Hi Everyone! I am so sorry that it took so long to update! I had a serious case of writer's block for this chapter. Jake was a hard character to capture. I honestly dont know how Jake would react, but I hope in some way this fits. There will be a part two to this chapter, and I promise the updatewont take nearly as long as this one did. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. It means so much to me, and I hope that you continue to read this story.
Brooke walked out of the bathroom to find Lucas seated at the kitchen table, his hands wrapped around a coffee mug.
Lucas looked up when he saw Brooke enter the room. "Hey. I made coffee."
"Ok." Brooke said as she poured herself a mug
"How was your bath?" Lucas asked softly as Brooke sat next to him at the table
"Nice. Thanks." Brooke smiled as she pulled her legs onto the chair and rested her head on her knees. "Have you told anyone else?"
"Nathan and Haley. I called Jake and he's on his way home. I didn't tell him about, umm…about what happened."
"Is Haley coming home too?"
Lucas looked at Brooke, confused, and then realized the brunette didn't know that Haley had returned to Tree Hill. "Haley's home."
Brooke said straight up. "What?"
"She came back to Tree Hill the night you left." Lucas ran his hand through his short hair
"I want to see her. And Nathan. Can they come over?" Brooke asked, a hopeful look on her face
"Brooke, it's been a long day and…" Lucas sighed when Brooke's expression fell. "Yeah. I'll call them."
"Thanks Luke." Brooke smiled genuinely for the first time since arriving back in Tree Hill
"Anything for you." Lucas whispered
JAKE'S P.O.V.
I don't really know what I was thinking when I bought the motorcycle now roaring underneath me, drowning out everything, including most of my thoughts. The only thing that I can dwell on is the serious matters in life, and I wish that the noise of the bike would drown that out too. Sighing, I gave into the thoughts that have been haunting me
I want more than anything to find my daughter, to know that she is safe. I want to put Nikki behind bars for the shit that she has pulled concerning out little "family".
I want to go home to Peyton.
I meant what I said to Peyton; about it being me, Jenny, and now her. But sometimes things don't go as planned. Nikki kidnapping Jenny while I was in jail was definitely not something that I could have ever imagined happening. But it did, and I left Peyton to find my daughter. When we parted, I could see the hope die in Peyton's eyes as we shared one last look. I know she thought that I was leaving forever. Seeing her look so helpless made me more determined to find Jenny and come back home to Peyton; to be a family.
Although losing Jenny was the hardest thing that I've ever dealt with, it was followed closely with leaving the person I love behind. If there was some way I could have taken Peyton with me, I would have. This time I have to fight alone; I have to fight my own battle.
Lucas called me and told me that I needed to come home. He said it was about Peyton. From the way he sounded, the desperation in his voice, I don't see how it is a good thing. It scares me not knowing what is going on, especially since Lucas wouldn't tell me any details over the phone. I'm not sure that I want to go back to Tree Hill to find out what is going on. I cant stand the thought of something bad happening to someone else I love.
Why do bad things continue to happen to those that mean the most to me?
"I talked to Haley." Lucas said as he joined Brooke in the living room
"And?"
"They're on their way."
Brooke nodded and rested her head back on the sofa. Lucas sat watching her from his position in the chair next to the couch.
"Why are you staring at me Broody?" Brooke asked when she felt his gaze on her
Lucas chuckled. "Sorry."
"You should be. It's not nice to stare." Brooke joked and sat up to look at Lucas
Lucas smiled. "How much do I owe you for the plane ticket?"
Brooke waved her hand. "I put it on my dad's credit card. Don't worry about it."
"Are you sure?" Lucas asked skeptically
"Yep." Brooke nodded
"You getting along with your parents?"
"I haven't seen them since I moved out there. Then again I was only there for a day before I came back here."
"It's crazy to think that you left Tree Hill 3 days ago."
"Yeah, well it's crazy to think that Peyton was alive 3 days ago." Brooke said, a rush of emotion in her voice
"Brooke-"
"No Lucas. Everything changed 3 days ago. Nothing will ever be the same."
"You cant go back Brooke." Lucas whispered
"But I want to." Brooke said, tearing up. "I just wish I could go back and tell my parents that I was staying with Peyton no matter what they said. This wouldn't have happened if I had stayed."
"You don't know that. We don't know what made Peyton do what she did. It might not have made a difference if you had stayed in Tree Hill." Lucas said, trying to comfort the once cheery brunette
"She felt alone." Brooke whispered. "Jake left, I left, Haley's been gone, Nathan was about to leave, she still missed her mom to this Day…she killed herself because she was scared of being alone."
"How-"
"I was her best friend for many years. Peyton was always scared of being alone; of being left behind. She could deal when people left one-by-one, but we all left at the same time. I should have known."
Lucas moved to the couch and took Brooke into his arms. "There's no way you could have known Brooke. There's nothing you could have done to stop this."
"Why didn't she call me? Why didn't she ask me to come home? Why didn't she tell me that she was feeling so bad that she was thinking about suicide? Why…God." Brooke sobbed
"I don't know Brooke. I don't know."
