughed
"Well, your Mom's one cool bitch, so I don't see you having much of a problem." Taylor hopped up and smiled at Haley
"Did you just call me a 'bitch' to my unborn child?" Haley asked incredulously
Taylor made a face. "Oops!" She laughed and gave Haley a hug. "I miss you Hales."
"I miss you too. How about you come over for dinner sometime this week. We can make it a weekly thing or something." Haley smiled
"I would love that." Taylor said and went to join her friends on the court
NEW YORK
"I only fucked him once, but I can't stand being around him. Why is that?" Brooke said to Faith about Brett
"Because he's a creep?"
Brooke laughed. "Possibly. How did you forgive me so fast for that whole thing anyway?"
Faith shrugged. "He wasn't worth it. I liked you way better."
"That's so sweet."
"Although he is a better fuck." Faith joked
"No shit." Brooke said seriously
Both girls shuddered at the thought of having sex with him, and they both laughed.
"Wanna know a secret?" Faith suddenly said
"Always."
"Peyton is a lucky girl."
"Faith, in case you have lost your mind, I'm not with Peyton."
"But you still love her just as much as you did when you were together, maybe even more." Faith sighed. "And she loves you. Brooke, work this thing out. I really think that the only thing that will help her get over her shit is you being by her side."
"I wish it were that easy." Brooke sighed heavily
"Why isn't it?"
"What?"
"Why isn't it that easy?" Faith repeated
"Because!" Brooke scoffed
"Because why?"
"There's no way we could work now!"
"And the reason is?" Faith kept pushing
"Why are you doing this?"
"Brooke, you're not happy. I see it in your eyes. So if you are so insistent on staying apart from her, I want to hear your reasons." Faith crossed her arms and leaned against the door
"Because she's a drug addict. She's willing to sleep with someone to get her fix. She's willing to put that before me. That hurts; it hurts so much. I've slept with 2 people since we broke up, so I don't even know if she would want me back if she knew." Brooke sat heavily on the toilet
"Brooke, you both did stupid things. But those things are forgivable if you are willing to forgive."
Brooke looked at Faith. "Were we a mistake?" She asked softly
"Yes. And no. I'm still trying to figure that one out."
"Join the club." Brooke smiled a little. "I don't know what I'm going to do about Peyton. But honestly, I don't want to think about all that right now. I just want to party. I mean hell, it's my God damned birthday!"
"I agree."
"Bye guys!" Brooke said as all of her friends left a few hours later. She smiled as she shut the door, and had a bounce in her step as she walked back into the loft to clean up.
Brooke hummed as she picked up empty beer bottles, and the sudden ringing of her phone made her yelp.
"Good Lord! I'm going to die before I see 19 if shit keeps scaring me like this!" She said aloud to the empty loft
"Hello?" Brooke answered the phone
"Happy birthday B. Davis." Peyton said
"Aw. Thanks P. Sawyer." Brooke laughed. "I wasn't sure if you were gonna call."
"Are you kidding? It's your freaking 18th birthday! You're an adult now!" Peyton laughed
The two friends talked for a long time, acting like nothing had changed between them.
"So, um, are you still going to come back to Tree Hill?" Peyton asked when the conversation began to die down
Brooke took a deep breath. "I've been thinking about that."
"And?"
"I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. I'm so glad that we're getting comfortable with each other again, but I'm not sure I'm ready to come back and all. I don't want to rush anything."
"I get that. And I agree. I don't want to jump back into something that neither of us is ready for. But know that there is a place for you if you decide to come back."
"Thanks Peyton."
"So you want to know what I've been watching lately?" Peyton asked, trying to steer away from serious conversation
"What?"
"Will and Grace."
"You hate that show!" Brooke laughed
"Every time I watch it I think of you though, so I love it now. Plus, Rosario and Karen kill me. They are so hilarious!"
"I know!"
The girls talked for a while longer, and for a night, everything was ok.