Lucas held Brooke, wishing he could take away her pain. Brooke clung tightly to Lucas, glad there was someone there for her to find some form of comfort in. Pulling back, Brooke looked into Lucas' eyes.
"Lucas, I-"
Brooke was interrupted by the doorbell, and she shared a small, sad smile with Lucas before they stood from the couch.
"I'll get it. You stay here." Lucas said
"Ok."
Lucas left the living room to answer the door, and a moment later Haley rushed into the room.
"Brooke." Haley said simply as she spotted the girl sitting on the couch
"Haley." Brooke said as she jumped up and met Haley in the middle of the room where they threw their arms around each other and began to cry
Nathan and Lucas stood back, and when the girls made no move to break their embrace, Lucas tapped Nathan's shoulder and pointed to the kitchen. Nodding, Nathan took one last look at Brooke and Haley and followed Lucas.
"What's up?" Nathan asked as he leaned against the counter
"I just wanted to give Brooke and Haley a chance to be alone." Lucas sighed as he dropped into a chair at the kitchen table. "How's Haley?"
"She's been better. I think that we've all been better. Peyton meant a lot to us all."
"There's still one person who doesn't know."
"Who?"
Lucas met Nathan's gaze with a frown. "Jake."
'Now entering Tree Hill'. What exactly am I entering into? It shouldn't have taken me so long to get home, but for some reason I took every detour I could manage. The longer I stayed away, the less worried I got.
Now my worry is back in full force.
Pulling up to Lucas', I turned off my engine and took off the ridiculous helmet I got to go along with my ridiculous bike. Sitting there, looking up at the house, I took a few deep breaths as I tried to brace myself for whatever news it was that I was about to find out.
Walking up to the house, I knocked on the door. Everything in me wanted to turn and run away, but I have to know what is going on. A few seconds later, Lucas opened the door.
"Jake. Hey man." Lucas greeted with a tight smile
"Lucas, what's going on?" I asked, getting right to the point
"Come on in." Lucas said and opened the door wider and stepped aside to let me in
Slowly, almost cautiously, I stepped into the house. Looking around as I walked into the living room, my eyes took in Nathan sitting in a chair and Brooke and Haley sharing the couch.
"Hey guys." I said and sat down before something hit me. "Wait. Haley, you're supposed to be in New York, and Brooke, aren't you supposed to be in California?"
The girls, who were sitting closely on the couch shared a look. Brooke looked at me with tear-filled eyes, while Haley just looked at her hands.
"Jake-" Brooke started, but I quickly noticed something else
"Where's Peyton?" I asked, my heart pounding
Brooke looked at Lucas, who nodded.
What the hell is going on?
"Peyton's dead Jake. She killed herself." Brooke said bluntly, but softly
The harsh words rung hollow, my brain not fully receiving the information. Peyton is dead. Her best friend is sitting here telling me she took her own life. For some reason, it doesn't sound so devastating coming from Brooke. Then it hits me, and I realize that it hurts even more hearing it from Peyton's best friend.
"Oh." I said simply, at a loss for anything intelligent to say
Lucas came and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "You ok?"
I looked up at him from my seat with skeptical eyes. "Yeah Luke. I'm great. How are you?" I asked, sarcasm marring my words
"Jake, please." Haley said barely above a whisper
"Please what? Act like everything is ok?" I laughed bitterly. "I love Peyton, and now you are telling me that she's gone. I'd say that things are far from ok."
"Dude, we all cared for Peyton. It's not going to help anyone being angry." Nathan said
I looked at him with a raised brow. "You cared for her? There's no way you know how I feel right now."
Nathan sighed in defeat when he realized there was no point in arguing with me.
"I do." Brooke said
"How the hell-"
"She was my best friend for almost 10 years Jake. I might not love her the same way you do, but to be honest, the bond that we had ran way deeper than the one you had. Stop trying to belittle how we feel just because of your relationship with her." Brooke exploded
"Stop it!" Haley yelled, shooting evil looks and me and Brooke. "Peyton is dead, and you two have the nerve to fight over who should be more upset? It's sick. Peyton was a friend to all of us, no matter how close we were, and now she's gone. Get over yourselves, because we are all shocked and hurt and angry and sad at where we all are right now. Jesus people; stop being selfish for two minutes."
"That's funny, coming from you and all." I spat at Haley before the words processed in my head
"Up. Now." Nathan said, angry, as he stood out of his chair and approached mine
Sighing, I stood up and walked out the front door followed closely by Nathan and Lucas.
"Well if it isn't the Scott brothers." I said, venom dripping from my voice as I turned around to face the stony faces of Nathan and Lucas
"What the fuck is your problem man?" Lucas asked as he put a hand to Nathan's chest to stop him from coming at me
"My problem?" I scoffed. "My child is gone, my girlfriend is dead, and you ask me what my problem is?"
"I think that you need to sit down and think for a minute Jake." Nathan said
"And I think that I need a beer. I cant deal with this." I said as I hopped on my bike and rode off to find a bar
Lucas and Nathan both took a deep breath to steady their breathing, and then they turned to look at each other.
"It's going to be a long night." Nathan said
"It's going to be a long couple days, if not weeks or longer." Lucas said sadly as he turned to walk back into the house